Just 8 months from now, we will be awaiting the returns from this midterm election. Eight months is a short time.
All it takes is control of one US Legislative Branch, to slow and stop the advance of very wrong national policies.
That is like putting brakes on a car. But in order to reverse any required policy changes, we will first require control of both the House, and a full 60 sympathetic votes in the Senate. Only then can Congress actually run this country , leaving the President as a ceremonial figure.
Planning to master a war is superior to planning to win a battle. There is considerable energy and optimism on our side and embarrassment and demoralization on the other. Not utilizing this time to maximize our advantage would be irresponsible.
Here is what you can do. Get fired up. Be ready to go.
If you are prone to berate and demonize Republicans personally for being stupid, instead, have ready at your fingertips the action Democrats would take and why those would be better.
Exude an aura of positivism, in that only if Democrats could win, life for you and all your acquaintances would improve mightily, both economically and personally.
Carry with you in almost all conversations your hopefulness that things will get better. All it will take will be the removal of just enough Republicans so the changes long desperately needed, can occur to policy.
And be proud you are a Democrat. Because you will be the gatekeepers to the next great American future, that is, if we can just remove enough Republicans to get real progress to go through.
When interacting with Republicans, though they may be silent, there is a good chance they are as disgusted with their party as much as you. Seriously. There is great room for finding common ground. The only negative they could actually find within themselves for actually agreeing with you, is the taint of disloyalty to their own tribe. Something one naturally is loathe to do, even in the face of good sense.
The solution to winning big in November is to communicate that the bigger tribe, one of all America, will win huge by the removal of those who have halted progress since......... Gingrich in 94? (Twas the point where the Republican mantra: "Party over Country," found it's beginning.)
If the big tribe wins big, little ones do as well. Too often it is easy to get thrown off topic when attacked. For example always expect the Hillary/Obama missile to head your way. The easiest way to handle that, is deflect it with chaff. "It's been two years since either Hillary or Obama had real influence. So talking about them does nothing about our future. What does help our future is when each of us makes more money personally. When one looks at history, Democrats always seem to make that happen no matter what a person's income might be.”
The Republicans consistent unsaid motto has always been this: “if the rich win, we Republicans will do ok”. Against this, Democrat policy as always been: “if everyone wins, everyone will do ok... and yes, that still includes the rich”.
The sharp point is simply this. Making Trump the main focus will win you no friends. He is a polarizing figure and people already either love him or hate him. You can't get additional votes from those who already hate him, and you definitely won't get votes from those forever enamored with him. Therefore you make him a sideline to all campaigns if you want to win big, sort of how you treat an unfortunate senile grandpa who you somehow got stuck dealing with.
The best plan for seeing this election through, will be to offer a vision of where we want to go as a country, and sell that hard. For example: we could be a nation where employees are part owners of their companies and share in their profits. We could be a nation actually able to reverse global warming and start driving the mean global temperature down. We could be a nation where addictive behavior is treated as a disease, and not a criminal offense, and people are actually cured of it. We could be a nation which insures all citizen's their health at pennies for the dollar over what they currently pay. We could be a nation where there is NO blockage to voting, or to raises, or to happiness, due to race, gender, sexual preference, politics, or religion. We could be a nation that pays down its debt in 10 years, and guarantees Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid go on indefinitely. We could be that nation who uses it's natural riches to benefit all its citizens and not just those at the top... A nation that counts every person as an equal; all they need to be is a citizen.
The Republicans can do none of this. Democrats can do all of this.
Finally I'll address a business-issue. There is a move primarily being lobbied by the large corporate donors to steer the Democratic Party to massaging their interests first. From all reports, American big-businesses are doing well enough and need no further benefits. What they do need is more demand for their products, ie. people with more cash in their hands. Unfortunately most American people are not yet in that category. It could be fine to recognize that at some point, our Democrat Party will address the needs of Big Business in due course. But these are not those times. Our clear priority is to get Americans Back On Their Feet (blue hats with ABOTF, just kidding)). The emphasis (if you look closely at the wording), must be on stressing the human beings that make us up, not the grand wispy see-through mirage amorphously called "America". We need to benefit Amer-i-cans, human beings. And that is exactly what the Democratic Party has always been poised to do. We just keep forgetting to mention it very often.