Why Democrats and liberals FAIL .. great article Must read

[Playingmantis]

"The emerging strategy for opposition to the coming nightmare of a Trump presidency and a GOP Congress seems to be one of utmost caution. Show the public that you’re eager to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans, and if you get rebuffed, you’ll be able to say you tried.

(snip)

The standard line from Democrats right now is “our preference is to secure bipartisan solutions wherever possible and look for ways to collaborate with our Republican colleagues to help working families,” but “we will always stand up for our values.”

That’s from Sen. Chuck Schumer, and the reason this is the talking point so many of them are repeating is that they think it’s what voters want to hear. The problem is that voters won’t hear it and don’t care. No one is going to go to the polls in 2026 saying “I really appreciate how Democrats in Congress made an effort to work together with Republicans on bipartisan solutions for the American people, so I’m voting for the Democrat in this House race.

"I think this openness to working with them is less that you are going to see actual collaboration, I think it's that people are trying to set themselves up to have some credibility in other spaces to be against stuff that they're doing," said one former Democratic House aide. "It carries more weight and legitimacy if you're someone who's open minded to working with them, and then they take a hard right and you speak out."

“It carries more weight and legitimacy”? With who, precisely? The answer is, with an imaginary independent voter, one paying close attention to the goings-on in Congress and making their future voting decision on which side they believe operated in good faith.

But this voter does not exist.

I cannot cut and paste enough of this article to do it justice... I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO READ IT YOURSELF as i have said many times , we need to drop the nice guy bipoartisan shit and stop being so willing to cooperate. that gets us NOWHERE except the losing spot on the ballot...

https://paulwaldman.substack.com/p/too-many-democrats-dont-understand

[c-rational]

1. Well said. Completely agree. K&R

[mr715]

2. Thank you for this read

I agree.

[flying rabbit]

3. Yep. nt

[SnoopDog]

4. Why include 'liberals'?

It's just Democrats. There are liberals (what ever that means), progressives (like AOC, Crockett), and a whole bunch of other subspecies of Democrats. And that's the problem.

We are not a united party. And that's a huge problem.

[Farmer-Rick]

20. Yeah, I found that including the word liberal

Made it wrong. A lot of liberals are fighting back. Sanders is doing a stop the oligarchy tour. Richard Wolff is out lecturing on how the capitalists created this mess. Many liberal groups are screaming at the top of their lungs.

It's the Dems in office who are trying to be gentle and careful and bipartisan. Even our retired Dem presidents aren't doing much of anything. I was shocked that they held up signs, disrupted by yelling and a handful walked out. That's a big step for these all so careful Modern Major Politicians.

I'm hoping it's shock. But it's been 2 months of hell now, they better wake up quick.

[allegorical oracle]

40. Good point about retired presidents. Have wondered, "Where are the Clintons, Obamas, and Bidens?"

Is it a strategy among them to just let the natural order sort itself out? Or is it that the SService wants them to keep a low profile due to safety concerns? Or do they believe their involvement would just make TSF and his goons worse? Would've hoped even the Bushes might show concern about the mess our country is in.

Know they probably couldn't influence the hard MAGAts, but they might appeal to more reasonable Repugs.

[bigtree]

35. because the author intends for the readers to view Democrats separately

...instead of as a coalition.

He'll take no responsibility at all for the consequences against Democrats for his blather. He should have thrown this in the wastebasket, but it has cache for him as an anti-Democratic party screed for clicks.

It's his thing, like his economic partner, who thinks he's a political strategist, Robert Reich, who like to fire off a 'Democrats suck because they're not listening to me' article to boost his profile.

Same lack of self-awareness in complaining about Dem messaging while simultaneously trashing the party in public.

This lack of care for the political support of our Democrats is what these same fools gambled with last election. Fuckwads.

[luv2fly]

5. And here come the " You're not supporting Democrats" people in three, two, one...

We're the big tent party, right? Right? We get to have different viewpoints on how to proceed.

People telling us we have to think and speak alike in public forums seem to miss the point. We're not Republicans, we don't follow talking points.

Great article by the way, thank you for sharing it.

[La Coliniere]

6. This article is spot on IMHO.,

We need to be cutthroat, pull no punches when dealing with these fascists. When will Democrats finally fight back with daggers not dusting feathers? God help us if it doesn’t start tomorrow.
Thank you for posting this article which should not be ignored.

[Playingmantis]

16. Dusting feathers ha ha ha very good!

[LuvLoogie]

26. We're in this mess because we didn't do it leading up to 2010.

What a waste of momentum.

[elocs]

7. Republicans engage in a street fight, anything to win. In comparison too many Democrats

are nicey-nice wimps who are more concerned about obeying all the rules and decorum. Republican laugh at them. I wish they had a real fire in their bellies to really have our backs, to kick ass and take names because I am losing hope and without hope I have nothing. Nothing.

[Paladin]

13. +1,000,000!

Cannot possibly agree with you more. I have been griping about Democratic wimp behavior, literally for decades, here at DU. The sooner we ditch the ancient good-conduct rules that the Republicans walked away from years ago, the more effective we'll be. Until we get angry and active, we don't stand a chance against goons like trump and his scumbag administration. Democrats: Commit to doing what is necessary, and let's get busy, reclaiming our country from the forces of evil. It's literally now or never.

[benfranklin1776]

25. Amen!

Of greatest pertinent relevance from the excellent article:

Democrats need to discard their misconceived notion of who the persuadable voters are, and borrow some of what Republicans understand about them. Realize that persuadable voters aren’t paying close attention. They don’t have clear ideological beliefs, or even understand what goes into liberal and conservative ideology. They don’t grasp the nuances of conflict in Washington. They assimilate messages about politics — messages like “Donald Trump’s nominees are a bunch of grifters and sex pests” — without remembering where they heard those messages or who said them, and only if those messages are repeated over and over.

And two years from now, they’ll be inclined to throw the bums out, because that’s what they’re always inclined to do. But you have to remind them who the bums are, with the best messengers you’ve got. It shouldn’t be complicated.

[PufPuf23]

32. Democratic "wimp behavior" is not wimp behavior but the privileged unwillingness to sacrifice their

own positions and privileges, thus the Democratic Party is self-destructive.

Basic human behavior.

Less anyone question my leaning, I have voted strictly Democratic in every election since 1972 save for John Anderson in California POTUS primary against Reagan; never otherwise a vote for GOP nor 3rd party but have abstained from specific votes because of rare candidate or specific measure. Zero chance this will change. I have too often had to vote for candidates that are far from my choice.

Sad to be old and chronically ill and now poor and see the trajectory of the USA, perceive as hopeless regards my own existence. We are a destructive species and society.

We have allowed liberal and socialist and more so leftist to be slurs.

My moral values are to be kind and egalitarian. That is my view of what the Democratic Party is and should be.

[Paladin]

37. I'll accept your claim that you've voted Democratic since 1972. So have I.

But once you slap that "privileged unwillingness to sacrifice" label on Democrats, you're going to risk losing me. That's the most prominent and empty insult the drooling right-wingers are currently using against us---if you don't believe it, grit your teeth and hang out in the NY Times opinion page for a week.

Being kind and egalitarian will only get us so far, given the current fascist efforts to do away with what remains of democracy in this country. We need our party's leadership to get angry and organized, immediately. And that anger and organization needs to spread nation-wide, across all political and economic categories, just as soon as possible. Like you, I'm old and worn out---but active opposition to the monstrous acts of the trump/musk regime seems like an outstanding way to bid farewell.

[Beartracks]

8. I don't vote for Democrats to work with Republicans. I vote for Democrats to STOP them. n/t

[Playingmantis]

19. Well said!

[Beartracks]

41. Thanks! Democrats need to be an OPPOSITION party.

[Beartracks]

9. Many good points. Here's one: Persuadable voters "assimilate messages about politics -- messages like...

Persuadable voters "assimilate messages about politics -- messages like 'Donald Trump’s nominees are a bunch of grifters and sex pests' -- without remembering where they heard those messages or who said them, and only if those messages are repeated over and over."


(HIghlight added. Dems should never assume that obvious facts are obvious, and never assume saying something once is enough.)

===============

[Beartracks]

10. I regret that I can only rec this once. n/t

[dalton99a]

11. Kick

[MrSkunkB]

12. This article is missing a massive point.

I feel like everyone is missing a massive point.

Democrats and republicans have swapped a key constituency and don’t learn to realize it.

Democrats should do well in the mid terms (theoretically) because their base is now college educated upper middle class suburbanites/urban dwellers. And these people vote in every election religiously.

Trump voters are working class/poor exurbanites and rural voters. And they will vote for Trump in droves. But in an off year? Eh….

I do agree that the idea of a persuadable voter is largely dead.

[Playingmantis]

24. Doesnt matter the point still stands..

[Yavin4]

14. Kick

[boston bean]

15. They are totally misreading the room is how I put it

[AmericaUnderSiege]

17. Appeasement. As per usual.

Same old song. Fortunately we know the solution.

[pansypoo53219]

18. go left, but for the people. go FDR.

[progressoid]

21. K/R!!

[leftstreet]

22. Ugh, enough with the "working families"

It's so 90s. So disrespectful

What about single people? Seniors? Childless couples? People on disability, the unemployed, the incarcerated

dumb

[reACTIONary]

29. That would be...

.... hard working families.

[PatrickforB]

23. I don't want to hear that at all. I want them to grow a spine and FIGHT BACK. n/t

[Orrex]

27. Democrats strive to hold Republicans accountable within the existing system

Republicans have been working for 45+ years to destroy the existing system.

[LuvLoogie]

28. You can really get a great view of America from the bottom of the Capitol steps.

We are playing nice with bigots and Nazis and drunks and thieves and rapists.

[swong19104]

30. Dems need to be more passionate in their orations

At the very least, don’t hold back from letting off invectives and expletives. I just wish one of them has the balls to say something like, “This is fucking nuts!” But they’re all just too demure.

[Initech]

31. We've been bullied out of existence with very little opposition.

WTF are we doing? We have to fight these scumbags. This is their absolute peak of insanity.

[maxrandb]

33. It's a catch-22

No matter what, when this shitshow implodes, someone is going to have to govern this country.

I don't want an "authoritarian, fuck you, we've got the power now dipshits" party on either the right, or the left.

At least one party has to believe in Constitutional governance, respect for the rule-of-law and the promotion of a more perfect Union, right?

Part of me wants to say; "fuck it, we can worry about stitching this country back together, after we stomp a bloody hole through the middle of the Retrumplican Party", but what does that leave us with?

The kind of rhetoric, violence and cruelty coming from the current Retrumplican Party, is the kind of stuff that leads to Civil War.

If that is where we feel we need to go, we better start preparing for it, or, we can try to use peaceful means.to salvage the country we love.

[bigtree]

34. any fucking time anyone wants to actually advocate against republicans instead of this anti-Democratic twaddle

...I'm there.

We're like two votes off in the House from stopping the Medicare cuts, and Social Security cuts, as well as any other priorities skiddish republicans might be politically wary of.

But here's this simplistic twaddle posing as political wisdom. jesus fucking christ. Listen to the Democratic leaders who are at the front of this fight.

Stop acting like unelected yahoos on the internet know better than Democrats WHO'VE ACTUALLY RUN CAMPAIGNS AGAINST REPUBLICANS AND WON.

Pay attention to people who have actually faced down republicans in campaigns, not idiots who think their own public bashing of Democrats for messaging with their projections is some kind of political brilliance.

[Playingmantis]

36. Democrats have lost the House, and

the Senate and the White House and the Supreme Court to a party of pro Russian liars, con men and gangsters..and you see nothing wrong with the messaging?

I remember both Clinton and Obama "reaching out" trying to be bi-partisan and getting bitten in return. Have the GOP or the Trumpers been bi-partisan? Has that hurt them?

Yes there have been successes but the fact that half the nation approves of Trump and Democrats have lost the blue collar tells me there needs to be a change and slamming people as 'idiots" for wanting that change isn't helping

[alarimer]

38. Democrats have been too cowardly.

What we have needed is real change. Sweeping change, even. Along the lines of the New Deal. Real things that make a difference in peoples' lives. You cannot be bipartisan with people who want toxic waste to be legal and to clear cut the National Parks. Schumer doesn't seem to get it. Neither does Slotkin, who praised Reagan, arguably the man who led us here (and a terrible human being).

I would guess 30% of Democrats would actually be Republicans, but that brand is toxic. Obviously Rockefeller Republicans would be a whole lot better than the ones that exist now. So, in my world, Rockefeller Reoublicans in one party, and liberals and progressives in the other, with the Trumpsters out in the cold completely. So, then, yes, you could be "bipartisan" with those kinds of Republicans, but not the pieces of shit that are currently slavishly devoted to their Dear Leader Musk.

[Meowmee]

39. No thanks- trashed...😁