Interesting comment by AOC this morning

[Dem4Life1102]

She said this during an interview with Jake Tapper:

I think one of the things that is very important is that is to realize that very effective Republican attacks are going to happen every cycle, so the question is how do we defend ourselves against that? If you look at some of these arguments that are being advanced, that #DefundthePolice hurt or arguments about socialism hurts. Not a single member of congress that I’m aware of campaigned on socialism or defunding the police in this general election.

[FoxNewsSucks]

1. That's true.

Some tRumphumper a while back was talking about "defund" and I asked him who exactly was running on that. He had no answer, I said look it up and get back to me, because I don't know any candidate running on eliminating police departments.

[OnDoutside]

13. I think if you check, Spanberger said that the RW took the Defund

the Police demand that the far left were pushing, and weaponized it in attack ads against moderate Dems running in red areas, not that they themselves were running on a Defund the Police platform.

It's easy to push purity politics when you know you're not going to lose your seat, but it's hurtful to the Democratic Party cause.

[Boogiemack]

75. She is correct. The ones who won were in safe districts. nt

[OnDoutside]

76. The problem is they are flooding the online sphere with the same

skewed narrative.

[Celerity]

85. the RW has been screaming commie! socialist! since FDR days (and before, going back to Bolshevik

revolution). The modern-day (last 50 odd years) Rethug Party uses it every election.

[OnDoutside]

90. And it worked !!! Have all your arguments internally, but show a united message out front is really

the best way forward. I think the scare tactics worked this election especially (because of the whole "Squad"/"Antifa" thing), and it unfortunately resonated more than the last couple of decades.

[Celerity]

92. Again, NO Democrats ran on Defund the Police, no Democrats ran on support of 'antifa' , by which I

mean antifa as defined by the right wing, in reality antifa is not an organised group, it is an idea against fascism via a diverse number of actions. No democrat ran on support of socialism, that is a RW construct.

The day we let the RW and the Rethugs falsely define what issues are 'commie/socialist/antifa', what issues are a priori evil blah balh blah, and then (we as a Party) actually proceed to self-regulate and purge all who believe and stand for things that the RW hates and falsely self-labels, is the day we are destroyed as a viable national party.

Imagine if we had done that with the civil rights movements. They (the RW) played the exact same tricks back then.

The minute you let your enemy define you to the point you start to do things that cater to that false labelling, you will be crushed. It will set up negative feedback loops that blow out vast swathes of our voting blocs. They simply will not turn out for people who say (in far more polite terms) 'fuck you' and yet then still demand their votes anyway.

[OnDoutside]

93. Someone out there is changing the narrative, because OF COURSE no Dems ran on Defund the Police,

we know that. No, the issue is that it was pointed out very early on that "Defund the Police" was a stupid slogan, but was amplified by the far left, to the point Joe had to come out and pointedly say that he was not going to Defund the Police. It's like the old trick of "When did you stop beating your wife". It's that level of dumbassery, and allowed Repugs pick it up and weaponize it. If someone is in a safe Blue district, it's probably not going to be an issue, but in someone like Spanberger's Red district, there were wall to wall Defund the Police attack ads. And that can be the difference between winning the House back, and losing it. It's all about uncompromising Ideology and it's depressing that they just don't give a shit about the bigger picture.

[Celerity]

94. most, if not all, of the people actually pushing it are not good faith actors and certainly not

people with any powerful roles inside the party itself.

I am just dismayed that the internal framing by some in the party is to turn this into a burn the left (leftish elected Dems) event.

An actual perusal of the 8 flips (net minus 5 so far as we flipped 3 seats from R to D so far) shows the narrative (that the defund the police and those evil lefties were by far the main or even the only reason we lost every one of the 8 seats) to be on far more shaky ground than many are stating.

see

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214503170#post134

[Wellstone ruled]

43. Frank Luntz was the pumper on that one

as well as the Bot Network.

[lynintenn]

2. Defund the police is not a winning strategy

[Dem4Life1102]

4. It's not a strategy and never was

No Democrat ran on Defund the police. It was an attack from the right.

[malaise]

11. Preach it!

There are too many tools in the media who repeat unsubstantiated bullshit with impunity or simply do not call out the liars.

[BlueIdaho]

19. Exactly! nt.

[whathehell]

28. There were signs at at BLM rallies saying "Defund The Police"

When called upon, many of the leaders did re-interpret the message to mean "allocate some of those funds to mental health services", etc, but they never re-worded the message accordingly, and so the literal meaning persisted.

[Dem4Life1102]

35. BLM is not an arm of the Democratic Party

[whathehell]

83. No, but Democratic leaders have publicly (& rightfully).supported them

and so they are obviously linked.

[Dem4Life1102]

89. True

[Mariana]

45. I don't see how the Democratic Party or Democratic candidates

could have prevented protesters from carrying signs that said "'Defund the Police".

[whathehell]

91. Not just a couple of signs, but an ongoing, publicly discussed meme

by leaders of both overlapping groups.

Democratic leaders like Rep Jim Clyburn who discussed this very subject on CNN today, have been working closely with the BLM Movement, so there was input from both sides.

[Gothmog]

96. Why 'Defund The Police' Attacks Were So Potent Against Democrats

Defund the police was used very effectively by the GOP in down ballot races. A good number of races that Democrats should have won were lost due to this issue.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

The GOP ran a ton of ads using this issue

Sure enough, Republicans saw an opportunity. Painting Democrats as supporters of “defunding” the police became the focus of campaign literature, TV and digital ads, and live televised debates. That forced Democratic candidates to divert resources that might otherwise be used discussing COVID-19 relief, health care or education to be used disavowing themselves from the slogan and otherwise defending themselves.

Out of 31 broadcast TV ads that Trump and other allied campaign groups used to attack Biden and other Democrats for being soft on law and order, 11 spots ― that aired a total of 77,647 times ― explicitly mentioned “defund the police,” according to an analysis Kantar Media/CMAG conducted for HuffPost. And out of 216 Republican broadcast TV ads in congressional races blasting Democrats, 157 spots that aired 103,000 times used the phrase.

I was disappointed to seen Susan Collins re-elected. It seems that Collins was able to use the "defund the police" issue very effectively

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and the GOP’s Senate campaign arm hit her Democratic opponent, Sara Gideon, in a TV ad for links to a “defund the police” billionaire. The basis for the ad was Gideon’s attendance at a fundraiser hosted by an environmental coalition that includes NextGen America. NextGen, funded by liberal billionaire Tom Steyer, supports defunding the police.

Collins also falsely seized on Gideon’s vote as a state legislator in favor of consolidating two small towns’ police dispatching services as evidence that the Democrat “defunded” the police.

Gideon, who led in virtually every pre-election poll but also was beset by a number of challenges, ended up losing by eight po ints. Her campaign did not respond to requests for comment about the impact of the “defund the police” allegation on her race.

The "defund the police" issue clearly cost Democrats a number of seats that we should have won. I saw these ads in a local state house race where the Democrat raised a ton of money but got hurt by negative ads that included MFA and defunding the police.

[Dem4Life1102]

97. Yes

But it is only because people fell for false GOP attacks and the alleged liberal media didn’t call out those lies. No democrats ran on ‘defund the police’ so it’s wrong to blame them for it.

[Gothmog]

3. There was an interview with the NYT also

I will not open any NYT articles but I found this description of this interview to be interesting

Link to tweet

"I don't even know if I want to be in politics," she told The Times. "You know, for real, in the first six months of my term, I didn't even know if I was going to run for re-election this year."

The Bronx native said the Democratic party has been hostile to progressive causes, like Medicare for All and the Movement for Black Lives.

"Externally, there's been a ton of support," she said, according to The Times. "But internally, it's been extremely hostile to anything that even smells progressive."

The interview happened Saturday, shortly after major news networks called the election for President-elect Joe Biden. While Biden won the presidency, Democrats down-ticket didn't fare quite as well, with some centrist party leaders blaming progressive messaging for the loss of House seats.

[dawg day]

18. Youth is perhaps liable to over-reaction-

So is age (look at Trump voters going ape-sht with every mention of "socialism" ).

This perhaps isn't the best time to get offended at her own party for not being only HER party.

[Bettie]

29. Actually, she's offended because it doesn't want her

in the party at all.

Nor does it really want any progressive voices.

That's been made very clear in recent years.

And we NEED progressive policies for things like climate change. There is no time for incrementalism, it is an actual crisis.

[Autumn]

36. The party is more welcoming to Republicans than they are to those of us on the Left.

Sad fact but it's true. We see it daily.

[Bettie]

37. It is

Kasich is beloved (for some reason).

AOC and Elizabeth Warren (to a lesser extent) are hated.

[mrs_p]

42. Steve Schmidt

Is a darling of our party

While he called Warren a worse liar that Trump.

[Bettie]

44. And then, around here, people get all upset

when progressives say they feel like the party is trying to push us out.

They adore right wingers. People left of center? Not so much.

[mrs_p]

50. Yep

[dawg day]

62. I agree that I'm so sick of trying to appeal to "the white working class-mostly-men"

.. and GOP "moderates".
Just abandon them. They're a shrinking minority anyway, and impossible to please.

However, I think there's something to be drawn from the reality that progressive policies win (FL $15 minimum wage and ex-felon franchisement!) in places that progressive people don't usually win. I'm stuck in a blue-island city in a red-sea state, so I'm not hopeful for my own area, but it could be that these state referenda can have a big effect even before the state legislature elections catch up (and way before Congress does). Marijuana legalization is a real example of how change -esp that which directly benefits people immediately- can cause a transformation state by state.

Why is that? Maybe local initiatives can bring out people who aren't as interested in voting for representatives?

Also state legislators are often so entrenched and the money so tied to incumbency and the corruption too-- harder to move some of the execrable crust out of there. (Look what the creeps did to the immense and compassionate movement in Florida to give the vote back.)
Good that direct democracy can still produce direct results, and definitely show how popular progressive policies can be when voters can be educated to the benefits.

[Bettie]

84. Ah, but they are going on about how we need "coddling"

I'd be happy with just them stopping saying we shouldn't even express our views because those scared white dude bro MATATs don't like it.

[treestar]

78. Why do the progressives need all this coddling

why do you need to feel wanted? A political party is not a club. If it is to your advantage, you be part of it. It's a coalition. Everyone has to compromise. Crying that you feel unwanted is not the point. The point is to build, work with others, get somewhere even if it's not paradise. Get people elected.

70 million people voted for Dump so what's the point of being this way about the Democrats? The Democrats are the only hope for fighting the right wing. You just have to get in and pull along with everyone else.

[betsuni]

80. +1

[brush]

95. Progressive is not the same as democratic socialist. Isn't it...

a little disingenuous to have outspokenly declared oneself a democratic socialist and then say no one ran on being a democratic socialist?

The whole nation knows she calls herself a democratic socialist. And btw, I know I'm not making new with this, but millions of voters consider "socialism" toxic and repugs know that and weaponize it in attack ads way away from her deep blue district in NY, and away from Vermont too.

[TwilightZone]

5. Does that include challengers?

I don't honestly know, but "member of Congress" and congressional candidates are two different things.

As an aside, "defund the police" is possibly the dumbest slogan ever created in the history of politics. As others have noted, "law enforcement reform" would have been immeasurably better.

[Dem4Life1102]

9. No Democrat ran on Defund the Police

That's the point. It was a slogan used by some activists and then as an attack from the right.

[TwilightZone]

15. Well, it wouldn't have been available as an attack tool...

had it not been created in the first place. In soccer parlance, it's an own goal.

The problem was complicated by people like AOC using it in interviews, etc. While she didn't explicitly run on it, it was certainly a topic of conversation.

"Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the proposed $1 billion cut to the New York Police Department's budget "a disingenuous illusion" and said it is does not go far enough to defund the police.

"Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education's budget so that the exact same police remain in schools," Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement."

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/aoc-says-nypds-1-billion-budget-cut-doesnt-go-far-enough-defund-police-1514523

[betsuni]

81. +1

[Klaralven]

25. Cori Bush did, and won

Link to tweet

?lang=en

[trc]

31. That district has been controlled by Democrats since 1949

Not a huge risk.

[TwilightZone]

34. Perhaps not, but it means her assertion is false.

She also previously indicated that she supports the concept, so her protestations now seem a bit disingenuous. I think she realized, along with the rest of us, that the slogan is problematic and is trying to distance herself from it. Probably a wise move.

https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=14504188

[trc]

38. Agreed

[Klaralven]

40. In the age of social media, what happens in one district doesn't stay in one district.

It goes national in a few clicks.

[treestar]

79. Sort of like socialism

the media again - when do they ever talk about what socialism is. Have they ever tried to interview any person to define it. No, they just let right wing talking heads use it as if it is relevant.

Same here, instead of saying it was just extremists saying this, or calling out right wingers trying to put it on Democrats, they just let the right wing talking heads say it and claim it's a Democratic platform item.

[Dem4Life1102]

82. The most socialist candidate in the last 20 years was Sarah Palin

When she was Governor she passed a law that required oil companies drilling on public land to give some of their profits to the government which was then distributed to all residents of Alaska.

[Celerity]

86. +1000

[comradebillyboy]

6. AOC was the star of every Republican attack ad I saw

here in NM. Republicans successfully tied the very moderate Democrat Xochitl Torres Small to AOC and won the seat. Torres Small turned a very red district blue in 2018 but lost it in 2020. Outside the bluest districts I don't see AOC helping Democrats win elections.

AOC's "defund the police" has to be one of the most counterproductive political slogans of my lifetime. It's a seriously losing message in the USA.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/aoc-defund-the-police-means-defund-the-police

[Bettie]

39. Well then, perhaps we should ensure that none of our reps

have ideas or ideals so that they can't be used against others.

You know who was the star of nearly every attack ad here in Iowa? Nancy Pelosi. Yet I don't see people complaining about her.

[mrs_p]

48. Nancy Pelosi was used in ads here too

By the DEM candidate for governor (!) - saying she’s not like those Pelosi liberals in DC.

I’m in North Dakota.

ETA. And she still lost!!

[Bettie]

51. If we look back, EVERY presidential candidate we've ever had has

been described as the "MOST liberal" (insert where they came from, senate, governor, etc.).

Every candidate with a D after their name will be accused of being a socialist at some point, regardless of how far to the right they drift.

[Mariana]

49. If it wasn't her, it would be someone else.

For decades Hillary Clinton was their boogeyman. As it is, their focus on AOC probably took some heat off Kamala Harris, who is also a prime candidate for demonization by the right.

[Gothmog]

7. In my district, the GOP ran a ton of ads attacking Green New Deal and MFA

I live in a district that the DCCC targeted that we coulld have won. The MFA ads were very effective and talked about taxes needing to double to pay for this program. These ads were very effective and the Democrat lost.

[Dem4Life1102]

10. But isn't that her point

The GOP was better at messaging and attacking. Democrats need to improve messaging to counter these attacks.

[TheBlackAdder]

12. Also, even if there isn't an issue with a proposal, they'll fabricate an issue or conspiracy.

[Gothmog]

17. That is because we gave the GOP amno like the Green New Deal and MFA

We lost seats in Congress when we should have picked up seats.

[Meshuga]

71. Most voters support MFA at some level

And the green new deal is not as unpopular with voters as suggested.

I think it is dangerous to keep making excuses for losing and being gullible for right wing rhetoric than ignoring real problems we face (and their possible solutions).

MFA can be easily sold if there was the will and the green new deal is just a start to the conversation. Details can unfold and tangible promises can be made to empower and generate jobs for people in red states.

https://pnhp.org/news/two-thirds-of-voters-support-providing-medicare-to-every-american/

https://www.dataforprogress.org/green-new-deal-support

[Gothmog]

72. You are wrong

It s NOT easy to sell these programsto regular voters in the real world. This line of attack killed a number of candidates in races where the Democrat should have won. Socialism is a deal killer for many voters

[Meshuga]

73. They allow Republicans for define them

And then put blame elsewhere. That is how I see it.

Perhaps these candidates would not have such a hard time winning elections if they had the ability (or courage) to show what they stand for other than not be able to identify themselves and be vulnerable to labels that don’t even fit reality.

I hope I’m wrong, but I’m afraid I’m not.

[Gothmog]

77. sanders was not able to convince Democratic Primary voters to support this program

sannders never explained how he would pay for his programs and that hurt him in in the primaries. Warren started fading as a candidate when she came up with a plan to pay for such programs and that plan was very unappealing to voters. If Democratic primary voters did not accept programs that are very expensive with no plans on how to pay for them, why would anyone else??. In my district, the GOP ran ads stating that MFA would require taxes to double and according to cost estimates from good sources these esiimates were correct. sanders could not get his home state to adopt such a program and now Vermont juse re-elected a republican governor.

Blaming the candidates for not being able to reply to facts is really sad. In my congressional district, we just elected a racist asshole who was fired from two police departments where the main ad was based on MFA incrreading taxes by an unknown amount.

Again, you are wrong. These candidates ran good races but could not overcome the taint of too many unpopular programs

[H2O Man]

8. Recommended.

AOC is my favorite politician. Ilhan Omar is a close second.

[Shermann]

14. No Democrat has ever advocated "open borders" to my knowledge either nt

[kstewart33]

16. Surely she isn't that stupid.

Campaigning on socialism would kick us right into the hands of Trump and the Repubs.

[Autumn]

20. And that's the truth. Here one of the Q nuts ran ads featuring lies about AOC and won.

I never heard one single Democrat call her out for the lies she spewed about her needing to be elected to halt AOC 's attacks on our rights and AOC passing legislation destroying our state. Not one Democrat called bullshit, o ads were run pointing out the lies and that fucking nutty woman is dangerous and going to the House.

[calguy]

21. AOC has a good heart and mind

But if she would spend time developing some skills the the areas of tactics, messaging, and statesmanship, she would be able to advance her ideas much more effectively. Many of her statements have given the other side ammunition to attack us, and they have done it well.
She could learn a lot from Nancy Pelosi, a seasoned warrior whose past is every bit as liberal as anything AOC has been. The difference is Nancy knows when to push the agenda, when to say the right words, and which battles to fight at the right time. It takes many many years to aquire those skills. AOC could rise to the levels Nancy has if she would only sit back and learn from the masters.

[W_HAMILTON]

22. She is delusional.

Come talk to the voters in my state. They will tell you that some very good and decent Democrats (that ended up losing) most certainly did campaign on defunding the police and socialism, you know why? Because they had that blared at them in an onslaught of advertisements. Republicans are very convincing liars, especially to those of us that do not follow politics as closely as we do to know the truth.

How hard is it to just fucking stop with the terrible hashtag slogans meant to generate a bunch of likes on the internet and just talk about policies, full stop? Florida voted strongly for Trump, yet also voted to restore voting rights for convicted felons and raise the minimum wage. Do progressives like AOC care more about actually getting progressive policies enacted or do they care more about getting internet famous with hashtags that Republicans then happily proceed use against Democrats to win elections? Why can they not understand this? Again, get off the internet and get out of your bluest of blue enclaves and come down here and talk to the voters voting against these good Democrats and let them explain it to you since you apparently won't accept hearing it from fellow Democrats like myself.

[comradebillyboy]

52. Right on!

[aidbo]

55. Calling a Democratic Party Representative delusional..

..would get your message hidden if it were about anyone else.

So AOC is the favorite punching bag of the right in both parties?

[W_HAMILTON]

58. She's accused fellow Democrats of much worse than that.

Furthermore, it's not an attack -- it's true.

She literally has no idea how her ideas play outside of the bluest areas of blue cities in blue states.

Do you think she knows more about what, say, Joe Cunningham's (now former) constituents want rather than Joe Cunningham himself?

[aidbo]

59. I won't speculate on what she does or doesn't know.

I guess Joe’s former constituents weren’t that impressed with his knowledge of what they want either though, or they might have voted for him.

The Democratic party’s strategy this time around was to pull ‘moderate’ republicans away from voting for Trump, but are they somehow surprised that those republicans went ahead and voted for reps down ballot? And now the more moderate members of the party are getting ready to blame the most progressive members of the party for their losses down ballot.

Meanwhile I hope that AOC and Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush and the others keep fighting for good policies like the Green New Deal and M4All and a decent minimum wage.

[W_HAMILTON]

60. They didn't vote for him because they were inundated with lying Republican ads...

...many of which starred AOC herself.

They voted against the scary boogeyman caricature that Republicans painted him (and Harrison, among others) as, thanks, in part, to the words of people like AOC and Sanders and others that live in completely different parts of the United States and have absolutely no clue what constituents in these areas do or do not want.

Once again, given the choice of creating these internet catchphrases that get you retweets or actually discussing in detail the policies underneath them and actually getting those types of policies enacted, which would people like AOC and you prefer?

[aidbo]

61. We courted Republican voters and we blame good progressives when they vote for republicans.

Got it.

[W_HAMILTON]

63. You also had """good progressives""" actually running on these same policies lose...

...in similarly less ultra blue areas.

Thus far, Biden has only won 29.6% of the vote in West Virginia, but you want to know who did even worse? Paula Jean Swearengin, a progressive that supports Medicare for All and the Green New deal, who only won 26.9%.

Biden won the Nebraska's second district, but you know who didn't? Kara Eastman, who ran on Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.

As a progressive Democrat in an unfortunately red state, please stop costing our good Democrats elections because you all want to push progressive purity tests on everyone atop your perch in the bluest of blue areas. Honestly, please just shut up. Or feel free to actually visit these areas and let them tell you what they actually think instead of you foolishly thinking you can divine it from New York or Vermont.

[mrs_p]

64. I'm in ND. As red as can be.

I’m not going to shut up. Republican lite does not win here any more than a progressive.

[W_HAMILTON]

65. Running on strengthening the ACA, increasing the federal minimum wage, etc....

...is NOT """Republican-lite""" and this is the other side of that shitty coin: slandering good Democrats who want those things but don't pass these bullshit progressive purity tests dictated from high above in the bluest of blue areas.

Progressives like AOC and Sanders are getting us screwed over from both the left and the right. It's ridiculous. If they want to dictate what good Democrats run on in red states, they can pack their bags and move here and let's see how much success they have then.

[mrs_p]

69. Even before Biden was in the lead in PA

I started hearing about how progressives have cost us this election.

Moderate dems will not win in the bluest of blue areas if there is a progressive choice. Not sure why you want to shut them up when they want someone who represents them.

[mrs_p]

70. And unfortunately not even

A moderate dem can win here. Heidi Heitkamp - good moderate - lost. Dem Candidate for governor this year also lost - and she bashed Pelosi and other moderate Dems.

The messaging has to be fundamentally changed. Not by shutting up progressives but by meeting republican misinformation head-on.

[betsuni]

88. +1

[Hortensis]

23. In itself, a pleasantly worthwhile and sensibly positive statement.

I'm assuming it's true and that she would know if one in our 235 or so made some socialism noise on the stump. Though "campaigned on" could mean actually ran on that specific ideology.

[Raven123]

24. Calling yourself a "Democratic Socialist" invites an attack.

[grantcart]

46. There were thousands of ads in AZ using "socialist"

That she thinks she can talk about socialism between elections and the Republicans not use it in Missouri shows how little she understands the US outside of NY

[comradebillyboy]

53. I still don't know the difference between a "Democratic Socialist"

and a regular socialist. I do know that after the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics failed every one of their socialist allies in Europe abandoned socialism. There are very good reasons that socialism is an anathema to most folks, including most Democrats.

And please don't tell me it's the same as Social Democracy.

[gulliver]

26. You have to tell people what you're not saying.

Otherwise they hear it in your subtext. If you don't say, "I'm not campaigning on socialism," and people suspect you of campaigning on socialism, then you're actually campaigning on socialism.

And, I'll say what I'm not saying in order to prove my point. I'm not saying socialism is bad. I would like to see stronger capitalism and socialism ultimately. Neither are evil. They're both needed, and they don't oppose each other unless we're doing them wrong.

[trc]

27. No one ran on "defund the police" or "socialism"

They were run against us. I saw so many ads here in Texas linking democrats to "defund the police" while showing the violent parts of the civil rights protests. It was a false narrative for sure, but effective. "Defund the police" is a complicated idea that does not allow for quick explanation...it is an intellectual argument aimed at real dialogue about how to make policing safer and more effective. But, republican voters are not into intellectual discussions concerning abstract concepts with real world outcomes. Instead, as soon as that phrase was uttered the republicans said "thank you Lord Jesus" for delivering the hammer to beat Democrats to death with.

I saw a billboard in the Hispanic part of my central Texas city connecting all the ills of "socialism" in South America to Democrats...in a very concise, simple sentence in Spanish over an image of violence against citizens. We did not need to run on socialism, it was run against us by creating fear in communities that have experienced the worst examples of "socialism". We need to fix this nation with effective legislation and programs, not catch words and phrases. Stop talking, start working. Demonstrate that we can govern effectively while fixing what is wrong and we can get things done, including more effective social programs and police reform.

[Tree-Hugger]

30. Defund the Police in my area

In a neighboring district, Dem Christina Finello was running against GOP Brian Fitzpatrick. I think I may have seen one ad for Finello. Every day, I saw and heard attack ads against Finello - over 20 a day. They ran on network TV. They ran on the radio. There were little picture ads on social media. They were non-stop on YouTube. I watch a lot of YT for dance, exercise, and other interests and I watch a few videos daily. It got to a point where 99% of videos had an attack ad against Finello and they all had the same message - she wanted to defund the Police. Many of the ads were dramatic stories about women (MOMS) being worried about rape, robbery, violent crime against them and that Finello would put their lives at risk because there would be no one to respond to that 911 call. Those ads were the most pervasive of any election race, including Trump and Biden. I know Finello had a lot of support. Due to gerrymandering, her district is mostly tge next county, but some twists into my county and just a few streets over from mine. I've seen way way more Finello signs than Fitzpatrick. As it is, I hardly saw/heard his typical election year ads (I'm Brian Fitzpatrick, the most non-partisan yadda yadda yadda). They ran against her hard usind "defund the police" to stoke fear. The facts didnt matter - whether or not Finello every expressed a sentiment like that. Fitzpatrick took it and ran with it anyway.

[TwilightZone]

32. It appears that she initially supported it and is now running from it...

when it turned out to be a political loser.

"Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the proposed $1 billion cut to the New York Police Department's budget "a disingenuous illusion" and said it is does not go far enough to defund the police.

"Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education's budget so that the exact same police remain in schools," Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement."

https://www.newsweek.com/aoc-says-nypds-1-billion-budget-cut-doesnt-go-far-enough-defund-police-1514523

[grantcart]

47. Good catch

[comradebillyboy]

54. Yet so many of her fans deny she said it. nt

[Spazito]

68. Interesting n/t

[Ninga]

33. The GOP knows it's perceptions that matter, not the truth. We need to start yesterday in

crafting messages that will cut the GOP off at the kness.

[krawhitham]

56. Most did not push back on the idea either, sit on the fence and you can lose. TAKE A POSITION

[BainsBane]

57. the ideas/slogans were nonetheless tethered to them

we saw that in the presidential debates. It was central to the Republican Party message.

Clyburn and John Lewis disliked the slogan "defund the police." Clyburn spoke today on Jake Tapper how he felt sloganeering was detrimental to the goals they proclaim. He compared "defund the police" to the slogan from the 60s, "burn, baby burn."
He says they both hurt civil rights and Democrats.

I don't see the point of using the term socialism when there is nothing socialist about the progressives.

[Sogo]

66. That may be true, AOC, but races are in large part

about defining yourself before your opponent does. That's what's behind Trump's cutsie little nicknames for his opponents. That's what happened to John Kerry with the swiftboat narrative. And that's what happened to Hillary with 30 years of rwing smears. The ads this year were devastating in regards to Dems being "socialists" and wanting to "defund the police," plus raise taxes and take guns away.

[Meowmee]

67. You don't have to be running on it for it to work as a tactic

In my district there were tons of adds attacking Goroff saying she would defund or underfund the police etc. showing scenes of riots and calling her a socialist. She lost by a huge margin, absentee ballots are still not counted yet as far as I know, but it will still be a large margin. Before the adds she was ahead by 2% in a poll. I think she would have lost anyway but not by so huge a margin.

[Drunken Irishman]

74. This is a weird comment. Most every major Democrat has never run on open borders, either...

...yet the right has successfully portrayed the party as being for open borders, and that's a big reason we've seen a shift against the party with white voters.

Just because no candidate explicitly stated, "defund the police!" doesn't mean that it wasn't a narrative pushed by the party's opponents. The question isn't whether the party, or its members, ran on 'defunding the police' and rather whether Trump's and the right's attacks on the party were effective or not.

That's the debate.

[treestar]

87. How do right wing characterizations stick

even when not true, when ours seem harder to get to stick?

We could call the Rs fascists (about the equivalent of them calling us Marxists, and truer), racists, etc. yet it does not seem like they have to fight it off as hard.