I am but am amateur at this political game. I am what they call a support facilitator. I go into other teacher’s classrooms and work directly with students with disabilities. They could include learning disabilities or developmental disabilities. Occasionally, we deal with students with behavioral issues, but the other two kinds represent the bulk of what I do. So, when asked to come up with a national platform for the Democratic party I can only offer my best guess.

My platform is labeled, “let freedom ring.” Beyond the obvious what exactly does this mean? One of the things we have done as a party is cede way too many arguments to the right. I’ve mentioned these before and I won’t belabor them here. What we are in danger of doing is ceding freedom and liberty to them as well. There is nothing remotely freeing about what the Moms for Liberty are proposing. The so-called Freedom Caucus is anything but about freedom. This needs to be highlighted over and over again.

So, how do we do this? Simply put, take the words from their platform and simply use them against them and their group. Take what Moms for Liberty has to offer and completely tear it apart. At the same time you offer an alternative view of freedom and liberty. I think most of us here (with notable exceptions) would agree that it is the real version of freedom and liberty. Hell, you can bust out a dictionary to prove your point. How does your platform differ from those specific groups and from the Republican party in general? How is our platform closer to the vision of actual freedom and liberty?

One of the things I have talked about in the past is the idea of issue framing. I can’t take credit for it. It came from the book “Cracking the Code” by Thom Hartmann. Essentially, the idea is that rooted in every issue is a common story. Conservatives have just been better at this than we have. Get to the root of every one of their stances and you will see this story. It usually is centered on the idea of rugged individualism. You too can succeed if the damn government will just get out of your way and let you do it.

We need our own competing story. Our story has to have the true definitions of freedom and liberty at its core. Sure, live and let live is a simple offshoot of that. The idea that someone can be religious or not is basic. The idea that someone can be gay or not is basic. The idea that someone can live an alternative lifestyle or not is basic. We need to expand this outward. We need to describe how our health care system actually limits freedom. If the vast majority of bankruptcies in this country are caused by medical costs and debt then that system is antithetical to freedom. We need to free people from the anxiety related to crippling medical care costs.

That’s just one example. You essentially take this model and expand it outwards. It means simplifying issues and making it all about freedom. How does our plan make you more free? How does their plan make you less free? Millions of voters simply don’t understand how they become less free if they vote GOP. They think to themselves that they aren’t immigrants, women, people of color, or LGTBQ+, so why does it matter if those people have less freedom? In fact, wouldn’t that mean that I have more? Life is a zero sum game to them. You won’t catch them all, but you have to repeat the notion that less freedom for them means less freedom for all. Keep repeating that over and over again and give them examples. Then, we have a fighting chance.