Spot on! The only identity politics we, Democrats, should focus on are to be on the side of ALL (working) people.
53
Democrats, Republicans and independents! You have to organize, have a clear set of objectives and issues that affect everyone. Be brave, be bold, these are very trying and dangerous times. Fascism is creeping in, it must be extirpated before it subjugates us all.
22
Good luck to us all, but I suspect we will need more than luck.
However, I am proud to be from Washington, the state that stopped this immigration madness, even if only temporarily. And proud that the 9th Circuit recognized weak arguments, upheld sanity, and decided for the ideals of our country.
However, I am proud to be from Washington, the state that stopped this immigration madness, even if only temporarily. And proud that the 9th Circuit recognized weak arguments, upheld sanity, and decided for the ideals of our country.
62
If Trump followers are the "forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid," then how come Trump voters have a median annual income of $72,000 compared to the entire country's median annual income of $62,000?
You're looking in the wrong place, Mr. Egan. Remember that the biggest prediction factor for Trump voters was this: they were willing to give up some of their government money as long as minorities also had to give up theirs. In short, they don't like blacks. Or Hispanics. Lyndon Johnson was wrong when he said that by signing the Civil Rights Act, Democrats would lose the South for a generation. It's already been two and a half generations, and the South will be lost for still another two and a half generations at least.
Racism, bigotry, science denial, and more income than the average American - that's what you call the "forgotten man" or the "overlooked American."
You're looking in the wrong place, Mr. Egan. Remember that the biggest prediction factor for Trump voters was this: they were willing to give up some of their government money as long as minorities also had to give up theirs. In short, they don't like blacks. Or Hispanics. Lyndon Johnson was wrong when he said that by signing the Civil Rights Act, Democrats would lose the South for a generation. It's already been two and a half generations, and the South will be lost for still another two and a half generations at least.
Racism, bigotry, science denial, and more income than the average American - that's what you call the "forgotten man" or the "overlooked American."
97
Mr. Egan, this is all very true--but you and your fellow journalists MUST do your part, too. The Democrats need to oppose and we the people need to be resolute and active--but that is not enough when Trump and his surrogates are manipulating the press with every Tweet. They are distracting attention away from every lie and infraction by bombarding us with the next one. In the run up to the Iraq war I worked as an organizer with MoveOn, using the "new" tools of social media. And there was a "high" then, too, an incredible realization that, like the recent women's marches all over the world, there was more worldwide protest, united against war, than there had ever been before. But guess what? There was very sparse coverage of the protesting because it was an unpopular sentiment at the time, for the very reasons you mention here. It was considered unpatriotic, and there was a huge backlash for not supporting the president. After years of war, when the tide began to turn, there was a narrative that "gosh, nobody opposed the war, nobody saw this disastrous quagmire coming!" Not true--the opposition was huge, and underreported, and fake stories about WMDs were bought by a credulous public and an uncritical media. Your colleague Paul Krugman's latest article asks what we each will choose to do when Trump finally gets the terrorist attack he's openly rooting for and makes his power grab. It's an important question, because this is not the first time we have been engulfed in lies.
45
Yet in my career as a voter, there has never been a political downside for any blunders, racism, misogyny, dishonesty, deception, or simple-minded stupidity from the Republicans, going back to Watergate. Jessie Helms wise- cracked about how newly elected Clinton "better watch out" if he visited any military bases in North Carolina. How Helms survived responsibility politically and maybe criminally, and how it made Clinton look weak, was foreboding. Amazingly, this political entitlement went on, while the Dems seemed to be walking a tight rope through a dark alley, "peaking" horridly throughout Obama's years. It culminated in Trump's candidacy and election. We watched as he sabotaged himself seemingly beyond repair daily in every televised debate, interview, tweet, and rally, yet here we are. What have the Republicans got that seems to make them so immune to accountability? It's surely nothing they offer voters.
And that's why this article is dead on point. We know what we don't want (see Republican). What's been missing is the important part, the part worth fighting for. Democrats/Opposition: figure out what you do want, both means and ends, and fight for it like it really matters.
And that's why this article is dead on point. We know what we don't want (see Republican). What's been missing is the important part, the part worth fighting for. Democrats/Opposition: figure out what you do want, both means and ends, and fight for it like it really matters.
25
In the wake of the 2016 election liberals must confront a difficult question: Is it time for the Democratic establishment to divorce themselves from political correctness and identity politics in order to win? I argue yes.
Lifeboat ethics are uncomfortable and we shouldn’t have to choose between principals or real legislative power. The sad reality, however, is that in this climate we can’t have both. Please understand that I am not advocating for the complete abandonment of political correctness or identity politics. Rather, I’m suggesting that liberals think critically about who will adopt these talking points and who will not.
Let’s leave issues of social justice to activists, students, writers, late-night TV hosts, academics, and social media aficionados. Empower them to lead the charge on microaggressions, pronouns, white privilege, and intersectional feminism. Allow these advocates to fight for the disenfranchised from the bottom up.
But make no mistake. These efforts are futile without top-down support that can only come from winning seats in every branch at every level. And it’s time now to embrace the painful lesson that 2016 taught us. The truth is that Democrats simply cannot win until they ditch their current talking points and strategically replace them with issues that the majority of Americans care about and understand. Only by winning elections can liberals actually execute a progressive agenda capable of creating a more equitable society for all.
Lifeboat ethics are uncomfortable and we shouldn’t have to choose between principals or real legislative power. The sad reality, however, is that in this climate we can’t have both. Please understand that I am not advocating for the complete abandonment of political correctness or identity politics. Rather, I’m suggesting that liberals think critically about who will adopt these talking points and who will not.
Let’s leave issues of social justice to activists, students, writers, late-night TV hosts, academics, and social media aficionados. Empower them to lead the charge on microaggressions, pronouns, white privilege, and intersectional feminism. Allow these advocates to fight for the disenfranchised from the bottom up.
But make no mistake. These efforts are futile without top-down support that can only come from winning seats in every branch at every level. And it’s time now to embrace the painful lesson that 2016 taught us. The truth is that Democrats simply cannot win until they ditch their current talking points and strategically replace them with issues that the majority of Americans care about and understand. Only by winning elections can liberals actually execute a progressive agenda capable of creating a more equitable society for all.
31
Bill Press to bigshot Democrat pundit 27 min. into the Bill Press show on Free Speech tv:
Q.: So who is the head of the Democrat Party, really?
A.: It's Donald Trump.
Q.: So who is the head of the Democrat Party, really?
A.: It's Donald Trump.
3
Dems keep coddling the major group that opposes them -- prople 65 up. Trump romped here 53 - 45%. More than enough. Time to rethink the unthinking Pelosi support for "our seniors." Disclaimer: I am 73 and thoroughly disgusted with selfish, unthinking old farts.
34
You state that "About half of the nation, and a USmajority of Republicans, are in favor of it." - with regard to scPOTUS' ban on Muslims.
Maybe I missed something but the 63 million people who elected this nightmare do not represent half of the nation. They are roughly one fifth, almost 3 million less than HRC's voters. Most thinking people realize that this ban, does the opposite when it comes to safety and stability.
You know, the Patriots looked like they were getting "their butts kicked" last Sunday, and they were, until they weren't. This is no sugar high - it's the adrenaline rush all humans experience when face to face with extreme danger. And this is only day 22 of the Great Mistake. Stay tuned.
Maybe I missed something but the 63 million people who elected this nightmare do not represent half of the nation. They are roughly one fifth, almost 3 million less than HRC's voters. Most thinking people realize that this ban, does the opposite when it comes to safety and stability.
You know, the Patriots looked like they were getting "their butts kicked" last Sunday, and they were, until they weren't. This is no sugar high - it's the adrenaline rush all humans experience when face to face with extreme danger. And this is only day 22 of the Great Mistake. Stay tuned.
41
Is there any doubt that Joe Biden would have won this election? In two years the chaos Trump will cause will become apparent to everyone. Trump got the angry turnout last November, the Dems should get the oTrump outrage vote in 2018. Run good candidates with a sharply defined economic message for blue collar workers and the Dems should start getting back into the ballgame. Continue to play identity politics and their power will erode further.
28
I know the story line now is that all these Trump people voted for his economics. That's part of the story but racism also played a big part and people don't like to acknowledge it. They love the idea of his wall and bans against immigrants. They don't care that the republicans are suppressing votes of millions of people because most of them are minorities.
40
If Democrats are on a sugar high, what kind of high are the Republicans on? They won the Electoral College, not the country, and won it by a tiny margin only insuring the tyranny of the minority over the majority--the revenge of the slave holding class of yesteryear, lurking in the shadows of democracy like ghosts in a Gothic novel waiting to pounce on the people of what might otherwise have been a better future . Something to feel good about? Go to http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/ and see how state legislatures are slowly voting to give their Electoral College votes to the popular vote winner. This is the ideal Democrats need to get behind.
31
When I vote, one of the hallmarks in doing so is that it isn't enough to give me twenty reasons to vote against the opposition; you have to give me reasons to vote for you as well.
11
Obama did it, he obviously had a great team. I was disappointed with Hillary and her organization. I threw money at them all year. She should have done a Trumanesque barnstorming tour and refuted the fake news and scuttlebutt that dogged her every move. Maybe she is an elitist and limousine liberal out of touch with the people? I am also upset with my fellow Democrats. I am inundated with petitions in my inbox, as if demonstrations and petitions will stop Trump and his policies. I am sure that Trump and Bannon laugh at the petitions and demonstrations, they do not amount to much in their view. Come on Democrats, organize!, Change!, find out what went wrong and do it better.
17
Let's have the Democrats adopt a clear program. Single Payer health insurance, support public schools, Increase Consumer protection, Sharper Income tax curve. Repair infrastructure. There, Was that so difficult?
57
Sanders has had that on his "Issues" page for a very long time now, at least back to the start of his campaign.
12
I am an independent voter who could vote either way, depending on which party is acting the least ridiculous at the time. Needless to say, I voted third party in the presidential election.
I think this article addresses an extremely serious blind spot with the Democrats: The party's reliance on identity politics. Even that wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't so much blatant hypocrisy about it. Hillary Clinton's recent comment "I continue to believe the future is female" reeks of sexism and chauvinism.
How about we focus on substantive policy issues for a change? How many move elections are you going to have to lose before you realize that identity politics are just a lazy and irresponsible way of pinning the blame for all your woes on someone else--not far removed from what Trump is doing to be quite honest.
Step up be the better party--this coming from someone who wants to vote for you, but can't until you obtain some intellectual honesty.
I think this article addresses an extremely serious blind spot with the Democrats: The party's reliance on identity politics. Even that wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't so much blatant hypocrisy about it. Hillary Clinton's recent comment "I continue to believe the future is female" reeks of sexism and chauvinism.
How about we focus on substantive policy issues for a change? How many move elections are you going to have to lose before you realize that identity politics are just a lazy and irresponsible way of pinning the blame for all your woes on someone else--not far removed from what Trump is doing to be quite honest.
Step up be the better party--this coming from someone who wants to vote for you, but can't until you obtain some intellectual honesty.
39
The middle class in America has been hollowed out during the past 50 years, and both the Republican and Democratic parties enabled the predatory profits-uber-alles strain of capitalism that made it happen.
Traditional Democrats, like Republicans, trembled at the idea of offending their Business constituents, while blithely throwing their Working constituents under the bus.
But now there is really, finally, a complete divorce between the present Democrats, most of whom would have been called moderate Republicans fifty years ago, and the present Republicans, who would have been members of the John Birch Society fifty years ago.
When Republicans vote in lockstep for nominees like Devos and Sessions, the time for bipartisan coordination is OVER.
Now let's reform the Democratic party to be a party committed to full employment, affordable housing, and a living wage, and PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS!
Traditional Democrats, like Republicans, trembled at the idea of offending their Business constituents, while blithely throwing their Working constituents under the bus.
But now there is really, finally, a complete divorce between the present Democrats, most of whom would have been called moderate Republicans fifty years ago, and the present Republicans, who would have been members of the John Birch Society fifty years ago.
When Republicans vote in lockstep for nominees like Devos and Sessions, the time for bipartisan coordination is OVER.
Now let's reform the Democratic party to be a party committed to full employment, affordable housing, and a living wage, and PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS!
18
Once you excise the fetish of "abortion rights" and "gay rights" from the Democrat platform, there's only a toothpick left. Your emperor has no clothes, Democrats.
21
I have become the kind of cynic I never ever liked. I need somebody to tell me that something good could come out of this presidency. Should I consider a move to Israel where everything seems to be working and where settlers are settlers, and men are men!
2
Every time I read a thought piece or op-ed about how the Democratic party needs to ditch "identity politics" I go to check on who wrote it. Every single time it's a white guy (most likely cisgendered and straight.)
It's easy to say that identity politics should be thrown to the side when you aren't part of any of the populations in this nation that have a stake in such.
I'm sick of hearing that we Democrats have to reach out and coddle those who voted for Trump. Reach out to "real America." To poke our noses out of our silly liberal "bubbles." Why? The party has continually pushed agendas that are far more favorable to the average American than the Republicans. It's the Republicans who want to privatize Medicare (as in for profit,) kill or drastically cut Social Security, seriously diminish Medicaid, kill the ACA, etc. Not the Democratic party.
It was Democrats who put into place things like making retirement financial advisors to put the interests of their clients first. Well, that's gone now.
The people who keep voting Republican have seen this time and time again, putting aside everything save their interests is a non-starter. The Democratic party does that and they'll keep voting Republican anyway.
How about instead we fight in ways that matter? Like fighting as hard as we can to make voting simple, to ensure the right to vote is something every adult citizen is easily able to do? That would provide a LOT more voters who would vote Dem.
It's easy to say that identity politics should be thrown to the side when you aren't part of any of the populations in this nation that have a stake in such.
I'm sick of hearing that we Democrats have to reach out and coddle those who voted for Trump. Reach out to "real America." To poke our noses out of our silly liberal "bubbles." Why? The party has continually pushed agendas that are far more favorable to the average American than the Republicans. It's the Republicans who want to privatize Medicare (as in for profit,) kill or drastically cut Social Security, seriously diminish Medicaid, kill the ACA, etc. Not the Democratic party.
It was Democrats who put into place things like making retirement financial advisors to put the interests of their clients first. Well, that's gone now.
The people who keep voting Republican have seen this time and time again, putting aside everything save their interests is a non-starter. The Democratic party does that and they'll keep voting Republican anyway.
How about instead we fight in ways that matter? Like fighting as hard as we can to make voting simple, to ensure the right to vote is something every adult citizen is easily able to do? That would provide a LOT more voters who would vote Dem.
39
It sounded like a train, looked like a train, and it sure has felt like one, but the caboose isn't even in sight. "Getting out of the way" in this case meant voting, and that patriotic and here most fraught means of participating in our democracy is what must be addressed. The takeaways from this shameful chapter have to be the misguided false equivalencies and the consequences of disengagement, and both are obvious not just in politics but nearly every other walk of life and level of society.
6
I'm sorry, but the Democratic Party platform was a very positive document. We are *for* a lot of things real people in this country want--education, jobs, a stable economy, health care for all, and the list goes on.
But whenever a Democrat demonstrates support for anything that will benefit the little guy, it becomes "free stuff" and it is turned against us.
We just witnessed the most dismal election in my life of 71 years. There was no coverage of policy. Hillary tried to bring up policy and was shouted down by more right-wing lies: Benghazi! email server! she's dying! Every time we turned on the TV, there was the pathological liar that the Republicans put up for election making promises that were obviously impossible, and no one took him to task. And his cabinet of deplorables prove just little he cares about the people of this country.
We somehow have to fix the media. Too many voters have bought into the right-wing lies, and have bought into the right-wing propaganda so completely that it is no longer possible to have a civil conversation with them.
It is not a sugar high--we're mad.
But whenever a Democrat demonstrates support for anything that will benefit the little guy, it becomes "free stuff" and it is turned against us.
We just witnessed the most dismal election in my life of 71 years. There was no coverage of policy. Hillary tried to bring up policy and was shouted down by more right-wing lies: Benghazi! email server! she's dying! Every time we turned on the TV, there was the pathological liar that the Republicans put up for election making promises that were obviously impossible, and no one took him to task. And his cabinet of deplorables prove just little he cares about the people of this country.
We somehow have to fix the media. Too many voters have bought into the right-wing lies, and have bought into the right-wing propaganda so completely that it is no longer possible to have a civil conversation with them.
It is not a sugar high--we're mad.
53
Many Trump voters wanted change but are not going to be happy when in 3 1/2 years their poor lives are even more miserable because of the fat cat philosophy of the Republican leadership. Those voters will be back wanting another crusader to lead them and give them the miracle of economic health and it will not be Trump. Whether the State Senators are shuffled is another question but it is probable that Nancy Pelosi will retire and the Dems leadership will improve with a new voice.
9
"Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump."
What is being white and working class if not an identity? This euphemism smacks of sugar-coated white supremacy
What is being white and working class if not an identity? This euphemism smacks of sugar-coated white supremacy
23
You are, of course, spot on.
And then I read this comment -- "I can absolutely no longer abide white men continuitng to excise, rationalize and justify white America voting for Trump. It is a national disgrace. Trump voters should be viewed with contempt and shame - not canonized as the real America" -- and this one -- "Baloney. The Trump voters I know are not economically distressed in any way. They voted for bigotry. They are thriving here on the East Coast but have enthusiastically bought into Trump's ugly narrative of themselves as victims of multiculturalism and a changing United States."
As long as this level of obtuseness persists within the Democratic Party, we will be the minority party for many years.
And then I read this comment -- "I can absolutely no longer abide white men continuitng to excise, rationalize and justify white America voting for Trump. It is a national disgrace. Trump voters should be viewed with contempt and shame - not canonized as the real America" -- and this one -- "Baloney. The Trump voters I know are not economically distressed in any way. They voted for bigotry. They are thriving here on the East Coast but have enthusiastically bought into Trump's ugly narrative of themselves as victims of multiculturalism and a changing United States."
As long as this level of obtuseness persists within the Democratic Party, we will be the minority party for many years.
22
"Obtuseness"? Um, this hatred pure and simple. We real Americans know you hate us. You want to dispossess us and disenfranchise us. In your fanaticism for multiculturalism you have descended into anti-White madness and you want to destroy historical America with a Third World invasion. So yeah- you are being "obtuse" by expressing your true thoughts out in the open. But we already know you're insane, and hate-filled and out for blood. And we will react in kind.
9
First, Trump got 46% of the vote, which is not a majority and 3 million votes less than Clinton. Further, Romney out polled Trump in Wisconsin in 2012 and still lost to Obama by a significant margin. The relationship between Trump and the Republican Party is tenuous at best and there is no way imaginable that Republicans can hold both business and blue collar interests together in a single party. In addition, Republicans lost, perhaps permanently, white collar suburbia which once was a critical part of their base. There is evidence that many millennial voters sat on their hands and the percentage of minority voters will only increase. And top it off, that in 2018 and 2020 Republicans will have to explain Trump to a less gullible public. The democrats may not be in great shape, but the future looks a lot worse for Republicans.
12
If Wall Street is less regulated, there's a good chance that with rising interest rates and fewer regulations on business, that my portfolio may do well until the next crash occurs. Even Democrats like to make money. But I am protected because I have a totally trustworthy broker. Most people don't know this for sure. How do I know? Because I was a broker and use a broker well known to my family for years.
Still, I'd rather have more regulation to protect investors against broker error or misjudgment or downright fraud. This is good for individuals and good for the industry as well, in my opinion. Happy customers bring in more customers.
Meanwhile, I will work to ensure that Democrats win in mid-term elections, locally, statewide and nationally. We can do it. People will soon get tired of Mr. Trump's antics, lies and self-interested behavior. I've been tired of it for over a year already.
Still, I'd rather have more regulation to protect investors against broker error or misjudgment or downright fraud. This is good for individuals and good for the industry as well, in my opinion. Happy customers bring in more customers.
Meanwhile, I will work to ensure that Democrats win in mid-term elections, locally, statewide and nationally. We can do it. People will soon get tired of Mr. Trump's antics, lies and self-interested behavior. I've been tired of it for over a year already.
11
I have become the kind of cynic I never ever liked. I need somebody to tell me that something good could come out of this presidency. Should I consider a move to Israel where everything seems to be working and where settlers are settlers, as men should all be. Mighty in battle but selfish and cruel in spirit, they be!
Actually, Trump, Bannon and the Republicans are providing Democrats with an excellent template. Look at what the Republicans are for and go for the opposite:
Strengthening the social savety net, instead of shredding it.
Government partnering with business to provide job security, job safety, healthy towns, quality schools, instead of unshackling the greed of big business by eliminating government,
Promoting strength through uniting diverse people and harnessing everyone's energy, instead of promoting division by telling groups that they lose when others win,
Strengthening tradional alliances and finding common cause with those who seek peace, instead of dumping old alliances in favor of those who promote domination
Clinton actually had a positive agenda but was put on the defensive and also felt, rightly so, that she needed to point out what a menace Donald was.
Strengthening the social savety net, instead of shredding it.
Government partnering with business to provide job security, job safety, healthy towns, quality schools, instead of unshackling the greed of big business by eliminating government,
Promoting strength through uniting diverse people and harnessing everyone's energy, instead of promoting division by telling groups that they lose when others win,
Strengthening tradional alliances and finding common cause with those who seek peace, instead of dumping old alliances in favor of those who promote domination
Clinton actually had a positive agenda but was put on the defensive and also felt, rightly so, that she needed to point out what a menace Donald was.
9
This article is advocating for EXACTLY what Clinton did not have - a vision for the middle class and those left behind. The Dems are carrying the same problem forward. Clinton said she wanted more of the same. Same what? More Visas to enable tech companies to lay off Americans? More industry moving out of the US? More money siphoned to the 1%? More part time or much lower paying jobs which falsely show unemployment indicators expressing a great economy?
Trump spoke to those issues and offered false hope that these would be changed. (The operative word being hope.)
Obama did not fulfill his promise of hope on those issues. Hillary was pandering to the 1% in an audacious manner (remember how she disappeared from public rallies in August to spend time in the Hamptons and in California to raise money from the rich?) She was tone deaf on the real economic issues. It all comes down to money and jobs.
I did not vote for Trump, I wanted Bernie. The irony is that Bernie has that vision of hope for the ones impacted by inequality, he just has the left's way to solve the issues. The old guard Dems ignore Bernie at their peril.
Now we are left with Trump Feeding the Swamp and with him trying to take away our rights. Resist!
Trump spoke to those issues and offered false hope that these would be changed. (The operative word being hope.)
Obama did not fulfill his promise of hope on those issues. Hillary was pandering to the 1% in an audacious manner (remember how she disappeared from public rallies in August to spend time in the Hamptons and in California to raise money from the rich?) She was tone deaf on the real economic issues. It all comes down to money and jobs.
I did not vote for Trump, I wanted Bernie. The irony is that Bernie has that vision of hope for the ones impacted by inequality, he just has the left's way to solve the issues. The old guard Dems ignore Bernie at their peril.
Now we are left with Trump Feeding the Swamp and with him trying to take away our rights. Resist!
13
so once again we're told to coddle the idiots in America who voted for Trump? no.
26
You have a funny notion of what "coddle" means. As if an alcoholic weaned off the sauce is "coddling" the local tavern.
2
"Republicans control everything in Washington, two-thirds of state legislative chambers and 33 governor’s mansions." What you failed to mention is that most of that was done with Gerrymandering which has been called into question as extreme. When you redistrict to such an extent that there is no way to elect your candidate, when you stack the judgeships, when you restrict who can vote and when they can vote, when you silence people at protests with lies and fake news, it's no wonder Republicans are in the catbird seat. I would argue that they didn't earn it because of like-minded people. Just a look at Trump's win via an electoral college which should disappear, and a popular vote going for someone else, tells you the truth. The question really is not what are Democrats going to do. They've been doing it. The question is more closely attune to when are the decent Republicans, if there are any left, going to join and stand up to the fascism they have created before there is no country left to save.
26
Given the choice of a forward-looking coalition built from rational people from each and every cultural/ethnic group, or a coalition built from everyone from just a subset of identity-based interests ... I'll take the former.
2
There is a way out, but the Democratic leadership, so far, is both deaf and blind to it. When Rep Marcia Fudge tells the Baltimore retreat that criticisms of the Party's messaging as out of touch is "overblown", it means Rep. Fudge doesn't get it.
When Sen. Merkley warns/begs Democratic voters NOT to challenge incumbents, a la the Tea Party, because the Party needs those seats, it means the Senator doesn't get it.
When Minority Leader Pelosi says there's as yet no grounds for Impeachment, it means Leader Pelosi doesn't get it.
And all this is at the end of over a YEAR of the leadership not getting it. Need I point out that former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz CLEARLY didn't get it, and doesn't seem to realize that outside of her district, the vast majority of the base DETESTS her.
Finally, clearly Hillary Clinton and the people guiding her obviously didn't get it.
The things so many of us have said all over the nation have all come true, yet the Democratic Leadership either inanely tells rosy stories about how much better the Party will do, or fumbles to find the best way to arrange the deck chair on the Titanic.
Yet all around them, and all around the nation, Democrats and Progressives are FINALLY taking matters into their own hands, and if the leadership can't figure out that THIS is what the base wants and needs, they'll be out on their duffs, either because they can't beat Republicans, or because they can't beat primary challengers!
When Sen. Merkley warns/begs Democratic voters NOT to challenge incumbents, a la the Tea Party, because the Party needs those seats, it means the Senator doesn't get it.
When Minority Leader Pelosi says there's as yet no grounds for Impeachment, it means Leader Pelosi doesn't get it.
And all this is at the end of over a YEAR of the leadership not getting it. Need I point out that former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz CLEARLY didn't get it, and doesn't seem to realize that outside of her district, the vast majority of the base DETESTS her.
Finally, clearly Hillary Clinton and the people guiding her obviously didn't get it.
The things so many of us have said all over the nation have all come true, yet the Democratic Leadership either inanely tells rosy stories about how much better the Party will do, or fumbles to find the best way to arrange the deck chair on the Titanic.
Yet all around them, and all around the nation, Democrats and Progressives are FINALLY taking matters into their own hands, and if the leadership can't figure out that THIS is what the base wants and needs, they'll be out on their duffs, either because they can't beat Republicans, or because they can't beat primary challengers!
10
Who can forget the Democrats' major offensive in 2000 to convince America they were "the Party of Family Values." Talk about cognitive dissonance!
4
Mr. Egan: I hate your column---because you are right.
We all saw it coming. We Democrats got drunk on fellow feeling. Barack Obama commenting wryly at the White House Dinner, "Hillary, What is your message?"
Articles in tony magazines that out of work factory staffers have only heard but never bought or read talked arrogantly about aged white men coming down
out of the hills to vote in defiance of algorithmic reality. It all came together to make us look really arrogant and really out of it.
Donald knew there was real economic pain and he will probably make it worse.
But, he did put himself forward in a way that allowed those who were angriest, hurt the most or both to project onto him a capacity for making everything better without tearing anything down.
Now the hangover. Race, Gender issues, equal pay, the right to choose; they are all important issues. They are important issues after you have paid the rent,the power bill and found a way to send your kid to college. Those simple priorities got lost among Democrats. The Trumpies grabbed it by the throat and the issue got him to the White House. His staff, recruited from Goldman Sachs biggest boys, Pentagon crazies and Education wing-nuts are the very best people K Street could find to staff an administration unfettered by social responsibility.
We are concerned with the feelings of others. They are not. We know how to share. They do not. We have to be as tough as Mitch McConnell without being as mean-spirited.
We all saw it coming. We Democrats got drunk on fellow feeling. Barack Obama commenting wryly at the White House Dinner, "Hillary, What is your message?"
Articles in tony magazines that out of work factory staffers have only heard but never bought or read talked arrogantly about aged white men coming down
out of the hills to vote in defiance of algorithmic reality. It all came together to make us look really arrogant and really out of it.
Donald knew there was real economic pain and he will probably make it worse.
But, he did put himself forward in a way that allowed those who were angriest, hurt the most or both to project onto him a capacity for making everything better without tearing anything down.
Now the hangover. Race, Gender issues, equal pay, the right to choose; they are all important issues. They are important issues after you have paid the rent,the power bill and found a way to send your kid to college. Those simple priorities got lost among Democrats. The Trumpies grabbed it by the throat and the issue got him to the White House. His staff, recruited from Goldman Sachs biggest boys, Pentagon crazies and Education wing-nuts are the very best people K Street could find to staff an administration unfettered by social responsibility.
We are concerned with the feelings of others. They are not. We know how to share. They do not. We have to be as tough as Mitch McConnell without being as mean-spirited.
23
I was in the hair salon the other day and my hairdresser was talking to another customer right next to me about Trump & the tweets...I said "I wish he would stop those darn tweets!" The customer turned on me and said "Why, he acts like a real person!, What are you? The OTHER side? Are you the enemy?"
I was floored.
OMG! Listening to her she preached how he's for the working class, because he's a businessman and even though he filed bankruptcy a couple times it means he's smart! She was a white racist who feels that too many darker people and illegals are taking our jobs. She is in the meantime, retired and collecting social security.
Trump voters voted for someone out of bigotry. She commented on how we had to "endure" Obama. When I asked her why she didn't want to hear how he rescued the economy and that unemployment was down.
Trump won White voters for one reason: Bigotry. And my own father (an old white guy) didn't want to vote for Hillary because "She's a woman"
HATE and BIGOTRY won the election folks.
I was floored.
OMG! Listening to her she preached how he's for the working class, because he's a businessman and even though he filed bankruptcy a couple times it means he's smart! She was a white racist who feels that too many darker people and illegals are taking our jobs. She is in the meantime, retired and collecting social security.
Trump voters voted for someone out of bigotry. She commented on how we had to "endure" Obama. When I asked her why she didn't want to hear how he rescued the economy and that unemployment was down.
Trump won White voters for one reason: Bigotry. And my own father (an old white guy) didn't want to vote for Hillary because "She's a woman"
HATE and BIGOTRY won the election folks.
52
Maybe they should add a new ride to Santa Monica pier: Masada. 45-min. lines, right off. Jump off into the sea.
The Dems created no younger generation of dynamic politicians to whom to pass the Obama torch. The Trump Allies lied and cheated to gain the GOP nomination and the election.
Trump's next moves are unknown, but he will take his vengeance out on all of us, with Bannon's voice in his ear.
It is vital to note that a totalitarian regime puts each citizen to the test! "Are you willing to put your life on the line for decency?"
Trump's next moves are unknown, but he will take his vengeance out on all of us, with Bannon's voice in his ear.
It is vital to note that a totalitarian regime puts each citizen to the test! "Are you willing to put your life on the line for decency?"
5
Yes, Biden would have mopped the floor with Trump. So would Sherrod Brown (we need to make sure he wins re-election in Ohio in 2018).
8
The progressive Democrats are seeking anarchy.
They are like the frustrated and drunken fans of a team that just lost, but will not admit it.
They run the risk of middle America turning their backs on their obstructionest mob hysteria mentality, which could result in a filibuster proof Senate and a 6-3 Supreme Court.
If moderate Democrats do not step forward, and a sense of anarchy sweeps the nation the Progressives will only have themselves to blame.
They are like the frustrated and drunken fans of a team that just lost, but will not admit it.
They run the risk of middle America turning their backs on their obstructionest mob hysteria mentality, which could result in a filibuster proof Senate and a 6-3 Supreme Court.
If moderate Democrats do not step forward, and a sense of anarchy sweeps the nation the Progressives will only have themselves to blame.
8
Ya wanna see White Supremacy in action? Bring the anarchy. Will be like the Hells Angels at Altamont, everywhere. Check the NRA membership stats.
7
I disagree. The "moderate" Democrats have gotten us where we are today. The Progressives advocate positions that most Americans agree with, and that are absolutely mainstream in the civilized first world.
9
I wonder actually if both America and England are suffering from a all too common problem—a lack of adequate communication skills. Oh Dear! That would be a rather messy development; I hope I am in the wrong here. But, there is certainly an illiterate person now attempting to lead America in these dark times. This development adds to all sorts of problems, and I can only hope the end of the story will not be as frightening as my common sense is now suggesting to me.
5
Like many of the other readers, I too am sick of blaming the democrats. In my many years as a practicing psychotherapist, I listened to middle aged adults blame their parents for their criminal behavior. Holding the democrats responsible for the behavior of a group that is bemoaning it's loss of supremercy and privilege is much the same. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of every sane adult to take the time to make informed decisions. There was much in the platform that spoke to the needs of workers. Did these voters, who seem to cling to their victim hood like a security blanket, even read it?
11
As a trained psychotherapist, you divide the world into democrats and republicans?
8
The ways out of the current political landscape are straight forward:
1. Our major issues should be clear: Income inequality and the political and, especially, the economic issues that Sanders ran with are paramount and struck a positive chord almost everywhere. Effecting everything are the trillions we dump into the military, and for which we harvest permanent war and weapons systems that are not necessary (F-35), but which are bankrupting us.
2. The press must move beyond short term ratings (Trump's hair got more coverage than the out-of-control military budget) and fulfill its national responsibility of objectively informing the citizenry in order to reap the advantages of "long-term ratings" (e.g., continuing to even have a free press) . BTW, what happened to the story on investigations into Trump's possibly treasonous relations with Russia?
3. The press must remember that language counts. What "populist" gets to the Presidency riding in on a tide of dark money as made possible by Citizens United? And, remind me again why you are using the term "alt-right" and not the much more descriptive and traditional phrase "fascist white supremacists"? We really needed a "re-brand" here?
3. Trump and his advisors have ordered a lot of rope with promises never intended to be fulfilled. This plus the infinite large-scale disasters that personality types such as Trump and Bannon can get us into all bode for a quick end to their regime. Get your nets out to collect the pieces.
1. Our major issues should be clear: Income inequality and the political and, especially, the economic issues that Sanders ran with are paramount and struck a positive chord almost everywhere. Effecting everything are the trillions we dump into the military, and for which we harvest permanent war and weapons systems that are not necessary (F-35), but which are bankrupting us.
2. The press must move beyond short term ratings (Trump's hair got more coverage than the out-of-control military budget) and fulfill its national responsibility of objectively informing the citizenry in order to reap the advantages of "long-term ratings" (e.g., continuing to even have a free press) . BTW, what happened to the story on investigations into Trump's possibly treasonous relations with Russia?
3. The press must remember that language counts. What "populist" gets to the Presidency riding in on a tide of dark money as made possible by Citizens United? And, remind me again why you are using the term "alt-right" and not the much more descriptive and traditional phrase "fascist white supremacists"? We really needed a "re-brand" here?
3. Trump and his advisors have ordered a lot of rope with promises never intended to be fulfilled. This plus the infinite large-scale disasters that personality types such as Trump and Bannon can get us into all bode for a quick end to their regime. Get your nets out to collect the pieces.
9
More leftist hysteria. The democratic party offers nothing beyond identity politics, higher taxes, bigger government, and of course the time honored fear mongering and ad hominem attacks on all Republicans, or anyone who disagrees with their orthodoxy.
And what do we have here in Egan's column -- along with all the other columns today (and yesterday, the day before, all this preceding weeks, months, and years)? Not policy ideas. Not objective fact based opposition to Republican. Instead, we have slanderous fantasies, name calling and hysteria.
Not particularly good journalism, or opinion, Tim. Intellectually vapid. Unconvincing. Tired. And at its core, ridiculous.
Sorry, can't swallow the Time's leftist propaganda.
And what do we have here in Egan's column -- along with all the other columns today (and yesterday, the day before, all this preceding weeks, months, and years)? Not policy ideas. Not objective fact based opposition to Republican. Instead, we have slanderous fantasies, name calling and hysteria.
Not particularly good journalism, or opinion, Tim. Intellectually vapid. Unconvincing. Tired. And at its core, ridiculous.
Sorry, can't swallow the Time's leftist propaganda.
23
Quit reading it if you despise it that much.
7
Never a mea culpa from any of the Op-Ed columnists re Bernie Sanders. Mr. Egan also gave him the back of his hand although he espoused many of the ideals this piece is demanding and Clinton did not. Intelligent people are no less subject to group-think than the average schmoe, only better able to dismiss it with dazzling sophistry.
19
Yes the Democrats (the leaders) are for something and that is Republican Lite. I figure the base and with it a considerable portion of the white slice of that pie is for what Bernie Sanders presented in the primary. Why then didn't he win? He almost did and would have were it not for the clever maneuvering of the party apparatus. An he stood a lot better chance at beating Trump than Clinton.
17
Actually, Trump is using the term "forgotten man" true to it's original intent. Contrary to what Egan asserts, that term wasn't coined by Roosevelt. Roosevelt had co-opted the phrase and twisted it's meaning. In fact, it had originally meant the opposite of what Egan purports. If he would have done a slight bit of research, he could have learned this from Wikipedia:
"Yale University professor William Graham Sumner appears to be the first to use the phrase "the forgotten man" in his 1876 essay. His algebraic definition of the forgotten man was "C", who is coerced into helping the man at the economic bottom "X", by "A" and "B" who demand charity for "X".
As soon as A observes something which seems to him wrong, from which X is suffering, A talks it over with B, and A and B then propose to get a law passed to remedy the evil and help X. Their law always proposes to determine what C shall do for X, or, in better case, what A, B, and C shall do for X... What I want to do is to look up C. I want to show you what manner of man he is. I call him the Forgotten Man. perhaps the appellation is not strictly correct. he is the man who never is thought of.... I call him the forgotten man... He works, he votes, generally he prays—but he always pays..."
To repeat, C (the forgotten man) always pays, at the behest of A & B. Once Democrats understand this concept, they may be able to regain power. Until then, Trump's recognition of the "forgotten men" will make their efforts futile.
"Yale University professor William Graham Sumner appears to be the first to use the phrase "the forgotten man" in his 1876 essay. His algebraic definition of the forgotten man was "C", who is coerced into helping the man at the economic bottom "X", by "A" and "B" who demand charity for "X".
As soon as A observes something which seems to him wrong, from which X is suffering, A talks it over with B, and A and B then propose to get a law passed to remedy the evil and help X. Their law always proposes to determine what C shall do for X, or, in better case, what A, B, and C shall do for X... What I want to do is to look up C. I want to show you what manner of man he is. I call him the Forgotten Man. perhaps the appellation is not strictly correct. he is the man who never is thought of.... I call him the forgotten man... He works, he votes, generally he prays—but he always pays..."
To repeat, C (the forgotten man) always pays, at the behest of A & B. Once Democrats understand this concept, they may be able to regain power. Until then, Trump's recognition of the "forgotten men" will make their efforts futile.
9
Essentially, you rode the toboggan down the hill for eight years and now don't want to walk it back up. No sympathy. And for the record, if you look at popular vote results for the past 4 or 5 presidential elections, you'll see the nation has been divided for quite a while. Suddenly, though, it's some kind of new revelation.
12
My advice? Forgot the old white dudes. They're never going to change, and pandering to them would require the Democrats to give up all the same old ground they have for decades. Focus on their kids. The Democrats lost largely because they weren't able to incite the young people of this country in the same way Obama did. And believe me, the young have plenty of their own problems that are not being addressed, like a growing lack of permanent job security for recent college graduates and lack of basic healthcare coverage. Make them feel validated, like their concerns and experiences matter as much as their parents.
23
The democrats lost because although they offered some solutions, they spent too much time disparaging millions of Americans.
16
The kids don't vote. The fogies do. So who gets the political love?
One thing to consider is that if Republicans oppose him or remove him they know they will face a massive backlash from his base and probably lose their seats.
4
I'd need a lot more than 1500 characters to say all I'd like to on this subject.
Everybody please! Remember that Mr Trump's election to the presidency is first-and-foremost a massive repudiation of the Republican Party and its principles and policies. Do you want me to repeat that?
Remember that he used to be a registered Democrat, and he defeated 16 bona fide Republicans to win the Republican nomination for president. That he is doubling down on instituting certain Republican sacred cows of recent decades - or intends to - is seeing him - and will see him - lose support by the day. I don't believe many voted for him for more "trickle-down" and deregulation - do you? They are swiftly learning he is not a viable alternative to your typical Republican.
Of course his election is also a massive repudiation of the Democratic Party. To explain why displeasure with the GOP did not translate into a victory for the Democratic Party's nominee you have to go back to the Donkey party's response to the success of Reagan and Bush I. The Clintons, triangulation, neo-liberalism, yada-yada. The Democratic Party made itself Tweedle-Dee to the Republican Party's Tweedle-Dum and it worked for awhile. Mrs Clinton and her supporters were too late in realising it wasn't going to work in 2016.
The Democratic Party should never have divorced itself so much from genuine leftist re-distributive politics championing the welfare of "the common man" - deplorable in opinions and attitudes or not.
Everybody please! Remember that Mr Trump's election to the presidency is first-and-foremost a massive repudiation of the Republican Party and its principles and policies. Do you want me to repeat that?
Remember that he used to be a registered Democrat, and he defeated 16 bona fide Republicans to win the Republican nomination for president. That he is doubling down on instituting certain Republican sacred cows of recent decades - or intends to - is seeing him - and will see him - lose support by the day. I don't believe many voted for him for more "trickle-down" and deregulation - do you? They are swiftly learning he is not a viable alternative to your typical Republican.
Of course his election is also a massive repudiation of the Democratic Party. To explain why displeasure with the GOP did not translate into a victory for the Democratic Party's nominee you have to go back to the Donkey party's response to the success of Reagan and Bush I. The Clintons, triangulation, neo-liberalism, yada-yada. The Democratic Party made itself Tweedle-Dee to the Republican Party's Tweedle-Dum and it worked for awhile. Mrs Clinton and her supporters were too late in realising it wasn't going to work in 2016.
The Democratic Party should never have divorced itself so much from genuine leftist re-distributive politics championing the welfare of "the common man" - deplorable in opinions and attitudes or not.
10
All said in this article is true and the Democrats have a few months to turn it around!
1
How about we Americans turn it around? Why rely on the democrats?
7
I never thought I would say this or even think this a year ago, but perhaps the time has come for a new political party.
10
Thankfully Democrats can watch the Daily Show, Last Week Tonight, Real Time, Full Frontal, The Resistance/Countdown, Rachel Maddow, The Last Word, SNL, etc. etc. and feel like they've done something...
Resist in prime time! Get the t-shirt and mug!
Resist in prime time! Get the t-shirt and mug!
10
"For the next year, Democrats should filter their policy initiatives through the eyes of the person Trump claims to speak for — the forgotten American.
[...] Whites are still 70 percent of the vote."
So the problem is that Democrats don't continually lie about bringing good jobs back that were lost to cheap foreign labor and automation?
Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall -- the Forgotten American believed him
Trump said he would ban Muslims -- the Forgotten American believed him
Trump said he would deport 11,000,000 illegal aliens...
Maybe if things don't work out under the Trump administration the Forgotten American will get a clue...
[...] Whites are still 70 percent of the vote."
So the problem is that Democrats don't continually lie about bringing good jobs back that were lost to cheap foreign labor and automation?
Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall -- the Forgotten American believed him
Trump said he would ban Muslims -- the Forgotten American believed him
Trump said he would deport 11,000,000 illegal aliens...
Maybe if things don't work out under the Trump administration the Forgotten American will get a clue...
6
Uh, Tim, they are OVER. Especially after the new Supreme Court judges are in place. Time, finally, to make America Great Again!
7
But when you say, "Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump." Why do you next advise: "For the next year, Democrats should filter their policy initiatives through the eyes of the person Trump claims to speak for — the forgotten American."? After all, the "forgotten American" is a particular identity, right? In theory it's the lower-class/middle-class white person. Trump got elected with their votes. Not with college educated. Not with non-white. Not with women. (Although 51% of white women did.) So aren't we just changing the focus from one group to another?
2
I never felt that Hillary Clinton (once she had won the primary) didn't have a message; she made it amply clear that she wished to build on what Obama had begun. This, of course, was not to everyone's liking. She could have made a better case had she -- and all the rest of us, for that matter -- not been so stunned by the deplorable vitriol coming from Trump that her message consistently devolved into "Not Trump!" instead of "Let's get to work, America!"
We're still a tad too reactive (with more reason than ever, of course), but the strong showing of concerned citizens who are actively engaged in putting up a fight is truly heartening. We need to keep a close eye on Trump & Co; we may need to use everything we've got to protect the good parts of America that they are determined to destroy. Give us time, and we'll turn our attention to working even harder to make sure there's no doubt that the Democrat party is one for ALL Americans.
We're just getting warmed up...
We're still a tad too reactive (with more reason than ever, of course), but the strong showing of concerned citizens who are actively engaged in putting up a fight is truly heartening. We need to keep a close eye on Trump & Co; we may need to use everything we've got to protect the good parts of America that they are determined to destroy. Give us time, and we'll turn our attention to working even harder to make sure there's no doubt that the Democrat party is one for ALL Americans.
We're just getting warmed up...
15
The decimation of democrats is well deserved. For all the racism of republicans, democrats have been playing to the vote banks for so long. One example : Obama and fellow democrats vetoed meaningful visa reform for legal residents (science and technology students) which had passed house. I guess they are orphans and have no family since they are nerds. Or may be their vote bank was not as large. STEM graduates had to wait 15 years or more for green cards and Obama/democrats blocked meaningful reform for them, while promising illegal residents citizenship in 10 years!
7
We Democrats and not enough ( n the d EC) conscientious GOPs and independent types LOST, and have unhappily been booted from Federal office and most/many States.
The voters have foolishly if not knowingly chosen DJT, an imperfect if not semi ignorant, very pushy egoist & applecart upsetting elderly television sage.
If ya didn't feel it (catastrophe) coming, you perhaps bitterly voted for Jill and Gary, though ya knew that Al lost (seemingly) enough in FL by way of my ex-hero Ralph.
To complain and/or demonstrate 4 years is our semi hysterical fate.
It's impossible to predict the exact snafu/chaos that finishes-off the world, including the USA, while it feels as not a longshot bet.
The voters have foolishly if not knowingly chosen DJT, an imperfect if not semi ignorant, very pushy egoist & applecart upsetting elderly television sage.
If ya didn't feel it (catastrophe) coming, you perhaps bitterly voted for Jill and Gary, though ya knew that Al lost (seemingly) enough in FL by way of my ex-hero Ralph.
To complain and/or demonstrate 4 years is our semi hysterical fate.
It's impossible to predict the exact snafu/chaos that finishes-off the world, including the USA, while it feels as not a longshot bet.
3
Democrats have gotten their just deserts with president Trump.
Stop trying to control every aspect of our thought lives. The ideas and policies championed by the Democrats in recent years have been very hard to stomach but add to it the condescension, the snide disregard, and the demonization of other viewpoints (so much for diversity), and I cannot help but feel a little vindictive glee with each of this toddler tantrum outbursts.
To be sure, president Trump is reckless, but the double standard applied to him, an unpolished business man who's doing what he was elected to do and president Obama is shameful.
If you perceive disrespect and dismissal from the Right, just know that it is simply being returned in kind from people who've grown tired of baring up under innumerable slights, insults, and dismissals.
Stop trying to control every aspect of our thought lives. The ideas and policies championed by the Democrats in recent years have been very hard to stomach but add to it the condescension, the snide disregard, and the demonization of other viewpoints (so much for diversity), and I cannot help but feel a little vindictive glee with each of this toddler tantrum outbursts.
To be sure, president Trump is reckless, but the double standard applied to him, an unpolished business man who's doing what he was elected to do and president Obama is shameful.
If you perceive disrespect and dismissal from the Right, just know that it is simply being returned in kind from people who've grown tired of baring up under innumerable slights, insults, and dismissals.
11
Politics is not a d game: we've (the nation) elected an unusually, risky POTUS.
I perceive you are well aware of what's what, and that you might extend to me at least that same "well aware."
Yes, condescension, I'll concede, yet Hillary's apparent arrogance is no good reason to vote against her for POTUS.
We have made ourselves (the nation) a true mess which
may cause our downfall.
You apparently feel the Democrats deserve to lose, but this
wild choice you apparently make for POTUS is irresponsible.
The GOP is today (imho) "nearly insane," and if that's an arrogant/stupid/immoral/outrageous opinion for me
to admit publically, then so be it, and perhaps you'd be better-off to just acknowledge an obvious reality that could seemingly destroy all.
This man is (apparently) not fit to lead.
Y'all take an enormous risk, and I hope he'll be a successful
leader of us and the world.
I perceive you are well aware of what's what, and that you might extend to me at least that same "well aware."
Yes, condescension, I'll concede, yet Hillary's apparent arrogance is no good reason to vote against her for POTUS.
We have made ourselves (the nation) a true mess which
may cause our downfall.
You apparently feel the Democrats deserve to lose, but this
wild choice you apparently make for POTUS is irresponsible.
The GOP is today (imho) "nearly insane," and if that's an arrogant/stupid/immoral/outrageous opinion for me
to admit publically, then so be it, and perhaps you'd be better-off to just acknowledge an obvious reality that could seemingly destroy all.
This man is (apparently) not fit to lead.
Y'all take an enormous risk, and I hope he'll be a successful
leader of us and the world.
1
In 2008 the DEMs controlled the White House, Senate and Congress. Op-ed writers were writing pieces about "the death knell of the GOP".
Funny how things change.
Who elects the President? Swing voters in swing states.
If the DEMs want to regain the White House they need to focus on that very limited population. They need to listen to them and give them what they ask for.
But the DEMs tend to obsess about the White House. It's time build from the ground up. Town councils, state houses, etc. We've got 2, 2 year election cycles and then in 2020 DEMs should be re-drawing districts. Focus should remain on the swing states.
Also work on voter rights. Get more people registered. Organize to get them ot the polling booth.
Yes, policy matters. Many have commented on that. But the mechanics of voting play a huge part right now.
Funny how things change.
Who elects the President? Swing voters in swing states.
If the DEMs want to regain the White House they need to focus on that very limited population. They need to listen to them and give them what they ask for.
But the DEMs tend to obsess about the White House. It's time build from the ground up. Town councils, state houses, etc. We've got 2, 2 year election cycles and then in 2020 DEMs should be re-drawing districts. Focus should remain on the swing states.
Also work on voter rights. Get more people registered. Organize to get them ot the polling booth.
Yes, policy matters. Many have commented on that. But the mechanics of voting play a huge part right now.
11
Tim, you didn't learn anything from the 2016 election. Study the county-by-county results, man. The Democratic Establishment is an urban, bi-coastal archipelago of sanctuary cities.
There is no longer AN America. There are irreparable tears in the former national fabric. The animosities are deep seated. The chasm between the Americas cannot be bridged.
Joe Biden is a relic of a by-gone era. The good old days are gone. Scranton, PA, is not the answer for the neo-Democratic Party. The deplorables in the Rust Belt have heard the Democratic pitch, and they have tuned out.
It's time to face reality and dissolve the bonds of 1787.
There is no longer AN America. There are irreparable tears in the former national fabric. The animosities are deep seated. The chasm between the Americas cannot be bridged.
Joe Biden is a relic of a by-gone era. The good old days are gone. Scranton, PA, is not the answer for the neo-Democratic Party. The deplorables in the Rust Belt have heard the Democratic pitch, and they have tuned out.
It's time to face reality and dissolve the bonds of 1787.
5
GLC, county results show us to be a varied but nonetheless very purple country. The red/blue maps belie how very mixed we truly are.
http://emmiemears.com/these-purple-states-of-america/
Also, "deplorables" is not and never was a synonym for all Trump voters. It merely describes those with the closely-held characteristics of racism, xenophobia, and blatant sexism; they were never going to consider the Democrats, anyway.
http://emmiemears.com/these-purple-states-of-america/
Also, "deplorables" is not and never was a synonym for all Trump voters. It merely describes those with the closely-held characteristics of racism, xenophobia, and blatant sexism; they were never going to consider the Democrats, anyway.
2
We have the message and the messenger in Bernie Sanders. Every poll right up to the election showed him beating Trump by a mile, while they showed toss-ups with Hillary, but both the NYT and the DNC ignored it. It was an "inconvenient truth" that they didn't want to hear. Wall Street and the 1%ers who own the media wanted Hillary who would let them go on robbing us and the treasury blind. Bernie scared them. The result: the so-called president scares the rest of us. Wall Street, not so much.
Tax cuts, deregulation, freedom to continue with their fraudulent practices are just too good to let go. If that means letting the so-called president, who thinks he is the national CEO, but is really a cross between a slimy toad and Attila the Hun, can keep on with his Philippine-style corruption as long as they keep theirs.
Tax cuts, deregulation, freedom to continue with their fraudulent practices are just too good to let go. If that means letting the so-called president, who thinks he is the national CEO, but is really a cross between a slimy toad and Attila the Hun, can keep on with his Philippine-style corruption as long as they keep theirs.
17
NYT was as arrogant as the DNC and Hillary supporters. In their being tone deaf to Bernie and his message and his fair warnings to the democrats. When mid America was begging to hear from Hillary, she was busy fund raising big bucks. Where is the money? What is it being used for? Why aren't the donors demanding accountability?
15
The forgotten American? Come on! Yes, Americans living in poverty deserve attention from politicians on both sides of the aisle. But to claim that the only way for dems to win is to focus entirely on white men, is not only depressing, it's wrong. And, I'm sorry. Overlooked? These guys don't need any more people looking towards them, they do enough navel gazing as it is. Why won't anyone tell them the truth: It isn't NAFTA or TPP or Obama or your white maleness that made you lose your manufacturing jobs. It's the fact that we're now living in a post-industrial, post-manufacturing world. And this is not a surprise! I remember seeing news stories about how robots were taking over the jobs of auto assembly workers back in the early '70s. Once the personal computer became de rigeur in all households, it should have been clear to all you white guys that it was time to change professions! I'm not saying it's easy, but I *am* saying that there are large, worldwide economic forces at work that have *nothing* to do with you, your job or your race. You were not forgotten, you were passed by by the *market forces* and *innovation* that we're all so proud of here in the U.S. of A. It's about time that the politicians stop lying to you, and telling you that your towns' factories will soon be back up and running because the white men were finally heard. But it's also time to stop lying to yourselves.
278
Exactly! No politicians are addressing automation.
Re: 'csturak': Well said. We Democrats have to have the patience, and wit, to talk effectively along these lines, as some like Elizabeth Warren have done. And we need to do it steadily and all levels of government. For example, show what a minijum wage hike can can do at the level of a city and do a number on that old canard of the GOP that it's the large companies (and/or investors) that 'create jobs' and not the demand of their customers of whom their employees are considerable!
1
Empty promises, hollow rhetoric, rampant lies and appeals to racism and xenophobia succeeded in rousing unemployed and underemployed white working class voters to the polls. But these were not the forgotten men plunged into poverty by the Depression of 1929. The were and are people whose economic lifeline abandoned them, lured by cheaper non-unionized labor controlled by corrupt and despotic regimes or lured by innovative, job-killing technology. These voters were ripe for demagoguery, and they showed up at the polls. Sadly for America, voters who saw through a demagogue prevailed as a majority but with insufficient numbers to prevail in gerrymandered districts and in states needed to win the electoral college. Only time can help white, racist, working class and Evangelical Christian voters realize they've been had. Meanwhile, Democrats have to fight for rights now threatened with loss, raise consciousness of all Americans and to ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE.
4
The country is now divided, 46% for and 46% against impeaching Trump right now. The number for impeachment grew from 35% two weeks ago. There have to be some Trump voters who may be realizing they've been hoodwinked among that "for" number.
Even they never imagined he was such an undignified fool who can't spell, read or think. They appeared to think that his campaign promises were just politics, and not that he really believed in them: walling off Mexico, killing foreign trade, barring Muslims, etc. They never thought he actually meant what he said, and once they realized he does, even they don't like it (see your article on the California Central Valley farmers who are now dismayed.)
"Identity politics" was trumped up by the right wing for years as what the Democrats stood for and they did an inadequate job of pushing back against this libel by demonstrating that they had the interests of ALL Americans at heart, which the GOP clearly does not.
Why else are we seeing the GOP, who doesn't really know how to legislate (and certainly not for the benefit of the whole country) "legislating" backwards, by undoing rules and regulations that Obama's administration put in place to protect our air, water and our financial future? They can't come up with new legislation unless it's modeled on something the Democrats did -- and breaking it.
Even they never imagined he was such an undignified fool who can't spell, read or think. They appeared to think that his campaign promises were just politics, and not that he really believed in them: walling off Mexico, killing foreign trade, barring Muslims, etc. They never thought he actually meant what he said, and once they realized he does, even they don't like it (see your article on the California Central Valley farmers who are now dismayed.)
"Identity politics" was trumped up by the right wing for years as what the Democrats stood for and they did an inadequate job of pushing back against this libel by demonstrating that they had the interests of ALL Americans at heart, which the GOP clearly does not.
Why else are we seeing the GOP, who doesn't really know how to legislate (and certainly not for the benefit of the whole country) "legislating" backwards, by undoing rules and regulations that Obama's administration put in place to protect our air, water and our financial future? They can't come up with new legislation unless it's modeled on something the Democrats did -- and breaking it.
4
Where do you get the 46/46 figure?
Unfortunately, after the fiasco of the polling just preceding the election I find it hard to believe much of anything calling itself a "poll" at the moment. It will probably take several elections of accurate polling before I start to value what I see in the polls again.
Unfortunately, after the fiasco of the polling just preceding the election I find it hard to believe much of anything calling itself a "poll" at the moment. It will probably take several elections of accurate polling before I start to value what I see in the polls again.
5
I'm a lifelong DEM voter and currently spend about 1/2 my time living in France. On a weekly basis I see articles in the news here in France about terrorist cells being broken up. There have been about 250 terrorism deaths in France in the last 2 years and many more across Europe. The large majority of the terrorists do NOT come from Trump's 7 countries, but a few do. Most are from North Africa.
Some Americans are aware of this vaguely, and they respond positively to Trump's propaganda because they have only a rough idea what's happening.
The DEM leadership seems to think the answer is to ignore the issue and those people's concerns. Big Mistake!
Yes, we all know the statistics. We all know the real danger is gun violence, etc. But so long as we don't listen non-judgmentally to the concerns of all those swing voters in those swing states who voted for Trump, we will continue to see signs like the one in the photo, "Trump listened to me!"
Here's an article in today's news about yet another terrorist cell identified and broken up. This group was of Egyptian origing, living in Montpellier.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38930201
Some Americans are aware of this vaguely, and they respond positively to Trump's propaganda because they have only a rough idea what's happening.
The DEM leadership seems to think the answer is to ignore the issue and those people's concerns. Big Mistake!
Yes, we all know the statistics. We all know the real danger is gun violence, etc. But so long as we don't listen non-judgmentally to the concerns of all those swing voters in those swing states who voted for Trump, we will continue to see signs like the one in the photo, "Trump listened to me!"
Here's an article in today's news about yet another terrorist cell identified and broken up. This group was of Egyptian origing, living in Montpellier.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38930201
8
Born and raised in western New York, I came on active duty in as a young Air Force officer in 1958. My early assignments were to Georgia, Alabama and Florida when Jim Crow was still in effect. Since I am now 80, I suspect many Americans do not realize how de-humanizing it was. At the time, mixed marriages were not permitted, and the Military would not assign persons of a mixed marriage to Dixie. I was white, a member of main stream Protestant denomination. Along with segregation, the other new phenomena to me was Southern religion, primarily Southern Baptism. I could never comprehend how people so avowedly Christian could support segregation. Since I had a degree in engineering, I was also surprised in their rejection of many facets of well established scientific fact, evolution in particular. The South has come a long way, for sure, it they still have a long way to go, and fundamentalist religion is holding them back. I want our country to be united, but but not in a backward, racist theocracy. Education is nearly always the answer, but does one promote it when a regional majority consider it satanic. I can still remember putrid Jerry Falwell blaming Hurricane Katrina on our acceptance of gays. Religion is not always a blessing, not when it promotes ignorance and bigotry. The current administration is unlikely to be helpful.
16
Education, yes!
Start with the swing states. We need to put our attention there. Get DEMs into key positions and then fund and support public schools to the maximum extent.
Start with the swing states. We need to put our attention there. Get DEMs into key positions and then fund and support public schools to the maximum extent.
5
Education = Full employment for Democrat Educrats flogging Title IX, etc. Ask Michelle Rhee.
#3 in USA for Federal education funds: BALTIMORE. Care to explain?
#3 in USA for Federal education funds: BALTIMORE. Care to explain?
4
Let's quit blaming Donald Trump. The voters made their choice. The real question is how can we attract Americans to Democratic party? Without reforming it, there will be no hope. Bernie Sanders made a great case but his PR was horrible. His hair uncombed, no wig, said the word communist, talked about government intruding into your healthcare and education! We need to learn how to talk to the proud American who truly loves his country and believes that each person has the potential to succeed and handouts and government intrusion is not the answer. We need to do a much better job in communicating how we can help realize the full potential of every American without implying that Americans are helpless without government handouts.
9
Many of us are in deep despair over seeing Trump and his party take over the country, but some of us are equally despairing of the democratic party which we have supported for decades. The democratic political class lost its way and forgot who they were supposed to represent: working class Americans. Instead Clinton allowed the republicans to undo Glass-Steagall and signed on for NAFTA to become law. Obama gave away the public option without a fight and negotiated TPP. No matter the explanation, both NAFTA and TPP were direct assaults on the American working class and, specifically, white men in manufacturing industries. The loss of a public option solidified insurance industry control over american healthcare, and the repeal of Glass Steagall set up the great plundering and economic crash of 2008.
Why did they do those things? To "triangulate", govern from the center and, hopefully, to govern well - and Obama and Clinton did govern well generally. But they made deals and compromises with the GOP and, in doing so, lost their credibility with the democratic party's natural constituency. Now we see the disaster that is upon us!
Why did they do those things? To "triangulate", govern from the center and, hopefully, to govern well - and Obama and Clinton did govern well generally. But they made deals and compromises with the GOP and, in doing so, lost their credibility with the democratic party's natural constituency. Now we see the disaster that is upon us!
11
President Obama never fulfilled his campaign promises. Period.
3
A perfectly concise answer to all the nonsense coming out of the opposition right now. My friends are cheering that a department store chain stopped buying Ivanka's fashion line. If that's big victory, we are doomed.
2
Bill Maher tonight calls Ivanka My President's "daughter-wife." Lots of chuckles from the teenage audience, excepting Van Jones's preacher-father sitting nearby. Maybe pothead Bill shoulda given that $1 million to Bernie, not Hillary, huh? He's a toady.
5
Democrats should be roaring mad at this checkmate, but they don’t seem to have a clue what hit them. If James Comey hadn’t interfered in the election; if congress hadn’t been permitted to conduct an inquisition of Hillary Clinton to defame her; if the media hadn’t been permitted to donate billions of dollars of unregulated campaign coverage solely to Trump; and had Russia not hacked our election; we wouldn’t even be talking about a Trump presidency, much less the failed DNC message.
And the same assault from far right candidates is currently occurring in many western European democracies. So what is the uniting factor facilitating this dramatic shift to the right throughout the West?
Look no further than the geopolitical machinations of Vladimir Putin. Look at his support of far right candidates in France, the Netherlands, Britain, Turkey, and yes, the US. That's what happened in our election, it's what the CIA and FBI said, and that is why Donald Trump is President.
While the quiescent DNC was ripe for the taking; while the GOP had certainly laid the groundwork for this takeover with its gerrymandering; and while a rapacious media skewed coverage of the election, – we have Donald Trump for one fundamental reason….Russian espionage - a hostile government that successfully hacked our election apparatus and installed a president in the White House who is sympathetic to Vladimir Putin’s kleptocratic policies. That’s what hit us. Start there, Democrats. Start there.
And the same assault from far right candidates is currently occurring in many western European democracies. So what is the uniting factor facilitating this dramatic shift to the right throughout the West?
Look no further than the geopolitical machinations of Vladimir Putin. Look at his support of far right candidates in France, the Netherlands, Britain, Turkey, and yes, the US. That's what happened in our election, it's what the CIA and FBI said, and that is why Donald Trump is President.
While the quiescent DNC was ripe for the taking; while the GOP had certainly laid the groundwork for this takeover with its gerrymandering; and while a rapacious media skewed coverage of the election, – we have Donald Trump for one fundamental reason….Russian espionage - a hostile government that successfully hacked our election apparatus and installed a president in the White House who is sympathetic to Vladimir Putin’s kleptocratic policies. That’s what hit us. Start there, Democrats. Start there.
7
The grand gestures are great but it's shoe leather time now. Hawaii became a State in 1959. Through the territorial period we were Republican with a military governor and was mostly a military outpost for the US. I remember as a child the Democratic party operatives and Union operatives coming through the neighborhood organizing for their party or their union. When I was old enough I went to see what the Democratic party was doing by going to the meetings and caucuses. There, sitting at the front of the room were my schoolteachers, union people, mom and pop shop owners, service people, government workers, civic leaders. This is what made the Democratic party strong in Hawaii after 60 years of military and Republican rule. Last year's caucus was overrun with young millennials supporting Bernie Sanders. This was good for the future, I guess, but I've spent a long time in this community and I didn't know who these people were. What happened to the teachers and union guys and small business folks and government employees and the civic organizations? And, I wondered, out loud to my wife, if our party had lost touch with the just plain folks?
We weathered 60 years of a military dictatorship, two world wars, US Pacific adventurism, atomic bomb testing, internment of our citizens. We'll weather this. It's walking and talking the neighborhood time.
We weathered 60 years of a military dictatorship, two world wars, US Pacific adventurism, atomic bomb testing, internment of our citizens. We'll weather this. It's walking and talking the neighborhood time.
11
One of the great ironies in the election result which brought us President Donald Trump and the stumbling-but-steady march to a dictatorial regime disdainful of the rights of working-class Americans, is the fact that it became a reality through the votes of the very people it was calculated to harm.
Put aside the interference of the Russians and the treachery of the F.B.I. Director, disillusioned white workers were the people who Trump cultivated, because they were the only ones available to him and were easily fooled. He played on their prejudices and fears.
Well-informed Republicans and Democrats saw right through Trump’s boasting and lies from the start. Most wanted nothing to do him.
Only later did Republican politicians, the very rich and the leaders of major corporations see that Trump had in his back pocket a group of voters who could be manipulated by powerful forces who had little use for democracy.
Those voters should have been in the camp of Democrats who had fought for them for generations. Democrats assumed working people would vote their pocketbooks, and Democratic candidates took them for granted.
Now, as the white middle-class Trump voters begin to realize that they have been cheated, it is too late. Trump and the Republicans are secretly laughing at them. At least the victimized workers can take comfort that the Democratic politicians are crying with them.
The Clinton campaign staff was as surprised at her loss, as the Trump staff was at his win.
Put aside the interference of the Russians and the treachery of the F.B.I. Director, disillusioned white workers were the people who Trump cultivated, because they were the only ones available to him and were easily fooled. He played on their prejudices and fears.
Well-informed Republicans and Democrats saw right through Trump’s boasting and lies from the start. Most wanted nothing to do him.
Only later did Republican politicians, the very rich and the leaders of major corporations see that Trump had in his back pocket a group of voters who could be manipulated by powerful forces who had little use for democracy.
Those voters should have been in the camp of Democrats who had fought for them for generations. Democrats assumed working people would vote their pocketbooks, and Democratic candidates took them for granted.
Now, as the white middle-class Trump voters begin to realize that they have been cheated, it is too late. Trump and the Republicans are secretly laughing at them. At least the victimized workers can take comfort that the Democratic politicians are crying with them.
The Clinton campaign staff was as surprised at her loss, as the Trump staff was at his win.
5
I found this article strangely out of place and out of time. It is simply not sure that half the nation is accepting of Trumpism 27%of the elctorate voted form him. Meanwhile, of the multiple reasons for his triumph on November 8 none few werey by large margins--the desire for working-class jobs, dissatisfaction with the affordable care act, a Washington-centric backlash, and Wall Street- centric backlash, endemic corruption in the political class, etc. all provide him with mile-wide loyalty that is inches deep. A man so corrupted by self interest is in the office and his missteps and misadventures are inspiring a whole new reality on the ground. Time will tell
5
In a parliamentary system, when one party experiences crushing defeat, the leadership resigns and new voices are given a chance to take the helm. It's dispiriting to see Pelosi and Schumer leading the congressional Democrats, and I've yet to hear that the DNC has any intention of making rules regarding the counting of undemocratic superdelegate votes during the primary. The Sanders-Clinton primary fight has left a rift in the party that won't go away by one side saying "get over it." The Democrats need to attend both to the message of being a party of the people, and actually responding to the will of the people. More of the same ol' same ol' isn't going to cut it.
9
It was Democrats who made racial identity politics their theme. They shouldn't be surprised that someone else decided it would be a winner.
They also shouldn't be surprised that Hispanics assimilate (Anglicize) like every other immigrant group, and soon start splitting their votes between the two parties.
Racial identity politics could kill our democracy because democratic politics is based on compromise. Economic issues can be compromised; racial identity cannot be. It's the path to a Lebanon, or apartheid-era South Africa.
A party that is based on divisive racial identity politics deserves to die. That describes the Democrats but not mainstream Republicans. If the Democrats want to start winning elections, they need to follow Roosevelt, and adopt an economic platform, not a racial one. And stop making war on the cultural values of most Americans, which has turned people who "ought" to vote Democratic into Republican voters.
They also shouldn't be surprised that Hispanics assimilate (Anglicize) like every other immigrant group, and soon start splitting their votes between the two parties.
Racial identity politics could kill our democracy because democratic politics is based on compromise. Economic issues can be compromised; racial identity cannot be. It's the path to a Lebanon, or apartheid-era South Africa.
A party that is based on divisive racial identity politics deserves to die. That describes the Democrats but not mainstream Republicans. If the Democrats want to start winning elections, they need to follow Roosevelt, and adopt an economic platform, not a racial one. And stop making war on the cultural values of most Americans, which has turned people who "ought" to vote Democratic into Republican voters.
21
Maybe what needs to be done is for everyone to get off the backs of Democrats,. The party sponsored a
stable candidate who was receptive to the circumstances of all kind of Americans and suggested programs that would aid the 'forgotten Americans" . she was highly qualified and amassed nearly 3 million more popular votes than the Republican we all ended
up with. Conveniently forgotten by those feeling left out by modern business is the attempts that president Obama made to get funding for a large infrastructure program and training programs to help Americans get ready for the new technical reality. If you recall, the congress under the
leadership of McConnell would not approve a penny for these programs.
stable candidate who was receptive to the circumstances of all kind of Americans and suggested programs that would aid the 'forgotten Americans" . she was highly qualified and amassed nearly 3 million more popular votes than the Republican we all ended
up with. Conveniently forgotten by those feeling left out by modern business is the attempts that president Obama made to get funding for a large infrastructure program and training programs to help Americans get ready for the new technical reality. If you recall, the congress under the
leadership of McConnell would not approve a penny for these programs.
4
Some of us are on a low, to say the least.
One thing that would help me: if a single high official of either party would simply and openly state what virtually everyone paying any attention now knows: that the President is an ignorant buffoon, an incorrigible liar, almost certainly a sociopath, and quite possibly delusional as well.
One thing that would help me: if a single high official of either party would simply and openly state what virtually everyone paying any attention now knows: that the President is an ignorant buffoon, an incorrigible liar, almost certainly a sociopath, and quite possibly delusional as well.
16
But how do you really feel about My President, Doc? And why did UC Davis have to RIOT simply because Milo came to campus? I thought that was UC Berkeley's bailiwick, rioting against Free Speech.
4
A great essay in concern trolling. It's like a baseball announcer lamenting, "Oh my gosh! The home team is behind in the first inning!" The game has eight and a half innings to go, folks. We're in pretty good shape.
3
I guess you have not seen the cover of TIME magazine this week, Jon. Not pretty, for the Democrats.
Could someone please send a copy of this article to the Democrats?
7
Pollsters should ask Trump voters some variant on the following items:
Yes or No? Did you vote for President Trump believing he would never win, but that your vote for him would send a wake-up call to both the Democratic and Republican establishments?
Yes or No? Do you now regret your vote for President Trump?
I suspect that, given President Trump's antics and his obvious inadequacies, support for him, even among those who voted for him, is ever dwindling.
Republican legislators should be alerted to this trend.
Yes or No? Did you vote for President Trump believing he would never win, but that your vote for him would send a wake-up call to both the Democratic and Republican establishments?
Yes or No? Do you now regret your vote for President Trump?
I suspect that, given President Trump's antics and his obvious inadequacies, support for him, even among those who voted for him, is ever dwindling.
Republican legislators should be alerted to this trend.
1
Trump offered white voters: racism. hatred, and the promise of white supremacy: Make America (white) Again. 63% of white men, and 53% of white women! ate it up like candy. Plenty of those people are brain dead, but there is a big portion who should have known better, yet they chose hate. Trump didn't hide what he was: a liar, immoral, bankrupt, racist, ignorant imbecile, yet these people still supported and voted him into the White House. Who is on a sugar high?
12
It took an inevitable depression to bring Roosevelt to the White House. A desperate country haltingly agreed with some of his remedies. If Trump can deliver on his promises, more kudos to him; but he can't. Remember that 1/3 of Americans don't know that the ACA and Obamacare are the SAME thing. The most effective message next year; after Trump and his Wall Street cronies have pillaged the bank, may be "Had Enuf?" Spelled just that way.
As for 2020, a candidate who looks like Jay Inslee or Chris Murphy should do well.
As for 2020, a candidate who looks like Jay Inslee or Chris Murphy should do well.
3
Excellent op-ed today. When Washington, Oregon and California break away from the depressing political scene, I will nominate Timothy Egan to be the smart and sane president of our new West Coast country. President Egan has a very nice Irish ring to it, don't you agree?
5
They actually did speak to Scranton in the campaign. His name was Bernie Sanders. Before they will be able to even think about speaking to the white working class they will need to clean their own shortsighted and corrupt DNC house.
13
I've noticed that HRC has had the good sense to lay low. Now some of the other DEM leaders need to step out of the spotlight.
Nancy Pelosi are you reading this? As a native Californian I've always appreciated you. But you are not the person we need front and center at the moment.
Nancy Pelosi are you reading this? As a native Californian I've always appreciated you. But you are not the person we need front and center at the moment.
3
"should engage in hand-to-hand combat in the capital"
I'm really afraid that someone will take this literally.
I'm really afraid that someone will take this literally.
1
To use NFL football teams as an analogy ..... The Democrats think they are the Atlanta Falcons playing the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. The reality is they are the Cleveland Browns playing them.
I read the article and the next thing that came to mind is that the DNC has devolved into a game of kiddie soccer where the kids were given two hershey's bars, a gallon of kool-aid, and hard candy to suck on while they ran around.
As a liberal republican I believe in balance and proper push back, and sadly at this point it is starting to turn into a game of check and checkmate. The DNC put the very same leadership that drew their party into the deep rabbit hole (think Alice) and wonder why things look distorted.
They shown when given the chance they can't legislate, and they can't see the reason they won in 2010 was the republican party split into two groups the Tea Party and the liberal that went and sided with the Democrats ... E.g. Indiana was the #1 state for swing votes in Congress back then for the democrats.
So sit back and treat the next two years like a horror movie to the personal senses, and the thing to grasp is that the horror felt by the left, is the same feelings of pain folks on the right felt with transgender bathrooms, and gay marriage and Flag issues. I personally believe there can be a balance between the identity politics and economic justice issues that can be solved together. The question is whether the DNC is smart enough to work for it.
I read the article and the next thing that came to mind is that the DNC has devolved into a game of kiddie soccer where the kids were given two hershey's bars, a gallon of kool-aid, and hard candy to suck on while they ran around.
As a liberal republican I believe in balance and proper push back, and sadly at this point it is starting to turn into a game of check and checkmate. The DNC put the very same leadership that drew their party into the deep rabbit hole (think Alice) and wonder why things look distorted.
They shown when given the chance they can't legislate, and they can't see the reason they won in 2010 was the republican party split into two groups the Tea Party and the liberal that went and sided with the Democrats ... E.g. Indiana was the #1 state for swing votes in Congress back then for the democrats.
So sit back and treat the next two years like a horror movie to the personal senses, and the thing to grasp is that the horror felt by the left, is the same feelings of pain folks on the right felt with transgender bathrooms, and gay marriage and Flag issues. I personally believe there can be a balance between the identity politics and economic justice issues that can be solved together. The question is whether the DNC is smart enough to work for it.
6
Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the out of touch, approaching senility democrats need to step aside and let some fresh ideas flourish. The old guard and "it's my turn" Clinton blew a sure thing and let a ignorant, clueless fool into the white house.
10
The deal is: Aunt Nancy delivers the Cold Cash as the Clinton Dynasty did previously -- as she promised the insurrectionists last month -- and she gets to ignore Keith Ellison, the happy Muslim so adored by Al Franken (D-SNL).
3
Thank you thank you! I could not agree more. If the Democrats do not start thinking critically- we will be out for the next 100 years- assuming we make it past the next 10 years without nuclear war. The Democrats have become Republicans and they do not care about the middle and lower classes; they are all part of the 1% since they became Wall Streets best friend. They showed it with their 'support' of the Clinton's Third Way- This is for you Chuck Schumer! Continue to betray your base and continue to lose the young ones.
7
I live in an enclave that is as "progressive" as can be. At this point in time I thin liberalism/progressivism because a sort of cult. So much smugness, so much sanctimoniousness! People banter around accusations of racism so spuriously but to point out that what they are describing is not racism is taboo as it would get you labelled, well, a racist. Illegal immigration is one of those topics. All my friends are gung-go about it. I always want to ask them: so when do we start applying immigration laws? People forget that amnesty has been granted for illegal immigrations on numerous occasions and it just brings a larger influx.
I avoided the Women's March because it was taken over by "intersectionality" which in this case meant I needed to support BLM, illegal immigration, and believe Islamaphobia is the threat not Political Islam. Linda Sarsour was one of the co-chairs and she is very, well, problematic. She is kind of the Arab Muslim Al Sharpton, but far more subtle in her demagoguery.
The left panders blindly to 4 lobby groups: BLM and similar black racist orgs, the illegal immigration lobby, feminists, the Muslim lobby. They are all the left's version of AIPAC. Two of the 4 groups are very violence (I'll let you decide which ones I'm referring to) The taboo again criticizing or defying them is too much for me. I am not a Trumpster, and never will be. But I won't be sucked into the group think Marxist anti-white ideology of the left either.
I avoided the Women's March because it was taken over by "intersectionality" which in this case meant I needed to support BLM, illegal immigration, and believe Islamaphobia is the threat not Political Islam. Linda Sarsour was one of the co-chairs and she is very, well, problematic. She is kind of the Arab Muslim Al Sharpton, but far more subtle in her demagoguery.
The left panders blindly to 4 lobby groups: BLM and similar black racist orgs, the illegal immigration lobby, feminists, the Muslim lobby. They are all the left's version of AIPAC. Two of the 4 groups are very violence (I'll let you decide which ones I'm referring to) The taboo again criticizing or defying them is too much for me. I am not a Trumpster, and never will be. But I won't be sucked into the group think Marxist anti-white ideology of the left either.
14
Got it, you dislike anyone who isn't white, straight and male but you're not a Trump supporter.
3
Neither government nor the free market is willing to do what needs to be done - jobs for people out of work or working part time or working for poverty wages. Trump didn't do it , despite all the talk, the Dems don't do it and Bill Gates and Wall Street dont it. A big and troublesome void.
What is to be done?
What is to be done?
5
Politics have always made strange bed-fellows. It’s a repeated pattern in history. We all are, we all have been “forgotten people”. Nothing really changes. When have politicians ever been really honest? Name those who you feel certain that were! Dealing with “democratic politics” the problems are even worse. Tell me the ten different meanings of the word “Democracy”. Now, here’s a term wrapped more in mythology than fact. So, where do we begin?
1
Beautifully written, but only partially true. Tim fails to take into account that the backbone of R voters are not only white and working class but old; they're dying off. Also, what about the Millennials? They're progressive and tolerant. Stop telling us we need to understand the white working class -- for God's sake, let them understand US -- and start figuring out what it takes to get Millennials to turn out in massive numbers.
6
Democrats were brainwashed into thinking that demography was destiny. Didn't work out, did it?
What many Democrats fail to realize is that millennials eventually grow up.
"If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain."
What many Democrats fail to realize is that millennials eventually grow up.
"If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain."
5
Thanks Mr. Egan, and well said. I have had many conversations with fellow Democrats where they say something like, Mrs. Clinton supported raising the minimum wage, supported child care, supported...blah blah blah. And I try to tell them that 40 years of failure far outweighs your boilerplate. But to no avail, they still think that their way will somehow turn things around. But what do I know about it? 42 years a worker, but I couldn't run a computer election simulation to save my life.
4
The Democrats are out of ideas of how to revive their Party and to use Trump's own words, "make it great again." They will come out of this confab agreeing that they will wait for the ship to go down with Trump and then tell the voters, "see we told you so." That just is not going to work and will hand the country over to another moron.
The Democrats should go back to first working for working class and middle classes and then asking for their support. They should not only think outside the box but look for ideas that seem so out of the mainstream that it scars them. Bernie was just the thin edge of the sword, we need the rest of the sword to follow through. Until that happens people like me who left the Democratic Party and voted for other candidates (I hasten to say, not Trump) will not come back.
The Democrats should go back to first working for working class and middle classes and then asking for their support. They should not only think outside the box but look for ideas that seem so out of the mainstream that it scars them. Bernie was just the thin edge of the sword, we need the rest of the sword to follow through. Until that happens people like me who left the Democratic Party and voted for other candidates (I hasten to say, not Trump) will not come back.
4
What the Democratic Resistance has accomplished so far is farm from a solid victory in any category, but the important thing is that there IS a Resistance. After years of going to a gunfight with a spoon, that is an achievement in itself. It is the first step. The journey has begun.
4
When minorities struggle economically, we are supposed to sternly lecture them on how they don’t work hard enough; didn’t save enough; should stop having kids they can’t afford; stop relying on government and go start their own businesses; bootstraps; personal responsibility; etc. etc. ad nauseum etc.
But when whites struggle economically, suddenly, we all better sit up and take notice; whites are owed good-paying jobs; their government abandoned them; the Democrats failed them; the priority of billionaires is the plight of the Rust Belt (one of Trump supporters’ more laughable assertions); I have ACA benefits and they are great but Obamcare is just another taxpayer giveaway to liberal freeloaders; etc. etc. ad nauseum etc.
I have lost track of the number of times I voted to raise taxes on myself, marched for a higher minimum wage, supported the ACA, refused to support companies that operate almost exclusively overseas, supported labor unions.
And what am I told? I don’t support the Trump voter enough. I turned my back on the Trump supporter. I don’t care enough.
Well, ENOUGH, already. You are getting the structure you keep voting for, Republicans, and I am sick to death of your laying blame at my feet, when I have to help at my own expense. It is time for you to abide by what you demand: lower taxes and small government, which assaults the infrastructure and leaves you out in the cold.
Evolve or adapt. Just leave the rest of us alone.
But when whites struggle economically, suddenly, we all better sit up and take notice; whites are owed good-paying jobs; their government abandoned them; the Democrats failed them; the priority of billionaires is the plight of the Rust Belt (one of Trump supporters’ more laughable assertions); I have ACA benefits and they are great but Obamcare is just another taxpayer giveaway to liberal freeloaders; etc. etc. ad nauseum etc.
I have lost track of the number of times I voted to raise taxes on myself, marched for a higher minimum wage, supported the ACA, refused to support companies that operate almost exclusively overseas, supported labor unions.
And what am I told? I don’t support the Trump voter enough. I turned my back on the Trump supporter. I don’t care enough.
Well, ENOUGH, already. You are getting the structure you keep voting for, Republicans, and I am sick to death of your laying blame at my feet, when I have to help at my own expense. It is time for you to abide by what you demand: lower taxes and small government, which assaults the infrastructure and leaves you out in the cold.
Evolve or adapt. Just leave the rest of us alone.
12
"When minorities struggle economically, we are supposed to sternly lecture them on how they don’t work hard enough"
Really? I live in a city that is 70% white, 16% Asian and 6% black.
Almost 80% of the social services. subsidized housing, food stamps goes to blacks. That doesn't include more than a million dollars that is earmarked specifically for black-only programs. All non-blacks combined, which makes up 94% of the city, don't get that much!
Really? I live in a city that is 70% white, 16% Asian and 6% black.
Almost 80% of the social services. subsidized housing, food stamps goes to blacks. That doesn't include more than a million dollars that is earmarked specifically for black-only programs. All non-blacks combined, which makes up 94% of the city, don't get that much!
2
Amen. I earned my way out of poverty and into a comfortable middle class lifestyle. I pay my share in taxes, donate to charity etc. and for years I've fought for fair wages, health care etc. but I'm tired of fighting for people who don't want to think, work or learn. Trumpists voted for ignorance, bigotry and greed and now we can sit back and let them see just what that will mean for them.
1
Yeah, really, Jane.
Because according to the link below, food stamp assistance goes to 12% of black households, and to 38% of white households:
https://goo.gl/lV3TNf
Learn to argue with verifiable data.
But you miss the point here, which is that Democrats are paying the price for the effects of people voting for Republicans. Republicans haven't even paid a price at the ballot box for Iraq, yet the Democrats, who tried to do something about the soaring costs of health care and who tried to protect consumers from predatory business practices took a whomp this time around, and then some.
Yeah. Brilliant.
Because according to the link below, food stamp assistance goes to 12% of black households, and to 38% of white households:
https://goo.gl/lV3TNf
Learn to argue with verifiable data.
But you miss the point here, which is that Democrats are paying the price for the effects of people voting for Republicans. Republicans haven't even paid a price at the ballot box for Iraq, yet the Democrats, who tried to do something about the soaring costs of health care and who tried to protect consumers from predatory business practices took a whomp this time around, and then some.
Yeah. Brilliant.
4
I agree. I've been saying for a while that the Democrats should be out in front of the cameras every day talking about issues and programs. Don't like the ACA, neither do we, it should have been fixed, so here is our replacement plan...described in sound bites and bumper sticker terms. Don't like Wall Street, neither do we, here's our package of things to help you. Don't like outsourced jobs, neither do we, here's our law to block it from happening. Afraid of terrorists, sure, here's our proposal. Everything in simple, sound bites. The GOP is demonstrating that their whole agenda is about taking things away from the American people. Democrats need to be about doing things for the American people.
4
Please don't discount gerrymandering and outright election meddling. Please don't forget what an enormous (if insufficient) step the ACA is towards providing healthcare to all americans. Please don't forget that media isn't a single entity, and that misinformation (FOX new) and Fake news (from Russian teenagers? Please.) have warped the viewpoints of many.
Yes we have no power in government right now. But we have the strength of knowing we are right--we DO still stand for positive things, even though they have to be couched in phrases like Don't take that right away.
We'll overcome.
Yes we have no power in government right now. But we have the strength of knowing we are right--we DO still stand for positive things, even though they have to be couched in phrases like Don't take that right away.
We'll overcome.
2
It took seeing Egan's quote from Roosevelt in print that turned my lightbulb on. The Republicans - those elitist lovers of the status quo - stole the Democrats' message. The Democrats have to remember that this was our message way before it was Trump's. Now we just have to find the person to lead with it or the midterms will further decimate us. You are right - time to channel Joe Biden! Funny that he was the only one who got it!
I am afraid the way out is very difficult indeed. If you focus on working class whites, that means you are giving less attention to African-Americans, Latinos, gays, etc. They would be genuinely outraged about that, and if the Democrats were serious about it, the battles could tear the party apart. Right now the Democratic base is united around a single message: "I hate Trump." Hate won't win many elections, but I'm pessimistic about the Democrats being able to unite behind any other message.
1
All the Trump voters I know (all white) are doing fine economically. They just don't like seeing so many brown-skinned people on their TV screens and hearing them speak Spanish in WalMart (but they will hire them to mow their lawns). They don't like hearing so much about gays and now transgenders. They think Democrats are anti-Christian, even if they themselves rarely crack their Bibles. They hate the federal government because they think it does nothing for them while it "redistributes" their hard-earned wealth to people who won't work or keep their pants zipped. I don't know if Democrats can do anything to change their minds and votes and still be Democrats. What do we really have to offer but more government, which they distrust and despise?
3
The slippery slope of the insufficiently educated has come to haunt America's democracy. Ignorance of every civil subject reigns supreme, from the White House to the school house.
5
I agree. How about preserving Medicare Medicaid and Social Security for the forgotten American? How about not repealing--but improving--the ACA for the forgotten American? Even better, how about universal health coverage through single-payer or Medicare-for-all for the forgotten American? And what has happened to the often-touted plans for rebuilding our infrastructure -- by and/or for forgotten Americans?
Those of us who believe that every worker deserves a living wage, and that decent health care is a right for every citizen, are on the side of the forgotten American. Why don't we Democrats keep featuring these core beliefs, front and center?
And who says we can't afford to have decent jobs and health care for everyone -- or at least aspire to that goal? Trump's tax cuts for the rich would cost 9 to 10 TRILLION over 10 years. Can we afford that? The Wall will cost an arm and a leg. Can we afford that? The health insurance institution regularly costs us $315 BILLION a year, it is estimated, with some enormous CEO salaries to boot. Can we keep affording that, with premiums rising?
Let the Democrats start Remembering the Working Class, and unions and their workers, daily. Make working-class news--the good and the bad--the equal of the current titillating updates about the silliness in the White House. And start a movement to get rid of Puzder, who is the Enemy of the Worker personified. Let's fight on this good, solid ground -- for our forgotten working people.
Those of us who believe that every worker deserves a living wage, and that decent health care is a right for every citizen, are on the side of the forgotten American. Why don't we Democrats keep featuring these core beliefs, front and center?
And who says we can't afford to have decent jobs and health care for everyone -- or at least aspire to that goal? Trump's tax cuts for the rich would cost 9 to 10 TRILLION over 10 years. Can we afford that? The Wall will cost an arm and a leg. Can we afford that? The health insurance institution regularly costs us $315 BILLION a year, it is estimated, with some enormous CEO salaries to boot. Can we keep affording that, with premiums rising?
Let the Democrats start Remembering the Working Class, and unions and their workers, daily. Make working-class news--the good and the bad--the equal of the current titillating updates about the silliness in the White House. And start a movement to get rid of Puzder, who is the Enemy of the Worker personified. Let's fight on this good, solid ground -- for our forgotten working people.
2
Democrats _are_ for something: decency.
5
I can always depend on Mr. Egan for a great column! One thing I'd like to add -
in the inter-mountain West there is another factor behind the Republican voting, and it is the "pioneer" (so-called!) meme of "no regulations, no government land, work instead of welfare, manly gun ownership" etc.etc. But then, there aren't many electoral votes in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Nevada....so maybe it isn't a major issue! However, I have to tell you that there were a lot of Bernie supporters (including me) here in Idaho Falls when I attended his rally!
in the inter-mountain West there is another factor behind the Republican voting, and it is the "pioneer" (so-called!) meme of "no regulations, no government land, work instead of welfare, manly gun ownership" etc.etc. But then, there aren't many electoral votes in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Nevada....so maybe it isn't a major issue! However, I have to tell you that there were a lot of Bernie supporters (including me) here in Idaho Falls when I attended his rally!
1
Oh my, at least Egan's piece recognized reality, ableit a bit late in his writing. But, the left is so angry and frustrated. Why post the picture with the caption "Trump Listened to Me!" if you are not ready to do the same? Keep calling the other half of the country "uneducated, shallow, racists" and you will get nowhere in the mid-terms and beyond. I'm offended by such accusations and I am a Haitian immigrant myself who supports many of his views. Don't like his behavior at times, but... I'll stop here because I'm sure the readers can't take anymore of this...
9
Finally, we've an article that tells it like is. Lately the NYT has morphed into a kiss and cry booth for Hillary supporters. Columnists Blow and Kristof are't helping by pandering to their emotions on how right they are and how wrong the rest country is. It's time to get off the sugar and move on.
You can cry all you want about how Hillary has won the popular vote but lost the electorate vote. You can't deny the fact that if she had simply hung on to traditionally reliable blue states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, you wouldn't be in this state of despair. How do you explain the defection of voters in those states to Trump? We're not talking about voters in red states like Alabama or Georgia here. DNP doesn't need to talk about the plight of the white working class. What the party should be talking about instead is the plight of the working class in general which was part of Bernie Sander's idea. Let's not confuse the frosting with the cake. In case some of you just don't get it and think it's all about identity, let me borrow a slogan from one of Bill Clinton's campaign when he defeated H.W. Bush. It's about the economy, stupid. How easy some of you forget history's lesson. What good is minority and women's rights if you don't have a steady job? You'll be surprised how many of those voters went over to Trump.
You can cry all you want about how Hillary has won the popular vote but lost the electorate vote. You can't deny the fact that if she had simply hung on to traditionally reliable blue states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, you wouldn't be in this state of despair. How do you explain the defection of voters in those states to Trump? We're not talking about voters in red states like Alabama or Georgia here. DNP doesn't need to talk about the plight of the white working class. What the party should be talking about instead is the plight of the working class in general which was part of Bernie Sander's idea. Let's not confuse the frosting with the cake. In case some of you just don't get it and think it's all about identity, let me borrow a slogan from one of Bill Clinton's campaign when he defeated H.W. Bush. It's about the economy, stupid. How easy some of you forget history's lesson. What good is minority and women's rights if you don't have a steady job? You'll be surprised how many of those voters went over to Trump.
7
Keep fighting for toilet rights and see if you ever win a majority again
12
["Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump. For the next year, Democrats should filter their policy initiatives through the eyes of the person Trump claims to speak for — the forgotten American."]
Mr. Egan, you and so many other Monday morning media columnists continue to unjustly castigate the Democratic Party (and Hillary Clinton) for turning a deaf ear to white working class Americans and pushing "identity politics." I am a lifelong bluer than blue liberal Democrat so maybe I am incapable of being totally objective about my own party. That being said, it was Trump and Republicans who practiced the most blatant of identity politics by instilling fear in white working class voters toward anyone who doesn't look like them. It was Trump (and unfortunately, perpetually angry socialist Bernie Sanders) who blasted global trade as pure evil, falsely promising (pandering in top form) that manufacturing jobs would magically come back from not only China and Mexico but from the dead.
I heard Hillary Clinton and Democrats speak inclusively to ALL Americans while appropriately defending those groups of Americans (and non-citizens) being marginalized and maligned by Trump: women, Mexicans, Muslims.
The Trump show of rage, insults, hate speech, fear & alternative facts resonating with white working class voters is not flattering to that group
Mr. Egan, you and so many other Monday morning media columnists continue to unjustly castigate the Democratic Party (and Hillary Clinton) for turning a deaf ear to white working class Americans and pushing "identity politics." I am a lifelong bluer than blue liberal Democrat so maybe I am incapable of being totally objective about my own party. That being said, it was Trump and Republicans who practiced the most blatant of identity politics by instilling fear in white working class voters toward anyone who doesn't look like them. It was Trump (and unfortunately, perpetually angry socialist Bernie Sanders) who blasted global trade as pure evil, falsely promising (pandering in top form) that manufacturing jobs would magically come back from not only China and Mexico but from the dead.
I heard Hillary Clinton and Democrats speak inclusively to ALL Americans while appropriately defending those groups of Americans (and non-citizens) being marginalized and maligned by Trump: women, Mexicans, Muslims.
The Trump show of rage, insults, hate speech, fear & alternative facts resonating with white working class voters is not flattering to that group
6
Plenty of Americans voted for Trump who were not the forgotten working white class. I have family members and their friends who are thrilled with Trump. Educated people. Why did they vote for Trump? Someone, tell me.
2
A friend said the same thing recently.
Apparently educated doesn't mean smart. Even if these people liked what Trump has to say, he's been proven to lie more than 70% of the time. What kind of educated person would fall for that kind of scam?
Apparently educated doesn't mean smart. Even if these people liked what Trump has to say, he's been proven to lie more than 70% of the time. What kind of educated person would fall for that kind of scam?
2
I, my wife, and my entire social circle voted for Trump. We all have graduate and professional degrees and are very comfortable economically.
We felt that Obama moved this country too far left and we wanted most of his agenda undone.
We felt that Obama moved this country too far left and we wanted most of his agenda undone.
7
To me, the Democrats' policies and message are spot on. They just need to more simply and succinctly convey that message to the people. They need to repeatedly and tirelessly explain, in the simplest possible terms, that they truly ARE the party for the middle class, and that their policies are unquestionably aimed at BETTERING the lives of the ordinary Americans out there -- the farmers, the factory workers, the underemployed, and, as of recent elections, the underrepresented.
They also need to frighten them about Trump. They need to repeatedly and tirelessly explain WHAT Trump's policies REALLY are, and why they are DISASTEROUS for those same people. They need to tell them, over and over again, that Trump and the Republicans simply don't care if the policies work for them or not -- Trump is focused on himself and his friends, and the Republicans are focused on keeping the Rich rich, and thus pleasing their biggest donors (many of whom are Trump's friends and cabinet members).
They also need to frighten them about Trump. They need to repeatedly and tirelessly explain WHAT Trump's policies REALLY are, and why they are DISASTEROUS for those same people. They need to tell them, over and over again, that Trump and the Republicans simply don't care if the policies work for them or not -- Trump is focused on himself and his friends, and the Republicans are focused on keeping the Rich rich, and thus pleasing their biggest donors (many of whom are Trump's friends and cabinet members).
3
"blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class ..."?
Mr. Egan, are you not aware that millions of Black Americans made the trek up North to the industrial jobs of the Mid-West during the post-war Great Migration? Do you believe that only white males had their jobs move to Japan, S. Korea and now China? The economic pain endemic to the Mid-West is not limited to white males.
Mr. Egan, are you not aware that millions of Black Americans made the trek up North to the industrial jobs of the Mid-West during the post-war Great Migration? Do you believe that only white males had their jobs move to Japan, S. Korea and now China? The economic pain endemic to the Mid-West is not limited to white males.
4
"Roosevelt actually did something for that overlooked American — Social Security, minimum wage, building roads, bridges and dams — and was rewarded with a majority coalition that carried the United States to new heights. Therein lies the way back to power for Democrats."
Tim, this is one of the few times I have to disagree with your analysis... don't you think Clinton's support for the ACA, a strong minimum wage, and spending on federal infrastructure programs are a clear, unambiguous signal to the economically distressed Americans you speak of? Her loss in the election had many causes (Russian hacking, Comey, racism, etc) but not speaking to economically disadvantaged people in this country was most definitely not one of them...IMHO.
Tim, this is one of the few times I have to disagree with your analysis... don't you think Clinton's support for the ACA, a strong minimum wage, and spending on federal infrastructure programs are a clear, unambiguous signal to the economically distressed Americans you speak of? Her loss in the election had many causes (Russian hacking, Comey, racism, etc) but not speaking to economically disadvantaged people in this country was most definitely not one of them...IMHO.
1
Vote. Every election, every time. THIS is how we win. We outnumber them, and they are dying off at a greater rate, everyday. Write, call, march, get involved: GREAT. But, it means nothing without actual voting. Vote yourself, then nag others. Offer rides. Provide food, water and encouragement in lengthy lines. Make an oath, to yourself, ask others to do the same. A very tiny minority placed us into this mess. Fighting equals voting!!!
4
The Democrars are for something -- the samethings Roosevelt was for. Except that the Right wing Republican propaganda made people believed they weren't.
More than just being economically disenfranchised, the working white folks are also being lied to. They believe these lies easily because part of them already dislike non-whites and foreign sounding people. In another word, southern strategy works on them because they are already racist.
Democrats fight for people who don't vote. For example the travel ban. As righteous as they might feel, these travellers they rescued don't vote.
More than just being economically disenfranchised, the working white folks are also being lied to. They believe these lies easily because part of them already dislike non-whites and foreign sounding people. In another word, southern strategy works on them because they are already racist.
Democrats fight for people who don't vote. For example the travel ban. As righteous as they might feel, these travellers they rescued don't vote.
1
OK, Democrats do need to do more than resist, but they do need to resist. As to what to do about Scranton, the ideas so far seem pathetic: a Soviet style infrastructure project centered on heavy industry and pollution or shutting down trade in the belief it will bring back jobs. That does not mean giving up, the mimicry of Trump is not going to work politically or economically.
4
Memo to file:
He’s still lying to me today about taking the case to the Supreme Court, it not being a Muslim ban, winning the popular vote, the murder rate being at a record level, where Obama was born, sending Hillary to jail, suing those women he groped, showing me his taxes, making Mexico pay for the wall, Nordstrom being evil to Ivanka, recognizing Taiwan, putting the embassy in Jerusalem, improving on Obamacare, respecting judges, draining the swamp, divesting his holdings and taking care of the forgotten people.
All in all, a normal day. Nothing to get excited about.
He’s still lying to me today about taking the case to the Supreme Court, it not being a Muslim ban, winning the popular vote, the murder rate being at a record level, where Obama was born, sending Hillary to jail, suing those women he groped, showing me his taxes, making Mexico pay for the wall, Nordstrom being evil to Ivanka, recognizing Taiwan, putting the embassy in Jerusalem, improving on Obamacare, respecting judges, draining the swamp, divesting his holdings and taking care of the forgotten people.
All in all, a normal day. Nothing to get excited about.
2
I'm a minority living in NYC, but my concern is for the USA as a whole, and here's one thing that concerns me: Trump's political emergence has caused many commenters here, and I strongly suspect many others who call themselves liberals, to completely lose any sense of empathy with Trump supporters. Many times I have read comments here which have said that Trump supporters are racists, need to take personal responsibility and improve their own lives through better education and jobs, need to shed their "white privilege," etc.
Sure, at least some of them are racists, and racism shouldn't ever be condoned or encouraged. But I thought Vice President Biden was spot on when, in the wake of the election, he said that many of them were good people who weren't racists, and that the Democrats simply failed to reach out to them. Many Trump supporters voted for Obama twice. Many of them simply can't afford a better education and can't get better jobs because their old jobs are gone and they can't get training for currently available jobs because no one offers such training anymore. At least some of them are dealing with drug addiction to boot. That does not fit any description of a "privileged" group that I can think of. It's one thing if your preferred candidate loses an election. But losing your empathy is a much deeper and longer-term loss which, oh by the way, will ensure plenty of future election losses too.
Sure, at least some of them are racists, and racism shouldn't ever be condoned or encouraged. But I thought Vice President Biden was spot on when, in the wake of the election, he said that many of them were good people who weren't racists, and that the Democrats simply failed to reach out to them. Many Trump supporters voted for Obama twice. Many of them simply can't afford a better education and can't get better jobs because their old jobs are gone and they can't get training for currently available jobs because no one offers such training anymore. At least some of them are dealing with drug addiction to boot. That does not fit any description of a "privileged" group that I can think of. It's one thing if your preferred candidate loses an election. But losing your empathy is a much deeper and longer-term loss which, oh by the way, will ensure plenty of future election losses too.
10
Yes, I have lost all empathy for these people. My parents lived through the great depression, they never used that as an excuse to become ignorant, foul mouthed bigots.
Good people don't vote for someone who brags about sexually assaulting women or who offers to pay the legal fees for anyone who will beat up a protestor. No good person supports someone like this. Enough already with the "it's OK for them to behave badly because they're poor" drivel.
Good people don't vote for someone who brags about sexually assaulting women or who offers to pay the legal fees for anyone who will beat up a protestor. No good person supports someone like this. Enough already with the "it's OK for them to behave badly because they're poor" drivel.
2
DR, do you know what is the best way to insure that (1) President Trump wins re-election in 2020, (2) Republicans win a filibuster-proof super-majority in the Senate in 2018, (3) Republicans retain the House majority for the foreseeable future, (4) Republicans win even more governorships than they already have, (5) Republicans win even more state legislative seats, and obtain total control over even more state governments, than they already have and (6) the Democrats have no political future in the Rust Belt, not to mention the South and Appalachia?
It is by taking your attitude and transplanting it to the Democratic Party nation-wide.
There are enough Trump supporters who can be persuaded away from him and from the Republican Party if the Democrats come up with a compelling message and actually make an effort to reach out to them with that message. Your approach would write them all off and in the process would doom the Democratic Party to national irrelevance.
It is by taking your attitude and transplanting it to the Democratic Party nation-wide.
There are enough Trump supporters who can be persuaded away from him and from the Republican Party if the Democrats come up with a compelling message and actually make an effort to reach out to them with that message. Your approach would write them all off and in the process would doom the Democratic Party to national irrelevance.
6
I still remember listening to the Democratic convention of 1988, as presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, seeking to capitalize on the notion that Reagan and his anointed successor candidate Bush #I were bumbling types, proclaimed that "this election isn't about ideology, it's about competence." I turned to my wife and said, "the Democrats have just lost the election. This man can't get elected by saying that he doesn't have a strong philosophy but sure does keep a tidy checkbook."
I had the same sinking feeling during the Democratic convention of 2016, which gave identity-based salutes to every minority group in the room and the nation but produced a candidate who emphasized her competence but not her ideology, and who was too hopelessly compromised by her own financial and policy history to present a winning challenge to Trump.
No, Democrats, it is ALL about ideology, and you will not succeed again until you realize this and act upon it--as Republicans have been doing for many decades. When all was said and done, Bernie Sanders was no radical but, rather, just an updated version of FDR's New Deal. However, he said many things pointing in the right direction.
I'm reminded of Gore Vidal's statement that America has only one political party, the corporate party, with Democratic and Republican wings. Democrats need to free themselves, for their own sake and the nation's.
I had the same sinking feeling during the Democratic convention of 2016, which gave identity-based salutes to every minority group in the room and the nation but produced a candidate who emphasized her competence but not her ideology, and who was too hopelessly compromised by her own financial and policy history to present a winning challenge to Trump.
No, Democrats, it is ALL about ideology, and you will not succeed again until you realize this and act upon it--as Republicans have been doing for many decades. When all was said and done, Bernie Sanders was no radical but, rather, just an updated version of FDR's New Deal. However, he said many things pointing in the right direction.
I'm reminded of Gore Vidal's statement that America has only one political party, the corporate party, with Democratic and Republican wings. Democrats need to free themselves, for their own sake and the nation's.
3
What if the Democrats hadn't "lost the South"? The Democrats may have lost the South politically, but they saved it economically and socially, by bringing in an era of desegregation. What part of the country has made the most progress since 1964? The South. Think that would have happened without the Civil Rights movement?
The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over but expect a different result. The old guard Democrats have presided over a titanic failure of the Party to gain hearts and minds. The first thing that has to change is Nancy Pelosi and those like her as leaders. We need new blood, the Corey Bookers of the world to name one, to pick up the standard now that the previous leaders have fallen. Even if those leaders don't realize it yet.
3
Republican incompetence is the solution for the Democrats.
It worked after Herbert Hoover, and George Bushes.
The Democrats have to hope for the country's sake there is not major depression, war or disaster, but there are bound to be small ones for which the Republicans made responsible.
Trump's popularity in Canada, Britain and Japan is less than 20%
It worked after Herbert Hoover, and George Bushes.
The Democrats have to hope for the country's sake there is not major depression, war or disaster, but there are bound to be small ones for which the Republicans made responsible.
Trump's popularity in Canada, Britain and Japan is less than 20%
"Every day brings some fresh affront to decency, some assault on progress, some blow to the truth. "
Funny, I think the same thing when I see the leftists rioting in the street.
Funny, I think the same thing when I see the leftists rioting in the street.
4
it's not just "identity politics" that did the Democrats in, but being Republican-lite, and in bed with the corporations. lobbyists, and power elite, to the detriment of the middle (and economically lower) classes. An echo, not a choice.
4
Signing executive orders and delegitimizing the media and the courts will not create jobs in the regions Mr. Trump won based on that promise. It seems clear that while many Trump voters took him "seriously but not literally" about many of his promises, they certainly took this one literally. If he does not deliver jobs to these voters, and fast, no amount of ranting will matter. It is here that Democrats must focus. Go to these places and show that Trump is not delivering on his promise.
1
Your commentary is nearly always enlightening, Mr. Egan. But this time, it seems your conclusion is not supported by your evidence.
Your premise is that Democrats are out of touch with the electorate as proven by the loss of 1,034 stage and federal offices, and that two-thirds of state legislatures and 33 governors' mansions are in the hands of the GOP.
Your conclusion that for Democrats to lead again they "...have to be for something...[have] a master policy narrative, promoting things that help average Americans."
Republicans did not get where they are politically in America by promoting things that "help average Americans." In fact, Reps have "risen" (if that is the right word) to their pentacle of power by quite the opposite, namely preventing Democrats and a black president from doing things that help average Americans: job creation legislation, Obamacare, Supreme Court vacancies, financial regulation--with outright lies and parliamentary voodoo and obstruction.
The evidence shows doing things that help average Americans is not the road to success in our country; doing things that average Americans don't understand, then lying about it, seems to be the way to go.
I agree your solution sounds lovely to liberal progressives Stevenson's non-thinking majority is now in control; controlled by a corrupt, bankrupt, lying government. Orwell, Arendt, Sinclair Lewis, Robert O. Paxton, Edward Bernays, historic Fascist and others warned us it could happen here; now it has.
Your premise is that Democrats are out of touch with the electorate as proven by the loss of 1,034 stage and federal offices, and that two-thirds of state legislatures and 33 governors' mansions are in the hands of the GOP.
Your conclusion that for Democrats to lead again they "...have to be for something...[have] a master policy narrative, promoting things that help average Americans."
Republicans did not get where they are politically in America by promoting things that "help average Americans." In fact, Reps have "risen" (if that is the right word) to their pentacle of power by quite the opposite, namely preventing Democrats and a black president from doing things that help average Americans: job creation legislation, Obamacare, Supreme Court vacancies, financial regulation--with outright lies and parliamentary voodoo and obstruction.
The evidence shows doing things that help average Americans is not the road to success in our country; doing things that average Americans don't understand, then lying about it, seems to be the way to go.
I agree your solution sounds lovely to liberal progressives Stevenson's non-thinking majority is now in control; controlled by a corrupt, bankrupt, lying government. Orwell, Arendt, Sinclair Lewis, Robert O. Paxton, Edward Bernays, historic Fascist and others warned us it could happen here; now it has.
1
I disagree with Egan's caricature of the poor, benighted Trump supporter who voted for Trump out of economic desperation. It's a favorite trope of a certain kind of think piece writers since the election. However, analysis of voter data as you might in NYT's Upshot shows a large and complicated set of causes as to why Clinton lost and a diverse set of reasons as to why people voted for Trump.
But I do agree with Egan to the extent that economic messages are the most powerful when it comes to unseating incumbent Presidents. 20th century American history showed it can be tough to unseat incumbents. But Hoover, Carter, and the elder Bush all suffered at election time because of various economic woes that happened on their watch. In contrast, scandals and social issues are not quite so effective. Bill Clinton weathered plenty of scandals to win 1996. The younger Bush won in 2004 despite the growing unpopularity of the Iraq War. Despite fierce smear attempts, Obama won 2012 because of the then-positive outlook regarding ACA and the recovery from 2008 recession.
The Democrats do need to attack, but they should not forget about economics. The "wall tax" and alienation of our trade partners will likely hurt many American businesses that rely on complicated supply chains, and the idea it will produce domestic prosperity relies on a very simplistic view of trade. Democrats should not lose sight of these issues amidst Trump's other outrages.
But I do agree with Egan to the extent that economic messages are the most powerful when it comes to unseating incumbent Presidents. 20th century American history showed it can be tough to unseat incumbents. But Hoover, Carter, and the elder Bush all suffered at election time because of various economic woes that happened on their watch. In contrast, scandals and social issues are not quite so effective. Bill Clinton weathered plenty of scandals to win 1996. The younger Bush won in 2004 despite the growing unpopularity of the Iraq War. Despite fierce smear attempts, Obama won 2012 because of the then-positive outlook regarding ACA and the recovery from 2008 recession.
The Democrats do need to attack, but they should not forget about economics. The "wall tax" and alienation of our trade partners will likely hurt many American businesses that rely on complicated supply chains, and the idea it will produce domestic prosperity relies on a very simplistic view of trade. Democrats should not lose sight of these issues amidst Trump's other outrages.
1
Democrats should have nominated Joe Biden in 2016. Oh, I know, that he was in grief with the loss of his son. But too many party leaders, beginning with Barack Obama, chose the wrong standardbearer. The Clintons (and I voted for both of them in different elections) had had their turn back in the 1990s. They both carried and continue to carry immense baggage. While I am just a country editor, I knew that Hillary might lose. Why could not smarter Democrats than I have seen that coming? I saw the disaster that is now Donald Trump coming and cringe that my country has lost its way. How I wish I had been wrong.
4
"Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump. For the next year, Democrats should filter their policy initiatives through the eyes of the person Trump claims to speak for — the forgotten American"
This is spot on. From the comments I can tell it's gotten a negative backlash.
The fact is identity politics is an industry and why would people who have made lucrative careers and status over it abandon it? There is that leftist mantra: "When you are used to privilege, equality looks like oppression".
The fact is the Dems pander relentlessly to certain groups who now think they are oppressed if they have to follow the same immigration laws as everyone else or occasionally they are victimized by someone outside of their racial or religious group. The same people I hear say they are sick of being told to sympathize with the white working class don't seem to ever tire of the 24/7 grievence mongering of black activists. We've been told for years that there is a holocaust of white on black violence, and that blacks are the only ones shot by the police. This has been proven to be verifiably false.We are told that Muslims face an epidemic of violence when the fact is there are 5 times more hate crimes against Jews. Why would these groups give up the power of their faux-victimization willingly? They get a lot of millage out of it.
This is spot on. From the comments I can tell it's gotten a negative backlash.
The fact is identity politics is an industry and why would people who have made lucrative careers and status over it abandon it? There is that leftist mantra: "When you are used to privilege, equality looks like oppression".
The fact is the Dems pander relentlessly to certain groups who now think they are oppressed if they have to follow the same immigration laws as everyone else or occasionally they are victimized by someone outside of their racial or religious group. The same people I hear say they are sick of being told to sympathize with the white working class don't seem to ever tire of the 24/7 grievence mongering of black activists. We've been told for years that there is a holocaust of white on black violence, and that blacks are the only ones shot by the police. This has been proven to be verifiably false.We are told that Muslims face an epidemic of violence when the fact is there are 5 times more hate crimes against Jews. Why would these groups give up the power of their faux-victimization willingly? They get a lot of millage out of it.
7
Democrats consistently offer policies that benefit working-class Americans, whether it is providing access to affordable health care and controlling health care costs, using the government to stimulate the economy, providing Pell Grants for poorer college students, raising the minimum wage, or ensuring that all women can access and afford basic necessities for reproductive health and family planning. However, and in spite of this, not all working-class Americans end up voting for Democrats. Let's see which ones. Oh. White working-class Americans. Black working-class Americans choose Democrats. Latino/a working-class Americans choose Democrats. Hmmm....maybe it's not just about class and the policies of Democrats. Normally I love your column Mr. Egan, but on this one I fear you were blinded by the white.
3
Politically speaking, the problem Democrats are experiencing is that they believe that they represent the majority of the country, so although they are not the party in power, they see themselves as if they were. This gives Republicans the advantage of an out-party fighting against a Washington establishment, a perception of power enhanced by the overwhelming agreement and collusion of much of the national press with the Democratic Party. Trump has another advantage in that he and Congressional Republicans prefer to maintain some distance from each other, so that he is not viewed as part of an establishment either, as much as Democrats would like to associate him with conventional Republicans.
1
The action to follow Mr. Egan's prescription is purging the Democratic Party of the neoliberal tendencies it has recurrently demonstrated over the past three decades. There will be blood in doing so, but it must come to pass. Otherwise, the rancid neo-fascism which has commandeered the Republican Party will remain the only viable outlet for a large segment of the economically oppressed.
The really good thing for the Ds is they are past Hillary Clinton. Once Gorsuch gets seated on the Supreme Court that is only place the country has a chance to stop the worst manifestations of the looming fascist power grab. Groups such as the KKK and Koch industries are really on a high. The Republicans will explode the national debt and probably see a Trump bubble. But as far the Rs are concerned Trump's presidency is the gravy train they have dreamed of.
reading the comments is scary and depressing. united against trump, but in agreement on little else with no chance of regaining congressional power anytime soon. no matter who takes charge of the dnc. bernie sanders is not the answer.
4
Dems just need to tell a simpler, better story.
The winning story Trump tole: Once upon a time America was great, but something went wrong. Everything that confuses and scares you about the world (elite wordsmith professor presidents, complex trade deals, flag-burning loonies with long hair, opaque diplomacy, outsiders) is what went wrong. I am a builder and a fixer, not a snooty elite. I will fix everything.
Can democrats also tell a story about what was once good in our country too? Doesn't everyone agree that it has to do with good jobs, affordable health care and intact families? Can democrats accept a little bit of moralizing about the critical importance of stable families inculcating the values of personal responsibility and strong communities? Can we also fly the flag and call it sacred (and if we can't, what the heck is wrong with us?)
It's time to prioritize values and build a center. Drop the identity politics already. We're organisms. We adapt and unify or we die. This means getting a job, developing a thick skin, working hard and joining up. I had immigrant parents. All it took was a good factory union job and within only a few years my parents were flying the biggest American flag in the neighborhood on the tallest flagpole and they were on their knees thanking God for this country. They still don't get the constitution one whit, but they are fiercely loyal to a country that gave them good jobs and future for their kids. It's a great story.
The winning story Trump tole: Once upon a time America was great, but something went wrong. Everything that confuses and scares you about the world (elite wordsmith professor presidents, complex trade deals, flag-burning loonies with long hair, opaque diplomacy, outsiders) is what went wrong. I am a builder and a fixer, not a snooty elite. I will fix everything.
Can democrats also tell a story about what was once good in our country too? Doesn't everyone agree that it has to do with good jobs, affordable health care and intact families? Can democrats accept a little bit of moralizing about the critical importance of stable families inculcating the values of personal responsibility and strong communities? Can we also fly the flag and call it sacred (and if we can't, what the heck is wrong with us?)
It's time to prioritize values and build a center. Drop the identity politics already. We're organisms. We adapt and unify or we die. This means getting a job, developing a thick skin, working hard and joining up. I had immigrant parents. All it took was a good factory union job and within only a few years my parents were flying the biggest American flag in the neighborhood on the tallest flagpole and they were on their knees thanking God for this country. They still don't get the constitution one whit, but they are fiercely loyal to a country that gave them good jobs and future for their kids. It's a great story.
6
Good advice. Great advice in fact. It will be ignored. Listen to all the excuses in the comments section. Hillary spent almost double Trump, had almost all the media with her, had a 95% chance of winning - remember that and how Nate S. was slammed for giving Trump a 1/3 chance? With the DNC in her corner. And a compliant Bernie who didn't contest his loss.
And her team were the experts on the minutiae of the rules and election strategy with an ocean of data.
And her team were the experts on the minutiae of the rules and election strategy with an ocean of data.
6
This overstates Democratic ambivalence toward the white working class. "Obama Care" for one thing was aimed at helping those people, as were initiatives to clean up their environments and working conditions. Hillary Clinton was a bit tone deaf, and ignored the white working class during her campaign, but (if you're willing to forgive her support of bankruptcy 'reform') she has done a lot for working people and, particularly, their children. And Bernie fought tirelessly to help working people.
It's not really the plight of the white working class but the fearfulness of the white middle class that elected Trump. While they still lag, the white middle class did far better under Obama than under Bush II. But their fear has been carefully cultivated. They fear terrorism (even though their chances are far greater of being stricken by lightning), the fear crime (even though it's at all time lows), and they fear loss of their economic standing and their children's. That's a big one, but it's not a problem Trump is able to address, or even interested in.
It's not really the plight of the white working class but the fearfulness of the white middle class that elected Trump. While they still lag, the white middle class did far better under Obama than under Bush II. But their fear has been carefully cultivated. They fear terrorism (even though their chances are far greater of being stricken by lightning), the fear crime (even though it's at all time lows), and they fear loss of their economic standing and their children's. That's a big one, but it's not a problem Trump is able to address, or even interested in.
2
Mr. Egan,
Trump IS the Obama legacy.
A very decent man no doubt. But President Obama was an average leader at best. We all need to stop make excuses for his failed leadership.
Democrats need a message that is more than a jingle. Yes, Obama may have beaten Trump in an election. But that would have been the residual of misogyny, and a version of "pc" racism that we dare not speak of.
Trump and Obama alike, ran on catchy slogans. The American future needs more than a cheerleader level message. The irony is that Trump and Obama will create the opportunity for America to listen more deeply.
When we realize, minus the decency, that Trump and Obama are different sides of the same coin, we will move forward. And I personally hope that a part of the move forward is a renewal of an American regard for decency, honor, and character.
Making America great again should involve counting the number of spouses and instances of adultery...Not in counting people's money as a measure of success and goodness. Barack Obama would matter more in that great America. That would have been the great America that President Obama failed to help create at the moment he handed John Boehner a bottle of Brunello di Montacino, and failed to insist that the Speaker of the House fly with him on Air Force One to Newtown.
Trump IS the Obama legacy.
A very decent man no doubt. But President Obama was an average leader at best. We all need to stop make excuses for his failed leadership.
Democrats need a message that is more than a jingle. Yes, Obama may have beaten Trump in an election. But that would have been the residual of misogyny, and a version of "pc" racism that we dare not speak of.
Trump and Obama alike, ran on catchy slogans. The American future needs more than a cheerleader level message. The irony is that Trump and Obama will create the opportunity for America to listen more deeply.
When we realize, minus the decency, that Trump and Obama are different sides of the same coin, we will move forward. And I personally hope that a part of the move forward is a renewal of an American regard for decency, honor, and character.
Making America great again should involve counting the number of spouses and instances of adultery...Not in counting people's money as a measure of success and goodness. Barack Obama would matter more in that great America. That would have been the great America that President Obama failed to help create at the moment he handed John Boehner a bottle of Brunello di Montacino, and failed to insist that the Speaker of the House fly with him on Air Force One to Newtown.
4
"And I personally hope that a part of the move forward is a renewal of an American regard for decency, honor, and character."
Well, we kind of passed that point when you look at the folks who Trump has surrounded himself with, not to mention Trump himself. So what's your plan B?
Well, we kind of passed that point when you look at the folks who Trump has surrounded himself with, not to mention Trump himself. So what's your plan B?
1
Although I am a life-long Democrat and now a senior citizen, I don't have much hope for the Democratic Party. One thing that would bring me some hope would be if Nancy Pelosi were to have a "Pope Benedict moment." This would be a realization that it is now time to abdicate her position as leader of the opposition to allow a fresh face and a fresh voice to take over. She could rest on her considerable laurels and demonstrate that her primary loyalty is to the party she leads which badly needs a shake-up.
9
I have to laugh when people on the conservative side take credit for the results of the massive rich-man-funded disinformation campaign that's been active against liberals for decades.
Here's why liberals are not in trouble: we genuinely care about others, and act to support their rights. Scams always get shaken back to reality. 45-and-cronies, rich-man-funded disinformation, and fearful old guys in elected and appointed offices, no less than any other scams.
Here's why liberals are not in trouble: we genuinely care about others, and act to support their rights. Scams always get shaken back to reality. 45-and-cronies, rich-man-funded disinformation, and fearful old guys in elected and appointed offices, no less than any other scams.
1
How long will the madman be in power? About a month.
Per the 25th Amendment the VP and cabinet majority may declare in writing that the President is unable to serve. That event gives the VP immediately the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. Trump can declare otherwise, but does not reclaim the office. He can cause only a meeting of Congress within 48 hours after his declaration; within 21 days thereafter a 2/3rds vote removes Trump from office. What Democrat would vote against removing Trump?
Will the Republican loyalists Trump appointed to the cabinet turn on him and replace him with Mr. Pence? Some events suggest that Republicans have begun traveling that path: the unprecedented large number of negative leaks to the press about Trump’s odd habits, like his solitary if not hermetic life in the White House, suggest a coup is developing; Trump’s Supreme Court appointment is trashing him, which suggests deepening opposition; Republicans in Congress publicly and quickly turn against Trump loyalists rather than keep private such opposition, as seen in the public questioning of Mr. Flynn’s Russia discussions and Ms. Conway’s unethical commercial for Ivanka’s clothing line; all this and comparable events are well under way before all of the secretaries have been confirmed by the Senate.
After the cabinet is sworn in, will Trump’s superficial Republican support evaporate, and a coalescing opposition remove Trump from office? Yes; in about a month.
Per the 25th Amendment the VP and cabinet majority may declare in writing that the President is unable to serve. That event gives the VP immediately the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. Trump can declare otherwise, but does not reclaim the office. He can cause only a meeting of Congress within 48 hours after his declaration; within 21 days thereafter a 2/3rds vote removes Trump from office. What Democrat would vote against removing Trump?
Will the Republican loyalists Trump appointed to the cabinet turn on him and replace him with Mr. Pence? Some events suggest that Republicans have begun traveling that path: the unprecedented large number of negative leaks to the press about Trump’s odd habits, like his solitary if not hermetic life in the White House, suggest a coup is developing; Trump’s Supreme Court appointment is trashing him, which suggests deepening opposition; Republicans in Congress publicly and quickly turn against Trump loyalists rather than keep private such opposition, as seen in the public questioning of Mr. Flynn’s Russia discussions and Ms. Conway’s unethical commercial for Ivanka’s clothing line; all this and comparable events are well under way before all of the secretaries have been confirmed by the Senate.
After the cabinet is sworn in, will Trump’s superficial Republican support evaporate, and a coalescing opposition remove Trump from office? Yes; in about a month.
2
You have a tin foil hat on.
4
As long as the Democratic Party remains beholden to the priorities of the rich donors that fund their campaigns, we can expect this artificial sugar high to continue. Running under the uninspiring banner of "we're better than the alternative" has been their go to strategy for decades, and is a big reason Donald Trump is POTUS.
Instead of leading the country towards big policy goals that would provide much needed economic support for 90% of the public (e.g., Medicare for all, free college tuition, publicly funded daycare, affordable housing, a green jobs program, etc.), they've decided spend most of their time pointing to how crummy Republicans are. In my experience, not too many people will knowingly spend money at a bad restaurant simply because it’s better than another place that gave you food poisoning.
Scoffing and smirking at Trump rather than offering an alternative vision for America may be a good way to solicit money from donors, but it has proven to be a horrible strategy for building a strong political coalition. And therein lies rub. When you spend a good portion of each week dialing for dollars from the very rich, you're not going to get a lot of support for issues that would greatly help a majority of the public since that would be partially paid for by increased taxes on the people you desperately hope will fund your campaign.
We need to break free from this money soaked electoral system if we ever want to see real, progressive change.
Instead of leading the country towards big policy goals that would provide much needed economic support for 90% of the public (e.g., Medicare for all, free college tuition, publicly funded daycare, affordable housing, a green jobs program, etc.), they've decided spend most of their time pointing to how crummy Republicans are. In my experience, not too many people will knowingly spend money at a bad restaurant simply because it’s better than another place that gave you food poisoning.
Scoffing and smirking at Trump rather than offering an alternative vision for America may be a good way to solicit money from donors, but it has proven to be a horrible strategy for building a strong political coalition. And therein lies rub. When you spend a good portion of each week dialing for dollars from the very rich, you're not going to get a lot of support for issues that would greatly help a majority of the public since that would be partially paid for by increased taxes on the people you desperately hope will fund your campaign.
We need to break free from this money soaked electoral system if we ever want to see real, progressive change.
4
"a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump. For the next year, Democrats should filter their policy initiatives through the eyes of the person Trump claims to speak for — the forgotten American."
Actually, the Democrats' policies are laser focused on economic concerns, as is made clear here
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/an-economy-that-works-for-everyone/
The Republicans and Trump are better at empty promises (it's going to be great), fear-mongering and blame shifting, and the press enables and empowers Republicans by playing by their rules, ignoring genuine policy proposals while email email email.
The Republicans would lose on every policy proposal, which is why their efforts go to make it hard for people who don't own cars to vote, find an enemy du jour to demonize, and email email email.
Yes, you can criticize the Democrats for believing in democracy rather than demagoguery since the competition they are forced into is all spin and no substance.
But if we all actually believe in our democracy, then we should push everyone our paths cross to talk in terms of specific policy proposals that will address challenges and seize opportunities.
If we can push the dialogue to focus on substance, I.e. where it should be in a functioning democracy, either Republicans will be pushed to stop obstructing all pro- worker legislation, or the Democrats will prevail.
Actually, the Democrats' policies are laser focused on economic concerns, as is made clear here
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/an-economy-that-works-for-everyone/
The Republicans and Trump are better at empty promises (it's going to be great), fear-mongering and blame shifting, and the press enables and empowers Republicans by playing by their rules, ignoring genuine policy proposals while email email email.
The Republicans would lose on every policy proposal, which is why their efforts go to make it hard for people who don't own cars to vote, find an enemy du jour to demonize, and email email email.
Yes, you can criticize the Democrats for believing in democracy rather than demagoguery since the competition they are forced into is all spin and no substance.
But if we all actually believe in our democracy, then we should push everyone our paths cross to talk in terms of specific policy proposals that will address challenges and seize opportunities.
If we can push the dialogue to focus on substance, I.e. where it should be in a functioning democracy, either Republicans will be pushed to stop obstructing all pro- worker legislation, or the Democrats will prevail.
1
You had me until "Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump. For the next year, Democrats should filter their policy initiatives through the eyes of the person Trump claims to speak for — the forgotten American.." No, what produced a President Trump was the Electoral College system that gives minority states more weight in the final tally. And hateful, uneducated people in rural areas, along with white women, who could not bring themselves to vote for a woman, no matter what. The divide between Democrats/liberals and the people who voted for Trump is not all about the suffering of the working class. It is a real, vicious difference in how well educated we are, how we see each other, whether we support equal rights for all, a multicultural society, ethics in everyday behavior and in government, the constitution and all the rest. The yayhoos who voted for Trump, whoever they are, will find their lives much worse off after a few more years of this disaster, yet they will not believe it is the GOP's fault. After all, they also believe that Obamacare is not the Affordable Care Act. We are doomed if the GOP continues to lie to these folks, then lie about whether they lied, and get away with it. While the environment collapses and Wall Street tries to take us down again.
2
The "genuine pain of the white working class" may have produced a President Trump, but it was precisely this pain that was redirected away from its true sources (a deregulated Wall Street, a housing collapse and subsequent tax-payer bail out, a congress in the pocket of wealthy special interests) and misdirected toward false sources of blame (immigrants, 'liberals', Hillary Clinton), egged on by racism, misogyny and massive misinformation campaigns. Trump has exposed the fragility of our democracy and re-energized it at the same time. The resistance will not come from within the democratic party. It will begin at the grass roots level and coalesce in town halls, primary elections, marches and protests. It will become well organized and its success will determine whether democracy survives.
1
The thought that any of our politicians, in either party, are listening to or willing to work for the great mass of the U.S. population is rather naive in this age of Citizens United. Unless and until we pass a Constitutional amendment requiring public campaign funding, all else is moot.
Thanks for the article but I am not sure that your "way out" is easy for Democratic politicians. Democratic politicians want to stay in office. They need money from corporations and wealthy donors to pay for their campaigns. They will get the money only if they support the donors' various causes. Those causes don't include a coherent set of policies to help average Americans. In fact, some of those causes aren't in the interest of average Americans but supporting those causes is very much in the interest of the politician if he or she wants to be elected.
4
I almost always agree with and enjoy Mr. Egan's views; and I mostly agree with this column. However, have the Democrats lost touch with the working class? I'm not all that sure. The president is a minority president. Sure his party, one he despised until late in the game, controls the majority of the legislature, but the country as a whole rejected him and still does. Clear thinking, thoughtful people with any semblance of a conscience rejected the fool currently in the White House.
Let's consider that the Republican agenda is a legitimate point of view. It certainly doesn't reflect the needs of working people or care about protecting anyone. It is a point of view that reflects money. A point of view that values profit and the right to excess. It cares nothing for the people the Democrats are supposedly out of touch with.
People have been so disgusted by both parties, so out of touch with the needs of the people, that some voters were willing to pick anyone outside of mainstream politics. So disappointed and appalled by the bumbling, impotent Democratic party and the outrageous obstinance and hypocrisy of the Republican party, they were willing to overlook the glaring flaws of a morally bankrupt charlatan and put him in the White House.
The Republicans hold no high ground. They simply out-smarted, out-played and out-lied the Democrats. Nothing has changed except for the worse. The people who voted for change had the right idea, just the wrong candidate.
Let's consider that the Republican agenda is a legitimate point of view. It certainly doesn't reflect the needs of working people or care about protecting anyone. It is a point of view that reflects money. A point of view that values profit and the right to excess. It cares nothing for the people the Democrats are supposedly out of touch with.
People have been so disgusted by both parties, so out of touch with the needs of the people, that some voters were willing to pick anyone outside of mainstream politics. So disappointed and appalled by the bumbling, impotent Democratic party and the outrageous obstinance and hypocrisy of the Republican party, they were willing to overlook the glaring flaws of a morally bankrupt charlatan and put him in the White House.
The Republicans hold no high ground. They simply out-smarted, out-played and out-lied the Democrats. Nothing has changed except for the worse. The people who voted for change had the right idea, just the wrong candidate.
2
All of the clear thinking, thoughtful people with a conscience voted for Jill Stein. Unfortunately, she fell several million votes short.
Thanks for this column, Egan. For me, its most important moments are the references to FDR's understanding of working people, and to Adlai Stevenson's reminder that one needs a majority to rule. The Democratic Party today seems embarrassed by its own history.
7
The Democrats don't seem at all embarrassed by Jim Crowe and segregation.
1
The anomaly that created Trump was The Great Recession. In order for the Dems to defeat this current wave ignorance they need to sell the REAL reason for Rust Belt displacement: financial elite's greed. Sanders did a good job, it seemed. HRC did not. Somehow Trump won the argument when he blamed bad wages, unemployment on the "elites," or, as i see it, he blamed the ones who did the dirty work of saving America from ruin after the mortgage crisis; Obama became the bad guy when he was actually Superman. Trump took advantage of ignorance by preying on racism, misogyny and xenophobia. It's very hard to break that evil with logic, rationale and a good plan. The only way to defeat ignorance is through reading and a good education. But, DeVos was just appointed. Touche Trump.
2
It's not difficult to think of examples of how the Democratic party has compromised its progressive beliefs in the pursuit of power, but I am tired of hearing that liberals are to blame for not reaching out to angry, white voters who delivered the electoral victory to Trump. These incensed folks come from exactly the same demographic that voted for Reagan and believed his simplistic nonsense about government being the problem. It's true that Democrats can't win over working class Trump supporters by insulting them, but it's also true that they've fallen for a con again. All progressive can do is remind people that they've consistently stood on the side of working people. (Coziness with Wall Street notwithstanding.)
1
You meant to say that progressives have stood on the throats of working people.
3
Please elaborate.
The overlooked American in Roosevelt's day was white: Not only were New Deal programs routinely segregated or white-only, the country itself was vastly different.
In 1933, FDR presided a over homogenous country that was 85% white. Most black Americans lived below the Mason-Dixon Line under the reign of terror known as Jim Crow. Latino-Americans resided in the deep southwest, and there was no immigration issue. Most were agricultural laborers whose employers were exempt from New Deal labor laws and regulations.
People of color are rightly suspicious of class politics: New Deal programs were popular because they amounted to whites giving to whites. The Republicans may want to drag us back to the 19th Century. But Democrats can't act as if it's 1933.
In 1933, FDR presided a over homogenous country that was 85% white. Most black Americans lived below the Mason-Dixon Line under the reign of terror known as Jim Crow. Latino-Americans resided in the deep southwest, and there was no immigration issue. Most were agricultural laborers whose employers were exempt from New Deal labor laws and regulations.
People of color are rightly suspicious of class politics: New Deal programs were popular because they amounted to whites giving to whites. The Republicans may want to drag us back to the 19th Century. But Democrats can't act as if it's 1933.
1
It starts at the local level from here on. In Albuquerque last week, three Tea Party candidates for the local school board were beaten. That's a positive step in the right direction. There are Progressive Democratic organizations across the country and most likely in your city, town, village. We adopt the playbook of the Tea Partiers in demanding that our voices be heard (but in a polite manner). We as a party choose representatives who will already have a spine and place, and refuse to stand down, much like Elizabeth Warren. We also choose representatives who will go the long haul and understand that before victory, there will be some losses, and giving up is NOT an option. Getting involved and exercising your civic duty as an American citizen is the first step towards rolling back the control these people currently have. Time. Patience. Determination.
2
Yes, we need to learn from the Tea Party.
2010 gerrymandering played a huge role in the current situation.
As we focus on the local and gain more local control we need to focus on re-drawing voting districts wherever possible, and yes, gerrymander if it gets more DEMs in. We need to make up for lost time. This is not the time for being "fair".
We also need to get more potential voters registered and able to reach polling stations.
2010 gerrymandering played a huge role in the current situation.
As we focus on the local and gain more local control we need to focus on re-drawing voting districts wherever possible, and yes, gerrymander if it gets more DEMs in. We need to make up for lost time. This is not the time for being "fair".
We also need to get more potential voters registered and able to reach polling stations.
1
The Republicans must be made increasingly aware that they are skating on very thin ice. In the aftermath of the Chaffetz Town Hall, the Republican Party, out of self interest, should do some polling of Trump voters. The poll should feature some variation on the following items:
Yes or No?: I voted for Donald Trump believing that he would never win, but that my vote for him would merely send a wake-up call to both the GOP and Democratic establishments.
Yes or No?: I voted for Donald Trump, but his actions while in office have already led me to regret it.
Trump voters here in Utah--voters who were never his avid supporters--are now expressing dismay at the President's antics. A recent Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute poll of registered Utah voters indicated that more than 60% believe Rep. Chaffetz should initiate investigations of President Trump's conflicts of interest. As Rep. Chaffetz's negative experience indicates, blind support for President Trump and refusals to hold him accountable may prove politically imprudent even in this reddest of red states.
Yes or No?: I voted for Donald Trump believing that he would never win, but that my vote for him would merely send a wake-up call to both the GOP and Democratic establishments.
Yes or No?: I voted for Donald Trump, but his actions while in office have already led me to regret it.
Trump voters here in Utah--voters who were never his avid supporters--are now expressing dismay at the President's antics. A recent Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute poll of registered Utah voters indicated that more than 60% believe Rep. Chaffetz should initiate investigations of President Trump's conflicts of interest. As Rep. Chaffetz's negative experience indicates, blind support for President Trump and refusals to hold him accountable may prove politically imprudent even in this reddest of red states.
2
Funny, the Democrats have ALWAYS worked for the so-called "little guy" the "forgotten man" the working class. I supposed they assumed that these people would always know that. But they also went out in the last few decades and worked for the betterment and rights of even more marginalized groups, minorities, LGBT, non-Christians, immigrants - while the Republicans told the white working class in particular that these even more marginalized groups were the reason the white working class was falling behind. Similar tactic that was used to breed discontent between poor whites and black slaves in the early years of the American experiment-a way to make poor whites feel "empowered" i.e. "superior" to another lower even than them class. A number of Trump supporters were ensnared in just such a manner, it's the illegals or the Chinese offshoring, or NAFTA that has stolen your life... or Wall Street (which of course Trump has dotted his cabinet with-welcome to the new swamp). Dems have the right message, the economy always does better under them, the working class always makes better gains under them, the deficit is always managed better under them, but the message is blocked out by conspiracy right wing radio that dominates the limited news access in many parts of the country filled with who and what to blame and completely devoid of real lasting solutions, just like the GOP. We have to change that at the local, state and national level, and we have to do it now.
4
Well said. I would add - as a rural American - is that Democrats need to come up with more ideas for increasing prosperity in non-urban areas, where incomes are falling sharply behind those in urban areas. When they can demonstrate that they are here, listening and actively working toward an economy that shares its benefits more broadly, then I can see them starting to gain traction.
5
RC, "Democrats need to come up with more ideas for increasing prosperity in non-urban areas?" Why is it that Republicans don't have to do that? Conservatives have been in charge of rural areas for generations, and have promoted corporatization of farming, non-sustainable mining and non-enforcement of labor laws for all that time, all the while the standard of living declined. Yet those rural areas keep voting for the same policies. Really? Democrats have to come up with ideas for increasing prosperity in non-urban areas? Maybe the key is for Democrats to come up with new ways to oppress the rural population. That has been a proven winner for the Republicans!
That vast right wing conspiracy fueled by that vast hate radio network has certainly, unjustly, turned us forgotten men (and 52% of white women and 29% of latinos) against those wonderful Democrats who ALWAYS had our backs. I remember those Democrats in Little Rock who showed brave resistance to those troops of the 101st unleashed on Dems by a fascist Republican president. I remember those Democrats who gave millions of us Little Guys great jobs in the foreign service in the 60s, and then showered us with grateful saliva for decades...Yeah, Rush Limppaw, all by himself, turned us against those crusaders who only, and always, had our best interests in heart. Shame on us forgottens for forgetting that. No wonder you call us deplorables, or as one Democrat noted on this thread, misinformed bunch of bigoted malcontents.
Egan's assessment of the Democrats failure to win at the local, state and national level is accurate and to many disheartening. Now at all these levels the Republicans will have their chance to govern and reset the national agenda. I agree with his assessment that the new president wants to set the clock back a century. That includes the re-establishment of industries that serviced a 20th Century economy, the roll back of rights gained by millions and embracing Wall Street that brought us the 2008 worldwide recession. Once these objectives prove to be as damaging as they certainly are, the American people and maybe even a hand full of Republicans will see the light and return to a moderate/progressive agenda. In the mean time democrats as the opposition need to continue to resist the most radical ideas put forward by the ruling party and hope that disgust sets in sooner as opposed to later.
1
We actually tried that in 2008, and for 8 years the economy slowly returned to the level it was at before the recession. We, as a people decided, at the local, state and national levels, that we absolutely do not want such prosperity. I think it has something to do with e-mails, but it's politics, not theoretical physics, so I don't understand why.
1
Egan speaks to my concerns. This level of engagement and energy on the streets is great, but it means absolutely nothing unless is translates to the polls in 2018 and 2020.
I appreciate that Egan defined what happened to Elizabeth Warren on the senate floor as first and foremost a threat to representative self-government rather than an affront to feminist ideals. Our constitutional regime was constructed with the idea that it should be difficult to pass laws so as to protect individual liberty. Likewise, a web of institutional rules and norms persist in the Senate which go beyond even the formal constitutional structures put into place by the founders to protect minority rights. This is an opportunity for Democrats to develop a much needed conservative streak and act as defenders of those institutional barriers which respect individual and minority rights against overbearing majoritarian rule.
1
By 2018 half the White House staff and a quarter of the Cabinet are likely to be gone. It is even possible that Trump will be gone, and replaced by what? A more focused extreme right wing government? What arguments can be made now that will still have currency in 2018?
The U.S. suffers from not having a shadow government - an extremely difficult thing to articulate in a non-parliamentary system, yet what is needed is agreement on core principals, the most knowledgeable champions for them and comprehensive prioritization and coordination. And a persuasive spokesperson, perhaps even one who will not / can not run for president in 2020.
The U.S. suffers from not having a shadow government - an extremely difficult thing to articulate in a non-parliamentary system, yet what is needed is agreement on core principals, the most knowledgeable champions for them and comprehensive prioritization and coordination. And a persuasive spokesperson, perhaps even one who will not / can not run for president in 2020.
We must not look to party politics or politicians for any kind of worthwhile remedy for all that ails us. We must take a page out of Martin Luther King's use of peaceful protest and a good long look at the Student Movement of the 1960's.
If we want to stop this madman we will have to push him out of office by the full weight of our protest. We cannot stop or hesitate.
If we want to stop this madman we will have to push him out of office by the full weight of our protest. We cannot stop or hesitate.
Well stated by Mr. Egan. Dems will have to pay attention to Trump voters and not to Trump. He is after all just a temporary public servant. The voters are here to stay. Dems need to have something for the voters besides voting nay. I believe voters want to see congress govern again (please!) and not just play for a team. Dems need to realize they don't have the numbers right now. So pick a few issues (there must be a couple) that are somewhat palatable and vote with the Reps. Show some good faith in compromise and maybe the Reps will reciprocate.
1
Part of the problem for Democrats is that the people Mr. Egan says they need to pay more attention to (rightly so), do not seem to have a clear idea of where their true interests lie. If they did, why would they continue to support politicians who are bent on destroying (1) organized labor, (2) regulations intended to promote worker safety and deter predatory financial practices, (3) old-age retirement security and Medicare, and just basically undo the legacy of presidents like FDR who they once practically worshipped? Either they're not paying attention or we're all wrong about what these folks actually want. Either way it's evident that Democrats can't just abandon "identity politics" and hope that will be enough to bring them on board.
2
Once again Mr. Egan is spot on, and the DNC Must Listen! I recently responded to a DNC questionaire and reflected many of these same thoughts on an enclosed commentary...the space provided on the DNC form was woefully inadequate. We are way beyond party politics as it relates to all things Trump, but we must win politically. We must pursue multiple strategies and tactics on a well coordinated parallel path, and we cannot be blinded by ideology and passion. This is critically serious and we must focus on how to win, right now little else matters.
The Democrats have faced formidable opposition, manifested in the ability of the Republicans to gerrymander their way into state and congressional majorities, enlist mouthpiece "news" organizations that distort truth (e.g., Fox News), and capitalize on fear and the "us/them" viewpoint of some white Americans who believe they are victims. To discount the considerable efforts (and accomplishments) of the Democrats to help working class people of all races, by pulling us out of a horrible recession, creating laws that would help prevent a repeat of that recession and protect consumers, saving the auto industry and bringing back millions of jobs, improving access to health care, fighting for minimum wage and worker protections, and moving the Country closer to energy independence, while fighting global warming, are not trivial things for the Everyman in America. Bashing Democrats for supposedly focusing on "identity politics" is absurd, since it has been the Republicans who have pushed identity politics by continually telling white voters they are under assault by the "other" - who they label as "urban", "baby killers", "job destroyers", and a whole litany of other monikers that demean over 50% of the US population (i.e., women, racial and religious minorities, etc.). It's just that some Americans are too stupid, foolish or brainwashed to see through the lies and misrepresentation of the Republican establishment, which seeks only to keep the 99% under the thumb of the 1%.
3
We need to find, showcase and support vibrant young voices. Without referencing the merits or demerits of highly visible Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, the Republican public relations juggernaut has smeared them all for years with the help of their minions at Fox News, effectively creating an "alternate reality" as they did with Hillary Clinton. The face of the party needs to change. And the focus of the party needs to be on rolling back effective Republican voter suppression laws, gerrymandered districts, and registering voters everywhere. Without sweeping the energy of the young into the boring mid-term elections and having them show up, stand up, and be counted in local politics, the Democrats will change nothing. Perhaps we will find the greatest gift The Commander in Tweet has given us is the stimulation of a rebellion that will turn into voter activism.
Advancing programs beneficial to the working class will not be enough for the Democrats to win. Obama and the Democrats have had tons of such programs but Republican controlled Congress and States blocked them at every turn and successfully campaigned against them. A prime example is Obama Care. Comparisons with Roosevelt aren't apt because Roosevelt enjoyed overwhelming government support which the Democrats no longer have. Marches, petitions, and financial contributions may not be enough. Unless the Republicans implode, this may be a long, tough uphill slog.
Well done column Mr. Egan, but the Republicans have been slowly draining the power of the Democratic Party for years with gerrymandering and other strategies to bring them to this unprecedented point of power. Trump was not the elite Republicans choice to solidify their power, but they went with what the wave of populism handed them, and are backing every odious thing he does to achieve their goal of undoing the social safety nets and overturn women's and civil rights in general. Their eye is on the prize.
During the three weeks (can it really be only three weeks) into Trump's presidency, thousands of people have organized, written, called, signed petitions, or e-mailed various Congress members pleading for a push back against unimaginable Cabinet choices. What did it gain us? Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, Jeff Sessions as our new Attorney General, etc. I feel certain all of Trump's Cabinet picks will be confirmed. Each pick seems especially chosen to inflict pain on the Department he or she will be leading.
How do Democrats find a voice when they have lost the narrative? What was defeated in November was basic human decency. How do you respond to that? How do you appeal to Trump's base who cheered the travel ban and feed on "fake news". He did not carry the majority of voters in this country, but he and his Party now hold all the cards, and the fate of this country rests with them. I feel powerless to stop the fascism that is swiftly overtaking us.
During the three weeks (can it really be only three weeks) into Trump's presidency, thousands of people have organized, written, called, signed petitions, or e-mailed various Congress members pleading for a push back against unimaginable Cabinet choices. What did it gain us? Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, Jeff Sessions as our new Attorney General, etc. I feel certain all of Trump's Cabinet picks will be confirmed. Each pick seems especially chosen to inflict pain on the Department he or she will be leading.
How do Democrats find a voice when they have lost the narrative? What was defeated in November was basic human decency. How do you respond to that? How do you appeal to Trump's base who cheered the travel ban and feed on "fake news". He did not carry the majority of voters in this country, but he and his Party now hold all the cards, and the fate of this country rests with them. I feel powerless to stop the fascism that is swiftly overtaking us.
Yesterday I dug into some economic data on the county where 5 generations of my family have lived. We're east of the Cascades in WA where the blue influence of Seattle washes out and the region flames red. When I was a kid here, most elected officials were Democrats. Now it's virtually impossible to be elected with a "D" attached to your name. In the 70's incomes here tracked national and statewide averages; if you lived here your family could do as well on the local economy as a family in the Puget Sound. Since about 1980, incomes have deteriorated, falling further and further behind the national and state figures.
I agree with some comments here that express frustration with yet another lecture at the Democratic Party with regards to identity politics. I'm completely down with the struggle to genuinely overcome our deep systemic racism. But in reality, we need to figure crack this paradox - how to be diverse and intersectional, while also addressing the fact that rural Americans are watching our country evolve in ways that are leaving them behind. As a rural American myself, I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I think if Democrats begin to listen and rebuild a rural presence we can offer ideas that could lead to meaningful improvement and a greater expanse of purple on the electoral map.
I agree with some comments here that express frustration with yet another lecture at the Democratic Party with regards to identity politics. I'm completely down with the struggle to genuinely overcome our deep systemic racism. But in reality, we need to figure crack this paradox - how to be diverse and intersectional, while also addressing the fact that rural Americans are watching our country evolve in ways that are leaving them behind. As a rural American myself, I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I think if Democrats begin to listen and rebuild a rural presence we can offer ideas that could lead to meaningful improvement and a greater expanse of purple on the electoral map.
5
Caring for the "average American" sounds great in rhetorical flourishes, but broken down to its precise components, what does it mean ? In economic terms, in cultural literacy terms , in terms of the much touted term "values," no two average Americans are exactly alike. Some are simple blue-collar or white- color workers with grade school to higher education background who are thoughtful, compassionate and respectful to all--- from their neighbors to newcomers to America whom they barely know but are eager to welcome and accommodate in their midst.
Others, poor or well-off, live in very parochial cocoons, defined by racial , religious and sexual beliefs and prejudices, and recoil from the very thought of looking at a stranger with anything but suspicion and inbred insecurity, and may keep a gun or two at home. Still others are happy-go-lucky types who project a go-with-the-flow nonchalance toward anything and anybody.
Although some of our pundits and politicians would have us believe that the average Americans typically inhabit some ignored Red states between the two coasts of America, many are my fellow citizens in the most liberal Massachusetts. And to complicate the matters further, different types of "average Americans" also live within many extended families.
Good luck to the Democratic Party in dealing with this crazy social fabric. The only thing I can agree with is that Wall Street can't not help it with the task at all,but will make it worse.
Others, poor or well-off, live in very parochial cocoons, defined by racial , religious and sexual beliefs and prejudices, and recoil from the very thought of looking at a stranger with anything but suspicion and inbred insecurity, and may keep a gun or two at home. Still others are happy-go-lucky types who project a go-with-the-flow nonchalance toward anything and anybody.
Although some of our pundits and politicians would have us believe that the average Americans typically inhabit some ignored Red states between the two coasts of America, many are my fellow citizens in the most liberal Massachusetts. And to complicate the matters further, different types of "average Americans" also live within many extended families.
Good luck to the Democratic Party in dealing with this crazy social fabric. The only thing I can agree with is that Wall Street can't not help it with the task at all,but will make it worse.
2
Please read " can't" for "can't not" in my last sentence.
1
You need to check your facts: A new PPP polls reports that 22% support a Muslim ban, to 65% who are opposed. Also very telling for Democrats, a report in The Economist says that the counties where Hillary Clinton won produce 64% of our national GDP. Just another angle on the real fact that red states take more Federal money than they contribute in taxes, while blue states pay more than they take. The problem isn't organization or better messaging, it's that more than 80 million eligible Americans aren't motivated enough to vote.
The privilege, laziness, and power of the white working class, and the subsequent need to kowtow to them, is galling, appalling, depressing, and maybe even impossible.
It's true that to win anything, the Democrats will need to sell their soul to them, but pain? Really? Legitimate pain? I don't see them moving like the rest of us do. I don't see them using birth control like the rest of us do. I see crops picked by Mexicans. I see residency programs filled by foreign physicians. I see whole white communities more interested in drugs than work.
How can we be expected to sympathize with such people? And, even if we can, how can we actually compete with the pull of bigotry and populism? And, frankly, why should we? Shouldn't we be figuring out how to combat gerrymandering and voter suppression instead? It looks like we have government by the minority. We all know, ultimately, how that turns out.
It's true that to win anything, the Democrats will need to sell their soul to them, but pain? Really? Legitimate pain? I don't see them moving like the rest of us do. I don't see them using birth control like the rest of us do. I see crops picked by Mexicans. I see residency programs filled by foreign physicians. I see whole white communities more interested in drugs than work.
How can we be expected to sympathize with such people? And, even if we can, how can we actually compete with the pull of bigotry and populism? And, frankly, why should we? Shouldn't we be figuring out how to combat gerrymandering and voter suppression instead? It looks like we have government by the minority. We all know, ultimately, how that turns out.
2
I shudder at the ease with which you toss off a sentence like "How can we be expected to sympathize with 'such people?'" I have to ask: what exactly is this subspecies of human you label as being "such people?" Aren't they, realistically, individuals, each of whom, just as it could be said of all of us, are some of this and some of that, similar in some specific ways, maybe, to one person who lives in our neighborhood, but not at all similar to another? Do they forfeit their individual specificity because socioeconomically they would be placed in one class vs. another?
It strikes me, too, as an odd notion that the white working class is cursed with a surfeit of privilege and power in an as economically stratified culture as ours. It strikes me as equally odd that you are comfortable in assessing an entire group of people, by reason, it seems, only of the economic class to which they might belong, to have an innate predisposition to choose a life deadened by drugs instead of a life of meaningful work and connection to a vibrant community as if such things were readily and routinely available on the hardscrabble streets of 21st century America.
I guess I think it could be helpful if we try viewing other people with some compassion and not just as being another one of "them." The reality is that, socioeconomically, with 70% of Americans having only a high school degree or less, if there is a "minority," it would not be them. It would be us.
It strikes me, too, as an odd notion that the white working class is cursed with a surfeit of privilege and power in an as economically stratified culture as ours. It strikes me as equally odd that you are comfortable in assessing an entire group of people, by reason, it seems, only of the economic class to which they might belong, to have an innate predisposition to choose a life deadened by drugs instead of a life of meaningful work and connection to a vibrant community as if such things were readily and routinely available on the hardscrabble streets of 21st century America.
I guess I think it could be helpful if we try viewing other people with some compassion and not just as being another one of "them." The reality is that, socioeconomically, with 70% of Americans having only a high school degree or less, if there is a "minority," it would not be them. It would be us.
2
I'm all for the idea of Democrats being "for something". Sadly, this illuminates the imbalance and the structural disadvantage progressives labor under; the GOP has been very successful--"winning" so much that our heads are indeed spinning--doing just the opposite. They are for nothing--as in the absence of any real concrete plan to "replace" the ACA. As Egan points out, they have achieved near complete control of all facets of government at all levels, not by being "for" anything but by virtue of their opposition to:
science (GW, evolution)
immigration
abortion
health care as right
gay rights
public education
any regulation which might have the effect of protecting life and liberty
Operating as the party of no has been very good to the GOP
science (GW, evolution)
immigration
abortion
health care as right
gay rights
public education
any regulation which might have the effect of protecting life and liberty
Operating as the party of no has been very good to the GOP
1
Pelosi needs to go! She's the worst the Dems have to offer. She can say the right things, but when it comes time to get in the ring and duke it out...where is she? Where has she been the last several months? She's the "Where's Waldo?" of politics! Where was she and the Dems when the Repubs denied Obama his SCOTUS pick's hearing? Nine months and I heard nothing but crickets from the Democrats!
The Democratic party is currently led by weaklings. They "tsk, tsk" when they should be correcting. They roll their eyes when the Prez or his cronies lie, or Fox News repeats their lies, when they should be loudly talking. They hope and pray that the electorate will find the real facts out on their own (ala HRC's constant referring people to her website instead of telling us her initiatives) instead of using the GOP play to tell their base the facts, and how to rally and fight back.
But instead they're taking baby steps, being careful...
The last real voices in the Dem party need to stage a coup. Booker, Warren, Sanders, Franken, etc need to take over! And the DNC needs to be completely rebuilt from the ground up...as that mess of a party organization squandered all of the assets of the Obama Coalition.
The Democratic party is currently led by weaklings. They "tsk, tsk" when they should be correcting. They roll their eyes when the Prez or his cronies lie, or Fox News repeats their lies, when they should be loudly talking. They hope and pray that the electorate will find the real facts out on their own (ala HRC's constant referring people to her website instead of telling us her initiatives) instead of using the GOP play to tell their base the facts, and how to rally and fight back.
But instead they're taking baby steps, being careful...
The last real voices in the Dem party need to stage a coup. Booker, Warren, Sanders, Franken, etc need to take over! And the DNC needs to be completely rebuilt from the ground up...as that mess of a party organization squandered all of the assets of the Obama Coalition.
5
Republicans are also riding a sugar-high, and are busy writing the Democratic Party's platform for them. Just take notes. In their efforts to undermine middle class protections with the cancelling of previous progress by executive order, legislation, and cabinet appointments designed for sabotage they are blinded to how unappealing some of these efforts really are, once the high wears off and a few people start to point out and notice what this has done for ordinary voters. Where is the populist demand to once again lower taxes for the wealthy? Eliminate protections for your retirement account? See your neighbors go without health insurance? These are being done because right now they CAN be done, not because anyone who has thought about it thinks they are a good idea. These are things that Democrats should do, did do, and will need to do again. They will need the help of many who voted for trump because they believed he was looking out for them.
Without decent candidates for House seats, and more importantly state and local level legislative seats there will be no pool of candidates to challenge the GOP machine. The Democrats need to organize challenges to Republicans at all levels starting now, immediately! Especially at the State level it is shocking to see how many GOP candidates go completely unchallenged every two years.
2
With Cheetos garnering only 24% of the total Electorate, while 76% either didn't vote or voted for someone else, doesn't exactly point to a 'populist surge' on his part. And when you add in republiCON gerrymandering across the country, also doesn't point to popular support for the party nor their candidate.
The DNC is well aware of what they did to themselves and all of us, by undermining Bernie Sanders 'populist' agenda, and they should know what they need to do to regain momentum, but Establishment Dems have 'dug in the heels' again. What is first needed, is to convince the DNC that "Neo-Liberalism" is dead! And if they want to resurrect themselves, start listening to the Progressive-wing of the party, instead of sidelining them.
The DNC is well aware of what they did to themselves and all of us, by undermining Bernie Sanders 'populist' agenda, and they should know what they need to do to regain momentum, but Establishment Dems have 'dug in the heels' again. What is first needed, is to convince the DNC that "Neo-Liberalism" is dead! And if they want to resurrect themselves, start listening to the Progressive-wing of the party, instead of sidelining them.
1
Very well put. Mr. Egan. The first step toward the Reconquista is the ability to be self-critical.
"For the next year, Democrats should filter their policy initiatives through the eyes of the person Trump claims to speak for — the forgotten American."
How frustrating to keep seeing this kind of comment, NOW, from the many pundits who bent over backwards to belittle Bernie Sanders for concerning himself with the "forgotten America" for the last 30 years.
Ugh!! We are not likely to see any relief in our lifetimes. When you live in the flyover states you meet people who don't have enough money to pay for gas except to go to work, you meet people who die in their 40's unnecessarily and think they deserve it, you meet people who will never afford a vacation to de-stress from their lives so they don't go mad, and you meet two-income families who lose their modest $100,000 house in bankruptcy and must now rent and pay even more.
The coasts have the best economies and life-style, and I whole heartedly applaud them and are proud of their accomplishments, but the pundits who reside in these areas needed to get out of their modern glass and steel offices and live in the Midwest for a few months to understand the suffering: the high suicide rate, severe lack of jobs that pay a living wage, several families living in a single home, non-existent healthcare and high mortality rates.
All that was required, before Trump was elected, was old fashioned journalistic passion. The media gave us Trump because they were too arrogant to do their jobs properly.
How frustrating to keep seeing this kind of comment, NOW, from the many pundits who bent over backwards to belittle Bernie Sanders for concerning himself with the "forgotten America" for the last 30 years.
Ugh!! We are not likely to see any relief in our lifetimes. When you live in the flyover states you meet people who don't have enough money to pay for gas except to go to work, you meet people who die in their 40's unnecessarily and think they deserve it, you meet people who will never afford a vacation to de-stress from their lives so they don't go mad, and you meet two-income families who lose their modest $100,000 house in bankruptcy and must now rent and pay even more.
The coasts have the best economies and life-style, and I whole heartedly applaud them and are proud of their accomplishments, but the pundits who reside in these areas needed to get out of their modern glass and steel offices and live in the Midwest for a few months to understand the suffering: the high suicide rate, severe lack of jobs that pay a living wage, several families living in a single home, non-existent healthcare and high mortality rates.
All that was required, before Trump was elected, was old fashioned journalistic passion. The media gave us Trump because they were too arrogant to do their jobs properly.
3
"Whites are still 70 percent of the vote. If Democrats continue to hemorrhage voters among the working class, they will never see the presidency, or even expect to govern in one house, for a long time."
I was a hardcore Bernie supporter. Hillary just couldn't get my vote and the identify politics had a lot to do with it, so I voted Trump. Trump did not see America as Black, Latino, White, etc. At Trump rallies, people chanted USA.
It reminds of election night when Van Jones was on MSNBC saying it was a 'white lash'. As a two-time Obama voter, I thought, I'm done with this party. I am a white male and I don't care to be insulted whenever read a liberal papers op-ed. It may make people who are drowned in the liberal orthodoxy happy, but turns off a lot of others. I have never seen much written about the fact 95%+ of African Americans voted Obama, and are they just voting due to race?
The belief you can insult 70% of the voting base and win is lost upon the Dems right now. Let them go into the woods and find a new message.
I was a hardcore Bernie supporter. Hillary just couldn't get my vote and the identify politics had a lot to do with it, so I voted Trump. Trump did not see America as Black, Latino, White, etc. At Trump rallies, people chanted USA.
It reminds of election night when Van Jones was on MSNBC saying it was a 'white lash'. As a two-time Obama voter, I thought, I'm done with this party. I am a white male and I don't care to be insulted whenever read a liberal papers op-ed. It may make people who are drowned in the liberal orthodoxy happy, but turns off a lot of others. I have never seen much written about the fact 95%+ of African Americans voted Obama, and are they just voting due to race?
The belief you can insult 70% of the voting base and win is lost upon the Dems right now. Let them go into the woods and find a new message.
9
How does a loss in the electoral college by the slimmest of margins, nearly 3 million more votes for their presidential candidate, gained seats in both the House and Senate and more votes than the opposition for their Senate candidates translate into an existential crisis for the Democrats? The Democrats' problem is not their philosophy, their ideas, or their message, it is the same as it always has been -- getting their voters to the polls. How many in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida just stayed home on election day because they were sure Clinton was going to win and she didn't need their vote? Republicans, a clear minority nationwide, win elections because they are engaged and they vote. Democrats don't. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama won because they knew how to organize people and get them to the polls, everywhere. Democrats need to organize their supporters in red states and start winning some elections there - city, county and statewide seats. That will pay off in national elections in the long term.
1
Besides this excellent advise the Democrats need to drop the words liberal, progressive and conservative from the argument. The current fight has really nothing to do with those labels that create unnecessary division. This dilemma is about democracy vs. fascism and greed vs. altruism. At its basic level we should be talking about breathing vs. not breathing. Perhaps adding “clean air” to the end of the last sentence would soften it, but to be clean air cannot be radioactive. The Democrats need to stop preaching to the choir and start enlightening Trump’s base on just how much he and his henchman (which apparently includes the entire Republican congressional contingent) are hurting or will hurt their quality of life. And, yes, absolutely as Mr. Egan points out the Democrats need to have a platform that improves the quality of life for people currently disaffected from the Democratic Party. But, conservative vs. liberal is silly. If Ronald Reagan was running against Trump is there a progressive liberal out there who would not vote for Reagan?
3
Journalists and pundits keep saying that the democrats forgot the white working class voters, thus the election losses. I have lived in the rust belt most of my life and can honestly say that I don't think democrats forgot them. Many of these people are just ignorant. How can voting republican, if you have any knowledge of their agenda, possible help their cause? It can't and won't.
Democrats who fell for Trump's and Paul Ryan's draconian ideas will sadly, soon find out that they've been had. Maybe they will have to find other sources to better inform themselves. Fox News did not help them.
Democrats who fell for Trump's and Paul Ryan's draconian ideas will sadly, soon find out that they've been had. Maybe they will have to find other sources to better inform themselves. Fox News did not help them.
349
If "these people" are just ignorant, then why don't the democratic party embark on a killer Marketing campaign? They have the money...Hillary raised tons and tons.
2
"Many of these people are just ignorant …" Not cool. I want to hear from the Rust Belt NYT subscriber who supported Donald Trump, whose voice is missing in this dialogue. Easy pot-shot: I'm tired of the dismissive "ignorant".
1
Eagan is right. Dems need to find a unified and unifying narrative. Fortunately, it's available and it would stand on two legs: 1) The Four Freedoms as per FDR. 2) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Republicans have impugned and repudiated both ever since they were promulgated.
1
"It's the economy, stupid."
4
Not your best effort Tim. If you seriously believe that the economy that FDR inherited-- a worldwide shambles with no safety net yet invented, with that which Trump barely crawled into-- enormously improved during the Obama 8 years, with a safety net that is only imperiled by the right wing nut jobs that dominate today's GOP--- then you are not the serious thinker I have given you credit for. In your pity for today's "forgotten white male worker," who in truth lives a life only dreamed of by the masses just 70 years ago-- you did not even mention the impact of the right-wing propaganda machine that the FCC ushered into place in the Reagan years, and which has continued apace since then. It was designed to make these people fearful of the Other, to feel sorry for themselves, to eschew compassion and concern for The Commons. Proof of this successful machine is seen in the bonehead adoration the trump supporters are bestowing on the nightmare they brought into the WH. A person with critical thinking skills and even minimal exposure to the MSM less fox-- would share the abject horror over this mess that is felt by a majority of Americans. Please read all today's comments and declare a Mulligan on this column. Your readers are waiting for the apology and the re-do.
5
For the Dems to get back on track, they need to banish from their vocabulary the reflexive cries of Racism! Sexism! Xenophobia! Homophobia! with which the modern left answers any idea that even slightly offends the navel-gazing progressive orthodoxy of the urban elites and coddled college students. No it may have worked for Trump, but insults and name calling are not the best way to win votes.
10
JFK was 43 when he took office. Jimmy Carter was 52. Bill Clinton was 46. Barack Obama was 47.
Hillary Clinton would have been 69. Bernie Sanders would have been 75.
To borrow a phrase from George Orwell, then writing about the British politicians of the thirties, a generation of the unteachable hangs around our throats like a necklace of corpses.
Hillary Clinton would have been 69. Bernie Sanders would have been 75.
To borrow a phrase from George Orwell, then writing about the British politicians of the thirties, a generation of the unteachable hangs around our throats like a necklace of corpses.
3
Democratic Party decay set-in decades ago. Now it is in a metastatic state, beyond the reach of chemo, requiring a yet-to-be-invented immunotherapy to combat its fatal entropy from within.
During the Obama Administration, it was the Clinton cabal that urged Democratic congressional wannabes to turn away from the principles for which Obama was struggling to push washed-up GOP-lite campaigns that alienated the Party base and failed to attract fence-sitters. Voters who despised everything the Republican Party represents also rejected GOP-lite. Why vote for the "lite" version when they could have the real thing.
We can only hope that the dark shadow of Clintonism has been purged for good so that the Democratic Party can get back to being, well, Democratic again. On the other hand, perhaps the Party needs to find its final resting place on the ash heap of history.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
During the Obama Administration, it was the Clinton cabal that urged Democratic congressional wannabes to turn away from the principles for which Obama was struggling to push washed-up GOP-lite campaigns that alienated the Party base and failed to attract fence-sitters. Voters who despised everything the Republican Party represents also rejected GOP-lite. Why vote for the "lite" version when they could have the real thing.
We can only hope that the dark shadow of Clintonism has been purged for good so that the Democratic Party can get back to being, well, Democratic again. On the other hand, perhaps the Party needs to find its final resting place on the ash heap of history.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
5
I am so tired of white men insisting the only way the Democrats can regain their power is to avoid "identity politics" and appeal to more white men. The Democratic Party coalition of the 1960s included racists from the South who were when LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act. Democrats lost more Southerns with Nixon's "Southern Strategy," which has been used by Republicans ever since. In addition, they have added gerrymandering and voter restrictions targeting Democratic-leaning groups to expand their hold on power. The worst thing that Democrats can do is continue to apologize for being Democrats. It has put us in a constant position of playing defense while Republicans continue to set a false narrative. Democrats fight for health care, tax fairness, and investment in infrastructure and clean-energy jobs. But we also fight for reproductive rights, equal pay for equal work, civil rights, affirmative action, and criminal justice reform. If white men only care about the former, but not the latter, that is no excuse to compromise our Party.
4
It is a simple matter of electoral math: there is a percentage of white men whose votes Democrats need in order to win a governing majority. If they fall below that threshold they won't be able to do anything except block the Republicans. If they fall far enough they won't even be able to do that.
2
The irony is that most Americans favor the Democratic agenda but Dems insist on their mediocre election record because the leadership is too unwilling to let go of their sacred cows: identity politics and over-feminized PC ethos. This isn't a popular thing to say, but to many people in the US a "liberal" is either a woman or a soft man. Sure, substance matters more than surface but surface matters; the GOP's playbook is as simple as gade school bullying; define and ridicule the other kid and make them roll over. And Dems look weak and roll over. It seems to me Congress is divided between the bullies and the out-of-touch teacher who told kids to "ignore the bullies and they'll go away". No, they'll just keep attacking because you're not acting like you have a backbone. Look no further than Nancy "impeachment is off the table" Pelosi who SHOULD HAVE impeached Bush II but only enabled him and how Trump is turning the country upside down in three weeks with zero accountability.
Do you want better results? Elect a Dem leadership that's inclusive without playing identity politics and that knows the way to deal with bullies is by holding your ground and asserting yourself, because they know that deep down, bullies are just cowards.
Do you want better results? Elect a Dem leadership that's inclusive without playing identity politics and that knows the way to deal with bullies is by holding your ground and asserting yourself, because they know that deep down, bullies are just cowards.
12
Back when Mr Romney lost the 2012 election some Republicans felt it was because he was too moderate, not far enough right. Will Democrats conclude the problem was that Ms Clinton and the Democratic Party was not far enough left? I think that would be a mistake.
1
Thank you for stating the obvious, or what ought to be obvious. The Democrats, like the Republicans, have ignored "the forgotten man at the bottom" for decades. When a candidate comes along who is willing at least to talk about their problems, even pie-in-the-sky promises and empty rhetoric will rally them. It's better than nothing. It's better than being called a fool for voting against your own self-interest, which is all I heard immediately after the election. Do something. Be for something. Organize. from the bottom up, even in the reddest districts. Don't pontificate. Don't blame anyone. If you think the sky is about to fall, figure out the best way to keep that from happening.
1
And yet the Republicans gained a lot of power during the Obama years by not being for anything at all. That is, unless you count wanting Obama to be a one-term president as being for something. It's counterintuitive that being the party of no could do the Republicans any good, but it sure has. As for the country, not so much.
1
Whats fascinating is that many of those who supported Trump, didnt like the Repubs ethos either. They saw that their do-nothing but oppose platform was a a huge problem. But they either reelected them, or didnt care to vote in an opposition direction. The dichotomy of contrasting beliefs of the avg. more reasonable Trump supporter is fascinating.
They opposed the do-nothing-ness of the GOP, opposed many of their positions re; Corporate welfare and tax cuts on the wealthy, lack of spending on much needed govt programs (programs, which many Trump supporters rely on and need) - yet they failed to see how how a vote for Trump and in turn the Republican party would work against their own best interests.
For me it comes down the need for a Messiah in a certain demographic of American voters. They keep seeing GOP candidates as Messiahs (as the party always sells them as such) with the magic to cure all their ills, and bring their rose-colored version of the American dream back to them...
They opposed the do-nothing-ness of the GOP, opposed many of their positions re; Corporate welfare and tax cuts on the wealthy, lack of spending on much needed govt programs (programs, which many Trump supporters rely on and need) - yet they failed to see how how a vote for Trump and in turn the Republican party would work against their own best interests.
For me it comes down the need for a Messiah in a certain demographic of American voters. They keep seeing GOP candidates as Messiahs (as the party always sells them as such) with the magic to cure all their ills, and bring their rose-colored version of the American dream back to them...
I wonder how many cases of champagne Trump ordered for his bomb shelter? He does not care about anything. I think deep down he hates himself. He has always looked angry and miserable for the too many decades I have seen him covered in the N.Y. metro area.
2
No, he doesn't have the self-awareness to hate himself. He hates anyone and anything that doesn't reflect his greatness. He's "like, really smart".
1
Sorry but no. We won the popular vote with our current platform, all we need to do is focus on the "rust belt" states with the same campaign and we will be fine,
3
Then why didn't the Democrats do that last year?
3
Thanks for the good advice in this piece, which had me up and until "the forgotten man" argument.
Frankly, after this ugly, disgusting display of misogyny, race hatred, jingoism and stupidity, I don't give a damn about the so-called "forgotten man" and his ostensible list of grievances, choosing instead to care for the forgotten environment, the forgotten women, the forgotten promise of health care, and the forgotten sense of decency and national purpose that might have been realized under President Obama (and President Hillary Clinton) were it not for the revolting cast of miscreants who now claim the Party of Lincoln for their own power and profit.
The so-called "forgotten man," together with Bernie Sanders' misinformed and disgraceful indictment of Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Comey's scandalous complicity with the orange nominee, and the relentless garbage in Congress and in the media about the damned emails, coupled with lazy, entitled and single-minded Millennials who stayed home and whined, all brought us to this terrifying place.
Frankly, after this ugly, disgusting display of misogyny, race hatred, jingoism and stupidity, I don't give a damn about the so-called "forgotten man" and his ostensible list of grievances, choosing instead to care for the forgotten environment, the forgotten women, the forgotten promise of health care, and the forgotten sense of decency and national purpose that might have been realized under President Obama (and President Hillary Clinton) were it not for the revolting cast of miscreants who now claim the Party of Lincoln for their own power and profit.
The so-called "forgotten man," together with Bernie Sanders' misinformed and disgraceful indictment of Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Comey's scandalous complicity with the orange nominee, and the relentless garbage in Congress and in the media about the damned emails, coupled with lazy, entitled and single-minded Millennials who stayed home and whined, all brought us to this terrifying place.
6
The biggest problem for Democrats is that Trump , representing the Republican Party, overtook the traditional Democratic message of helping the forgotten American worker . One of the biggest reasons that Obama won so handily was that there was a clear distinction between what he represented and what with Mitt Romney represented . That 47% comment is what killed Mitt Romney. So Trump then strategically capitalized on that and used it as the focal point for his campaign . But it's a ruse .
Now it's time for Democrats to point out the fallacy and disingenuousness of Trump as evidenced by the large tax breaks he wants to enact for the very richest in the country , favoring Wall St etc , perpetuating the typIcal Republican standby.
This is the key . Get to the facts besides the rhetoric . Saying how incompetent Trump etc is only preaching to the choir . It's not getting the voters back that the Dems need .
And if Trump really wants to help the disenfranchised American worker , why doesn't he and Ivanka start by closing their factories in China and opening up one or two in the United States ? Use that as a talking point . Trump keeps bragging about how rich he is , certainly he could afford to do that for the American worker that he says he is so dedicated to.
Trump is a fraud . That point needs to be hit home and hit hard . Those are the votes the Dems need and need badly .
Now it's time for Democrats to point out the fallacy and disingenuousness of Trump as evidenced by the large tax breaks he wants to enact for the very richest in the country , favoring Wall St etc , perpetuating the typIcal Republican standby.
This is the key . Get to the facts besides the rhetoric . Saying how incompetent Trump etc is only preaching to the choir . It's not getting the voters back that the Dems need .
And if Trump really wants to help the disenfranchised American worker , why doesn't he and Ivanka start by closing their factories in China and opening up one or two in the United States ? Use that as a talking point . Trump keeps bragging about how rich he is , certainly he could afford to do that for the American worker that he says he is so dedicated to.
Trump is a fraud . That point needs to be hit home and hit hard . Those are the votes the Dems need and need badly .
2
From the Quinnipiac Poll Week of February 8, 2017:
12. Would you say that Donald Trump - cares about average Americans, or not?
Yes 45%
No 52
DK/NA 3
10. Would you say that Donald Trump - is honest, or not?
Yes 42%
No 54
DK/NA 3
13. Would you say that Donald Trump - is level headed, or not?
Yes 35%
No 60
DK/NA 5
Voter attitudes on other issues are:
* Oppose 50 - 40 percent restarting the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines;
* 50 percent support more government regulation of financial institutions while 37 percent say increased regulation hurts the economy;
*Oppose 49 - 39 percent removing regulations on businesses and corporations;
*Oppose 61 - 29 percent removing specific regulations intended to combat climate change.
American voters do not believe, 61 - 28 percent, that three to five million non-citizens voted in the 2016 presidential election. The biggest problem in presidential elections is voter suppression, 33 percent of voters say, while 30 percent say voter fraud is the biggest problem and 29 percent point to outside interference.
A total of 75 percent of voters think prejudice against minority groups is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem in the U.S.
February 2 - 6, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,155 voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points. Live interviewers call landlines and cell phones.
12. Would you say that Donald Trump - cares about average Americans, or not?
Yes 45%
No 52
DK/NA 3
10. Would you say that Donald Trump - is honest, or not?
Yes 42%
No 54
DK/NA 3
13. Would you say that Donald Trump - is level headed, or not?
Yes 35%
No 60
DK/NA 5
Voter attitudes on other issues are:
* Oppose 50 - 40 percent restarting the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines;
* 50 percent support more government regulation of financial institutions while 37 percent say increased regulation hurts the economy;
*Oppose 49 - 39 percent removing regulations on businesses and corporations;
*Oppose 61 - 29 percent removing specific regulations intended to combat climate change.
American voters do not believe, 61 - 28 percent, that three to five million non-citizens voted in the 2016 presidential election. The biggest problem in presidential elections is voter suppression, 33 percent of voters say, while 30 percent say voter fraud is the biggest problem and 29 percent point to outside interference.
A total of 75 percent of voters think prejudice against minority groups is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem in the U.S.
February 2 - 6, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,155 voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points. Live interviewers call landlines and cell phones.
3
Stupidity eventually catches up to us all. It will be no different in these times of bizarre Trumpisms. They will be getting their just desserts in due time. And when they do you don't want to be close to the mayhem. It will be horrendous making 9/11 seem like a walk in the park.
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
Bravo! A copy of this OpEd should be sent to every Democrat in DC - once they come out of their winter cave. The spineless Republicans will never be an effective counter to Trump, even the vocal minority like McCain, Graham, Sasse, Flake, etc. They still wear their varsity sweaters with a big red "R" every day.
1
"a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump."
Enough of this - this is a myth. And with every passing year, this country is becoming less white and more brown. Thank god. Virulent misogyny produced 45. The white working class is in pain because they fear they are losing power? Well boohoo. Do you know who has lived their whole lives on the opposite side of the power imbalance, and somehow manage to care about their planet, other people and the good of their country? Who didn't decide to blow the world up by choosing the most glaringly incompetent, pathetic excuse for a man I've ever seen? Women and brown people. I'm sick of hearing about the whining white worker. How about they start taking responsibility for themselves, getting better educations, hell, reading - instead of turning to bottles of oxycodone and saddling the rest of us with their nihilistic desire to watch the world burn.
Enough of this - this is a myth. And with every passing year, this country is becoming less white and more brown. Thank god. Virulent misogyny produced 45. The white working class is in pain because they fear they are losing power? Well boohoo. Do you know who has lived their whole lives on the opposite side of the power imbalance, and somehow manage to care about their planet, other people and the good of their country? Who didn't decide to blow the world up by choosing the most glaringly incompetent, pathetic excuse for a man I've ever seen? Women and brown people. I'm sick of hearing about the whining white worker. How about they start taking responsibility for themselves, getting better educations, hell, reading - instead of turning to bottles of oxycodone and saddling the rest of us with their nihilistic desire to watch the world burn.
6
Thanks Tim for the obvious that needed stating to my fellow Democrats - it is an unbearable irony that it was Trump that seemed to have captured the central hope in that best selling authoritarian nightmare story '1984' -
'If there is hope, it lies with the proles, i.e. the working classes'
It didnt work out for Winston Smith, but may continue to work for Donald Trump
'If there is hope, it lies with the proles, i.e. the working classes'
It didnt work out for Winston Smith, but may continue to work for Donald Trump
Thanks for a much needed kick in the pants. With the executive and legislative branches of our national government firmly in control of the "invertebrates" - love it - we may need to rely more than ever on the judicial branch, for the next four years. In the meantime, yes, organize. Organize against "alternate facts", and for responsible journalism.
Keep it up. We need reminders like this.
Keep it up. We need reminders like this.
1
We are not on a "Sugar High". We have been motivated to become activists. For the 1st time, in a long time, I am committed to seeing that the Republican party is defeated at all levels in MD politics. We are organizing in MD. At the grass roots level we are beginning to set in motion plans to defeat the Republicans in power and support our Democratic Senators and Congressman.
To all Republicans - remember 2008. It will happen again.
To all Republicans - remember 2008. It will happen again.
2
I for one, would like to see some of this angry energy directed toward developing a plan to retake some congressional seats and governorships. Midterm elections are only 20 months away. Democratic senate seats are at risk. The loss of any more governorships will guarantee additional Republican gerrymandering after the 2020 census. There's really no time to waste.
3
Help! The vast majority of citizens are being held hostage in the Repugnantklan States of America. This is amply demonstrated by the fact that the 94% Democratic Senators that voted against Betsy Devos's nomination as Secretary of Education represented 36 million more people than all the Senators (All Repugnantklansmen) that voted for her.
Gerrymandering, Russian hacking, Comey blurts, slinging mud. These are the duct tape, ropes, and hefty bags with which the Repugnantklan party has kidnapped us.
Gerrymandering, Russian hacking, Comey blurts, slinging mud. These are the duct tape, ropes, and hefty bags with which the Repugnantklan party has kidnapped us.
1
The Democrats run data based campaign instead of message driven campaign. Elections are decided more on issues of the heart and less on issues of the head. It is the message, stupid. Few
1
Democrats don't seem to understand they already lost on the issue that Trump is a bad guy. 62 million Americans think Democrats are just as bad.
Ms. Pelosi, my dear representative, has failed in her leadership role yet she remains unbelievably arrogant, pretty much guaranteeing the continued failure of the Democratic Party.
Here's a simple strategy: Stop with ad hominem attacks. Rise above Trump! Start offering solutions that contrast starkly with the plunder and destruction of lives and civil liberties that the Republicans propose to legalize with tax cuts and lack of Federal government enforcement of health, safety and environmental regulations.
Ms. Pelosi, my dear representative, has failed in her leadership role yet she remains unbelievably arrogant, pretty much guaranteeing the continued failure of the Democratic Party.
Here's a simple strategy: Stop with ad hominem attacks. Rise above Trump! Start offering solutions that contrast starkly with the plunder and destruction of lives and civil liberties that the Republicans propose to legalize with tax cuts and lack of Federal government enforcement of health, safety and environmental regulations.
7
I agree with the article, and especially its conclusion that unless the Democrats stop getting ever more identified with identity politics, they will continue to marginalize themselves. There have been a lot of articles on this recently, but it should come to no one's surprise that if a party stands for identity politics, and then essentially blames the -still- largest ethnic group in the country, who in absolute numbers suffer the most, as mostly racist, privileged, sexist and bigoted, well then you had it coming. I live in a 'blue' county, but know a few Trump voters. Most of them are none of the above, but feel that the Democrats take care of every little group with an acronym, except them.
6
"They don’t care that their president is a sexual predator," - This also did not seem to bother those Democrats in office (or the first lady) in 1998. Have Democrats in congress had a collective awakening in the last 19 years or is misogyny still forgivable in a liberal? On the subject of sexual predation, no political party is exempt.
3
Well said, Mr. Egan. I'll tell you what bothers me about the coastal Democratic base's response to the Trump presidency. It's that the theme now is "resistance" and "ITMFA" where the "I" stands for "impeach" and you can guess what the rest stands for.
So we've just gone through eight years where the Republican Party's overriding goal was to stymie Obama, their secondary goal was look out for their campaign donors, and the best interests of the American people didn't even factor into the equation, and now we're about to enter four years or eight years of "Trump derangement syndrome" where the Democrats are off the hook for trying to make Americans' lives better when it's so much easier to stay in a continual state of outrage at the racist, misogynist, xenophobic bully in the White House?!
This is what was so refreshing about Bernie Sanders taking to the Senate floor a few weeks ago and challenging then-President-elect Trump to live up to his campaign promise not to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. He was actually pressuring Trump to look out for the interests of the American people rather than just demonizing him. What a radical notion. Surely Sen. Sanders had gone off-script.
So we've just gone through eight years where the Republican Party's overriding goal was to stymie Obama, their secondary goal was look out for their campaign donors, and the best interests of the American people didn't even factor into the equation, and now we're about to enter four years or eight years of "Trump derangement syndrome" where the Democrats are off the hook for trying to make Americans' lives better when it's so much easier to stay in a continual state of outrage at the racist, misogynist, xenophobic bully in the White House?!
This is what was so refreshing about Bernie Sanders taking to the Senate floor a few weeks ago and challenging then-President-elect Trump to live up to his campaign promise not to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. He was actually pressuring Trump to look out for the interests of the American people rather than just demonizing him. What a radical notion. Surely Sen. Sanders had gone off-script.
5
And the Democrats have little chance of coming back for a generation. In the next election, the Republicans will cement their majorities in Congress with veto proof majorities. States under Republican majorities will continue to rig elections in their own favor. The courts will continue to be stacked with corporatists with little concern for the common man. The sugar high from "feeling the Bern" and staying away from the polls because Hillary and other Ds were not pure enough definitely has its consequences as Mr. Egan astutely points out.
3
"Not see the presidency, or even expect to govern in one house, for a long time?"
An extreme reading of the Presidential vote, in my opinion.
Had HRC faced a more mainstream Republican, say Jeb or Ted or Marco or Kasich, perhaps her defeat would have been more resounding. As it was, she almost overcame the multiple bad actors trying to take her down (Chaffetz, Assange, Putin, Comey), winning a solid popular majority and narrowly getting taken down in 3 formerly true blue states.
Trump spoke to the forgotten voter? With what? Lies about returning Coal to greatness? Protectionist bromides of the sort that gave us Smoot-Hawley and the 1930s?
It's certainly quite possible that, if the Democrats had had this level of enthusiasm in October and November, the outcome would have been different. The partially justified disgust of Team Bernie at his loss to HRC on a slightly tilted playing field may have turn them to Jill Stein and Gary Johnson or to a no-vote protest. Perhaps, as in 2000, that was enough to lose the race.
I offer no prescription in this brief comment, but I predict we will start to see the pendulum swing as the failure of the R to govern will make it clear that the emperor, indeed, has no clothes. (Horrid visual though that might be.)
An extreme reading of the Presidential vote, in my opinion.
Had HRC faced a more mainstream Republican, say Jeb or Ted or Marco or Kasich, perhaps her defeat would have been more resounding. As it was, she almost overcame the multiple bad actors trying to take her down (Chaffetz, Assange, Putin, Comey), winning a solid popular majority and narrowly getting taken down in 3 formerly true blue states.
Trump spoke to the forgotten voter? With what? Lies about returning Coal to greatness? Protectionist bromides of the sort that gave us Smoot-Hawley and the 1930s?
It's certainly quite possible that, if the Democrats had had this level of enthusiasm in October and November, the outcome would have been different. The partially justified disgust of Team Bernie at his loss to HRC on a slightly tilted playing field may have turn them to Jill Stein and Gary Johnson or to a no-vote protest. Perhaps, as in 2000, that was enough to lose the race.
I offer no prescription in this brief comment, but I predict we will start to see the pendulum swing as the failure of the R to govern will make it clear that the emperor, indeed, has no clothes. (Horrid visual though that might be.)
5
Thank you Mr. Egan-all politics is local and the Democrats need to rebuild from the grassroots up.
One thing that people don't mention much is the Republicans success at Gerrymandering-- although they won't admit that's what it is.
6
Is it legal, and upheld by the courts? Or shall we move the goalposts to make it easier for the Democrats to win an election now and then?
Who gerrymandered 600,000 illegal foreigners into Los Angeles, as its police chief crows about?
Who gerrymandered 600,000 illegal foreigners into Los Angeles, as its police chief crows about?
3
If righteous indignation won elections, we'd all be speaking Arkansan by now.
3
You and NYT have not learned a thing about the democrat losses over the last several decades of the dem party moving to enrich themselves and the 1% throwing a few crumbs to the rest of us while leaving millions behind without homes.
We got the same dems leading the party. They are the ones who left the people and saddled up with wall street and pharma and many other corporate vultures.
You and the dem party our clueless.
We got the same dems leading the party. They are the ones who left the people and saddled up with wall street and pharma and many other corporate vultures.
You and the dem party our clueless.
5
Mr. Egan writes, "Millions of reasonable people are appalled that a madman is in charge of the country".
Really, Timothy? While this may be delicious fodder to the zealots who read the NY Times, most Americans, if given a choice of titles for our new president, might not pick "madman". And your assertion that this is who we elected, insults millions of us who are cheering that our country (at long last) is ending it's ill-fated dalliance with liberalism.
This is they type of hysterical journalism that has lessoned the esteem of media in this country. You're a lefty--we get it. You hate Trump--understood. But I'm not sure that schoolyard name-calling and character assassination will do anything to swat those who are not zealous acolytes of yours, over to your point of view.
Really, Timothy? While this may be delicious fodder to the zealots who read the NY Times, most Americans, if given a choice of titles for our new president, might not pick "madman". And your assertion that this is who we elected, insults millions of us who are cheering that our country (at long last) is ending it's ill-fated dalliance with liberalism.
This is they type of hysterical journalism that has lessoned the esteem of media in this country. You're a lefty--we get it. You hate Trump--understood. But I'm not sure that schoolyard name-calling and character assassination will do anything to swat those who are not zealous acolytes of yours, over to your point of view.
6
Mr. Egan's golden words for a tarnished president should be required reading for every Democratic member of house and senate as well as the rest of us
1
"Millions of reasonable people are appalled that a madman is in charge of the country."
Well, this rhetoric from the media, extreme shift to the left and identity politics helped Republicans a lot. Instead of reevaluating the approach democrats increased their left-wing shift and rhetoric.
It's possible, that the president may become unpopular with 70+%. But if this doesn't happen, and 45% will have a positive view - republicans will be stronger in 2018. Don't forget, that 50% of the population don't vote at all.
The NYT and others are pointing out, that Trump works ideologically for his base only. Democrats are doing absolutely the same. The question is - which ideology is more (mostly) appealing to the independent and active (voting) center. So far Trump and Republican party is more popular despite the controversial orders.
Well, this rhetoric from the media, extreme shift to the left and identity politics helped Republicans a lot. Instead of reevaluating the approach democrats increased their left-wing shift and rhetoric.
It's possible, that the president may become unpopular with 70+%. But if this doesn't happen, and 45% will have a positive view - republicans will be stronger in 2018. Don't forget, that 50% of the population don't vote at all.
The NYT and others are pointing out, that Trump works ideologically for his base only. Democrats are doing absolutely the same. The question is - which ideology is more (mostly) appealing to the independent and active (voting) center. So far Trump and Republican party is more popular despite the controversial orders.
2
How long are the Democrats going to rely on Nancy Pelosi to lead them out of the wilderness? Time to shake up the House and party leadership and start fighting back with a vision and brass knuckles.
5
Sorry but I don't think you are right. Clinton had and promoted many well thought out policies and programs that benefited the every day man. Trump offered nothing but made up history, lies, platitudes, fear and blame. The problem is not the Democratic Party. The problem is the poorly educated, uninformed voters who rely upon 10 second sound bites and reality TV to form their opinions and decisions. The Democratic Party cannot save us from ourselves. The media needs to do a better job.
4
Most voters are oblivious to policies but intensely aware of the tribal tendencies and buzzwords that separate us. As long as the Dems appear to vilify and dismiss the biggest tribe, their policies are irrelevant.
3
Despite the Democratic Party losing the recent presidential election, an election that was to be its for the taking, to an opponent viewed more unfavorably by more Americans than any other major party candidate for the presidency since the advent of polling, despite the party having been evicted wholesale from statehouses and state legislatures nationwide over the past decade, despite the manifest degree of disconnect between the Democratic Party political leadership class, and its media and donor enablers, from the day-to-day realities of the life of the average American, the topmost leadership of the party persists in its delusional belief -- witness the frequent public utterances since the election of different members of it -- that, in fact, the party doesn't have a problem of any kind of significance that a bit of tinkering with its messaging, a bit of tweaking here and there, can't fix.
The Democratic Party is confronting an existential crisis regardless of whether its leadership class is able to get over its heady intoxication with their own fumes to see it or not. It is at a crossroads. It either brings clarity to its identity, purpose, and mission, and convinces us of its right to warrant our attention, and earn our vote, or it will be abandoned to the roadside to be supplanted by a movement party, up from the grassroots, for which the term "progressive" is more than just a label to co-opt, when convenient, for marketing purposes.
The Democratic Party is confronting an existential crisis regardless of whether its leadership class is able to get over its heady intoxication with their own fumes to see it or not. It is at a crossroads. It either brings clarity to its identity, purpose, and mission, and convinces us of its right to warrant our attention, and earn our vote, or it will be abandoned to the roadside to be supplanted by a movement party, up from the grassroots, for which the term "progressive" is more than just a label to co-opt, when convenient, for marketing purposes.
3
The Democrats had the opportunity to find the lost path of FDR but the NYT chose to endorse Hillary Clinton instead of Bernie Sanders, even though he polled better against Trump than she did. For all Democrats to be on the same path now, it would help if the NYT apologized to it's readers for the foolish establishment endorsement--just as they apologized for the rush to invade Iraq.
5
Thank you for this message which clearly and succinctly, from the reaction of your readers, told many Democrats something which they did not want to hear.
A focus on identity politics and the glorious notion that rising levels of immigration would provide Democrats with an irreversable majority has led to a disasterous backlash that has brought us President Trump. "Oh but HIllary won by three million votes" you argue. Well, as my mother used to put it back in the day "That and fifty cents will get you a ride on the NY subway." In other words it doesn't matter. The Democrats control nothing, zip, zero, nada.
It's the economy stupid. Bill Clinton won with it but used his popularity to push through NAFTA which brought disaster to the midwest. Barak Obama ran on a strong populist economic program but sadly did not always govern that way and worse allowed people with a gimlet eyed focus on social issues to take over the Democratic Party, a group who paved the path to HIllary Clinton's rise to the nomination.
Democrats can do better than this. We CAN support the rights of ALL citizens to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness AND to economic security but it's going to take a big change in thinking and in leadership. It is also going to take swallowing some of our pride and outrage and listening. Reading some of the comments here, and listening to Democratic Party Leaders like FORMER Speaker Pelosi, Ihave my doubts as to whether this will ever happin.
A focus on identity politics and the glorious notion that rising levels of immigration would provide Democrats with an irreversable majority has led to a disasterous backlash that has brought us President Trump. "Oh but HIllary won by three million votes" you argue. Well, as my mother used to put it back in the day "That and fifty cents will get you a ride on the NY subway." In other words it doesn't matter. The Democrats control nothing, zip, zero, nada.
It's the economy stupid. Bill Clinton won with it but used his popularity to push through NAFTA which brought disaster to the midwest. Barak Obama ran on a strong populist economic program but sadly did not always govern that way and worse allowed people with a gimlet eyed focus on social issues to take over the Democratic Party, a group who paved the path to HIllary Clinton's rise to the nomination.
Democrats can do better than this. We CAN support the rights of ALL citizens to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness AND to economic security but it's going to take a big change in thinking and in leadership. It is also going to take swallowing some of our pride and outrage and listening. Reading some of the comments here, and listening to Democratic Party Leaders like FORMER Speaker Pelosi, Ihave my doubts as to whether this will ever happin.
140
Excellent post... well put. I would like to add, that a person should be able to ask, "Please explain (because I want to understand both sides) why a person who is in this country illegally should have access to more in state tuition benefits than a resident of that state who is citizen?" . In today's Democratic party, even asking that question gets you shamed, shut down, and called a racist.
I have voted democratic all my life. This time, being told I was "too white" and told to "check my privilege" really turned me off. Also, being told that I had no right to the money I earned and that I should be taxed even more also put me off. And that if I didn't like that, I was elitist.
I have voted democratic all my life. This time, being told I was "too white" and told to "check my privilege" really turned me off. Also, being told that I had no right to the money I earned and that I should be taxed even more also put me off. And that if I didn't like that, I was elitist.
1
Good post. The answer is a a 50-state strategy with a message with broad appeal. Economic justice for all. Single-payer healthcare for all.
1
If the DNC hadn't conspired to nominate Hillary Clinton despite all her flaws and baggage, we wouldn't be in this position. Tulsi Gabbard tried to tell us what was going on, but party bigwigs decided to put their thumb on the scale against Bernie Sanders. Too clever by half rarely works out, so blame the Democrats as much as the Republicans if you think we have a clown in the White House.
9
I have fought the Democratic Party all my life. They are so out of tune w the mainstream of REASONABLE American values, I just get chills at night. This column writer and many of his idiotic comments has given me and millions of others to continue that fight. Thank you Democrats for being so ungainly, stupid and slow. Thank you for being so incompetent for decades. It's time for new management. The new management may not be perfect but when compared to your performance, a 3rd grader could improve upon it.
2
You wrote the entire column without mentioning Bernie. Perhaps you didn't listen to him, hear him speak, during the democratic primaries. Too bad. His words truly resonated with the youth, the working class white. When he lost for multiple reasons, Hillary Clinton's arrogant campaign advisers failed to gather Bernie's supporters into their fold. To this day Hillary die hards Blame Bernie for having the courage to speak the truth. Perhaps you could give his rally directed a good listen, you will find the answers you are looking for. Don't trust pelosi or schumer, they are Clintonites who thought Hillary was the savior, riding high on media created bubble of ensured victory, all the while mid America says NO we don't want Hillary. So Hillary die hards Blame Comey, blame Bernie, blame Jill stein, so much hand wringing...
5
"For Democrats, they should think of Joe Biden’s Scranton, Pa., every time they take to a podium." And they should think of Joe Biden. Come on, Joe. Your country needs you. You should have been the candidate. Now be the standard bearer.
3
Democrats had ALL that you suggest in the palm of their hand in Bernie Sanders.
Ask not what Democrats need to do, ask what Democratic pundits & press did to derail Bernie.
Ask not what Democrats need to do, ask what Democratic pundits & press did to derail Bernie.
6
Now what will the Dems do, beside gloat & grin. We'll get a clear idea when the leadership gathers soon in Atlanta to pick the new the new DNC chair ... if another corporate Dem is installed, then we'll know what, beyond rhetoric, the Dems will actually do: nada.
4
It's the same old thing: Democrats DO focus on the forgotten American (higher minimum wage, universal health care, etc., etc.) but thanks to Fox News and others, it is never reported that way. So the real issue is: how to get to these people?
I would advise Democrats to focus EXCLUSIVELY on health insurance for the midterms. It is the Republican's achilles heel. Dems can win this one: come up with a better plan, give i ta new name, and push it every chance you get.
I would advise Democrats to focus EXCLUSIVELY on health insurance for the midterms. It is the Republican's achilles heel. Dems can win this one: come up with a better plan, give i ta new name, and push it every chance you get.
1
Mr. Egan complains about identity politics and then turns around and defines his solution in exactly those terms. Stop talking about white men. The Democrats only hope is to talk to white men, white women, black men, black women, spanish speaking men, spanish speaking women, asian, men, asian women, gay men, gay women,in fact the whole atomized spectrum of all voting Americans, in economic terms. Money is how we keep score in this country and Trump was elected by a profoundly mistaken powerful emotional response to the income disparity that has gripped our country since Ronald Reagan played his most effective role ever as front man for the powerful economic interests that were checked by FDR and who had chaffed at their bounds all the while. They are winning now and have been for a while. Until the Democrats can articulate the simple facts about how the vast majority of the citizens of this country are being systematically abused they will cede the fire of that anger to the dark side. Barack Obama's failure over and over again to do the right thing when faced with The Prisoner's Dilemma was a series of demonstrations of exactly how the Democrats just don't get. Mr. Egan's essay is more of the same. We had a perfect opportunity with our own angry old white man and we threw it away never understanding the the operative word was not white nor old. The word that mattered was angry, but the Party refused to listen to the people, all the people, the people who voted for Trump.
2
Democrats brought this on themselves by selecting Hillary of Wallstreet as their candidate. I hope they realize that the progressive policies of Bernie Sanders is what the people want.
6
Doubt that is true except in the sense that Bernie, like Trump, wrote checks with his mouth that his butt couldn't cash.
Being against, well, everything decent has worked quite well for Republicans. It is time to shame their voters. Public shaming has always been effective in shaping the behavior of this nation's citizens.
I hate Joe Biden's Scranton, PA. Have you ever been there?
Why should I play to them? Do they play to me? They have more insults in polite society about those who know better it isn't funny. Nope don't give a crap about Scranton, PA.
Republicans are ALWAYS about regress. It seems to show the mediocrity of americans to favor the party of regress, right? It's cultural. The mediocrity. Laziness.
America does not have it in her to be Progressive - it's had many chances and the ONLY time it was embraced was after the Great Depression - never since.
I blame the genius of our corpocracy - undermining and turning people against unions and basically progress. Then on top of that the corpocracy weakens our economy by threatening to move out - and has! But americans blame D's for that? Wow. Some strong Juju. Actually it is propaganda. Propaganda of all types - basically lies right in the faces of 'Good Americans' while they stab them in the back...then the Stockholm-syndrome Americans ask for more from their punishers - cannot win against a mindless mass of people.
Why should I play to them? Do they play to me? They have more insults in polite society about those who know better it isn't funny. Nope don't give a crap about Scranton, PA.
Republicans are ALWAYS about regress. It seems to show the mediocrity of americans to favor the party of regress, right? It's cultural. The mediocrity. Laziness.
America does not have it in her to be Progressive - it's had many chances and the ONLY time it was embraced was after the Great Depression - never since.
I blame the genius of our corpocracy - undermining and turning people against unions and basically progress. Then on top of that the corpocracy weakens our economy by threatening to move out - and has! But americans blame D's for that? Wow. Some strong Juju. Actually it is propaganda. Propaganda of all types - basically lies right in the faces of 'Good Americans' while they stab them in the back...then the Stockholm-syndrome Americans ask for more from their punishers - cannot win against a mindless mass of people.
Communist >>> Socialist >>> Progressive. Old wine, new bottles.
Look.... The reality is, if reaching out to the "Forgotten" ( White ) American means the silence of others (Black, Latino, Gay, Women), well Eff that noise... When unarmed people of color are gunned down by the very forces that are supposed to protect them.... When discrimination is biblically sanctified ..... When women are expected to just grin and bear it when touched.... No these issues are not irrelevant to the discussion along with jobs and class. No the working class wasn't forgotten this election... I think some members of the white working class were quite clear about why they voted Trump and the Republicans into power... And would do so again even if their policies plunge us into war and recession. Democrats and Progressives have just going to have to learn to play a long game.... And build a sustainable electoral majority (Which counts more than a popular one) instead of chasing after the same white voters every cycle.
1
It's hard to admit that 2016 Presidential not only gave us Trumpism but exposed how shallow & out of touch the Democrat Party has become. Trump didn't give us Trump, Democrats did.
2
If this isn't bad enough they are also fascists, surprise surprise, who don't believe in democracy at all! The joke is on all the people who believed in America 1st. They didn't hear what that really means-- you the people are LAST. Oh, and anything that benefited you the people is not needed-- education, healthcare, consumer protection, clean air and water. We will take care of our 1% and our military and police. The rest of you are not important. We don't need birth control or abortion because we aren't going to care for these new babies-- welcome to the underclass where you belong. Welcome to a distopian nightmare previously reserved for fiction.
Words that have been drained of all meaning by context-free over-use: hater, bigot, fascist, and wonderful.
2
Ignoring the majority of voters, the EC voted for Trump. He has no mandate. I personally think it's a little too soon to write off potential Democratic gains in Congress and statehouses in 2018. Trump's not even through his first 100 days, and already even some of his supporters are unhappy with him (@Trump_Regrets).
Just imagine what the mood of the country will be when this Alt Robin Hood and his Merry Band of GOP Thieves make good on their promises to steal from the poor to give to the rich. How many GOP supporters are going to be happy to find out they could end up like Flint, MI? Or discover their education vouchers don't cover even one child's tuition to a private school? Or find out their insurance premiums are skyrocketing because the only people left buying insurance are sick people? Or when gas prices start inching up towards $4/gallon again? Or when shady Wall St. manipulations threaten us with another Great Recession? Or when countries start retaliating against Trump's tariffs and it's no longer possible to buy a cheap avocado or winter tomato?
If Democrats can do the very minimum of making sure the GOP gets the blame for the problems, and making sure people understand that Democrats have real ways to fix these problems, then maybe 2018 will be another midterm election where the opposition wins.
Just imagine what the mood of the country will be when this Alt Robin Hood and his Merry Band of GOP Thieves make good on their promises to steal from the poor to give to the rich. How many GOP supporters are going to be happy to find out they could end up like Flint, MI? Or discover their education vouchers don't cover even one child's tuition to a private school? Or find out their insurance premiums are skyrocketing because the only people left buying insurance are sick people? Or when gas prices start inching up towards $4/gallon again? Or when shady Wall St. manipulations threaten us with another Great Recession? Or when countries start retaliating against Trump's tariffs and it's no longer possible to buy a cheap avocado or winter tomato?
If Democrats can do the very minimum of making sure the GOP gets the blame for the problems, and making sure people understand that Democrats have real ways to fix these problems, then maybe 2018 will be another midterm election where the opposition wins.
Incredibly, I've heard various Democratic strategists suggest that what the party needs is a more centrist approach. That's exactly the problem. Bill Clinton pretty much destroyed the party with his 'Republican lite' strategy - meaning Democrats are the party of 'not so bad'. (And, ironically, are left bearing the blame for failed Republican approaches to governing.) Democrats should be the party of FDR, Trump voters, who I live in the midst of, liked Bernie Sanders for many of the same reasons they liked Trump. Listen up!
1
(And, ironically, are left bearing the blame for failed Republican approaches to governing.)
--------------------
"It's a poor carpenter who blames his own tools." You put up a candidate who was under investigation by the State Dept. and the FBI. Own it.
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"It's a poor carpenter who blames his own tools." You put up a candidate who was under investigation by the State Dept. and the FBI. Own it.
2
During the campaign I realized that there are at least two Americas: 1) the controlling class - one which consists of the 1%, the corporate class, the political world and the media. These four main elements have drifted off into a life, a dialogue a universe where only they matter and, as one other NY Times reader commented, would "rather relate to their elite counterparts in Davos... than tend to the needs of the nation..." and 2) the "Other America."
Over the years, this controlling class drifted far from seeking to understand and provide the needs to the nation toward telling the rest of us what they would take and what we would get.
The well of emotion that Trump so effectively tapped was that we the people are tired of being ignored; we're frustrated with the dysfunctional congress; we’re angry about the GOP commitment to obstruct everything Obama would try; we’re flummoxed by the Democratic party’s impotence and refusal to refresh its leadership. The nation has had enough. This is exactly how we, the “other America” could believe in the promises of Trump which apparently were lies.
The NY Times is part of the controlling class and in this election "told" us we were going to have Hillary as the nominee, just as the DNC did. Your writers bashed Bernie at every turn and never gave him a chance.
Though I despise those currently in power in the white house, I am more disturbed by the cleavage of our nation into the Controlling Class and the “Other America.”
Over the years, this controlling class drifted far from seeking to understand and provide the needs to the nation toward telling the rest of us what they would take and what we would get.
The well of emotion that Trump so effectively tapped was that we the people are tired of being ignored; we're frustrated with the dysfunctional congress; we’re angry about the GOP commitment to obstruct everything Obama would try; we’re flummoxed by the Democratic party’s impotence and refusal to refresh its leadership. The nation has had enough. This is exactly how we, the “other America” could believe in the promises of Trump which apparently were lies.
The NY Times is part of the controlling class and in this election "told" us we were going to have Hillary as the nominee, just as the DNC did. Your writers bashed Bernie at every turn and never gave him a chance.
Though I despise those currently in power in the white house, I am more disturbed by the cleavage of our nation into the Controlling Class and the “Other America.”
2
Every time I hear or read about the "forgotten white working-class," my stomach turns. The "forgotten white working-class" voted for an individual who is a proven corrupt, adulterer, swindler, sexual predator and all-time liar. What the "forgotten white-working" is angry about is that the privileges they have enjoyed for centuries at the expense of minorities has begun to diminish just a bit in the last few years, not much because they have been forgotten as because the world does not stand still, everything changes and evolves with time. So when this truculent demagogue came storming into the political frame, offering to make America great again, these "forgotten whites," their eyes popping out of their sockets, said, "here is the guy we've been waiting for, he's gonna put us in the driver's seat again. He'll put the blacks in their place and kick out the criminal and rapist illegals." So, please, let's not keep telling us the canard that the Democrats and liberals have neglected the "forgotten white working-class."
1
Working-class people matter. That is all the Democrats need to remember to win the next elections in a landslide.
1
I am not going to give up my minority identity for the sake of white working class voters who did not keep up with the changing economy.
I am NOT going to think of Scranton, PA when I vote OR think of Scranton, PA when I speak to others about the United States. I am going to think of where I was born and that is Mission, Texas which is mostly Mexican American and poor because there is a lack of fair education, lack of decent jobs and lack of decent health care.
I am just as American as anyone else and I am not going to set aside the priorities of my American community because there are voters in Scranton addicted to drugs.
We need to help communities that are willing to stand up and change America for the future and not take it back to 1950. Time to MOVE ON.
I am NOT going to think of Scranton, PA when I vote OR think of Scranton, PA when I speak to others about the United States. I am going to think of where I was born and that is Mission, Texas which is mostly Mexican American and poor because there is a lack of fair education, lack of decent jobs and lack of decent health care.
I am just as American as anyone else and I am not going to set aside the priorities of my American community because there are voters in Scranton addicted to drugs.
We need to help communities that are willing to stand up and change America for the future and not take it back to 1950. Time to MOVE ON.
1
The country is irreparably divided and I don't see who or what can bring it together. The right was livid during Obama's presidency and now the left is apoplectic. I am personally demoralized that a man so unlikeable, dishonest and ignorant is my POTUS. I don't care what letter is stitched to his shirt. I wouldn't want him in the office next to mine let alone the Oval Office. So, what is demoralizing to me is that my fellow Americans thought this guy is fit as a HUMAN BEING to represent us. If he had a D stitched to his jersey, I would have stayed home. Yet, millions excitedly voted for this vindictive and nasty man. I don't feel like I belong here.
If I were the Dems....I'd just give it up. Clearly there is no audience for what they are selling if they couldn't beat this ignoramous. They stand to lose even more seats in the midterms. The only solution I see is to focus on our states. Let WV, KY, MI etc. go their own way and let CA, NY, MD go theirs.
If I were the Dems....I'd just give it up. Clearly there is no audience for what they are selling if they couldn't beat this ignoramous. They stand to lose even more seats in the midterms. The only solution I see is to focus on our states. Let WV, KY, MI etc. go their own way and let CA, NY, MD go theirs.
Democrats are punished if they talk to monied interests but Republicans are not. Democrats are punished if they lie once, Blumthal for example "during" vs "in," Republicans are not, for example Trump, Conway, Spicer, daily. White identity politics are fine, other identity politics are not. This country is full of haters and given the time line it takes to reject horrible political environments, religious wars in Europe, slavery in the U.S. and UK, hundreds of years, the Trump era like Hitler was almost inevitable. Trump's ascendency is bigger than just finding a catchy theme for the Democratic Party. I hope the planet can survive it.
I am troubled Mr. Schumer is our leader. We need a fighter.
1
I wouldn't characterize the grim determination of Democrats as a "sugar high", given the bitter defeats that they face in successive congressional votes and the 2018 Senate elections.
The democrats have gone so far left and extreme in its ideology, it'll take decades to get back to the center. Anything they do now will be considered "hypocracy." Staging weekly demonstrations, however peaceful they might begin, some will inevitably turn violent, destructing property and injuries to innocent bystanders. These demonstratons are wearing thin on many Americans. Democrats claim they are now the "majority" voice, but as evidenced in the last election, the "silent" majority won and most likely will again in 2018 and 2020. The incredible intolerance of Democrats have brought civility to a new low. Sad.
3
Nancy Pelosi said, “This man in the White House is incoherent, incompetent and dangerous. And we have to protect children and other living things from him.”
"Feels good, right?"
No! This appalling Trump administration does not feel good!
"Feels good, right?"
No! This appalling Trump administration does not feel good!
1
Adlai Stevenson said, "I need a majority." But the Democrats HAVE a majority -- 2.8 million more votes than Trump got. Many more Democratic than Republican votes cast in congressional elections, too. The problem is that the Democrats need a lot MORE than a majority in order to be able to exercise power because the system offers a systemic advantage to the Republicans.
Democrats didn't lose the South for economic reasons. Democrats lost the South because Democrats became the party of Civil Rights, as I'm sure you know. I will never, ever trade away that legacy and allow Jeff Sessions' creeping Jim Crow to come back in return for votes.
2
"For the next year, Democrats should filter their policy initiatives through the eyes of the person Trump claims to speak for — the forgotten American."
OK, let's apply that to immigration. Support Tom Cotton's RAISE bill, to reduce immigration from poorly educated, low skilled immigrants. Help tighten up labor markets for working class Americans.
Forgotten men and women around the country will be watching.
OK, let's apply that to immigration. Support Tom Cotton's RAISE bill, to reduce immigration from poorly educated, low skilled immigrants. Help tighten up labor markets for working class Americans.
Forgotten men and women around the country will be watching.
2
Hyper-partisan politics is the cancer that is killing our democracy.
George Washington warned us in his farewell address, writing "in government purely elected, it [partisan politics] is a spirit not to be encouraged." He concluded "there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage [partisan politcs]. A fire not to be quenched, [partisan politcs] demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, [partisan politics] should consume."
As Washington warned in 1796 and today our political house has burst into a raging inferno.
For those who cling to Democrats as the hope, I'll offer this simple observation. In 2004 a young state senator suggested the following:
"The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states-red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We coach Little League in the blue states and, yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states."
In just four years, that speaker won the Presidency.
We need to confront our hyper-partisan politics. The message that resonates with our citizens, E Pluribus Unum- "out of many, one."
The time has come to reform our political parties, to concentrate less on red v. blue and more on finding what brings us all to together as one.
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George Washington warned us in his farewell address, writing "in government purely elected, it [partisan politics] is a spirit not to be encouraged." He concluded "there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage [partisan politcs]. A fire not to be quenched, [partisan politcs] demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, [partisan politics] should consume."
As Washington warned in 1796 and today our political house has burst into a raging inferno.
For those who cling to Democrats as the hope, I'll offer this simple observation. In 2004 a young state senator suggested the following:
"The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states-red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We coach Little League in the blue states and, yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states."
In just four years, that speaker won the Presidency.
We need to confront our hyper-partisan politics. The message that resonates with our citizens, E Pluribus Unum- "out of many, one."
The time has come to reform our political parties, to concentrate less on red v. blue and more on finding what brings us all to together as one.
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1
This is one of the saddest articles I have ever read on this subject.
I remember our anguish when Adlai Stevenson lost. I remember Jim Crow. Eugene McCarthy. I remember when the LBJ-Democrats lost the South. Mr. Eagan, FDR did what he had to do, though Eleanor did not approve. We must become better than that. The New Deal did very little for people of color. Jim Crow and the KKK ruled the South with a murderous reign of terror. Are you saying that the only way Democrats can be a majority is to go back to that?
Then you say we Democrats have to be for something. There is actually a very long list of popular things Democrats are for, but have not been able to communicate over the fear-mongering generated in right-wing think tanks.
Your sugar-high metaphor is witty, but it does not nearly represent the despair this old Adlai Stevenson supporter feels today. Your article is sending me back to bed this morning....soon as I call my weasel of a Representative to tell her not to repeal the fiduciary duty that Democrats are FOR.
I remember our anguish when Adlai Stevenson lost. I remember Jim Crow. Eugene McCarthy. I remember when the LBJ-Democrats lost the South. Mr. Eagan, FDR did what he had to do, though Eleanor did not approve. We must become better than that. The New Deal did very little for people of color. Jim Crow and the KKK ruled the South with a murderous reign of terror. Are you saying that the only way Democrats can be a majority is to go back to that?
Then you say we Democrats have to be for something. There is actually a very long list of popular things Democrats are for, but have not been able to communicate over the fear-mongering generated in right-wing think tanks.
Your sugar-high metaphor is witty, but it does not nearly represent the despair this old Adlai Stevenson supporter feels today. Your article is sending me back to bed this morning....soon as I call my weasel of a Representative to tell her not to repeal the fiduciary duty that Democrats are FOR.
3
The Republicans had people inside the Democratic Party working for them. Namely, Bernie Sanders.
2
A couple of years ago, we were hearing the same thing in Canada...how the Liberals had lost their way and how Mr. Harper's Conservatives would be forming a majority government forever. Then came Mr. Trudeau, with the novel idea of positive politics. Never say die.
3
The Dems have to start by ridding the party of do-nothings like Pelosi. She's a hazard on the highway to the future. We need fighting leadership. Will it start with a Sanders-Warren coalition? Are there any really strong leadership types in the Democratic Party or are they all still licking wounds?
2
See, I told you President Trump, along with his fellow inmates, has taken over the asylum.
1
"Mitch McConnell when he cuts off the right of a fellow senator to speak"
Fact check: McConnell raised an objection. The Senate itself shut down Sen. Warren. As it has the right to do under its rules which are defined by the Senate itself under the Constitution. No member of Congress can be called to account at law for anything said in Congress, so the rules of each chamber are the only things that govern. Sen. Warren tried an end-run familiar to libel lawyers, that of quoting somebody else. Guess what, it doesn't work in libel cases, and it didn't work in the Senate.
Or maybe it did: Sen. Warren got lots of coverage and a major uplift by baiting the Republicans. Which is probably what she wanted.
Fact check: McConnell raised an objection. The Senate itself shut down Sen. Warren. As it has the right to do under its rules which are defined by the Senate itself under the Constitution. No member of Congress can be called to account at law for anything said in Congress, so the rules of each chamber are the only things that govern. Sen. Warren tried an end-run familiar to libel lawyers, that of quoting somebody else. Guess what, it doesn't work in libel cases, and it didn't work in the Senate.
Or maybe it did: Sen. Warren got lots of coverage and a major uplift by baiting the Republicans. Which is probably what she wanted.
1
Yep. They say light is a great disinfectant.
Many have cited Orwell's "1984" as currently relevant, but that novel may now be passé. As Michael Idov--a Russian-born, American journalist who has spent years in Moscow--recently commented:
". . . [T]he residents of a hybrid regime such as Russia's--that is, an autocratic one that retains the facade of democracy--know that the Orwellian notion [of autocratic rule] is needlessly romantic. Russian life . . .[is] marked less by fear than by . . . the all-pervasive cynicism that no institution is to be trusted, because no institution is bigger than the avarice of the person in charge."
Michael Idov, "Russia: Life After Trust," New York Magazine (January 23-February 5, 2017), p. 22.
President Trump, Mr. Putin's ardent admirer, is now in office. To what extent has the U.S. become one more autocratic regime with a facade of democracy? The Republican politicians and jurists have already assured that the U.S. has become a plutocracy with a democratic facade. It is not much of a stretch from that political situation to autocracy.
Who will author "Trump's America: Life After Trust"?
". . . [T]he residents of a hybrid regime such as Russia's--that is, an autocratic one that retains the facade of democracy--know that the Orwellian notion [of autocratic rule] is needlessly romantic. Russian life . . .[is] marked less by fear than by . . . the all-pervasive cynicism that no institution is to be trusted, because no institution is bigger than the avarice of the person in charge."
Michael Idov, "Russia: Life After Trust," New York Magazine (January 23-February 5, 2017), p. 22.
President Trump, Mr. Putin's ardent admirer, is now in office. To what extent has the U.S. become one more autocratic regime with a facade of democracy? The Republican politicians and jurists have already assured that the U.S. has become a plutocracy with a democratic facade. It is not much of a stretch from that political situation to autocracy.
Who will author "Trump's America: Life After Trust"?
1
No, and again no. "Reaching out" to Trump voters gets nothing except derision from them. They have doubled down on their candidate and their party, to the point of rejecting the democratic process in favor of whatever keeps their party in power, and they will ride with them until reality -- like living in their cars and seeing their children hungry and sick -- makes them see what their party is about.
In my opinion, what the Democratic Party needs to do is support Democrats in red states. The majority of people in this country vote Democratic, but our candidates have been kept out of office by enormous outside funding by Republican donors; antidemocratic moves by Republicans in office, including the gerrymandering of election districts and voter suppression; and apathy among Democratic voters caused in part by the lack of candidates to vote for. There are democratic-majority states with Republican governors and senators; the party needs to figure out why that is happening and address it - with money spent on grooming and supporting promising candidates for office up and down the line; on combating voter suppression, even if it means getting voters registered one person at a time; and on getting people to the polls in off-year elections.
In my opinion, what the Democratic Party needs to do is support Democrats in red states. The majority of people in this country vote Democratic, but our candidates have been kept out of office by enormous outside funding by Republican donors; antidemocratic moves by Republicans in office, including the gerrymandering of election districts and voter suppression; and apathy among Democratic voters caused in part by the lack of candidates to vote for. There are democratic-majority states with Republican governors and senators; the party needs to figure out why that is happening and address it - with money spent on grooming and supporting promising candidates for office up and down the line; on combating voter suppression, even if it means getting voters registered one person at a time; and on getting people to the polls in off-year elections.
2
If ever there was a time to start making America great again, this is it.
by which I mean that #45 is the biggest threat to American greatness that we have seen in a very long time.
Shanikka, so beautifully put. Thank you. It's been clear all along that this strategy, so widespread among some of the loudest voices on the Left (many of them white men), is just pandering to the racism of white Americans. And it will never, ever work. We would lose more votes than we would win, especially for the long haul.
Although it is TRUE that the Dems have not fought hard enough for average Americans and the poor in recent years, this is because they have not sensed the political will of the people behind them. Do you know that Republicans have been calling their elected officials 10-1 over Democrats in recent years? We have certainly turned that around in the past two weeks, but we must NOT blame the party for our own silence. Anyone reading this, please ask yourself, how often have you called or confronted your elected officials over the past five years? Often enough? Your Republican neighbor/father-in-law/cousin has been on the horn and at the town hall meeting. Where have you been? I am asking myself this, and I hold myself responsible, not the party.
It is also true that the loss of offices around the country to Republican control is much more about gerrymandering than it is about a lack of voters. If you don't know about gerrymandering yet, please inform yourself. It is going to be one of the top issues in politics during the next five years. The Repubs wiped the floor with us on this one in 2012, and it has destroyed the representativeness of our democracy.
Although it is TRUE that the Dems have not fought hard enough for average Americans and the poor in recent years, this is because they have not sensed the political will of the people behind them. Do you know that Republicans have been calling their elected officials 10-1 over Democrats in recent years? We have certainly turned that around in the past two weeks, but we must NOT blame the party for our own silence. Anyone reading this, please ask yourself, how often have you called or confronted your elected officials over the past five years? Often enough? Your Republican neighbor/father-in-law/cousin has been on the horn and at the town hall meeting. Where have you been? I am asking myself this, and I hold myself responsible, not the party.
It is also true that the loss of offices around the country to Republican control is much more about gerrymandering than it is about a lack of voters. If you don't know about gerrymandering yet, please inform yourself. It is going to be one of the top issues in politics during the next five years. The Repubs wiped the floor with us on this one in 2012, and it has destroyed the representativeness of our democracy.
1
The irony of trump, whose words don't matter, is that his success came about precisely because they do. Democrats have lost the ability to communicate to the citizenry at large. The mastermind behind the success of the Republican Party for the past two decades is Frank Luntz. He's the guy who figured out how a national political organization should talk to the average joe in the street and get joe to believe that it was speaking directly to him. Democrats need less marching in the streets, less Pelosi and Schumer, and a whole lot more Frank Luntz on their side if they have any hope of fixing this mess.
Where I live in western New York (a "blue state" mind you) there in effect is no Democratic Party. A decade ago there was one, but it was wilting. During this past election the Democratic for New York's 27th Congressional District could best be described as "nearly invisible." I saw one local TV add from her on the weekend prior to election day, and it was a pretty weak one at that. All local officials on the ballot (running for NY State seats) were unopposed. There were no races. There were no Democratic candidates. Sen. Chuck Shumer showed up locally one week AFTER the election for an event in one nearby town.
If the Democratic Party is going to make a comeback, they're going to have to start by first showing up.
If the Democratic Party is going to make a comeback, they're going to have to start by first showing up.
3
I am quite wary of this sort of postmortem navel gazing and hand wringing. The election could just possibly have been a simple case of name recognition on one side ("Hey, that's that rich guy from on the TV!") and rejection of a Democratic candidate, unfairly or not, who had already had a whack at trying to win the presidency. Historically, US voters have not been kind to repeat candidates.
14 politicians in a MAJOR party were nominated(or came close like HRC in 2008) as candidate for POTUS and lost but then tried again (sometimes more than two attempts, Charles Pinckney 4 times!) four or even eight years later. Only 5 were successful.
14 politicians in a MAJOR party were nominated(or came close like HRC in 2008) as candidate for POTUS and lost but then tried again (sometimes more than two attempts, Charles Pinckney 4 times!) four or even eight years later. Only 5 were successful.
I don't really have it in me to do anything about local or state politics in WA. Everything seems great! National reps need support to keep up the fight in DC, not pestering for faux pas at home.
1
It's true, Democrats are difficult to herd and organize. Perhaps that's because (unlike Donald Trump) many of them read full-length books and are willing to entertain conflicting opinions (OK, not always).
Why have Republicans been more successful winning legislative power in various states?
Well, it wasn't by preaching a story of an America revived by love and generosity.
Watch those Trump rallies again. What was the man preaching? Hatred. He granted his audiences permission to hate certain groups of people. And that was fun!
The Republican Party is united by resistance to the federal government. Many are determined to keep their guns and lock their doors again the BATF. Others oppose abortion. A number are galvanized by their learned disgust for homosexuality. Fundamentalist Christians, prepared to march in lockstep, have become Key to the GOP (that's why Pence is now the VP). And there's quiet racism at work ... the distrust of brown-skinned people. The Civil War lives on.
I'm happy with Democratic identity politics that acknowledge history and teach tolerance. Yup, we need to get organized and fight the local battles, but that's happening. Trump and his cabinet have become the designated enemy. We'll fight to preserve the ACA, Medicare, Medicaid, the rights of gays, immigrants, African-Americans ... and yes, workers. (But won't promise to restore the coal mines.)
And we will fight hard. We ain't all cotton candy.
Why have Republicans been more successful winning legislative power in various states?
Well, it wasn't by preaching a story of an America revived by love and generosity.
Watch those Trump rallies again. What was the man preaching? Hatred. He granted his audiences permission to hate certain groups of people. And that was fun!
The Republican Party is united by resistance to the federal government. Many are determined to keep their guns and lock their doors again the BATF. Others oppose abortion. A number are galvanized by their learned disgust for homosexuality. Fundamentalist Christians, prepared to march in lockstep, have become Key to the GOP (that's why Pence is now the VP). And there's quiet racism at work ... the distrust of brown-skinned people. The Civil War lives on.
I'm happy with Democratic identity politics that acknowledge history and teach tolerance. Yup, we need to get organized and fight the local battles, but that's happening. Trump and his cabinet have become the designated enemy. We'll fight to preserve the ACA, Medicare, Medicaid, the rights of gays, immigrants, African-Americans ... and yes, workers. (But won't promise to restore the coal mines.)
And we will fight hard. We ain't all cotton candy.
1
Deborah, it's interesting that you put the rights of workers last on your list. Many workers feel that this is exactly where the Democratic Party prioritizes them these days. That's why many of them either didn't vote last November or voted for Trump, esp. in the Rust Belt.
3
I'd argue that the hatred most salient to his win that Trump whipped up was hatred of the "liberal elite". Many people who voted for Trump are not, in fact, white nationalists or "deplorables" or are any more racist than the average white liberal. However, they really, really wanted to see sneering, condescending liberal elites put in their places. And they are now getting the show they wanted.
2
Fair criticism. But, you know what, the vulgar T-shirts and fierce ugly behavior of so many Trump supporters in those Trump rallies wore out my patience for resentful "Make America Great Again" white guys ... and gals. Remember: Hillary did win the popular vote, and Obama (a relatively young man, an orator) won those northern Midwestern states, and Pennsylvania, that Hillary barely lost. Apparently what the Dems need is more candidates in their forties who speak with passion, and appear athletic, and sing a fine song ... oh yeah, and aren't female? I do agree that the Democrats suffered because the Party depended too heavily on its computer networks and didn't go talk to people, union members, former coal miners. Bill Clinton would have known to do it. In fact, of course, Hillary Clinton offered many more proposals for helping American workers than Donald Trump could even begin to alphabetize (he doesn't read much). But Trump was so much fun ... because so hateful.
What makes you think the Democrats in office want change?
For the last six years the have smiled and lied to us that the Republican made it to hard to get anything done. How many times did Obama go on nation tv to condem the republican obstruction with a call for protests or a national strikes. We could have medicare for all right now. We could have nationalized the Wall Street Banks and broke them up. Dems turned their backs on Unions and the working class by choice.
As a great american once said " sit on it Pottsey"
For the last six years the have smiled and lied to us that the Republican made it to hard to get anything done. How many times did Obama go on nation tv to condem the republican obstruction with a call for protests or a national strikes. We could have medicare for all right now. We could have nationalized the Wall Street Banks and broke them up. Dems turned their backs on Unions and the working class by choice.
As a great american once said " sit on it Pottsey"
1
White men, white power and money. Money, white power, white men. The deadly merry go round.
Another sharp shooting piece by T. Egan.
Another sharp shooting piece by T. Egan.
1
They suffer from a Superiority Complex.
2
You had me Tim until you mentioned identify-politics. What a farce! This buzzword is absolutely without merit. Though I am not a registered Democrat I reflect on which party has consistently for the last several decades attempted to address the needs of "the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid": it is the Democratic party. After all, it is the Republicans who have been consistently against unions (how many Republican governed states now that have right-to-work laws?) and for business interests at any cost. What the Democratic party lacks is messaging. Trump appealed to the white poor because of his baseless promises. His message of us-against-them and fear mongering prompted the majority of whites who voted to vote for him (I am a white woman and did NOT vote for him). Yes, the Democrats need to better strategize on policy but most importantly on a message that resonates better with the populace.
2
Explain to me how things like protecting retirement savings from Wall Street predation and providing affordable healthcare do not help white working class.
3
Many working class people have no retirement savings and need Social Security. No broker or "investment counselor" would bother with them in the first place.
Way to go, Mr. Egan. Please keep sending this important message. And you might add to it the media. National TV heads have enormous influence but they ALL live in NYC or DC. All of them. It's an echo chamber. Even the very influential NYTimes is guilty of the same thing. Some of you guys and gals need to physically relocate to Kansas City.
There seems to be a contradiction, with Obama's popularity numbers when he left office. I don't know who came up with these numbers, but I suspect it was the same people that said Clinton would win the Presidency going away.Logic yells out at me when I see the House & Senate controlled by Republicans, & when 3/4 of the States have Republican Governors, & last but certainly not least , the most unqualified President in our history was elected.
Before the Democrats can recapture government, they must unite. There is a major split between two of the most important blocks of voters in the Democrat Party.Netanyahu & Obama were bitter enemies, this has caused a divide between those that support Israel, & obviously African Americans who look upon Obama with pride & hope.You wouldn't know it by the statistics that showed over 70% of Jewish voters voted for Clinton, but this was not a Vote for Clinton as much as it was a vote against the Republican Platform.The Jewish people are one of the most educated groups of Americans, they are also probably the most secular & progressive groups.We fiercely support the separation of Church & State..We often vote against our pockets, which belies the stereotypes that we are obsessed with the almighty dollar.Our standard of Living as a group is one of the highest in America, which should make us ideal Republicans, but this is offset by an ingrained fear of intolerance that haunts us every time we see a Bannon in power.
Before the Democrats can recapture government, they must unite. There is a major split between two of the most important blocks of voters in the Democrat Party.Netanyahu & Obama were bitter enemies, this has caused a divide between those that support Israel, & obviously African Americans who look upon Obama with pride & hope.You wouldn't know it by the statistics that showed over 70% of Jewish voters voted for Clinton, but this was not a Vote for Clinton as much as it was a vote against the Republican Platform.The Jewish people are one of the most educated groups of Americans, they are also probably the most secular & progressive groups.We fiercely support the separation of Church & State..We often vote against our pockets, which belies the stereotypes that we are obsessed with the almighty dollar.Our standard of Living as a group is one of the highest in America, which should make us ideal Republicans, but this is offset by an ingrained fear of intolerance that haunts us every time we see a Bannon in power.
3
Barely three weeks have gone by since the inauguration of Mr. Trump, yet I don't think it is too early to call this one of the most incompetent, corrupt administrations in our history. And, no, it won't get better.
7
More than spot on. FDR, not Reagan.
The "white working people" is the problematic part here. What are the salient issues that Democrats could work with to reach that group?
First- let's try job loses. We all know those jobs are gone- gone to robotics, gone to cheap labor, and, in the case of coal, gone to a future where renewables will be the answer. In short they are all gone to the future and they won't be back. The answer is in the things Obama pushed for like free junior college but no one wants to hear that-just too hard. Give me the easy option please- just lie to me.
Second, race. I know it isn't the thing now-a-days to say that in many cases we a dealing with "deplorables" but if you scratch the surface (go ahead educated liberals, I dare you) of many of these "working class whites" you will find a breath taking level of racism (and that from a perspective that views all, or almost all, "white people", no matter how well meaning, as racist to some extent). We won't even go into those other categories where stereotyping is so prevalent- religion, sex and country of origin since it is more of the same.
What is left as the point of engagement for Democrats with "working class whites"? I offer the same as is the case for that other very similar group- southern whites. In other words-nothing unless they wake up and smell the coffee. The republicans will give them nothing but a false sense of empowerment.
First- let's try job loses. We all know those jobs are gone- gone to robotics, gone to cheap labor, and, in the case of coal, gone to a future where renewables will be the answer. In short they are all gone to the future and they won't be back. The answer is in the things Obama pushed for like free junior college but no one wants to hear that-just too hard. Give me the easy option please- just lie to me.
Second, race. I know it isn't the thing now-a-days to say that in many cases we a dealing with "deplorables" but if you scratch the surface (go ahead educated liberals, I dare you) of many of these "working class whites" you will find a breath taking level of racism (and that from a perspective that views all, or almost all, "white people", no matter how well meaning, as racist to some extent). We won't even go into those other categories where stereotyping is so prevalent- religion, sex and country of origin since it is more of the same.
What is left as the point of engagement for Democrats with "working class whites"? I offer the same as is the case for that other very similar group- southern whites. In other words-nothing unless they wake up and smell the coffee. The republicans will give them nothing but a false sense of empowerment.
There is no way the Democrats can regain their affinity to "the forgotten man" until they remember who he is and that in which he believes.
The arrogance of Obama, matched by the arrogance of Charles Schumer and Nancy Pelosi will assure that the Democrats will not find their way back to the homeland of the disadvantaged and disenfranchised.
The arrogance of Obama, matched by the arrogance of Charles Schumer and Nancy Pelosi will assure that the Democrats will not find their way back to the homeland of the disadvantaged and disenfranchised.
8
And there is no way many Democrats will fully come into the fold of those who purport to speak for the "forgotten man" until conservatives can get it through their heads that half of the forgotten men are women. And that a good number of those women rely on contraceptives to even have some semblance of control over their futures. Not to mention that those women also rely on medicaid and medicare for the elderly family members they are caring for. And health insurance for the children they are caring for. Especially if their husbands have been laid off from manufacturing jobs and have no income....
If you pull anything out of the universe, you find it connected to everything else, to slightly misquote John Muir.
If you pull anything out of the universe, you find it connected to everything else, to slightly misquote John Muir.
1
I'm for lower taxes and world peas.
Does Egan not realize the rather unsettling implications when he chastises democrats simultaneously for not being "for something" and for focusing on the concerns of non-white voters?
1
This Democrat is thoroughly disgusted with the Democratic party; we had a great opportunity for recapturing both houses of Congress as well as the presidency but thru sheer stupidity and underhandedness we lost everything.
We had a great opportunity to have another beloved president, Bernie Sanders, but identity politics said she had to be female because it was her turn and she and the DNC wanted to run against the worse possible candidate for the general election to ensure that SHE won; what a mess.
Yes, the Democratic party still stands for something, the good values that I have cherished are obscured by Goldman Sachs and bleeding heart liberals who want open boarders and illegal immigration.
President Obama, we love you, but get your butt back here and help the DNC heal thyself.
We had a great opportunity to have another beloved president, Bernie Sanders, but identity politics said she had to be female because it was her turn and she and the DNC wanted to run against the worse possible candidate for the general election to ensure that SHE won; what a mess.
Yes, the Democratic party still stands for something, the good values that I have cherished are obscured by Goldman Sachs and bleeding heart liberals who want open boarders and illegal immigration.
President Obama, we love you, but get your butt back here and help the DNC heal thyself.
151
JRS-- you are barking up the wrong tree looking for Obama to save the democratic party. He was goldman sachs all the way. His appeal to demos of the open border philosophy is the stuff of legends. We need old fashioned dems to lead the party. If we can't have FDR, let's have Howard Dean and Joe Biden.
1
Bernie as President is a nice fantasy. The opposition held their fire during the primaries, but the Republicans would have roared into action and destroyed him in the general election--and Trump would have won in a real landslide. The "forgotten" white working class voting for a candidate who would have been portrayed--incessantly--as a socialist enemy of America? I don't think so.
Unfortunately, Obama was as much of a neoliberal, corporatist Democrat as both of the Clintons - and Schumer and the rest of the crowd you listed. They need to go. They are as much of a problem as McConnell.
Our Democratic Party leadership, with the exception of Joe Biden, is out of touch. Nancy Pelosi, bless her, needs to cede her position to younger, fresher voices and faces. (Did you catch that she referred to Pres. Bush the other day?) The norms of even 2 years ago are gone, much less the norms of 10 years ago. The DNC needs a wholesale shake-up as do the state parties. Here in VA we haven't had good party leadership in quite a while. Good individuals in the D party yes-Mark Warner, Tim Kaine and others. But leadership development and candidate development is completely missing. Add to that the long-term game plan the R's with the help of organizations such as ALEC that control the redistricting, and we are where we are. If one more statehouse goes R they can amend the Constitution without any opposition. So IMO the D's are at a critical turning point, and we all need to step up.
278
They don't have to be younger. What Democrats need to provide are candidates who only have one face. We've had too many candidates who have two faces. Or, maybe three or four or more that can be shown as needed.
The dilemma of the Democrats is obvious. The party Establishment, from Hillary and Pelosi right on down through the Congressional Black Caucus, Cory Booker, and Kristin Gillibrand, is owned and operated by Wall St., and thus totally opposed to the only thing that could bring the party back: ECONOMIC progressivism as personified by Bernie Sanders. When Goldman hired the Clintons in 1992 to drive a stake through the heart of any lingering economic progressivism in the party, and replace it with Wall St. neoliberalism for the rich, Goldman's brilliant tactic was to make identity politics the set of wedge issues that would make the Dem masses, especially blacks and women, vote to make the rich richer and themselves poorer, exactly the same way the Republican wedge issues of guns, God, and bloody fetuses con the white Republican mob into committing economic suicide, too. Obviously, Goldman doesn't really care whether a neoliberal Democratic like Hillary, Obama, Booker, or Gillibrand is elected and runs the country for the rich, or if a Republican, even Trump, does. It's all the same politics of, by, and for the rich. So the Dems can either do what Bernie did, completely make an end run around being bought by the rich by getting his money from "the little people," in order to run a truly populist, economically progressive campaign, which would have beaten Trump in the Rust Belt and won the White House easily. Or they can continue to nominate hand-puppets of Goldman--and lose.
236
Not sure it would work, since the people who elected Trump now cannot seem to care less about the power of Wall Street. They want one or more of three things:
1) To get jobs back
2) To enjoy the spectacle of angry and powerless liberal elites stomping their feet and wringing their hands.
3) The satisfaction of watching system get busted apart, with a hope that something better will replace it. Something that looks more like 1950. (and some Sanders supporters want the same thing, without the 1950s part.)
That's it. They don't care, really, about what happens on Wall Street.
1) To get jobs back
2) To enjoy the spectacle of angry and powerless liberal elites stomping their feet and wringing their hands.
3) The satisfaction of watching system get busted apart, with a hope that something better will replace it. Something that looks more like 1950. (and some Sanders supporters want the same thing, without the 1950s part.)
That's it. They don't care, really, about what happens on Wall Street.
1
I have never heard this point of view before and I have to say I think you are right. I mean it sounds like a conspiracy theory that is left over from the old "FBI in Library" crowd, but when you think of it and let your dark side out, it really explains a lot of things, It ties into the dark side of Hillary and Bill and all the events that really happened. I hate to say it but I am with you on this one.
2
Fred White, first you are 100% wrong. In 2009 democrats without any Repub support passed Dodd-Frank. As a result, thanks to the CFPB consumers have received billions from banks and credit card companies who had overcharged fees or ripped them off on mortgages. New debt-to-loan ratios were required so banks would not go under for overleverage. Medicaid for the poor was quadrupled by the ACA (but limited subsequently by the S. Ct. to only states that agreed); Dems supported higher federal minimum wages. Obama instituted dozens of worker protections. Now that is being undone by only republicans. Not only are you incorrect but your repeating these falsehoods got Trump elected. You are part of the problem and the best friend of the 0.1%. Own it!
1
Yes, 45 is a problem, but not THE problem. Hopefully, the courts will continue to function as a check on the abuses being piled on America and individuals from other countries. The complacent and amoral Republican party in Washington should be held accountable (by their voters) for allowing DJT to run wild.
If the Democrats have a strategy for 2018 and 2020, it will include a push at the state level to take back as many seats in congress as possible. Since HRC won the popular vote by a considerable margin, the Democrats should by able to win back the voters who will be sorely disappointed over the next two years.
If the Democrats have a strategy for 2018 and 2020, it will include a push at the state level to take back as many seats in congress as possible. Since HRC won the popular vote by a considerable margin, the Democrats should by able to win back the voters who will be sorely disappointed over the next two years.
112
I hope Robert is right about the courts. I can easily imagine Trump creating a constitutional crisis by ignoring court decisions. I hope not, but Trump's arrogance and his hostile and demeaning comments about judges give cause for concern.
The Democrats put too much emphasis on the outcome of the popular election. Perhaps we should select Presidents based on the popular vote, but we don't. Not counting California, the electorate was evenly divided. That is and will continue to be a problem for Democrats.
The Democrats put too much emphasis on the outcome of the popular election. Perhaps we should select Presidents based on the popular vote, but we don't. Not counting California, the electorate was evenly divided. That is and will continue to be a problem for Democrats.
1
The trend has always been to vote against the party in power for checks and balances. I think it's just human nature. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against the dems in 2018, despite this. It's too bad the congress and senate seats available in 2016 were reversed with 2018. Then I'd be a lot more hopeful. Right now I think we're in a big hole until 2020 and hopefully make more significant gains on the state level. That's where it starts and if we can't manage that, then we're in real trouble.
1
Here in Ohio's Hamilton County, the local Democratic Party's highly organized coordinated campaign resulted in the defeat of three Republican incumbents, and wrested control of the Hamilton County Commission away from Republicans for the first time since 2006. Clinton comfortably won the state's three largest counties, Hamilton (Cincinnati), Cuyahoga (Cleveland), and Franklin (Columbus). But Tea Party poster boy, Rep. Steve Chabot (R), is my (1st District) U.S. Congressman, thanks, in part, to Republican gerrymandering. The devil is in the detail. I'm counting on our former president, Mr. Obama, who has pledged to make legislative redistricting a central political priority in his first years after the presidency, to provide guidance.
2
"Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump."
Absolutely right. Every single social and civil advancement of the past 90 years was due to Democrats holding power because of their liberal economic policies. Democratic politicians forgot that reality.
Then they foolishly put the cart before the horse. Economic issues became a very distant second to social ones. They offered welfare, job retraining and education for non-existent jobs and low wage, low benefits and low esteem service jobs for the good manufacturing jobs they sent offshore. They abandoned working class American economic interests and now they are shocked, SHOCKED!, that a large segment of working class Americans have abandoned them.
I'm sick of watching protests and marches. They are nothing but public displays of political incompetence and impotence of the Democratic Party and contemporary American liberalism. When I start seeing Democratic politicians putting working class economic issues first is when I'll start taking them seriously as a political party again.
Absolutely right. Every single social and civil advancement of the past 90 years was due to Democrats holding power because of their liberal economic policies. Democratic politicians forgot that reality.
Then they foolishly put the cart before the horse. Economic issues became a very distant second to social ones. They offered welfare, job retraining and education for non-existent jobs and low wage, low benefits and low esteem service jobs for the good manufacturing jobs they sent offshore. They abandoned working class American economic interests and now they are shocked, SHOCKED!, that a large segment of working class Americans have abandoned them.
I'm sick of watching protests and marches. They are nothing but public displays of political incompetence and impotence of the Democratic Party and contemporary American liberalism. When I start seeing Democratic politicians putting working class economic issues first is when I'll start taking them seriously as a political party again.
2
The use of the electoral college to pick the election winner is the basic problem that goes against the principles of democracy. The general election should list every one running and allow voters to pick the one that gets the largest number of votes - this process reduces the corruption and the unnecessary use of money that have allowed the corrupt to buy the cabinet seats in the Trump administration. That the US is a democracy is not quite true as a bunch rust belt state voters who are too lazy and ignorant to help themselves get the better of some very great folks who create wealth and pay taxes that feeds these "deplorables".
2
Trump, has told us all how to resist his sitting Presidency. Nothing, gets his attention more then having his families businesses fail. The whole "Nordstrom's" diabolical was the key to Trump's bailing on the whole "Presidential" experiment, and nightmare.
All of his businesses should be boycotted. Stores in his buildings ignored. Names on building removed. If he is a nightmare to all of us, then his Presidency has to be a nightmare for him.
This, of course, is already happening in NYC. We all know this guy for thirty plus years. He lost the vote in New York by thirty points or so. Names on buildings have been removed, and no one buys his daughters clothing line.
He performed his Presidency as an exercise in obstinacy. Completely ignoring a real majority of people who didn't vote for him. Jamming, down our throats, the most right wing ideologues and judge picks. He got complete power, and rather then take a centrist constructive path, he doubled down on his, (and perhaps his fathers), most heinous impulses.
The country is poised for a resurgence, a real one, for everyone. If Trump did just a few things right, he would end up on Mt. Rushmore. Single payer healthcare, would be a start. It won't happen, he's too far gone. He doesn't understand his own destructive impulses.
All of his businesses should be boycotted. Stores in his buildings ignored. Names on building removed. If he is a nightmare to all of us, then his Presidency has to be a nightmare for him.
This, of course, is already happening in NYC. We all know this guy for thirty plus years. He lost the vote in New York by thirty points or so. Names on buildings have been removed, and no one buys his daughters clothing line.
He performed his Presidency as an exercise in obstinacy. Completely ignoring a real majority of people who didn't vote for him. Jamming, down our throats, the most right wing ideologues and judge picks. He got complete power, and rather then take a centrist constructive path, he doubled down on his, (and perhaps his fathers), most heinous impulses.
The country is poised for a resurgence, a real one, for everyone. If Trump did just a few things right, he would end up on Mt. Rushmore. Single payer healthcare, would be a start. It won't happen, he's too far gone. He doesn't understand his own destructive impulses.
4
I have said this before. Democrats can be very effective as an opposition party. They do not have to change at all. After all, they represent at least 50% of the population. What Democrats need is a third party for that part of the white class that resents us snobby Democrats that know it all. President Trump has said he is that third party. But he has done nothing since Jan 20 that demonstrates he is leading a third party. Democrats need to remind the white resentful class just what candidate Trump promised. This does not mean that the white resentful class will become Democrats. It simply means that as the Republicans split, we can find different ways to achieve our goals. But first we have to split the Republicans!
2
The Democrats need to remember that once you get out of liberal metropolitan areas, America is mostly a center to center right country. So the far far left social justice warrior policies currently pushed by the party are a non starter. On the fiscal side, those struggling to make ends meet don't want government handouts and dependency they want decent jobs that they can take pride in and that allow them to take care of themselves.
8
Please give an example of what you consider to be a "far far left social justice warrior policy." I'm a Democrat and decent jobs people can take pride in and support themselves with is something I want too.
Sometimes I think the majority of Americans are much closer in thought than we realize - and it is the branding and labels that part us more than anything else.
Sometimes I think the majority of Americans are much closer in thought than we realize - and it is the branding and labels that part us more than anything else.
1
So are you rich enough to get by without Social Security and Medicare in your old age? I could live with "center to center right" and so could most of my 'liberal' friends. Wake me up when we get back there!
In the meantime go read the Republican Party Platform of 1956 and then give me your take on what we have going in Washington today. Excerpt:
---
For our guidance in fulfilling this responsibility, President Eisenhower has given us a statement of principles that is neither partisan nor prejudiced, but warmly American:
The individual is of supreme importance.
The spirit of our people is the strength of our nation.
America does not prosper unless all Americans prosper.
Government must have a heart as well as a head.
Courage in principle, cooperation in practice make freedom positive.
To stay free, we must stay strong.
---
Read the rest here:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25838
In the meantime go read the Republican Party Platform of 1956 and then give me your take on what we have going in Washington today. Excerpt:
---
For our guidance in fulfilling this responsibility, President Eisenhower has given us a statement of principles that is neither partisan nor prejudiced, but warmly American:
The individual is of supreme importance.
The spirit of our people is the strength of our nation.
America does not prosper unless all Americans prosper.
Government must have a heart as well as a head.
Courage in principle, cooperation in practice make freedom positive.
To stay free, we must stay strong.
---
Read the rest here:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25838
"Please give an example of what you consider to be a "far far left social justice warrior policy.""
Forcing girls to shower with boys, forcing nuns to pay for birth control, forcing evangelicals to participate in gay marriages, rioting when a cop shoots an armed felon, etc. But someone doesn't want to rent to a Trump supporter and that's all hunky dory.
Forcing girls to shower with boys, forcing nuns to pay for birth control, forcing evangelicals to participate in gay marriages, rioting when a cop shoots an armed felon, etc. But someone doesn't want to rent to a Trump supporter and that's all hunky dory.
2
Of course, Trump’s phrase was lifted from somewhere else. Franklin Roosevelt first rode to victory in 1932 by urging fellow citizens to put faith in “the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.”
Democrats should be fighting to create a better life for all Americans and don't forget to tell all of America that we did it. The left has stood by slack jawed while the Republicans have controlled the conversation since Bill Clinton.
Democrats appear unable to effectively challenge the narrative the Republicans are selling to the American people. We allow myths to be sold as truth and unpopular ideas to be sold as trends. And as James Carville suggested, whatever version of failure that is -- whether it's a problem with communication, leadership, management, economic strategizing, etc. -- it's failure by somebody, and those somebodies ought to be replaced.
Democrats should be fighting to create a better life for all Americans and don't forget to tell all of America that we did it. The left has stood by slack jawed while the Republicans have controlled the conversation since Bill Clinton.
Democrats appear unable to effectively challenge the narrative the Republicans are selling to the American people. We allow myths to be sold as truth and unpopular ideas to be sold as trends. And as James Carville suggested, whatever version of failure that is -- whether it's a problem with communication, leadership, management, economic strategizing, etc. -- it's failure by somebody, and those somebodies ought to be replaced.
Egan: "Every day brings some fresh affront to decency, some assault on progress, some blow to the truth."
This is one of the best summaries of what we are experiencing under the Trump and Republican-dominated government. This brief sentence captures the times, and trust this line will be included in future histories of our times under Trump.
This is one of the best summaries of what we are experiencing under the Trump and Republican-dominated government. This brief sentence captures the times, and trust this line will be included in future histories of our times under Trump.
2
Mr Egan, no one I know feels"giddy". We are meeting to plan and strategize. We are very much aware that demonstrating is just one tool. We are doing this because we are worried sick about the future of this country. We are on the move, Mr. Egan. These are not "giddy" times.
11
As far as I am concerned the Democratic party's leadership, at least when it shows its public face, is about as underwhelming as it can be. Maybe Pelosi and Schumer have bulging biceps within the Senate and House, but they sure don't exhibit strength to me. The Tower of Babel that was just elected is destined to collapse under its own weight with help from those in the trenches of the federal bureaucracy (as well as the 'les miserables' in the Nation's neighborhoods) who continue to publicly decry the behavior of the new administration.
1
How is a party to deal with the opposition cheating with the help of the Russian government, the FBI, voter suppression, gerrymandering and Rupert Murdoch and his ilk? Nate Silver stated Trump would have certainly lost had the election been held the day before Comey's letter. But I guess we will all pretend that there is something wrong with the Democratic party's positions even though wth all of this cheating Hilliary won the popular vote.
5
Mr. Trump thought about the residents of Scranton and they helped elect him. The only chance the D's have is that things in this country will get so bad for the residents of Scranton that even they will be willing to vote out this venal president and the self serving GOP congress with him.
Your party is finished.
The Democrats will be reduced increasingly to a small and frightened group of white urbanites, hiding behind a shield of aggrieved minorities until those minorities become prominent enough to discard their unwanted masters.
Certainly, they won't become Republicans. But they won't become you either. The days of fragile white liberals moaning about "inequality" is coming to an end, and that's good news for the world.
The Democrats will be reduced increasingly to a small and frightened group of white urbanites, hiding behind a shield of aggrieved minorities until those minorities become prominent enough to discard their unwanted masters.
Certainly, they won't become Republicans. But they won't become you either. The days of fragile white liberals moaning about "inequality" is coming to an end, and that's good news for the world.
5
Sorry. It's alive and well. It was never meant to be easy in democracy.
2
"Republicans control everything in Washington, two-thirds of state legislative chambers and 33 governor’s mansions."
Yes they do. And Atlanta was also leading New England 28-3.
Things change. Count on it. Republicans should savor this time, because they will be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence.
Yes they do. And Atlanta was also leading New England 28-3.
Things change. Count on it. Republicans should savor this time, because they will be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence.
Reporters and voters should daily ask one question of trump and the local, state, and national GOP: where are the jobs? They always "promise" that. Every election cycle. And this past election, we heard it again. We heard, " build a wall," and "lock her up." Fine. It's a simple question that the GOP has yet to deliver on. Start asking, where are the jobs? Where are the jobs? Where are the jobs?
This comes dangerously close to promoting dissing minorities. But not quite. Someone like Biden more or less hews to the right line. Curious that Egan refuses to name why the south went re-thug-lican: white racism and white racism alone. Dems can't win without minorities, and all the Lillas and Egans can't change that, and better remember that.
Tim, it's easy to be flip, but a lot harder to try to discern the realities underneath our problems. Ask yourself, and tell us your answers:
1. Have people all over the world become too numerous and opinionated to be governed with their agreement or is force necessary?
2. Why are so many Americans so poorly educated and so accepting of blatant lies?
3. The American Dream had been imagined and mythologized, but when did it actually exist and for how long?
4. Shall we stand against a sea of troubles, or shall we just lie down and let the MRAPs run over us?
Fortunately for some of us, we have NYS and a fine governor like Cuomo to oppose Trump. Others are fortunate to have California and a fine governor like Brown to do the same.
1. Have people all over the world become too numerous and opinionated to be governed with their agreement or is force necessary?
2. Why are so many Americans so poorly educated and so accepting of blatant lies?
3. The American Dream had been imagined and mythologized, but when did it actually exist and for how long?
4. Shall we stand against a sea of troubles, or shall we just lie down and let the MRAPs run over us?
Fortunately for some of us, we have NYS and a fine governor like Cuomo to oppose Trump. Others are fortunate to have California and a fine governor like Brown to do the same.
1
What I like about this piece above many other commentaries is that it focuses not on the now-familiar litany of Trump transgressions, but on how the Democrats can climb out of their present political hole. If that seems daunting or hopeless, consider the hole Republicans were in the day Obama was first sworn in as president. And look at them now!
1
No argument. The way forward for the Democrats is already mapped out, and just needs tweaking. It's called The New Deal.
One thing is certain - Trump and his Republican majority will drive the country into a ditch and betray the very people who put him in the White House. It's what they do. They campaign perpetually against government, and can't govern when they get power.
The old days of triangulating, centrist, elitist Democrats must be over. It's back to the FDR roots or off to oblivion.
One thing is certain - Trump and his Republican majority will drive the country into a ditch and betray the very people who put him in the White House. It's what they do. They campaign perpetually against government, and can't govern when they get power.
The old days of triangulating, centrist, elitist Democrats must be over. It's back to the FDR roots or off to oblivion.
2
why separate white and black working class. Last time I checked a vast majority of the black and latino population was working class, with most of the same needs as white working class voters. What you fail to mention is the exploitation of fear baked into the Trump agenda, as well as a strategy of divide and conquer along the lines of race and class. He also gets a huge leg up in this regard in that Fox news and hate radio have been pounding this wedge into the American psyche nonstop since the Clintons and which was really just an extension of the "Southern Strategy" as persued by Nixon, Reagan and Both Bushes......although you have to shake your head at the now much beloved HW Bush,who brought us Willy Horton, tossing the superbowl coin in a sport made up of a majority of African American players.
4
Mr. Egan is right, sadly.
The Trumpsters will harm working people and the poor, and healthcare will be a bigger mess than it is now. It will happen. But when it does, will the Democrats have a powerful economic message? Will they offer the country something better than the ACA? Given the current disarray in the Democratic party, I fear not, unless they are willing to let the Bernies and the Warrens take the lead and tell the big donors to take a hike.
The Trumpsters will harm working people and the poor, and healthcare will be a bigger mess than it is now. It will happen. But when it does, will the Democrats have a powerful economic message? Will they offer the country something better than the ACA? Given the current disarray in the Democratic party, I fear not, unless they are willing to let the Bernies and the Warrens take the lead and tell the big donors to take a hike.
4
Hillary's Democratic Party is beholden to Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Wall Street, entertainment industry, big time. Till the end of her campaign Hillary kept fundraising big bucks. Nothing accounted for, where did that money go?
Bernie in the other hand showed us we the people could successfully fund democrats. Perhaps having learned a tiny lesson, Chelsea Clintons husband got rid of his hedge fund. Perhaps the Clintons are belatedly learning that big money does not translate to fulfilling the Democratic base's dreams. There is a big disconnect.
Bernie in the other hand showed us we the people could successfully fund democrats. Perhaps having learned a tiny lesson, Chelsea Clintons husband got rid of his hedge fund. Perhaps the Clintons are belatedly learning that big money does not translate to fulfilling the Democratic base's dreams. There is a big disconnect.
1
Yes, yes, and yes. I couldn't agree with you more. I supported Bernie and I also donated to Tim Canova's campaign. I was one of the "little people" who voted with his wallet. And Bernie came close, oh so close. There's hope for the future in Bernie's strategy.
1
Unless and until the Democratic Party's primary misleaders- in -chief resign or are fired or slit their wrists or their bellies there is no hope nor help for the civil secular liberal progressive Democratic Party base acolytes.
Sugar is not their problem. Too much partisan political alcohol, tobacco, opioids and marijuana is their issue. We need a hardy real firm choice. Not a soft echo nor ephemeral shadow. And I am an independent.
Sugar is not their problem. Too much partisan political alcohol, tobacco, opioids and marijuana is their issue. We need a hardy real firm choice. Not a soft echo nor ephemeral shadow. And I am an independent.
6
The Democrats deserve what they are getting. Their smug, cosmetic approach to society's needs brought us to this point. Trump supporters knew that electing him would bring a wrecking-ball to Washington, and now the media are whining about every piece of the wreckage, e.g., "so-called, so-called" (if I heard it one more time, I was ready to demolish the television set.) Obviously, Trump is making gaffes, but no other candidate in sight would have brought real change, for better or for worse, to Washington, and that is what the public wants. Change is never easy. I hope that when the dust settles, we can begin again, leaving the soft-bellied political swamp of liberal rhetoric behind.
5
The only thing that I would quibble with is the description of the average voter. Most Americans do not think of themselves as 'forgotten', although we clearly have been, nor yet as 'working class', although most of us now have become a member.
We think of ourselves as 'middle class', Mr. Egan, or, to put it another way, just the same as most everyone else.
But Democrats only speak to identities that 70% of us don't share.
Hillary Clinton spoke of 'diversity.' Bernie Sanders spoke of middle class economic realities.
And the Democrats sent a gun to a knife fight.
We think of ourselves as 'middle class', Mr. Egan, or, to put it another way, just the same as most everyone else.
But Democrats only speak to identities that 70% of us don't share.
Hillary Clinton spoke of 'diversity.' Bernie Sanders spoke of middle class economic realities.
And the Democrats sent a gun to a knife fight.
1
Democrats hold themselves back politically by following rules that don’t exist in the name of pride and a commitment to civil decency. Republicans are cut-throat. They have no shame exploiting weakness and eviscerating their opponents.
“When they go low, we go high.” Really? Why? Do you enjoy losing? That’s like Tom Brady throwing a pass away because the defense wasn’t ready and it “wouldn’t be fair to take advantage of them.” Heck no! He’s punishing them whether they are ready or not. Trick plays? Sure! The goal is to win. Nothing else.
If democrats want to win, they need to start using their brains in addition to their hearts. Democrats need a Stephen Bannon – a cunning strategist with ice in his veins – to execute their vision of equality.
“When they go low, we go high.” Really? Why? Do you enjoy losing? That’s like Tom Brady throwing a pass away because the defense wasn’t ready and it “wouldn’t be fair to take advantage of them.” Heck no! He’s punishing them whether they are ready or not. Trick plays? Sure! The goal is to win. Nothing else.
If democrats want to win, they need to start using their brains in addition to their hearts. Democrats need a Stephen Bannon – a cunning strategist with ice in his veins – to execute their vision of equality.
3
In other words, while the Left was conquering the faculty lounges, the Right was destroying Unions. One side clearly understands power (where it does and doesn't come from) better than the other side. Maybe, we just aren't as smart as we like to think we are?
3
One fact needs more attention: Trump won with approximately 27% of eligible voters. The key to putting Democrats back in power is getting people to VOTE. I hope the ultimate goal of every protester going forward is to never be complacent and let something like Trump and the Republican erosion of our health, prosperity and Democracy happen again.
3
Obama won whites AND blacks because he didn't pigeon hole either. And Obama, most visible figure in the democratic party, did everything he could to pass legislation that would elevate the economy to a higher plane that would help both working class whites, working class blacks, and poor whites AND poor blacks but he was obstructed at every point. I firmly believe that Hillary would have done the same but she continued to use the same old-pity/victim type language used to describe people on the lower end of the economic spectrum and appear to separate the economic woes of blacks vs. whites. It's tempting, but Barack Obama didn't do it and it worked. This is where her blind spot, and that of many people of power in the democratic party is. They apparently don't realize how many traditionally hard-working americans, eager for jobs paying a sustainable income, are not able to get by both whites and people of color, and putting them in separate categories feeds the impression that their failure is there own fault. There is no place for pity here, or separation of low income from the very poor, black or white. In the short run it may appear that such identity politics gets approval, but in the long run it backfires.
4
I'm finding the old republican adage of "let the states decide" more and more to my liking. Let's push control to states, and limit the power of the federal government. The thirty or so red states can continue down the path of low taxes, low regulations, etc., while the blue states focus on government leadership and equal rights supported by higher taxes. Limit the flow of money from high performing states to low performing states, and let us see which model is best.
Frankly, I'm tired of trying to help our rural states as they cling to the past. As much as I'd like a united country focused on the future, I think it is time to show some tough love to those who bite the hand that feeds them.
Frankly, I'm tired of trying to help our rural states as they cling to the past. As much as I'd like a united country focused on the future, I think it is time to show some tough love to those who bite the hand that feeds them.
1
“The Democrats shouldn’t mistake a sugar high for nutrition. They’re still getting their butts kicked. Being Not Trump gained them only a net of six seats in the House in November’s election, and will not be enough to win a majority in 2018…If Democrats continue to hemorrhage voters among the working class, they will never see the presidency, or even expect to govern in one house, for a long time.”
Democratic leadership now resides in the streets. It will not be found on cable news talk shows, in Congress or among the mountains of fund raising emails littering the inboxes of true believers. Down there, where the action is, are people with ideas, hopes, dreams and a will to win that is totally alien to Democratic "leadership." Until that potential is unleashed, the left will remain lost in the wilderness.
Democratic leadership now resides in the streets. It will not be found on cable news talk shows, in Congress or among the mountains of fund raising emails littering the inboxes of true believers. Down there, where the action is, are people with ideas, hopes, dreams and a will to win that is totally alien to Democratic "leadership." Until that potential is unleashed, the left will remain lost in the wilderness.
1
Sugar high, hell. We are high on the words of Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln--on the self-evident truth that human beings are one and all born with certain inalienable rights, and that governments that don't guarantee those rights will be replaced. Our opposition voters smirk at these stupendous ideas, as do their leaders. Many others have made that mistake. Why should we pander for an instant to their smirk? These ideas animate and inspire and protect--they are our shield as well as our sword. If we focus on that, instead of on some whimpering political strategy aimed to please, the rest will follow, and quickly.
1
Please.
Dems have spent the last 20+ years discrediting the Founding Fathers and the Constitution.
Elitist white imperialist slave owners and a dusty old piece of paper.
Dems have spent the last 20+ years discrediting the Founding Fathers and the Constitution.
Elitist white imperialist slave owners and a dusty old piece of paper.
3
Mr. Egan, why not say the "genuine pain of the working class. white. African-American and Latino"? All of these people have been left behind economically, but the Republican Party has claimed the white working class as their own by stoking up fear that "the others" are taking away opportunities that should be theirs alone. How the Dems counteract this should be the number one subject at their retreat.
2
I was with you, Timothy Egan, until you wrote about "the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid."
This newspaper, on November 9, published the exit polls results and clearly showed that Hillary won 53% of the vote of those whose income is less than $30K, and 51% of those with income between $30K and $49.9K.
Trump, on the other hand, led among all other groups, with 50% of the vote to Hillary's 46% among those with income between $50K- $99.9K, 48% to Hillary's 47% among those with income of between $100K-$199.9, 49% to Hillary's 48% among those whose with income of$200K-$249.9, and 48% to Hillary's 46% among those whose with income of $250K and more.
And so, the forgotten men delivered for Hillary. Time to look for other factor that contributed to Trump's victory.
This newspaper, on November 9, published the exit polls results and clearly showed that Hillary won 53% of the vote of those whose income is less than $30K, and 51% of those with income between $30K and $49.9K.
Trump, on the other hand, led among all other groups, with 50% of the vote to Hillary's 46% among those with income between $50K- $99.9K, 48% to Hillary's 47% among those with income of between $100K-$199.9, 49% to Hillary's 48% among those whose with income of$200K-$249.9, and 48% to Hillary's 46% among those whose with income of $250K and more.
And so, the forgotten men delivered for Hillary. Time to look for other factor that contributed to Trump's victory.
2
Thank you for a concise, tight, well argued column, that my Republican friends could agree to.
If you don't have any Republican friends, get out of your bubble, because talking to yourselves won't change a thing.
Had the democrats shut up about identity politics, those effected would have benefited by their ascension to power.
Screaming about transgender bathroom rights cost more than 80,000 votes, and left that community poorer indeed.
And that did energize their enemies. And won an election.
And don't get me started on Jill Naderites
Belief in their covert funding is not only held by those that wear tin foil underwear. What a fantastic bang for the buck she was.
A couple million to sway an election, which wouldn't cover the EPA fines for dumping coal wastes in streams.
And those voters got to wear a purity badge.
If you don't have any Republican friends, get out of your bubble, because talking to yourselves won't change a thing.
Had the democrats shut up about identity politics, those effected would have benefited by their ascension to power.
Screaming about transgender bathroom rights cost more than 80,000 votes, and left that community poorer indeed.
And that did energize their enemies. And won an election.
And don't get me started on Jill Naderites
Belief in their covert funding is not only held by those that wear tin foil underwear. What a fantastic bang for the buck she was.
A couple million to sway an election, which wouldn't cover the EPA fines for dumping coal wastes in streams.
And those voters got to wear a purity badge.
1
I can't see Democrats keeping up their current level of hysteria much longer. And after that, the Republicans will just roll, with no opposition.
Watching the antics of the Democrats in Congress, it's a wonder any of them got elected. It's obvious they don't stand for anything and can't do anything. Their only actual leader is partying on some rich guy's island.
The women's march accomplished nothing, except to display the powerlessness of Democrats. All these people, and absolutely zero political power. A president who is a complete clown, and yet completely unstoppable.
The main problem is that the slices of the population Democrats claim to speak for don't vote and won't vote. They're waiting for someone who walks on water. Until then, they can't be bothered.
Watching the antics of the Democrats in Congress, it's a wonder any of them got elected. It's obvious they don't stand for anything and can't do anything. Their only actual leader is partying on some rich guy's island.
The women's march accomplished nothing, except to display the powerlessness of Democrats. All these people, and absolutely zero political power. A president who is a complete clown, and yet completely unstoppable.
The main problem is that the slices of the population Democrats claim to speak for don't vote and won't vote. They're waiting for someone who walks on water. Until then, they can't be bothered.
5
As long as illegal gerrymandering is being used by the GOP nothing will change regarding the GOP dominance of legislatures. Add in voter suppression to any already uneven playing field and everything starts to fall into place.
That takes care of government. Then there is the matter of ignorance and stupidity. The fake news writer clearly said it; people are stupider now and accept anything that verifies their preconfigured views, regardless of how outrageous it may be. That is an ingredient list for a terrible broth. And it's our dinner.
That takes care of government. Then there is the matter of ignorance and stupidity. The fake news writer clearly said it; people are stupider now and accept anything that verifies their preconfigured views, regardless of how outrageous it may be. That is an ingredient list for a terrible broth. And it's our dinner.
Democratic leaders sold out their once core constituency of American workers and now want to sell out their country. They oppose everything. They are determined to hate and they spew hate daily through their liberal media.
Disgruntled Democrat liberals form mobs in the streets to protest the result of a free election. They riot against speakers who disagree with their narrow minds on college campuses. They seek to destroy academic freedom. They attack rallies of the majority party with violence. They vote in Congress in a solid block against everything the elected president seeks. They rail against anyone he appoints. They protest anything he does that could help working Americans.
Democrats are totally irrelevant. They just don't understand the logical fate of their tactics and the bankrupt nature of what's left of their vision. Many hide in their stronghold refuge in the far west coast and now seek to destroy America through secession--like Democrats Jefferson Davis or Preston Brooks of an earlier generation just before the Civil War.
Democrats are done. They just don't know it yet.
Disgruntled Democrat liberals form mobs in the streets to protest the result of a free election. They riot against speakers who disagree with their narrow minds on college campuses. They seek to destroy academic freedom. They attack rallies of the majority party with violence. They vote in Congress in a solid block against everything the elected president seeks. They rail against anyone he appoints. They protest anything he does that could help working Americans.
Democrats are totally irrelevant. They just don't understand the logical fate of their tactics and the bankrupt nature of what's left of their vision. Many hide in their stronghold refuge in the far west coast and now seek to destroy America through secession--like Democrats Jefferson Davis or Preston Brooks of an earlier generation just before the Civil War.
Democrats are done. They just don't know it yet.
5
Bill Clinton had the right stuff:
1. Youthful politician from the heartland --now, perhaps Senator Claire McCaskill of MO
2. Americans want illegal immigration ended. The polls show it. Consistently, so instead of sob stories about deportations of felons, focus on Disney employees forced to train their foreign successors. Tighten up on visas that are used to import replacements for Americans and enforce the immigration laws. The Democrats have to be on the side of American workers, unemployed and under employed. Our kids have a tough time getting started in life now.
3. The Republicans will get major pushback if they really repeal Obamacare. Now is the time to extend Medicare, and tighten up the misuse of disability and Medicaid. The polls say it all--Americans can't afford to pay for social services for all the elderly who can come here via "family reunification" immigration policies--and they don't want to. They are too busy trying to take care of their mothers or pay for their nursing home.
4. It's the economy. It's jobs. It's education for our kids. How many of us are helping support our adult Kids? More than our parents did
5. Quit invading ridiculous countries that have no long term strategic consequence for the U.S.
6 instead of whining, stick up for Americans, and the press could help by reporting facts not opinions.
1. Youthful politician from the heartland --now, perhaps Senator Claire McCaskill of MO
2. Americans want illegal immigration ended. The polls show it. Consistently, so instead of sob stories about deportations of felons, focus on Disney employees forced to train their foreign successors. Tighten up on visas that are used to import replacements for Americans and enforce the immigration laws. The Democrats have to be on the side of American workers, unemployed and under employed. Our kids have a tough time getting started in life now.
3. The Republicans will get major pushback if they really repeal Obamacare. Now is the time to extend Medicare, and tighten up the misuse of disability and Medicaid. The polls say it all--Americans can't afford to pay for social services for all the elderly who can come here via "family reunification" immigration policies--and they don't want to. They are too busy trying to take care of their mothers or pay for their nursing home.
4. It's the economy. It's jobs. It's education for our kids. How many of us are helping support our adult Kids? More than our parents did
5. Quit invading ridiculous countries that have no long term strategic consequence for the U.S.
6 instead of whining, stick up for Americans, and the press could help by reporting facts not opinions.
4
"All they care about is the R stitched to his jersey". I disagree. All they care about is repealing the 20th century. Trump has already rendered himself impeachable. This sword will be held over his head so that he will be forced to repeal protections for the working class and the environment. That's all that matters to the plutocracy and their bought and paid for republicans. In four years when were back to the days of the robber barrons, President Warren or Biden will begin the long slog to dig us out.
Thank you Tim Egan - I always love your columns. This one is so right on it makes me want to cry. A rising tide lifts ALL boats. Everyone knows this - people on the bottom, people in the middle, people who value justice and equality and those who want the high tide all to themselves - so they build dams to keep the water in. All people, Ds and Rs need to reconnect to the main points - what benefits us ALL:
Social security and Medicare are not just benefits for seniors - they allow all people to plan for their future - young adults can save for a down payment and not worry about Grandma's hip replacement, they don't have to choose between cataract surgery and braces for their daughter. We need to make this argument to young and old alike. Older folks need to understand that they are hurting their children/grandchildren by supporting these politicians.
We need to tell Republicans that public schools are their middle class lives are possible. In rural communities public schools provide sports for high schoolers and indeed the whole town. We need to explain how DeVos's policies will rip the heart out of rural and middle and upper middle class America.
And we need to do it with low key but relentless illustrations that speak to the 70% - not the NYT banner articles about marginal issues. By inflating their importance every day, we push out these other facts and we impoverish that public debate to marginal issues.
Social security and Medicare are not just benefits for seniors - they allow all people to plan for their future - young adults can save for a down payment and not worry about Grandma's hip replacement, they don't have to choose between cataract surgery and braces for their daughter. We need to make this argument to young and old alike. Older folks need to understand that they are hurting their children/grandchildren by supporting these politicians.
We need to tell Republicans that public schools are their middle class lives are possible. In rural communities public schools provide sports for high schoolers and indeed the whole town. We need to explain how DeVos's policies will rip the heart out of rural and middle and upper middle class America.
And we need to do it with low key but relentless illustrations that speak to the 70% - not the NYT banner articles about marginal issues. By inflating their importance every day, we push out these other facts and we impoverish that public debate to marginal issues.
2
"The way out is not that difficult."
Come on, Tim. It is too.
Guess we should have got behind uncle Joe after all. The Democrat's collective guilt because Hillary's 2008 coronation was snatched away by Obama is going to be our undoing.
We handed the nomination to a compromised candidate and prayed that her colossal name brand and world class GOTV organization, money and the technology behind it would carry the day. Oops.
We are for something, we've always been for something.
Sometimes, that's just not enough, especially when people hate your candidate, and they did hate her.
Yeah, it's not fair, but it's the truth.
Come on, Tim. It is too.
Guess we should have got behind uncle Joe after all. The Democrat's collective guilt because Hillary's 2008 coronation was snatched away by Obama is going to be our undoing.
We handed the nomination to a compromised candidate and prayed that her colossal name brand and world class GOTV organization, money and the technology behind it would carry the day. Oops.
We are for something, we've always been for something.
Sometimes, that's just not enough, especially when people hate your candidate, and they did hate her.
Yeah, it's not fair, but it's the truth.
6
I think the future of the D party is going to have to be full on shift to the party of labor fighting the party of capital for scraps. It would be nice if both sides had agreement on what to do at the edge of the country, but I guess that is a ways off now that we have Putin Lite in the executive (and he has sold that to his team in the leg. branch)
1
Our local democratic comment board is full of outrage about everything Trump is doing, sharing every cartoon that makes fun of Trump, celebrates every speech by a democrat that manages to get national airtime. But Mr. Egan is right, none of that will win back the seats. Clinton said, "it's the economy stupid". And now, its jobs, jobs, jobs. If Dems can't find a path to making good paying, safe for the environment jobs for the average joe their priority, the Republicans will continue to dominate. Oh the Republicans won't bring the jobs either, but they are so effective at lying about their failures, it doesn't seem to matter.
5
The "sugar high" is neither isolated nor meaningless. It's a start. It is necessary to quickly retool, reorganize and rejoin the political fray in meaningful fashion. The energy produced by the sugar high will quickly dissipate without result unless Democrats and others appalled by and opposed to this administration and its silent enablers fashion a relevant and popular message and strategy around which they can cohere. Absent that, "...it is a tale...full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." (I omitted the "idiot" phrase because I earnestly hope Democrats are better than that.)
1
I have spoken to a lot of well-off well-educated suburbanites (including women) who voted for Trump and always vote Republican. I keep asking them, "What about America has not been great, not worked for you?" Since, ostensibly, they are all doing quite well. So that's isn't why they voted for him.
Almost to a person, it's the anti-abortion issue. They just see abortion as evil and wrong. Most (not all) will allow that in the case of the life of the mother, or rape, or incest, there may be circumstances where abortion should be permitted, but that's it. Today, we have the camp of all abortions should be outlawed vs. all abortions should be allowed. We need middle ground.
Democrats allowed Republicans to paint the story on this issue, implying that abortions are done routinely past the first trimester (showing fully formed, crying babies in garbage cans), that they are done with little thought by women who can't be bothered having a baby right now, etc. None of it true.
Let's start changing that narrative. Most liberal progressive people I know also are uncomfortable with the idea of abortion, but wouldn't presume to tell someone else what is best for her, much less pass laws directing their lives. Call pro-life movements anti-abortion. We should own the term Pro-life. All lives matter from birth to death; we seek policies to ensure that it is true. We need to see what is driving this group of voters and move more of them into our camp.
Almost to a person, it's the anti-abortion issue. They just see abortion as evil and wrong. Most (not all) will allow that in the case of the life of the mother, or rape, or incest, there may be circumstances where abortion should be permitted, but that's it. Today, we have the camp of all abortions should be outlawed vs. all abortions should be allowed. We need middle ground.
Democrats allowed Republicans to paint the story on this issue, implying that abortions are done routinely past the first trimester (showing fully formed, crying babies in garbage cans), that they are done with little thought by women who can't be bothered having a baby right now, etc. None of it true.
Let's start changing that narrative. Most liberal progressive people I know also are uncomfortable with the idea of abortion, but wouldn't presume to tell someone else what is best for her, much less pass laws directing their lives. Call pro-life movements anti-abortion. We should own the term Pro-life. All lives matter from birth to death; we seek policies to ensure that it is true. We need to see what is driving this group of voters and move more of them into our camp.
5
The problem is that people don't want to hear the truth. Because the truth often hurts. The coal miner's wife in West Virginia said it best -- to paraphrase her, we don't think Trump will restore a post-FDR economy, but he's going to do something that he promises will be better than what we have. The answer is to let it play out. When the economy gets worse, when the rich get richer and Trump merchandise becomes the largest selling brand, we'll see how phony Trump's promises were. But we still need a leader and a policy that people can believe in.
"Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump." You left out their dependence on the court system to block policies they dislike. Last year Texas voted for a lot of abortion restrictions and only an appeal to the courts rolled them back. If Roe vs Wade is overturned (part of the Republican agenda) the courts will be out of the picture and those laws will stand. And a lot of states are following Texas's example.
1
The tantrums and howling of the Left have effectively lowered the bar for Trump. As long as he doesn't start a war with China, or become the next Hitler, then he will exceed all of Democrat's expectations.
Let's see how the Dem's "Racism Everywhere" strategy works in the run-up to the Mid-Terms.
Let's see how the Dem's "Racism Everywhere" strategy works in the run-up to the Mid-Terms.
7
Whatever makes you think he won't start a war with China or declare martial law? You're pretty naive SuperNaut or just not very bright.
I would just like to know what Trump and his billionaire cabinet are going to give to the people in Scranton. I don t see the minimum wage being approved, don t see they coverage for health care affirmed, don t see bettering public schools on the agenda, don t see honest, intelligent men and women wanting to come to this country because they are not Christians, don t see the rule of law being honored. I do see the vilification of the Ninth Circuit of Appeals because it is liberal, one of our last bastions of liberalism after the election.
3
But that's beside the point, dontcha know. It's about saying anything to get elected, not actually delivering on promises or governing. The GOP cares not a whit for the people who elect them to office. They care only that their campaign coffers are filled and that their cronies make millions.
1
I agree with everything you written but Trump won because he's a white male. The voters think " he one of us he'll take care of us". Little did they know they were sold a Trojan horse, that what's inside doesn't give a hoot about the working class.
Little did they know? Sorry, that's naive. They voted for Trump as the MAGA king, with racism and xenophobia at the heart of that message. Sure, they didn't bank on a billionaire cabinet in bed with Russia, but they don't care about that as much as deporting immigrants who are "taking their jobs".
It's too simplistic to say President Obama left office with soaring approval numbers. On one very important measure -- support from the opposing party -- Obama was dramatically less popular than any President in the modern age (Pew Research Center). Despite twice losing in midterm elections, he and his Administration stayed resolutely to the left. It was that failure to hear what the middle of the country was saying that entrenched the President and his party outside the mainstream, laying the groundwork for defeat in 2016.
4
Focusing on the white working class is identity politics. The reason it doesn't seem like that to so many is the country has historically been run without paying attention to the problems of women, people of color and the LGBT community. Now that some are finally noticing the needs of these groups it means they're paying attention to all Americans. That's not identity politics, and it's long overdue.
3
Well, at least Mr. Egan got something right: the Democrats lost the election because they lost the white working/middle class voters. They lost those voters because they have been playing identity politics for years at the expense of those voters. It is now too late for the Dems to repent, unless President Trump makes a complete mess out of his term in the White House.
Egan also trumpets the left wing version of the three weeks of the Trump Presidency. The hysterical, sky-is-falling reaction to Trump by the Democrats was to be expected since his presidency represents such a break with the Obama style liberalism that was rejected at the polls. Trump will ultimately be evaluated by the electorate for what he actually accomplishes, notwithstanding some of these early amateurish steps taken by an inexperienced administration with a President who has never been in elective office.
Trump will be considered a success by his voters & many independents if he lowers the tax rate for all, revamps our immigration system, defeats ISIS, places a conservative on the Supreme Court, rebuilds our military, and modifies Obamacare. The rest of it is sound & fury signifying nothing.
Egan also trumpets the left wing version of the three weeks of the Trump Presidency. The hysterical, sky-is-falling reaction to Trump by the Democrats was to be expected since his presidency represents such a break with the Obama style liberalism that was rejected at the polls. Trump will ultimately be evaluated by the electorate for what he actually accomplishes, notwithstanding some of these early amateurish steps taken by an inexperienced administration with a President who has never been in elective office.
Trump will be considered a success by his voters & many independents if he lowers the tax rate for all, revamps our immigration system, defeats ISIS, places a conservative on the Supreme Court, rebuilds our military, and modifies Obamacare. The rest of it is sound & fury signifying nothing.
11
Progressives: demanding tolerance while refusing to demonstrate it.
Modern liberals: free thinkers as long as it agrees with my beliefs.
Peaceful protesters: until you disagree with me
Social justice warriors: fighting to stop oppression by oppressing others
Modern liberals: free thinkers as long as it agrees with my beliefs.
Peaceful protesters: until you disagree with me
Social justice warriors: fighting to stop oppression by oppressing others
10
Conservative Republicans: willing to turn the U.S into a fascist state run by a authoritarian dictator in order to overturn Roe v Wade, give massive tax break to the oligarchs, gut Social Security and Medicare, and show all those "furiners" whose boss.
1
I think the election went the way it did because regardless of how much people complain, they want a divided government. People assumed Hillary Clinton would win in a landslide, and so wanted to put a check and balance on her power by electing Republicans for the house and senate, thus creating a divided government. No one, well, hardly anyone, imagined that Trump would win. Now we have control by one party. The goal for Democrats is to stimulate turnout in the midterms. That will be enough for the moment. Democratic voters have many different goals and often, we get lost when something isn't perfect. A lot of our voters simply didn't turn out, feeling that both candidates were the same. At least we won't ever hear that argument again.
4
Thanks to Sanders a lot of clueless children were taught that some speeches to Wall Street equaled Republican control of all 3 branches, and the Judiciary for a generation. We need to stop eating our own. But as long as we have demagogues like Sanders and Ralph Nader, and a gullible uniformed voter pool, it looks bleak.
No, CLSW2000, it means that Democrats need to run a less compromised, less polarizing candidate in the future. In the end, Clinton's campaign boiled down to "I'm not Trump." But don't underestimate how many votes Trump got simply because he wasn't Clinton either.
1
You missed totally what the election was saying.
The People rejected Hillary in spite of the constant drumbeat that was thumping out the inevitability of of a Hillary Clinton presidency.
Perhaps you liberals were thinking of a divided government, by The People who voted in the only poll that counted thought very differently.
The more you bury yourselves in rationalization and "should have been" the more irrelevant you will become...
And your level of political irrelevance is clearly marked by your loss of control of the House, the Senate, the Presidency, many governorships, and state legislatures.
Take some time to get back into the real world. Your political future may well depend on it.
The People rejected Hillary in spite of the constant drumbeat that was thumping out the inevitability of of a Hillary Clinton presidency.
Perhaps you liberals were thinking of a divided government, by The People who voted in the only poll that counted thought very differently.
The more you bury yourselves in rationalization and "should have been" the more irrelevant you will become...
And your level of political irrelevance is clearly marked by your loss of control of the House, the Senate, the Presidency, many governorships, and state legislatures.
Take some time to get back into the real world. Your political future may well depend on it.
3
To begin the list, I'm FOR law and order, better public education, better public health, regulations to protect the environment, regulation of pirate banks and careless businesses, women's rights in abortion choices and in all things, free speech, fewer guns, less powerful guns, fewer nuclear weapons, simple honesty in government, less business influence over government, less religious influence in government, less inequality and more equality, equal pay for women, checks and balances, civility, and more art, especially good jazz.
4
I think the version of reality that Democrats ignored the white working class is unfair. Obama wanted a jobs program and remember when he did what he did to save the american auto industry (something many Republicans were against)? He worked on financial services reform (which helps people who, however meager their savings, keep it somewhere other than under their mattress), and attempted to make healthcare more like a right than a privilege. The problem was that he tried too hard to get bipartisan support while the Republicans were only trying to run out the clock and blame Obama for the lack of progress. The Republicans simply were more ruthless and had a stronger propaganda arm. If nothing else, recent elections show that providing rational arguments and reasonable positions are a losing proposition.
9
Keith, here's the problem with Obama's jobs program. He didn't propose it until 2011, when the Democrats had lost their majority in the House and when every knew the Republican majority would vote it down. Why didn't he propose it in 2009 or 2010, when the Democrats had majorities in both the House and Senate? Was it simply incompetence, or did he deliberately stunt our country's economic recovery just to show how bad the Republicans were?
1
Well done. The problem is that Democrats are too timid to take a stand on the issues which can win votes across the spectrum if they would talk to the American people and not each other and their donors. The list of popular issues is very long, but Democrats must spend more time explaining them to the electorate than assume that they and their merits are self-evident. The Affordable Care Act is a case study in the backward approach; Democrats passed the law and left it to Republican con artists to discredit it. Moreover, all programs should be tailored to maximize fairness to all, not piecemeal efforts made on the basis of identity politics. Everyone has a stake in a fair society, with the government ensuring that the benefits go to people, not to profit centers. The business of America is the welfare of the American people. Let business figure out how to contribute to it and make a profit.
3
I am getting so, so tired of hearing people say that the Democratic party ignores the plight of the common man. The inevitable conclusion is that all the Democrats need to do is to interrupt their constant push for elitism and at least occasionally address some issues important to the little folk. So this story goes, if the general public hears Democrats pushing plans for, say, making healthcare more affordable or stimulating job growth then all will be well.
The problem with this story is that it is largely false. Democrats spend huge amounts of time and energy promoting many detailed plans to make life better for the common person. Despite this, a sufficient number of these common people ignore all that and turn to billionaires for salvation. Making and discussing detailed proposals for job and wage growth and more equitable wealth distribution isn't a sugar high. Endlessly repeating "repeal and replace" or "you're gonna love it" is a sugar high.
If Democrats stop talking about the real issues and start promoting huge tax cuts for the wealthy or relaxing the prohibitions on predatory financial practices then they will end up being nothing but second-string Republicans.
The problem with this story is that it is largely false. Democrats spend huge amounts of time and energy promoting many detailed plans to make life better for the common person. Despite this, a sufficient number of these common people ignore all that and turn to billionaires for salvation. Making and discussing detailed proposals for job and wage growth and more equitable wealth distribution isn't a sugar high. Endlessly repeating "repeal and replace" or "you're gonna love it" is a sugar high.
If Democrats stop talking about the real issues and start promoting huge tax cuts for the wealthy or relaxing the prohibitions on predatory financial practices then they will end up being nothing but second-string Republicans.
11
Your problem as a liberal and a Democrat, Grindelwald, is that in the eight years that you have held the national stage, you accomplish few of your goals, and while blaming those dastardly Republicans may soothe your wounded pride, the fact remains that our schools are still failing, poverty and inequality have increased, portions of our cities are ruled by armed gangs, our infrastructure is crumbling, healthcare remains an expensive mess, immigration remains a significant problem, and faith in government has sunk to the lowest in memory.
Democrats need to start talking about the issues that concern The People, and Democrats need to start succeeding at resolving the Nations ills in ways that actually bring benefit to those in need.
It's a heavy lift for a political party used to compartmentalizing and marginalizing the very people on whom the depend for votes, and for a political party used to blaming everyone but themselves for their failures to deliver on what they promise.
Democrats need to start talking about the issues that concern The People, and Democrats need to start succeeding at resolving the Nations ills in ways that actually bring benefit to those in need.
It's a heavy lift for a political party used to compartmentalizing and marginalizing the very people on whom the depend for votes, and for a political party used to blaming everyone but themselves for their failures to deliver on what they promise.
2
You are, of course, 100% correct. I will add one point, though. The powerlessness of the Democrats is not because they are too liberal, it's because they are too centrist, corporate, and spineless. They are losing seats because they think staying in the middle of the road will win over moderate Republicans. But at what cost? How many people who otherwise would have voted in the D column sat out this last election because they couldn't stand the idea of more Clintonian politics? Would those same people have gotten up off the couch to vote if Bernie had been the nominee? Hard to say, but his message certainly resonated far more with the "forgotten American" than Hillary's message of togetherness. And this is exactly where the Democratic Party has to take a hard look in the mirror. We gave Hillary Clinton her "due" at the cost of the election. Even though she is eminently qualified, her campaign was not the right message, nor was she the right messenger. This should be the guiding insight for Democratic candidate strategy from now until we start winning back seats.
16
One would think that the "concerns of Middle America" include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, better schools, clean air, clean water and a decent minimum wage -- everything the Democrats stood for and everything Trump's GOP enablers want to destroy. So why did that vast swathe of the population who don't realize their so-called red states are funded by the tax dollars of coastal elites vote against their own interests? Unfortunately they will only learn the folly of that decision when they lose their Social Security, their health care, their public shools, their national parks; when they realize the jobs they lost will never return; the coal mines will never reopen; and the swamp their president promised to drain has seeped from Wall Street and K Street right into the White House.
13
"If Ds. continue to hemorrhage voters among the working class, they will never see the presidency, or even expect to govern in one house, for a long time."
Back in early Reagan era white working class legitimately complained, "Republicans are for the rich. Democrats are for the blacks. Nobody is for me." They wrongly felt RR would save them. Bill Clinton navigated to marginally alter that sentiment. He was weak but smart, industrious & felt "your pain." Barack Obama arrived like a hurricane; they forgot he was black. Tea Party was cleverly created, which gained humungous power to oppose & stop everything Obama did. Sensible Republicans feared for their life & bent to their will - even hard right Cantor fell in the Primary. Republicans forgot to function sensibly. In that vacuum came Trump, shook the nation with bluster & luckily with Comey's help captured the presidency!
Unless, as Egan implied, Democrats change, address & focus on white working class's legitimate concerns they will remain ineffective.
There are ways to help minorities. If they had dropped, "path to citizenship," the agony of millions of undocumented immigrants could have been avoided. If they don't rationalize the violence of young black men & distance themselves from the Al Sharptons, they're destined to be powerless - focus on universal pre-kindergarten & create jobs with better wages in inner-cities with federal subsidies. Fight for tax-hikes on the rich - most are clueless about income taxes!
Back in early Reagan era white working class legitimately complained, "Republicans are for the rich. Democrats are for the blacks. Nobody is for me." They wrongly felt RR would save them. Bill Clinton navigated to marginally alter that sentiment. He was weak but smart, industrious & felt "your pain." Barack Obama arrived like a hurricane; they forgot he was black. Tea Party was cleverly created, which gained humungous power to oppose & stop everything Obama did. Sensible Republicans feared for their life & bent to their will - even hard right Cantor fell in the Primary. Republicans forgot to function sensibly. In that vacuum came Trump, shook the nation with bluster & luckily with Comey's help captured the presidency!
Unless, as Egan implied, Democrats change, address & focus on white working class's legitimate concerns they will remain ineffective.
There are ways to help minorities. If they had dropped, "path to citizenship," the agony of millions of undocumented immigrants could have been avoided. If they don't rationalize the violence of young black men & distance themselves from the Al Sharptons, they're destined to be powerless - focus on universal pre-kindergarten & create jobs with better wages in inner-cities with federal subsidies. Fight for tax-hikes on the rich - most are clueless about income taxes!
1
Of course, Mr. Alias, the Democrats never took a wrong step in the past twenty years.
2
Egan was one of the (almost unanimous) Times writers who viciously attacked the candidate, Bernie Sanders, who did have the policies which had a chance of winning against Trump. In fact polls showed not only that Sanders had a positive favorability rating, unlike either Trump or Clinton, but would do much better than Clinton against Trump. Why did Egan argue against policies which could have won the election?
Is Egan now admitting that he was wrong, or does he have some new and different ideas that he thinks would win for Democrats? Can he give an example of a specific candidate or type of candidate who would win in 2020? Exactly what different policies is he now advocating? Let's see something constructive from Egan.
Is Egan now admitting that he was wrong, or does he have some new and different ideas that he thinks would win for Democrats? Can he give an example of a specific candidate or type of candidate who would win in 2020? Exactly what different policies is he now advocating? Let's see something constructive from Egan.
10
I get that this is an opinion piece but as an article it really isn't very good...except for this part: "Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump. For the next year, Democrats should filter their policy initiatives through the eyes of the person Trump claims to speak for — the forgotten American."
Media-cushioned affirmation. It's still happening so I don't see how the Democrats will be able to make the changes they need to make - although removing Pelosi and putting someone relevant in the position would be a great start.
Media-cushioned affirmation. It's still happening so I don't see how the Democrats will be able to make the changes they need to make - although removing Pelosi and putting someone relevant in the position would be a great start.
3
The DNC owes millions of Bernie supporters an apology, which is yet to be forthcoming. After that, a total soul searching needs to produce candidates who , as Bernie did, return the Party's principles to Main Street, not Wall Street. Until that happens, the DNC will remain in the wilderness. The only other route to take is to do what Bernie said - rebuild the Party from the ground up, challenging sitting incumbents who are happy being with the 1% and corporate elite.
26
The Democrats lost the "argument" and have been adrift in the policy debate, ever since Reagan made it politically impossible to speak of raising taxes. The truth is, we can't rely on the private sector entirely to address the needs of Americans. At a time of gaping inequality, we need to be able to collect taxes and not just on the wealthiest of the wealthy. We need to restore the contract by which we contribute in taxes, the government supports key services, and our legislators hold government accountable for its stewardship. The Democrats' inability to say that anyone with less a fortune might have to pay a bit more led to the Hillary Clinton small ball campaign: be anti-Trump, but deride Senator Sanders for promising the moon. I respect Secretary Clinton, but her campaign slogan might as well have been, "Settle for less." We need to think big in areas like infrastructure, education, health, energy, the environment, to name a few, and to do so requires money and a public/private partnership. You can't achieve that by taxing only the richest of the rich. In life, you get what you pay for. Democrats need to find a way to sell that package, as it was sold in the middle of the twentieth century, with enormous public investment and the building of a physical and human infrastructure that was the envy of the world. FDR and LBJ inspired Americans by presenting domestic politics on an epic scale.
8
There was also the internal contradiction of the campaign pushing of "settle for less" when the Clintons, Bill, Hillary AND Chelsea, were continually taking more and more on the grounds that they were entitled to use every penny they could get their hands on, legally or not.
1
I'm afraid that pales before the "internal contradiction" of the billionaire populist. On the other hand, Bill Clinton's needless declaration of the end of the era of big government was a key part of the Democratic party losing the ability to think big and offer real change in people's lives. When you're unwilling to raise and spend money, you end up with the silly (and inexpensive) symbolism of diversity this, and diversity that.
I admire HRC tremendously, think she's gotten a rotten rotten deal by way of decades of smear, and perhaps the WH was her due, but despite all that, if the Dems had run Uncle Joe, I am convinced we would have won.
Big big mistake and God knows how much we're going to have to pay for it.
Big big mistake and God knows how much we're going to have to pay for it.
Do The People, Jan, have any right to say who is "due" the office of president?
It seems as though your are missing one of the fundamentals of our Constitution...
The right or The People, through their Electoral College representatives, to select a president without the taint of "entitlement".
And, you wonder why you have lost at all levels of governance?
It seems as though your are missing one of the fundamentals of our Constitution...
The right or The People, through their Electoral College representatives, to select a president without the taint of "entitlement".
And, you wonder why you have lost at all levels of governance?
2
"But they have to be for something, as well — a master policy narrative, promoting things that help average Americans."
Yes, like Bernie Sanders did...and does.
Yes, like Bernie Sanders did...and does.
19
When Democrats lost the South — for multiple generations, as it turned out..."
In article in Mother Jones, the issue of why was explored: "In the 1940s, racist white southerners gradually began defecting to the Republican Party, and then began defecting en masse during the fight over the 1964 Civil Rights Act."
However the exodus started earlier. "Eleanor Roosevelt was a tireless champion of civil rights, and famously resigned from the DAR when they refused to allow singer Marian Anderson to perform at Constitution Hall in 1939. ... In 1941 FDR signed a nondiscrimination order for the national defense industry—the first of its kind—and he generally provided African-Americans with more visibility in his administration than they had ever enjoyed before. ... Harry Truman integrated the military in 1948, and ... LBJ was instrumental in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1957, ... In other words, Southern whites who wanted to keep Jim Crow intact had plenty of reasons to steadily desert the Democratic Party and join the GOP starting around World War II. By the early 60s they were primed and ready to begin a massive exodus from the increasingly black-friendly Democratic Party, and exit they did. Barry Goldwater, the 1964 GOP nominee, refused to support the Civil Rights Act that year..." followed by the Voting Rights Act in 1965. "The transition of the white South from solidly Democratic to solidly Republican was complete" by the time Newt Gingrich won a landslide victory in 1994.
In article in Mother Jones, the issue of why was explored: "In the 1940s, racist white southerners gradually began defecting to the Republican Party, and then began defecting en masse during the fight over the 1964 Civil Rights Act."
However the exodus started earlier. "Eleanor Roosevelt was a tireless champion of civil rights, and famously resigned from the DAR when they refused to allow singer Marian Anderson to perform at Constitution Hall in 1939. ... In 1941 FDR signed a nondiscrimination order for the national defense industry—the first of its kind—and he generally provided African-Americans with more visibility in his administration than they had ever enjoyed before. ... Harry Truman integrated the military in 1948, and ... LBJ was instrumental in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1957, ... In other words, Southern whites who wanted to keep Jim Crow intact had plenty of reasons to steadily desert the Democratic Party and join the GOP starting around World War II. By the early 60s they were primed and ready to begin a massive exodus from the increasingly black-friendly Democratic Party, and exit they did. Barry Goldwater, the 1964 GOP nominee, refused to support the Civil Rights Act that year..." followed by the Voting Rights Act in 1965. "The transition of the white South from solidly Democratic to solidly Republican was complete" by the time Newt Gingrich won a landslide victory in 1994.
7
President Obama left office with a great legacy alright, republican control of everything. Sure he's a likable guy but his legacy was horrific and that is why we now have Mr. Trump. We needed Mr. Obama to be so bad that this country would wake up and that's what happened. Deal with it.
7
The Left is having a nervous breakdown in plain sight. Not simply because it sees an intolerant, incompetent, despotic, dangerous vulgarian, but because, deep down, it knows that what it really sees is itself. The Left didn't lose control of "Washington, two-thirds of state legislative chambers and 33 governor’s mansions" for no reason.
8
It seems that the Dems are for the constitution and rule of law, since the other party is not. What this editorial fails to mention is how in many of these states, the GOP has gerrymandered and legislated the vote into their favor by thwarting the opposition. The GOP cheats and has been doing so for years. POTUS will be the national wake up call just like Pete Wilson was the wake up call for California. Equally racist and divisive, Wilson galvanized the vote against conservative nativist policy and politicians. Now, the GOP in California is all but absent, and most races are between two Democrats who argue about who is more liberal. The difference in California is that the people took over politics honestly, where as in those Red States, the GOP cheated their way into power. The protests and attendance at legislative town hall meetings even in the smallest of very Red midwestern towns show that the GOP has overplayed their hand by only representing bigotry and big business. The GOP wins by lying and then hurts the average American. Just wait when the abolish the EPA, the ACA, Social Security and Medicare, those are programs that help average Americans. So please stop with the "Dems aren't listening" They just haven't messaged loud enough and they haven't cheated to get into power. Clinton got 3 million more votes that were counted, and probably did win Fl, WI, PA and MI if the GOP legislatures and registrar of voters had actually counted all the votes.
9
Oh my how downtrodden we are. It’s just not that bad, please review what has taken place since January 20th. Millions of women marching against an abhorrent man in the White House and all those like him. Then the “spontaneous” demonstrations over the Muslim Refugee ban. Then the States fighting back with lawsuits. Then the Courts TRO against it.
This is how it’s done. Look back at the 60’s civil rights, and the Vietnam War. It was the demonstrations and civil discourse that took its toll on the administration. You had to look at it every night on the news and in the papers. Eventually the people who did not agree with the demonstrations came around and the 70’s saw change. It’s a long hard slog, but it works.
This is how it’s done. Look back at the 60’s civil rights, and the Vietnam War. It was the demonstrations and civil discourse that took its toll on the administration. You had to look at it every night on the news and in the papers. Eventually the people who did not agree with the demonstrations came around and the 70’s saw change. It’s a long hard slog, but it works.
9
Spot on Tim (except for the part about Wall Street's pirates returning to power; they never left power, because Obama kept them in power, just like GWB before him, just like Clinton before him, etc.).
Much of the opposition to Trump is focused in places such as NY, DC and California, where the Democrats run strongest. But that's not where the action needs to be for the Democrats. The action for them needs to be in the states that Trump flipped last November and in other closely contested states. Specifically:
1. What are Democrats doing to convince voters in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa (each of which voted for Obama twice but flipped to Trump) to give them a second chance?
2. What are Democrats doing to convince voters in Maine, New Hampshire, Virginia, Minnesota, Colorado and Nevada (all of which Trump lost by less than 5.5 points) not to jump ship?
3. What are Democrats doing to convince voters in North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona (all of which Trump won by less than 5.5 points) to jump ship?
These efforts need to apply to not just the presidency and 2020, but to Senate and House races in 2018 and 2020, and to races for statewide offices and state legislatures (in which, as you pointed out, Democrats have taken an utter beating this decade) as well. That's 15 states I laid out above. A return to a 50-state strategy would be great, but for now the immediate priority has to be a 15-state strategy.
Much of the opposition to Trump is focused in places such as NY, DC and California, where the Democrats run strongest. But that's not where the action needs to be for the Democrats. The action for them needs to be in the states that Trump flipped last November and in other closely contested states. Specifically:
1. What are Democrats doing to convince voters in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa (each of which voted for Obama twice but flipped to Trump) to give them a second chance?
2. What are Democrats doing to convince voters in Maine, New Hampshire, Virginia, Minnesota, Colorado and Nevada (all of which Trump lost by less than 5.5 points) not to jump ship?
3. What are Democrats doing to convince voters in North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona (all of which Trump won by less than 5.5 points) to jump ship?
These efforts need to apply to not just the presidency and 2020, but to Senate and House races in 2018 and 2020, and to races for statewide offices and state legislatures (in which, as you pointed out, Democrats have taken an utter beating this decade) as well. That's 15 states I laid out above. A return to a 50-state strategy would be great, but for now the immediate priority has to be a 15-state strategy.
9
I'd be interested in local polling, how the outrage is playing among those who might have been convinced to vote for Democrats in places where it was close. Democrats lost them.
Is this display of extreme outrage and resistance to Trump winning them back, or driving them away? We know it is well liked in the places Hillary won by a large margin, but what about the places where it was close and she lost?
Is this display of extreme outrage and resistance to Trump winning them back, or driving them away? We know it is well liked in the places Hillary won by a large margin, but what about the places where it was close and she lost?
7
You might recall. Mr Thomason, that the vote for Trump, when viewed and a county-by-county basis, had him defeating Clinton by staggering numbers.
And, since the Electoral College is not going to either be eliminated or modified in the near term, the Democrats are going to have to deal with their weaknesses on the levels that count.
It is surprising to me that the Democrats have so thoroughly forgotten Speaker Tip O'Neill's basic political philosophy: "All politics is local."
How can they return to their roots by continually denying where their roots actually lie?
Maybe they just like political irrelevance and are acting like spoiled children just for the fun of it all.
And, since the Electoral College is not going to either be eliminated or modified in the near term, the Democrats are going to have to deal with their weaknesses on the levels that count.
It is surprising to me that the Democrats have so thoroughly forgotten Speaker Tip O'Neill's basic political philosophy: "All politics is local."
How can they return to their roots by continually denying where their roots actually lie?
Maybe they just like political irrelevance and are acting like spoiled children just for the fun of it all.
2
It really only takes one comment to express your view; no need to say the same silly thing over and over. Nobody is talking about who won the electoral college - why the rage?
All politics is local.
Get granular, local and vocal.
Take back the state houses.
Exposé and overturn gerrymandering.
And
"Make America Fair Again".
Get granular, local and vocal.
Take back the state houses.
Exposé and overturn gerrymandering.
And
"Make America Fair Again".
8
One basic thing we need is a better educated citizenry. We need citizens with higher level thinking skills, able to grasp complex issues and to distinguish between news and propaganda. Also, since manufacturing jobs are not coming back due to automation, we need educated citizens who can win and succeed in white collar jobs.
As Trump said while campaigning: I love the uneducated. (Hope I got the exact wording right.)
For over a decade we have pumped money into useless and cruel wars instead of into education. We are paying the price for that now. We all share responsibility in letting this situation come to pass.
The whole education issue is even more challenging now, with an anti-education person heading up that department and many Republican-controlled states trying to dumb down education and discredit the scientific approach.
So stop with the blame game, folks, and put your thinking caps on. How can we improve education in these anti-education times? We may be able to find some fast-track solutions to the nation's problems, but a major component of building our way back to sanity demands rebuilding education in this country.
As Trump said while campaigning: I love the uneducated. (Hope I got the exact wording right.)
For over a decade we have pumped money into useless and cruel wars instead of into education. We are paying the price for that now. We all share responsibility in letting this situation come to pass.
The whole education issue is even more challenging now, with an anti-education person heading up that department and many Republican-controlled states trying to dumb down education and discredit the scientific approach.
So stop with the blame game, folks, and put your thinking caps on. How can we improve education in these anti-education times? We may be able to find some fast-track solutions to the nation's problems, but a major component of building our way back to sanity demands rebuilding education in this country.
2
Education, if it is the real thing and not merely cosmetic, understands that genuine change requires periods of chaos. Genuine education needs to begin with the media, currently the most brain-washed influence on our society.
2
Since the liberal has had a vice-like grip on the education of our children now for more than half-a-century, isn't it logical that they accept some of the blame for a) the failures of our schools to turn our educated graduates, and b) the high number of school graduates who haven't a clue about civics, let alone functional capabilities in reading, writing, or arithmetic.
2
Enough with all the blather about the pain of the white working class that white male liberals love to cite as a mea culpa for why Democrats lost the election. We lost the electoral college by 80,000 votes. Hillary Clinton won by nearly 3 million. If you're doing self-examination, maybe you should examine the misogyny you bought into play against our supremely qualified candidate, the fact that you as a member of the press focused on the emails rather than on the travesty of Comey's announcement or Russian interference with the election. Or that Bernie, with his cries of "rigged elections" and "corruption" gave ammunition to Trump. Women and people of color are the future. You're not going to cop to that; I get it. But spare us the white working class bull. A lot of us are not buying it any more.
771
Maybe those who lost should examine Hillary's question, about why it was even close.
What did they do wrong? They lost to Trump. Close? So what, it should not have been.
Hint: They did not agree with your opinion about "our supremely qualified candidate." As voters, they get to do that, and you get to listen and learn, or just call them stupid and hateful, and then keep on losing.
What did they do wrong? They lost to Trump. Close? So what, it should not have been.
Hint: They did not agree with your opinion about "our supremely qualified candidate." As voters, they get to do that, and you get to listen and learn, or just call them stupid and hateful, and then keep on losing.
8
@Tucson Writer,
We need to appeal to the entire county of working class people; not just subsets of people plus an unhealthy dose of illegal immigration.
Keep it up, that mindset will surely lose us another election; I am not buying your hype again.
We need to appeal to the entire county of working class people; not just subsets of people plus an unhealthy dose of illegal immigration.
Keep it up, that mindset will surely lose us another election; I am not buying your hype again.
2
"Women and people of color are the future."
It is dangerous to think that because of demographic developments, Democrats are preordained to win future elections. It may be true--it may also be a fallacy!--to think that the "future" people are inclined to vote Democratic. But that is no good if they do not show up at the polls. Hillary lost to Trump because his supporters were much more motivated to vote than her supporters. In large numbers people of color saw no reason to go to the polls and vote for her. Many women were more concerned about economic issues than "women’s" issues and voted for Trump. Demographic shifts or not, to win elections, candidates and the message must motivate voters to go to the polls, in sufficient numbers.
It is dangerous to think that because of demographic developments, Democrats are preordained to win future elections. It may be true--it may also be a fallacy!--to think that the "future" people are inclined to vote Democratic. But that is no good if they do not show up at the polls. Hillary lost to Trump because his supporters were much more motivated to vote than her supporters. In large numbers people of color saw no reason to go to the polls and vote for her. Many women were more concerned about economic issues than "women’s" issues and voted for Trump. Demographic shifts or not, to win elections, candidates and the message must motivate voters to go to the polls, in sufficient numbers.
3
"Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump."
Precisely.
The democrats haven't had a pocketbook issue in decades. Not only did Clinton have less to say to rust-belt voters, she had nothing much to offer. So they took a chance on a charlatan.
Democrats should rally around meaningful programs to address the economic dislocation so many Americans are experiencing. The best ones will put money in people's pockets and improve their lives.
The best example is H.R. 676, Medicare for All.
Americans love Medicare and hate the private insurance industry. H.R. 676 proposes true universal coverage by replacing private insurance with Medicare. At a cost of? At a SAVINGS of $1 trillion per year. Thousands of dollars per year in people's pockets, and an end to the worry and hassle we all live with today.
It's time to shake off Mondale's shadow and get past the missteps of 1983. If a generation ago wise heads thought a private insurance market could work for ordinary Americans, that's no longer true today.
What do you prefer? High deductibles, or no deductible? Healthcare savings accounts, or no bill to pay? You choose your doctor, or your employer does? Endlessly rising cost and premiums, or letting the government negotiate drug price and standardize fees?
No, Tareyton: better to fight AND switch.
Precisely.
The democrats haven't had a pocketbook issue in decades. Not only did Clinton have less to say to rust-belt voters, she had nothing much to offer. So they took a chance on a charlatan.
Democrats should rally around meaningful programs to address the economic dislocation so many Americans are experiencing. The best ones will put money in people's pockets and improve their lives.
The best example is H.R. 676, Medicare for All.
Americans love Medicare and hate the private insurance industry. H.R. 676 proposes true universal coverage by replacing private insurance with Medicare. At a cost of? At a SAVINGS of $1 trillion per year. Thousands of dollars per year in people's pockets, and an end to the worry and hassle we all live with today.
It's time to shake off Mondale's shadow and get past the missteps of 1983. If a generation ago wise heads thought a private insurance market could work for ordinary Americans, that's no longer true today.
What do you prefer? High deductibles, or no deductible? Healthcare savings accounts, or no bill to pay? You choose your doctor, or your employer does? Endlessly rising cost and premiums, or letting the government negotiate drug price and standardize fees?
No, Tareyton: better to fight AND switch.
8
Look guys, I know it feels to good to know you're the smartest person in the room (I know this because I am always the smartest person in the room.) I know it feels good to create a stalking horse of your opponents and then shoot it dead with all the fury at your disposal. I know it feels good to condemn, and to hold in contempt those lower intellects because, let's be honest, republicans are just kind of stupid, right?
Well, wrong. And also, so what? Do the rules of civility change arbitrarily based on who you like and dislike? Does the fact that someone have different priorities than you automatically make them racist, or sexist, or anti science? Of course it doesn't. But the manufactured scorn and derision and frankly sickening language that has graced the comment section of this once great newspaper tell the story that the political left, for all its posturing and trumpeting about its own decency, is more than willing to be some of the rudest, most deplorable people in existence.
We need a return to an agreement that disagreement shouldn't mean contempt. There is no more dangerous emotion than contempt, and yet the people who comment on these articles, filled to the brim with righteous anger, take their contempt for their fellow man not as a downside but as something that makes them a good person. And there is no more dangerous thought than for someone to believe that looking down on others makes them good.
Well, wrong. And also, so what? Do the rules of civility change arbitrarily based on who you like and dislike? Does the fact that someone have different priorities than you automatically make them racist, or sexist, or anti science? Of course it doesn't. But the manufactured scorn and derision and frankly sickening language that has graced the comment section of this once great newspaper tell the story that the political left, for all its posturing and trumpeting about its own decency, is more than willing to be some of the rudest, most deplorable people in existence.
We need a return to an agreement that disagreement shouldn't mean contempt. There is no more dangerous emotion than contempt, and yet the people who comment on these articles, filled to the brim with righteous anger, take their contempt for their fellow man not as a downside but as something that makes them a good person. And there is no more dangerous thought than for someone to believe that looking down on others makes them good.
6
Well said. That is exactly what has been making me feel so outraged.
4
I agree we must check our contempuous speech more carefully (I've been guilty too) but I take STRONG exception that progressive condescension makes for "some of the rudest, most deplorable people in existence".
I grew up in an evangelical Baptist school and was regularly subjected to pulpit-pounding, morally-superior scorn and derision towards liberals, Blacks, and everyone else outside the fundamentalist evangelical community that would curl your toes and singe your hair. That deep hatred and contempt for all others was expertly harnessed by Republicans under Reagan, fueling their entire ride to this point in history.
Furthermore, I lived in Saint Louis during the early days of the Obama administration. As a partner to a university admininstrator, I had to endure hundreds of fundraising events with rich suburban Republican Missourians and the thinly-veiled racist, contemptuous invective casually directed towards Obama, "illegals", and others made me lose my appetite on occasion.
As for comments, have you been to Fox News or Breitbart, listened to Rush Limbaugh, or seen video of Trump rallies? And you think the Left is the rudest?! The Republican Party wrote the book on harnessing the rudest, most deplorable behavior for power. After they ran their own genteel moderates out of the party, they took the level of civil discourse in this country off a cliff.
More manners and civility, yes! Equating smug liberals with the sewer level of the current GOP, NO!
I grew up in an evangelical Baptist school and was regularly subjected to pulpit-pounding, morally-superior scorn and derision towards liberals, Blacks, and everyone else outside the fundamentalist evangelical community that would curl your toes and singe your hair. That deep hatred and contempt for all others was expertly harnessed by Republicans under Reagan, fueling their entire ride to this point in history.
Furthermore, I lived in Saint Louis during the early days of the Obama administration. As a partner to a university admininstrator, I had to endure hundreds of fundraising events with rich suburban Republican Missourians and the thinly-veiled racist, contemptuous invective casually directed towards Obama, "illegals", and others made me lose my appetite on occasion.
As for comments, have you been to Fox News or Breitbart, listened to Rush Limbaugh, or seen video of Trump rallies? And you think the Left is the rudest?! The Republican Party wrote the book on harnessing the rudest, most deplorable behavior for power. After they ran their own genteel moderates out of the party, they took the level of civil discourse in this country off a cliff.
More manners and civility, yes! Equating smug liberals with the sewer level of the current GOP, NO!
2
As someone who works regularly with children, I hear this argument often. Look, just because the other guy does it worse does not mean it's ok for you to do it. I was being critical of the left. This in no way, shape or form should be taken to mean support for the incivility on the right.
I also reccomend you consider that you wrote that incivility is wrong, then spent quite a few words justifying your own. An honest person can look clearly at their own actions and accept responsibility, and a strong person can do this while with clear eyes condemning that same behavior in others.
Darn near everyone has done everything wrong at some point in their life. Have the strength of character to accept that you yourself may have done something wrong, and have the pride to admit it and work to fix it. I myself am guilty of quite a bit of contemptuous thinking, but I realize this, and I seek to actively eliminate it from my thoughts. It's a remarkable exercise and one which has revealed quite a bit about my motivations that I didn't know. I reccomend you try as well.
I also reccomend you consider that you wrote that incivility is wrong, then spent quite a few words justifying your own. An honest person can look clearly at their own actions and accept responsibility, and a strong person can do this while with clear eyes condemning that same behavior in others.
Darn near everyone has done everything wrong at some point in their life. Have the strength of character to accept that you yourself may have done something wrong, and have the pride to admit it and work to fix it. I myself am guilty of quite a bit of contemptuous thinking, but I realize this, and I seek to actively eliminate it from my thoughts. It's a remarkable exercise and one which has revealed quite a bit about my motivations that I didn't know. I reccomend you try as well.
2
Amen, Mr Egan! It feels almost weirdly good watching this president we Democrats didn't want be such an idiot. But the snarky, holier than thou attitude you see on MSNBC and where we Democrats pat ourselves on the back will get us nowhere. Focusing on how to get the working class more is a tide that will lift all boats. Democrats have lost their way, and the old guard of the party (Nancy Pelosi and her cronies clinging to power) will never get us to a winning spot.
3
"For Democrats, they should think of Joe Biden’s Scranton, Pa., every time they take to a podium."
Ah yes, but when they think of Scranton, PA, what exactly should they see? A monolithic mob of white reactionaries--half of them geriatric--screaming "lock her up!"? If so, and Dems once again tack to the right to appease that group of irrational haters, they will indeed get their clocks cleaned for another generation.
The Democrats need to understand a few, basic facts-on-the-ground:
- Many rural folks, men and women alike, hate Hillary. There's nothing rational about it, and nothing will change it. But that hatred swayed more than a few votes.
- Trump's combined margin of victory in PA, MI, and WI, would barely fill Penn State's football stadium. All hope for a dramatic comeback is not lost.
- A surprising number of people who voted for Trump are as wary of the GOP as they are the Democrats.
- Local Dems seem to have conceded local or statewide offices to the GOP. You can't win elections if you don't have candidates on the ballot.
"But they have to be *for* something, as well..."
Absolutely. But they also need to *inspire*, as FDR did in 1932 and Obama did in 2008. Both appealed to hope, not fear. Trump did just the opposite: inspired by conspiring, and feeding on fear.
The Democrats will start winning again when they're having pitched primary battles over seemingly minor state offices. But, until then...
Ah yes, but when they think of Scranton, PA, what exactly should they see? A monolithic mob of white reactionaries--half of them geriatric--screaming "lock her up!"? If so, and Dems once again tack to the right to appease that group of irrational haters, they will indeed get their clocks cleaned for another generation.
The Democrats need to understand a few, basic facts-on-the-ground:
- Many rural folks, men and women alike, hate Hillary. There's nothing rational about it, and nothing will change it. But that hatred swayed more than a few votes.
- Trump's combined margin of victory in PA, MI, and WI, would barely fill Penn State's football stadium. All hope for a dramatic comeback is not lost.
- A surprising number of people who voted for Trump are as wary of the GOP as they are the Democrats.
- Local Dems seem to have conceded local or statewide offices to the GOP. You can't win elections if you don't have candidates on the ballot.
"But they have to be *for* something, as well..."
Absolutely. But they also need to *inspire*, as FDR did in 1932 and Obama did in 2008. Both appealed to hope, not fear. Trump did just the opposite: inspired by conspiring, and feeding on fear.
The Democrats will start winning again when they're having pitched primary battles over seemingly minor state offices. But, until then...
4
Democrats should be optimistic. And happy. And hopeful. Any reading of history suggests the Republican moment won't last long. What will prolong it is anger, arrogance, and humorlessness. And right now the left has truckloads of that. Our dirty little political secret is those attributes (and not Democratic policies) are what drove many voters to Trump.
When were you persuaded by an angry person? When did someone call you privileged and it made you receptive to their denunciation? When did you get shouted down and thought it was warranted? Ever supported a law or policy which seems fairly mundane and get called a racist as a result?
The left will not triumph by its eloquence because, frankly, most of the time it sounds like a school yard bully. It will not win back voters who are at working struggling to make a living by exercising elitist privilege and blocking streets yelling and waving signs. It won't gain friends by condemning religious beliefs. And it won't win votes by constantly congratulating itself about its own moral superiority.
Donald Trump shouldn't be president. We get it. Even the right gets it. But if you want to know who put him in power, if you want to see the face of someone who put him on Pennsylvania Avenue, look in a mirror. It's not who you think.
When were you persuaded by an angry person? When did someone call you privileged and it made you receptive to their denunciation? When did you get shouted down and thought it was warranted? Ever supported a law or policy which seems fairly mundane and get called a racist as a result?
The left will not triumph by its eloquence because, frankly, most of the time it sounds like a school yard bully. It will not win back voters who are at working struggling to make a living by exercising elitist privilege and blocking streets yelling and waving signs. It won't gain friends by condemning religious beliefs. And it won't win votes by constantly congratulating itself about its own moral superiority.
Donald Trump shouldn't be president. We get it. Even the right gets it. But if you want to know who put him in power, if you want to see the face of someone who put him on Pennsylvania Avenue, look in a mirror. It's not who you think.
8
The people who put trump in power are the people who voted for him. They are responsible for the consequences of their decision. "The liberals made me do it" is a silly argument.
2
The great lesson of Thomas Mann's Mario and the Magician is that in order to halt evil your resistance has to go beyond just not not wanting it, your rejection of it can bring results only if you fight it by an equally strong countercharge.
3
Trump and the aftermath has helped me identify which of my "so-called" friends is in any way intelligent or able to think. Those who are still drinking the koolaide are either dumber than a box of rocks or hopelessly paranoid, neurotic and married to conspiracy theories.
I don't get how stupid people are. I had Trump's (I will never ever call him the P word) number several years ago -- as well as Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio. I do adhere to some of the Republican values -- but at this point, they are so uniformly disgusting I wouldn't vote for a Republican even if he was Barack Obama. People -- for heaven sakes, take your damn blinders off.
I don't get how stupid people are. I had Trump's (I will never ever call him the P word) number several years ago -- as well as Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio. I do adhere to some of the Republican values -- but at this point, they are so uniformly disgusting I wouldn't vote for a Republican even if he was Barack Obama. People -- for heaven sakes, take your damn blinders off.
1
"Those who are still drinking the koolaide are either dumber than a box of rocks or hopelessly paranoid, neurotic and married to conspiracy theories."
That does itself sound "hopelessly paranoid, neurotic and married to conspiracy theories."
That does itself sound "hopelessly paranoid, neurotic and married to conspiracy theories."
4
Everybody in GA used to be a Democrat. Everybody in the South used to be a Democrat. As soon as the Democrats began to try to work for equal rights for black people, the racists, bumpkins, and meanies all became Republicans. And, they still are!
The GOP cannot win fair and square. They have "fixed" districts in their States so that only Republicans win. The Democrats only need to yell louder, stop the GOP's dishonesty in making it harder for people to vote, and make sure the people hear the truth about who is doing what up there. I do not believe that the voters have any idea that the GOP wants to wreck Social Security and Medicare, or that they want to basically destroy the entire government, except for the Defense Dept. of course. Gotta have that War Machine!
Wake up Democrats! You have not screamed loudly enough about the dishonesty and evil doings of Republicans. The voters do not want what they are offering us, but unfortunately, the voters don't know that. Make sure that they do!
The GOP cannot win fair and square. They have "fixed" districts in their States so that only Republicans win. The Democrats only need to yell louder, stop the GOP's dishonesty in making it harder for people to vote, and make sure the people hear the truth about who is doing what up there. I do not believe that the voters have any idea that the GOP wants to wreck Social Security and Medicare, or that they want to basically destroy the entire government, except for the Defense Dept. of course. Gotta have that War Machine!
Wake up Democrats! You have not screamed loudly enough about the dishonesty and evil doings of Republicans. The voters do not want what they are offering us, but unfortunately, the voters don't know that. Make sure that they do!
4
Here in GA, Dems are going all out to staunch the damage of unfettered GOP rule. Party meetings are overflowing all over the Atlanta metro area. Watch the enthusiasm generated for winning the 6th district vacated by Tom Price.
3
Seems that the perenially cluless establishment House Dems, let by the Pelosi bubble, still just don't get it, going by reports from their recent meet. They just didn't get their message out, seems to be the problem. So who are you going to believe anyway, the "message", or your own lying wallets. And the conclusion they seem to have come up with is that they need to tell us better "stories".
Some of those Dems, the ones who opposed Pelosi as minority leader, get it. Elizabeth Warren is another Dem who does get it -
"Better talking points? Are you kidding me? People are so desperate for economic change in this country that Donald Trump was just inaugurated as President, and people think we just have a messaging problem? What planet are they living on?"
Some of those Dems, the ones who opposed Pelosi as minority leader, get it. Elizabeth Warren is another Dem who does get it -
"Better talking points? Are you kidding me? People are so desperate for economic change in this country that Donald Trump was just inaugurated as President, and people think we just have a messaging problem? What planet are they living on?"
8
the very "superior than thou" attitude of this write is probably one of the very reasons people support Trump.
3
It's no secret why Democrats lost state house after state house. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), funded by the Koch brothers and their ilk, poured millions into local races that had never seen anything like that kind of money. If the Democrats want to win at the state level, they have to spend.
4
I'm white. I'm working class. I do not want to be in a party that sets placating whites as a primary goal as suggested here by Egan. Let the republicans keep that sorry mission.
So what's a white guy to do? Get an education. Do the work of reaching out to people of other races and nationalities. Pick up a skill that is actually needed in the global economy. Learn to listen to the oppressed and those in the minority. All this is within reach of the white working class, but you have to be willing to work and you can't think for one minute that you are entitled to anything you do actually deserve.
We don't need a party of lazy whites who are not willing to do the hard work of life.
So what's a white guy to do? Get an education. Do the work of reaching out to people of other races and nationalities. Pick up a skill that is actually needed in the global economy. Learn to listen to the oppressed and those in the minority. All this is within reach of the white working class, but you have to be willing to work and you can't think for one minute that you are entitled to anything you do actually deserve.
We don't need a party of lazy whites who are not willing to do the hard work of life.
16
"Removed from power"?
Rather, the Democrat oligarchs are removed from the people, as much as are the Republican oligarchs.
Rather, the Democrat oligarchs are removed from the people, as much as are the Republican oligarchs.
6
Sorry, but the white working class is incapable of learning anything. Let them sink.
As they sink, they take their votes with them, to somebody else.
Letting them sink is how you lost.
Letting them sink is how you lost.
6
Of course none of this advise will make any inpact of a political party whose leadership is from tunnel vision coastal elites.
Because the folks in "Peoria" do not see the most important issue in their lives such as bathroom rights for transgenders.
Instead, they see the important things in their lives as those "minor" challenges like finding a good paying job and being able to keep a roof over their heads, something that the Democratic Party leadership has chosen to ignore because ordinary, bread-and-butter issues are something you tend to ignore when the only people you have face-to-face dealings with are people that look much like yourself.
Because the folks in "Peoria" do not see the most important issue in their lives such as bathroom rights for transgenders.
Instead, they see the important things in their lives as those "minor" challenges like finding a good paying job and being able to keep a roof over their heads, something that the Democratic Party leadership has chosen to ignore because ordinary, bread-and-butter issues are something you tend to ignore when the only people you have face-to-face dealings with are people that look much like yourself.
8
"Of course none of this advise will make any inpact of a political party whose leadership is from tunnel vision coastal elites."
They are still telling themselves they really won. When they admit a bit of reality of loss, it is to tell themselves they should have won if only the so-and-so voters had not been so-and-so.
They are still telling themselves they really won. When they admit a bit of reality of loss, it is to tell themselves they should have won if only the so-and-so voters had not been so-and-so.
5
Yes, the 40+ year plan for The Top 1% Global Financial Elite Robber Baron/ Radical Religion Boys Party to take over and destroy democracy in America has come full circle. They think they have finally achieved their goal to get complete power over the rest of us and destroy democracy in America to feed their insatiable greed for power.
Remember, they have only the top spots in OUR governments and there are millions of "workers" in the departments they head who do not agree with their ideas or behavior and will resist, obstruct, whistle-blow, and take other actions to stop the planned destruction. The question is will the media get the real story out?
Based on the current giddy coverage of every tweet and current weather conditions it is doubtful.
However, social media and word of mouth work better for reasonable people than fox so-called news and hate-anger-fear-war-religion radio/social media when people get involved.Two women started the facebook page that turned into the 4,956,452 person strong Women's March on Washington and 673 other locations across America and around the world.
That is The Good News. People have finally wakened up and realized that democracy is about every single citizen paying attention and voting to preserve the things WE love about democracy in America. WE must stay focused and determined to stop them every single day in every non-violent way.
Remember, they have only the top spots in OUR governments and there are millions of "workers" in the departments they head who do not agree with their ideas or behavior and will resist, obstruct, whistle-blow, and take other actions to stop the planned destruction. The question is will the media get the real story out?
Based on the current giddy coverage of every tweet and current weather conditions it is doubtful.
However, social media and word of mouth work better for reasonable people than fox so-called news and hate-anger-fear-war-religion radio/social media when people get involved.Two women started the facebook page that turned into the 4,956,452 person strong Women's March on Washington and 673 other locations across America and around the world.
That is The Good News. People have finally wakened up and realized that democracy is about every single citizen paying attention and voting to preserve the things WE love about democracy in America. WE must stay focused and determined to stop them every single day in every non-violent way.
3
One thing the Democrats can do is to start Campaigning on saving and strengthening Social Security and Medicare. Trump said he won't touch these programs, but Republicans, especially Ryan are going for Privatization and are shrugging off any opposition from constituents in Red States.
Democrats leadership are not communicating their opposition to the Ryan Plan forcefully at all. The cabinet is in place they didn't have the votes to stop it because they changed the rules. Now it's the Supreme Court nominee fight. I don't see why someone doesn't take the lead and communicate in a coherent way so a 3rd grader would understand why the average person will be greatly affected by the Ryan Plan.
Democrats don't communicate with the American public in a forceful and appealing way. This is country wide in state races and that's how the Republicans have built their majority's.
Democrats need to get the strategy in place and quickly.
Democrats leadership are not communicating their opposition to the Ryan Plan forcefully at all. The cabinet is in place they didn't have the votes to stop it because they changed the rules. Now it's the Supreme Court nominee fight. I don't see why someone doesn't take the lead and communicate in a coherent way so a 3rd grader would understand why the average person will be greatly affected by the Ryan Plan.
Democrats don't communicate with the American public in a forceful and appealing way. This is country wide in state races and that's how the Republicans have built their majority's.
Democrats need to get the strategy in place and quickly.
1
Forget Keith Ellison and Tom Perez - Joe Biden should be the head of the DNC. He knows the concerns of working people- all working people, regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, or religion.
552
Biden does not have his heart in the game any longer, We can't trust him to stay the course.
1
I still cannot figure out why Democrats are engaged in in-fighting at this point. The DNC Chair is about to become the chair of a defunct party unless the Democrats put up a defense for the many Senate seats up for re-election in 2018. Time to close ranks. If making Ellison DNC Chair is what will bring Sanders supporters back into the party because Sanders backs Ellison, then let's do what it takes to make the party whole.
1
Thanks again Tim for the dose of reality. The only hope IMO are the citizens of this country. We have to resist loudly and constantly, as does the legitimate press.
If we can make our illegitimate executive the laughing stock of the world his head may explode, I can only hope.
If we can make our illegitimate executive the laughing stock of the world his head may explode, I can only hope.
Locked in their comfortable coastal complacency, the Pelosi/Shumer wing of the party are clueless about what's happening in the American heartland. The same goes for the DNC.
They need to abandon their Gucci and Armani camouflage, put on some Levis and Carhartts and spend some time in Scranton, Grand Rapids and Independence. Make those towns as prosperous as San Francisco and New York and the Democrats may have a chance.
They need to abandon their Gucci and Armani camouflage, put on some Levis and Carhartts and spend some time in Scranton, Grand Rapids and Independence. Make those towns as prosperous as San Francisco and New York and the Democrats may have a chance.
3
The more vocal Democrats become the more Republicans will dismiss us. Republicans intent on destruction of democracy will find that this "sugar high" will not change the fact that Trump may have with the help of Putin, Comey and his own dangerous rhetoric won the presidency but he has woken up an galvanized those who were disingaged in the past election. Loosing the polular vote by the greatest amount in the history of American elections is not insignificant. Destroy the fabric of America and watch how with hard work and diligence bring newly registered engaged voters out to really rid the Trump/self serving republican swamp. Republicans will not be able to hide from their support of a crazy man. They will be unseated.
The Democrats were absolutely cocksure that it was Hillary's time to win - after all, we've never had a woman president in our more than two centuries as a country, unlike most Western democracies in the world. But in 20-20 hindsight, it was Bernie Sanders' s time. Or, if Joe Biden had run, and if he had made a populist argument that was genuine and not just a touting of Obama's tenure, he could have taken it to Trump and likely won. The point is that the Dems needed a message and needed a candidate who could take it to Trump aggressively - was on his level to handle a flame-thrower, an obfuscator, a deflector. He doesn't do so well against an assertive, smart candidate.
Yes, the white voters in this country knew one thing and knew it well: the power of the vote. They LOVE what he's doing now. They live in a different universe than the rest of us - but they're not sad about it. It's becoming all to clear that the Democrats "have to be FOR something" but it is hard to know how that will come about, since Obama was mainly about competence and the party was content to run on his coat tails.
Yes, the white voters in this country knew one thing and knew it well: the power of the vote. They LOVE what he's doing now. They live in a different universe than the rest of us - but they're not sad about it. It's becoming all to clear that the Democrats "have to be FOR something" but it is hard to know how that will come about, since Obama was mainly about competence and the party was content to run on his coat tails.
6
The way out is not easy. Trump won on two lies: he'd make America great again by bringing back jobs that are not coming back and he'd save Americans from their fears of terrorism, immigrants and the growing role of minorities. Democrats can address the disparity between the rich and the poor through reforming taxes, encouraging unions, raising the minimum wage and offering the young access to education. But only if Americans wake up and realize Trump is lying and our freedoms are important for all of us.
1
My hopes are that the entire country is going down the tubes & that means the disenfranchised who voted for DT. In 2 years maybe they'll have seen that his promises were illusory & have cost them, not helped them.
Nope. We get angry and stay that way. It's the only way. This catastrophe must be brought to an end, by any means necessary. Something's gotta give, and it will. And I know that phase one leaves us with president pence. That's bad, but temporary. This will not wash off, and Republicans will pay.
The last place we want to go is into the hearts and minds of everyone who pulled a lever for Trump. They can all go to hell. He's already sending them there and they're too ethically bankrupt to see it; or at any rate to admit it. I've got problems too, but I don't go around dreaming that a bloated yellow coward fake strongman will solve them by burning down the country. What they did is not Ok.
Our opprobrium must also apply to those in the media who pretend that there's anything normal about this. Chris Matthews, I'm talking to you. You "love to play devil's advocate", do you? I call it something else that you love, and it ain't something good. CNN declined to have the conway person as a guest this past Sunday. That's not just an ethical stance; it's about not wasting my time, since no information comes out of her. So I watch CNN now.
This is the big one, and we should all be prepared to go to jail, if that's what it takes.
The last place we want to go is into the hearts and minds of everyone who pulled a lever for Trump. They can all go to hell. He's already sending them there and they're too ethically bankrupt to see it; or at any rate to admit it. I've got problems too, but I don't go around dreaming that a bloated yellow coward fake strongman will solve them by burning down the country. What they did is not Ok.
Our opprobrium must also apply to those in the media who pretend that there's anything normal about this. Chris Matthews, I'm talking to you. You "love to play devil's advocate", do you? I call it something else that you love, and it ain't something good. CNN declined to have the conway person as a guest this past Sunday. That's not just an ethical stance; it's about not wasting my time, since no information comes out of her. So I watch CNN now.
This is the big one, and we should all be prepared to go to jail, if that's what it takes.
3
First, the Democrats (especially those from the coasts) have to take a road trip to middle America. And what they have to do is listen, not talk. They will learn a lot.
Second, they have to come up with a plan to deal with the concerns of middle America. The plan should not pit one group against another; they should not abandon their 2016 supporters but build bridges to those who did not give them support. In short, they have to find policy positions to benefit everyone, both in reality and in perception.
Third, they have to communicate that plan. This is something that the Democrats have lacked ... they cannot come up with a pithy slogan that represents an intelligent policy. And they have to communicate in person, not by the media.
This leads to the fourth point - the Democrats have to make sure that no race is ever uncontested. Hillary carried 12 Congressional districts where the GOP candidate ran unopposed. Even if they don't win the local race, they will get their policy points across in the local arena.
Can they do this? Well, when dealing with the Democrats and a plan, one often thinks about the old canard which goes "How many French soldiers does it take to defend Paris? Answer - who knows, it's never been tried." But this time everything depends on having, and implementing, a plan.
Second, they have to come up with a plan to deal with the concerns of middle America. The plan should not pit one group against another; they should not abandon their 2016 supporters but build bridges to those who did not give them support. In short, they have to find policy positions to benefit everyone, both in reality and in perception.
Third, they have to communicate that plan. This is something that the Democrats have lacked ... they cannot come up with a pithy slogan that represents an intelligent policy. And they have to communicate in person, not by the media.
This leads to the fourth point - the Democrats have to make sure that no race is ever uncontested. Hillary carried 12 Congressional districts where the GOP candidate ran unopposed. Even if they don't win the local race, they will get their policy points across in the local arena.
Can they do this? Well, when dealing with the Democrats and a plan, one often thinks about the old canard which goes "How many French soldiers does it take to defend Paris? Answer - who knows, it's never been tried." But this time everything depends on having, and implementing, a plan.
1
My mantra:
The Democratic Party must care more about unemployed miners in West Virginia than Syrian refugees.
It's that simple.
The Democratic Party must care more about unemployed miners in West Virginia than Syrian refugees.
It's that simple.
7
Bravo! Living in a Red state makes it easy to hear how popular Trump still is. Thanks for reminding us of the numbers that show just how deep the hole is. The Dems have an awful lot of work to do, and it starts by looking honestly at what a horrible spot they are in and what they might have done to get there. Pelosi apparently still doesn't get it. Yes, it's great that the media and late-night hosts are calling Trump and his tramps out for ethics violations (buy her stuff!), criticizing the judiciary (so-called judge) and the appalling press gaffes, not to mention an unconstitutional travel ban. The fans still love him. It's important to know that those fans are not only the suffering white middle class but also an awful lot of happy, upper-middle class whites who love the fact that the stock market is rocking and that a black man is no longer in the White House. When I hear such folks criticize and make fun of Michelle Obama! -- and I do hear that -- I am reminded of how much the upper-middle class whites "suffered" under our first black president and first lady. Many of them are just as thrilled as the poorer whites, even if they'd never have dinner with them, either. It's a sad, complicated mess that calls for clear thinking, reasoning, a determined strategy and action. Laughing at it may ease our pain temporarily - and we need that - but we also need leadership.
3
Only a sit in, in the chambers of congress with their constituents sitting with them will do that. I am 71 years old now and have all the time in the world to sit with them Pay for the cheapest place in DC and I will come.
1
Completely agree with the sentiments here. I am tired of all of the self congratulatory cheering going on (Could someone please tell Nancy Pelosi to give up her position to someone who actually knows what is going on outside of DC and Northern California). The GOP has been kicking the Dems' back sides for almost 10 years and the Dem leadership does not even know what game they should be playing. The GOP has been winning a war (yes that is the appropriate term) based on disinformation distributed by "Think Tanks" on the internet, and intimidation. The DNC has been mismanaged since Howard Dean left, and I am not optimistic it will get better soon. Sad.
By the way, where was all this enthusiasm last October?
By the way, where was all this enthusiasm last October?
3
This column gave me a good idea for a Saturday Night Live Skit: a spelling bee at the White House.
It boils down to voting. For decades, Republicans have seen the importance of voting not just every four years, but at mid-terms AND in state and local elections. Democratic strategy needs to have a 50 state and "full court press" in state and races focus. Democrats cannot afford to wait for another charismatic personality to excite them enough to go the polls.
1
Stop with the hyperbole! Hillary won 3 million more votes than Trump after 8 years of a black man in the white house. While there was clearly a working class white backlash, it was hardly a sweeping tide. It is entirely possible that Republicans will keep on winning the white house, but there is absolutely no evidene to suggest that that is true. They have lost the popular vote 6 of the last 7 presidential elections. Maybe they will win the next one, maybe they won't.
4
Timothy Egan is typically one of my favorite columnists, but I am flummoxed by this column as I have been by similar sentiments expressed by other progressives. Maybe I live in a different universe than Egan, but what I see is that it is the progressives who are clamoring for affordable housing initiatives, for saving the Affordable Care Act, for raising the minimum wage and reforming a tax system that favors the rich, for using those savings to provide parental leave and assistance with child care - and on and on. The people I see arguing most passionately for programs and policies to help the poor and middle class are not Republicans! The stereotype of the "liberal elite" not caring about the working class is largely a myth and Egan has done a good job of perpetuating that myth.
2
Exactly right. While democrats fume, hold up signs and gnash their teeth- they bring in Nancy Pelosi to lead them - again. Why? The democrats have a gift for forming circular firing squads and slowly self destructing. The point of an election is to win power- that's it. Everything else is an afterthought.
246
Spoken like a true Republican.
2
Yes, DEMs must fight to win.
DEMs should have fielded the most winnable candidates, not the party favorite. It's not the party that makes a winner. It's ALL the voters.
Frankly, I don't think the DEMs problem is that that fail to communicate their policy ideas to the voters. A large number of voters who matter, namely swing voters in swing states, aren't concerned about the details of policy. They are voting from their guts.
I'm an urban, educated left wing liberal from a coastal state and I wish the out of work voters from West Virginia and Ohio would be as sensible and smart as me. I have a feeling too many DEMs are just like me in that respect.
But we need to put that aside and find DEM leaders who can speak the language of those swing voters, who can connect with them from the gut. Sanders showed more skill at that than HRC and I suspect he might have won if he'd had a chance. But that's water under the bridge.
DEMs should have fielded the most winnable candidates, not the party favorite. It's not the party that makes a winner. It's ALL the voters.
Frankly, I don't think the DEMs problem is that that fail to communicate their policy ideas to the voters. A large number of voters who matter, namely swing voters in swing states, aren't concerned about the details of policy. They are voting from their guts.
I'm an urban, educated left wing liberal from a coastal state and I wish the out of work voters from West Virginia and Ohio would be as sensible and smart as me. I have a feeling too many DEMs are just like me in that respect.
But we need to put that aside and find DEM leaders who can speak the language of those swing voters, who can connect with them from the gut. Sanders showed more skill at that than HRC and I suspect he might have won if he'd had a chance. But that's water under the bridge.
Exactly!!! I've been saying this for years. Pelosi is an utterly ineffective leader and her time has long-since passed. Tim Ryan is exactly the kind of new blood the dems need. I cannot believe the results of this election did not wake them up to this fact. And I'm getting tired of groaning every time democrats fail to get it -- usually when they've been this close to finally taking real control of the country and, inevitably, blow it. Again.
2
Well, Timothy, you raise a good point, but the alternative to the Democratic party could be the end of our democracy. There is nothing that guarantees that a mass of poorly educated people that is gamed by Right Wing media as a lucrative market won't make very bad decisions.
In this unsavory context I suppose it's the Democrats' duty to educate these people. It's difficult; in many of the swing states the sons and daughters of these people are moving to the coasts for jobs and culture. And if these Trump people can't think rationally, who would hire them anyway?
Trump supporters really are incapable of articulating what they want because of their irrational anger. That means it's difficult to address these people with rational approaches to a government that can benefit them. Trump himself vaguely promised (heh, what else would he do?) that he would restore a nation that has been destroyed during the administrations of the past four presidents. His followers, even Right Wing Christians let by Falwell and Graham, endorse the insults (presumably in the name of Jesus Christ). How can Democrats approach these recalcitrant people?
The best strategy is to let Trump continue his Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes existence (from the movie "A Face in the Crowd" for those who don't know the reference) until he is exposed to his glassy-eyed followers. Democrats need to take the high road and build a coalition of thinking people. Not impossible, as they won the popular vote this time.
In this unsavory context I suppose it's the Democrats' duty to educate these people. It's difficult; in many of the swing states the sons and daughters of these people are moving to the coasts for jobs and culture. And if these Trump people can't think rationally, who would hire them anyway?
Trump supporters really are incapable of articulating what they want because of their irrational anger. That means it's difficult to address these people with rational approaches to a government that can benefit them. Trump himself vaguely promised (heh, what else would he do?) that he would restore a nation that has been destroyed during the administrations of the past four presidents. His followers, even Right Wing Christians let by Falwell and Graham, endorse the insults (presumably in the name of Jesus Christ). How can Democrats approach these recalcitrant people?
The best strategy is to let Trump continue his Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes existence (from the movie "A Face in the Crowd" for those who don't know the reference) until he is exposed to his glassy-eyed followers. Democrats need to take the high road and build a coalition of thinking people. Not impossible, as they won the popular vote this time.
3
Mr. Egan provides a nice reality check for the Democratic Party. Let me provide a little: (1) The Democratic Party establishment (aka it's "leaders") do not have winning elections (aka power) for the party as their primary objective. Rather it is to remain a member of the Democratic Party establishment. That was clearly shown by the establishment's lockstep, unthinking support for "Hillary for '17" from late '08 through election day, '16. (2) The primary object of the party for many (most?) in its base isn't for the party to get and use power. Rather it is to help them feel better about themselves. Republicans, at all levels, are much more about actually getting and using power than Democrats. Until that changes, Republicans will rule.
3
Will Rogers said it best, "I don't belong to any organized party. I'm a Democrat."
The leaders of the Democratic Party need to listen to Bernie Sanders. Yes, he is a late entry into the Democratic fold. But he's more than an outlier. His insight is what is needed to save the Democratic Party, "the opposition party, more removed from power than at almost any point in history" or at least in my lifetime.
The Republicans have succeeded in marginalizing the Democrats for two reasons. First, we have always had enough Democrats who will go along with the Republicans. That's crucial because it provides a fig leaf of credibility for policies than harm ordinary Americans. Senator Hillary Clinton had a history of supporting Republican measures. Bill Clinton signed Republican legislation into law and even sang its praises. He led the Democratic Party into its role of Republican Lite. President Obama chased the chimera of bipartisanship even after his initiatives had plainly failed.
Second, Democrats have joined the Republicans in pledging allegiance to wealthy donors in return for their donations. Even Barrack Obama refused to hold hearing on the causes of the Great Recession and crony capitalism during the Iraq War after accepting Wall Street donations
The leaders of the Democratic Party need to listen to Bernie Sanders. Yes, he is a late entry into the Democratic fold. But he's more than an outlier. His insight is what is needed to save the Democratic Party, "the opposition party, more removed from power than at almost any point in history" or at least in my lifetime.
The Republicans have succeeded in marginalizing the Democrats for two reasons. First, we have always had enough Democrats who will go along with the Republicans. That's crucial because it provides a fig leaf of credibility for policies than harm ordinary Americans. Senator Hillary Clinton had a history of supporting Republican measures. Bill Clinton signed Republican legislation into law and even sang its praises. He led the Democratic Party into its role of Republican Lite. President Obama chased the chimera of bipartisanship even after his initiatives had plainly failed.
Second, Democrats have joined the Republicans in pledging allegiance to wealthy donors in return for their donations. Even Barrack Obama refused to hold hearing on the causes of the Great Recession and crony capitalism during the Iraq War after accepting Wall Street donations
6
Yes, democrats are in the dumps, a good place to start, as they are at par with the 'forgotten' folks that desperately wanted change for the better..until they got cheated by demagogue Trump, who convinced them he understood them (fat chance, of course, with his huge social distance) and would change their luck if only they got him elected. Buyer's remorse is soon to come, as crooked lying Trump reneges on his promises (by incompetence, no doubt). The democrats must examine their conscience and previous deeds...and lack thereof( such as losing the Senate by failing to support Obamacare at a difficult time). Another thing they lack is 'voltage', the energizer to get them out of their complacency, and fight for the common man/woman/child, as if their survival depends on it (and it does). A 'sugar high' must be followed by hard work and perseverance, and do the right thing. If their efforts provide them the political victory to reverse unscrupulous and irresponsible Trump's thrashing this democracy, must be viewed as a bonus. No opportunism necessary, just a lot of luck to open the minds of gullible and misinformed folks so they won't continue shooting their own foot.
1
It's painful to admit, but the Dems simply stink at sales and always have. One third of those polled think ACA and Obamacare are two different things Working class voters chose the union busting party of the 1% over the party that will lift the minimum wage and support education and training. Republicans have a 24/hour propaganda channel on cable TV backed up by dozens of right wing radio hosts who repeat the same lies to their gullible listeners again and again until they become the "truth." We need a communications effort to counter the alternative facts machine.
15
Federal elections having become nothing more than a sorting of the queue to get on the corporate payroll escalator after spinning the revolving door. It is a testament to the basic faith (or perhaps naiveté) in the American system of governance that some still vote at all. Too bad the political class of either stripe don't share this belief. Their beliefs seem to be confined to the notion that they'd like to be rich, too.
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific (and its spawn Buckley v. Valeo, et al) started the descent into plutocracy and Citizens United was the tombstone.
A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.” We gave it away.
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific (and its spawn Buckley v. Valeo, et al) started the descent into plutocracy and Citizens United was the tombstone.
A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.” We gave it away.
6
Had the Republicans not blocked or weakened every social program Democrats attempted to implement during Obama's administration, the "White working class" would have experienced the kinds of health care, wages, worker's rights and social supports they need. Yes, the Democrat's need a much better unified message that speaks to all of our lives and experiences. Actions, however, speak louder than words- too bad Republicans blocked them from acting every inch of the way.
3
Spot on Mr. Egan!
The Democratic Party needs to wake up from its decades-long slumber and realize what its alleged leaders have allowed to happen on their watch: a near complete abandonment of their once-core constituency, the working and middle class. While these erstwhile leaders were setting themselves up with cushy, lucrative positions at the wheels of power, they sold their rank and file on feel-good messages about identity politics which fractured their constituency, and drove the majority into the hands of their mutual enemy. Call those who fled "ignorant", but even the most loyal dog will leave its master if kicked enough.
The central truth that the Dems need to accept is that regardless of whatever "identity" their targeted constituent claims, they share one thing in common: they're a working person. If they focus on the needs of working people, they will by extension serve the needs of all their demographic sub-groups. And until they do this, they will be unable to serve the needs of ANY of these sub-groups.
I hope the Democratic poobahs listen to you Mr. Egan better than they listened to Bernie.
The Democratic Party needs to wake up from its decades-long slumber and realize what its alleged leaders have allowed to happen on their watch: a near complete abandonment of their once-core constituency, the working and middle class. While these erstwhile leaders were setting themselves up with cushy, lucrative positions at the wheels of power, they sold their rank and file on feel-good messages about identity politics which fractured their constituency, and drove the majority into the hands of their mutual enemy. Call those who fled "ignorant", but even the most loyal dog will leave its master if kicked enough.
The central truth that the Dems need to accept is that regardless of whatever "identity" their targeted constituent claims, they share one thing in common: they're a working person. If they focus on the needs of working people, they will by extension serve the needs of all their demographic sub-groups. And until they do this, they will be unable to serve the needs of ANY of these sub-groups.
I hope the Democratic poobahs listen to you Mr. Egan better than they listened to Bernie.
9
My white male coworkers make upwards of $100,000 a year and overwhelmingly voted for Trump because, according to them, crime has never been worse (an absolute lie), racial relations have never been worse (somehow even more ridiculous than the first lie), and the economy is a catastrophe (yet another lie).
They lie about fundamental, undeniable facts because the alternative is openly admitting that they want to return America to its bigoted, racist, white supremacist past. Which, to be honest, they sort of do anyway - do they think they are fooling anyone on what "Make America Great Again" really means?
The Democrats did more for "the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid" than anyone since LBJ when they passed the Affordable Car Act, which Egan has completely forgotten somehow. Oh, well; most other white men haven't given them any credit for it, either. Neither has the media, Never before in our history have tens of millions of Americans gained so much, in quality of life and peace of mind, to so little fanfare.
I could go on and on about the CFPB, the "white collar" overtime rules change, the retirement account fiduciary requirement - all enacted by Democrats to help working people, all furiously opposed and now eliminated by Republicans, none even acknowledged in a column alleging that the Democrats haven't tried.
This piece was a disappointingly poor effort from a columnist who usually writes truth to power.
They lie about fundamental, undeniable facts because the alternative is openly admitting that they want to return America to its bigoted, racist, white supremacist past. Which, to be honest, they sort of do anyway - do they think they are fooling anyone on what "Make America Great Again" really means?
The Democrats did more for "the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid" than anyone since LBJ when they passed the Affordable Car Act, which Egan has completely forgotten somehow. Oh, well; most other white men haven't given them any credit for it, either. Neither has the media, Never before in our history have tens of millions of Americans gained so much, in quality of life and peace of mind, to so little fanfare.
I could go on and on about the CFPB, the "white collar" overtime rules change, the retirement account fiduciary requirement - all enacted by Democrats to help working people, all furiously opposed and now eliminated by Republicans, none even acknowledged in a column alleging that the Democrats haven't tried.
This piece was a disappointingly poor effort from a columnist who usually writes truth to power.
21
The majority of Americans voted against Trump. Hillary got 3 million more votes. When you tally up all the votes, Democrats get a greater percentage of Congressional votes than Republicans. Yes, Democrats control a woeful number of state legislatures and governorships, but they also control a very high percentage of mayoral offices and city councils in major urban areas.
The problem is that the Democrats' power is concentrated in cities and in two regions: the Northeast and West Coast. These are where most of the people live. But because of the current electoral system, the votes in rural areas and small towns carry more weight than the votes in urban areas and more densely populated states like California and New York.
I'm not sure what the solution to this problem is. But it's misleading to suggest that the majority of Americans are in Trump's corner, or the GOP's corner. That's just not true.
The problem is that the Democrats' power is concentrated in cities and in two regions: the Northeast and West Coast. These are where most of the people live. But because of the current electoral system, the votes in rural areas and small towns carry more weight than the votes in urban areas and more densely populated states like California and New York.
I'm not sure what the solution to this problem is. But it's misleading to suggest that the majority of Americans are in Trump's corner, or the GOP's corner. That's just not true.
58
I'm genuinely curious what Timothy Egan would propose that Democrats do to win back the white working class. Pro-lynching laws, maybe? Repealing the 1964 Civil Rights Act? Telling immigrants, Latinos, Muslims, and other undesirables to take a hike?
Every good thing Democrats do or would do applies to all Americans. I guess I should apologize as a Democrat for being color-blind in this regard. We can't restore Mayberry to its once previous glory, however. We're a much bigger and, in some ways, much better nation. If Egan has an idea how to make laws that specifically benefit white people, he probably wants a different party. Which one could that be?
Every good thing Democrats do or would do applies to all Americans. I guess I should apologize as a Democrat for being color-blind in this regard. We can't restore Mayberry to its once previous glory, however. We're a much bigger and, in some ways, much better nation. If Egan has an idea how to make laws that specifically benefit white people, he probably wants a different party. Which one could that be?
20
The frightening truth that Democrats and America now face is that the current balance of power will likely endure for a long time. To their credit, the Republicans have built a political structure on the state and federal levels that is exceedingly difficult to alter. Control of government allows fine-tuning of district boundaries and the rules for voter participation in such a way that Democratic breakthroughs are ever less likely. The 2018 elections will probably leave Republicans with continued dominance, and with 2020 not far beyond that, any redistricting is certain to only further solidify GOP control. The Republican grip will become a generational. The Supreme Court shift to the right will become so ingrained that it will last for decades. And if you think that Trump can't possibly win reelection, well...consider the paucity of talent in the Democratic ranks right now.
Of course, Republican overreach combined with some awful policy disaster could alter the calculation drastically. A depressing thought since positive change requires that the country or the world suffer a bad outcome.
Of course, Republican overreach combined with some awful policy disaster could alter the calculation drastically. A depressing thought since positive change requires that the country or the world suffer a bad outcome.
10
FDR took care of wide swaths of the populace and helped reignite the economy following the worst depression in US history. Though we desperately need a similar effort to address the problems of the working class—and though the project is achievable in modern form through investing in green energy jobs and upgrading our sagging infrastructure—the stock market is booming and segments of the middle class are not hurting. Senate and Congressional Democrats spend half their time raising money for the right to stay in office. They need to devote part of that time to reimagining how their presently more secure constituents—their own small donors—will fare in the next Depression. They need to channel FDR in the thick of it and commit themselves to his solutions, adding in a program to retrain people whose manufacturing jobs will never return. Only then will the real needs of working class Americans be addressed.
4
For the second time in the last 16 years totally unqualified Republican has become president because of the petulance of the far left Democrats in the Democratic Party. They continue to punish the majority of Democrats and the rest of the world by allowing men who are unfit to be the leader of the free world win elections. And they never suffer any consequences for it. Bernie Sanders continues his position while destroying Hillary Clinton's career. And at the same time saddles the world with the most unfit person for the presidency of the United States. He should resign.
8
There has been little written about how Bernie was too ego driven to block Trump from becoming president. He divided the Democratic party and crippled our only hope of defeating the Republican agenda. I actually agreed with many of the solutions Bernie proposed, however, he, as have many Republicans, did not put our country's safety as a priority. He let us burn. I can't have respect for a man like that.
5
So it's the voters' fault that the DNC fixed the nominating process to ensure that an unpopular candidate secured the nomination? The powers that be in the D's would rather see a Republican, any Republican, win the Presidency rather than Mr. Sanders since he posed a threat (quite probably imaginary) to their corporate cash gravy train.
Notice all of the soul searching and self-examination going on in the DNC? Me neither.
Notice all of the soul searching and self-examination going on in the DNC? Me neither.
2
You have it backwards. Hillary and the DNC destroyed Bernie. Hillary may not be characterized as the far left, but she represents the failed identify politics which are repulsive to many white voters. Many of the Trump voters I know are cool with Bernie, but they are unequivocal in their hatred for Hillary (as were many Dems). Mainstream white voters are sick of hearing about African American issues, or LGBT issues or women's issues, etc. Bernie spoke about a common plight. Hillary did not. She had a policy for everything, but wasn't for anything. It's not about who was further to the left. I was about who was talking to me. Hillary checked the box: blacks - check; feminists - check; hispanics - check. But she forgot the white male and non-feminist white female. Those people still vote and they are the majority of the country. If Hillary had picked Bernie for her VP, then she would have won. Don't blame Bernie for a supremely flawed Hillary and her antiquated message.
2
I agree absolutely. But the Democrats will not have anything credible to say to the bottom half, let's say, of the economic pyramid until they stop relying on fat cats to fund them. I used to give a few bucks once in a while to different Democratic organizations, but I stopped after seeing one too many Barbra Streisand multimillion dollar fundraisers. Those folks may be delightfully liberal socially, but are they really OK with the higher taxes it would take to make the middle and working classes more secure with health coverage, child care, well-funded public education in EVERY neighborhood, and affordable public colleges? Or do they donate with the tacit understanding that their incomes and wealth are not at risk?
Obama and trump both had considerable success raising small donations. The Democrats need to fund themselves from small donors like me by getting serious about delivering quality child care, health care schools and colleges, and by raising taxes to do it--even my taxes, as well as George Soros's. Democrats, please be Democrats, and not Rockefeller Republicans.
Obama and trump both had considerable success raising small donations. The Democrats need to fund themselves from small donors like me by getting serious about delivering quality child care, health care schools and colleges, and by raising taxes to do it--even my taxes, as well as George Soros's. Democrats, please be Democrats, and not Rockefeller Republicans.
13
Tim,
Excellent piece. An additional aspect that you may want to examine in a future piece is whether too many of the Washington-centric Democrats have unwittingly become too closely aligned with elites who spout progressive ideas on various social issues but magically seem to benefit personally from many of the policies they advocate. The public at large may not be as familiar as they should with the specifics of a) trade policies that benefit the elite but hurt the working class, b) visa programs that shift jobs from hardworking American residents to the modern equivalent of indentured servants, and c) climate policies that benefit the pocketbooks of the rich more than they benefit either working class people or the climate. However, they are at least vaguely aware that such policies have been either promulgated or at least tolerated by various Democratic leaders who have simply not focused on the deleterious and inequality-expanding impacts of these policies. That they responded the way they have may be disappointing, but it cannot be all that surprising.
The solution, as you state, is to make it a priority to be in favor of policies that help average Americans. Don't worry about the billionaire "progressives"; they'll still be able to scrape by.
Excellent piece. An additional aspect that you may want to examine in a future piece is whether too many of the Washington-centric Democrats have unwittingly become too closely aligned with elites who spout progressive ideas on various social issues but magically seem to benefit personally from many of the policies they advocate. The public at large may not be as familiar as they should with the specifics of a) trade policies that benefit the elite but hurt the working class, b) visa programs that shift jobs from hardworking American residents to the modern equivalent of indentured servants, and c) climate policies that benefit the pocketbooks of the rich more than they benefit either working class people or the climate. However, they are at least vaguely aware that such policies have been either promulgated or at least tolerated by various Democratic leaders who have simply not focused on the deleterious and inequality-expanding impacts of these policies. That they responded the way they have may be disappointing, but it cannot be all that surprising.
The solution, as you state, is to make it a priority to be in favor of policies that help average Americans. Don't worry about the billionaire "progressives"; they'll still be able to scrape by.
16
In ways, the Democratic Party is the opposition party, but their task is complicated by the fact that the GOP is also a party of opposition, aka reaction. The GOP opposes modernity in science and in sociology. It opposes historical research as inimical to its one true motivational force: greed.
It will take courage, but the Dems must show the reality, that is, that they are for things and not just against the horrors of Trump and his new, slavish, GOP.
It will take courage, but the Dems must show the reality, that is, that they are for things and not just against the horrors of Trump and his new, slavish, GOP.
7
Democrats need a good solid centrist leader for president. The highly progressive regions of the country will vote for them and the more conservative ones will too. That's how we win back the white house.
I lived most of my life in the north east, thinking there and on the west coast can't necessarily be translated into wins here in FL and other less progressive states.
In the mean time, we need to get busy winning back the hearts and minds of the American people as a whole. Our agenda is more in keeping with what they want, but the GOP has sold them on their agenda somehow. Time to fix this!
I lived most of my life in the north east, thinking there and on the west coast can't necessarily be translated into wins here in FL and other less progressive states.
In the mean time, we need to get busy winning back the hearts and minds of the American people as a whole. Our agenda is more in keeping with what they want, but the GOP has sold them on their agenda somehow. Time to fix this!
12
Has the GOP sold the American people on their agenda, or has Trump, an amazingly good showman, simply promoted ideas so vague that voters heard what they wanted to hear? A few weeks ago, the NYT had an article about voters in Florida who didn't really think they might lose their health insurance if the ACA was repealed. Yesterday, there was a story about farmers in California who seemed surprised that their undocumented workers might not be around to harvest crops. Millions of Trump supporters seem happy with his first three weeks in office while at the same time saying things like "He won't really do, that, will he?" My head is spinning!
You're absolutely right that it starts with winning back hearts and minds. Trump won hearts and essentially told voters they didn't need their minds - because he had the greatest mind. Politicians have gone from simply avoiding hard truths to telling outright lies - and it works - like comfort food. But our ideas start with hard truths - like some jobs are simply not coming back. Is there a democratic leader who can cut through the hard truth to actually sell the solution?
You're absolutely right that it starts with winning back hearts and minds. Trump won hearts and essentially told voters they didn't need their minds - because he had the greatest mind. Politicians have gone from simply avoiding hard truths to telling outright lies - and it works - like comfort food. But our ideas start with hard truths - like some jobs are simply not coming back. Is there a democratic leader who can cut through the hard truth to actually sell the solution?
2
Trump won in part because he convinced people the Democrats are no better. It is unfortunate that the Clintons were the face of the Democratic party, because they make easy targets for rejoinders. Some examples of exchanges I have witnessed:
-Trump is corrupt. So what? The Clintons made 250 million while "running a charity."
-Trump molests women. So what? Bill Clinton had a relationship with his intern.
-Trump lied about X. So what? Bill Clinton lied under oath in office.
-Trump is nepotistic. So what? Hillary is riding on Bill's coattails, and Chelsea has received huge financial benefits from her last name.
-Trump is a bully, he just threatened to ruin some state senator's career. So what? Have you ever hard what the Clintons, behind closed doors, do to those who betray them?
Etc. While I personally believe Trump's excesses are cruder, wider ranging, and more blatant than the Clintons', there seems to be many people that prefer Trump because where the Clintons work very hard to hide their corruption, whereas Trump is in your face about it.
-Trump is corrupt. So what? The Clintons made 250 million while "running a charity."
-Trump molests women. So what? Bill Clinton had a relationship with his intern.
-Trump lied about X. So what? Bill Clinton lied under oath in office.
-Trump is nepotistic. So what? Hillary is riding on Bill's coattails, and Chelsea has received huge financial benefits from her last name.
-Trump is a bully, he just threatened to ruin some state senator's career. So what? Have you ever hard what the Clintons, behind closed doors, do to those who betray them?
Etc. While I personally believe Trump's excesses are cruder, wider ranging, and more blatant than the Clintons', there seems to be many people that prefer Trump because where the Clintons work very hard to hide their corruption, whereas Trump is in your face about it.
19
But none of the non-Trumps mentioned by Mr. Grove were irrational.
We Democrats find ourselves in the sorry state we must endure today because we forgot who and what we are. We are the party of the working men and women of America, those whose labor builds our homes and constructs our roads and bridges, the nurse, the salesman, the factory worker, the policeman, all of the people of this country who earn a paycheck in return for the fruits of our physical and intellectual labor.
We have completely lost our way, serving the needs not of our true constituencies but those of the bankers, shareholders and robber barons whose money fuels our campaigns. We have become Republican Lite, sacrificing our constituents on the altar of the a narrow definition of economic growth where the fruits of our prosperity are not equitably shared. It is "Lite" becuse, while we do not openly oppose organized labor, neither do we defend its importance to our economy. We buy into the carnards, utterly false in every way, that Social Security is in crisis, that Medicare is unaffordable, that benefits and programs that help those of meager means must be cut in the name of deficit control asnd tax cuts that chiefly benefit the robber baron class.
We need to remember who we are and why we have succeeded in the past, by being the party of people rather than the party of business, and by a fealty to the quaint notion of equality of rights.
If we return to our roots as the party of democrats, farmers, labor, and equality, our success will take care of itself.
We have completely lost our way, serving the needs not of our true constituencies but those of the bankers, shareholders and robber barons whose money fuels our campaigns. We have become Republican Lite, sacrificing our constituents on the altar of the a narrow definition of economic growth where the fruits of our prosperity are not equitably shared. It is "Lite" becuse, while we do not openly oppose organized labor, neither do we defend its importance to our economy. We buy into the carnards, utterly false in every way, that Social Security is in crisis, that Medicare is unaffordable, that benefits and programs that help those of meager means must be cut in the name of deficit control asnd tax cuts that chiefly benefit the robber baron class.
We need to remember who we are and why we have succeeded in the past, by being the party of people rather than the party of business, and by a fealty to the quaint notion of equality of rights.
If we return to our roots as the party of democrats, farmers, labor, and equality, our success will take care of itself.
9
The situation is dire but where is the Democratic leadership? Thus far the only one still trying to mobilize the grassroots is Sen. Bernie Sanders, God Bless him. It is going to take action, not just reaction, if the sane leaders are to re-gain the upper hand. That Trump was elected even with all the baggage he has is very discouraging. They need to start at the local level and make sure they realize it is about the economy and jobs, less identity politics.
8
Should I get a chance to vote again, I'd like the choice to be something other than; 'Who do I dislike the least'
9
People say that they voted for Obama AND Trump. What at first appeared to be hyperbole, is now becoming more understandable...change. It is not that people want change just for the sake of something different. Security and predictability are more in tune with human nature. They voted for both Obama AND Trump because they are frightened of the future and are desperately looking for someone to lead the way. I pray that the Demoncratic leadership is researching this voting phenomenon of Obama and Trump voters in order to formulate forward-looking policies. Automation and robotics is a mammoth threat to civilization and it is unstoppable.
5
There are Americans who feel forgotten. People who live in small towns and rural areas where the primary employer (a steel mill, factory, mine) went out of business for any of a variety of reasons (trade agreements, technology, a move for tax incentives offered by another state). These people lost their jobs. They are hurting, angry, furious with Washington. Mostly white males, because most minorities live in urban areas of the country.
These are forgotten white people. Not because Democrats forgot them. But because they forgot what they need to do. They refuse to move out of their small towns and rural communities to find work. They refuse to get educated to assume available work. These 'forgotten' white people want their jobs back. In their communities. They want good paying jobs requiring an 8th grade education, or at most a GED. Their fathers had good paying lifelong jobs no further than 2 miles from where they lived. The 'forgotten' white American wants that same great America again.
Today's 'forgotten' white American is yesterday's buggy whip maker who lost his job when cars replaced horses. He is the buggy whip maker who refused to move out of his small town to find work; who refused to learn something new like how to work on an assembly line making cars.
These are forgotten white people. Not because Democrats forgot them. But because they forgot what they need to do. They refuse to move out of their small towns and rural communities to find work. They refuse to get educated to assume available work. These 'forgotten' white people want their jobs back. In their communities. They want good paying jobs requiring an 8th grade education, or at most a GED. Their fathers had good paying lifelong jobs no further than 2 miles from where they lived. The 'forgotten' white American wants that same great America again.
Today's 'forgotten' white American is yesterday's buggy whip maker who lost his job when cars replaced horses. He is the buggy whip maker who refused to move out of his small town to find work; who refused to learn something new like how to work on an assembly line making cars.
33
Well those "buggy whip makers" whipped your candidate legally and remember what Obama said so eloquently, "Elections have consequences..."
1
Why only talk about the Democrats? Aren't there any Republicans outraged by the behaviour of their Congressmen and the reputation of their party? Why aren't we encouraging them to run against incumbents in the primaries of 2018?
17
The days of the Eisenhower republican are long gone. These guys that inhabit the republican party today have absolutely no integrity. They'd sell America down the tubes for Russia for their position.
2
Thanks for expressing what I have been thinking the last year. The Democrats need to stop being "not Republican" and market themselves to be for something. They also need to get involved at all levels of government: and that's where the sugar high you have mentioned helps. I have never heard so many people looking to get involved in local government than the last month. It prompted me to commit to go back to Town Meeting, which I have lapsed in attending for awhile.
6
Bernie Sanders showed the way for the Democrats during the primary. We will see who is elected to head the DNC later this month. This will tell you which way the Democrats are truly headed.
332
Bernie Sanders was a loser, and all he accomplished was to take the Democratic Party with him.
5
Mick you still haven't learned after Hillary's loss?
4
Bernie Sanders lost the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton by 3 million votes. He lost the popular vote, he lost the delegate count, and his lost the Super Delegates whose votes he campaigned for while he was similtaneouly complaining about their existence. His voter base is overwhelming white. And a large number of the candidates he backed in 2016 lost their races. He is the way forward for The Tea Party Left, but not for the Democratic Party.
4
I think the Democrats should resist when possible and begin planning to simply tell the truth. Look what the first 23 days of a Trump administration have gotten us. Turmoil. We're the laughing stock of the world and the Republicans that support Trump clearly have no moral compass. They'll continue to spin and use smoke and mirrors to defend the conflicts of interest, the absence of foreign policy understanding, the repeal of the ACA, Dodd-Frank and the EPA laws that keep us safe from corporations and policy that will only lead to disaster. They'll hang themselves and that process has already started. Trump supporters are ignorant. We'll see how much they think they like the destruction of respected government institutions when the impact of these events effect them personally.
Good job Trumpkins. The best is yet to come.
Good job Trumpkins. The best is yet to come.
6
Thank you for the paean Mr. Eagan, I believe you mean well in seeking to spur the Democratic party to succeed. But enough of the poor, forgotten, downtrodden, silent white majority kitsch.
It has been the Democratic party that advocated for policies to improve the lives of working and middle class Americans, at the very least, it has been the Democratic party that fought the relentless decades-long attack by Republicans on organized labor, Social Security, Medicaid, consumer protection, our environment, healthcare, public education, ...
It is no mystery that Republicans seek power to dismantle the Democratic party's progressive agenda. Why? Because it stands in the way of their self-enrichment and cronyism. Millions of manufacturing jobs that disappeared from the US cannot simply be blamed on trade deals, trade deals that were supported and legislated by Republicans too. Many of those jobs became obsolete due to automation and other technological advances. Many more were "outsourced" by corporations blindly seeking to maximize "share holder value." What veteran investor Jack Welsh dubbed, "the dumbest idea."
To be effective, Democrats must built coalitions which require inclusiveness among an increasingly diverse population (which does not equate to the electorate). Republicans simply demonize groups. It is clear that to remain in power, the law & order party, is willing to abandon even their Christian "family values." Thus, our 45th president.
It has been the Democratic party that advocated for policies to improve the lives of working and middle class Americans, at the very least, it has been the Democratic party that fought the relentless decades-long attack by Republicans on organized labor, Social Security, Medicaid, consumer protection, our environment, healthcare, public education, ...
It is no mystery that Republicans seek power to dismantle the Democratic party's progressive agenda. Why? Because it stands in the way of their self-enrichment and cronyism. Millions of manufacturing jobs that disappeared from the US cannot simply be blamed on trade deals, trade deals that were supported and legislated by Republicans too. Many of those jobs became obsolete due to automation and other technological advances. Many more were "outsourced" by corporations blindly seeking to maximize "share holder value." What veteran investor Jack Welsh dubbed, "the dumbest idea."
To be effective, Democrats must built coalitions which require inclusiveness among an increasingly diverse population (which does not equate to the electorate). Republicans simply demonize groups. It is clear that to remain in power, the law & order party, is willing to abandon even their Christian "family values." Thus, our 45th president.
9
The Democratic party is now actually three parties. The Clinton wing and its conservative DLC has controlled the party for the last thirty years. As they moved steadily to the right, especially on economic issues they became the GOP lite. At some level, especially in local contests, voters began to choose the real conservatives rather than the new conservative Democrats.
Now there's the Sanders faction of the Democratic party. They are younger, but unorganized and many even wonder why they are in the Democratic tent at all. They lean toward many of Bernie's social-democratic polices like Medicare for all, free public education and a student loan bailout. But the party regulars will never support those positions.
California is an example. When Swartzneger was governor the Democrats passed a statewide single payer healthcare program, knowing he would veto it. When a Democrat became governor they kept that same bill bottled up in committee. They offer their voters a good speech, but in the end they bend to the demands of the corporate elites.
Then there are the registered Democrats who are so disaffected and disillusioned that they stayed home and didn't vote. Their numbers alone would have won the White house in 2000 and could easily have been the difference for Clinton last year. But what have the Democrats really offered them? More neoliberal policies and by staying home they basically said 'no thanks.' The Dem's problem is they don't want to change this pattern.
Now there's the Sanders faction of the Democratic party. They are younger, but unorganized and many even wonder why they are in the Democratic tent at all. They lean toward many of Bernie's social-democratic polices like Medicare for all, free public education and a student loan bailout. But the party regulars will never support those positions.
California is an example. When Swartzneger was governor the Democrats passed a statewide single payer healthcare program, knowing he would veto it. When a Democrat became governor they kept that same bill bottled up in committee. They offer their voters a good speech, but in the end they bend to the demands of the corporate elites.
Then there are the registered Democrats who are so disaffected and disillusioned that they stayed home and didn't vote. Their numbers alone would have won the White house in 2000 and could easily have been the difference for Clinton last year. But what have the Democrats really offered them? More neoliberal policies and by staying home they basically said 'no thanks.' The Dem's problem is they don't want to change this pattern.
7
OK, I get it, write a downer column to keep Dems from getting too high off the latest skirmish against the Muslim ban.
Although the so-called president has gotten his cabinet picks and has signed several equally dubious executive orders, that's not a "butt kicking." Let's see what happens with the ACA -- an issue with some real meat on it. (I don't really give a rat's whatever about the stupid wall, BTW.) The Dems have a lot more leverage with that issue.
Many Trump supporters voted for him out of the belief that he would fix the American economy. Split these voters off and destroy the Trump coalition of the desperate and the deplorable! Bread and butter. Bread and butter.
Although the so-called president has gotten his cabinet picks and has signed several equally dubious executive orders, that's not a "butt kicking." Let's see what happens with the ACA -- an issue with some real meat on it. (I don't really give a rat's whatever about the stupid wall, BTW.) The Dems have a lot more leverage with that issue.
Many Trump supporters voted for him out of the belief that he would fix the American economy. Split these voters off and destroy the Trump coalition of the desperate and the deplorable! Bread and butter. Bread and butter.
3
You are probably more optimistic then I am that we will have fair and open elections in 2018 and 2020 then I do. The Trump-Ryan-McConnell regime is a alliance of plutocrats and white Christianist nationalists. They see no conflict between self-enrichment and the State. With plundering on such a scale could they ever allow an opposition party to regain power and perhaps hold them accountable? Ryan and McConnell will get their deep tax cuts for their donors. Ryan will get the chance to demolish the Welfare State. Trump will promise the white working class greater white privilege and right to flaunt it and bead down minorities and provide work and privileges through the security services. We are in the transition from Republic to Empire.
5
Excellent piece Mr Egan, especially the two paragraphs below. You get it, too bad Hillary didn't, She gave us the demagogue Trump...Very Lincolnesque post.
Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump. For the next year, Democrats should filter their policy initiatives through the eyes of the person Trump claims to speak for — the forgotten American.
The way out is not that difficult. Yes, they should engage in hand-to-hand combat in the capital. And certainly, Democrats must turn to the courts when the rule of law is broken. But they have to be for something, as well — a master policy narrative, promoting things that help average Americans. The old Broadway adage was how it will play in Peoria. For Democrats, they should think of Joe Biden’s Scranton, Pa., every time they take to a podium.
Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump. For the next year, Democrats should filter their policy initiatives through the eyes of the person Trump claims to speak for — the forgotten American.
The way out is not that difficult. Yes, they should engage in hand-to-hand combat in the capital. And certainly, Democrats must turn to the courts when the rule of law is broken. But they have to be for something, as well — a master policy narrative, promoting things that help average Americans. The old Broadway adage was how it will play in Peoria. For Democrats, they should think of Joe Biden’s Scranton, Pa., every time they take to a podium.
6
As President when Trump is in trouble on a daily basis—demanding Mexico pay for "his" wall, instantaneously banning immigrants on the way to this country, insulting world leaders--Trump excuses his illegal, unethical, stupid unkind behavior by saying he is doing what he promised his base.
Ever wonder why the GOP establishment stands on sidelines like bad parents and clucks to each other with smiles "Oh that Trump, so spirited, can't control him, what are you going to do?"
Speaking of identity politics, Imagine if when Obama had been elected President, he said the heck with everyone and everything else, I am going to do a lot of really ill-conceived, illegal, and ethical things in order to entertain and take care of my base and my people. The rest of you and the world will not be given any thought or consideration.
Trump will fall for a lot of reasons--incompetence, inexperience, unfit temperamentally, terrible judgment, etc.--and the contrast with Obama will become more stark.
Most important, Obama tried to be a President for all the people (though clearly some would not let him). Trump doesn't even try; he alienates and he will fail.
Ever wonder why the GOP establishment stands on sidelines like bad parents and clucks to each other with smiles "Oh that Trump, so spirited, can't control him, what are you going to do?"
Speaking of identity politics, Imagine if when Obama had been elected President, he said the heck with everyone and everything else, I am going to do a lot of really ill-conceived, illegal, and ethical things in order to entertain and take care of my base and my people. The rest of you and the world will not be given any thought or consideration.
Trump will fall for a lot of reasons--incompetence, inexperience, unfit temperamentally, terrible judgment, etc.--and the contrast with Obama will become more stark.
Most important, Obama tried to be a President for all the people (though clearly some would not let him). Trump doesn't even try; he alienates and he will fail.
7
I was born in the fifties, so I wasn't around during FDR's presidency. But, from what I understand (and Ken Burns excellent series on "The Roosevelts" is a good source) "average Americans" were not as irrationally angry and spite-filled in those days. A fact-based appeal to reason resonated far more than today - Obama's presidency is Exhibit A. Maybe it was the Great Depression that served as a galvanizing force, or maybe it was WWII, during which citizens of all stripes from across the country fought side-by-side for commonly shared values, or, most likely, it was a combination of circumstances. But, along the way, we've lost that spirit, that sense of commonality, that forms a nation. I agree that Democrats must find the will to once again stand up for decency, fairness, and civility. It will be extremely difficult to overcome the advantages of gerrymandered districts, perpetual propaganda from radical media, and voter-suppression. But, the time to focus is now, and I believe that the place to start is getting those whose interests are most immediately threatened to the polls for the midterm election. Had all of them voted in November we would not be in this mess in the first place.
15
I agree with point, it is time for Democrats to organize locally, rebuild coalitions and party infrastructure. In my state- Ohio- one that should be equally Blue as Red the Democratic party infrastructure is pathetic, poor fundraising, little new blood-- we even ran Ted Strickland- an unpopular Governor against a beatable Rob Portman.
Time to get back to the basics, but I do think taking to the streets is helpful if the Dems use it to fundraise and build a new base of elected leaders and policy ideas.
Oh- BTW- policies that are good for the white working class are usually good for African-Americans and Latinos, etc.. We do not have to start too far from our ideals, we just need to articulate them, and actually start build our infrastructure. The voters will come. Moderate voters who could not stomach Hilary are hating what they are seeing from this administration. But if a better set of alternative candidates is not offered and organization does not exist, then we get what we get.and that means Trump wins
Time to get back to the basics, but I do think taking to the streets is helpful if the Dems use it to fundraise and build a new base of elected leaders and policy ideas.
Oh- BTW- policies that are good for the white working class are usually good for African-Americans and Latinos, etc.. We do not have to start too far from our ideals, we just need to articulate them, and actually start build our infrastructure. The voters will come. Moderate voters who could not stomach Hilary are hating what they are seeing from this administration. But if a better set of alternative candidates is not offered and organization does not exist, then we get what we get.and that means Trump wins
10
Money, money. Follow the money. The Dems are as bad as the Pubs. This is why the same old same old people are put up for office. It's just too expensive (personally) for new, fresh blood to run on good ideas and altruistic leanings. Until the Democratic Party steps forward and actively seeks new participants in leadership positions and then supports them financially in their quest for office, we will get same old, same old. And I'm not talking solely about old in terms of years on the planet. Even oldsters (Bernie, Liz?) can be inspiring to scores of young voters. What we need are fresh ideas to inspire. Why should someone who is doing well in his/her career willingly forego a (financially) comfortable life to help the American people? Answer that question and you may find some new blood to run for office. Secondly, campaign finance reform (public financing--level the playing field) would transform the way our elections are run from local to federal offices, alike.
1
As Warren Beatty said in Bulworth, "White people need to realize that they have a lot more in common with black people than they do with rich people."
3
I agree with most of what you say, Kevin. But you miss Mr. Egan's point. First of all, way too many people just don't vote at all and most of these would vote Democrat if they could just get off their behind and vote. And, secondly, and just as important, people are fooled by the carefully crafted, "Apprentice" refined, "sugar" of Trump's provocative, racist, jingoistic, rhetoric. The Democrats problem is that they don't much bother "doing politics" at the grassroots level. The worst example was the South Carolina Senate race in 2010. Against the Republican incumbent, Jim DeMint, the Democrats, with a 20-30% turnout in the primary, picked the verbally incoherent, totally unprepared Alvin Green who had criminal charges pending against him at the time. If the Democrats don't start doing serious politics at the state and local levels, all the Obamas, Corey Bookers and Elizabeth Warrens won't do them any good.
Absolutely correct, but gerrymandering, voter suppression and so-called citizens united - how laughable is that - are appallingly effective in blocking Dems votes. Regardless they'd better smarten up. If I hear for example transgender or lgbtqxyz again I may scream. Of course everyone should have rights but they also must address the concerns of "so-called"working Americans. The repugs do it with their lies. Dems should actually try the truth and then act on it. Frankly they're amateurs compared to the right wing's tactics. And it's a shame to have to resort to the way that low-life McConnell behaves. But our nation is in the grip of a pending fascist state and its time to fight fire with fire. So much for 21st century enlightenment.
23
We are living in the House of Lies - the House of Alternative Facts - the card house of our totally unqualified Republican President Trump and his power bunch of nominees - new Secretaries who don't know skunk cabbage from Shinola about the duties, rights,and power wielded by the their deparmtnets and the Presidency and whomever sits in the Oval Office and lives in the White House (or Mar-a -Lago or Trump Tower).
So what can we do, Tim Egan, to remove a dangerous, incompetent and mentally-disturbed President from his catbird seat? Delightful for the Democrats to enjoy seeing our great President Obama kite-surfing at Necker Island with Richard Branson! And yes, the Demcrats must slog long and hard in Washington promoting things that help the average man, the forgotten man who is the real base of the totem pole of economic power. When the forgotten man is given security - minimum wage, projects to rebuild our failing American infrastructure, enough money to put food on their tables - then power of the people will return to the Democrats. Cleaning up the House will be a Herculean labour like cleaning out the Augean Stables.
We can do it, yes we can, si se puede!
So what can we do, Tim Egan, to remove a dangerous, incompetent and mentally-disturbed President from his catbird seat? Delightful for the Democrats to enjoy seeing our great President Obama kite-surfing at Necker Island with Richard Branson! And yes, the Demcrats must slog long and hard in Washington promoting things that help the average man, the forgotten man who is the real base of the totem pole of economic power. When the forgotten man is given security - minimum wage, projects to rebuild our failing American infrastructure, enough money to put food on their tables - then power of the people will return to the Democrats. Cleaning up the House will be a Herculean labour like cleaning out the Augean Stables.
We can do it, yes we can, si se puede!
8
Good column, and so true.
We need a master policy narrative, one that we stick to through thick and thin.
I argue that it should be a narrative built around the ideal of Union.
The Republicans claim to be for liberty - but the liberty they prize amounts to little more than a liberty to impoverish, to despoil, to marginalize, and to destroy.
The Republicans, however, particularly on the national level, choose to frame every argument around archetypal American phrases and ideas - and thus continue to outperform electorally, despite the fact that their policy ideas rarely work as advertised, if at all.
Contrary to what George Lakoff has argued, we need to frame our rhetoric around archetypal American phrases and ideas - like the ideal of a people's Union - and return to that language again and again, if only to bring home the point that our style of governing is every bit as consistent with the mythology of America as that of conservatives.
The identity politics that our leadership has preferred allow us to be portrayed as panderers instead of patriots - and has clearly lost us support among among the independent voters who consistently decide elections.
We abandon the mythological language of America at our peril.
We need a master policy narrative, one that we stick to through thick and thin.
I argue that it should be a narrative built around the ideal of Union.
The Republicans claim to be for liberty - but the liberty they prize amounts to little more than a liberty to impoverish, to despoil, to marginalize, and to destroy.
The Republicans, however, particularly on the national level, choose to frame every argument around archetypal American phrases and ideas - and thus continue to outperform electorally, despite the fact that their policy ideas rarely work as advertised, if at all.
Contrary to what George Lakoff has argued, we need to frame our rhetoric around archetypal American phrases and ideas - like the ideal of a people's Union - and return to that language again and again, if only to bring home the point that our style of governing is every bit as consistent with the mythology of America as that of conservatives.
The identity politics that our leadership has preferred allow us to be portrayed as panderers instead of patriots - and has clearly lost us support among among the independent voters who consistently decide elections.
We abandon the mythological language of America at our peril.
3
For years, Democrats have worked to protect unions, defend Social Security, provide health care, and ensure free public education, which all benefit the working man enormously. So these working men voted them out for a party that promises to remove their safety net, defund public education, fight organized labor and bring back industries that a wizard couldn't revive. And they'll build a useless and expensive wall while starting fights with our allies, meanwhile blaming minorities, immigrants and gays. These people do not want practical assistance. They want a party that will continue giving them scapegoats and feeding their sense of blind outrage that the world changed and they can't figure out how to change with it. Things will have to get much worse before this "base" realizes they have been following false prophet.
74
Typical thought process of the left:voters are stupid. Keep it up, and you will never regain a majority.
1
I support the two party system. One party should be registered, the other party unregistered. The job of the registered is to convince the unregistered to participate in our politics, and the unregistered, because they are disinterested, in charge of drawing the districts and running the elections.
The two parties have come close to destroying our country. Judges are not chosen for their legal smarts and love of the law—they are picked according to their political party affiliation.
They also vote with the two parties and from the bench keep independent parties from being able to form and have access to the ballots.
Remove the political parties, not necessarily the elected people, rather just their “parties" from city, county, state and federal politics and our country would be saving one billion dollars an hour 24 / 7 that could go to drawing down our astronomical national debt.
http://michaelslevinson.com
The two parties have come close to destroying our country. Judges are not chosen for their legal smarts and love of the law—they are picked according to their political party affiliation.
They also vote with the two parties and from the bench keep independent parties from being able to form and have access to the ballots.
Remove the political parties, not necessarily the elected people, rather just their “parties" from city, county, state and federal politics and our country would be saving one billion dollars an hour 24 / 7 that could go to drawing down our astronomical national debt.
http://michaelslevinson.com
1
Everything said here is true. However the road to freedom is through the ballot box, not the megaphone. Democrats have to organize to register voters in all districts and then get them to the polling places on election day.
There is a lot of built up anger and resentment in the populace against the political class because of the Republican greed and social failures over the past 35 years. It has to be channeled into productive voter organization. It is time to get the boots of organizers on the ground in every hamlet in the country and vote these Evil Republicans from our land in 2018.
It has to start today, not 2 months before the next election.
There is a lot of built up anger and resentment in the populace against the political class because of the Republican greed and social failures over the past 35 years. It has to be channeled into productive voter organization. It is time to get the boots of organizers on the ground in every hamlet in the country and vote these Evil Republicans from our land in 2018.
It has to start today, not 2 months before the next election.
28
Can we retire the phrase "identity politics"? It is usually, but not always, uttered in a smug, superior tone of voice to say the concerns of women, African-Americans, and members of the LGBT community are inferior to other concerns. It is the voice of the privileged minority that has not felt the pain of discrimination. It ignores the basic principle that all of us should uphold as a basic American value, one that made our country unique, as is espoused it from its inception, albeit imperfectly, that all of us are created equal.
20
There is a fundamental problem you have not addressed in your strategy Mr. Egan. The deaths of truth and facts.
Many of the people who voted for Trump believed Hillary Clinton ran a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor. These people have double digit IQs. Some of the people who voted for Trump believed unemployment was higher at the end of Obama's tenure than at the beginning. These people are informed by FOX. Other people who voted for Trump blamed the failure of government on Democrats, not Republicans who fought the economic recovery and everything Obama tried to do to help people.
We have a populace which includes many who are one fry shy of a Happy Meal. But we also have complete combo people who can't discern the difference between truth and lies because they only get propaganda from FOX. They do not listen to any other source of information.
And keep in mind, Trump and Republicans have been undermining real news outlets.
So who are Trumpians to believe when Democrats speak to their needs? Which they have been doing for decades. Will Trumpians even hear a Democratic message? When they only listen to FOX. Will Trumpians even realize they have lost when Trump and Republicans end Social Security and Medicare? Especially when Trump and Republicans are telling them they are now better off.
If truth and facts are executed by executive order, it will not matter what message Democrats put forth.
Many of the people who voted for Trump believed Hillary Clinton ran a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor. These people have double digit IQs. Some of the people who voted for Trump believed unemployment was higher at the end of Obama's tenure than at the beginning. These people are informed by FOX. Other people who voted for Trump blamed the failure of government on Democrats, not Republicans who fought the economic recovery and everything Obama tried to do to help people.
We have a populace which includes many who are one fry shy of a Happy Meal. But we also have complete combo people who can't discern the difference between truth and lies because they only get propaganda from FOX. They do not listen to any other source of information.
And keep in mind, Trump and Republicans have been undermining real news outlets.
So who are Trumpians to believe when Democrats speak to their needs? Which they have been doing for decades. Will Trumpians even hear a Democratic message? When they only listen to FOX. Will Trumpians even realize they have lost when Trump and Republicans end Social Security and Medicare? Especially when Trump and Republicans are telling them they are now better off.
If truth and facts are executed by executive order, it will not matter what message Democrats put forth.
24
Are you suggesting literacy testing before allow a citizen to vote?
None of the things the Republicans are doing are built to benefit the 'forgotten man'. Trumps approval rating is sinking every day. The battle over immigration is the only thing his supporters will really get to see much difference about, as they claim non white people are taking jobs away from them. If Trump succeeds in slamming the immigration door closed, even then it will take a generation of two before any kind of tide would be turned in numbers, because of aging white populations and younger more child bearing age of the non white population already here. Unless he goes in for deporting actual American citizens along racial lines, which indeed Bannon would like to do, immigration bans will maybe slow the demographic change a little but not essentially tip any kind of balance over the next twenty years. Republicans are not offering the 'forgotten man' anything they can make good on. Deregulating Wall Street, crippling health insurance which will hit older people most, infrastructure that doesn't accomplish much but a useless border wall. In many ways Trump is not delivering on his promises, one of which was to fight corruption in politics. He is becoming one of the greatest proponents of corruption himself. Putting us at risk by alienating allies and cozying up to those who do not wish us well will not result in a better standard of living for the struggling Rust Belt citizen. The only thing he has to offer is racism.
7
The Democrats have been trying to speak to everyone not just bigoted whites. They have been speaking to Blacks, Women, LGBT's, Muslims, Jews, Hispanics, Whites, etc. The problem with that is many of my fellow Whites want a Party that is mainly concerned with them above all else. This backlash among Whites is a country club attitude pushing back on a more equal society. The whole globalization thing is really a Republican businessmen driven idea that has come back not to bite them but Democrats. Working class/ High school educated whites are complaining about loss of jobs but not lower prices. These folks hate to have to compete with people from all walks of life because they were used to being the privileged class though their color. They really need to stop the whining and get themselves educated for today's economy. Otherwise neither Democrats or Republicans will be able to rescue them from their status quo. Time is marching on and no attempt to stop will, in the long run, prevail.
9
The key to everything will be the economy and the stock market. First will come an economic boom brought about by wild spending the likes of which has never been seen before.
This will be followed by a period of relative quiet as prices rise to historic levels and the realization gradually begins to set in that the new economy he is creating -- largely at government expense -- consists of nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
Efforts to rein back his spending will prove unsuccessful in the light of increased public demand for even greater public intervention.
His strong-arm tactics against Mexico and China and his new approach to Putin having failed, the United States will begin to start feeling like a country with no one left to boss around in the world. Looking for someone to blame, his language toward his enemies will grow more and more extreme, as will the language of his opponents against him.
We’ll see protests, demonstrations and riots everywhere. The National Guard will be called out on numerous occasions. Soon it will be time to start thinking about our next President. This time there will be no need to hold an election.
This will be followed by a period of relative quiet as prices rise to historic levels and the realization gradually begins to set in that the new economy he is creating -- largely at government expense -- consists of nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
Efforts to rein back his spending will prove unsuccessful in the light of increased public demand for even greater public intervention.
His strong-arm tactics against Mexico and China and his new approach to Putin having failed, the United States will begin to start feeling like a country with no one left to boss around in the world. Looking for someone to blame, his language toward his enemies will grow more and more extreme, as will the language of his opponents against him.
We’ll see protests, demonstrations and riots everywhere. The National Guard will be called out on numerous occasions. Soon it will be time to start thinking about our next President. This time there will be no need to hold an election.
5
"And certainly, Democrats must turn to the courts when the rule of law is broken."
If the republicans continue with their packing of the courts with reactionaries, there will come a point when that avenue will be as closed off as the congress.
If the republicans continue with their packing of the courts with reactionaries, there will come a point when that avenue will be as closed off as the congress.
6
Obama lost about the average number of government offices that sitting president's routinely lose. The districts for the house are so ridiculously gerrymandered in the favor of the Republicans that the Democrats gained a majority of the votes over the last two congressional election cycles and yet are still in the minority and the Senate has always been a non-representative body. combine all of that with the presidential popular vote and the Democrats are losing not by getting less votes, but they are losing because of the technicalities of the constitution and the Supreme Court's reluctance to take on the Gerrymandering that is clearly forbidden in the constitution. Of course the new Supreme Court with Merrick Garland on it should be able to take on that issue...oh that is right the Senate openly defied the constitution and it will pay off for them in the near future. The problem is not the Democrats, it is a system that is biased in favor of one party and that party will do anything (even defy the constitution that they claim to love) to maintain power.
26
States only get gerrymandered by virtue of the citizens of that states voting in a majority of legislators who do the gerrymandering.
1
Technicalities of the Constitution? Congressional elections are district by district, not an accumulation of votes in the entire country!
1
The cascade of fake news, distractions and outrages is fodder for false equivalencies that muddle the Resistance. Distill it. Doesn’t matter what Republicans do, provided their mouthpiece repeats that he is for the working-man, draining the swamp, Common Sense and Real American Values. Don’t argue the weeds of policy. That helps Republicans cast the Dems as “elites” and romanticize its base as “Real Americans” from the “Heartland.” (Belly?)
Repeat a single, simple message and a few goals that appeal to most Americans and negatively identify the other side as the bad guys. Lead all rallies, (David Frum), with the American flag and The Pledge. Our symbols, not Sean Hannity’s.
Our ideas should own common sense and be pasted on red, white & blue “good ole boys’” baseball hats: America before Party! Protect American Values! Give Cops & Teachers a Raise! Support Farms! Tax Stock Sales Not Groceries! Dems Support Workers! Protect Medicare! Liberty and Justice For All.
The Republicans are sabotaging health care. Dems should provide voters a safe refuge. Campaign now to let anyone buy into Medicare, but avoid the message that forces people to lose their existing health care by requiring “Medicare for All.” No need to sweat the details. Like Repubs, we’re working on the plans. Promote a sale tax or transfer tax on stock sales. Republicans aim their fire hoses at fake fires. Dems should aim at real fires and low-hanging fruit.
Repeat a single, simple message and a few goals that appeal to most Americans and negatively identify the other side as the bad guys. Lead all rallies, (David Frum), with the American flag and The Pledge. Our symbols, not Sean Hannity’s.
Our ideas should own common sense and be pasted on red, white & blue “good ole boys’” baseball hats: America before Party! Protect American Values! Give Cops & Teachers a Raise! Support Farms! Tax Stock Sales Not Groceries! Dems Support Workers! Protect Medicare! Liberty and Justice For All.
The Republicans are sabotaging health care. Dems should provide voters a safe refuge. Campaign now to let anyone buy into Medicare, but avoid the message that forces people to lose their existing health care by requiring “Medicare for All.” No need to sweat the details. Like Repubs, we’re working on the plans. Promote a sale tax or transfer tax on stock sales. Republicans aim their fire hoses at fake fires. Dems should aim at real fires and low-hanging fruit.
29
There is an almost insurmountable problem with any strategy to take down Republicans, and that is Fox News and Rush Limbaugh (and his many copycats on AM radio.) The so-called "forgotten American" gets all his information from these sources, which will forever spin against Democratic efforts. Truth will not win. Organizing will not win. Protests will not win. Because all these actions will be effectively demonized by Fox, which has engineered a comfort level among its audience beyond which they will not stray. Even personal suffering has not changed the political equations in red states whose citizens are sicker and poorer because of Republican policies. I despair.
9
A few minutes ago a guy named Jack Mahoney from Maine expressed intense discouragement over the future prospects of the Democratic Party. Granted, local and county and state governments have leaned further and further to the right in recent years, overall, particularly in rural and semi-rural areas. And these are precisely the areas where Republicans find their most fervent constituents.
The Democratic Party needs to find a way to draw some of these people past their deep-set moral convictions; Democrats must reclaim a sector of the moral highground, since the religious motivations of political behavior is extensive.
This whole business of "alternative facts" and the "alt-right" and so on has swung the entire country into a very peculiar and unprecedented situation. Even the staunchest of Christians just might become disgusted by the man they helped send the the White House, providing he continues with his flagrant distortions of what is actually the case, right along with his bizarre and inexplicable treatment of our allies, the U.K, those in Europe, Australia, etc.
No doubt another senseless conflict with world-wide repercussions will soon get underway thanks to Trump's blundering incompetence. And once enough wouned and flag-drapped caskets return from overseas, perhaps some of those folks who now suffer these loses of life or limbs will turn toward the reason and hope which has always been offered by the Democratic Party to working men and women across the country.
The Democratic Party needs to find a way to draw some of these people past their deep-set moral convictions; Democrats must reclaim a sector of the moral highground, since the religious motivations of political behavior is extensive.
This whole business of "alternative facts" and the "alt-right" and so on has swung the entire country into a very peculiar and unprecedented situation. Even the staunchest of Christians just might become disgusted by the man they helped send the the White House, providing he continues with his flagrant distortions of what is actually the case, right along with his bizarre and inexplicable treatment of our allies, the U.K, those in Europe, Australia, etc.
No doubt another senseless conflict with world-wide repercussions will soon get underway thanks to Trump's blundering incompetence. And once enough wouned and flag-drapped caskets return from overseas, perhaps some of those folks who now suffer these loses of life or limbs will turn toward the reason and hope which has always been offered by the Democratic Party to working men and women across the country.
2
The Democrats need to be all-in on single payer health insurance via expanding Medicare to all citizens. It is this generation's Social Security.
6
Too bad many fellow D's posting here or at this weekend's retreat will miss Egan's point: FoxNews or alt right distortions are not the problem. They are the symptom of a Democratic Party elite's inability to connect with a majority of voters or see the folly of championing some of the oppressed while condescending to "white pain" and baskets of "deplorables." Those voters didn't start out that way. It was not the right's propaganda that lost FDR's coalition, or doubled LBJ's prediction of losing the South "for a generation" after the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As Egan argues, and the Goldman Sachs and Silicon Master wing of Democratic leaders ignore, we are in this moment of peril precisely because of the Party's inability to stand for anything the would unify a majority of all Americans-- rural and urban, coastal and interior, North and South. Democrats did that once. Doing it again means talking to voters, not to flattering mirrors or conservative opponents, who succeed only because of our Party leadership's incompetence.
26
Jim, you are confusing effective messaging with policy. Dem policies obviously will help far more americans than republican policies will, but they suck at staying on point, cant repeat soundbites, and are getting beat badly by the right wing/plutocrat hate machine.
1
The Trump voter base is constantly misrepresented as
the "poor" white working or rural class. Would you check your facts & discover that most Trump voters are above median income? Clinton picked up more of the low income voters!
Given the likelihood that (statistically) the chances any Dem would lose, especially after 2 terms of an African American President whose intelligence and demeanor threatened the "low information voters", why are people surprised?
I was frustrated when I saw the farmers in California who seemed to be coming out of some kind of deregulated dreamworld only to ask--oh no, what's going to happen when we lose all of our (illegal) migrant workers?
Ya think?
Yep, farmers have lots of real problems. But to not consider
Trump would get rid of undocumented workers?
I agree identity politics only enraged Trump's (largely racist)
base and that the Dems bleeding hearts were actually hemorrhaging--for all the wrong causes! Dems made plenty of mistakes. For instance, scripted LGBT interests were constantly emphasized over the dire threat of global warming & the crises emanating from it. It could have been a major Dem platform that new sustainable energy & green manufacturing jobs & products could, ironically, be a boon for our country.
Various entrenched long term factors were involved in electing Trump. Mostly? Lack of real knowledge and humanity--and not creating our own sustainable jobs, of all types.
It can still happen, but man, what a gut wrenching setback.
the "poor" white working or rural class. Would you check your facts & discover that most Trump voters are above median income? Clinton picked up more of the low income voters!
Given the likelihood that (statistically) the chances any Dem would lose, especially after 2 terms of an African American President whose intelligence and demeanor threatened the "low information voters", why are people surprised?
I was frustrated when I saw the farmers in California who seemed to be coming out of some kind of deregulated dreamworld only to ask--oh no, what's going to happen when we lose all of our (illegal) migrant workers?
Ya think?
Yep, farmers have lots of real problems. But to not consider
Trump would get rid of undocumented workers?
I agree identity politics only enraged Trump's (largely racist)
base and that the Dems bleeding hearts were actually hemorrhaging--for all the wrong causes! Dems made plenty of mistakes. For instance, scripted LGBT interests were constantly emphasized over the dire threat of global warming & the crises emanating from it. It could have been a major Dem platform that new sustainable energy & green manufacturing jobs & products could, ironically, be a boon for our country.
Various entrenched long term factors were involved in electing Trump. Mostly? Lack of real knowledge and humanity--and not creating our own sustainable jobs, of all types.
It can still happen, but man, what a gut wrenching setback.
8
Well, I knew the day eventually would come when I could agree with Tim Egan on SOMETHING. “Democrats, the opposition party, are more removed from power than at almost any point in history.” And in the autonomic twitchings of a pithed frog, feeding the lifeless twitchings in a sugar bath probably isn’t a productive use of energy or time – at least not from a practical perspective. The frog remains pithed.
Congressional Democrats are going to lose EVERY one of these initial battles against Trump. At some point, their followers, flushed with the excitement of self-righteous resistance, are going to pause and ask themselves what they really accomplished, as they lay there ... pithed. And the likelihood is high that they’re going to blame their leaders for not leading more effectively and with more to show for the effort. Tossing the rascals out and replacing them with yet more strident rascals simply will further delay the day when Democrats can be relevant again to our governance.
Egan gives VERY sound advice to Democrats: get your act together. We can’t afford a governance dominated forever by only the right-brain. You need to develop new narratives, better arguments that are more generally American, less identity-specific and less focused on victimization.
The healthier image to keep in mind isn’t that of the pithed frog, because there’s no coming back from THAT; but of the phoenix.
Congressional Democrats are going to lose EVERY one of these initial battles against Trump. At some point, their followers, flushed with the excitement of self-righteous resistance, are going to pause and ask themselves what they really accomplished, as they lay there ... pithed. And the likelihood is high that they’re going to blame their leaders for not leading more effectively and with more to show for the effort. Tossing the rascals out and replacing them with yet more strident rascals simply will further delay the day when Democrats can be relevant again to our governance.
Egan gives VERY sound advice to Democrats: get your act together. We can’t afford a governance dominated forever by only the right-brain. You need to develop new narratives, better arguments that are more generally American, less identity-specific and less focused on victimization.
The healthier image to keep in mind isn’t that of the pithed frog, because there’s no coming back from THAT; but of the phoenix.
10
As David Leonhardt points to Ron Brownstein's analysis, Dem losses under Obama have been about average for the party in power, with respect to the Senate, House, and governorships, though no less upsetting:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/opinion/a-new-take-on-democrats-obama...
What has been most hurtful have been Dem party losses in state capitols, where GOP'ers gerrymandered so egregiously after the 2010 census, and where it is extremely good to see that Obama has said he will be devoting efforts now that he is a private citizen again:
http://www.salon.com/2016/10/18/president-obamas-ambitious-post-white-ho...
where we hope the SCOTUS decision regarding redistricting in Arizona can quickly be leveraged to correct the gerrymandering travesty:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/us/politics/supreme-court-upholds-ari...
Time is of the utmost urgency, and hopefully Dem billionaires are already lined up to finance the effort, to correct things before the 2018 and 2020 cycles.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/opinion/a-new-take-on-democrats-obama...
What has been most hurtful have been Dem party losses in state capitols, where GOP'ers gerrymandered so egregiously after the 2010 census, and where it is extremely good to see that Obama has said he will be devoting efforts now that he is a private citizen again:
http://www.salon.com/2016/10/18/president-obamas-ambitious-post-white-ho...
where we hope the SCOTUS decision regarding redistricting in Arizona can quickly be leveraged to correct the gerrymandering travesty:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/us/politics/supreme-court-upholds-ari...
Time is of the utmost urgency, and hopefully Dem billionaires are already lined up to finance the effort, to correct things before the 2018 and 2020 cycles.
7
Tim Egan's warning is important. Even President Trump's bumbling attempt at a Muslim ban is probably playing well with a large number of Americans. It is easy for well-educated urban progressives to fall into the trap of dismissing less-well educated rural and suburban citizens who seem to willingly fall for Trump's lies and misrepresentations. The latter voters, some of whom are Democrats, perceive such contempt quite well. It is what motivated many of them to vote for Trump. We must assume that Trump and his advisors are actively seeking to reinforce such reactions and counter-reactions, in order to consolidate their power and further their agenda(s). Progressives really must develop as much sympathy and respect for the white working class as they have for minority groups.
10
If the constitution is passee as The Donald believes then lets eliminate the office of presidency whittle down the federal government to just cover the military and push everything back to the states you live in. Let each state decide on what gun laws they want what road they want to pave how to educate there chicldren and what taxes they want to pay
1
great idea! even if offered as sarcasm
1
Three points:
First, you break it, you bought it. The Republicans will break it. They cannot govern this country when they put their visions of government into the sunshine. First and foremost is healthcare. Unless they provide all the main tenants of the ACA and a much lower price, there will be a massive backlash, which will cause political cannabalism.
Second, the Republicans won a quirk of 70 some thousand votes scattered in 3 states. And everyone now sees the results. We don't have to worry about changing the whole constitution. We need to get people to vote! And not for themselves, but for their kids and grandkids.
Third is Trump. The Republicans took the sweaty hand of the far right in a Faustian exercise. They did thinking, caring, and intellectually open citizens a big favor. 3 weeks into his presidency, Mr. Trump is a ticking time bomb of an international joke of historic proportions.
Time for the left to lead with clear and strong voices, speaking to the truth. First major hurdle is the Supreme Court. Judge Gorsuch is not the enemy. He should be vetted in a respectful manner, and probably confirmed.
Then set sight on 2018. Elections matter.
First, you break it, you bought it. The Republicans will break it. They cannot govern this country when they put their visions of government into the sunshine. First and foremost is healthcare. Unless they provide all the main tenants of the ACA and a much lower price, there will be a massive backlash, which will cause political cannabalism.
Second, the Republicans won a quirk of 70 some thousand votes scattered in 3 states. And everyone now sees the results. We don't have to worry about changing the whole constitution. We need to get people to vote! And not for themselves, but for their kids and grandkids.
Third is Trump. The Republicans took the sweaty hand of the far right in a Faustian exercise. They did thinking, caring, and intellectually open citizens a big favor. 3 weeks into his presidency, Mr. Trump is a ticking time bomb of an international joke of historic proportions.
Time for the left to lead with clear and strong voices, speaking to the truth. First major hurdle is the Supreme Court. Judge Gorsuch is not the enemy. He should be vetted in a respectful manner, and probably confirmed.
Then set sight on 2018. Elections matter.
20
I don't disagree entirely with you entirely. But I do agree with Mr. Egan's contention that the Democrats -- the Clinton wing especially -- is more interested in the problems of Darien than Dubuque. What we see as bugs in the way Republicans think and act, those voters see as features. Forget the overt appeals to bigotry and jingoism -- I think to a fair extent that the people who elected Trump may not love Republicans so much as they hate Democrats. I do agree that the Dems need a political reckoning: pocketbook issues count, healthcare should have been Medicare for all, and the narrative needs to be relentlessly upbeat and positive for the working class and the poor. (Does any politico ever talk about the poor? Ever? There are tens of millions of Americans yet in poverty.) A new New Deal and a propaganda apparatus as effective as Fox News to sell it is what I hope the Dems will come up with.
7
Which would leave us with a 5-4 conservative court. Empowering Citizens United, stripping us of environmental protections and a woman's right to choose. And if you want to take power away from Republicans, get involved in local politics, as Sanders councils.
1
Can we please include in the "white pain" narrative the stunningly effective resentment politics spoon-fed to so many for decades by Fox News and its hench-affiliates??
This stream of distortions and self-pity permissions debilitated millions into resentful zombies of helplessness, capable only of identifying their many oppressors ...science, education, the "democrat party", minorities, uppity “castrating" women and hosts of other "offenders". Like any over-indulged pity-partiers they are rendered paralyzed by their "mistreatment", intent mostly on getting even with their oppressors and waiting for someone to deliver them.
A better narrative would have been of self-help, education about the changing multi-cultural world, and traditional education. Their true repressive overlords are the very purveyors of their resentful pity-party scripts….those dark business one-percenter elites lurking in the moneyed murk blowing all those dog whistles.
This stream of distortions and self-pity permissions debilitated millions into resentful zombies of helplessness, capable only of identifying their many oppressors ...science, education, the "democrat party", minorities, uppity “castrating" women and hosts of other "offenders". Like any over-indulged pity-partiers they are rendered paralyzed by their "mistreatment", intent mostly on getting even with their oppressors and waiting for someone to deliver them.
A better narrative would have been of self-help, education about the changing multi-cultural world, and traditional education. Their true repressive overlords are the very purveyors of their resentful pity-party scripts….those dark business one-percenter elites lurking in the moneyed murk blowing all those dog whistles.
107
As long as the middle of the country is fed a steady diet of Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, the National Inquirer, and Breitbart we can expect them to vote contrary to their own best interest and do so proudly.
They are not to blame. After all, the FEC gave a broadcast license to Murdoch, something Canada would not do and precisely because it is not news: it is Republican propaganda. Create an alternative and broadcast it in the so-called heartland. We have ceded that territory for far too long.
They are not to blame. After all, the FEC gave a broadcast license to Murdoch, something Canada would not do and precisely because it is not news: it is Republican propaganda. Create an alternative and broadcast it in the so-called heartland. We have ceded that territory for far too long.
As an Australian I'd to like apologise for gifting the US the pernicious influence of Rupert Murdoch. If it's any consolation: it's as if he never left here.
in 2015 when newly involved Americans of every stripe- but disproportionally young- met up and organized for the Sanders Campaign, many went to local Democratic Party organizations and meetings to try to also help the local party their candidate was seeking to represent Nationally. What happened most often was ridicule (you are supporting a Socialist from Vermont?), attempts to co-opt them into Clintonland (she's got this in the bag, don't waste your time) or dismissal (sit over there and watch, kid).
That was not and is not a formula for success. It turns out the local Democratic Party could have used thousands of Berniecrats knocking on doors, making phone calls, getting out the vote and down the other work that helps get people elected up and down the ticket. The old hands made sure Hillary got the nomination but they could not secure her victory or the election of good candidates down ballot. That may not be what many want to hear, but Ms Clinton is a big part of why not only her campaign lost, but why other Democrats lost.
In the wake of the Clinton Era a number of organizations have popped up. Brand New Congress is working to vet and assist new blood who agree on Progressive policy for the next Congressional cycles. Our Revolution is the successor to Senator Sanders' Campaign and is working to get people involved at all levels. Existing organizations have also renewed their efforts. If you want to get involved the door is open at all of these organizations.
That was not and is not a formula for success. It turns out the local Democratic Party could have used thousands of Berniecrats knocking on doors, making phone calls, getting out the vote and down the other work that helps get people elected up and down the ticket. The old hands made sure Hillary got the nomination but they could not secure her victory or the election of good candidates down ballot. That may not be what many want to hear, but Ms Clinton is a big part of why not only her campaign lost, but why other Democrats lost.
In the wake of the Clinton Era a number of organizations have popped up. Brand New Congress is working to vet and assist new blood who agree on Progressive policy for the next Congressional cycles. Our Revolution is the successor to Senator Sanders' Campaign and is working to get people involved at all levels. Existing organizations have also renewed their efforts. If you want to get involved the door is open at all of these organizations.
56
The sneering and condescension from the Hillary campaign and her followers was a real turn-off. The strategy was supposed to be that she would "pivot" to bring in those voters after she rigged the primaries in her favor, but she didn't do it. She couldn't. She had so poisoned the well that some undetermined number of voters were so disgusted they voted for the other guy. I don't think they were that many and they regret it, but her campaign and her toxic followers - including the editors of the NYT - owe the country and Bernie's supporters big time for their arrogance.
We could have had President Sanders who would not be enriching himself, preening constantly, and alienating our allies. Instead, you gave us this so-called president.
We could have had President Sanders who would not be enriching himself, preening constantly, and alienating our allies. Instead, you gave us this so-called president.
2
"Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class. . ." Whites are still 70 percent of the vote."
I do wish the author had just said in a straightforward manner what it appears that he means: the party should jettison overtly fighting for minorities and focus on white 'working class' voters even if (a) the median income of Trump voters suggests that the working white class story of Trump's ascendancy is a total myth and (b) this would mean the party is affirmatively choosing to embrace lots of overt racists just to regain power. Why do I feel this way? Because he's supported his argument with a backhanded reference to LBJ's statement about the 1965 Voting Rights Act. ("When Democrats lost the South — for multiple generations, as it turned out — it put them in a deep hole. . ."). LBJ knew exactly what he meant: southern whites would abandon the Democratic party because they could not abide by equality for the Black people they believed they had a birthright to oppress. And, indeed, those southern voters did just what LBJ predicted. The author's reference to this, while calling for the Democratic party's abandonment of "identity politics", makes clear what he is really asking for.
90% of Black votes go to Democrats, whereas white voters have been evenly divided between the parties for decades. IMO, if Democrats really DO want to become a permanent minority, it will follow this author's advice.
I do wish the author had just said in a straightforward manner what it appears that he means: the party should jettison overtly fighting for minorities and focus on white 'working class' voters even if (a) the median income of Trump voters suggests that the working white class story of Trump's ascendancy is a total myth and (b) this would mean the party is affirmatively choosing to embrace lots of overt racists just to regain power. Why do I feel this way? Because he's supported his argument with a backhanded reference to LBJ's statement about the 1965 Voting Rights Act. ("When Democrats lost the South — for multiple generations, as it turned out — it put them in a deep hole. . ."). LBJ knew exactly what he meant: southern whites would abandon the Democratic party because they could not abide by equality for the Black people they believed they had a birthright to oppress. And, indeed, those southern voters did just what LBJ predicted. The author's reference to this, while calling for the Democratic party's abandonment of "identity politics", makes clear what he is really asking for.
90% of Black votes go to Democrats, whereas white voters have been evenly divided between the parties for decades. IMO, if Democrats really DO want to become a permanent minority, it will follow this author's advice.
78
Thank you Shanikka. I actually allowed myself to miss exactly what you have pointed out because Egan appeared to be both reasonable in tone and seemed to be in support of my team, read,Democrates. But yes. He is saying that because Hillary lost, that we may now toss out the baby with the bath water. Whatever his hidden motives may be, his article is myopic and supported by an unspoken myth: that Hillary lost. But she did not lose the popular vote and people keep forgetting that. Further, white racist voters are increasingly dropping in number. I think that Trump is less a symptom of the future than the last gasp of white dominance in America and that is why he won--i.e., folks racing to shore up their power--read, stop immigrants, increase policing of blacks etc--while they still can so that the inevitable will take longer and have less potency. Hillary lost because she represented the oppressed--read, women among others. Democrats need do nothing different. Just stand by their principles and forge ahead.
4
Insightful and yet puzzling. You say the Democrats have to be for something. Then how is it that the GOP won so many elections while being the obstructionist party of "no"? And if the Republicans were for anything, the "for" meant in favor of guns, coal, mindless factory jobs, jingoism and Jesus Christ because those seem to be the only things all those forgotten white men really want.
I have an alternative view about the the Democrats need to do: They need their own Reagan or Trump, i.e., a man or woman who can act, read a Hollywood script, rally, manipulate, weave a simple narrative, tell a story, and stay so on point that the progressive and decent mantra starts to stick. Bernie proved this in spades during the campaign, but he was and still is an "imperfect vehicle".
As I look to 2020 and 2024, I can't imagine O'Malley, Cuomo, Keane or Schumer, or even Elizabeth Warren appealing to the forgotten middle class in today's America. They look and act like insiders. They are too earnest and strident. We'll need a Matt Damon -Geena Davis ticket or vice versa. I hope they or someone like them enters the fray.
I have an alternative view about the the Democrats need to do: They need their own Reagan or Trump, i.e., a man or woman who can act, read a Hollywood script, rally, manipulate, weave a simple narrative, tell a story, and stay so on point that the progressive and decent mantra starts to stick. Bernie proved this in spades during the campaign, but he was and still is an "imperfect vehicle".
As I look to 2020 and 2024, I can't imagine O'Malley, Cuomo, Keane or Schumer, or even Elizabeth Warren appealing to the forgotten middle class in today's America. They look and act like insiders. They are too earnest and strident. We'll need a Matt Damon -Geena Davis ticket or vice versa. I hope they or someone like them enters the fray.
9
Actually once the Dems get together a coherent policy set
They should look to a Matt Damon/movie star type person to 'sell it'
as trump has so successfully done. George Clooney?
That appears to be the current state of our presidency.
They should look to a Matt Damon/movie star type person to 'sell it'
as trump has so successfully done. George Clooney?
That appears to be the current state of our presidency.
2
Al Franken. Doggone it, people like him.
3
We need Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Jake Tapper, Chris Cuomo, Batman, and SuperMan and Lady Gaga. Middle America always votes conservative, and it always hurts them. But, they don't know that. Conservative white folk are not going to vote for a Democrat. Forget that group. They do not have enough sense to realize how much they are hurting themselves by voting for the GOP. I wish to God we could reach them with the truth, but all they watch is FOX News.
1
It is important for the Democrats to recognize that heavy focus on issues such as immigration will never get them back to power. They must focus on economy, infrastructure and other issues that affect a majority of Americans.
That is not to say that issues such as immigration should be ignored, but Hillary Clinton's promise that immigration reform will be at "the top of the list" in her first hundred days did not get her elected and with good reason.
Illegal immigration will never have majority support, even in a nation of immigrants, most of whom, including yours truly, came here legally.
The Republicans goad the Democrats into focusing on social issues and the Dems fall for it every time.
If Democrats focus on economy, equal pay for equal work, healthcare and other issues that affect all Americans, they can get back to power. Until then, they will be relegated to being a minority party.
Oh, it helps to have someone like Obama to set just the right tone. Democrats better find such a leader quickly.
That is not to say that issues such as immigration should be ignored, but Hillary Clinton's promise that immigration reform will be at "the top of the list" in her first hundred days did not get her elected and with good reason.
Illegal immigration will never have majority support, even in a nation of immigrants, most of whom, including yours truly, came here legally.
The Republicans goad the Democrats into focusing on social issues and the Dems fall for it every time.
If Democrats focus on economy, equal pay for equal work, healthcare and other issues that affect all Americans, they can get back to power. Until then, they will be relegated to being a minority party.
Oh, it helps to have someone like Obama to set just the right tone. Democrats better find such a leader quickly.
19
Are you kidding me? When they weren't chanting Lock her up, trump supporters were screaming "build that wall" and applauding the idea that mexicans were drug addicted rapists. And you want to argue that immigration reform is an issue that doesn't get majority support? Hillary's only error was coming down on the side of human rights and decency. Don't expect the Democrats to compromise on this issue, and don't underestimate the power of decency to win in the future. Trump has hardly started his hateful agenda that will supposedly help the average american and we can see where he's gotten...
4
@kglen
There's nothing wrong with "coming down on the side of human rights and decency." It is not necessarily an error either.
But it is important to realize that the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, the last attempt at immigration reform enacted during Reagan, legalized a few million illegal aliens. However, it failed to stem the tide of illegal immigration as the penalty for hiring illegal aliens was never seriously enforced and there wasn't more done to secure the borders. As long as employers are allowed to get away with hiring illegal aliens, people will keep trying to come here.
So the question is how often do we have to do these "immigration reforms"? As a naturalized citizen of this country, I am all for legal immigration. But what we have now is not something that can be sustained for long. Trump tapped into that feeling, albeit by going to the gutter, and that, in part, contributed to his victory.
As for Hillary's errors, there were plenty, but the email issue doomed her candidacy, especially after FBI's Comey unadvisedly said FBI was "reviewing" it again with less than two weeks to the election. Comey's "never mind" a couple of days or so before the election was too little, too late.
There's nothing wrong with "coming down on the side of human rights and decency." It is not necessarily an error either.
But it is important to realize that the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, the last attempt at immigration reform enacted during Reagan, legalized a few million illegal aliens. However, it failed to stem the tide of illegal immigration as the penalty for hiring illegal aliens was never seriously enforced and there wasn't more done to secure the borders. As long as employers are allowed to get away with hiring illegal aliens, people will keep trying to come here.
So the question is how often do we have to do these "immigration reforms"? As a naturalized citizen of this country, I am all for legal immigration. But what we have now is not something that can be sustained for long. Trump tapped into that feeling, albeit by going to the gutter, and that, in part, contributed to his victory.
As for Hillary's errors, there were plenty, but the email issue doomed her candidacy, especially after FBI's Comey unadvisedly said FBI was "reviewing" it again with less than two weeks to the election. Comey's "never mind" a couple of days or so before the election was too little, too late.
"Oh, it helps to have someone like Obama to set just the right tone. Democrats better find such a leader quickly."
The Democrats had such a person in Mr. Obama himself. Most just refused to stand with him.
The Democrats had such a person in Mr. Obama himself. Most just refused to stand with him.
Dems have messaged only defensive wilted resistance for several generations. Pelosi and Schumer are ossified, and although the party has many young, superbly competent and energetic members (Seth Moulton and Katherine Clark, both of MA as examples), it has done zero succession planning.
The way forward is clear: adhere to the Warren/Sanders messaging and platform. Support and mentor legislators such as Clark and Moulton for federal legislative leadership, and move to the local and state offices for the vast majority of Democratic involvement, support and development.
The way forward is clear: adhere to the Warren/Sanders messaging and platform. Support and mentor legislators such as Clark and Moulton for federal legislative leadership, and move to the local and state offices for the vast majority of Democratic involvement, support and development.
15
Warren for President in 2020, Seth Moulton for Senate to take her place!!
Trump voters, many of them, see the world in zero-sum terms: "I win, only if those people lose."
Trump voters, most of them, will never willingly share this country with 'those' people.
Trump voters are therefore not welcome in any political party worthy of my support.
Trump voters, however, are a mere fraction of all eligible voters.
Trump voters, moreover, will acquiesce to policies that benefit them by benefiting the country as a whole, even if they remain aggrieved that they are now having to confront the same social problems that have long beset 'those' people, the people whom they despise.
Trump voters will never win another election, if we show up when it counts.
Trump voters, most of them, will never willingly share this country with 'those' people.
Trump voters are therefore not welcome in any political party worthy of my support.
Trump voters, however, are a mere fraction of all eligible voters.
Trump voters, moreover, will acquiesce to policies that benefit them by benefiting the country as a whole, even if they remain aggrieved that they are now having to confront the same social problems that have long beset 'those' people, the people whom they despise.
Trump voters will never win another election, if we show up when it counts.
12
Tim, I sense a lack of focus here that has hamstrung Democrats for a generation.
Let's face it: The right has developed issues on which it can depend. It uses anecdotal evidence to "prove" statistical lies. Even if crime is down over the last 20 years, claiming that it's at its highest level in history, backed by a story about some terrible person [of color] someplace in America, is enough to spike a bogeyman high among a reliable plurality of voters.
When business moves overseas, it's never business's fault that jobs have disappeared. It's the fault of those who wish to be paid a living wage.
And so on. The herd of cats that is the Democratic Party, on the other hand, cares about many issues but doesn't differentiate ones that can be annealed and molded and then used like a hammer against the GOP. I can imagine that even if the Republicans destroy the ACA without offering any substantive replacement, and people suffer, and a majority of voters personally know people who suffer, the Democrats will not be able to craft and sustain a simple message identifying the perpetrators.
One side is a well-oiled and well-paid public relations machine that sells alt-democracy, and the other is a well-meaning bunch of hippies in microbuses outside GM in Detroit keening not at the Chairman but at the lowest-level security guard sent out to patrol the perimeter.
I'm discouraged, Tim. I don't think that we have the wherewithal and the moxie and the funding to compete. I hope I'm wrong.
Let's face it: The right has developed issues on which it can depend. It uses anecdotal evidence to "prove" statistical lies. Even if crime is down over the last 20 years, claiming that it's at its highest level in history, backed by a story about some terrible person [of color] someplace in America, is enough to spike a bogeyman high among a reliable plurality of voters.
When business moves overseas, it's never business's fault that jobs have disappeared. It's the fault of those who wish to be paid a living wage.
And so on. The herd of cats that is the Democratic Party, on the other hand, cares about many issues but doesn't differentiate ones that can be annealed and molded and then used like a hammer against the GOP. I can imagine that even if the Republicans destroy the ACA without offering any substantive replacement, and people suffer, and a majority of voters personally know people who suffer, the Democrats will not be able to craft and sustain a simple message identifying the perpetrators.
One side is a well-oiled and well-paid public relations machine that sells alt-democracy, and the other is a well-meaning bunch of hippies in microbuses outside GM in Detroit keening not at the Chairman but at the lowest-level security guard sent out to patrol the perimeter.
I'm discouraged, Tim. I don't think that we have the wherewithal and the moxie and the funding to compete. I hope I'm wrong.
59
The Democrats need to reach out to areas that voted Trump - and not only the rust belt. How about the deep south and the Bible belt? Not necessarily with the idea to win people's vote but with the idea to find out what their issues are, what they need fixed - to listen to them. And they should draw on local left-leaning groups - especially religious groups (because there are some) -- offering them support, financial and otherwise. Efforts need to be made to show people the ways in which a progressive agenda can help them too ( and not by convincing them they need transgender bathrooms). I despise Trump, but I think we must remember that Trump voters are Americans too and they have a point of view that might in some ways be distasteful, but they have very real problems that can and should be addressed. This doesn't mean we start ignoring minorities and the LGBT community - it's not an either or, but if Democrats see it that way, a progressive agenda won't have much success.
21
Send Liz Warren to Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas! Come on down Liz, we love you and Duck Dynasty down here. We could use a heaping helping of that Boston brilliance down here in flyover land full of deplorables. One word of caution though, you might steer clear of areas with real Native Americans. And steer clear of firewater... I am trying to imagine Lizzy on a bender. Whew!!
Democrats are caught in a monkey trap, unwilling to let go of the peanut no matter the consequences. They are on the losing side of geography in light of the construction of Congress and the Electoral College, are so far are not only unwilling to change their message to appeal to those outside of their urban strongholds but actually relish in demeaning the rest of the country who they need to appeal to. Instead of developing a grass roots political movement they are content with the critiques on their phones and SNL. They've embraced values no less tightly than the GOP, both to the exclusion of reason and pragmatism, but for the Democrats it has resulted in staggering losses. The Democrats aren't a political party anymore, they degenerated into a cult.
I became an independent after seeing the amount of hate and bigotry freely espoused by Democrats, and since there are no signs of changes I will remain so.
I became an independent after seeing the amount of hate and bigotry freely espoused by Democrats, and since there are no signs of changes I will remain so.
14
Kudos to Egan. The Dems need to focus on providing the basics: Health, housing, employment and education. The federal government can play a dominant role in these areas if, as a tool, it also reduces inequality through a much more progressive and inclusive tax structure. Of course they can't do this now. But they have to push, push, push the agenda with confidence. That needs to be their new image -- and make it a forceful one.
Identity politics has been pushed to near the limits of what federal laws and enforcement of them can do. Democrats must protect what we have for civil rights, but refocusing on economic essentials assists all of us in achieving what we are able to achieve as individuals. When all have housing, health and reasonable opportunity for an education and middle class employment the federal government has great, unexercised power to achieve, many of the identity slights will be ameliorated. Contented people are not haters.
Identity politics has been pushed to near the limits of what federal laws and enforcement of them can do. Democrats must protect what we have for civil rights, but refocusing on economic essentials assists all of us in achieving what we are able to achieve as individuals. When all have housing, health and reasonable opportunity for an education and middle class employment the federal government has great, unexercised power to achieve, many of the identity slights will be ameliorated. Contented people are not haters.
7
People are just starting to realize, slowly what Trump's presidency will mean for them with the death of the ACA, dramatic changes to Social Secirity and Medicare. Farmers and small manufacturers who cheered tax cuts and deregulation are starting to get what the effect trade wars and wars on immigrants will do to their businesses. Trump is a double edged sword. He has big ideas but his party has very different big ideas. The GOP party plans will hurt the very people who put their faith in Trump. The Democrats must persevere until the next census.
6
Lets be honest. The protests,the marches,the grand standing accomplishes nothing.The Republicans still control the Presidency, Congress, the Supreme Court, most of the state legislatures, most Governorships, & most important local offices. Trump will have every cabinet member confirmed. Trump will appoint two new Supreme court justices in the next four years, nothing can stop that. Time for a reality check. Time to cut bait. The rational Democratic Party leadership needs to move to the center today if it ever wants to win another significant election.That means the far left has no future in the Democratic Party. They should leave today. They will be happier in the Green Party. We need to pursue policies that will actually help us win elections, that is the point of this isn't it? I believe that history repeats itself....first as tragedy and then as farce. It was a tragedy that the Democrats lost a winnable election. The next time they lose ...if they don't make radical changes right now...it will undoubtedly be a complete farce. The 2020 Republican Presidential candidate will espouse the same positions as Trump but will not have the same baggage. He won't make the same blunders, he won't run the same sloppy campaign. If we allow progressives to dictate the agenda will lose again. The Democrats can win without the far left . But they most certainly will lose major election after election as they are already doing if they continue to listen to their tone deaf prescriptions.
10
Moving to right again is not going to work. You need a lesson in history, Democrats under Clinton dis what you are saying and look where that went. Moving to the center? How stupid.
2
Stupid? Hmmm I would say losing the Presidency, Congress, the Supreme Court, most of the state legislatures, most Governorships, & most important local offices as we have in the past eight years is not very smart. We can't win on the left.... that has been proven.
2
When has the left ever been in power?
1
As a life long democrat I am very disspaoimted on how our party has gone off message. The party should be promoting a platform of job growth, infrastructure improvements, a world class education system, a healthy environment, an effective healthcare system, a strong military with secure borders , a fair tax system and equal rights. The order of our focus is extremely important because if people cannot find meaningful employment with a living wage then anything else we speak about falls on deaf ears. Job creation is the engine that drives our economy and the benefits that follow. It doesn't mean that we do not promote the other areas I mentioned as they are actually all interrelated. However, if we forget what truly impacts the quality of peoples lives the most, the ability to support ones family, we will be resigned to be a minority party for the foreseeable Future.
28
The demand that Democrats should be *for* something is reasonable enough. Nevertheless I would like to hear how Mr. Egan explains the fact that Republicans won the last few Congressional elections with pure antagonism, standing for absolutely no positive policy unless you count "repeal Obamacare" as a policy. And Trump? Has he ever stood *for* anything, other than himself and his own pompous ego? He won (to the extent that he did win) on a purely negative message. I agree that progressives shouldn't be content to follow the Republican example. They need to offer a positive vision. But I'm always mystified when I hear this claim that the left loses because it's too negative. The opposite is true, it's the right who indulge in negativism, and successfully so. The biggest mistake of progressives now would be being afraid of confrontation and seeking compromise with a fascist regime. Saying NO can be liberating.
284
Saying NO to everything may be liberating but it is a losing strategy. NO with concessions and solutions that keep in mind all different thoughts works best otherwise you get beat time after time.
Example: I get the Dems don't like Trump but to drag every cabinet nominee through the mud and say they are all bad is a failed strategy. It just fuels the Trump machine. The Dems should have picked a couple to drag through the mud not all.
Example: I get the Dems don't like Trump but to drag every cabinet nominee through the mud and say they are all bad is a failed strategy. It just fuels the Trump machine. The Dems should have picked a couple to drag through the mud not all.
Egan, I liked your column but it wasn't tough enough. The democrats lost sight of most of the people as it worked toward opening up assess for the most discriminated against, the most shunned and the least 'white' among us. The party could not unite 99% of us: the rural residents, the unemployed, the under employed, the small business people... we didn't just vote for Trump, we didn't vote.
With each confirmation of Trump's and, yes, Pence's cabinet post, the sound of our democracy built with stops and starts for over 200 years is being shredded. DeVos, Sessions, now Price, with more to come. are part of the attack team. So, technology, globalization, the Republican Party, the weak Democratic Party, the loss of manufacturing jobs, the loss unions, the loss of communities, the loss of identity, the loss of hope for our children's financial security and the loss of the number of whites v 'the others' have brought us to this. Our ugly faces of scapegoating, hatred, fear, paranoia, ignorance, racism radiate in the faces of Trump, Bannon, McConnell, Ryan... We are the 99%. Are we going to let this gang of thugs tear us down?
With each confirmation of Trump's and, yes, Pence's cabinet post, the sound of our democracy built with stops and starts for over 200 years is being shredded. DeVos, Sessions, now Price, with more to come. are part of the attack team. So, technology, globalization, the Republican Party, the weak Democratic Party, the loss of manufacturing jobs, the loss unions, the loss of communities, the loss of identity, the loss of hope for our children's financial security and the loss of the number of whites v 'the others' have brought us to this. Our ugly faces of scapegoating, hatred, fear, paranoia, ignorance, racism radiate in the faces of Trump, Bannon, McConnell, Ryan... We are the 99%. Are we going to let this gang of thugs tear us down?
19
Yes, it is sad that "most of the people" are going to lose even more after being suckered by Trump's promises as evidenced by his nominees and edicts to allow businesses to run unfettered.
3
Yes, Marie, it's very sad and horrifying. I come back to our founding fathers' belief in the need for an 'educated citizenry'. This was, I believe, the force behind creating a public school system. Now, we have DeVos as 'secretary of education'. Can you imagine our founding fathers saying 'This is not our country anymore'.
1
" The party could not unite 99% of us: the rural residents, the unemployed, the under employed, the small business people... we didn't just vote for Trump, we didn't vote."
"We didn't vote?"
Well, then when the suffering and all-too-foreseeable consequences of that becomes fact, you who "didn't vote" can just go eat salt. There will be no sympathy for you in the suffering you brought on yourselves, save for all the collateral anguish it brings on everyone who voted and did not vote Republican.
"We didn't vote?"
Well, then when the suffering and all-too-foreseeable consequences of that becomes fact, you who "didn't vote" can just go eat salt. There will be no sympathy for you in the suffering you brought on yourselves, save for all the collateral anguish it brings on everyone who voted and did not vote Republican.
1
It's one thing to say we could have done better. Far more important is what we did wrong.
That's hard but it's even harder when everything but the Democrats themselves has ben blamed for their losses. We've had the Russians, Wikileaks, fake news stories, voter suppression, a claim that Trump has no "mandate" and an emphasis on the popular vote. The popular vote is what wins state elections, which we've also lost.
Claims of moral and intellectual superiority aren't going to do it. We need tough critical self-examination and so far it's been woefully absent.
That's hard but it's even harder when everything but the Democrats themselves has ben blamed for their losses. We've had the Russians, Wikileaks, fake news stories, voter suppression, a claim that Trump has no "mandate" and an emphasis on the popular vote. The popular vote is what wins state elections, which we've also lost.
Claims of moral and intellectual superiority aren't going to do it. We need tough critical self-examination and so far it's been woefully absent.
27
I would have LOVED President Biden....
9
But Obama was tricked into choosing Hillary over Biden, somehow they convinced him that she was the way to go. Very sad and mistaken. Started losing respect for Obama as soon as he started campaigning for Hillary. It was shocking.
2
Dems, tax breaks for creating jobs. Not tax credits or money, tax breaks. Higher taxes on salaries that are more than 250% of the salary of the average worker for that company. Repatriation of money from offshore - and if it is used to create jobs, very low tax rate. Expansion of child care and head start. Elimination of Federal funding for education. Article 10 of the Constitution lays it out clearly. That is a State responsibility. Let the Red States deal with it and stop sucking money from Washington (and Blue States). Higher gas tax, lower taxes or tax credits for green energy. Infrastructure paid for by government, owned by government with no toll roads. The list goes on, but there's a start.
4
I'm a faithful reader of The NYT's as well as many other news outlets domestic and from abroad) so I consider myself one of the "thinking people". While I agree with this article and pray that Democrats are up to the task, we all better recognize that is is us thinkers who better turn our thoughts into constructive ideas AND real action (or prepare to live with generations of consequence). We need to congregate, strategize, and mobilize. We need to understand various plights and points of view that transcend our own or party lines. And we need to turn this energy and our thinking into construction plans and actions that build bridges not walls and real solutions for the real trials of our times. Let's show what real American ingenuity, empathy, and patriotism can look like. We can't just hope that the Democratic leadeship will figure it out. All of us thinkers - accross party lines, independents and moderates too - must take the initiative and make it happen. I'm raising my hand. Anyone else?
15
So Dems aren't in such with the American People (TM). The AP think lying, nepotism, behaving like an impulsive child, corruption, bullying, etc are just fine. Maybe it's the Dems who don't have the problem......
11
The trump debacle is like a huge truck parked on a hill with the emergency brake off, gradually being loaded with manure. We’re at a tipping point where, any day now, the next shovelful tips the balance and off trump and company go. If you doubt this, take a look at how the republican town halls are going; how the Russian connections are being laid bare; trump’s relationship with the judiciary, and, how even Grand Inquisitor Jason Chaffetz just blasted Kellyanne Conway for her Ivanka endorsement. There is plenty of work to do. Dems will have to maintain their current activism at least through the midterms, and take it to the state and local levels. They also have to ensure that the mainstream trump supporters remain chained to him forever.
20
The hanging-by-a-thread dump trunk is a tempting analogy...but you are not the first to predict the tipping point is imminent. Did anyone really think he would survive the Access Hollywood tape? I certainly didn't. Yet...he persists...his ride sitting on the precipice collecting manure. If the smell wasn't so unbearable I'd compliment him on his remarkable resilience. whatever. I expect the truck will remain where it is and in 4 years we'll get an opportunity to drop a couple laser-guided bombs on it. Or...maybe we'll decide we just really like manure.
these other republican miscreants will just declare the president unfit for office due to mental illness. one of the amendments to the constitution does allow this. no impeachment no nothing. just removed and replaced with the second in command and all the powers stay in place. this is real.
5
I love when the left cites FDR as this bastion of the "little man" or the "forgotten American".
Tell that to the Japanese Americans he interned in the desert during WWII.
Tell that to the Japanese Americans he interned in the desert during WWII.
6
yea, yea.... and all those Germans and Japanese he killed in Europe and in the Pacific.
1
Who attacked Pearl Harbor? Were we, or were we not at war with Japan during WWII? Were the Japanese killing Americans' sons, brothers, husbands and fathers at that time, or were they not? Were California residents frightened, or were they not? If you think the Japanese were a tribe of merciful angels, please do some research into Japanese POW camps. I recommend a book called "Knights of Bushido", which I beleive compiled evidence for a war crimes commission after WWII. FDR DID care about and help working class and poor people, much more than ANY POTUS since that time, and the Democratic party, including the past Administration, HAS increasingly abandoned them.
1
Japanese Americans are not the white working class that still votes in great enough numbers to elect presidents, governors, and legislators. I'm a huge Star Trek fan who adores George Takei, whose own tragic story of interment as a child inspires his activism. So, I totally get what your saying. But it's not working politically and I'm starting to get that too.
While I am a proud Gen-x, cysgendered, Mexican-American, California-native, college-educated, book-loving, intellectually-elitist, progressive, bird-loving, nerdy Trekkie woman who loves an infinite diversity of identities and believes all races, gender/sexual orientations, religions, disabilities, and every imaginable marginalized group can be gathered under one great American tent, the focus on fighting all their causes at the expense of the terribly homogenized white working class between the two coasts has brought us to this politically low point in history.
My father, even as a slightly evangelized Christian, is an old-school moderate California republican but started life loving Roosevelt and Truman while a child in the immigrant ghettos of the Southside of Chicago. He LOVED Truman but said to me once while viewing a Truman documentary, "The Democrats were a great party for the hard-working little guy. Then they got mixed up in all that identity stuff..." My four liberal sisters and I disagreed with him but now I'm beginning to understand a little better what he was actually saying.
While I am a proud Gen-x, cysgendered, Mexican-American, California-native, college-educated, book-loving, intellectually-elitist, progressive, bird-loving, nerdy Trekkie woman who loves an infinite diversity of identities and believes all races, gender/sexual orientations, religions, disabilities, and every imaginable marginalized group can be gathered under one great American tent, the focus on fighting all their causes at the expense of the terribly homogenized white working class between the two coasts has brought us to this politically low point in history.
My father, even as a slightly evangelized Christian, is an old-school moderate California republican but started life loving Roosevelt and Truman while a child in the immigrant ghettos of the Southside of Chicago. He LOVED Truman but said to me once while viewing a Truman documentary, "The Democrats were a great party for the hard-working little guy. Then they got mixed up in all that identity stuff..." My four liberal sisters and I disagreed with him but now I'm beginning to understand a little better what he was actually saying.
The DEM's must get better at pointing out their strengths and the GOP faults. A great example is Florida. Every election cycle it is in play and it really should be solid DEM. The place is chock full of people depending on SS and Medicare, the very things the GOP can not wait to disband while the DEM's want to improve them.
49
The problem with your argument is that SS benefits have already been cut during the past Democratic Administration, using the stealth 0 COLA increase for at least 4 years method.
1
If Democrats are on a "sugar high" about reclaiming the Senate in 2018 they can forget it. There are 25 Democratic and Independent seats ( Bernie Sanders, Angus King ) up for grabs. Incumbent Democrats will easily retain an overwhelming majority of them, but the Democrats will be fortunate not to lose seats in Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. The Republicans will run 8 incumbents, 7 of whom are absolute Red state shoo-ins,( Cruz, Hatch, Barasso, Corker, Flake, Fischer, and Wicker,) only Dean Heller in purple Nevada is problematic. The Republicans will probably pick up a net of 1or 2 seats, increasing their Senate margin.
179
The Democrats know this. I think the Democrats must focus on state elections and plans for redistricting post 2020 census.
3
You may be right, but we shouldn't underestimate the fact that a lot could change in the next year and a few of those seats may not be as secure for Republicans as we all think.
1
Thanx for providing the detailed forecast. If only there were an alternative reality in which we could take comfort.... :-(
"Reliance on identity politics and media-cushioned affirmation, and a blind spot to the genuine pain of the white working class, is precisely what produced a President Trump." Give me a break Mr. Egan. The fundamental reason Mrs. Clinton lost was people, even those who voted for her, as I did, are fed up with self serving Washington politicians ("my #1 job is to make sure I am re-elected. Its a nice job, good health insurance, a good pathway to lifelong security and $$$$." We are fed up with the total ineffectiveness of Congress (Thanks Mr. McConnell) for much of that) to get anything useful to benefit ordinary people done. Americans elected Mr Obama twice to bring change. When he had to go it alone and was savaged by Republicans he ended his presidency with relatively high approval for at least trying. But people are still angry and so we got Mr. Trump who is an out of control wrecking ball, which is what enough Americans wanted to capture the Electoral vote. Congress please note is still ineffectual, seemingly becoming the befuddled "poodle" of the executive branch.
8
Back to basics? Back to Bernie. Not the man, too late now, but back to the simple clear articulation of a consistent message, a singular tone to rise above the cacophony.
89
The Democrats need a new platform, and a new set of leaders. I will never understand why the DNC thought they could just continue to do the same thing and win the election cycle. If you don't have control of the State legislatures, the Gov seats, the House, Senate, or the White House and continue to do the same thing then you have nothing.
Compromise to build party unity and lighten up on the "all Republicans are idiots" rhetoric. Clearly you need some of them to come over to the Dem side.
Compromise to build party unity and lighten up on the "all Republicans are idiots" rhetoric. Clearly you need some of them to come over to the Dem side.
26
Relying on Racial identity and ignoring white economic plights? Really?
Democrats want all Americans to be able to enjoy the rights guaranteed under the US Constitution. Why should advocacy of civil rights regardless of sexual orientation, gender or race be called "identity politics"? Isn't this lofty pursuit an attempt to "make a more perfect union".
And as for the accusation that Democrats are ignoring Whites' economic plights:
The last time I checked minorities living in the US also experienced the Great Recession (with greater losses), and have also struggled to regain financial footing. Minorities live in the Rust Belt too and they saw their jobs shipped oversees too.
And those social programs that Democrats have supported (though maligned as being only for "Blacks") helped a whole lot more White folks than Black and Brown folks. There are whole counties and town in Kentucky (with nary a person with a dark freckle) and Appalachia relying on social services.
The framing of the argument as presented continues to stroke racial divide and to burnish white resentment.
If Whites are in economic pain, they have only themselves to blame for continuously supporting the GOP. Right-to-work legislation which weakens employee's job security, tax policies that favor the rich and lead to budget cuts in programs which increase social and economic advancement are the policies of the GOP, not the Democrats.
Democrats want all Americans to be able to enjoy the rights guaranteed under the US Constitution. Why should advocacy of civil rights regardless of sexual orientation, gender or race be called "identity politics"? Isn't this lofty pursuit an attempt to "make a more perfect union".
And as for the accusation that Democrats are ignoring Whites' economic plights:
The last time I checked minorities living in the US also experienced the Great Recession (with greater losses), and have also struggled to regain financial footing. Minorities live in the Rust Belt too and they saw their jobs shipped oversees too.
And those social programs that Democrats have supported (though maligned as being only for "Blacks") helped a whole lot more White folks than Black and Brown folks. There are whole counties and town in Kentucky (with nary a person with a dark freckle) and Appalachia relying on social services.
The framing of the argument as presented continues to stroke racial divide and to burnish white resentment.
If Whites are in economic pain, they have only themselves to blame for continuously supporting the GOP. Right-to-work legislation which weakens employee's job security, tax policies that favor the rich and lead to budget cuts in programs which increase social and economic advancement are the policies of the GOP, not the Democrats.
210
We do tend to forget that the rural and small town folks who voted t rump are mostly living in areas that are not doing as well as coastal cities and large metroplexes. And the reason they are not doing so well; they are all governed by republican austerity and refusal to modernize.
4
When you think that "civil rights" mean destroying traditional marriage and forcing people to use transgender bathrooms....you have lost control of the narrative 100% and deserve to lose all political power.
1
Well, Confused Democrat, you don't seem even a tiny bit confused to me. Your analysis seems clear and correct to me. Thanks.
2
We focus on Trump and his shenanigans, as serious as they may be, but we really ought to focus on two other things.
First, we ought to focus on the American people's education and ability to sift fact from fiction. It is their lack of this ability that provides the oxygen for Trump's haphazard, chaotic, and ultimately dangerous actions.
Second, we ought to focus on the local elections. We have legislators who are supine and fully neutered by Trump. Paul Ryan, the so-called intelligent one leading the GOP, reverses himself so fast and so frequently that his head must be spinning. Let us all resolve to elect sane, rational people to the Congress.
In these dark times, we do have a silver lining - the judiciary. So far they have been the only line of resistance to a madman. I hope they will continue to be the bulwark against this administration.
Finally, as Egan suggests, the Dems must "engage in hand-to-hand combat in the capital" but we can help them by electing sensible people at the local and state levels.
First, we ought to focus on the American people's education and ability to sift fact from fiction. It is their lack of this ability that provides the oxygen for Trump's haphazard, chaotic, and ultimately dangerous actions.
Second, we ought to focus on the local elections. We have legislators who are supine and fully neutered by Trump. Paul Ryan, the so-called intelligent one leading the GOP, reverses himself so fast and so frequently that his head must be spinning. Let us all resolve to elect sane, rational people to the Congress.
In these dark times, we do have a silver lining - the judiciary. So far they have been the only line of resistance to a madman. I hope they will continue to be the bulwark against this administration.
Finally, as Egan suggests, the Dems must "engage in hand-to-hand combat in the capital" but we can help them by electing sensible people at the local and state levels.
11
Due to redistricting and gerrymandering, the only Democratic candidates most voters see are African Americans. This reinforces white people beliefs that the Democratic party is anti white. Do African American candidates reach out to all voters? Sometimes. Obama, Booker for example. Not so much in Texas.
1
A sure winning strategy for the democratic party post/Trump's rise-Hilary's fiasco: stay put, regroup the believers and find a new mission statement in sync with society.
I would suggest the following course of action.
First, let the real political opposition against Trump's troupe take over. Of course, I'm talking about SNL.
Second, let Trump exposes his true nature for Americans and the world. For the first time ever, a real-life version of the " Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight " is now in charge of the White House.
I would suggest the following course of action.
First, let the real political opposition against Trump's troupe take over. Of course, I'm talking about SNL.
Second, let Trump exposes his true nature for Americans and the world. For the first time ever, a real-life version of the " Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight " is now in charge of the White House.
7
Given the potential massive loss of jobs due to ever-increasing automation and robotics over the next several decades, this will be a worsening, world-wide problem and a worthy focus for democrats. The real issue is that a single political party lacks the resources to address this kind of structural shift, one that we would usually look towards a government to solve, but too many Americans seem to think that the way into the future is to cling to outdated ideas and retrograde moralities.
And we know that boys who have guns but not jobs tend to join armies or make up their own...
And we know that boys who have guns but not jobs tend to join armies or make up their own...
447
"ever-increasing automation and robotics" is like all other industrial advances. Eventually it will produce more stuff from the same work force. It is not zero sum, the total produced can go up, if it can be earned by those workers.
The automation and robotics are excuses for bad policy that Bogarts the product of the increased efficiency, so much so that it destroys its own market.
The automation and robotics are excuses for bad policy that Bogarts the product of the increased efficiency, so much so that it destroys its own market.
2
Democrats who oppose free speech hire thugs to break windows and set fires to prevent an immigrant, gay, conservative comedian from making jokes about everyone.
There is greater risk to democracy from Democrats than there is from conservatives. Their autocratic rules prohibit any expression of an opinion that does not conform to their dogma.
There is greater risk to democracy from Democrats than there is from conservatives. Their autocratic rules prohibit any expression of an opinion that does not conform to their dogma.
2
Republicans will keep blaming immigrants when automation is the main problem but it's easier to see the face of an immigrant than a machine so the republicans will keep playing the racism card.
1
I predict another sugar high for democrats coming soon in the form of a trillion dollar proposal by Trump to do a giant infrastructure program. Whether it gets done or not, republicans will howl about deficit spending while democrats trip over themselves to get money for projects in their districts and states.
Meanwhile, Trump will sit back and reap the benefits of his Twitter machine saying, " look how I'm fighting for the American people".
The sleight of hand trickery will work in his favor. Change the subject and dominate the short attention span of most voters.
Meanwhile, Trump will sit back and reap the benefits of his Twitter machine saying, " look how I'm fighting for the American people".
The sleight of hand trickery will work in his favor. Change the subject and dominate the short attention span of most voters.
5
Continue resisting but put all your efforts not only into championing forgotten Americans, which includes people of color, LGBTQ people, immigrants, but get the eligible ones registered and then make sure they vote. You can show up at Chuck Schumer's house all you want, but if you don't vote in every election, including the primaries, you are just whining.
43
And Stuart, if you keep focusing on LGBTQ people -- about 2.5% of the population -- vs. the working class -- about HALF of the population or more -- you will keep failing until you are a mere dusty footnote in the history books.
2
Bernie Sanders gave quite a good example of the kind of opposition that the Democrats could offer:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bernie-sanders-donald-t...
Unfortunately his arguments seem lost to the party apparatus that seems imprisoned in its politically correct bubble. Was it really wise to make the entry ban for seven Muslim countries the focus of their opposition when they knew how many Americans supported it? It seems to me they got drunk of their own self righteousness.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bernie-sanders-donald-t...
Unfortunately his arguments seem lost to the party apparatus that seems imprisoned in its politically correct bubble. Was it really wise to make the entry ban for seven Muslim countries the focus of their opposition when they knew how many Americans supported it? It seems to me they got drunk of their own self righteousness.
9
If you let religious discrimination become law, you're letting your country become something not worth fighting for. In fact, it's a very big step towards letting your country become something to fight against.
14
You are missing the point of Wim's comment, I think. Oppose the ban. Sue. Just don't make it the face of the opposition
Paul Ryan said right after the election what he has said for years- he wants to privatize Medicare. Dems should attack this position every day. Link it to protecting the health care expansion. The fight to protect basic needs and income should be the headline.
Paul Ryan said right after the election what he has said for years- he wants to privatize Medicare. Dems should attack this position every day. Link it to protecting the health care expansion. The fight to protect basic needs and income should be the headline.
2
Senator Elizabeth Warren did/does better - as usual.
1
Well written and spot on; the problem however is that Democrats are ineffective organizers, and a measure of organizational discipline is badly needed to harness the disbelief that an authoritarian scatterbrained Incubus has cleaned the clocks of, initially, the GOP and now the nation as a whole. So certainly the Democratic Party needs to find some tie-in to how things will play in flyover country, but they need to do that inside a national bubble that is profoundly conservative. When people and nations are feeling good about their economic conditions and life in general, they are more amenable to thinking progressively. When they are frightened, nervous, unsure about so much around them at any given time they have a pronounced tendency to turtle-up and go to ground. Which America do you think prevails at this moment in history?
Good luck...rage and fume all you want...but organize too.
Good luck...rage and fume all you want...but organize too.
410
Trump did not have much organization, and what Bernie had he put together at the last moment. Hillary had vast organization.
Organization was not the problem for Hillary.
Organization was not the problem for Hillary.
3
I am a Democrat, and as a Democrat I refuse to be "organized." I vote the issues, not the party, and I suspect that I'm not the only one. I'll grant you that I vote for Democrats about 100% of the time, because the Democratic candidate is the better choice about that often (My state senator, you-know-who is an exception to the rule, but he ran unopposed, so I just skipped that line on the ballot). But becoming just another "team," like some other political party out there, is probably not the best way to attract the kind of people who vote for the best candidate for the country.
On a presidential election basis, the Democrat Party has much better organization than the Republican Party. They have a great get-out-the-vote ground operation. They have rolodex full of big campaign donors who can be counted upon to launch a media machine campaign at the drop of a hat if there is a hot issue. Their problem is that they only activate the ground operation every four years. The media machine pops up whenever the national party wants to rile up their left wing. but the Democrats do not have a mechanism to channel that enthusiasm into an actionable plan.
Take the current kerfuffle about immigration. Obama allowed 85,000 refugees in 2016, and upped the quota to 110,000 for the fiscal year 2017
Take the current kerfuffle about immigration. Obama allowed 85,000 refugees in 2016, and upped the quota to 110,000 for the fiscal year 2017
1
"Your job's about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about your dignity. It's about self-respect. It's about your place in the community."~Joe Biden
Yes some of the people who voted for Trump did so because his hateful, racist, sexist speech appealed to them. Another portion got hung up on social issues like legal abortions and LGBT rights and we're willing to vote for Trump to secure the supreme court. Those people were never going to vote in a Democrat.
However there is also the group who haven't bounced back from the recession. The only jobs that they can find are temporary. They're caught up in the day to day grind of the sharing economy. These are the people who Bernie reached because he went out there and heard their fears.
Democrats don't need to give up on social issues. We need to ensure that every American gets to live their version of the American dream. But they do need to start coming up with solutions that appeal to everyday working Americans who want stability.
Things like universal daycare and preschool create jobs. Investing in infrastructure and green energy create jobs. Do something about the student loan crisis. Go around the country, find out what the voters are concerned about and start pushing legislation that will address it. Then start highlighting politicians who vote against legislation that will create jobs and fix issues and get them out of office.
Yes some of the people who voted for Trump did so because his hateful, racist, sexist speech appealed to them. Another portion got hung up on social issues like legal abortions and LGBT rights and we're willing to vote for Trump to secure the supreme court. Those people were never going to vote in a Democrat.
However there is also the group who haven't bounced back from the recession. The only jobs that they can find are temporary. They're caught up in the day to day grind of the sharing economy. These are the people who Bernie reached because he went out there and heard their fears.
Democrats don't need to give up on social issues. We need to ensure that every American gets to live their version of the American dream. But they do need to start coming up with solutions that appeal to everyday working Americans who want stability.
Things like universal daycare and preschool create jobs. Investing in infrastructure and green energy create jobs. Do something about the student loan crisis. Go around the country, find out what the voters are concerned about and start pushing legislation that will address it. Then start highlighting politicians who vote against legislation that will create jobs and fix issues and get them out of office.
9
Trump listens to himself, and to people who tell him he's right. His take on any form of opposition is that it is 1) wrong; 2) false; 3) weak.
The Democrats have stood for liberal values, but liberal values have been cast as elitist values by the Republicans, a bunch of elitists. Hillary Clinton seemed to personify the elite, or at least the Republicans were able to spin it that way, and Hillary didn't or couldn't show a different face. It could be argued that the Clinton presidency -- with it's love of deregulation and it's workfare -- served the elite.
There have been so many changes in the world, and in American society, that it seems like the first step would be to figure out what liberal values represent in 2021: a realistic, fair, and compassionate immigration policy, equal rights for all, quality education accessible to all, quality health care accessible to all, caring for and repairing the environment....it easily turns into "everything for everybody" and that invites skepticism. And in a more measured form, it's taken as discriminatory.
But how is it possible that people would instead choose a so-called Sugar Daddy who will simply make it all great again?
The Democrats have stood for liberal values, but liberal values have been cast as elitist values by the Republicans, a bunch of elitists. Hillary Clinton seemed to personify the elite, or at least the Republicans were able to spin it that way, and Hillary didn't or couldn't show a different face. It could be argued that the Clinton presidency -- with it's love of deregulation and it's workfare -- served the elite.
There have been so many changes in the world, and in American society, that it seems like the first step would be to figure out what liberal values represent in 2021: a realistic, fair, and compassionate immigration policy, equal rights for all, quality education accessible to all, quality health care accessible to all, caring for and repairing the environment....it easily turns into "everything for everybody" and that invites skepticism. And in a more measured form, it's taken as discriminatory.
But how is it possible that people would instead choose a so-called Sugar Daddy who will simply make it all great again?
3
A new party; The Party of Reason, consisting of those who love all Americans and put the success of the nation first, may have a chance.
It will consist of Dems willing to make reasonable compromise by not rushing ahead of the general population on social issues, and G.O.P. members who awaken from the march to disaster soon enough to join them in a powerful majority.
In other words, extremists on both the left and the right will need to change, and change quickly.
It will consist of Dems willing to make reasonable compromise by not rushing ahead of the general population on social issues, and G.O.P. members who awaken from the march to disaster soon enough to join them in a powerful majority.
In other words, extremists on both the left and the right will need to change, and change quickly.
5
The good news for their oppnents is the likes of Pelosi and Schumer are incapable of original thought. The former is a stupendously wealthy hypocrite, drawing Agricultural Department subsidies for her "vineyard", and has never authored a piece of even minor legislation; the latter is a camera-loving ambulance chaser who thinks everything he puts his name to has historical heft. Please. These dinosaurs and their hatchlings have handed their party's future to arsonists who will keep the democrats in the wilderness till a Jamaican wins a bobsled gold medal. Face it, the goose is not only cooked, it's burned beyond recognition.
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