The Democratic party should use this inflection point to shift ground – from being the party of well-off college graduates, big corporations, “never-Tumpers” like Dick Cheney and vacuous “centrism” – to an anti-establishment party ready to shake up the system on behalf of the vast majority of Americans.
This is and should be the Lesson of the 2024 election.
It seems to me like the system is so broken that no party can compete solely with the support of well meaning grass roots constituents. Corruption is required to win.
anti-corporations, but of course we can't anger our owners.
> because trying to use the standard strategies of passing laws ends in stalemate every time. Then the GOP plays off Dems being unable to accomplish what they promised
That's only part of the problem. The Democrats have swung conservative.
Obama ran in 2008 on "No more too big to fail" and "We're going to go after the people who caused the financial crisis."
As President, he could have directed the Department of Justice to do both. He did neither.
Likewise, the Democratic Party has been all-in on supporting the military industrial complex. Democratic votes in Congress against our $800 billion annual military budgets are scarce.
@firebreathingduck @rbreich I disagree that Democrats have recently turned conservative. They have been that way for a very long time now. They do it to try & win more right-wing voters.
No argument about the rest of your post, though
@rbreich
Thurs Nov. 14 8P ET
Will the Democratic Party Finally Change? David Sirota talking with U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna and Thomas Frank (What's the Matter With Kansas?), taking questions
YouTube recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzdjzmSY1gM
Original zoom call https://www.levernews.com/live-event-at-8-p-m-et-tonight-will-the-democratic-party-finally-change-2/
#DavidSirota #RoKhanna #ThomasFrank
The AOC and Bernie Sanders doctrine.
@rbreich The Democratic party won't change much until the octogenarians step aside and let a far younger generation take over.
By the way, it was your buddy Bill Clinton who shifted the party rightward after the so-called "Republican Revolution" of 1994. He made policy decisions for which Ronald Reagan would have been excoriated. And who suffered for it? Not Clinton's millionaire pals, that's for sure.
Of course, the left was silent about it because Clinton had a "D" after his name.
The incompetence, arrogance, fecklessness, and out-of-touchness on display by the Democrats over the past 4 years is incomprehensible
The two parties might not be the same but it's become clear that unless the Democrats make some radical changes, the final outcome (i.e. an inexorable slide into far-right authoritarian dystopia) will be the same regardless of who's in charge
So I'm done with the Democrats for the time being. I'm not gonna waste my time or money on a lost cause
It SHOULD be the lesson... shouldn't it???
What faith do you have that Democratic leadership will learn that lesson???
I have none.
It should have been the lesson in 2010, too. In 2008 Obama ran on "No more too big to fail" and "We're going to get the people behind the financial crisis". Then, as President in charge of the Department of Justice, he did nothing. I think that's why the Republicans swept the mid-term elections.
Don't get me wrong, the Affordable Care Act is fantastic. But I think voters had figured out that Obama gave nice progressive speeches but wasn't serious about challenging any other part of the status quo.
@rbreich I will contue to vote D up and down the ticket because there really isn’t any other choice. But winning an election requires so much goddamn money no one normal can win. You just about have to be willing to take money from anyone who offers it… including billionaires and big corporations, who then own you.
*except Jeff Merkley.
Nope.
The lesson of the 2024 election is the same lesson as the 2016 election, i.e.:
The majority of American men (and a horrifying number of American women) absolutely fuскing HATE women (especially Black women), and will vote for the stupidest, most corrupt, incompetent POS male—even a rapist with Alzheimers—before ANY woman.
@rbreich
I'm curious why things between parties are so close to even across the country. 50/50 Senate, 50/50 House, nearly a 50/50 percentage split for President.
Why is that? It hasn't always been so.
I'm a centrist yet even I agree with this completely.
One doesn't win elections without the support of the masses. But the masses are nowhere near the Center...and haven't been ever since the onset of COVID-19 accelerated the movement of the masses into partisan internet echo chambers.
Robert Reich
George Liquor, American
dangrsmind
72wagon
Chris Lilley 🏴
Edge
mindstorm8191
treefall
sleepy62🍁🛠️ 🖥️ 🔬 🌞
Dean F.
Proto Himbo European
🇬🇱🇨🇦🇵🇦
B’Mal Suj
HawkeyeGirl
Joshua Iz
okanogen VerminEnemyFromWithin
haricots introvert
Beggar Midas
Maier Amsden
Permacultureandpolitics
Raj 🇬🇧🇪🇺💻🖥(🌻🇺🇦;🇵🇸)
MollyNYC
David Epithet
Stargeezer Smith
Pendell 🔜 TFF
floydgump
szakib
BottlenekDolfin
Somethingbytes
mindsets
Thirteenth Worrier