PLAN C (COMMON SENSE) — The Weekly Opine

There is no time to waste. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Plan A, Biden. Plan B, Kamala. Now what?

First step, stop being so nice.

The photo below of President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, smiling with a man Biden labeled a fascist and existential threat to American democracy is morally repugnant. And is emblematic of one of Democrat’s core faults: they play nice while their opponent dishes out nastiness at every opportunity. Frankly, Biden should not have invited Trump to meet with him at the White House.

Taking a photo alongside a fascist, felon, rapist can only be described as appalling. President Roosevelt would never have agreed to pose for a photo with Hitler. (Photo credit Sky News)

Separate from the “old guard.”

Stop leaning on the so-called party elders every election season. That means saying “goodbye” to the Clintons. No more trotting out Bill and Hillary, e.g., to speak at the Democratic National Convention. The Clintons are worn-out, like a misfiring legacy rock band. Gift Barack Obama a gold retirement watch, too. Point him in the direction of the Obama Presidential Center, opening in spring 2026. There, the former president can lecture until his heart’s content, coming full circle from his days as a community organizer.

Thank Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi for their service, and send them back to New York and California, respectively, where lofty universities can bestow emeritus status upon them. Hand the Democratic leadership keys to a new, younger generation.

Make better personnel decisions.

During the era of the nasty Tea Party, President Obama decided to play nice-guy compromise politics, nominating centrist Merrick Garland to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. That set in motion a chain of events that eventually levied a substantial burden on America.

Obama’s poor choice paved the way for President Biden to make the disastrous decision to appoint Merrick Garland as United States Attorney General. Biden nominating Garland felt like “we owe you one, Merrick.” Obama and Biden blew it regarding one of the three most important personnel decisions a president makes; choosing a vice president, appointing an attorney general, and nominating Supreme Court justices.

Attorney General Merrick Garland had a single mandate: uphold law and order. Had Garland done his job, adhering to the public’s right to a speedy trial, Trump would be sitting in a prison Big House, not going back to the nation’s White House. Now, 248 years of American democracy hangs in the balance.

This was avoidable. (Photo credit AP News)

No more blind loyalty to Israel.

Democrats must spell out with ironclad clarity that the days of slavish fealty to the current government in Israel are over. America should unapologetically stand with the citizens of Israel (and stand with non-terrorist Palestinians). But Democrats should not tolerate Netanyahu’s government. No more meetings and no more weapons shipments. Democrats’ relationship with Israel should be paused until the Israeli people install a responsible regime.

Get back to basics.

As the great curmudgeon Bernie Sanders correctly bellows, Democrats must restore their relationship with the middle-class. Some Democrats already do this. Stacey Abrams has been a tireless force working at the grassroots level, registering middle- and lower-class voters. Rural county Black voters who switched and voted for Trump could have been persuaded to vote for Harris, if Democrats effectively deployed people like Abrams. She is authentic and so is California Rep. Katie Porter, who is the antithesis of liberal Hollywood.

Kentucky’s Democrat Governor Andy Beshear has successfully connected with constituents in a red state. Beshear summarized voter’s feelings, saying people “must feel satisfied and secure” with their core needs taken care of first. Democrats should re-prioritize and focus on voter’s basic needs.

Connecting with, and gaining the trust of, independent voters is key. According to Gallup, on the eve of the election, 32% of Americans identified as Democrats, 29% as Republicans and 37% as independent.

People like Beshear, Abrams and Porter relate to voters’ kitchen table issues, such as the economy and grocery prices. Conversely, the well-intentioned Clintons and Barack Obama project an air of out-of-touch elitism, showing up every four years telling people what to do.

Better communication.

You would think Kamala Harris’ economic policy would resonate. Down payment support of $25,000 for new home buyers. Build 3 million affordable homes. Invest $40 billion to spur housing construction. A $10,000 tax credit for starter homes. Lower rental costs. A $6,000 childcare tax credit. And a plan to take on price-gouging. What’s not to like?

Unfortunately, same as that which bedeviled the Biden administration when touting Biden’s economic accomplishments, Harris’ communication of her economic plan fell on deaf ears, unable to break through and persuade more voters. Also, as will be addressed shortly, Harris did not prioritize taking her message to enough non-traditional media with undecided, or unfriendly, audiences.

This photo should help settle the debate. The trans woman (on the left) who placed first should not be competing against the three biological women. (Photo credit NCAA)

Common sense usually works

Democrats need a commonsense approach. The practice of parsing words to accommodate everyone inadvertently alienates catchable voters. Allowing a small segment of supporters to overly influence party messaging is a recipe for failure. On non-traditional issues, Democrat’s platform of inclusion has become a runaway train that is opposite to what most Americans desire. Here are a few examples:

Although things have simmered down, talk of reparations and defunding the police are losing propositions. One is simply not feasible. The other flies in the face of voters’ concerns about crime. The ill-advised push to defund police was ridiculous and is still used by Republicans to sow the narrative that Democrats are soft on crime.

Many Democrats, fearing upsetting liberals, refuse to strongly condemn college students trashing universities. The First Amendment right to protest does not include taking over buildings, destroying university property and making it difficult for other students to learn.

It’s mystifying why liberals bear-hug out-of-the-mainstream ideas like email pronoun signoffs (he/his/him), drag queens reading to children at elementary schools and trans females competing against biological females. For many Americans, seeing Democrats fall on their sword over non-traditional issues causes indigestion. These voters blame “out of touch libs” for not sticking to valued societal norms.

For example, liberals’ insistence that trans women compete in sports against biological women is plain nonsense. It’s baffling that some of the same women fighting for a woman’s right to control her body suddenly do a 180-turn and argue for allowing trans women to take away the rights of biological women’s bodies to compete against the bodies of biological women.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), now shunned by party leaders, expressed that transgender women should not compete against biological women. Moulton, a former U.S. Marine with two daughters, also says pronouns in email signatures are “kind of weird.” Admirably refusing to “walk back” his comments, Moulton says Democrats need to learn to discuss divisive issues. (Regarding email signature pronouns, I don’t think it’s weird but do not understand it, however, I am a Baby Boomer.) Rep. Moulton plainly states that Democrats are “out of touch with the American people.”

Democrats do not need Dr. Fauci to diagnose what ails the party. (Photo credit CNN screenshot)

Democrats must stop tripping on issues that cause getable voters to recoil. This requires a serious assessment that may cause hurt feelings among some constituents but will clarify a winning path forward. To help outside-the-mainstream cohorts, first you’ve got to win the election.

Appearing on CNN, Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky put it bluntly saying, “We are not the party of common sense, which is the message voters sent to us.” As an independent myself, I’ve grown weary of some Democrats near-obsession with off-the-mark ideas, like putting tampons in boys’ bathrooms.

Media matters

Millions of Americans succumb to easily provable lies and disinformation. Democratic candidates should do less choir preaching on MSNBC. Instead, show up on contentious cable news, podcasts and social media where large numbers of influenceable voters reside. Pete Buttigieg has done an outstanding job of going outside the Democrat comfort zone. Buttigieg has appeared multiple times on Fox News/Lies and recently participated in townhalls with conservative voters.

Democratic leadership seemingly did not prioritize reaching non-Democrats through social media, podcasts, and video-driven platforms like TikTok and Instagram. According to cable news reporting, Democratic campaign decision-makers placed much of their messaging in traditional media, where they spoke to the already converted, or the unconvertable. On the other hand, Trump’s campaign leveraged influencer podcasts and somewhat obscure social media with large audiences, enabling Trump to untether chunks of once-reliable blue voting groups away from Democrats.

If they regain their equilibrium, Democrats can recover from 2024’s heartbreak in time for the 2026 midterm elections.

But first Dems must take an extra-strength dose of common sense.