Op Ed: Strategies for the Democrats for the Democrats to Push Back

Since last year’s election, in which Republicans gained control of all three branches of government, the Democrats have seemed somewhat lost and unable to develop a pushback strategy to counter the new administrations policies. The Op Ed team at USRESIST NEWS has the following suggestions to help the Democratic party get its act together.

# 1 Fight Back Harder: Until Corey Booker’s recent record-breaking filibuster speech, Democratic voices have been mostly soft and timid. They have made some moderate suggestion but their leadership has not spoken out forcibly against the Trump administration’s seemingly chaotic policies and actions. It is time to change that approach—to speak out when a new administration policy is proposed that seems misguided and not ell thought out; to make greater use of broadcast and social media to get their message across; and to make sure the message is loud and clear, has the backing of all concerned,  and is consistently promoted by all party members.

# 2 Focus on Kitchen-table Issues: The Democrats have been failing to emphasize the key “kitchen-table” issues that motivate people to vote. These issues include access to health care, education, housing, child care, jobs, and the price of basic goods and services. President Trump’s election campaign focused on these issues, but so far he has failed to deliver on them. The Democrats need to take advantage of this gap between campaign promise and reality, and emphasize their long history of support for daily challenges facing working families.

# 3 Identify Republicans as the Party of  Billionaires: Keep a spotlight on the way in which the Trump administration is run by  Elon Musk and other super wealthy billionaires; how Trump’s tax policies are designed to help the rich get  richer and ignore the needs of the middle class; and how Trump and his family often seem to use their political positions to increase their own wealth.

# 4 Identify Democrats as Protectors of Your Benefits and Rights: Speak out loudly against efforts by the Administration to reduce/eliminate Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; point out how the Democrats were the party responsible for initiating these programs and how they have fought long and hard to preserve them.

# 5  Fight Against Isolationism: Stress the value of keeping the US connected to   the world; and how we need to  strengthen rather than run away from our alliances such as NATO;  Point out how  administration policies on tariffs and other issues are limiting America’s ability to connect with other nations.   Show how  collaborating with other countries helps grow our economy, combat enemies, enhance our workforce, and enrich our culture.

# 6 Build Better  and Newer Constituencies; Make a special effort to connect with voters whom the Democrats have lately ignored, such as working class, rural-based and young voters: speak to these constituencies about the issues that concern them such as access to jobs and housing, broad-band Internet, and student loans.

#  7  Identify and Promote Young Leaders: It is time for the Democrats to usher in a new generation of leaders who can speak to the needs of young people, who understand and have ideas on how to maximize the  use of technology, and limit its downside; and who can bring new life and energy to the Democratic  party.