The more the Democratic party contributes to platforming social issues over economic issues. The more likely they'll...

[Yavin4]

lose elections. Also, the more Democrats go on MAGA podcasts instead of Progressive podcasts. The more likely the Democrats will lose. This stubborn idea that the Democrats win elections by peeling off Republicans is bad politics. Extremely bad politics.

In general, being reactive to MAGA issues puts the Democrats on the defensive and makes the party look weak. No voter is convinced to vote for a Democrat because they caved in to MAGA on an issue.

This post is not an attack on the Democratic party or any particular Democrat. I'm simply talking about strategy.

[MayReasonRule]

1. Agreed

[Raven123]

2. Just follow Bernie's lead. He is strong on economic policy

[SharonAnn]

37. "It's the economy, stupid".

[BannonsLiver]

3. Agree but I think this would/could be construed as abandonment by marginalized groups.

[mzmolly]

13. Yeah, that's tough.

Though, marginalized groups are in danger under Republican rule, and they should also care about issues that impact greater humanity. "Mind your own damn business..." wasn't a bad approach.

[Pisces]

27. The goal is to win. Without winning you can't help the marginalized groups!! That should be more clear

Than ever with Trump in place. We are at the mercy of a megalomaniac. Focusing on the economy is not throwing the marginalized aside. It’s a plan to win so that we can help the marginalized.

[yardwork]

30. This gay older woman married to a Latina agrees with you.

My rights - especially my rights as a woman and a gay person - are at risk now that Nazis are in charge.

We need to win elections in order to do good. We're all in this together. We can't let anybody divide us into small special interest groups. We are humanity.

[BannonsLiver]

40. Agree.

[PSPS]

4. Gavin Newsom figured that out

[kelly1mm]

10. Gov Newsom's position on transwomen in women's sports is not allowed to be supported here on

DU per TOS so it will certainly be awkward if he becomes the Democratic nominee for President in 2028. However, he understands you can not be on the wrong side of 80/20 issues and remain a viable national candidate.

[atreides1]

5. Question

So, Democrats bury social issues in order to get elected...but in order to remain in office wouldn't they have to keep social issues buried.

Eventually social issues would have no platform!

[Yavin4]

7. Nope.Not at all.

Win on economic issues that are important to the working class. The actual working class. While in power protect marginalized groups with smart legislation.

[Ferryboat]

15. So right

Run on economic issues.

People left the Ds over cultural issues.
Have heard from too many people who were reliable dems who left over
Pronouns, transgender issues, men in woman's sports etc.

While progress is hard on these issues, it's not impossible. Could take longer than marginalized groups want. But cultural can change. People can be persuaded.
Gays were shunned, lost jobs until family members came out in the open making it impossible to ignore.

Not everyone grew up in the internet age.
There is still a large portion of the population that remembers life before the computer age. MAGA wants to return to those days. Easier to ignore ideas that make them uncomfortable. Easier to turn away.

[yardwork]

28. This is too logical for some, apparently.

[leftstreet]

6. Democrats need to woo back their own base first

The reliably Democratic voters who didn't show up for Harris should be their first focus

[NameAlreadyTaken]

8. Trump won on social issues

"Haitians are eating cats and dogs in Springfield.

We're giving transgender surgeries to kids while they are in school.

Immigrants are killing us and taking jobs while getting free benefits.

Woke woke woke woke woke woke woke DEI DEI DEI DEI.

Books are harmful and must be banned.

Drag queens are grooming our kids."

[edhopper]

9. Exactly right

Harris ran on an Economics platform.

[Yavin4]

19. You're falling for the media hype. According to Gallup, the economy was the top issue for voters.

Transgender issues were at the very bottom. Political discourse in America is driven by ratings and clicks. Social issues dominate the media, but voters vote based on the economy.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/651719/economy-important-issue-2024-presidential-vote.aspx

[Passages]

11. Leadership is splintered on policy and it has hurt us.

How Chuck Schumer Deep-Sixed the Tech Antitrust Bills
A full timeline of the bills’ failure reveals the Senate majority leader’s heavy hand.

by David Dayen January 26, 2023
https://prospect.org/power/2023-01-26-chuck-schumer-tech-antitrust-bills/


They're worried about the wrong things...and Al Green is not the problem.

[Bettie]

34. A big problem seems to be

politicians of both parties (not all, but most of them) making sure that they don't pass legislation that would impact their stock portfolios.

Can't do anything that might make the oligarchs mad. Can't do anything that might reduce the value of the stocks.

While senators and reps are allowed to trade individual stocks and have no limit on insider trading, anything that industry of any kind doesn't want will not pass.

[Passages]

35. Yep and the way forward is not going to be easy because some individuals like where

they sit....and imo, don't seem that alarmed.

[Johonny]

12. They don't though

It is the media and the GOP that platform these issues. Harris wanted to talk about jobs, inflation and the Russian War of aggression and they asked her about trans women in sports. She properly replied, it wasn't a major issue.

Much like gay marriage in the 90s, these social issues are all driven by the RW. The democrats should never abandon minorities because they need support (obviously look what the assholes are doing to women and trans-women). Until the public go fuck it, me having a job and house and fresh water are more important than the less than 10 fucking transgender athletes in the NCAA entire sports programs, it will be an issue. They finally stopped giving a shit about gay marriage. And traditional marriage as far as I can tell hasn't disappeared like we're promised.

[leftstreet]

14. Yes, they do

OP said "contribute" to "platforming" those issues

Newsom is a perfect example. Why didn't he use his media cycle to platform Medicare For All rather than responding to a GOP gottcha issue. See what happens

[Yavin4]

18. Or, at the very least, go on a Democrat friendly podcast like David Pakman or the Meidas Touch.

And talk about issues like housing, the LA fires, etc. Instead, he platformed an ardent racist.

[hannah]

36. 100%

It is the Media! Trump has been on TV every day, since election covers talking about nothing for hours. The media can not get enough of him. He lies and they marvel about how good he is at lying. On the other hand they ignored anything good that Biden did. Amplified his mistakes and gaffes. Went on about inflation and his age non stop.
The media never holds Republicans to account and always denigrates Democrats.
If only we had a billionaire to hook us up with a liberal facts TV.

[Keepthesoulalive]

16. What economic issues are republicans running on?

They hit emotional hate buttons and people respond. Black people , Hispanic people, Asian people are working class. Please stop pretending if you say a chicken in every pot they will vote for you. Economics have nothing to do how people vote. Joe Biden was good for the economy and good for America but they would prefer to have a failed business man and his Nazi sympathizer running this country into the ground.

[leftstreet]

21. None. Which means there's a vacuum n/t

[Keepthesoulalive]

22. Maybe you can explain

What frightens them about marginalized people and wishing they would disappear

[leftstreet]

23. No, I can't. There are books on it though n/t

[Yavin4]

25. Statista: Most important issue for adults in the United States as of February 2025

Inflation 24%
Jobs/The Economy 12%
Healthcare 12%

Transgender issues are not on list.



https://www.statista.com/statistics/1362236/most-important-voter-issues-us/

[Keepthesoulalive]

42. Then why don't Americans vote on economics

The republicans are the ones doing identity politics. Joe Biden put infrastructure and all sorts of things that would help all Americans, they didn’t care. Economics logic, hate emotional . Which one do you think wins. They know which emotional buttons to press and we will all suffer for it.

[JI7]

17. Does this include mentioning high rate of black women dying in maternal care ?

[Keepthesoulalive]

20. We are not supposed to talk about those issues

It’s all about economics. Why are people so invested in right wing talking points?

[yardwork]

29. Trump is destroying what little we were doing about that.

He's destroying everything we've all tried to do to make things better. Our whole country will be destroyed unless we get back the power.

We have to win elections to do good.

[Yavin4]

39. No. That's not a cultural issue. That's a healthcare issue.

Which should be talked about within a national healthcare debate.

[JI7]

43. How is it not a cultural issue. Racism, discrmination, is part of culture.

[Cosmocat]

24. Been saying this for over a quarter century

Going back to the, God, gays and guns bullshit in the 90s. With few exceptions, every time they drag things into culture battles dems lose.

[Timewas]

26. John Q Public

Mostly ends up voting their pocketbook.........

[Bettie]

31. That is really easy to say if you are not

part of one of those marginalized groups.

I say this as a straight cis white woman. My life is never in danger because of my orientation or the color of my skin. Being past the age of reproduction, I'm pretty "safe" these days.

Just remember, abandoning vulnerable people will have consequences, especially to the abandoned people.

[Passages]

32. The leadership never had to choose, do both.

Start with universal healthcare and fight for trans kids and all people who have been abandoned and or poorly represented.

[ismnotwasm]

33. Let me see if I can word this as inoffensively as possible

American economics evolved around slavery and white supremacy, quite literally. The trans community is a very small, very vulnerable population that has expertly been made into a focal point and a scapegoat, relentlessly bullied. Women are now dying all over the country from lack of reproductive care. Immigrants are the lifeblood of the nation, supporting the economy and inexorably tied to its success and failure

There is no separation between social justice and economic success. It’s not framed that way though, is it?

[kimbutgar]

38. But how come a Republican president destroys the economy a Democratic president repairs it and then the Republican

Destroys it again? Clinton leaves a good economy Bush leaves a bad economy Obama repairs it and leaves a thriving economy then the orange Hitler destroys it and then Biden fixes the economy and now the orange Hitler is going to end democracy and help billionaires get richer while the economy goes down the shitter!

Clinton +
Bush -
Obama +
Orange Hitler -
Biden +
And now the markets are down, unemployment is rising, and inflation will be out of control during the second reign of terror of the orange Hitler -

That’s BS we talk economics and things that help people be more productive. And which party is talking about trans people, immigrants taking jobs and committing crimes and 130 years are stealing from social security.

We talk economics and losing our rights as human beings it’s just that the corporate media shits on the Democratic Party because they like the tax cuts for the rich.

[betsuni]

41. They don't platform social issues over economic issues. How did Biden do that? Harris? Hillary? Obama?

Just because anti-Democratic populist propaganda is repeated for years doesn't make it true. Now Republicans are using it, pretending to be the populist party of the working class. Wherever it comes from it's not true.

Example: Many for some reason gullibly swallowed the lie that Hillary had no economic message or plans, never talked about it, as we've heard the broken record lie since 2015 that Democrats are out-of-touch corrupt elites who ignore the working class and mocked for "identity politics" ("It's not good enough to say 'I'm a woman, vote for me'" said no Democrat ever):

"Also, it's not true. Not even close. Vox did an analysis of all my campaign events and found that I talked about jobs, workers, and the economy far more than anything else. As The Atlantic put it in a piece titled 'The Dangerous Myth That Hillary Clinton Ignored the Working Class,' I ran on the 'most comprehensive progressive economic platform of any presidential candidate in history' and talked more about jobs in my convention speech than Trump did in his ... ." (Most frequently used word in her speeches was "jobs." )

Facts. If people want to talk strategy they should use facts.

[DSandra]

44. It's stupid to think that you can have only one or the other

And what's the point of improving the economy if only the privileged classes can benefit from it?

It's ridiculous to throw trans people under the bus just because there was a worldwide inflation wave caused by COVID, and that the party didn't do enough about economic inequality all of these years.