Democrats, Here's How to Lose in 2022. And Deserve It.

[liskddksil]

You don’t get re-elected for things voters don’t know about.


President Biden takes office with a ticking clock. The Democrats’ margin in the House and Senate couldn’t be thinner, and midterms typically raze the governing party. That gives Democrats two years to govern. Two years to prove that the American political system can work. Two years to show Trumpism was an experiment that need not be repeated.

Two years.

This is the responsibility the Democratic majority must bear: If they fail or falter, they will open the door for Trumpism or something like it to return, and there is every reason to believe it will be far worse next time. To stop it, Democrats need to reimagine their role. They cannot merely defend the political system. They must rebuild it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/opinion/biden-inauguration-democrats.html

[SergeStorms]

1. Wholeheartedly agree.

That means shit-canning the filibuster, and leaning on weak Democrats hard.

[Doremus]

17. Yes. nt

[SoonerPride]

2. One day in and the knives are already out.

How about we let the Dems lead and see if the voters like it?

[SergeStorms]

6. How can they lead...

when you have obstructionist republicans with their knives out already?

[SoonerPride]

7. Try for a bipartisan solution and if they still won't budge, abolish filibuster and proceed

[Doremus]

19. I imagine this is exactly how the scenario will play out.

It's the second part about abolishing the filibuster where things get a little iffy. I believe OP is saying they need to follow through this time.

[liskddksil]

9. Clock is ticking and there is no time to waste. We have a narrow window and we must use it

effectively or we will lose in 2022.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. Rebuild it? How? I don't have a NYT subscription.

So I'd love to know how Dems are supposed to rebuild in 2 years what Repugs destroyed in 4, while Repugs fight them every step of the way.

[SergeStorms]

16. I believe the crux of the story...

was about getting rid of the filibuster. Democrats will get ZERO done if we cave in on that.

[liskddksil]

18. We will be judged in the next 6 months on how effective we are at bringing people's

lives back to normal. The clock is ticking so we better be effective out of the gate.

[StarfishSaver]

4. Seriously?

This is why we can't have nice things.

[Silent3]

5. Ditch "defund the police"... Not the policy, but that horrible name for it n/t

[JonLP24]

8. The far right just tried to overthrow the federal government

And police officers were part of the mob but we are still bashing BLM activists. Unbelievable.

Wiki

Activists that support the defunding of police departments often argue that investing in community programs could provide a better crime deterrent for communities; funds would go toward addressing social issues, like poverty, homelessness, and mental disorders.[1][2] Police abolitionists call for replacing existing police forces with other systems of public safety, like housing, employment, community health, education, and other programs.[3][4][5]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defund_the_police

[Hekate]

11. This

[SammyWinstonJack]

32. +1.

[Hekate]

10. Biden never said it. Kamala never said it. How can they ditch what they never did?

[liskddksil]

15. Ok, but this is not relevant for this article nt

[stillcool]

12. Ezra?...I couldn't read it

because I don't subscribe. I hope it's not as bad as the excerpt, but damn. No one is responsible for anything that happens in this country, except for those 50 Democratic Senators, and 221 House members. Newly elected or not, they alone have to prevent the sickness that they had no part in inflicting on this country.

[moondust]

13. GOP: HaHaHaHaHaHa!

Just try to get something done! HaHaHaHaHaHa!

[Auggie]

14. Totally agree. P.R. and publicity efforts must be re-imagined ...

not just ensure the message gets out but to COUNTER the lies and propaganda of those who want Democrats to fail.

[betsuni]

20. Here we go.

Ugh.

[Initech]

21. We're Charlie Brown and the GOP are Lucy holding the football.

They will never let us kick it over the goal post no matter how hard we try. And then they will go and point and laugh at us for not doing the job. Rinse and repeat.

[Hekate]

22. 30 hours in and the knives are out from the Left and the Right. Dems do not come equipped with....

...magic wands when they get sworn in. They’re lucky if they get issued a shovel and a bucket.

The ONLY thing I’d advise Joe & Kamala to do is learn to toot their own horns & hire people who will do the same for them. Barack Obama was too modest.

[LanternWaste]

23. "Voters obviously thought otherwise nt"

But I get it... merely one full day simply celebrating a Biden presidency should obviously be tempered with prophecy and prognostications by the guy who got the 2018 Blue Wave completely wrong and then trivialized it to better rationalize his erroneous reading if the tea leaves.

And yet what he wrote on Nov 7, 2018 seems, if not counter to his current narrative then certainly not parallel... "Midterm election results hinge on turnout, gerrymandering, and the specific set of seats in play, so they’re not a clear picture of the national mood."

[BootinUp]

24. Obviously with the Senate as it is the pukes still

Have a rather significant part to play. Haven’t read the article but it looks like some smelly stuff from here.

[frazzled]

25. The main takeaway is

Kill the filibuster. Which I kind of doubt will happen. Maybe, but probably not.

So short of that, everything else in Ezra’s column is pretty irrelevant, and we’re right back where we started. Shoot too high, and you’ll never get anything through Congress. Shoot too low, and you’ll get criticized on your own side for doing too little.

And as a corollary, remove the filibuster, and if you lose a single seat in the Senate, you will have absolutely zero power when Republicans have a majority.

There are no easy fixes, despite the armchair advice.

[SergeStorms]

26. So...do nothing?

Have obstructionist republicans block everything Biden wants to get done, and the country desperately needs to be done, and in two years get our asses kicked out? I don't like that plan. It's time for the Democrats to play hardball and set republicans back on their heels.

Republicans haven't even admitted that what Trump did was illegal, and if anyone thinks they're going to change and be conciliatory..... well, that's just plain dumb. They're going to try to stop EVERYTHING Democrats try to do for this country. The sooner we accept that, the more we'll ultimately get done.

[frazzled]

27. We can do that in the short term

But unless we maintain the Senate majority in perpetuity, we will eventually, and inevitably, be facing the other end of the stick. Which maybe that is how it should be.

Right now, we don’t even have full control (if you looked at the committee hearing today), so it’s a little soon to pull the trigger. Let’s first get a power sharing agreement, then see how Biden’s negotiations go on the stimulus package, and THEN pull the trigger if necessary, and be ready to live with the consequences.

We’re living with Trump’s conservative Supreme Court because we killed the filibuster with SCOTUS nominees. We’ll be living with that for many many years to come, so it’s not something to do without thinking carefully.

[Demsrule86]

28. Don't kid yourself. The Republicans will kill it next time they get in power.

[dsc]

30. It is a one sided weapon

they don't care about passing laws. They care about appointing nuts to government positions, not able to be filibustered. They care about cutting taxes for the rich, one bill per year no filibuster. They care about increasing defense spending, broadly, bipartisan popular so never filibustered. In short, they get what they want.

[Bettie]

33. The problem with agreements is that

they only work if both sides actually stick to them.

Do you really, honestly believe that Moscow Mitch and his crew will stick to ANY agreement? They know that once an agreement is made, Dems will stick to it and they also know, from previous experience that there will be no consequences for them constantly breaking the agreement.

So, they get to tie our party's hands behind their backs and then just kick them over and over.

They don't negotiate and they don't have to. We have at least one in our party who will dance to whatever tune Moscow Mitch decides to play.

But, I do know one thing, if we do lose in 2022, it will be blamed 100% on the existence of progressives.

[frazzled]

34. I don't think we're talking about the same thing

[kansasobama]

29. Yeah Right - So Dems are always under the gun but Repugs

For Repugs, just block everything and they deserve re-election. Why Dems have only 2 but GOP has 6 or 7?

[liskddksil]

31. Yes, that is the reality so let's proceed with this in mind nt