Opinion: Fixing the Democratic grass roots

View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Tuesday, January 3, 2017 [The New York Times] [NYTimes.com/Opinion »] [Opinion] Tuesday, January 3, 2017 In politics’ fabled grass roots, Democrats have largely been getting thumped. Republicans hold [two-thirds of all state legislative bodies] across the country and 33 governor’s offices. Today, Republicans will formally take control of the 115th Congress. Eighteen days from now, a Republican will occupy the White House too. How could this have happened, given the Democratic Party’s popular-vote success in presidential elections (having won six of the last seven)? Part of the answer is circumstances beyond the party’s control. Democratic-leaning voters are [clustered] in major metropolitan areas, which makes many legislative districts and states tilt Republican. But part of the problem has been the party’s own doing. Many Democrats and progressives simply have not paid enough attention to grass-roots politics. The devastation from the 2016 elections finally seems to have focused the party and its allies on the importance of such an approach. “The Democratic agenda is better for all working people,” said President Obama, [in a recent episode of The Axe Files podcast]. “The problem is, we’re not there on the ground communicating not only the dry policy aspects of this, but that we care about these communities, that we’re bleeding for these communities.” Obama, for all of his political success, deserves some blame for not doing a better job building the party at a grass-roots level. So does virtually the entire party leadership. But the more important question is: What now? The answer needs to involve hard work during the lulls between campaigns. [In an Op-Ed] today, three progressive activists — Ezra Levin, Leah Greenberg and Angel Padilla — argue that Democrats can learn lessons from the Tea Party. If they do so, they can slow and even halt parts of the Trump agenda, much as the Tea Party did to Obama's presidency. Tea Party leaders “understood how to wield political power and made two critical strategic decisions,” Levin, Greenberg and Padilla write. “First, they organized locally, focusing on their own members of Congress. Second, they played defense, sticking together to aggressively resist anything with President Obama’s support.” Republicans have already given Democrats an easy initial fight: the neutering of the House ethics office, scheduled for a vote today. Imagine how the Tea Party would respond if Democratic House members tried such a move. Regardless of your politics, I’d also encourage you to read a piece in the newest issue of The New Yorker by Jelani Cobb, on [democracy of the streets]. And, if you haven’t read it yet, read Theda Skocpol’s [Op-Ed on health care] that I discussed in a recent newsletter. The full Obama [podcast interview] is also worth your time. Grass-roots politics is hard and messy. A lot of failure is sure to happen along the way. But the alternative to that hard work is worse. Just ask any Democrat on Capitol Hill today. The full Opinion report from The Times follows. David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist  ADVERTISEMENT  Editorial [Donald Trump, Bureaucracy Apprentice] By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Mr. Trump is already making big mistakes by underestimating his new employees, federal workers.  Op-Ed Columnist [The Snapchat Presidency of Donald Trump] By DAVID BROOKS The next occupant (at least part time) of the White House won’t lead or communicate policy like a normal leader.  Yarek Waszul [Op-Ed Contributors] [To Stop Trump, Democrats Can Learn From the Tea Party] By EZRA LEVIN, LEAH GREENBERG AND ANGEL PADILLA It’s a simple playbook: organize locally and play defense.  Editorial [A prisoner at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo.] [Why Keep the Old and Sick Behind Bars?] By THE EDITORIAL BOARD It would be more humane and cost-efficient to free elderly, infirm prisoners who are unlikely to commit crimes again. Editorial [Driver’s Licenses, Caught in the War on Drugs] By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Why do cruel and counterproductive laws remain on the books?  [President-elect Donald Trump with House Speaker Paul Ryan at the Capitol, two days after the election.] President-elect Donald Trump with House Speaker Paul Ryan at the Capitol, two days after the election. Al Drago/The New York Times [Op-Ed Contributor] [Is Trump’s Tariff Plan Constitutional?] By REBECCA M. KYSAR He wants to use an executive order, but only the House has the power to create duties on imports.  Op-Ed Contributors [The Health Data Conundrum] By KATHRYN HAUN AND ERIC J. TOPOL We can’t access our records. But hackers can get to them easily. Op-Ed Contributor [Boys and men are reflected in the window of a tailor at a market in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.] [Saving Private Enterprise in Afghanistan] By MASUDA SULTAN For a future beyond aid, Afghanistan needs to harness its natural resources and not let bureaucrats choke its struggling private sector.  [Sunday Review] [Nixon’s Vietnam Treachery] By JOHN A. FARRELL New evidence proves that Richard Nixon sabotaged peace talk plans in 1968, a move that may be worse than Watergate.  Letter [President Obama at the White House in 2014.] [Invitation to Readers: Obama’s Legacy] “We invite you to reflect on his successes and failures, and how you will remember him.”  ADVERTISEMENT  A NEW ELECTION PODCAST Listen to Opinion columnists and contributors on The Run-Up, a new podcast from The New York Times covering the final three months of the election. 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