#5NN: This is How We Win

Taking on the Democratic Establishment

We know what Donald Trump is capable of. By extension we now know what the Republican Party is capable of. The Republican Party lit the runway and cleared Donald Trump for takeoff. It’s time we leave them behind. No more bridges. No olive branches. No compromises or amends.

That is the most radical thing I have to say. The most provocative thing I have to say, however, is this:

The Democratic establishment is the single greatest threat on the horizon.

MSNBC talking heads, Pod Save bros, establishment relics like James Carville, Bill Maher boomer types and Third Way Democrats are uniting around dangerous themes to sideline progressives. Earlier this year, the Third Way think tank even hosted a “Comeback Retreat” designed to diagnose what’s wrong with the Democratic Party. You can read the summary for yourself, but let me offer a few key findings. Their words. My response.

“Move away from identity politics.”

Kamala Harris didn’t campaign on identity politics, nor did Joe Biden. Republicans did.

“Reduce Far-Left Influence and Infrastructure.”

They already killed primaries, not sure what else they’re looking to accomplish.

“Embrace Moderation, Individualism and Masculinity.”

That would be the libertarian platform. Also, that’s crude, sexist and stupid.

“Shift Messaging Away from ‘Handouts’.”

They list student loan forgiveness and universal basic income as handouts, by the way. And they encourage more use of words like “opportunity” and “empowerment.” These are Republican talking points that the Clinton/Gore New Democrats adopted with disastrous results.

“Integrate with the Business Community.”

You’ll love these suggestions as to how to do this. This one has subheadings like, “Stop demonizing wealth and corporations,” and “engage with business podcasts like ‘Earn Your Leisure’ that reach the aspiring class.” Aspiring class is their euphemism for a working class that wants to succeed, not receive handouts.

“Be Pro-Aspiration and Pro-Capitalism in a Smart Way.”

This includes, “Have a prosperity gospel aimed at the working class.”

You get the picture. Understand that this is essentially the unified platform that has existed on a seamless continuum from Reagan to Biden. Trump is the puss-filled symptom of this diseased thinking, the manifestation of social and economic policies that have attacked the underpinnings of liberal democracy. He is the inevitable culmination of the festering anger of the poor and working class. The only logical response to a system that has foreclosed on economic mobility. The alpha and omega of discontent.

To be clear and awake in this moment is to understand that this is the rubicon, the Maginot Line, the two paths diverging, whatever you want to call it. Either we follow this down the well-worn path toward a fascist dictatorship—already in plain sight with the eradication of due process, the disappearance of student visa holders, the elimination of poverty relief programs, attack on public education, and assault on free speech—or we provide another vision that delivers us.

What will not work for this nation, its institutions or inhabitants, is more of the same mediocre, polite defense of the neoliberal era system that resulted in economic precarity, environmental disaster, mass incarceration, and extreme political and social stratification.

This choice is not new. It is renewed. The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Ordinance of Secession in 1861. The Wall Street Putsch of 1934. The American multiverse is brimming with what might have been if not for the Better Angels of liberalism. This much I know. The Third Way democrats are not them. How can you defend the status quo when we’re living with the fruits of it?

The 5 Non-Negotiables of the Left is an attempt to lay a foundation for something new with concrete and steel of what is tried and true.

I’ve talked a lot about the false confidence of the Democratic establishment that has tasted victory in the modern era due exclusively to a recession-driven crisis response among voters.

• A little known governor from Arkansas who came to power in the post Gulf War Recession and spent eight years doing the bidding of the Gingrich GOP under the cloak of magical New Democrat thinking. The result was nothing less than catastrophic for the middle class and Black Americans who were subsumed by the yolk of the criminal injustice system.

• Barack Obama promised to deliver the nation from the depths of the Great Recession, which itself was the direct result of the deregulatory frenzy of the Clinton administration and worsened by the gross incompetence of another Bush regime. The lackluster poverty alleviation of the Obama years led to widening inequality and discontent among the working class.

• Lastly, there should be little doubt in the minds of any realist that Trump would have been re-elected to a consecutive term had he not been responsible for the utter mismanagement of a global pandemic and shock Recession. Once again, the Democratic establishment believed its own press that their political genius gave us the presidency. The veil of this logic fell in short order when Donald Trump once again took the oath of office.

The DNC leaders are bad at their job.

A single payer health system. Opposition to NAFTA. Campaign Finance Reform. Eliminating tax loopholes for the wealthy. Increasing taxes on corporations. A living wage. These were core platforms of candidates from Jerry Brown and Dennis Kucinich to Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. All legitimate candidates who were mocked and sidelined by the centrist Democrats who offered not a single bold policy on the left and governed through giveaways to the right.

There is one key difference between the Democratic Party and the GOP that runs through the entirety of the neoliberal era. The Republicans have a true ideology and when they are in power they work diligently to bring it to life. For the Democrats, power is the goal.

This is how and why the country has shifted to the right. Imagine the past 70 years as one long game of tug of war. For stretches of time the Republicans dig in their heels and tug the rope with all their might. They fuck things up for the working class, strip the middle class of its wealth and drive us into a recession. And then they rest and gather their steam for another coordinated pull.

The Democrats meanwhile hold the line while the Republicans rest before the rope tears the flesh from their hands when Republicans pull again. Each time the GOP makes a little more progress.

What’s maddening is that this was the playbook of left activists before the neoliberal era. America has always been a conservative enclave, steeped in racism and prone to fits of xenophobia. And for decades, if not centuries, suffragettes, union members, Civil Rights leaders, feminists, anti-war demonstrators and LGBTQ+ activists held the anchor position on the rope and did the heavy pulling for the rest of us.

Along the way they scored countless small victories that culminated in programs like Medicare and Medicaid; 40 hour work weeks, anti child labor laws, reproductive rights, disability rights, the right to organize, protected speech, universal franchise, and the freedom to love and marry whomever you choose. These are the ties that bind a society together, delivered by those who were beaten by batons and bloodied by water canons, fired from their jobs and excommunicated from their places of worship, ostracized by their friends and families, and hunted and imprisoned by their government.

Job one is to admit defeat; own up to the reality that we have abrogated the responsibility handed to us by these warriors to preserve what they often died defending. In this admission we can more readily identify that the time to hold the line has passed. It’s time to dig in our heels and pull the rope.

Not only can we build on the backs of the brave souls who came before us but can borrow tactics from those who have defeated us. Just as the Koch Brothers studied the revolutionary tactics of Lenin to use against the Left in this country, we can borrow from them.

Take Project 2025, for example. Project 2025 is as brazen as it is comprehensive. And the only reason we have access to it is because of their hubris.

The ideologues behind Project 2025 revealed their hand under the assumption that they were about to achieve total victory. Otherwise, this document never would have seen the light of day. They knew victory was imminent and were therefore confident that they could write the final chapter of the white supremacist manifesto that started in earnest in 1954 with the passage of Brown v. Board of Education. This is when the rope of neoliberalism was first pulled. The think tanks, dark money groups and Christian fundamentalist organizations all worked in concert over a 70-year period to deliver us here.

The documentation exists throughout like an evil schematic despite their attempts to hide it. Take over oil fields of other countries. Pillage their labor and natural resources. Voter disenfranchisement here at home. Take over schools and churches. Shut down dissent. Hoard wealth. Incarcerate Black people. End Posse Comitatus. Chill speech. Keep poor people poor. Put billionaires in charge. Eliminate regulations. Protect corporations. End DEI practices. Vilify immigrants. Keep boardrooms white and male. Make Congress Christian. But do it all without saying it. That’s where the discipline comes in. How do they pull it off?

The Southern Strategy never disappeared, they just refined it.

America First. God and Country. The American Dream.

There are only two ways to advance a social, political and economic agenda. Through fear and precarity or optimism and security. The white nationalist playbook running the GOP relies on the former. A progressive vision for the future rests firmly on the latter.

For the GOP, staying on message helps blind the masses to your true intent and makes even the worst policies sound rational. When a population is in constant economic precarity they are susceptible to messages of fear. Because they exist in that fear. They live in it. The fight or flight response that triggers dopamine. The desire to break out of your circumstances is made easier when there’s someone to blame.

America First

First they shipped your jobs overseas, then they opened the border and let immigrants take them at home. We need to put America First by cutting taxes on the job creators.

God and Country

Our kids don’t go to church. They live in the basement and are addicted to porn. Drag Queens are turning them gay. Everyone is speaking Spanish today, but it’ll be Chinese tomorrow. The Muslim at the corner store, Jews that run Hollywood and commies from China are taking everything away from us. Time to put God and Country before everything else and get rid of the immigrants and infidels.

The American Dream

Families are falling apart. You’re working two jobs and still paycheck to paycheck, taking home less and paying out more. It’s because Black kids get free Ivy League education, Trans people get promoted, and illegal immigrants are stealing all the welfare benefits. Time to get rid of woke DEI nonsense and make the American Dream a reality for real Americans.

Simple platitudes dipped in fear that scapegoat others.

On the left, we have our goals as well. Reproductive rights. Free speech. LGBTQ+ rights. Indigenous rights. Pathways to citizenship. Stopping the funding of genocide with our tax dollars. Eliminating the cap on Social Security deductions. Expanded social safety nets. Free and fast public transportation. Nationalizing the energy grid. Imposing extreme regulations on factory farms. Breakup of monopolies. The right to organize. An end to homelessness. Addiction and recovery support. Ending mass incarceration. Student loan forgiveness. Free public college. A wealth tax. Closing the carried interest tax loophole. Voting access. A meaningful work guarantee. Affordable housing options. Universal healthcare coverage. Progressive taxation. Net zero carbon emissions. Closing foreign military bases. Police reform. Greater consumer protections. Clean water. Breathable air. Free and fair elections. And getting money out of politics.

Did I miss any?

No matter where you fall along these lines, something obvious should emerge when you examine the Democratic Party platform. With the exception of soft language about climate change resilience, admonitions that billionaires pay their fair share, and we need to make things more affordable, the Democratic Party never once uttered anything as specific as what we just reviewed in this century. Not one.

In fact, here’s what I remember from the Harris campaign most recently: She owned a Glock. Wanted to create a first time home buyer tax credit that no one understood. Democracy was on the ballot. We need to secure the border but Republicans won’t let them. Trump’s a monster. We need more joy. Things are fine and getting better.

People like Carville, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and all the centrist dems and pundits talk about the need to be practical and rational. Don’t spook the moderates with your socialist nonsense. They’ll tell you that we need to suppress left visions in order to appeal to a broader constituency. They concede only that there is a messaging problem, not a policy issue. If we could just convince people that we’re better at governing than Republicans and that they’re better off than they think. Can you think of anything more patronizing?

The self diagnosis of the Party isn’t that they aren’t good enough, it’s that you just don’t get it.

Then they retreat into familiar talking points, the worst of which is saying we need to stop with the purity tests. What is politics if not a purity test? That’s exactly what this is. One person’s purity test is another’s platform. To win in this game you have to stand for something and be pure in your intentions. The Republicans have one. They’ve administered an actual purity test to their candidates for forty years. It’s called the “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” promoted by Americans for Tax Reform, an organization founded by Grover Norquist in 1985. Republican candidates are asked to sign a pledge to oppose any and all efforts to increase marginal tax rates for individuals and corporations and oppose efforts to eliminate tax deductions. Again. Simple.

Republicans know that the balance of their agenda flows directly from this one central concept. If they can hoard all the money they can buy and sell politicians, like so many nickels and dimes. Democrats often accuse Republicans of moving the goalpost and changing the rules of engagement. They’re only half right. Republicans constantly change the rules by keeping the goalpost firmly in place. In fact, it’s precisely the firmness of the pledge—the goalpost—that allows them to change the rules.

What’s astounding is that the pledge is made to constituents, not to the Republican Party. A promise to the many to protect the few. This cultlike fealty to the tax pledge has enabled the wealthiest few of the country to amass fortunes, which in turn has given them the ability to purchase our democracy and change the rules of the game.

Thankfully, people are waking up once again to the reality of this situation thanks to the blatantly authoritarian turn of this administration. Bernie and AOC are traversing the country on their Stop Oligarchy tour and packing arenas in red states. Even Republicans are roasting Republicans at GOP town halls.

What has my full attention right now, however, is a young vice chair of the DNC named David Hogg who is rattling the establishment’s cage by pledging to primary Democrats in safe blue districts who aren’t committed to progressivism. Well done. This is the inside person we need with a strategy to win the moment. Similar to the Justice Democrats movement that produced candidates such as AOC, Summer Lee, Pramila Jayapal, Greg Casar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib.

Hogg’s PAC is called Leaders We Deserve and has committed to raising $20 million for the 2026 primaries. If you’re going to support a political action committee, this is the one. Of course, this runs afoul of our 4th Non-Negotiable to get money out of politics, but that’s why number four is a post-cycle initiative that I conservatively believe will take 20 years to accomplish. As we pointed out in that particular episode, 20 years to unwind something that took a 180 to achieve isn’t bad. Gotta start somewhere.

The 5 Non-Negotiables

On that note, this is as good a time as any to conclude with the 5 Non-Negotiables and make my closing argument for this approach.

Everything until now has been a prologue to contextualize a worldview. To stand behind the concept of the 5 Non-Negotiables there are only two foundational suppositions that one has to be willing to accept:

1. Third Parties cannot win federal elections in the United States.

2. Economic security is the primary determinant of political success. One way or another.

On the first point. I do not believe that third-party efforts are for naught. My contention, stated clearly in a separate piece, is that the two major parties have deliberately and completely shut down this route in the United States. It’s a reflection of reality, not desire.

On the second point, the progenitors of the neoliberal movement recognized that they could only rob the fortunes of the masses and destroy democracy if the vast majority of us lived in economic precarity. Economic insecurity breeds fear. Fear breeds antagonism and individualism. It sets us against one another and corners us like rats. Likewise, collectivism is attainable when human needs are met easily and consistently. This is the only sociological concept that must be agreed upon.

Thus my call is to refrain from third party efforts in order to take over the Democratic apparatus from within, much the same as the neoliberals did with the GOP. Concrete and widespread messaging of our demands—three to meet the foundations of the hierarchy of human needs in the short-term and two to preserve our Democracy and planet in the long-term–will give clarity of purpose to the initiative. These 5 Non-Negotiables can then serve as the pillars of the people’s platform.

Housing First: The Right to Shelter

Housing First represents a fundamental shift in addressing homelessness—providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness before addressing other issues like unemployment or substance abuse. This model, pioneered by Dr. Sam Tsemberis in 1992, has proven remarkably successful wherever properly implemented. Studies consistently show 85-90% of participants remain housed after their first year, with 75-80% maintaining housing after five years, far outperforming traditional approaches.

The economic benefits are equally compelling: communities implementing Housing First see average savings of $10,000-$20,000 per person annually through reduced emergency services, lower incarceration rates, and decreased crisis intervention. Health outcomes improve dramatically, with emergency room visits dropping by approximately 40% and significant improvements in mental health stability and chronic condition management.

The true drivers of America’s homelessness crisis are structural: severe affordable housing shortages, stagnant wages, inadequate social safety nets, and the growing treatment of housing as an investment vehicle rather than a basic need. Housing First isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution—it’s Housing First, not housing only—but it represents a proven, cost-effective foundation for addressing the complex challenges of homelessness.

A Civilian Labor Corps: A Meaningful Work Guarantee

As AI and automation threaten to transform the job market at unprecedented speed, the United States faces a potentially catastrophic disruption to employment. Unlike previous technological revolutions that played out over generations, AI could automate approximately 50% of work hours within just 5–10 years. Goldman Sachs projects up to 30 million jobs disappearing in the next decade in the U.S. alone with knowledge and service sectors being particularly vulnerable.

A government-sponsored Civilian Labor Corps would combine elements of the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps with contemporary needs, providing living-wage employment with benefits to anyone willing and able to work. Projects could include climate resilience projects, elder and child care, affordable housing construction, ecological restoration, and more—essential work with high community value but low profit incentives that the private market won’t adequately address and is therefore non-competitive to private industry.

A job is not just a paycheck—it’s a source of dignity, purpose, and social integration, serving as a preventative measure against political extremism and social instability.

Medicare for All: Healthcare as a Human Right

The United States spends approximately 20% of its GDP on healthcare—double what other developed nations spend per capita—yet has shorter life expectancy, higher infant mortality, and leaves tens of millions uninsured or underinsured. The private insurance industry alone has revenue in excess of $1.5 trillion, while administrative costs consume approximately 13% of private insurance spending compared to just 2% for Medicare.

Medicare for All would establish a national health insurance program providing comprehensive coverage to all U.S. residents, including all medically necessary services without premiums, deductibles, or copayments. The program would prohibit private insurance from selling coverage that duplicates Medicare benefits while allowing supplemental coverage for non-included services.

Multiple economic studies project annual savings of $500–600 billion through reduced administrative costs, negotiated pharmaceutical prices, and streamlined billing. A crucial component of implementation would be the Civilian Labor Corps to absorb workers displaced from the insurance industry as AI increasingly threatens these jobs anyway. Medicare for All represents not just a policy change but a fundamental shift in how we view healthcare—as a human right rather than a market commodity.

Getting Money Out of Politics: Election integrity

The movement to remove money from politics represents a long-term constitutional battle that may take decades to achieve. The current campaign finance system developed over many years, from the 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision establishing that political spending is protected speech, through the 1978 First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, extending this protection to corporations and culminating in the 2010 Citizens United decision that effectively eliminated restrictions on corporate political spending.

The only viable solution is a constitutional amendment that would: (1) limit speech protections to natural persons, negating Citizens United; (2) prohibit all non-individual spending on candidates or election issues; (3) allow Congress to determine federal campaign spending limits; (4) restore individual donation caps; (5) limit self-funded candidates; and (6) require full transparency for all political donations. Pursuing this amendment requires first implementing the other non-negotiables to build popular support, then presenting Republicans with a choice: either accept the amendment or face aggressive progressive taxation returning the top marginal tax rates to 1950s levels. This approach acknowledges that meaningful campaign finance reform can only come through constitutional change, as legislative attempts will be struck down by the Supreme Court based on established precedent.

Climate Action: Social Security for the Planet

Despite overwhelming scientific evidence dating back to Eunice Foote’s 1856 discovery of carbon dioxide’s heat-trapping effect, political action on climate change has been inconsistent and wholly inadequate. Even the most ardent skeptic of climate science should be taught that in 1990 our military predicted extreme weather, drought, flooding, sea level rise, and increased conflict over scarce resources due to what they observed. Private industry, including fossil fuel companies like Exxon, has been aware of these risks since at least the 1970s but actively misinformed the public to protect their interests.

Mobilizing for a net zero emission future with simultaneous, large-scale initiatives requires a wartime level preparedness. We know what needs to be done, but must also contend with the reality that the next few decades we are going to live with the results of what we failed to accomplish in the past few decades. To bridge the gap, we propose a Climate Trust to fund present and future initiatives with the same funding mechanism and sacrosanct fiduciary responsibility as Social Security. And it would tie the two together.

In addition to lifting the cap on Social Security deductions to fully fund the Social Security Trust, the approximately 6% tax on earnings above $400,000 would go toward the Climate Trust, generating approximately $240 billion annually. Disbursements would be required to be made annually and overseen by an independent commission. With a robust capital account, policy makers will be emboldened to pursue radical reforms today to achieve a net-zero carbon emissions future and provide for climate refugees who will be victims of our past misdeeds.

Closing Statement

Crafting the message is only one small part of the transformational politics we need to turn back the tide of fascism, restore our democracy and preserve the planet. But there’s power in singing from the same hymnal because it elevates our voices collectively. I’ve said from day one of this enterprise that we cannot know where we are if we don’t understand from whence we came. Understanding where we’re going is another matter.

When you’re lost and unsure of where you’re headed, it’s human nature to follow the map that’s given to you. People yearn for direction. For clarity. One side is screaming at you constantly, “this is the way, this is the way,” at the top of their lungs; the other side is just saying, “I don’t know which way to go but don’t go with them.” At some point, if you’re desperate enough, you’re going to follow the loudest voice.

The more clear and direct it is, the better. The Republicans offered their direction in Project 2025. Guess what? It’s 2025 and we’re following it to the letter. If we sit back and wait for them to fail, as many Democrats in the establishment suggest, then we’re ceding victory to them. And here’s the thing…They’re not going to fail. How can they if their goal is to tear it all down, i.e. fail? The only way to navigate out of this mess is to chart a clear and direct path forward.

And so, my friends, I offer the 5 Non-Negotiables of the Left: the pillars of the People’s Platform.

Here endeth the lesson.