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Proposal to move primary campaigns out of the Dark Ages

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I’ve gone through the news on the recent Democratic debates and it became evident that the candidates are nearly ALL doing it wrong.
They ALL want to defeat Trump, and they all say that is the biggest imperative in the 2020 election. But they’re all tearing each other apart instead. Not that they haven’t presented good ideas, but they are fighting like cats and dogs to get to the top of the ratings. Not that getting to the top is not what they need to do to get the nomination, but they are presenting themselves publicly to the country as tearing each other down.
And the Republican Presidential Campaign strategists, and also Karl Rove, have been quoted as being delighted with the Democrats tearing themselves apart and giving them lots of ammunition. Some of that is policy differences, but not all of it.
This is a major problem with politics in general, but if the overarching goal is to defeat Trump no matter who gets nominated, then something needs to change. The ugly tearing down of others as a means of how campaigns are waged must be changed to bring a breath of fresh air into politics. And the fact is, this large number of candidates actually presents a better opportunity for many voices to create such a change just by being unified in certain basic aspects of their campaigns and the party. Numbers in lockstep help.
Therefore I’m proposing the following that should establish a whole new coordinated way to differentiate from the Republicans. A new standard of strength will emerge that will set the Democrats far apart from the scummy way that Republicans conduct themselves and drag down Democrats who aren’t acting as a unified front.
You’ll notice that the overall emphasis in this is POSITIVITY IN EVERY WAY towards each other. The voters will see the stark difference in style, and by not seeing more of the same old “dirty politics as usual, they will be more likely to see the substance, virtue, truth, good ideas, and a real moral and ethical high ground that makes the other side pathetically ugly in character by comparison (which it won’t be able to counteract without doing likewise).
This should actually be the starting point for a party-wide policy/pledge for all Democrat candidates.
All the campaigns should sign a pact for how they will conduct their campaign from now through the convention next summer. Here are the points I propose:
  1. The candidate and campaign will NOT make any personal attacks on any other Democrat who signs on to this pact.
    • An enlightened leader will not do this to anyone anyway, but since we live in a toxic political atmosphere already, it needs to be established by agreement among those who agree. DON’T TEAR DOWN ANYONE IN YOUR PARTY. It’s a start.
    • Of course, this leaves anyone who is NOT signed on to this pact to be a target, which should help everyone sign on — or else. I don’t think this will actually be so hard to do except if there is someone who just can’t rise above fighting each other. Such a person shouldn’t be president or in a position of responsibility anyway.
  2. The candidate and campaign will strictly avoid attacking another Democrat’s record. Only present proposals and positions are up for debate. LEAVE THE PAST IN THE PAST.
    • THIS IS CRUCIAL — DON’T FEED THE REPUBLICANS ANY FODDER FOR THEIR ATTACKS IF SOMEONE YOU ATTACK ENDS UP THE NOMINEE. Otherwise, everyone looses.
  3. The candidate and campaign will make every effort to uplift every other Democrat who has signed the pact by only praising their good qualities and good ideas, their patriotism and dedication to working for a better America. No sarcasm, no backhanded digs. It must be sincere praise and encouragement.
    • The candidate is entirely free to actually expand on other’s ideas to show more intelligence and leadership by comparison.
    • It’s OK to disagree, with counter points that only highlight the candidate’s own ideas and why they are better, but NOT OK to attack viciously or attempt to demean in any way other candidate in the pact.
  4. The candidate and campaign will appeal to every voter’s sensibilities by sticking to the issues facing the broad spectrum of American people that have been repeatedly shown to be major topics of concern with policies that have strong popular support: HEALTH CARE REFORM, CLEAN UP CORRUPTION! (a no-brainer!), ECONOMY, JOBS, SENSIBLE GUN REGULATION.
    • This means stop putting emphasis on issues that have no real impact on the majority of people. Every voter knows which party will be more likely to be sympathetic to issues like reproductive choice, LGBTQ rights, reparations, environmental issues, and so forth. If it isn’t something the Republicans support, simply DON’T TALK ABOUT IT unless you have a new compelling logic everyone hasn't heard. Stick with issues EVERYONE wants to be addressed. This of course refers to speeches, not to answering direct questions.
  5. The candidate and campaign will NEVER mention the name “Donald” or “Trump" in public statements. Give Trump NO name recognition.  It will be “he who must not be named.”“The President that has caged babies.”"The President who helps only the 1%.”“The It’s-All-About-ME President.”“The braggart president.” The Russian Puppet President. The Liar-In-Chief. The Dishonest President. The Corrupt President. The Loser-in-Chief. Kim Jong Un’s Toy. Whatever.
    • This will piss off Trump to no end: “he who must not be named.”
    • Nobody will misunderstand who is meant, and that’s the point!
    • This will quickly get noticed by all the media and become a meme in itself, and it will send a very LOUD signal to the media that things have changed.
    • The die-hard Trump voters might go nuts (they are all hypnotized too deeply anyway), but it will not alienate the independent voters’ modest acceptance for the persona of Trump by making it sound like personal attacks as long as it’s about pointing out disgusting or wrong actions and personality flaws. Everybody knows he’s disgusting already but this is a way to remind them again, yet not give him any more name recognition. This is a reverse tactic of publicity. People who are undecided tend to go with name recognition. So don’t give him any!
Here is a MAJOR POLICY SUGGESTION every candidate should learn about, enlarge on, and promote:
The candidates and campaigns will DE-EMPHASIZE pharmaceuticals as the be-all-end-all of “health care” and instead pledge to establish a health care system based on PREVENTIVE measures based on BUILDING HEALTH FIRST so we don’t merely perpetuate the “disease care” system that we have now where nothing is really done until illness manifests. Disease-causing conditions take time to accumulate before they manifest as a disease. A dollar spent on health promotion saves thousands on medical intervention.
  1. The candidate and campaign will  emphasize the need for evidence-based prevention of disease to not just bring down the cost of health care but to actually improve the health of the American people. “WHATEVER WORKS” must replace the health care system’s guiding policy of “whatever makes us lots of money.”
    • There are too many means to promote health that are being ignored because they can’t be patented like a drug and thus are not profitable but are often as effective or even more so than the best drug available, yet have no side-effects. THESE MUST BE ALLOWED TO ENTER MAINSTREAM HEALTH CARE TO HELP BRING DOWN COSTS.
    • What must be recognized and stated is that the drug industry is in the business of making money first and foremost. The pharmaceutical business is the second most profitable business next to the illegal drug business.
    • Many drugs are just barely if at all more effective than a placebo. That is the threshold the FDA has set! Yet they are often outrageously expensive to buy, and are often so full of side-effects that they actually CAUSE other diseases. Just look at how many times drugs were taken off the market! WE MUST MOVE TO A SUSTAINABLE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM WHERE PROMOTING HEALTH IS PARAMOUNT. And if that fails to prevent, THEN treat the disease. HEALTH PROMOTION MUST BE SUPPORTED. This, of course, is going to spark a huge battle because it challenges the Goliath pharmaceutical lobby, but it has to start some time or it will only get worse. Everyone must become aware of this real problem of
    • To this end the candidate and campaign will, if elected, invite and establish a task force of various pioneering health care professionals with expertise in knowing what works to invite and participate in researching and identifying and propagating anything that is found to be effective in PREVENTING DISEASE and PROMOTING HEALTH, and shall make policies that the Medicare system is obliged to integrate into its policies. Among the options would be:
      • Support comprehensive health promotion classes in education, including the latest proven findings in nutrition, exercise, etc.
      • Reimburse for private education in health promotion (with certification and oversight).
      • Promote and subsidize training in beneficial activities such as yoga asanas and meditation techniques proven to effectively reduce stress (stress is the #1 cause or contributing factor in about 95% of diseases).
I’m sure there are other ideas that can be added to this list and to improve on it. Add them in the comments below and I’ll add them with attribution if you wish. I’m not into fame, I just want to see things improve.
I don’t suggest this pact among candidates needs to be made public, it’s best as an internal policy of campaigns and let the public see it that way. I have no way to pass this on, so if you do, GO FOR IT.
Yeah, this is my first post here ever. Let see if anybody gets the point of it.

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