I was never a big Peanuts fan when I was a kid. One thing that really got on my nerves was watching those skits between Lucy and Charlie Brown with a football. Lucy would hold a football in position for Charlie to kick it and then pull it back the last second before his foot makes contact, sending him sprawling.
At the beginning of every skit, Charlie references the fact that she always moves the football, but Lucy always talks him into going for the kick. I’m sure there are a lot of psychological references in that scene, maybe some related to the sexist trope of the duplicitous female tricking the man (Adam and Eve). But over the years, I’ve come to a different interpretation of watching Democrats get throttled by Republicans.
And let’s be clear: this far predates MAGA. Republicans, more often than not, beat Democrats using deceptive campaigning with fake outrage over (fill in the blank) that’s as obvious as watching professional wrestling.
But, every time, establishment Democrats follow the same script. They dismiss the topic, thinking it’s beneath their integrity to address and fully explain what Republicans are doing. They seem to think that Republicans’ bullshit is so evident that people will never fall for it, and time and time again, just like Charlie kicking at that damned football, they are proven wrong.
Republicans have mastered creating a narrative and even a fake main character to drive their story, whether it’s:
- The Birther Movement
- The War on Christmas
- Woke
- DEI
- Affirmative Action
- Obamacare
- Transgender bathrooms and sports
- Critical Race Theory
- Defund the Police
Or any number of false flag distractions they use to hide the fact that their policies are thinly veiled repackaging of the same old appease-the-rich garbage that never works.
However, people will continue to fall for these tactics because Republicans understand how to tell a story and drive their narrative through repetition, repetition, and more repetition. They stick to the script no matter what, and as stupid as it sounds, it works. They even manage to “convert” Democrats or D.I.N.Os (Democrats In Name Only) to their side with promises of more money, TV time, and political power.
This tactic has been used in sales for generations. You may roll your eyes when you talk to someone reading from a script during a sales call, but I guarantee you that the script gets results when you look at the numbers.
When Bernie Sanders entered the 2016 Presidential race, many voters on both sides of the political spectrum were shocked by how honest and straightforward his messaging was. His quietly announcing his candidacy during his lunch break added to the intrigue, as most presidential campaign announcements are as well-produced as a Miss America beauty pageant.
While you may or may not agree with Bernie’s policy positions, you still have to admit he had something genuine that captured the attention of voters who usually avoided politics like a disease. In fact, if you ask many MAGA supporters today, they would probably say they would abandon Trump in a heartbeat to vote for Bernie.
However, the Democratic establishment, just like Charlie Brown, can see something that works and proceed to discredit and ignore it because it doesn’t follow their “established” way of doing business. They think populism is a low-brow approach reserved only for the extreme right or left.
The Democratic party’s blind hatred of populism is akin to how Republicans feel about socialism. Both are nothing more than economic systems, just like capitalism. But conservatives have been trained by Wall Street elites to equate capitalism with all that’s good and patriotic while condemning other systems as evil, anti-American, and demonic.
The neo-liberal establishment that runs the Democratic has also been brainwashed to believe the same thing, although to a lesser extent. They often fold and “compromise” on legislation (even when they have the majority) when Republicans start screaming about socialism.
It’s almost like the Democratic establishment thinks that if they can pass enough half-assed, watered-down legislation, the voters will stop chasing the high school quarterback and realize their nerdy, homework-doing, “friend-zoned” bestie was their true love all along. But, year after year, the quarterback rolls up on his motorcycle, and voters jump right on.
We often mock and laugh at Republicans, but in all honesty, their stupidity works, as 2016 and 2024 once again proved. Of course, Democrats don’t need to change to win elections. The establishment is content to be there to clean up the mess after Republicans wreck the car for the umpteenth time. This willingness to settle into their role makes it nearly impossible to change the culture of the Democratic Party.
When people don’t care about winning or losing elections because they feel they just need to “wait their turn,” this leads to a stale culture of mediocrity and conformity that causes voters to disengage from the process. This culture is a more significant cause of low turnout than any gerrymandering or polling station shenanigans Republicans pull during elections.
That’s because progressive voters feel the stale malaise that permeates within the Democratic party. They can see the process as young, passionate voices like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett are constantly beaten down over the years in a process similar to housebreaking a puppy.
Bold voices like these two ladies are routinely suppressed and diminished by the Democratic party. While they may be celebrated young stars in front of the cameras, behind the scenes, the Establishment works to limit their real power. Case in point. AOC lost her House Oversight Committee leadership position after some “alleged” behind-the-scenes manipulation by Trump-clapping Nancy Pelosi.
Voters are sick and tired of the snobbish culture of compromise and have come to respect Donald Trump’s unapologetic and bold approach. It’s wrong, but at least he is shooting his shot and not showing any concern for anyone who disagrees with his vision.
Say what you want about Trump, but his policies don’t feel like they’ve been through very many “focus groups,” which is why many people would instead cast their vote for a convicted felon, sexual predator, and con man than settle for the same old establishment Democrat.
I wish I could end this with solutions to help Democrats change the party from within, but honestly, I just can’t see how anyone can do it. If the party doesn’t care about winning or losing elections, then you’ve pretty much got a party run by NPCs (non-playable characters) who will stick to their programming until the game crashes or people quit playing.
The only thing I can hope for is that more bugs in the system, like Bernie Sanders and AOC, may one day rewrite the software. I just it’s hope before and not after Republicans kick off World War III or the Second Great Depression.
