Democrats are beginning to listen to their past winners and the message is that whoever wins Main Street is going to win everything else. That’s going to require you and me to get out of comfort zones, stand up and be participants. This game doesn’t have any sidelines or skyboxes.
BOY HOWDY, IT was one fine party.
I speak of the gala evening the Joe Biden campaign put on in New York City this week that featured former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, along with a boatload of celebrities and folks capable of ponying up some big dollars, as in a $25 million-and-counting haul.
But take away all the glitter and big bucks and the most important message of the night might have come from the visual of Biden standing with two former presidents. As a commentator said Friday morning, how many former “anythings or anybodys” would stand with Donald Trump these days?
But hidden in the presence of Clinton and Obama was another message – go back to how those two candidates won. What you will find is organization, organization, organization. That’s particularly true of Obama’s stunning first-term win. Obama won by building a campaign team not from the top down but the ground up. If there was a crossroads with a gas station anywhere in America, Obama had someone organizing it.
Biden used the word “team” in his remarks and that’s a word that needs to stay in the forefront. While Donald Trump appears in court, plays golf (holed up at Mar-a-Lago) and sends out vicious and often incoherent rants, Democrats have an opportunity to spread a message about a positive future. Oh, and yes, a message about saving democracy.
We are starting to see signs that the party is listening to its elder statesperson. Still, understand one thing – this November’s general election cannot be viewed as a spectator sport. There are no sidelines, not skyboxes in this game. It is not going to be about applauding a speaker or nodding your head in agreement. No, it’s got to be more than that.
The late Tip O’Neill, longtime Democrat Speaker of the House, is famous for having said “all politics are local.” I’d tweak that a bit to say “all elections are local.” I mean “all.” The presidential race is local. Whoever wins Main Street and the dirt roads will win the White House. The same can be said of the House, Senate, governorships, other state offices and local races right down to a township trustee.
That means “we” have to step up. “We” is me, you, your families, your neighbors and strangers you meet. Make no mistake about it – whoever does the grassroots best will win in November.
I know many people don’t like to get involved in politics. Not everyone is cut out to be a door-knocker, a phone worker, a petition-passer. But, we all have something to give. If you can wield a pen you can address envelopes. You can write a letter-to-the- editor. You can put a sign in your yard. You can put a sticker on your car. You can chat with neighbors. You can correct mistaken information.
Most of all, you can ask a key question of people you meet: “Just curious, but are you registered to vote?” If the answer is “no,” tell them how they can do that. It’s not hard. This is a critical question to ask of young people you know.
I KNOW THERE are divisions out there that linger around race (who has done or not done enough), gender (who will create true equality), abortion, Gaza, the environment (how much is enough, how much time is to late or too soon).
For this Fall, people need to understand those differences need to be given a time-out. Here is the bottom-line fact. Trump wins, nothing you old dear about any of those issues will survive. Nothing. So, maybe you like some of what Cornell West has to say, or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posits or the positions of any other third-party candidate. That’s not the issue this time around. The fact is if you vote for them, when you might have voted for Biden, Trump wins.
Biden and Democrats have accomplished a lot. It’s on the record. The economy has rebounded. It’s also clear that if we are to get back on track to trying to create a more just, even if imperfect, society and world it will only happen if dictators and anti-democracy forces are repelled, and decisively.
Elections are won locally – by local party efforts and by people like us who are willing to step up and do, well, something. We each can give according to our talents. Now is the time to do that.
Reach out to your local party and ask “what can I do?” If you are not a big party person, find other groups (we have some here in Chester County) that work outside of, but ultimately on the same page as, official parties.
For those of you in Chester County, here are some links. There are organizations for boroughs and townships with Chester County Democrats you can go to.
https://www.ccmarchingforward.org/
https://www.facebook.com/CCMFwd
See you on the streets!
Rich Heiland, has been a reporter, editor, publisher/general manager at daily papers in Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and New Hampshire. He was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team at the Xenia Daily (OH) Daily Gazette, a National Newspaper Association Columnist of the Year, and a recipient of the Molly Ivins First Amendment Award from the Walker County (TX) Democrat Club. He taught journalism at Western Illinois University and leadership and community development at Woodbury College in Vermont. Since 1995 he has operated an international consulting, public speaking and training business specializing in customer service, general management, leadership and staff development with major corporations, organizations, and government. Semi-retired, he and his wife live in West Chester, PA. He can be reached at heilandrich1@gmail.com.