the democratic party is releasing a guide for how to actually start winning elections again. i read most of it and i believe it’s a good start:
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Focus our policy agenda and our messaging on an economic program centered on lowering costs, growing the economy, creating jobs, and expanding the social safety net.
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Advocate for popular economic policies (e.g., expanding prescription drug price negotiation, making the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour) rather than unpopular economic policies (e.g., student loan forgiveness, electric vehicle subsidies, Medicare for All).
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Convince voters that we share their priorities by focusing more on issues voters do not think our party prioritizes highly enough (the economy, the cost of living, health care, border security, public safety), and focusing less on issues voters think we place too much emphasis on (climate change, democracy, abortion, identity and cultural issues).
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Moderate our positions where our agenda is unpopular, including on issues like immigration, public safety, energy production, and some identity and cultural issues.
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Embrace a substantive and rhetorical critique of the outsized political and economic influence of lobbyists, corporations, and the ultra-wealthy, while keeping two considerations in mind: First, voters’ frustrations with the status quo are not the same as a desire for socialism. And second, criticizing the status quo is a complement to advocating for popular policies on the issues that matter most to the American people, not a substitute.
Anyone who still has any hope in the Democratic party after reading this is fucked. I mean, their ineptitude has been clear for awhile, but how am I supposed to read this document as anything less than a capitulation to the Republican fascists? Literally, focusing less on democracy is one of your key moves??? The USA is utterly fucked.
This is pure weak sause. Myself, and i suspect a large number of americans are pissed the fuck off right now. I want a candidate who is equally pissed off. I do not want, and we can not afford some polite, politically correct coward. I want to vote for someone who is 10000% not afraid of trump or any of his nazi goons.
Moderate our positions where our agenda is unpopular
AKA let’s shift to the right. This country is doomed if this is their “strategy.”
So a repeat of every past failure? As a party to the working class they are a total failure, as a party to the wealthy, Wall Street, and AIPAC they’ve been great
So the democrats have decided we think climate change isn’t a big deal?
Great. I’m sure I’ll be tired of winning soon.
Also human rights and democracy.
If they give up on those three things they may as well be republicans.
They were already about as right leaning as any sane political party ever could be, for the last several decades.
this is the Abundance turd repackaged
no. They trust that you know that they still care about that, but that they can’t do anything about it if they’re not in office.
Good luck to you. You’re currently defending a party that wants to “focus less on abortion”. Are we supposed to also trust that they only mean the campaign promises we like? Blue no matter who (unless they’re a filthy socialist like Mamdani)?
climate change isn’t a big deal
idk about others but i’ve decided it’s not a big deal. putting food on the table and making housing affordable again are more urgent issues. if you think differently, you’ve probably never been in personal economic hardships, my dear friend.
Climate change is actually pretty fucking important when it comes to putting food on the table
I’m not your friend.
Yeah well I’m not your guy buddy
no one should ever, ever take political takes from you.
It’s a centered focus on what the majority of Americans want while less focus on unpopular political hot button topics.
Honestly it might be their best move considering all MAGA does is focus on what angers people and gets their relatively small base riled up.
In the context of all voting Americans if you can get more people excited about helping where we are all hurting then it’s going to win over the little but loud group of pissed off Americans.
Democrats losing elections by appealing to the centre is how we got to this… This… Erstwhile new idea of appealing to the centre.
I left, but I’ve never felt worse for the people who don’t have that option.
What’s being outlined here is litterally the worst idea in politics right now.
it’s basically max ratchet effect.
here’s the hint: You aren’t going to appeal to facists by meeting them half way. Why the fuck would a fascist voter vote for half fascism when full fascism is on the table. and guess what, you meet them halfway and now you’ve both lost the election and are half a fascist.
The idea is idiotic on its face and any one promoting it is a problem.
The answer is obvious and has been obvious since 2016. Focus on policies that help people and make a material difference in their lives. Stop feeding the corporate consultant class that exclusively serves billionaires and build people powered campaigns.
Yeah! Tell them, not me. It’s shocking that this shit still has to be said. I feel like I’m in a kindergarten groundhog day.
The echo chamber is strong around here. Let us know the next time a progressive wins on the national stage.
Go take your failed approach to electoralism and try to convince the Republicans to meet in the middle
How is it a good approach to formally mandate their cowardice on messaging? If something isn’t popular it has literally nothing to do with whether it’s correct. Also, we can all just look and see that billionaires and Israel are unpopular, yet they never concede those talking points. Why is it that they’d abandon the underprivileged minorities but not the power centers if it’s not all entirely about consolidating their power? That’s their real agenda and this only memorializes it.
Can you imagine a hero in a movie having these beliefs? It’s pathetic that they view politics as such a passive endeavor at a moment where we need activism more than ever.
when I was younger, a lot of people thought I was an arrogant asshole.
Something I learned in my life is that “being correct” isn’t socially effective. That doesn’t mean you abandon your principles, it just means going about achieving them in a more adaptable way.
Much of this reads like what the Democrats’ strategy has already been for the last 10 years or so with some additional calls towards a “moderate” “centrism” that has not proven to be as popular as left populist policies with most Americans. And a lot of it seems confused or just wrong. For example, Medicare for All is not an unpopular policy. Last I checked it it was polling at around a 60% approval.
Even if your politics are more centrist, I don’t see how this represents a substantive shift in any way. It’s minor tinkering around the edges or slightly altering messaging. That’s what the moment calls for? That’s the key to success and the way to fight back against an increasingly overt and ascendant strain of fascism in the country? If that’s what the Democratic leadership thinks then one must honestly wonder if the party is institutionally incapable of the change that would need to happen to actually win elections and improve their godawful approval ratings. And based on their donor base, this shouldn’t actually be surprising. The leadership is still utterly captured by and beholden to wealthy interests that would rather jump off a bridge than acknowledge that what Americans want is a party that will fight for meaningful material benefits in their standard of living as this implies meaningfully raising taxes and imposing costs or regulations on their businesses to ensure benefits for regular working class people who are struggling mightily.
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Repackaged abundance bullshit that needs to be flushed like the turd it is.
Ezra fucking Klein has no fucking clue what it takes to win in America and needs to shut the fuck up with this rehashed neoliberalism
We need someone like Pritzker
An institutionalist normal decent guy character willing to give tough love to those who lost their way.
I’ll believe when I see it. 90% sure we’ll be seeing Harris or another Obama cabinet member next presidential and they’re never going to stop trying to swat down any newcomers to the senate
