I know everyone has their hot takes on the election tonight. I know New York Senator Alessandra Biaggi has hers. I happen to agree:
By the by, the takeaway from Democratic losses tonight isn’t to be more moderate. It’s to be more dynamic. To have a vision. To embrace the future. To be an actual leader and not a boring, dead fish.
[PTI but first considering all my involvement w/ the Manhattan Borough President race… congrats to Mark Levine for Manhattan Borough President — make the most of it in Manhattan will ya please? Because no Democratic seat is safe unless you deliver like THE Lindsey Boylan would… everywhere.]
Let’s bring this home to my Washington State. Right now, a lot of Seattle progressives stayed home and are having spectacular Twitter meltdowns. The tweet and replies here are lit.
I’m just going to give Washington State Democrats free advice: Deliver the deliverables. On climate, on ferries on open government —ESHB 1329 and ESHB 1056, and on tax reform. Democrats need to say more than, “We’re not Donnie Trump and we’re not pro-Covid19. Vote for us to stop worse.” That was a version of the 2016 message that only works on those who watch MSNBC like… voters who have an “Age of Trump” Goodreads bookshelf at 35 books and growing like I do. OK?
Democrats need to show that Democrats have the deliverables from this time of tumult. Democrats aren’t the party of hot air in a time calling for climate action. Washington State Democrats — mostly in the Senate — need to please deliver ESHB 1329 having remote testimony at public meetings, ESHB 1056 to reform the Open Public Meetings Act the way local governments want for emergencies, and a successful fight against Covid19 to the disability community for us to be jazzed up about 2022. Washington State Democrats need to also deliver a ferries and buses first transportation package to their environmental and transit voters — period.
Washington State Democrats need to recognize that a lot of my progressive pals feel crushed, absolutely crushed by Senator Kyrsten Sinema and Senator Joe Manchin blocking President Joe Biden’s agenda. Working moms I speak to aren’t taking well to the Shecession and the vaccine rollout. Plus many folks of both primary genders are also legitimately frightened by crime + homelessness and have decided to have some righteous backlash. But that’s what happens when again Democrats lack the deliverables and vision that’s more than frightening framing like “Defund the Police”. No my state Democrats need to be the party of community and actually building back better as Everett is, period.
In short Democrats here are the four legs to your 2022 table: Defend community, stand for things that fire up Democrats, deliver those things, and run on delivering more.