Triage, Part Four – Let’s All Eat an Elephant

If you have stayed with me so far, you now know several things about Wright County voters. You know about a voter’s sense of identity, and how that impacts their voting decisions. You know that the anonymous folks who run Indivisible are, at best, naïve, they lack meaningful political experience, and their campaign is probably going to make it more difficult for Doug Chapin and Wright County Democrats to get elected. (If you missed that part, just remember, the only person who likes to hear shouting is the person doing the shouting. The rest of us? Not so much.) You know that for years, Wright County voters have come to think of themselves as Republican because the Democrats have not given them a single reason to vote for a Democrat. And that’s on us Democrats, not on them.

America needs a leader. So do Democrats in Wright County. We need leaders who can do two things at the same time:

1. Talk intelligently about shared American civic values.

2. Talk, act, and sound like a normal human being.

When I use the phrase “shared American civic values,” I’m not talking about the fringe, far-left, socialist ideas in the national Democratic party that are currently trendy and fashionable in places like New York. Wright County is not New York. Democrats are not going to win in Wright County by campaigning as if they were in New York. Voters out here don’t want wokeness and elitist condescension. They want to be able to pay for groceries, gas, and the occasional date night.

The good news is that we do not need to persuade all voters. Democrats out here typically get 35% of the vote. That means we only need an additional 16% of the voters to start winning elections. We will find these folks in the middle – the soft Republicans and Independents who will respond to an argument that is calibrated to what they want.

Our goal is not to “change” Republicans. Our goal is simply to get them to vote for us. There is a difference!

How do we do this? We ask them what they want. I mean this literally. People buy our questions, not our answers. If you are a Democrat who wants to run in Wright County in 2028 or 2029 (2029 is a stub year because of redistricting) start on January 2, 2027. Just initiate conversations with folks in Coborn’s, at Caribou, or anywhere you see them. Just ask a brief question and listen to their answer. No debate. No discussion. Just listen to what they say and say, “Thank you.” The state DFL party polling is ineffective. Talk to voters yourself. You get to know them and, importantly, they get to know you.

There are several different kinds of voters. Candidates need to identify them, figure out where they live, and then go to them and ask them questions about what it is that they want. Then tell them how what they want is related to the three (and only three) planks of your campaign platform.

Here are some of the people you will find once you start talking to them:

1.         Grievance voters. These are folks who voted for Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024. They believe they are being lied to. They don’t like the Democratic culture wars.

2.         Realigned voters. These are folks who don’t think they have changed but think the politics and parties have changed around them. Some are college-educated professionals who were fiscally conservate Republicans (Romney and McCain) but have changed to think of themselves as Democrats. Others are working-class Republicans, people who were Democrats who responded to Trump’s economic message. (Note: whether Trump’s economic message is smoke and mirrors is irrelevant. These folks believe in it and they will vote for it.)

3.         People who want the lesser of two evils. These voters think the parties are corrupt, and they show up to vote for the candidate and party who they believe is less corrupt.

4.         Hispanic voters. Hispanic voters have the same interests as non-Hispanic voters, but they often vote as a bloc.  Democrats have tried to appeal to Hispanic voters through wokeness, like using the word Latinx, which many Hispanic voters feel is stupidx.

5.         People who don’t follow politics. These are people who don’t get their news from reliable sources, but from social media. They think mainstream news is mostly propaganda.

6.         Young voters. Surprisingly, young voters are not particularly turned off by Republicans who have run roughshod over the Constitution and our civil rights. (Most voters do not understand the Constitution and carry around a comic book version of it in their heads.) They are turned off because of what’s happening in the economy, and this includes their limited prospects of finding meaningful employment that will enable them to live a lifestyle like that of their parents.

(The foregoing is a rough paraphrase of the chapter “Anatomy of a Swing Voter” in How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time, by Sarah Longwell. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2026, pages 85 – 106.)

In Wright County, there are not may Hispanic voters. There are a lot of grievance voters, voters who want the lesser of two evils, and a lot of voters who aren’t paying attention but will follow their herd.

How do we get 16% of these people to vote for Democrats again?

1.         Do not challenge their Identity. Do not say anything to suggest that Republicans are stupid, even MAGA Republicans. You will lose the argument at the beginning.

2.         Keep the Message Simple. Tell them we Democrats want affordability, we want to end fraud and waste, and we want better schools. The tone of the message changes, once you ask enough questions to realize what kind of voter you are talking to. Adapt the message as needed.

3.         Keep Wokeness Out of the Conversation. Yes. Please. Really. If in the past you advocated for guaranteed basic income, just shut up about it. You won’t win with that argument. Not only will you not win, but you are also guaranteed to lose out here.

4.         Tell them you are a Reasonable Democrat. Many Republicans think that Democrats are crazy. Sadly, many Democrats are crazy. (I know this. I’ve seen it.)  Always, when you identify your self on your website, your campaign literature, and in conversation, say you are a “Reasonable Democrat.” Do not say the word “Democrat” without first saying the word “Reasonable.” Always.

5.         Always make it about Them. Voters don’t care about your children. Voters don’t care whether your ethnic group will be represented for the first time in the Minnesota legislature or in congress. Voters don’t care if you are a former Marine or a former Cowboy. They are going to vote for you or against you based on what they think you will do for them.

So, always tell them what you are going to do for them. And there are three things, and only three things, you are going to do:

1.         You are going to make things affordable.

2.         You are going to fight fraud and government waste.

3.         You are going to improve our schools.

That’s it. That’s how to eat an elephant in Wright County, Minnesota, USA, Planet Earth.

If you are a Democrat in Wright County who is running for office, or who wants to run for office, go do this now.