Can progressives learn anything from Republicans?

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Ideological Purity. <--- This is why Republicans win.

I'm not sure whether it's the chicken or the egg, but I'm not so sure if it's something Republicans are doing so much as what Democrats aren't doing.

It's the I agree with nearly everything Corey Booker stands for, but he voted against that Canadian Drug bill, so fuck him and everything he stands for until the end of time, and if he's the Democratic nominee, I'll vote third party.

Republicans realize that they, as the base, can influence the people once they're in office. And they do. Trump's base is loud and apparently organized. They have their Congressmen and Senators toeing a line they all would have said was out of bounds 18 months ago. Telling that the ones that aren't seeking re-election are the only ones with the balls.

Ideological Purity is what kills Democrats. Make your representatives progressive. If you live in a red state, vote for the moderate, because they are the ones that have the chance to win. Get them there. Look what happened with Hillary: she got drawn to the left by Bernie and the base.

The game isn't changing unless we have the power to change it. To have any hope of making the election process fairer and more representative we have to have people in power we can influence. It's simply moronic not to vote along party lines and then use our collective influence to make shit happen when we have the votes to make it happen. You're not going to influence a republican to change voting day to a weekend or to get rid of racist voter ID laws and voter roll purges. You're not going to convince anyone by sitting it out. Republicans know this. That's why they voted for Trump. So far it's working out great for them.

Many Democrats don’t understand it is us against them, not me against not me.

They fantasize about being Bronze Age Champions, not realizing this is an Iron Age War.