A statement by Tim Mahoney, Democratic Chair, Precinct 207, President, NorthEast Travis County Democrats
There’s little doubt that Texas Democrats need to rethink their game plan after the results of the Nov. 5th elections were known on election evening.
In an effort to better understand how we got here, the NorthEast Travis County Democrats (NETCo Dems) sponsored a Focus Group during the regular time of our November meeting on the 16th. A summary of that effort is available here, but its major conclusion was that "'It is not other human beings we should fear; it is the structure of our lives.' Together, we can reshape those structures into something sustainable, just, and full of hope.”
Another view was provided by the head of The 134 PAC: "There are essentially two types of Texas Democrats and they both are drawing two different lessons from the results of the 2024 election. I will call them centrists and left-leaning for lack of better terms… Centrists Democrats are saying the lesson is that TDP has gone too far to the left, and that running campaigns based on social issues such as abortion, transgender and a liberal immigration policy is a losing proposition… We need to shut up about ‘blue waves’, ‘non-voters’ or people who ‘vote against their own interests.’ Stop listening to and believing our own press. We need to get to know the voters and adapt our platform and message to appeal to the people who do vote, not the imaginary voters we wish would vote."
How do Democrats get to know the voters?
Former Democratic President Barack Obama, according to a recent substack post by Heather *** Richardson on December 7, 2024, noted that recently in a public speech, “Obama explored the concept of ‘pluralism,’ a word he defined as meaning simply that ‘in a democracy, we all have to find a way to live alongside individuals and groups who are different than us’… But rather than advocating what he called ‘holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya’ as we all tolerate each other, Obama described modern pluralism as active work to form coalitions over shared issues. His argument echoed the concepts James Madison, a key framer of the Constitution, explained in Federalist #10 when he was trying to convince inhabitants of a big, diverse country that they should endorse the newly written document.”
With effort and a little luck, in 2025 the NETCo Dems will be building relationships and finding solutions in the Northeast Travis County area. While we are taking a hiatus for the holiday season we hope to hit the ground running for our January 18th meeting. See you all soon!
