The issue isn’t that “there’s nothing inbetween.”
The issue is what do the people in between want. Really want. Don’t try to ascribe certain values or traits to them that YOU may have that you think they should have. There is a Democratic message. THEY. DON’T WANT. IT. Accept it.
When someone show you who they really are, accept it. And move on.
Have you asked?
Maybe you listen and determine how your message is being perceived. The Republican message v. nothing means the Republican message wins.
I agree with you that the time to try reaching across the aisle was over before it started. But I think Obama’s reputation for having done that tends to slightly overshadow his deep political savvy and incredible general insight. I suspect he realizes we need a cadre of tough young fighters these days. And he may not be prickly and antagonistic by nature but I think he’s aware of the situation we’re in. : ) It’s easy to forget he’s the winningest Democrat we’ve had for a while. If he wants to be a talent scout and coach I’m all for it.
I don’t need to ask. I know what they want. I said it in a post above this one.
You don’t seem to think that Dems have asked therefore you should be the one to ask.
One of the more unfortunate things is that Dems get caught up in circle jerk of asking “What does the working class White person want?” When they get the answer, they don’t really listen to it. The answer we’re getting now isn’t the same answer we got 10 or more years ago.
@mattinpa I agree completely that he knows what we’re facing. He’s certainly not unclear on the concept and he’s the best statement that this country could have asked for. I just think his policy prescriptions might not be the best at this time. I’m not sure.
I think Obama also wants to corral those young, idealistic activists into the Democratic Party because we lose too many of them to third party spoilers. (see 2000, 2016)
I wonder how strong and organized the College Democrats are? Does any DNC money flow to them? Are there national conventions, training sessions?
Strengthening College Democrats would be a good start.
You really think [quote=“brooklyndweller, post:19, topic:48653”]
revanchism, racism, sexism and economic insecurity.
[/quote] motivates everybody outside a few blue cities? If so our only option is to flee America.
Right now the Democratic message isn’t even heard outside a few large cites and traditionally blue districts. I am pretty sure most people in the suburbs or rural areas of America rarely encounter a Democrat or hear the Democratic message. You can’t win if you don’t try.
His thoughts on policy may have evolved a bit but the way I read the article it wasn’t so much he’d dictate a particular policy—it seemed more he’d help find good candidates and give them advice on winning. He was something new and different himself once. And he’s got a connection to and understanding of flyover Americans that a lot of our new young fighters may not. All I can say is if I were a new young fighter—alas, I’m none of that—I’d be pretty damn glad to have him notice me and give me any advice he cared to.
But what they DO care about is being told a fiction that their manufacturing jobs will be returning to pre-Reagan levels. What they DO want to hear ios that their white fragility is justified because they are superior to the melting pots that occur in intensely populous cities. They want to hear lies to help them sleep at night.
Right now the Democratic message isn’t even heard outside a few large cites and traditionally blue districts.
The message is there. They’re not listening.
EDIT TO ADD: I think it’s been a very rude awakening for many Dems to realize that we don’t have nearly as many allies as we thought we had. And the basis for this isn’t because we don’t try to get through to them but because these former allies are listening to something else. And Dems can’t counter what they’re listening to because it’s based purely on base emotions and illusions.
Out here in flyover country, Dems run on “we are just like Repubs, but we call ourselves Dems”.
Great platform! That will get Dems elected. Not.
Repubs are more cut-throat, so Dems lose.
Obama is far too nice.
Dear Mr. Obama, please include in your coaching curriculum “How to Prosecute a Banker”. You may be surprised, sir, to learn that a big reason HRC lost is because your AG (Eric Holder) not only crafted the legal arguments that allowed banks to rape middle American home owners, but that very same AG then refused to prosecute any high-ranking bankers; you know, the guys who made it all happen. Funny how that sort of thing comes back to bite the Democrats.
Is it?
I heard hundreds of Hillary commercials in West Palm Beach but none in Kansas City. The local news in Kansas City is manned mostly by Republicans tailoring the message for Republicans. Democrats in Missouri don’t even mention that they are Democrats.
I am not sure what Democrats stand for these days, but based on the last election is was little more than the other guy is crazy. You have to stand for something if you expect the voters to vote for you.
This is hopeful. We need to stay together to fight for representation as our Constitution intended.
Trump is building a Cabinet that seems to want a paternalistic approach how to treat the non 1% while at the same time having a collective philosophy of privatizing government programs such as military, defense, schools, government, social security, healthcare. How can it possibly be in the best interest of the citizens of this country to pay taxes that under a Trump cabinet will go to privatized citizen services. Heck, he even wants to privatize his own security detail now (read this in a different TPM article).
To you you’re making an obvious point but the listener you’re talking in riddles early am afraid.
I’m glad to see that Obama is planning to go this route. Dems should be making a solid effort to spot talent anyway. Obama can give young politicians mentoring that will make them far more effective. In the process, I suspect that Obama will get an ongoing profile of the state of the Democratic party across the country that should be very useful. If he’s active, he’ll be influential.
To be clear, while post-moretems are useful and important, what is needed is consistent and effective leadership for the party in the long term, and a solid plan for winning the next election (rather than how to win the one that we already lost in a country that won’t be the same tomorrow as it was in November 2016).
SOME of them do but many want a workable solution that THEY help craft. They want infrastructure and safe communities.
Infrastructure spending was repeatedly pulled off the table by the GOP Congress and safe communities start at the local level, not at the federal. I have little sympathy for people who continue to vote against their own self-interests and then complain that they’re unhappy.
’ I have little sympathy for people who continue to vote against their own self-interests and then complain that they’re unhappy’. I hear you on that.
Sadly, there is a major opportunity looming to pay attention to the negative impact of the GOP Congressional agenda on the programs that Trump voters rely on and never expected to be attacked. They will be disillusioned and need to be approached by knowledgeable local Democrats who can explain why their community hospitals are dying, wages are being pushed below a former minimum wage that vanished, and why we are engaged in military adventures and dangerous hot wars with Iran, while we head toward alliance with Russians against the Chinese, or whatever. The Democratic party needs to put major resources into developing state-by-state and county-by-county understanding of these impacts. If there are not enough local Democrats, then idealistic young Brooklynites should be sent to live there (and telecommute to their high-tech jobs) while getting to know the locals. They will realize that they themselves are learning how irrelevant and counter-productive their obsessions with expressing identity conflicts have been. The time to strengthen the bonds that can hold Americans together in the face of incipient fascism is NOW.
Exactly!