Axios warning Dems: "We're seeing a political realignment in real time"

Republicans are never going to win. I don’t know anyone who would for one.

Beto and Gavin are the future of the Democratic party. Put them infront of the camera and the electorate will be running, not walking, towards them.

Thing is what’s total Republican control going to get you them? Nothing good will come of it. People just want to keep eating tasty Republican shit sandwiches.

Gavin is why Democrats are doomed for a long time: Fair or not, he is perceived as a Bay Area cultural elite who has no connection to or respect for the culture and values of Middle America.

Both parties guarantee more war. It's ruining us.

Poor repugs would never win a presidential election again if it wasn't for the shitty gerrymandering they do. It was a smart move to grab the Supreme Court, for the next several decades. Fuck 'em. I see no evidence of "multiracial coalitions" on the right LMAO

[quote] Democrats now have a bigger advantage among white college graduates than they do with nonwhite voters, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll. Why it matters: We're seeing a political realignment in real time. Democrats are becoming the party of upscale voters concerned more about issues like gun control and abortion rights. Republicans are quietly building a multiracial coalition of working-class voters, with inflation as an accelerant.

1. The Republican Party. the party that has a white supremacist coalition isn't building a "multiracial" anything. To what nonwhite race are they referring?

2. Republicans oppose any aid for average Americans and they are offering no economic solutions for inflation.

So, only the upscale are concerned with "gun control and abortion rights"? There are no working poor, working class, blue color, etc voters that are concerned about the gun violence in their schools or ensuring that the women in their communities aren't burdened with more children they don't want or can't afford to keep?

The people in charge of the Democratic Party are idiots. They have seriously fucked things up. The next few years are not going to be pleasant.

[quote] Gavin is why Democrats are doomed for a long time: Fair or not, he is perceived (by Republicans) as a Bay Area cultural elite who has no connection to or respect for the culture and values of Middle America.

Fixed!

Now lets talk about how Democrats perceive Republicans, "fair or not."

oh please it was republicans who stop those produce trucks at the border that drives inflation

dem's problem is they have no effective media machine

R1, Pauline Kael never said that. I quote what she actually said: “I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don’t know. They’re outside my ken. But sometimes when I’m in a theater I can feel them.”

That's nothing remotely what you're suggesting she said. Idiots have been either deliberately or stupidly misquoting her on this point for years, in an attempt to discredit her or liberals in general. Happy to educate you here.

How can you be a major Party and have no effective media machine? That’s incompetence

Some argue that similar is happening to the UK Labour Party saying it is becoming less working class

The cultural Issues have precipitated the exodus of working class from Liberal parties throughout the globe

Josh Kraushaar is a GOP stenographer and has been since he was writing Hotline.

also, how is abortion rights or gun rights upscale?

it is so much harder for a poor woman to get an abortion now

also,it is now unsafe to go to the mall or a concert since shooting can happen anytime, but rich ppl r just fine in their gated community

Poor white women don’t vote for prochoice candidates

Crappy Democrats are not good at lying, and their ego always stop them from lying.

Time to go low, DemoCunts. Nothing good comes out of being social justice warriors when you're not in power.

That's a sweeping generalization, R18. There's more than one type of poor white women, and they don't all live in Alabama.

[quote] The Republican Party. the party that has a white supremacist coalition isn't building a "multiracial" anything.

You need to get out more, R7.

Asians, too.

[quote] Some argue that similar is happening to the UK Labour Party saying it is becoming less working class

OMG, R14, where have you been? Labor left the working class behind a long time ago. They are arrogantly patronizing toward them. Look down at them as incompetent and too stupid to know what's "good" for them.

It's always hilarious when Democrats/Labour are called out-of-touch elitists. Their counterparts are the ones who actually and cynically hate the working class, minorities, etc. I guess the joke will always be on anyone who thinks a political party that values money over people gives a fuck about them. They always learn it the hard way--like the poor MAGAts will, when they see their lives are no better or worse. But then, it'll be the Dems' fault.

People who vote against their own best interests will always be stuck with their choices. To the rest of the population it matters a lot less.

So it goes...

In the peoples eyes the left in many countries have abandoned middle class and poor whites. Nobody ever talks about the issues facing poor whites. There’s no focus on poverty as the major issue which it is. It’s always about race, religion and gender. A lot of people feel ignored and like the government isn’t looking out for them. The left will do more to alleviate poverty but a lot of people don’t know that or aren’t thinking rationally.

Democrats have given off the impression that they are the party of black grievance and trans. It doesn't take a sophisticated analysis to get this concept. If democratic politicians got as excited and aggressive about kitchen table economics as they did about George Floyd we'd be in a better position. I'm talking weekly grandstanding, policy rollouts, an agressive campaign. Maybe they'll get to that once all the confederate statues are dealt with. And it frankly takes a Bill Clinton type. AOC and the squad are just cannon fodder for the media to split people on demographics. But I don't think that's a tenable strategy now.

"In the peoples eyes"

What people, R25?

"Nobody ever talks about the issues facing poor whites. There’s no focus on poverty as the major issue which it is. It’s always about race, religion and gender. A lot of people feel ignored and like the government isn’t looking out for them. "

You just described the GOP in a nutshell.

This 100%^^

R28 was for R26 100X

Latinos can say in polls that they align with the GOP all they want but the reality is they don’t vote. You think poor whites and young people have a low turnout percentage? Look at the voter participation numbers for Latinos. No one is going to care that much about you and your group if you can’t get people to the polls. That’s why black issues get so much attention. They can bring in real numbers, numbers that can swing races, and they do so consistently. Not so with Latinos.

Black people who actually vote tend to be moderate or conservative.

There are so many myths that mainstream Democrats consistently lie to themselves about. The Minorities (TM) supposedly OWE them their vote. It doesn't work that way.

If The Minorities don't like what the Democrats are selling, it means they are ungrateful or stupid. This is genuinely racist.

Many minorities are socially conservative. Democrats just don't seem to get it as they drift farther and farther left.

November will be a bloodbath and no lessons will be learned, because arrogance and doubling down on nonsense is the party brand.

I forgot to link the pew research study on black voters.

Very few of them are what you would describe as "progressive".

yet Latinos are the reason the Dems have captured most of the Southwest and won congress...

r2 Beto? this is a joke, right? The only thing that Beto is good at and also consistently delivers is losing!

Democrats have won the popular vote in every presidential election in the last 7 out of 8 elections. The only way Republicans can win now is by voter suppression and redistricting. And yet, political pundits only want to talk about how Democrats are in peril during every election cycle. They are trying to create an alternate reality with stories like these. They want Republicans in power, so they ignore the fact that there are more Democrats than Republicans.

Axios is practically Fox Jr. at this point.

Part of the problem with poor people (poor whites and every other poor demographic) is that they don't want to think they are poor. No one wants to be on the bottom rung of the ladder. Or the bottom of the totem pole. No one wants to think he or she is at the bottom. So it's hard to talk to those people.

R35, exactly. Well said.

That's why I like the Poor People's Campaign. It's real and destigmatizes the word.

Democrats are to Margaret White as their tokens are to Carrie.

Democrats have have apparently been infected by Trump, what was once hate and turned to lust, as so many embrace his views when approached by facts and far off outcomes they could change.. if only they were not such immature and reactionary children.

This is not to say Republicans are better. They are not. But the ostritch syndrome and lashing out helps no one... it's denialism to the extremes.

It’s arrogant for people to assert voting based on cultural and moral values is not voting in your own interest. Not everyone worships money

R37 That's not true, many Trumpsters openly agree with the assessment that they are poor and poorly educated, and they also think Trump is the only one who acknowledges them and speaks for them. Trump can openly taunt "I love poorly educated" and still got their love. It's the democrats who don't know how to reach them, those stupid euphemism that democrats use "marginalized" , "people in disadvantage, POC... alienate the poor people, they don't want to hear those degrading and self pitying words from well paid well fed politicians, intellectuals and journalists, they much prefer be addressed as who they really are - "poor" !

Axios, Politico, and The Hill are practically conservative rags.

[quote] Democrats have given off the impression that they are the party of black grievance and trans. It doesn't take a sophisticated analysis to get this concept. If democratic politicians got as excited and aggressive about kitchen table economics as they did about George Floyd we'd be in a better position. I'm talking weekly grandstanding, policy rollouts, an agressive campaign. Maybe they'll get to that once all the confederate statues are dealt with. And it frankly takes a Bill Clinton type. AOC and the squad are just cannon fodder for the media to split people on demographics. But I don't think that's a tenable strategy now.

1. For as much as you're offended by the party's (for whom 90+ percent of black voters vote) half hearted attempts at minor racial justice reforms. The only federal legislation that Democrats have passed focuses on kitchen table issues and specifically aid for average Americans. And of course Build Back Better (which has not passed) also specifically focuses on aid for average Americans. Its you that is obsessed with trans and George Floyd.

2. The Republican Party is a white supremacist cult and is running campaigns mainly on white supremacy. The party is so popular that they have to pass hundreds of voter suppression and election rigging laws. So popular that they have to cheat to win.

[quote] I forgot to link the pew research study on black voters. Very few of them are what you would describe as "progressive".

Most voters, regardless of race or party consider themselves to be "moderate." People will never self identify as an extremist. Imagine any members of the current Republican Party referring to themselves as "moderate."

[quote] Democrats have won the popular vote in every presidential election in the last 7 out of 8 elections. The only way Republicans can win now is by voter suppression and redistricting. And yet, political pundits only want to talk about how Democrats are in peril during every election cycle. They are trying to create an alternate reality with stories like these. They want Republicans in power, so they ignore the fact that there are more Democrats than Republicans.

The media is so obsessed with presenting themselves as unbiased and not the alleged "liberal mainstream media" (that never existed). They manipulate and contort to feed their "both sides" narrative. Which elevates Republicans and demonizes Democrats, creating an Anti-Democratic bias.

OP the alignment is because the Dems are controlled by right-wing neoliberals. While on the other hand, Rethugs exploit simple easy emotions to control the working class in order to rob them blind and enrich the already rich.

Either way the working and labor classes are screwed.

I’m always skeptical until it happens. Because republicans voters are snakes 60%of them are ashamed of voting republican but do it anyway.

I'm an upper middle class white gay, and even I'M sick of the Democrats.

Talk about fucking kitchen table issues! Jesus fucking Christ. It's not that hard!

When a pound of turkey meat at Aldi is going for $5.49 (almost double what it was last year), that's what people care about.

The Republicans are so fucking repugnant. Why are the Democrats SO bad at capitalizing on it? The GOP isn't giving people anything to run TO. It's the Democrats driving them away.

[...]

[quote] Why are the Democrats SO bad at capitalizing on it?

Because they don't want to. They are, each to a man, afraid they will upset their corporate patrons.

Some people in this thread just don't get it. Poor people don't care as much about hypothetical or future things like abortions. The gas in your tank is right there hurting the poor NOW. An abortion is an unlikely, yet possible future thing.

And the racial stuff is just plain toxic. If you're a poor, white person struggling to put gas in your car, how appealing do you think it is to be told you have privilege?

[quote] But sometimes when I’m in a theater I can feel them.

The precise Pauline Kael quote is worse than the short version. And it displays the precursor of the sort of thinking that has led to the realignment into the coastal party warned of in the article.

So, if I were to advise the Democrats, I'd say kitchen table issues, kitchen table issues, kitchen table issues, and NOT presented the way many "progressive" activists insist on doing it, which is to tie it to all the social justice mumbo jumbo or some extreme sounding statement.

r45 believes AOC and Bernie are effective politicians and coalition builders!

Sad.

R50 actually you don't quite get it either.

Yes, people care about the immediate issues. But why do they vote for republicans when the country has always done worse in the quotidian issues under them?

It's an emotional thing. They are being emotionally manipulated. Yes, when nothing is going right for you, you are susceptible to suggestions that is not your fault. That it is the fault of the people who don't look like you.

Otherwise why would they support tax cuts for the rich? That doesn't put food on their table, that does not put gas in their tank.

[quote]Why are the Democrats SO bad at capitalizing on it?

Because the wealthy media, including the social media, owners are against the Democrats. Try to get your message out in this country without the media echoing your talking points. Not possible. Go ahead and tell me the last time that the number of bills the House has passed and the Repug's and their magical filibuster of doom was mentioned in that way in the media. Never. It's always "the Democrats failed to pass" without even mentioning that every single Repug voted against things like gas price relief and all kinds of other things that would help actual Americans every single day.

Axios and Politico are such shit. Basing a "political realignment"--a concept that in political science requires multiple reinforcing elections and a lot of retrospective data--on a single poll taken at the absolute midterm depths of a Democratic presidency.

But sure, go ahead. Believe that Trump or DeSantis is going to win 50% of the nonwhite vote in 2024.

I agree r56 it's specious and facile. The media is always doing stunt analysis and writing. It's like Datalounge without the cuntery, except for Fox.

Negroes 4 Trump!

If working class voters are stupid enough to vote for Republicans, who have a history of making their lives worse, then let them. I'm tired of being told I have to care about this. If people aren't smart enough to stop fascism, if they're so stupid that misspelled memes change their minds, if they think gun control and reproductive rights are only things that "upscale voters" (Axios' way of saying "elite" without using the word "elite") care about, then fuck 'em. And fuck the media for telling me that I'm supposed to move politically rightward and vote for exactly who THEY want me to, or else Democrats will lose everything.

[quote]Democrats now have a bigger advantage among white college graduates than they do with nonwhite voters, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll.

Educated people with intelligence IN ALL RACES are moving left. Look at the poll! It's linked in the article. God, fuck Axios all to hell for this fucking propaganda. Why does the media even WANT fascism, anyway? They'll make a few bucks today, then be the first up against the wall tomorrow, once they get their way. Fools.

r60 r59

more of the college educated:

"Latinos" is a meaningless construct when talking about voters. That category covers a vast swathe of humans from very different cultural and national backgrounds, only united by a historical connection to the Spanish language. Upper socio-economic Cuban refugees from communism have fuck all in common with Mexican American farm workers.

Perception is reality, and there is a PERCEPTION that the Democrats abandoned class based policies in favour of looney tunes identity politics.

Here's a tip for the echo chamber morons gobbling neoliberal propaganda from Davos: Most people are women. 51% of the population are women. And media outlets, politicians or political parties that refers to women in dehumanizing, repellent language like "uterus haver" or "birthing person" has lost women as an audience and as a constituency. More so, when they do it whilst attempting to enshrine super-civil rights protections for autogynephilic fetishists and as they knock 100 years of actual legal and social progress off the table like a Jenga tower. If someone will lie to you about something as basic and fundamental as human sex, they'll lie to you about *anything*. As a former 22 year straight-ticket Democratic voter, and as one who is staunchly pro-choice, no less, there is nothing the Democrats could do over the next 22 years to convince me they have my interests, to which sex-based rights are pivotal, in mind.

r65 exactly.

on here.. I generally here react to the anti-trans for their obvious bullshit but on this, they have a point especially as to how the public perceives it because the left only speaks in terms that should be is better suited to academics than public discourse or tumblr. They've been too long obsessed with capturing the youth vote - youths that regularly forget voting nday or vote for someone else. They take for granted their positions and come unprepared. They don't argue their positions instead they say you should leave, you should become Republicans,

And sure, all these people that walkaway are likely going to get covered with pigs blood at the prom. . . but when this happens they are not going to look favorably upon mama that kept screaming "they're all going to laugh at you" - she was an abusive cunt that only tried to mnaipulate them into doing what she wanted through shame and intimidation.

4:03

I've been to several abortion rallies over the past several months. I didn't meet a single woman in them planning to vote Republican. What the article above didn't mention is that WOMEN are decidedly moving leftward mostly due to the obvious misogyny of the Republican party and of the current conservative Supreme Court. That has been documented in numerous polls. No one at the rallies I attended had any thought whatsoever about trans people. That issue is only at the forefront for right wingers. Yes, it resonates with low information white male working class voters who have been moving steadily rightward over the past 3 decades. It does NOT resonate with women.

How can Democrats overcome lying? I'm seeing numerous ads now on TV for my local Representative, running for Congress again. She is someone who was one of the Republicans at the forefront of bringing government to a stop in 2011, costing billions in borrowing costs to the US, yet touting her ability to fix the economy. She is also at every single ribbon cutting for every single infrastructure item she VOTED AGAINST, taking credit. There's a level of chutzpah there that cannot be overcome, because the people who vote for her don't do even the most rudimentary fact-checking. She is safe in this district. I'm not even sure that they have announced a Democratic opponent for her this election cycle. The reality is that the Mercers and the Koch brothers of this world are more interested in seeing their taxes and regulations on their businesses to go away than on any improvement in the lives of the average American, and they pump BILLIONS into political races large and small to buy the government THEY want. I'm quite certain that they are behind the TV ads I'm seeing of my local congresswoman.

That coalition is a bunch of idiots

R32 I call BULLSHIT on that. SOME older Black voters? Sure. But there's no way in HELL, it's the majority. Keep shoveling.

Since when have Republicans supported the working class? Name one thing they have done that benefits anyone other than corporations and the rich.

Villalon joined other Cubans from Boston and beyond on Wednesday, July 13th (2022) in an effort to ask members of the Boston City Council to vote against a resolution, sponsored by Councilor Kendra Lara, that calls for the end of the United States embargo on Cuba.

“The embargo is not the one putting people in jail. The embargo is not starving the people, the embargo is not the one putting people in jail for simply protesting. Lifting the embargo simply helps the people in power. It helps the government. It helps enrich those in power to strengthen their hold on the people. I was born and raised under the Communist government, and I have lived it,” said Grecia Ordoñez, a 34 year old Cuban native, now in her 9th year living in the United States.

Ordoñez was one of several Cubans who joined Villalon to be present when the Council voted on the controversial resolution. Nine voted for the resolution, with three votes against it and one vote of present.

Ordoñez was visibly upset and emotional as she pointed out that on the day the Council was also honoring the rich history of black women of African descent all over the world, “the Boston City Council approved a measure that, in my opinion as a black Cuban who has suffered under Communism, will enrich a regime that has systematically oppressed all Cubans, especially Black ones.

“All you have to do is do your homework. The majority of the Cubans sitting in jail for simply raising their voices look like me. Look at the faces of the people being oppressed since last year. They look like me’”

Ordoñez was referring to the intense crackdown on dissidents perpetrated by the Cuban government since the 2021 July 11th protests.

Since then, over the last 11 months, the Cuban government has been systematically rounding up and jailing those who took part in the demonstrations.

[quote]Labor left the working class behind a long time ago. They are arrogantly patronizing toward them. Look down at them as incompetent and too stupid to know what's "good" for them.

No different on our side of the pond. We get the same boring, wildly out of touch crap too. Just check out R24's stupid comment. Assuming all minorities are downtrodden victims.

[quote]People who vote against their own best interests will always be stuck with their choices.

[quote]Educated people with intelligence IN ALL RACES are moving left.

I beg to differ.

[quote] the Boston City Council approved a measure that, in my opinion as a black Cuban who has suffered under Communism, will enrich a regime that has systematically oppressed all Cubans, especially Black ones.

Along those same lines, U.S. Department of Transportation (Woke Pete) rewards Cuba with approval of more airline flights to Cuba.

[quote]I've been to several abortion rallies over the past several months. I didn't meet a single woman in them planning to vote Republican.

LOL. Pro life women don't go to abortion rallies, dip twat.

^And I'm sure you interrogated every single woman there on how they vote.

You might want to compare the turn out to pro abortion rallies you attended with the total population of women in your city, and then that might give you an idea of the percentage of the female voting public who are highly energised on this subject.

Abortion is what's gonna EVENTUALLY sink the RePUBICans

Women are much more energized over the Democrats' complete decimation of women as a sex class in federal law, as in, all rights being eliminated in favor of predatory crossdressers, than we are over one right being revoked on the Democrats' watch.

[quote]Abortion is what's gonna EVENTUALLY sink the RePUBICans

Nope. We know how to avoid pregnancy. It isn't hard.

[quote]Abortion is what's gonna EVENTUALLY sink the RePUBICans

No it won't. But we're so glad you think so. Keep banging that drum as millions flock to our side.

The right-wing trolls are out in full force tonight.

r84 That was the prevalent attitude in 2015. . . the problem with that attitude was it worked out better for Republicans because obvious leftwing people got caught in the crossifre and were martyed. The claim "I didn't leave the left, they left me" is largely in response to this mentality that if you care about your own self or group interests you're a rightwing troll, a traitor and deserving of all the abuse that comes your way. Half a decade of this mentality and many self professed Democrats aren't that different from the worst of Republicans now.

They refer to women by sexist slurs, they refer to minorities by racist and xenophobic slurs, they refer to gays and lesbians by homophobic slurs...and add pressures to said communities to shun them... when they speak on their self interest. Do you see a pattern here?

We are largely limited to a two party system. So dissent often results in being accused of being part of the other side or being a DINO/RINO when one breaks from majority opinion... which has fully embraced a reactionary mob mentality. These two parties continue to push towards such extremes they have become a textbook example of horseshoe theory.

The problem are the Democratic political activists . The issues that energize them are completely different from what the vast majority of Americans care about. Abortion rights and gun control are winner issues for the Dems. But identity politics, trans rights, calling those who disagrees with you racist, transphobic just turn offs.

R85 I just meant that some of the comments above in this thread are from obvious trolls on the site who are clearly not regular posters here. It's obvious.

[quote]Some argue that similar is happening to the UK Labour Party saying it is becoming less working class

Labour became more interested in Palestinian issues and denigrating Jews than trying to improve the lives of working class/middle class.

[quote]on here.. I generally here react to the anti-trans for their obvious bullshit but on this, they have a point

Yeah, what is with that, Gap Troll? You used to be an anti-transer, most specifically a crazy person who would scream about bisexuals in the trans threads, but once you got redtagged and had to get a new account, now you pretend to hate the anti-transers. It's weird. But you seem to be pushing rightwing talking points in this thread while pretending to be a Democrat, so maybe it's not THAT weird. I just don't know why you went to so much fucking trouble to ingratiate yourself on here with your cute little persona and posting all your personal information, just to be a boring old troll.

One can be against legal restrictions on abortion, and still notice that the vast majority of people who are highly energised on this subject are upper middle class left wing white women, with a sprinkling of other types among the usual people who make up the activist class. These women think they're highly representative of the female population. They aren't. A large number of working class women of all races either don't see this subject as a massive priority, or are actively anti abortion.

[quote]But identity politics, trans rights, calling those who disagrees with you racist, transphobic just turn offs.

What you guys do is you see someone named FuttButtley69 on Twitter say "if white cis gays don't give all their generational wealth to black trans women then we should storm the bathhouses" and immediately reply "Democrats support this! This is what Dems believe in! THIS IS WHY DEMOCRATS LOSE!!!"

Democratic politicians rarely campaign by calling everyone who disagrees with them racist transphobes. None on the national stage do, and I would doubt many on the local campaign trails do, either. You just hear something like "Biden signed the national recognition of trans awareness declaration" and think he's putting trans needs above everyone else's.

[quote]One can be against legal restrictions on abortion, and still notice that the vast majority of people who are highly energised

"I'm not American but I'm on Datalounge telling Americans what to think and how to vote! My life is going great!"

[quote]Democrats have won the popular vote in every presidential election in the last 7 out of 8 elections.

One would think the country would be in better shape, then. But long-term planning doesn't appear to be a Democratic strength. That better change.

r86 nails it. The Dems have been amazingly effective at organizing, and part of that effort has been to deeply incentivize activists.

But, when the activists overtake the grassroots in a political party, things can go wrong.

Dems just need to get back to their, say, 1970's roots.

Help the working class and underprivileged.

They don't seem to be able to do that at present and I'm not sure why.

Dems are not working class anymore. They're the party of the rich.

You can govern as the party of the rich.

It's unfortunate for you, r75, that the stats are in the linked article and they show you're wrong. It's strange to me that you willingly made yourself look like an idiot who can't read, just to make that stupid, racist joke.

r89 You seem to have me confused with someone else. I'm the obsessive poster of porn,100s upon 100s, that send some into a rage of how dare yous. I only have one account.

r89 is talking to herself. She may be safely ignored.

Ah yes, the exhausting media obsession with the Dems in disarray narrative. Yaaaaawwwwnnnnnn

News is so boring, right?

I've been here for a very long time, and the 2016 election seemed to have brought a huge number of professional activists here, which has nearly destroyed the old back and forth we used to enjoy here.

It was never gentle, but it wasn't this Nuclear-level "YOU MUST BELIEVE AS I BELIEVE" authoritarian bullshit I now see on any remotely political thread.

We were a relatively diverse group, philisophically speaking. No uniform screeching or attempts to beat people into ideological shape.

As if I even need to say, it was a HELL of a lot more fun - and more informative - here on the ol DL prior to the Activist Invasion.

Also from Axios:

Top Republicans, once confident about winning control of the Senate in the midterms, fear they’ll blow it after nominating several deeply flawed candidates in winnable states, according to conversations with GOP strategists, pollsters and other officials.

Relentless focus on race, gender and identity to the exclusion of other issues especially economic. Of course almost all the race, gender and identity Dem activists are from upper middle class or even 1% families. They get to look down on poorer whites but their arrogance has turned off POC also.

r91 Like Trump, it's not about what what he says specificaly than how it influences the masses. . .

When Trump was president, most of us criticized him daily. Now that Biden is president any criticism is met with hostility.

The worst periods of America (not just Trump era) we've lived through. We did our thing, we went about our business, coped the best we could. So, in essence, it doesn't matter all that much. However, the trouble that brews from politics is when it comes into our hoods. . . it steps out from the telvision into our living rooms and infects the people around us to such an extent we are no longer safe where we live.

Maybe you don't take that seriously because so many have exaggerated that as a future possiblity with claims we'll all end up in concentration camps or everyone will be deported, etc. When the reality is more subtle and isntead people are policing you for any sign of benign wrongthink.

It's scary when both parties aim for becoming the primary ruler over all. They're not talking about elections.. they're acting like we're already at civil war and this is a fight between good and evil. For those of us that are a bit more chaotic neutral.. it's not comfortable space to be caught between two fanatics on a conquest/crusade.

I'd have to admit I'm feeling defensive. So, I don't want to ask you questions when one my peeves is that people don't ask questions. And truth, if they did, it would be more like an assault.. a brigade that nobody could possibly keep up with. We're just comon folk.. so you devalue my opinion, likewise I devalue yours, and we focus on the celebrities of politics because they have some measure of authority that could be more succintly given valued. .. though they're only a proxy towards whatever arguments we're trying to make.

This isn't making for good foreplay.

So, in what better ways can I stroke you or you can stroke me?

um OP isn’t that just describing f@sc!sm?

[quote] Dems just need to get back to their, say, 1970's roots.

[quote]Dems are not working class anymore. They're the party of the rich.

It's insane that anyone would believe this, knowing what the Republicans do just to keep their billionaire benefactors happy. The Republicans have been the party of the rich for a good century, at this point.

[quote]Beto and Gavin are the future of the Democratic party.

BTW, progressive hero Gavin has announced that he, like Biden, opposes expanding the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, Newsom separated himself from the more progressive faction of his party when he said he didn’t support expanding the U.S. Supreme Court from nine justices to 13, a position that’s become more talked about since the court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last month. Newsom told a reporter from The Hill that he doesn’t support court expansion because “my kids are going to live with a Supreme Court that’s larger than Congress.”

Every Republican votes in favor of Big Oil.

Every Republican voted for higher drug prices.

I am well rebuked, r106.

Every Republican voted in favor of Nazis.

Pro Nazi

Pro tax on middle class.

It's not just Axios. Van Jones at CNN warned the same thing.

[quote] I've been to several abortion rallies over the past several months. I didn't meet a single woman in them planning to vote Republican.

Please tell me this is a joke post.

Here's a simple message- Republicans are the party of death. Do you want to die quickly? Vote Republican.

[quote]Van Jones at CNN warned the same thing.

Van Jones, the guy who tried to pass Trump off as a good president, paid by Trump to work on the weird and very weak police reform bill, should not even BE on CNN after his conflicts of interest were revealed.

This headline was buried, like the kids, by the corporate media.

Oh fuck mealy-mouthed Van Jones - he loved polishing Trump's knob.

Also, let's not forget just a few years ago EVERYONE was saying demography is destiny and that Republicans were fucked. Which turned out to be patently false. I smell the same shit analysis here too.

Finally, let all the latinos and asians and blacks going running to the Republican Party, which is becoming more and more emboldened with their WHITE nationalist agenda. They'll be the first ones shoved into cages and crying for help from the other side.

I don't know what minority voters think will happen if they join the Republicans. Didn't they see what the Republicans just did to their own gay supporters? What Republicans just did to women? What Republicans have been doing to minority voting rights and districting?

[quote]I smell the same shit analysis here too.

It's already happening. South Texas was solid blue just last year.

Head in the sand (ass high) is a FAR more comfortable position for some, r122.

Did you read the article r122? The Republicans put millions of dollars into the race, almost certainly so they could "buy" these kinds of media talking points. The Democrats were "outspent by millions of dollars from out of state interests and the entire Republican machine."

It's possible the Democrats simply didn't want to spend many millions of dollars to fight the out of state flood of millions for a seat that's only going to be held for about 7 months.

So it's all about money, r124?

That sounds like D.C. "Corporate Democrat" thinking.

Yes, money matters.

But if you run in an area which completely hates your platform, money won't help.

As always this is a framing issue. The proper question here is why are blacks and Latinos voting for Nazis?

Regarding Spanish speaking voters- Univision and Teleumndo are both TOTALLY Republican run companies who bury any pro-democratic stories and only report Republican scandals or negativity as necessary. Marco Rubio has NEVER been challenged by a reporter with follow up questions about immigration, or any other policy. They covered the Depp Heard trial live but ignored the hearings.

Where are the stories comparing Trump's march on the Capital to Bautista in Cuba or Noriega in Panama. or Pinochet? We here "banana republic" without naming names. ZERO coverage about the end of democracy in the US caused by Republicans in congress.

BTW- They covered, Hillary Emails, Benhgazi, Rapido y Furioso, IRS escandelo, daily during Obama.

Remember this moment? How would life be different if EVERY reporter in the room walked out in support of Jorge Ramos?

r126 sounds like a typical DNC drone.

No, it's not a "framing issue". It's a policy issue.

Or, rather, multiple policy issues.

Uh, what, R96? I think you're deeply confused.

[quote]As always this is a framing issue. The proper question here is why are blacks and Latinos voting for Nazis?

No, the proper question is: why are you calling your fellow Americans, of all races and ethnicities, Nazis simply because they have exercised their right to vote for whomever they choose?

Two parties dealing with a single problem, one by encirclement, the other by deconstruction. Neither is honest about their goals.

Well, exactly, r130

[quote]why are you calling your fellow Americans, of all races and ethnicities, Nazis simply because they have exercised their right to vote for whomever they choose?

Do you get a little teeny tiny boner when you say stupid things like this? Why didn't you call someone a "dip twat" again, to let us all know you're an intellectual giant?

r133, What, exactly, was stupid about what r130 said?

Be specific.

r130, they're so brainwashed (and stupid) that they don't even realize how they're turning potential and former allies against them. They think they know the "best interests" of people they don't listen to and slur with pejoratives. They're fucking morons, made all the worse because they see themselves as "the enlightened class". Just keep watching MSNBC, idiots.

The Republican Party is the party of white supremacy dupes. It's not that Democrats are educated, it because the educated are less prone to bullshit.

But I promised to let a trans child vet my secretary of education. That was a very popular position at the Harvard Club.

LOL, tell us more about those abortion rallies that you never went to, R133.

"No, the proper question is: why are you calling your fellow Americans, of all races and ethnicities, Nazis simply because they have exercised their right to vote for whomever they choose?"

You're a complete imbecile. The question was why are black and latinos voting for Nazis (crazy white motherfuckers). Which they are in greater and greater numbers.

More and more white Christian Republicans want a white ethnostate. It's a cancer that is eating that party up alive.

But you know that, because you're one of them.

R35, actually stories like yours encourage complacent Dems t0 stay home…only to be shocked when the election flips.

[quote]No, the proper question is: why are you calling your fellow Americans, of all races and ethnicities, Nazis simply because they have exercised their right to vote for whomever they choose?

Bitch you do not get to put words in my mouth.

The GOP in 2022 is the American Nazi Party. This is a simple demonstrable concrete fact. Abortion rights, voting rights, efforts to gerrymander the GOP into permanent power, etc. etc. etc.

I'm asking why people of color are voting for Nazis who actively hate them and will do anything to fuck them over to stay in power. At no point did I say they were Nazis.

You did.

Take your slimy fucking verbal gymnastics elsewhere.

People who vote for Fascists, if not Fascists themselves, are Fascist enablers and supporters

[quote] In the peoples eyes the left in many countries have abandoned middle class and poor whites. Nobody ever talks about the issues facing poor whites. There’s no focus on poverty as the major issue which it is. It’s always about race, religion and gender. A lot of people feel ignored and like the government isn’t looking out for them. The left will do more to alleviate poverty but a lot of people don’t know that or aren’t thinking rationally.

Exactly - in politics FACTS no longer matter. If it did Trump would never have been elected

Optics are what drives votes. If you are seen as doing something that will get credit with voters, than actually doing something

Politics is now about optics, NOT facts. That is where we are.

"Politics is now about optics, NOT facts. That is where we are."

So fucking true. And so fucking depressing.

What news R100? The false narrative the media just can’t help the right wing spin over and over and over again? That’s not news. It’s bullshit. Spare me.

[quote] As always this is a framing issue. The proper question here is why are blacks and Latinos voting for Nazis?

We’ll see how well this works out for them.

Die-hard blue-no-matter-who-or-what Democrats in this thread thinking that Politico, Pew Research, and Axios are organs of the far right wing are never going to get it.

if the public is hell bent on installing a Republican regime, despite knowing now exactly what that means and what the consequences will be, then that's what we all have to live with. You can scapegoat the Democrats all you want but we're not the ones with the massive war chests and propaganda networks.

This entire masturbatory thought piece is centered around a *slight* shift of white upper class voters to the Dems and a *slight* shift of working class voters of color to the GOP.

And we all fall for the talking points.

[quote] You can scapegoat the Democrats all you want but we're not the ones with the massive war chests and propaganda networks.

Speak for yourself, honey.

We will see if there is a big shift in Republican Women voters post-Roe.

Okay but most people don't understand politics. They are pissed off that Biden won't do anything about abortion rights. He can't, but they don't understand that.

I guess we are used to lower-class whites being uneducated and doofy, but we expected more from lower-class blacks and Latinos. We shouldn't expect more, but we do. Like, I always expected more from gays and lesbians, but I shouldn't. We're all just people.

r152, you know he refused to ratify the ERA, right?

[quote] I don't know what minority voters think will happen if they join the Republicans.

They don’t know, but the one certain thing to them is the Republicans are not the Democrats and that’s the most important thing guiding them to the GOP in our two party system. People will choose what they have determined to be the lesser of two evils. The amateur political analysts here should be asking what has happened to the Democratic Party to make it the worse option.

Anyone who thinks the Democrats are the worst option is certifiably insane. You cannot look at the reality of the last 40 years or live in reality now and not see that unless you are ignorant beyond all available measures. The only problem the Democrats have is treating these ignorant assholes like intelligent people. They want to be stupid sheep and that's how the Repugs treat them.

R155 you’re so correct. Democrats suck at getting ahead of messaging. They always think they’re taking the high road by not hitting back. Maxine waters and Nancy pelosi are the only dems that really call a lie a lie and let the people know it without sugar coating.

[quote] we expected more from lower-class blacks and Latinos. We shouldn't expect more

[quote] The only problem the Democrats have is treating these ignorant assholes like intelligent people

Is this the new Dem "messaging" approach.

I think Americans of all stripes really want to give fascism a try. When it’s fully realized will some like it, some may not. It’s an experiment they’re willing to take a chance on in the hope it will be a better system.

Where does it stop? When they throw gaus into the Fascist ovens?.

Fascism is NEVER the answer.

Mayra Flores is a fluke brought about extraordinarily low turnout in a random election. She will have one of the shortest terms in the history of Congress. Stop citing her as evidence of anything, facile idiots at r122 etc.

I think a lot of Americans hate certain groups so much they want to see them persecuted or exterminate. So, yes they support fascism

[quote] they want to see them persecuted or exterminate.

Oh, dear.

[quote] They are pissed off that Biden won't do anything about abortion rights. He can't, but they don't understand that. I guess we are used to lower-class whites being uneducated and doofy, but we expected more from lower-class blacks and Latinos

There you go thinking they are stupid because they don't agree with you.

Biden has been an old-fashioned sexist for decades. Now he has latched his star onto one of the most misogynistic movements in our history - the trans rights movement.

His pandering has undermined the meaning of women, the value of women, the power of women. He is complicit in the undermining of women and of out and out robbing them of their rights and protections. And this extends to protections for children. You fuck with people's children, and you are toast.

In addition, he has been pandering to the far left in too many things, especially public safety and crime. If you can't see how this all turns many people off and makes them not trust him to handle their deepest concerns then you are blind.

We *are*, in fact, in the middle of a generational party realignment, and the huge number of "Republicans for ${Democrat}" groups vividly illustrates it.

The Republican Party IS going full-on fascist, and its sane members *are* drifting away, regardless of the party name on their voter ID card. And ultimately, their destination is... the Democrats... because in a country with first-past-the-post elections, two dominant parties are inevitable... and the Democrats are the only viable alternative.

The shift works both ways. The Democrats gain votes, but will inevitably shift rightward (at least, on economic issues), because those newly-minted Democrats aren't going to suddenly become left-wing woke progressive environmentalists. They might be ok with laws to reduce smog, but draw a hard line at laws that reduce invisible greenhouse gases and require painful sacrifice. They might be happy with Obamacare, but draw a hard line at "single payer". They might think abortion is a necessary evil, but squirm at assertions that a woman who's near-term has an absolute right to abortion on demand for any reason (or no reason at all).

Regardless of what happens in 2022, two things are almost inevitable:

1) Republicans will defect, and most will end up in the Democratic Party as the Republican party becomes increasingly marginalized & extreme.

2) Those former Republicans will drag the DP to the right. In a future Democratic majority, Manchin & Sinema will be the norm, not the exception.

Eventually, we'll probably have an election that's a hot mess with FOUR-way plurality split:

* a hardcore progressive green independent

* a Democrat who's practically Jeb Bush

* a Republican who's full-on fascist... black, white, and blue flags, Proud Boys, and all.

* a well-funded libertarian extremist

On election day, the Republican will come in last, and the Democrat will fail to get a majority. What happens next in the runoff election will determine the future two-party alignments for the next two generations. The Democrats will end up as the respectable Establishment Party, and the other party will be an almost-unfathomable coalition of green fascists willing to walk down Socialism Ave to buy the votes of desperate non-Muslim poor people.

[quote] The Republican Party IS going full-on fascist,

So are the Democrats. On many issues. You are so blind to this.

[quote] They might be ok with laws to reduce smog, but draw a hard line at laws that reduce invisible greenhouse gases and require painful sacrifice. They might be happy with Obamacare, but draw a hard line at "single payer". They might think abortion is a necessary evil, but squirm at assertions that a woman who's near-term has an absolute right to abortion on demand for any reason (or no reason at all).

That's where most of America is at.

r166, my point exactly. And I think the Democrats, with their "big tent" tolerance (vs Republican Groupthink) are in a better position to exploit that reality as the Republican Party gets caught in a self-reinforcing feedback loop & drags itself further and further right... even AFTER it starts hurting the party more and more in every future election.

R165, go ahead and list all the Democrat's fascistic policy positions. I won't hold my breath.

[quote]They might be ok with laws to reduce smog, but draw a hard line at laws that reduce invisible greenhouse gases and require painful sacrifice. They might be happy with Obamacare, but draw a hard line at "single payer". They might think abortion is a necessary evil, but squirm at assertions that a woman who's near-term has an absolute right to abortion on demand for any reason (or no reason at all).

R166, you are so full of shit. What is the painful sacrifice for the regulation of these "invisible greenhouse gases"? (Do you even understand what smog is?)

Americans do support single payer when they know what it is. Idiot Americans also screamed at the Democrats to keep the government away from their Medicare. Geniuses.

No one thinks women should have abortion on demand at near term for shits and giggles. Those abortions are only performed if a woman will die or if the baby is dead or, ya know, didn't grow a head.

You are completely disingenous.

r165, only if you think the 2nd Amendment is a sacrament.

I think opposition opinions should be heard. I don't think anyone should be trying to shut down debate.

That is a fascist tactic.

That is the essence of bothsiderism.

It is wrong.

Trump famously failed with nice Nazis.

Some opposition opinions are pure white supremacist shit.

Acknowledging and weighing the other side's point of view is now called "bothsiderism"? It used to be called politics, and compromise.

r172, some sides do not have a valid OTHER side.

The Civil War was fought over slavery. There are some issues that do not have compromise.

What a huge lie. Republicans will NEVER be a party of the working class

Open your eyes, r174. They already are.

Well "the working class " is unworthy of our innate magnificence. They're deplorables who cling to guns and God. And the bastards don't even eat arugula.

My eyes are open dumbass and the Repu blicans ha ve never done anything for the working class and they will NEVER do anything for the working class.

[quote]My eyes are open dumbass and the Republicans have never done anything for the working class and they will NEVER do anything for the working class.

Yet somehow they've convinced much of the working class otherwise. It's one of the true conundrums of contemporary American politics. (And no, I don't believe it's as simple as "they're all racists!")

177, they'll get gas prices down and keep crossdressing rapists out of their daughters' school bathrooms.

It’s about pride. The most conservative members of my family may struggle financially and in most parts of their lives. But they feel better railing against illegals, people on welfare, and anyone who think they are better than others..This is deeply engrained in American culture. The Republican Party is a home for this kind of fake self-reliance.

r167, they're the most intolerant people on the planet. Express slightly the "wrong" opinion and you're tarred, feathered, campaigns to have to you fired are begun, Big Tech refuses to host your accounts or fundraisers, banks close your accounts, crossdressing psychopaths stalk you and beat you up, you're sued in Human Rights Court for believing in biology, the White House directs the DOJ to have you classified as a Domestic Terrorist. There is nothing even remotely resembling tolerance on today's global left. As Trudeau said, anything other than the approved groupthink constitutes, "unacceptable views".

R181, that sounds disturbing. Can you give an example of DOJ classifying someone as a domestic terrorists for expressing a slightly “wrong” opinion? Since this is so terrible, please share some real cases.

r182 did you seriously miss the entire Loudon County debacle? Just fucking google Loudon county trans rapist.

r182, here's one of thousands of articles on the subject that you somehow missed with your Approved News Sources.

If it's not in the HuffPost it didn't happen.

More for R182:

Biden's attempt at appointing a "Ministeyr of Truth" aka "thought police" was thankfully shut down by backlash from the GOP.

Yeah. I live in Virginia and know a lot about DHS, so I am not fooled by your hysterical posting. These links do not say what you claim, but whatevs.

We have a MAGA bot on this thread

Sure, r187. No one believes you. And you probably have the sites IP blocked for wrongthink.

r187 is correct and r188 is not. If we have a former president who has convinced 60+ million Americans that there was election fraud in 2020 and he actually won the election, on the basis of ZERO evidence, how do we ever arrive at a fact? A fact become a fact when a statement is backed by evidence. That's all that Biden was asking for. In my neck of the woods, 50+ school board members spread over a dozen or so districts were threatened with murder or physical harm on the basis of having suggested distance learning during the worst part of the pandemic - many in a state whose hospitals were so overwhelmed that they were airlifting patients to hospitals in other states. That's what Merrick Garland was addressing. r182/r187 is talking out his ass.

^^ sorry r182/r188

He didn't "convince" anyone of anything. They knew he was a business fraud and tax cheat and they voted for him anyway. They knew he lost the election but they didn't care. Tha'ts what White Supremacy means to the average American. They will vote for ANYONE who upholds it.

God forbid that we ever consider that, for example, maybe Dems shouldn't have 19/20 presidential candidates announcing they will refuse deportations is president. Maybe it's the progressive prosecutor and nail reform movement and the subsequent (but they have FIVE white papers on why it's unrelated!) rise in violent crime. Maybe it's discovering that the number of unnamed black men killed in America each year by police is, on average, 22, and that looking is consistently showing that voters on the left are GROSSLY overestimating this as in the hundreds or thousands.

Is ANY Democratic politician willing to publically question the sentence "men can get pregnant"? My guess is there is no elected Democrat willing to do so. Democrats need to get their shit together, but they won't.

Nonsense R193. Nobvody with a brain cares anyting about that (and we all know Obama did more deportations than all the Republicans and Bush did NONE during his first term. It's so typical of Republicans to create a problem - and GOP heavyweight Jennifer Pritzker has funded all the trans publicity - and then blame it on the Democrats). None of it had anything to do with how people voted. The election support for Trump was based on white supremacy and nothing else.

Wait until those minorities find out the GOP has no ability to stop inflation

[quote] and we all know Obama did more deportations than all the Republicans

Here we go again with the "Obama is more racist than Repubs" troll.

Inflation comes and goes, but Republicans took our Rights to Privacy away PERMANENTLY.

We can live with inflation (Ask Reagan), but can we as Americans live without our Rights to Privacy?

Never vote for another Republican.

[quote] Republicans took our Rights to Privacy away PERMANENTLY.

uhhhh, ok

[quote] We can live with inflation

No, we can’t. The economy trumps other concerns.

Like I said, the permanent, unless corrected by herculean feats, is more important than inflation

I bought my house at 12.5% interest while Reagan was destroying the S&Ls and the unions. It is now free and clear and worth close to half million dollars. Inflation goes away, Civil Rights shoulda.

[quote] Republicans took our Rights to Privacy away PERMANENTLY.

As awful as that is, the Democrats want to take away our very being. They want to erase us or enable those who want to erase us.

If that goes then nothing else matters.

[quote] As awful as that is, the Democrats want to take away our very being. They want to erase us or enable those who want to erase us. If that goes then nothing else matters.

According to brain dead trolls.

Back to the matter of Democrats should focus on "kitchen table", or "it's the economy" issues. Main weakness that Democrats of that bent have is they are often prone to being policy wonks when trying to sell their positions and ideas. They have these detailed plans they have trouble explaining succinctly and usually state "check my website for all the details". True, Bill Clinton was a master of being wonky yet being able to explain his plans that everyday people could understand and it's unfair to hold people to Bill Clinton's standard, but at least they should strive to better translate their detailed plans on the economy into lay terms. "Go to my website to learn more" and "I've got a plan for it" are not exactly winning communications strategies.

Here, here, r202!

Bump

Women---you know the word Dems are afraid to use anymore---- are not exactly brain dead trolls.

And neither are gays.....whom the trans want to erase.

I have no idea that Democrats dance around the word women, but I can say with certainty, r206, that you are a cunt.

New Quinnipiac poll out today: Do you approve/disapprove of Joe Biden?

Overall: 31/60

GOP: 2/94

Dem: 71/18

Indie: 23/67

Men: 23/67

Women: 39/52

White w/ college: 41/53

White w/o college: 23/68

White men: 22/71

White women: 36/56

White: 29/63

Black: 61/28

Hispanic: 19/70

And what are dems doing about it? Nothin’.

[quote]GOP: 2/94

Sure, cuz this matters.

Biden is not on the ballot this November, but Trump and his SCOTUS are.

In the election for the Senate will you vote for GOP/Dem?

Overall: 44/44

GOP: 93/4

Dem: 3/95

Indie: 45/37

Men: 52/36

Women: 37/52

White w/ college: 42/54

White w/o college: 56/34

White men: 58/32

White women: 45/48

White: 51/40

Black: 13/79

Hispanic: 45/42

[qoute]I have no idea that Democrats dance around the word women,

Well then we can't take you seriously can we.

A lot of women are angry because they feel Biden and Congress haven’t done enough to preserve abortion. But it’s their fault for not voting for Congress.

What’s worse is when abortion went, it was done by getting rid of the right to privacy. Eventually there will be some court cases about employers wanting to see your medical records so they can discriminate against you. People with chronic managed illnesses like HIV or diabetes will be unemployable. Pregnant women will be fired. And forget it if you have heart issues. What else will this new stance cause? Will Employers and bank loan officers be able to see your voting records? Your sex toy purchases? Because nothing is private any more.

It’s also very obvious that Republican talking points and Russian trolls are leaning towards “gays are degenerates.” I saw one on YouTube today going on about how gays were degenerates and shouldn’t be allowed to marry because they are perverts. That’s a Putin talking point straight out of the Kremlin. And these dumb suckers just eat it up. That’s how it started in Russia too. A couple of years of that and every gay was back in the closet.

Just imagine when these morons can see your Prep prescription online.

You may [qoute] me liberally.

Most of you are white men. Yes, you're gay, but you are still white men so have some kind of insight into being a white man in this country. So, what the fucking fuck is wrong with white men and their love of the GOP? Is it just stupidity? Is it racism? Pure, unadulterated selfishness? It literally makes no sense for any of them who aren't super rich to support the GOP to the level they always do. They are sickening.

[quote] Hispanic: 19/70

Holy fuk! Hispanic approval of Biden is only 19 percent? That's less than white males.

R216 be like “I think y’all are a bunch of stupid racist hillbillies, so what gives? Why don’t you do what I want, retards?”

I see no evidence of Republicans becoming multiracial. It's still an overwhelmingly white voting bloc.

[quote]I see no evidence of Republicans becoming multiracial. It's still an overwhelmingly white voting bloc.

I agree with this, but the media are strongly pushing the story, despite lack of proof. Makes me wonder what they’re up to. I have ideas of what I think the reason is.

Latinos are Catholic. Catholics are pro-life. For years, they thought Roe was off the table. Now it’s not.

Latinos are generally socially conservative. If Republicans are going to be throwing red meat out there all day, they’re going to eat it. There’s a lot of relatively uneducated Latinos. They’re not getting the whole concept of, they say one thing and do the opposite. Republican values mirror Latino family values in a lot of ways.

Democrats kept them for years by promoting strong unions for the trades. Now all Democrats ever talk about is college loans, abortions and trans. Trans is not a good issue for socially conservative people. Most poor Latinos don’t relate to all three of these issues. College is an impossible dream for many, abortions are against their religion and trans is something they don’t want to think about, much less hear about every ten minutes. And housing, food and gas prices are through the roof.

R221, the Democrats are the only party trying to do anything about housing, food, and gas prices. It's pure ignorance to pretend otherwise. They've passed the bills over and over and over and they are stopped by McConnell and his unconstitutional use of the filibuster and, because of Manchin, he gets to run the Senate. When these things are reported on in the media, it isn't that EVERY SINGLE FUCKING REPUG is against helping Americans in any way, it's that the Democrats failed to get it through the Senate.

Corporate, for-profit media and news is ending this country.

R222, I’m not arguing with you, but as far as Latinos are concerned, Biden is President, prices are high, it’s Biden’s fault. The end. I have lots of Latino relatives and none of them seem to care about facts or data. It’s all impressions. It’s who gaslights the hardest.

So, R223, how would the Democrats counter that when the corporate media is doing the reporting to the nation?

R214, but Biden sure did put a lot of energy into making sure that men could play on female sports teams and enter female spaces.

And his Asst. Secretary of Health is a man who bravely presents in womanface and goes around the country criticizing bans on child sterilization and genital mutilation procedures.

R224, what Latinos care about are economic issues and moral issues. Kitchen table stuff. Put more money in their pockets, you’ve got them. That’s what the unions did to get Latinos into the Democratic Party. It’s all about money.

I’d talk all day about how Republican policies hurt the economy. And what specific bills Democrats have passed to fix it. Talk about all the bills Republicans have voted against that would stop gas price gouging etc. No one ever hears about that.

The extent of MSNBC tribal-leftist Group think is amazing.

Elephant in the room: most Hispanic voters see POC as black, not them.

[quote]"Latinos" is a meaningless construct when talking about voters. That category covers a vast swathe of humans from very different cultural and national backgrounds, only united by a historical connection to the Spanish language. Upper socio-economic Cuban refugees from communism have fuck all in common with Mexican American farm workers.

And don't you dare call Argentinians Latino! I learned that the hard way. They LOATHE being lumped under the Latino umbrella. As far as Argentinians are concerned, they're Europeans who live in South America and that's the end of it.

100% R228

And consider it an insult when Well Meaning White Progressives lump them in with Blacks as "BIPOC"

They are as racist as anyone and come from countries where Blacks are below mestizos in the pecking order

Argentinians are W-H-I-T-E. Most would foam at the mouth at bring thought of as "the same as" mestizo Mexicans.

In their defense R229, the majority of Argentinians are of Italian not Spanish heritage and there are large communities of Irish, English, Welsh, Germans and Swiss, not to mention a sizable Jewish community.

Makes the whole giving privilege in college admissions thing tricky.

Is red-haired green-eyed Patricio O'Leary whose great-grandparents emigrated from Ireland to Argentina a "Latino" for affirmative action purposes? What if his mother's family came from Madrid, would that matter?

R230, but let's face it, they will never be as racist as Well Meaning White Progressives.

Agreed R233. And unlike the Progressives, they will realize they are racists

By the way, many African-Americans don't think of Hispanics as "the same" either. POC is for white liberals and black/Hispanic academics.

And lord knows that Asians of all stripes in no way want to be lumped in with either Blacks or Latinos.

^^Though they are admitted only "of color" when it's convenient as a way of bumping up the "non-white" numbers

As to the Axios article, it is far from the first time this has been noted.

The GOP is becoming the party of White Trash, and as such, all the people who had once been "country club Republicans" -- fiscally conservative but socially liberal--are fleeing the GOP.

So it's sort of a trade

Link is to a piece from David Leonhardt pointing out that the most affluent suburbs are deep blue even though at some level that means voting against their economic interest. (It's a play on "What's The Matter With Kansas" about working class types voting against their economic interest to vote GOP, for those who don't follow these things closely.)

Multi racial working class voters = GOP voters ???

Do you have a bridge to sell me?

What I'm really looking for is to buy a bridge

Remember that “Latinix stuff? Actual Latinos hate that. They are not woke people. Democrats need to stop trying to make them woke, they aren’t.

Or swampland

How about a hole to bury your head in?

I don't blame Latino people for been a single issue voter. I myself care more about jobs and the economy in general. I am not interested in social issues at the moment. Jobs and high prices of goods comes first then immigration.

After the midterms or at the latest after 2024 MSNBC, Huffington Post, Slate and in time the New York Times itself will offer soulful, regretful, thoughtful opinion pieces from activist scholars asking "Is it time to suspend elections to save democracy" and "If the outcome does not promote equity for everyone shouldn't we do away with 'one person, one vote."

Some dataloungers will support those ideas.

[quote]And no, I don't believe it's as simple as "they're all racists!"

I do. White resentment is a hell of a drug.

"Democracy hasn't worked out for everyone, has it? Queer and non-binary activitists offer their suggestions for burning it all down and starting from scratch." First throw away everything everyone has ever believed. Then, envision!

The Adocate, 2025

The problem is in many ways simple.

The fascists tell you that if you don't agree with them, you are evil. But people know that;s not true and so fuck them.

The woke tell you that if you don't agree with then, you are stupid. And for a lot of people that comes off as way more insulting than evil.

[quote] Some dataloungers will support those ideas.

More than some.

And the voting idea has been proposed.

[quote] And lord knows that Asians of all stripes in no way want to be lumped in with either Blacks or Latinos.

Hell the Chinese don't want to be lumped in with the Japanese. A Chinese descent friend had to school me on that.

And yet the GOP hasn’t offered a single policy to help the economy.

[quote] "Democracy hasn't worked out for everyone, has it? Queer and non-binary activitists offer their suggestions for burning it all down and starting from scratch." First throw away everything everyone has ever believed. Then, envision!

Unfortunately Democracy is a means for the majority to have their say. The Constitution and laws just protect people from unfair discrimination, not from being in the minority position.

If people are unhappy being in the minority then they can find a country or location in the US where they can be in the majority.

I've known Japanese and Singaporean people who've moved to the US and once they got here they were horrified to learn that were considered POC in this country. They totally rejected that label and hated it. They were "elites" and POC to them meant poor and downtrodden black and brown people with whom they wanted no association with. They considered themselves equal to (if not slightly superior to) white people, esp. affluent whites.

R247: and then there's fucking idiots like you who have a fetish for lumping fascists and "the woke" into strained both-sides arguments.

I mean seriously. "pROGRESSIVES aRE tEH rEEL rAcISTS" is the sort of horseshit a 19yo Federalist Society intern would post.

R165 is correct. So is OP, who didn't even offer an opinion, just a news story from a center-left publication. The fact that they are greyed out is just further evidence that Democrats don't want to discuss why the party is failing. Fingers in ears, la la la.

Even the New York Motherfucking Times is calling out Joe's loosening grasp on reality but you just won't hear it. So many left leaning people being attacked as alt right wing christofascist ethnonationalists if they dare question a scintilla of the increasingly batshit progressive lines.

You can't change sex. Minorities don't like being stereotyped by the people who claim to represent them. Latin-x is bullshit. Pronouns are bullshit. DEI programs increase rather than subdue racist instincts. Stop the worst excesses of wokeshit.

r255, the thing is, I don't hear these positions you decry as batshit being strongly advocated by Democratic politicians. I hear them from segments of people within the Democratic party, but that's different. If you feel I'm wrong about that, I'd love you to cite specific examples with evidence. Remember too, (I think a lot of people arguing that the Democrats are too woke are ignoring this next statement) that gay people are being strongly attacked from the right wing - not just trans, not just pronoun-insistent folks, not just pedophiles - but ALL gay people. Look at De Santis, and a dozen copycat states trying to enact don't say gay laws. Look at the number of people calling gay teachers groomers. Look at the Senator and Supreme Court justice talking about revoking gay marriage. This is not SOME OTHER GROUP BEING ATTACKED. This is us.

Fox News and the rest of right wing media has done a banner job of making it seem as if the most extreme people on Twitter are representing the Democrats. They also boost of voices of extreme politicians like AOC.

They are unwittingly aided in this by two things:

1) Every reporter for mainstream/left media is on Twitter and thus gives the Twitter Mobs a whole lot of credence and visibility as well

2) Corporate America and the Education Establishment have the unfortunate tendency to do whatever the "Woke" Twitter mobs demand (e.g. fire people) and thus create the impression said mobs are far more powerful than they are.

You can also count of some Dem politico somewhere, often a city councilor in a small town, jumping in to support said Woke Twitter Mob, which then gives Fox News something to crow about...

[quote]Corporate America and the Education Establishment have the unfortunate tendency to do whatever the "Woke" Twitter mobs demand (e.g. fire people) and thus create the impression said mobs are far more powerful than they are.

I would submit that their ability to get Corporate America and the Education Establishment to jump through their hoops is proof that they are pretty powerful.

Nah, R258, it's just an echo chamber and the media's obsession with social media which gives voice to, pretty much, only the under 25 crowd. This country is already youth-obsessed. This is just part of that. Problem is, none of those idiots vote but it makes it seem like they are voicing some popular position. If all social media disappeared, you'd see a huge difference. Maybe Bezos suing over the fake Facebook review groups is actually the start.

[quote]most affluent suburbs are deep blue even though at some level that means voting against their economic interest

We're thrilled that you think so, hon. But you could not be more wrong. We don't put signs on our lawn or discuss our politics in polite company. And we definitely do not answer polls (who does that?). But, trust me, we vote Repub straight ticket and always will.

Except, you're wrong, R260.

It's the Latino Evangelicals driving this realighment.

[quote]Look at the number of people calling gay teachers groomer

Look at all the woke, purple haired, nose ringed teachers THEMSELVES flaunting their blatant "grooming" behaviors on SM. Giving the middle finger to parents-- bragging about how they sneak gender ideology into their lesson plans. Some telling kids to contact them directly for trans "support" --oh, and "don't tell your parents".

Keep it up dopey dems. We LOVE this shit.

[quote]Hispanic approval of Biden is only 19 percent? That's less than white males.

In the U.S., 47% of Latinos are Catholic, and many Catholics are angry with Biden.

Many Latino voters in typically red states are conservatives, for basically the same reason the white voters are. If you look at the Reuters stats from the poll on the 19th, you'll see the lack of approval for Biden increased the most in rural, non-college, less than $75K, Midwest and South demographics, regardless of race or gender.

Maybe LatinX voters just don't like presidents with cancer ?

R260, typing away from the trailer park, imagining that it is still 1954 and Italians are "not white."

[bold]The reason we can say affluent suburbs are deep blue is by looking at election results where Democrats receive whopping percentages of the vote in affluent suburbs. (They can break results down by voting district within each town)....which means that the people who live in those affluent suburbs actually are overwhelmingly voting for Democrats...[/bold]

Liars get cancer!!!

R264, the “poverty line” has always been considerably lower than the point where people actually start to suffer from poverty. That’s one of the issues, more than anything ideological. I think some rural people who are not well off want someone who says, “I understand that you are not well off and I will help you.”

[quote]I have no idea that Democrats dance around the word women, but I can say with certainty, [R206], that you are a cunt.

Ah . . . the sweet easy misogyny of R207. Just flows off his fingertips.

The irony of that post is such ignorant sexism it should be hailed as perverse performance art.

I think rural people have too much pride and the stubbornness that comes with it.

I think they look at any help as charity and their pride breeds an arrogance that requires they refuse it because after all, they are just one lottery ticket away from joining the wealthy and once they do, fuck all those poor people.

R270, that might make sense if they weren't surviving for generations on government crop subsidies.

Most of the crop subsidies goeto mega agricultural corporations

About 75 percent of total subsidies go to the biggest 10 percent of farming companies, including Riceland Foods Inc., Pilgrims Pride Corp., and Archer Daniels Midland

It's probably more now.

[quote] I think they look at any help as charity and their pride breeds an arrogance that requires they refuse it because after all

They can differentiate between assistance for disasters and forces outside their control versus welfare. It’s the latter, and the admission of making poor life choices and the disgrace that goes with it, that they feel too proud to take. I know as a kid, that was what I saw with my family. My grandmother accepted Social Security because that was her husband’s money, but she taught us how terrible it would be to accept government charity, or any charity, rather than finding a job.

R273, but then they want the job to be available, right? That’s a kind of assistance in itself, to help create the job. And I think they really are asking for help with that while also trying to vent anger that they had to ask.

They really should have access to jobs, though. We have a completely job-based economy. If there’s a way to create jobs that make people happy and don’t hurt the environment. Or maybe 4 days a week instead of 5 as technology reduces the need for labor.

[quote]Look at all the woke, purple haired, nose ringed teachers THEMSELVES flaunting their blatant "grooming" behaviors on SM.

Look at all the inbred goobers cheering at the prospect of forcing 10 year old girls to carry their rapist's baby.

You stupid crackers aren't remotely prepared for the response to abortion bans at the polls in November.

Keep it up, whacky wingnuts. We love that shit.

R275, you're making broad assumptions and they don't exactly serve your argument.

Plenty of people think these teachers are inappropriate idiots and also think no 10 year old abused child should carry a baby.

[quote] You stupid crackers

Big reveal.

A new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Joe has lost 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 demographic.

Only 19% approve of the job he is doing in the survey. Seventy percent of Hispanics said they disapprove of Biden’s leadership.

Congressional Republicans are more popular among Hispanic voters than any other racial group.

One Hispanic voter who recently spoke to Reuters said he is willing to vote for a Republican in November. He cited record inflation when he was asked why his is open to abandoning the Democratic Party.

[quote]1) Every reporter for mainstream/left media is on Twitter and thus gives the Twitter Mobs a whole lot of credence and visibility as well

This explains so much.

What the Democrats REALLY need to do is point out that EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE ON EARTH, is presently experiencing inflation. As bad as inflation is in the US, it's at least 25-50% WORSE in Europe... the fact that the Euro has fallen to near-parity with the Dollar is proof.

Put another way, we have record inflation with Biden in the White House. We'd have record inflation with Trump in the White House. And as a practical matter, we'd still have record inflation with ANYONE in the White House. Goods are scarce because the pandemic fucked up everyone's global supply chains, and it's going to take years to re-fill the product pipelines.

Now, granted, if Trump were still in the White House and getting daily golden showers gifted by Putin, Russia would have probably been allowed to invade Ukraine without consequences, and gas might be about 50c/gallon cheaper... but THEN we'd be facing a potentially BIGGER catastrophe a few years from now, when a newly-emboldened Russia decided to invade a few MORE neighboring countries.

Personally, I think Biden & Congress would have more success at reining in inflation if it pushed for legislation to address the root cause of housing's skyrocketing cost, by making it harder and more expensive for investors to buy and own rental housing and making it cheaper & easier for individuals to buy and own their own homes. Like, keeping mortgage rates low for primary residences, but charging MUCH higher rates for mortgages on investment properties. It's kind of like the situation in 2010, when the price of gas went off the scale because oil futures became so incredibly profitable relative to everything else, investors dumped all their money INTO oil futures & drove up the prices Just Because™ until Congress changed tax laws to "encourage" investors to invest in other things instead of simply trying to out-bid each other on oil futures.

r280, you're so dumb. None of this is accidental, for fuck's sake. Do you think it's a coincidence that all the "progressive" world leaders have been reciting the exact same WEF verbiage over the last two years? Just monkeys writing Shakespeare?

r281, ok, since you're so wise... name ONE major country that ISN'T presently experiencing record inflation. ONE.

I'm waiting. Go ahead, name one.

Paul Krugman never gets it right

r282, jesus you're thick. The inflation is on purpose, shit for brains. How else do you think they usher in UBI aka neo-feudalism?

r284, YOU'RE the one who's "thick".

If (big "if") you're right, and global inflation is somehow a trick to usher in UBI, then it's pointless to wring our hands over it, because the allegedly-omnipotent "they" are more powerful than you, me, and anyone who might conceivably be President, and "they" will inevitably get their way, regardless.

In any case, UBI isn't "neofeudalism"... if anything, givine people enough money to say, "fuck you, if you want me to work for you, you have to make it worthwhile" is the very DEFINITION of anti-feudalism, and the first step towards a Star Trek economy.

[quote]Only 19% approve of the job he is doing in the survey. Seventy percent of Hispanics said they disapprove of Biden’s leadership.

Picture the Hispanic population as a toddler sitting in the corner pouting because their sister (black people) is getting all of daddy's attention and you'll understand what's going on here.

We're not even going to talk about all their mom's attention currently focused on their crazy aunt who is currently falling down drunk while ranting at the birds in the back yard (the transtapo).

Sage advice from Mark Twain

See I think intheir heart of hearts all conservatives know their politics is based on lies.

R63 The link is proof that education sometimes makes you dumber. I still think that free college is a good idea, but the past years I changed my stance. I now believe it should be free in every field but Humanities. If someone wants to brainwash himself so he talks about birthing people and Latinx he should pay for it himself. Or herself, more often. Tax payers shouldn't force-fund a cult, whether it's scientology or gender and oppression crap. None of it has any base in reality and none of it benefits real people.

[quote]What the Democrats REALLY need to do is point out that EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE ON EARTH, is presently experiencing inflation.

Unfortunately, logic doesn't really factor in to most Americans' voting decisions, especially in the age of Trump.

And "inflation is worse in Estonia," while true, doesn't mitigate voters' desire to make someone pay for their current economic woes. It's about as effective as "but crime was even worse in the '70s" as a vote-getting tactic.

[quote]You stupid crackers aren't remotely prepared for the response to abortion bans at the polls in November.

I hope you aren't relying on abortion bans to convert anyone.

[quote]And "inflation is worse in Estonia," while true, doesn't mitigate voters' desire to make someone pay for their current economic woes.

You mean like when everyone blamed Trump for covid---a worldwide pandemic?

R289, we already have something like that in place. Schools can't get a tuition grants unless they can show a certain percentage of grads have gainful employment in their chosen profession.

[quote]The Higher Education Act (HEA) requires that all career education programs receiving federal student aid “prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation”

[quote]You mean like when everyone blamed Trump for covid---a worldwide pandemic?

I realize you don't do nuance, but Trump was blamed for his response to covid, not for the existence of the virus.

[quote]I now believe it should be free in every field but Humanities. If someone wants to brainwash himself so he talks about birthing people and Latinx he should pay for it himself.

Counterpoint: I think everybody should be required to do some studies in Humanities to minimize their potential to turn into a psychotic asshole shitposting kneejerk opinions to complex topics they don't remotely understand.

Inflation/price gouging is a pressure to move wages downward.

Like when Reagan killed the unions.

[quote] when Reagan killed the unions.

huh?

That's full on racist, R286.

[quote]You mean like when everyone blamed Trump for covid---a worldwide pandemic?

Well played.

Elephant in the room: the national Democratic party is waaaaay too woke for most voters of all races.

^^^ Yep. They refuse to see this and correct course.

[Quote] One Hispanic voter who recently spoke to Reuters said he is willing to vote for a Republican in November. He cited record inflation when he was asked why his is open to abandoning the Democratic Party.

…and the GOP’s plan is…?

R300, no, that’s the GOP’s attack message. They’re covering up for the fact that abortion will now be banned in half the states. They’re coming after contraception and gay marriage.

The GOP wants a theocracy

R302, the abject ignorance that people who say shit like that show is astounding. You'd have to have been paying zero attention to the entire political history of this country for the last 40 years to go with Repugs on economic issues.

The only party worth saving is the Democratic Party. How do you save it? It will not listen to the majority of its members. It only listens to fringe groups. Is it like a child that needs to be taught a lesson?

I don't know the answer but something drastic has to happen for the Dems to wake up and see what their pandering to the far left and the fringe has done. It has weakened the party and the country.

Maybe it needs some tough medicine.

One simple thing will save the Democrats. They need to dumb everything down about 80%. They need to stop treating voters like they are smart or informed in any way because they are not. No more paragraphs of explanation for policies. No more six point plans. Ten word slogans, max.

And, they need to stop this 'go high' bullshit. It's killing us. These uninformed voters are the wrestling fans of politics. To quote something I heard once, probably on West Wing, "They'll like us when we win!" so we need to BEAT the Repugs. Politics is no longer a debate club like it was before Nixon. It's a fight club. Democrats need to figure that out right the fuck now.

Today the idiots told me "California is bad for business!" Really? I've been hearing crap like this all my life. When I moved from "low tax" Georgia (5% income tax) to "high tax" Illinois (3% income tax) everybody condoled with me (Business are leaving Illinois!) Then Scott Walker cut the income tax in Wisconsin from 8 to 7% while Illinois increased it's income tax from 3 to 5% and I was told companies were all fleeing to conservative pro-business Wisconsin! Illinois does have high taxes: property taxes, almost ALL of which goe sto support the bloated several thousand units of local government past republican administrations have put in place as an anti-Chicago move. So Illinois has always had a weak state government. So do the conservatives blame these blood-sucking local governments, many of which owe their entire existence to extortion, as Ferguson MO did? Of course not. The extortioners were white: the victims were black -- no republican principle is more important than racism~! They didn't hate on Ferguson at all. It's always those liberals like in the Illinois and California governments (Cali by the way is running a multiBILLION dollar surplus becuase LIBERALS are so irresponsible with money!). If you're so dum you think the left lies and the right undestands how to run an economy, you are too dumb to vote and you actually deserve to have that right taken from you.

Agree with R305. Look at Netflix.

They were beholden to transgenders until the Dave Chappelle incident forced them to wake up. They went from the CEO making a second groveling apology about Chappelle's special to only a few months later telling their woke employees that if they didn't like working there then find a new job.

You think this isn't going on all over the country?

You think anyone - including the vast majority of the black population - wants to hear stupid excuses for rising crime and people becoming too afraid to go out into society - or even into their hallways?

There's an accountability coming aright, and the reality is it won't be about Roe v Wade. Or most of the other issues the Dems keeping getting stuck on.

Repblicans militarized the police force with billions in surplus equipment R309: yet another conservative social engineering project that backfired. Their allowing such unfairness to happen in the economy has pretty m uch eliminated the work ethic. It turns out Adam Smith's Invisible Hand wasn't so mystical or mysterious after all. It was agency and fairness: the idea that my work will lead to reward; and the rewards will be commensurate with the work. The low wages and excessive rewards to the corporate e lite: all of it encouraged and allowed by Republicans, has destroyed that principle and therefore the motive force of capitalism. That's why nobody does a real day's work anymore, new business formation is rock bottom, and patents at an all-time low (if you exclude financial patents). Republicans have managed to destroy the motor that makes capitalism work.

[quote] Democrats.... need to dumb everything down about 80%. They need to stop treating voters like they are smart or informed in any way

[quote] To quote something I heard once, probably on West Wing,

You are a waking stereotype, R306. Do you enjoy lattes at Starbucks while in your Telsa, as well?

[quote] Repblicans militarized the police force with billions in surplus equipment

People like George Floyd weren’t killed with a tank or howitzer.

No but the police have them R312

r312, do you know how much Fentanyl was in his blood? Feel free to blame the DEA, though.

R311, do you have any actual points to make to counter what I said? Didn't think so. The vast majority of voters are fucking morons. The political and social illiteracy in this country is astonishing and Democrats need to realize that.

^Oh honey, there are vastly more illiterate dems than repubs.

[quote] ^Oh honey, there are vastly more illiterate dems than repubs.

You forgot to sign your post.

Baltimore School System

That's because there are vastly more Democrats.

[quote]Democrats are becoming the party of upscale voters concerned more about issues like gun control and abortion rights.

Hardly "upscale" issues. Working class people also need abortions and fear being shot.

The Democrats are the party of the majority's will. Abortion access, gun safety, voters rights, the right to privacy, gay marriage are all things that consistently poll over 55% that Republicans block. Republicans represents minority white supremacy elitism. Democrats represent across the board.

The electoral college was put in place to placate the slave states. It is an anachronism. It is the only reason that Democrats haven't been in charge of everything, every year for the last three decades.

It needs to be said, over and over, that both George Bush and Trump lost the popular vote. And yet, not only did the electoral college allow them to win, but it gave them Supreme Court nominations that they really ought not to have had. We also have a Senate in which 50 Senators represent more than 60 % of the population and 50 Senators represent less than 40% of the population, and yet those 40 percenters consistently use their power to block important legislation (and legitimate court nominees). Our system needs to be reworked before it implodes from the fundamental unfairness of it. One man one vote is NOT the system we operate under.

[quote] One man one vote is NOT the system we operate under.

well duh

"It has the echo of a core American belief. It rings with the same distinctively American clarion call for equality and individual empowerment that reaches back through the ages to the nation’s founding: “…of the people, by the people, for the people”, “All men are created equal”…

But it wasn’t until 1963 that “One person, one vote” became a widely articulated core principle of the Constitution when it was first spoken by Chief Justice Earl Warren’s Supreme Court."

What issues were the court grappling with in the 60s? Gerrymandering, apportionment of the vote, disenfranchisement of selected groups of voters, etc. Does this sound familiar? Because much of the solutions of the Warren Court have been systematically unraveled by the Roberts Court. A constitutional Republic COULD allow for one man one vote in a myriad of ways - including proportional representation of the electoral vote in every state, without violating our Constitution in the slightest. . Some states already do this - notably Nebraska and Maine. Guess which party blocks every attempt to do this on a wider scale?

[quote] It needs to be said, over and over, that both George Bush and Trump lost the popular vote.

It also needs to be said that the United States has never had a popular vote for president in the entire history of the Constitution. It’s like saying someone won the 132 yard dash competition.

R325, our entire country was founded on fighting against taxation without representation. We, the fucking majority of this nation who are also paying all the bills for the loser minority red states, are being taxed without representation.

R326, the Electors whom you and the other people in your state elected are your representatives for electing the POTUS. Assuming you live in a state, you also have Senators and a Congressperson as representatives in Congress.

r325 You're correct. However, the electors of the various states are weighted to give more "electoral" power to residents of small population rural states, which, by being guaranteed at least on representative and two senators, amass more electors than their size would warrant. And this system itself was actually a compromise to get slave states to join the United States, because they realized that the more populous northern states would outvote them on some issues - including their right to own slaves. Previous to the 17th amendment, senators were also not elected directly, but chosen by their state legislatures. So popular vote (and more direct voting) was added to the constitution. We could, with enough will, do the same for the President. Proportional voting is the simplest route to achieve this goal, because small states are not likely to ever agree to reducing the numbers of electors that the system guarantees them.

R327, the majority of Americans are not represented by people they chose. The electoral college is the gaming of the system to favor the conservative, racist minority. Therefore, we, the majority, do not have representation.

[quote] Repblicans militarized the police force with billions in surplus equipment

Are you sure about that? You sure this didn't start with a Democratic administration?

Agree

The transfer of military gear to police began under LBJ in 1968.

Correct.

R332, while it might have begun under LBJ, it took new life and vigor after Reagan

Under Reagan the program continued as before but if you actually give a damn about when "it took new life and vigor" see the North Hollywood Shootout of 1997 when two well-armed robbers outgunned the LAPD. Twenty cops and civilians shot while the police had to borrow firepower from sporting goods stores.

[quote] Republicans are quietly building a multiracial coalition of working-class voters, with inflation as an accelerant."

they are doing no such thing.

What exactly do the Republicans plan to do about inflation? It seems like they expect it to take them to power, then disappear magically.

After the Kuwait war, there was a lot of leftover weapons so Congress allowed police depts to have it

[quote] What exactly do the Republicans plan to do about inflation?

That will only come into play if they win the presidency in 2024. For 2022, they can win elections by just being “Not the Democrats”. That the best strategy for them, to say nothing and just let the electorate punish the party in power for the current economic situation.

[quote]What exactly do the Republicans plan to do about inflation? It seems like they expect it to take them to power, then disappear magically.

Since the vast majority of the high prices is being caused by corporate price gouging, I bet it actually will at least lessen when the corporate Repug lovers want to make it look like it was the Repugs taking care of it.

R310, I live in a blue state and there’s a video going the rounds of a senior man running away from what looks like a black teen with a gun. The kid fired at him point blank but the gun jammed. He got away. It was on the Ring camera.

This particular old man lives in a nice senior community. I’ve lived nearby for twenty years, and that entire time they’ve had a bunch of armed robberies, Home invasions and attacks on seniors by predatory people. I would never live there even though it’s a very nice neighborhood, because it’s been open season on seniors as long as I’ve been here. It’s a violent crime magnet.

There have been murders, many home invasions, some very elderly couples tied up and beaten while their homes were ransacked by a gang that went through the area repeatedly. This was kind of a forerunner of the kind of thing that’s happening more and more around the country. Just this The Purge mentality. Only every day.

And social media is heavily promoting the idea that all elderly people are rich and evil, feel free to cheat them, beat them or kill them because 100% of them are responsible for younger people’s suffering. These troll posters refuse to acknowledge that most people of every generation have struggled while a few corporate oligarchs steal from everybody. It’s really obvious to anyone with a brain cell that it’s Russian troll posters trying to sow divisiveness and hatred among the generations. It’s really hard to believe there are young people so stupid they can’t understand Russian troll posting goes both ways, it’s not just promoting Qanon, it’s also posting hatred of others within your own group.

Putin is trying to destroy us as a country, and people subscribing to the theory of “my fellow liberal democrats, who vote like me, are bad because I hate anyone older than me, I’m going to attack members of my own party because that makes me smart” are willingly weakening their own country and helping Russia and Putin finish us off.

R341, I agree with some of that but then you kinda lost me. Maybe try again to explain.

You are absolutely correct about the emboldened crime against persons that has become a pandemic. We as a society, and my party in particular, has told these cretins that this behavior will be "understood" rather than severely punished. That in many cases it will be "diverted" into programs rather than prosecuted.

The kind of voter who cares about detailed policy plans to combat inflation are already likely to vote Democratic.

I say we start giving life sentences for any crime committed with a gun. People will either stop with the gun bullshit or, eventually, they'll all be locked up. And, I'm not talking any kind of good locked up. They can all be thrown on an island and we'll put up a perimeter and make it pay per view to pay for it.

And, we also need to start suing the gun manufacturers. Fuck Bernie for helping that gun manufacturer protection against lawsuits passed. Hypocrite. They are now marketing a gun that shoots twice the velocity of the AR-15 and can pierce all the protective armors.

[Quote] For 2022, they can win elections by just being “Not the Democrats”.

And by pushing that gays are groomers out to ruin everyone’s children

R344, the second Amendment protects any gun, even one with the power of a tank

Which is pure insanity r346. Just because these mass killing machines are invented, doesn't mean the public should have them. Anyone who advocated that the public should be able to own rocket launchers and grenades would be laughed at as a kook, so why military-grade automatic weapons?

R347, I agree with you that there should be limitations, but the problem with gun control people is that they have it so set in stone in their minds that the solution is just to logically convince people that the 2nd Amendment can be interpreted away. They pin all of their hope on favorable judicial rulings, just like abortion activists have always done. The only real solution in both cases is to amend the Constitution, period. Just stop all the regulated militia clause crap and accept that an amendment is the only way to fix the problem. It may take decades, but every minute wasting time with legislative and judicial remedies is just delaying the only permanent solution.

I agree r348. The way the 2nd Amendment has been interpreted is ridiculous. "A well-regulated militia" somehow got perverted into "any idiot can own an arsenal of weapons and have them in his living room." It's madness. And of course if semi-automatic weapons like AR-15s had been around in the 18th Century the Founders would not have wanted ordinary citizens to have them. Back then they had muskets and long rifles, a totally different beast from modern firearms.

The Constitution needs to be amended, but doing so would probably cause a civil unrest of epic proportions.

OMG. What is wrong with them? This is a perfect example of their cluelessness. From MSN

House progressives are sounding the alarm about a series of bills that would increase funding for local law enforcement, arguing they risk alienating and angering Democratic base voters three months ahead of the midterm elections.

House Democrats plan to bring the bills to the floor later this week at the request of moderate Democrats to blunt political attacks by Republicans that Democrats are soft on crime and want to “defund the police.” The bills are also an attempt to bolster Democrats' bona fides on public safety as voters are more worried about crime than they have been since 2016, according to Gallup. But progressives and their voters have been highly critical of additional funding for law enforcement without new policies governing policing practices following the killings in recent years of Black Americans in high-profile cases involving allegations and convictions of excessive force and the mistreatment of communities of color. They have asked Democratic leadership to reconsider putting the bills on the floor, arguing that it will suppress Democratic turnout in the midterms and risk dividing the party.

The lawmakers are taking issue, in particular, with two bills that would provide additional funding for police without any new policing policies attached, including a grant program to hire additional police officers. . . grants to police departments with less than 200 officers.

“Progressives know that communities across the country are concerned about public safety, and that frontliners in particular are eager to see Congress move on this issue,” a senior progressive Democratic aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy told The Early. “That's why we've advocated for legislation — including bills introduced by frontliners — that would unite the Democratic Caucus, and that Democrats across the spectrum can support.”

Some civil rights groups have also raised concerns. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights sent a letter to Democratic leadership Monday criticizing the additional police funding without requiring oversight and accountability measures.

“We urge you not to take up any legislation that perpetrates these harmful realities and doubles down on the broken and discriminatory criminalization-first approach to public safety,” Maya Wiley, the group's president and chief executive, wrote.

A proposal to overhaul policing tactics that passed the House last year died in the Senate, which was a major disappointment to Democrats who wanted police reform to be a key achievement this Congress.

Absent police reform, President Biden invoked executive orders around policing in May to increase accountability and transparency in policing, but last week the president repeated his call for Congress to provide funding to hiring of 100,000 new officers. Some civil rights groups, including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, encouraged the president to “focus on appropriate alternatives to policing and on creating a public safety system that centers the protection of civil and human rights.”

[^^^ PROTECTION FOR CRIMINALS - WE ALREADY HAVE THAT - IT'S CALLED THE US CONSTITUTION]

Democratic leadership wants to help frontline Democrats who have the greatest chance of losing in an environment that seems more hospitable to Republicans — while also daring Republicans to vote against extra funding for the police. Now they are faced with warnings from progressives that the bills will hurt the party's chances this November by scaring away loyal voters.

[NO, THESE SO CALLED “PROGRESSIVES” ARE THE ONES SCARING AWAY LOYAL VOTERS.]

The progressives do support three bills in the package, including one by Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and another by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) that would invest in community-based violence reduction and provide grants to beef up mental health response teams during emergency calls.

Okay rant over. Return to your dreamy state of utopia.

[quote] Democratic leadership wants to help frontline Democrats who have the greatest chance of losing in an environment that seems more hospitable to Republicans — while also daring Republicans to vote against extra funding for the police.

Guaranteed such bills will include poison pills the media will ignore such as additional funding for Biden's illegal immigrants plus the usual hog at the trough pork projects.

Get rid of the electoral College and all things work out.

The concerns of Progressives aren't unwarranted... but they NEED to grasp that in a marginally-purple state like Florida, Democrats get *slaughtered* whenever the Republicans successfully paint them as 'soft on crime'.

Val Demings is a Democrat with a nonzero chance of winning PRECISELY because she can pound her fist on the podium, angrily vow to send criminals to prison, and convince voters she *means* it.

A Chesa Boudin-like Progressive would have no hope whatsoever of winning anywhere in Florida. Voters in *Wilton Manors* would hold their nose & grudgingly vote for a fuckable Republican before voting for a Democrat who even *hinted* about being "soft on crime" (specifically, violent random crime and property crimes against anyone rich enough to afford Wilton Manors).

In 2020, Florida Democrats got drawn & quartered at the polls thanks to out-of-state Progressives practically writing the Republicans' attack ads for them.

[quote] a nonzero chance of winning

That's a head scratcher.

r354, "nonzero" means, "it's a longshot... but not completely inconceivable... that she could win". She's about as close as you can presently get to a perfect candidate for the Democrats in Florida: a strong, no-nonsense black woman who gets respect because she worked really damn hard to earn it. You might not agree with her, but you *will* listen to her argument & thoughtfully consider it.

Against her in that light, Marco struggles... if he pushes back too hard, he looks like a desperate puppet or a bully. If he doesn't step up his game *enough*, he looks weak & useless. Either way, Val effectively neutralizes the #1 tactic normally used to hurt Florida Democrats, and Marco knows better than to even *try* painting her as a soft-on-crime progressive. If anything, he's been encouraging his PACs to sow discontent among black voters over her LE past (which is an even more risky strategy that could backfire badly on him).

As a new Florida resident what's the deal with this gubernatorial primary next month? Is Crist's opponent one of those far left progressives who'd be slaughtered here?

No, I'd say Nikki & Charlie are both reasonable & non-woke. Either one would be a net improvement over DeSantis. I'd probably prefer Nikki, just because I remember absolutely nothing (good OR bad) about Crist as governor, and Nikki has gotten surprisingly good press as agriculture commissioner.

Florida actually HAS some genuinely good Democrats who'd be quite electable if Florida's Democratic Party *itself* had the slightest fucking clue in hell how to effectively win elections here, and knew how to "fight dirty" when necessary.

Part of the problem is that Florida Democrats are perpetually on the defensive & have to keep proving how non-Woke™ they are just to survive. We have some of the most conservative Democrats in America, but the Party just lamely stands back & lets the Republicans paint them as Woke® left-wing extremists because it's so damn afraid of offending black voters who won't vote *anyway*, while ignoring the Jewish little old ladies from Brooklyn who *do* turn out and vote in force & have zero tolerance for 'men menstruate too' nonsense.

This year is an opportunity for Democrats to win a few seats in Florida, if they can just grow some cojones & proudly dare to be NON-woke.

[quote] This year is an opportunity for Democrats to win a few seats in Florida, if they can just grow some cojones & proudly dare to be NON-woke.

In other words, be a DINO, like so many people on DL are.

R359, you seem to be throwing the DINO term around without defining it or understanding it. If someone you call a DINO casts the deciding vote to pass the largest climate change bill, roll back the carried interest deduction, and reduce prescription drug prices, I’m fine. It’s better than the most liberal Republican will deliver, and exactly what the most progressive Democrat actually can deliver. Supporting Medicare for All doesn’t matter if you can’t pass it.

R359, Regular Dems were already "woke".

It's what makes us The Libtards Who Must Be Owned.

The Christo-fascists have moved on from Political Correctness.