= new reply since forum marked as read
I agree there needs to be strategy in dealing with Swift Boating and other dirty, cowardly Karl Rovian tricks. Republicans have degraded themselves, but we can't ignore its implications (constant swatting of BS like flies). Strategy is an essential. We could also use more kinds of fact-checking news shows, especially of an entertaining variety.
But as I ruminated above, the Democrats also need to be building their platform, their larger truth, so as to withstand such petty, obnoxius attacks over the long haul –and to inspire both its base and the voters. I would submit that the ground game, the big picture, and the strategy can all be unified by Democrats "owning" the following:
– Fact-based, INTELLIGENT positions. (and when attacked for being "liberal elites" saying "Thank you, we do believe in freedom for that in essence is what liberal means. And we ARE rooted in the liberal, searching, carefully considered, sometimes even academic thinking TRADITION. It works better than your crazy shit which is like letting loose a bull in a library"
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– Commitment to Democratic TRADITIONS and not being shy about it being traditional, and grounding and wise even. The public needs such stabilizing assurance. Our democratic traditions have roots in the enlightenment, science, even the Bible (as filtered through common sense since we no longer believe fathers have a right to sell their daughters into slavery or cut their wives hands off under certain conditions).
– Calling the Socialism vs Capitalism debate what it is: deadbeat, bipolar thumbsucking.
– Instead of Socialism vs Capitalism, Democrats demand INFRASTRUCTURE EMPOWERING A PEOPLE's ECONOMY.
– And Dems demand an efficient 21st century infrastructure which includes both HARD and SOFT components: the US Constitution, Courts, fair elections (with paper ballots or the equivalent), public transportation, public education, protections for unions, consumers and the environment, appropriate regulations, net neutrality, the safety net, even a universal basic income as more jobs are automated (which is also the best way to circulate money into the economy), etc.
– And such services MUST be government-informed precisely because an infrastructure is an OPERATING SYSTEM which anchors everything else. It needs public input so that the design of the system reflects the public's needs, not that of a small minority of corporations.
– With a proper infrastructure to protect people and the environment from predatory practices, Democrats fully embrace a STRONG, CREATIVE ECONOMY (and although this may seem obvious, we need to explicitly state this – and to point out that we are even better at stimulating free (and fair) enterprise than the Republicans. This is to combat their spin machine which reflexively brands Democrats "socialist." (Even Bernie repeatedly asserts he's "Democratic Socialist" for the same reason).
– We must repeatedly assert that by NOT conserving the Earth or a majority of our children, the Republicans are no longer conservative nor traditional. They are something else and it's vicious.
Grassroots groups to act as quick reaction teams to extinguish rumors/lies before they spread? And to help amplify the positives of local Democratic candidates? All for it.
Call me Democracy Mouse, but I'm all for people working in groups in general. It's much healthier than this solo cubicle-to-armchair cycle many are on – which wears down one's faith in any kind of democracy at all.
I also assert that we can buttress all of the Democratic candidates by backing our singular messaging (on the street and the web) with a potent grand narrative that injects ASSURANCE and adult STABILITY:
DEMOCRATS:
Rooted in democratic TRADITIONS,
Builders of a PEOPLE'S INFRASTRUCTURE,
Unleashing a NEW ECONOMY for ALL.
– Democracy Mouse 
