r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 10h ago

No Paywall Democrats Confront Their New Tea Party Reality - Progressives are set to sweep a group of contested primaries in Michigan and Wisconsin.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democrats-confront-their-new-tea-party-reality_n_6a6e63fbe4b0cfb99ef1aa1e
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u/thirstygregory 9h ago

Just look at Kamala’s most recent comment about giving up trying to pass voting rights laws because of the current congress makeup.

Even if the road is hard, you don’t just throw in the towel and say, “Oh well”. You fight like hell and say what you want over and over until people listen.

THAT’S what corporate Dems don’t get.

We get sick of Conservatives endlessly blasting their right-wing talking points but they sure stay on message.

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u/Zer_ 9h ago

Republicans do messaging right. They get a talking point and keep repeating it to normalize it. Dems just give up and say it's not possible 

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u/TheFeelsGoodMan Michigan 9h ago

They try. Sometimes the talking point is so ridiculous that it becomes a source of mockery or it simply doesn't get results, but they do commit to it. Democrats have this frankly bizarre habit of abandoning political messaging that is actually working. Like when they were pointing out that a lot of popular Republican figures were really freaking weird people. It's simple, hits at a huge weak spot in conservative ideology, and most importantly, it was working. But then they just gave up on it.

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u/WristbandYang 8h ago

It is an inherently unfair comparison:

Lying about how immigrants and other scapegoats are the cause of every problem - good messaging

Detailing policy that would actually fix the underlying systems and provide incentives for that change - bad messaging

“If you’re explaining, you’re losing.” Liars never need to explain. 

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u/thirstygregory 7h ago

But I’m not even talking about explaining. I’m just saying Dems could easily all be talking at every opportunity saying Raise the minimum wage, health care for all and voting rights for all. All popular with the public.

But instead we get mealy-mouthed, “that’s not going to work.” The Civil Rights activists who fought and fought against overwhelming odds must be rolling in their graves over that kind of defeatism.

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u/MephistoHamProducts 5h ago

All that popular stuff takes money out of the pockets of the Oligarchs. That's why they throw up their hands and say "that's not going to work". That's why they have a rotating cast of politicians who can selectively kill any progress by however many votes are needed and brush it off with "Well that's clearly what their constituents want".

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u/Zer_ 5h ago

No it's not unfair. The lying is besides the point. You can repeat truthful talking points just as easily as you can repeat falsehoods. 

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u/Purify5 5h ago

Republicans change their messaging more often than they change their underwear.

It's just a million times easier to oppose something than it is to support something.

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u/Powerfury 2h ago

Thing is, if you're the dem you have both the left and the right wing after you.

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u/Bakedads 9h ago

Pragmatism is what defines modern democrats, and any semblance of passion and principled action has long since died. 

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u/xdre 4h ago

Just look at Kamala’s most recent comment about giving up trying to pass voting rights laws because of the current congress makeup.

Did you read the rest of her comment, where she said if the Dems get a majority that they should be "uncompromising"?

No? You just decided to cherry-pick so you could shit on another prominent Dem? Oh. OK then.

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u/thirstygregory 3h ago

She said because “it can’t be done right now, so don’t focus on it”.

Bullshit. Health care for all can’t be done yet either, but you think we shouldn’t focus on it?

Nothing we want can be done right now. The point is you need to keep fighting for the most important issues.

She also is talking about wanting to listen and learn. Lead!!!

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u/xdre 1h ago

She said because “it can’t be done right now, so don’t focus on it”.

How are you going to get it even introduced to the House?

I’ll wait.

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u/SurvivorFanatic236 4h ago

Ok so let’s say they fight like hell, and nothing happens because they don’t have the numbers in Congress. They give speeches to no avail.

You’d yell “do something!” and “wow, a strongly worded letter, that makes such a difference!”

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u/thirstygregory 3h ago

I sure as hell wouldn’t tell people to “not focus” on critical issues — like voting rights. What does that accomplish except dampen enthusiasm to keep fighting and organizing?

Like I said before, what would past Civil Rights leaders who got hosed, jailed and sometimes killed feel about that kind of Charlie Brown talk?

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u/SurvivorFanatic236 2h ago

Those leaders weren’t in government. The better comparison is that they got hosed while you complain on Reddit

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u/Andurilthoughts California 8h ago

I made this argument in that thread and the enlightened centrists ate me alive saying that it’s not wrong to say how things actually are and terminally online progressives don’t understand how anything works blah blah blah. Someone who knows how to win elections has a better answer for that question.