Wright County Indivisible and the Politics of Outrage

I am a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union (MCLU). The ACLU is a non-partisan group that works in courts and legislatures to protect, preserve, and expand civil rights for everyone. It does not engage in party politics, and it does not exclude individuals based on their political party or their political activity. The ACLU and the MCLU are based on principle, not the politics of the day.

Wright County Indivisible is not the ACLU. Not even close. It is about insider politics. And, not even smart insider politics at that.

Wright County Indivisible has become a shill for endorsed DFL candidates, particularly those who many of us feel are on the fringe of the DFL party. While Indivisible was once based on principle, that is, “No Kings” and opposing authoritarian rule, Wright County Indivisible has abandoned principle for politics, and its message is now being shouted at everyone.

This is in part because the people who have emerged to lead Wright County Indivisible are politically naive, not well versed in the principle that underlies the law, and because they do not understand the importance of the long game. They move in for the swift kill, not realizing that changing the consciousness of the electorate requires a consistent, reasonable message over a long period of time, a message that people will listen to because it doesn’t directly challenge their intelligence and their identity.

My wife and I had participated in No Kings marches and were welcome until I decided to run for the DFL nomination for Senate 29. Then, I was told that I was no longer welcome at Indivisible meetings. I received invitations to events from some people, only to have them rescinded by other people. When Indivisible interviewed candidates for potential endorsement, I was specifically told to stay away from the meeting. I attended a couple of meetings where I saw Indivisible working directly with other candidates. Many Indivisible groups are PACs, but others are organized differently, including 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4), and unincorporated groups. There are laws that regulate how closely a group can work with a candidate, depending upon how they are organized and financed. But regardless of the way Wright County Indivisible is organized, it, and the candidates it works with, are required to follow Minnesota campaign finance laws, which is something they do not appear to be doing.

Of course, what I’m describing was, for me, merely a personal problem. It’s politics, I get it. I wasn’t the endorsed candidate, and I saw a need to shake things up a bit. They said I could not be a part of their group, and that’s fine. But this could be a larger problem for Wright County Indivisible and the DFL candidates it works closely with if Republican candidates like Tom Emmer, Michael Holmstrom, Joe McDonald, and Marion Rarick decide to act.  

But that’s just part of the Indivisible problem. Wright County Indivisible is now just a bunch of shrill Democrats shouting at Republicans. When you give up principle for politics, it’s hard to get it back. And when the election is over, you had better win because without principle, you no longer have a reason for existing. And instead of rededicating yourself to principle, you dedicate yourself to excuses.

What I have a problem with is the shouting. I believe it will hurt DFL candidates. I am going to write a separate blog post about that. For now:

There is a group of DFL Democrats who are aligned with Wright County Indivisible, and who are the equivalent of MAGA Republicans. Their beliefs are rigid, inflexible, and often unencumbered by facts. They know they are right, just like the religious zealot who knocks on your door on a Saturday morning knows they are right. They do not understand that their message is a direct challenge to the identity of Independents and soft Republicans, people who we Democrats need in order to win elections out here. And even if they did, they do not understand the consequence of this.

You get potential cross-over voters to vote for you by persuading them on issues they care about, not by shouting at them and telling them how stupid they are.

The Wright County Indivisible message makes Democrats feel good about themselves and will probably result in a strong Democratic turnout in November. The problem is that only about 35% of the voters out here are Democrats. If every Democrat out here shows up at the polls and votes for us, we are still not going to win.  Out here, Democrats need Independents and soft Republicans to vote for them to win.

The question is, as Democrats, do we simply vent and give in to the temporary satisfaction that rage brings? And then do we feel sorry for ourselves when we lose? Blaming our loss on a “red district” rather than our own inability to communicate effectively? Or do we strategically plan and calmly and deliberately develop a message that will capture the 16% of non-Democrats who we need to win an election out here?

Let’s see what happens on the night of November third. Until then, what, me worry?