Losing battles, winning wars
I've avoided writing about this election so far. In addition to the standard melancholy, depression, sense of loss, whatever you want to call it that we're all feeling, I think everyone needs some time and room to grieve. Some do so by retreating into themselves, away from blogs and internet and other people. Some do it by writing diatribes, screeds, rants, and dialogues on what we're going to do now. Some, hopefully few, will write their next missive from New Zealand. I think it's all healthy, and I want to give everyone the time to do it.
As for me, I think. The loss is so great, the questions so daunting, the challenge now so massive, that it is difficult to fully get your mind around it all. Where do you start? Everyone keeps asking, "what happened?". "What do we do?". "How will we ever get our country back now?". Who knows? This is very difficult. But here are a few of my suggestions, for those inclined to listen.
First, relax. Take a hot bath or read a book. Reacquaint yourself with your family; take them to dinner to thank them for their patience with you the last two years. If you're my friends, play some poker and know that I'll join you as soon as I can, because I love you all. Your brain needs to unspool for a while, and you need to just let the pressure off a bit at a time.
Next, let it out. Air that sucker out all you want. If you want to go to the woods and practice some primal scream therapy, go crazy. Scare the bears. If you want to cry, sobbing into your pillow, weep away (I think many of us are past this stage, but hey, if it feels good, do it). If you want to yell about Democrats or write a 10,000 word explosion about next steps, do it. Just let it out. They say that laughter is the best medicine, I say shrieking your lungs out in frustration is a close number two.
That reminds me. If at all possible, go see a funny movie. Laugh with your friends. They're still there, and stuff is still funny. You are still in control of yourself, and it isn't fair to let George Bush and his crazy friends steal your sense of humor.
Finally, sit back and start putting the pieces back together. If you've slept, relaxed, gotten it off your chest, and laughed at something funny, your mind should be ready for some reflection and planning.
Because that's our next step. We need to plan. I don't know what we need to do, exactly, and let's face it, neither do you. We're all struggling. But we agree on some common things, and I think all our rants and diatribes will begin to coalesce into a few good, maybe even great ideas. Here are some of mine.
Read this article by William Saleton, if you haven't already. I think he hits the nail on the head, when he says Bush's ability to stay above 15% of the vote is simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. He says very simple things that anyone can latch onto and repeat with ease. Our society now thinks in soundbites, and Democrats act in paragraphs. (I'm one to talk!) We need to choose a real message - equality, strength, community, whatever - and boil it down into three easily repeated sentences.
We need to understand that things we see as basic fairness are not just opposed by much of the country, but are frightening and disgusting to much of the country. Opposition to gay marriage isn't just a matter of bigotry or misguided morals; there is real, genuine, visceral disgust involved. This isn't something people just stop feeling. So we need to learn another way to approach it. Statistics are fun, but don't remove the images people see in their mind. And they definitely don't clear out the opposition to church morals. We have to learn how to talk about this. It isn't a moral issue from our perspective, it's a fairness issue. We have to work to reinforce the idea that government can never, under any circumstances, require a church to perform or recognize a gay marriage.
We need big ideas, clear goals, plans and a message. See this diary at Daily Kos for a nice start. This is someone's first draft, but it's the right idea, and we should do more of this. As progressives, we complain a lot, but we don't introduce a lot of meaningful legislation and work to get it passed. It's time to start doing so, and it's time to start lobbying and fighting just as hard as Republicans do.
We need new leaders. McAullife failed. Kerry failed. Gore failed. Clinton is failing, because even with his charisma, he is tied to his own past and refuses to see that we're not running against his old opponents. Dean came close, and he was a good start, but he'll never be palatable to most of the country. I don't know who to suggest as the next leaders, but that's the whole point. They need to come from us, not be given to us! We need to stand up and fight, run for office, and stand up for what we believe. Don't tell me we did it this time, because many of us were still waiting for Kerry to say what we wanted to hear. We didn't run for office, for the most part. But now our chance is here. Run for office within the party. Look at upcoming races near you, for school board, City Council, whatever is happening. We've already seen what we can do (and it was amazing), now let's see if we can lead.
Lastly, for now, don't despair. The world won't end. We will come back. We're going to sound like a bunch of lunatics for a couple months while we spin our wheels on all the many thousands of things we need to do to get back in the game and earn the right to govern again. It's a difficult fact of life, but the party that wants nothing but election victories at any cost will in the end fail to govern (we've been that party before), but will almost always defeat the party that places governing above winning. Our lot in life is to work harder than them, organize better than them, and always know that we are one thoughtless act from where we sit today. America needs, and deserves, our best effort to pull it together and govern again, no matter how hard it is to get there.
As for me, I think. The loss is so great, the questions so daunting, the challenge now so massive, that it is difficult to fully get your mind around it all. Where do you start? Everyone keeps asking, "what happened?". "What do we do?". "How will we ever get our country back now?". Who knows? This is very difficult. But here are a few of my suggestions, for those inclined to listen.
First, relax. Take a hot bath or read a book. Reacquaint yourself with your family; take them to dinner to thank them for their patience with you the last two years. If you're my friends, play some poker and know that I'll join you as soon as I can, because I love you all. Your brain needs to unspool for a while, and you need to just let the pressure off a bit at a time.
Next, let it out. Air that sucker out all you want. If you want to go to the woods and practice some primal scream therapy, go crazy. Scare the bears. If you want to cry, sobbing into your pillow, weep away (I think many of us are past this stage, but hey, if it feels good, do it). If you want to yell about Democrats or write a 10,000 word explosion about next steps, do it. Just let it out. They say that laughter is the best medicine, I say shrieking your lungs out in frustration is a close number two.
That reminds me. If at all possible, go see a funny movie. Laugh with your friends. They're still there, and stuff is still funny. You are still in control of yourself, and it isn't fair to let George Bush and his crazy friends steal your sense of humor.
Finally, sit back and start putting the pieces back together. If you've slept, relaxed, gotten it off your chest, and laughed at something funny, your mind should be ready for some reflection and planning.
Because that's our next step. We need to plan. I don't know what we need to do, exactly, and let's face it, neither do you. We're all struggling. But we agree on some common things, and I think all our rants and diatribes will begin to coalesce into a few good, maybe even great ideas. Here are some of mine.
Read this article by William Saleton, if you haven't already. I think he hits the nail on the head, when he says Bush's ability to stay above 15% of the vote is simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. He says very simple things that anyone can latch onto and repeat with ease. Our society now thinks in soundbites, and Democrats act in paragraphs. (I'm one to talk!) We need to choose a real message - equality, strength, community, whatever - and boil it down into three easily repeated sentences.
We need to understand that things we see as basic fairness are not just opposed by much of the country, but are frightening and disgusting to much of the country. Opposition to gay marriage isn't just a matter of bigotry or misguided morals; there is real, genuine, visceral disgust involved. This isn't something people just stop feeling. So we need to learn another way to approach it. Statistics are fun, but don't remove the images people see in their mind. And they definitely don't clear out the opposition to church morals. We have to learn how to talk about this. It isn't a moral issue from our perspective, it's a fairness issue. We have to work to reinforce the idea that government can never, under any circumstances, require a church to perform or recognize a gay marriage.
We need big ideas, clear goals, plans and a message. See this diary at Daily Kos for a nice start. This is someone's first draft, but it's the right idea, and we should do more of this. As progressives, we complain a lot, but we don't introduce a lot of meaningful legislation and work to get it passed. It's time to start doing so, and it's time to start lobbying and fighting just as hard as Republicans do.
We need new leaders. McAullife failed. Kerry failed. Gore failed. Clinton is failing, because even with his charisma, he is tied to his own past and refuses to see that we're not running against his old opponents. Dean came close, and he was a good start, but he'll never be palatable to most of the country. I don't know who to suggest as the next leaders, but that's the whole point. They need to come from us, not be given to us! We need to stand up and fight, run for office, and stand up for what we believe. Don't tell me we did it this time, because many of us were still waiting for Kerry to say what we wanted to hear. We didn't run for office, for the most part. But now our chance is here. Run for office within the party. Look at upcoming races near you, for school board, City Council, whatever is happening. We've already seen what we can do (and it was amazing), now let's see if we can lead.
Lastly, for now, don't despair. The world won't end. We will come back. We're going to sound like a bunch of lunatics for a couple months while we spin our wheels on all the many thousands of things we need to do to get back in the game and earn the right to govern again. It's a difficult fact of life, but the party that wants nothing but election victories at any cost will in the end fail to govern (we've been that party before), but will almost always defeat the party that places governing above winning. Our lot in life is to work harder than them, organize better than them, and always know that we are one thoughtless act from where we sit today. America needs, and deserves, our best effort to pull it together and govern again, no matter how hard it is to get there.
posted by switzerblog at
1:27 AM
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