Yes, Democrats must 'preach to the choir' about Elon's coup

Republicans get that they're only talking to their base. Democrats act like we're an obstacle to be ignored.

One huge problem is nobody knows exactly what to do.

We’ve elected an insurrectionist, and that has now evolved into a coup inside our Treasury Department in which a single unelected oligarch and Nazi sympathizer (at the very least) is looting every American taxpayer and undermining 230 years of Constitutional order.

We can all agree that’s bad!

But who knows how to stop a betrayal of American democracy this obvious that was in effect validated by voters who should have some hint that this was coming since Republicans laid out their assault on our self-rule in a 900-page playbook and said Nazi Sympathizer told us that he had a world of hurt planned for us?

Maybe you know what to do. Then, you have a heavy moral obligation to persuade all of us of your ideas. And there are a lot of ideas out there. Make yours impossible to ignore!

But it certainly doesn’t *feel* like anyone in Congress—save maybe AOC, Elizabeth Warren, or Jamie Raskin—is up to the task in this horrifically shitty moment that should have never happened. Even if the task is just letting America know what’s happening and how destructive to our country and lives this assault on our Constitution is.

Aaron Fritschner, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Rep. Don Beyer, made the case Saturday on Bluesky that this perception may be off. He did so indefatigably in a thread worth reading, even if it infuriates you. It offers the view from inside DC, which we need to know, especially if we want to change it.

The crux of his perspective is:

It is easy to write "do something" on the internet. It is much harder for electeds who are out of power and have low influence or ability to affect change to do stuff that will make people happy (catharsis) and help solve the problem (effective).

And he offers what he sees as the most effective ways to make a difference:

- Create space for R's to oppose nominees
- Build pressure on R's to oppose Trump policies or flip on bills
- Strengthen Dems' '25 and '26 electoral response
- Buttress legal challenges to Trump actions

I agree with all of these things.

We need to be calling about these nominees and finding red-state people to do the same and arming them with strong arguments that might sway Republican Senators, like “Bobby Jr. is too close to trial lawyers, and Pence doesn’t trust him on abortion.” We must be shaping outrage and informing people about the threats we face. We need to be supporting groups like Movement Voter Project, States Project, Run for Something, and Every State Blue that aim to win, ideally by transforming the electorate. We must also support the Democracy Docket, the ACLU, and blue state AGs as they battle this blitzkrieg on the Constitution in the courts.

I’m fixated on finding one good action (almost) everyone can take every day and sharing it wildly so people know there’s always something we can do.

So, good talk? Let’s move on and just put our heads down and try to save some democracy!

Um, not feeling it?

Aaron’s noble effort and the need for congressional Democrats to communicate more directly to assure us they support it point to a more significant problem with the Democratic Party. Our elected officials not only do not see their job as preaching to the choir, but they see their job as communicating almost exclusively to the mythical swing voter.

Living in Michigan, I get why they feel this way. Percentage of percentages decide our elections, and voters genuinely flip with the times.

Elissa Slotkin epitomizes a politician who has proven the median “swing voter” thesis. She won one of the closest, and at least once the closest, House districts in the nation three times before barely winning her US Senate seat as Trump took our state. I honestly understand why she thinks her appeal to “center,” which began before her election by, for instance, opposing self-rule for Washington DC, is the way to go.

But I would argue that 2024 fundamentally changed everything in two ways:

1. The continuation of our Constitutional order is seriously in doubt, and the promise of resolving this crisis with regular elections is nowhere near assured.
2. Elon Musk changed the game for how campaigns are run, both in terms of the amount of money he "invested" and the phishing scam-type campaigning he conducted. This helped turn out precisely the voters he and the Trump campaign targeted. This means the battle in future elections—G-d willing—will increasingly be for the voters who don’t usually turn out.

From now until at least next summer, Democratic electeds have two enormous challenges:

1. Keep democracy alive.
2. Keep the Democratic base activated, hopeful, and helpful.

We are going to face so many fights that will unite us. The cuts Musk is personally siphoning off are only the beginning. Every House Republican will be forced to vote for enormously unpopular cuts to pay for enormously unpopular tax cuts for guys like Elon Musk. But along the way, there is going to be so much fuckery. And our officials have to know we want more than press releases.

We are active participants in this process. We want the best messages to spread. The “news,” as we left it in the 20th century, is dead, and everyone gets information from their feeds and loved ones. Democrats must see their base as the best way to get their message out to the world. If the message doesn’t work with us, it will not work with anyone.

Tailoring your messages to “swing voters,” who won’t pay close attention or decide on their votes for about 18 months, isn’t just wasteful; it’s dispiriting.

It may even be why we lost the last election.

As master messager and long-time champion of “preaching to your choir,” Anat Shenker-Osorio wrote after the election:

The notion that voters came to love what Trump is offering and that Harris was promoting some ultra-left agenda is indefensible. Team Harris campaigned with Liz Cheney, showcased a Glock-owning, “most lethal military” patriotism, and promised a Republican-authored border bill.

Further, progressive ballot initiatives fared far better than Democrats, with voters around the country enshrining abortion protections, raising the minimum wage, providing paid time to care for family, and strengthening the right to join in union. Even in Florida, where the abortion amendment failed to clear the necessary 60 percent, 14 percent more Floridians voted yes on it than voted for Harris.

…

But until Democrats show, not tell, they are fighting for everyday people’s lives and livelihoods and against billionaires, corporations, and MAGA Republicans hell bent on harming them, they cannot hope to fend off the twin lures of authoritarianism — rooted in the siren song of blaming some “other” — and cynicism — rooted in the assessment that “both sides” are beholden to the money and not the many.

Shenker-Osorio found that the voters we needed most found that Democrats were “unable or unwilling to fight for them.”

But it is notable who Democrats are willing to fight—their base.

Republicans have been forced to figure out through the rise of AM radio, Fox, and now the MAGA Manosphere that communicating with your voters isn’t just a way to keep them engaged. It’s the best way to spread your ideas.

We are the choir of democracy. We want to sing as we fight. And more than anything, we need choir leaders who want to hear our voices.