Gonna keep my fingers crossed for her all damn day tomorrow.
― Simon H., Friday, 22 June 2018 17:46 (five years ago) link
the problem with discussing democratic party direction is that every democrat in the country, me included, thinks "my politics are something tons of people would enthusiastically get behind if only the party structure could see it"
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 22 June 2018 18:05 (five years ago) link
if only there were some sort of scientific way to find out what people's opinions on policy actually are. But that just sounds too futuristic.
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Friday, 22 June 2018 18:07 (five years ago) link
Oh I guess the Ocasio/Crowley race isn't till Tuesday, I forgot that y'all always do this on Tuesdays lol
― Simon H., Friday, 22 June 2018 18:16 (five years ago) link
afaics, the dependability of opinion polling has been dropping for about a decade. I know I've been refusing to answer any sort of polling for longer than that, because it is generally impossible to know who is behind the poll or what use the information will be put to. if it were structured more as a full-scale plebiscite, with foreseeable consequences, I'd be more amenable, but for all I know, I'd just be helping the Kochs figure out how to sell the public the idea that climate change is caused by volcanoes, not people, so I hang up 100% of the time.
― A is for (Aimless), Friday, 22 June 2018 18:18 (five years ago) link
Oh I guess the Ocasio/Crowley race isn't till Tuesday, I forgot that y'all always do this on Tuesdays lol― Simon H., Friday, June 22, 2018 6:16 PM (thirty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Simon H., Friday, June 22, 2018 6:16 PM (thirty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
as if our dumb asses would have an election on the weekend
― officer sonny bonds, lytton pd (mayor jingleberries), Friday, 22 June 2018 18:52 (five years ago) link
if only there were some sort of scientific way to find out what people's opinions on policy actually are.
I mean I get this but I look at those polls and if I'm honest with myself I don't think I know what makes a Dem candidate more or less likely to win. I have lots of intuitions but none of them really have any basis.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 22 June 2018 21:14 (five years ago) link
Medicare for all and l3gal w33d and $15/hour are winners I think there’s a lot of evidence of this building up.
― valorous wokelord (silby), Friday, 22 June 2018 21:15 (five years ago) link
re that Ocasio twitter thread, it's depressing how often you see people making the argument "We can't afford this infighting now! Trump is president!" It's one of the safest blue districts in the country. FWIW I've even seen that argument in primaries where the GOP isn't fielding a candidate in the general.
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Friday, 22 June 2018 21:17 (five years ago) link
x-post: Where is that evidence? Centrists have done quite well the last year and a half.
Also, yeah, Ocasio-Cortez is exactly right about targeting that kind of districts.
― Frederik B, Friday, 22 June 2018 21:21 (five years ago) link
Data for Progress has offered plenty of evidence. I'm not sure the success of moderate/centrist candidates is necessarily a sign that those policies aren't popular - plenty of left candidates have done well, too. Basically it seems to be a good time to not be a republican, for some mysterious reason.
― Simon H., Friday, 22 June 2018 22:53 (five years ago) link
centrists have done well because the anti-trump sentiment is so strong. the question is whether this is a good time to push further. the usual suspects will take their usual positions, we will have the same arguments we have had since forever, and we will do all this again in 10 years. politics is dumb
― k3vin k., Friday, 22 June 2018 23:22 (five years ago) link
x-post: A lot of that evidence seems cherry picked, though. At least 65% of California voters support Medicare 4 All, yet Dianne Feinstein is opposed and still seems to be cruising through primaries.
― Frederik B, Friday, 22 June 2018 23:26 (five years ago) link
That is not in itself sufficient evidence that people prefer centrist policies. Californians could elucidate more but it seems to me like Feinstein simply has too firm a grip/is twoo well-connected to be dislodged. (Possibly the same deal as Cuomo.)
― Simon H., Friday, 22 June 2018 23:35 (five years ago) link
Machine bosses like Feinstein and Cuomo are not going to be the first to go, no.
― valorous wokelord (silby), Friday, 22 June 2018 23:37 (five years ago) link
I'm not arguing it's unpopular - it should not be, it's great - I just can't see any evidence that it's 'a winner'. So far it doesn't seem to have won anything.
― Frederik B, Friday, 22 June 2018 23:46 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi6v4CYNSIQ
Fake "Gimme Shelter" score aside, this is a fantastic political ad that could work particularly well in a red state like Texas.
― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 23 June 2018 14:22 (five years ago) link
it's good. i saw that cook report has this district as "likely r" so itll be a longshot, but the important thing is a lot of vets from iraq and afghanistan are running as dems bc they know the gop is bad
― 21st savagery fox (m bison), Saturday, 23 June 2018 14:26 (five years ago) link
Very slick, but even after 3.5 minutes of ad I have no idea what she stands for beyond women guards
― Simon H., Saturday, 23 June 2018 18:08 (five years ago) link
Well “I got involved because women couldn’t get hired in my field and I found out first have that my tea party incumbent will literally only meet with his personal donors” probably shouldn’t be hand waived away by that meme you like but also her website should maybe include a policy position or two.
― Nerdstrom Poindexter, Saturday, 23 June 2018 20:02 (five years ago) link
*first hand
― Nerdstrom Poindexter, Saturday, 23 June 2018 20:03 (five years ago) link
Protect FamiliesFamilies come in all shapes and sizes, with people of all walks of life making wonderful, loving parents. Quality, affordable health care should be a basic right for every family, as should stronger parental leave for both moms and dads. A living minimum wage, job training opportunities, wage equity and supporting our educational system can be achieved without sacrificing small businesses.
I mean it's seems pretty clear at this point.
― Van Horn Street, Saturday, 23 June 2018 21:07 (five years ago) link
I'm not trying to hand-wave anything, just that it's a long ad that puts biography above all else. Which, maybe that'll work!
― Simon H., Saturday, 23 June 2018 22:08 (five years ago) link
That said, "affordable" health care isn't at all a clear or bold position
― Simon H., Saturday, 23 June 2018 22:09 (five years ago) link
Agreed it isn’t clear, but does it need to be bold ?
― Van Horn Street, Saturday, 23 June 2018 22:58 (five years ago) link
Personally I like it if you go to the candidate’s website and there is a distinct page/area for the policy positionsand not hidden/interspersed within the home page body.
― Nerdstrom Poindexter, Saturday, 23 June 2018 23:44 (five years ago) link
does it need to be bold?
For me, the Democrats have played to the mushy middle so long and with such mushy results that reaching for "bold" seems like a smart gamble to me atm. It must be carefully framed, but most of all it must be simple, direct, and unmistakable.
"Medicare for all" seems like the simplest, most direct and least radical-sounding frame for the issue. It soothes current Medicare recipients by not threatening their care, references a popular current program most people already know about and accept as worthwhile, and seems like a relatively simple step to take to expand it. The explanation of how to pay for it should be equally simple, direct and popular. A financial transaction tax of a couple of cents per transaction seems best to me and most likely to gain popular momentum.
The party needs to agree to hammer this message home in every national race. Then no one candidate will be out on a limb alone and the chances are better that people would take it seriously as something they get to vote on and then make happen.
― A is for (Aimless), Sunday, 24 June 2018 00:17 (five years ago) link
I hadn't realized two things: 1. how bold something as simple as 'medicare for all' is in the us political landscape, and 2. how different the ideas of 'affordable health care' and 'medicare for all'. So I thought she meant medicare for all and I thought it was pretty run of the mill. So yeah agreed 100% Aimless.
― Van Horn Street, Sunday, 24 June 2018 00:26 (five years ago) link
yeah - "affordable" is mushy enough that it can basically be the Republican promise too - "increased competition for drug prices will make health care affordable" or whatever. see also "affordable housing" which can mean quite a range of approaches, outcomes, and beneficiaries.
― noel gallaghah's high flying burbbhrbhbbhbburbbb (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 24 June 2018 01:27 (five years ago) link
the other fave mushy term is "access"
― Simon H., Sunday, 24 June 2018 01:48 (five years ago) link
In light of the trend of female veteran democratic candidates I have a slogan--
Democrats 2018: Empowered to Kill
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Sunday, 24 June 2018 01:58 (five years ago) link
It’d be really nice if we had the think tanks creating policy recommendations that candidates could cite. There are some, but they’re too few and not strong enough yet.
It’s a bigger deal for state legislature races, but saying “here is what I propose and the bill looks like this” with a link to the bullet points of a bill, including what policies it’d affect/modify seems like it’d be bold! Especially if the goal is to introduce a bill or push the party to introduce a bill your first day in office.
This seems too cut and dried, but there’s a stack of legislation that’s nearly identical across many states that has been pushed by Koch-funded groups and their cut-outs get this shit rammed through
― mh, Sunday, 24 June 2018 02:02 (five years ago) link
Hegar's ad is decent. I feel like anyone saying it's "great" is probably assuming that the military appeal has the potential to win over a lot of republican-leaning voters. That assumption is incorrect and has been proven incorrect over and over for decades, but democratic consultants will not give up on it.
Her platform sounds very Clinton-esque, but she seems like a nice, likeable and down-to-earth person and that always helps. Based on turnout in the GOP vs Dem primary I'd say she's a longshot, as would be any dem even in this wave year.
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Sunday, 24 June 2018 02:07 (five years ago) link
Like really the swiftboating of John Kerry while he was running against a draft dodger should have been the nail in the coffin, but they just doubled down on it. Remember when everyone thought Trump was finally DONE because he "insulted a gold star family?" Sorry guys, "respect the troops" doesn't actually mean what it says, it means "we don't like insubordinate black people and queer freaks."
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Sunday, 24 June 2018 02:27 (five years ago) link
Yup. Repubs own the troop respecter vote, regardless of who you run.
― Simon H., Sunday, 24 June 2018 02:45 (five years ago) link
It's not a perfect analogy but it reminds me of Republicans who think they can peel off lots of latino votes by running a Cuban candidate from an exiled resort millionaire family.
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Sunday, 24 June 2018 02:49 (five years ago) link
I still want Tammy Duckworth tho
― valorous wokelord (silby), Sunday, 24 June 2018 02:57 (five years ago) link
Pretty much, man alive.
Who among you is willing to see the glorious blinding sun against the backdrop of a blood-drenched sky?
Heart pounding. Adrenaline taken beyond the max limits.
What I see is something else. Do you guys really not follow everything closely, and remember it? Even as it disappears within hours... I can't blame you if you don't catch it fast enough.
We were all born in interesting times. Way beyond this shit. Guess that's fun, right? There's strange fucking shit going on, no different than the history we love to study.
Who said history stopped? They were idiots!
― funzone76, Sunday, 24 June 2018 03:08 (five years ago) link
what
― noel gallaghah's high flying burbbhrbhbbhbburbbb (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 24 June 2018 03:12 (five years ago) link
What, you think we were spared the "interesting times" of history? Make the most of it, man.
― funzone76, Sunday, 24 June 2018 03:18 (five years ago) link
It was some prof in his mid-thirties who instantly became the darling of the Republicans during the first Bush administration. His name mercifully escapes me.
― A is for (Aimless), Sunday, 24 June 2018 03:22 (five years ago) link
I'm just having a little fun here. But really, things feel fucking weird as shit right now, way beyond this stuff...
― funzone76, Sunday, 24 June 2018 03:37 (five years ago) link
be more coherent please
― A is for (Aimless), Sunday, 24 June 2018 03:39 (five years ago) link
The answer is, too much beer, and too much time on Twitter. I just like throwing joy and adventure to the air, the world's miserable enough, friend.
― funzone76, Sunday, 24 June 2018 03:47 (five years ago) link
People take shit way too seriously.
― funzone76, Sunday, 24 June 2018 03:48 (five years ago) link
there's a whole world out there just begging for you to impose some fun on it. why us?
― A is for (Aimless), Sunday, 24 June 2018 04:00 (five years ago) link
No idea. That's the fun of the world, eh? Dunno what the fuck's going on, that's why I'm peacin' out of politics!
― funzone76, Sunday, 24 June 2018 04:16 (five years ago) link
Too muuch Twitter is the answer here. Yeesh! Curiosity killed the cat.
― funzone76, Sunday, 24 June 2018 04:28 (five years ago) link
https://img00.deviantart.net/a9db/i/2007/015/1/9/shit_zone_by_italianpimp.jpg
― velko, Sunday, 24 June 2018 06:00 (five years ago) link
I really don't think it's an exaggeration to say @Ocasio2018's primary against Joe Crowley tomorrow has the potential to be as big or bigger as the 2014 Eric Cantor/Dave Brat race that remade the GOP— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) June 26, 2018
― Simon H., Tuesday, 26 June 2018 01:41 (five years ago) link