Excellent story. Fingers crossed that those struggling across America don't get taken in by the old saw that "socialists" will all come for your money if you vote for anyone left of center. At some point, fingers crossed again, voters will realize it's the predatory one percent--and their acolytes--who actually will take your money.
1
I wish Shirley well. Unfortunately, King caters to the reprehensible white-racists of Nassau County, of which there are plenty: from the Republican establishment, to the police, to the storefront pizza owner. He's done nothing to improve the security of this country, although he throws himself in front of any tv camera he can find, claiming to be an "expert" on national security matters. Those in the know in Washington, think he's a buffoon.
4
Well you are certainly struggling if were her CO worker and expected her to split tips fairly!!
https://pagesix.com/2018/07/01/ex-co-worker-no-fan-of-democrat-darling-a...
Yes, the middle class is shrinking in urban areas too. and has been for awhile. Moving to the city is no panacea, and as indicated in the article neither is a better education. The social issues that drive both parries is essentially 'the opiate of the masses', as what is really driving discontent across the country and in others too is the record amounts of income and wealth inequality which has resulted in a shrinking middle class.
Forget the babble about low unemployment rates as a lot of jobs these days don't result in solid working and middle class jobs. Don't expect the established leaders of either political party to address this as both have contributed to the increasing inequality. Yes, Democrats too, the Democratic controlled House passed Reagan's tax and economic polices among other actions. Who was Hillary courting for contributions when she should have been campaigning in the supposedly Democratic firewall?
I don't expect will get past the social issues though, and as a result not much is going to change.
4
The political economist Henry George wrote about the same phenomenon in 1879 in his classic book "Progress and Poverty."
He recognized that increases in population and in economic activity would increase the price of land giving landholders a huge capital gain while making housing
unduly expensive for most of the public.
George devised a plan to solve the problem. He proposed a land tax of sufficient size to transfer the profit generated by popular demand for a limited supply of land from the landlord to the public treasury.
In 1886 he ran as a candidate for mayor of New York City in which post he hoped to implement his his plan. Unfortunately he lost to the corrupt Tammany Hall candidate.
Theodore Roosevelt, the future president, came
in third.
It is not too late.
We can still enact George's program and thereby provide for public needs while lowering or eliminating taxation on non-land owners.
In the NY Hudson Valley, we got Trump supporting State Senator Terrence Murphy & GOP Kevin Bryne who is using the same GOP messaging where both have ignored LGBT month, have gun control views from the turn of the century, and are ignoring the immigrants and their Irish ancestors who came to this country illegally. Both elected official have nothing to say about all the local protests all around Westchester yesterday, instead the Senator chose to attend an event at a local automotive store. Seems automotive care is more important to him than the rights of people being mistreated by regimes around the world.
2
Sorry ,there's nobody here getting mistreated.
1
If this keeps up, I would expect slight GOP gains in both the House and the Senate. Who knows, maybe Anthony Pappas will win the 14th? Then both the 'progressives' and the NY Times will go completely off the deep end.
9
I don't think Pappas can win in NY14 but if he campaigns hard among the moderate democrats in eastern Queens and the east Bronx as well and the ethnic homeowners in the district he might be able to win.
1
I live in the district. Believe it or not Medicare for All and getting real estate developers out of politics resonates with the majority of us. I’m white middle class.
2
A commenter said:
> I see no difference between the radicals on the left and on the right.
I've lived for a number of years under both right-wing martial law and Communism. I agree that both systems promote corruption (including nepotism), legal injustice, and the brutal treatment of dissent. But I see some differences.
The most important is that the left tends to assume that human nature is good, and that people will cooperate with the system in good faith. When the left eventually remembers what human nature is actually like, it usually turns out that authoritarian rule is needed, to enforce fairness. I haven't seen that work out well, but of course it could be different next time.
I would like to see society fee of corruption, nepotism, legal injustice, and the brutal treatment of dissent. As for fairness, I am old enough to know that it's hard to guarantee, but it's vital for letting people feel confidence in the rest of the political system.
1
You can't change the Laws of Supply and Demand. As Supply is restricted and Demand increases, prices rise. New York City is receiving hundreds of thousands of international and domestic immigrants every year. There is no way to offset this increase in demand for housing by building more housing supply. Even if you could build the housing, the quality of life would decline as density increased. If tomorrow you could magically create affordable housing for all of NY's residents, a year later we would need 60,000 new apartments for the new arrivals. NYC is full and continued immigration makes it impossible for our current families to stay. Statistically, every 25 years, 100% of the population of NYC leaves to make room for new arrivals. If you are still here after 25 years its because someone else came and left even quicker. You can't change the Laws of Supply and Demand.
5
"If tomorrow you could magically create affordable housing for all of NY's residents, a year later we would need 60,000 new apartments for the new arrivals." For generations "new arrivals" found housing based on their financial status, whatever that looked like, and created a life. If overpopulation is the problem, we're no longer talking about housing. Overpopulation cannot be attributed to native Americans for whom the birthrate is down.
1
Try housing for six million. Thats more like what taxpayers do now.
I see no difference between the radicals on the left and on the right .
Once there were conservatives and liberals. And they were able to meet in the middle . The upset in New York strengthens the radicals
1
The people want and need Medicare for All.
Yeah, but who will pay for it?
> If you live in a place where a master’s degree won’t permit you a lifestyle that looks much different from an office clerk’s ... it follows that you will be ... more inclined to find affinity with the broadening numbers of the more obviously oppressed, and vote accordingly.
I have a PhD and an in my mid-fifties, and still can't easily make a respectable living. What I fear is that the next wave of politicians will strip me of what savings and property I have, for the sake of a political platform aimed at the "more obviously oppressed."
I feel I can look to neither political party, gangsters and panderers both, to act in my interests. I wonder if there's some place I can emigrate to where I can live out my years in comparative peace.
12
DPB, it’s sad to see people like you scared that they will lose what they have.
What’s worse is that it makes you easy pickings for people who predict “Venezuela!” whenever they hear about free university tuition.
Why don’t you think “USSR collapsing under the weight of a military arms race!” when you hear about increased Pentagon funding?
Let’s be very clear- the US is a very wealthy country. But 20 percent of the population owns 80 percent of the wealth. There is zero reason to make the middle class poorer to fund social programs. Or military programs for that matter.
So, more government funding for healthcare, education, and infrastructure, paid for by those with the money. Like Germany. Not Venezuela.
Or just keep the status quo. How’s that working for you?
Only 13% of registered Dems bothered to vote in the NY14 primary. Crowley sat on his rear during the campaign and he lost. Socialist Ocasio-Cortez will most likely win in November but she's going have to explain to homeowners in Queens and the Bronx why she believes that confiscating their homes will be good for the 'masses'. And let's not forget the socialist paradises of Venezula, Bolivia and Cuba. Ocasio-Cortez is a gift to the republicans. She is now the poster girl for what Dems really believe.
10
She never ever said anything about confiscating homes. Get serious. She’s taking about gentrification pushing out middle class families.
Even if your home is worth more, you pay more real estate taxes and your children can’t afford to live in the neighborhood any more—especially when they are burdened with high interest student debt and high monthly premiums for profit health care.
3
"Only 13% of registered Dems bothered to vote in the NY14 primary. Crowley sat on his rear during the campaign and he lost. "
And Crowley raised $3,354,370 and then spent $3,414,699 and lost to Ocasio-Cortez. She spent just under $200,000 and none of it was from corporate political action committees or lobbyists.
If you can't see the turn in the road coming you either don't get out much or are in complete denial.
Ms. Cortez just gave the Democrats their message for the midterms (Economic, social, racial, justice for the working class).
4
Ocasio-Cortez is not calling for "free Medicare," but rather “Medicare for All.” Medicare is not "free" and she's not suggesting that it is.
22
Nothing is actually “free.” Someone has to pay for it. As it is currently structured, Medicare coverage results after 40 years or more of payroll deductions for Part A as well as monthly Part B premiums paid by the insured. Taxpayers cover the rest. I don’t understand how anyone can support suddenly providing this coverage to all, when they haven’t contributed for the years required to earn it.
3
For too long the top 30% have lorded it over the rest of us!
Hopefully the Democrats can tax them heavily, to take what they’ve stolen from those of us who are truly middle class, those of us who make between 30,000 and 65,000!
Go after their 529s, their 401Ks. Tax their property at twice the current rate, and make reparations a reality! Nationalize healthcare! Nationalize the schools and pay the adjuncts!
Unionize! Resist! MeToo! Black Lives Matter! Stop global warming! Open the borders! Defund the military!
2
Not at all the thoughts of today’s younger democratic candidates.
A fairer distribution of opportunities — e.g. return university education and student loans to benefit the working and middle classes, as it was up until the last two decades or so
More examples Medicare for all and competition for drug purchases
4
The free market distributes wealth and income according to the value of ones input/labor. Just because that doesn’t benefit someone to their satisfaction is not a reason to switch to a government based system of theft and redistribution.
2
I remember seeing Chuck Schumer on David Letterman years ago when he was running for re-election. As part of his effort he was promoting his latest ghost-written book "Positively American: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time". The man was a smarmy fraud then and he's a smarmy fraud now. Unfortunately, he's also the heart, soul and brains of the party. He, Pelosi and had she won, Clinton have been anointed by the plutocracy to slow-walk any progressive agenda. They all need to go.
25
Schumer represents everything I detest about the Democrats, smarmy is the perfect adjective.
Let me just enjoy a brief respite from the daily Trump Depression I am forced to live with because the Democrats ran another one of their smarmy candidates (Hillary)
by having a crush on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and dream of a future where the government is made up of representatives like her actually working FOR the people they represent. Oh one can dream.........
1
Set aside the identity politics and the social issues, and the Social Democrats and the Tea Party members, deep in their hearts, want the same thing: to work hard at a job which provides reasonable job security, allows them to own a modest home, raise their children in a secure environment, have decent healthcare and restores the social contract which raised all boats in the post war years. Ultimately it is a conflict against the elite moneyed interests that may bring them together to topple the two party system. The distractions of fear mongering leaders and social wedge issues notwithstanding, the remaining barrier is their recognizing the two groups’ common interests in having a place of respect and security in our society. Someday the hillbillies, the urban Latinos, the displaced factory workers, the gig economy hipsters and the rest of the commoners will conclude they have more in common than apart.
29
Hitler and Stalin had things in common. That didn't make them natural allies. The groups you mentioned, (including the racial slur), are in competition and while on some issues may work together, do not share universal common interests.
The term “the precariat” was described years ago by an English economist Guy Standing and its content a fractured Labor Force without an image of status and security that used to be associated with Employment is moving up the job market now to even ‘the professions.’
Standing’s subtitle was ‘A Dangerous Class.’ This maybe what politicians are discovering as one major election after another yield surprises, including 2016 and 2018.
Alissa Quart may be describing case studies; causes are more interesting; think Corporate Control and a fractured, dominated, unresponsive political system. Sound plausible?
7
Long past time those of us in the shrinking middle see that we were conned all these years. We never were and never will be with the elite in any fashion. Best we get back to putting the rich in cages where they belong. They are much too dangerous to crawl into bed with.
7
Wait, the Times keeps telling us how well the economy is doing, what's the matter with these families that can't keep up with an 80% increase in rents over three years?
How can a "robust" economy allow for "deteriorating fortunes of the middle-class"?
The truth is, the economy stinks unless you are, like the Times editors and owners, in the 1%.
18
The economy is great. But if you don’t have anything to offer an employer it will never matter what the economy is doing.
8
Actually, in the so-called land of opportunity, the best predictor of your economic success is your parents' income. Let's stick to facts, not victim-blaming and poverty-shaming. Or should I say Shamrocking?
http://www.businessinsider.com/parents-determine-child-success-income-in...
1
Financial insecurity and deterioration of the Environment caused by the actual Trump Republicans should be the focus. The win of Trump at the election in spite of a 3,000,000 loss at the vote, the permanent lying of the Administration and the greed of the President should be topics for after the Nov election.
Let us concentrate on our own problems with revenues, housing, education, health care and propose solutions, as well as explaining in detail how vicious are the Republican laws. Let us defend the Environment against the Republicans and their “daddys” from the business.
We the people are fighting the politics of the past.
4
Wow, Trump was able to deteriorate the environment in less than a year and a half in office?
The Republicans have no regard fro the environment, but you silly Dem partisans need to come to grips with reality. Obama presided over the greatest expansion of drilling for gas and oil in US history.
Here's Obama bragging about his environmental legacy:
"Over the last three years, I've directed my administration to open up millions of acres for gas and oil exploration across 23 different states. We're opening up more than 75 percent of our potential oil resources offshore. We've quadrupled the number of operating rigs to a record high. We've added enough new oil and gas pipeline to encircle the Earth, and then some. . . . In fact, the problem . . . is that we're actually producing so much oil and gas . . . that we don't have enough pipeline capacity to transport all of it where it needs to go."
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obama-and-climate-change-the-...
10
Best economy in decades. Yea, blame Trump. Lowest unemployment ever. Yea, blame Trump. Largest tax revenues ever. Yea, blame Trump.
8
Not the best economy. Retirement security has evaporated. Medical costs beyond all reason. Ditto education Economic indicators do not capture these critical elements of true security. They measure activity and output not results.
We do need some fresh faces to move forward.
5
Trump voters averaged $20,000/year higher income than Hillary voters. They also have a very high tolerance for lies; apparently Trump tells lies such as the Wall is already built, and they lap it up. So does the fact that opioid addiction is highest in areas that voted for Trump explain their embrace of delusions?
6
Yes ,some of the wall is getting built and old sections rebuilt. this was approved by a Democrat congress two decades ago.Opioid abuse begins with illegal heroin going across the border. and with jobs going out of our country.Please get your facts straight before pontificating on subjects.
What a relief to see there is one journalist at this newspaper who is prepared to see and describe the economic anxieties faced by 80%-90% of the population and the impact on the way people vote without immediately labeling those voters racist and misogynist.
The next time somebody labels a voter racist or misogynist ask yourself this one question: is the person doing the labeling a member of the top 10-20%?
8
Dems are spending too much of their energy on issues not concerning the citizens and are just following the agenda set by Trump. They are falling into the trap set by the Repubs by painting themselves as supporters of Illegal immigration and Open Borders, thus ignoring the issues being faced by the poor people and middle class. People do feel sympathetic to the issues the Dems are fighting for, like separating families, detaining immigrants, etc but there are bigger problems for the poor and middle class. They are not realizing that Trump is creating a new issue every other day and the Dems are just following him like a dogs tail in condemning him.
The legislators are spending more time on Social media and news channels fighting about something Trump said than spending time with the people on the ground.
People will relate more to the person who they met personally than to someone who they saw on TV.
8
But the Democratic Party is the party of illegal immigration and open borders. That is their #1 issue.
1
'' reveal a coalition fueled by the same economic anxieties that supposedly drove Trump voters...'' - Uhmmm, no.
The people that voted in this administration voted for their tax cut (selfishly) and along lines of how much melanin was in their skin.
The people that are voting in true Progressives/Liberals are the ones that want taxes to be progressive (make more and pay more) and do not care how much melanin is in your skin. (nor your make up, where you come from, or your sexuality for that matter)
Glad to be of help correcting.
4
Trump is a loser, the Republican congress is a loser. Dems can't win by running against them but by advancing policies and programs aimed at helping the majority as opposed to the wealthy minority as do the Republicans. Health care, housing and college tuition are winning issues for the Democrats who are bold enough to address them head on. It is time for the old Democratic guard to retire.
6
TRUMP is a WINNER - in just 500 days he has TOTALLY obliterated the so called legacy of 8 years of OBAMA - that's why he has gone missing, he cannot face that TRUMP has beaten him like a drum!
1
Wow. People are just now realizing this??
2
The NY Times is still peddling the myth that Trump voters were driven by economic concerns. This has been repeatedly shown to be false. The average Trump voter was slightly more well off than the average person but racist and uneducated. Racist views with hatred of people of other races and nations was the single most predictive indicator of a Trump vote. This is proven with every approving scream for references to those murdering immigrant animals at Trump rallies since. Somehow, the Times thinks it is not polite to point out who these voters really are and has jumped through hoops to dredge up supposedly "real" Trump voters such as the Confederate Monuments PAC leader Gina Anders described last week as just a simple business owner.
Meanwhile it has been true all along that actual poor and stressed people have voted Democratic. A larger fraction of poor voters went for for Clinton than any other economic group.
10
I don't see any job creation in Mitch McConnell's district or Paul Ryan's. What jobs have they created for their constituents? What businesses have they lured to their districts? ZERO!!!!!! The only job creation we see is Mitch McConnell's wife now has a nice patronage job and Ivanka is pretending she's a diplomat.
1
The Dems need something to fight for -- and I do mean fight. Here my proposal: "Make America Great Again - for Real!"
2
Will somebody please forward this article to Nancy Pelosi?
5
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was able to win a Democratic primary because the powers-that-be in the Democratic party allowed her to run against Joseph Crowley, the longtime incumbent in a solid Democratic district. Maybe they didn't take her seriously.
The 27th District on the other hand,( which is represented by die-hard Trump fan, Chris Collins) - there was only one Democrat running uncontested, despite the fact that a few months ago there were four or five people who were interested in running. One person had gained a lot of local support, even started fundraising a decent amount of money, was just about to open a campaign office, then all of a sudden, he quit. Personally, I think he could have won the primary if he had stayed in the race, but perhaps the local Democrats want a specific type who might possibly change the minds of some Republican voters. Part of me understands that strategy, but the other part is annoyed that Democratic voters don't all get the same chance to vote for someone "outside of the box" like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.
1
We had lots of deficit spending intending to boost the economy over the past decade, and we can expect more in the next few years. It hasn't seemed to make much difference in most people's lives. So what's the answer? I don't think anyone knows. But I'm pretty sure it's not more government spending.
2
Indeed, with 50% of US Americans living in precarious economic situations, my husband in Oregon included, I am assured that the Democratic Party will have to begin to move further to the left in terms of basic economic rights: universally provided and affordable housing, healthcare, childcare, and a guaranteed basic income. The Poor People's Campaign for a Moral Revival, building on Dr Martin Luther King's call for economic equality is getting surprisingly little attention in the major press. I encourage my colleagues at the New York Times to go deeper into the stories, multiples upon multiples, of people living in abject poverty and fighting the structure that placed them there. It is time for a dedicated poverty, labor and homelessness analyst, correspondent.
9
If you don't own a home and are struggling with housing costs, consider if we deported 11 million illegal immigrants. The cost of housing would drop significantly. At the same time wages would shoot up for all of the jobs they were doing. It would cause chaos in the housing market which would require government intervention but in the end, it would benefit the poor and working class Americans.
5
Sadly what she offers to an enthusiastic New Yorker does not fly with generations of people who are convinced that socialism ranks with communism is an abhorrence.
True largely in the "flyover" states. That is a social dog whistle that conservatives have used for a really long time. Even my conservative friends refuse to admit (especially those over 65) that Medicare is socialism.
Because of this I see no future but I do hold a lot of hope in her win. There is a lot of reeducation to do if this idea is to progress but I am a progressive so let's have at it.
1
I think this is the gamble. There are people that freak out about socialism. But I wonder if they aren't already true believers that will never vote democrat anyway. They aren't really signs of much besides old age. But their story is used as a warning or a cliche: America is a centrist or conservative country.
I don't have an answer. It's a strategic gamble for dems. but trump didn't win as a centrist. The Republican Party has become increasingly radical (and successful) over the Obama years by being radical. And Clinton ran, much like Obama governed, under the banner of DNC establishment centrism. So it seems like the wisdom of the story of American centrism is more like an artifact of a political establishment and sensibility, supported by the house-intellectuals of the chattering class, that is currently falling apart.
So it could be that our political culture is shifting, giving rise to new sensibilities and constituencies. The democrats have to decide if the centrist ship is sinking, or if trump is just a momentary blip and that centrism is the antidote. People like Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie people in general, might be the sign that the centrist dems are failing to recognize the winds of change, hanging on to a disintegrating political fantasy. Only time will tell.
Centrism assumes people make political decisions on rational bases rather than emotional ones. Trump, if not Obama, should have disabused us of that idea. Fighting trump might require passion.
1
The term "socialism" only holds a sting for those geezers in the Fox News demographic. ironically a good percentage of THEIR parents were probably socialists in the twenties and thirties. To a millennial, almost anywhere, it has no negative connotations, only an upside. People who bandy it about like the boogeyman just look ridiculous.
3
How great it would be if peter king loses. Vote Democratic.
9
Democrats should seize this opportunity to nationalize the embrace of the economic justice issue because it is an electoral gold mine that would allow them to recapture the U.S. Congress and the Presidency. They must ignore the bogus media reports of a “humming” economy and address the pain and suffering of hardworking everyday Americans. They must ignore attacks by Republicans that state that measures designed to address economic injustices are socialistic. There is no such thing as a free market economy devoid of government intervention. Remember the $700 billion bailout after the Great Recession of 2008? Remember Trump’s recent trickle-down tax bill that helped the rich and the corporations? Governments always choose economic winners and losers by their policies. It’s time for this government to bail out struggling workers in the middle and lower classes!
15
There is no blue wave, there is no red wave, what we have is an uncolored wave of people that are unhappy with the career politicians that don't appear to be doing anything.
Hopefully these midterms will provide us with a number of upsets that will take the power away from Trump and give it back to America.
11
Couldn’t be more true. The system is expressly designed to transfer wealth from the many to the few, and at this moment it seems like every transaction is optimized to that end.
The Democrats desperately need to divest themselves of the kind of crony politics that has come to characterize them, and start working to redress the balance. Ocasio Cortez is a much needed breath of fresh air.
25
Ocasio Cortez is just 1 person and 1 victory. It will take 1000's others like her to make a change. She hans't even proven to be an effective politician yet. Sure the Democrats need to move to the left but they need keep their more centrist elements if they're going to win against Republicans. Its the Never-Hillary people that gave us Trump. Never forget.
8
Dems need to work for both Wall St & the average citizen, both at the same time?
I think the future looks best if they cut to the right (left) side of the issues & let developing demography make centrists & Blue Dogs irrelevant.
1
Of course, she is one person. But I'm optimistic that a new generation of outsiders, like Beto O'Rourke, will be able to transform the system.
Hillary was a terrible candidate, and Sanders was robbed by the Democratic party. THAT's what cost this country so dearly; don't blame the voters for the party's mistake.
1
The angst among Trump and the Blue Wave is the same but for different reasons. Trump attracted people more interested in their condition while the people voting for Ocasio-Cortez and others in the Blue Wave see them self in a broader community, one that believes we are better off hanging together rather than hanging alone.
24
Trump mainly attracted people in the country and rural areas. He used a populist rhetoric very similar to Bernie Sanders (even though he never meant a single word).
6
I was a Bernie bro, but we parted company on international trade.
There are several good ideas in this opinion. What it ignores is that those in such situations are a minority, not a small minority.
1
The conclusion I draw from this is that you should strongly consider moving out of the New York metropolitan area, or other similarly ridiculously expensive regions, to somewhere where the cost of living is reasonable. And if that moves more liberals into my state, well, fine.
12
My husband and I lived in San Francisco for 40 years and moved for retirement. We didn't move earlier because he worked in a very specialized tech field and anywhere else he might go, there were either zero or maybe one potential employers. And one potential employer in an area is no good if they turn out to be a terrible employer or if they go out of business. In Silicon Valley, many companies only last two years but at least there are always new ones, giving people like my husband a choice of employers. I have spent a lot of time online explaining why everyone working in such areas can't just move anywhere, any time. And of course, people also have family and friends in an area where they have lived for a long time.
1
There is NOWHERE where jobs are where the cost of living is reasonable. Yes, you can maybe move if you can work remotely. But otherwise the places with good-paying jobs are all unaffordable.
3
Yes, the pain is widespread. The system has been rigged against the working classes and minorities for a long time. But the democrats were so busy becoming the party of fragmented demographics that they forgot - or dismissed - the largest set of victims. Not that their grievances should have been given greater weight than other groups, but they weren't even recognised. In fact, it appeared as though they *were* less important, given the liberal Original Sin of being born white male. (I'm a white male liberal and I don't hang my head for being born as I was.)
There is nothing wrong with the democratic party being the party of distinct and marginalised groups but in the process of becoming that they ceased being a party of broad appeal. It wouldn't have taken much effort to keep their long-term base of working class people in the fold. Instead, the democrats' strategy proved to be divisive *within* their base, which is very much different than republicans causing divisiveness *across* party bases. You can see whose strategy worked. It got trump elected, powers the pipeline of supplicant congressmen, and culminates in a Supreme Court that will rubber stamp every corporate, evangelical, right-wing dream.
21
Exactly. And it will keep happening again, until the progressive and centrist wings of the Democratic party coalesce around 1 message. There needs to be a single alternative to Trump. Maybe the progressives are the future, but for now we need to be practical.
4
Democrats are celebrating one progressive beating another in a primary. As always, progressives and Democrats forget that the competition that matters is at the general election. Ocasio-Cortez will be a nobody if the Democrats don't take the house and will simply be a new face being paid by the public to hang out in DC. And unless the Democrats also take the Senate, we're in for the nightmare continuing for a long time.
10
That's rude and extreme. Members of the US House of Representatives is a high office. None of them are "nobodies," even the right wing republicans I detest.
1
Well, there is a Republican candidate running against Ocasio-Cortez in November. He might attract a surprising number of votes.
2
With historically low unemployment, taxes being lowered for many, and an economy growing at a great rate it will be hard to get this message to resonate with most Americans.
We aren't 'all struggling now.'
8
What?? Unemployment is low, but those numbers don't mean much when you need 2 jobs to afford rent. Most young Americans can't afford college, let alone buy a home. The economy is growing, but the profits are going to the shareholders.
11
Historically low unemployment in a gig economy with low wages and no benefits?
Really, I think you need to open your eyes a little bit more. Here’s some news for you, racism is still prevalent in our society, sexism is still prevalent in our society, and many people are struggling!
4
I hope the Democrats will , as a party, run as the party that addresses the concerns of the vast number of people who face financial insecurity. That includes many who voted for Trump. I want to see messages that clearly explain who has been helped by the massive tax cuts that will swell the debt and are being used as an excuse to try to cut social programs. Medicare and Social Security are under attack by Republicans. The GOP has been hostile to students facing massive debt while Democrats campaign, I hope, on free community college if not 4-year higher ed. Republicans talk of taking away the guarantee that health plans cover those with pre-existing conditions. The opioid crisis goes largely unaddressed. Meanwhile, there is not one state in the U.S. where someone working full time at minimum wage can afford to rent a 2-bedroom apartment.
Profit is the highest motivation of corporations, and loyalty to workers has largely gone away. Pensions are mostly gone.
Democrats - please reach out to the bottom 95%. That's most voters.
39
Almost everyone has financial insecurity. I worked as a professional in a low cost area of the country. If I lost my job and could not find one for a long time I would be living on the street. I sometimes considered how to stay alive under those conditions. Even in retirement I could be in a very poor condition depending on circumstances.
8
We needs a new, younger and more inclusive Bernie who can explain what social democracy really means... so that people will understand it! Then we should ignore the Trumpeteers and move on. They are beyond hope and reach and they love attention, lets move on.
30
We need an American version of Justin Trudeau.
1
We've embraced a dangerous notion that going to college and getting a degree makes you an "elite". Given that Harvard appears discriminate against Asians as does the New York school district when it come to their best High Schools I think I'd rather hang with the immigrants.
It isn't a question of doing poorly, the question we should be asking is why are we making the process so much more difficult.
12
I anxiously await the flood of Blue Wave socialists who campaign on 'free stuff' for everybody - once again the Dems will somehow manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory this Fall.
29
It’s not about free stuff for everybody.
It’s about decent wages for everybody.
It’s about good schools for everybody.
It’s about a decent infrastructure for everybody.
It’s about a secure retirement for everybody.
It’s about making sure people have equal opportunity.
It’s about clean air and clean water and clean soil for everybody.
It’s about making sure that there is strong laws against financial speculators gambling with our money and our savings with no risk to themselves and with enormous profits to be gained at the expense of everybody.
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@honeybee
I’m not sure where your assumptions are coming from.
“Illegals” pay into our tax system and economy, but are not given benefits such as social security even though they contribute to the solvency of our social security.
Only a small fraction of abortions are “late stage” and will be done because of the mothers health or the baby will be born with a life-threatening illness.
Open borders would not crush wages. A large portion of the immigrants coming through our southern border work low wage jobs that you don’t even consider how necessary they are. Additionally, they help work the agricultural industry and keep it running while you get to benefit from its outputs.
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Yeah because we all love our expensive for profit health care and our children graduating with onerous high interest student debt.
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