Delighted by this presidency. This is what we voted for!

Anonymous wrote:The subject line says it all. ICE has been in empowered to act like the Gestapo and taking people literally off the streets. At this point anyone could wear an ICE vest and kidnap somebody in the atmosphere that we are living in right now. People are being arrested for protesting, which is a first amendment right. And he has commented off-line that maybe others or next for being sent to foreign prisons. And those are just a few offensive things he's done. We're not even talking about his colluding with with Russia and what about the top secret documents that were in his bathroom at Mar-a-Lago after his first term?

I'm talking about basic human rights. Are Republicans and MAGA truly OK with our country becoming an authoritarian, fascist country?

Why were you holding on these evidence before the election? The country voted. Suck it up.

Anonymous wrote:P.S. I agree 2024 was an outlier, I agree no Dem could have won, and I agree that Kamala did quite well all things considered. I’m just saying no e if this justifies your hope, that I interpret as: “let’s do nothing and hope the DNC cancels the donors and empowers the people at the last minute without any pressure from us.”

Hope doesn't require a leg to stand on. One very obvious thing working in the favor of Dems in the short term is the fact that Trump is currently POTUS. I can't imagine the GOP putting forth anything other than a Trump endorsed nominee in 2028. A Trump endorsed nominee will have as much chance of winning in 2028 as Trump did in 2020 which is basically zero chance. If Biden could beat Trump in 2020, we could nominate Bill Cosby and win in 2028 (but let's not do that please). The 2032 election will be a key turning point. Unless Trump magically starts doing everything right and becomes a reasonably popular POTUS, Dems will have the luxury of a 2020 easy election victory again in 2028.

P.S. I agree 2024 was an outlier, I agree no Dem could have won, and I agree that Kamala did quite well all things considered. I’m just saying no e if this justifies your hope, that I interpret as: “let’s do nothing and hope the DNC cancels the donors and empowers the people at the last minute without any pressure from us.”

The mega donors and party apparatchiks were involved in the decision to rerun an 80-year-old senile guy and prohibit a competitive primary and make sure RFK Jr got the Bernie Sanders treatment but worse. And they were involved in the decision not to run any kind of competitive process for the new nominee. Sure, it was unusual and not a model for the future. But it shows that the donors and insiders did NOT see the beauty of your idea of learning the lessons of 2016 and 2020 and letting the best candidate emerge from a free people’s primary with no donor thumbs on scales. I hope it will be different this time, but I see nothing suggesting it will be. And now we have the added problem that a lot of mega donors switched preferred parties this time. They are looking to ride the Republicans for multiple terms. So Republicans will be even harder to beat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dems are in big trouble. Trump not running in 2028, Dem turnout will be low. The electorate trusts Republicans more on most important issues.

Trump as the sitting POTUS with his 35% approval rating will have plenty of influence on the 2028 election and the Dems won't have Biden's dark cloud hanging overhead.

Advantage Dems big time!

But Dems need a good candidate.

There are these things we used to have called primary elections where POTUS candidates present themselves and their platforms to the party electorate and then voters select the candidate they feel is best suited to represent the party as their nominee in a state by state manner. That process is where "good" candidates come from. We are moving on from the days of mega-donors selecting a nominee years in advance based on who is most likely to look after the interests of those wealthy donors. Be patient. It's a process.

Why are you hopeful that donors will play less of a role in the 2028 primaries than they played in 2016, 2020, and 2024? Have elections gotten cheaper? Have small donors grown richer relative to rich donors? Have powerful people decided to hand over their power to unpredictable Bernie Bros and AOC Gals?

It's called faith. I have more faith in the Dem Party righting the ship by 2028 than the faith I have in the GOP getting their poop together during the Trump era. We don't need a miracle. We don't need a generational talent to come along to rescue us. We just need a return to proper leadership.

Some of this responsibility falls on the shoulders of everyday people using basic common sense so not to be duped into another Biden situation. We'll be able to beat the GOP Trump endorsed candidate with just about anyone in 2028 just as we did in 2020 but we can't afford to put our democracy in the hands of someone who will just immediately fumble it back to Trump's posse in 2032. After 8 years of a normal Dem in office, the GOP will get tired of losing and they'll shed the MAGA nonsense.

I don’t like our chances. Our energy is much more focused on protesting Trump than on reforming our primary process or taming our mega donors. Maybe we’ll get a better mega-donor approved candidate this time, but I don’t see any reason to think we’ll get a primary-voter-approved candidate if the donors don’t like him or her. The lessons that you and I agree on from 2016 and 2020 did NOT drive improved primary behavior from the donors and party apparatchiks in 2924. Slow learners? Or is it just very difficult for rich and powerful people to ever conclude “we’ll make better decisions if I have less of a say.” It’s the truth, but it’s hard for them to admit it and even harder for them to let go of the wheel.

2024 was an outlier election. Never before in our history had we endured a situation where an incumbent seeking a second term had their campaign collapse to the extent that they chose to back out of the race 3 months prior to the election. It could have been Lincoln, Reagan, or Obama who was forced into that replacement nominee role and they still would have had no chance at victory; even against a very weak opponent. Harris actually did fairly well all things considered.

2024 isn't comparable to any past or future election.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dems are in big trouble. Trump not running in 2028, Dem turnout will be low. The electorate trusts Republicans more on most important issues.

Trump as the sitting POTUS with his 35% approval rating will have plenty of influence on the 2028 election and the Dems won't have Biden's dark cloud hanging overhead.

Advantage Dems big time!

But Dems need a good candidate.

There are these things we used to have called primary elections where POTUS candidates present themselves and their platforms to the party electorate and then voters select the candidate they feel is best suited to represent the party as their nominee in a state by state manner. That process is where "good" candidates come from. We are moving on from the days of mega-donors selecting a nominee years in advance based on who is most likely to look after the interests of those wealthy donors. Be patient. It's a process.

Why are you hopeful that donors will play less of a role in the 2028 primaries than they played in 2016, 2020, and 2024? Have elections gotten cheaper? Have small donors grown richer relative to rich donors? Have powerful people decided to hand over their power to unpredictable Bernie Bros and AOC Gals?

It's called faith. I have more faith in the Dem Party righting the ship by 2028 than the faith I have in the GOP getting their poop together during the Trump era. We don't need a miracle. We don't need a generational talent to come along to rescue us. We just need a return to proper leadership.

Some of this responsibility falls on the shoulders of everyday people using basic common sense so not to be duped into another Biden situation. We'll be able to beat the GOP Trump endorsed candidate with just about anyone in 2028 just as we did in 2020 but we can't afford to put our democracy in the hands of someone who will just immediately fumble it back to Trump's posse in 2032. After 8 years of a normal Dem in office, the GOP will get tired of losing and they'll shed the MAGA nonsense.

I don’t like our chances. Our energy is much more focused on protesting Trump than on reforming our primary process or taming our mega donors. Maybe we’ll get a better mega-donor approved candidate this time, but I don’t see any reason to think we’ll get a primary-voter-approved candidate if the donors don’t like him or her. The lessons that you and I agree on from 2016 and 2020 did NOT drive improved primary behavior from the donors and party apparatchiks in 2924. Slow learners? Or is it just very difficult for rich and powerful people to ever conclude “we’ll make better decisions if I have less of a say.” It’s the truth, but it’s hard for them to admit it and even harder for them to let go of the wheel.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Trump Team plays us like a fiddle. They make these deportation mistakes in purpose because it gets Democrats on record publicly defending invaders, denouncing deportations, denouncing border control. It’s amazing politics. The border is closed, but Dems are positioning themselves WORSE than when Biden was bringing in millions of illegals. It’s amazing.

Dems have deported more persons and yet still managed to do it legally and without near the amount of drama, chaos and errors. And still managed to work on a bipartisan immigration plan that included funding more immigration judges. Facts seem to be the problem for the American people.

Maybe so, but the American people, especially the swing voters we need, are VERY clear in their opinion that Democrats are the relatively more pro-illegal-immigration party. Maybe the American people ARE stupid. They are too stupid to be moved by our claims that we are actually tougher on the border. We can’t argue our way out of this one. We’ll have to SHOW how tough we are on illegal immigrants. We need Democratic deportation squads.

This all stems from very weak to non-existent leadership at the top for the Dems since Obama left office. Biden was a terrible communicator with poor leadership skills. His weakness allowed the GOP to control the narrative of the party that had the power of The White House which is unprecedented.

The Dem party itself never had a platform, policy or messaging problem. They had a messenger problem. When a bumbling stumbling elderly person who can only muster the strength and courage to do 4 press conferences a year is your "leader" you're in big trouble. And here we are. Four more years of the orange idiot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Trump Team plays us like a fiddle. They make these deportation mistakes in purpose because it gets Democrats on record publicly defending invaders, denouncing deportations, denouncing border control. It’s amazing politics. The border is closed, but Dems are positioning themselves WORSE than when Biden was bringing in millions of illegals. It’s amazing.

Huh? Democrats are complaining about LEGAL immigrants being detained and incarcerated in foreign countries. I haven't heard a single national Democratic figure defending illegal immigration. And bragging that the border is "closed" isn't a selling point. Legal immigration and the free flow of goods, services, and tourism remains economically important. Democrats should be talking about the $90B of tourism that the Trump administration just threw away by scaring LEGAL tourists from other countries.

No-one cares about nuance. They care about the big picture. Democrats brought in millions of invaders, Republicans want them out, Democrats are resisting, fighting deportations, claiming closed borders are bad, etc. You’re “right” about the nuances, but your position is still ballot box poison.

"Democrats" didn't bring in millions of "invaders". That was 100% Joe frickin Biden. Guess what? Biden is long gone now. Guess who isn't long gone and who continues to ruin the GOP reputation here and abroad? That would be Trump. We got rid of our elderly idiot. Perhaps you should try the same. It's a great feeling to have a clean slate to work with.

No it is Democrats doing that. That is their policy. Mayorkas was impeached over it. Every Senate Democrat voted that perjury before Congress is not an impeachable offense and they refused to hold a trial.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Trump Team plays us like a fiddle. They make these deportation mistakes in purpose because it gets Democrats on record publicly defending invaders, denouncing deportations, denouncing border control. It’s amazing politics. The border is closed, but Dems are positioning themselves WORSE than when Biden was bringing in millions of illegals. It’s amazing.

Dems have deported more persons and yet still managed to do it legally and without near the amount of drama, chaos and errors. And still managed to work on a bipartisan immigration plan that included funding more immigration judges. Facts seem to be the problem for the American people.

Maybe so, but the American people, especially the swing voters we need, are VERY clear in their opinion that Democrats are the relatively more pro-illegal-immigration party. Maybe the American people ARE stupid. They are too stupid to be moved by our claims that we are actually tougher on the border. We can’t argue our way out of this one. We’ll have to SHOW how tough we are on illegal immigrants. We need Democratic deportation squads.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dems are in big trouble. Trump not running in 2028, Dem turnout will be low. The electorate trusts Republicans more on most important issues.

Trump as the sitting POTUS with his 35% approval rating will have plenty of influence on the 2028 election and the Dems won't have Biden's dark cloud hanging overhead.

Advantage Dems big time!

But Dems need a good candidate.

There are these things we used to have called primary elections where POTUS candidates present themselves and their platforms to the party electorate and then voters select the candidate they feel is best suited to represent the party as their nominee in a state by state manner. That process is where "good" candidates come from. We are moving on from the days of mega-donors selecting a nominee years in advance based on who is most likely to look after the interests of those wealthy donors. Be patient. It's a process.

Why are you hopeful that donors will play less of a role in the 2028 primaries than they played in 2016, 2020, and 2024? Have elections gotten cheaper? Have small donors grown richer relative to rich donors? Have powerful people decided to hand over their power to unpredictable Bernie Bros and AOC Gals?

It's called faith. I have more faith in the Dem Party righting the ship by 2028 than the faith I have in the GOP getting their poop together during the Trump era. We don't need a miracle. We don't need a generational talent to come along to rescue us. We just need a return to proper leadership.

Some of this responsibility falls on the shoulders of everyday people using basic common sense so not to be duped into another Biden situation. We'll be able to beat the GOP Trump endorsed candidate with just about anyone in 2028 just as we did in 2020 but we can't afford to put our democracy in the hands of someone who will just immediately fumble it back to Trump's posse in 2032. After 8 years of a normal Dem in office, the GOP will get tired of losing and they'll shed the MAGA nonsense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Trump Team plays us like a fiddle. They make these deportation mistakes in purpose because it gets Democrats on record publicly defending invaders, denouncing deportations, denouncing border control. It’s amazing politics. The border is closed, but Dems are positioning themselves WORSE than when Biden was bringing in millions of illegals. It’s amazing.

Huh? Democrats are complaining about LEGAL immigrants being detained and incarcerated in foreign countries. I haven't heard a single national Democratic figure defending illegal immigration. And bragging that the border is "closed" isn't a selling point. Legal immigration and the free flow of goods, services, and tourism remains economically important. Democrats should be talking about the $90B of tourism that the Trump administration just threw away by scaring LEGAL tourists from other countries.

No-one cares about nuance. They care about the big picture. Democrats brought in millions of invaders, Republicans want them out, Democrats are resisting, fighting deportations, claiming closed borders are bad, etc. You’re “right” about the nuances, but your position is still ballot box poison.

Democrats didn't bring in millions of invaders. That is right wing BS that people like you have fallen for. If you are so upset about the immigration issue, then you should be really pissed at the GOP for thwarting 4 bills over 20 years that would have addressed the issue, but they tanked it to keep the issue alive and people like you angry.

Most Americans have fallen for the “propaganda” that Democrats are softer on illegal immigration than Republicans are.

Talking points to the contrary “we deported many! we proposed legislation!” have failed to convince any non Democrats.

If we want to overcome our huge trust deficit with swing voters on this issue, we can’t afford any more “nuance.” We can’t be seen fighting against deportations or trying to slow them down. We can’t keep talking about previously proposed unpassed legislation. We need to embrace deportations, embrace border security, vote out sanctuary city mayors, and propose and pass border legislation SO TOUGH and so free of “pathway to citizenship for those already here” strings that MAGA will love it and Republicans will happily pass it.

OR we can just accept that we’re the relatively more pro-illegal-immigration party and let the voters continue to see us that way.

Either choice is fine. But the voters won’t let us have our cake and eat it too. If we keep claiming that Biden was “the REAL ‘tough on the border’ guy,” the voters will continue to think we’re not only pro-illegal, but dishonest about it too.

We have to be realistic about what swing voters think of us and stop telling ourselves how wrong perceptions of us are. Only actions will change perceptions. Convoluted arguments won’t do it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Trump Team plays us like a fiddle. They make these deportation mistakes in purpose because it gets Democrats on record publicly defending invaders, denouncing deportations, denouncing border control. It’s amazing politics. The border is closed, but Dems are positioning themselves WORSE than when Biden was bringing in millions of illegals. It’s amazing.

Huh? Democrats are complaining about LEGAL immigrants being detained and incarcerated in foreign countries. I haven't heard a single national Democratic figure defending illegal immigration. And bragging that the border is "closed" isn't a selling point. Legal immigration and the free flow of goods, services, and tourism remains economically important. Democrats should be talking about the $90B of tourism that the Trump administration just threw away by scaring LEGAL tourists from other countries.

No-one cares about nuance. They care about the big picture. Democrats brought in millions of invaders, Republicans want them out, Democrats are resisting, fighting deportations, claiming closed borders are bad, etc. You’re “right” about the nuances, but your position is still ballot box poison.

"Democrats" didn't bring in millions of "invaders". That was 100% Joe frickin Biden. Guess what? Biden is long gone now. Guess who isn't long gone and who continues to ruin the GOP reputation here and abroad? That would be Trump. We got rid of our elderly idiot. Perhaps you should try the same. It's a great feeling to have a clean slate to work with.

We don’t have a clean slate. Hatred of Trump is causing us to double down on our support for illegal immigrants. Which reduces our support from citizen voters.

We are arguing that “Biden’s” millions of new illegals deserve years of due process, access to court systems for citizens, support while they wait, etc. we own them if we’re not willing to support their deportation. Biden brought them in and we’re glad he did. We strongly prefer them to Trump voters!

Oh look! Fake Dem troll is still hanging around DCUM.

I don’t disagree that the wisdom of crowds would be a lot better than the misguided Hillary, Joe, and Kamala donor-led coronations. But I doubt the donors are eager to share power with the hoi polloi.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dems are in big trouble. Trump not running in 2028, Dem turnout will be low. The electorate trusts Republicans more on most important issues.

Trump as the sitting POTUS with his 35% approval rating will have plenty of influence on the 2028 election and the Dems won't have Biden's dark cloud hanging overhead.

Advantage Dems big time!

But Dems need a good candidate.

There are these things we used to have called primary elections where POTUS candidates present themselves and their platforms to the party electorate and then voters select the candidate they feel is best suited to represent the party as their nominee in a state by state manner. That process is where "good" candidates come from. We are moving on from the days of mega-donors selecting a nominee years in advance based on who is most likely to look after the interests of those wealthy donors. Be patient. It's a process.

Why are you hopeful that donors will play less of a role in the 2028 primaries than they played in 2016, 2020, and 2024? Have elections gotten cheaper? Have small donors grown richer relative to rich donors? Have powerful people decided to hand over their power to unpredictable Bernie Bros and AOC Gals?