This is NOT a Mandate: Be Careful! – Another Post Election Rant

Ok: Here is me offering my unsolicited opinion again 😊

I offer this to Democrats because I believe some of them are unwisely enthusiastic in their thinking about what the next four year will look like.

Be confident, but see beyond the success. Yes: Biden in 2020 received more votes than any other candidate in US History. But guess who got the second most votes in US History. Trump in 2020. Oh and his folks walked into voting booths during a pandemic.

BIG question: Are there more Democrats than Republicans? There were, but not really! Recently it is now even.

As of October 2020, Gallup polling found that 31% of Americans identified as Democrats, 31% identified as Republican, and 36% as Independent.

My analysis/thoughts are below:

• Those 31% of Republicans are COMMITTED to their party. These are the 31% are not going to vote for you: EVER! This means that they only need to pick up about 19% of the rest of the country to support them. That is very doable and they KNOW it, keep reading and you will see my point. There is statement that goes something like this: In battle, only the most committed win. The Republicans are (normally, but not now) outnumbered but they are FAR more committed than everyone else is. I repeat myself but….they walked through a pandemic to vote for their people!
• 36% of the country is INDEPENDENT, and…in 2019: Gallup polling indicates that of independents: 45% are moderate, 39% are conservative 21% are liberal,  This seems (IMO) to suggest that around 40% of independents voted to re-elect Trump, I don’t think they did it because they even like Trump, some dislike him. BUT…..they detest “liberalism” more than they dislike Trump. Liberalism (in their mindset) would destroy their 401k.
• Democrat does NOT = Liberal! Pew Research says this: “Combined, conservatives and moderates continue to make up about half of Democratic voters (51%).” Meaning that they can be persuaded to vote Republican or sit it out entirely! Proof?: The Dems lost quite a few House seats this year). See the above quote about committed! So stop assuming a Democrat is going to support left wing ideas. They may listen, but they will need convincing to support.

What this means!

This means that while Joe Biden appears to have won this election, thinking there is some kind of mandate to shift hard left (economically or socially) is a LOSING Strategy. If the Dems try to become a left-wing party, they will get slaughtered in 2022.

This is why Joe Biden was the ONLY available candidate who could unseat Trump. Why? Because despite his flaws:

• He is NOT viewed by most as a liberal candidate, he is a Centrist (Like Obama is BTW) thus moderates (and some conservatives) will listen to him. They may not have VOTED for him, but they will listen.
• He also viewed as someone who will listen to everyone, he is not a hard-liner.
• He has experience, he knows how stuff is supposed to work.

Bottom Line: Work to facilitate a dialog between the rational left wing and the moderates.

Some ideas:

• Don’t make healthcare about hating on the insurance industry. Talk to them about how this conversation is about making sure they can take care of their families and LISTEN to what they would like to see happen. Start with this: They do NOT want the government in charge of their healthcare.
• Make clean energy a conversation about jobs and opportunities. People do not care that a lot of Florida will be underwater in 50 years. People want to eat NOW. Talk to people in rural America and the inner cities and say (accurately) that a conversion from fossil fuels to clean renewables will result in JOBS for you and maybe opportunities to create your own business.
• Stop talking about making the cops wrong all the time. Make this a conversation about how we can improve law enforcement (which means we may need to invest MORE in it and not less). Start demanding that the police change their mindset from an “arrest criminals” mindset to a “public safety” mindset. This means more work in directly engaging the community AND recruiting members of the community to join the police force. Hint: Maybe even have the police force show up at the career fairs in the High Schools in the inner cities.
• Realize who you are NOT talking to. Much whining is about how Black men didn’t vote and/or voted for Trump. Well, are you talking to them? I know the Democrats (well TBH not many “expert” people) are talking to Black men much. They are successfully engaging black women though. The Dallas News in 2019 says this: “Even in years with low turnout for blacks like 2016, black women have a higher propensity for electoral engagement, voting nearly 10 percentage points higher than black men.” Maybe because Black male voters are tired of being taken for granted. Instead of criticizing them for not voting or voting for a man who obviously does not have their best interest at heart, maybe try and find out why. I think this is the same story for Hispanics as well.

Just my two cents.