Yeah, I've never been a democrat because I never got the feeling that there was room for people like me (except for two fleeting moments in time when (a) Obama started making sense, and (b) Sanders appeared to be in a good position in the race for the nomination and people like AOC were coming up). Nevertheless, I am not one to shy away from having opinions and providing unsolicited advice when I see a kindred spirit in trouble. So here are some thoughts, for what they're worth:
1. Abandon neoliberalism:
This is the source of your problem. You have ended up being the only party out there that defends the status quo at a time when it is very clear that the way things are is not working for a vast number of people for a multitude of reasons. There really is no good reason out there anymore to be gung ho about capitalism. The facade fell apart in 2008. Capitalism is a source of power that needs a harness. When underregulated, society suffers from its immense corrosive and corrupting nature. You may have been too slow to see this because of that old "zeal of the newly converted" thing, but it's time to let go and embrace the future.
2. Automation is your issue:
Uncontrolled immigration is today's topic (not gonna say issue because it's much more complicated than that) and you do need to have a position on this that can be summed up in 5 words or less, with no "on the other hand" involved, that's for sure. (We'll talk about that fundamental problem later.) Automation, though, is what's next. And we have known this for a while. It was put on the table long ago by Andrew Yang. It's time to circle back to that and develop a policy around that *right now*. Because ...
3. Don't just react, proact:
There is a chance that we will have an election in 2028 (not a guarantee) and assuming that Democratic voters have not been purged in every red state in large numbers, there is a good chance that you may actually win that one (lots of real world politics and factors contributing to that), but if that is the goal you are setting yourself up to, you have already lost 2032 and beyond. You need to think long term, not the next presidential cycle. Pick policies that anticipate the changes we know are coming. Climate change is one such issue with a cascade of other related issues that will come with it, ranging from the state of agriculture to migration patterns. There is also automation that I mentioned above. Erosion of democracy is another. Continued widening of the income gap and calcified economic stratification is yet another. Be ready to talk about these issues before Republicans do (you kinda missed the boat on the failure of the American Dream) and also be very clear on *when* to start that talk. Too soon, you'll be laughed at. Too late, look what happens. That said, take the lead on something for once, dammit.
4. Don't retreat on inclusivity
I know it is tempting to mimic your conqueror, like that whole neoliberalism thing after that unambiguous rejection you suffered in the '80s, but resist that urge. Inclusivity is not the wrong policy. Talking about it is not wrong. There's nothing wrong with putting up female candidates. 2016 was a rejection of Hillary Clinton more than the idea of a woman president. Likewise, 2024 was a rejection of the Democratic Party and the interests it appears to serve, more than the idea of a woman president. Don't back off of diversity and inclusion. That's the future, and you are supposedly building for the future at this point. Don't succumb to simplistic explanation and don't draw the laziest conclusions from what just happened. Be smart. Women can be damn good leaders. Ethnic minorities have a tradition of generating great leaders. That's your well to tap into.
5. Understand the world better
I cannot emphasize this enough. The extent to which Wall Street is happy and the stock market is booming has very little implication on how well the masses are doing. If you had a just economy and class layers were actually porous and most people could quickly have accumulate some money to invest in the market in the first place (you know, like the old old days), sure. The wealth of Wall Street could be a gauge on how well the nation is doing. What we have today is not that. If the Wall Street is doing well, there's a better than 50-50 chance that the masses out there are not doing well. When Wall Street feels confident, that's because they feel confident they can funnel more wealth and resources away from people who actually need it so that they can buy their second island in the Caribbean. Now, it is true that if Wall Street is not doing well we all suffer from it. That because we're no longer getting the crumbs that our overlords normally allow us to feast on. But the reverse is not true. We don't do better when they do better. So please don't tout the happiness of Wall Street as a sign that the economy is doing well and tell people what they have been experiencing non-stop in their every day life since god knows when is not real. That's bad manners, and you get punished when you make that claim. You need to internalize this duality, which is a direct consequence of extreme capitalism practiced in this country for as long as I've watched American politics up close (going back to 1987) and don't forget, you have been an accomplice in how that all shook out. Perhaps not as much as the other guys, but still. NAFTA passed under Clinton. Half of the too big to fail bail-outs took place under Obama. So no real clean hands here.
6. Start working the goddamn refs
Corporate media refuses to hold Trump to any standard. Is this a new phenomenon though? Didn't they also fail to hold W and his warmongering, torture-happy administration to any standard until the public opinion moved decidedly away from them after Katrina? This is a pattern. Corporate media is afraid of Republicans, but not Democrats. They see Democrats as acceptable punching bags. Your job during these wilderness years is to figure out how you can make them respect you. This is a priority. Understand their pressure points and apply them relentlessly. Complain complain complain. All. The. Time. Have your supporters cancel their subscriptions. Make a credible threat to replace them with a select group of alternative, independent media outlets. Give them the power of access and interviews, and use them as your forum. And if they don't begin to respect you and change their behavior and now they are all in on the fascist party, f*ck'em. It is already an established pattern that corporate media supports autocrats for any number of reasons. It was bound to happen anyway. Don't fret it. At least you can now openly attack them as the mouthpiece of authoritarianism they have become. Get back to nurturing those independent outlets.
7. Develop your own information ecosystem
You nave the people. You have the know-how. You have the talent. You have the audience. You have the issues. You have the point of view. Get on it. Now. (Just make sure that you have different pitch levels to different audiences. Watch some of those videos on youtube where someone explains a complex concept at five different expertise levels. That's kernel of what you're trying to achieve.)
8. Simplify your goddamn message
I don't know how many times we need to learn this lesson. In the modern era, campaigns are not won and lost by the soundness of any policy position (let the chattering classes chatter away). You watched the Clinton campaign. You watched the Harris campaign. You also watched the Obama campaign and the Biden campaign. And not to speak of the devil, but you also saw the George W and Trump campaigns. It's as clear as day: It's about vibes *and* providing maximalist, simple messages. And by simple, I mean 5 words max. Subject verb predicate. Define in very clear terms what is bad. (BTW, nothing new here. Back in the 80s it was called "bumper sticker politics", later it was called "soundbite politics". This has been around forever.) You don't have to explain. You just need to repeat it relentlessly. Yeah, it's demeaning to some extent and insults the intelligence of smart people. But we're a big country, and we have a lot of people, which means the median voter is far less interested in policy facts than you would like. (You can still go ahead and engage in policy discussions with the chattering class and geek out on the technical details of your proposals and projections, but that's why you build an information ecosystem.) Understand your audience. Rallies are for rallying. Not explaining policy proposals. "My whatever percent tax cut will benefit the working class" does not stick. "They are weird" does.
9. Lastly for now: Find a way to reach the working class
You can do it. If you drop your antiquated faith in neoliberalism. If you understand how messaging works. And if you build a solid information ecosystem, you can do it. The fact is, you have gone as far as you can by being the party of college educated knowledge workers. Your theory that people left behind by the economy can learn programming skills to get back in the game was a condescending pipe dream that was never going to happen in the first place and surprise surprise, it didn't. So you need to expand your base to include non-college educated old school labor market. Do or die.
I have some thoughts about California too. Let me start putting those together now.