A Democratic Playbook for the 2014 Mid-terms.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”  ― Winston Churchill

The conventional wisdom is that the Democrats have a 60% chance of losing control of the Senate (h/t Nate Silver) and 0% chance of retaking the house.

The further conventional wisdom is that Democrats’ only road to victory  is disavowing everything that they are supposed to stand for. Unfortunately that will only doom them. So what is this poor party – that never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity – to do? The answer is man-up and fight.

Let’s start with the 600 pound gorilla in the room – Obamacare. Some red state Democrats are muttering about repealing it. Even in blue states liberals are sounding apologetic – and talking about “fixing it”. Bad idea. Obamacare sucks – but it sucks far less than the GOP alternative (spoiler alert, there isn’t one). And it sucks because the President wimped out (back when he was deluded enough to think that Republicans would work with him) and dropped the single payer option – while negotiating with himself.

Democrats should own Obamacare and demand that the GOP explains why they support insurance companies kicking people to the curb when they get sick . Why they support kids being thrown off their parents’ policies. Why they think women should be charged more than men. Why they think that benefits should have annual and life-time caps.

Talk about voodoo economics.

Democrats must call out the GOP for its lack of a health plan. And hammer home that bleating about “market-driven” solutions is meaningless codswallop at best .

They must demand why the rich get more tax cuts, while the poor go hungrier. And demand why the GOP wants to throw more money at the already bloated Pentagon, while health care for the old is slashed.

They must demand why the GOP insists on pursuing tax policies that have twice before exploded the deficit (remember Reagan’s infamous “voodoo economics”).And why the GOP pursues fiscal policies that decimate the stock-market and drive up unemployment.

The stock market in the last two years of the previous administration and under Obama.

Then Democrats should pivot to consumer protection. They should demand why the GOP supports banks and credit card companies as they gouge their customers. They must demand that the GOP explains why it wants another recession by deregulating the financial industry. And ask why bank robbers spend years in jail – but bankers that rob, get off scott-free

Then they should ask why the GOP lobbies for diseased food. And why it is fine with polluted water and  poisoned air. And why they don’t give a damn about work place safeties.

Then they should ask why the GOP pretends to love the worker, but does everything it can to strip workers of their rights to be paid fairly for their labor. They should ask why it is okay for the minimum wage to be set so low that the tax payer is subsidizing Walmart.

What Democrats should not do is apologize. They shouldn’t equivocate and waffle. If they think their policies are better they should get out there and say so. What Democrats have to do is grow a spine and remember  Benjamin Franklin’s admonition, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”