Democratic (Party) Direction

Climate change won't be solved by solar rooftops in the 'hood.

― Sanpaku, Thursday, December 6, 2018 9:29 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

of course it won't. the GND is about shifting the horizon of american climate politics to put something like carbon pricing firmly in the realm of political possibility.

Rob Meyer in that Atlantic piece pithily calls it 'politics by slogan,' but in the organizing tradition I come from we talked about it as campaigning on 'symbolic instrumental demands,' a way of framing demand targets that's all about calling for singular material changes while also serving to demonstrate the present limits of politics and activate the general public around something that feels bigger than the singular material change being called for. Stop KXL. Mini Wiconi. Medicare for All. Green New Deal. What the wonk puts in the bill matters, obviously, but no matter what winds up in eventual legislation GND is one move among others in a strategy, not a silver bullet.

*mni lol

"politics by slogan" is good, ppl like it and it works

like where would "medicare for all" be right now if ppl hadn't started memeing "medicare for all"

yeah i think that is my/rob's point even if the phrase carries a whiff of dislike

we need a better slogan for it

"Policy memes"

yeah, the thing I like about "green new deal" as a policy meme/slogan/whatever is that it implies a sweeping, generation-defining level legislation, and any formal proposals down the line that fall short of that can very simply be accused of falling short of the obvious demand.

scribo en posternum xp

there are a bunch of good points in the first section of this (i.e. up to "turnout watch")

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/paloma/the-trailer/2018/12/06/the-trailer-how-the-left-is-already-writing-the-platform-for-2020-democrats/5c07ff011b326b60d1280128/?utm_term=.54a96bf260c1

'Politics by Slogan' is great if its:

Medicare for All, Legalize Weed, Free College etc. These aren't slogans, these are tangible things easily labelled and conceptually understood

and bad if its:

I'm With Her, Yes We Can, I'm on Your Side, Lets Get To Work, Keep Calm and Carry On. vague shite that doesnt mean anything at all

Yes We Can was successful iirc

Feel the Bern was pretty succesful as well. In fact, those are two different kinds of slogans, and whoever wins the nomination will probably use both...

Yes We Can was successful iirc

Indeed it was! for the electorate of 2008 it was more than sufficient, but for 2020 we need something tangible

someone save my life today, fancy bear, cozy bear?

Feel the Bern was terrible

The originator of Feel The Bern still has "Momma of #FeelTheBern" in her bio and I wish she did not

the boss emails to say he's in with the congressional progressive caucus this morning and there's a lot happening to put GND folks in dialogue with CPCers that've focused on infrastructure, which feels smart and good

yes, that is the way to go

perhaps related
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/07/democrats-climate-change-infrastructure-schumer-1049704

Never believe a sentence that contains the words "Schumer" and "insist."

I will vote for any democratic presidential nominee who says “clean coal is bullshit”

well a) it's highly unlikely that the GOP will actually put forward any infrastructure package at all afaict, and b) I dunno that Schumer has such control over his caucus that he could deny the GOP the necessary 60 votes if climate change measures are not included

BUT

it is good that Schumer is (accurately) reading the temperature of the broader Democratic party on this issue

i lol'd

pic.twitter.com/nrms5m2d08

— Ron DOV (@rez512) December 7, 2018

she's not a rapper

twitter the creator

Ryan Cooper invites the slugfest.

This doesn't need to be some gentlemanly parlor discussion, where everyone agrees to disagree and shake hands afterwards. The politics of health care, financial regulation, foreign policy, and so on have enormous moral stakes. Liberals and leftists generally disagree on Medicare-for-all versus ObamaCare, whether big banks should be broken up, whether America's imperial machinery should be drastically scaled back, and much more. It will likely get pretty heated and personal, and that is simply to be expected.

It also can't just be policy details alone — there is probably no way of keeping various personal stories and dirt out of it. But those should also be a topic of discussion, if for no other reason that they will certainly be raised by Trump and his Republican toadies, and whoever faces him should be ready for it. All-out personal feuding is poor strategy, as it may depress turnout on the left, but neither should people's foibles be considered out of bounds.

At any rate, it's going to be a rough 18 months or so before someone comes out on top. But there is no way out but through. Let's lace up and slug it out.

looking forward to centrist democrats in safe seats getting primaried from the left in 2020

👀👀 https://t.co/haCrzfam0c

— we're going to abolish ICE (@SeanMcElwee) December 16, 2018

that’s what happened in my district...

i'm excited to see indivisible taking this tack, i have to admit that i'd been assuming post-18 they'd be sliding comfortably into being mass mobilization shock troops for the center left

(which i'd guess is what sean's getting at with the 👀)

Yeah that was my read too

When you lose them it’s happening

i interviewed there back in early 17 and again in mid 17 (they were pretty disorganized at the start, but that's the game), and back they were very wary about even approaching the midterms as a subject to new hires, as opposed to strictly being a resistance machine -- impressive to see them be able to shift back and forth between protest mobilization & vote-getting, can say from experience it's real hard for an org to move between those functions & carry a membership along the way

Impeachment is maybe the #1 issue that showed how little DC GOP strategists understood the Dem base. Plenty of them assured me that Dem primary voters who make impeachment a litmus test in primaries. And, nope. https://t.co/OJ76AQDv6Z

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 17, 2018

who = would

(that's in response to this)

NEW: Nancy PELOSI is winning a fight to suppress impeachment fervor among Democrats. She’s convinced them to focus on protecting MUELLER and waiting for his findings.

Even those who voted to debate impeachment now suggest patience. Story w/ @dsamuelsohn https://t.co/xU7jMi3PRV

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 17, 2018

Democratic leaders on Thursday tapped Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) to head a revived U.S. House panel on climate change, ending a dramatic monthlong effort to establish a select committee on a Green New Deal.

Castor’s appointment came as a surprise to proponents of a Green New Deal. The move also kicked off a controversy as the six-term congresswoman dismissed calls to bar members who accept money from fossil fuel companies from serving on the committee, arguing it would violate free speech rights.

Despite weeks of protests demanding House Democrats focus efforts next year on drafting a Green New Deal, the sort of sweeping economic policy that scientists say matches the scale of the climate crisis, Castor told E&E News the plan was “not going to be our sole focus.”

She then suggested that barring members who have accepted donations from the oil, gas and coal industries from serving on the committee could be unconstitutional.

“I don’t think you can do that under the First Amendment, really,” she said.

That reasoning echoed arguments Exxon Mobil Corp. made in court as recently as this year to defend its funding of right-wing think tanks that deliberately produced misinformation about climate science to stymie government action on global warming.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/kathy-castor-climate_us_5c1c0843e4b08aaf7a869cfd

Not the best outcome

At least she's from Florida, the most exposed state to the catastrophic effects of human-caused climate change. That's marginally better than some Midwestern rep. But, yeah, not the best outcome.

oh cool Castor's from Tampa! Her district will drown first.

lol

By withdrawing our troops from Afghanistan you are condemning millions of women to the Stone Age. No education, no choice about who they marry. They will become property when the Taliban takes over. Is that what you really want Ro? https://t.co/7VR9ZJUz8W

— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) December 21, 2018

You find that funny?

Seemed like this got lost in the main politics thread: https://crooked.com/articles/sheldon-whitehouse-democrats-win/

A lot of great advice in there.

Fred, seeing a guy who built his single serious Presidential candidacy on being an antiwar candidate, who got drummed out of the race based on disingenuous bullshit, throw some disingenuous bullshit at a guy celebrating the ostensible end of the same war is a little funny, yes, though obviously not at all for the reasons you're uncharitably implying.

DJI, that's a great article by Whitehouse. In the midst of the daily chaos and hubbub it's easy to overlook a long, thoughtful article like that. I hope Whitehouse makes sure the right people are seeing it.

I will actually read that Whitehouse thing at some point but I have to say the headline is hilarious

a HOOS interpreted my lol correctly, yes

Not necessarily disingenuous to acknowledge that once you are buried in a mountain of terrible bullshit you may be situated or obligated to fulfill or pursue security for endangered persons there residing.

Left narrativer: it was disingenuous.

way too cynical. sorry.

Forgive me for thinking that the guy who oversaw the draining of the DNC's statewide coffers to ensure outsized central control and called it a "50 state strategy" might be disingenuous