What SHOULD Dems do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here it is Dems! The painful truth.

What Democrats should do is apologize.

The voters DO want servant leaders who care more about what THEY want than what WE believe.

The voters do NOT want know-it-alls, snobs, or leaders who resent voters for daring to choose the other party once in a while.

The customer is always right. We can either cling to our belief that WE are always right and the customers are wrong, or we can apologize for our past failures to give the customers what they want, apologize for disrespecting the customers, change our offerings, and try to earn back their business.

If we can’t even apologize, then they know we don’t intend to respect their wishes over our own beliefs going forward either.

Here is just a partial list of what swing voters and flyover state viters want us to apologize for:

1) Covid overreach. I know, I know, we f**king love science and the voters are stupid. It doesn’t matter. The voters reject our belief that we helped against Covid, and they are furious about forced masking of children, school closures, and forced injections on penalty of job loss. They were also very shaken by what they saw as our totalitarian streak. A lot of us were very cruel to neighbors and even family members. I know it will be very difficult psychologically for us to admit any fault here. We were on the right side of this, our intentions were good, etc. But so far basically none of us have said sorry to anyone for any of this. If we want swing voters back, we have to say sorry.

2) Illegal Immigration

3) Using affirmative action to harm white workers

4) LGBTQIA+ education in elementary schools. (I agree, it’s a good thing. It teaches kids tolerance. Rs make too big a deal of it. But remember, they are the customers. If we’re the “force unpopular things down your throat Party,” they won’t vote for us. We went too far (for THEIR liking), and for that, we should apologize

5) Inflation. Yes it was Covid, the Fed, and Trump’s fault too. But our team printed and borrowed and spent too much money.

6) Calling voters stupid racists

Think about it. We win’t like this prescription, but without it we can’t get the votes back

“Hey Dems! Here’s what you need to do! Abandon all your principles and move further right. Signed, MAGA”.

Better idea: MAGA should apologize to the country for getting in bed with theocratic fascists, throwing away the Constitution and democracy, abandoning our allies, and destroying the social contract.

This list is things we should apologize to SWING VOTERS for, not MAGA. And this list is things swing voters really do object to. I personally do NOT think if this as a list of non-negotiable Democratic Party principles! If it is, then we really ARE screwed.

At the end of the day, it’s all trade offs. We aren’t running a religion here, we’re running a political party. If we want to fight against voter preferences on everything, we’ll get less votes. For some of us, that’s okay. There ARE some principles more important than political power. For others of us, having the chance to nominate Supremes is more important than being too stubborn to apologize for school closures. We’ll each have to make our own decision. But if we hate the voters and can’t admit we’ve ever made any mistakes, we’re not going to be that popular.

I don’t think we can assume that swing voters are getting perfect information, or any information at all. That’s why they’re swing voters. A lot of them are busy and don’t follow the news. Some voters didn’t even know Biden had dropped out of the race. I agree it’s a challenge getting through to them, but there’s no need to apologize for temporary measures intended to keep people safe in a pandemic. The statistics speak for themselves. The Republican let it rip response resulted in a 43% higher rate of excess deaths in red states.

The electoral system is currently stacked against Democrats and until that gets addressed, it will always be an uphill battle. Without the Senate, none of our SCOTUS nominees can get through. Mitch McConnell made sure of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People, the right response is not to nitpick the list. The CUSTOMER is always right, NOT the store manager. Swing voters don’t care if WE think school closures were “worth the costs,” they were longer here than anywhere else on Earth, and they had real costs. Swing voters want an apology. If we refuse, then apparently “being right” is more important to us than winning back votes.

I’m giving you the prescription. It’s painful for people like us who get a lot of our sense of moral worth from our party affiliation. And a lot if our sense of intellectual worth from winning arguments. We think politics is a debating society, and we happen to be the smart kids. But it’s actually a value exchange. If we give the voters what they want (and what they are ready for), they’ll let us lead. If we don’t give them what they want (because we think we know better), they won’t let us lead.

They can live in their filth then
If democracy is worth nothing, then they don't have it

Ben Franklin was right. It's a democracy, if you can keep it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love elimination of all the fraud, waste and abuse. There should be more cuts to federal spending. More fat can be trimmed.

So your'e not reading the news? Or you don't think it's fraud and abuse to cut Verizon and other companies out of federal contracts to give them to Musk? You're fine with the US government buying Teslas, even though they are cutting federal charging stations, so they will sit there unused?

Let me put this more frankly: do you really want Musk anywhere near the FAA when he's continually exploding rockets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here it is Dems! The painful truth.

What Democrats should do is apologize.

The voters DO want servant leaders who care more about what THEY want than what WE believe.

The voters do NOT want know-it-alls, snobs, or leaders who resent voters for daring to choose the other party once in a while.

The customer is always right. We can either cling to our belief that WE are always right and the customers are wrong, or we can apologize for our past failures to give the customers what they want, apologize for disrespecting the customers, change our offerings, and try to earn back their business.

If we can’t even apologize, then they know we don’t intend to respect their wishes over our own beliefs going forward either.

Here is just a partial list of what swing voters and flyover state viters want us to apologize for:

1) Covid overreach. I know, I know, we f**king love science and the voters are stupid. It doesn’t matter. The voters reject our belief that we helped against Covid, and they are furious about forced masking of children, school closures, and forced injections on penalty of job loss. They were also very shaken by what they saw as our totalitarian streak. A lot of us were very cruel to neighbors and even family members. I know it will be very difficult psychologically for us to admit any fault here. We were on the right side of this, our intentions were good, etc. But so far basically none of us have said sorry to anyone for any of this. If we want swing voters back, we have to say sorry.

2) Illegal Immigration

3) Using affirmative action to harm white workers

4) LGBTQIA+ education in elementary schools. (I agree, it’s a good thing. It teaches kids tolerance. Rs make too big a deal of it. But remember, they are the customers. If we’re the “force unpopular things down your throat Party,” they won’t vote for us. We went too far (for THEIR liking), and for that, we should apologize

5) Inflation. Yes it was Covid, the Fed, and Trump’s fault too. But our team printed and borrowed and spent too much money.

6) Calling voters stupid racists

Think about it. We win’t like this prescription, but without it we can’t get the votes back

“Hey Dems! Here’s what you need to do! Abandon all your principles and move further right. Signed, MAGA”.

Better idea: MAGA should apologize to the country for getting in bed with theocratic fascists, throwing away the Constitution and democracy, abandoning our allies, and destroying the social contract.

This list is things we should apologize to SWING VOTERS for, not MAGA. And this list is things swing voters really do object to. I personally do NOT think if this as a list of non-negotiable Democratic Party principles! If it is, then we really ARE screwed.

At the end of the day, it’s all trade offs. We aren’t running a religion here, we’re running a political party. If we want to fight against voter preferences on everything, we’ll get less votes. For some of us, that’s okay. There ARE some principles more important than political power. For others of us, having the chance to nominate Supremes is more important than being too stubborn to apologize for school closures. We’ll each have to make our own decision. But if we hate the voters and can’t admit we’ve ever made any mistakes, we’re not going to be that popular.

Please, please, please

Side with us do you don't have to have a dictator over you

Those who need such speech to be convinced against Trump wouldn't be much use in a democracy any way.

I agree with you that smart upper middle class Democrats shouldn’t HAVE to cater to less smart middle class swing voters. It doesn’t feel good. We want the voters to like us for our REAL ideas, not for pandering to them. But if we can’t respect their preferences, can’t admit mistakes, and can’t stop calling them stupid, then we will not get as many votes.

Bill Clinton is smarter than all of us. But he treated the rednecks with respect, and he got to be President twice. Do we want to be like Bill Clinton, or do we want to be like Kamala Harris?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dems need to, as Ezra Klein put it, face why Trump won.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/democrats-need-to-face-why-trump-won/id1548604447?i=1000699618199

They need to stop their need for political purity and their resulting in-fighting. It's ridiculous to call for Schumer's resignation. It's the same as the GOP calling for judges to be impeached.

They need to refocus their message on the working class. The people barely surviving through a gig economy, with inflation and possibly stagflation coming their way. They need to look at whole systems to understand why there are housing shortages and not primarily focus on helping the most vulnerable. Don't stop helping them, but that can't be your main messaging. Your messaging has to be we are all in this together. Let's create opportunity for all, so that all can thrive.

You have to stop demonizing whole classes of people. Police, white men, Karens. Republicans themselves. It feels good. I get it. I feel it too. But you are alienating half the nation. We talk about being inclusive. Walk the walk. Include those you disagree with. Make genuine room for diversity of perspective too.

Didn't Ezra Klein argue Trump was going to back down rather than cause a constitutional crisis?

I think Klein is really good at writing click bait.

The Dems can't focus on the working class because they are beholden to their rich voters and haven't had support from the White working class for decades, now they are losing Latinos too.

That lady has been on here touting Ezra Klein like he's a a savior, telling every Dem who doesn't agree with her that they can't "engage in conversation."

I've been away a few days and see there are still MAGA dressing up like Dems. Don't fall for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here it is Dems! The painful truth.

What Democrats should do is apologize.

The voters DO want servant leaders who care more about what THEY want than what WE believe.

The voters do NOT want know-it-alls, snobs, or leaders who resent voters for daring to choose the other party once in a while.

The customer is always right. We can either cling to our belief that WE are always right and the customers are wrong, or we can apologize for our past failures to give the customers what they want, apologize for disrespecting the customers, change our offerings, and try to earn back their business.

If we can’t even apologize, then they know we don’t intend to respect their wishes over our own beliefs going forward either.

Here is just a partial list of what swing voters and flyover state viters want us to apologize for:

1) Covid overreach. I know, I know, we f**king love science and the voters are stupid. It doesn’t matter. The voters reject our belief that we helped against Covid, and they are furious about forced masking of children, school closures, and forced injections on penalty of job loss. They were also very shaken by what they saw as our totalitarian streak. A lot of us were very cruel to neighbors and even family members. I know it will be very difficult psychologically for us to admit any fault here. We were on the right side of this, our intentions were good, etc. But so far basically none of us have said sorry to anyone for any of this. If we want swing voters back, we have to say sorry.

2) Illegal Immigration

3) Using affirmative action to harm white workers

4) LGBTQIA+ education in elementary schools. (I agree, it’s a good thing. It teaches kids tolerance. Rs make too big a deal of it. But remember, they are the customers. If we’re the “force unpopular things down your throat Party,” they won’t vote for us. We went too far (for THEIR liking), and for that, we should apologize

5) Inflation. Yes it was Covid, the Fed, and Trump’s fault too. But our team printed and borrowed and spent too much money.

6) Calling voters stupid racists

Think about it. We win’t like this prescription, but without it we can’t get the votes back

“Hey Dems! Here’s what you need to do! Abandon all your principles and move further right. Signed, MAGA”.

Better idea: MAGA should apologize to the country for getting in bed with theocratic fascists, throwing away the Constitution and democracy, abandoning our allies, and destroying the social contract.

This list is things we should apologize to SWING VOTERS for, not MAGA. And this list is things swing voters really do object to. I personally do NOT think if this as a list of non-negotiable Democratic Party principles! If it is, then we really ARE screwed.

At the end of the day, it’s all trade offs. We aren’t running a religion here, we’re running a political party. If we want to fight against voter preferences on everything, we’ll get less votes. For some of us, that’s okay. There ARE some principles more important than political power. For others of us, having the chance to nominate Supremes is more important than being too stubborn to apologize for school closures. We’ll each have to make our own decision. But if we hate the voters and can’t admit we’ve ever made any mistakes, we’re not going to be that popular.

Please, please, please

Side with us do you don't have to have a dictator over you

Those who need such speech to be convinced against Trump wouldn't be much use in a democracy any way.

I agree with you that smart upper middle class Democrats shouldn’t HAVE to cater to less smart middle class swing voters. It doesn’t feel good. We want the voters to like us for our REAL ideas, not for pandering to them. But if we can’t respect their preferences, can’t admit mistakes, and can’t stop calling them stupid, then we will not get as many votes.

Bill Clinton is smarter than all of us. But he treated the rednecks with respect, and he got to be President twice. Do we want to be like Bill Clinton, or do we want to be like Kamala Harris?

We're living in a nation where fathers are having their daughters die to measles and they're promoting anti vax narratives and hoisting that measles is "good" and death is natural. At some point, people's ideals are too dissimilar. I grew in an impoverished household, and no-one was pushing these crazy ideas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People, the right response is not to nitpick the list. The CUSTOMER is always right, NOT the store manager. Swing voters don’t care if WE think school closures were “worth the costs,” they were longer here than anywhere else on Earth, and they had real costs. Swing voters want an apology. If we refuse, then apparently “being right” is more important to us than winning back votes.

I’m giving you the prescription. It’s painful for people like us who get a lot of our sense of moral worth from our party affiliation. And a lot if our sense of intellectual worth from winning arguments. We think politics is a debating society, and we happen to be the smart kids. But it’s actually a value exchange. If we give the voters what they want (and what they are ready for), they’ll let us lead. If we don’t give them what they want (because we think we know better), they won’t let us lead.

I’m not apologizing for crap. When is the last time you heard the GOP apologize? Never apologize. It’s a sign of weakness in this climate. And you never apologize for standing up to bullies. Never.

That being said -

I do think we have an opportunity to say that we recognize that large parts of America have turned their backs on us, but we’re not turning our backs on America. We may not always do it right, but we are committed to getting it right.

From immigration, to crime, to preserving the rule of law that makes America great. To calling out the bullies and the barons who have abused the people for profit for too long.

To create a world where people are confident they can live their lives in peace without government interference, but to have the confidence that the government will have their backs when they need it.

To recognize that valuing education and debate is what our founders intended and the legacy they wanted to leave for us. Fix the systems that are broken and create a more perfect union.

Every policy position needs to tie back to this. Democrats need to be more American than motherhood and apple pie. Same agenda, different framework. When GOP tries to what about and deflect - keep coming back to these core points. They all tie back - every single one of them.

Keep tying the GOP to Russian values- all but the trolls hate Russia and what it stands for. The Cold War never really ended, and it’s about time America woke up to that. We really are in a fight for our future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People, the right response is not to nitpick the list. The CUSTOMER is always right, NOT the store manager. Swing voters don’t care if WE think school closures were “worth the costs,” they were longer here than anywhere else on Earth, and they had real costs. Swing voters want an apology. If we refuse, then apparently “being right” is more important to us than winning back votes.

I’m giving you the prescription. It’s painful for people like us who get a lot of our sense of moral worth from our party affiliation. And a lot if our sense of intellectual worth from winning arguments. We think politics is a debating society, and we happen to be the smart kids. But it’s actually a value exchange. If we give the voters what they want (and what they are ready for), they’ll let us lead. If we don’t give them what they want (because we think we know better), they won’t let us lead.

If you take that to its logical conclusion, every voter wants a $100K tax break, free healthcare, and a unicorn with a rainbow tail. That doesn’t mean those things should be given to them. Sometimes politicians actually do have a better understanding of what’s needed and what compromises are necessary to achieve it (if they’re real politicians, that is, and not Explore Talent grandstanders like Lauren Boebert).

MAGA wins because Trump lies and makes simplistic promises to the customers that he has no intention of delivering. Most voters haven’t dug into Trump’s history enough to realize that this is how he’s always done business. I don’t think that’s a model the Democrats want to emulate.

[Anonymous]

It’s a battle for the swing voters. If we’re too upset by a few cases of measles to apologize for two years of school closures, we lose. I get it, it’s hard to admit ANY mistakes to people without masters degrees, to people we don’t respect. We shouldn’t have to. But this is a democracy and they are the voters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a battle for the swing voters. If we’re too upset by a few cases of measles to apologize for two years of school closures, we lose. I get it, it’s hard to admit ANY mistakes to people without masters degrees, to people we don’t respect. We shouldn’t have to. But this is a democracy and they are the voters.

“Americans should be able to trust our doctors and public health officials. There should be no question that when they speak, they are doing out of care for the health of Americans first and foremost. People shouldn’t have to turn to quack doctors and snake oil charlatans to feel like their concerns are being heard. Democrats are committed to restoring faith in our public health systems and will be doing whatever it takes to get there.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People, the right response is not to nitpick the list. The CUSTOMER is always right, NOT the store manager. Swing voters don’t care if WE think school closures were “worth the costs,” they were longer here than anywhere else on Earth, and they had real costs. Swing voters want an apology. If we refuse, then apparently “being right” is more important to us than winning back votes.

I’m giving you the prescription. It’s painful for people like us who get a lot of our sense of moral worth from our party affiliation. And a lot if our sense of intellectual worth from winning arguments. We think politics is a debating society, and we happen to be the smart kids. But it’s actually a value exchange. If we give the voters what they want (and what they are ready for), they’ll let us lead. If we don’t give them what they want (because we think we know better), they won’t let us lead.

If you take that to its logical conclusion, every voter wants a $100K tax break, free healthcare, and a unicorn with a rainbow tail. That doesn’t mean those things should be given to them. Sometimes politicians actually do have a better understanding of what’s needed and what compromises are necessary to achieve it (if they’re real politicians, that is, and not Explore Talent grandstanders like Lauren Boebert).

MAGA wins because Trump lies and makes simplistic promises to the customers that he has no intention of delivering. Most voters haven’t dug into Trump’s history enough to realize that this is how he’s always done business. I don’t think that’s a model the Democrats want to emulate.

This is ultimately the problem. If we said we were sorry for Covid or undocumented migrants or affirmative action or trans folks, we’d be lying. Not all of us are committed to all these ideas, but enough of us are that we can’t credibly commit the party to pausing any of these initiatives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:January 6th is everything to me

I was traumatized by that and can't fathom how the Republicans rationalize it.

The most common class signaling we do is to pretend that we “can’t even fathom” what middle class voters are thinking. HOW can they possibly disagree with us richer, more educated, more moral people on climate, migrants, trans, whatever. If we’ve never even been able to UNDERSTAND, what middle class people even THINK, well, that show that we really are more fancy. They may look like is, but we’re definitely NOT like them! No Trump, no gold buildings, Nd no McDonalds for us!

That works in reverse too. Where are the MAGAs reaching out to understand what Democrats want?

…Oh, that’s right. They don’t care. Because, according to your calculus, simply being in power is proof that you are correct and morally superior.

Almost. If you win and are Republican, you deserve it because this proves you are correct and morally superior. But when Democrats were in control? They were wrong and needed to be taken down a peg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a battle for the swing voters. If we’re too upset by a few cases of measles to apologize for two years of school closures, we lose. I get it, it’s hard to admit ANY mistakes to people without masters degrees, to people we don’t respect. We shouldn’t have to. But this is a democracy and they are the voters.

“Americans should be able to trust our doctors and public health officials. There should be no question that when they speak, they are doing out of care for the health of Americans first and foremost. People shouldn’t have to turn to quack doctors and snake oil charlatans to feel like their concerns are being heard. Democrats are committed to restoring faith in our public health systems and will be doing whatever it takes to get there.”

What’s our plan for restoring trust? Are we going to address the conflicts of interest in the for-profit health care industry and among the captured regulators and their revolving door with Big Pharma? Or are we just going to “message” that the peasants SHOULD NOT QUESTION health care industry people when they soeak?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:January 6th is everything to me

I was traumatized by that and can't fathom how the Republicans rationalize it.

The most common class signaling we do is to pretend that we “can’t even fathom” what middle class voters are thinking. HOW can they possibly disagree with us richer, more educated, more moral people on climate, migrants, trans, whatever. If we’ve never even been able to UNDERSTAND, what middle class people even THINK, well, that show that we really are more fancy. They may look like is, but we’re definitely NOT like them! No Trump, no gold buildings, Nd no McDonalds for us!

That works in reverse too. Where are the MAGAs reaching out to understand what Democrats want?

…Oh, that’s right. They don’t care. Because, according to your calculus, simply being in power is proof that you are correct and morally superior.

You’re confused. Republicans know what hardcore Dems want. We broadcast it all over the media. And middle class voters din’t have status anxiety the way we do. They already know we’re more affluent. But we want to prove to each other, to our upper middle class peers, that we are NOTHNG like the mere middle class.

It’s just signaling. We know the middle class doesn’t care about climate like we do, doesn’t care about trans like we (say we) do, etc. We just play dumb sometimes among each other as a way to strike a pose.

"We."

riiiiight ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a battle for the swing voters. If we’re too upset by a few cases of measles to apologize for two years of school closures, we lose. I get it, it’s hard to admit ANY mistakes to people without masters degrees, to people we don’t respect. We shouldn’t have to. But this is a democracy and they are the voters.

“Americans should be able to trust our doctors and public health officials. There should be no question that when they speak, they are doing out of care for the health of Americans first and foremost. People shouldn’t have to turn to quack doctors and snake oil charlatans to feel like their concerns are being heard. Democrats are committed to restoring faith in our public health systems and will be doing whatever it takes to get there.”

What’s our plan for restoring trust? Are we going to address the conflicts of interest in the for-profit health care industry and among the captured regulators and their revolving door with Big Pharma? Or are we just going to “message” that the peasants SHOULD NOT QUESTION health care industry people when they soeak?

Free Luigi