Dems Rebuild

[BigRedBuster]

 

[TGHusker]

6 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

On 3/27/2018 at 2:39 PM, BigRedBuster said:

 

 

Gerrymandering needs to be fixed and we need to have a better handle on the population of eligible voters to be able to assign representation.  I really don't care what party is hurt or helped.  Everyone should support these efforts AND hold our government accountable to not use the information in bad ways.

I just saw that poll and was shocked by it. 

[Danny Bateman]

Interesting piece about the Stormy situation & the interesting dilemma Democrats face in 2018:

 

 

Quote

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is actually running on a policy agenda of its own.
 

Their ideas include a range of measures to strengthen workers’ rights to form labor unions and go on strike, an ambitious infrastructure plan of the sort Trump promised but never delivered, the most sweeping revision of antitrust policy we’ve seen in a generation or two, a crackdown on prescription drug prices, and a big new scheme to subsidize child care costs for most Americans.
 

Critically, while none of this involves abandoning Democrats’ core commitments on racial or gender justice issues, all of it is focused more on the economic realm. Research from Vanderbilt University’s Larry Bartels shows that economic policy issues tend to unite rank-and-file Democrats while dividing Republicans, while culture war issues are exactly the opposite. Many Republicans, in other words, have at least a few strong disagreements with conservative economic policy, and many Democrats have at least a few strong disagreements with cultural liberalism.
 

A campaign focused on culture war topics, in other words, tends to shore up the GOP base, and one focused on economic policy can fracture it. Democrats, blessed with an unpopular incumbent president but cursed with a highly unfavorable set of House gerrymanders and an even more unfavorable Senate map, really need to fracture the GOP base to win.
 

The Stormy Daniels story is not exactly a frontloading of cultural liberalism, but it does tend to make politics be all about the Trump Show, which is in some ways the ultimate culture war issue — seen by some as a wretched stain of racism and misogyny and by others as a hilarious middle finger to the establishment. Whether or not Daniels’s case ultimately brings forth legal action that creates a huge problem for Trump, its domination of the media landscape is probably neutral at worst for him relative to other possible issues.
 

To maximize their potential this fall, Democrats need to find a way to cut through the scandal noise and make themselves heard on the issues they want to talk about.

 

To their credit, I don't hear any Democrats discussing the Daniels situation. But that doesn't mean they don't get linked to it by association. See how little people think they're concerned with the economy:

 

 

[RedDenver]

I don't always agree with Kyle Kulinski, but I agree with him on how dumb the Dems are about the economy and campaigning/messaging:

 

[Danny Bateman]

 

[BigRedBuster]

 

[BigRedBuster]

Oh my.....I thought Bill Parcell was getting into politics. 

 

 

[BigRedBuster]

 

[Danny Bateman]

TIL the Intercept doesn't understand the Jersey political machine.

 

That's not an indictment of Democrats; it's an indictment of politics in general in the U.S. To cite it as some great failing of Democrats that will lead to more Trumps is a stupid hot take.

[RedDenver]

2 hours ago, Clifford Franklin said:

TIL the Intercept doesn't understand the Jersey political machine.

 

That's not an indictment of Democrats; it's an indictment of politics in general in the U.S. To cite it as some great failing of Democrats that will lead to more Trump's is a stupid hot take.

Are people other than Democrats re-nominating Bob Menendez?

[BigRedBuster]

3 hours ago, Clifford Franklin said:

TIL the Intercept doesn't understand the Jersey political machine.

 

That's not an indictment of Democrats; it's an indictment of politics in general in the U.S. To cite it as some great failing of Democrats that will lead to more Trump's is a stupid hot take.

 

So...they control no part of the national government and you think that the fact they need to change....and don’t .....and keep losing elections .....it’s not their fault?

[Danny Bateman]

57 minutes ago, RedDenver said:

Are people other than Democrats re-nominating Bob Menendez?

 

You can criticize the move all you want. If I was judge, jury & executioner we'd have better people than Menendez in pubic office.

But he twisted arms in his state's political machine and got re-nominated. It sucks, but it is what it is. To me it speaks poorly of political entrenchment in general. Otherwise dirtbags like McConnell that actively harm the country wouldn't cruise to re-election either. But there's a lot of NIMBYism and people tend to think their elected official isn't the problem.

 

Say what you want about Menendez, but his corruption is a lot less odious and harmful than McConnell's leadership. Not that either should be acceptable.

 

@BigRedBuster they don't keep losing elections. They've been outstandingly successful in that regard since 2016.

[BigRedBuster]

3 minutes ago, Clifford Franklin said:

BigRedBuster they don't keep losing elections. They've been outstandingly successful in that regard since 2016

 

How much of the government do they control?

[Danny Bateman]

26 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

How much of the government do they control?

 

Rome wasn't built in a day my friend. It took Republicans years and years to get to the point where they have a talking point about how many state governments they control, governorships, hold all 3 chambers of Congress, etc etc... 

 

They've done outstandingly in special elections since 2016 because of renewed enthusiasm. 2016 was a reckoning in a lot of ways.

 

I'm by no means pro-Mendendez. I just feel like political machines have too much weight in general, not just on the Democratic side.

 

 

[NM11046]

On 4/19/2018 at 11:19 AM, Clifford Franklin said:

It's actually one of the most accurate, stinging rebukes of the Democratic Party structurally under Obama, IMO.

 

I like the Pod Save guys, and listen to their stuff quite frequently, but they caught a lot of crap for that tweet, and I'm not sure it's not totally undeserved.

 

It seems like we're at a point in politics where people are attempting to build credibility by denouncing both parties, in particular their own. Some genuinely feel neither party represents them. Others legitimately want parties to make changes that will allow them to better represent people like themselves. Some folks just try to say the right things and pander to the right people for self-promotion and popularity.

 

I'm not sure which their initiative is yet. I hope it's not the latter. It sure feels like a slap in the face to all the Dems who've run and won (or are running) on campaigns focused on local issues that their constituents care about. Those Democrats didn't win by running against Trump. That's not going to move many votes in downballot races.

 

Democrats seemed to have mostly learned the lesson that they can't simply tell people how unacceptable Republicans are and ask people to vote for them instead. And you can't use a top-down approach that neglects or actively hurts state/local politics when you don't have an Obama leading your party. It's not the right approach even if you do.

I agree -I listen to the Pod guys, and I really felt like Jon's move was well intentioned, but not maybe worded correctly.  He seems like he is honestly looking for engagement and ideas on what needs to be done.  They debate often about messaging and what needs to be the focus for 2016 and beyond and the one thing they agree upon is that they need to have people (especially the younger folks) engaged and on board - I looked at this new initiative as a way to open up the dialogue.