But it's hard to win in swing zones if you call Republicans brutal oppressors and decaying morons. And Independents can be fussy babies, who blanch and soil themselves when things get hot. (one reason I no longer ID myself as an Independent -- I've grown tired of the company there)
I’m not a politician. I’m not delivering political messaging for the most part. When I do I try to signify that it is a political message.
Candidates should make a strong case that they love most people, respect all people, and that they are working for the good of all. To what extent voters believe them is another matter.
As a citizen, I feel republicans should be pelted out of public spaces whenever they appear. The filthier the pelting, the better. I’m not sure how many places that’s a platform, though as republicans keep performing as they do, the spread of that sentiment is growing. Candidates should of course run to the concerns of their constituents, valuing their needs, dignity, and aspirations.
It doesn’t mean you have to play nice attacking the republican machine or that you shouldn’t prepare for illegal, insane, and evil from every GOP contender. It’s who they are and what they do.
Governing on behalf of people who vote republican is part of the job, suffering the people who get people to vote republican is how we wind up sliding more and more toward being a failed state.
Take the dirty money and the hardened criminals out of republican politics, and what’s left is perfectly welcome to carry on as republicans or even as something else.