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Once again for the people in the back:
You will never get the super progressive lefty government you dream of if you don’t vote for the Dems who win in the primaries. Putting those Dems in creates space for more Dems, and lefty ideas.
You will never get the super progressive lefty government you dream of if you don’t vote for the Dems who win in the primaries. Putting those Dems in creates space for more Dems, and lefty ideas.
If the GOP candidate beats the Dem candidate in the general, you’re back to square one. You have to play defense against hostile GOP legislators instead of pushing relatively friendly Dem legislators further toward your priorities.
This is especially true because when I say “hostile GOP legislators” I’m talking about people who require your constant vigilance because they believe deportation is good and trans people don’t deserve to live and Black people in prison is awesome.
That’s what we are talking about here: a choice between people whose party is headed by Trump, hates the government they run, and is dominated by vicious nihilism vs THE ONLY OTHER MAJOR PARTY THAT IS NOT.
That is the onthe ground reality and you gotta play on that field.
That is the onthe ground reality and you gotta play on that field.
If you hate that so much you want a third party option, develop it at your local level. Yes you. Get on the ballot and get elected consistently. If you have one, get it viable on the state level. If you want a third party, do the work.
What happens when Dems lose isn’t that Dems think: cool can we change our brand and all our party leaders to make hardcore lefties who never vote for us start voting for us?
That hasn’t happened and it isn’t going to. Because hardcore lefties aren’t a reliable Dem constituency.
That hasn’t happened and it isn’t going to. Because hardcore lefties aren’t a reliable Dem constituency.
In short: people who do the work in the Democratic Party know that hardcore lefties don’t really vote that much. They know that hardcore lefties love claiming they’ll vote and then “boycotting” aka single, unorganized people not bothering to vote.
Not voting reliably doesn’t mean Dems try harder to listen to you and earn your vote.
It means they shift their attention to the priorities of the people who ALWAYS vote, ALWAYS vote Dem, and they try to get more of those people into the voting booth.
It means they shift their attention to the priorities of the people who ALWAYS vote, ALWAYS vote Dem, and they try to get more of those people into the voting booth.
Not voting, not participating, does the opposite of what most people think it does. People think it shows displeasure and the party tries harder to please you. In reality you’ve silenced yourself and everyone forgets you exist. You have no influence.
The people who have influence show up to local Dem party events like endorsement sessions and tell their preferred candidates what they want, promise to vote for them, and promise they’ll hold the candidate to it.
You don’t get more attention by withholding support. You get more attention by giving support and proving you can get others to give support, too. Then you come back after they’re elected and tell them “I supported you and I want xyz policy.”
Last point: if you want super progressive lefty people and policies to pass at the federal level, make them happen at the local and State Level first. Make sure they work and they’re popular. You cannot start these policies at the fed level. They aren’t proven or popular enough.
Hardcore lefty people keep losing because not enough people understand how your policies work, or why, how much they cost/save, or how they personally will benefit.
Show them by making these policy changes happen around them, locally and in states.
Show them by making these policy changes happen around them, locally and in states.
I know a lot of hardcore lefties don’t think they should have to prove that their policies work because they’ll just work so great, but forgive me if I have mouths to feed and taxes to pay so I’m gonna need proof. And I’m not the only person who needs proof for those reasons.
If you don’t believe me on any of this, just know that the most reliable constituency in the Dem party, Black women, tell anyone who’ll listen all the time that they’re actually swing voters. They just vote EVERY TIME and pick the least bad option EVERY TIME. Then they push.
The GOP’s never their pick because the GOP’s central animating theory is being anti- Black enough that overwhelming numbers of whites will vote for them.
But a lot of these Black women voters are actually pretty conservative.
But a lot of these Black women voters are actually pretty conservative.
If the day comes when there is a conservative option in this country that is not animated by anti-Blackness, I can think of several Black voters who would be receptive to it. I just don’t think the GOP is going there in my lifetime.
So, it’s not that the Dem party embodies every priority of Black women (far from it). And it’s not that Black women aren’t conservative (many are). It’s just that they pick the option that’s least bad for them EVERY TIME. They vote EVERY TIME. And the least bad option? Dems.
That’s how Black Women became a valuable Dem constituency and that’s why they’re challenging the party leadership to involve them more as leaders and candidates and managers. They showed up every time and got Dem candidates elected and demanded their compensation for that.
Ok I lied here is my real last point. This answers “why should we vote for red state Democrats who are barely even Democrats?”
Because BLUE ASSES IN BLUE SEATS. A Dem majority only exists if there are actual humans with (D) behind their names elected to office.
Because BLUE ASSES IN BLUE SEATS. A Dem majority only exists if there are actual humans with (D) behind their names elected to office.
What can a Dem majority do? Decide to bring bills to the floor. Control the confirmation process for nominees. Chair all the committees (and therefore enjoy subpoena power).
Imagine Adam Schiff runningthe House Intel Committee investigation instead of Nunes.
Imagine Adam Schiff runningthe House Intel Committee investigation instead of Nunes.
A Joe Manchin is valuable because he gets Dems that majority.
He and is ilk are also valuable because they HOLD THE LINE WHEN IT IS IMPORTANT. Like opposing the 2017 repeals of Obamacare. Huge, important team player.
He and is ilk are also valuable because they HOLD THE LINE WHEN IT IS IMPORTANT. Like opposing the 2017 repeals of Obamacare. Huge, important team player.
Every time you see Joe Manchin or Heidi Heitkamp vote differently than the rest of the Dems, it’s because they got permission from Chuck Schumer to do it. And he gives that permission because DEMS ARE IN THE MINORITY and can only effectively block some things sometime.
The other value in having red state Dems that vote differently 1/3-1/2 of the time is that without them, a GOPer who is probably gonna vote to make all immigration illegal if McConnell tells him to is in that seat. Even a 50% good Dem is better than that guy.
Because that is who that seat is going to, if it’s WV or SD. It’s not going to a hardcore lefty. WV and SD aren’t the vanguard of hardcore lefty movements. A centrist who contributes to the D majority and is with Ds half the time is as good as it gets.
And if I’m wrong, I’ll accept that. Prove me wrong. Show me a hardcore lefty Dem who can get out of a primary in SD, KY, AL, or WV. If you can I will accept the idea that he might be able to win an election against a Republican in those places. But I don’t know of one.
So watching hardcore lefties talk about SD and WV as if Heitkamp and Manchin are betraying their constituencies annoys me. The only reason those two are in office is because they’re not portrayed as super far left. Super far left isn’t popular enough in WV and SD.
The people they represent won’t keep voting for them if they think DC has turned them into “liberals.” That is the fact. They’re valuable as barely-over-the-center-line Democrats, anyway. They represent those kinds of Americans.
And also, Heitkamp and Manchin voting differently from the rest of the Dems also helps the rest of the Dems look like they haven’t drifted so far to the center that they’re GOP-lite as a party. It’s a smart strategy for everyone.
People complain about Claire McCaskill like she didn’t win over “Legitimate Rape” GOP candidate. You’d prefer him? Psh. Come on. She’s way better and THAT GUY WAS YOUR ONLY OTHER OPTION. Each matchup in each election is real, not hypothetical.
So, in sum, participate in the Dem primaries at all levels, vote for your preferred candidate and support their ideas, pay a lot of attention. Then, in the general, even if your guy lost, SHOW UP AND VOTE, and VOTE for the Democrat. Then pick a policy goal and work on it.
To conclude: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/01/22/ten-things-that-just-happened-aside-from-the-government-reopening/
Is">https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/rig... this deal everything everyone could wish? No. Does it reauthorize CHIP for six years without Dems making a significant trade-off? Yes. So fewer kids die. That’s worth noting.
Is">https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/rig... this deal everything everyone could wish? No. Does it reauthorize CHIP for six years without Dems making a significant trade-off? Yes. So fewer kids die. That’s worth noting.
If you wanted comprehensive immigration reform to pass, you should’ve given Obama a Dem majority at some time after 2010. But you didn’t. You should’ve voted for HRC because she definitely would keep DACA. You didn’t. So here we are. Schumer can’t save you from that.