(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Keys to a Winning Progressive Strategy in 2023-24 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-20 Robert Creamer Progressive successes – in the last three national elections–and with the legislative battles since 2020–have all been premised on the convergence of three factors: The recognition by our candidates, office holders -- and the Progressive movement -- that MOST Americans share progressive values and positions on virtually all of the critical issues facing the country and society. Our understanding that given the support of the majority, the critical element of Progressive political strategy is the mobilization of that majority – to campaign for our issues and to vote. Mobilization has been and is the key. The overreach of the MAGA forces that has ignored their minority status and tried to impose their will on the majority – the Dobbs decision being the clearest example. Their opposition to gun violence prevention, and student debt relief --and their attacks on the LGBTQ+ community -- have alienated young people in droves. And the Republican proposals to cut Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Veterans benefits, nutritional support for children and families – all to give tax breaks to the rich and giant corporations -- are flat out unpopular. Of course, it is also true that many on the MAGA side have clearly recognized their minority position and are doing everything in their power to dis-enfranchise many progressive voters. Priorities for the Next 18 Months Given the importance of these three factors, Progressives must focus like a laser on achieving three goals: Maintaining unity among the progressive forces. Inspiring and mobilizing the progressive majority of the Americans. Dividing and dispiriting the MAGA minority. Progressives are a majority movement. The only way to defeat us over the long run is to divide our forces or to demobilize us so we do not exercise our power – both as advocates and as voters. This does not mean that we should focus solely on mobilizing traditional Democratic voters to take action or to vote. The point here is that a clear majority of Americans support progressive positions on the issues – even some of those who do not currently support our candidates. Inspiring and mobilizing the progressive majority must include great persuasion and framing that convinces independents and some Republicans that it is in their best interest to support Democrats based upon the fact that they actually do support a vast majority of progressive positions and understand that their implementation would, in fact, be in their interest. Of course, the undemocratic elements in our political system create hurdles. Most notably these include the Senate, the electoral college, partisan gerrymanders, and the current Supreme Court. And, of course, we have majorities of different sizes and intensity in different states and areas of the country. The fact that the U.S. Senate is the least democratic parliamentary structure in the Western world is a big hurdle that we must overcome both legislatively and electorally (and the filibuster makes it even worse). In the 2024 election we confront a particularly difficult map that will take a massive effort to overcome. Partisan gerrymanders of Congressional seats make Democratic victory in 2024 more difficult, but far from impossible – especially if Congressional campaigns focus squarely on voter mobilization. Many seats in California and New York that Republicans won in 2022 are much more likely to go Democratic in the 2024 Presidential election. That is especially true if campaigns concentrate on putting in place strong field operations that emphasize the blocking and tackling of politics: field operations that include heavy emphasis on organizing an army of volunteers to knock on doors, make phone calls and mobilize voters. And President Biden is organizing what promises to be an excellent campaign for re-election based on a strong record of achieving popular progressive goals – as well as progressive successes in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania that increase the odds that Democrats will have a strong “blue wall” in the Midwest. Ohio is difficult, but in addition to Biden, the Democratic ticket there will be led by Senator Sherrod Brown who is very popular with Ohio voters. By emphasizing the broad popularity of our progressive positions – particularly regarding the economy; by using MAGA overreach to turbo charge our mobilization efforts; and by simultaneously maintaining progressive unity and fanning the flames of the Republican civil war – Progressives can win a major victory in 2024. And that could open the door to the most progressive period in modern American history. Robert Creamer, a partner at Democracy Partners, has been a political organizer and strategist for five decades and was a consultant in three Democratic presidential campaigns. He is the author of "Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win." Follow him on Twitter @rbcreamer [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/20/2164938/-The-Keys-to-a-Winning-Progressive-Strategy-in-2023-24 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/