Discussion: 5 Signs The Left Is Ascendant In The Democratic Party Since The Election

[system1]

Discussion for article #231983

[lew]

Was Democrats’ Big Midterm Defeat Really A Good Thing For Progressives?

Yes.

Oops, not enough characters. I’ll try again.

Hell. Yes.

[eggrollian]

I say no. The GOP deal worked out near perfectly, with voter suppression efforts working smoothly in many counties with GOP clerks, a core element in keeping a wide gap between eligible voters and actual registered voters, as well as the introduction of capricious requirements like forcing the absentee voter to size and print a pdf of their unique voter envelope onto an envelope in countries that do not use US letter size or even inches. Democrats still continue to rely on national dominance, yet concede to Republicans localized rule-making that election after election assures that the US has the lowest voter turnouts in the industrial world. In 2016, let’s say 220 million Americans are potentially eligible to vote out of a pool of 240 million. If we were Sweden, we’d be looking at about 200 million of those people voting. In the US we’ll be luck to hit 140 million. That’s right. Some 80 million adults, the population of Germany, are completely outside the system for no reason such as felony convictions or insanity. They are simply people who are, as the Russians say, superfluous. This issue remains off the table, election after election, suggesting extreme lameness on the part of the Democratic national committee. It’s a free-bee to the GOP every time.

[lio]

Isn’t "soak the rich " right wing terminology?

[fgs]

Well if the personal vindication of their feelings and the marginal improvement of their daily Washington experiences is the “good thing” we’re talking about, then I suppose the answer could be “yes.” I don’t give a damn about politicians feelings, so my definition of a good thing would be increased likelihood that good ideas might get passed into law. So I’m going with “worst outcome imaginable” until someone surprises me with something other than what I just read.

[frankly_my_dear]

Senate Democrats invited Sen. Warren to join the ranks of their leadership after the election — as strategic policy adviser to the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, run by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Now there would be some conversations that it would be interesting to listen to.

[jsfox]

“Soaking the Rich!?” Talk about a piss poor phrase that does nothing but alienate.

[jep07]

kind of like “rob the bank” …

[bradbennett]

Exactly - I was about to post the same thing.

Is the Foxy Nooz propaganda so firmly entrenched that expecting wealthy folks to pay their fair share is now considered “soaking” the rich? That’s just nonsense.

What nonsense. Sahil, are you unaware of the multitude of data showing that all of the economic gains since 2008 have gone to the 1%? So expecting just a bit of fairness in the income distribution is somehow unfair to the rich?

You want “soaking”? How about we return to the tax brackets and rates that were in effect during the Eisenhower presidency - or even Reagan? Then you might actually have a point - now, not so much.

[bradbennett]

It’s Foxy Nooz propaganda - nothing more, nothing less.

But frankly, I’ve come to expect nothing less from Sahil.

[gr]

Sounds like little boys whistling by the graveyard.

[pickwick]

I actually think of progressives as old fashion Democrats. The ones who used to stand for real things, for working people.

Hopefully the last election put the current batch of DINOS, corporatist, plutocrats on notice that they inspire no one, and if they stand for nothing no one is going bother to get up off their ass and go out vote for them.

[sandyh]

Money talks. Let’s see how Republicans like giving it to workers instead of the filthy rich for a change. I’d love to see a shutdown over this issue.

[qwedswa]

No. It was not a good thing. This article is not a good thing. Now those “progressives” who stay home on midterms will have their lame excuses justified.

This country could have been so much better off if “progressives” had shown up to vote in 2010. But Obama didn’t shoot liberal rainbows out of his ass in his first year of office and fix every problem in the entire world, so “progressives” threw a hissy fit and stayed home in 2010.

So here’s a little civics lesson that conservatives understand perfectly but “progressives” are too stupid to understand. 2010 was a CENSUS YEAR. The winner in that election (massively Republicans) got to gerrymander the maps and make the rules FOR THE NEXT DECADE. So by staying home that year, you weren’t “sending a message” to Obama. You were screwing over the progressive cause for at least the following ten years.

Republican gains this last election were a direct result of the 2010 election, as they got to gerrymander districts and rig election laws. And what do “progressives” do? Instead of believing Magic Obama is going to fix everything, they think Magic Lizzie is going to fix everything. And when she fails to do it all on her own, without any support from the “progressives”, they’ll turn on her too.

[nerdnam]

Ever since Nixon and the ‘Southern strategy,’ the Democratic party has been fixated on attempting to salvage their Southern base. Remember it was the ‘Solid South’ that Democrats their long standing majorities in both Houses of Congress, as well as their powerful committee chairmanships. Carter and Clinton both were Southern moderates (really, Democratic conservatives) who won in part because they could win back some Southern states. "Triangulation’ was an attempt to appeal to conservative, Southern voters.

But now the Solid South, at least the white part, is solid for Republicans. So there’s no longer any point in Democrat attempts to appeal to voters who are never going to vote for them. The Obama mid terms of 2010 and 2014 have now cleared out the last vestiges of conservative Southern and/or rural Democrats, and thus there is no longer any point in Democrats ‘running away’ from their own party. Democrats are now free to be Democrats, a Northern, liberal, urban, bi-coastal party.

From here on out things are going to be different in American politics. Not necessarily better, but certainly not the same.

[brooklyndweller]

Thank you. That’s the first thing that jumped out at me. What is this “soaking” that he speaks of?? The reason I’ve come to really not like any of Sahil’s articles isn’t because of the way he turns a particular phrase. It’s that he genuinely seems to be have a right-wing mindset that just doesn’t belong at here. I don’t really understand what Josh is trying to accomplish with having him write for TPM: he always bashes Dems and the Left in general and his writing is kinda mediocre. What, exactly, does he bring to the table?

[misterneutron]

When it comes to passing legislation during the next couple of years, things aren’t really any worse than the status quo ante. The House is still a G.O.P. stronghold, and the Senate is still dysfunctional.

But going forward, maybe this will be a wake-up call for the Democrats. They can’t win elections by being “Republican Lite.” As long as they’re in thrall to the same corporate and Wall Street paymasters as their opponents, ginning up voter enthusiasm is pretty tough. Maybe now they’ll try a truly progressive message. That will never penetrate the minds of the hard-core FoxNews viewers, but it might energize the base enough so that it can exercise its increasing demographic advantage to good effect.

There’s also the possibility, becoming more likely with each passing pronouncement from the right, that the emboldened G.O.P. will overplay its hand. Gee, let’s try to gut Social Security! Let’s try to take health insurance away from several million people! Let’s shut down the government once in a while because we’re having a tantrum about something!

[thx1138]

A couple of thwarted judicial nominations based on pet issues, a plan to “soak” the rich, and somebody “kicked up a ruckus” over there at Moveon.org.

wow. so cake. 2 awsm. so excite.

Folks, the revolution is at hand!

[ronbyers]

Sure progressives are empowered but beyond Sanders and Warren where are the progressive leaders?

[ronbyers]

Yep, we are going to have two regional parties. If we are lucky the civil war that will naturally flow from your vision of America won’t kill too many people.