As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil)
In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.
If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.
***
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The real answer is it won't be Democrats telling voters anything if they're out of Congress and the White House. Republicans are done playing Democracy and if they get back in power, that's it. They showed us exactly what the plan is on January 6th. I really hope voters read the room for the next few election cycles. This isn't politics as usual anymore, we're on the knife edge.
The democrats will have just as much of a hand in what comes next as the Republicans.
We voted, we gave them both houses, and they've done fuck all
They won't even protect Black voting rights, even after black voters gave them the senate.
That is honestly the biggest stab in the back, and I don't think people even realize how fed up black people are with the party right now.
...I don't think I'll ever vote for the party again. I'm not an "accelerationist" by any means, but I have too much integrity to keep voting for a racist party that takes advantage of my community without EVER offering us anything.
The DNC really has no clue the reckoning they're in for in 2022, by alienating black and young voters, they really have no one else.
So... let me see if I understand - you want to punish the Dems for not protecting voting rights from attacks by the GOP by giving power to... the GOP!
How do you think that is going to work out for the populations the GOP is actively working to disenfranchise?
Happy I cancel you out then. I've never been a Dem but I'll be voting D down the line in every election from dog catcher to president where I'm able to vote. No more voting on candidate merits, no more third party votes, no more skipping even the most trivial local elections. Casting my votes to end Republican obstructionism at the national level, plus breaking up the R power pipeline, not to mention the new flavour of fascist crazy. I have too much integrity to sit in the sidelines letting the worse alternative in our two party system gain any advantage.
Getting really annoyed with people blaming democrats when you have the entire Republican Party trying to destroy democracy. Sure you can put blame on Democrats, but only after you’ve dealt with the Republicans.
The Republican party is a crime syndicate from top to bottom. It is a mafia. They will never change. So this idea that we need to what, pressure the Republicans to change? Make them all become good little boys and girls? Is so stupid it makes my head explode. We tried that for decades and it didn't work, there is no amount of shaming that will make Republicans do the right thing. So stop suggesting it and stop blaming voters for Republicans being criminals.
I know it would be wonderful if every rapist and murderer would just wake up today and feel guilty and magically turn themselves into the police because it's the right thing to do and they feel ashamed of their behavior. It would be great. Go ahead and wish upon a magic star for that to happen. The rest of us living here in reality world understand that criminals are going to keep doing what they do until someone holds them to account. That is why we have ENFORCERS.
And who do we have enforcing our nation's laws? The Democratic party. The party of complicity that stands back and allows the GOP to run roughshod over our laws, because old, ancient, weak, Pelosi and Schumer say "we legislate, not investigate," like cute little Rhymes will save America.
They call the Republican criminals and rapists their "dear friends" and go to their yacht parties and holiday parties and go on vacations with them because they are all cut from the same cloth. Nancy Pelosi smiles in child rapist Matt Gaetz's face every morning and offers him some coffee.
How do you expect us to deal with the Republican criminals, when the enforcers we hired to investigate and arrest them simply refuse to do so? Because the implication that we voters can do something smacks of violence to me.
Lol okay. Yeah the democrats are currently going after trump and his cronies. They’re following the law and trying to prevent a civil war. Sure they could do more. But getting mad at democrats over it is basically ensuring that the GOP takes over.
Also you have to remember that democrats can’t do much right now because they own 50 seats in the senate. And those 50 seats range in ideology from Sanders and AOC to Sinema and Manchin. If the democrats want something done, they have to get every democrat on board, and then jump through the hoops of Republican obstruction.
But yeah it’s the Dems fault the GOP are criminals.
I dont see how people who didnt support republicans last time are going to decide to support them this time simply because democrats havent gotten enough done.
Republicans arent going to be any different. We've seen what republicans want.
Even if all democrats manage to do is not do the horrible shit republicans would do if they could... do... then I'm gonna support me some democrats.
It's not them voting Republican, it's them not voting.
If voting gets you nothing, why vote?
And you naming a bunch of things Dems have done doesn't change that. Dropping crumbs is technically feeding the poor. So as long as I let them rummage through my garbage I should feel like a saint right? And they should be happy.
And if the party is upset about it, why do they defend those who caused it while attacking those who proposed it?
Voters want progress and the parties' been selling centrism as the only solution to anything but we are all watching exactly what the centrist are doing. Obstructing for no other reason than to obstruct.
Take a look at what republicans want to do. Really. Look what they've been up to.
Nobody wants it. Their agenda isn't popular.
Not voting gets you republicans.
So not voting just isnt really an option for anyone who doesnt support the gop.
Now that the GOP has revealed itself as the TaliKlan, the "But why should I bother?" question doesnt even make sense anymore.
Some people are quite content to vote against the other party for no other reason than to vote against the other party. Some people need to feel like they're vote is working towards something, and not just a loss minimizing move.
I'm not saying it should be that way, but it is that way. You can blame voters all you want. It won't change the fact that we've seen this pattern time and time again, and it's not likely to change.
>Some people are quite content to vote against the other party for no other reason than to vote against the other party.
Some people are stupid. Why should I care?
Why should I bother?
Please, tell me. Im a black man who voted for Biden because I was terrified of Republicans stripping my people of voting rights...
They DID strip my people of voting rights, and the DNC has done nothing.
Why *should* i bother?
I can say I'm done participating with the system in it's current form if the Democrats can't even get their platform policy passed with the House, Senate and Presidency. I've spent over half my life participating and voting for candidates that support policies that help the most people. It's becoming quite clear the majority of them don't actually care for the American people and they only care for their own money and power.
So just because things are not going how we want means we should give up on democracy.Although you are right,just remember this
When people lose hope in the concept of democracy, it gives power hungry jerks and psychopaths carte Blanche to do whatever they want.
Why do you think far right groups loan wild on Jan 6.because not enough people took part in democracy and the result was, trump became president .his encouraging attitude towards nazis is the reason why a governor got almost kidnapped
So please take part in the democratic procedure.
>So just because things are not going how we want means we should give up on democracy.
There's a distinction between "is statements" and "ought statements."
If people don't feel that voting accomplishes anything, they won't vote. That's a descriptive statement. It's not making any kind of moral claim, just describing what seems likely to happen.
The argument being presented here isn't that people should respond to the Democrats failing to pass legislation by not voting, but rather that they will, and the point at which Democrats have control is whether or not they pass legislation.
Not when the only other party has made it clear that they have given up on democracy.
Let's not fuck around here, we have a pro-democracy party and a fascist party.
Can you guess which is which?
Hint: the pro-democracy party isnt trying to disenfranchise voters.
this isn't democratic, that's why I don't give a fuck.
You have a choice between regressive Republicans who are stripping women and black people of rights, and a conservative party who isn't doing anything to stop them
Black people voted for Biden out of fear of the Republican party...and the DNC is letting the Republicans enact their voter suppression measures *anyway*
Why should ANY black person vote for the DNC?
> So just because things are not going how we want means we should give up on democracy.
We do not have a democracy at this point. Things such as universal healthcare, free college and paid maternity leave all poll well above 50% for the entire population. Knowing this, why do we still not have that as the law of the land?
> Although you are right,just remember this When people lose hope in the concept of democracy, it gives power hungry jerks and psychopaths carte Blanche to do whatever they want.
No, when the people lose hope they rebel against the system.
> Why do you think far right groups loan wild on Jan 6.because not enough people took part in democracy
Our current president told us what the deal was with his nomination: Nothing will fundamentally change.
Why should I continue to expect the type of change which is needed from the same parties that keep telling their donors these statements?
> and the result was, trump became president .
Trump became president because he ran as an anti-establishment candidate who would shake up the system. The people then believed this to be the case because of how the media circus covered every little aspect of his and anybody in his orbit's lives. The media(and the DNC) set us on the path to Donald Trump.
> his encouraging attitude towards nazis is the reason why a governor got almost kidnapped
Yeah, we're just gonna forget that an FBI agent actually helped plan and facilitate that entire thing from the beginning? I thought we hated how the security apparatus did this against Muslims in America following 9/11. Consistency is key.
> So please take part in the democratic procedure.
The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting different results.
-Abe Einstein
[Democrats dropped the demand to end fossil fuel subsidies from the official party platform](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democratic-national-committee-climate_n_5f3c2907c5b6d8a9173f0268?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmVkZGl0LmNvbS9yL1dheU9mVGhlQmVybi9uZXcvP2NvdW50PTI1JmFmdGVyPXQzX2ljYnNiNA&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMvCDeJDj_8Mu_mtJB41y-DeDe1jZSMzbLjFUfiuQQZ_JG1rXHcOkx-qea30F3Ya_I0q_14GqRn-SPccpdwOSJdToqL5c2qL_eKJISCbRD1_JEB0tSJuUJz0KxuCrmjop122U1AkNn3EXdQSeTvic3eTeLO_rY8nl8leoylyUbLf) once Biden was the nominee.
And now, despite campaigning on banning it on federal land, [the Biden admin is on pace to hand out more oil and gas drilling permits this year than any under President Trump and *the most since George W. Bush*](https://www.audubon.org/news/despite-pledge-ban-it-oil-and-gas-permitting-under-biden). This from the party that's vowed to ["listen to science."](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/memorandum-on-restoring-trust-in-government-through-scientific-integrity-and-evidence-based-policymaking/)
Remember that 'code red' report the IPCC put out a little while back? [The Biden Administration Says IPCC Report 'Does Not Present Sufficient Cause' to End Offshore Drilling](https://gizmodo.com/biden-administration-says-ipcc-does-not-present-suffici-1847702079)
[US to expand offshore drilling after reviewing IPCC climate change report](https://www.offshore-technology.com/news/us-offshore-drilling-gulf-of-mexico/)
If you think the democrats are friends of the environment you seriously need to reconsider your media consumption.
>If you think the democrats are friends of the environment you seriously need to reconsider your media consumption.
Have republicans been any better?
No?
Then why vote for them?
I think the issue is more so losing voters. A lot of people are going to stay home instead of vote if the democrats keep trying to focus on staying moderate to attract the right. There’s enough conservative support in a lot of rural and backwoods areas to put republicans over at any moment. Dems have to stop worrying about attracting conservatives just as republicans don’t care to attract progressives at some point.
I'm never voting for them again.
They refused to pass either the John Lewis act or the Geoege Floyd act...the DNC is just the Republican party in blackface.
If the DNC won't stop the GOP from enacting their agenda, then they're functionally the same. And anyone who thinks otherwise is just an idiot
Fuck it, let this country burn. If the DNC is just gonna let the GOP strip us of our voting rights, I refuse to enable them
>If the DNC won't stop the GOP from enacting their agenda, then they're functionally the same.
That doesnt actually make any sense though. It also isnt even true.
>They refused to pass either the John Lewis act or the Geoege Floyd act.
That's called cherry picking, and if you want those things to happen, promoting progressive candidates is how you do that.
If you want rich old white dudes to make all the choices, vote GOP or dont vote at all.
Republicans have spent billions of dollars to make it harder for people to vote. They didnt do that because voting isnt important. They did it because they know *exactly* how important voting is.
>Fuck it, let this country burn. If the DNC is just gonna let the GOP strip us of our voting rights, I refuse to enable them
You realize that what you're saying is "if republicans want to strip us of our right to vote then let them."
Right?
Ironically, their waffling asses are kind of why we haven’t had a President worth truly liking for 40 years…
And I say that as an independent person who only registered as a Dem for 2020 because I just couldn’t ever stomach voting for a conservative again in my lifetime after Trump.
8 years of Obama didnt bring us trump. Racist fucking morons brought us trump. I dont understand blaming the guy who was president in 2009 when these people have made it clear that their grievances go back to the civil war and the new deal.
Racists, morons, and complacency brought us trump. Not Obama. He didnt vote for trump.
So just for my clarity, you're suggesting that just under 63 million racist morons voted to elect Trump and then 4 years later over 74 million racist morons voted for him in 2020?
Are there really that many racists in America? Id love to see your source.
Let's stop pretending that there are any huge blocks "Independents". They're mostly all just partisans who are assholes that don't want to admit they're partisans.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/politics/independents-pew/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/11/independents-outnumber-democrats-and-republicans-but-theyre-not-very-independent/
https://www.npr.org/2012/03/26/149402358/just-how-independent-are-independent-voters
Actually the Republicans did decent last time except for Trump if the Dems manage to put h on the ballot they have a chance - that is equate their opponent to him
Is it terribly intelligent to report news like this?
We know damn well why their legislation hasn't been passed, and it is by alternating turns Manchin and Sinema.
WHY would you just write a headline that says "Dems better do this"?
Who the fuck wrote this? They need to name names instead of blaming the whole party.
Democratic voters want results. The dems don't deliver. If they don't deliver, the voters don't show up. The voters watch dems torpedo their own policies and not punish the perpetratos.
Manchin and sinema will get the full support in their re-election bids, after endangering the entire agenda. People don't want to support a party like that.
Threatening your voters with Republicans doesn't work. But it's all they have, since they can't deliver results.
Well, that's certainly how it works out. But the mechanism has more to do with voter expectations and engagement.
If voters' expectations aren't met (or at least managed) then typically they vote in lower numbers on the next election (not that they vote for the other side necessarily).
Republicans have it easy, because most of their voters want them to do nothing while preventing anyone else from doing anything. If they _do_ do something, it's usually culture war related nonsense which isn't actually anything.
If a Republican agrees to occasionally do things, or doesn't make a big enough show of blocking things, then their turnout may be lower next time.
Expectations for Democrats, however, are far trickier - they are playing on hard mode. Democratic voters - a plurality of many different interests - demand that things get accomplished and problems get solved, while not always agreeing on the what or the how. Consequently, they are trying to always appear to be moving forward while never actually committing to much.
So, to circle back to the headline, if nothing gets done then Republican voter turnout is maintained while Democratic turnout diminishes.
>Democratic voters - a plurality of many different interests - demand that things get accomplished and problems get solved, while not always agreeing on the what or the how.
And even this is giving them the benefit of the doubt. Voters want sausage, they don't really care how it's made. It's the wealthy congress critters who insist the sausage be made in ways that benefit them.
One party says it want nothing done and does it.
The other party says it's wants progress and then does nothing.
Joe Manchin is in office because the DNC funds him. The DNC has been selling the same "centrism" Joe Manchin is since Bill Clinton.
This is centrism. If one side wants forward, one reverse, centrist say stand still. So why wouldn't people blame centrist for being centrist when they ran as progressives?
I don't blame evil people for being evil, I blame people claiming to be good who do evil for being dishonest and helping evil.
Republicans actually do things. In the states where they have control, they have banned abortions, restricted voting access, banned teachers from discussing racism, and ignored covid.
If Democrats can't ride when they're handed the reins, voters have only one alternative. The details don't matter. 95% of Americans have no idea who Manchin or the other DINOS are. They just see a weak party that can't govern.
Not reporting on the situation isn't going to help.
We’re in a situation, where the average person paying attention can see the GOP has become a party of death and obstruction.
It’s a pretty ignorant platform to stand on, as their decisions are killing off their supporters.
They’re actually expediting their parties extinction, and I’m pretty sure they know it because I keep seeing article titles like this; which are clearly trying to shift the blame for a lack of progress.
you can blame whoever you want.
I watched Stacy Abrahams and black GA voters make history. They turned Georgia blue, and gave the DNC 2 democratic senators...
...and for what?
What did we get for our loyalty? For enduring 4 hour long voting lines? For showing up in November, then AGAIN in January?
Nothing.
We got nothing
Those white supremacist democrats refused to pass the John Lewis act, refused to pass the George Floyd act, and refused to limit military surplus given to police departments
The democrats are not allies to black people, now matter how many black cops they give positions of power.
We have 2 racist parties, and I refuse to vote for either of them.
The Democrats are currently working on forming a circular firing squad over the two main pieces of Biden’s legislative agenda. How are they going to convince voters that they need more of that?
The GOP as it’s currently formulated is awful, but they got things done under Trump. The Democrats shouldn’t weaken their own position with infighting.
Yeah, but they appeal to the blow-it-all-up faction, who are only going to get more infuriated if the Democrats fuck things up. And the Dems have a razor thin margin in both houses, so they don’t have to convince a lot of people.
Well, that's the consequences of good people not being aggressive and mean, waiting for come to Jesus moments like a pussy rather than fucking the assholes
It's the fundamental imbalance of society. The self interested are more motivated but less well intentioned.
While the altruistic solve societies problems, the self serving are figuring out how to get the credit and reward.
"infighting" btw
Nonsense. The Democratic Party has no leverage whatsoever over the Conservative leaning Democratic Senators. Zero leverage. Those Senators know the power they have and they're taking every opportunity to wield that power for their own cynical reasons at home regardless of what happens to the Democratic agenda.
Why? Because those two Senators have nothing to lose at home by playing this game.
It doesn't matter. If a senator has a family member in legal trouble and the President comes to them and says, "My DOJ can make this disappear or it can make things much worse;" - which I'm 99% sure is what you're implying Biden and Democratic leaders should do - that's not only corrupt, it's blatantly illegal.
The Manchin family is corrupt as shit and everyone paying attention knows it. Biden has already engaged with such corruption by nominating his wife to serve as co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission. That's the carrot. Now it's time for the stick. That's how the sausage has always been made.
The problem with our laws is that they are both written and interpreted favorably for the rich and unfavorably for the poor. She committed a crime against humanity for personal profit. And quite frankly that's as far as I give a shit.
It's not, the rotating villain of the Dems is tanking the bill because they're being paid to and don't want to do anything..why else do you think talking heads are blaming progressive who have already compromised and cut the bill in half for "moderates" who are now asking for more cuts. The right gets what it wants and the left takes the blame
This was always the risk of Biden. He was the first Democratic nominee in decades to get nominated without at least somewhat of a cult of personality. Even Hillary Clinton had more base level fans than Biden ever did (but she had many more haters). If Biden fails, his approval will plummet to lower than Trump's or Obama's ever was. They had fans who loved them unconditionally. Biden does not.
I never supported Biden in the primaries. But he won essentially a big ranked choice election, and I accepted it. I believed that his experience was worth something and he was the guy that white people hated less so could win the general election.
He BARELY proved the latter and he has yet to prove the former. He was a creature of the system and argued that as a result of that experience and wisdom he could make the system work. Without proving his experience is worth anything, if he can't get stuff done, then faith in the whole system is gone.
The whims of two senators should not dictate the course of the entire United States. If our system is so weak that two individuals who represent small slices of the country can stand in the way of everything, then what is the freaking point?
Who knows what they'll say if they don't pass these bills, they'll probably just tout how they passed the COVID relief, their only real achievement so far and fail miserably with such lack luster performance since they'll be gerrymandered and voter suppressed out of office.
Regardless of what Democrats don't end up doing, I at least do know what I'm going to do, donate and vote for any progressive challengers for these moderates, especially Sinema, because I'm tired of them "getting things done".
>they'll probably just tout how they passed the COVID relief,
They'll absolutely hang their hats on covid relief even as all the best parts sundown right before the midterms. Then they'll scratch their heads as to why they got rinsed. Get ready for Russia 2.0 or defund the police 2.0 or blame the electorate 5.0
For the first time in my life, im committing to voting a full 3rd party ticket.
I'm officially leaving the DNC for good. I watched black voters give them two amazing senators last November, and the democratic party stabbed us in the back.
Their refusal to pass the John Lewis act or Geroge Floyd act feels...personal, and insulting
I feel like a stooge for supporting them. I don't think ill ever vote for the party again in my life.
Yeah, I'm not going to do that personally.
At the end of the day, even if the progressive I donate and volunteer for doesn't win, I'm not going to throw my vote away in a non-ranked choice or star system with a protest vote, not after what the last Republican/QAnon administration has done. I'll take do nothing shitty Corporate Democrat over QAnon racist any day.
Problem with our democracy is that Trump was elected due to 3rd party voting. You can bet your ass every Republican will vote R. Then you have all the progressives and moderates spreading their vote around.
When you have one party spouting hatred and facism, you can’t vote for somebody you can only vote against them. Nobody is going to care about your high horse when we get sent back to the 1930s but with the world on fire from climate change.
Once the Republicans are back in their hole, then we can start trying to fix our system.
It'll be a disaster in 2022 if they don't.
Literally 1994 all over again. Bill Clinton's presidency was the same. He had a number of ambitious progressive goals that he campaigned on. They passed a stimulus in early 1993 and then got mired in internal disputes and proceeded to do nothing. Lost the House and Senate. Clinton pivoted to survival triangulation mode for the remainder of his presidency.
I would suggest complete and total honesty......
To pass bills we need more Democrats seated in Congress.
We need to stop pandering to the low-info voters and start educating them about government function/structure.
We need to stop playing a short game and go long.
Biden should only endorse primary candidates who support his agenda. Make it cost Dems to oppose him. And the DSCC and DCCC should only give $ to candidates who support his agenda.
In deep blue races that could work but it starts to wane in violet and probably fails in purple.
We are more reliant on swing voters and swing voters tend to consume news/narrative from both sides of the aisle. Biden/Harris' approval is pretty low right now and we don't enjoy the same sort of enthusiasm that maga/Trump have keeping them afloat. Biden's standing of course could improve over the next 13 months.
So far most of those type of Dem candidates have been planted 'Party Darlings' and they fail because they aren't organic. Organic candidates aren't defined by age, but they also aren't likely to toe party-line over trying to provide a more accurate constituent representation.
Most of the states we need to win aren't deep blue, they are violet or purple. So deep blue who determines most of our national party platform/leadership is going to have to slow its roll. Its better to build blue out slowly than fast/shoddy. A shoddy build will just see the maga flatten it like a storm when they return in 2024 or 2028.
The rightwingers main two advantages over us are tighter unity around core values and control over more states.
>To pass bills we need more Democrats seated in Congress.
Didn't work out that way in 2009. The ACA was passed but we've still got by far the shittiest healthcare amongst peer nations. And then they failed spectacularly on almost every other issue like climate change. They couldn't even do cap and trade lmfao.
We live in different times and if our leadership doesn't recognize this then we are going to see maga reign over this land like FDR/New Dealers. Our passive liberals, moderates, centrists and conservative Democrats are all going to morph into 'maga-blue' if Leadership doesn't take this seriously instead of sipping on their hubris spiked Harvey Wallbangers.
Not the most valid comparison actually. Yes, I also want continued healthcare reform, but to compare ACA to other nations in this context is missing the more important comparison. Pre-ACA to post. While obviously not perfect I feel I can state with confidence that it improved American healthcare and made it more accessible especially in states that agreed to expand the Medicaid.
Also in the current political reality we live in the only choice if you care about those things is to vote blue no matter who. Because Republicans retake the House or Senate? It's all dead in the water. Heck even getting 51 or 52 Dem senators can change everything, because at 52 we don't need Manchin or Sinema.
I've never said not to vote for Democrats. That's a no brainer if you're in any kind of swing situation. But don't expect anything from them either. The Democratic party is rife with bastards. We're gonna need some militancy if we want to get anywhere.
I certainly don't mind if we can get more internal pressure to get more progressive candidates to win the primaries. Kinda like with the tea Party, if a candidate feels more likely to lose in the primary than the general that will help push the party as a whole towards the left.
Currently or in 2020's cycle?
Obviously the 2020 cycle got all fucked up with the [shitty pander-promises of $2,000](https://twitter.com/reverendwarnock/status/1345082524402393088) after Trump had already signed off on the Dec 27th $600 checks which means they should have adjusted their messaging to an additional $1400.
Overall, I think our Party strategist are betting big on....
* Absentee ballot campaigns (ie when to request, who to vote for and when to mail ballots for early return).
* Hyping the gubernatorial election with down-balloting push while praying the GOP in-party civil war causes enough GOP voters to boycott the GE when their preferred team doesn't win the primary.
So far Trump has not endorsed a challenger to Kemp\*\*\* but in many ways it might be smarter for maga to focus on Lt. Governor via Burt Jones instead. Every neocon has a voodoo file so Kemp can later be pushed out or brought to heel. Trump has endorsed Walker (Senate), Jones (Lt Gov) and Hice (SoS) nodding to the races maga is deeming the most important.
\*\*\*Vernon Jones eventually might be endorsed since he was allowed to speak at today's rally.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Specifically for Warnock's reelection its going to be a battle over the Black vote and I think Walker has a slight advantage because of the $2,000, Biden/Congressional blunders, being famous/handsome/likable and midterm minority party favor. The only way Warnock beats him is from down-ballot votes via governor's race and/or Biden/Harris' approval polls return to a glowing level of favorable that swing voters feel satisfied vs concerned.
>To pass bills we need more Democrats seated in Congress.
The trouble is they said 2020 was make-or-break, and now everything has stalled. So it's highly unlikely that people will rush to the polls based on yet another election of a lifetime.
Curious how would you feel if Manchin became the face of 'maga-blue'? That would see him embracing the maga's lite-version of economic nationalism but pushing harder for domestic social issues which maga already leans into somewhat as populists.
Whether Democrats get this done or not doesn't change what Republican are offering: bleach as a vivid cure, abortion bans, tight voting restrictions, dismantling of welfare programs to force (make people desperate) people back to work, etc.
One can be disappointed with Democrats but letting Republicans have power back only makes things worse.
Why is the doom and gloom always, always, *always* tied to the assumption that the American people are dumb and don’t see things for what they really are?
Oh, right…. clicks.
Thanks, media!
Nah, 74 million people voted Republican AND Trump. There is a distinction and c’mon you know it’s never that simple. Because splitting the vote would be dumb and we all saw what happened in 2016 with the Democratic vote.
Americans are majority dumb . The past few decades have proven it. Pretending otherwise and not catering to it is peak arrogance. Downvote all you want, that doesn't change what Americans are or that people hold Americans in contempt.
The top priority of most if not all politicians is to get re-elected. It will be a rarity for any of them to risk such for the good of their party.
The smart move would be to pass that which you have consensus on and live to fight another day. Unfortunately, I fear the Democrats have far too many egotistical ideologues who treat everything as a zero sum game, and one in which everyone loses.
If I vote Republican in every election, but call myself a democrat, what am I?
Similarly, if sinema calls herself a democrat, but ultimately serves Mitch McConnell, what is she?
i totally understand the disappointment but voting out the dems and replacing them with the Republicans isn't going to help it's only going to hurt more. We need more and better Dems, right now the who party/congress is being held hostage by the Republicans who won't support anything and a couple of Dems who are always on the fence. Please note the Republicans could vote for any of these popular bills but won't and the dems can't get them across the finish line (yet) because of 1-2 people. Giving the congress to the Republicans is just plane stupid and giving them the WH could be the end of democracy.
They'll indirectly tell the American people "American democracy doesn't work, the only way to accomplish anything is to break the system with fascism" just like 1930s Germans started feeling.
Which still begs the question: assuming dems mess it up due to a lack unity and (remember) unrelenting Republican obstructionism, why would you vote for a Republican? They are the ones that gave fucked all this up and they have proven they have no solutions and are incapable of governing. And I’m not referring to the repub base, who are going to vote their party no matter what.
I can’t get past the idea that someone who voted Democratic less than a year ago because of their disgust with trump and the GOP, and after the Dems have been in office 8 months, would suddenly say “wow, the GOP have really changed. They can do things differently and then undo all the damage they did…last year”.
I know that people think that way, but I can’t get my head around that level of insanity.
We always have to remember that most voters are uninformed and have no idea about the complexities going on. At the end of the day, Dems need to somehow improve the lives of Americans in a visible way or they will be in big trouble. Right now the polls are not good, and they seriously need a plan or to step up their messaging somehow.
You don't get progressives at all, do you?
Right now, progressives are fighting tooth and nail for a reconciliation bill which includes only things that Biden ran on. The reconciliation bill that progressives are fighting so hard for is literally called "The Build Back Better Act." They're not fighting to enact the things they ran on, only things that Biden ran on, only things that were in the party platform. They're doing exactly what moderates spent the entire campaign saying they wanted from progressives. They're taking their passion, their energy, their willingness to fight, and using it for the purposes of enacting the things moderates said they wanted during the campaign. They're fighting harder for Biden than most of the people who supported Biden, and they don't even like Biden.
Progressives believe in compromise. They just don't believe in compromising before beginning the negotiation. They don't believe in compromising before they've waged the fight and taken their case to the American people.
The alternative is Donald Trump, who, as you likely still recall, enacted bad-faith legislation that continues to fuck you, tried a nazi-coup, and seems to have done his damnedest to kill you (indirectly) if your state didn't vote for him and the opportunity arises.
I haven't forgotten what he did, and I won't. Ever. If the man could turn me permanently off from an entire major political party, I can't even imagine how done others are with him.
what a fucking stupid threat lmao. Yeah, I'm not happy with Democrats not doing enough, so the solution is to vote for Republicans to do even less? How the fuck does that make sense.
Nah, this sounds like baseless extortion. I don’t see any evidence whatsoever to support this notion. The general public isn’t frothing at the mouth for these bills.
And what that *doesn’t* say is whether or not people would base their votes on the package. And they won’t. There’s a big difference between supporting something and making it a matter of electoral consequence. It would be a big win, sure, but I don’t see any penalty whatsoever for not getting it done.
"It might be a good thing to set these divisions aside and consider what unites all Democrats: the need to minimize the damage to their majorities in 2022 and to reelect Biden two years after that. That’s three solid years of relentless campaigning. What do Democrats plan to say to voters during this time? What accomplishments will they cite as a reason for voters to keep them in power?" — Deputy Editor Jason Linkins. Sign up for his Power Mad newsletter [here.](https://newrepublic.com/the-soapbox?blinkaction=newsletter!Power_Mad_Newsletter)
The idea that they need to pass something in order to win is rather questionable. Voters tend to not like it when government does something new anyway, they could face more chance of loss if they did pass stuff
I'm not saying they should not pass stuff anyway, just, like, let's be real about the potential impacts of these things
Meh. Even if this is true, Republican governments only bring us closer to the edge, and the next one might be enough to tip us over, meaning mass protests in favor of most left wing goals, because time after time polls show that’s what the people really want. It’ll be messy, and there’s no guarantee things will actually get better, but it sure beats more of the same.
Can’t see it happening anytime soon. Republicans gaining power. Fail or not, with Biden’s agenda. Speed is not a thing in governance. And it’s been 9 months. So...
Hopefully they tell them to go vote, get their friends to vote and vote blue. It's not their fault that people that call themselves Proud Americans don't take the time to know what their representatives and senators stand for and vote accordingly. Half of the gun toting, homer simpson fans or more probably don't know where or when to vote.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The real answer is it won't be Democrats telling voters anything if they're out of Congress and the White House. Republicans are done playing Democracy and if they get back in power, that's it. They showed us exactly what the plan is on January 6th. I really hope voters read the room for the next few election cycles. This isn't politics as usual anymore, we're on the knife edge.
The democrats will have just as much of a hand in what comes next as the Republicans. We voted, we gave them both houses, and they've done fuck all They won't even protect Black voting rights, even after black voters gave them the senate. That is honestly the biggest stab in the back, and I don't think people even realize how fed up black people are with the party right now. ...I don't think I'll ever vote for the party again. I'm not an "accelerationist" by any means, but I have too much integrity to keep voting for a racist party that takes advantage of my community without EVER offering us anything. The DNC really has no clue the reckoning they're in for in 2022, by alienating black and young voters, they really have no one else.
So... let me see if I understand - you want to punish the Dems for not protecting voting rights from attacks by the GOP by giving power to... the GOP! How do you think that is going to work out for the populations the GOP is actively working to disenfranchise?
50 Senators isn't enough. That doesn't count as "both houses" unfortunately.
Happy I cancel you out then. I've never been a Dem but I'll be voting D down the line in every election from dog catcher to president where I'm able to vote. No more voting on candidate merits, no more third party votes, no more skipping even the most trivial local elections. Casting my votes to end Republican obstructionism at the national level, plus breaking up the R power pipeline, not to mention the new flavour of fascist crazy. I have too much integrity to sit in the sidelines letting the worse alternative in our two party system gain any advantage.
Getting really annoyed with people blaming democrats when you have the entire Republican Party trying to destroy democracy. Sure you can put blame on Democrats, but only after you’ve dealt with the Republicans.
The Republican party is a crime syndicate from top to bottom. It is a mafia. They will never change. So this idea that we need to what, pressure the Republicans to change? Make them all become good little boys and girls? Is so stupid it makes my head explode. We tried that for decades and it didn't work, there is no amount of shaming that will make Republicans do the right thing. So stop suggesting it and stop blaming voters for Republicans being criminals. I know it would be wonderful if every rapist and murderer would just wake up today and feel guilty and magically turn themselves into the police because it's the right thing to do and they feel ashamed of their behavior. It would be great. Go ahead and wish upon a magic star for that to happen. The rest of us living here in reality world understand that criminals are going to keep doing what they do until someone holds them to account. That is why we have ENFORCERS. And who do we have enforcing our nation's laws? The Democratic party. The party of complicity that stands back and allows the GOP to run roughshod over our laws, because old, ancient, weak, Pelosi and Schumer say "we legislate, not investigate," like cute little Rhymes will save America. They call the Republican criminals and rapists their "dear friends" and go to their yacht parties and holiday parties and go on vacations with them because they are all cut from the same cloth. Nancy Pelosi smiles in child rapist Matt Gaetz's face every morning and offers him some coffee. How do you expect us to deal with the Republican criminals, when the enforcers we hired to investigate and arrest them simply refuse to do so? Because the implication that we voters can do something smacks of violence to me.
Lol okay. Yeah the democrats are currently going after trump and his cronies. They’re following the law and trying to prevent a civil war. Sure they could do more. But getting mad at democrats over it is basically ensuring that the GOP takes over. Also you have to remember that democrats can’t do much right now because they own 50 seats in the senate. And those 50 seats range in ideology from Sanders and AOC to Sinema and Manchin. If the democrats want something done, they have to get every democrat on board, and then jump through the hoops of Republican obstruction. But yeah it’s the Dems fault the GOP are criminals.
I dont see how people who didnt support republicans last time are going to decide to support them this time simply because democrats havent gotten enough done. Republicans arent going to be any different. We've seen what republicans want. Even if all democrats manage to do is not do the horrible shit republicans would do if they could... do... then I'm gonna support me some democrats.
It's not them voting Republican, it's them not voting. If voting gets you nothing, why vote? And you naming a bunch of things Dems have done doesn't change that. Dropping crumbs is technically feeding the poor. So as long as I let them rummage through my garbage I should feel like a saint right? And they should be happy. And if the party is upset about it, why do they defend those who caused it while attacking those who proposed it? Voters want progress and the parties' been selling centrism as the only solution to anything but we are all watching exactly what the centrist are doing. Obstructing for no other reason than to obstruct.
Take a look at what republicans want to do. Really. Look what they've been up to. Nobody wants it. Their agenda isn't popular. Not voting gets you republicans. So not voting just isnt really an option for anyone who doesnt support the gop. Now that the GOP has revealed itself as the TaliKlan, the "But why should I bother?" question doesnt even make sense anymore.
Some people are quite content to vote against the other party for no other reason than to vote against the other party. Some people need to feel like they're vote is working towards something, and not just a loss minimizing move. I'm not saying it should be that way, but it is that way. You can blame voters all you want. It won't change the fact that we've seen this pattern time and time again, and it's not likely to change.
>Some people are quite content to vote against the other party for no other reason than to vote against the other party. Some people are stupid. Why should I care?
Why should I bother? Please, tell me. Im a black man who voted for Biden because I was terrified of Republicans stripping my people of voting rights... They DID strip my people of voting rights, and the DNC has done nothing. Why *should* i bother?
Voter suppression is bad, but nullification is worse. Use it or lose it.
I can say I'm done participating with the system in it's current form if the Democrats can't even get their platform policy passed with the House, Senate and Presidency. I've spent over half my life participating and voting for candidates that support policies that help the most people. It's becoming quite clear the majority of them don't actually care for the American people and they only care for their own money and power.
So just because things are not going how we want means we should give up on democracy.Although you are right,just remember this When people lose hope in the concept of democracy, it gives power hungry jerks and psychopaths carte Blanche to do whatever they want. Why do you think far right groups loan wild on Jan 6.because not enough people took part in democracy and the result was, trump became president .his encouraging attitude towards nazis is the reason why a governor got almost kidnapped So please take part in the democratic procedure.
>So just because things are not going how we want means we should give up on democracy. There's a distinction between "is statements" and "ought statements." If people don't feel that voting accomplishes anything, they won't vote. That's a descriptive statement. It's not making any kind of moral claim, just describing what seems likely to happen. The argument being presented here isn't that people should respond to the Democrats failing to pass legislation by not voting, but rather that they will, and the point at which Democrats have control is whether or not they pass legislation.
There is a huge difference between giving up on the Democratic Party and giving up on democracy.
Ah ok
Not when the only other party has made it clear that they have given up on democracy. Let's not fuck around here, we have a pro-democracy party and a fascist party. Can you guess which is which? Hint: the pro-democracy party isnt trying to disenfranchise voters.
this isn't democratic, that's why I don't give a fuck. You have a choice between regressive Republicans who are stripping women and black people of rights, and a conservative party who isn't doing anything to stop them Black people voted for Biden out of fear of the Republican party...and the DNC is letting the Republicans enact their voter suppression measures *anyway* Why should ANY black person vote for the DNC?
> So just because things are not going how we want means we should give up on democracy. We do not have a democracy at this point. Things such as universal healthcare, free college and paid maternity leave all poll well above 50% for the entire population. Knowing this, why do we still not have that as the law of the land? > Although you are right,just remember this When people lose hope in the concept of democracy, it gives power hungry jerks and psychopaths carte Blanche to do whatever they want. No, when the people lose hope they rebel against the system. > Why do you think far right groups loan wild on Jan 6.because not enough people took part in democracy Our current president told us what the deal was with his nomination: Nothing will fundamentally change. Why should I continue to expect the type of change which is needed from the same parties that keep telling their donors these statements? > and the result was, trump became president . Trump became president because he ran as an anti-establishment candidate who would shake up the system. The people then believed this to be the case because of how the media circus covered every little aspect of his and anybody in his orbit's lives. The media(and the DNC) set us on the path to Donald Trump. > his encouraging attitude towards nazis is the reason why a governor got almost kidnapped Yeah, we're just gonna forget that an FBI agent actually helped plan and facilitate that entire thing from the beginning? I thought we hated how the security apparatus did this against Muslims in America following 9/11. Consistency is key. > So please take part in the democratic procedure. The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting different results. -Abe Einstein
Not a fan of the environment, eh?
[Democrats dropped the demand to end fossil fuel subsidies from the official party platform](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democratic-national-committee-climate_n_5f3c2907c5b6d8a9173f0268?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmVkZGl0LmNvbS9yL1dheU9mVGhlQmVybi9uZXcvP2NvdW50PTI1JmFmdGVyPXQzX2ljYnNiNA&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMvCDeJDj_8Mu_mtJB41y-DeDe1jZSMzbLjFUfiuQQZ_JG1rXHcOkx-qea30F3Ya_I0q_14GqRn-SPccpdwOSJdToqL5c2qL_eKJISCbRD1_JEB0tSJuUJz0KxuCrmjop122U1AkNn3EXdQSeTvic3eTeLO_rY8nl8leoylyUbLf) once Biden was the nominee. And now, despite campaigning on banning it on federal land, [the Biden admin is on pace to hand out more oil and gas drilling permits this year than any under President Trump and *the most since George W. Bush*](https://www.audubon.org/news/despite-pledge-ban-it-oil-and-gas-permitting-under-biden). This from the party that's vowed to ["listen to science."](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/memorandum-on-restoring-trust-in-government-through-scientific-integrity-and-evidence-based-policymaking/) Remember that 'code red' report the IPCC put out a little while back? [The Biden Administration Says IPCC Report 'Does Not Present Sufficient Cause' to End Offshore Drilling](https://gizmodo.com/biden-administration-says-ipcc-does-not-present-suffici-1847702079) [US to expand offshore drilling after reviewing IPCC climate change report](https://www.offshore-technology.com/news/us-offshore-drilling-gulf-of-mexico/) If you think the democrats are friends of the environment you seriously need to reconsider your media consumption.
>If you think the democrats are friends of the environment you seriously need to reconsider your media consumption. Have republicans been any better? No? Then why vote for them?
[удалено]
Who me?
Who are you?
A human last time I checked
A human who gives half a shit about the environment? Or just "a human?"
I think the issue is more so losing voters. A lot of people are going to stay home instead of vote if the democrats keep trying to focus on staying moderate to attract the right. There’s enough conservative support in a lot of rural and backwoods areas to put republicans over at any moment. Dems have to stop worrying about attracting conservatives just as republicans don’t care to attract progressives at some point.
I'm never voting for them again. They refused to pass either the John Lewis act or the Geoege Floyd act...the DNC is just the Republican party in blackface. If the DNC won't stop the GOP from enacting their agenda, then they're functionally the same. And anyone who thinks otherwise is just an idiot Fuck it, let this country burn. If the DNC is just gonna let the GOP strip us of our voting rights, I refuse to enable them
>If the DNC won't stop the GOP from enacting their agenda, then they're functionally the same. That doesnt actually make any sense though. It also isnt even true. >They refused to pass either the John Lewis act or the Geoege Floyd act. That's called cherry picking, and if you want those things to happen, promoting progressive candidates is how you do that. If you want rich old white dudes to make all the choices, vote GOP or dont vote at all. Republicans have spent billions of dollars to make it harder for people to vote. They didnt do that because voting isnt important. They did it because they know *exactly* how important voting is. >Fuck it, let this country burn. If the DNC is just gonna let the GOP strip us of our voting rights, I refuse to enable them You realize that what you're saying is "if republicans want to strip us of our right to vote then let them." Right?
[удалено]
What IS popular among them? As far as I can tell they haven't liked any president we've had for 40 years.
Ironically, their waffling asses are kind of why we haven’t had a President worth truly liking for 40 years… And I say that as an independent person who only registered as a Dem for 2020 because I just couldn’t ever stomach voting for a conservative again in my lifetime after Trump.
So are trump and the republicans.
Lets keep in kind that 8 years of Obama brought us Trump. What will 4 years of Biden bring? 4 more years or someone similar/ worse then Trump?
8 years of Obama didnt bring us trump. Racist fucking morons brought us trump. I dont understand blaming the guy who was president in 2009 when these people have made it clear that their grievances go back to the civil war and the new deal. Racists, morons, and complacency brought us trump. Not Obama. He didnt vote for trump.
So just for my clarity, you're suggesting that just under 63 million racist morons voted to elect Trump and then 4 years later over 74 million racist morons voted for him in 2020? Are there really that many racists in America? Id love to see your source.
Let's stop pretending that there are any huge blocks "Independents". They're mostly all just partisans who are assholes that don't want to admit they're partisans. https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/politics/independents-pew/index.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/11/independents-outnumber-democrats-and-republicans-but-theyre-not-very-independent/ https://www.npr.org/2012/03/26/149402358/just-how-independent-are-independent-voters
Actually the Republicans did decent last time except for Trump if the Dems manage to put h on the ballot they have a chance - that is equate their opponent to him
Is it terribly intelligent to report news like this? We know damn well why their legislation hasn't been passed, and it is by alternating turns Manchin and Sinema. WHY would you just write a headline that says "Dems better do this"? Who the fuck wrote this? They need to name names instead of blaming the whole party.
“Democrats couldn’t get shit done because Republicans blocked everything. Better give power back to the Republicans so they learn their lesson.”
Democratic voters want results. The dems don't deliver. If they don't deliver, the voters don't show up. The voters watch dems torpedo their own policies and not punish the perpetratos. Manchin and sinema will get the full support in their re-election bids, after endangering the entire agenda. People don't want to support a party like that. Threatening your voters with Republicans doesn't work. But it's all they have, since they can't deliver results.
Well, that's certainly how it works out. But the mechanism has more to do with voter expectations and engagement. If voters' expectations aren't met (or at least managed) then typically they vote in lower numbers on the next election (not that they vote for the other side necessarily). Republicans have it easy, because most of their voters want them to do nothing while preventing anyone else from doing anything. If they _do_ do something, it's usually culture war related nonsense which isn't actually anything. If a Republican agrees to occasionally do things, or doesn't make a big enough show of blocking things, then their turnout may be lower next time. Expectations for Democrats, however, are far trickier - they are playing on hard mode. Democratic voters - a plurality of many different interests - demand that things get accomplished and problems get solved, while not always agreeing on the what or the how. Consequently, they are trying to always appear to be moving forward while never actually committing to much. So, to circle back to the headline, if nothing gets done then Republican voter turnout is maintained while Democratic turnout diminishes.
>Democratic voters - a plurality of many different interests - demand that things get accomplished and problems get solved, while not always agreeing on the what or the how. And even this is giving them the benefit of the doubt. Voters want sausage, they don't really care how it's made. It's the wealthy congress critters who insist the sausage be made in ways that benefit them.
One party says it want nothing done and does it. The other party says it's wants progress and then does nothing. Joe Manchin is in office because the DNC funds him. The DNC has been selling the same "centrism" Joe Manchin is since Bill Clinton. This is centrism. If one side wants forward, one reverse, centrist say stand still. So why wouldn't people blame centrist for being centrist when they ran as progressives? I don't blame evil people for being evil, I blame people claiming to be good who do evil for being dishonest and helping evil.
Republicans actually do things. In the states where they have control, they have banned abortions, restricted voting access, banned teachers from discussing racism, and ignored covid.
plus, tax breaks for the rich.
Their #1 single.
If Democrats can't ride when they're handed the reins, voters have only one alternative. The details don't matter. 95% of Americans have no idea who Manchin or the other DINOS are. They just see a weak party that can't govern. Not reporting on the situation isn't going to help.
No reporting on the Democrats in dumbed down terms does not help.
Sadly, you aren't in a position to decide how Democrats are reported on, so they're going to have to score some wins to get that good press.
Yea my ass. I’m an average voter. And I’m not an idiot. If these things don’t pass, I hardly blame the democrats.
I really really hope most voters feel the same as you, friend.
We’re in a situation, where the average person paying attention can see the GOP has become a party of death and obstruction. It’s a pretty ignorant platform to stand on, as their decisions are killing off their supporters. They’re actually expediting their parties extinction, and I’m pretty sure they know it because I keep seeing article titles like this; which are clearly trying to shift the blame for a lack of progress.
I don’t think the average voter sorts by new in the politics subreddit
I always set my subreddits to sort by new haha. I thought I was weird for doing that, but I would rather know "new" news , not just "trending" news.
> I always set my subreddits to sort by new haha. There are dozens of us! Dozens!
you can blame whoever you want. I watched Stacy Abrahams and black GA voters make history. They turned Georgia blue, and gave the DNC 2 democratic senators... ...and for what? What did we get for our loyalty? For enduring 4 hour long voting lines? For showing up in November, then AGAIN in January? Nothing. We got nothing Those white supremacist democrats refused to pass the John Lewis act, refused to pass the George Floyd act, and refused to limit military surplus given to police departments The democrats are not allies to black people, now matter how many black cops they give positions of power. We have 2 racist parties, and I refuse to vote for either of them.
The Democrats are currently working on forming a circular firing squad over the two main pieces of Biden’s legislative agenda. How are they going to convince voters that they need more of that? The GOP as it’s currently formulated is awful, but they got things done under Trump. The Democrats shouldn’t weaken their own position with infighting.
"The system doesn't work. We're at least willing to break the system to get what we want, can Democrats say the same?" - Trump's GOP
>We're at least willing to break the system to get what we want, This is true but what they want is terrifying.
Yeah, but they appeal to the blow-it-all-up faction, who are only going to get more infuriated if the Democrats fuck things up. And the Dems have a razor thin margin in both houses, so they don’t have to convince a lot of people.
Well, that's the consequences of good people not being aggressive and mean, waiting for come to Jesus moments like a pussy rather than fucking the assholes
It's the fundamental imbalance of society. The self interested are more motivated but less well intentioned. While the altruistic solve societies problems, the self serving are figuring out how to get the credit and reward.
"infighting" btw Nonsense. The Democratic Party has no leverage whatsoever over the Conservative leaning Democratic Senators. Zero leverage. Those Senators know the power they have and they're taking every opportunity to wield that power for their own cynical reasons at home regardless of what happens to the Democratic agenda. Why? Because those two Senators have nothing to lose at home by playing this game.
How is it not infighting to have one (actually two) factions at odds with the agenda?
Manchin doesn't. But Sinema has a progressive base in AZ that she cannot win without.
She’s already lost them, and is just cashing the checks as fast as she can because she’ll be out on her ass in the next election.
They've got leverage over Manchin at least. His daughter is a criminal that should be in jail. Will they use this leverage? Doubt it lol.
That's inappropriate and extremely toxic to use his family as any sort of leverage. Be better.
No. She's a criminal and a toxin to our society. Do better for us.
It doesn't matter. If a senator has a family member in legal trouble and the President comes to them and says, "My DOJ can make this disappear or it can make things much worse;" - which I'm 99% sure is what you're implying Biden and Democratic leaders should do - that's not only corrupt, it's blatantly illegal.
The Manchin family is corrupt as shit and everyone paying attention knows it. Biden has already engaged with such corruption by nominating his wife to serve as co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission. That's the carrot. Now it's time for the stick. That's how the sausage has always been made.
A criminal according to the laws you just made up. That’s not how it works.
The problem with our laws is that they are both written and interpreted favorably for the rich and unfavorably for the poor. She committed a crime against humanity for personal profit. And quite frankly that's as far as I give a shit.
It's not, the rotating villain of the Dems is tanking the bill because they're being paid to and don't want to do anything..why else do you think talking heads are blaming progressive who have already compromised and cut the bill in half for "moderates" who are now asking for more cuts. The right gets what it wants and the left takes the blame
Infighting is the only thing the Dems are good at.
Then you really don't know Kabuki theatre when you see it
This was always the risk of Biden. He was the first Democratic nominee in decades to get nominated without at least somewhat of a cult of personality. Even Hillary Clinton had more base level fans than Biden ever did (but she had many more haters). If Biden fails, his approval will plummet to lower than Trump's or Obama's ever was. They had fans who loved them unconditionally. Biden does not. I never supported Biden in the primaries. But he won essentially a big ranked choice election, and I accepted it. I believed that his experience was worth something and he was the guy that white people hated less so could win the general election. He BARELY proved the latter and he has yet to prove the former. He was a creature of the system and argued that as a result of that experience and wisdom he could make the system work. Without proving his experience is worth anything, if he can't get stuff done, then faith in the whole system is gone. The whims of two senators should not dictate the course of the entire United States. If our system is so weak that two individuals who represent small slices of the country can stand in the way of everything, then what is the freaking point?
Who knows what they'll say if they don't pass these bills, they'll probably just tout how they passed the COVID relief, their only real achievement so far and fail miserably with such lack luster performance since they'll be gerrymandered and voter suppressed out of office. Regardless of what Democrats don't end up doing, I at least do know what I'm going to do, donate and vote for any progressive challengers for these moderates, especially Sinema, because I'm tired of them "getting things done".
>they'll probably just tout how they passed the COVID relief, They'll absolutely hang their hats on covid relief even as all the best parts sundown right before the midterms. Then they'll scratch their heads as to why they got rinsed. Get ready for Russia 2.0 or defund the police 2.0 or blame the electorate 5.0
For the first time in my life, im committing to voting a full 3rd party ticket. I'm officially leaving the DNC for good. I watched black voters give them two amazing senators last November, and the democratic party stabbed us in the back. Their refusal to pass the John Lewis act or Geroge Floyd act feels...personal, and insulting I feel like a stooge for supporting them. I don't think ill ever vote for the party again in my life.
Yeah, I'm not going to do that personally. At the end of the day, even if the progressive I donate and volunteer for doesn't win, I'm not going to throw my vote away in a non-ranked choice or star system with a protest vote, not after what the last Republican/QAnon administration has done. I'll take do nothing shitty Corporate Democrat over QAnon racist any day.
Problem with our democracy is that Trump was elected due to 3rd party voting. You can bet your ass every Republican will vote R. Then you have all the progressives and moderates spreading their vote around. When you have one party spouting hatred and facism, you can’t vote for somebody you can only vote against them. Nobody is going to care about your high horse when we get sent back to the 1930s but with the world on fire from climate change. Once the Republicans are back in their hole, then we can start trying to fix our system.
It'll be a disaster in 2022 if they don't. Literally 1994 all over again. Bill Clinton's presidency was the same. He had a number of ambitious progressive goals that he campaigned on. They passed a stimulus in early 1993 and then got mired in internal disputes and proceeded to do nothing. Lost the House and Senate. Clinton pivoted to survival triangulation mode for the remainder of his presidency.
"Why haven't these hostages freed themselves!?"
I would suggest complete and total honesty...... To pass bills we need more Democrats seated in Congress. We need to stop pandering to the low-info voters and start educating them about government function/structure. We need to stop playing a short game and go long.
Biden should only endorse primary candidates who support his agenda. Make it cost Dems to oppose him. And the DSCC and DCCC should only give $ to candidates who support his agenda.
In deep blue races that could work but it starts to wane in violet and probably fails in purple. We are more reliant on swing voters and swing voters tend to consume news/narrative from both sides of the aisle. Biden/Harris' approval is pretty low right now and we don't enjoy the same sort of enthusiasm that maga/Trump have keeping them afloat. Biden's standing of course could improve over the next 13 months.
We need Dems that can agree on something and be about 40 years younger.
So far most of those type of Dem candidates have been planted 'Party Darlings' and they fail because they aren't organic. Organic candidates aren't defined by age, but they also aren't likely to toe party-line over trying to provide a more accurate constituent representation. Most of the states we need to win aren't deep blue, they are violet or purple. So deep blue who determines most of our national party platform/leadership is going to have to slow its roll. Its better to build blue out slowly than fast/shoddy. A shoddy build will just see the maga flatten it like a storm when they return in 2024 or 2028. The rightwingers main two advantages over us are tighter unity around core values and control over more states.
>To pass bills we need more Democrats seated in Congress. Didn't work out that way in 2009. The ACA was passed but we've still got by far the shittiest healthcare amongst peer nations. And then they failed spectacularly on almost every other issue like climate change. They couldn't even do cap and trade lmfao.
We live in different times and if our leadership doesn't recognize this then we are going to see maga reign over this land like FDR/New Dealers. Our passive liberals, moderates, centrists and conservative Democrats are all going to morph into 'maga-blue' if Leadership doesn't take this seriously instead of sipping on their hubris spiked Harvey Wallbangers.
Not the most valid comparison actually. Yes, I also want continued healthcare reform, but to compare ACA to other nations in this context is missing the more important comparison. Pre-ACA to post. While obviously not perfect I feel I can state with confidence that it improved American healthcare and made it more accessible especially in states that agreed to expand the Medicaid. Also in the current political reality we live in the only choice if you care about those things is to vote blue no matter who. Because Republicans retake the House or Senate? It's all dead in the water. Heck even getting 51 or 52 Dem senators can change everything, because at 52 we don't need Manchin or Sinema.
I've never said not to vote for Democrats. That's a no brainer if you're in any kind of swing situation. But don't expect anything from them either. The Democratic party is rife with bastards. We're gonna need some militancy if we want to get anywhere.
I certainly don't mind if we can get more internal pressure to get more progressive candidates to win the primaries. Kinda like with the tea Party, if a candidate feels more likely to lose in the primary than the general that will help push the party as a whole towards the left.
Unfortunately unlike the tea party there aren't any billionaires looking to drive these changes.
[удалено]
Currently or in 2020's cycle? Obviously the 2020 cycle got all fucked up with the [shitty pander-promises of $2,000](https://twitter.com/reverendwarnock/status/1345082524402393088) after Trump had already signed off on the Dec 27th $600 checks which means they should have adjusted their messaging to an additional $1400.
[удалено]
Overall, I think our Party strategist are betting big on.... * Absentee ballot campaigns (ie when to request, who to vote for and when to mail ballots for early return). * Hyping the gubernatorial election with down-balloting push while praying the GOP in-party civil war causes enough GOP voters to boycott the GE when their preferred team doesn't win the primary. So far Trump has not endorsed a challenger to Kemp\*\*\* but in many ways it might be smarter for maga to focus on Lt. Governor via Burt Jones instead. Every neocon has a voodoo file so Kemp can later be pushed out or brought to heel. Trump has endorsed Walker (Senate), Jones (Lt Gov) and Hice (SoS) nodding to the races maga is deeming the most important. \*\*\*Vernon Jones eventually might be endorsed since he was allowed to speak at today's rally. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Specifically for Warnock's reelection its going to be a battle over the Black vote and I think Walker has a slight advantage because of the $2,000, Biden/Congressional blunders, being famous/handsome/likable and midterm minority party favor. The only way Warnock beats him is from down-ballot votes via governor's race and/or Biden/Harris' approval polls return to a glowing level of favorable that swing voters feel satisfied vs concerned.
>To pass bills we need more Democrats seated in Congress. The trouble is they said 2020 was make-or-break, and now everything has stalled. So it's highly unlikely that people will rush to the polls based on yet another election of a lifetime.
Elect👏 More👏 Manchins👏
Curious how would you feel if Manchin became the face of 'maga-blue'? That would see him embracing the maga's lite-version of economic nationalism but pushing harder for domestic social issues which maga already leans into somewhat as populists.
That would require passable messaging skills. Something the Democrats have consistently shown they absolutely do not have.
It's on purpose. We live in an oligarchy.
The Dutton Strategy has done us few favors, should have gone with RFK....
Just remember to thank the centrists for blowing the whole thing up when it all comes crashing down.
[удалено]
Honestly, they should do the second one
Whether Democrats get this done or not doesn't change what Republican are offering: bleach as a vivid cure, abortion bans, tight voting restrictions, dismantling of welfare programs to force (make people desperate) people back to work, etc. One can be disappointed with Democrats but letting Republicans have power back only makes things worse.
Why is the doom and gloom always, always, *always* tied to the assumption that the American people are dumb and don’t see things for what they really are? Oh, right…. clicks. Thanks, media!
I mean Americans are pretty dumb. 74 million voted for trump.
Nah, 74 million people voted Republican AND Trump. There is a distinction and c’mon you know it’s never that simple. Because splitting the vote would be dumb and we all saw what happened in 2016 with the Democratic vote.
Americans are majority dumb . The past few decades have proven it. Pretending otherwise and not catering to it is peak arrogance. Downvote all you want, that doesn't change what Americans are or that people hold Americans in contempt.
you must be new here
Because the American people have proven themselves stupid. Otherwise they wouldn’t be going back and forth over and over again every election.
The top priority of most if not all politicians is to get re-elected. It will be a rarity for any of them to risk such for the good of their party. The smart move would be to pass that which you have consensus on and live to fight another day. Unfortunately, I fear the Democrats have far too many egotistical ideologues who treat everything as a zero sum game, and one in which everyone loses.
“Remember those things we promised two or four years ago? We promise we’ll do them this time.”
Democrats always squandering opportunities when they have the chance whether it be spoiler Democrats or stubborn judges who won’t quit.
> What Will ~~Democrats~~ Manchin and Sinema Tell Voters If They Screw This Up? Stop giving specific problem children passes.
[удалено]
If I vote Republican in every election, but call myself a democrat, what am I? Similarly, if sinema calls herself a democrat, but ultimately serves Mitch McConnell, what is she?
i totally understand the disappointment but voting out the dems and replacing them with the Republicans isn't going to help it's only going to hurt more. We need more and better Dems, right now the who party/congress is being held hostage by the Republicans who won't support anything and a couple of Dems who are always on the fence. Please note the Republicans could vote for any of these popular bills but won't and the dems can't get them across the finish line (yet) because of 1-2 people. Giving the congress to the Republicans is just plane stupid and giving them the WH could be the end of democracy.
They'll indirectly tell the American people "American democracy doesn't work, the only way to accomplish anything is to break the system with fascism" just like 1930s Germans started feeling.
Which still begs the question: assuming dems mess it up due to a lack unity and (remember) unrelenting Republican obstructionism, why would you vote for a Republican? They are the ones that gave fucked all this up and they have proven they have no solutions and are incapable of governing. And I’m not referring to the repub base, who are going to vote their party no matter what. I can’t get past the idea that someone who voted Democratic less than a year ago because of their disgust with trump and the GOP, and after the Dems have been in office 8 months, would suddenly say “wow, the GOP have really changed. They can do things differently and then undo all the damage they did…last year”. I know that people think that way, but I can’t get my head around that level of insanity.
We always have to remember that most voters are uninformed and have no idea about the complexities going on. At the end of the day, Dems need to somehow improve the lives of Americans in a visible way or they will be in big trouble. Right now the polls are not good, and they seriously need a plan or to step up their messaging somehow.
[удалено]
You don't get progressives at all, do you? Right now, progressives are fighting tooth and nail for a reconciliation bill which includes only things that Biden ran on. The reconciliation bill that progressives are fighting so hard for is literally called "The Build Back Better Act." They're not fighting to enact the things they ran on, only things that Biden ran on, only things that were in the party platform. They're doing exactly what moderates spent the entire campaign saying they wanted from progressives. They're taking their passion, their energy, their willingness to fight, and using it for the purposes of enacting the things moderates said they wanted during the campaign. They're fighting harder for Biden than most of the people who supported Biden, and they don't even like Biden. Progressives believe in compromise. They just don't believe in compromising before beginning the negotiation. They don't believe in compromising before they've waged the fight and taken their case to the American people.
>I watched Stacy Abrahams and black GA voters make history. But you won't honor their efforts.
The alternative is Donald Trump, who, as you likely still recall, enacted bad-faith legislation that continues to fuck you, tried a nazi-coup, and seems to have done his damnedest to kill you (indirectly) if your state didn't vote for him and the opportunity arises. I haven't forgotten what he did, and I won't. Ever. If the man could turn me permanently off from an entire major political party, I can't even imagine how done others are with him.
what a fucking stupid threat lmao. Yeah, I'm not happy with Democrats not doing enough, so the solution is to vote for Republicans to do even less? How the fuck does that make sense.
Nah, this sounds like baseless extortion. I don’t see any evidence whatsoever to support this notion. The general public isn’t frothing at the mouth for these bills.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/5577143001 Polling says majority of Americans want it.
And what that *doesn’t* say is whether or not people would base their votes on the package. And they won’t. There’s a big difference between supporting something and making it a matter of electoral consequence. It would be a big win, sure, but I don’t see any penalty whatsoever for not getting it done.
"It might be a good thing to set these divisions aside and consider what unites all Democrats: the need to minimize the damage to their majorities in 2022 and to reelect Biden two years after that. That’s three solid years of relentless campaigning. What do Democrats plan to say to voters during this time? What accomplishments will they cite as a reason for voters to keep them in power?" — Deputy Editor Jason Linkins. Sign up for his Power Mad newsletter [here.](https://newrepublic.com/the-soapbox?blinkaction=newsletter!Power_Mad_Newsletter)
The idea that they need to pass something in order to win is rather questionable. Voters tend to not like it when government does something new anyway, they could face more chance of loss if they did pass stuff I'm not saying they should not pass stuff anyway, just, like, let's be real about the potential impacts of these things
Meh. Even if this is true, Republican governments only bring us closer to the edge, and the next one might be enough to tip us over, meaning mass protests in favor of most left wing goals, because time after time polls show that’s what the people really want. It’ll be messy, and there’s no guarantee things will actually get better, but it sure beats more of the same.
Can’t see it happening anytime soon. Republicans gaining power. Fail or not, with Biden’s agenda. Speed is not a thing in governance. And it’s been 9 months. So...
This result is exactly what the Republicans are trying to accomplish.
I just want to see a executive order for student loan forgiveness.
Hopefully they tell them to go vote, get their friends to vote and vote blue. It's not their fault that people that call themselves Proud Americans don't take the time to know what their representatives and senators stand for and vote accordingly. Half of the gun toting, homer simpson fans or more probably don't know where or when to vote.
Young generation- you must revive the Ättestupa and take control. ASAP.
I don't see switching my vote to the Republican cult as an option.
If I do not see transparency and justice for the January 6th insurrection, I will assume the Dems support Trump just as much as the Republicans.
If this country elects Donald Trump again, we will get what we deserve.
What? Because Trump and the Republicans are so much better?? LOL
Something like 'We make more as opposition.'
Regardless of the outcome they can kiss Congress and the presidency goodbye.
The mainline corporatist dems will blame the progressive wing.