For a party that nominated Hillary Clinton, a candidate so corrupt and dishonest and terrible that only she could lose to the vulgar barbarian, "don't muck this one up" is wishful thinking. For a party that doesn't want to muck it up, the Democrats sure are doing a good job of motivating Hillary's deplorables. For a party that doesn't want to muck it up, the Democrats are playing identity politics designed to ensure that they lose (intentionally) a large number of Obama voters, just the way they did in 2016. We'll see what happens with the Democrats' corrupt incumbents, like Senator Menendez.
12
Interesting that the areas where democrats have most alienated traditional democrats and independents, such as immigration and identity wars, are the areas where their beloved NYT has been most strident.
The "proudly progressive" NYT Editorial Board is part of the problem, folks.
17
The Democratic Party is definitely ready to win. It is focused on bread and butter issues, the ones which affect a "broad swath of voters."
But the problem for the Democratic Party is that their practical, sensible, uniting and broad proposals are - as always - drowned out by the intemperate left-progressive social rhetoric which it associates itself with.
It is easy for Republicans to tar the Democratics with being the party of "no due process for men!," "its time for white males to suffer!," "open borders, eliminate ICE!," or "America is irredeemably bigoted!" It is simple for the GOP to link the moderate, sensible Democratic Party with the toxic insanity that infects too many college campuses.
The Democrats are thrilled to use this "energy" to serve themselves during elections, but don't understand how corrosive this all is. You don't have to be a Trump supporter, a conservative or a Republican to be alienated by this madness.
Left wing identity politics: it's the Democrats' poison pill.
7
"It's the economy stupid". This was the phrase that won underdog Bill Clinton the White House. 2018 is the best economy and jobs position America has been in for decades. President Trump is at a Rassmussen 50% today with 93% negative coverage from the MSM. What would his approval numbers look like if the 2018 coverage was actually fair and balanced?
6
The irony is that those most dismissive of Trump are the ones who refuse to dismiss him. Instead, they call for persistent aggressive attacks.
Those who believe that Trump is unfit, by contrast, are happy to let him prove his incompetence by forgoing purposeless, senseless debate.
I'm with those who believe that stooping to Trump's level is a mistake. Prolonging the Kavanaugh argument, the tendentious impeachment dispute, and discussion of Trump's financial shenanigans keep the level of invective high.
A cool and calm approach to the elections keeps elevates the level of dialogue -- which is beyond Trump's competence..
Refraining from argument for the sake of argument demonstrates that Democrats are confident and are not interested in childish squabbles, the sort of argument that is Trump's bread and butter.
1
I would really like to know in precise amounts just how much my vote is worth. With all the gerrymandering and technology used to manipulate the vote..I just wonder.
4
The democrats could run a thousand campaigns based exclusively on airing factual information about what the trump/right wing government has done to the American people. Problem is, democratic messaging is usually awkward, preachy, and defensive. If they had some decent communications people with a killer instinct and actual damning data, they could walk into congress. However, this is the democratic party we're talking about and they would rather feel good about themselves than win.
In case you need to be reminded of what's at stake: trump 2020, pence 2024, pence 2028, SC 9-0. And if you think that's fantasy.... get out of politics now.
1
If the Republicans hold on, the Democrats one person to look at who kept the Republicans in power, Feinstein. She had the letter for months before she brought forward. She had it when she interviewed Kavanaugh. She had it when the hearing began. Then just when they are about to vote, she brings it up and then and her pals on the committee, demand the FBI investigate. No one needs Windex to see through that window. But of course, the letter was leaked. No one can defend themselves from leaks. Feinstein was asked if she leaked it and of course she denies it. When she is asked about her staff, she turns around, says something to then, and reports they say they didn't do it. That should erase such an idea. The problem with Ford is, everyone she said could supported she claims support her story, said they didn't. And on this kind of accusation, the attempt is made to destroy Kavanaugh and his family. Along with that, they are trying to get America to forget about the presumption of innocence. This has revved up the Republics throughout the country to vote. And now two Congressmen say they will attempt to impeach Kavanaugh. That gives the Republicans even more energy to vote. It will be interesting see what happens. When the 2016 election was held, was there anyone at the NYT this many days until the election who thought Trump would win?
5
The Democrats need to understand that virtually the only issue on which they and most Republicans concur is that of income inequality. Unemployment is down but corporate profits have far exceeded any salary increases that have been bestowed on the working class. That's unlikely to change, and tax cuts for the super-affluent have a habit of not trickling down to the rest of us. Democrats need to focus on this and to consistently remind workers that their enemies are in the board-rooms and not in the basements. Tax rates need to be adjusted in such a way as to obligate the rich to pay for the services that benefit the poor in order that the working class can take care of itself. Let's stop fighting one another (white males vs. blacks, Latinos, working women, immigrants, Muslims, gays and everyone else who's scapegoated by the President and his enablers) and start recognizing that the only ones who are profiting from Republican rule are the folks who've been profiting all along.
32
Democrats need to take back the Senate or this country is lost. Let's hope Trump does something colossally stupid. Especially around the end of October!!
5
There's plenty of 'white noise' (no pun intended) throughout the Halls of Congress on both sides of the aisle.
Before matt/nners spiral further out of control and this onslaught of never-ending divisiveness between each major party ruin our society, the finger-pointing blame game must stop.
Campaigning/Election time brings out the worst in a bicameral legislature as it pits an "Us v Them" mindset. Thereafter are the bitter repercussions which, through the advancement of technology, only furthers the recriminations and societal angst by encouraging, not a debate of ideas but, a proliferation of MSM seeds of thought.
Why do but a few members who are NOT elected represented officials who govern our nation have so much influence over how we, the lemmings, think?
Like a number of my comments, this too is likely not to be posted.
12:10 CST, 10/11/18
3
The NYT just had an op-ed belittling the concerns of whites. This inspired me to vote Democrat on election day. Nice Job!
2
Disappointing--the only issue that the editorial board member specifically cites for Democrats to run on is healthcare. What about a rational environmental policy as the evidence of dangerous climate change keeps buffeting voters in the face and the EPA becomes a facilitator of toxic chemicals? What about advocating common sense gun safety measures? What about pointing out the warped GOP tax bill that was a bonanza for the wealthy while exploding the deficit, and so forth?
Agreed that the Democrats shouldn't be shouting about impeachment of Kavanaugh or Trump but that doesn't mean that they should be timid advocators for what is both right and popular. One of the party's past handicaps is that they seem too feckless combating Republican malarky.
3
For a party that doesn't have impeachment on its mind, the Democrats sure need a lot of reminders from their mouthpieces [like The Times] not to mention the "I" word while campaigning.
In fact and truth - which are brands now for The Times - impeachment is all the Democrats have to offer. Maxine Waters, Jerrod Nadler and the rest of the impeachment advanced assault squad aren't tallking policies are they? Nope. All that matters is the big "I". House Speaker Pelosi's walk back on her disingenuous prattle should the House fall will make interesting reading.
Cottle thinks the Dems should beg for a second chance to show deplorables and dregs the benefits of a Blue government. Second chances would not be necessary if the Democrats actually gave a damn about anything but demogouging the people.
7
It might be a few percentage points but they could be a definitive force in tight races. That's those true Republicans that are weary of this White House. To those and almost anybody you could sway them by arguing "Bring back some true values to the GOP, vote Democrat this time around"
3
Trump's appeal is emotional. The Dem's appeal is rational. That's not going to cut it unless it's coupled with passion.
2
I would suggest that the Democratic party do canvassing - especially to get out voters in the critical districts
Certain senior Democrats have also said if they take the House they'll go for impeachment, so we can't only blame Republicans for circulating this.
5
If the Republicans hold on, the Democrats on person to look at who kept the Republicans in power, Feinstein. She had the letter for months before she brought forward. She had it when she interviewed Kavanaugh. She had it when the hearing began. Then just when they are about to vote, she brings it up and then and her pals on the committee, demand the FBI investigate. No one needs Windex to see through that window. But of course, the letter was leaked. No one can defend themselves from leaks. Feinstein was asked if she leaked it and of course she denies it. When she is asked about her staff, she turns around, says something to then, and reports they say they didn't do it. That should erase such an idea. The problem with Ford is, everyone she said could supported she claims support her story, said they didn't. And on this kind of accusation, the attempt is made to destroy Kavanaugh and his family. Along with that, they are trying to get America to forget about the presumption of innocence. This has revved up the Republics throughout the country to vote. And now two Congressmen say they will attempt to impeach Kavanaugh. That gives the Republicans even more energy to vote. It will be interesting see what happens. When the 2016 election was held, was there anyone at the NYT this many days until the election who thought Trump would win?
4
@Bruce Rozenblit
"Restoring America can't be outlined in a sound bite...We just need to get the people to listen."
Right you are. One sound bite won't cut it. But maybe we could get voters to listen, and devalue the GOP sound bites at the same time, by saying just that. Then whack 'em with your list, bam-bam-bam, one after the other, each one a short, sharp, succinct sound bite of its own that would be difficult for the other team to demonize--and be prepared to provide detailed specifics rather than vague plans. LGBTQ rights and civil rights and women's rights could easily be combined as "human rights for all of us," or "everybody wins in a just society." But then there's "gun control." Nope. Because we all know that we'll never control guns in this cockamamie country. So hit 'em with a slogan they would look irresponsible opposing: "gun safety." Get these positive sound bites out there. None of the two-or-three-word ad hominem attacks that the other team uses, and no mention of the Orange One's name.
Grassroots campaigns seem to be doing just this. What we need now is for the DNC to get the message, and hijack the GOP's main tactic: repeat, repeat, repeat. Repetition is the mother of learning. It only seems that we don't have a message because it's crickets up there.
2
Freedom is a foul-tasting medicine. Nothing costs as much as “free.”
The notion that these specific mid-terms are purely a partisan concern is about as amusing as I could ever imagine.
Memento Mori.
1
If Democrats can't find a way to hoist Republicans on the petards of their own corruption and lies, they deserve to lose again. Democrats have historically been the worst marketers of their own success stories and now seem unable to to take the perfidy that Republicans have laid out on a plate for them and, sorry to mix metaphors, make hay out of it. If I were an Independent, it would sure sway me to be reminded of the Trump and McConnell self-serving and harmful policies and outright lies. Here in Missouri we are subjected to a nonstop barrage of commercials trying to convince us that an honorable Senator, Claire McCaskill, has spent two terms in Washington doing nothing but enrich herself at taxpayer expense - this is thanks to a PAC called the Senate Leadership Fund, run by Mitch McConnell's former chief of staff and recently buttressed by a $25 MILLION donation from Sheldon Adelson.
I don't want the Dems to resort to lies like the Republicans do, especially because they don't have to. Just let Trump et al speak for themselves, it's all there on video.
1
Michelle, your argument is stated clearly and without pejorative terms. You are able to convince me…and I'll warrant a majority of readers more…that the nauseating task of seeing Trump's face wherever we turn will have to be endured.
Speaking out as one, the disparate and motley crew we call the Democratic Party will post its bill of lading to the White House. As we must have the votes, even in a largely incorrect and deadly gerrymandered districting that sways the balance of the poll
politicians must show…as Beto O'Roarke has preached and delivered…that their
power is correctly to advise and remind and enforce by unity that the so-called Chief Executive must show he is not a 9 to 5 worker who is only out to have his weekends and evening free to campaign for his fantasy and libelous imagination. He needs to fulfill his oath of office which he has rebuked at every turn, the scoundrel.
2
This close to the midterms, I am deeply disappointed that there is no message of Democratic Party principles to unify the party for the midterms. In other words, a platform. Sure, some things, like gun control are third-rail issues, so leave them out. But women's rights, jobs, excessive military spending for naught, global warming, fair taxation, medical care, education all resound with the majority of voters. Democratic Party leadership needs to say so. It is not enough to be simply anti-Trump, although that alone will attract many votes. And doesn't it make sense to declare that the Republicans are the Reverse Robin Hood Party, as Paul Krugman recently stated and I have been saying for years?
Finally, get out the vote for the contested elections!
I wrote a snail mail letter to Tom Perez, DNC Chairman, several months ago about this issue and never received a response.
1
This week on PBS Hillary Clinton gave a very reasonable assessment of what’s going on in American politics. She was measured and expansive, yet refrained from criticizing too severely.
But her reasonableness, similar to the one in this opinion piece, while nice for the cocktail circuit, is not how American political parties win. Governing is about being reasonable and measured, campaigning is about making a single galvanizing idea, an extreme position if you will, something voters can grab on to.
In recent memory, this is how Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich before her were swept into the Speakers office during midterm elections.
A “big tent” is fine for conventions, but on the campaign trail, find and exploit your opponent’s single point of weakness.
2
First on the agenda, reverse George W. Bush's 2005 4-week expansion of daylight savings time, bringing back Lyndon Johnson's schedule of starting it the last Sunday of October, lasting till late April. Global warming is doing enough to destroy autumn and late winter/early spring, so we're moving toward a 2 season climate. The late sunrise jeopardizes children forced to start school 8am and earlier, waiting for buses in the dark. Few if any of the benefits of expanding DST occurred, and the drawbacks have hit hard, disturbing circadian rhythms, and by extesion sleep quality and overall wellbeing and functionality. We're a chronically sleep-deprived nation, and this is a big part of the problem. Plus, teens need a few hours of evening environment before sleeping, and delayed nightfall pushes their sleep times back.
From a 2010 New Republic article:
"By contrast, the time change schedules adopted by presidents Johnson and Reagan were quite moderate—they gave people a little extra daylight during the summer months while still respecting the dictates of nature, synchronizing wake-up times with the actual passage of the seasons. Because they were so reasonable, these changes stuck … at least until a desperate President Bush tried to fake his way out of yet another national emergency. If President Obama wants to do the public a solid, and roll back a bad policy in the process, he should send the time change of 2005 off into the sunset."
13
Oops, I mean start in late April, end the last Sunday of October!
1
Heart attack, anyone? This is from Reuters (Science News) last year:
"When clocks in almost all of the United States spring forward by an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, it will likely prompt an increase in heart attacks and strokes, cause more car accidents and reduce worker productivity, according to studies. It will also fail to cut the nation’s energy bill, contrary to what the experts once believed.
In December, a psychology journal published results showing that federal judges handed out sentences that were on average 5 percent longer the day after daylight saving time began than those given out one week before or after.
Disruptions, even minor ones, to human beings’ sleep patterns can have outsized effects, according to researchers.
“Our study suggests that sudden, even small changes in sleep could have detrimental effects,” Amneet Sandhu of the University of Colorado told Reuters in 2014 after his study of Michigan hospital data showed a 25 percent jump in heart attacks on the Monday after daylight saving time began."
Again, I ask: Heart attack, anyone?
1
The question we should ask is how many additional judges do the Democrats need to pack the court to make Kavanaugh's vote practically insignificant.
My hunch is that if the Supreme Court was expanded to over 1,000, the chance that his one vote would have any effect would be vanishingly small.
It would be a waste of time for Kavanaugh to even study the legal arguments, especially if that would cut into his beer drinking time.
2
The Democrats need to come out of their corporate-money-induced coma and address the needs of average Americans. The Repubs have given them plenty of ammunition--tax cuts for the rich, cuts to health care, etc.--but unless the Dems get some passion and start screaming a pro-working class message the way the Repubs do I fear more years of this nightmare.
5
We have an economy where people are working, sure--often multiple jobs, and usually at below minimum wages and with few benefits. Walmart employees qualify for SNAP benefits--which they then end up using at Walmart to buy cheap food.
The "thriving" economy is thriving for the rich. The rest of us continue to struggle, and the poorest of the poor are in danger of losing their safety net, as the robber barons in the current Congress continue to cut taxes on the wealthy and are ready to slash Social Security, Medicare and other social benefits.
Why are we nodding our heads and going along with the lying statements that the economy is booming in a way that benefits everyone but the 1% ? Why are the Democrats seemingly afraid to ask "Are you better off than you were 2 years ago?"
1
Let me put this bluntly...
The more that the Democrats continue to pound what they are against, the more voters are going to stay with the Republicans.
Democrats need to do two things to get elected:
1. Tell us what it is that they are for. And,
2. Tell us how you intend to get it done.
Republicans, as much as the left doesn't like them, actually stand for something. And, they have the advantage of proving that they can get what they want done, even with the massive, unethical opposition of the Democrats.
Think about it for a while, my friends on the left. You might just do yourself, and the nation, some favors.
9
@The Owl
That's ABSURD.
The GOP Congress didn't achieve anything at all, except for a tax reform bill that doubles the deficit and will probably end the historic, decade-long Obama economic growth through overheating.
Compare that to what Obama and the Democrats achieved during their first two years, and with much more opposition from the GOP than what they are doing today:
- Obamacare signed into law, which saves an additional 40,000 Americans lives a year, in other words will soon have saved a whopping half a million American lives.
- the Recovery Act signed into law, which turned around Bush's -8% GDP and an economy that was shredding 700,000 jobs a month, and created the longest period of economic growth in recent history (ten years), all while creating more jobs than Bush and the GOP did, even though Bush, just like Trump, inherited a healthy economy from his Democratic predecessor.
Add to that real progress on denuclearization (the Iran deal makes it impossible for Iran to continue to build nuclear weapons for an entire decade), the very first global climate change agreement, no new wars, a strategy that directly led to the end of ISIS in Iraq, the strengthening of social security, expansion of Medicaid, strengthening of Medicare, investments in science and education, etc. And of course two SC Justices.
If it weren't for the GOP, they would also have signed into law bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform that strengthens border security.
The GOP has NOTHING
3
@Ana Luisa
"The GOP has NOTHING"
Maybe true. But the GOP isnt actively calling white people the cause of all of societies problems and running on a ticket of revenge. The left however is. Self preservation is a power motivator. The GOP may not do a lot for me, but at least they arent plainly stating they are out to get me.
1
@Bill..
Note, too, that for the past two years, the GOP has controlled the House, the Senate, and the Presidency.
Note, too, that they have moved the Supreme Court to the right.
Right...The GOP has nothing.
This will be an historic election. Who will be the lesser of evils?
I'm looking for a party for the working class and find little to hope for, generally. If Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a thousand like her get elected, I'd be happy, but she may be just a flash in the pan.
2
@Marty Rowland, Ph.D., P.E.
Obama and the Democrats actually turned Bush's -8% GDP and 700,000 jobs lost a month into a historically long, 10-year economic growth.
If the GOP wouldn't have blocked them (because "we the people" gave them the legal power to block it), the minimum wage would have increased already too.
Obamacare doesn't merely save an additional 40,000 American lives a year, it also allows children to stay on their parents' insurance until they're 27 (= makes it easier for them to get a good education and look for a decent job), AND allows you to keep your insurance when you quit your job, so makes it possible to do what you're really good at and as such get paid more.
Soon, a whopping HALF A MILLION workers will have had their lives saved thanks to the ACA, and now you tell us that even though you're a PhD, you still ignore which party is working for the working class ... ???
1
The campaign options are too attractive for click bait targets - Trump's persona, allegations about Russian meddling, emotional immigration disasters, Trump's unsavory colleagues and the Kavanaugh circus. Democrats would do well for this Neither voter to focus on what they will do for immigration, industrial development, environmental policy, realistic and affordable health care and the burgeoning deficit.
“Democrats must resist the urge to follow Republicans down this spider hole”. A great description of Trump’s main tactic in controlling the press and his followers. Hope the Dems can keep their own aims at the forefront.
3
Talk of impeachment of either Trump Justice K would be suicide; impeachment of the former should be left until Mueller reports (or Trump stops Mueller), and the latter should be left alone unless there is something in plain sight - once you start muck-raking against Justices it will come back to bite you later.
I am wondering if Trump will use his new "Presidential message" system to rally Republicans on Election Day to get out and vote; I bet he is tempted to abuse his new power to do so.
3
It's over.
If the nasty tactics the Democrats and their conspiratorial comrades in the media used during the Kavanaugh circus weren't enough, now Hillary Clinton is touring the nation, unable to harness her ego or her nasty bitterness, and reminding everyone why they voted for Trump to begin with.
The Democrats haven't overplayed their hand. They could recover from something like that.
Instead, they have revealed their true nature.
Error.
10
It has been my experience that the relation to reality is inversely proportional to the deployment of monickers asserting one’s objectivity, independence, and reason, much as the more somebody refers to themselves as, “Thor,” or, “True American,” the less they have the slightest interest in the Constitution’s promise of equal treatment under the law.
2
The Democrats have already mucked this up by stirring up the huge controversy over Kavanagh. They Borked themselves into a corner by bringing up charges that could not be proved, then a whole pile of other unsubstantiated allegations surfaced, which, to many Republican eyes, made it all look like piling on. Since the Republicans were determined to ram through Kavanaugh with no other support, what was the point? If they'd had the goods on Kavanaugh, they could have defeated him, but old, unprovable charges of teenagers in a room didn't cut it.
What we got was a national therapy session on sexual aggression, which turned into an opportunity for those who see men as always wrong to highlight their anger. All of this was pointless in the context of that nomination and might ultimately be self defeating for the Democrats.
Strategy. Planning. Coordination. These are solely lacking in the leadership of Democrats. It is all about making a big noise when, on occasion, being quiet and waiting for a better opportunity would be more helpful to their cause. As it was, Lindsey Graham and the Republicans used the occasion to vent "righteous" anger, turning Kavanaugh's probable wrongdoing on its head, throwing it back at the Dems, deflecting the impact.
The Democrats want to show their followers they can fight but all they wound up doing was showing they know how to lose.
10
Pelosi and her "we are for the people" won't work. She is killing the party. I grew up with this party and they never, ever could win with "we are for the people." That is empty nonsense. Pelosi will destroy the party if a real progressive does not take over.
They need to stop relying on the "bad, bad Trump" message and go to health care in a very, very convincing way. It must be a message better and stronger than "affordable health care;" it needs to be "medicare for all." That is what people want and the dems could win big time with that. It will kill off all the contributions that Pelosi and Schumer collect from the wealthy and the health insurance companies but we will all then support the dems with $$millions in small donations just like Bernie collected. We are with you Nancy/ChUck but we need progressive authentic dems with real messages that you will work for. The dems are losing with lies and apparent corruption; they have no message other than "bad, bad Trump." It won't work. Wake up folks; time is wasting away.
5
Unfortunately, Trump has succeeded partly because the folks praising Medicare for All either have no idea what they’re talking about, or seriously don’t want to talk about its economic and political realities. And, because the same folks yell at the PPACA without the slightest idea of what it is.
2
Democrats, please note that Russian and Chinese bots, voter suppression, gerrymandering, and intense Republican propaganda are all there to defeat you. Please inform yourselves and vote a straight Democratic ticket unless you have a Republican who is running on clean energy and infrastructure rebuilding on your ballot.
2
Yes focus on issues such as health care and 1% but don't assume all voters are disgusted with Trump. Need to undermine his braggadocio with satire and ridicule. Dems dominated by old leadership that is playing by old rules. Need fresh voices in tune with new media, tropes, etc.
I think we can discount (or snicker at) the anti-semitic shrieking about George Soros, the decline of the sacred nuclear family, the Vast Tide of Colored Immygrants, how any global warming is caused by Giant Colored Familes so pay no attention to my opposition to all the successful family planning and contraception work, and so on. Oh, and we can likely skip the nutbar yelling about Nancy Pelosi prepping all the Walmart Tunnels to Make America Venezuela Again.
Seriously, just not much to do with such folks, except bless their hearts and try to limit their damage.
But boy howdy, I sure get tired of seeing sane people vote for the greedheads who stick it to them again and again, and then sucker them into believing yet again that guys like Obama and the PPACA are why their kid got kicked off their health plan.
And sorry, but most of all I’m tired of willful ignorance and blind unrealism from a certain chunk of what I guess we’re calling “progressives,” these days. Because here’s a bit of not-ignorance and not-unrealism: we are in this ludicrous mess partly because YOU didn’t vote in 2010 and 2014 and 2016. We’re in this mess partly because you couldn’t accept that whatever her flaws, Hillary Clinton was preferable to Trump on the worst day she ever had. We’re in this mess partly because you brayed at working folks. We’re in this mess partly because...well, you get the picture.
And if you keep it up, the mess will continue. And you’ll STILL be yelling at Nancy Pelosi.
5
The midterms are a national referendum played out in 435 congressional districts and one third of Senate seats. But each election is local with its own unique demographics and issues. Democratic messages should be shaped accordingly.
Certain issues are universal like the need for improvements to our broken healthcare system (partially fixed by the ACA but further damaged by constant Republican meddling). The budget busting tax giveaway to the rich is also a big loser for Republicans.
Candidates can choose further issues from a menu that includes a lack of infrastructure spending, the need for mitigation of the coming climate disaster, the cost of college education, the lack of affordable housing, the crisis in public education, voter suppression activities, our damaged international reputation, needless trade wars and stupid tariffs, and the threat posed by Republicans to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
A unified Democratic platform isn’t really needed until we have a national election for president. That platform will evolve out of the individual messages of the candidates and the feedback they get from the electorate. I’m excited to see what that message will be. But even my dog would make a better president than Donald Trump. She’s always loyal and never lies.
1
Democrats Will Muck This One Up!
5
I remember seeing an ad from 1964 with a little girl playing in the shadow of a nuclear blast. This ad aired only once but had a decisive impact on the 1964 election. The Democrats had a clear message, "These are the stakes." Dems need an equivalently cogent message for today's social media platforms, because the stakes are just as high today.
3
All what is said in this Opinion, makes sense, and the last paragraph in particular. It is very clear, the republican party members in Congress have been much embedded with power, and their willingness to stay that way. It is party and politics over the country's interests and that of the people. Simply saying, these elected leaders have abandoned their important function of focussing on checks and balances, as a key branch of government.
If the Democratic Party wants to tell the people, they are different, and really care for the interests of the people, they must prove it. It is not to say, that they are better than the other party. The Democrats are also responsible for a lot of problems facing our people and the country. Ongoing issues on immigration, healthcare, education, INCOME INEQUALITY are not new problems. Both sides of the aisle have continued to look at each other, leaving the problems, with no solutions. Because, once elected to Office, things become different. Elected representatives are in a different place, with a different set of priorities.
Every election cycle makes people look for options. It is that time for both parties to renew their vows and promises . And, for the people, it will be - let us wait and see what happens next.
1
For decades, Republicans worked the two facets of our election system and Constitution that allow mis-representation at the national level, the electoral college and the Senate, by also focusing on state races, something the Koch-backed GOP knew would be required to achieve their now-in-place minority rule of the U.S. govt. Winning state races let them have the needed gerrymandering and voter suppression in place to essentially cheat in the national elections.
4
Health care and Climate Change are two things Democrats should hammer on, especially now that the recent dire report from Inchon on Climate Change has been released.
We need a "Manhattan Project" to deal with climate change, and it should include fourth generation nuclear reactors like GE-Hitachi's PRISM reactors that that can consume and destroy existing nuclear waste while producing massive amounts of clean electricity.
5
I am glad this piece wasn't just about the big, unorganized Democratic Party that we all know and love so well.
In 2008 Democrats put forward a great candidate with a winning message and 2009 saw a majority in step with President Barack Obama. Then in 2010 the voters stayed home.
This election and the saving of our democracy are not up to the Democratic Party. Saving our democracy is up to We the People.
The Party seems to be staying on messaging to the districts, one by one. Infrastructure, health care, competence and anti corruption should bring US to the polls next month.
If voters don't care what kind of Nation they want for their children they won't come out. I am hoping they do and will.
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
3
I understand the practical call for and need for a message that pivots away from what has been termed "identity politics," but at the same time I am mournful to see an important and long-overdue national conversation about systemic racism and sexism be once again muted in favor of appealing to the "general public" with what the pragmatists have identified as our less "divisive" concerns. I ardently hope that one day our nation will be mature enough to begin that conversation again--because at some point we are going to have to have it (to just to ensure that race-baiters like Trump can no longer bait so effectively).
2
There are abundant signs of Democrats already mucking it up. For every sane and thoughtful article like this one, there are just as many self-defeating calls for impeachment or incitement to futile anger from various Democratic quarters. There is only one priority: get Democrats elected next month. After that, if you muck things up, it's all on you, Democrats.
3
Having donated to many candidates, I get the dispiriting barrage of emails daily. There’s not a platform or unifying idea in them, just fear mongering and demands for money, money, money, money. Their lasting effect is to enervate the potential voter. It still seems true that most of the Democratic party candidates are acting at the direction of large corporate donors and highly paid political consultants whose supposed expertise is building a coalition of identity groups, immigrants one day, #metoos the next. Every victimized identity group dragged into the glare, is pitted against a hundred others who feel ignored or demeaned in the process. Why not try for a change, to talk about the human condition and the things that concern those of who in fact are the vast majority -healthcare, fair wages, climate change, income inequity, protections for the middle class, sentencing and prison reform, etc.? Democrats, you don’t need to raise so much money if you fire the consultants and say what you mean and what you want to do about it. Really, thy’re doing you no good. Look at the last 20 years! Trust us instead.
1
It is time the fed ended its quantitative essing entirely, unloading all the trillions in bonds it purchased. They have been hurting people trying to save for retirement for 10 years now. The effect of fed actions has been to hand many billions of profits to the same banks and their ceos who caused the meltdown. The same ceos have since been giving savers zero interest on their money and lending the money at 30 percent to people with low credit ratings. How long are middle class taxpayers to bear the burden for this fed policy ? Get out and let the market deal with it. The 2017 tax cut has also enriched the same banks, also at tax payer expense. The entire bull ride since 2017 was on the backs of taxpayers. End the fed involvement, end the SALT limit, end the corporate tax cuts-another form of billionaire welfare
2
As a registered Independent, I think the Dems could really muck this up if they don’t stop talking about impeaching our president.
Impeaching the president, although he deserves it, is too much of an admission that our America has failed us and betrayed our ideals.
However, the Dems could win the House, as well as the Senate, if they will just give voice to what Americans really want and need: a check and balance of this executive branch.
A powerful Senate and House could then do their constitutional jobs of checking & balancing our president, as the founding fathers intended.
1
I wanted to have high hopes for this election but honestly I just don't. What are the Democrats even running on besides just not Trump? The party needs a reboot without Pelosi as dictator, she's done a horrible job managing it. Republicans have taken over the entire federal government under her watch.
4
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't muck it up. I'm making out my ballot now!
1
Not to worry -- they will muck it up. The rough waters are almost set to capsize the ship over immigration. How will left-progressive Democrats, who think legal and illegal immigration are no different, accept Democrats who believe that the US is a country with immigration laws? There is no compromise with those who repeat progressive talking points ("You want to pull up the drawbridge 250 years after your ancestors came without papers?") and quotes from Emma Lazarus. Most progressive Dems I know want everyone currently on U.S. territory to be put on a pathway to citizenship. I'm a centrist Democrat, and I think the party is hopeless.
6
@Mason I was a centrist Democrat. Now I am an independent. Democrat's support for Affirmative Action and "Abolish ICE", will have me vote a straight Republican ticket this November. I agree the party is hopeless. I may vote D again if Bloomberg decides to run in 2020.
6
The truth is that the Democrats will not be able to deliver on their promises to the American people.
If they get a majority the first thing they are going to do is legalize the 22 million criminals here illegally.
Fix healthcare? Impossible with 22 million illegals.
Good infrastructure jobs? This is a joke, right? Wages have been depressed for decades because of the tens of millions here illegally.
What will the Democrats do if they get a majority? Not help citizens. That is not what they are about. What they are about is importing voters and suppressing the political power of people they consider 'entitled' and 'privileged.'
I cannot support the Democratic Party unless they come out firmly in favor of enforcing the law and applying it equally to all. That will mean deportation for those here illegally- all of them.
9
Every single faction of the Democratic Party must unite to save the United States and the world from Trump and his enablers.
2
The spectacle of unhinged protestors, coupled with the now-visible-to-all antics of Democrats on the judiciary have all but cooked the Democrat goose. The only people who will endure that nonsense are the ones who participated in it. There is a message coming from America's voters.
10
Last week the Senate passed the largest defence bill in 15 years. All I heard about was Bret "fire in his eyes" Kavanaugh and Trump. Texas is beating the rest of the country in not turning out for the midterms. We're fiftieth. NYS not trying hard enough forty eight. Around 30% turnout for both.
But I say maintain the course. When Ford and Carrier send jobs to Mexico stand up for illegal immigrants. Keep emphasizing how ignorant white working people are destroying the wealthiest vision of the future. Attack them for their religious beliefs, poor diets and lack of education. Black and "brown" working people with all their simularities to white working people are figuring the elite don't want them around either. Remember its the end of times and only the Democrats can save us. Deligitmize our government and its election. Electoral college undemocratic. Imagne Utah gets the same anount of Senators as NYS.
Speaking of Saviors. Is Beto O'Rourke running for the Senate or the priesthood? He brings hope? To bad he could have been a Democrat But being against pipe lines I don't see how.
1
It's much easier to be the party of no when there is so much anger with politicians, and Trump, the aspiring strongman president is the republicans perfect useful idiot. The doting media is the real enabler; ratings. All the presidents lies live longer than all the democrats proposals.
The democrats have to cut through the anger somehow, good luck.
3
The democrats have already gummed stuff up. They see some light and go to far left thinking people will except radical, NOT. Stuff like ax border security, etc.
The Democrats are not appealing to the middle class America at all.
8
I’m sorry but I’m not buying this koolaide again. There ARE more citizens registered as Democrats and Independents than Republicans. There is greater Voter turnout favoring the Democratic Party than the Republicans in Presidential races. The cause of Party leaderships’ panic is that Democratic Party positions lost every battle for Supreme Court and thereby rulings in favor of the People and progress. The Party did not save voter rights, reproductive rights, public education rights and more of the protections of We the People and our very government need. Instead it compromised with Conservatives to stand still and now we are in a national political, social and economic regression. Could it be Party leaders were distracted by corporate lobbyist with pockets full of money messaging their priorities and never the People’s?
And now the elites Leaders of the Party are once again trying to sell us Centrism; a Clinton concept that has never favored the People.
When will the Leaders respond to the people rather staying in that elite political cloud where they look down on Progressives as if children are playing below getting dirty? The people are WOKE. But when are the Party leaders going to wake up or concede their position to people who really want to represent the Progressives in the Party who are focused on fixing this inequality mess that both Party leaders have made. Progressives are focused on moving the People and the nation forward instead of standing still.
4
Wont voters feel more betrayed if you don't address the possibility of impeachment? If Pelosi silences the topic, Democrats are compromised when evidence compels them to impeach either Kavanaugh or Trump. People will remember the "we're not about impeachment" line. This is why Pelosi is a lousy House leader.
I appreciate how she's trying to regain an election focus after Kavanaugh. However, Democrats need to address their weakness rather than avoid it. A reporter, some reporter, is going to ask whether the candidate plans on impeaching either Kavanaugh or Trump. That candidate better have a prepared, compelling, and consistent answer. Otherwise, Pelosi has just ceded a gigantic weapon to the opposition. You should dwell on that fact.
1
I'm sure everyone gets the impulse to move ever more in the direction of policy extremes, especially in this era of gerrymandered safe districts. But let's not, okay?
Democrats can fight for healthcare without demanding a single-payer program—and it's okay to include a number of single-payer advocates in the tent, too. They can campaign to safeguard and improve ACA, Medicaid, and Medicare.
Democrats can fight for a more equitable income without demanding a $15 hour minimum wage—and it's okay to include a number of $15 wage advocates in the tent, too. They can campaign on reversing the rich-friendly tax giveaways and moderate tax hikes on the wealthy.
Democrats can fight for a fair immigration system without demanding the abolition of ICE—and it's okay to include a number of ICE abolition advocates in the tent, too. They can campaign on border controls that are intended to responsibly foster needed immigration rather than prevent it.
The examples are almost endless. The idea is to make sure that moderate Democrats and independent voters are as comfortable with the party as the progressive wing is. Democrats of all people should not be having a struggle for ideological control.
1
Sane infrastructure bill that doesn't privatize everything for the 1% to profit from that also prepares us for climate change. After all these hurricanes devastating red states, it's a no brainer. This takes care of the jobs issue. If Trump doesn't sign, that'll prep for more blue seats in Congress in 2020 to out vote his dumb vetos. Then sell end of tariffs with a Democrat president in 2020. Don't just plan for 2018. Start planning for 2020.
1
Ms. Cottle says the same kind of incendiary things about the Republicans-- but unaware she herself has become what she's condemning! A common pitfall in supercharged politics...
2
The Democrats always blow it because they have become a party of outraged whiners and tired old slogans. None of this translates into concrete realistic objectives that the average American thinks is more than a campaign pipe dream! Nothing a voter can believe is a serious proposal!
Universal medical care, free college tuition etc etc sounds great except no realistic proposal for actually paying for these programs other than the tired old, oft trotted out “tax the rich” and “fair share” slogans exist. People aren’t stupid. They know that’s useless.
The Democrats need to to come up with real proposals that can actually work as shown with specific details voters can actually believe in. Until they do that, the Democrats will continue to blow chance after chance of winning!
4
There is a much higher probability of Trump turning the US into a Venezuela than the Dems.
4
Excellent. Now have a member of the Editorial Board tell Republicans not to mess up their lead.
2
Easy, kids. Keep it simple. Run on t’s “a vote for (Republican candidate) is a vote for me.” No complicated details required to vote Democrat at all levels.
1
All democrats, and in particular democratic political candidates, should avoid George Soros and his billions like the plague. He is funding almost all of the "mob" protests and perhaps even Dr. Ford. His goal is to destroy democracy and the rule of law. He funds almost all far left organizations and causes. He is one scary dude to 98% of Americans. Just say no to his money.
3
I’ve read most of the comments. You Democrats are all over the board. You don’t have time to get a unified message!
The mid terms will be bad for Democrats. Hang onto your seats!
3
Republicans like to call Democrats radicals, with radical ideas. Well here's one - the Republicans just stole all of your money. That's radical. Vote for Republicans again, and they'll steal more of your money, healthcare, retirement, and house. How's that for radical!
5
Pelosi, Feinstein, Schumer teeing things up with the Blue Wave this fall followed by Hillary in 2020! Looking forward to Hillary.3 Campaign. About time to elect a woman to POTUS.
2
There is no need for Democrats to campaign on impeachment for Trump or going after Kavanaugh’s perjury and sexual assault actions. It’s baked in. Let’s just win, and then do it.
Vote November 6.
5
Democrats are finished for a generation.
Why? America as a whole has decided to swing to the right, and there is no stopping this trend.
You can lament all you like.
It's payback time for white American male discrimination, the egregious, loony tunes pressure to 'accept' weird gender and identity politics, uncontrolled migration, globalisation, H1B visas destroying American's livelihoods and over generous social support programs encouraging dependency, not work.
The nuclear family of MAN, married to WOMAN, raising children [boys and girls], has never been bettered as a way to raise the next generation so they are well adjusted and are an asset to society. EVERYTHING else tends to breed feral youth who cause endless trouble.
Paradoxically, whilst the youth of today may embrace some of the tenets of socialism, when it comes to 'nuclear family values', they are conservative. Socialism is tolerated only as far as this ideology, however defined, supports the nuclear family. They reject multiculturalism, a laissez faire immigration policy, 'sanctuary cities' etc.
The Democrats must get rid of people like Ocasio Cortez. The absolute worst poster representatives who will damage the Democratic party for a generation or more.
The problem is that the MSM has been an echo chamber for forces resisting all the factors outlined above, and came to believe their narrative so much, they were astoundingly blind sided by Trump's victory. And they are STILL not smelling the coffee.
7
“We are not about impeachment.” Nice try at bait & switch, Nancy. Of course Democrats will push for impeachment of both Trump and Kavanaugh just as soon as the election results are in (assuming they get control of the House). Why? Because this is what keeps their radical base excited. The title of this piece should be: Don't Muck it Up...HIDE IT!
6
Unfortunately the present political reality doesn't gel with the Democratic hopes for a blue wave in Congress. Take a recent 'development', the OP-ED by Trump in USA about what a Democratic takeover of congress holds for the US. A complete batch of lies and misleading points, but where is the equally forceful rebuttal and truth from Democrats?? NOWHERE. Every word chosen by Trump was selected to cause fear and scare the readers, and believe it will to the average American. So you can count on a sizable uptick in these voters coming to the polls and they will vote against Dems on just this alone. Then one must also look at the recent elections in many Western democracies, every one without exception putting the populist or nationalist candidates squarely in the forefront, or even on top. Sadly, The Dems have no message to reach and sway undecided voters, as they are not messaging like the Republicans, ( by now anyone still undecided is an ---------) falsely but concisely! I think that the Repulsicans will maintain both houses of Congress, allowing them the freedom to bring down America to their vision of a White, male dominated, racist country once again.
Revenge, fear, and hate are he only thing Republicans have to run on. Anything Democrats, don't fan those flames. It will stoke the Republican "base" especially those who never vote unless they are mad about something. Resist.Give voters something to vote FOR. And yes, organize, organize, organize. Get it the vote, and motivate others.
2
The Democrats have had two years to tell us what they are for. If they have done so, I must gave missed it. We all know what they are against, great.
So, what are you for? You've got four weeks to tell us.
5
While there are no guarantees that Democrats won’t muck this one up, there is always the possibility that Trump’s motormouth, in an effort to one-up the Dems, will make it worse for the Republicans. He could say or do something that seriously hurts the GOP’s Senate chances – in the one-up department, it’s a word that rhymes with muck.
In fact, he has already blamed the “crazy” Fed for Wednesday’s 800-point plunge in the stock market and at Monday’s official swearing-in ceremony for Justice Kavanaugh, Trump proclaimed that Kavanaugh was found “innocent” of the charges leveled against him. One wonders if he thinks Kavanaugh was on trial? Then last week, Trump declared that he and Kim Jong Un “fell in love.”
Do any of these utterances sound presidential? So, give it time, Trump’s October surprise is yet to come – only, it will be one that comes straight out of his mouth and it will be one that hurts his own party in the midterms.
3
Republicans cheated in 2016 - stop promoting the MSM lie that Dems "lost".
Cheating is cheating.
And they are cheating again. Articles like these pave the way for a new round of fake rationales for a stolen election.
1
The Democrats would do well to focus on the plight of the working man, and woman.
3
Oh, but they will because that’s what the democrats do.
Every.
Time.
3
Seems a little late for this advice.
5
One small correction: Trump is not "beloved" by his base. Some of his base of supporters fully realize his chaotic style and constant attacks are not helpful to anyone but Trump and his massive ego. Trump is not loved. Many people who like him celebrate not Trump, the man, but Trump the disrupter, Trump the trouble maker.
They are frustrated with the ordinary comings and goings of government and have been preached to by Fox Noise and talk radio that they should be against govt. in general. Why not put someone in there who doesn't believe in anything at all? They love the symbol of Trump, not the man himself, and the fact that he is not Hillary and his presence in the White House upsets more than half the country. That's the point.
When they see Democrats freaking out over the Supreme Court nominee, they give a big fist pump and shout, Yeah! They are the anger caucus, the stick it to 'em cohort. This is one reason Trump can say anything and his diehard supporters cheer. It might be an ugly game to play with the future well being of the nation but they don't care. They're having fun.
2
There will be no blue wave despite your best efforts. The GOP will most certainly lose some seats but your party's unforgivable behavior has awakened many Americans to the communist danger that is now the Democrat Party. The news ratings on the big Kavanaugh - Ford day were staggering - Fox News blew away all of the cables and even the broadcast nets. The People know far more than the reporters. Both Parties have many problems but Democrats are dangerous. The People know this.
1
Semi relevant comment - Trump reminds me of Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull - "No way to slow down. . ."
The title of this piece is probably the exact information given by Putin to his voting machine hacking burglars, voting tallies changing fraudsters, polling companies alteration criminals and others working tirelessly to keep Democrats out of the Senate and the House.
We hear Florida and Nevada are as good as gone!
Wow! This is as shocking as when the 'secret' dossier rumors were emmm unknown to the public. The rumors of totally compromised voting systems are rife.
The democrats are going to lose the house and senate again. Than they'll whine to high heaven. America has had enough of you.
2
Oh don’t worry, we will. The left will vote for Pluto, Mickey Mouse, and the most outlandish identity politics candidates with no chance of winning, and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory once again. In the past 25 years they’ve given us George W. Bush, Donald Trump, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and now Brett Kavanaugh. Never underestimate the left.
No group has done more harm to liberal causes in this country than liberals.
2
If the Dems don’t find some leadership, younger than 75, i see another disaster for the country!
1
But, it's what they do best!
2
Ho, hum...Standard advice with minimal obeisance to the problems created for all Democrats by the dishonesty and deceit of Dianne Feinstein and others in their last minute bushwhack of Brett Kavanaugh. Republican women, as well as men, are now energized and engaged...And are being joined by independents as well to vote against Democrats.
And, yes, Trump is still a vulgarian.
Democratic crazies never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity; to borrow a phrase.
4
Donald Trump organized his campaign around one issue---illegal immigration.
He realized that Democrats have been lying about illegal immigration for decades.
In some sense these Democratic lies are "little white lies" because they are made in order to protect Hispanics which Democrats believe are discriminated against.
But illegal immigration stems from population growth. And population growth is independent of race. It has destroyed living standards in the third world. If you don't believe me you should take a trip to India and you will see people staring on the streets. Or you can go to many places in Africa, where population growth has contributed in various countries to genocide, civil war, outright starvation, AIDS epidemics, and corrupt governments.
Africa's population is projected to double again by 2050.
We need to stop illegal immigration so that we can provide a sturdy safety net for our own poor.
But we also need to help third world countries, like Guatemala, stabilize their own populations.
The countries of Latin America have vibrant cultures, rich natural resources. They are kept from realizing their potential by too much population growth.
The internal combustion engine is not to blame for global warming. It is population growth instead.
While Trump denies global warming, liberals deny the cause of global warming, which is population growth.
Both parties are wrong. And Democrats are partially responsible for the decline in civilitiy.
6
Ms. Cottle, I was generally approving of your piece until I got to the penultimate paragraph and saw the line where you say no talk of impeachment for anyone. If anything 'proves' to voters that the Democrats and Republicans are interchangeable, it is that line, that sentiment, which ignores the many voters who want morality in government and in from their politicians. In other words, no corruption of any sort. By ruling out talk of impeachment, the Democrats are effectively giving Trump and others a "don't have to go to jail pass." It would be better for the Dems to simply say if evidence is uncovered which indicates impeachment is appropriate, they will fulfill their Constitutional oaths, consider it and if appropriate, vote for it. THEN, they should move on to speak about healthcare, employment, illegal immigrants, climate change, civil rights and civil liberties, infrastructure, etc. By signalling that they then won't be the rug Trump, the GOP Congress and others wipe their boots on. The Dems will let all voters know they will be the agents of change. And remember, 'change' was what elected Obama and what many Trump voters thought they were voting for in 2016. Those disillusioned Trump voters are the ones who will be most amenable to hearing Constitutional order will be restored with a Democratic Congress. Automatically ruling out impeachment is a no-no-or should be-for anyone who understands all the checks and balances necessary for our democracy to again flourish.
1
The Republicans and, sadly, the media keep bringing up the word "impeachment." No doubt, one can always dream about it, but without the requisite number of votes, it would be the equivalent of howling at the moon.
There are two distinct issues that can win the day for the Democrats. Reconstituting the Heath Care System to serve everyone is one of them, obviously, but the second one is even more obvious, though more difficult to articulate or practice. It is about our economy and the reasons why there is such tremendous income and wealth inequality and the push to correct this, to create full participation by all with decent jobs and a living wage. The only way to do this is to regulate and exercise control over capitalism, as we now know it, and as we witness it's failures to benefit more than a few.
The third ingredient would be tax reform, not as the Republicans designed it to benefit a few, but to reform it so that everyone pays their fair share, which basically means raising rates on the wealthy, substantially. The only problem with this one is that the Democrats and the Republicans have an elite core that has reaped all the benefits, and they are unlikely to cooperate in any way. If you need money to make money, then it's obvious there is little chance of change. We need big government that works for us, not big business that works for a few. Propose some labor laws that will change things, a lot, and get behind them. Make it about ideas, not hate.
1
Don't be civil; socialism now!
3
Democrats should focus on the disproportionate share of recent economic gains going to the top 1%, that most of the jobs gains have been low-paying (especially compared to executive pay and corporate profits), crippling student debt, and republican dismantling of a safety net which would become hyper-relevant in the next, virtually inevitable, downturn in our CYCLICAL economy. Even those who are doing relatively well *now* financially must think about the conditions they and their children will face when historically inevitable (and proportionate to boom bonanzas) downturn occurs. How many are now paralyzed by student loans and other burdens even in the rosiest conditions? The republicans say they will continue the fat years forever, a promise they know they can't keep. What hurts now (quite a lot) will escalate exponentially when corporations either stop hiring or pusue layoffs through more tech innovation and automation of services. The middle class (and their children, who almost certainly will not inherit current economic conditions) will take the hit, with no safety net.
Most importantly, though, is the principle that EVERY SINGLE VOTE COUNTS. Democrats always lose when voters get complacent or unmotivated, particularly in midterms. Recent elections show extraordinarily close contests where JUST A FEW VOTES MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE. Not voting is literally like voting for the next Brett Kavanaugh, who is already on the way.
2
The Democratic Party might consider recruiting some Republicans to moderate the ‘radical left’ trope. Nikki, Jeb, Jeff?
Please, please please!!
1
The New York Times is "mucking it up" -- with deceptive labels that give the Mobsters seizing America a false appearance of respectability equivalent to that of Real Americans.
Right in this column, we read "left-leaning" for Real Americans, and "conservative" for the Mobsters. This deceptive labeling offsets everything good in NYT reporting and opinion. It makes science deniers appear as respectable as the scientists warning that we are careening toward destruction of Earthly conditions for human civilization and life.
Stop "left-right" and "liberal-conservative" for Americans v. Mobsters. Label them for what they are. Stop "religious freedom" for use of delusions as excuse to violate rights of others. Stop "pro-life" for loonies promoting beliefs in super-beings in the sky instead of scientific reality about our destruction of conditions for human life on Earth.
New York Times, with these deceptive labels YOU are mucking it up. STOPPIT !
5
Healthcare and #MeToo will win for Democrats. Also - did anyone notice the 800 point drop in the Dow? That as well could be a foil against Republican use of the 'economy' as a weapon.
Bottom line is that Far-left Liberals like me just don't really care anymore because Democrats have moved so far Right and Republicans have become fascists.
1
Shouldn't be a problem, with the dem new platform of hate, anything but President Trump, and quite a few dem along with Hollywood encouraging violence against anyone who disagree's with them.
4
It is a waste of effort to tell the Trumpkins how foolish they are - it won’t make them any less foolish. Could the left be smarter? I pray that it may be so.
Time for the ideological purists, the third-party dreamers, the salt-water bubble dwellers, the aggrieved single-issue zealots, and all the other fragments, shortsighted, selfish, or silly to come together and VOTE. This may be the last one that matters, and I don’t want my patients- or any of the rest of you- to die.
2
It's the climate, stupid. Democrats should be taking the lead in supporting a carbon-tax-and-rebate (carbon dividend) system, investment in basic clean-energy and conservation research and infrastructure, including a better electrical grid; a more plant-based food system using organic methods; net-zero-energy housing, and so forth. There's a booming green economy already happening that's accelerating, but it can be boosted. We are at an evolutionary crossroads: we either continue evolving into a higher life form, or we collapse. The whole Republican Party seems to be voting for collapse. This is absurd, and every candidate should be saying so.
1
I've been reading the NYT, the WP, and the LAT for years .The democrats do seem have messages.
They want to have open borders, so an unlimited number of destitute people can enter the country illegally and immediately apply for medicaid and other social services. Oh, and it is forbidden to call them illegal aliens.
They want to live in a country where men can be destroyed by accusations of sexual misconduct dating back decades offered up without a scintilla of proof.
They want to live in a country that manufactures absolutely nothing and imports everything from Asian countries which use slave labor, ensuring that the non college educated will be permanently unemployed.
After 2 generations of leftist sentiment that Russia was merely misunderstood, they now want war with the second most powerful nation on earth. No draft though, so only the previously mentioned unemployed "deplorables" have to get shot.
They are just fine with cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles being overrun with homeless drug addicts and mentally ill people defecating on sidewalks, because to compel them to be treated would be "judgemental " .
These seem to be core messages.
5
I guess it depends on who is delivering to you the "messages" you seem to have received.
Thank you for such a level headed assessment regarding issues of concern for the mid term elections. Histrionic proclamatons wont cut it.
Democrats continue to muck it up. Aside from the crazy impeachment idea, how about a few other losers:
...abolish ice?
...eliminate the electoral college?
...Amend the constitution to change the composition of the Senate?
Non of these idiotic ideas have any chance of happening, yet democrats continue to talk about them. As reported in a piece in the Times yesterday, advocating for open borders is another gift to the Republicans. Nothing has changed since the election, the leadership of the democratic party continues to treat Americans who live between New York and California with scorn.
6
Don’t worry...I am sure the Democrats will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as usual.
4
Democrats are offering misery and destruction. Don’t fall for it.
3
@M
Like George Bush?
Washington Post's Glen Kessler debunked Trump's column in USA Today as lies and falsehoods in almost every sentence Trump wrote
1
>
Rest assured they will.
When history is written as to this time and place it will delineate the GOP's meanness & selfishness and the Dems incompetence & silliness.
More and more the polls are going against the Dems, especially in the Senate.
Our only hope now is the House, and if we can't win that it's over, run for the hills.
Should we not take the House, just imagine what the days following how DJT we act and be embolden. The insanity we've seem so far will look like hopscotch.
And if we don't win the House, there is just more deplorables than decent people.
2
Right back atcha NYT!
1
What planet is this writer living on? The “circus” that he decries concerning the Kavanaugh confirmation was created by the democrats! And he says there is no factual basis for the democrats planning to impeach Kavanaugh, but the Democratic house congressman who would take over the Judicial chair has publically pledged to do just that! And the “left mob” he questions? It was all over TV last week with crazed lunatics slamming the SCOTUS front doors and accosting GOP senators in hallways and restaurants. Moderate voters see this playing out; it’s an embarrassment, and we will see what effect it has on the midterms.
7
They have already mucked it up.
MAGA
1
Michelle, I'm afraid that your message is too little too late.
The progressive left, with the NYT in a lead roll, has amped grievance, oppression (by white males), identity politics, open borders, anti-cops, gender this and gender that so much, so far, so many times, that you can't pull it back now. Not in the short amount of time left.
Given that I hate Trump and voted for Hillary, I wish you could get the refocus you recommend. The BK hearings are the final nail in the coffin, and most of the liberal elite haven't the faintest idea of where the Dems went wrong on that one.
Hope I'm wrong, but afraid I'm not.
6
Michelle Cottle: "This explains why President Trump fibbed about having fulfilled a campaign vow to protect coverage for pre-existing conditions,"
Trump fibbed?? Geez, no wonder democrats don't vote. Trump is a liar. Speak plainly. Trump did and does lie. Speaking plainly got Trump to the White House and Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Catch a clue.
2
It is really very hard to muck up a free lunch and the GOP has served themselves up on a golden platter to the Democrats. In this elections it is "all about healthcare, stupid" Do not even think of uttering the "I" word that will backfire in your face like a defective 4th of July firework. Avoid that word at all costs lest you will imperil the GOP lunch that if you are handed and can be devoured. If I am a Democratic candidate for Congress in 2018 I take a large Louisville Slugger bat and pound potential voters over the head with it. "The GOP tried several times to rip your healthcare and right to petition your insurance companies for coverage on pre-existing conditions away from your family especially your Children" Keep swinging and say, "The GOP says that they are fiscal Hawks but they are really Doves who blew a hole of 1 Trillion dollars into the defecit with a tax cut that you are not getting any benefit from. In fact Trump was overheard in his club boasting to his Billionaire friends after the vote went down, I made all of you especially myself a lot of money." Then take you bat again and start slugging by saying, "The GOP is the party that likes to separate children from their parents and then put them into squalid living conditions because Stephen Miller is the secondcoming of Lord Voltemort" You reap what you sow, don't blame me if you allow these cold-blooded GOP vermin to keep their seats in Congress when you could help to make a change for the better.
1
This is the scenario by which Trump beat Hillary
8
The Democrats have already mucked it up.
Number 1, Bob Menendez, fresh off a hung jury for corruption, needs Hillary Clinton, yes, our beloved Hillary Clinton (not) to campaign for him in one of the bluest states in the union, New Jersey. Instead of telling him he must step down, no, they double down and now the NJ Senate seat is in jeopardy.
Number 2, Bill Nelson is one of the most lackluster senators you could imagine. But no one primaries him? Talk about an old white man. Nelson has the personality of a wet noodle, and the Dems say that a popular black socialist is going to carry him over the finish line. Not a chance.
No. 3, Florida's 27th congressional district, a plus 6 Democratic district, should be low hanging fruit, with a 72 percent Hispanic population, to turn it blue, but no. Who does the DNC choose to run against GOP Ileana Ros-Lehtinen? Donna Shalala who worked in the Clinton administration and who worked for the Clinton Foundation, and another candidate with a winning personality (not), with a list of failures on her back and some maybe shady dealings.
It is almost as if the Dems want to lose. What was it that Bernie Sanders said? Something about the Democrats would rather stay with a sinking ship as long as they have first class seats. Thanks for nothing Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.
9
Sounds good on paper. Unless the masses pull their heads out of their iPhones, finally pay attention and engage....start fitting yourself for a bonnet and red robe.
1
I agree with everything in this column. However, the press needs to do its part by resisting the urge to make false equivalencies (e.g., stop calling Me Too protesters "mobs" because that's the Mitch McConnell spin. Charlottesville Nazis -- now THAT was a mob) or by outright omitting Trump/Republican scandals. We heard about Hillary's emails AD NAUSEAM in 2016 thanks, in large part, to the NY Times. Trump committing tax fraud for decades is barely spoken about now. The Dems are not the best closers, but you are kidding yourself if you think Donald Trump winning the electoral college in 2016 had nothing to do with negligent press coverage.
5
They already "mucked" this up, too late:
1. Kavanaugh hearings - dishonest Democratic tactics on display for all the world to see (Feinstein, Booker, the ever-useful Sheldon Whitehouse, and Mr. Falsus himself, Richard Blumenthal)
2. Angry "progressive" mobs, professional screamers and disrupters
3. Eric Holder calling for Democrats to "kick" the opposition
4. Looney Democratic progressive candidates - "Abolish ICE"
5. Impeachment as a political strategy: Trump, Kavanaugh
6. Trotting out HRC and Bill on the trail to promote Democratic "values", including treatment of women - it boggles the mind
7. HRC: "You can't be civil ... until we take over" (I think the Bolsheviks said that in Russia in 1917)
8. And in the meantime, beyond the above, NO ACTUAL IDEAS.
This gift just keeps on giving.
----- 8:03 am, Oct 11
10
I am an independent. I have never-ever voted one ticket for one party. In fact, I always make a point of balancingf it out. This time I am tempted to vote GOP down the ticket, because (1) I do not want to see my congress quagmired into a silly impeachment trial, (2) I do not like the treatment of Kavanaugh, or Dr. Ford and I blame that on senate democrats and their staff, (3) I do not like the angry mobs attacking elected officials in elevators and in resteraunts, (4) I do not like leading democrats like Maxene Waters and Eric Holder encouraging these mobs. Finally (5) I am appauled that the DNC does not have the spine to remove a convicted incumbent crook from my ballaot!
8
What's to muck up? It's very simple: run on the triple impeachment ticket: Kavanaugh, Trump and Pence (such a bigot). The only issue the voters will have is: who should be impeached first?
Shouldn't be a problem, with the dem new platform of hate, anything but President Trump, and quite a few dem along with Hollywood encouraging violence against anyone who disagree's with them.
3
Didn't Senator Booker, himself a admitted groper, agree that Kavanaugh could be brought for impeachment on grounds that he perjured himself not admitting he blacked out drinking in High School. You want open borders and higher taxes then vote Democratic by all means.
3
I’m quite happy to play bad cop to Pelosi’s good cop. Impeach kavanaugh AND gorsuch. They’re both illegitimate.
1
"President Trump fibbed?" Really? Fibbed? That creature of self-serving racist avarice is a non-stop, wall-to-wall, 24/7, no-holds-barred prevarimaniac. He wouldn't know honest discourse if a 59-gallon barrel of it doused him on the head.
2
@John lebaron
Specifically, Trump is currently at 5000 lies with a lie rate of 70%, according to fact checkers.
Dishonest. Fibbed.
Why can we not call his lies - lies?
1
No argument that voter turnout is critical.
It is foolish to expect the under-30 demographic to vote this midterm, unless a rock star like Obama is running in every district.
This segment cannot abandon the cell phone and social media unless their narcissism and self-absorption are stimulated. Democrats can win with Drake and Kardashian on their ticket in 2020. Or with Bloomberg. But not otherwise. But democrats will pick an avuncular dude who speaks of rainbows and tells me what he will do with my money.
It is similarly foolish to expect the constituencies currently giddy about our road to Valhalla - to stay home this midterm.
Key problem? Democrats are showing no interest in winning (which is a separate from an interest in incessently, incoherently whining on MSNBC about everything).
Unrelenting broadcast of footage showing Trump with the 'decent' Nazis in Charlottesville, and the exhortation: "we are better than this" could work. Trump and his minions produce new material every day, ready for use. But democrats are squeamish; they have no stomach to go full on Willy Horton.
Also delusional and tone deaf. The straight up socialist nonsense about free this and that is unworkable, and notions of a 'clean-planet tomorrow' is dramatically threatening to people with money (who vote, and can prevent others from voting).
Squeamishness, delusions, and tone deafness are poor fodder for politics.
2
Only one Supreme Court Justice has ever faced impeachment - Samuel Chase in 1805, and he was acquired. I remember the “Impeach Earl Warren” bumper stickers of my childhood.
It’s a pointless strategy that has never gone anywhere - Democrats need to focus on the possible.
4
Exactly
4
"Thus, we see prominent Republicans, including the Senate majority leader and the head of the Republican National Committee, peddling the idea that if Democrats gain power in Congress, one of their top priorities will be to impeach Justice Kavanaugh. No matter that this claim has no factual basis — it plays perfectly to the Republican base’s enduring sense of victimhood."
Does this member of the times Editorial board even read her own publication? From the October 5, 2018 NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/us/politics/kavanaugh-house-investiga...
"House Democrats will open an investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct and perjury against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh if they win control of the House in November, Representative Jerrold Nadler, the New York Democrat in line to be the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said on Friday."
5
Republicans have nothing to fear from further investigation of Brett Kavanaugh. Trump already told us the FBI investigation cleared him of all charges. And impeachment not backed up by facts will rightfully go nowhere.
Just remember, the threshold applied to Clinton was lying about a consensual affair in a civil suit. So we’ll see if maybe Brett lied during his confirmation. Then we won’t have to impeach him. He’ll resign in shame or step aside at the urging of his highly moral and ethical Party.
read yascha monk’s atlantic piece today. center or lose
3
Not to worry. You’ve already muck it up. The read wave is coming except New York and California an no one cares about them
3
Tom, you don’t sound like you’re from around here. By ‘here’ I mean any place in the USA.
1
Message, message, message . . . silly, foolish marketing Mad Ave speak.
Here's the "message" : Be a likeable, genuine, honest human being with integrity. Govern with common sense and respect to all.
2
The me2ers have already done for the democrats what ralph nader did for al gore. You go girl
4
@Ben
Researchers found that Nader had nothing to do with Gore's loss.
“With less than a month until Election Day, it’s time for Democrats to hunker down and get serious about their midterm messaging.”
When oh when will the Democrat party look beyond the next election cycle and develop a solid platform of policies for the longterm future? With a robust economy (admiitedly not quite so robust for people who got slammed by the 2008 crisis or just low-wage jobs), how can Democrats develop a “message” that has traction in just a few short weeks? I’m sick of “messaging” and await the day when I see the kind of longterm plan for gaining power that the GOP and its very powerful donor class has been implementing, with great success, for decades. I wish Democrats would smarten up. And forget identify politics; I want to see policies that are meaningful to the vast majority of Americans, regardless of gender and color: subsidized education, infrastructure investment, universal healthcare, financial security in old age and retirement, etc etc. Until that happens and until we can persuade large numbers of current Trump supporters to move in our direction we will never have sufficient power to implement the sweeping reforms we need in so many areas of American life.
330
@Gerald: Spot on! The Dems need to develop their own message that works for the majority of Americans across ALL demographics. For starters they can return to their NEW Deal roots and stop trying to seize the "moral high ground" which only serves to separate us, instead of uniting us.
8
Here here! Couldn’t say it any better.
4
"And forget identify politics"
Oh, there's that lie again. Unless you're talking about that white-male-rage party...
1
Reading the comments, it's maybe worth summarizing why the Democrats are so ineffectual:
1. The Dems are a very heterogeneous mix of demographic and political interest groups; the Reps on the other hand are a homogeneous party of moderate to conservative whites. The Republicans were able to develop a simple, coherent message that appealed to their one demographic. The Dems are scattered all over the place, with messages that motivate one of their groups alienating other groups.
2. In the 1980s, the Dems were complacent having held congress for 40 years. The Reps at that time were hungry, highly energized by Reagan's win, and quick to adopt modern, data-driven marketing techniques. The Dems are still way behind on marketing and branding.
3. By the 1990s, the Reps had developed a powerful media strategy to complement their marketing efforts, cultivating right-wing radio and Fox News and, more recently, internet and social media outlets.
4. Also in the 1990s, party leaders began to enforce extreme party discipline (this is also a marketing technique, as the party is always "on brand").
5. The Reps also nurtured a strong donor network and used the money from those donors to fund the creation of right-wing think tanks, advocacy organizations, media, and grassroots outreach programs.
Essentially, the GOP has a single demographic to appeal to, a simple message that defines their brand, and a well-funded marketing and media strategy.
The Dems have Chuck Schumer.
4
Those Dems have one tool in their toolbox that they never seem to talk about: They have a solid majority among citizens who don't vote.
3
@IowaFarmer
"Those Dems have one tool in their toolbox that they never seem to talk about: They have a solid majority among citizens who don't vote."
Yes, even Democrats won't vote for Democrats because they put themselves to sleep with talking points and policy papers and risk-adverse strategies that broadcast their fear of losing.
Winners are not afraid of losing so they loudly and energetically go all-in. Voters see and feel that commitment and they turnout to vote.
1
I hope the Democrats can mobilize their base to get out and vote. I also hope the GOP cam do the same thing.
In the last mid-term election, NY State had a whopping 28% turnout of registered voters, meaning even less if you base it on eligible voters. New York is never listed among the voter suppression states, yet less than 3 out of 10 bothered. How can any leader even know what the 'will of the people' is, much less follow it, when only the fanatics bother to express an opinion?
I, for one, would rather my candidate lose in a race where a majority of the people voted than to see him win with a 28% turnout. At least in the former I can console myself with the fact that the people actually have spoken.
The most important thing for Democrats is to not mention the 22,000,000 illegal aliens in the country. Not everyone is down with that.
8
@RLS, totally agree. And they need to leave out "abolish ICE." Talk about a slogan to make even a life-long dem who despises the current GOP-- stay home.
2
Or the 12,000 children imprisoned; not everyone is down with that.
1
"Thus, we see prominent Republicans, including the Senate majority leader and the head of the Republican National Committee, peddling the idea that if Democrats gain power in Congress, one of their top priorities will be to impeach Justice Kavanaugh. No matter that this claim has no factual basis —"
Maybe Ms. Cottle, being a member of the NYT Editorial Board should actually read... the NYT.
Oct. 5, 2018 opening paragraph of an NYT article by Nicholas Fandos and Sheryl Gay Stolberg titled "House Democrat Promises Kavanaugh Investigation if Party Wins Control"
"House Democrats will open an investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct and perjury against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh if they win control of the House in November, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the NY Democrat in line to be Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said on Friday."
Now I ask you, why would the Judiciary Cmte. investigate Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct and perjury if not for the possibility of impeaching him? And why would the NYT Editorial Board write trying to convince you they aren't when their reporters are reporting that they are???
If you ever needed iron clad evidence of just how politically biased the NYT Editorial Board is and just how far they will go to campaign for Democrats, look no further than this editorial. A political party advocate parading as an independent news organization... and they wonder why Trump's "fake news" moniker rings so true with so many in this country.
6
@REPNAH
Please read more carefully. An investigation is not impeachment. Impeachment has to be based on facts. And a full fact finding was far from the spectacle put on by Senate Republicans.
Most Dems believe the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings were a total sham to jam a right wing partisan warrior onto the highest court. Maybe it will stand, maybe it won’t.
But Republicans should have nothing to fear from congressional hearings. Trump says Kavanaugh was already proven innocent by the FBI. Democrats simply want to test the validity of that proposition.
If leftist democrats mobs con enough people who voted for Trump and the majority Republicans in Congress...
Then I suppose Republicans will be rioting in the streets.... to avoid this tragedy.... vote republican.... again
1
Democrats have nothing new to propose and no exciting candidates on the horizon. Geriatric same-ole same-olds like Pelosi and Biden are not going to get the voters to the polls. Neither are the same ideas of "diversity is our strength", LGBT rights and so on. Swing voters don't care about that. Swing voters want jobs that pay a living wage and the confidence that their children will have the same or better opportunities.
5
Wrong.
Dem's are falling into the Republican's trap by anxiously wringing their hands about pursuing investigations and ignoring the gross injustices Rep. have committed.
If our Dems leaders can't
--investigate thoroughly, and in a responsible manner, and
--encourage the vote, and
--loudly declare what we are FOR,
then we need diff. leadership.
Yes, it's a tall order. But all three are critical.
3
@SLBvt
Democrats are so afraid of losing they do everything halfway.
Voters do not turnout or vote for "halfway." Trump was not halfway and so he won. Shocked everyone.
1
Demonstrable lying, dishonesty, corruption, abuse of power, saying the opposite of what they are doing. Yes, democrats need positive messages, but if they can't call the GOP the party of corruption and the super-rich, they deserve to lose.
The democrats and Maduro?? How about the GOP and Putin? They're concentrating wealth in the hands of their donors faster than they can pack the courts and cabinet with partisan hacks and jackals. Maybe the democrats' haplessness will finally lead to some serious housecleaning, because the consultants and leadership have been so much worse than disappointing.
Get out in front of something for a change. Anticipate the next lies in the GOP's repertoire (like the Orwellian scaring the elderly that democrats will raid Medicare). Did they not see that a phony FBI investigation of Kavanaugh was a set-up for using the issue in the midterms free from all of the damning evidence that he was perjuring himself?
It's up to Americans to take back Congress, because the GOP is highjacking government, and the democrats think a pithy retort in the news cycle will somehow suffice. It's not a debate. It's a war. And democracy seems to be the most likely casualty.
Unless Dems stop playing to emotional issues such as, e.g., gun control demands made by a bunch of immature teenagers who think they're now rock stars and promoting goofy, tearful guys like Corey Booker to represent Democrats, the Democratic Party is not focusing on real issues such as income inequality and climate change that affect America.
America is presently run by a bunch of unprincipled, immoral, and lying politicians called the Republican Party who for about the last thirty years has systematically tried to turn America into a one party ruled nation now headed by a guy who has no interest other than making himself and his rich buddies even more richer.
3
Good advice.
One correction though - trump didn't "fib".
He lied.
He lies with every utterance. Egregiously.
Can't democrats plainly call them what they are?
No excuses for him, no tip-toeing around, no more democratic Mr. Nice Guy, no more cowering.
He lies.
It's a simple statement of provable fact.
1
Absolute genius: "As part of this base-stroking, Republicans are eager to keep the debate raging over their freshly confirmed, ultra-polarizing Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh."
"Base-stroking". Use this term in a different sentence please.
I am sick of Trump's endless base-stroking. Or this variation: I wish Trump would quit stroking his base, its disgusting.
Thank you Ms. Cottle.
What are the Democratic plans to help make life a bit better for the middle and working folks? Is police brutality on the agenda? Is gentrification? It is for many blacks who live in Democratic-run cities where gentrification, poverty, crime, and lousy public schools still prevail? Turnout is not going to be what you think it will be.
29
@Mr. Slater Bingo! Hillary had "I'm with her". That means nothing. Trump had "Make America great again". That's a program for action, however amorphous and deceitful. So Trump was in the game for the people, and Hillary was in the game for herself. Betcha the Democrat honchos have learned nothing.
42
@angbob
What part of "Stronger Together" is unclear to you. Not understanding why Democrats have to condense a message into a few words. Trump had no plan - he said, "elect me, the Savior, and then I'll tell you the plan." He had no agenda. That old saw that a candidate had to have a positive message? Trump was absolutely dystopian. Please stop using Trump campaign as a "success". He LOST the popular by an unprecedented 3 million, and only gained the presidency thanks to a score of illegal activities, including conspiracy with a foreign government, campaign finance violations (Stormy Daniels, etc.), James Comey's unprecedented breech of FBI policy in releasing the letter 10 days ahead. And we really don't know if enough votes in those 3 states were hacked/suppressed to give Trump the Electoral College with just a 70,000 vote margin.
Angbob, please. Make America Great is warmed over Reagan... AGAIN. The slogan was tired when used by 40. MAGA is a program for action if you like tax cuts for big business and the wealthy, tariffs, subsidies to provide tariff relief, xenophobia masquerading as immigration policy, reduced health care options, privatizing education and entitlement benefits, union bashing, voter rights restrictions, and Trickle Down Economics that do not provide the inner city help that Mr. Slater is talking about. If you enjoy the platform of the Republican Party since 1980, then yes, MAGA.
If you believe that Trump is in the game for the people, I've got an investigation called Mueller that may soon change your tune. Or perhaps you should read the Times investigation of President Trumps finances. This self made man was drawing a salary of $200k/year as a 3 year old. Not a bad gig if you can get it.
Finally, it's not about the "Democrat honchos" learning nothing, it's about local candidates providing solutions to local problems. All politics is local, all fearmongering national. Slogans are bumper stickers for the lazy and uninvolved. I would encourage Mr. Slater and angbob to vote, and get involved in your neighborhoods. Vote for candidates who have a history of solving problems on your street, in your city, your county, your state. It could be a D, it could be an R, it could an I, a G, or an S. We the people can overcome many an obstacle working together.
Lets face it, the mere fact that this article was written is broadcasting panic among the liberal staff at the Times. Even stoking the Republican reader, claiming "With Justice Kavanaugh now safely tucked into his lifetime appointment, there’s much less cause for conservatives to stay angry."
Wishful thinking to the point of a pathetic attempt at convincing. Democrats already screwed this up. The entire Kavanaugh debacle shook to the core every man and woman who thought the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof were core principles of American fabric. Then the left wing mob that makes up not just the screaming Soros funded protesters personally accosting Senators in restaurants and elevators, but the Democrat Senators shredding those principles on live TV and their cohorts in the media plastering every ridiculous and salacious claim as if they were cold hard evidence - have tossed those principles in their unhinged quest for power. Top it off with using their own accuser, and holding her baseless claim until the very last politically expedient second, and you have something worse then a dangerous mob - a dangerous mob with power.
America is going to now run to the voting booth to hand that dangerous mob even more power?
I dont think so. These last few weeks scared the beJesus out of every America who got a little feisty in high school, or for heavens sake - drank beer.
5
I’m really tired of the cliche that the Denocrats “mess things up.” Are journalists afraid to say that the voters, the American people, mess things up by voting for the wrong people or not voting at all? If the voters fail to get off their backsides and vote in a few weeks does that mean the Democrats messed up again?
3
A voice of reason and common sense for Democrats. As the old saying goes, from your mouth to God's ear.
Passion is wonderful. However, Democrats need independent voters and educated female Republicans to win in many places. Activists can talk about "the base", by which they usually mean non-white voters until the cows come home, but you need white voters in a lot of places. That is simply the inconvenient truth. The demographics of 2030 have not arrived yet.
3
I understand the argument of not angering the Republicans; that's been Pelosi's message for the past horribly long two years.
Being polite is fine, but there has to be some kind of fight to justify the DNC's existence.
Trump et al have maligned our press, the judiciary, gutted the EPA, the Consumer Protection department, flaunted their corruption and use of public funds for ostentatious shows of wealth, turned angry mobs against non-whites, immigrants and made heroes of gun toting angry white men.
And Dems aren't allowed to get mad.
If the Republicans had sliver of that much dirt on the Dems, we can all imagine how far they can take it
You say Dems' message should be health care and the economy. Fine, but when does that campaign begin? We're three weeks to election day.
On the day of the Senate confirmation of Kavanaugh, I was canvassing in Modesto, Ca for Josh Harder, the Dem candidate for Congress in a red district. I could hear the Senate vote count on the TV as one Latino came to the door. He looked upset. He was undecided on his vote but he didn't like how Kavanaugh had the power over Ford and how this was just another of the events in Washington that turned him off. We sat on his front steps agreeing with each other. After that, he agreed to vote for Harder, signed up to vote by mail, filled in a self addressed postcard reminder to vote and also agreed to join us volunteers.
So why not weaponize Kavanaugh and the corruption of the Trump regime?
1
I agree: the midterms are too critical. If the Democrats don't retake at least one branch of government, it's possible that no elections will be held at all in 2020.
3
I'm waiting, but not holding my breath for some Democrat to get behind the National Popular Vote Compact, which would award the Presidency to the candidate who receives the highest popular vote. It has been enacted into law in 12 states with 172 electoral votes The bill will take effect when enacted by states with 98 more electoral votes. It has passed at least one house in 11 additional states with 89 electoral votes and has been approved unanimously by committee votes in two additional states with 26 electoral votes. The bill has recently been passed by a 40–16 vote in the Republican-controlled Arizona House, 28–18 in Republican-controlled Oklahoma Senate, 57–4 in Republican-controlled New York Senate, 34-23 in Democratic-controlled Oregon House, and 26-16 in the New Mexico Senate.
If this is enacted, it would mean that Presidential candidates would have to put forth a program that addresses the needs of the nation, not the needs of the 10 or 12 states that are 'swing states'. No more multiple events in Ohio and New Hampshire, no more ignoring NY and CA.
How about it Gillebrand? Booker? Kaine?
1
Attacks against 1) men, and 2) heterosexuality are brewing distrust and resentment and will limit gains by the Democrats in November.
5
I think surging voter turnout may deliver a surprise mid-term Dem win. Dems are y far the better organized party
And where is Mr. Obama in all this? Why isn't he using his charm and rhetorical gifts to drive home the Democratic message(s) and get out the vote? I am stunned and disappointed by his silence.
Come on, Mr. President. Like it or not, you are the leader of the party. No one needs another book from you: get out there!
1
@myasara
The DNC is fully aware of how polarizing Obama is.
Every time he opens his mouth, the GOP and their voters turn out in droves to vote red and the blues cheer.
If the DNC wants to loose in November and have no chance in 2024, then they should roll out Obama, and Hillary, and watch red take over.
@myasara, the disastrous midterms of 2010 and 2014 which led us to this mess, were while Obama was president. He squandered the role of "leader of the party," or perhaps being somewhat of an outsider, he did not see this as his role. He was no LBJ, that's for sure.
But I do agree that Obama (both of them) has the "rhetorical gifts and charm" that could help get out the vote in areas with voter suppression or in areas with traditionally low mid-term turn out. Biden and Jill need to do this too-- but they need to spend their political capital in places where their brand sells- OH< PA< WI.
Sometimes friends tell me these pages aren't biased at all, that it's all in my head, and that the Times really does play it down the middle.
Then it occurs to me that I'll never, ever, see an editorial board member pen an essay titled "Republicans, Don't Muck This One Up" or "How Republicans Can Win" or "Here's Some Useful Tactical Advice for Republicans." And I think... what "middle" are my friends even talking about?
There's a particular irony in Ms. Cottle's reference to "the Republican base’s enduring sense of victimhood." Can she be serious?
The Democratic Party's entire program for America is based on making sure every voter feels like a victim of some kind, of some one, in some way, at all times.
If Republicans are in a snit this month, they're still pikers in the victimhood game compared to the undefeated champions of the art on the Democratic side.
7
Any one person reading this could decide the outcome of their House and Senate races.
Today, find one person who will commit to voting the whole Democrat ticket and persuade that person to commit to recruiting one other person tomorrow, and so on, and so on, until election day. By then, you will have motivated the better part of 10,000 people to vote against the Trump administration.
The midterms are entirely about turnout. That's what gives me so much confidence about this election. If you look at what Democratic candidates are doing, the most important effort is going into their GTV activity. That is what is going to give the House to the Democrats in January.
This is a real chance to make history. There is every reason why this could be the most substantial vote against an incumbent administration in history. Whatever happens, Trump will deny the numbers, but at some level he knows the reality that he avoids in his personal fantasyland. We want him crushed.
More importantly, we want the whole issue of the Trump administration to come to a head as soon as possible. The task of every thinking, responsible American right now is damage control - doing whatever can be done to stop Trump before he does anything irreparable, before he starts a nuclear war with Iran (for example).
Get serious. Ask every person you talk to if they are intending to vote Democrat in November, and if they are not, it's your patriotic duty to change their mind. You live in a democracy, so use it!
Why is it always Dems do this and Dems do that?
Isn't it the responsibility for every eligible citizen to vote? And that's whether they are voting for something or voting against something.
It's not just a Dem issue. It's a citizen issue.
When too many people fail to cast a ballot or allow someone to prevent them from voting, things will only continue to get worse for most of us.
1
Stability and predictability. In family life, in neighborhoods, in the weather, in business, employment and in government. It's a good thing, not a bad thing. Chaos is good for making overnight fortunes speculating in the stock market, but that's not where America lives. Chaos makes people afraid, hateful and hopeless. Chaos is different from change. Change where change is needed is good when all parties have a say in the direction, degree and speed of that change but not when one political party, one privileged socioeconomic group, one "tribe" shuts out everyone else and "plows through." Change is good when it creates new opportunities for those who now have few. Change is good when it adds a little security to people living on the edge, when it creates hope where there was only cynicism and apathy, when it includes instead of excludes and marginalizes, blames and shames. I hope enough Americans, even those who usually vote Republican, will say, "Enough chaos, enough drama, enough corruption."
1
Good op ed. Another thing to focus on are the tariffs now imposed by China. Small business owners and institutions of all sorts are now beginning to experience the economic backlash of Trump's policy in their pocketbooks, along with health care, taxes, and other areas where the GOP has failed miserably. The key for the Dems is to hone in on the issues that matter to everyday Americans.
86
@Birdygirl
Except it's not an Op-Ed.
The author is a member of the editorial board.
How apt.
2
The highly-visible extreme behavior of the Left the last 45 days, along with Hillary and Holder now calling for incivility, just may have delivered the midterms to the Republicans.
6
@Dr. John
Obviously you do not espouse truth. Good luck.
3 weeks is an eternity in politics. I'm not sure how much anger and hostility Feinstein and co. actually brought out in republicans.
I, for one, was screaming into my screen, shouting and cursing at the senators as they systematically took a wonderful American man with the highest moral standards and desperately tried to turn him into a dreaded, hated, sexual predator. 3 weeks can't come soon enough.
4
Ms. Cottle’s message seems to be drop impeachment as an issue and that is sound advise, but in the remaining three and a half weeks of vicious paid ads and hate mail and a populist tied to Fox News ringing doorbells may be the best that can be done and that requires massive volunteer time. LOL.
Perhaps the Democrats can expand the Antifa “protests” they are putting on up in Oregon.
No better way to encourage old folks to vote for you then to bang on their cars with clubs.
8
Well, since mucking (euphemism) it up, means simply not voting, yeah the Democrats stand a pretty good chance of mucking (euphemism) it up.
3
If there is one thing that Democrats are very adept at, it is this : Looking a gift horse in the mouth. They tend to do very well when nothing is on the line because of the opponents indifference.
Hillary's lack of a strategic plan to trounce a pathogenic racist, misogynist and habitual liar like Trump took the all time vote for the worst electoral blunder. "I am not like Him" was not a strategy.
2
@Plato, Hillary WON, please acknowledge that fact. That said, agree on her passivity: when trump stalked her in on of the debates, she should have stopped in her tracks and a) looked down at the debate marshals and said "why are you letting this man stalk me in this forum?" and then B) turned to the don, drawn up all 5/4" of herself and threatened to kick him where it counts if he "comes that close to my body space again." I think men would have admired her brass, and women would have taken her lead.
@karen, the electoral victory is based on the electoral college, not the popular vote. So please stop saying she won.
Lack of strategy hints directly at the fact that battleground states that voted for Obama did not go for Hillary? Why ?
In America, unfortunately, there is still a significant gender and race bias. There was and is also a significant anti-Clinton bias. A coherent strategy would have recognized all this and allowed for a mitigating message. There was none.
My sense is that the Dems still don't get it.
The only things that could screw up the midterms for the Democrats are things that are out of their control: lack of actual voting (over 100 million did not vote in 2016), gerrymandering (still a factor), voter suppression (already being engaged in in Georgia and New Hampshire - with others still to come), Russian or other outright interference in the actual voting (could happen...), and some sort of last-minute "October Surprise" (watch for it). The only thing that the "left" can do to screw it up is for Sanders' supporters to once again add to the problem by rejecting any candidate who does not live up to their "purity test."
2
i believe it was Flo Kennedy who first said, "don't agonize, organize."
http://wordsofchoice.blogspot.com/2016/11/dont-agonize-organize-words-fo...
I say screw it up. Our racist country deserves four more years of Trump tearing down the country for Putin. Let everyone feel some more pain--then maybe they will feel empathy.
1
Why don't the Democrats seize on the rapid rise in catastrophic weather events, such as most of America experienced this past summer( fires, floods, droughts, extra-hot summer temps, invasive plants and dying off of fish and other wildlife, rising seas) to bring back environmental and climate issues into the election, especially as we have an administration hell-bent on undoing climate regulations and not cooperating with the rest of the world? Why not show how a small moneyed interest groups has determined many of Trumps' Executive orders on Climate and the Environment?
It may be an issue whose time has come- the last 3 years have been quite stunning in the high number of once-in-a-century weather events! Please- this a non-partisan, universal issue and could gain votes!It cuts cross Get people worked up about the environment and climate change- we need them, and their kids to get fired up about it. It's for the future- and present -for all of us!
2
@susan171
'bring back environmental and climate issues into the election'
because then those who do not believe in Al Gore or global warming will point and laugh at Democrats, and vote red.
It's strategy, and they know voters get scared away when the DEMS run on 'the sky is falling'
1
@AutumLeaff
But things have changed visibly since 2000. Who can not notice with alarm what is happening to the weather?It was too subtle in 2000. One mistake the Dems make a lot is to look at something in the past to determine action today even if the situation, attitudes, and context is different.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put it best a few weeks ago: the Democratic party is the identity party: if you're a woman, minority, poor, LBGT, etc. you should have a grudge with the system, and the party will welcome you. Notable in her list of classes is the absence of men, especially white men, and the middle class. It is the party of intolerance: join us, but only if you endorse our absolute political orthodoxy.
Until the Democrats come up with a centrist message, they are doomed to fail. Yet they insist on brand-differentiation politics, taking extreme positions on everything from guns to ICE to police violence, while utterly ignoring the critical issues facing the country, such as campaign finance reform or the Federal deficit.
And it's getting worse. The current cycle is marked by a remarkable degree of uniformity at the grass-roots messaging level. Look at random candidates in Idaho and and Florida: they have almost the same list of talking points. I blame deep money for this: ignore your constituency and toe the party line, or you don't get funding.
A month ago, it was hard to see how they could screw this up. Then their dirty tricks around Kavanaugh reinvigorated the Republicans. I now not only think the "blue wave" is a fiction, they will, against all odds, manage to ensure that Trump wins in 2020.
9
@Bruce Rozenblit I hear you - and suggest making your list affirmative statements instead of negative rhetorical questions:
Worker training IS a message.
Common sense gun control IS a message.
Why do semantics matter? Because Democrats are getting cast as negative, screeching naysayers instead of positive driving forces for good.
I would also add to your list:
Building a strong, sustainable middle class IS a message.
Fighting the impending devastating effects of climate change.
Building and sustaining a stable growing economy (because every Democratic administration since WWII has had stronger economic indicators than every GOP administration).
4
...correcting MY semantics ;)
Fighting the impending devastating effects of climate change IS a message.
Building and sustaining a stable growing economy IS a message (because every Democratic administration since WWII has had stronger economic indicators than every GOP administration).
2
They will screw it up
3
I haven’t voted since the 1984 presidential election but will cast my ballot on Nov 6 2018. I wonder how many other formerly apathetic citizens will join me? More than the danger if Dems screwing up, the bigger story might be surging voter turnout.
2
If this election was down to the DNC you could be sure they would screw it up, like they screwed up 2016. Pelosi and Schumer have lead us to the loss of 1,000 seats nationally. Have we changed leadership? er, no. Next month some of those seats will flip, but let's not pretend for one moment it is because of leadership on the left or a coherent message. It is 98% a push against the unAmerican evil the GOP is now.
2
The inherent problem with Dems is not mucking it up. It's when they attain power they don't know what to do with it. Dems have this amazing ability to rest on their laurels. They jumped with joy in '08 with the election of Barack Obama. All was well with the World. From Barack's election on, Dems then proceeded to go back to their usual apathetic ways. Let Barack handle it. Barack was a nice guy. Too nice. He let Republicans obstruct him from Day One. He let McConnell, who was hell-bent on stopping Obama from enacting any legislation, do exactly just that. He let Paul Ryan pretend to want to work with him on health care reform. Barack was played by these two who made sure not one Republican would vote for the ACA. They stalled, obfuscated, then finally refused to support the president who put forth a mild and meek plan, a plan that was originally a Republican plan. Except for Obama's re-election, Dems managed to lose ground, losing not only national offices but those crucial ones in the states. Come 2020, another Census will be taken. They are what determines how to draw the Districts in each state. Republicans are the most despicable people on Earth but they do know how to win. And as Coach Lombardi noted, "winning isn't everything. It's the only thing".
Wake Dems. When you get power do what our greatest presidents, FDR and LBJ, did. Put the screws to Republicans hold their genitals in a vice, and never let up till they cry "uncle". Got that?
DD
Manhattan
4
@Dennis D.
With all respect, I couldn't disagree more.
The huge difference between Democrats and Republicans, since more than a decade now, is that the GOP literally fabricated an "alternative facts" universe, through Fox News, which invents crises and then GOP politicians "solve" them long before Trump was even a candidate.
The GOP is utterly corrupt today, firing up its base not with conservative philosophy but with horrible lies about the state of the union, their own accomplishments, and "liberals".
For most other media, this is so shocking that they constantly focus on GOP "messages" in order to debunk them, as that's indeed one of their main tasks.
But that also means that the media report much less on what Democrats say and do, and THAT's when people start to imagine (including NYT pundits, apparently) that their "message" would be vague, and even, as you say here, that they won't accomplish anything once elected.
In real life, just LOOK at what they did under Obama and you cannot but acknowledge that it was SO much more than what the GOP is achieving today.
And if you want to adhere to Lombardi's quote, just remember that in a democracy, the only thing that counts is making progress step by step, compromise after compromise, all while respecting democratic institutions, into the direction of what your voters want and need.
"We the people" have given the GOP the legal power to block ANY Dem bill since the end of 2009. And they did. Not voting has consequences..
5
@Ana Luisa
Great post. Agree one million percent.
The problem is that voters of both parties expect the President's they elect to wield power as if they were Kings once they are in office. While the Republican's are only too happy to try to oblige these days, the Democrats have for the most part respected our democratic institutions and the rule of law. For this they are often tarred by both sides as feckless and ineffective.
However that is bull. Though Obama had to lean on executive orders more than I would have liked (because as you said, voters gave the GOP the legal power to block any and all Democratic legislation from 2009 onward), the list of accomplishments from his administration was extremely impressive. If it weren't, would Democrats be so up in arms today at Trump's undoing of those accomplishments? Would we have to be fighting to preserve the basic protections afforded us under the ACA (such as those for pre-existing conditions)? Would we be concerned with the hobbling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? Would we be angry about the undoing of Obama era environmental protections/policies like the Clean Power Plan or the Clean Water Rule. What about the reductions in the Bear's Ears and Grand Staircase National Monuments? The attempts to end DACA? And that is just off the top of my head.
I guess it's true about us Democrats, we don't know what we've got until it's gone.
@DennisD
I agree 100%. Obama won because he inspired people. Hope was his message. A “strategic” message and halfway measures like Obamacare don’t inspire people. They breed cynicism and apathy. If Democrats would fully and enthusiastically embrace Medicare for All and reasonable public college tuition, they would win in a landslide.
The headline on this one hits the nail on the head. The Democrats actually have the high ground, and they can only blow it it they spend all their energy niggiling about issues that the PC contingent thinks are the issues. Get real, address local issues in all parts of the country, prove you are not just a coastal party, explain that the repubs are royally screwing, financially, the 99.9%, and go for it! The plague of oligarchs can be overcome.
3
@Paul
I have to admit that I don't understand this kind of comments.
They successfully reformed the HC system in such a way that today, 40,000 additional American lives are saved a year - which means that thanks to Obama and the Democrats, soon a whopping half a million American lives will be saved. Many of them don't live in coastal areas at all.
They also saved the auto industry - once again, not coastal areas.
So exactly WHAT excuse to people have NOT to vote for them ... ?
And then we're not even talking about the GOP yet.
@Ana Luisa
Ana, You need to step back and look at your own comment as an observer, and then you will understand. You mentioned a few important achievements of the Democrats, but you did not mention several key oversights of the Democrats, which are in fact the reason for trump's success, e.g., you said nothing about the effect of globalization and unregulated immigration on the economic situation of many Americans. Additionally, the Democrats seem to treat issues like bathroom use for transgender people as a big deal while they seem to be ignoring issues like economic survival. This foil makes the Democrats appear to be out of touch. I hope this helps.
@Ana Luisa
Agreed, those were notable accomplishments, the kind that should be at the core of the Dems message. They should be talking about exactly the issues Ms. Cottle has identified.
Please, no talk of impeachment - it only riles up the Fox watchers. Emphasize the economic, inequality issues that almost everyone can relate to. Make sure voters think of the Dems as the party of all working families and Republicans as the party of corporations. Hammer that home.
Oh don't you worry. The Dems are just inept enough to screw it up. I have full faith in my fellow liberals.
2
oh please. of course they will screw this up. that is what they do. There is no long game strategy. There is no short term strategy. just continued bewilderment of why we keep losing. our only hope is the millenials we push out the dinosaurs and fox the mess the baby boomers have created
3
Pardon me while I get sick.
Rachel Maddow (MSNBC 9 pm ET weeknights) reported on Tuesday that the New York Times knew of The Con Don's communications with Russia months before the election and chose to bury the story. The NY Times, like most of the other major media at the time, chose to harp on e-mails instead and caused the most qualified candidate - Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton - to lose.
Do NOT have the arrogance to pin it on "democrats". Pin it on yourselves and Bernie Sanders who also knew the Russians hacked his supporters' facebook pages and sang his praises in comments - including the NY Times - while he also attacked
Ms. Rodham-Clinton.
Boston Globe editors buried the catholic predatory priest expose for years, too. Now the truth is finally out.
New York Times, don't muck this one up. Help WE THE PEOPLE restore/preserve democracy in OUR United States of America and wrest back control from the International Mafia Robber Barons who are trying to take over OUR country and lives.
11
njglea,
Poor Hillary.
It's everyone else's fault she lost.
Again!
That evil Bernie. How dare he campaign against her.
As if herstory doesn't acknowledge challengers to coronations. Why have a primary at all. The nerve!
See, that was part of Ms. Less evils problem. We The People thought/think she was/is part of "the International Mafia Robber Barons who are trying to take over OUR country and lives."
She lost!
Again!
You want to cast dispersions and blame...
Then don' t leave out Hillary and O. knew about the Russians too. Don't leave out the machinations and campaign shenanigans by Clinton et al.
Quit pointing fingers at any and everyone.
Arrogance does tend to make on sick.
You are pardoned.
2
I think Democrats should remain focused and resolute. Tune out the noise that is the Republican Party. Stand for the economy. Healthcare, education, equal rights. Tell the truth. Reject the amorality of Trump and his clan. VOTE VOTE VOTE.
9
Simple message: a President who holds a campaign rally with only adoring crowds - while a Cat 5 hurricane lands in Florida and the stock market drops 800 points - clearly needs a check by Congress.
7
Dem's....just keep sayin the word Socialist or Democratic socialism and we will lose. tell Bernie to stuff it for awhile. you have to gain power before you can affect real change.
5
Health care is the definitive issue as Trump and Congress have FULL, let me repeat, FULL health care coverage but they want to eliminate ours.
As far as Trump goes, I believe he has lost a great deal of relevancy and there are more bipartisan viewers in front of their big screen TVs chowing down popcorn and lip syncing his rhetoric as they laugh out loud at him and not with him just like the member of the UN general assembly last week.
5
What groups of voters comprise a winning *coalition*? If you don't ask yourself that question, you are on the wrong track. If you insult and try to silence voters who don't agree on every single issue? Don't expect turnout. If you tell workers concerned about trade and low wages that they are wrong, stupid, and won't have their interests championed by the Democratic Party? Or, don't even belong in the Democratic Party? Don't expect their votes. Republican economic policies with a different sales pitch? No, thanks.
Guess what? In swing states, lots of traditional Democratic leaning swing voters are strongly pro gun, and/or pro immigration enforcement, and/or opposed to abortion - but once voted Democratic on economic issues.
Workers want more jobs at higher pay. Period. Taxes and transfers are a losing position to low paid workers who can't afford them. Ask WI (R) Gov. Scott Walker, who wins *formerly* blue WI, based on promises of low taxes and jobs.
The vocal campaign by Democrats in favor of immigration as issue #1, and gun control as issue #2, will indeed motivate people to vote.
But it will motivate opponents more than supporters.
From NYT's Thomas Edsall:
"..among those who say immigration is their top issue, opponents outnumber supporters by nearly two to one. In this respect, immigration is similar to gun control — both mobilize opponents more than supporters."
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/opinion/the-democrats-immigration-...
8
M. Cottle's Essay is addressed to Democrats, which seems at this critical stage a perfectly nebulous concept.
One might say, "Get a grip!" but - on what?! Beyond the revered geriatrics, the ostrich Tom Perez, the currently-troubled Keith Ellison, who speaks for an even minimally-unified Democrat Party?
Who is charged with driving this apparent clown car through the minefield of GOP IEDs? Toward what cohesive objectives, beyond the facile notion of winning? What then? Who speaks for the Dems as a party rather than a herd of cats?
2
Democrats should be hammering the coming stock market and economic crash due to the trade war. Trump's huge one time stimulus from the tax cut has not yet faded. Currently this temporary flush has the economy faked to look good. That also needs to be talked up.
Trump and his cohorts false propaganda needs to be called out for the lies they are telling.
The immense corruption under Trump needs to be hit over and over and over. Trump's criminality and massive personal tax fraud must be hammered home.
It is time to go negative HARD.
55
@Federalist Think positive too.
Expand Medicare. Start by covering those 62 or older and those 3 or younger .. Medicare works and is the most practical way to give more people healthcare
Have the Federal Government directly subsidize all State Universities. Invest in the future of America.
Limit tariffs to tight Congressional Approval
Make the USA the leading proponent for world peace.
Protect the environment, as a long term sound program
Make the basis of American democracy one person one vote
@Federalist
The market is in a correction and will come back with a roar in a day or two.
If the DEMS point to the market and say 'just look at what he is doing to the market!' ... and it rebound with a vengeance, the attack will back fire big time, turning into a promotional piece for Trump and Co
@Federalist...
When you hammer "something that's coming", you better have some serious proof that it is.
Remember Dr. Krugman's great prediction of stock market crash if Trump was elected. He based a season's worth of articles on it, and he ended up looking like a fool.
And "the immense corruption under Trump" schtick
isn't going to get much traction with the corruption that has been exposed with the FBI and DoJ that caught some career civil servants in boxes from which they legitimately could be fired.
As for false propaganda? I needs to be called out wherever it appears...
And the NY Times and Washington Post seem to be purveyors of quite a bit of it these days.
One hopes. But frankly, the Dems are far and away the most ineffectual political operation going. Seriously, the right-wing militarist agenda has thoroughly won; the Dems don't even have a twinkling of a peace movement anymore.
When it comes to the promotion of oligarchy and the incessant tax cuts for the rich that have continued for decades, the Left is happy to climb aboard as long as the middle class gets a sliver.
As for the Left's continued affinity for immigrants (both legal and undocumented), that union has yet to benefit either Dems or immigrants.
Wall St regulation is a joke, environmental regulation is becoming unglued, and Dems haven't had a sustained effective bulwark against right-wing voter suppression ever.
When in holes stop digging. And the Dems might finally do that much. Frankly though, for years Dems have made it difficult to hope for much more.
3
You are feeling what I am. The enthusiasm is going soft. What’s the message people?? It’s bad when we don’t even know.
5
"... a wild-eyed, rage filled mob bent on destroying the Republic." Well, at least you did not say "Democracy." But you did touch on exactly how most of us moderate conservatives see today's Democrat party. Its seemingly crazed activist groups, with their always violent rhetoric, and often violent actions, like Occupy Wall Street, Code Pink, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, etc., have pretty much painted you with the same brush. We don't recall the Tea Party crowd throwing bricks at police cars, or even so much as leaving a rally site littered with garbage. We don't see Republican politicians (and even NYT columnists, like Charles Blow) using the terms "war" and "revolution" in ways that imply the true meanings of those words rather than the rhetorical. We do see Hillary saying that Democrats can only be civil if they are the ones in power. And we see avowed socialists (and perhaps even communists) actually finding an accepting home inside of your party. So there you have it. This is why none of us, even though we may honestly despise Trump's personality, are going to suddenly defect from the Republican party and vote Democrat. Trump, along with some Republican congressmen and senators, are not our ideal, perfect world representatives, but we understand that virtually all are much better than the current crop of Democrat alternatives.
12
@Southern Man: time to stop watching Fox News, Southern Man. Everything you just described is straight out of their playbook. Didn’t see the Tea party act violently or leave a mess? Guess you weren’t paying attention to what happened in Malheur, Oregon; or in Charlottesville VA, or at any current Trump rally. Republicans may not be using terms like war and revolution....they are just fomenting war and revolution, for profit (see Trump’s threats re Venezuela, N Korea, et al....and see Erik Prince peddling his private taxpayer-funded army to sustain an endless and ineffective conflict in Afghanistan). And “avowed socialists”? For the umpteenth time, a social democrat is not the same as a socialist or communist. Medicare is a social democratic policy. Roosevelt would’ve been a social democrat by today’s standards.
There are ample opportunities out there to read, hear and understand the substantive policy positions that Democrats are currently offering (vis healthcare, better wages, tax reform to help people other than billionaires, sane trade policies, consumer protection from Wall St predation, long-overdue energy and environmental policies)—but you won’t find any of it on Fox News.
So let me make this real simple for you: if you turn on Fox News, and someone’s lips are moving, they are lying. If you want real alternatives to your “not ideal” representatives, get your head out of the Fox Box, and start paying attention. Your life may well depend on it, very soon.
1
Democrats... what are you doing. Is it a personality problem? Is it a strategy problem? I legitimately have never seen a group of highly educated and articulate people fail so badly time and time again.
Democrats are now rallying 100% behind a 20-something borderline socialist from NYC - WOW...brilliant! Wonder how that will be perceived by the independents in red/battleground states....
5
What are the Democrats supposed to do when they are in a country that elected Trump?
5
Two issues, properly presented and carefully explained to the average American, would propel the Democrats to victory. If a more progressive party is just not possible for this country, then the Democrats must mobilize on message. Keep it simple: health care and climate change. These two issues affect every American.
1-Explain single payer health care. Break down the message into manageable bites and neutralize the fear of "socialized medicine." I love Bernie, but he never did a good job explaining exactly why single payer works and why it will not destroy the republic.
2-Educate on the reality of climate change and campaign for new energy technologies. Renewable energy infrastructure will transform the county. No longer will we need to blow off mountain tops, despoil forests or drill into the oceans. Better, smarter technologies will produce plenty of employment as well as a greener, happier planet.
Dems can win with straight talk on these two difficult, but solvable, issues.
5
@Lisa Calef
Here's the plan: have people who currently pay for their own insurance begin to pay for those who don't. It's a GREAT idea, America. You need to pay your fair share of the tab others walk away from.
Here's the other plan: you simply MUST pay so the federal government can evaluate/recommend/tax/administer the programs the Administrative state is sure we need. Everyone knows the enviable record of achievement of the federal government employee hierarchy. Government employees are ALWAYS looking out for the American taxpayer. ALWAYS.
6
@Beeper812
Insurance is a sharing of costs to achieve a mutual benefit. If we all share the cost, we eliminate the need for separate private insurance. There’s no “paying for those who don’t” because everyone contributes so everyone can benefit. This concept should be taught in high school. All insurance works this way whether the group is your employer or the whole country.
Outrage isn’t enough – Democrats need a message that is (dare I say) hopeful. Throwing mud at each other is a sure fire way to keep voters away from the polls.
4
LOL, the party that nominated Hillary because they claimed she was more electable is pretty much guaranteed to muck it up.
10
"Democrats, don't muck this one up?" Haha, mucking it up is what Democrats do. This is the party that can't shoot straight, and that's only when it even wants to shoot. Half the time it's in bed with Wall Street and special interests. The awful truth is the Democrats mostly get votes by default, because the Republicans are even worse. That's no ringing endorsement of the D's.
4
Funny; you blame Democrats.
No, America is lost because we are humans susceptible to being greedy, hateful, judgmental, etc. The Trump Republicans play the cards that use the people. Don't blame Democrats.
Trump, the serial philanderer, talks so passionately about 'moral' issues, like abortion, you'd think he'd never fooled around without 'protection'. The biggest fraud of all time. Our truly 'fake' President, elected by the Russians and people scared about their future. Democrats? No way.
Who are we really? Who is We the People? Is it the Wall Street gang that keeps stealing with bail-outs and high-frequency trading and all that? Is it the billionaires and multi-millionaires that buy elections and politicians and Supreme Court justices? Lost, lost, lost we are. This is what happens when money becomes your king.
Democrats stand up, be real, speak truth. Love your neighbor and stranger and enemy. Love is our foundation. Give thanks for that. Greed and possessions and riches and luxuries are not going to create the 'more perfect Union'. Only compassion and service and unity can save this place from our worst instincts. We can do this.
And today, this will be led by Democrats. So be it.
1
I honestly don't believe whites on the Left understood what was at stake two years ago. They didn't "like" their candidate, and patted themselves on their backs for their ideological purity in failing to vote for her. Mind you, most whites on the Left didn't think they had any skin in the game. White women couldn't get past their personal animosity toward Mrs. Clinton, an animosity with absolutely no basis in fact, especially when compared with her rival, one of the most ignorant, disgusting, unfit men to ever sit in the Oval Office. In any case, whites on the Left believed, perhaps justifiably so, that they had little to lose under a Trump presidency.
Well, guess what. A number of us did know what was at stake. You know, those of us who are brown skinned? Those of us who are ethnic minorities? Those of us whom whites now feel very comfortable screaming at in groceries stores and in malls, telling us (even those who are citizens) to "go home"? Those of us who have been victims of skyrocketing hate crimes? We knew what we were facing then and we know what we are facing now. And we are the ones paying the price for the ignorance, the hubris of whites on the Left.
Until whites on the Left understand that it isn't all about them, none of this will change. I honestly don't believe they really understand what happened. They continue to rail against a "flawed" candidate. But their ignorance has turned America into a nation in which my family, and many others, are no longer safe.
3
Talk about ignoring the elephant in the living room...Immigration is what makes decent Democrats support the President...I hear it all the time...Dems must somehow show they’re not for Open Borders...Yet we’ve seem that limiting illegal immigration is a dirty business...We’ve learned that preventing even a single illegal immigrant is an absolutely brutal undertaking...There is no moderate stance...There is no humane way of stopping even a single desperate person who wants in...That’s the Democratic delusion...Open Borders is indeed the only “moral” stance...That’s Why Democrats are in an impossible situation...
2
Perhaps one of the most frustrating qualities of the Republican Party and Donald Trump is this; condemn, malign, slander and insult the Democrats and blame them for every negative aspect of life and when Democrats call out all their lies and fake news they throw hissy fits and tantrums about leftist censorship of conservative voices which is not happening. It’s atrocious and extremely obnoxious. As far as I remember, Democrats didn’t force children into cages while imprisoning their parents in federal prisons. Democrats didn’t seek to revoke affordable healthcare from millions of working Americans. Democrats didn’t tell transgender soldiers they weren’t welcome in the Army, Democrats didn’t insult a Muslim couple and their military son, and Democrats DID NOT take money from Russia to fund a presidential campaign. Let’s face it, this is entirely the GOP’s (and likely Joe Manchin’s) fault. Blaming the Democrats for every single problem in America will only push registered voters to torture the GOP in November and punish them for the indignities committed against Americans who were not white, heterosexual, Christian and wealthy.
Hey GOP, if you run from these issues, they’ll come back to punish you. Actually show ALL Americans, not just those who support you, that you want a better America.
The only way Democrats will be able to develop and execute a strategic approach for the "People's agenda" is to stay away from issues like Climate Change,Immigration and society's attitudes towards women. Right or wrong, for every one of us who is passionate about them, there is another voter who thinks they are minor. When it comes to Healthcare, affordability is indeed key, but radical ideas like "Medicare for all" simply shift the issue of cost from individuals to the system overall.
I hope the Democrats listen to pleas like these. For working class people whose lives are at risk -- since they cannot afford their medicine or much-needed treatment, Christine Blasey Ford could seem like a relatively lucky person. Similarly, people who work two poorly-paid jobs may have trouble sympathizing with the problems of the upper class. Convince these truly unfortunate people that you care about them. Don't talk about problems that they literally can't afford to care about. As for a meritocracy, after teaching composition at a community college, I was startled to realize how many of the non-wealthy are in poor health. (When allowed to choose their own subjects, they sometimes wrote about their own or their relatives' illnesses.) In other words, as one recent article pointed out, fairly often it's poor health -- or the need to care for a sick relative -- that prevents people from doing all the things that they are supposedly too lazy to do (getting a college degree, working steadily, etc.)
I see from these comments trolls are already out in force to discourage liberals and progressives from voting during the midterms with the usual disinformation. "Oh, both sides are equally bad. Democrats are owned by Wall Street. etc." There was a lot of that during 2016 and look at where we are now. Don't fall for it.
There are a lot of new Democratic candidates with new ideas running in these midterms. Beto O'Rourke and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are only a couple of well-known names. You want more progressive candidates? You want new faces in Congress? You want reformers? Okay, they are out there running....as Democrats. So now's not the time to pout and sit on the sidelines. Now's the time to make your voice heard by backing these candidates. Give them the power to actually do something by getting them a majority in Congress. Vote for their party.
Don't listen to the cynical and manipulative screaming trolls on the internet. Actually listen to what your candidates have to say. Then VOTE.
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@citybumpkin I beg to differ. Let us be honest. Chuch Schmuer earned enduring gratitude from the party as the bag man for Wall Street. As long as campaign financing is the plaything of those with lots of money, there will always be a pull way from democracy in order to win. The GOP is worse, but we don't need it at all
That said we need to vote despite the corporate wing. We need to get Dems in office and then get the political process cleaned up next.
I am a lifelong Dem and not a troll.
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@citybumpkin
Yes, you are correct. O'Rourke and Ocasio are only two; that's the problem. You do not will with two new authentic candidates. You do not win when you do not have a message. Ask the average dem person in the street it they know their party's message; what do they stand for? They could not tell you. Huge health care changes; taxes up not down on the wealthy, get the disparity in wealth massively adjusted. It is always money and security. That is what all people want. Create the large blasting motto of "Make the working person great again." Health care for all and some kind of jobs program perhaps like the great depression day. More people may be working today but their income, the minimum hourly wages, etc. are very poor as are their benefits. Ideas, ideas are needed and a solid message for the dems! They may lose again and again if they do not get real and authentic! Why do they not see this!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@citybumpkin - There you go, we need more socialists like Beto O'Rourke and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Have you been to Venezuela lately? How did socialism work out for those folks?
Whatever Democrats do, DO NOT BELIEVE THE POSITIVE POLLS. Will cause many of them to not bother to vote. Remember, the pollsters have been wrong since the Dewey-Truman election of 1948.
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@Unconvinced Where is the Thomas Dewey Presidential Library, anyway?
Become the party that celebrates facts, and it will be a slam dunk.
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In other words, take the “Clinton” approach. Play it safe. Don’t offend (or excite) anyone. No thanks. Next suggestion?
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If you can’t be bothered to help Democrats win, then rather than judging others you can simply look in the mirror to see why they lost.
Don’t blame others for your own inaction.
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Amen. Only one justice has even been impeached by the House. None have been convicted. Foolish talk about impeaching Kavanaugh won't help win a single district. And people need to stop attacking Dems who believe with some reason that protecsting the ACA or Medicare buy-in are far more likely to actually became law than Medicare for all is. Zealotry does not win elections and we need to have room for different viewpoints on how to best achieve affordable access. Robert Reich does Dems no favor by campaigning as if the US was poitically the same as San Francisco. If it were, we wouldnt be where we are.
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Like admonishing children, advising Democrats is a mostly iffy business. Will they listen? Will they learn? Who left the big mess on the floor?
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Isn't this years message the same as every years' since Carter, "not as bad as those other guys?" The Democrats are the Washington Generals of politics.
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@Steve Bruns Didn't they beat the Globetrotters once?
@HLB Engineering The Generals have won three times according to their website, and 1971 was the last time the Generals "tasted victory" out of over 17,000 games. I'd say that my metaphor is still valid if you consider the times we elect nominal Democrats and get corporate/Republican policies anyway.
We have one party that is barking mad and we also have the Democratic Party. What to do? I know, let's complain about the Democrats faults as if these two parties are remotely equivalent entities. Then we can decide to withhold our votes because the Democrats have let us down, or not campaigned in a way we find inspiring.
Want something, anything done about global warming? Republicans are not going to turn a tap, in fact they are exacerbating the problem.
How about workers rights? Republicans work against that.
How about clean air and water? Republicans work against that.
How about equality, both income and societal? Republicans work against that.
The things the Republicans have that the Democrats don't are a well funded strategic and tactical campaigning machine that spits out slogans in 8 words or less that malign the opposition, incite anger, or stir fear. Their talking points are 'freedom' cutting taxes, and fearing 'other' people - that's been the Republican message since at least Reagan.
So complain away about Democratic shortcomings, but in this either/or binary voting world these are your choices. Or you can choose not to vote because the Democrats weren't able to create a catchy slogan for a workable comprehensive plan on an issue in 8 words or less that really grabbed you.
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@JD Ripper
Here are my submissions for pithy slogans:
* In Florida, the choice is Blue Wave or red tide.
* Poor people voting Republican are like chickens voting for Col. Sanders.
Hey NYT readership, got any slogans of your own that you would vote for?
@Ella Washington
Thank you! How about:
"Take a deep breath. Didn't Die? Thanks Democratic Party!"
"Drink the water! It's really good for you! Thanks Democrats!"
"I like being educated! Thanks Democrats!"
"My grandma doesn't have to eat cat food! Thanks Democrats!"
"New jobs and training to combat Global Warming! Thanks Democrats"
"My grandkids have a future! Stop Global Warming in our lifetime. Thanks Democrats!"
I could go on, but the problems that face this country and the world are big and complicated. Cutting taxes for the already rich and segregating people into different buckets will not solve any of them.
The Republicans are calling the Democrats 'an angry dangerous mob.' Rand Paul's wife sleeps with a loaded gun because she fears liberals. Wait, what? And this column and many commenters here just pile on with our own criticism.
WE, control whether the Democrats 'muck' this up based on our perception of what the 'Dims' (as referred by Trump) are trying to do.
Pragmatism can be a virtue.
Yes, the Republicans will certainly be playing "the specter of a wild-eyed, rage-filled Democratic 'mob'” for all it is worth.
Unfortunately, the Resistance has given them plenty of exhibits, including much entertaining video footage that we will undoubtedly be seeing a lot of between now and election day.
Perhaps the enthusiastic warriors can head out again to restaurants and entertainment venues where the villains try to enjoy themselves and supply the other side with some more ammunition.
3
30 days before an election and we Democrats are in need of a “message”?
This cannot be true.
Can we sue for political malpractice?
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@Dr. John Until the Democrats are willing to ice flow their old leadership, it's more of the same, tired old messaging from the party of George Jefferson. See: Movin' on down.
Directing Democrats is like herding kittens. They don't have a simple unifying theme. When FDR won 4x, the Democrats represented the common man against the forces of big business and power. With the wealth gap at historic levels, that message can still sell today. One of the biggest mistakes Democrats made was throwing overboard my Senator Franken. Without Franken, there would be no Mueller investigation. He got rewarded by getting booted over phony allegations by a power hungry woman from NY. What in the world were they thinking?
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Our local chapter of indivisible-- Page County Indivisible, in Luray, Va.-- has espoused the approach this article encourages: move past name-calling, labels and demonization to address kitchen table issues of broad, bi-partisan concern. The goal should be not to persuade the unpersuadable core of Trump-land, but to appeal to moderate, traditional Republican and Independent voters. They are the slice of the electorate who will determine the outcome of most elections. Instead of taking the bait when called an unhinged liberal, respond by asking whether the accuser is satisfied with the accessibility and affordability of his healthcare.
Moderate Republicans and Independents will be swayed by those who act like grown-ups, focused on the genuine issues facing us all. But if those appalled at Trump get down in the gutter with him, they will turn off the swing voters that are the difference between winning and losing elections.
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@Samuel Halpern...
The left, with the help of the NY Times and the Washington Post, has lost more than to years of opportunity to address the "kitchen table issues" that powered Trump's defeating of a candidate for whom the election was hers for the taking...
And, they only have themselves to blame for the lost time.
Do you REALLY think that inspires confidence in The People, particularly after eight years of economic malaise under the Obama administration?
@Samuel Halpern...in other words, make nice with the people you abhor, sucker them into voting against their interests, then kick them where it will hurt the most after they return you to your rightful place at the head of the table. Nothing new about that Democratic strategy. Y'all have been perfecting it for decades.
This article reminds me of the constant complaints from the Clinton camp in 2016. If only the people could see the real Hillary, they might like her. That after 30 years in the public eye.
If only the Dems could have a clear message, they might win. That they are trying to find a message 30 days out is frightening.
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@Evan
"If only the Dems could have a clear message, they might win."
Not about the "message." It's about integrity. What good is a "message" if no one believes it?
Especially a "message" from a politician.
The only way they can win is to First not take corporate donations (bribes), and Second replace the loser oldsters with a new and passionate younger leadership unafraid of losing.
Only then will your talking point "message" be a real mission-Message that motivates turnout.
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@Evan: I know what the Republicans clear message is: Authoritarianism with Trump as Dear Leader for Life. That's all I have to know this time around. IF we want a democracy - even just a semblance of one that we now have - THIS is the election that defines who we are and what we want. I don't care what the message from D's are right now. They're against autocracy and authoritarianism and that's good enough for me - this time.
I'm a very reluctant Democrat and I don't have fond thoughts for people like Tom Perez who is supposed to be the organizing master, or the Clintons. But the D's have Amy Klobuchar, Sheldon Whitehouse, Chris Coons, etc and lots of House people who are GOOD people, not criminals as is 99% of this Trump Party. I am tired of criminals 'leading' us, making gobs of money off of us, embracing Trump who embraces dictators and is not protecting us, who lies to us every single day, who only is the president of his base, who calls the press the 'enemy of the people' and now is awfully quiet about the Saudi Washington Post columnist, who doesn't believe in climate change and who readily says (his government) we will be up 7 degrees F at 2100 and wants to put MORE carbon and methane into our atmosphere, etc, etc. etc.
Vote D as if your life and the lives of your children and grandchildren depend upon it. They are not perfect. But they are not criminal.
3
@Evan: Enough people saw Hillary and liked it enough to vote for her, 3M more than for Trump. Maybe they are the ones who read the 2016 Democratic Platform? Still relevant and very clear.
2
It couldn't hurt the party to buy 15 minutes or a half-hour of prime-time at some critical moment before the election to do some simple math on health-care policy to show how their position on the issue will actually give the American people better health care for less money. The enormous advantage is that a simple explanation of it will track with the reality, which is that the American people pay twice as much as other countries for less health care. In such a case, some of the party's most respected leaders--especially Barack Obama and others--could help stabilize people's feelings on this issue, which massively favors Democrats. I have been bitterly critical of the culture radicals in the party, but this is one issue which engages the American people where they really live. Does the national leadership of the party have the good sense to try something like this?
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@David A. Lee The Democrats play an opposition party on teevee. It has been very clear since Obamacare was passed that the Dems are just the pearl clutching face of the two faces presented to the public by the oligarchs who own both parties. Both parties like to look like fighters and neither benefits from actually winning any fight, on abortion, campaign finance, immigration, jobs, trade, you name it. Any big issue of the day, whatever the voters want, stalemate works best for the leaders of both parties.
1
@Chip But, Chip, true as what you say is, it's not the only truth. President Obama managed to work with the insurance companies to get Obama-care passed, and that matters, because they gave up some things in order to get what they wanted. They gave up policies that excluded relatively poorer Americans from access to health care. The Republicans have tried to destroy those aspects of Obamacare that did that. Again, that matters.
@David A. Lee: very good point. Anyone else out there old enough to remember Ross Perot’s little handwritten graphs? Very effective....
Why don't we respond to Republican nonsense, for example the assertions about "mob rule." Why don't Democratic leaders invoke the Boston Tea Party and explain to those ignorant of history that our nation has a long tradition of street protest and activism? As a party, we seem so passive.
46
Because we've white washed American history so much that the average person knows nothing of the reality of the Labor Movement. Mass protests are usually framed as useless and strikers are seen as ungrateful troublemakers.
@Claudia...Yeah, let's hear more about the traditional protest on the National Mall in the 1930's or the activism at the DNC in Chicago in 1968. Let's equate them with the Rose Parade or the ticker tape parades in NYC.
While I know that abortion is a critical issue for many Dems, it is also the cudgel that the GOP has used to beat us with for decades now. We need to rethink abortion and guns as our fundamental issues, and start rethinking education, healthcare and wages. In other words, leave the cultural stuff behind and focus on the bread and butter.
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@Clyde Yes! The culture war has always been a distraction away from the economic issues that concern almost everybody.
@Clyde I'm assuming you're a man, which is almost always the case when someone suggests ignoring an issue that is critical for women.
@Clyde
I couldn't disagree more.
The whole abortion debate is based (like so many other issues) on a lie invented by Republicans: the idea that liberals somehow have no moral values and even like to kill babies.
It turns out that it is LIBERAL abortion policies (= investing heavily in prevention and birth control) that lower the number of abortion a year, whereas GOP policies (= ending all prevention and criminalizing it) systematically increase them.
So here too, if you really care about abortion, you should vote for the Democrats, certainly not the GOP.
A clear majority of the country also supports the current Democratic agenda on guns, education, healthcare and wages.
The only problem here is that the GOP has created such a huge "alternative facts" universe, through their propaganda machine Fox News, that journalists who want to take their job seriously feel obliged to constantly focus on GOP "messages" and debunk those lies. As a consequence, many voters don't here about what Democrats stand for and do anymore, and then imagine that they're not "good at messaging" ... so decide to stay home rather than vote for them.
In a democracy, the media are the fourth estate. If they get biased in such a way that they're constantly covering only one side, THAT's the side that will gain most traction, as even negative publicity is wonderful publicity, as all marketing managers know ...
We keep hearing that the Democrats have no message. Baloney!
Affordable healthcare for all isn't a message?
Investing in renewable energy isn't a message?
Realistic public college tuition isn't a message?
Worker training isn't a message?
Taking down the oligarchy isn't a message?
LGBT rights isn't a message?
Civil rights isn't a message?
Reducing the deficit by rolling back tax cuts for the super rich and corporations isn't a message?
Gun control isn't a message?
There is so much that Trump and the Republicans have totally screwed up, no single message will do.
The Republicans have greatly benefited from the two or three word slogan. Trump is the master of this tactic. Democrats should not fall into that trap. Tearing something down can be done with a few words. Trump is also the master of that tactic. Building something up takes more words. Restoring America can't be outlined in a sound bite. It takes a bit of speechmaking. Let the Republicans grunt and moan. We have something worth listening to. We just need to get the people to listen.
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@Bruce Rozenblit
GOP - the Borrow and Spend Party.
That's a Message.
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@Bruce Rozenblit
These are all good things. The problem is they do not trumpet these positions into any and all microphones they can get their hands on. They do not properly call out their opponents for siding against the American people. They need to make it clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are more than just the Washington Generals to GOPs Globetrotters who are currently alley oop-ing all over us no matter how much solace you take in the Trump-Russia probe.
What about a two-or three-word slogan is a trap? To continue to ignore all the winning strategies of the GOP in favor of "getting the people to listen" to the same substance-less message you've lost with for years.
What does it take for a Democrat to unabashedly come out for an end to our illegal wars, and mean it? What does it take for a Democrat to declare the war on drugs a failure and call for a nationwide end of the prohibition of marijuana? What does it take for a Democrat to actually want to achieve universal healthcare, even if it comes at the expense of the very powerful lobbying industry?
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@Bruce Rozenblit I disagree with some of your messages but overall it is what we should strive for.
The Democrats that I hear are for open borders, sanctuary cities, abolish ICE ,impeach the president, accept unsubstantiated accusations against men, over regulate the economy,discriminate against Asians and whites at IVY league schools,raise taxes.
1
Here’s the message for the next month, Democrats:
Health care for everyone
Repairing infrastructure and with jobs for people in the city and country
Less expensive higher education
Job retraining for displaced workers
Fix social security and Medicare
Don’t vary from this no matter the bait tossed out by republicans. Be disciplined, mate, and you’ll clean up on Election Day.
you won’t regret it.
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@Cody
Health care for everyone?
Sort of like car insurance, right?
any idea how you would pay for that?
Bernies so called plan was estimated at 32 Trillion.
Pocket change, right?
6
@Sports Medicine: "Bernie's plan cost 32B."
How much are we paying now, ($3.2 trillion aggregate according to several sources) and is the product worth the cost?
Do you ever pay a little more at the store to get a product that works well as opposed to buying a cheap product that may as well be useless?
What are the benefits to patients and doctors of having hundreds of different healthcare insurance companies, each with their own coverages, forms, and procedures which require specialized knowledge to deal with? Are there more benefits to doctors and patients when the method of administering healthcare is uniform?
@Sports Medicine
If we don't have money for single payer Medicare, maybe you can explain why Congress gets FREE medical care and pensions for life -- paid for with our taxpayer dollars!
Why do the wealthy people in Congress who are denying us healthcare for all get free Healthcare paid for by us?
We are the ONLY so-called advanced nation in the world that doesn't have universal Healthcare for all of its citizens.
1
The Democrats have been mucking up elections for decades. With the exception of the Watergate year, 1976, they lost every presidential election between 1968 and 1988. They also lost two unlosable elections, in 2000 and 2016 because of incredibly poor campaigning and candidates who didn't connect with anyone.
The winning issues for the Democrats are NOT gender and minority identity issues. They are basics, as indicated: protecting people's Social Security, which the GOP has repeatedly targeted, protecting their jobs, fostering economic security, health care and preexisting conditions.
Republicans have won by stoking fear and divisions within the country. In this, they have used scapegoating and inflated rhetoric to take advantage of the fact that Democrats abandoned the working and middle classes in favor of others. The GOP has then stabbed those abandoned people in the back by betraying their economic interests.
Democrats must recapture that constituency. They can only do it by focusing on basics.
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@Dave I agree with you. But I would add one more major issue that Democrats never talk about in any meaningful way: Immigration. Other than, "We need comprehensive Immigration Reform", protecting Dreamers, opposition to the Wall, wanting to dismantle ICE and justified outrage about treatment of families/kids at the border, I have no idea what the Dems would actually do on this issue. And it matters. A lot. To myself and many other moderate voters. The Republicans talk about specifics, Democrats talk in vague generalities. Why is this? I don't understand why Immigration isn't near the top of the Democrats' issues. They ignore this topic at their peril.
@Dave...Democrats are focusing on basics. Gender fluid toilets. Free college tuition. Free health care. Abolition of countries, ie open borders. Guaranteed income. Safe spaces. Guilt by allegation. Demonization of opponents. Sanctuary cities. Impeachment.....It wasn't Republicants who stabbed the working and middle classes in the back, betraying their economic interests and abandoning them. If the Democrats weren't the assassins, they wouldn't have to grovel for the votes of their victims, would they?
Democrats DO have a message. In fact, they have lots and lots of messages.
That's the problem. Too many messages makes the "lean Republican" voters confused and dubious about putting Democrats in charge.
What is missing from the Democrats is true leaders. Sorry, Nancy; sorry, Chuck; sorry, Elizabeth; sorry, Bernie; sorry, Corey; sorry, Kamala.
None of you cut it because you're competing with each other.
The GOP have - like it or not - one voice. A big booming voice named Trump and he uses it all day, all night, every day, every night, on Twitter, on TV, everywhere. He is campaigning, campaigning, and campaigning. This is not the President speaking - this is a campaigner speaking.
Dems are sorely lacking a counterweight - one big booming voice - discrediting Trump's every lie.
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@Mimi
You are right on point. D's need a plan, not intermittent reactions. You need a candidate with common sense for the White House whom over half the country does not hate, and who appeals to a significant amount of the populous. While the "free lunch agenda" of the potential candidates that you listed resonates with many, it will only guarantee 4 more years of daily tweets and international upheaval. He won because of the severe hate for Her, and the fact that he appealed to a base that never had a candidate even address their issues. He has not really addressed those issues, but the base is still strong and a major factor. The number one issue is Jobs, and no one seems to have an answer for this one. Morale has been defined as having something to look forward to, and that is not easy to do when you cannot get a job.
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@Mimi
Dems are lacking the right message, NOT the right leaders.
So Dems will continue to be punished at the polls.
In desperation, the Dems are turning to the likes of Ocasio Cortez: big mistake. 7 day metropolitan wonder only.
1
@Mimi Agree with you; I also think the Democrats need to challenge Trump more instead of being afraid of him. Talk about the NYT investigation into his tax fraud and point out the loser that he is. He says he worth $10 billion, but when the government required him to sign something stating his net worth, it was about $1 billion. Start poking holes in this myth that he created.
2
Very well written. The key for Democrats is to not let Trump and McConnell set the discussion. They want the Dems to fight about abortion rights or Trump breaking laws, but the truth is that the Dems have winning issues in Healthcare and the huge deficit that the GOP is exploding. Even the so called "greatest economy ever" is not looking so strong after today's massive drop, rising inflation and the tech down turn. China will probably also fight back closer to the election as an attack on Trump and his supporters.
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When will climate change be put at the top of the list of Democratic priorities?? Just as the Republicans have stopped being a party of fiscal responsibility and a party of personal morality, they have stopped being a party of national security. Climate change is the biggest threat of all to our national security. This issue is Democrats’ for the taking. The latest hurricane is on Page 1. I pray that Democrats quickly take the opportunity to say that a vote for a Democrat is a vote to start dealing with climate change before it’s too late, and a vote for any Republican is a vote for a potentially fatal denial of a clear and present danger.
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@Barry Fogel Amen. Climate change is the greatest threat to our national security and to the planet as a whole.
@Barry Fogel...Why would Democrats be concerned about threats to national security? You don't even support the notion of a sovereign nation. Nativist and nationalist are dirty words in the Democrat's lexicon. Globalism and open borders are the future. Global warming is projected to lead to the greatest migrations in the history of our species. What a great way to increase diversity and inclusion and to eliminate economic inequality.
Thanks for putting this into words so clearly.
An excellent editorial - thank you Ms. Cottle. I could not agree with you more: the Democratic Party has a two-pronged job to do before November 6th is upon us. It must re-evaluate what it's core message is to so that it can appeal to the broadest cross-section of independent voters - the ones who held their collective noses and voted for Donald Trump in 2016.
And it must be willing to fight fire with fire and take on Donald Trump head to head. The Republican Party is long overdue for a comeuppance. And so is Donald Trump. This Democrat will be watching the election results on November 6th with the same intensity as if it were a presidential election. In a real way, it is.
7
Republicans and Trump have been winning for decades by fighting a racial and cultural war. Meanwhile the 1% has been winning the class war. Some politicians could win eventually by getting on the side of the majority. Trump won by getting small margins in certain states - maybe his fake advocacy of "populism" was critical. Anyway, smarter demagogues could take advantage of the still-growing inequality if the current parties don't. Democrats need to indicate clearly which side of the class war they are on - and stop pretending that this war does not exist. Health care is one specific issue, but there many others. Democrats may have to give up their dependence on big banking and finance.
4
@skeptonomist: All political parties have to give up their dependence on big banking and finance. We need campaign finance reforms, otherwise we cannot level the playing field and politicians on the take of big interests will always win. For now, Democrats are less dependent than Republicans on big banking and finance.
1
It is not rocket science to figure out what animates people.Everyone needs health care, young and old, and want to be able to afford it.They will not accept a solution that imposes pre-existing conditions.They do not want their incomes consumed by taxes and they want their children well educated in public schools and to be able to afford college.They don’t want to pay more for everything because of high tariffs which have been imposed by this administration.They know when cars and groceries cost more.The issues people vote for are very close to home and dear to their hearts.
5
For the people is horrible. It is middle of the road, warmed over Reagan garbage that dems have been losing on for 3 decades.
3
Once again, Democrats have allowed themselves to be defined by Republicans. In the few days before the election (and already looking toward 2020), Democrats must be firm, forceful and factual if they hope to achieve a respectable outcome this time. The way to message that is to speak directly to those specific swing voters by telling them how the real facts can and will affect them negatively. If I were a Republican, that's what my greatest fear would be.
Speak the truth, prove it and then have those on the fence to demand that their own party do the same. Hopefully, it’s not too late for a surge to take effect before irreparable damage is done.
Vote.
9
@Theodora30 - You are absolutely correct. Ever since the election, I have been blaming both the media AND the voters who were too lazy to look at Hillary's platform and detailed fact sheets.
@Theodora30...
I continue to be amazed at the power that people like you seem to cede to a cable network that has a reach of but 4 million out of a total of 326+ million in the nation.
Admittedly the reach of Fox News is more than that of MSNBC and CNN combined, and their influence might just be proportional.
But to ascribe such political power is just plain ridiculous. In fact one might just accuse the New York Times of a much more effective reach in that it has a website rank of 32nd in the USA and 128th in the world. (See: Alexa.com)
The Kavanaugh fiasco was a huge Democratic muck-up. Why wasn't the evidence against the nominee submitted earlier and properly? Because it was a play designed to stall the hearings using a woman's pain and suffering as a sword. Her story, if introduced properly and not as a tactic, may have had legitimacy based on a through investigation. But Feinstein, and others, decided to spring it on the committee at the last minute, a clear sign that it was all premeditated. It backfired. Perhaps Democrats, not wishing to muck things up, should consider removing the word ruthless from their playbook. Strive for the moral high ground which is currently unoccupied by either party.
7
I agree with all of this. Stand for positive policies like a living wage, health care , education, personal safety and security. and good jobs.
Avoid polarizing identity talk, One reason Hillary may have lost is the Midwest felt a main plank of her platform was one bath room tor men and women, First government need not even discuss such personal identity issues and second we have real problems, the heroin epidemic, and failing infrastructure. Many agree on this so appeal to the consensus.
8
Democrats need to get out and vote in their own bests interests and take everyone in their families and their friends and neighbors to vote the same way. This election is truly a turning point. If Democrats, Independents, and perhaps some Republicans don't vote to repudiate what is going on in DC, there may not be another chance for many election cycles. If Democrats don't take the majority in either the House, Senate or hopefully both, there is no way to have any power base for the probably at least six years. Don't muck it up is right. Too many mistakes have already been made in dealing with the GOP--going back several decades. It is way past time to change course and take control of some part of our political destiny.
5
This advice is not bad.
I agree that talk of impeachment of Kavanaugh or Trump is not helpful.
But that is not how Democrats will muck this up.
What I am worried about is Democrats refusing to promise anything to the 60% of the population that works for a living, While Republicans promise all things too all people, Democrats think it is their responsibility to tell the middle-class there is no money to spend on the things they need. The way to counter charges of taxing and spending is not to deny it, but to own it. Republicans Borrow and Spend, which is far worse, but more importantly, Taxing and Spending is in Article I of the Constitution. And the Preamble lays out a list of expensive things to spend on like the GENERAL welfare.
While Democrats were telling the people that was no money, Republicans were planning l $5 trillion in tax cuts for capital (paid for with $4 trillion in tax increases on high-tax-state workers) which makes most people's lives worse, without helping the economy.
Promise to repeal and replace that bill with taxes on the rich.
Pre-existing conditions are important, but just one aspect of healthcare. Promise universal healthcare, which every other industrialized country has.
Promise subsidized higher education (which we used to have) because most families are struggling to pay for school.
Infrastructure shortens commutes and makes jobs.
Renewable energy is the future and already creates more jobs than fossil fuels.
Sell the Greater Good!
10
@McGloin
well said
The Democrats need to take back the message that they allowed the Republicans to co-opt: that they're for the "little guy", By chasing after the same fat cat donors the Republicans have, and doing their bidding to get their cash, they allowed policies to be implemented that are detrimental to most Americans. Sure, they passed the ACA, but that was a cave-in to the health industry to retain for-profit health care. And who did they they bail out after the Crash? Wall Street and banks, and the people who CAUSED it! Meanwhile, regular folks lost houses, pensions, and jobs, with no relief or assistance! And while international trade is important, policies that encourage off-shoring of jobs is not.
It's true that the Dems talk about a lot of good ideas, but their message is fractured and incoherent as compared to the Republican's scare-based messages of illegal aliens, abortions, gun control, and "values" - codespeak for W.A.S.P. values. The Dems need to identify one or two ideas that improve the lives of the majority of Americans and spell out how they'll deliver this improvement. Set aside the "hot button" issues like immigration, attacking Trump, and re-fighting the Kavanaugh battle that serve only to distract and divide and to energize the Republicans.
Finally, drop the demographic "messaging" that seeks to motivate these groups, but only widens the divided between them. As Franklin said "We must all hang together, or we will surely hang alone".
4
The Democratic leadership, Pelosi, Schumer etal. have suspended their disbelief as much as the Trump rally habitue shouting "lock her up!" They (the leadership) are unfocused, insular and out of touch. Being in touch doesn’t mean forming a wild mob. But these old politicos could use a dose of agility, fluidity and savvy, along with a backbone. or better yet they could be replaced. Really, what good is Pelosi’s renowned fundraising prowess, if the Democrats squander the funds and continuously lose??
Between the underhanded (but successful) Republican tactics and the very scary cyber-intervention, the Democrats are already at a disadvantage. And, while most Democrats really want to project civil, issue-based campaigns, this political climate dictates stronger, more confident approaches. They (Democrats, Republicans, Independents etc.) are all politicians, to some degree. Anyone who enters this arena has to be willing to play to win. Surely among all the myriad of high paid Democratic consultants, at least one could devise a reasonable, somewhat effective plan? And, Democrats need to remember that the emotional vote is not the sole domain of the Trump base.
I won’t hold my breath. But, I’ll visualize crossed fingers.
1
If the intense polarization of the electorate is truly responsible for the over eighty percent support from Republicans for their national embarrassment of a leader, where is the forgiveness from Democrats for proven leaders like former Senator Al Franken who was accused of kissing a girl harder than she expected, or the forgiveness for Hillary Clinton who made some money giving speeches when she was a private citizen and used a private server on the advice of Colin Powell, her predecessor, when she served as Secretary of State. Maybe the reason leading Democrats, with a few exceptions appear to be walking in their sleep, whenever they aren't actively trying to put people to sleep. And why so many good people who are actually capable of making a difference are consigned to sitting on the sidelines while Trump and Co are busily wrecking their beloved country.
@Leigh - Yes, please forgive Hillary. Give her another well-deserved chance at the White House.
It's the only hope Republicans have left for 2020.
1
The Democrats need to stick to a few simple points and keep drumming them home:
1) Republican want to allow health insurance companies to discriminate against pre-existing conditions. Is that what you want?
2) Do you want Congress to rubber-stamp Trump's actions for the next 2 years or act in their constitutional role as a check and balance?
11
This is a very timely article and its premise is one I have also been trying to promote to my colleagues and friends. The important thing is not to get played by a Master of the Game and his enablers. Recognize that you win some, you lose some and some get rained out and then move on.
Everyone should think about this, including the the Editorial Board of this Paper. Do you want to promote change or serve as a forum for screeds? Ask yourselves this seriously, and if in the current environment, you haven't succumbed to 'calling the kettle black.'
One of the major problems with the alternative to the current administration is that we are perceived as the sum of our grievances resulting from being overly focused on identify politics. If you look at the editorials published over the last two weeks, I would tend to agree. There should be some standards applied.
Ask yourself if the Wall Street Journal or the Economist would publish an editorial that states that girls educated by women are morally superior to men? Ask yourself if advancing the identity politics of bifurcation serve your goals? Ask yourself if enabling self-righteousness and smug superiority will be winning positions at the ballot box?
There is a beautiful spoken piece by Terence Blanchard that addresses the issue of social justice and how the early Civil Rights movement petitioned the Government for recognition of this problem. It's worth seeking out and listening to. It's not a screed.
4
I will vote - but will it make a difference? With their new solid openly partisan majority there is nothing stopping SCOTUS from simply overturning the results of the election, or deciding that there isn’t a single qualified Democratic voter and allowing the voter rolls to be purged, arresting anyone attempting to vote for fraud. Or perhaps Trump will create some emergency that will serve as an excuse to cancel the election, or a bunch of right-wing thugs will show up at polling places in Democratic districts to violently prevent people from voting — and mysteriously no police will show up. I know I sound paranoid but I see no evidence that they’re not capable and willing to use these tactics. Will someone please convince me that the Republicans will allow this to be a free and fair election?
I’m with you.
I love the continued swipes at Progressives from all the mainstream media that feels it's corporate centrism threatened by anything that smells of the Progressive Values that gave us the New Deal, Fair Deal, New Frontier and Great Society.
I would remind all the Clinton-crats that is was not the corporate friendly that brought you the 40 hour week, an end to child labor, unemployment insurance, Social Security, Medicare, the EPA (mandated by Democratic legislation- not a Nixon generosity), OSHA, equal voting rights, etc. I would remind you that as recently as 2008 Hillary Rodham Clinton was running for President defending DOMA and opposing marriage equality.
The "grown ups" in the Democratic Party will lead you back to Egypt like Edward G Robinson's Dathan in The Ten Commandments. The New Deal came not from the establishment or even FDR, but from Progressives like Henry Wallace, Harry Hopkins and Frances Perkins. Medicare did not come from Wall Street, nor did the affordable home loan or the student loans and Pell Grants that helped create a broad Middle Class.
Put the ConservaDems back in charge and you will get Reaganism (Economic Darwinism) with a human face.
3
I've said for months now that the Democrats should run on health care. It's a critical issue for most Americans and one where the Democrats are much stronger than the Republicans.
That said, I'm pretty happy with the Republicans labeling us the "angry mob." I think we now have our own "deplorable" moniker. We should all get T-shirts made: "Part of the Angry Mob . . . and Proud of It!"
4
Democrats should hold their nose and support a centrist Democrat or even a leader like Bloomberg. If you don't completely like a candidate because of their less than progressive views, someone more idependent will like that candidate. Better to have a seat at the table than no seat at all.
5
Don't. Just...don't nominate Bloomberg. Third Way is dead (good riddance). The last 20 years have made that abundantly clear
@Mary Sorry, but Democrats always had to hold their nose -- that's what we did with Clinton in 2016. Bloomberg is just as flawed if not more so: arrogant, elitist, hectoring, and lecturing. He will be defeated outside precincts in Manhattan, Williamsburg, Hoboken, Cambridge, and Ann Arbor.
The Dems should concentrate on what they can do and improve for America. No one wants to hear them bellyache about Trump (I know it’s difficult). We have good ideas and candidates should present them. If they just go after Trump, we’re toast.
2
I was raised in a Republican household. When I realized I could think for myself I started to lean Democratic. But I will say that Democrats are a mess - not just from hearing my Republican family/friends but actually looking at them. You do not have a story - a clear vision for what we should be. They do and people buy it - even if it is horrible - and that is why I think, even with my vote, you will continue to lose.
6
Democrats will never be as clear cut an in line as Republicans because Democrats represent a diverse array of people and interests, whereas Republicans only represent one very small group of people - the ultra rich. When you have one clear goal and being honest about it is out of the question, it's not just easier to develop a clear and concise strategy. It's necessary to achieve the goal of wealth consolidation.
I think a diverse message set that represents the diversity of the country is a good thing. It's honest.
Democrats should just be genuine to themselves and their constituents. There's no better way to contrast themselves against there Republican party.
1
The DS have 2 really good and strong issues that clearly separate them from the Rs: healthcare without regard to preexisting conditions and that most Americans realized no benefit from the so called R Tax cuts
There are also a good number of office holders as well as those seeking office to deliver that message
So I guess it was inevitable that the Clintons would seek to insert themselves into the fray to rake in the dollars with a speaking tour now that the Wall Street firms see no purpose in paying large sums to the Clintons for speeches.
Hillary can and will energize the Rs as no one else can do but so long as she gets paid apparently Hillary couldn't care less if she mucks it up
3
trump and the gop's irresponsible government spending-on the corporate tax cut and defense, and the staggering 21 trillion and growing deficit that resulted is causing interest rates to spike, in turn increasing the interest rates on mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and student loans. they are driving a stake into the average American's finances.
The author is on point when she says, don't talk about impeaching Justice Kavanaugh. It won't earn Democrats a single vote but will bring Trump voters to the polls, which is why Trump wants Kavanaugh to be the central issues.
If Democrats behave like Pavlov's dogs, responding to Trump stimuli, then the Republic is in deep trouble, not just from Trump but from his Democratic enablers.
Where she goes wrong is in limiting Democratic priorities to Health Care and coverage for pre-existing conditions. That's a powerful for many people, but insufficient alone to ensure victory this November. The great story of Trump's first two years is the amazing corruption which his administration has brought to Washington. "Drain the Swamp" is humbug. What Trump has done is Grow the Swamp.
With John Bolton in the saddle, we are great risk for engaging in another unnecessary war, with Iran. Democrats need to make Trump's desire for a foolish war an issue. Finally, Hurricane Michael is a timely reminder of the destructive power of climate change. My state is one of the most at risk, with Trump acolyte and climate change denier, Rick Scott trying to take down Senator Nelson, a guy with a long record of voting and acting to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Scientists have taken the biblical mantle of Jeremiah to tell us climate deniers are enabling great disasters to come. Votes for Scott are votes for suicide by climate.
6
Midterm voters may focus more on what Congress and, by default, the President, have done or have not done the preceding two years, whether they are satisfied with Washington’s record or angry.
As a human being, I am extremely distraught with the current majorities in Congress and the President. Forget political parties and ideologies. Those who choose corruption by abusing powers to negatively impact other human beings do not deserve to govern. The President and congressional majorities have rejected basic human, foundational democratic values.
Twisted rhetoric redefines right and wrong to justify wrong, which can only appeal to a twisted base of support thinking of themselves as outside one nation, one people. They reject the unifying democratic ideas of our Constitution. This is why this midterm is critical. Things will deteriorate toward near-sociopathy, greed, selfishness, and division if dishonest, unprincipled, unethical, inhuman, undemocratic governing continues.
1
@ Michelle Cottle,
I am not convinced the Establishment Democrats have a unifying message in the age of "Trump Tweets." To us, outside of the Washington/NY vortex, we see a leadership void. Whatever messaging is there is diffuse. They need a standard bearer who will take the fight to Trump and the new Trump Party.
I wish The Times will quit calling it the Republican Party. The Republican Party is no more, it is dead and gone to the great beyond (sorry, a bit of Monty Python Dead Parrot sketch here.)
Two of your page mates Frank Bruni and Elaine Kamarck have downplayed the Progressive side of the Democratic Party.
That would be a mistake. Ever since the Clinton Third Way focus on Wall Street and professionals, the middle, working and the poorer class, some still vote by the way, have been ignored.
If the Establishment Democrats go back to well one more time and the newspapers of record back them up on Centrist policies, I expect one D. Trump and his party to sail through to holding the Senate at a minimum and probably the House. Voters will sit on their hands.
In my opinion, the Trumpians should go down in flames but then they have managed to master gerrymandering and probably even engineered who will be allowed to vote they might yet succeed. None of us want that sad ending, we need a strong Democratic leadership to work for all people.
2
For some reason many Democrats believe they know the problem and solution. It's that Democrats have lost their way, bought by big business. Or Democrats are losing their way veering left. Or Democrats are going to lose because of immigration. Or Democrats will only win if they focus on it. Or Democrats always lose, except of course they don't. Or Democrats are obsessed with identity, or they need to pay more attention to minorities. The only thing that matters is health care. Or the only thing that matters is climate.
Americans, right and left, seem to be sick of people who are experts at things. I consider the Democratic leadership to be experts at politics. Let's try to listen, instead of talking back.
Impeachment without removal is useless and pointless, and removal is impossible, given the numbers. So they shouldn't even entertain the idea of impeachment (sorry to say).
2
@Neal Obstat
Forget impeachment. Hit Trump where it really hurts: humiliate him at the polls!
What the writer seems to be recommending is, "Be nice. Smile. Wave." Maybe there's enough momentum for change, enough animosity toward Trump, enough fired-up women to push a Democrat over the finish line if the candidates and party leaders say nothing at all between now and Nov. 6. Maybe so. Maybe enough voters, even traditionally Republicans voters, are ready for milquetoast government after too much drama, for calm, reasonable, reassuring leaders, somebody to tell them it's going to be allright. Maybe they are weary of the shouting, fear-mongering, apocalyptic and divisive rhetoric.
The Democrats have been largely nowhere to be found. How come they’re not holding a press conference with Ford workers in front of the plant that’s hemorrhaging jobs? How come they’re not all over the TV as video of the devastation of Hurricane Michael comes rolling in talking about the GOP response to climate change warnings? How come no one published or repeated Sen. Leahy’s brilliant speech at the Kavanugh vote or circulated it or held a press conference to spread its message? This goes on and on. They have allowed the GOP to command the dialogue on virtually every issue and let the President’s outrageous lies and distortions stand unchallenged. The most fundamental PR effort could combat this in an instant but they don’t do ANYTHING. Silence of the lambs.
3
I think everyone who is concerned about developments in our country, should do whatever they can - even if it's a small thing - to end the authoritarian and undemocratic rule of the House and Senate Republicans, Republicans in state government, and ultimately, Donald Trump.
I asked my cleaning lady if she was going to vote. She said: "No." "Why not?" She said, "I'm not sure." "Are you registered to vote?" "Yes, as a Democrat." "What's the most important thing to you...right now...that's going on with the government." "I don't want them to get rid of my healthcare." "You mean. Obamacare?" She said:"Right."
Long story, short: I convinced to take the trouble to vote. She asked me: "But who do I vote for?"
"Just vote for the Democrats...it's easy."
2
What’s wrong with the fact that the Democratic Party has, and will continue to evolve? (And yes my Republican friends, evolution is established and validated science). We Democrats have mostly shed our racist past (while the Republicans have embraced racisit themes and candidates). We now believe that individual rights mean not just reproductive rights but also the right to marry who we love regardless of gender assignment (this was not true merely ten years ago). We believe that health care is a right and that the government should play an important role in ensuring that right. We believe in climate change, its negative effects, and our ability to do something about it. We believe that immigrants can and will be important contributors to our society and country (even from s..thole countries). We believe in living wages (indeed I suppose that the Trump administration does as well since they believe that auto workers deserve a minimu of $16 an hour - so why can’t a McDonalds worker earn $15 an hour?). We Democrats believe in a foreign policy that prioritizes human rights over despotic governments. We believe that criminals and crazies and terrorists should not have unfettered access to weaponry. I have found that the large majority of our candidates running for office embrace these messages so I, for one, wholly reject the idea that the “Democrats need a consistent message.” Just as our world continues too change we will change with it by embracing the above principles.
1
Democrats have the wrong position on illegal immigration.
Make no mistake. Trump is a terrible president. He has made illegal immigration into a wedge issue.
But liberals have been in denial regarding illegal immigration for decades.
The problem is that illegal immigrants do take resources from American citizens, poor American citizens.
Indeed, illegal immigration is part of a larger issue---population growth. World population has doubled since 1972. That is as much the reason for global warming as the internal combustion engine. We need to control population growth to stop global warming.
Just shifting to wind energy and solar energy is not enough. We need to stop population growth in order to save our environment and keep living standards from falling.
You can see this with your own eyes if you travel to India. It is evident that people on the streets of Delhi are starving. The plight of the poor in Mumbai is well-documented in Katherine Boo's excellent book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
Africa's population is porjected to double again by 2050. This will cause immense suffering.
Illegal immigration occurs because of population growth in Guatemala and other countries of Central America.
The third world needs one-child policies like the one instituted by China in 1979.
But to make this palatable, we need incentives in smaller family size in the US.
And we need an end to illegal immigration.
Yes, we should also treat immigrants with compassion.
3
A gradual reduction in the human population should be a globally unifying prime directive for generations to come and a key facet of addressing climate change, conflict, and poverty.
Immigration is not such a big problem for taking resources from poor Americans compared to large scale wealth redistribution such as the 2018 recession and the recent tax bill. Immigration as an issue is a Republican red herring to distract working and middle class voters from fundamental policies that are hurting them.
2
Even if Democrats win forever and stopped carbon build-up immediately studies find warming will continue for centuries.
New report from the UN proves unequivocally 12 years the last metro departs.
Bill McKibben bravely strives to save what little will be left in the next 200 years, but the fact of the matter not even Mr. McKibben will admit is little will be saved.
How does that translate into votes? The economic impact and the changes that will be forced upon the world's population are just scratches to the imaginations of think tanks across the globe.
The machine,
That we built,
Will never save us,
(That's what they said)
And New York drowns as we held hands.
As ports become inaccessible I'd like to see the oceans and bays and rivers the first to respond as terra firma quickly becomes backed up with refuse.
In my state New York, folks blame Medicaid and other social services for their high property taxes, yet they make more of a mess out on Long Island and on the Hudson with PCBs and who knows what than anywhere. Tick Borne disease is crippling the population as housing continues to sprawl from the mass from Philadelphia, New York City and Boston. People are getting sick, displaced creating more need from antiquated services deemed "socialist" inviting voters to look at the likes of John Faso who ignores the oncoming and upcoming disaster here of 4,1 Dioxin in water and lead and carbon in the air and about 32 tick borne diseases that can kill.
1
This about NOT TRUMP.
Not : "I want THIS, THAT, and the other thing. "
Preexisting conditions and climate change.... All parents want a
healthy planet for their children to grow up in... Those are two issues anyone can understand.
4
In August, 1971, eventual Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell wrote a memorandum to wealthy influential members of the GOP about looming threats to their personal interests and how to counter them. In effect, the memo is about how to dismantle the New Deal protections, including high marginal rates on the rich, so the rich could prosper, as they had during the 1st robber baron era. This memo has become national policy under the heading of new-liberalism, endorsed by both parties until the Great Recession, when some Democrats realized being for the 1% at everyone else’s expense is kleptocracy, not democracy. The point here is for nearly 50 years, US politics has been dominated by beliefs that have lead to massive income stagnation, over-priced and sub-optimal healthcare, crumbling infrastructure, underpaid teachers, etc.. Trump, and the autocracratic self dealing he stands for, is the. outcome of all the pro market, anti democratic ideas in the Powell memo. Voters should be informed about this memo, about the rise of neoliberalism, and its harmful effects. This is the messaging that matters, a history lesson in the GOP take over of the US policy apparatus and its administration. (I oversimplify for brevity - read Dark Money, by Jane Myers, for a broader history).
3
What other developed country is so structured that a minority of voters can throw up an insurmountable obstacle to the passage of any legislation or the appointment of any judge, no matter how ignorant, unjustified or foolish their reasons, solely by reason of their address? Great Britain initially bestowed similar power on the House of Lords believing the nobility to possess unique wisdom in matters of governance. As that notion has been shown to be unjustified, the House of Lords has ceased to wield its original power. Not us. The United States has a historical reverence for the Senate that cloaks it in a mystique of wisdom and sober deliberation. In reality it represents an accident of history dictated by the formation of the United States from separate colonies that could have refused to participate unless they received the concession to state power represented by the Senate. Its wisdom and sober deliberation is now just a cruel joke personified by a majority leader who has been characterized by one prominent historian as the “gravedigger of democracy.” And retention of power by the separate states is nothing more than the continued extraction of ransom by states that no longer have any power to refuse participation but now hold the power to kidnap democracy at will. The founders undoubtedly did the best they could, but the Constitution that they created and to which we swear allegiance has a poison pill in it that would be unthinkable by free, equal people today.
2
@Robert Canada effectively elects dictators, thanks to first past the post elections and strict party discipline, with less than 40% of the votes cast.
It might be useful if the Democratic leaders could
manage to raise their voices above a whisper. Their politeness is cowardice to me.
If the Dems don't take the house, much of Trump's damage might become permanent.
It's a five alarm fire by any measure.
2
@David Henry They are employed by the same people and have a specific function to perform in our government by theatre.
1
@David Henry
Agreed. The Kavanaugh hearings underscored this with the failure of Klobuchar and Leahy to immediately rebuke Mr. Kavanaugh's antagonistic responses to their valid questions.
They failed to put K in his place as they should have, reminding him that it was in fact their job to be the questioners and his job to answer; they did not address his tone or temperament in the moment as they ought, but rather meekly continued their line of questioning while he continued to rudely interrupt them. (Kamala Harris needs to hold a workshop for D's on how to hold a witness accountable, I think.)
This is also shown in how quickly the Dem's abandoned for minor offense their comedian colleague Al Franken, who as a writer of satire has one of the most potent skillsets for taking down the orange narcissist: wit.
But showing any kind of guts would require that the corporate D's and their media allies (such as this one) need to let the progressive wing take over, and as another of today's Times headlines made clear, that ain't happening.
Another thing Democrats need to do is develop a positive message-any message-to America’s small business owners instead of demonizing all business,
If all you do is bad-mouth people’s livelihood is it any wonder they fall prey to a pandering demagogue? They’ve already concluded, rightly, that the Democratic Party doesn’t want them and, ideally, would like to put them out of business, because profits are evil.
Do you know why the stock market jumped 20% in the year after Trump got elected? It wasn’t because investors were so excited about Trump. It was because of a malaise that had set in over all of American business after eight years of business bashing during the Obama administration.
Most people in America don’t work for schools, non-profits or the government. They work for a small business.
4
That may be the perception, but it is definitely not the reality. I don’t know any Democrat who begrudges Jeff Bezos his wealth. But even he understood that wealth and a living wage for his employees were not mutually exclusive. If Henry Ford and Jeff Bezos can figure this out, it is inconceivable to me that the Republican Party actually believes that a certain degree of regulation and a reasonable tax structure represent a problem to the accumulation of wealth. Republicans love to suggest that people like Bernie Sanders are fomenting class warfare. Actually, the opposite is true. The Republican Party and it’s wealthy donors declared war on the middle and less fortunate classes years ago. They simply did it more subtly. Instead of making accusations that these lesser classes were making more money than their station on life deserved, they recruited evangelicals into their fold by emphasizing social issues (about which I doubt most of them really care), played on fears of extravagant spending on social programs (which they jettisoned in the name of tax relief for the wealthy that will ultimately strangle what programs now exist), and made a thinly disguised appeal to racism by stirring up fear of crime and immigration.
Democrats are not the enemies of business and never have been. They have just been painted as such. Unfortunately, business now represents an enemy that they can’t ignore. It’s a subtle point to make but nonetheless true.,
Why isn’t there more focus in the Democrats agenda on climate change. A clear cut issue that (admit it or not) everyone knows is a major problem, and can drive the young vote.
This column is so important for Democratic leaders to read. I have this great fear that Democrats famous for shooting themselves in the foot before an election are on the verge of doing it again. Having been out-foxed by Republicans in the Judge Kavanaugh confirmation fiasco, some Democrats are already talking about impeaching him. Impeachment talk about Kavanaugh and/or President Trump is certain to further enrage Republicans which will likely translate to a greater turnout of Republicans at the ballot box. If they aggressively pursue talk of impeachment, Democrats are certainly not going to take back the Senate; even taking the House many be in jepodry.
Democrats, focus your anger, energy and money on messaging the need to develop a fair immigration policy, to preserve the safety net, to protect the quality of our air and water, and the absolute necessity of restoring honesty and integrity in Washington. Invest in a program to get people out to vote.
The confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh to sit on the SCOTUS is a done deal. Now focus on things that really matter for our future, AND quit aiming that pistiol at your foot!
3
Any Democrat who advocates impeaching ANYBODY should have to give the names of the 67 senators he expects to vote for conviction. It is not just the backlash that anticipatory talk of impeachment engenders but also the guarantee of the humiliation of failure that make it a nonstarter. The biggest damage of the whole Kavanaugh episode is that he and Trump are now gloating winners who can cast the attempt in the worst possible light.
I often think the best tactic against a Kavanaugh or a Trump is to simply call them out in public and dare them to slander you as a liar or sue you. For example, I have no problem calling Trump a tax-evading, money laundering traitor. If he wants to call me a liar or sue me for slander, my reaction is “bring it on, you miserable excuse for a human being. I will subpoena your entire life and leaflet the country with your tax returns.” I don’t know why people shrink in fear from getting in the gutter in response to Trump’s epithets. He can’t win in the gutter because he truly is a swamp creature masquerading as a human being. A gutter fight will leave him stranded there. I on the other hand will climb out, take a shower and move on.
Democrats love to self-flagellate for failing to bring a knife to a knife fight, but Trump is practically handing them the knife.
Calling Democrats “dim” or Hillary “crooked” is just asking asking to escalate the investigation whether he MIGHT be a tax evader or a money launderer into saying he IS. What can he do?
Lots of questioning and hand wringing about what are the issues voters will most respond to. Is it all about Trump? His minions? The shoddy way his appointments are handling their depts and agencies? Is it the economy? Jobs? Womens right to not be victims? Guns? Foreign policy? All of the above and so much more?
Personally, its about pragmatism. I want to vote for people with a pragmatic approach, not ideological ones. Not a win at all costs, no zero-sum gamers. But those who want to approach the issues from differing angles, and not obstruct for the sake of promoting and preaching an ideology.
I want people who do not deny science, who listen to well credentialed leaders in their fields, and not talking heads on TV morning shows. Or hire them as advisors.
Locally, Im voting against any Repub who has coddled Trump, or otherwise not done their job as a check on his behaviors.
But I remain very worried that when Dems win next month, that come Jan of next year the Dems will be unprepared to wage the right battle with the Repubs. That Pelosi and Schumer wont have control of the factions to make an real movement against Trump, or the GOP. Then lose momentum into 2020...and hand him a reelection.
The Dem leadership needs to fight hard, and shed some blood, not get all conciliatory and play nice.
1
The stakes for America in this Midterm are absolutely staggering. Should the Democrats fail to retake the Senate and make credible erodes in the House the very likely consequence will be a win for Trump in 2020.
No shoe in is likely. Every vote is needed to salvage our current federal and presidential catastrophe.
1
Thank you for calling out the Kavanaugh Bounce. I won't believe it until I see it. Also, thank god for the under-appreciated Ms. Pelosi.
2
For every single democratic candidate running, the answer to every single question about what they’ll do if they take over the house or congress should be:
“Our entire focus is on winning the election on things that matter to both sides and we’ll talk about other things after we win”
Check out this poster courtesy of the DSA: http://bit.ly/2mwmc6q that was plastered all over my neighborhood in Ridgewood Queens recently. I hope that gets some air time in the rest of the country so that people know what Democrats really stand for. Democrats are right to worry. This former Democrat that voted D on every election from Mr. Clinton to Mrs. Clinton will be voting a straight Republican ballot come November.
3
These fake #walkaway comments are so lame. You provide no context, and frame it with outrage and conspiracy mongering. You were never a Democrat.
@Angry Hiding your head in the sand is hardly coming up with solutions. All I am hearing from Dems is "Abolish ICE". That is of course when they are not coming up with one wealth destruction scheme after another. What happened to the rule of law? Oh right, does not matter if the perpetrators will vote Democrat. The cognative dissonance of the party speaks for itself. The only Dem I can countenance voting for these days is Bloomberg.
Perhaps its time for the voters to experience a few years of the current incarnation of the Republican or Trump party rule by all three branches of government. After that, maybe those that have here to for not voted will be inspired to vote at every election.
They can experience extreme gerrymandering, women's reproductive rights rollback, continued concentration of power in corporate hands, voting rights and affirmative action laws dismemberment.
Also on the menu will be trillion dollar deficits that will no longer be financed by China leading to higher interest rates and trade wars leading to a severe recession with more tax cuts for the 1% leading to bigger deficits ect. ect. For desert, a hot war with, oh, pick from Iran, North Korea, Syria-Iraq Part 2, even a miscalculation with China and/or Russia.
Then we might get 65% voter participation rates.
If the past is a predictor of the future I am worried.Less than a month and where are the Dems countering Trump calling women calling to be heard a mob? Where are the ads showing people the little girl crying when she was separated from her parents at the border? Do we have any eye on how many children are still orphaned by ICE. When Rep. Nailer leaves open the question of impeaching Trump and Kavanugh why not just drive Trumps base to the polls.Obama has enough sense to keep a low profile but Hillary writes an OP ED about the Kavanaugh hearings. Pelosi , Clinton and Obama are fighting words to Trump’s base. Trump can call women who are victims of sexual abuse a mob but can’t bring himself do denounce White Supremist marching around carrying torches. I really wish the Dems would stop letting The Right take their lunch money without a fight. It is really time to brawl to save our country. Bringing a knife to a gunfight hasn’t worked in the past. Definition of insanity is doing the same thing expecting a different result.I really wish when Kavanugh was yelling at Democratic is his confirmation just one them told him to shut up. Instead of asking him does he need a time to compose himself they cowered.Climate change is evident right now in the Florida Panhandle but due to the fossile fuel industry in bed with The Right we ignore it. I pray The Left learn how to fight like the world depended on. It. Trump a man in his 70’s really could care less about his legacy .
2
Midterms matter. The forces to blame and name are muted by honest political servants who care about the poor and vulnerable. My vote seeks out those who take action and are free from NRA dictation.
The notion that people are going to resonate with a "more responsible legislative branch" theme is implausible. You can talk about generic Dem/Pub preferences, but the general revulsion of the people for Congress overall is overwhelming, with a 52 percent disapproval gap in today's Economist/YouGov poll and a 49 percent disapproval gap in today's Reuters/Ipso poll. Basically, running on a good government, good pol theme is about as foolish as one could imagine, especially after everyone having seen Senator Feinstein's example of "good" governance in the Kavanaugh hearings. If this is the Democratic Party strategy, it will only have itself to blame. Talk about a recipe for failure. This is it.
1
There's a lot of nonsense on the internet about how the Democrats need "unity" and a "coherent" or "well-defined" message. No they don't. Nothing could possibly hurt them more. These are the things they had in 2010 and 2014, along with an eloquent and awe-inspiring leader who enjoyed tremendously greater popularity than our current president. This is why they suffered historic losses. Republicans in the meantime were an untamed, leaderless rabble who couldn't agree on anything at all, except the zombie mantra of "repeal obamacare" with no specifics and no plan behind it. They crushed the Democrats and crippled Obama. It's easy to campaign against one person or against one policy. This year, Democrats must campaign against Trump and his tax cuts. Don't water it down. Don't waste America's limited time and mosquito-like attention span on other issues. Focus on "Trump bad" and "tax cuts for billionaires bad". Keep everything else local. Then the Democrats can be the fairy tale unicorn party every person wants them to be, regardless of how wildly different each candidate's politics might be in reality. The objective is to appeal to everybody, and you can't accomplish that with "unity" or a "message".
Someone needs to tell Ms. Cottle that conservatives don't need a reason to be angry; it is their sine qua non.
Also, Miss Cottle should be aware that Democrats locally are running on real issues like health care and wages and political corruption.
In AZ, Kirsten Sinema is pounding the daylights out of Martha McSally on health care, medicare and social security. For some reason the MSM is ignoring this race but so far Sinema has never trailed, unlike Bresdesen (TN) O'Rourke, Heitkamp or McCaskill, all of whom garner much more press.
Every time McSally falls back on her military experience (of which Sinema has none) the Democrat runs military themed ads touting her votes for the defense budget and VA.
Miss Cottle needs to get west of the Hudson River a little more often. And I don't mean to diners in small town Iowa.
2
Trump's irresponsible, misinformed and misguided trade tariffs are putting US and global economic growth in danger and threatening to wipe it all out. US companies are getting hammered-their costs having shot up and supply chains being disrupted. Consumers,already burdened by debt, inflation and interest rate hikes on mortgages and auto loans are seeing the prices they pay skyrocket as US companies pass on the increased costs of steel and aluminium to consumers, to protect their profits. Health coverage and protection for pre-existing conditions has never been in greater danger-it has been under assault from trump and the GOP for two years now. Premiums and drug prices have soared under trump and the GOP. The caging of babies at the border, and denying food stamps and threatening legal immigrants with blocking their green cards are both gross human rights violations.
The democrats decision to go after Kavanaugh exposed the grim reality that they are woefully disorganized and were of questionable intellect when they needed to show their collective backbone. The democrats should have known that their strategy would likely backfire since they didn't hold a majority. It was instead an exercise in vanity and a feeble attempt use the issue of the day to their advantage. I am so disappointed. Now dust yourselves off please and use your real smarts to get back in the game before its really too late.
3
Trump’s tariff policies are tanking stocks left, right and center, and are forcing me and other working class families to paying lots more to buy groceries and other products.
Trump recognizes no moral, political or strategic commitments. He feels free to pursue objectives without regard to the effect on allies and the world. He has no sense of responsibility to anything beyond himself. His nutshell foreign policy:
-Allied nations are weak and should be mistreated;
-Dictators are strong and should be admired.
-Multilateral treaties are trash; only treaties that Trump sets up bilaterally have worth.
-Finger to the wind, always. If prevailing winds of at least 2/3 of the U.S. feel strongly about any topic, change position to the prevailing wind.
-Anything Obama did should be undone.
Congress should immediately pass a resolution censuring Trump for his Helsinki display; and Congress should immediately pass legislation preventing Trump from unilaterally pulling out of NATO.
Trump and Congress are taking away as much health care from the lowest wage earners in the country as possible, resulting in premiums that have raised 20 percent over what they would have been without these cuts.
Trump’s hotels renting to foreign embassies...his DC hotel rented to Azerbaijan. Kuwait, Bahrain, and who knows how many other other countries.
Federal debt? Through the roof under Trump. Will top $22 trillion this year, with a $1 trillion budget deficit.
And on, and on, and on.....
4
Wait, Democrats have a message, sorry messages:
No Trump, No Trump, No Trump, Healthcare for All, Free College, Rollback Trump Tax breaks to reduce deficits just like Obama controlled the deficit with previous tax rates, Demand for Gun Control (whatever that means) for 48 hours after every mass shooting.
Latest message from HRC - You cannot be Civil (until you have power). Same statement Maxine Waters made in more vivid terms.
How Democrats get the message through? Mob Congress, Mob Supreme Courts, Confront people in restaurants. Get help of CNN and MSNBC with endless 'Bring Trump Down' message sung by panels of experts.
How can they muck this up? They have a message and a plan. Trump is a noise on Tweeter, nothing more.
If Democrats are serious then they should move the Clintons and Obama aside and get some young blood to the contest (this is a message for Pelosi). The Clinton-Obama combo will energize the Republican voters.
1
@LongDistance
Trump "won" the electoral college.
He lost the popular vote by the widest margin in US recorded history.
You've got the Republican party's demeaning comments down pat while refusing to acknowledge that young people are indeed registering to vote, and the Democrats running for office are a diverse group.
Real critical thinking skills instead of trite rhetoric that insists they have no relevancy is just - to put it bluntly -
white noise at this point.
There have been numerous obstacles to prevent a turnout, and some may end up being prevented from exercising their right to vote, ut Democrats ARE coming out to vote.
1
The problem with the Democratic party is that it cannot agree on single message, unlike the Republican Party. This is understandable as the Democrats are truly a "broad tent", and actually have a broad based and economic and social agenda, unlike the Republicans whose only goal is to stay in power at all costs and help corporations and the super-rich with tax breaks. To accomplish this they will do anything, literally, including destroy the foundations of American society, polity and power. This is the Democratic conundrum -- how to rid the American body politic of the Republican cancer without killing it with the matching toxicity of the cure!
2
The tactics of our Democratic leaders with Kavanaugh did us no favors. No Democratic or Republican woman or man would surrender their son or brother to such lack of evidence and corroboration from the accusers own witnesses.
4
It’s hard to imagine a more effective way to extinguish the progressive fire generated by the spectacle of a liar and unhinged, anti-worker, anti-environment Justice on the Court, than Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that “we’re not about impeachment”.
One day, the Democrats might begin playing hard ball, like the Republicans. Why do the establishment Dems continue this pattern?
Who knows, maybe millionaires like Pelosi and Diane “please excuse those rude protesters judge Kavanaugh” Feinstein aren’t as averse to Trump’s tax cuts and other gifts to his fellow elite as they claim.
2
It's already mucked up. The GOP base will turn out in huge numbers. Republicans have shown up in every off year election since 2010...pretty much guaranteed after this messy judicial hearing. GOP voters aren't mad because Kavanaugh was under assault. They’re mad because they saw this as Democrats trying to sink the nomination outside of the rule of law. There’s a reason why the burden of proof sits with the accuser. Without that burden, any accusation can be used as a political tool. We can't have a functioning government where every congressional activity is held hostage like this. We're already starting to see blow-back. Stacey Abrams & Andrew Gillum two African American Progressive candidates running for Governor in Florida & Georgia were ahead in polls a month ago. Now both GOP opponents have caught up & are perfectly positioned to win their races. At this point, few analysts of either party expect the Democrats to make major gains at the state legislative level around the country. The recent drama with Kavanaugh will motivate many to come out — not just the conservative base, but fair-minded Independents who are outraged that Democrats have waged an opportunistic political war. Probably any possibility that the Democrats could retake the Senate is already out of reach. This eerily feels like the 2016 over-confident predictions about the"inevitable" victory of HRC. The tide is turning in the wrong direction. The left is going to regret how they over played their hand
3
Well written, as Lincoln taught us get what you need at least initially not what you want.
He saved the union first before ending slavery because without the former he could not get the latter.
Democrats should stress issues that a majority of Americans are for like ACA type health system, first term abortions, infrastructure spending, common sense tariffs on slave labor countries taking American blue collar jobs, end to the corporate welfare tax cuts etc. etc.
Don't do what Hillary did, ie run an east coast limo liberal campaign running on an obsessed identity politics platform ie women should get 50% of everything whether they want it or earned it over issues as mentioned above.
2
Please tell you Editorial Board what McCain's one thumb down truly reflected. Health Care is extremely complicated, no system will ever be perfect. To me, he was extremely ill and was well aware of how his health care coverage deviated from those offered the "skinny plans." Choice is complicated; can you take that one on?
Why don't you plan a week of editorials explaining, simply, why groups of heathy and sick together are critical which relates to why preexisting conditions are difficult to cover. Explain why the essential benefits matter, and why the Affordable Care Act kept people in their coverage even when costs rise above previously offered limits.
Costs: people must pay affording to their income!
Take this President on. He promised what he did not give to his supporters in the Republican legislation which he supported; then he turned around and blames McCain.
Don't let his guy do this to people. Deception is on thing, destroying established process and norms is another.
Why established process and tradition are important is the next thing I would like you to take on in a series of editorials.
To the Democrats, become educated and speak up!
If the Democrats don't muck this up, I will be stunned. But also very happy.
1
@Paul in NJ
We've gotta quit talking and start doing!
If all the Republicans made sure they voted and all the Democrats made sure they voted, the Democrats would win two to one.
1
And the media - equal time for candidates if you insist on giving Trump free air time for his rallies. Me - I press mute whenever he appears on TV.
2
What I would love to see is an end to defeatism from the liberal electorate. Comedians and the press sustain careers on repeating endlessly that the party is weak, it lacks courage, and it has no message. None of this is wholly true, but you all repeat it so often that it has become the narrative.
Better wages, climate change, healthcare, immigration reform, voting rights, gun control — the list is practically endless and other commenters have post more extensive ones. Stop being so self-deprecating and defend your positions, people! We have the better ideas, the vision for the way forward, and the last two years have demonstrated that there is one party left in this country: the Democrats. Take back the throne!
1
To use a sports metaphor, the Democrats as recently as a month ago had a guaranteed slam dunk going into the primaries. They haven't yet shot a brick, but they may come away with only a free throw.
1
This is just a longer variation of Michelle Obama's "when they go low, we go high". It didn't work then, it won't work now.
Democratic voters, and voters on the fence, need to know that there is a direct threat to their health care, their children's education, their daughters' sexual safety, and the jobs that everyone wants. And that direct threat is the Republican Party and every single one of their representatives.
Republicans win year after year by mobilizing the anger of their constituents. Democrats keep calling on the better angels to vote them in. But all the Democrats get are a few white feathers covered with burning brimstone. Get real, Democrats. Get eloquent. Get angry.
7
So once again we're supposed to win over "swing vote" Republicans by... giving up and letting the Republicans get what they want? Yet again?
Um, no. The Kavanaugh bump for the Democrats will be much greater than the Kavanaugh bump for the Republicans, if the Democrats don't chicken out and give up. I appreciate how hard the Democrats fought his appointment, but I'm not going to have much respect for anyone who thinks that it is OK to allow a man like him to stay on the bench so long as there remains the slightest chance of impeaching him for, say, sexual assault. Or his role in the Bush torture program. Or his lying under oath.
As for Nancy Pelosi, remember that the Republican domination of the Supreme Court happened entirely on her watch. While I like having her vote, when it comes to organizing against the Republicans she is an abject failure, and her long term strategic advice should be ignored. It is worthless. Remember, with a conservative majority on the Supreme Court we will NEVER do anything constructive, as they will just declare it all unconstitutional. This battle must be fought, over and over, until it is won.
3
@Michael B. English,
You’ll get nowhere in life if you don’t win first. Know why? Because the other side votes for a broom with a wig on as long as it’s a R.
Unlike Old John Brown, below, I wqouyld encourage Democrats, far from ceasing some fictitious pandering to the an imaginary nefarious Left, need to actually behave like the Left for a change.
Show you care about the people and their plight, their forced detachment from the economy, the dearth of benefits of citizenship (little things, like financial security, education, health care, job quality and security).
The greatest risk I see, and I believe the source of almost all the Dem's recent electoral woes, is the battle for survival incessantly waged by party apparatchiks from ward healers to Congressional leaders.
You had your shot, boys. You did some pretty good things. But you and your ideas are passe. Your power and influence are unquestioned as is your, so to say, noble political history. Its time you put them in service to a new, more energetic, more in touch, more dynamic generation.
Its not ageist (because it can't be as I am of your generation), its reality.
If we fail to make the gains we need, it will all be on you. You alone.
The roll of éminence grise isn't a bad one, especially if you successfully prepare the field for what comes next.
2
Excellent advice! Probably too smart for democrats to heed it.
And please, Hillary, go play with your grandchildren. Every time you open your mouth, you give fuel to the Republicans' fire. Your comment on not being civil to Republicans on Amanapour's show was destructive and uncalled for. There are many of us who are putting together dialogues and conversations among people of all parties so that we can dampen the anti-other vitriol. We do need to listen and learn and we can still fight and get out the vote for what our citizens want.
3
Surprise! Wondered why I had not gotten my electronic absentee ballot. Called Monroe County NY.
Your voter registration has expired.
I voted in 2016 as did the other dual citizens in this family.
I had visited a confusing voter info site that seemed to confirm "all's well".
Not so.
In Sweden I am registered automatically for life by being a citizen. A few weeks before the September 9 election day I got my voter card that I show at my voting location. Go there early, fill out paper ballots. Done.
The least the US system could do is send an automatic Email. "We ended your registration, don't ask why."
So I join those who are prevented from voting. Usually the Democratic Party people get elected. Here's hoping.
Too much, however, to hope for a uniform national system with registration for life if you have a SS number.
87% of us voted in the Swedish national election. Never in America.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
2
I couldn't agree more.
Instead of revenge for the (multitude of) Republican abominations, Democrats should concentrate on how they plan to make American lives better.
However passionately you may feel about immigration, people may be more willing to listen to you on that topic if you've given them :
Reliable health care.
Something better than a McJob.
Bridges and roads that won't collapse (and that will create some of those jobs).
Air that your children can breathe and water they can drink.
The education that Republicans are trying to deny them.
Enough already!
7
"...less than a month...?" Can't wait that long. The suspense is killing me already. Early voting starts in my state a week from today. Note to NYTimes: Would love to see news of early turn-out exit polls in NC and elsewhere. Meanwhile, I will heed the editorial exhortation contained herein and refrain from any "mob" actions that might appear inordinately frightening to the opposition...other than getting as many of the previously disenfranchised to the polls as I possibly can. Best we can do, folks. Best we can do. Winter is coming.
2
You can't sell voters on the party’s newest “For the People” slogan because they won't buy it until the Democrats stop taking corporate bribes, aka campaign donations.
That's PR 101: Every slogan has to highlight some differentiating underlying truth. No one will buy a slogan that's based on a lie.
2
I agree with the author and would add that Democrats need to keep vigilant about the integrity of our votes. For example, in Georgia Stacey Abrams' opponent is responsible for voter registration in Georgia. And he is holding over 50,000 voter registration forms On His Desk and not processing them due to what he claims are 'possible' errors such as a misspelled street name.
50,000 votes is a lot and could well decide yay or nay. And her opponent gets to decide? Hopefully, the courts will step in before too late.
So donate to the ACLU and remain alert!
5
These midterms and indeed all our elections are a yuuge farce. The country has been officially coopted into a totalitarian state where freaks like 45 and his cohort of wealthy entities, some human and some constructed by our law as individuals, known as multinationals, are the real rulers. The farcical game played with a worn-out political paradigm straight from the dark ages of the antebellum era, with 2 political parties, is a sideshow. People need to realize that it's time to sweep this rubbish from our "government" by any means possible and replace it with an entirely different system, one that is not pervaded by money and its corrupting influence...
2
leading with anger, and fake staged outrage, rather than ideas? Tell me, dear readers, how is the platform of Bernie Sanders different than the policies of Hugo Chavez? Please study history, and economic history, dear readers. Socialism fails, over and over again. Capitalism ain't perfect, fer sure, but its far better than any alternatives.
"Fair" is not relevant; what matters is lowering poverty and starvation to zero. This, capitalism has accomplished. Only in America are the "poor" holding cell phones and going home to air conditioned apartments while receiving entitlements.
Let's count our blessings and become more civil to those of different views.
5
Where is the electoral advice for the Republicans?
I wish this storyline were true. That Democrats are pivoting. But the truth is that Washington Democrats setup messaging to turn out White suburban women months ago. Too late to pivot, even if they want to pivot ... which they don't.
1
Democrats are mucking it up --- how could they not? They're representing the entirety of the anti-Trump movement, and they're doing it in the face of a opponent that seems worthy of the best totalitarian Leninist state in terms of developing spin & talking points (if you disagree with the Party, we'll put an icepick in your brain). How do you unify a group of people that include moderates conservative & liberal, Adam Smith liberals, globalist of all stripes, free-traders & free marketeers who aren't on the pro-corporate bandwagon, progressives, social justice warriors, and outright socialists? It is possible to do it but I am still waiting for the leaders who will present a good, solid vision of growth & opportunity to oppose Trump's dire dystopia of America as a failed state; who will oppose straight-out the GOP notions of "religious freedom" being the right of the 20% to impose their moralistic beliefs on the remaining 80%. We are a strong, dynamic, powerful, rich, nation; our strength is our people & our ideas, how did we end up with this used-car salesman of a President convincing people the US & half its people are garbage? Democrats have to offer a positive vision & concrete policies, not just reaction & crying hurt.
4
What's not clear is how can the Democrats commit to lowering health care costs when they are simultaneously saying hospitals must remain under mandate to provide care for all of the estimated 16.9 million to 22 million illegal aliens (thereby requiring hospitals to pass on the costs by raising prices for everyone else and driving up insurance costs)?
3
They've already mucked it up: they've turned into a crazed mob. Saner people (pretty much everyone else) will not let our democracy go down the tube because there are no Democratic adults left in the room!
2
According to Ms. Cottle, the Trump op-ed was "classic Trump: unhinged, breathtakingly dishonest and aimed squarely at making the opposition’s head explode." Yet, we're not supposed to mention impeachment? We're not supposed to mention having an unhinged, incompetent, dishonest criminal in the White House.
We should discuss nothing else and make sure we connect the Republicans to him. Why are they taking money we need to fix our problems and giving it to their rich friends and donors? Why are they making it impossible for our children to get the same opportunity as their privileged kids?
Tell people the reality show was fun for a while, but now we have to deal with actual reality, and it's not pretty or entertaining.
2
Democrats, don't muck it up? It should be voters, don't muck this up. Ms. Clinton would have been a smart, hardworking and successful President, but they went with the game show host.
3
"Midterm messaging?" Irritating that for so many columnists and commenters our fate as a republic somehow depends on the Dem party strategists - whomever they might be - to not "muck this one up," and devise some kind of appealing sheep-call so all the sheep are inclined to get off their tails and vote. As if somehow the vast majority of people inclined to vote Democratic - and a good number of Republicans as well - haven't figured out by now that we have full-blown disasters on almost every front, and that voting for Democrats all the way down the line is an essential act to get out of the stupid mess we've made of things.
It's not up to Nancy, or Chuck, or Obama or a bunch of people in a back room trying to come up with a slogan for dimwits. It's up to you, me and anybody else who's horrified by this takeover of our country. We don't have to worry about "midterm messaging;" we vote in November and we vote in 2020. And hopefully some kind of healing of our country's soul can begin to take place, if it's not too late.
7
Democrats should realize that Trump et al use the marketing tactics of flinging back at detractors all that's said about them. It's childish but chilling for a president of the U.S. to stoop this low, e.g., "I'm rubber, you're glue, whatever you say goes back to you." His supporters are naturally blindsided because they live in a bubble of their making and tend to believe everything Trump throws at them. There is no sense of shame, as long as the base buys it, that's all that counts. Trump himself is blindsided since he obviously has no concern for his own legacy or reputation. He has no empathy and the only thing that matters to Trump is Trump. He disgraces himself and history will not be kind to him.
2
".... it plays perfectly to the Republican base’s enduring sense of victimhood."
Really? Whenever I see the term "privilege" - which is everyday in the Opinion section - it screams "I am a victim." That is the coin of the realm among Dems and the left wing.
Any semblance of meritocracy that is left in this toxic environment where personal destruction reigns supreme resides among the Republicans, not the Democrats.
Kavanaugh is the latest example, and Bork was the first.
1
The rich and powerful are reasonably inclined to want others believe that their fortunes are of their own making. It's human nature to believe that you are responsible for their own success. Whether we like it or not, that's objectively untrue. Too many variables point away from individual choice and to inherited and external factors. That's why privilege is a frequent and relevant term in any discussion of social power dynamics.
But yes, you're right that the illusion of meritocracy that pulls the wool over the poor and middle class while wealth is quietly transferred to the ultra rich is alive and well in the Republican party.
The wealth gap is only going to grow if they have it their way. Those that are on the wrong side of the line are going to keep getting poorer (and if you don't think you've gotten poorer, you haven't yet realized that no standard calculation for inflation properly adjusts for rising health care and education costs...)
So you know what? If you vote Republican and you're making less than 500k a year, you are a victim.
1
Bork thought Jim Crow was perfectly fine, and Kavanaugh has ruled against workers, unions, indigenous peoples, the environment, et al. Both great dudes who definitely need in unelected life-terms.
/s
One overarching concern is the integrity of the election system, including the accuracy of tallying the votes. What is being done to safeguard the Midterm election process from possible interference by a foreign power such as hacking by Russia? Even if Democrats have the votes, it would not matter if those votes are reported incorrectly.
1
@Sleestak
What kind of verification of integrity?
Periodically purging people who haven't voted in multiple election cycles?
Requiring photo ID for voters?
Both blocked by Democrats.
1
Often repeated when I was young: If you're not a socialist when you're 20, you have no heart. If you're still a socialist at 40, you have no mind." I don't agree, but those words sum up part of the problem Democrats will always have, the generational difference: fix it now versus look before you leap. It's the job of good leaders to meld disparate units into more effective forces. And America is so large and varied that such leaders face different challenges from state to state. Let's hope they find a way to win all across America.
3
@Des Johnson
If you are not a socialist when you are forty it is because you believe the lies told to you by global corrupt mass media, Republicans, and centrist Democrats.
If the Democrats actually made the case for investing in We the People, the People would understand that taxing the rich to invest in them, their children, their infrastructure, and basic research grows the economy and really does trickle up to the rich.
When the top tax rate was 70% and the corporate rate was 50% average growth was 75% HIGHER than it is now. Why do Democrats or the NY Times ever point that out? Supply Side Economics has never worked, but the Democratic Party leadership has embraced it, helping Republicans win 2/3 of all elections!
No one is calling for a centralized economy, except the billionaires who have centralized half of the world's wealth under their control.
But investing in We the People pays dividends into the future, while corporate tax cuts are more likely to be bet in the global derivatives market than invested in the American economy.
The Social Democracies have higher rates of employment, and far more comfortable lifestyles than cutthroat USA. Markets tempered with socialism works far better than tax cuts for the rich and mass austerity.
Capitalism puts machinery above workers. A lesser evil, second party of the rich cannot win more than 1/3 of elections.
Workers make up 60% of the population and have families. Promise them the things they need, to win.
1
@McGloin So much debatable, so little time. First, re-read my post--slowly--and note my words: "I don't agree." Then, I suggest that yearning back to times of high taxes ignores the state of the world economy, of which America was then king. Social Democracies? Been there, loved it. But above all, you fall for the hoax of "We the People." America was never about the people. Those who wrote that phrase were rich white men, many of them slave-owners. Just ask what the role of the popular vote was in electing Trump. We the People voted for someone else.
Sounds like a call for a fake Democratic Platform which will appeal to average Americans. But a fake platform, not one they really mean to stand by. What is the real Democratic Platform? Open Borders and no immigration enforcement. More government spending with no accountability for results. It cost the NYC transit system 4 billion dollars to build one mile of tunnel. NYC's Public Schools spend $30,000 per student per year yet barely half the students graduated high school in 4 years. That's $30,000 per student per year including Kindergarten and First Grade. A repeal of the Second Amendment. Democrats say they just want one more rule but when pressed they admit their goal is the end of private ownership of guns in America. Perpetual Welfare, Food Stamps, and Housing Assistance for half the population creating a permanent class of government dependent citizens. Limitless budget and trade deficits. Democrats refuse to say what they really stand for. This is not the Democratic Party that my family belonged to for 70 years.
10
@Mike
Uh, what? Can you point us to just ONE example of a Democrat being "pressed" and admitting the goal of ending private ownership of guns? And let's recall the canard of "more government spending" seems to ignore the fact that Congress (both parties) has already decided to spend what's in the budget, it's only Republicans (under the spell of their ultra-rich donors) who cut taxes so we run massive deficits. And you want to talk about spending with no accountability, try starting with the Republicans' military spending.
5
I really get tired of these propagandists who lie about the Democratic platform. Go back to Fox and the Hill; your paymasters miss you
@Mike
This is all lies, and the most obvious is that NYC spend $30,000 per year per student.
I have said this all along to my liberal friends, the Kavanaugh hearing has already lost traction, and while these hearings were in full view, my wife and her friends were out knocking on doors for local congressional candidates in our neighborhood. We keep forgetting that the Republican party is a minority party---if, we turn out, which according to my wife's canvassing, appears to be a done deal, the blue wave will be a Level 5. I would add, that a big mistake Republicans are making is making light of the "me-too" movement--even to the point of joking about it---not a wise political move.
7
@ACJ Interesting point of view. While I don't disagree that there are probably more Democrats than Republicans in the country as a whole I think the difference is that Democrats tend to be in more dense areas than Republicans. Even for congressional districts, Republicans are able to marginalize a vote count based on the congressional maps.
Perhaps Democrats should stop making fun of their hick Republican friends and move out to the country so they can win a few more elections. ACJ, will you move out of Chicago and move to Southern Illinois so you and your wife can help that Level 5 blue wave? I didn't think so... perhaps that blue wave won't kill as many Republicans as you hope...
Everyone knows what the Democrats stand for: serious government, serious approach to the institutions of governance, better health care, civil rights. The rest is noise. As if the Americans care about policy: since when? It's a chaotic nation, already seen as just a richer Philippines.
As for following Beto's model, as one person here suggested, one notes that he is losing in the polls. It's shocking, but his riding is a laboratory where fanaticism and cynicism triumphs over policy and sense; and thus undermines the argument of this article.
4
@Terence
No, not everyone knows that. Just take a peak over at Fox and see what the other side thinks.
There is ground between the Republican win at all cost cohesiveness and the Democratic overly solicitous, staid lack of focus. The Democrats have to find it (and fast) to win. Unfortunately this means new leadership- whether they win the House, Senate or neither. Nancy Pelosi may be a top notch fundraiser. But the logical question is how is that money being spent? On the other side, this doesn't mean giving all leadership control to the Social Democratic wing. Nor does it mean lock step positions. Only, the Democrats need unity and a strong, clear CONCISE message.
5
You are asking the party to restrain its progressive wing. That’s good advice, but the Republicans know exactly which buttons to push to get a rise out of progressives, and regrettably, the progressives always respond predictably. And mainstream voters don’t like it, especially when the economy is humming along just fine, relatively speaking. But, if indeed the culture wars can be sidelined, identity politics muted, protests moderated and most importantly, if Democrats can avoid insulting swing voters who supported Trump, then maybe, just maybe, Democrats have a shot at it.
11
@MWR No, the writer is not asking the party to restrain its progressive wing. The writer is suggesting that the Democrats concentrate on policy rather than on revenge. No point in trying to impeach anyone, which will fire up the Republicans, when you can talk about healthcare.
3
@MWR
"just maybe, Democrats have a shot at it."
Typical wishful centrist thinking: maybe get a "shot at it."
Just like 2016: step on the Progressives, step on the future - otherwise (OMG!) mainstream voters might not like it.
Another guaranteed no-risk, no turnout loss. 80% of Bernie supporters voted for corporate centrist Hillary; that won't ever happen again.
@MWR
You want the Democrats to restrain the progressive wing?
When will Republicans restrain their regressive wing? Never.
The Republicans pretend they have principles (when all they really care about is tax cuts for the rich) and win.
The Democrats pretend they have no principles, and lose.
Stop following the same losing strategy you have been following since 1992 and maybe you will start winning some elections.
1
I'm not sure they will muck up the House entirely, but they certainly are trying to do so. The Kavanaugh hearings along with the pronouncements from hard left folks like Maxine Waters make it extremely difficult for stealth "were not really partisan" democrat candidates to be believable. I live in NC 9, which after a GOP primary win by a more conservative candidate, was considered a loss by the GOP. It's now a toss up moving towards the GOP. How many districts there are like that is an unknown.
3
So I think what this election cycle will come down to is the INDEPENDENT voter. Both party bases will vote for there party. The other question is to wish extent will the moderate republican vote for the democrat. I am a member of the Concordia Social Club , established in the 1880's. I am one of two dems out of about 50 or so members. The repubs in the club are silent about trump. They are more than likely staying home on election day.A few mat vote democratic one can only hope.
6
@oscar jr I disagree they will stay home on election day. My experience has been better off (richer) Trump supporters are quite about their support because the vocal left shames them for not agreeing with them; so they say nothing. The shaming though probably encourages Trump voters to dig in their heels and stay with Trump no matter what.
If the left was smart they would stop playing to their crazy base and start offering bridges to Trump supporters. I doubt that will happen and the left has created a silent majority again.
1
@oscar jr
Stop assuming that independent voters are halfway between extremist Republicans and centrist Democrats. They are not.
Independent voters are angry at both parties because both parties keep aiming all policy at global corporations and the billionaires that own their stock.
That is why both parties are near record low popularity. That is why turnout is down. That is why Bernie almost beat Clinton (If the DNC didn't cheat to help Clinton) and why Trump beat all of the establishment Republicans. That is why so many people voted to "blow up the system."
Democrats keep trying to woo Republican voters, instead of wooing the 60% of the population that works for a living and their families.
The Reagan Democrats are never coming back. They left because they are greedy racists, easily manipulated by the likes of Trump.
Republicans don't waste their time trying to win over the left or the center. They put their energy into building up their base. That is why they win.
The majority of Americans tell pollsters that they want to raise taxes on the rich to invest in them and their families
Ever since Democrats stopped promising to do that they have been losing 2/3 of all elections.
This has been going on for 25 years. Experience doesn't mean anything if you don't learn from it and fix your strategies based on your experiences.
Stop trying to understand the Republican base, and start trying to understand your own base. Your base is not voting, because you dis them.
News flash: Democratic Party unable to develop strategic approach to connecting with electorate.
Advice: focus on making education affordable, nationalizing health care, program to remodel nations infrastructure
Most importantly, start serving your constituents. Please.
44
@Skidaway
The Corporate Democrats (ClintonCrats) see the Progressive agenda as anathema. They are Republicans without the Evangelical Social values. I distinctly remember Candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton advocating the means testing of Social Security- which would undermine the system which is a universal insurance system.
6
You just described the Clinton-Kane 2016 platform!
At this point, attacking corruption, eviscerating Trump and the Republicans for voting to take away people's health insurance, calling out Trump's broken promises on employment, tax cuts, and health care-- and promoting positive alternative, decrying their disrespect of women, minorities, and immigrant families, and calling for us coming together to move the country forward would resonate well.
"I don't belong to an organized political party. I'm a Democrat."
Will Rogers.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
15
@Tom
The new paradigm of our age is ground up, distributed organization.
The Democratic Party leadership keeps trying to discipline its base. Even the Republicans don't do that.
Your base is your power. If you keep telling your base that what they need is "pie in the sky and unicorn dust," while the Republicans promise their base everything their hearts desire, then your base will not vote for you.
Bernie Sanders almost beat Hillary using bottom up organizing techniques. The Democratic Party leadership keeps asking for $3, but doesn't want you to actually involve yourself in the campaign or policy. People that give $3 are not invested in the results. They can easily blow off the election. People that go door to door, or are otherwise physically involved, are invested in the results.
The Tea Party took over the Republicans because they were going to Town Hall meetings and protests. They were involved and they were invested.
Corporate donors will not save the Democratic Party. You have to stop asking for money and start asking for humans to get involved.
You have to stop telling people that are trying to get involved that they are "not real Democrats."
The Democrats have lost control of gerrymandering, because they loose 2/3 of all elections. You lose 2/3 of all elections because you keep telling the workers and activists in your base that they are unreasonable.
They are not unreasonable. They know far more than Chuck Doormat Schumer.
The base knows how to win.
1
@McGloin Let me go further. There will be no real democracy without campaign finance reform. The Clinton's fully embraced the GOP donor model as did Schumer and Obama. If the Dems don't get into democracy and actually start offending the donor base, they will become permanently irrelevant. I am all for a new Progressive Party like the one from a century ago. Democracy or bust.
Total voter turnout in the last midterm election 2014 was just 36.4%, the lowest in 70 years. Almost two out of every three eligible voters did not even bother to vote in 2014.
Forget about Rs and Ds for a second. You cannot have a democracy when nobody votes. When only 36.4% of voters even show up that is not even a quorum in my book, let alone a functioning democracy. We are no longer majority rule, we are more accurately an 18.5% rule.
27
@Shend
Voting is a right, not a duty, and it is overrated. All the Republicans in New York who voted for Trump in 2016 and rejoiced in his victory, proud that they had put him in office, actually saw their votes tossed into the waste bin as Clinton won the overwhelmingly Democratic state by 23 points. And all those New York Democrats who voted for Hillary -- tough luck. Even with the popular-vote victory, she lost the election.
The Constitution makes no rules about low-voter turnouts. We don't cancel or redo elections because 100% of eligible voters didn't exercise that right. Citizens who vote have no greater authority to criticize their government than citizens who don't, just as partisan losers don't become second-class citizens because they backed the wrong team. Personally, if I'm faced with the choice of a rotten-egg sandwich or a black, moldy banana, I just won't eat.
@Shend
Yes. That is because we keep pretending that the middle is halfway between extremist Republicans and centrist Democrats.
If that was true than everyone would be able to find someone to vote for.
Instead we have a party of the rich, and another pay of the rich, so most people see no point in voting for either party.
The Democratic leadership thinks that if you keepi you mouth shut and raise money from the rich to run attack ads, they can win. It never happens.
The real middle of America is not the fake corporate "center," sold to us by corporate media and the Democratic Leadership.
They don't want massive tax cuts for the rich, followed by massive cuts to the social programs that help their children.
Why anyone would believe that the Democrats should basically help Republicans pass policy to help the rich, while calling policies that all more successful countries have impossible. (I call them successful because they have a bigger percentage of the population working, but with far more more comfortable lifestyles). What Denmark and the Netherlands already do is not impossible!!!!
It is not the job of the Democratic Party to tell workers and the young that they can't have what they need.
The job of the Democratic Party is to raise taxes on the rich to pay for what workers need.
It actually says that in the Constitution.
Tax and Regulate Trade and Income to pay for the GENERAL welfare.
Read your Constitution and sell it to the American People!
The Democrats do not seem to have a central theme. They seem to be opposed to what the Trump administration is doing without offering any alternatives. I can’t find any consistent policy statements that the party has put forth. Republicans should loose control of the house but if they don’t it will be a major defeat for the Democrats. The Republicans should maintain control of the Senate but if they don’t it will be a major loss for them. Maybe with the House in control of the Democrats and the Senate in control of the Republicans is the best choice.
7
That's because you haven't looked! They put out a Better Deal program last year.
Plus, scores of Democrats are running on affordable college, $15/hr minimum wage, expanded health care, repealing the tax cuts for the rich, and infrastructure rebuilding to provide more jobs at better wages.
What the Party stands for doesn't matter much, in any case, compared to particular candidates are promoting -- and their personal biographies and record of integrity.
Decrying Trump and the Republicans' corruption and calling out their turning their backs on the middle and working class is part of a winning political formula, too!
7
@clayton
It's hard to argue with the Trump economy. "Tax cuts for the rich" only works if no one else is seeing benefits. This is not the case. Most Americans will see a tax savings because tax tables don't lie. Democrats are left arguing over points that don't necessarily resonate.
Partisans can claim it's really the Obama economy, but a 20% tax break for small businesses is all Trump's.
4
@AACNY Inflation has wiped out any gains from "tax cuts."
If the Dems cannot flip the House this cycle, then what? If not now, then it looks like Dems may have to wait until the next major economic downturn like in 1992 and 2008 to regain significant power. Perhaps the economy will crash by 2020 or even 2022 but that hardly seems like a strategy.
Worse case is if Republicans outperform, because they have all but announced that they are going after entitlements in order to reduce the deficit. If you like your social security, Medicare, and Medicaid, you better hope that Republicans lose the House in four weeks. Whenever you hear the GOP start saying that we have a government spending problem you better hold onto your entitlements. And, they have been saying all year that we do not have a revenue problem, but a spending problem.
8
@Shend - Wait for the economy to crash?
Wow, that's a strategy to get behind.
Ms. Cottle’s exhortation to Democrats is a fair one for an exponent of Times editorial interest. This is an important election for liberal Democrats. Lose it and your ability to do what the Tea Party did dies. That could damage the emotional grittiness required in future to present a compelling counter-argument to conservatives.
But her argument about “messaging” is months late. The time to have coalesced around a set of salable and moderate messages was many months ago (as I urged here many months ago). Instead, you approach this election riven between messages of moderation and the desire to transform us as a society into … Denmark.
As a consequence, if you’re able to flip the House, it won’t be by a strategic shift of the people leftward, but by a conviction by enough voters that Republicans have gone too far. You’ve lost the initiative and perforce must rely on perceptions that you don’t control. And this is happening at a time when Trump claims serious wins: the economy and unemployment, foreign policy generally, and a willingness to address important issues over which other administrations simply have kicked cans down roads – North Korea, Iran, China, among others. And the creation of an originalist federal bench is an issue that appeals to more than Republicans.
I just don’t see Ms. Cottle’s comfort that Democrats are “staying on point”. This election is a crapshoot, you’re badly divided, and people should suspect polls as they SHOULD have suspected them in 2016.
14
@Richard Luettgen
Yes this advice might have been useful a year ago, but between democrats' progressive leftwing, which is highly out of touch with most Americans, and the behavior of democrats toward Kavanaugh, it is too little too late.
Thanks to Feinstein, et al, democrats now need some rehabilitation to get back into the game Ms. Cottle believes they are playing.
5
@Richard Luettgen
Yeah, we'd be lucky to have a little "Denmark" in our lives -
a constitutional monarchy with happy citizens. Surely, we
lack the latter. What we need going forward is some sense
of stability after the chaos we have now with Trump and his inept minions. I'm heartened that former mayor Bloomberg
is shifting to become a Democrat- He might just be the candidate that could straighten the course we're on, bring
back some decency, stabilize our economy and move us into the global world with leadership once again.
2
@AACNY
I miss you, kid.
Even though I am a Republican, I would happily vote for a strong Democratic candidate for President. I happily voted for President Obama in 2012, mainly because he organized the operation that killed Bin Laden. I thought Bill was a great President, particularly in his choices of Cabinet members. One in particular who stood out was Robert Rubin as Secretary of the Treasury. I believe that for a couple of years the US ran a government surplus under his stewardship.
I know many people who would vote for Mayor Bloomberg if he should run as a Democrat. Strong Democratic candidates are good for America. Decent people vote for the best person for the job. That person could be a Democrat.
47
@John Murray - Even though I am a Republican, I would happily vote for Bloomberg.
He was making a difference for gun control and crime in NYC with stop and frisk.
Perhaps he could get the courts to revisit that.
1
@John Murray
Rubin stood out---as an unmitigated disaster.
Rubin was responsible for three hideous decisions. He wanted to block the regulation of derivatives ( called financial weapons of mass destruction by Warren Buffet) proposed by Brooksley Born.
He urged Clinton to reappoint the now totally discredited Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chairman, clearing the path for 10 costly and disastrous years of indifferent regulation of the financial sector.
He was behind the decision to repeal Glass-Steagall. This last decision did not create the banking crisis, but, in the bank consolidation that resulted, it created ample future opportunities for banks to extend too much credit to companies whose stock their financial arms are trying to sell, and—perhaps even more worrisome—is creating even more corporate entities that will henceforth be deemed "too big to fail."
Millions of Americans had their lives destroyed under the astute leadership of Rubin.
1
@Jim
Thanks for your response. I agree with you 100%.
I think Dems should run like good civil servants. Listen to voters and try to work for most of them. Campaign on issues that serve your constituents well in a broad sense. And when you meet individual voters for more than a handshake, listen carefully.
Where your ideals overlap and you have specific policy goals in mind, share them carefully, like someone testing out how voters think of this idea or that. “What would you think if we did this?” Instead of, “let’s impeach Kavanaugh,” try, “If we win a majority, we’ll have to wrestle with what to do about Kavanaugh, do you think we should move on or investigate?”
I bet most Dems already do some version of this, since politicians are usually careful about getting ahead of the curve. So I’m a little confused. Are the authors trying to get people to criticize and isolate the politicians that have called for impeaching Kavanaugh? If all politics are local and those that have come out have listened and know where their constituents stand, why not let them say it?
As the article clarifies, the leadership is disciplining their message. We can be sure no impeachment/investigation will occur if Republicans win, but one might occur if Dems win and persuade colleagues to pursue it. We can expect governance and healthcare to deteriorate with Republicans, and Dems may be able to fix that if their wave is big enough. More than perfecting messaging like Trump, Dems’ tent is big enough for diversity and dialogue to solve problems.
3
If we let the current Democratic Leadership have their way we are as sure to lose this election as we were to stop Kavanaugh's confirmation. We no longer have a Republican Party opposition, we have a stump party opposition. To give this renegade political party any creditably is a huge mistake. We must stand with the new younger Democrats and their more progressive policy ideas. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity. We must give the voters a reason to make the effort to go to the polls and vote or we face the same "lose by a nose" elections we have had for years now. Wake up and smell the new deal, a better and brighter future, one worth fighting for. Lay down and play it safe and forget about anything getting any better, it's only going to get worse.
10
“They stupidly handed us the best issue they possibly could going into the fall election…" Mitch McConnell was quoted as saying after the confirmation vote. And he’s right!
The Republicans are playing by a different set of rules; they're playing to win. Too many urban Democrats are still dwelling on divisive, cultural issues; they’re still smugly patronizing the working class; they're still framing issues in terms of moral absolutes. They're NOT prioritizing winning.
In the case of Kavanaugh, the Dem’s made their case without regard to the political cost, failed utterly in stopping his confirmation, and now they’ve put the Senate, already a long shot, beyond reach. Why? Because they managed to do the unthinkable: they created a backlash; they fired up the opposition. It’s called shooting yourself in the foot.
If the Democrats want to save democracy and decency in this country, they MUST win the House. To do that, they MUST tone down the moral absolutism, the 24/7 moral outrage, the constant finger-pointing, and concentrate on economic issues, including health care. It’s called pragmatism.
If the Democrats don’t clean up their act, they won’t win the House, and the country will surely descend into authoritarianism, perhaps becoming a single-party state on the model of Putin’s Russia.
15
@Ron Cohen
Nonsense. Republicans are in 24 hour moral outrage, and moral absolutism and win. Democrats keep hiding in the center and lose.
People vote for candidates that believe in something.
Democrats pretend they have no principles and lose.
Republicans pretend they have principles and win.
If nothing really different is being offered why should the turnout be any different? Most people don't vote in midterms and only a slim majority vote at all.
At one time it was different in this country (ie. in the late 19th century) when precisely the same issues were on the table and turnout was typically over 80%.
Because then there were real alternatives.
5
@Lycurgus
Part right, Lycurgus.
Because some other things were also true back then.
For example, Republicans had not yet taken to announcing daily that everything and everyone in Washington is owned by, and works exclusively in the interests of, the very rich and the corporate.
Coincidentally, "the people" had not yet realized this wasn't their fault, due to their lack of worth or drive or qualities as human beings or, more importantly, that it wasn't because God wanted it that way.
There were still several people who had not yet figured out that "patriotism". "honor" and similar clap-trap were snares set by the elite for the dimmest in the lower class herd, those willing to give their lives and livelihoods for some larger cause that wasn't personal riches.
The Ruling Class had not yet reached the outer limits of how big their lies could be and still work, and were proceeding in that direction only timidly.
And there was no Internet.
3
@Lycurgus
"If nothing really different is being offered why should the turnout be any different?"
Exactly. The Democrats are incapable of learning and adapting. They think they just need a new message rather than a new party.
2
@Lycurgus: Trump is really different. Do you like it?
A fuller and timely editorial on how GOP is implementing Trump's "I love debt" IDEOLOGY would be the ideal battering ram to let ordinary folks understand exactly how this economy is going to tank on the POTUS watch. Focus on DEBT.
8
@Juvenal
Keep it simple, stupid.
GOP - the borrow and spend Party.
Democrats should focus in the mid terms on creating jobs, keeping the economy running smoothly, expanding medicare, quality education, clean air and water, renewable energy, investment in infrastructure, sensible gun control, immigration policies that work, transparency and accountability, and good leadership.
9
The problem is NOT that Democrats aren't organized. It's that they are organized around only one issue: Immigration.
But Democratic leaders are not aligned with voters on this issue. It's the reason why working-class (and many middle-class) people voted for Trump.
The leadership under Perez, Pelosi, Schumer et al stopped representing actual American citizens decades ago. The Democrats are solely focused on helping illegal immigrants, migrant workers, asylum seekers, and immigrants. But our current immigration practices are unsustainable and incredibly unfair to American taxpayers and workers. We don't want lax or open borders. We want the laws changed and enforced.
When are Democrats going to start fighting for actual tax-paying citizens?
The corruption in the Senate, judiciary, Washington, White House must be addressed. But we also desperately need to look to examples in advanced nations (Canada, Europe, Scandinavia and Japan) to restore our democracy:
1. Single payer universal healthcare
2. Modernized updated infrastructure
3. Non-privatized utilities, cable, internet cell data
4. Sane immigration policies
5. End Citizens United, gerrymandering, lobbying etc
6. Restore consumer protections, environmental regulations, clean water, air, food
7. Livable wages, benefits
8. Restore checks and balances, regulations, services for which we pay taxes. We The People NOT corporations and NOT illegal immigrants.
Democrats will lose again if they don't wake up
103
@Humble Beast
Your total analysis is absolutely correct especially with item #4.
The overdone attention to immigration is a losing matter.
Enough of the heartfelt.
Forget about it and get down to all the other matters of concern to our society as a whole.
Such as the Common Good and Social and Economic Justice.
2
@Humble Beast They don't care. They are just not that into us.
The Republicans are the ones forcing the immigration issue on the Democrats, because the Democrats still care about human dignity and have souls. The Republicans love illegal immigration: Divisive wedge for their xenophobic base, exploitable labor for their corporate paymasters, and an excuse to militarize another aspect of American life. I agree that the Democrats need to focus more on labor rights and healthcare, but they can't totally cede immigration to the GOP
It seemed so simple 2 years to say to Democrats with Michelle Obama, "When they go low, we go high." Since then, when Democrats lose a Congressional fight, they are considered "spineless" if they are civil, or an unruly unhinged "mob," if they are outspoken and contend with passion. . Leaders like Pelosi and Schumer are decried as too old, too centrist, too "establishment, " Bernie Sanders tied Hillary Clinton to " Wall Street" in ways that suggested she and the party as a whole were no different than the Republicans. If she called for improving the ACA, he said we should get rid of it and start all over again. Is that the best path to health care for all ? Perhaps he can get away with being referred to as a socialist, but calling oneself a Democratic Socialist is confusing and perilous. And of course , the word "liberal" has become a denigrated term of opprobrium since the Reagan presidency, It's hard to get across a message of social justice when Trump and company control the narrative through Twitter, rallies, Fox News, and paid political ads. Now voters may be deluded into believing that Democrats want to abolish coverage for pre-existing conditions and Republicans want to preserve it.
3
trump and the gop have messed up the economy, causing the 900 point dow jones drop today. first the 2017 tax cut. it was a disaster from the start. it only benefitted the ultrawealthy like trump himself, and gop donors-the Koch brothers and Charles schwabs. The tax cut has limited the SALT deduction in states like California, raising our taxes. It has added 2 trillion to the deficit which is a staggering 21 trillion now. The government will soon be paying trillions just in interest. Trump and the GOP as in the past have been utterly irresponsible fiscally. The tax cut has also increased money supply, fuelling inflation and the rise in interest rates.Then trump's sanctions against iran. It has caused oil prices to soar. Trumps tariffs have been a complete disaster. It is battering US companies and consumers alike. Supply chains in china cannot be replaced because of limits to and lack of skilled expertise and facilities in the US and elsewhere, in areas like electronic chip design and development.These can't be relocated to US, Africa or Vietnam. Interest rates absolutely need to rise. They have been kept artificially low for years. CDs and savings accounts should be returning 5 percent and people should not have to buy stocks and take high risks because of low money market rates. Tech stocks dropped 90 percent during the dot com bust, and the average mutual fund by 50 percent during the financial downturn in 2008. It is time to boot out the failed GOP.
13
Democrats need to have a plan for addressing problems on election day. Voter suppression is going to be more brazen this year. Also, free shuttles in competitive districts would be nice.
13
I hope that everyone who eligible and wants to vote is able to register and vote and that the votes are accurately counted. I hope that there are organizations and people who can help to deal with issues about registering and voting. I also hope that the votes are properly counted with no external or internal meddling.
The current GOP members of Congress are not fulfilling the oversight role of the President to put kindly. Good people need to be voted into office and they need to start getting our country back on track.
1
Don't just hope! Call up one of those organizations and volunteer your time... and donate money!
First, Trump “fibbed” when he said that he wouldn’t fiddle with preexisting conditions? How about lied? Why for god sakes, would you soften what’s really going on? He’s telling not just a lie but The Big Lie. The Adolf Hitler kind of lie that accuses your opponent of what you do yourself. And because it’s so outrageous, people will believe it.
Second, you acknowledge that the Ds are doing everything right but you shame and scold them like they were children.
43
There are long-term and short-term trends. The long-term trend is toward the right in all the western countries. One way or another the mid-terms won't change that.
8
Intriguing; have not heard of this analysis. Why to the right? If you mean towards nationalism, that in itself is a concept whose days are numbered. Why? Because the natural environment is changing and things won't stay status quo, which is to say, the indefinite continuance of nation-state structures.
4
@Sam -- Sam, I fear the opposite. Heat is driving more migration north, and Trumpy demagogs exploit resulting resentments to inflame nationalism and seize power. The Trumpies take steps that accelerate further warming, which leads to even more migration, nationalism, and Trumpies . .
Appears to me that of all the feedback loops driving warming, this one is the killer that ensures continuing climate change our civilization cannot survive.
1
I'm pretty sure running on tax cuts is a winning strategy. just saying
8
@imbeke
Your President has been raising taxes all year.
Democrats are actually criticizing them. Too bad the networks aren't explaining that to the voters.
The Russians are coming. The ties between the Russo-Republican party are clearer now than ever before. Russian oligarchs have pumped millions into Republican campaigns as documented by the American press. Trump publicly defers to Putin. Why? Money.
Russian oligarchs wishing to diversify and protect their wealth are acquiring a stake in America by buying its politicians. Democrats are about sharing wealth and power, Republicans not so much.
Republicans, like their Russian oligarch allies, are all about concentrating wealth and power at the top. Democracy is a nuisance to oligarchs, and an anathema to Putin.
This may be a negative campaign theme, and dismissed as fake news, but it's real. Voters should understand the deep ties between shady Russian money and the Republican party.
48
"The brutal fight to seat Justice Kavanaugh, which morphed from an inquiry into the judicial fitness of one man into a culture-war cage match over women’s rights and shifting sexual mores, electrified many left-leaning voters."
It did electrify. But that electricity did not reach all the left leaning the same way. The culture war left is not the whole left. There is an economic left. There is an old school civil rights left that has stayed focused on the original and still frustrated goals of the civil rights movement.
Electrifying also reached those offended.
Electricity lasts about the same length of time for both sides. If one fades in three weeks post-fight, so may the other.
The culture war left has convinced itself of itself. It has no idea at all of how it is perceived by others, nor how they react, except to be judgmental about their failure to be the same.
This pattern of convincing themselves is how Hillary lost.
28
@Mark Thomason, there is also the old civil liberties left, you know, the people who support the First Amendment right to free speech; the Fifth Amendment right to due process; and Sixth Amendment rights for criminal defendants. What the ACLU used to care about for all Americans.
The culture war left that now controls the Democratic Party seems diametrically opposed to the old civil liberties left, leaving people to maybe write in someone like Bill Maher; Alan Dershowitz; or Rand Paul on their ballot.
There is also the anti-war/hold-the-national-security-state accountable left. People who might read The Intercept. And Obama's 180 from his campaign rhetoric to becoming the longest wartime president in US history, by continuing Iraq and Afghanistan his entire 8 years, and expanding on it in Libya and Syria, betrayed millions of voters. Bernie Sanders fervent support for Lockheed's budget-busting F-35 fighter jet, regardless of negative impact on health and home values of his constituents, betrays voters. Obama's support for Brennan, after the CIA spied on Feinstein and Senate Intelligence Committee; or support for Clapper, after lies about mass warrantless surveillance, etc.
It sadly has become apparent there is no room in the Democratic Party anymore for "Frank Church" Democrats.
5
@Mark Thomason
"There you go again".
More of your "bad on both sides" rhetoric, just like the man that you helped to elect. Not that you will ever admit to your part in this continuing abomination of a presidency.
Do you actually believe all of the carefully choreographed "outrage" that was manufactured on the right?
I thought you were more discerning.
Are you still feeling self-righteous about your decision in the last election? You still feel Hillary would have been just as bad as Trump?
Consider what transpired in the news in just the last 24 hours.
I doubt that Hillary would be feeding intelligence to the Saudis, causing the brutal murder of a journalist.
I doubt that Hillary would have gone to a campaign rally instead of reaching out to the areas affected by Hurricane Michael.
I doubt that Hillary would be actively trying to replace the current Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, and in broad daylight, in a blatant attempt to stop the Mueller investigation of his traitorous and corrupt ways.
These are only a few of the things in the news today.
Any one of these would be disqualifying.
If we had Congressional oversight.
Obama's "scandals" involved chewing gum, wearing a brown suit, and putting his feet on the desk.
Trump actively conspired with the Russians, and is doing his best to undermine our democracy and our allies. He has engaged in countless criminal behaviors. And continues to do so.
He has blood on his hands.
"Both sides"? Nyet.
These are not normal times, and this is not a normal election. Therefore the normal approach to campaigning on the issues must be set aside for the moment and the focus shifted to Restoring Respect to America. The Democratic Leadership must unite around the core democratic values that are under attack, setting aside intraparty ideological and policy differences between progressive and moderates and band together to stem the rising tide of authoritarianism. Most Americans are desperate for a call to action to restore the basic values upon which our democracy was founded: fairness, equality, care, norms of basic human decency and interpersonal respect and to repair the divide. I agree the time for a clear cohesive message is upon us- but the priority at this moment must be on the existential threat to our nation’s values and thereafter on the issues. If the Dems do not unite, the tribal Republicans will have a significant advantage and, as evolutionary social psychology has shown us, the most cohesive groups survive.
12
If they run on expanding the ACA, essentially expanding Medicaid, and that will be at the expense of Medicare, they will not win as big as they should. The Middle Class does not like ObamaCare, and neither do I... It's Medicare for all, or at least expanding that from 50 years old. That's the ticket. It has to be articulated so people will see it's the best thing. Get the for profit insurance companies out.
35
You can count on the identity politics driven, politically correct, socialist Democrat party to continue to run candidates who do not connect with enough Americans so that the Republicans, who are the adults in the room, will run our country, with Donald Trump as our President 2024. Perhaps then Democrats will again nominate centrists and be competitive nationally.
20
Donald Trump will not be “president” in 2024, because he will lose reelection in a landslide in 2020. His initial electoral college majority was a fluke, and the upcoming recession will destroy whatever remains of his popularity (outside of obvious cultists).
1
Not sure the Republicans are the adults in the room at this point.
1
@Alfred Francis
I hope that you inherit that future, but please leave me out of it. The consequences of total Republican rule through 2024 would be so destructive that any hope of a decent future for our children and their children would be a forgone conclusion. That there are so many people like you who can only see the propaganda of the Right Wingnut Media is astounding. Do you really believe that having caused the extinction of half of all known species of life on this planet in just the last 100 years because of how we have chosen to develop our civilization can really continue forward in the same manner without a cataclysmic outcome for ourselves? It is estimated that the worlds oceans have lost 90% of their usable protein capacity. Hundreds of millions of peoples water supplies are disappearing as glaciers melt and accent aquifers are depleted. You wake up with a digital alarm clock, make breakfast in a kitchen that was science fiction 100 years ago, watch the Faux News channel on a giant flat screen TV and believe that science is fake when it tells you something that you don't want to hear. Please tell me why you live your life in a world utterly changed by scientific advancement without questioning it's validity and then deny selective scientific studies that you don't want to believe.
The current Democratic Party's platform and talking points resonate only with urban city populations. Even in a staunchly blue state--20 miles outside the city is quite a bit red. The Democrats are also by and large depends on cities for their campaign funds. As Jimmy Carter pointed out recently, the Democratic Party cannot afford to ignore the independents and fair minded moderates, outside the cities, if they want to win a national election. The majority of the Democratic Party's Congressional Caucus is now only from 3 states---MA, NY, CA...
24
@ChandraPrince
The problem for democrats is its progressive leftwing, whose identity and income are not even close to mainstream Americans.
Clinton won the pop vote by almost three million. What are you talking about? Check back with the Kremlin for a geography lesson.
If the Democrats want to run on a solid platform of universal healthcare, affordable college tuition and living wages, they need to first learn basic math. Rolling back tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations will only scratch the surface. Defense spending must drastically decrease. Social Security and Medicare reform will also be needed. Let's start having a real conversation; yes the painful conversations that even Democrats avoid.
And please don't use the Nordic model for comparison. EVERYONE (even the middle class) pays high taxes. And the sovereign wealth fund that provides cradle to the grave benefits relies on oil exploration and extraction with large investment in international stock markets (particularly the US). So the Democratic rallying cries of environmental stewardship and corporate thievery are the antithesis to the very things they want.
12
@I Heart So you're saying this is as good as it gets for the citizens and workers in the richest nation of the world? We just can't afford what other countries have? Poor us.
1
@abigail49. Bingo!
Look the only way Democrats are going to return to sanity is by unfreezing their quota driven charters.
Which while not specifying quotas of women, gays, blacks and the newest identity flavor of the month pretty much does demand quotas.
The result is a party that sees everything through the prism of identity politics.
Get these provisions out - let ideas prevail - let citizens unite on values not identities --- that is the only way democratizes will work there way out of their rut.
Because there are differences between genders, there are differences between races just as there are differences between individuals. And the reality is that those differences will account in part for differing success rates and attitudes about everything under the sun.
If we don't accept that we will be forever looking to blame someone for differences in outcomes.
Focus instead on moral behavior (10 commandments are not a bad starting point), a little humility, and some empathy. And a recognition that we all are better off when we pull together.
That should make for a good contrast with our winner take all president.
17
What are these quotas you're talking about?
If you step back and look at what the Republican party is right now, starting with Trump who is under investigation for possible collusion, tearing away at the walls of our institutions, furthering our environmental demise,incarcerating immigrant children etc. Then moving on to McConnell, Graham and the congress and their naked grabs at power, furthered by the wealthy, who are not in the least concerned about the working class
3
Democrats can't cede the economic issues.
The economy is good, but it's been on a continually upbeat path for years. Extra juice from tax cuts - but at what cost? Benefits largely to the wealthiest, while cost of deficits likely borne by the rest in the form of reduced benefits and services.
Trump always goes for the flashy deal, fueled by debt. He benefits, and leaves everyone else holding the bag. I'm sure he'll do the same for our country.
43
@Tkeennj
Your point is important. The economy is always a huge issue and the Republicans have some vulnerability there despite the good economy.
Huge deficits.
Tax breaks for corporations and wealthiest with no trickle down.
Precarious health insurance and too costly.
The TPP, crafted by Obama but abandoned by Trump, should be explained as an organization of Pacific Rim countries, including us, designed to grow our trade in that region in competition with China and to prevent them gaining dominance.
Tariffs that are hurting American companies, and which are PAID BY AMERICANS IN THE FORM OF INCREASED PRICES ON IMPORTED GOODS.
All of this can be easily understood by voters.
The economy is the biggest single factor, and the Dems need to FIGHT on that ground.
9
@Jim Hugenschmidt
"The TPP, crafted by Obama but abandoned by Trump, should be explained as an organization of Pacific Rim countries, including us, designed to grow our trade in that region in competition with China and to prevent them gaining dominance."
Wrong.
It was crafted by 400 corporate lawyers in secret to institutionalize corporate interests globally. You can now read it online.
Only 6 of the 30 chapters were about trade.
If you liked Citizens United, you'd love the TPP.
Single payer healthcare.. but at what cost? Profiteering from hospitals, and rising healthcare!
It is true. We cannot, with clear conscience, emulate Trumpublicans for the pure pursuit of power. If our experiment in democracy is going to fail, it will be while I stick to the high road.
10
@Steven swan
That makes one of you. Because of "gentlemen" like yourself, the Republicans nakedly stole the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, and used Dubya's eight years in office to launch an illegal war, pack the Supreme Court, allow New Orleans to drown, and ruin the economy.
I'm a lifelong Democrat, and I want Republican votes suppressed in swing districts; I want likely Republican voters purged from the rolls two days before the election "by accident". I want polling places in heavily Republican districts to have maybe two voting machines apiece so they have to wait in line all day.
I want the typical Republican voter to experience absolutely everything that their party has inflicted on Democrats. And at the end of the day I want them to lose.
@Steven swan
Test
@Steven swan
In war you set your conscience aside until after you win. It's called sacrifice.
There are quite a few congressional races, so I'm not following them all. But I am following quite a few. While they have talked about, the Democratic candidates I've seen are not particularly fixated on the Kavanaugh confirmation. In fact, many of the messages are targeted at issues that affect their specific constituency rather than broad national issues. Seems to me the hysteria is more in the imagination of pundits than in reality. All politics is local, so I doubt advice from the backseat drivers from hundreds of miles away have much value at this point.
25
Democrats have already "mucked this up," and will soon be in their weakest position since their party's founding.
Whereas Republicans are approaching Democrats in the generic Congressional polls, something that should be overwhelmingly favorable to Democrats at this point.
Senate races are growing tighter, with new polling showing likely Republican gains in North Dakota and Missouri.
House races are closer, but most pollsters agree they come down to about 20 undecided seats.
But when President Trump steps in, all races tend to go in his favor.
America is coming to understand that economic progress, military might and excellent health care are essential to all,
And increasingly see President Trump as the man to make everything finally happen.
20
@Rolf Thank you for stating the obvious. Sad others can't see it. Every midterm Republican vote is a vote for Trump and his MAGA agenda!
@Rolf Oh, look, our representative from the Ministry of Propaganda is here.
"Economic progress?" When wages are stagnant?
"Excellent healthcare?" When Trump's bigly plan is to just kill all public healthcare, leaving people with pre-existing conditions to rot?
"Military might?" Like what, Trump's big parade? A new war with Iran? This is a selling point when wages are stagnant and Trump is trying to defund healthcare?
Russian trolls are less absurd than this. You must be a bona fide Trump supporter.
I agree with all your points and suggest that Dems really need to focus on THE MONEY. Just a couple of examples:
REAL tax reform. Simplify everything. It's fine for the corporate tax rate to be low, but the loopholes gotta go. After reading about Trump's finances here in the NYT, knowing that the rich are largely practicing the same tactics to avoid paying their fair share, we need a vision for a complete overhaul of the tax system.
FULL TRANSPARENCY for PACs. The sources of all campaign and political donations must be publicly available. Any other fresh ideas about how to actually drain the swamp of the real pollutant - cash - is welcome.
12
Three more specifics where the GOP is vulnerable:
1. Trump's $1.5 trillion tax cut. It's already so unpopular in all the polls that GOP candidates are running away from it like it was Kryptonite. DON'T LET THEM. Relentlessly remind voters that 85% of that tax cut went to "The One Percent", while families earning median incomes of $50K per year only got the crumbs (maybe enough to buy the family a night out at McDonald's each month).
2. The GOP's relentless threats to slash Social Security and Medicare (because the tax cut for the uber-wealthy "broke the budget" - so the GOP now demands that average Americans must now accept Draconian cuts in the benefits they've paid for all their lives in FICA taxes).
"Trump gave billionaires huge tax cuts - and now he wants YOU to pay for them." That's a message that would almost fit on a protest sign. Dems need to hammer that simple message home EVERY TIME they speak about the midterms.
3. Yes, health care. Specifically, on TV the Democrats should endlessly replay Trump's extravagantly empty promises from 2016 to replace Obamacare with something "really terrific" - which would "cost less, cover more people and provide better care."
"Trumpcare" - Where is it?
IMHO, the fact that Trump has lied blatantly and without shame to Americans over 5,000 times in the last 20 months should be enough all by itself to make Trump and the GOP off-the-charts radioactive.
But Trump's "fake news" propaganda barrage has rendered "truth" as irrelevant.
205
@Dave “Trump wants you to pay for billionaire tax cuts.”
The DNC should hire you!
@Dave
1) Add the SALT tax deduction cap of $10K which punishes middle income families in blue states or even high tax red states (where taxpayers pay to support the inner cities because the federal govt will not).
3) Trumpcare means selling fake insurance, repealing Obamacare (which includes protection for people with pre-existing conditions, lower deductibles, no lifetime caps, access to insurance pools, subsidies for low-middle income people). Democrats are leaning towards a public option and Medicare age lowering (essential since 50+ people begin to have health issues and double whammy of age discrimination meaning an end to subsidized employer coverage) and an end to employment slavery tied to health care allowing more entrepreneurial part-time and other work modes for both husbands and wives. Return to bankruptcy as punishment for health crises.
I would also add 4)
Stripping away of protections against ripoff for-profit colleges, loosening of punishments for campus sex abuses, public land giveaways, loss of Clean Air and Clean Power protections,
Americans do not support this stuff !
5) lowest level of government ethics amongst political appointments in decades
It is very hard to interpret one poll like the Politico Poll quoted by Ms. Cottle, as we know that averaging of numerous polls is the only way to get reasonable interpretation.
Having said that, the Real Clear Politics averages of Generic Ballot show sharp drops in the Dems advantage since Ford's name was disclosed on Sept. 15. Likewise, on Oct. 4 fivethirtyeight.com published an analysis based upon averages of many polls showing Trump's approval rating has gone up significantly since Sept. 15, as have House GOP and Senate GOP chances (although their House GOP chances are still not in favor of GOP).
These much more reliable average of polls do seem to be showing a Kavanaugh bounce (or more likely a Ford bounce since it starts on Sept. 15) for the GOP.
13
@Dan: Maybe, but we already had a monster hurricane and a monster drop in stocks since then. Kavanaugh is already old news. Plus Trump going on a rant against women (except the pliable ones he deems a "10"). Still over three weeks to go to the elections. More to come...
The Democrats need to decide who they represent and develop legislative proposals that will draw the voters back who see little attraction in their existing appeals.
There is a diminished damaged Middle Class still in need of help and hope many of whom fell for Trumps promises and are waiting for leadership. Find them – lead them as you once knew how to do. Elect the young progressives they have a vision.
9
Agreed. This article is spot on. Democrats win when they talk about issues that matter to voters: stagnating wages, ending Trump's tariffs (North Dakota!), affordable access to healthcare, women's rights, and investigating corruption (or at least protecting the investigations into corruption - Mueller!). The principled Democratic Senators from North Dakota to Missouri need our help. Donate, vote, talk to your friends and neighbors if you have any in those states, or if you live there. And Texas: Make us proud and elect someone with some decency and morality: Beto O'Rourke is quite clearly that person. The Democrats will take the House:
We must focus on taking the Senate.
37
I feel despondent. The Democrats have already lost. They don't have a clear, consistent message that appeals to most Americans: good jobs, good health care, good and affordable schools, clean air. They respond rather than act. They're against Trump and but aren't loud and clear and forceful and persuasive about what they're for.
72
@emb: "Good jobs, good health care, good and affordable schools, clean air." IS the Democratic message. You are trying to read a book with blinders on and then complain it has nothing in it...
@Anna - "Good jobs, good health care, good and affordable schools, clean air."
Where are those Democrats? I want to vote for them.
I'm tired of voting aginst the OTHER Democrats. The ones who want open borders, abolish ICE, worry about bathrooms too much, raise taxes and are in love with Hollywood. The ones focusing on impeaching a Supreme Court justice with ZERO evidence whatever.
Bring me the other Democrats. The ones focusing on jobs, health care (not by taking mine away), clean air.
@Jim: To address your concerns: There are negligibly few Democrats who want open borders, that's just a bogeyman promulgated by Trump; the Democrats who want to abolish ICE, did so after thousands of young children were sepated from their parents and move who knows where all over the country, and even then this didn't mean those Democrats want to do away with immigration control and enforcing immigration laws; It's the Republicans who introduced ridiculous and unenforcable legislation about bathroom use by transgenders, so who is worried too much about bathrooms?; It's Republicans who cut taxes for the 1% increasing the deficit to the point that you and me will have to pay for it with cuts in Social Security and health benefits, investment in infrastructure and green energy, education, etc.; and "in love with Hollywood": Hollywood stars tend to be on the liberal side, which is their good right. CEOs of big companies tend to be on the conservative side, so I guess that balances out. Just know that "Good jobs, good health care, good and affordable schools, clean air" are also on the Democratic agenda, with realistic plans to get there, much more so than on the Trump agenda. If Trump promises something (better health care than the ACA offers for instance), you can count on him to not live up to his promises.
Maybe I am just too old to matter anymore
but I think LBJ would be choking on
his Pork Ribs and Fresca if he read this editorial.
Democrats: Stop pandering to the Left, they don't matter
nearly as much as the Blue Collar workers you abandoned.
Health Care, Health Care, Health Care and cutting the price
of Secondary Education/Training and a more just
Immigration Policy that puts American Citizens looking
for work - first.
99
@John Brown
OK, enough with the fake history. The Democrats did not drop the blue collar workers. (Many blue collar workers are still Democrats, BTW, and not Trump voters, who tended to be white collar workers doing quite well economically making $75,000 +) Blue collar workers dropped the Democrats after LBJ passed Civil Rights legislation -- hence the term, Reagan Democrats! Or did you think that referred to a bunch of limousine Liberals? The blue collar workers worshiping racist Ronnie left the Democrats, even though the Democrats continued to fight for things like union rights, where reactionary Ronnie demolished the unions (despite heading one in his Democratic past). Remember the air traffic controllers? I do.
Health Care., health care, health care. That is a leftist idea. So is cutting the price of secondary education/training. And stopping illegal immigration and inflated legal immigration because of its negative impact on poor American workers -- leftist idea -- check out the late great Barbara Jordan if you don't know this. So basically you are telling the Democrats to adopt leftist ideas while telling them the left doesn't matter.
Yes, I do agree that the Democrats should focus on these leftist ideas of health care and lowering cost of secondary education and training and adopting a sensible immigration policy instead of the idiotic one we have now. I agree they need to stop being the party that seems to care more about illegal immigrants than citizens.
2
@White Buffalo
The "Blue Collar" worker would vote for
Eisenhower, some for Nixon in 1960,
more in 1968. Many did not understand Carter.
Since Clinton they lost more and more.
As for being Leftist - I think you have a bias,
most Blue Collar and Lower Income people
are in favour of National Health Care but it
has to presented to them correctly.
Most can't send their kids off to College as
it is just to expensive and there is not enough
funding for the Trade Schools.
Most of the Leftists I read about in the
NY Times seem more concerned about
wide open boarders than those who may lose
their jobs to Immigrants.
The emphasis, and so my reference to LBJ
is to the practical solutions rather than
pleasing theory one hears bandied about.
1
There is only one way for the Democrats to win the midterms, they have to make healthcare the main priority in their agenda. Gun control will only damage their agenda, and will cause them to lose votes. Bernie Sanders understood all this, Hillary Clinton did not.
23
@American Patriot Why is health care the only thing people care about. Since the majority of the people don’t actually use it I think that issue only talks to the few that do.
5
Actually, Hillary Clinton understood it perfectly. She got cremated in the 90s for trying to reform health care, so she and Ted Kennedy got what they could — CHIP. Link got Medicare and Medicaid. Pelosi and Obama got the ACA.
What’s Bernie done, in 30 years, to increase anyone’s access to health care? NOTHING. Nada. Zip.
I prefer a bit of, you know, progress with my progressivism.
@J - 80% of Americans have great health care. They either get it from their jobs, Medicare or Medicaid.
The ACA covers about 15% of the people. Many of which have rejected health care as they would rather spend their money on other things.
For the few who lost their jobs and have a preexisting condition, there should be a safety net.
Thanks for the view of political climate from the NYT newsroom. As I see it not much has changed. The view from below is that unfortunately Trump is as popular as he was in 2016. Despite all the critical and adversarial coverage attitudes have remained frozen. The only game in town is turn out. Issues such as healthcare and tax windfall for the rich will not matter. For Democrats turn out depends on antagonism to Trump and for Republicans turn out depends on continued antagonism to Hillary, imagine she is still occupies so much Republican mind-space, and reinvigorated antagonism to mainstream media. Keep the focus on mobilization articulating all the angst in antagonism to Trump.
14
I'm a Democrat and even I think we are past the point of anyone being able to help us. Yes, I'll vote. But unless the Democrats start doing some hard core maneuvers toward thwarting global climate change, it won't be much different than the Republicans. It will be politicians beholden to big corporations who got them elected. If the Democrats were in power, do we really believe they'd say "no" to coal and fossil fuels?? To beef production? To human overpopulation?
68
Human over-population? What’s the platform-no more babies?
Oh yeah, that’s the winner.
1
@RCJCHC How can you observe what's happened in our nation under full republican control and a trump presidency, and still make that statement that dems "won't be much different than republicans". Have you seen how the congressional votes always line up along party lines, and the dems votes are the opposite of the r's?
Regarding the fossil fuel thing, while I'm a committed environmentalist, I realize the extent to which things like the military machine and fossil fuels industries are what's been holding up our economy since after WWII. Unplugging all that money and all those JOBS that these two behemoths provide, won't be instant or easy, even though it's necessary.
Dow down more than 800 points today...
It’d dropped 2000 points in a 2-week period, back in January...
Will become very interesting if – including today’s performance – it drops 4000 points in the next 4 weeks...
For clarity – not wishing or prognosticating this...
But if that did happen, ensuing Blue Wave might make Michael – and Russian meddling – look tame by comparison...
6
@W in the Middle
I have not heard the Dems say anything about the stock market this cycle. So if it doesn't matter to them that it has been on an upward track, why would it matter when it goes down?
Dems have been all about resist, delay, obstruct, form angry groups of protesters (some would call these groups a mob; def; a large crowd of people, especially one that is disorderly and intent on causing trouble or violence) who "get in people's face', scream at them, throw water on them, spit on them.....
Now that's a sad platform.
2
Democrats should also talk about ending illegal immigration and having border controls. Not a wall. But all my Republican friends think the Democrats are for open borders and letting anyone and everyone into the USA no matter what. That's not true, so they need to state what their position is first, then go on to state how they intend to solve the problem.
151
@Jim You are absolutely right. The GOP harnesses Dems saying "Abolish ICE" totally to their benefit. We need border controls, sensible visitor worker programs, and legal immigration that is not heartless or stingy. But don't let the other side rally around this issue and make the Dems look like people who want the borders to be open floodgates.
1
@Jim Democrats are not for open borders? Explain this poster then: https://bit.ly/2mwmc6q . Courtesy of the DSA.
1
@Jim Illegal immigration is THE issue that will kill us (Democrats). We should be talking eVerify, all 50 states. We don't. The silence is deafening. Are the Democrats for open borders? Well, yes, apparently, but don't say that out loud.
2
It’s a bit too late not to “muck it up”. The republicans don’t need to scaremonger, all they have to do is play video of the Dems doing what they are told to do and what they apparently want the American people know what they plan to do.
Awful, hateful behavior during the BK testimony. Delay & resistance, withholding Ms. Ford’s letter, Senators giving speeches rather than asking questions, (average of 3:22 pontificating of the 5:00 minutes allotted for questions), and outright slander.
Unhinged: Unsatisfied that the slander did not derail BK’s appointment to the SC, Dems are promising to impeach him from the SC if they gain the house. Despite needing 2/3’s of the senate (extremely unlikely) to remove him.
The new standard as per Dems; Uncorroborated allegations that “must be believed” because a woman made the allegations. Guilty until proven innocent? Are the Dems willing to resign whenever any woman accuses them of a crime? If so, why is Keith Ellison in a leadership position and running for office as a Democrat? Hypocrites.
Advocating violence. Maxine “get in their face”, “not welcome here or anywhere”. Booker “get in their face”. Holder “kick them”. Despicable.
It’s already mucked up, and people are voting early.
24
@Steve - sounds like you might have played one too many games of devil's triangle before watching the hearing. I'd stay away from the spicy food too; it's bound to make you boof. Just ask the Renate Alumni.
6
Of course, simply refusing to advise and consent at all - for over a year - for President Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, was just fine, right? Hypocrisy.
1
@Steve "Are the Dems willing to resign whenever any woman accuses them of a crime?" Al Franken?
Is "get in their face" the same as Trump saying he will pay the legal bills for physical violence he incites?
1
Yes, but no. Yes, talk about important issues to voters, but no--Democrats need to stop being cowed by the hateful propaganda of the Trump party. There is no reason to discount impeachment, of Trump or Kavanaugh. Dems should matter of factly say that of course they will pursue investigation and impeachment of any public servant if the facts warrant it, and move on to other topics. If Democrats refuse to speak their own measured truth to this ugly power they will not win the house or the senate. And if they are feeling really emboldened, it wouldn't hurt to point out that the Trump party's constant complaints of victimization are just plain SAD.
24
Yes. Perfect message. Keep on threatening impeachment. The Dems will definitely win with that mantra. Ignore working class blacks and whites. They don’t really matter. They’ll vote Dem no matter what (until they don’t). And also put a lot of focus on who gets to use what public bathrooms. Another winning issue for the Dems.
2
They probably will, they have in the past. They'll muck up a free lunch. They're like sloths, slow , lazy except when its feeding time. Spineless too. When push comes to shove; they'll get pushed by their opponents instead of the other way around. I'm glad i'm an independent.
13
Amen. Eventually, you get what you Vote for. Or what you ALLOW, by NOT Voting. Please, let’s stop the infighting and get to Work. We can resume the fracases AFTER the Midterms.
Seriously.
15
Hillarys message. No civility till we are in charge.
Holder’s message: when republicans go low we should kick them.
Good luck with that.
30
@Fred Smith
"Hillarys message. No civility till we are in charge."
Give her credit. She's finally figured it out. Better late than never. The Democrat leadership is still playing to not lose, rather than to win.
Hillary had it in her to be a good knife fighter - if only she'd not been hobbled by corporate donations and her hand-wringing Democrat centrists. She failed to listen to her natural instincts and came off as inauthentic and thus failed ignominiously.
People will not turnout for someone not 100% committed to winning. In a war you commit to either win or lose. Centrists get killed in war, and what's worse they get others killed.
If you won't risk losing you don't deserve to win.
@Fred Smith
They are simply responding to the most extremist views of their leftwing: Democrats must fight harder. They have the least understanding of Americans and, so, it is not surprising that they would have the least understanding of how to win a majority of them.
The progressive leftwing has backed itself into a corner and taken democrats hostage there. Most Americans want no part of it.
Worked for the winner, didn’t it?
Three ideas:
1. Single payer health care for everyone who works for a living. Throw a bone to American labor.
2. A Marshall Plan for central America instead of the current program that is costing us elections.
3. Loosen up the child labor laws so our children can get a real education.
4
Single payer health care will be a total disaster health wise and electorally when it fails in Congress. Better to tell people they will get the government out of the doctor patient relationships and not just for abortions. Democratic majorities both were lost by going too far too soon on health care and this is even further. Simple solution to complex problem is usually wrong and We won’t see Democratic leadership for 20 yrs. Being more emphatic about what didn’t work won’t work. Simple solutions marks Republican behavior where bigotry is easier. We must not be intellectually lazy and not here the objections. Marshall plan for Latin America is brilliant idea. Could answer many issues if presented right.
5
Too far too soon? The rest of the worldview had national healthcare for 70 to 100 years. Too soon?
Loosen up child labor laws? Where’d they get that education? In the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory? (Google it)
1
"Democrats must resist the urge to follow Republicans down this spider hole, or that of any radioactive topic designed to inflame partisan passions." Exactly. Don't take the bait, Dems.
6
@Dawn: Avoid, "radioactive topic designed to inflame partisan passions". Could this be interpreted instead as a 'dog-whistle' to Dems to keep quiet on their real priorities until they get into power and only spring their extreme-left agenda on the nation then?
3
There is no angry Democratic mob, there is no mob, there is no message on the left. Democrats are not heard. I haven’t heard a message even when Hillary was running. Their platform is the same as usual: more healthcare, good wages, pet Bambi, and blah blah blah. I just want to see the anger and outrage on the left in the eyes of the politicians in office and running for office that is there constantly in the GOP and in Trump. Because it is working for the GOP and Trump. Truth doesn’t matter, and it doesn’t vote as we’ve found out with Trump. Anger and outrage do.
19
"Democrats want to turn America into Venezuela."
This is the kind of statement that should cause everyone who lives in the United States to question Trump's sanity. His lack of veracity has already been proven. Venezuela is a humanitarian catastrophe, but unfortunately there are many such catastrophes in the world. Why did he choose Venezuela; because it is a Latin American country? He could have said Syria or Myanmar, etc. I know of no person living in the US who wants to turn it into Venezuela. Trump boggles the mind.
29
@James Ricciardi My friend we have a lot of Venezuelans in Texas that think the Democratic Party is taking America in the direction of Big Government Socialism. They all vote Republican as do the Cubans.
2
@James RicciardinThe reference to Venezuela relates to the Democratic Party moving to the left, with socialists like Bernie Sanders and the new rising star in New York. Venezuela reached its current desperate situation thanks to the socialist governments of Chavez and Maduro.
4
Dear Michelle,
It ain't easy when you got the courts stacked up against you, when you got unlimited and anonymous cash against you, when you got the media covering rallies free of charge like they're news, against you, when you got three branches of gov't against you, when you got hostile sovereign nations against you, when you got a Senate leader who ignores the Constitution against you. Other than that, we should be able to knock this one out of the park!
26
@Mike B
It would be easy, regardless of all that, if you think different. Otherwise impossible.
Just need to Entirely replace the walking dead oldster Democrat leadership with under-40s that have passion, and champion Progressive policies, and refuse all corporate donations.
Kinda like Beto.
Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has drifted too far to the Left to appeal to moderate voters like ourselves...particularly as regards illegal ‘immigrants’. The Left-Prog faction appears deeply committed to their hysteria-driven cheerleading for foreign nationals...people who unilaterally decided that our nation’s sovereignty and immigration laws don’t apply to them...who cross our borders illegally and park themselves permanently on our soil so that we can provide them with the all necessities of life...food, housing, healthcare, welfare, education, jobs... while we ourselves struggle to provide for our own families.
Please let us know when the Democratic Party will once again rally behind the interests of American Citizens. Until then, we’re voting the other side.
30
@Shenoa
I agree with your anger about the unsupportable Dem position on illegal aliens. But your decision to vote for people crashing our debt, taking health care away from everyone, making us a laughingstock globally, putting perjured officials on the Attorney General's office and on the Supreme Court, facillitating terrorists' and student mass murderers' access to military weapons of mass destruction, and trashing the environment and ignoring climate change which is already bankrupting us, is beyond idiotic. You are not changing the Dem position on this, and you are not putting the interests of Americans first, unless you are under the delusional miscalculation that all Americans are billionaires with off shore accounts.
1
@Shenoa
The immigration "problem" is vastly overstated.
2
Got it. Just throw in more half-crazed mobs calling for blood, even without any proof of any wrong-doing, stalk some Republicans to their homes, offices and where they eat; shout down more speakers on campuses who you don't agree with ... and then accuse Trump of bringing totalitarianism to America. That'll do the trick, for sure.
39
@JW , Using the phrase "half crazed mobs" suggests that you have internalized the right's popular talking points, as "violent mobs" is a recent favorite of Fox news and the President. ahead of the midterms, the President has used his unique position to demonize the Dems and the press, something that was unheard of with prior presidents. Protest and not giving alt right speakers a platform is mild compared to the abuse of power by Trump and his congress.
1
@JW So ok - what is it - "precious little snowflakes" or the second coming of the French Revolution. Can't be both. Were you as upset when the Tea Party acted out in more disturbing ways? Don't think so. Memo to Rand Paul: Someone did get killed - but was a resistance member who was the victim
2
"... the rest is just noise."
===================
Let me suggest that Democrats have to learn from Trump how to generate their own "noise", on a daily basis.
An important part of what got Trump and the Republicans elected was this constant, daily, noise, in the media. Trump Tweets daily, and the country and the world takes notice.
On the other hand, Obama, and the Democrats have been too laid back and well, just plain... boring. Obama was no drama.
I hope that Democrats can win the House by learning from Trump.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6
Conservatives now control the Supreme Court--perhaps for decades. Why? Because it wouldn't have even OCCURRED to Democrats to hold up a candidate for months and not even consider him. And McConnell, who was most responsible, howled with rage when the Democrats held up Cavanaugh for a WEEK. His hypocrisy is staggering.
Much worse is to come unless unless Republicans are defeated soundly next month. And the millions who don't vote, or vote for third party spoilers, are--in effect--voting for Trump.
67
@bnyc
Agreed. If you want to make a protest vote, do it in the primaries.
1
Democrats are in the minority. No opportunity to hold things up, not even for a nanosecond. It was Flake, an R, who went through the motions; otherwise he’d have been confirmed a week earlier.
Until Democrats have a majority, they can’t do anything. What about that do you not understand?
1
bnyc,
Stein received 1 million votes.
Trump won 7 million Democratic votes.
Maybe you should rethink or include the 7:1 difference.
But that would cast blame elsewhere wouldn't it.
Dems cant have that.
Point everywhere else but at yourselves.
2
Don't muck this up?
With Pelosi. Schummer and Clinton, the Democrats have already lost.
81
@Anand Naidoo
But they bring in the cash! And that is all that matters.
No specific platforms that may offend. "We lead with our values!"
Good luck with that Dems.
2
@Anand Naidoo
"With Pelosi. Schummer and Clinton, the Democrats have already lost."
Yes, the Democrats don't have the heart to replace their entitled 80-year-oldster "leaders" just because they lost the Presidency, the Supreme Court, both houses of Congress, 70% of the State Houses, the country, and the future.
And why haven't they been replaced?
Because at least they tried. And besides - Hillary really won!
2
Democratic voters need to be energised with red meat, not amorphous policy proposals. Focusing on Donald Trump's serial lying, gross ignorance, blatant misogyny,and his daily demeaning of presidential dignity, is not a political mistake,it's a recipe for political victory.The vast majority of Americans have had enough and want Trump checked and exposed. A Democratic House, armed with subpoena power,and public hearings, can do that, even if the Senate remains Republican.
7
"...looking to drive their voters to the polls with the specter of a wild-eyed, rage-filled Democratic “mob” hellbent on destroying the Republic."
These are the sounds of the beating war drums. By all means, vote, but consider what the 2nd amendment is for and whether or not you should embrace it. Whether all the rallying cries made by those in power about treasonous intent is performance art, loose talk, or something far more sinister.
The preposterous claims that are made, the immediate self contradictions, all of these will be legitimized or edited out of the history books by the victors if we are not prepared to defend ourselves once the beating of the drums goes silent.
1
Democrats would do well to follow the Beto O'Rourke model of visiting every single voter county and talking with, and listening to, voters graciously, with true decency and humanity, and with the passion to do right by his constituents - all of his constituents.
313
@common sense advocate
Many Democrats have been doing this and will continue to do so. Among them are Kara Eastman in NE, Xochitl Torres Small in NM, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortes. It looks to be not only a good strategy, but the right thing to do.
2
@Dv/dx absolutely agree - and it cuts across centrist and progressive lines - because it's the service model of representation!
not in the current left DNA.
1
I hesitate to propose this, but I wonder if dems also need to start fighting back via Twitter. Twitter seems to be one of Trump’s most powerful weapons against his opponents (of all kinds) and a powerful means of mobilizing his base. Is it not time for certain dem reps to hit back on that platform? Call him out (using factual evidence) as the criminal and ignoramus that he is? It’s not taking the high road, but in these increasingly desperate times we may no longer be able to afford such principled restraint.
12
@PoliticalTango Yes, fight on Twitter like the rest of the adult toddlers.
@PoliticalTango
"principled restraint" and "taking the high road" in no way reflect what the Democrat party has evolved into.
1
It's already mucked. The liberal agenda needs to be re-centered around the working class, which isn't in the liberal agenda at this time.
So, after the continuing goring the Democrats will receive come November, maybe we can start a real dialog centered around the working class and less centered around the identity movement.
Or not. The working class can still cast it's strength to the Trump conservatives, meanwhile the liberals will wonder what ever happened to the working class. The rest of us will continue booking tickets to Australia and South America...
41
@robW
Focusing on the working class is focusing on an identity movement.
Actually, Clinton took the majority of votes of the working class. And the poor too.
What you’re taking about is the white folks. Once again, an example of the unthinking bias that recognise only, ever, white working class.
Excellent point about appealing to the working class. Not a new idea but for todays dems it is
2
For one thing, try to avoid another debacle like the one we witnessed last week. Couldn't have worked better for the GOP if they had staged it themselves. By the way, did anyone ever figure which GOP operative -- sorry, I mean which Feinstein staffer -- leaked the unfortunate Ms. Ford's name?
13
Ive been worrying about the Dems tendency to mess the bed for months now. All the talk of a blue wave, of excitement and unprecedented turn-out...have me worried. Very much so. Because as a powerful turn-out and vote video by Knockthe vote, explains - old white people vote way more then young voters. And in every election. They don't forward memes and tweet their outrage, they go and Vote!
Being young and energetic doesn't mean much if there are no votes to be counted. Tweets don't count. Memes are not on the ballots!
And the women worry me too...lots of talk, but then their (too many responsibilities kick-in (their dopey men, family, work, etc) and they dont show up.
There is no real excuse to not voting. None. Unless you're incapacitated, or seriously being restricted by outside forces looking to hinder your vote - there are no good excuses.
But even if the Dems win next month...I'm more worried that the Dem leadership is gonna go all complacent, get all nice and civil, and forgiving of the real Opposition Party. Playing T-ball, while the GOP plays Whack-a-mole with axes.
I simply don't trust Pelosi, or Schumer to get aggressive and fight with guts and real conviction.
The GOP has clearly made this a blood sport, while blaming the Dems...and then all Schumer does is look over his glasses and speak in slow, measured tones, like he's reading aloud to himself. Or a baby is sleeping nearby...
Mucking it up...its a Dem thing of late...
16
Sadly, the Dems are a center right party on economic issues, and party of war too. They are fighting tooth and nail to not be a people's party, so if they take back control don't get your hope up. Equanimity the cure for disappointment. Besides, we saw what good hope did us with corporate, centrist Obama. It got us Trump. Sorry Russia. You were not the problem. As it goes in a Woody Guthrie song, "So long, it's been good to know ya."
6
@Munda Squire You are so correct President Bush (Sr. and Jr.) were both Democrats, my bad.
Unless all these women who’ve been more than offended by Kavanaugh, McConnell, Graham, Hatch, Collins, and yes, even Mr. Flake actually take their anger to the polls on Nov.6 we will be in a living nightmare as Trump throws all caution to the winds and begins to hire, fire and forgive just like any other two-bit dictator, and nobody in Congress will say a word. They will all be kissing the rings of their money men. Those last two years ought to reveal the truly ugly underbelly when dysfunction overtakes governance and white men get a chance to see how ignorant decisions make their lives even more miserable than they were before 2016.
6
Not to worry, Dems muck up everything they touch.
25
@skanda You are absolutely right. Republicans have been playing the long game; Democrats couldn't put a parade together. I say this as a person raised in a Republican house wanting to vote for Democrats but just so amazed at how pathetic and incompetent they are. Even if they got control of things I doubt they would get anywhere - environment, healthcare, education, things that I care about I have doubts they could do anything. The Republicans will - they will cram their agenda down your throat until we all can't breath the air and can't see a doctor to be treated for it..
Character matters, and truth telling is a big part of character. Lies are meant to deceive, so the Democratic party needs to make very clear *what* the GOP lies are and *how* those GOP lies are hurting the average voter.
The GOP are also masters of anger, and many Democrats feel that stooping "low" by employing anger is beneath them. Anger, though, is a tool that is neither inherently "low" nor "high" - it has been given to us as part of our fight-or-flight response...and if Democrats are to win, they cannot allow flight...they must fight and, if necessary, get dirty doing so.
Yes, the Democrats need to put out a positive message of "what we will do if elected" that puts the 99% up front...but mixed with generous portions of anger. Righteous anger at the haughtiness of the GOP, the callousness of the GOP, the ineptitude of the GOP, and the corruption of the GOP.
30
The Democrats have to develop a platform beyond gender issues and perceived support for illegal aliens and sanctuary cities. Right now if you are simply a white citizen or a black citizen, the Democrats aren't interested in you. You're passe. However if you are white or black and you are "gay" or if you are an illegal alien then the Democrats want to help you. Also, while President Trump is developing security and trade policies to confront China, I hear nothing from the Democrats on these critical issues (apologies too Sherrod Brown). As dreadful as the Republicans are, the Democrats offer nothing if you are an everyday American. If the Dems make solid gains in the midterms, it won't be because they have earned them by virtue of their policies.
52
@Norm Weaver
Agree mostly with your comment with the exception that democrats do not help anyone with their division politics. They use division because their socialist ideas just don't work and the people know it.
1
@Norm Weaver "Right now if you are simply a white citizen or a black citizen, the Democrats aren't interested in you. You're passe. However if you are white or black and you are "gay" or if you are an illegal alien then the Democrats want to help you"
What? You make as much sense as Trump at one of his rallies- or any other time.
This is a tricky insight to use. Dems don’t have a policy for black or white straight men. Is it true?
Republicans are for repealing the ACA and defunding Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to pay for tax cuts that mostly help the wealthiest Americans. Dems want to improve on the ACA, protect and expand Medicare and Medicaid, and protect people with pre-existing conditions by reversing some of those tax cuts for the wealthy. I don’t see how that will skip over straight people of any race or ethnicity.
Maybe the point is, Dems trying to help vulnerable immigrant children, bullied gays and transgendered Americans, sexual assault victims, injured veterans, the poor, and terrorized Muslims, are saying they think these people are special, the way Trump treats white billionaires, predators, and foreign dictators as singular, exceptional people.
I know campaigners have to meet voters where they are, and treat each voter as special, at least through the wave or handshake, but this is odd. By celebrating Kavanaugh, Trump makes straight men feel special? Are we supposed to identify with Kavanaugh? I don’t. Trump’s message to me is, if you support me, I’ll ignore all those sex crimes you committed (see Roy Moore, Bret Kavanaugh, himself).
I’d like to support leaders that have character and good policies. Are we still the people that turned away the Jews fleeing Hitler and interned Japanese-Americans, kept slaves, exterminated natives and wore klan hoods? I can’t support them.
If the Dems continue to endlessly promote sanctuary cities, open borders, illegal immigrants, DACAs, refugees and others, consider themselves toast.
94
@MS Did you know that Obama deported more individuals than Bush - Oh you didn't? Easier to use comments of Fox and Trump than do independent thinking.
1
Has anyone noticed that the Blacks have sort of disappeared from the mid-term election battle? I suppose Democrats know that emphasizing Black Voter desires for more social services is guaranteed to rile White Republicans, but (and isn't there always a 'but"?) if this election is really about the anxieties of White Women, and climate, and abstract constitutional issues, and Blacks see themselves relegated to the margins of Democrat concerns, isn't there a chance that many of them will feel sufficiently uninvolved that they stay home on election day? All the Democrats need is perhaps a 5% fall-off in the Black vote and they won't win anything--yet I don't see Democrats taking any particular notice of Blacks at all. Then there's the well known fact that Republican voters are undercounted in polling data. This is partly a Republican game--not being available to pollsters. We saw the effect that had in 2016--about 5%, a big margin. If you put together Black uninterest in this election with Republican 'invisibility' to pollsters, Democrats could be in real trouble and not even know it.
14
@Jonathan: Your reply is as welcome as the sound of the first robin in spring. I believe many Black voters are, probably silently, migrating to the Republican Party because it's the party of prosperity. Expanding economic opportunity serves the interest of Blacks better than any government program.
1
Excellent point. I wonder, too
1
I'm pretty sure the best way for Democratic Congressional leadership to help is to stay home. The best they are able to come up with is the stellar "Better Deal". Saints preserve us and they needed focus groups to do that.
I think Taylor Swift can help more.
53
@etfmaven
Agreed. To retake Red States, remember that in most rural districts, manners and kindness are important, regardless of politics.
Remember the Civil Rights movement. Stop screaming about "white privilege" and "patriarchy," too often seen as issues of entitled upper class women, regardless of race. Stop screaming, period. Last week was the time for outrage. Now, work steadily to win.
Demonstrations should be non-violent. Dress well, speak politely. Rev. Martin Luther King called this "nonviolent confrontation." TV footage of police setting attack dogs and fire hoses against peaceful marchers electrified America. And helped pass the Voting Rights act, which recent right-wing supreme court decisions have gutted.
There are many kind, generous men and women in the red states who voted less for Trump than against Hillary. Forge alliance: unions, blacks, Hispanics. The Repubs will do everything they can to suppress the vote of these groups. Reach out to blacks and Hispanics, whose turnout is critical, but often feel ignored by the major party,
Don't lecture, ask: what are your biggest worries? What do you think could help?
This election is the most important in history. We now have three branches of government installed illegally (Bush v. Gore, etc.), Merrick Garland's stolen justice.
A majority of Americans believe in legal and safe abortion, independent press, immigration reform, Medicare for all, Constitutional checks on the Executive. But if we don't win, fascism will.
1
I don't watch much TV or Social Media, nor do I know much about political advertising, but it seems to me that this is the most perfect occasion to use "generic" vote Democratic ads.
There are so very many things well known and widely objectionable about Trump (who can go unmentioned) as well as these Repubs (also unmentioned) that a bunch of ball players, celebrities--- admired and famous folks of varying ages, colors and gender----could encourage their admirers to simply vote Democratic. The whole ticket.
Look at Taylor Swift's recent political message. Celebrities are persuasive to a lot of people, and particularly those that belong in the Big Tent. Non-specific, simple "Vote Democratic!" ads on various screens could be effective at this time and used anywhere.
9
This is a tune up for 2020. Many of the issues are local, but to the extent that national issues are important, they must be aimed at the middle class. They must show that the Democrats have a plan that will benefit the entire country, not just Trump's buddies on Wall Street.
Try to avoid the 'pie in the sky' promises, such as Universal Health Care. Great idea, how do you pay for it? Having said that, strengthening the safety net is a winning proposition, the Boomers are getting old and will need good insurance.
Let's help those who were left behind in the recovery, let's show people how we would govern, let's show people how we would address problems around the world with out going to war with our allies. Let's demonstrate that we would bring civility and sanity back to our government.
America is a centrist country, Trump has gone over the far edge, we do not have to go over the edge the other way. He is our best argument for a change. Be engaged, thoughtful, and caring of people's concerns. Let the extremes rant and rave, be the calm center of good, effective government and that will be a winning plan.
12
@Bruce1253
"Try to avoid the 'pie in the sky' promises, such as Universal Health Care. Great idea, how do you pay for it? " - I don't know, maybe ask every other developed nation how they manage it. Since the US is considerably more wealthy, it shouldn't be that hard.
"America is a centrist country, Trump has gone over the far edge, we do not have to go over the edge the other way." - no, the US is a right-wing country and what is regarded as the political center in the US would be considered right-wing elsewhere.
26
@Bruce1253 You pay for it by shifting what employers and self-employed currently pay toward premiums, toward taxes to cover the cost of increased medicare coverage (+ savings from single payer and eliminating for-profit middlemen private insurers).
11
@Bruce1253 My self, I would pay for Universal Health Care by cutting the defense and foreign relations budgets in half. But I also realize that you don't have to accomplish something like this and gun control in one big step. Many smaller steps will also get you there. Americans are, however, not noted for our patience.
Amen. The country doesn’t need impeachment. It needs quality, reasonably priced healthcare, living wage jobs and quality education. Concentrate on that. Compare what Democrats are offering to what republicans have done and will do. Repeat it over and over again. Republicans can’t win on their ideas so they gerrymander districts and disenfranchise voters to win. Time to call them on it.
69
@Sharon if we have 12 more years to survive, should we really waste 1/3 of this precious time denying climate change, lining the pockets of the 1/10% and adulating exulted autocrats the world over? I agree don't talk about it - but I disagree that it does not need to be done - and fast.
@Sharon
I agree that is what we should focus on for the midterms but boy do we also need impeachment.
Yugely as the electoral college president likes to say.
But there is no point talking about impeachment until we have the House and 2/3s of the Senate, and that is not happening at this election.
1
But we also need impeachment. Both of Trump and Kavanaugh. Don't throw away justice because it's a difficult process. We need justice.
Pound away at the GOP on health care and the debt. The GOP has dealt itself a losing hand by attempting to destroy Obamacare. How does that benefit us? On the debt, remind the voters that no one receives value from their taxes when those taxes are diverted to debt interest payments. Back off on immigration - it never had much support - and it has cost us elections.
28
You have to remember that the Democrats are paid by their big corporate donors from Wall Street, Big Pharma and Silicon Valley NOT to advocate for ideas that are popular with the American people. Therefore, don't expect anything but platitudes and identity politics. Expect to hear their common phases of "We lead with our values. We support good jobs and a chance at the American dream. Trump bad. " The Democrats that do address these issues, those of the progressive wing of the party are not getting any support from the DCCC or the DNC.
108
@FXQ
How true. Bernie had a program and that was a threat to the DNC. Now elements of that message reappear but are they too late to be believed? The Democrats finding a center appears to be a longer process very slowly finding its way out.
10
@FXQ
Sure Democrats accept donations, but not wild streams of dark money from the Koch brothers and other threats to democracy as we know it. And they face certain defeat if they sell out as openly as all the Republicans in office now (voted for disgusting tax bill, almost repealed Obamacare, etc) ...
Peer pressure from fellow Dems will keep Dems from doing too many onerous things
where as
Peer pressure from fellow Reps will MAKE Reps do onerous things
And always possible that Dem Congress and Senate could pass bills that actually mandate doing the right thing or NOT doing the wrong thing, executive branch is doing onerous things because the current Rep party will not stop ANYTHING.
1
@wsmrer bernie "I am not a Democrat! I am a socialist!" sanders only borrowed the label for the short time it took for real Democrats to rejects him. He went back to being an Independent, as he has always been listed in congress.
True Democrats are those who have devoted themselves to the party for longer than a presidential election stretch. They are the ones doing the heavy work for all Democrats.
If you want to know what resonates with Democratic voters, read the 600+ comments in the magazine section on illegal immigration.
63
@Talbot
I took the suggestion and had a look at the comments thread from the nytimes magazine article on illegal immigrant. It really is an eye opener and suggests how deeply divided Democrats are on this issue, and a sad harbinger for elections.
4
@Talbot Yes. In 2016 Trump struck political gold. As long as the Electoral College is a fact, then Dems are stuck. What can they trumpet and crow about? "We support lax immigration laws!"? Pleasing Brooklyn, Pacific Heights, and West Hollywood is a recipe for losing the square states.
3
@Talbot
Democrats' problem remains its fixation on identity politics. The Kavanaugh hearings were a nuclear "War on Women".
1
I have never known a Democrat to accept this advice since the 1960s. With the McGovern rebellion, was lost any deference to pragmatic politics, in favor of poetic impersonation. What a dreadful coalition of inadequacy this Party now is. So we have rampant indiscipline, in the frame of an actual Senator of the United States, posing knowingly falsely as Spartacus, and endless murmurings of reliance on the compulsive confession of victimhood. Is this a leadership? Not, obviously, of people genuinely acquainted with struggle, which is to say, the Democrats' hereditary base.
10
Republicans probably know the words of Article III of the Constitution that establishes that there are no limits to the number of supreme court justices for the Supreme Court. If a Democratic president and congress want to put 20, that's not against the Constitution. The Republicans, therefore, have far more to fear of Democratic retaliation and are far more motivated. Sadly, the Democrats seem to have no idea of the power they waste.
36
I don't get why this would be a hard choice. And for those who say it makes no difference, you probably haven't voted in years, let alone gone to a city council or school board meeting, etc., and that's why we're in this mess. We have to start where we are with what we've got. If you think you can do better, than run for something. Voting is the least anyone can do.
11
After seeing the UN report on climate change and currently having a monster hurricane Michael that was significantly exacerbated by global warming, climate change should be THE highest priority for anyone. If this issue does not inspire people, we are doomed and head to a potential extinction of human species. Although time is short, Democrats need to make people aware of this and persuade them. We really need a strong leader to deal with this.
70
The Democrats have boxed themselves in between two possible positions; social justice warrior, or tech billionaire's stooge. Neither position appeals much to the general voting public any more. If it's either Bernie or Hillary, then the voters will reluctantly chose Trump.
Their coalition is quite incompatible. As long as affluent suburban professionals dominate the policy-making wing, the other groups are going to feel uncomfortable. The GOP has already picked off some unionized blue-collar workers, and with a little effort could pick off some black and Hispanic men.
I agree that the last thing the Dems should do is send forth hard-core 'progressives' to represent the party, but the press and the hard-core political base are cheering every time one of these candidates wins a primary. It will be very enlightening to see what happens when they all lose.
21
Democrats need to stay on message and they need to include absolutely everyone under the tent.
On jobs, Dems need to drive home the point that although unemployment is now low, jobs don't pay what they need to, nor are they for as many hours as people need. They also need to drive home the point that they know that those then middle aged workers who were laid off at the start of the Great Recession still await the work they'd hope to long have resumed by now. The latest job numbers indicate that older workers aren't fully participating.
Voters long to hear that Democrats are going to be a check on Trump. They also want to know that Kavanaugh's investigation will be completed, in earnest, even post-installation on the court.
Voters long to hear about healthcare and that Democrats have their back when it comes to including more Americans - not less. They want to hear about premiums coming down. They also want to hear that the price gouging on medications will come to an end.
Voters want to know that Robert Mueller will be safe and that once he's done with his work, a united, unflinching Democratic House and Senate will mete out justice.
Voters want to know what Trump and his cabinet have been doing. We don't hear nearly enough about that from Senators and members of Congress.
Oh, and on Bloomberg? Donna Brazile is wrong. Oligarchs on the right, oligarchs on the left. Not a good look...
---
Things Trump did while you weren't looking
https://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2ZW
10
Here's an article from this week about Democrats' agenda, if... More than one person has told me they wished its contents were more widely known:
Dems eye ambitious agenda if House flips
emocratic committee leaders are ready to roll out an ambitious legislative wish list if the House majority flips in next month’s midterm elections.
After eight years in the minority, Democrats have big plans, from shoring up ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank financial rules to protecting “Dreamers” and the integrity of elections.
They are also vowing to aggressively probe the actions of the Trump administration — an oversight role Democrats contend was virtually abandoned by Republicans.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/410679-dems-eye-ambitious-agenda-if-h...
2
There are two reasons why Democrats must prioritize the economic justice issue if they are going to meet expectations in this midterm election and regain control of the House, and defeat Trump in 2020.
First, millions of Americans in the heartland disagree with our stances on social issues, such as abortion rights, based on cultural and religious reasons. This is why Democrats are so stunned come election night when, for example, they are faced with the recurring surprise that they did not win as many white female votes as they expected despite the Republicans’ conservative views on women’s rights. Democrats must take a more deliberate approach when campaigning in the heartland for support for social issues.
Second, given the attention the media has given to the capture of our American government and economy by the wealthy corporate elites and the resulting economic damage it has done, a growing group of progressive Democrats have smartly focused on bringing economic justice to working Americans in the middle and lower classes. They have been focusing on achieving measures, such as living wages and worker participatory rights in corporate decision-making.
Bernie Sanders’s success last week in pressuring Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to raise the Amazon minimum wage to $15 per hour and help us increase the federal minimum wage, is proof that the economic justice issue is the most common political denominator Democrats must prioritize to win back control of the government.
11
100 million voters stayed home in 2016.
Are they still saying there’s no difference between Trump and Clinton?
Isn’t it time to apply some control to the Trump chaos train?
141
@Brad Or they voted for Stein or Johnson, which was a de facto vote for Trump. I hope some of those will regret their decision and turn out for Democrats next month!
1
@Paul Smith, No, we do not regret not voting for Hillary. She did nothing to come get our vote. And no, we won't turn out, again, if there is nothing to turn out for. Vote for another Joe Manchin just because they have a D after their name? No thank you.
@FXQ,
You must be a white male with nothing to lose if all three branches of govt are controlled by ultra conservatives. Oh and you must have excellent guaranteed for life health care, infrastructure, and plenty of money to protect you from a dystopian future. Must be nice to have luxury like that to stay home and not vote. Put your feet up and have another beer.
"I don't belong to any organized party, I'm a Democrat"
- Will Rogers
Hopefully we've learned from those days of disorganized messaging that reaches absolutely no one.
Here in Georgia, Stacey Abrams for Governor is doing a terrific job at targeting our two top issues, healthcare, specifically Medicaid, and public education. And most of what I've been reading, candidates from other States are targeting issues that ring true with their constituents.
Make sure you vote though.
172
One must wonder how effective this focus on issues could be, stacked up against the mind-bending attack ads so expertly wielded by the opponents. It may be the most important mid-term election since the Civil War, weighted as it is by the need to reestablish a check on the other two branches of our Constitutional democracy. Democrats must be bold as well as rational in their choice of platforms. They must do so with a sense of moral rectitude not displayed across the board so far. Are they capable of energizing those who descry the loss of decency in government with a cleaner hand than last week? Lord, we need good leadership.
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If it's true that Millennials are historically the least reliable voters among analogous generational cohorts, then even I, a lifelong liberal, find my motivation flagging. Who are we supposed to be advocating for? Young citizens who can't be bothered? People who aren't even citizens of my country? Protesters who sometimes seem more interested in protesting than voting? The Democratic Party needs a giant, glamorous, galvanizing marquee issue around which we can't help but rally; 2020 is already shaping up as closer than it should be.
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@Blair
"The Democratic Party needs a giant, glamorous, galvanizing marquee issue around which we can't help but rally"
Yes, turnout is key.
We need a wildly motivating stretch target, like Tax the Rich or Ban Corporate Donations. Something that will fit on a red (not blue) hat.
But first the entire Democratic leadership of oldsters must be entirely replaced with under-40s. And not a tepid "so we can say we did something" change.
Only that will regain integrity. Without drastically cleaning house you're asking people to vote again for the same old corporate politicians who lost the country and the future. Which is what the current Democrats think will win next month.
What we need instead is a young progressive Trump, like a Beto who has proved he (absolutely not a She) can turn red to blue.
A She is too risky right now.
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@Blair
NOT TRUE! I taught college for 30 years, and young people are the most idealistic group since the Civil Rights era. Look at those kids from Marjory Stoneman shooting. Look the kids at the Bernie Sanders rallies. They're victims of income inequality and they hate the 1% who were "born on third base."
They're struggling to get an education, repay Darwinian college loans, and often work 2-3 jobs to make ends meet.They want to save the planet. They believe in LGBT rights, they hate racism. Some are born-again and reject abortion. But they wouldn't bomb a clinic.
Because right-wingers destroyed public education, they are not taught Civics in high school (as I was)--the Constitution, 3 branches of gov't; how a bill becomes a law, etc. When I taught Early American Literature at a good community college, it was the first my students read the Constitution. Lazy? No. Victims of "teach to the test."
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@Rocky Mtn girl
Dear RMG,
As Blair stated, idealism is wonderful, but you still have to put down your game controller long enough to go out and vote.
I am glad this Dem. chose to present some of the important issues at stake. I do believe however that Dems. do indeed need to spell out the Rep's. agenda. track record, and overall irresponsibility in their messages. I think a lot of people do not know these and other things they (Reps.) represent, and they could change their minds if they did know them. Ours is a winning side all facts pertain.
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Kavanaugh, as you note, will not be an issue except as just the latest example of why so many are fed up with Mr. PTSD, Persistent Trump Stress Disorder. But, never underestimate that master media manipulator to try to spring some sort of October surprise in the next few weeks to motivate his base. There are many possibilities: firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions and replacing him with Lindsey Graham as has already been rumored; pardoning Mike Flynn and/or Paul Manafort; or threatening to impose marshal law to prevent "mob rule," and who knows what else. Meanwhile, the Democrats have the issues, the candidates, and the momentum. They just need a massive turnout to retake the House and perhaps even the Senate. And with the markets showing their usual October jitters due to Trump's trade war, those who thought the economy was a Republican plus may see that's not the case. so #RememberThisNovember and V-O-T-E!
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