Barack Obama had a lot of great ideas, but I think people have forgotten how many times he gave up without a fight. His motto seemed to be, “We can’t win, so why try.” I really blame him for the demoralized Democratic base that stayed home and allowed Donald Trump’s win.
Harris needs to fight for progressive ideals, even if she doesn’t always bring home a victory.
Obama lost the House of Representatives in years 3 and 4. And again in years 5 and 6. Then he lose both the House of Reps and the Senate in years 7 and 8. That was the thanks he got for the ACA. He pushed for progress, got it, and the left voters never showed up for more.
You want progress? You need to vote and give Dems consistent and overwhelming victories.
Chicken or the egg?
I look at it as a Mexican standoff. The protest left voter is not going to win this Mexican Standoff because the Dems have an out, to go for the center voter. Which is a voter that actually shows up. The leftist has no alternative. Bemoan the two party system if you want, but there is no alternative.
When the left doesn’t show up, Dems just go to the center even more.
Democrats past center decades ago. Harris’ acceptance speech was full fledged right wing
Call it whatever you want, when they lose they will go to where the votes are. They have an out in this Mexican Standoff. You don’t.
And as they go to where the votes are, republicans, they should be abandoned by left leaning voters.
Depends if you want to stop them from going center. They will go where the votes are. When you don’t vote, you tell them to not do anything left ever. “Don’t bother with us, there’s no support over here!” Congrats, it’s the biggest self own ever.
To be clear the ACA was Romneycare…not progress.
Romneycare that didn’t kick into action until 2014. And because state agencies got to rebrand their programs, you had some crazy A/B poll testing results.
In Kentucky, a new Marist poll conducted for NBC News finds that 57 percent of registered voters have an unfavorable view of “Obamacare,” the shorthand commonly used to label the 2010 Affordable Care Act. That’s compared with only 33 percent who give it a thumbs up – hardly surprising in a state where the president’s approval rating hovers just above 30 percent.
By comparison, when Kentucky voters were asked to give their impression of “kynect,” the state exchange created as a result of the health care law, the picture was quite different.
A plurality – 29 percent – said they have a favorable impression of kynect, compared to 22 percent who said they view the system unfavorably. Twenty-seven percent said they hadn’t heard of kynect, and an additional 21 percent said they were unsure.
The ACA is a huge black mark on Obama’s legacy. Clinton certainly wasn’t going to push for universal healthcare. She was just a terrible candidate.
It was just really hard to get excited to pay 1100$ a month for bare bones family insurance. (At the time…it’s closer to 2500 a month today).
Oh the most progressive healthcare reform ever is suddenly a bad thing? Fucking lol.
Want more? Vote and give them consistent and overwhelming victories. 2 years every 16 years is going to be slow. Bump that up champ.
Oh the most progressive healthcare reform ever
In America? That was Medicaid, and was established in 1965 by adding Title XIX to the Social Security Act. The PPACA was the biggest increase in enrollment since it was established, but was by no means universal or even approaching the scope of the original act.
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He didn’t give up, he was all talk with no intent of action.
Pelosi is no political genius. She’s got some parlor tricks but most religious leaders do.
But the fact that my Trump loving family members would vote for Bernie over Trump speaks volumes.
Bernie getting fucked by the DNC was the greatest political blunder in 100 years.
Nobody wants Catholics vs Evangelicals anymore because most people think that shit is garbage.
We want PROGRESSIVES because we want PROGRESS!
I will never forgive the DNC for that. Bernie is salvation. He is pure and impossible to coerce.
I think the establishment knew how much power they would lose and sandbagged him from both sides.
Pelosi can fucking go.
She may come off as a darling of the Democrats, but to me, she’s just a old boomer who is part of the old guard of politicians who make money being a politician.
I think that’s how almost everyone sees her these days. I don’t think she’s anyone’s darling, it’s just that she’s still rich, powerful, and connected.
She was born in 1940. She’s older than the Boomers.
Some progressive ideals are what the average American wants. Many are still very hard sells. What the Dems need to realize is that the political-junkie conceptions of ‘centrist’ and ‘progressive’ mean very little to the ‘swing voters’ they’re trying to appeal to. They don’t want a coherent ideological approach. Not that that seems to stop ‘centrist’ Dem reps from constantly trying to chase policy rightwards.
What are the hard sells? List them
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Defund the police is a hard sell outside of the minority communities that face the worst of what the police do.
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Demilitarizing the border and legalizing most of our immigrants?
These two are in opposition to each other. Selling the public on amnesty for whoever is here already requires a credible plan to prevent more illegal entry.
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Maybe you could explain to the administrators of Kursk how its not important to defend the border 😂
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healthcare pls
- Americans repeatedly respond to authenticity, even if that authenticity is built on lies (Trump)
- An old white self-avowed Democratic Socialist independent from Vermont overtook a decades-old Third Way household name in under a year, outperforming her in head-to-head polling against Trump.
- Democrats repeatedly water down their rhetoric to appeal to ignorance in the middle-ground
- Said middle-ground is defined by right-wing extremist rhetoric and a shifting of the Overton Window
- Said policies then fail because they watered-down the rocket-fuel too much and it never broke orbit.
- Democrats shocked when grassroots coalition that is the backbone of the party and GOTV movement unenthused.
- Democratic establishment shocked when they lose.
The day Democrats grow a backbone and double-down on progressive policy because it actually works instead of appealing to ignorance is the day Democrats never lose again.
There are some good signs in the party they’re moving away from this; notably ignoring a lot of the advice from Hillary Clinton strategists (thank fuck), while also promoting progressive voices on the national stage such as at the convention — AOC, Bernie, Warren speeches. Still, there are remnants of the old that need to go.
Also:
Don’t ever shy away from our progressive values. One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.
- Tim Walz
ignoring a lot of the advice from Hillary Clinton strategists (thank fuck)
idk. They seem to be running on the “if you don’t vote dems you hate black people” shtick that didn’t work in 2016. Lemmy users are eating it up though.
Where are they doing that?
The response Harris made to the protestors at the DNC is the best example I can think of. I’m probably exaggerating how much the Harris campaign is relying on this strategy because lemmy is inundated with “DO YOU WANT TRUMP TO WIN???” commenters,
She responded to the protesters and said if you don’t vote you hate blacks? Can you link me to that quote!?
I specifically recall her responding to protesters, “if you want trump to win, then keep talking” at a rally in Michigan. It’s not “hate blacks” but it has the same effect as what Hilary was doing. It’s not a forthcoming approach to tell voters they have to vote for you vs actually doing the legwork and coming up with policy to make them want to vote for you.
It’s really frustrating because it’s obvious the administration has its hands tied but it can’t come out and outright say it, and she’s also absolutely 100% correct in that Trump would just laugh at protesters, mock them, and tell his rally to beat them up.
I remember during the Democratic primaries these more scorched-earth pro-Palestinian protesters (I’m pro-Palestinian; just not to the point I’m shooting myself and them in the foot) would say along the lines, "Well this is the primaries and the time to advance change and protest — and I at least respect that. After the Democrat is locked in, then of course it’s a binary choice, and Trump is obviously far, far worse for Palestinians. So it comes down to 1) what’s more likely, that these protests change official policy ahead of polling, or 2) it leads to wedge-driving and disunity among the Democratic banner, handing the election to the far-worse opponent? Harris and I believe the latter is more likely, hence saying something along those lines.
I mean Jesus, they’re actively working on a permanent ceasefire while Trump is calling Bibi to undermine it. So why aren’t protesters protesting Trump rallies?
That is a well spoken summery of the current issue with our political system. Thank you for taking the time to write that up and share it.
It is sometimes hard to have faith in the future when we are so inundated with our current issues. To cultivate hope in the future it is key to remember that time marches on and the older generations will always be replaced by a younger generation. I believe if we keep our democracy alive for long enough we do have the potential as a society to right many wrongs that the younger generations have lived under for the past 50 years and if we stay on target with our wants and needs and can put empathy and compassion for our neighbors as a core belief then it is only a matter of time before we get elected representatives in power to start affecting change.
I believe we, as a people, can do better for our future generations and that is why we all must do our civic duty and vote, not just for president but in our local elections, no matter how small, and every election above that. We have the power to change all this and I believe we will in time. It won’t be overnight but it can be within our lifetimes. Small steps matter because right now we aren’t capable of making huge steps but when the big steps forward become attainable we are prepared as a society to take those steps.
Thank you again for your post, stay strong and motivated and we can do this. Remember this isn’t just about you and me but us as a country, as a species and our responsibility to the future generations that will come after us. We can right our past mistakes and keep hope for that future alive. We have a greater voice now than we realize and are already electing people into positions of power to affect this change. We are not in this alone but in this together; not me, Us!
Aw thanks — and wonderfully said, yourself! Indeed despite everything along with much work to do, I feel quite optimistic. It feels as though we’re beginning to rip band-aids off that were placed there decades ago and I’m all for it. I should also note that I come from a rural Republican blue-collar family who flipped under Bush’s first term… So people can certainly change and I know I can get quite feisty with my rhetoric toward conservatives these days but sometimes it pays to extend an olive branch for some of those still reachable.
