Dems Unveil New Plan to Beat MAGA: More Gun Shows and Less AOC

[babylonsister]

Huh? Those two leftwing figures seem to be the voices of reason to me, especially when the silence otherwise is deafening.



Dems Unveil New Plan to Beat MAGA: More Gun Shows and Less AOC
GOOD LUCK WITH THAT
The plan includes proposals to shift right on cultural issues and double down on a pro-capitalism message.
Julia Ornedo
Reporter
Updated Mar. 2 2025 8:16PM EST
Published Mar. 2 2025 6:43PM EST


Democrats spent one-and-a-half days cooking up a game plan for a comeback after a devastating loss against President Donald Trump last November—and it includes moving away from left-wing figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the “small-dollar donors” that fueled their rise to the national stage.

A large group of Democrats—consultants, campaign staffers, elected officials, and party leaders—gathered in Loudoun County, Virginia for a brief retreat in early February to identify the party’s weaknesses and chart a path forward, according to Politico.

snip//

The group blamed the party’s disconnect with the working class partly on progressive figures, left-wing staffers, and activist groups.

“Activist groups and progressive staffers push unpopular cultural positions, making it seem like Democrats are more extreme than they actually are,” they said, stressing the need to “reject fringe positions that alienate the median voter.”

snip//

“Democratic economic messages often come from elites, celebrities, and politicians rather than working-class voices that voters can relate to,” the document read, while simultaneously urging the party to “move away from the dominance of small-dollar donors whose preferences may not align with the broader electorate.”

more...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/dems-unveil-new-plan-to-beat-maga-more-gun-shows-and-less-aoc/

[Walleye]

1. No, I will not be shifting my values to please these maga stupid people

And I actually prefer intelligent, educated people to be our leaders

[Volaris]

25. You know who put on this 'think tank' pow-wow?

Third Way. That should tell you everything you need to know about how smart this idea is; meanwhile Bernie is packing town halls in red Kansas and Nebraska, and AOC and Crockett are out telling people their rights and calling out fascistic bullshit.

[Walleye]

28. Being wishy-washy is not the answer at this time in history

[Volaris]

29. Agreed.

[yellow dahlia]

84. Hear! Hear!

[Lovie777]

2. Not going to happen...................

[C_U_L8R]

3. Sounds contrived

Truth is our most powerful weapon and the reality is our country and everyone one in it is more prosperous when Democrats are helping. No one knows that because the message and the messengers have not been effective. Work on that.

[elleng]

77. VERY contrived, like PRETZELS!

[Terry_M]

4. Corrected headline

Centrist think tank hosts meeting to push their viewpoints that democrats should be a center right party that they have been pushing since think tank was created.

It's obvious this has nothing to do with winking elections when part of their messaging is getting more corporate friendly.

[Iris]

79. Right! I was going to say - "a large group of consultants"??

[BigMin28]

5. Will they

ever learn?

[Beringia]

6. Sounds like The Onion joke

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Or Borowitz

[Callie1979]

8. Just look at the top 3 things voters chose trump over Harris on.

There's your starting point.
They DID try to do something with the border but it was too late. And not accepting that what HAD been done was a disaster was a big mistake.
MAGA did NOT win this election. It was just "average Joe" types who dont pay a lot of attention to politics but have strong feelings about certain things. You just have to turn a chunk of THOSE people & you win.
The mid terms are probably 10x more important this time than Trumps first attempt.
We MUST retake the House no matter WHAT it takes. Drop the hot button things & hit the popular things. And dont be scared to answer a damn question.

[gab13by13]

52. Kamala Harris won the election,

it was rigged for Krasnov. Dems don't need to change any messaging, especially if it means moving towards Magats.

[Callie1979]

72. Again with this. There is NO proof the election was stolen.

This sounds just like THEY sounded in 2020
keep going at the next election like this one was stolen instead of looking at the root causes & we'l lose the next one too

[ZRB]

75. Spot on

I cringe hard every time I see another on our side buy into that fantasy. The election was fair (as fair as an electoral college system can be anyway). We got trounced and have to deal with it. People just don't want to believe their countrymen are as evil as they are.

[yellow dahlia]

85. Yup! Once you analyze based on the fact that Harris won, you are looking through a lens,

rather than kaleidoscope.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. "small-dollar donors whose preferences may not align with the broader electorate"

as opposed to the large-dollar donors whose preferences definitely do not align with the broader electorate ...

[BoRaGard]

10. Is this from the Onion?

Frikken tone-deaf consultants have no clue

[EarthFirst]

11. Well fuck all that nonsense!

This household is by no means Third Way…

[betsuni]

12. Third Way is NOT the Democratic Party and doesn't speak for them -- "Dems" aren't "unveiling" anything.

This happens every time. By all means, go ahead and everyone set their hair on fire.

[halobeam]

13. Ugh. I should know better by now than to read things like this before my coffee...

I'm SURE I misread something. It just couldn't be!

[Blue_Roses]

14. This is a stupid stupid move

and it won't help a thing.

[Morbius]

15. We don't need less anything.

I'm getting really tired of "experts" telling me why we lost. It was a damn close election which barely passed the smell test with a candidate who only became our candidate in July. What we need to do now is everything! Let AOC and as many celebrities who want speak up, AND go around to gun shows and try and convert the "broader electorate."

By the way, a reported 32% of Americans own guns, so gun shows aren't where one would find the "broader electorate."

We don't need less anything. We need more everything. I hold that's obvious, and I suspect anyone who says otherwise might have an agenda.

[hatrack]

16. I'd like to suggest a label for "No Labels" and "Third Way"

Last edited Mon Mar 3, 2025, 10:19 AM - Edit history (1)

It's a big red "R".

Fuck this shit.

[keep_left]

64. Thank you!

[SamKnause]

17. Fuck that nonsense !!!

[doc03]

18. That may be where the young white male

voters are but it is a waste of time. Democrats have been painted anti gun by the right for decades.

[travelingthrulife]

37. Plus, they may even hate women more than they love their guns.

[Emile]

19. This sounds like a libertarian centrist.

[demmiblue]

20. As I pointed out in my OP on the topic:

Mark Harris
‪@markharris.bsky.social‬

What's not mentioned in this excerpt is that this was sponsored by Third Way, a think tank that is singlemindedly devoted to convincing Democrats to cut the left out of the party. God knows the DNC has its problems, but it's misleading to frame this as a mainstream Democratic conference.

March 2, 2025 at 12:53 PM

What's not mentioned in this excerpt is that this was sponsored by Third Way, a think tank that is singlemindedly devoted to convincing Democrats to cut the left out of the party. God knows the DNC has its problems, but it's misleading to frame this as a mainstream Democratic conference.

— Mark Harris (@markharris.bsky.social) 2025-03-02T17:53:17.105Z

https://democraticunderground.com/100220091427

[betsuni]

33. Yes, misleading pretending it's a Democratic Party conference, but people are too busy knee-jerk bashing

Democrats to care about facts. Nobody listens to Third Way. I think its members go to these conferences just to get out of the house and enjoy the hotel buffet meals. It's ridiculous.

[bluesbassman]

50. Turd Way.

No matter how many times you flush, Turd Way just won’t go down the drain.

[yellow dahlia]

87. Thank you for the clarification. n/t

[appmanga]

21. This small-dollar donor is happy to hear this...

...because I can apply those small dollars to other things. Hopefully, the outlets that send me daily texts and emails begging for money will stop and will start going to the people who've walked away from the Democrats years ago.

[travelingthrulife]

38. They never stop texting and e-mailing. Part of the problem. No one

wants to be abused that way.

[Liberal In Texas]

22. What Democrats? Not the ones I'll vote for. Or donate to.

Moving to the right is a big mistake.

[Arazi]

23. If this is true, they've lost this small donor

[Prairie Gates]

24. Oooof

Disastrous

[Passages]

26. Capitulate to the right, that is what centrists have done for decades and here we are.

Lost the House, lost the Senate, lost the White House.

[hedda_foil]

86. Dont say centrist. That's always been a meaningless term. They're corporate shills.

[highplainsdem]

27. Those small-dollar donors ARE the broader electorate.

[NBachers]

30. Not the old "Trying to out-Republican the Republicans" nonsense. I thought we were over this.

[kacekwl]

31. This is a joke right ?

[Dr. Shepper]

32. Not getting another dime from me

Beg from your “new” base instead.

[cadoman]

34. "The gathering was organized by centrist Democratic think tank Third Way."

If you know who needs to fuck the fuck off, start with anyone involved in this think tank.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Way_(United_States)

https://www.thirdway.org/

Jonathan Cowan

Meanwhile Bernie and AOC draw crowds bigger than any gun show anywhere they turn up...

[travelingthrulife]

46. Use the link to third way. COMPLAIN loudly about their bad ideas.

We have followed their ideas before and it has led us to our current situation. These people would let fascists roll right on over us. Perhaps they are of the same ilk.

[unblock]

35. two separate topics: (a) policy positions and (b) cultural messaging

(a) policy

time after time, polls show democrats with decent to huge leads on policy positions.

we should *not* be looking to change policy positions. while there's always room for improving and retuning, by and large, we hold the winning hand *on policy*. we should not be looking to alter policy, certainly not in the direction of abandoning the largely liberal policies that are actually quite popular.

this is our core strength. we should strengthen it, not weaken it.

(b) cultural messaging

we admittedly suck at this, and republicans are masters at dressing up their sometimes wildly unpopular policies in the flag and patriotism and attacking any opposition as anti-capitalist or unpatriotic, and of course the media loves the empty sloganeering.

*this* is what we need to improve on.

don't abandon regulation about clean air or clean water or getting businesses to do the right thing generally.
instead, talk about how football *needs* referees. yeah, they get it wrong on occasion, and that sucks, but it would be an utter disaster without referees. the economy also needs referees, and largely for the same reason -- companies would cheat and abuse the lack of oversight in a way that harms everyone the interact with and even just people nearby.

don't abandon rights for lgbtqia+, people of color, women, etc.
instead, whenever *any* minority group or women are attacked, unite and say *americans* are under attack. *all* americans are under attack when any of us are attacked. constantly say things like "why do you hate americans?"
republicans are always finding an excuse to pick off one group of americans or another. talk about the overall pattern of hate for nearly everyone.

around *85%* of americans can't say they are white AND christian AND straight AND cis AND male and hardly any of us can claim to be billionaires. we should heavily promote the *unified* theme that republican privilege-based politics harms virtually all of us.

don't abandon progressives tax policies.
instead emphasize how billionaires and highly profitable companies get benefit immensely from corrupt government support and give back virtually, if not actually, nothing *and* how that leaves the rest of us to pick up the tab *and* that's why it's so hard to get ahead these days.

tell how we will bring back the american dream, not the illusion of the american dream, but implement an economic program that invests in real americans who need and deserve it, not massive hugely profitable businesses owned by billionaires who have no need for government gifts.


etc.

don't throw out winning polities when it's our messaging that needs improving.


oh, and it would be great if we could find some billionaires willing to help shift the media back to sanity, instead of the insanely right-wing bias it exhibits these days....

[travelingthrulife]

36. Third Way is part of the reason we are in this mess.

Absolutely "No" to these bad ideas.

[travelingthrulife]

39. Third Way has a website and a comment selection.

Tell them how you feel about their stupidity.

[Torchlight]

40. I'm guessing this is just one of a lot of strategy sessions

currently going on within leadership, spit-balling ideas, and numbers-crunching. I figure an effective and cohesive message is the intended end-result and trial balloons are floated to gauge response.

[travelingthrulife]

45. You betcha

[msfiddlestix]

41. omg. it's so far worse than I had imagined. and thatls saying a lot.

[Renew Deal]

42. Whoever came up with this doesn't get it

And the gun show thing is only effective if they first come out and are vocal about changing their policies.

[Gore1FL]

43. It seems like we already tried going to the center in the 80's, 90's, 00's, 10's and 20s. nt

[Callie1979]

73. And we won in '92, '96, '08, '12 & '20

Bill Clinton signed a balanced budget bill & reduced the debt.
Bring back what HE did.

[La Coliniere]

44. The inability to read the room is going to do much more harm

than being able to address the concerns of the small dollar donators. Democrats cannot accept this Third Way nonsense. We cannot be the inauthentic opposition party if this country is to survive.

[Wingus Dingus]

47. They're partially right. If they can stick to a winning

economic message and pull back from fringey social stuff like "pregnant persons" and not make AOC the new face of the party, they'll do better.

[ZRB]

83. So much this

The language policing needs to stop. It makes people on our side seem out of touch and humorless.

[William769]

48. I can get in so much trouble in this thread

So I'll be nice & just say hi all!

[Autumn]

49. Isn't that just delightful.

[brush]

51. Come on. This sounds like garbage to me, not official Dem policy.

[Maru Kitteh]

53. Yeah. I think I need to concentrate on the future of my daughter & grandaughter, and get

the hell out of this country, establish a foothold somewhere less “decline of Rome”-ish.

[99MainSt]

54. So, under this plan, we would devolve into two Republican parties.

[Dave Bowman]

55. Nope.

Terrible idea.

[Basso8vb]

56. Bullshit.

Rancid bullshit.

[Scrivener7]

57. NOW do people see why we should get a PR firm? And maybe put Pete and Stacy to work on messaging?

[oldmanlynn]

58. Where is Ken Martin?

Ever since getting the nod to be the leader, we haven’t seen him any at all. He needs to be in town halls.

[Paladin]

59. If I want to see Democrats being shit on, I'll rely on the NY Times.

This last presidential election turned the NYT opinion douchebags into experts, dumping on my political party. Amusing to see all the backtracking going on in that malignant shop, now that the true horrors of a second trump regime are becoming so evident.

[synni]

60. They are complicit

That is all.

[Nulock]

61. Sounds like MAGA light.

"Democrats need to stop demonizing wealth and corporations broadly,” it read, urging the party to “be pro-aspiration & pro-capitalism in a smart way."

Barbaric austerity will be inflicted on the masses in a gentle, intelligent, and exquisite way. Make corporations and billionaires great again. Maybe include a free copy of Atlas Shrugged in their fundraising drives. "You see...we're not against "free stuff" at all." lol

[Ursus Rex]

62. The same big money donors who decided Biden had to go?

FAHHHK THAT NOISE. These people are delusional, and they are dooming all of use with their weak ideas.

Like Truman said: 'If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Republican before they will a phony Democrat, and I don't want any phony Democratic candidates in this campaign."

[AStern]

63. Dems lose because they keep shifting further to the right

SAD!

[Lulu KC]

65. Time to do some homework about The Third Way

First I’ve heard of them and I see no familiar names except who they do not like. Argh.

[betsuni]

68. It's a toothless little organization nobody listens to, but the words "third way" used to demonize Democrats

like Clinton and Obama as "neoliberals" same as Republicans to promote the propaganda that the Democratic Party has shifted Right.

There was a very popular troll here during the Obama administration who bashed Democrats by posting as "Third Way Manny."

As always, blaming Democrats for when Republicans are in power (they controlled the House six out of eight years of both presidents' term and Clinton and Obama had to work with reality: a radical obstructionists opposition party).

All the pretend outrage every time Third Way is mentioned (and they rarely are) is meant to scare and anger potential Democratic voters that both sides both sides both sides all is lost corruption everywhere be cynical don't vote.

[Lulu KC]

70. Thanks.

Ugh. Dreadful.

[Yavin4]

66. Meanwhile, Bernie is holding sold out rallies in the middle of the country.

Bernie and AOC are more popular than any other Democrat right now.

[Rob H.]

67. Fuck Third Way

They're part of the problem. Thank Jibbers their most vocal shill on DU finally got FFR last year.

[Nulock]

71. It's easy to tear their arguments and ideas to shreds.

Unfortunately, their defenders multiply and are part of the Democratic Party "big tent." Ripping their ideas to pieces in no uncertain terms comes with the danger of being banned and silenced for "attacking Democrats and the Democratic Party." That dynamic is in play at multiple Democratic Party sites all over the net.

[Stinky The Clown]

69. That ranks high on my list dumbfuck ideas

I'm okay with ANY Dem who speaks up (all too rare of late).

[yardwork]

74. Fuck that.

[spanone]

76. "NO more gun shows and More AOC".

[Ocelot II]

78. This isn't about Democrats; it's about the Third Way, and nobody is even named

as a participant except for some dude named Matt Bennett, apprently the founder of Third Way. It's not a Democratic plan, it's a Third Way plan.

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

80. It takes a village to fuck over progressives. (n/t)

[GreenWave]

81. The political spectrum has been pushed so far that:

IKE, yeah THAT IKE, used to tax the wealthy at 91%.
Repugs of the past used to HATE Russia. worship FBI, CIA etc.

I say push it back the other way!

[Bettie]

82. OMFG...I really thought this was satire

So, they want to be MAGA lite.

Center wealthy white men, jettison everyone else.