Unite Or Die
By 
A followon to yesterday’s post.
As I look at the more than 800 comments, I see a commonality. Everyone has their very own idea of why Kamala Harris lost or Donald Trump won. A few engaged in discussion with the OP, but they were so few and far between that I couldn’t engage. And, tbh, I was away from the computer for large chunks of time.
Given Trump’s extremely narrow margin, now under 1.5%, any one of the factors suggested could have made the difference. But there is a malaise in a land that could elect Trump, and in that post, I wanted to look at the broader picture.
The tone of most of the comments was positive. But 800 sole or primary causes of the election outcome cannot be a basis for moving forward. Some of the proposals, like that of a mutual aid society, can address multiple causes – voter disinterest, better coupling of the party higher-ups with the grass roots, better communication. Others address only a few, like Sister Souljah moment, ever popular with Democratic consultants. And it’s possible to have a number of initiatives addressing many factors.
I ducked out of one responsibility – that of showing data that supported my argument. I am becoming more wary of what voters say they want in polls, though, given that Democrats are now finding the economy less favorable than they did before the election while Republicans see it beginning to bloom. Other factors seem to follow the same pattern.
Resources will always be limited, though, and some factors will have to be prioritized. We need to agree on those priorities. The discussion on yesterday’s post, and the broader discussion, aren’t getting there. We will also need to focus on aspects of Trump’s presidency rather than arguing with each other.
We all need to listen better. How does my idea relate to someone else’s? It’s a cultural thing. We’ve had forty years of lionizing each individual’s own ideas, and it’s going to be hard to pull together. I don’t have the answers to this, but I hope you’ll all think about how you can contribute to a more unified approach to stopping Trump’s damage and building up the Democratic Party to take back the country.
A friend says it well every night when he signs off Bluesky:
Together is the only way we build liveable todays and tomorrows.
Here is the story behind the “Join or Die” cartoon. I’ve used one with “Unite or Die,” because that’s more relevant to my message.