Where do we go from here? A lesson from 2012 and more things to consider

On this quiet Thanksgiving morning, I have been thinking about where we go from here.  The most recent Ezra Klein podcast discussion/debate with Faiz Shakir is quite enlightening, and I believe that it is a good starting point.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ezra-klein-show/id1548604447?i=1000678267396

It also reminds me of the end of a debate I had with conservative commentator Chris Plante, moderated by WUSA-9's Derrick McGinty on May 9, 2012, the day that President Obama announced his support for civil marriage equality for same sex couples. https://archive.org/details/WUSA_20120509_210000_9News_Now_at_5pm/start/1680/end/1740  At 5:32, the end of the segment, the moderator asked me this question:

"Suppose [Obama's announcement] ends up costing the President key votes and ends up being the Ralph Nader of the 2012 election, will you be happy he made this decision?"

I answered as follows:

"It is always hard sometimes in politics to do the right thing.  But the best thing to do, for any politician, is to do two things in situations like this: Do the right thing and, more importantly, explain why it is the right thing." 

McGinty's final words were, "In other words, make the case."

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It is the latter requirement -- making the case -- that the Democratic Party failed to do adequately in this election cycle.  The case was there to be made, particularly on the economy and transgender rights.  But the Democratic Party did not make it well or, in the case of transgender rights, simply ignored it. 

The conventional wisdom of the political consultant class is that "when you are explaining, you are losing;" but that approach is no longer enough to meet the challenges presented by the firehose of lies and misrepresentations which consolidated the Trump base and led to millions of 2020 Biden voters to simply not participate in the 2024 vote.  See https://davidfishback.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-first-step-in-figuring-out-how-to.html

Again, I urge people to listen to the recent Ezra Klein podcast.