Discussion for article #230338
Problem is I think that any actual economic policies that would help middle class voters are considered verboten by the partyâs Wall Street backers.
As long as Democrats are trying to represent Wall Street and Main Street, they are going to be stuck chasing two rabbitsâlosing one, and letting the other one go.
13 Likes
Bill Clintonâs campaign said it the best âItâs the economy stupidâ with less emphasis on social issues. But if there is no voter turnout of people who agree, itâs preaching to the choir.
3 Likes
The Democratic candidates tried to run away from their own base. The GOP right-wing nut jobs detest President Obama. He is the hero of the liberal/progressive base. The candidates needed more Obama, not less. Instead of trying to motivate their constituency to get out and vote based on issues they believe in, their strategy was to try to get the leopard to change its spotsâa recipe for certain failure.
7 Likes
-Low energy costs
-Recovering economy
-Stagnant Wages
-Increasing higher education costs (and fed private education subsidies)
-Increasing stock market values
-Greater income disparity
-Gutted retirement systems
Discuss and campaign on at will.
7 Likes
Unfortunately, Main Street cannot match the level of political donations to both parties Wall Street makes. In recent years small donors contribute less and less and big money contributes more and more.
4 Likes
The biggest problem that the Democrats have is that they have embraced the neo-liberal economic mantra of the Clintons and their banker pals. This is nothing more than Republican lite policymaking and offers not one shred of progressive policy that can be solidly sold to an American electorate that is socially liberal and moderately fiscally conservative. Real votes are created when people can actually see where they will benefit from a particular policy, not when they see a part giving up before the battle on economic issues is even engaged, as we have seen over and over with the Democrats in Congress led by Pelosi and Reid, and by the President.
Capitulation is not compromise and that is something that with all their talk about bipartisanship the Democrats seem to have not understood since the 1990s. If the Democrats want to win elections, then yes, they do need to get out a strong economic message, one that tells the bankers to take a hike and the American people that their needs come before the Koch Brothers or Wall Street. What happened in Seattle should be national policy, but as long as the Democrats keep throwing away political opportunities by nominating DINOs to run for national office, nothing is going to change and the GOP will run this country into the ground financially and into theocratic Nazism socially and politically.
If the Democrats want to win elections, then they better be prepared to fight in the gutters that the GOP has turned our election system into. If they are not willing to dirty their hands by exposing corruption and naivete by Tea Party hacks, then they might as well resign themselves to being nothing but the minority in government that actually represents the majority of Americans, because that is all they will ever be. Until they challenge the GOP gerrymandering legally in the courts, the Voter ID laws in the courts, and hold the line against GOP policies with vetoes from the WH and stall tactics in Congress, they are neither representative of this nationâs people or worthy of our support. That is why Dems lose - they are unwilling to actually fight for the American people whose values they used to represent.
10 Likes
Iâve been saying this for twenty years.
So have lots of other people.
When Democrats campaign as actual Democrats, they win.
When Democrats campaign as Republicans, they lose.
It really is that simple.
13 Likes
"there had been a bit of a disconnect in how Democrats articulated their message on the economy in the 2014 midterms "
Yeah, ummmm, that tends to happen when you run like spineless chickenshits from the POTUS and all the economic data that shows you actually do have accomplishments to take credit for. Now, stop pontificating, grow a pair and ACT.
9 Likes
Also too no matter what Dems say the GOP will twist it into âcommunist socialist takeover.
In a world where memes rule the day the Dems sure need some better ones.
1 Like
Well said. I like the rabbit analogyâŚmight have to borrow it at some point hehe
1 Like
From the Department of âNo Shit, SherlockââŚ
1 Like
Someone plays Civ4. 
Shorter version: Democrats had no message on the economy.
5 Likes
"Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, who co-founded Second Avenue Partners, said there had been a bit of a disconnect in how Democrats articulated their message on the economy in the 2014 midterms and until that changed, Democrats would keep âgetting their butts kicked.â
Piffle. The economy is only the beginning. Until democrats firstly engage in grassroots redistricting state by sate and secondly get on common messaging ground (like the republicans do on both counts) nothing will change. Lastly the democrats need to work on getting the voters to the polls. The pitiful turn out (35-37%) was embarrassing.
5 Likes
We desperately need an updated version of Howard Deanâs âFifty State Strategyâ in order to strengthen the party in every precinct, every town, every county, and every state.
Without a good organization, the message will be immaterial.
7 Likes
Not to mention he knows how to win elections in spite of all the shit they threw at him. I am a disgusted democrat - almost ashamed to call myself that.
2 Likes
Not true. They certainly did have a message on the economy:
âWe donât believe in what our base believes inâŚcertainly not enough to fight for itâŚand, in fact, weâre so scared of being criticized and having to fight and defend our economic policies, agenda and record, that weâre willing to abandon all of those principles if it means we can get elected. I mean, they might call us âsocialistsâ and thatâs just mean!â
That message was heard loud and clear by the Dem/liberal base. Loud. And. Clear.
5 Likes
Dems should be focusing on reforming the rules of the economy that contribute to the ridiculous distribution of wealth. It would have more actual impact and not open them to charges of redistribution.
Consider that the majority of the money and resources raised this campaign were spent in red states defending blue seats, you basically just saw a scaled down version of a â50 Statesâ strategy. Yes, even if a 50 State Strategy is executed with perfection, its going to failâŚa lot. You will be fighting on enemy turf completely outnumbered in many campaigns.
The real issue with that approach is it requires not just investing every 2 or 4 yearsâŚit requires significant investment in time, money and people to make an impact. Turning districts, let alone entire states, from red to blue, is a long, uphill battle with lots of setbacks.
And, something most progressives will definitely not like, it means finding wedge issues to splinter the right wing and then pick up the pieces as your own. Those issues are probably not going to be part of any greater progressive agenda.
2 Likes