The Return of the DFL, Part 1

I knew Terri Bonoff was going to lose her race, when, on the Wednesday before the election, her media person called and said, "Terri would love to do an interview!  When can you get her on?"

Why would this interview request tell me she'd lose?  It's because the Democrats have gotten themselves into a destructive pattern.  In races where the district's political lean is either a tossup or leans Republican, the Democrats almost always run away from being a Democrat.  I usually only hear from a Dem running in one of those races during the primary race, at the very beginning of a massive underdog general election campaign, or when the Democrat realizes they're going to lose, when they're attempting a last ditch effort at embracing the Progressives they've ignored since the convention.  Since I hadn't heard from Terri since before the primary...

Democrats immediately need to change their mentality when it comes to their base, and do what Republicans do.  Republicans NEVER forget their base, and rarely ever change their tune to try to win over moderate Democrats.  Republican candidates are always talking to their core constituents as proud Republicans.  Even looking back on this last election, a lot of them shook their head at the horrible things Trump said, but none of them said, "I'd rather work with the Democrats," and only a few uttered, "I'm not going support the Republican candidate for President."  The GOP has a lot of racists and idiots, but they're proud and consistent with who they are.  They rarely bend in the slightest, and their commitment to their ideals, regardless of how flawed they are, pulled some moderate Democrats to their side.  They looked like they had integrity.

Compare that to the Democrats who, at times, can resemble an inflatable dancing guy outside of a car dealership.  Democrats, in the races I described, after they win their primary, focus all their attention on a minuscule amount of voters, the moderate Republicans closest to the Democrats.  Almost everything they do is geared around the idea of convincing that handful of voters, "Sure I'm the DFL candidate, but I really don't like to be called a Democrat and I like to work with the other side of the aisle!"  This game plan is toxic for both Democrats (don't vote for me because I'm not really one of you) and for Republicans (I have questionable morality, I don't stand by my political party, and since I'm only going to vote Republican, you might as well just vote Republican yourself).  They look like they have zero integrity, and the results back that up.

Smart Democrats realize immediately they need their base on board to win.  That's why Tim Walz and Rick Nolan keep winning in their districts.  They know if they turn their back on the Democrats there's no way they can win, so they hold true, never shying away from their party, and focusing on the elements of the DFL which have universal appeal, not a mutilated GOP platform with a sprinkling of DFL.  David Snyder, the candidate who got walloped in the MN-06 district, was a really good Democrat.  He was always looking to represent the DFL, not some consensus of Moderate Democrats and Republicans, with a few Independents mixed in.  He just ran in a district where it's an overwhelming Republican lean, with a GOP Presidential candidate who spoke to the MN-06 Republicans.

Terri Bonoff could've won the MN-03.  Her campaign sprinted away from the DFL base the minute she got the nod.  If she would've stood by DFL core principles, avoided the 'I'm not with them' strategy, and hammered Erik Paulsen far more on his weaknesses, she might've pulled it off.  I tried getting her on the show at least six times, but I only got a call back when they were desperate.  Democrats avoiding being Democrats was a trait of many of the DFL Minnesota House and Senate candidates in the MN-03 district.  If you don't give the voter a reason to respect you, they won't.  She lost.  That lack of party pride also pulled down a few proud Democrats.

When Bonoff's campaign called me, I felt sad for her.  Here was a candidate who was screaming "I don't need you" to most of the DFL, but now that the writing was on the wall, she had an attitude of, "Hey buddy, we're still part of the same team, right?"  After a campaign of avoiding Democrats, her calling up one of the few Progressive media outlets for an interview was a clear sign she was looking for a Hail Mary.

Another example of how not being a fully committed Democrat hurt, showing me how little margin of error there is when it comes to embracing your own party, is from MN-02.  Angie Craig was a good DFL Candidate for the MN-02.  Unlike Bonoff, she did embrace the DFL, but only to a point.  I kept asking her campaign for an interview, twelve times by my count.  I never got a call back.  Another Progressive media outlet told me (off the record) they too were being given the cold shoulder by the Craig campaign.  Meanwhile, GOP candidate Jason Lewis was going out of his way to talk to the most conservative radio stations he could, hammering home his Trump friendly schtick.  While he wallowed in the pig sty that's his base, Craig seemed to be, at times, trying to avoid die hard Progressives.

You know who WAS trying to talk to Progressives?  Paula Overby, the transgender woman who ran a pretty sensational 3rd party campaign.  She took advantage of people being ignored by Craig, and it worked.  Angie Craig lost by 7,000 votes, 174,000 to 167,000, and Paula Overby received near 29,000.  That's amazing, better than most third party candidates.  My guess; the vast majority of Overby's votes were Progressives.  That loss hurt.  I know Angie tried to embrace DFL core principles, but she seemed to take the Progressive side of the party for granted, opening the door for a Paula.  As much as it pains me to say, her lack of Democratic votes cost Craig a race she should've won 99 times out of 100.

The Minnesota DFL needs to remember most people in Minnesota believe in Democratic principles.  They need candidates who are going to be proud Democrats, even in districts where they're going to be a long shot at best.  Instead of focusing an entire campaign's message on a tiny fraction of the voting base YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WIN, get your base on board first, and never forget they're your strongest ally!  Democrats need to embrace their local base, not change their platform and policy depending on the group they're talking to that day.

For the record, this post isn't me over emphasizing my influence.  There are plenty of proud Democrats I interviewed who lost, and many I didn't interview who won.  This is about trying to find the pattern in the wreckage of the 2016 election, and the one which keeps screaming in my face is the lack of party aptitude in certain MN DFL candidates.

The Minnesota DFL needs candidates who want to win as a Democrat, as opposed to lose as Republican lite.  Then, the DFL will stop losing races they should easily win.  Then they will stop grasping defeat from the jaws of victory.