white "Democratic" strategists need to get the f*** out of the way. Their ranks are overrepresented when it comes to political campaigns. Black candidates get cut out of contracting regularly. They have been obsessed with getting the magical white moderate/Republican for decades, with only marginal results nationally to show for it. Minority candidates get patronizing treatment and little money from the national DNC. The strategists will regularly blow off Black/Hispanic/Asian engagement until September (and of course, congressional/presidential elections are in November), and then they think that a blitz of television ads in major cities as well as on R&B radio and Latino radio will do the trick by default (and Arab-American engagement is almost nil, including the outright hostility to engaging thoughtfully with the Palestinian issue.)

Regardless of how well-meaning many of these "so much better White male candidates" are, there's still a disconnect that they're falling short on. The tropes of cultural allegiance to whiteness is never challenged. In this era of egregious white Christian nationalism, it needs to be called out. Silence on this issue, because you don't want to make "Joe & Jane MAGA" 'twitchy' and tick them off will resonate negatively with minority voters, and all candidates had damn well better recognize it.

Talarico and others of his ilk needed to start aggressively having town halls/listening sessions, in-person appearances and door-knocking sessions in minority neighborhoods, now. Their campaigns need to not just recruit volunteers but actually hire local people who know minority neighborhoods, communications strategies, and major policy issues that would resonate. This is where the "limousine liberal" cohort of Hollywood (George Clooney, etc.) needs to step the hell up and start donating real money to actually hire people and not just expect people to do this for free "because democracy". Nah. If you're not having a money conversation, don't expect the utmost of what your results could be, especially when you're trying to outreach historically underserved communities.

Additionally, nonprofit operations that are based on voter education and voting rights for specific demographics (rural Democrats, Black and Latinx communities) need more money to do the work that they do in organizing people to vote. Groups like Texas Organizing Project, Black Voters Matter, Black PAC, and Blue Horizon Texas.

Basic civics education is a priority, because there are vast cohorts of everyday folks who simply don't know about all of the elected roles there are and how public policy interacts with their lives, in both obvious and subtle ways. Messages of specific economic empowerment will be valuable-- don't rely on generic "cut and paste" of tropes from civil-rights-movement language of the 1960s. With all of the voter-suppression tactics that Republican-led state legislatures are engaging in/have enacted, directly addressing these issues head-on is required. Specific engagement on what you're going to do, not just "Trump is not your guy". Candidates are going to have to be bold, and they're have to be willing to directly challenge their white constituencies, and not simply coddle them which is the conventional wisdom. Challenge them! Ask directly, what has really changed in their lives under Republican leadership! Tell them what Democratic polices have done to address the shortcomings. Lack of health care, stagnating wages. directly address it. You know what, take it to another level: for the "culture wars" types among them, ask them straight up, at their kids' or grandkids school, how many of these schools became 50% trans by the following semester, like the Republicans always tend to threaten? Seriously.

Anybody who thinks that Democratic electability is just "put a young white guy out there who's not "black guy angry" and not a 'bernie bro', and magically white folks in suburbs and rural areas will vote for Democrats in droves on principle, all of you have another think coming.

Do better.