Published by the St. Louis American - December 17, 2024
In 2008, it’s hard to believe that Missouri was considered a swing state. Barack Obama lost to John McCain by a ½ a point. A half of a percentage point! That was the time to launch a robust strategy to engage constituents of the Democratic Party around a year-round platform to advance working families. By 2012, the Republican presidential candidate would win in Missouri by nearly ten percentage points.
Instead of turning purple, Missouri became a blood-red state. The state is now a GOP trifecta, meaning Republicans control the state house, senator, and governor’s seat. The GOP playbook can boast Republican trifectas in nearly half the states. We were all horrified when we saw that sea of red spreading across the U.S. map on election night.
There is a new majority rising. It is all those folks that trump demeaned, criticized, and demonized on his way to the White House. They are all outlined as targets in the Project 2025 that attempts to usher in fascism—immigrants, unions, women, gay people, organized resistors, etc.
The Dems have played the same flawed strategy for years on the local, state, and national levels. They have disregarded the growing strength of the reactionary forces and ignored the states that held potential promise in the fight to fortify democracy. The party elites have also ignored the right’s expanding influence on the Democrat’s own electoral base.
The Dems abandoned a 50-state strategy that educates and engages its constituents around a visionary platform for prosperity of the working class, and instead have focused their resources on a few battleground states. They are good at raising lots of money. That U.S. senate race in Missouri, it was one of the most expensive Senate races in history at the time. The Harris-Walz team raised over a billion dollars in this election cycle. It is insufficient without a plan.
There are some in the post-election phase who say finger pointing is not helpful, that we must all work together. I know this may look like a kumbaya moment as the reality of what this country will look like when the full force of Project 2025 is unleashed. We will have to be strategic and intentional in our plan. We need to build a winning team that includes players who know how and when to move the ball when it comes to them.
November 5 was a sad day for the nation indeed. That’s because trump had shown us his racist, misogynist criminal character and yet he still managed to get nearly seventy-five million votes. Now, he feels emboldened and will move aggressively with his so-called mandate.
There is a new majority rising. It is all those folks that trump demeaned, criticized, and demonized on his way to the White House. They are all outlined as targets in the Project 2025 that attempts to usher in fascism—immigrants, unions, women, gay people, organized resistors, etc.
Our mission is to galvanize that majority into a cohesive force, capable and committed to fighting for its self-interests. We will have to prevail in an atmosphere of disinformation, fearmongering, and repression. His MAGA movement has gained new momentum, but it is not unstoppable.
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