How to Eat an Elephant
If you are a Democrat and are wondering about how to win an election in a district that has traditionally voted Republican, you need to read the book How to Eat an Elephant – One Voter at a Time. It is written by Sarah Longwell, published by St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2026. I just purchased this book a couple of days ago, and I was heartened to see that it advocates an approach to winning elections in Republican districts that is the same as the approach I have been advocating.
My ideas evolved from my work on music and identity. I am currently a Music PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota School of Music. My dissertation is focused on the role that identity plays in shaping music, and the role that music plays in shaping identity. For me, there is an easy connection between identity in this sense and political identity, or what I call partisan “Identity Politics.”
It has been 30 years since a Democrat has won an election in District 29 (or its predecessor district – the boundary lines change slightly every 10 years with redistricting). When this happens, political identities can become ossified, that is, inflexible and resistant to change. Political identities are ossified in District 29, and worse, in Congressional District 6.
This presents two problems. The first is convincing soft Republicans and Independents to vote for Democratic candidates. I get it, it’s not easy.
The second problem is a bit more vexing. That is, how to convince liberals and Democrats (especially the MAGA-style Democrats on the far left) that their hellfire and brimstone approach to political campaigning will not convince ossified Republicans, but will make them even less likely to change their habit and vote for a Democrat.
For me, this is a key issue. I saw this at the CD29 convention, I saw it at the CD6 convention, and I’m seeing it now in the campaigns out here.
One culprit is the group that calls itself “Indivisible.” Keep in mind that Indivisible is not the Democratic party. It is a PAC. By law, it cannot coordinate with Democratic candidates. It was a group originally founded to oppose Trumpism, then it organized around opposing what ICE was doing in Minnesota. (For some reason, no one talks about ICE in Minnesota much these days.) The local Indivisible group appears to have a sort of acephalous structure. It seems to function like a mob. Its members enforce strict social conformity on each other. The only opinions that are allowed are those that conform to the group, with no nuance at all. If anyone expresses a contrary opinion (me, for example), they are vilified. “Indivisible” means “monolithic thought.”
The Indivisible group mind seems to think that the most effective way to win an election is by attacking the identity structure of the very Republicans and Independents that Democrats need to win elections.
I view this as a problem for Doug Chapin, the Democratic candidate for congress who is running against Tom Emmer. I have had the opportunity to meet Mr. Chapin several times. I’ve spoken with him and I’ve followed his campaign. Doug Chapin is a fine person, and he is running a great campaign. He will make a great congressman from the Sixth District. But Chapin’s fundamental campaign message is at odds with the strategy employed by Indivisible. For example, Indivisible pays for billboards with flaming messages that angrily say, “Dump Emmer.” This is not how to win an election for a Democrat in CD6.
In the last week or so, Chapin’s polling numbers appear to be going south. As of October 4th, he was polling at about 42% while Emmers was polling at 58%. Chapin’s polling numbers are going in the wrong direction. This is deeply concerning.
What is Indivisible getting wrong? If Indivisible is so “right,” so “correct,” how can others not understand this? Why can’t Republicans just listen for once, and realize that we are better, that we have knowledge that they don’t, and that they should just shut up and do what Indivisible tells them to do?
Indivisible is not focused on the issues that the people out here care about, which are the economy and affordability, fraud, and illegal immigration. And Republicans also think that Democrats, generally, are too focused on identity politics and the niche concerns of various interest groups.
A new and important issue has emerged, which is the massive Monticello data center. The right stance on this issue can attract voters in the Monticello area, but Democrats have not yet figured out what the right stance is. (Hint: its not “regulation,” or “guidelines,” it’s a firm, unequivocal “No. Not now. Not ever.”) But even with the right stance, voters in Delano, Buffalo, Chaska, Victoria, and Lino Lakes do not consider this to be an issue that affects them. Monticello is too far away, and as we know, all politics is local. Really, local.
The problem with Chapin’s campaign isn’t his political beliefs. His political beliefs are beliefs that I share, along with every other Democrat. And he is a skilled and inspiring speaker and leader whom I admire.
The problem with Chapin’s campaign is that, as far as the public goes, his campaign message is being shaped by an outsider group – Indivisible. Indivisible is talking louder than Chapin. And the people in Indivisible, though well-intentioned, simply do not know how to do it. What’s worse, they do not know that they do not know how to do it. It’s the Dunning-Krueger effect. When someone doesn’t know very much about something, they overestimate their abilities.
The people who run Indivisible are good at getting people to attend demonstrations and hold placards. In the right context, this is a good thing. But actual politics, that is, implementing a sensible strategy designed to sway enough Republican and Independent voters to win an election, well, they are not very good at that. And they are making things worse.
There is less than a month for Indivisible to change course and advocate for issues in a way that will not alienate the actual voters Chapin needs to win the election, that is, the 20% of voters who in the past have voted for Republicans or Independents. I don’t think Indivisible will change.
Of course, time will tell. But I believe that on November 4, a lot of Democrats will look at what Indivisible in Wright County has wrought and say, “Maybe the message that made us Democrats feel good about ourselves wasn’t the best message for Wright County and CD 6. Maybe we should have identified the issues that soft Republicans and Independents out here care about, and talked about those issues.”
Of course, I hope I am wrong. Minnesota needs to send Doug Chapin to congress.