The Seven Mountains Movement

 The evangelical Seven Mountains movement is the most troubling political movement that you never knew existed.   The movement has a stated goal of dominating society by creating a modern far-right Christian theocracy.  

The Seven Mountains are the major spheres of influence within society.  Far-right Christian activists hope to reshape our entire society according to their ideology by placing “change agents” in positions of authority in each of the Seven Mountains.   The theory, as stated on a Seven Mountains website, is “He who controls the mountains, controls society.”  The Seven Mountains are:

• Arts & Entertainment
• Business
• Education
• Family
• Government
• Media
• Religion

The Seven Mountains movement has already been successful in many areas, including American government, national cable news, talk radio and other media, state and local boards of education, popular music, venture capital and others. 

Religion in politics is especially problematic, because religious adherents presume the absolute authority of God.  The Christian far-right concedes no power or authority to their political opponents.  This is diametrically opposed to American ideas of representative democracy, the secular authority of the government, and the separation of church and state. 

The movement conforms well with other elements of the far-right, particularly in its authoritarian orientation.  Since the election of Donald Trump, the language used in the movement is aggressive, nationalistic and fascistic, full of dehumanizing denunciations of “the enemy”.  The movement is only one subculture in right-wing conservatism, but it has taken on some of the aggression and violent rhetoric of other right-wing subcultures, such as the NRA.  An example of the rhetoric can be heard in a video of a collective prayer recitation in a recent evangelical meeting in Georgia.  This rally was organized by Flashpoint, a program on the 24/7 religious cable television Victory Channel.  A commitment to the Seven Mountains is found in their opening prayer, here:  https://twitter.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1547259907275075584

Here are a few declarations (among many) from the Flashpoint religious rally referenced above.

• “We have been given legal power from heaven and now exercise our authority.
• “Because of our covenant with God, we are equipped and delegated by Him to destroy every attempted advance of the enemy.
• “We decree that our judicial system will issue rulings that are biblical and constitutional.
• “We decree that we take back and permanently control positions of influence and leadership in each of the Seven Mountains.
• “We decree that evil carries no power, authority or rights in our land nor over our people.”

These claims are disturbing, because they assert undemocratic authority, and violently threaten those with opposing views.  When is a political opponent an enemy?  Who decides if a political opponent is evil?  It appears that if the Religious Right is in charge, they will deny rights and democratic powers to their political opponents, which means the end of American democracy. 

In a similar vein, we can hear Kelly Tshibaka, candidate in Alaska for U.S. Senate, call for Christian participation and influence in government, beginning with her declaration that “God created government.”  https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1546899147466342400

I started writing this post over a decade ago, during the 2008 presidential campaign, when Sarah Palin was blessed in a church ceremony as a change agent for the movement.  I didn’t finish the post at that time, nor when I revisited the topic in 2016.  Since then, we’ve seen the denial of Barrack Obama’s Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland, the presidency of Donald Trump, and the ascension of three conservative Supreme Court justices nominated by Donald Trump.  We’ve also seen the election of hard-right Republican governors in many states, Republican-majority state legislatures, and pro-Republican gerrymandering of both federal and state legislative districts.  Many of these political changes were championed by or driven by the Christian far-right. 

The increasingly conservative Supreme Court has handed down decisions enabling greater influence of money in politics (Citizens’ United), the ability of employers to impose religious views on employees (Hobby Lobby), and the Dobbs decision overturning the general right to abortion in the United States.  There has been increasing proliferation of military-grade weapons in private hands, increases in hate crimes for reasons of religion or ethnicity, and confrontation and threats to liberal elected officials at every level of government. 

The Christian far-right has made inroads on the other mountains, as well as government.  The Christian right has worked to control school boards and obtain government funding for private schools, dominate the radio entertainment dial, dominate news sources through Fox News, OAN, NewsMax and others, control business holdings through conservative ownership, etc. 

The process of Christian far-right infiltration into politics has been going on for several decades.  Megachurch pastors have been spouting political rhetoric from the pulpit for just as long.  Television programs such as Pat Robertson’s “700 Club”, with a decidedly political bent, have long been drawing faithful viewers.  I saw the process by which religious conservatives took over Republican caucuses and school boards in the 1980s, in Texas.  In a precinct Republican caucus, the church group arrived en masse, outnumbering the neighborhood gathering.  They quickly elected their own officers, and voted to approve their own platform, without debate.  In retrospect, I don’t think there was any validation that this group actually lived in the precinct.  It was my first (and last) Republican caucus.  In the following school board election, the church put up a slate on a religious education platform.  They lost.  In the subsequent election, the same group of candidates appeared, but ran under a low-property tax platform and won.  Then they proceeded to implement their religious platform.

The Seven Mountains movement is large enough and old enough to have various divisions.  Despite the nationalism, it is a global movement.  It was an African pastor who blessed Sarah Palin as a change agent in a 2008 church ceremony in Wasilla, Alaska.  Divisions within the movement are based on theological or strategic differences. There are factions termed Dominionists and Anti-Dominionists, which differ on the degree of societal domination to be achieved (to the best of my understanding), and perhaps on the biblical justification for that domination. 

Conclusion

I am concerned about living in a biblically oriented, theocratic society with institutions based on beliefs and values I do not share.  Those beliefs include obsolete, biblical notions of morality, such as denial of LBTGQ+ rights and repressive roles for women in society.  The Christian Right also promotes biblical injunctions that don’t exist, but are asserted by religious authorities, such as a prohibition on abortion.  If these biblical injunctions are codified in American law, what is to stop the enactment of other, clearly stated biblical injunctions?   Deuteronomy 13 contains an edict to commit genocide against believers in other religions.   Deuteronomy 20 allows the enslavement and “use” of women and children captured in war.   Numbers 5 requires a women suspected of infidelity by her husband to undergo a ritual poisoning.  In 1^st Timothy 2, we are instructed that a woman may never hold authority over a man.  These are just a few random examples of biblical nonsense out of a spectrum of biblical injunctions that might become law in a Seven Mountains society. 

The entire notion of far-right religious domination of society raises questions, real and rhetorical, about where this ideology might lead.  What religious coercion would be implemented in a Seven Mountains society?  Already, according to the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision, employers are allowed to decide whether or not an employee may receive birth control as an insurance benefit.  What further powers could be given to employers to restrict the religious freedom of employees?  The Supreme Court also recently ruled that a football coach can publicly coerce students into joining in public prayer.  What further religious indoctrination will be permitted in the public schools?  What religious indoctrination will be broadcast through entertainment channels, and conversely, what entertainment will be banned?  What consumer choices will be allowed and disallowed in a Seven Mountains society?  The Christian far-right claims victimhood in religious freedom, while doing everything it can to restrict the religious (or anti-religious) freedoms of other individuals.

I am a firm atheist.  I regard Christianity and all other religions as superstitious nonsense. I believe that events in the world show that God is either unreasonable, unjust, capricious and a poor communicator with humankind, or that God does not exist.  I choose to not believe in an unreasonable, unjust and capricious God; it is more reasonable to conclude that God does not exist.  Further, traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and scripture are problematic for modern society in many ways.  If you are interested, you may read blog posts about my thoughts on the topic, here: https://sensibledisbelief.blogspot.com/.

On a major street corner in suburban Anchorage, Alaska, a landowner displays a large billboard reading: “God, Guns and Trump”.  Based on my religious upbringing, the connection between God and Guns isn’t readily obvious.  The connection between God and Trump is even more tenuous.  But the connection here lies in authoritarianism.  The Religious Right wants to establish unilateral Christian control over society, regardless of democratic norms, diversity of beliefs, or other opinions.  The Trump/MAGA political faction wants to establish an authoritarian dictatorship regardless of the outcome of elections.  And guns – thanks to the proliferation of military-grade weapons since 2014 – are the means of accomplishing those ends, through intimidation or possibly through violent paramilitary militias.  The last point is better left for another post. 

======================================================================

References
Flashpoint, Victory Channel collective prayer invocation, Georgia.
Transcript given below, after references.
https://twitter.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1547259907275075584

Examples of Seven Mountains rhetoric

• http://livingjourney.wordpress.com/2007/12/10/dominionism-the-seven-mountains/
• http://kingthunder.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/7-mountains/
• http://ncmworld.com/welcome-to-new-covenant-ministries/seven-mountains-web
• http://www.sevenmountains.org/
• http://www.reclaim7mountains.com/

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Mountain_Mandate

Seven Mountain Dominionist and Anti-Dominionist Dispute

• http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/dominionism-and-religious-right-merger-complete
• http://lefthemispheres.blogspot.com/http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/david-barton-advocates-seven-mountains-dominionism2011/06/theocracy-watch-seven-mountains.html
• http://fanaticforjesus.blogspot.com/2011/08/seven-mountains-of-christian-industial.html
• http://galatiansfour.blogspot.com/2010/09/mustard-tree-desires-world-power.html

 Sarah Palin and Seven Mountains

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xges7mFi6iY
• http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/01/648975/-Palin-Movement-Urges-Godly-To-Plunder-Wealth-of-Godless#
• http://godsownparty.com/blog/2009/12/palin-spews-7-mountains-mandate-rhetoric-reclaiming-america-for-god/  [Broken link, may be available through Internet archive.]

Halton Lecture: Faith and Politics, The Rise of the Religious Right and Its Impact on American Domestic and Foreign Policy, David Halton, Larkin-Stuart Lectures, University of Toronto, March 8-9, 2007.[Note: this link is no longer active.  It is likely that the lecture can be found through the Internet Wayback Machine or other Internet archive.]
http://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/News_Events/News/halton.htm

Ted Cruz  
Ted Cruz’s father Rafael gives speech designating Ted as biblical king.   Wealth is transferred from the wicked to the priests/ quid-pro-quo for the priests and the kings.    Reference and complete text of 7 mountains blessing of Sarah Palin.
[This link is also no longer active, but may be found with an Internet archive.]
http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/brucewilson/ted-cruzs-father-suggested-his-son-anointed-bring-about-end-time-transfer

Kelly Tshibaka, leading candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska, on video as presented by Right Wing Watch on Twitter, July 12, 2022.  Transcript given below, after references.
https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1546899147466342400

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transcripts

Flashpoint Collective Invocation
Transcript of collective prayer invocation, at Georgia religious rally by Flashpoint, of the Victory Channel.   https://twitter.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1547259907275075584

“Watchman Decree
As a Patriot of faith, I attest my allegiance first and foremost to the kingdom of God and the Great Commission.  Secondly, I agree to be a watchman over our nation concerning its people and their rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness --
Whereas:
we, the Church, are God’s governing Body on the earth
we have been given legal power from heaven and now exercise our authority
we are God’s ambassadors and spokespeople over the earth
through the power of God, we are the world influencers
because of our covenant with God, we are equipped and delegated by Him to destroy every attempted advance of the enemy.
We make our declarations:
1.  We decree that America’s executive branch of government will honor God and defend the Constitution.
2.  We decree that our legislative branch (Congress) will write only laws that are righteous and constitutional.
3.  We decree that our judicial system will issue rulings that are biblical and constitutional.
4.  We declare that we stand against wokeness, the occult and every evil attempt against our nation.
5.  We declare that we now take back our God-given freedoms, according to the Constitution.
6.  We declare that we take back influence at the local level in our communities.
7.  We decree that we take back and permanently control positions of influence and leadership in each of the *Seven Mountains.
8.  We decree that the blood of Jesus covers and protects our nation.  It protects and separates us for God.
9.  We declare that our nation is energy independent.
10.  We declare that America is strong spiritually, financially, militarily and technologically.
11.  We decree that evil carries no power, authority or rights in our land nor over our people.
12.  We decree that we operate in unity, going beyond denominational lines in order to accomplish the purposes of God for our nation.
13.  And we decree that AMERICA SHALL BE SAVED!
We know this country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles.
We know the truth; therefore, we stand for truth and will NEVER be deceived!
We will NEVER stop fighting!
We will NEVER, EVER, EVER give up or give in!
We WILL take our country back.
We will honor THE ONE TRUE GOD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
AMERICA SHALL BE SAVED!”

Kelly Tshibaka
https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1546899147466342400

Kelly Tshibaka, leading candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska, on video as presented by Right Wing Watch on Twitter, July 12, 2022.  Transcript:

“God created government.  So, I got sent to the Harvest Field of Government.  And again, it’s a Christmas verse, but Isaiah 9:6, ‘Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given.’  And, what?  ‘The government will rest on his shoulders.’   Well, guys, again, where is God today?  Is he in Jerusalem?  In a temple?  Where are his shoulders?  [singing] Head, shoulders, knees and… [trails off]   His shoulders are your shoulders.  So if the government rests on his shoulders, and we are not in government, helping government, influencing government – if we abdicate government and politics, are we living out Genesis 1 and Isaiah 9?  No.  So we’ve got to put this into practice.”

The Problem with Governing Least

 A few months ago, Alaska Gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker & his running mate Heidi Drygas penned an op-ed critical of Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy’s handling of the pandemic.  In his retweet of the op-ed, Walker highlighted one phrase: “The best government is that which governs least,” before qualifying and contradicting that sentiment.

Perhaps Walker’s statement is a bit of conservative virtue-signaling, or perhaps he really believes what he says.  But Governor Dunleavy and Anchorage Mayor Bronson are doing exactly what is demanded by the “least government” paradigm by doing nothing about the pandemic.

“Governing least” produces disastrous outcomes for patients, the economy, our healthcare system and its workers.  Walker sees the problem, but doesn’t recognize that their failure is rooted in conservative ideology. 

When people believe that government is a bad thing, or when people distrust the government, it harms the foundation of our society.  There’s a spectrum of anti-government attitudes and actions out there, from tax-cheats and anti-maskers to QAnon believers and AR15 hoarders.  It’s a growing problem, and it gets worse every time a conservative politician casts the government as the boogeyman. 

The origin of the phrase “The best government is that which governs least” is tainted.  The idea came not from Thomas Jefferson, but from an 1837 anti-government screed by political columnist John O’Sullivan.  O’Sullivan’s article reminds me of the Unabomber’s manifesto.  In the same article, O’Sullivan wrote, “A strong and active democratic government, in the common sense of the term, is an evil, differing only in degree and mode of operation, and not in nature, from a strong despotism.”  Also, “relief from the tumult of moral and physical confusion [democracy] is to be found only under the shelter of an energetic armed despotism.”  And, “Legislation has been the fruitful parent of nine-tenths of all the evil, moral and physical, by which mankind has been afflicted since the creation of the world, and by which human nature has been self-degraded, fettered, and oppressed.”  O’Sullivan was a proponent of slavery and a supporter of the Confederacy, and coined the term “manifest destiny” to describe the subjugation of Native peoples.  We should not take our guiding political principle from a document which prefers armed despotism to democracy, and regards legislation as a moral and physical evil.  A link to O’Sullivan’s entire article is given below.

Our nation was founded on the principle that government is good. The Constitution gives our government a broad mandate to promote the general welfare, from which we benefit in many ways, as follows.

•    A justice system which protects liberties.
•    Education for all through grade 12.
•    Medicare and Social Security to enable the elderly and disabled to live with dignity.
•    Regulation of businesses to protect consumers and the environment.
•    Regulation of the finance system for stable economic growth.
•    Programs to advance education, health and opportunity for those in need.
•    Protection for communities, jobs and the economy in the event of unexpected catastrophes.
•    Lands set aside to protect nature for future generations and for its own sake.
•    Scientific research for national progress.
•    Funding for public infrastructure projects.

We benefit from these programs because we are all connected in our society and economy, and we all prosper or decline together. A healthy, prosperous and literate society benefits everyone.

Small government is one of the cornerstones of conservative ideology. In the forty years since Reagan, conservatives have had a single-minded goal of shrinking government, without any proof that small government is a good idea.  In my opinion, the most damaging thing that happened to the United States since WWII was when Reagan convinced Americans that government was the problem, not the solution. The endpoint of shrinking government is anarchy.  Without government regulation, the free market allows companies to produce unsafe products, defraud consumers, pollute the air and water, and otherwise externalize business costs to the public.

Well-regulated free enterprise with private ownership of business is clearly the most efficient economic system. It works because price signals in a free market provide the best solution to allocating capital and labor for the best use.  But free enterprise is not the solution to every problem in society, and free enterprise fails badly when the price signals or flexible markets aren't working.  The economic role of government Is to intervene in those circumstances.

For every anecdotal example of the government wasting money, there are multiple examples of private businesses wasting money.  Private enterprise is at least the equal of government in wasting money due to poor planning, risk, error and negligence, which ultimately harms society.  Consider the banking practices which led to the 2008 financial crisis, the Exxon Valdez and BP Gulf of Mexico oil spills, Shell’s failed $7B Chukchi exploration program, New Coke, Microsoft Zune, Ford’s Edsel, the Enron collapse, or VW’s emissions scandal.  Do not think that these losses only affected the owners of those companies; we all suffer from business failures. If you were not impacted by the 2008 financial crisis, raise your hand.

Conservatives also trot out tired and inaccurate comparisons to failed foreign governments in their crusade against big government, crying “Socialism! Look at Venezuela! Look at the Soviet Union!”  But the key problems in these countries have nothing to do with social spending.  Venezuela and the Soviet Union failed because of authoritarianism, cults of loyalty to political leaders, single-party rule, cronyism, repression of the free press, secret police, loss of personal freedoms and state ownership of capital. Scary conservative rhetoric about socialism has no basis in fact. It’s nonsense.

It’s time for conservatives to recognize that the unbounded ambition of “least government” is wrong. When people believe that government is a bad thing, or when people distrust the government, it harms the foundation of our society.  Let’s begin a rational discussion about the proper function of government, without nastiness and without sabotaging the wheels of our democracy.  I would suggest adopting the adage “The government is best which governs responsibly, for the benefit of people and nature and with the consent of the governed.”  We’ll all be healthier, wealthier, and happier for it.

References:

Standing in solidarity with our medical community and calling for leadership, Bill Walker and Heidi Drygas, October 9, 2021.
https://www.adn.com/opinions/2021/10/09/standing-in-solidarity-with-our-medical-community-and-calling-for-leadership/

Who first said, ‘The best government is that which governs least’? Not Thoreau, Eugene Volokh, Sept 6, 2017.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/09/06/who-first-said-the-best-government-is-that-which-governs-least-not-thoreau/

The entire screed by John O'Sullivan can be found here:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435022455489&seq=23

Thirteen Political Tribes

 The United States has become more politically polarized over the past 40 years.  Growing polarization threatens the ability of our representatives to compromise without alienating their political base, and it threatens their ability govern effectively.

The Capitol invasion of January 6^th may push Republican political divisions to the breaking point.  Similarly, divisions among Democrats will make Biden’s work more difficult, even with Democrats controlling the Presidency, with narrow majorities in the House & Senate (but not the Supreme Court).  I believe that our two-party system is on the cusp of a once-in-a-century re-organization, with traditional constituencies changing sides, and a third or fourth major party developing.

The two major parties are coalitions of a number of different constituencies, with differing socio-economic, racial, gender and geographic backgrounds.  I divided the constituencies into six Democratic tribes, six Republican tribes, and one Apolitical tribe. The differences between the tribes are potential fault lines that could fracture the two political alliances. 

Thirteen Political Tribes

The American voting system is the biggest factor binding these disparate tribes together.  Our system of partisan primaries tends to weed out moderates, and reward strong partisans.  Further, our typical plurality victory rules (“first-past-the-post”) in general elections tend to entrench the two-party system (Duverger's law, if you are interested)

The alliances that develop due to these forces are diverse.  The voting system forces alliances, and these are the alliances that evolved.  The alliances in each party do share broad sets of values, according to a dichotomy suggested by Jacob Bronowski (without a political context) in “Science and Human Values”.  Democrats prioritize values that join people into societies, and Republicans prioritize freedoms as single individuals.  But as the weighting of these values becomes more extreme, some individuals and groups are finding themselves uncomfortable within their own party and interested in change.

Here’s how I classify the diverse tribes of each party.

Democratic Party:                                                            Republican Party:
Liberal Elites                                                                       Law & Order Republicans
Angry Progressives                                                          Monied Republicans
BIPOC                                                                                   Salvation Republicans
Organized Labor                                                               NRA/Trump Bullies
LGBTQ+                                                                                Libertarians
Disengaged Young Urban Poor                                   Disengaged Rural White Poor

A thirteenth tribe is the genuinely apolitical, disengaged group.  This group is poorly informed, and fails to discern a difference between the parties.   The group ranges from homeless & working poor to other poorly informed and cynically disengaged non-voters.

Women tend to favor the Democratic Party, but curiously, do not strongly identify as a distinct political tribe, either in partisanship, or in self-identification.  Reproductive rights are an important issue to many women (and men), but it doesn't seem to unify a supermajority of women under a single banner.

There are detailed descriptions of each tribe below.  I have not based this on any scientific research or polling.  These tribes are simply based on my perception, based on people I know or have encountered through politics.  There is considerable overlap between the categories, such that Monied Republicans may also be Salvation Republicans, and Barack Obama can be classified as belonging to both the Liberal Elite tribe and the BIPOC tribe.  But I think for most voters, there will be a primary tribal allegiance.  If you are reading this, you are probably a member of the Liberal Elite tribe, centered around higher education, as I am.  Individual politicians can gain clout within their own party by representing more than one constituency.  Examples include Barack Obama, as a Liberal Elite and BIPOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a Latina BIPOC and Angry Progressive, Pete Buttigieg as LGBTQ+ and Liberal Elite, and Donald Trump as a Monied Republican and an NRA Bully.

The 2020 election and its aftermath showed significant movement in these core constituencies.  The Democratic Party lost vote share in Democratic stronghold districts, particularly among less than college-educated BIPOC, organized labor and young urban voters.  In Alaska, this was particularly noticeable in remote Alaska districts with majority Native Alaskan populations.  These losses were documented nationwide among BIPOC voters, and contributed to the loss of a net eleven seats in the US House, in an election that should have carried Democratic coat-tails.

Disaffected and disillusioned Republicans include the members of the Lincoln Project, Lisa Murkowski, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Colin Powell and staffers for various national figures.  Republicans lost vote share in the suburbs, particularly among women; these losses largely drove President Biden’s victory.

I framed these changes as losses, rather than gains by the opposing party, because they seem to be driven by disillusionment, rather than by attraction of the competing ideology.  Going forward, I expect party affiliations to be driven more strongly by education, as the right-wing propaganda machine continues to influence voters with lower education and news engagement.  I expect Monied Republicans to migrate to the Democratic Party, as it becomes apparent that Republican policies are slow death to business, even in a lower-tax environment.  I expect some of the Organized Labor, BIPOC, and Disengaged Urban Poor voters to migrate to the Republican Party.  Democrats can not take these loyalties for granted, and must provide representation and visibility to these constituencies to earn their allegiance.  The Republican Party’s embrace of white supremacy may help Democrats, but more must be done to actually maintain these traditional political allies.

The re-orientation of the tribes leaves some groups without a clear political home.  Libertarians who are disgusted with authoritarian Trumpist policies are not therefore inclined to become Democrats.  Likewise, Salvation and Law & Order Republicans may be prepared to leave the Republican party due to the abuses of the NRA/Trumpist Bully tribe, but will not be willing to accept legal abortion, LGBTQ+ acceptance, or BLM organizers and support.  There may be more groups choosing political disengagement, until a major re-organization occurs. 

In an environment of political disengagement, there is a greater risk that the right-wing extremist faction which coalesced under President Trump will again attempt to take power by a combination of political gains, intimidation and force.  The next decade will prove whether the American democratic republic will long endure.

--

Democrats

Liberal Elites -- Generally white, college & post-graduate education, professional, sometimes wealthy.

Urban (especially university areas) and suburban.

Loyal mainstream Democratic supporters.

Policy wonk mentality, credentialists.

Major Issues:  Reproductive choice, Climate Change, gun control, wealth inequality, social justice (but less interested than Angry Progressives and BIPOC), mixed opinions on global trade, generally anti-military spending and involvement.

Angry Progressives

Mainly younger voters

Anti-corporate, anti-capitalism.  Want change now, or better, yesterday.

Major issues: Medicare for all, climate action, green new deal, wealth inequality, social justice (intersectionality, decolonization, de-funding police, internationally isolationist, anti-global trade.

Unhappy with mainstream Democrats.

            Sometimes low-engagement voters, often don’t see differences between the major parties

BIPOC – Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and Immigrants

Minority, usually urban (Black and Hispanic) or rural (Indigenous) voters

Loyal Democratic supporters

Want representation; are sometimes unhappy if support for Democrats is not repaid with representation.

Major issues: Community support & development, BLM, judicial and policing reform, aid to families, anti-poverty programs.  Reparation for enslavement and colonization is a growing interest.  Climate Change is a major issue for Indigenous groups.

Some alignment with Salvation Republicans on religious issues, but this is generally out-weighed by racial and ethnic issues.  Noteworthy is the rejection of Latinx identification by many Hispanic voters, who differentiate themselves by national origin. 

Labor – Middle-class and working-class families, mostly urban to suburban.

Traditionally reliable Democratic voters, but taking direction from union leadership.  In recent years, unions have been willing to shift allegiance to individual Republican state office-holders in exchange for specific concessions. 

Labor voters have much in common with Law-and-Order Republicans, in terms of income, wealth, education and attitudes toward race.  Labor voters may be easily persuaded to shift allegiance to Republicans.

Major Issues:  Union power, rights, & representation in government, union governmental contracts for pay & benefits.

LGBTQ+ – Mostly urban constituency, cutting across many other social, economic and ethnic divisions. 

Loyal Democratic voters, activists and office-holders, disproportionately politically active.  Driven by political and religious opposition, and by success in achieving equal rights in recent decades. 

Major Issues:  Civil rights and representation.  The history of LGBTQ+ repression has promoted greater empathy for other marginalized groups.

Disengaged Young Urban Poor

This constituency leans Democratic, but turnout is lowest of major voting groups.  Turnout of young voters is about half of that of elder voters, greatly hurting their political influence and policies favoring their constituency.  Generally less educated than Angry Progressives, and less partisan.  Less informed than other major voting groups, and unmotivated to vote, due to feelings of futility.  Some overlap with BIPOC group.

 

Republican

Law-and-Order Republicans—This is the Republican mainstream.

Suburban to rural, generally middle-class to working-class white, thrifty homeowners.  Includes military and police families, and many older white citizens; mostly suburban to rural, somewhat more men than women. This group is centered around respect for official authority and national symbols – police, military, flag and anthem.  They give these things almost religious significance, such that criticism of them is considered sacrilege.  This group values conformity, obedience and self-reliance.  Patriotism and tradition are highly valued.  This group is generally Christian and white.  There is large overlap with Salvation Republicans, but with different weighting of religious and authoritarian values. 

These are loyal Republican voters and exclusive consumers of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and conventional right-wing media.

Major Issues:  Low taxes, Defense, tough police and judiciary, conservative social policies, anti-immigration, anti-science, anti-diversity, anti-Democratic Party.

Salvation Republicans—Evangelical Christians, often attending megachurches.

Mostly white, suburban middle-class families, ranging from young to old.

This is a sub-set of Law-and-Order Republicans, but with a distinct primacy of religious issues and outlook.   Other aspects of authoritarian outlook are the same as the Law-and-Order group, including police, military and nationalism.  Their top issues are abortion, LGBTQ+ discrimination, sexual constraints and other issues regarded as matters of religious liberty.

Monied Republicans – Urban and suburban White, wealthy.

White, wealthy, highly educated families with high-school & college-aged children, to middle-aged and elderly retirees.  Wealth ranges from a few million dollars to billionaires.  The wealthiest live near large urban financial center, while moderately wealthy may live near any urban center.  Primarily motivated by self-interest, Monied Republicans support low personal income taxes, low taxes on capital returns, low inheritance taxes and low business income taxes.  Also motivated by a relaxed business regulatory environment, and the concept of small government (and low taxes).  Monied Republicans have much in common with Liberal Elites, and less in common with other Republican tribes.  The main difference between Liberal Elites and Monied Republicans is a matter of personal values, rather than demographics.  As a consequence, many families in the white, wealthy world are sharply divided by political differences.

NRA/Trump Bullies – Mostly male, white rural gun owners.

White, young-to-middle aged, rural to suburban, lower-to-middle class working men.  NRA/Trump Bullies are united by a common culture with symbolic identification – pickup trucks, guns, other rural symbols.  The primary political orientation is simply hatred of liberals and Democrats.  Individualism is the primary value, and rejection of social responsibility and government.  Active on social media, and devoted followers of right-wing and alternative media ranging from Fox News, OAN, News Max, InfoWars and QAnon.  This group is the most likely to be influenced by conspiracy theories.  President Trump made significant progress in winning the exclusive loyalty to his person, rather than to the party as a whole.  This is clearly dangerous with a leader who is unconstrained by regard for rules, laws or tradition, and a group with an inclination toward threats and violence. 

Libertarians – Mostly white, male, well-educated iconoclasts and non-conformists.

Libertarians are mostly well-educated, young to middle-aged urban-to-suburban working men.  Generally well-informed but cynical about government and politics, they have a weak allegiance to the Republican party because of Republican individualistic values and rejection of social responsibility.  Generally not aligned with Republican religious values or authoritarian policies. 

 

Apolitical Disengaged

Apolitical  – Urban working poor to homeless; includes other poorly informed or cynically disengaged non-voters.  Unlikely to participate in elections without significant voter outreach. 

 

References:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-five-wings-of-the-republican-party/

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-there-are-so-few-moderate-republicans-left/

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/16/21012672/bernie-sanders-2020-political-science-house

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/koch-network-and-republican-party-extremism/035F3D872B0CE930AF02D7706DF46EEE

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/state-capture-9780190870799?cc=us&lang=en&

https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/junejulyaugust-2017/tribalists-and-ideologues/

Letters to a Senator: Congressional Certification of Electoral College Results, January 6th, 2021

The following are letters sent January 2nd  and 3rd, 2021, to a staffer for Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska, regarding the Congressional Certification of the Electoral College vote for President, to be held Wednesday, January 6th.  

First Letter: 

I congratulate Senator Sullivan on his re-election.  This was not the outcome I, and the majority of my friends had hoped for.  I put considerable time and money into trying to prevent this result.  But I value democracy and respect the results of Senator Sullivan's election.*  He is my representative in the Senate, as well as for those who supported him in the election, so I'm writing to you again about my concerns.  If you are reading this on Monday, the certification vote will be in only two days.  Thank you for your time.  

In four days, Congress will vote to certify results of the electoral college vote to declare Joe Biden the next President.  In the two months since the general election, there has been an unprecedented challenge to the validity of that election by the incumbent and others working on his behalf.  The arguments to overturn the results of the election have ranged from trivial procedural points to absurd conspiracy theories. 

 

American democracy is under attack.  In 2016, Mitt Romney stated that Russia is without question our number one geopolitical foe.  Other commentators, notably Garry Kasparov and Masha Gessen, have stated that Vladimir Putin sees democracy as an existential threat to Russian authoritarianism, and therefore Putin is conducting a cold war against the institution of democracy around the world.  Putin’s goal is to undermine trust in the institution of democracy, to weaken and disrupt democratic nations.  

 

The threat from Russian anti-democratic disinformation is made clear in many reports, including a Senate minority staff report and a US State Department report referenced below.

 

“For years, Vladimir Putin's government has engaged in a relentless assault to undermine democracy and the rule of law in Europe and the United States. Mr. Putin's Kremlin employs an asymmetric arsenal that includes military invasions, cyberattacks, disinformation, support for fringe political groups, and the weaponization of energy resources, organized crime, and corruption” (2018, Senate Minority Staff Report, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS)

 

“Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem is the collection of official, proxy, and unattributed communication channels and platforms that Russia uses to create and amplify false narratives….The Kremlin bears direct responsibility for cultivating these tactics and platforms as part of its approach to using information as a weapon.” (2020, State Department GEC Special Report)

 

The idea that the 2020 Presidential election was flawed, fraudulent, or rigged is exactly such a false narrative.  Republican election officials in key states declared the results completely valid, and have run recounts and audits of processes and votes to make that determination.  About sixty court cases challenging the election have been summarily dismissed as completely lacking merit.  The Executive Committee of the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council, and the members of the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council issued an official statement that “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.” 

 

Nevertheless, as of today, 140 Republican Representatives and 12 Senators stated that they intend to vote against certification of the election.  The only real basis for this revolt against the election is simply that the Republican candidate lost.  The phrase Republicans are using in this effort is the hypocritical, Orwellian slogan, “Stop the Steal.”

 

The main argument of the current assault on the election is that procedural changes, made without the authority of state legislatures, to accommodate voting during the pandemic, were illegitimate.  Senator Cruz of Texas is leading the effort to invalidate the election in the Senate.  Ironically, the procedural change in Texas to close all but one early-voting site per county was also made without the authority of the state legislature.  If the logic of the complaint holds, then Senator Cruz’ election was also invalid, and he should not be seated to vote on January 6^th!  In any event, there is no argument that these votes were not honestly cast for Joe Biden – the intent is simply to disenfranchise Biden voters. 

For generations, we have fought wars to make the world safe for democracy, spilling American blood and treasure.  Promoting democracy overseas has been a major policy goal since the Reagan administration.  And yet here we are, with three-quarters of the Republicans in the House and one-quarter of the Republicans in the Senate seeking to undermine democracy in our own government.  

In the weeks following the election, I was disappointed in Senator Sullivan’s slow recognition of the Biden win, because that slow recognition gave encouragement to Trumpists looking to find some way to cheat. 

 

Democracy, like free enterprise, requires truth and integrity to function.  Both fail when people cheat.  Unfortunately, many Republicans are once again showing that they lack integrity.  I have to ask, what in the hell are they doing?  These Republicans are undermining Americans’ trust in our democracy, which is the number one foreign policy goal of our number one geopolitical enemy.  This seems to me to be pretty close to sedition and treason.  Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski have been almost alone among Republican Senators in criticizing the effort to overturn the legitimate election of Joe Biden.  In this context, silence is complicity.  I ask Senator Sullivan to stand up for the principles of democracy, denounce the effort to overturn the election, and show faith and trust in our democratic institutions.  And to congratulate Joe Biden, commit to working with the President-elect on improving lives for Americans, and to strengthen our trust in democracy.

References:

* The opening lines of this letter are a parody of an official statement by Senator Sullivan, regarding the election of President Biden.  Sullivan's original statement, unfortunately, has now been removed from Twitter.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CPRT-115SPRT28110/html/CPRT-115SPRT28110.htm

PUTIN'S ASYMMETRIC ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY IN RUSSIA AND EUROPE: IMPLICATIONS FOR U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY

 

“For years, Vladimir Putin's government has engaged in a relentless assault to undermine democracy and the rule of law in Europe and the United States. Mr. Putin's Kremlin employs an asymmetric arsenal that includes military invasions, cyberattacks, disinformation, support for fringe political groups, and the weaponization of energy resources, organized crime, and corruption. The Kremlin has refined the use of these tools over time and these attacks have intensified in scale and complexity across Europe. If the United States fails to work with urgency to address this complex and growing threat, the regime in Moscow will become further emboldened. It will continue to develop and refine its arsenal to use on democracies around the world, including against U.S. elections in 2018 and 2020.”

 

“Mr. Putin has thus made it a priority of his regime to attack the democracies of Europe and the United States.”

 

https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Pillars-of-Russia%E2%80%99s-Disinformation-and-Propaganda-Ecosystem_08-04-20.pdf

GEC Special Report: August 2020, Pillars of Russia’s Disinformation and Propaganda Ecosystem

 

“[T]his report draws on publicly available reporting to provide an overview of Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem. Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem is the collection of official, proxy, and unattributed communication channels and platforms that Russia uses to create and amplify false narratives. The ecosystem consists of five main pillars: official government communications, state-funded global messaging, cultivation of proxy sources, weaponization of social media, and cyber-enabled disinformation. The Kremlin bears direct responsibility for cultivating these tactics and platforms as part of its approach to using information as a weapon. It invests massively in its propaganda channels, its intelligence services and its proxies to conduct malicious cyber activity to support their disinformation efforts, and it leverages outlets that masquerade as news sites or research institutions to spread these false and misleading narratives.”

 

“A thriving counter-disinformation community comprised of governments, civil society, academia, the press, the private sector, and citizens around the world who refuse to tolerate these tactics is pushing back.”

 

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2019/07/31/combating-disinformation-and-foreign-interference-in-democracies-lessons-from-europe/

Combating disinformation and foreign interference in democracies: Lessons from Europe, 2019

 

https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Weapons-of-Mass-Distraction-Foreign-State-Sponsored-Disinformation-in-the-Digital-Age.pdf

WEAPONS OF MASS DISTRACTION: Foreign State-Sponsored Disinformation in the Digital Age, 2019

---
Second Letter:

Please note that I wrote yesterday's letter before the news broke about Trump's phone call to the Georgia State Attorney General, using a combination of threats and flattery to convince Raffensperger to create false election results.

This news reinforces what I had to say in that letter.  The efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the election are clearly illegal.  

Senator Murkowski has spoken out against this violation of democracy.  We are in serious banana-republic territory with the Congressional challenge to the electoral college, and Senator Sullivan's silence is complicity.

I was an internal technical auditor for a couple of years for the company that once supplied half of the natural gas to South-Central Alaska.  We once had a region manager (not in Alaska) who made bullying demands of his engineers to change the numbers, similar to Trump's call to Raffensperger.  We fired the region manager, and disciplined the engineers who complied with the manager's demand to change the numbers. By enforcing integrity, we ensured that our customers had enough gas to heat homes and have electricity; our shareholders received truthful accounts of the company's financial condition, and we were protected from lawsuits.

Integrity matters in all things.  Cheating is wrong, and it is important to say so, loudly. 

I'm waiting for Senator Sullivan and many other Republicans to show some integrity regarding Trump's campaign to overturn the election. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia-vote/2021/01/03/d45acb92-4dc4-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html

The Values Project

 

About a year ago, I began something I called “The Values Project”.   I decided to try to identify the core values held by Democrats, and to communicate those values to help with the public perception of the Democratic identity.  It was a fairly simple project.  At the time, I was recruiting Democratic candidates for the Alaska State House and State Senate, and I incorporated the Values Project into the recruiting process.  In each interview, I asked potential state candidates about their values.  I also posed the same question to state party leaders, candidates for national office, Democratic donors and rank-and-file members in my home district.  As another exercise, I had attendees at a fund-raiser write lists of their values, and I compiled their answers.  In time a pattern became apparent, with enough similarity between individuals that I could list a number of core values.  Although individuals expressed their core values using different words, after some reflection, a small number of key concepts emerged as uniting principles. 

I began The Values Project after reading George Lakoff’s book “Don’t Think of an Elephant”.  The book, along with others by Lakoff, advises Democrats to communicate more about values instead of issues.  Drew Weston’s book “The Political Brain” makes many of the same points.  Weston documents conservative successes and liberal failures in communicating with voters.  Conservative successes are linked to simplistic emotional appeals.  Liberal failures often involve technical discussions of policy, rather than establishing an emotional connection to voters.  Obviously, the values that establish that emotional connection between the Party and the voters need to be authentic, meaningful and valid. 

The conversations about values were some of the most interesting and rewarding I’ve had in many years.  Some individuals described just one or two deeply meaningful personal values (“integrity” or “kindness”), while others had well-considered, multidimensional and prioritized sets of values.  A few individuals needed to be coaxed away from talking about issues (“education and health care”) to the idea of values (“fairness and opportunity”).  But once people became engaged with the idea of values it was interesting to see how they converged on many of the same concepts.   

The List of Core Democratic Values

From that input, I created a set of core values in roughly prioritized order.  Each core value included a set of similar ideas, representing different facets of that core value.  I first organized the ideas into sets using common themes.  (I later found that gathering sets of related ideas into a set of core values is a process recommended by values consultant Scott Jeffrey.)  I then wrote a proposal to amend the State Platform as a resolution for my Democratic House District group.  Friends in my home district contributed the first of several rounds of editing, improving the organization of the values and the clarity of the proposal.

Kindness – empathy, compassion, generosity, care.

Truth – integrity, honesty, accountability.

Equity – justice, fairness, democracy, diversity, respect, human dignity, equal opportunity, intentional inclusiveness.

Service – work ethic, productivity, humility.

Progress – economic development, science, technology, social development, economic opportunity, better life.

Responsibility – responsibility to others, obligation to leave a better world for the future, stewardship of human, natural & financial resources, responsibility to nature for its own sake.

Ethics – high standards of personal and collective behavior.

The Democrats in my home district proposed a resolution to the State Platform Committee to add these values as a Preamble to the State Democratic Party Platform.  After two more rounds of editing and word-smithing the proposal, the Preamble was added to the State Party Platform by unanimous consent at the 2020 Convention.

T-Shirt with Alaska Democrats Core Values

Personal Views

I disagree with a few of the changes made in the editing process. The core value of kindness was reframed by editors as empathy.  To me, kindness is an action, whereas empathy is a feeling.  Empathy might be a motivation, but kindness is a superior value.  I might feel empathy for refugees, but unless I take action to provide them with shelter and food, I have failed to make their lives better. 

Also, I originally included a value for protecting nature for its own sake.  This concept was folded into responsibility, but protecting nature for future generations is not the same idea as protecting nature for its own sake.  We should hold the value of protecting the natural world without regard for its utility to humankind, and I’m not sure that is clear in the final document.  But in general, the editing process improved the list of values, and helped the members of the Platform Committee take ownership of the values statement as their own.

The final version, the Preamble to the Platform of the Alaska Democratic Party, is shown below. 

Values Not Included as Unifying Democratic Values

Some of the values expressed by the people I interviewed included “community” and “family”.  I did not include these in the list of Democratic values, because I thought that they were not necessarily among our uniting Democratic values.  These values are simply human values, and would certainly be among the values listed by conservatives or Republicans.  In particular, it seems to me that “Community” is an exclusionary value, suggesting that we only care about those of our own kind, in our own place.  I thought that Democratic values should be inclusive, and we should care also for the refugee, the immigrant, and the outcast. 

There were few suggestions about faith as a core value, although there are clearly people of deep faith in my cohort of Democrats.  Still, faith is not a uniting value for Democrats. Rather, we are inclusive of people of faith and people who do not hold religious beliefs. 

Patriotism also does not appear on this list, although Democrats are clearly patriotic and love our country dearly.  Nevertheless, it is not among our uniting values.  Democrats care about people, first, above our country.  Democrats also care about people who were born outside of our borders, as well as people who were fortunate enough to be born within our borders.  We also recognize our responsibilities to the global community and the world environment, and hold those responsibilities equal to our dedication to our own nation.

So, although we do value our communities, families, faith and patriotism, I did not regard these as uniting values for Democrats.  I think if Republicans went through a similar exercise, these values would be included as core values for Republicans.  The caveats I listed above are the meaningful differences between the parties.  In general, the Democratic Party holds inclusiveness as a core value, while the Republican Party seeks to exclude all but the privileged conservative community.

Accountability

The prominent documentation of these values as the Preamble to the State Platform provides a mechanism for accountability among members of the Party.  Office-holders, candidates, party leaders and the rank-and-file can now be held accountable according to the standards that we have set for our collective values.  This is extremely important as the Party works to win hearts and minds of the voting public.  Joe Biden and Ibram Kendi have both spoken about the battle for the soul of America.  Stating our values, and being accountable to our values is surely essential to winning that battle.

Contrast with Republican Values and Actions

These Democratic values contrast sharply with Republican values as evidenced by the actions of various Republican state legislatures, the Republican Congress & Senate, conservative judges, conservative media, and especially of the Trump administration.   It may be that Republicans would claim to hold some of these same values, but their actions belie adherence to these standards or to the plain meaning of the words.

• Consider kindness.  The Trump administration separated children from their parents and kept children in confinement in conditions that were substandard for prisons, as a way of deterring illegal and legal immigration to the United States.  
• Consider truth.  The Trump administration has lied daily about matters large and small, from claims about the size of the inauguration crowd to claims of fraud in the 2020 election.  Conservative media should win a prize of ignominy for relentless distortion of truth.  
• Consider equity.  Republican organizations and governmental units have worked tirelessly to suppress voting by minorities, youth and the elderly.  They have enacted unreasonable barriers to voter registration and voting, closed voting locations, forced unreasonably long lines for voting in minority neighborhoods, obstructed voting by mail, gerrymandered districts, etc., and etc.  If there was a way to obstruct voting for Democrats, Republicans have tried it. 
• Consider fairness.  Republicans have enacted a tax plan where unearned income from investments is taxed far less than wage income.  And where increasing wealth from unrealized capital gains may never be taxed at all. 
• Consider financial responsibility.  Republicans have run up huge Federal debts, placing a burden on the next generation, and impairing the ability of the government to deal with crises.
• Consider environmental responsibility.  Republicans have deconstructed environmental protections for wilderness and wildlife, and supported development programs which are damaging to the environment.  Republicans have denied the science of climate change and the responsibility for the consequences of our greenhouse gas emissions. 
• Consider progress.  Republicans in the Trump administration, in Congress, and in conservative media have denigrated science and application of science for public health and the protection of the environment.  This denigration of science is a step backwards, toward the dark ages.  This disregard for science is at the junction of the values of truth, responsibility and progress, and Republicans are on the wrong side of all three core values.

This is just a short, off-the-cuff sampling of how Democratic values differ from Republican values.  I could write about these differences all day.  Truly, the difference between what is good, proper, and right, versus what is heinous, shameful and wrong could not be clearer than when you compare Democrats and Republicans on the basis of their values.

Conclusion

So, what does the Values Project mean?  I think it helps to definitively set down the guiding principles and values of an organization.  It establishes who we are and why we advocate for our issues.  It provides a basis for accountability for those who work against our values.  And it provides a stark contrast to our political opposition, for all to see.  In working on this project, I was helped immensely at every step of the way by the ideas of other people.  It is truly a composite of what other people said to me.  At the same time, I was involved at every step of the process, and was able to influence the scope of the proposal.   My own personal values include the idea of legacy – my own contribution to making a better world.  In some small way, the Values Project is a good contribution.  I am quite pleased with the result.

--

Preamble to the Platform of the Alaska Democratic Party

The Alaska Democratic Party, through its candidates for elected office, seeks to govern responsibly for the benefit of all Alaskans. In governing, we are guided by certain shared values that are the foundation of our party; the policies we champion in this platform are grounded in these shared values:

Empathy: We believe that we and our leadership must express empathy to others. Empathy is expressed as compassion, kindness, and generosity.

Truth: We commit ourselves to truth, integrity, honesty and accountability, as individuals, in our actions as a Party, and in how we govern.

Equity: Equity is expressed in fairness, justice, democracy, intentional inclusiveness, equal opportunity for all, human dignity, diversity, and respect.

Service: Our purpose as Democrats is to serve the public. As members of the party and as elected officials, our service is shown by our work ethic, productivity, and humility.

Progress: We believe in human progress to make a better world. Opportunity, economic development, science, technology, and social development are part of our mission to create a better world for all people.

Responsibility: We resolve to leave a better world for those who follow us. We must pursue policies that ensure our resources – human, natural, financial – are managed for the sake of benefiting both current and future generations.

Ethics: Our personal conduct should express the values listed above. We challenge ourselves to achieve even more than those who went before, and leave a legacy of a more just, equitable, and successful society.

This is who we are. This is why we come together as Democrats.

Enacted by the Alaska State Democratic Convention, May, 2020.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54bee0c9e4b0441ce96c4681/t/5ec2f771a3129705530a523c/1589835635394/2020+Democratic+Party+Platform.pdf