PP here, and totally agree. The student loan forgiveness did not sit well with most Americans. It only helped a small proportion of Americans. This is why Dems are so out of touch. They pick policies that help the small minority rather than focusing on the majority. It's nice to try to help the minority, but that's not how you win a national election. The majority of Americans don't have a college degree, yet, here they were, pushing college loan forgiveness, while ordinary Americans were struggling to pay rent, and buy food, or even afford college for their own kids. Completely out of touch at the national level. I hope to gawd they put someone who is more in touch with the ordinary people, and that's not AOC, sorry. |
Totally agree but I don’t think the Democratic leadership can accept this. It would mean accepting that most voters do not see them as good people. This requires more than a political realignment, it requires an ego alignment. I don’t think they can do it. |
I am not seeing this OP. Be cautious you are not in an echo chamber and missing a silent majority.
FWIW I would vote for anyone moderate. |
+1 I think most would. |
Dems don't hide it now. They're out and out commies. We always knew it. Why hide it.
Even John Kerry was saying today how nuts and radical the party has become. |
DP. No they wouldn’t. That’s how Trump keeps winning. |
Same. These billionaires are turning me into a socialist. — Gen Xer |
Biden campaigned as a moderate but governed as a far-left progressive. In 2024, nobody trusted the Democrats any more when they claimed to be moderate as it was obviously a lie. |
Most people would vote for anyone sane and competent at this point. There is massive dissatisfaction with both parties. But Democrats would be wrong to think they can just drift into power as they did last time because of Trump's unpopularity. Nominating a middling geriatric who then pursued vastly unpopular progressive policies - from immigration to crime to DEI to redefining women and on and on - ended up ruining the Democratic brand. And people remember. Republicans may be unpopular, but there's a reason the Democratic leadership in Congress only has a 27 percent approval rating. Democrats don't talk about health care. They don't take about the environment. They don't talk about wage stagnation. They don't talk about inflation. Democrats offer absolutely nothing to the working and middle class. Forgiving student loans is just another tax burden on people who didn't go to college. Instead Democrats live in fear of the progressive left and have embraced repellent identity politics. And then they get sucked into whatever Trump scandal is dominating the news on any given day. We see Democrats being shrill for about three minutes a day. And that's about it for the Democratic Party today. People caring about work, wages, health insurance, making a living, schools, public safety and every other kitchen table issue doesn't mean they are eager for Zohran Mamdani. Globalize the Intifada isn't the slogan that's going to win midterms or the White House. It's not progressives Americans yearn for. It's common sense and decency, and there Democrats are every bit as out of touch as Republicans. |
Did Biden govern or did his twenty something staff? |
Biden had a fantastic cabinet of expertise and support. |
For the DNC agenda, yes. For the country, no. |
The problem that Dem moderates are running into is that they don't seem to stand for anything. I am barely hearing anything from D leadership on any of the major issues today. Maybe they are saying or posting something but it's not penetrating and I say this as someone who is pretty engaged.
Agree with a PP who said the party (maybe both) have lost the trust of voters. This is why left wing or progressive candidates can generate more enthusiasm, because they seem more authentic and like the believe in something versus parroting the most "popular" or palatable consultant-vetted position. I agree Dems will need someone who seems like an outsider like Obama initially did. Otherwise it's hard to break the cycle. |
Trump isn't running against "Democrats" - he will be running against a specific person. I don't give a damn what polls say about political parties. Polls have always shown that parties are unpopular but individual candidates still win. As far as Democrats "learning lessons", I'm sick of apologizing for our beliefs, which are communal, tolerant, and progressive. If basic competence and decency is too much for voters, especially when compared to the Republic clown show, then screw them. Democrats need to grow a backbone, not grovel to a bunch of people who are scared of trans people. |
But the Democratic leaders are not any of the bolded and neither are their beliefs. Not since Obama and even then, only in his first term. That’s why people like Trump can and do win: because voters simply don’t perceive Democratic candidates this way. The Democratic self-perception gap is just so gaping. |