This essay from Mary Pipher about the loneliness of being a progressive in Nebraska could just as easily have been written by Democrats in South Dakota. Pipher speaks of loving the geography and a heartfelt loyalty to a place that needs her and her values more than places like Boston and San Francisco. She speaks of past successes now buried under Republican dominance that even strong candidates can't beat. She speaks of a sense of doom immediately after the 2014 midterm election.
And she dispels that gloom with a focus on issues-oriented activism and grassroots candidate recruitment... and shared lentil soup:
Recently I hosted our holiday party. About 25 people came. I bought prosecco and made a big pot of lentil soup. We toasted one another as we shared the year’s victories. We had helped the climate marchers cross Nebraska in August. We’d been active in pushing for the closure of a North Omaha coal-fired electric plant, which will shut down in 2016 rather than try to meet new emissions standards. We had succeeded in lobbying many of our public power districts to include more wind, solar and geothermal energy in their portfolios, and we had elected an environmentalist to the board of Nebraska Public Power District. We had written op-eds and speeches to inform our citizens about environmental issues. And, to cap off the toasts, two of our youngest members announced that they were running for office in the next election, one for a City Council seat, the other for the State Legislature.
By the end of the evening, warmed by the fire and sparkling wine, we all felt better. We felt ready to go out in the cold and once again face the frosty climate that is Nebraska politics for progressives [Mary Pipher, "Nebraska's Lonely Progressives," New York Times, 2014.12.26].
Organize around issues where you can find common ground with neighbors beyond your circle of die-hard believers. Identify, prep, and support viable candidates among your activists. And build community (also read: commitment) by having dinner together. To anyone forming your own progressive party, there's your recipe, if not for guaranteed success, then at least for sustainable sanity and action.
I read the piece on FB. Here's the first of my two comments: "She really should harken back to the glory days of Bryan and Norris (and Truman and Humphrey) and recall that their progressive focus was on bread and butter issues that affected everyday people, particularly the legions of small family farmers that populated the rural landscape in those days. Pipher seems fixated on broad issues and glosses over matters like education, healthcare, working conditions, and infrastructure--which also seem to me to be the missing elements of the Dem pitches here in SD. Rick Weiland's Senate campaign in SD was so obsessed with class warfare ("Take It Back") that I doubt most voters had a clue about how he felt on those issues. These are bread-and-butter considerations that have always worked for Dems/progressives, and while I admire their fixation on the "Big Issues," I think refocusing on kitchen-table themes will do them a lot of good. BTW, I grew up in Los Angeles when a Nebraska-born populist named Sam Yorty was the mayor, and he was one guy who knew how to connect with Joe Rank-and-File." Here's the second, responding to another commenter: "Didn't follow those campaigns, Kim, but Pipher's lamentation gives me the impression that NE progressives are more committed to fighting over environmental issues (with a brief notation about "social and economic justice" with no specifics attached) that indeed matter, but do not a complete populist schemata make."
John when I think of talking with people(voters) my thoughts are how it affects them in their daily lives in the easiest most comfortable non-threatening way to relate almost like sales features vs benefits. How does this affect me?
Agree, Lynn. Almost every political discussion should begin with a phrase something like, "what's that got to do with the price of tomatoes at Safeway?"
Lynn, Tsitrian is clueless.
You're probably right, Mr. Kurtz. I'm certainly an outside observor.
Anyone who has their eye on the ball regarding what this climate change issue will bring in Paris, is not an outsider. What I see is the current reports that are coming in that speak of big problems happening much sooner that first thought would happen. There will be no outsider or insider on this issue, there will only be those who demand answers and solutions. How will the farmers and ranchers see the facts now that the Church has announced its intention? The bread and butter issues will be exactly that, food.
M.I.T. is SCREAMING for ACTION NOW on climate change as its scientists DOUBLED projections for global temp. rise, CO2 ppm increase and polar temp warming 20 degrees by 2095. my youngest GD will only be 83.
Sometime before then frozen worldwide METHANE beds will erupt multi-magnifying green house impact. Then the ocean current conveyor belt shuts off and we can blame grudz, les, troy and sibson.
lets start now! thinkprogress.com (as mentioned yesterday)
JT-i don't think "most voters (R.)" in SD cared what Weiland (D.) stood for. we shall find voters that do. I can't think of a better rallying cry than "take it back". If anyone other than the one percent are not angry about the state of the nation, they are "un- and mis-informed".
I did not like the "Take It Back" slogan because it had been used before, and there is no such thing as going back or retrieving.
All we can do is move ahead, or make things better. A slogan is not necessarily the magic wand for winning or losing, but the "Take it Back" was not strong enough, or appealing enough, at least in my opinion.
I like Wieland, and agreed with him on many issues, so the slogan was not a factor in how I voted, but it was not, in my opinion, very convincing.