Like Avis, the Democrats need to try harder

Remember the old car rental commercials?

Hertz was No. 1 because they “put you in the driver’s seat.” Avis was only No. 2 but they “tried harder.” And then there was Rent-a-Wreck, which just rented you a cheap car…or a good car cheaply. Something like that.

In today’s political arena, the Republicans are Hertz. They control the White House and both houses of Congress and have a 5-4 conservative majority in the Supreme Court. However, all is not well in the current administration, so Avis – I mean the Democrats – are hoping to score some major gains in the 2018 mid-term election. They think they can retake the Senate and maybe even the House if faux-president Donald J. Trump and the GOP keep shooting themselves in the foot.

But here’s a caution for the Democrats: Tighten up your lug bolts now so your wheels don’t fall off and turn you into Rent-a-Wreck.

A good example is what happened yesterday. In what seemed like another exercise in stupidity, Trump decided unilaterally to ban transgender Americans from serving in the military and tweeted that command in 140 characters or less. He just forgot to tell his staff, Congress or the military about his directive and, oh, by the way, doesn’t have a plan for implementing such a rule.

It seemed like just another gaffe from the Gaffer-in-Chief until I read an article that seemed to put the issue into context. By taking this position on transgender rights, Trump is forcing Democrats to defend the opposite position when they run for Congress in 2018. He thinks that campaigning for transgender citizens is a losing proposition, especially in rust belt states like Ohio and Michigan where he surprisingly beat Hillary Clinton last fall.

And that’s where Rent-a-Wreck comes in.

Let’s face it, in 2016 the Democrats nominated a somewhat unexciting, slightly aloof, centrist former First Lady who supported the Iraq war and some other conservative principles but who tried to slide w-a-a-a-y to the left during the campaign to accommodate Bernie Sanders’s social liberal tribe – and failed badly. It was too much of a stretch for her to make and she seemed uncomfortable trying to tell America what the Democrats stood for and why. Her message of “we’re good and Trump is bad” wasn’t enough for those rust belt voters who wanted a change from the status quo.

Now comes 2018 and the next chance for Democrats to unfurl their true colors. If that means defending their position on transgender soldiers, then get out and defend it with gusto. Don’t just tell us (sheepishly) that you support it, but give us good reasons why. Tell Joe Cornfield how it benefits him and his family to allow any American who’s willing to wear a uniform and serve his or her country, and how anything less than that is un-American.

Moving on, if single-payer health insurance is what you really want, develop a plan for implementing Medicare for All and a way to pay for it, then come out strong to sell it to the country. How hard can it be to promote single payer as a better alternative than the obscene and ridiculous bills the Republicans keep putting forward after seven years of bitching about Obamacare?

If you want more money to combat climate change, say so. Show us the plan. If you want free college tuition, show us the math. Higher minimum wage? Infrastructure repair? The right side of social issues? Measured and appropriate foreign policy? Write it all down, pass it around and start selling it to the voting public. Some of them won’t support your platform, but they for sure won’t get behind you if you’re not sure you support it yourself.     

A lot of us believe the Democrats are the good guys in today’s world and the Republicans are the Evil Empire, but that “good guy” message by itself isn’t going to work any longer. Thanks to Trump and his Deplorables, one-third of the country will never believe a word that comes out of a Democrat’s mouth, or the “fake news” that reports on it. They still believe that they are the good guys, all evidence to the contrary.

I left the Democratic Party after 2008 because it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be when it came into power. They have a little over a year to figure that out or forget the whole “coming into power” thing. Bold action is required and now would be a good time to start. It’s not enough to tell people what you’re for or against. What’s important is showing them why they should care.