After the 2014 midterms, Debbie Wassermann Schultz announced that the DNC would be performing a top-to-bottom analysis of the midterm elections. To my knowledge, that analysis has yet to appear, so in the meantime, I’m giving my own.
First, what did Democrats do right in 2014?
Charlie Crist did well in his solicitation for money. He exhibited accountability and transparency by showing us the ads he planned to run with the money we sent him. The solicitations from votevets.org were outstanding for the same reason.
Gary Peters had the right response to Republicans trying to defeat Democrats by tying them to the President; Congratulations on his successful campaign.
Another bright spot was state referendums on raising the minimum wage. The National Democratic Party would have done well to strongly support these efforts.
There were many more well-run campaigns, but these are the ones that stood out for me.
How can we be more successful in midterm elections?
Run a national campaign. In 2010, the most important national issue was Obamacare. The Democratic leadership let the Republicans paint a very false picture of Obamacare without effectively challenging it. Romneycare, by contrast, included funds to advertise its virtues. The Democratic leadership could have filled the gap by getting the truth out about Obamacare, thereby saving many Congressional seats.
In 2014, the Democratic leadership made a similar mistake. They sat by while the Republicans painted a negative picture of Obama, without mounting a national campaign to advertise the wonderful things our president has accomplished.
In 2014, we Democrats had the American public with us on all the major social issues (as documented in a Facebook meme). The Democratic Party could have helped a lot by mounting a national campaign encouraging people to vote blue because they agreed with the Democrats on all the major social issues.
Leading up to the 2014 election the Republicans did wonders with voter suppression. What we needed were national ads to the effect that cheaters shouldn't win! This alone could have made the difference in several close races.
The most important differences between national elections and midterm elections center around the fact that we not only put up a party platform for the national elections but also mount a national campaign based on that platform. In a country where the people agree with the liberals on most social issues, this makes all the difference. Starting in 2018, put out a party platform every two years and run on it.
How to get out the vote
Both the Democrats and the Republicans did a really poor job getting out the vote in 2014. Part of the problem is that the standard ploy of cold calling voters no longer works because voters are so fed up with Congress they just hang up when they realize the call is political in nature – and who could blame them?
We need to inspire Americans to vote by advertising issues they care about and are willing to work for to achieve. One way to do this is by providing and supporting more state referendums on issues Americans care about.
Finally, we need to confront head on the idea that because America is now an oligarchy it really doesn't matter how ordinary people vote. Again, this needs to be done through national campaigns.
How to ask for money
First and foremost, don’t beg! And don’t whine! In 2014, virtually every solicitation was along the same lines: “Give us money to fight those evil Republicans. (And trust us – we know better than you how to spend it.) The Democratic Governors Association took the whining to a higher level, complaining in virtually every solicitation that they were in the process of loosing to the Republicans. They were so down in the mouth, I had to unsubscribe from them.
In order to get really good contributions from the Democratic base, it is necessary to conclusively demonstrate that the leadership is putting the money to good use - by telling us how it’s being spent and explicitly asking us to support specific strategies. After 2014, any Democrat who believes in the “Trust the leadership – they know better” philosophy is hiding his head in the sand.
Finally, campaign in every state! Howard Dean was not far off the mark with his 50-state strategy. But notice the purpose of the campaign is different in red and blue states. In the former case, ads are designed to inspire voters to turn out and vote blue, and in the latter case, the ads are designed to inspire Democrats to get out their wallets.
Last but not least: Where to find inspiration
Read Facebook! Leading up to the 2014 elections, postings to liberal groups were full of great ideas that never went beyond Facebook. What a waste!