The Sunday Reed :: There is Work to Be Done

Politics Is A Simple Game

I’ve been asked this question several times recently:

“Who’s leading the Democratic Party?”

“I don’t know,” is my standard, and honest answer. Or, “No one, right now.” If I’m feeling a little crispy.

Hoping for the Second Coming of Bill Clinton or Barack Obama is both a fool’s errand and antithetical to how political parties should operate. As I said to a crowd last week in New York, a party must have a values set that is easy to understand, easy to communicate, and easy to operationalize.

Right now, we’re missing all three.

Like kids standing around a cold lake waiting to see who’ll be the first one to take the plunge, too many of those we expect to carry the mantle of leadership are standing on the shore, too, waiting. Being first in is risky. What if no one joins you? What if the water is even colder than you expected? What if you can’t swim? What if, what if, what if…

The Danger of “What If…”

“What if we propose something and people hate it?”

“What if we attack our opponent and it fires up their base?”

“What if we take a stand on an issue and it’s the wrong one?”

“What if do something different but it doesn’t work out the way we expected?”

I’ve heard all of these in one form or another over the years. They’re not questions, they’re excuses. Excuses to skip the chance at winning big and enabling real, substantive change, or playing it safe and being content with nibbling around the edges.

“If” you do it the way it’s always been done and you win, you’re rewarded.

“If” you do it the way it’s always been done and you lose, you can always say you did all you could.

Here’s my “What If” scenario:

What if we are unable or unwilling to make the hard choices, take the principled stands, and do the necessary work and the country (and the world) continues on a gradual, but unstoppable descent?

Too few ‘leaders’ are willing to make hard decisions because too few are willing to accept the responsibility and accountability if a campaign, a policy roll-out, or another big to-do doesn’t work out exactly as planned.

The “P” Word :: Planning

“Plans are useless, but planning is essential.” - General Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” - Mike Tyson

To refuse to make a decision for fear of a bad outcome is a decision in and of itself. To refuse to plan for the future, for victory, for a new direction, is a bigger crime than failing at something big.

It is important to assume some variance in a plan; Mice and Men, and all that. However, if you’ve planned well enough, and your objective or goal is clear, the preparation and work will pay off in the ability to shift strategies and tactics on the fly to account for new circumstances.

Gooooooooooaallllllll!!!!!

Before we talk plans, though, we need to talk objectives. What do we want to accomplish and why?

We have about 11 months until Election Day 2026. How many seats or elections do we want to win? Not just for Congress, but in statewide, legislative, and local elections? If we win all the ones we hope for and a few we didn’t expect, what will we do then?

These are questions that need answers NOW, not then. As we’ve seen in the first 11 months of Trump’s term, too little planning has been done to slow his regime in their various illegal and corrupt operations.

Whatever anyone says about “MAGA unraveling” Trump isn’t poised to leave office for any reason other than he sheds his mortal coil. In an odd turnabout, Trump is the constant, in our equation, not the variable.

Before we even get to November of next year, though, what offer are we making the American people? If it’s simply, “At least we’re not them” Democrats may still be successful in 2026. That is not what America needs, though.

If (non-Trump) Republican politicians are on their backfoot, how do we tip them over? How do push them onto their backs, their little insectoid legs flailing about as they scrabble to right themselves? These are plans that should already be in motion. If not, we need to write them now (I’m working on this, stay tuned.)

A Simple Game

No matter what anyone tells you, politics isn’t rocket science. It’s more akin to America’s Pastime: You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball.” If you do those things competently and consistently, you will win more often than your opponents.

Don’t let the data nerds tell you they’ve divined the will of the voters or the TV guys tell you we can win a race in 27 seconds. There is work to be done and it MUST be done now. All the small ball stuff we let lay fallow: local organization, voter registration, candidate recruitment, are table stakes for victory in 2026.

Let’s get to work.