Progressives in North Carolina are spending a little too much time patting themselves on the back. Sure, they took back the governor’s office and held onto the attorney general’s office, but they lost the Commissioner of Insurance, State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction and failed to gain a US Senate seat. While they netted a single state house seat, they lost a state senate seat and made no progress in the Congressional delegation.
Democrats here did better than some states, but they shouldn’t fool themselves. They still have plenty of work to do. Instead of just focusing on what went right, they need to figure out what went wrong and what can be done better. Otherwise, they won’t make the progress they need moving forward.
Still, let’s rehash what went right. Since 2013, Moral Monday protests kept the focus on the excesses of the GOP-led General Assembly and its hapless accomplice, Pat McCrory. The protests made the press cover the story, attracting national attention to the state, and built a grassroots movement that engaged and recruited activists. They’ve sustained this movement for almost four years now. That’s impressive.
Progressives also began to build an infrastructure similar to the one that Art Pope and his allies built on the right. Progress NC organized protests around specific issues and used publicity stunts to garner attention. They’ve got an active social media operation that keeps them in the conversation and keeps supporters engaged and informed.
Progressives have also built the campaign organizations necessary to win in the age of dark money. Third party entities supported Democratic candidates and attacked Republicans with big dollar ad buys, social media campaigns, and direct mail. They may not be pretty but they’re a reality until Congress or the courts mitigate the impact of Citizens United on our elections.
What progressives have failed to do is build a permanent mobilization apparatus. Sure, they can get people out to rallies and protests but they’re falling short on getting them out to vote. During the early voting period, almost 70,000 fewer African-Americans voted this year than in 2012. I suspect three factors caused most of this decline: The flooding from Hurricane Matthew that hit predominantly African-American communities the hardest; voter suppression laws that reduced access to the polls; and general apathy toward Hillary Clinton.
It’s not just African-American communities. Democratic messaging didn’t reach rural white voters, either. They voted overwhelmingly for Trump and provided the coattails that swept so many Republicans into office. The forces that motivate them should be the same ones that motivate rural working class voters of all races and ethnicities. They want hope for the future, security, and the sense that our economy and society is not leaving them behind.
Moving forward, we’re likely to see more voter suppression strategies, not less. We might not have hurricanes every year, but our candidates won’t always have the star power of Barack Obama. Organizing efforts should be restructured around the needs of communities, not political campaigns or operations. People have become distrustful of political parties because they’ve become divorced from civic life, not integrated into it.
As the GOP furthers its grip on government from the federal level to the local, they will reduce revenue and services that sustain families and offer opportunity for our children. Schools have already seen a reduction of teacher assistants and support staff like reading specialists. Privatization of Medicaid and Medicare will increase hardships for already vulnerable people. They’ll need support for basic needs like getting to the doctor’s office or picking up groceries.
Progressives should use these gaps in services to better integrate themselves into communities and better understand what motivates people. It also offers the opportunity to begin redefining, or rebranding, political operations. Instead of being the people and organizations that cause division, they become the ones that offer assistance and support.
Nationally, Democrats have faced two tough election cycles in a row. In North Carolina, Democrats have done marginally better than in similar swing states. They’ve done a lot right and should continue doing it. They need to do more. Building a sustainable organizing effort is essential to motivating the people they need to vote. Connecting with those people on a level besides politics is probably the best way to do it.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
“Organizing efforts should be restructured around the needs of communities, not political campaigns or operations. People have become distrustful of political parties because they’ve become divorced from civic life, not integrated into it.” I don’t disagree with concerns articulated, but it does sound a lot like you want the political party apparatus to become a semi- social service provider. I think we had that decades ago in most of the country, and even more recently in the Daley machine in Chicago, although that is admittedly a kinder view of the Daley machine than it deserves.
Re-building trust and nurturing a sense that politics matters is unlikely to occur as long as few have any realistic idea of what an elected official does, should or must know in order to be an effective public official, and as long as many bore us silly with answers so carefully crafted as to become meaningless.
I also think all of this underestimates the economic fear from 2008/9/10. Even if one has mostly recovered personally, and many, many have not, all of us saw the impact around us in ways not seen since 1929 and most of the 1930’s. Shock is an understatement. Yes, some people had already experienced a long and slow decline in their economic situation, but the fiscal tsunami moved tens of millions into that category.
What is needed is not a message from the Democratic party, but some clear plans that are understandable and do not require new regulations. The latter has become a four letter word. The deep seated belief in capitalism as the cornerstone for a better life is now seen as being throttled by government. Not entirely true, but factual data is not going to win this debate until those facts are directly related to a person’s life, which most elected officials do not convey very well. It is difficult when those with knowledge and education are referred to as “elites” as though they were an alien race.
I do fervently hope that word will become uniformly unwelcome in the media soon. It feeds a pernicious myth.
“It’s not just African-American communities. Democratic messaging didn’t reach rural white voters, either.”
There’s the problem right there. People don’t want “messaging”, they want results. Eight years after hope and change, chronic unemployment got swept under the rug by fudged Labor Department statistics, and with the likelihood of even worse employment conditions ahead thanks to TPP. The one Dem candidate for President who credibly opposed TPP got cheated by Wasserman-Schultz and a corrupted DNC in favor of a Wall Street phony who spends more time in the Hamptons and on Martha’s Vineyard than in places that were devastated by NAFTA and CAFTA.
Great post. What do you think we need to be concerned about at the upcoming NCGA “Special Session”? There has been a lot of talk about the “court-packing” scheme, and some legislators have said it was just a rumor. Do you think they will try to add two seats to the State Supreme Court?
I have been attending/ listening to the State Board of Elections meetings, and I have become concerned that the motivation behind the NC GOP’s voter complaints and election protests is stagecraft to cast doubt on the election process. I worry that the filing of bogus complaints, etc. was to create an illusion of irregularities and fraud to use as an argument for more intentionally discriminatory restrictions on voting like the “monster law” that was partially overturned by the 4th Cir. Court of Appeals. Do you think they may introduce some kind of new so-called “voter ID” law at the special session?
A couple of other laws had some impact down ballot as well. One the removal of straight ticket voting as well as adding party id next to the court of appeals candidates.
Always more work today. In NC and everywhere. Good article, Thomas. Thanks.