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Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall
I think you missed my point. To many people identity politics issues are "the issues" or at least are included in their list of issues.
In order to expand the base, you need to address some of the issues that fall into the identity politics category. They can't be dismissed wholesale. People like me care very much about them because they affect our lives. It is clear the Republican Party has been very good at exploiting white fragility by manipulating them by (i) passing bullshit laws that hurt people and then (ii) dismissing the backlash as liberals classifying everyone as racist, sexist, etc. They are very successful at this because people close themselves off to this stuff since any personal admission of a tendency, no matter how small, towards an "-ism" or "phobia" is an uncomfortable proposition for whites and often seen as not very important.
But you can't expand your base without including issues that are important to huge swaths of the target. Marketing the party to go after those who want accessible healthcare and an inclusive economy is surely important. But I guarantee that focusing solely on that stuff will not expand the base. Obama was able to avoid talking identity politics too much because his skin color has agency when it comes to those issues and he benefited from an expansion of his base (plus the fact that the last Republican to hold office before him was a fucking fool) as a result.
So, the question remains: How can Dems expand the base without turning off fragile whites in key states?
TM
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Run different campaigns, emphasizing different issues, in different states. Emphasize the social safety net and the good aspects of the ACA in Rust Belt states. Use a mix of that with some identity politics in the NC to Maine region.
Concede the Bible belt. Trump's GOP owns the evangelicals. Don't waste even a penny there.
On a more micro level, politicians have always changed their message subtly from city to city and county to county, depending on demographics. It's not difficult to simply refrain from raising identity issues in areas where they may turn off voters and emphasize them in areas where they would raise enthusiasm.
It must also be said, however, that generally, identity politics is a loser politically.
People want to hear what politicians are going to do for them. Telling a minority of people what you will do for them, will only get you a minority of votes. Redressing past sins of the majority is also not a sunny, positive message. My suspicion is people are going to be orderly exhausted with bickering and negative themes by the time this disastrous administration has left office. If I were a D running for president, I would watch a lot of Joe Biden's speeches. Fiery defense of the middle class, support for reasonable social safety net's, and an emphasis on bringing back jobs. But overwhelmingly, more than anything, always positive.
