By D. Lee Turner
President, TWGC
It’s easy to get bogged down in today’s world of diversion and deflection. At times, I find myself paralyzed by confusion until I have a moment of clarity when I remind myself, “Get back to the basics of bridge building and mutual benefit!” It works.
Here’s what I mean.
When I got politically WOKE 3 (very long) years ago, not having a clue what to do in this unknown political world, the first thing I understood was that people were too angry to sit down to the proverbial table together, much less solve any problems. Like a golfer lining up a long putt, or a punter attempting a record kick, I knew we’d have to ‘back way up’ to get a strategic picture of how to build a bridge to bring many Americans to our problem-solving table.
Another thing I learned from many years of problem-solving: There are always 2 sides to every story. Until we’ve heard both sides of the story, we don’t know the story. Without that knowledge we do not possess the problem-solving tools we require. And guess what? Sometimes you’re not gonna like what you hear because sometimes there’s gonna be some truth there. But by knowing and understanding the other side of the story, we can begin to build our bridge. And not until then.
Another theory I was convinced of from day one of my political awakening: the majority of Americans are reasonable people. Two-thirds of them I contend. The others we won’t fret over. When we demonstrate to opponents we’ve taken the time to understand their concerns, we demonstrate we are reasonable people, looking for a solution of mutual benefit. Reasonable people respond to reason. Reason will disarm our opponents. And MUTUAL BENEFIT is the strongest glue I know of.
In November 2020, Democrats in SC will get every Democratic vote, just by being on the ballot. Automatic. But not enough to win. Thus, we must fight this battle on two fronts. Getting every Democrat to vote is the obvious first. The 2nd equally critical front: using understanding and reason to appeal to those Republicans who recognize Trump, Graham and Timmons are not the leadership America needs right now. Every issue must be reasonably presented, demonstrating understanding of the whole story, concluding with the ‘sweet spot’ of mutual benefit.
I challenge every Democratic candidate running to develop a reasonable argument of mutual benefit for every issue important to you and us. Put it in your tool kit, get out of the Democratic bubble and use your tools relentlessly at every opportunity.
Now let’s get busy. We can do this, yes we can.