Looking forward to 2022: What should the Democrats do?
VARSHINI REGUPATHY: Democrats are losing steam in Texas. They’ve taken hit after hit: redistricting, the abortion ban, you name it. Organizers are, understandably, burnt out and questioning the long term future of the state. The energy and hope that was felt in 2018 during Former U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke’s run is simply missing. In its place is fear and fatigue. This is all very understandable given the amount of political fights Texas Democrats have armored up for in the past year, the abortion ban and redistricting to name a few. Now, the Democrats are licking their wounds and gearing up once again for 2022. Their strategy? Give it all they’ve got. Here are 4 things the Democrats have to do to make up some ground in these midterms.
Differentiate from the national party
Democrats need to differentiate themselves from the national party in order to steal some independents and moderate Republicans from Texas Governor Abbott and the Texas Republicans. Many Texas Republicans have gone further right recently in an attempt to garner the support of former President Trump and his very loyal base. The prime example of this is the Governor himself. Recently, especially during the special sessions of the Texas legislature, Abbott has been throwing red meat to his base. Abbott has subjected Texas to the horrors of an abortion ban and the anti-Trans bill, in an attempt to run to the right to avoid significant primary challenges and remain in the former president’s good graces. He even went as far as to audit the 2020 presidential election results in Texas at former President Trump’s request.
This recent mass run to the right means the middle of the political spectrum has been left up for grabs for Democrats in 2022. Moderates in general and moderate Republicans that are disillusioned with the “party of Trump” might be willing to vote blue if Texas Democrats show a little differentiation from the national Democratic party. Abbott’s team has clearly recognized this chink in their armor, as they’ve already put out an ad against gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, attacking him on issues where he strongly aligns with the national party in order to make grabs at the middle ground.
This differentiation from the national party obviously shouldn’t be on an issue where the candidate does agree with the party platform, but could be on issues that are specific to Texas. A possibility could be admonishing the Democratic establishment for ignoring many areas in rural Texas simply because they know they will never vote blue, an obvious political move. Another example is admonishing President Biden on the crisis at the southern border.
As the general trend seems to be that in 2022 the national Democrats won’t be the most popular, it would be an important messaging tactic for Democrats in a southern state like Texas to find a wedge issue between them and the national party.
2. Focus on issues that Texans care about
Texas Democrats should recall that Republicans failed miserably at their response to last year’s winter storm. While Governor Greg Abbott flailed, Senator Ted Cruz decided that it was prime time to take a trip to Cancun while Texans died in the cold. Texans did not forget that harrowing time. A Texas Tribune poll showed that 60 percent of Texans disapprove of state leaders’ handling of the winter power grid failure.
Republican leaders clearly failed the state in a time of dire need, and Democrats should use this to their advantage in the upcoming midterm elections and focus their platform on these significant failures.The failing power grid was a direct result of Republicans’ policies and lack of action, and they should pay for that at the ballot box. Even worse, they do not seem to have learned their lesson. As we’re approaching winter in Texas, Abbott continues to promise that the lights will stay on, while several energy experts claim that the state is at risk for another power grid failure. Abbott called special session after special session and instead of using them to fix the power grid, he decided instead to strip Texans of their voting rights and reproductive rights.
The messaging should surround every day issues that Texans care about. A lot of voters in the state are indifferent to state politics, and often do not want to discuss politics at all. They couldn't care less about the glamour and reality TV-like environment at the capitol, but they do care if their electricity stays on through the winter. They care if their neighbors freeze to death and they care about their kids not being able to eat because all the food in the fridge went bad during the power outage. They care about that, and they will go to the ballot box to protect their kids and neighbors.
3. DON’T talk about Trump
Texan Democrats have a lesson to learn from the recent Virginian gubernatorial race. While Democratic Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe sounded like he was running a campaign against Trump instead of his actual opponent, Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin traipsed the state consistently staying on message about education and taxes. The lesson here is simple: voters want a message, and the message cannot be “we hate Trump.” There needs to be a clear focus on the issues at play.
Democrats seem to be under the impression that simple dislike of the former president will turn out and energize voters. While Trump still might generate strong negative feelings from the liberal base, moderates are disillusioned by Democrats who do not have a message. I am also prescribed to the somewhat hopeful belief that Americans are tired of the ugliness that was the Trump era of politics. Voters want to know what the candidate is going to do for them and Texas Democrats would do well to remember that in 2022.
4. Show up everywhere
In 2020, Texas Democrats were severely incapacitated due to the fact that they simply did not have their ground game intact due to the pandemic. Democrats need to register new voters in person and go door to door recruiting new voters and energizing citizens. One of the biggest strengths of the 2018 O’Rourke race was their ability to organize in every county in the state. While the pandemic still rages on in Texas, there is still a much greater ability than we had in 2020 to go door to door and just show up. Democrats cannot afford to leave any part of the state behind. Even if they believe they do not have a chance in rural Texas, they need to show that they still care about the people there. Republicans gained ground, especially with the Latino community in Texas, because of one thing: the Democrats took them for granted. Democrats need to renew the certainty that our party cares, and to do that, they need to show up everywhere.
As Beto O’Rourke officially ramps up his gubernatorial campaign and the 2022 election cycle runs full steam ahead, Texas Democrats need to follow these four points in order to have a chance in the state. It is generally believed that 2022 is going to be a rough election for Democrats, but maybe Texas can be a hopeful light in the middle of the storm.
Varshini Regupathy is a sophomore in the McDonough School of Business studying Business and Global Affairs. She is the daughter of Indian immigrants and a proud native Texan.