I don’t know of a single Democrat in the entire state of New Hampshire who ran on defunding the police. I can count on one hand the number of national candidates who even entertained the idea. After the initial outpouring of support for BLM post-George Floyd, most Democrats locally and nationally cozied up to police unions and other law enforcement agencies in an attempt to flip GOP narratives about law & order to appeal to moderates in an election year. This was a failed strategy, and folks are pointing fingers when they could instead be taking responsibility and taking part in some introspection instead.

Let’s talk about that.

To be clear: the perfect slogan does not exist. “Defund the Police” is flawed and easily susceptible to right wing disinformation campaigns, but the same could be said about “divest and reinvest”, “rethink policing” and even the dated “smart on crime”. Many law enforcement agencies and their allies scoff at the mere idea of reform, so it is deeply baffling to me that anyone could think it’s the messaging that makes the difference. At its very core, law enforcement in this country is fundamentally opposed to the kind of transformative change we need to see in our communities on the issue of policing.

NH Dems, you didn’t lose the State House, State Senate, Executive Council and the Governor’s race because of “socialism” or because you attended a BLM rally. You lost because of failed state party leadership that prioritized defeating Trump over critically important down ballot races.

You lost because you couldn’t make the case that your candidates were better suited to address the issues that working-class Granite Staters care about. You lost because despite all of the resources in your arsenal, you could not effectively combat organized disinformation campaigns. You lost because when you were in power, you offered a pitiful kind of “progress” that was so watered down that it accomplished almost nothing.

If you’re looking for a campaign cycle autopsy, you should start there.

Lastly, the Black Lives Matter movement does not exist to deliver victory to Democrats. Abolitionists and prison reform activists did not create this framework and discourse around racial justice for the benefit of the Democratic Party. You are not entitled to our labor in any form. With that being said, Joe Biden would not be President-Elect today if it weren’t for the tireless organizing efforts of Black activists nationwide.

It would be a mistake to place blame on the electorate who propelled your Democratic candidates to victory nationwide just because it is easier than facing accountability.

We can only move forward successfully if we are honest about our past failures. We have a unique opportunity in this moment to pursue substantive changes in the party, in our state and in our country.

I truly hope it is not wasted.

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