I've been rolling thoughts over in my head since the election results came in, wondering what can be done to rescue the Democratic party and the country from this relentlessly tightening corporate takeover of government. It's easy to become frustrated or hopeless in the face of the appetite of voters for nincompoopery, flat-out lies and corporate propaganda.
The Democratic party and the president lost this election primarily because they forgot to tell the country a simple, compelling story. Leaders do that: they explain to people where they are, where they need to go and how to get there. President Obama appears not to know that that is the most important part of his job description. He's gotten lost in insider dealmaking and technocratic detail for most of his first two years. He forgot to talk to the country in simple, understandable terms telling them what was wrong and what he was doing to fix it. He had no Fireside Chats, aside from Saturday morning webcasts that nobody not reading Daily Kos ever saw.
Below find some thoughts on what the Democratic story might be, how it can work to our advantage, and how storytelling can re-elect the president and save the Democratic party from its leaders.
