Democratic (Party) Direction

I think there are millions and millions and millions of people who are basically on board with drone-driven US military adventurism and capitalism but who want abortion to be legal, want rich people to pay higher taxes, want vigorous enforcement of environmental laws, want gay people to be treated like everybody else, think immigration makes the US a stronger and better country, support stepdown of incarceration in general and pot legalization in particular, etc. Including a lot of young people.

Dems lost in 2010 because of a massive tea party backlash against perceived 'overreach'. They lost because they did too much, not too little. That they still should have done much much more is true, but let's not distort history.

― Frederik B, Monday, January 8, 2018 6:34 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

my lay persons opinion is they didn't do shit to the bankers who caused the financial meltdown and instead of giving anyone involved in flagrant misconduct a haircut they made them whole 100% and the taxpayer had to pay for the bailout. also fed the narrative of the 'rigged system' in 2016.

Their continuing hold on the party apparatus is an artifact of their past success, not an indicator of their future sway.

Until that apparatus is wrested away from them, they will hold sway within the party. The insurgence requires the same sort of purging of neoliberal, business-friendly, bank-friendly, pharma-friendly, big-agra-friendly centrists that the RRR imposed on the Republican party to evict so-called RINOs. For that outcome you need lots of candidates and plenty of dedicated volunteers behind them. It can be done, but it's early stages rn.

jingleberries otm

If Oprah runs for president I’m gonna put a gun in my mouth I might not pull the trigger but I’m definitely gonna see how it feels

— dasha (@nobody_stop_me) January 9, 2018

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dianne-feinstein-2

No

absolutely not

Wait, isn't she still the one that should be primaried?

ya i'm shocked she's not retiring wtf

Seriously quamsley wtf

i mean i get the gag she just released the Fusion GPS testimony everybody go say thank youuuu but nah i'm ok

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqsa0c8lHv0

aw man i was hoping this guy was goin after capito or primarying manchin

Don't go after Manchin, don't primary incumbents in deep red states, that's about the stupidest thing to do. Take out centrists in blue states.

the b is for 'blåhund'

lol

The country would benefit from a Manchin that felt the need to adopt the populism that gave Bernie the state entire. I was there for an event he hosted at a food bank that was set to close soon after. The looks on people's faces there when they shared their stories, and said Manchin wasn't standing up for them, that's the heartbroken energy that powered's win.

People are desperate to feel seen by someone adjacent to power. Even if Manchin was the unicorn blue dog Dem that the state needed in 2010, and even though he's more popular than Trump (who won the state), his approval rating makes him vulnerable. The state's become deep red largely because of gerrymandering--it was Trump's disproven promises to save working class jobs that got him the state. Somebody like Swearingen isn't likely to beat Manchin in a primary because she won't have the war chest. But if it gets him understanding the electoral value of challenging Trump on his bullshit about coal jobs instead of being one of Trump's most valuable partners, it will be a primary worth the cost.

Also wait Fred are you Gabbneb

I'm pretty sure he is

It's all coming together

You can't gerrymander a presidential election, and West Virginia has voted GOP five times in a row. Donald Trump won the state +40%, a lot more than Manchin did in both 2010 and 2012. Actually, Mitt Romney won West Virginia by a larger margin than Manchin as well. And Manchin isn't one of Trump's most valuable partners, fivethirtyeight did an overview of which senators voted the least with Trump compared to their state, and Manchin made the top five: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/ The ones who are to the right of their state are people like Feinstein, Schatz, Hirono, Cardin & Leahy.

they need to go hard. they were not progressive enough in 2010. they were not progressive enough in 2016. they need to put forth policies people want to vote for. this isn't rocket science. you cannot base a part on complaining about another party. i'm sorry, . Dems did little progressive enough to excite people to vote for them. they need to do more. Fred thinks Dems upset the Tea Party by doing too much. as if Obama should have compensated more with Republicans, this would have endeared them to him.

this is fucking laughable. and you are talking about distorting history?

I mean, Manchin is pretty much a Republican who just hasn't switched after the parties have realigned, but he's serving as a Dem senator in the reddest state in the nation, and has been following party lines on the biggest issues so far under Trump, and that's as good as it gets.

Obama should have pissed tea partiers off even more, but come on.

Are you seven years old since you can't remember 2010?

i do remember 2016 when you were a condescending asshole like this about Hillary obviously winning and you ended up being dead wrong

if your plan is Democrats to openly court the Tea Party vote i am fine with that. let's get some third parties going for real here. there is half the country out there waiting for someone to vote for.

reporting from south texas, i live in a solidly R us rep district (currently held by actual climate criminal against humanity lamar smith who is retiring). both state house and state senate are easy republican seats, too, and they often run opposed. but there are pretty good candidates running against all of em and they all have a progressive platform on healthcare, education, raising minimum wage, lgbt+ rights, etc. the one running in the state senate race is intriguing, a progressive army vet. i don't think they'll win but then again doug jones so fuck it.

Yeah, I'm not saying 'compromise', I'm saying pick your battles. Go after unopposed gop seats. Going after Manchin in 2018 will only mean that Dems will have one senate seat less to enact single payer in 2021.

Adam you said that the ACA was written with the same level of secrecy as the GOP’s health care plans this year.

Adam is an idiot, he also seems to think the tea partiers were pissed off at the lack of a public option...

But the point is: There are 6 Gop seats up for election in 2018 in states that are less red than West Virginia. Only Utah and Wyoming are more red at this point. So why on earth would you focus on switching Joe Manchin?

purity

it basically comes down to your opinion on the 50-state strategy

my opinion: we should not have that many

xpost which, i suppose reasonable people may disagree. but the idea of fighting for every possible race isn't some mysterious, hitherto undiscussed strategy.

Even as part of a 50 state strategy, in West Virginia the Governor is GOP, every house rep is GOP, almost every other elected executive officer is GOP. If you have that great message that will defeat any GOP candidate in West Virginia, run for something else in the state, not the one big office that is currently held by a Democrat.

and i have to say, all of the many, many people who are left-leaning but reside in states that are "unwinnable" because it's 60% Rep - 40% Dem in their state would really appreciate the presence of an actual candidate of the left. it's good for morale, even if everyone knows it's an uphill climb.

xp gee lemme think abt all the ways Manchin fucked us over this past year, does the name Jeff Sessions ring a bell?

Again: You want a morale-boosting leftist candidate in West Virginia, go win a house seat. None of them has Dem incumbents. Those kinds of wins would probably also help the leftist candidates in the presidential primaries in 2020. Primarying Manchin, then perhaps losing the seat, would hurt.

does anybody here actually live in west virginia?

Also Manchin's vote on Sessions didn't fuck anyone over. GOPs voted for him unanimously, Manchin didn't matter. Should still have voted no, but again, pick your battles.

god I can't wait until you get banned again

he's...not wrong?

Manchin’s vote against health care repeal was much more crucial. In light of thst I can’t say the “we gotta get this guy out of there” mentality makes much sense or should be a priority but at the same time I don’t necessarily think it’s the end of the world if someone challenged him with a distinctly more progressive/left agenda. Sometimes you have to take that risk to demonstrate whether that kind of vision can win a primary in that part of the country instead of leaving as a debated hypothetical forever.

I'll endorse the idea that running the strongest leftie Dem candidates you can muster against WV's republican reps in the House makes more sense than letting them run unopposed or nearly so, while trying to primary Manchin out of the race.

Don't know how narrowly you mean 'that part of the country' Nerdstrom, but why not take that risk in Tennessee or Mississippi, or heck, against Tim Kaine in a safely blue seat?

hey guys who do you think should run against putin in the next election

Putin won't run again after this one, no?