AZ Special Election Win Like Upstate NY Win = MODEL Dem Campaign !

[RBInMaine]

In AZ last night Ron Barber won a congressional district which almost never votes blue for President but will vote blue on and off in other races. He beat the TeaBagger because they DEFINED the TeaBagger as the extremist that he is: a nut who wants to embrace the Ryan Plan which destroys Medicare and SS. They hammered away on it.

On the positive side, they also DEFINED the Dem as the truly moderate-progressive SANE VOICE AND ADULT IN THE ROOM who would FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL FOR SENIORS, the MIDDLE CLASS, VETERANS, and COLLEGE STUDENTS, find rational solutions to problems, and would SUPPORT MEDICARE AND SS. They worked hard on the ground and on the phones.

They worked hard and ORGANIZED WELL from DAY ONE. They took nothing for granted. They stayed on message and maintained message discipline. They forced the TeaBagger to flip and flop and backwalk on his extremism making him look like a desperate liar.
Barber did very well in the debates doing this: confronting the TeaBagger on his flipping and flopping over SS and Medicare and other past extreme positions.

Yes, there was also a sympathy factor over Giffords, but that is NOT the main reason why Barber won this very purple district with 25,000 more registered R's than D's.. He won because they ran a damn good campaign like the one last year in upstate NY, with a strong candidate, the RIGHT AFFIRMATIVE MESSAGE, a strong ATTACK MESSAGE, and MESSAGE DISCIPLINE ON THE RIGHT ISSUES.

It is a MODEL for Dems in blue, purple, and even red districts. GOOD JOB. And now win in November too when the district even becomes bluer.

[longship]

1. The take away: Run as a Democrat!

R&

[RBInMaine]

2. Yup, but also as a truly moderate-progressive who can win in a purple or even red district.

Yes, run strong on OUR core issues, but it is also ok to be a true moderate in approach as well. And by that I mean not a DINO but someone who may honestly have some slightly more conservative views on some issues and is willing to listen to everyone at the table to find some common ground. That is ok. We need to be able to WIN THE MIDDLE in order to win big elections. Barber is essentially a modern progressive but with a centrist bent much like Giffords was (and actually like Obama and Hillary as well). But that is FAR FAR FAR from being close to a rabid right winger like Kelly who is a true radical TeaBagger. So it is ok to be moderate and still strongly embrace the core Dem values of fighting for Medicare, SS, middle class tax cuts, and for students and veterans which is just what Barber did. It was a damn good campaign.

[longship]

4. Yes. I agree.

But I would go further. I don't know what you're about with "moderate progressive". Seems like an oxymoron to me.

Politics is local seems to be operative here. DUers always complain about people like Ben Nelson's (D-NE) conservatism. But Ben Nelson could not be elected as a Democrat in the extremely conservative state of Nebraska if he wasn't a Blue Dog. Meanwhile, although he doesn't often vote with liberals, he caucuses with the Dems and adds numbers to our majority.

These are political realities which will result in Dem victories and which is the Republican weakness. Democrats do not enforce ideological purity. It is one way we win. If we do not exploit this, we're fools. Howard Dean saw this, successfully, as DNC chair. The battle is a 50 state battle. If only we all see it this way.

[RBInMaine]

5. A moderate-progressive is just that: core progressive on key issues but middle to conservative on

others. Barber, for example, makes no bones that there are parts of the health law he likes but others he doesn't and would amend. He says he is willing to work across the aisle to find common ground if he can, and he can and will work with people from the other side, at all levels of government (i.e. local mayors, etc.) if they are willing to work with him too. He is for tax cuts but middle class tax cuts. He staunchly supports vets and the elderly and their programs. It appears he is more hesitant to support large military cuts. He appears to be essentially a progressive but also a pragmatist with a clear centrist bent, and not a purist, as you say. And I totally agree that we can not win without a moderate wing in the party which can win races like AZ-8. I live in a rural Maine congressional district, and many Dems who win up here at all levels are also moderates. (But compared to the RePubs, they are very "progressive" since that party has gone off the right wing deep end.)

[hrmjustin]

6. Yes not one of the fake dems like Altmire of PA who lost because dems want a real democrat.n/t

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. As someone who lives in this district and voted, my take is somewhat different

People who voted teabag in 2010 have seen the result. A Christo/fachist American Taliban party who they now reject.