Democrats hope to rebound
By: Ryan Kirby, Columnist
As the 2018 election continues to inch closer each day, Democrats hope to recover from the shocking upset that was the 2016 election. 2018 is a must-win scenario for Democrats if they have any hopes of making true progress in this country. So what do Democratic candidates and voters need to do to get back into power? Actually, I think the answer is pretty straightforward: They need to campaign on the horrible policies the GOP have enacted at the local, state and national levels. Democrats need to embrace the issues that they stand on and not back down to the GOP.
Every candidate for national office should campaign on the Russia investigation. The GOP-run Congress is unwilling to put the national security of our nation before their party, and Democrats need to tell their voters that they will hold Russia and the Trump administration accountable for their actions. Democrats are the only ones who will use Congress’s constitutional duty to provide a check on the countless unethical and criminal acts taken by the Trump administration. Our party will force the Trump administration to hold Russia accountable for their actions in the 2016 election because our party knows that we will not allow a foreign adversary to choose our leaders for us.
Democrats need to take the fight to the GOP on their horrendous tax scam. The GOP have passed a tax bill that places our country deeper into debt and gives the vast majority of benefits to the wealthiest of Americans. Democrats need to attack the GOP for literally borrowing $1.5 trillion from the future and distributing it to the wealthiest of Americans in the present. Don’t back down because a few corporations throw out PR stunts and try to credit the tax bill. Fight back and continue to talk about how the GOP gave Trump and his billionaire friends a giant tax cut while raising the taxes of millions of middle-class Americans within a decade.
Democrats cannot back down to the gun lobby and need to campaign on the common sense gun reform that over 70 percent of the country supports. The Republican party is the single biggest obstacle to achieving sensible gun control in this country and the only solution is to vote them out of office. Democrats have to make the case that they will support gun control legislation because no American should have to live in fear of being gunned down by an assault weapon in public.
Candidates for office need to stand up for the progressive values that will move this country in the right direction, and if they do that, they will win. Democrats running for office cannot do this alone though and they need all the help they can get. The election this November is crucial to stopping the regressive policies of the GOP and ensure a bright future for the Democratic party. A Blue Wave will only happen if you make it happen. This year there are 34 Senate seats, 36 governor seats, 435 House seats, and over 6,000 state legislative seats to be contested. Voters need to get energized and get involved. We need to make the Blue Wave happen one door and one phone call at a time.
