FWD BLOG: In a break with tradition, I am endorsing Barack Obama 2.0 AND Andrew Yang for President.

Following the lead of the New York Times dual-democratic endorsement, I think Democrats need to take a step back and learn from history to pick the best nominee to beat Donald Trump. And I have settled on TWO CHOICES.

Fortunately, the most relevant Democratic playbook to win a presidential election is the most recent example and it is time to double down on the foundation that made it happen. And that means spreading that playbook throughout the Democratic Party and not delegating these values to the status quo.

BARACK OBAMA 2.0

So, one of my endorsements will be awarded to Barack Obama 2.0.

Barack Obama 2.0 has everything for everyone.

He is an inspiring valued-driven outsider and person-of-color that matched the moment with a unifying post-partisan message and a cool demeanor.

He is a bridge-builder with a broad coalition ranging from Progressives to Independents to Libertarians to Obama-cans” that can deliver a mandate in the Electoral College and help Democrats down ballot to win governorships plus flip the Senate with Alabama, Maine, Colorado North Carolina and Arizona. He actually can pass his promises.

He will propose the most progressive agenda in presidential history but will he will be a tough negotiator who will demand a public option and a climate change bill in his 1st 100 Days.

He’s got a vibrant movement behind him but now they’re even more interconnected and have taken over the Internet with fun videos, themes and catchphrases. And it was also supported by a data-driven campaign that channeled the energy of his supporters with a theme “Respect. Empower. Include. Organize. Win.”

ANDREW YANG

Of course, Barack Obama 2.0 doesn’t exist. But if you look hard enough you can see some promising signs of it inside the candidacy of Andrew Yang.

First off, Andrew Yang understands his “Why.” Simon Sinek discusses in a famous TED Talk how knowing why you do what you do is critical to building a movement. He isn’t running for President to repeat democratic talking points like all the other Senators and Governors in the race. He wrote a book called “War on Normal People” in 2017 because he felt he needed to urgently speak out and fight back against the new threat of our own peril.

Yang has a lot in common with Barack Obama 2.0 if you include a drop of “populist” Donald Trump mixed in. And that is the simplest solution to Democrats winning in 2020.

Yang is another showy entrepreneur but also a nonprofit founder who created an organization called “Venture For America” that created jobs in struggling cities like Detroit, Michigan to give them seed funding to rebound.

Andrew was on the forefront of what “Yes We Can” was all about and was recognized as a “Champion of Change” by Barack Obama.

THE #1 ISSUE OF THE 2020 CAMPAIGN: THE FUTURE OF WORK.

Unfortunately, Andrew soon figured out that these communities weren’t coming back. And that’s where he learned about the pain that Trump tapped into in 2016 to win Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states Barack Obama once turned Blue.

Middle America is dying. Literally.

As everyone knows, Andrew has done the MATH. The U.S. life expectancy rate is going down due to a number of common factors that affect struggling communities like obesity, drug addiction and stress.

But the culprit isn’t trade or immigrants or politicians. It is automation.

So, while candidates on the fringe foment Class Warfare or Tribal Warfare our democracy is actually facing a “War with Technology.”

It is ridiculous to blame a roomba for our problems though so it isn’t a sexy issue that anyone in Washington cares to talk about much.

THE #1 2020 SOLUTION: HUMANITY FIRST.

Andrew Yang has reframed these changes as an opportunity for solutions not just an opportunity to create more fear and division of each other.

If you want to understand the importance of “framing” then check out Messaging Expert George Lakoff, the author of “Don’t Think of an Elephant,” which preaches why liberals need to focus on discussing our values not repeating the words and themes of our opponents while getting bogged down in telling people about our amazing white papers.

Hence, his vision starts with his “Humanity First” values. This is the belief that we need to refocus our economy to measure human value not just market value. And that we need to show our humanity in our everyday lives as well.

The centerpiece of his “Humanity First” Agenda is therefore the Freedom Dividend — commonly known as a Universal Basic Income.

A monthly check of $1,000/Month can ensure that millions are raised out of poverty and can be a massive help when an adult graduates from school, pursues further education/training, wants a new job, loses a gig, starts a business, volunteers time in their community, cares for family at home, suffers an illness or needs to pay for a move or emergency bill.

In summary, if jobs are changing fast then people should be able to change fast too.

And we can do that by making sure companies like Amazon that currently pay $0 in federal taxes are subject to a tax on their goods and services specifically designed to be given back to every American citizen over Age 18. And by recirculating that money into the hands of invigorated consumers we will raise further revenue while also reducing government expenses on social services and other programs.

Therefore, the same way corporations give money back to their shareholders or Alaska gives oil revenue back to their citizens when they get a big windfall we will do the same with a tech check.

We need to come together and give every American stakeholder their own “seed funding” in 2020.

WHY HILLARY LOST: OBAMA-TRUMP VOTERS.

The bottom line is Barack Obama had an approval rating of 53% among 2016 voters and Hillary had an approval rating of 43%, according to exit polls.

Yang is not as well-known but has strong approval ratings among primary voters and the lowest disapproval rating among all the top contenders. There are not many polls including him in general election head-to-heads but a recent Emerson Poll shows he has the most support from Trump Voters.

Andrew is intentionally pursuing an independent-minded vision to bring back Obama-Trump voters who were the single-biggest factor in why Donald Trump was elected by flipping key states despite losing the popular vote.

According to one survey, about 13% of Trump voters also voted for Barack Obama and since he got 46% of the vote than means he stole about 5 points from the Democratic nominee. And the extra problem with that is that means when he GAINED 5% while Hillary Clinton LOST 5% of her votes.

You cannot make up for a 10% swing in the electorate that by increasing turnout with millions of the “unicorn” voters that the Left says will start showing up to cast their ballots if we make promises we can’t keep.

Through the depression, World War II, Vietnam and War on Terror eras the United States population has barely cracked 60% voter turnout a few times. And those years weren’t necessarily big liberal blowouts (1960) because usually big elections include an increase in turnout on both sides.

Even if Americans voted at 1960 levels in 2020 (63% or 164+ Million) and Democrats won 60% of new voters (12+ Million) like Democrats did in 2016 according to exit polls, I did the math and you can only gain about 3% in the results (4+ Million). That is less than half of the impact of losing Obama-Trump Voters in 2016.

And when you look at the numbers you realize that even though millions of left-leaning millennial voters and immigrants are replacing right-leaning and whiter older voters as they pass away each year, the rest of the electorate moves slightly to the right every election as boomers become seniors.

That is why experts have been wrong about the effects of demographic changes since Barack Obama supposedly changed the electorate forever in 2008.

So, can Democrats win in 2020 without re-gaining voters? Yes.

Can we hemorrhage more voters to Trump? No.

HOW TO WIN: FOCUS ON MOVING FORWARD.

Yang is therefore selling his pitch as a “common sense” narrative for appealing to people from all walks of life. That’s why the campaign slogan is: “Not Left. Not Right. Forward.”

Democrats need to remember that 40% of the electorate considers themselves Independent and few consider themselves to be “Progressive” by the liberal definition. We can invite voters to join our movement but our main goal is to have them vote for us at the ballot box.

Framing ideas as ways to move us “forward” by discussing the future resonates with me because of the famous Nolan Chart which pretty accurately summarizes the political spectrum from Left to Right. I once considered myself as an Independent or Moderate because I felt like our democracy represents a balance of Left and Right. Besides, American Democracy spans a relatively small range of ideas in the political debate, basically representing the little box in the “center” of the chart.

I believe Democracy is a balance of both individual AND community values.

I believe Democracy is a balance of liberty AND justice for all.

But i decided that this chart should be seen as a 3-D top-down view of a cube that evolves forward or upward towards a smaller peak that represents our common values. It inspired the name of my blogger identity because i believe in “forward progress” more than the conventional wisdom on what it takes to become a “progressive” which to me is just an advocate for new ways to move the country to the Left. Yet if you want to create change it makes sense since Liberty is a pretty simplistic policy approach so you need to always be considering leftward policy ideas to help ensure more Justice moves forward.

“Moving Forward” is therefore a subtle theme that represents expanding justice without triggering the Middle or Right. It is has been successfuly used by several democratic candidates who have won in battleground states like Virginia in recent years.

Including the REAL Barack Obama 2.0: The re-election campaign in 2012.