I grow frustrated by a false dichotomy that has been created of late, either intentionally, or unknowingly: the belief that a progressive or liberal Democrat appealing to people outside their normal constituency is somehow a bad thing. It isn’t. In fact, I believe it is the best thing that anyone can do.
Barack Obama once said that we are not blue states or red states, but the United States of America. Howard Dean told us to fight in all 50 states for every vote. The idea is that regardless of how we may feel about some views of some people, all people deserve good representation. If Democrats are able to reach out to these constituencies and get their votes, they should do so at every opportunity.
Which brings us to the Trump conversation. Racists. Bigots. That’s all we hear. And in some cases, we’ve seen evidence that this is in fact true. And if it’s true, so what? A racist may find themselves out of work, struggling to feed their children. A bigot may find themselves crippled under the massive burden of student loan debt. One of those people fearing a future government that will take their guns away might hold that concern because their gun shoots the deer that will fill the freezer for the winter. And on, and on. We need to take the time to try to bring those people in, because they need us. And if we take the time, some will even hear what we have to say, and change.
Democrats are supposed to be the party of empathy. We are supposed to be the people that fight for the common good, for the benefit of everyone. I speak from the angle of being a Sanders supporter, but this goes for Clinton too: we should all be fighting for the votes of the people that need our help. The idea of the big tent is that we find ways to include everyone.
We once built the New Deal coalition out of unholy alliances between Dixiecrats and Democrats. We turned a blind eye to the Jim Crow South in order to get important legislation passed that benefited the country. The jury’s out as to whether that was the right thing to do, even with me, and it’s something I’ve never seen a Democrat talk about — they just remind us who created Social Security. I question whether what we have today was worth that sacrifice. As a white person, I don’t know how I could ever explain to a person of color that they should be glad they took one for the team for almost two decades because now they have Social Security. I don’t think I could. I guess this makes me say, no, it wasn’t worth the sacrifice. Others would disagree. That’s the point: politics is hard. It challenges us.
But we don’t need to appeal to people outside our constituency by changing our values. We don’t need to disenfranchise some to empower others. We don’t need to go the way of Reagan in Philadelphia, Mississippi, blowing the racist dog whistle of “states’ rights” to tell those around him that he was one of them. Bernie Sanders does not need to go out and twist his campaign message to one of hatred and fear. He just needs to be willing to open his arms to people who, while they may disagree wildly with us on many things, agree on this one thing: that the system is rigged, and that we need to change it so it works for everyone.
It is a challenge for us all. Showing empathy to those with ideals so far outside our own that they anger us is not an easy thing to do. Nor is bringing them into your space, and hoping that, over time, some of them might see things differently. And they will. Twenty years ago, gay marriage was a pipe dream. Today, it’s a reality. Today, we continue to find ourselves in pursuit of a united nation. But we won’t get there if we shut out those who might hear us — if only we were willing to speak.
Recruiting a Trump supporter: More Democrats.
Helping them shed their fear, and liberating them from racism and bigotry: Better Democrats.
Thanks for reading.