"The Democratic party has more to learn from Alexei Navalny or the protesters in Serbia than it does from Chuck Schumer or strategists obsessing over message-testing crosstabs."
ABSOLUTELY! And don't forget how Poland was able to topple their authoritarian - "keep the coalition together"...
"The Democratic party has more to learn from Alexei Navalny or the protesters in Serbia than it does from Chuck Schumer or strategists obsessing over message-testing crosstabs."
ABSOLUTELY! And don't forget how Poland was able to topple their authoritarian - "keep the coalition together"...
Navalny would have supported the plans to mobilize protesters April 5. Sorry JVL, waiting 15 months to build up to a pre-election protest gives Trump all that time to destroy our institutions. The time to get out there and express our outrage is NOW!! I hope you guys at the Bulwark will get onboard with that.
There's a more fundamental flaw in JVL's plan than just the waiting: his goal is to build power and then hand that power over to Congressional Democrats to save us.
Congressional Democrats won't save us, even if they were constitutionally OR Constitutionally inclined. They are neither.
But let's assume success: that a leader emerges who inspires 2 million people to take to the street, and Democrats win overwhelmingly in the House and the Senate.
What then?
What piece of legislation will the Democrats pass that would stop Trump's autocracy? That would MAKE HIM LEAVE in 2028?
Remember, Trump has the power ministries, the guns, the prisons, the DOJ, the FBI, and the generals, in his pocket.
He isn't going anywhere.
Navalny followed JVL's plan. Navalny is dead, and the Russian pro-democracy movement has been crushed.
Excellent point! I'm afraid Mr.Last has somewhat romanticized things.
And a figuritive slap in the face for appropriating AOC and Bernie's rallies without mentioning Bernie, apparently unaware that Bernie had several large meetings with people in the last few weeks before AOC joined him.
This one wonders if we aren't approaching an American political revolution. Doesn't it seem that Trump's overt corruption has exposed just how complicit our Institutions have been in their corruption, and that has made it difficult to institutionally resist him? Maybe he knows his enemies better than we do, and that is why he can effectively cripple their opposition to his filth. He knows they are filthy, too, and is welcome at his clubs. (Don't misunderstand; my disrespect and hatred for the guy are not masked by some nihilistic respect.)
Hmmm, indeed, these are suspicious times. Witness: Academics and Universities seek to bend a knee. Once respected LINO (liberal in name only) law firms and Supreme Court justices accept bribes and donations, a Democratic Senator is found (along with a bunch of gold bars) to be guilty of corruption when the ex-Democratic speaker of the house is also found to be just another Wall Street inside trader when the ex-NY Gov. is discovered to be a cad, and the CA Gov. is willing to submit to soul sacrificing interviews, it becomes plausible that our entire political structure has succumbed to the weight of corruption and has lost compassion for its people-us!
Why hasn't the Democratic Party offered unified resistance? Why has Joe Biden disappeared? Why hasn't the Republican Congress done anything legislatively for a long time? "Something is rotten in the state of" the United States.
Well, if ALL of our institutions and politicians are "filthy" why are you asking where Joe Biden is and why Democrats aren't offering an unified resistance?
JVL has a point. We will never agree on everything. Opposing Trump and his authoritarian, destructive agenda is what we can focus on.
I ask because I'm ready to fight, and some backup would be nice! And defending the USA from traitors like Trump, Vance, Rubio, et al. (and watching Trump waste away in jail) is my goal.
A long time ago, the US Govt. drafted me to fight an insanely stupid war in Asia. Ever since then, I have been more careful and particular about who is actually on "my team". If the Democratic Party does not show up with a strategic plan to protect us, then I'm left to wonder why not. And if Joe (I happily voted for Joe) is not capable of showing up to defend our democracy, then...
As an Aussie I've been wondering why American voices haven't been calling out ALL your living Presidents in the last couple of months.
Clinton, Bush, Obama & Biden all took the same path, all spoke of their love for America & its people, yet all are now silent. Now is not the time for them to be silent, as the current administration is destroying everything those 4 leaders purported to love.
To be silent now is to be complicit, as your 250 year experiment is at grave risk of collapse. If those Presidents truly believed the words they spoke in taking their oath of office, then now is the time to prove it!
If we are to unite it must be around a common set of beliefs that are not republican or democrat. It cannot be a negative stand, aka anti authoritarian. It must be a positive message around common beliefs that gets at the heart of what got us here. E.g. corporate power, money in politics, lack of means for the average American to live a productive life without fear of continually losing their healthcare, pensions, job security. Corporations paying their fair share and mitigating their outsized power.
I wish that we would have embraced this idea sooner. One thing thatтАЩs irked me, which I am as responsible for as anyone, is that they told us exactly what they were going to do and exactly how they were going to do it in the Project 2025 documents.
I read 50ish pages and I looked away instead of thinking: how can we meet this moment on Day 1? (And it really was Day -75 or so, because Biden appeared to stop governing as soon as the election results were in.)
What are our advantages? I think diversity is one. What else? Where can we push opportunities? How can we think outside the box?
I live in Oklahoma and how can I or someone else convince every single registered Democrat to change to the Republican Party by 2026? Because in states like mine with closed primaries, thereтАЩs no point to be in the opposition party. (This is obviously an exaggeration and a simplification but I do think itтАЩs strategy rooted in Game Theory and how elections actually work.)
Just more out of the box thinking. We should be saying тАЬThis ANDтАжтАЭ
It is not the job of democrats to convince republicans. Whoever, democrat, republican or independent, steps out and unites Americans around a common way forward is who will lead. As a democrat whose livelihood was harmed by Reagan in 1980тАЩs, my leanings are for someone who will unite us around the middle, lower and many in the upper class, against the corporations and billionaires who work against us for their greed at the expense of our democracy.
What are our advantaged's Yes, diversity. I also think MAGA underestimates us.(Some MAGA person unironically compared their movement to Goliath going up against David, so apparently they havenтАЩt read their Trump Bibles!) Opposition to Trump has been a great unifying force. IтАЩve seen progressives (and I consider myself one, although IтАЩm not sure theyтАЩd agree) go along with things that made them hold their noses because they recognize how much worse Trump would be. ThatтАЩs why I hate to see this in-fighting start. The pro-democracy forces are in agreement on the objectives, just not the means to get there, and those disagreements should be handled more quietly.
Yes, the anti Trump party should except all who are against a Trump dictatorship. We need to talk about how he's screwing his voters. We can't afford loyalty tests or any issues that divide us. The enemy is the oligarchs who control media. We need to reach everyday working people who are being screwed. There needs to be one message, and it's "We the people". Ignore petty differences. We want free and fair elections and leaders who come to serve the country not their cronies.
Sara, donтАЩt take away my simplest of pleasures - Christian Nationalists misquoting the Bible! The comedy keeps me going on particularly bad days.
I do think your point about celebrating too early is massively important. They assume that itтАЩs already over. They donтАЩt have much of a memory. And part of what Trump offers them is relief from critical thinking. Certainty tends to make you move more slowly and uncertainty tends to make you move more quickly. That is an advantage.
The last people that Democrats should listen to are Republicans who totally capitulated in2016. Does JVL know most democrats marched in 2017 in DC. We protested since at various times. Every week in my blue dot, we protested every Saturday. We have been marching since 1960тАЩs.
Where do I start. IтАЩm 80 and it is not as easy for me as it was in 60тАЩs. I believe strongly in America and in our constitution and rule of law. As a woman, my awareness of misogyny is so acute that I fear for my daughters and granddaughtersтАЩ future. It will take all of us and I am here to do what I can.
There are a small faction of Republicans who never capitulated in 2016 or since. The Never-Trumpers have been vocal since the 2016 election. Maybe they hung onto hope that their former party would come to its senses a lot longer than many of us would have liked, but if the shoe had been on the other foot, I think it would have taken many of us a long time to absorb that the Democratic Party had left us....
I am one of those Republicans who has never voted for Trump. I consider myself a true conservative and feel that the party left me while following after an amoral, unprincipled degenerate.
My understanding of American conservatism is that it is conserving classical liberalism or put another way- preserving the US Constitution and the principles in the Declaration.
The things happening under this administration are not conservatism in my view. Even the overall goals I might agree with like reining in the national debt and dealing with immigration are being done in an illiberal and lawless manner. And the foreign policy is a nightmare!!
So, back to the original topic of how to resist: you are so right not to paint all people with a broad and inaccurate brush. American politics has been about finding compromise and consensus at the national level and allowing more variety at state and local level. I bet the тАЬmiddleтАЭ 60% of the country broadly agrees on 75% of issues. LetтАЩs please work together to get rid of this idiotic kakistocracy.
Bulwark team capitulated in 2016. Every one of them by their own admission. Including Tim who was on JenтАЩs team. To support Jeb, or any of the other 2016 republican candidate and still vote for the felon is capitulation.
Just now I researched Tim in 2016 and learned he did in fact campaign against the felon at least until the Republican primary. I could not find anything about him campaigning against the felon in the general election. His opposition against Hillary was not based on her stand on the issues.
Can I ask you to enlighten me on his work either against the felon in the general election or his support of Hillary.?
First of all, Tim wrote a book about it (https://a.co/d/aAj8Uqd). He then became one of the original Never Trump former Republicans making the rounds on TV, along with the then future Bulwark co-founders, Lincoln Project guys etc.
"On election day, I revealed on a NowThis News livestream that I had voted for Hillary, the very person I had launched a PAC to stop three years earlier. It was a crossover so drastic that almost none of my compatriots joined me, preferring instead to throw their vote away for a third-party candidate or a random write-in. But my fear and loathing of Trump had grown to overwhelm any vestigial Clinton animus. For me, it wasn't a close call. And there was no amount of rationalizing that could have gotten me there."
Can you explain your vestigial animus for Hillary. Do you understand why women are troubled by that particularly since it never mentions a stand on an issue?
TrumpтАЩs second term has made me understand to the depths of my soul why Novilny returned to Russia even though he knew he would be imprisoned and most likely killed.
Sara, I too have spent more time than is comfortable considering the fact that by standing opposed to a great injustice, I risk an outcome that will deprive me of the few things that I actually want out of this life. I want to spend time with my kids; to help my parents end their lives with dignity; to do more good in my community than bad; to play trivia and watch the Thunder win an NBA championship.
I assumed those were guarantees and IтАЩm confronted with the reality that they are not. I hope enough of us can find our courage so that my children can go back to believing that those are safe assumptions.
You too. IтАЩll be 70 this year, an age most of my family never lived to see (bad tickers). So if worst comes to worst, most of my life has been good, if challenging at times. I look at it this way: none of us can control when we live, and other Americans have faced wars (including against each other), fascism, etc. that they didnтАЩt ask for. This time right now just happens to be our call to arms (FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING).
How about AOC and Adam Kinsinger? I admire the honesty and tenacity of Liz Cheney but don't forget that she carries the unfortunate baggage of her father, who acted like a dictator before Trump did. I love her fight, though!
She only carries the baggage cause you choose to see it. She didn't speak from that baggage in her support of Kamala. It doesn't define her for me. Her absolute support for the Constitution is what defined her for me.
I, too, love her fight now, but she also carries her own baggage. As a Congresswoman she voted with Trump over 90% of the time, until he became an insurrectionists. SheтАЩs also opposed gay rights, despite the fact that her sister is gay. And those are important issues, but democracy is more important than any of them.
I really liked the article but Navalny to me was the wrong example. His primary mistake was taking in any anti-Putin members. It lead to him associating with the worst and harmed his movement.
The other odd thing in this analogy is he stayed fought and died. I guess metaphorically that could work but it could also metaphorically not fit the winning message.
To follow your example, we should not take in any republicans who ever advocated for small government, free markets or no regulations. There is a through line from the rhetoric and actions of Reagan to the felon with the republican congress and republican SCOTUS included. Republicans need to openly disavow the felon and the complicit SCOTUS to be allowed into the opposition. Otherwise too many inconsistencies. I have strong regrets to being a paid subscriber to Bulwark and will not renew. Confirmed every time they excuse republicans who continue to completely support the felon while attacking democrats. Cognizant dissonance!
See and that's the way Trump wins. We the people means all the people who want a democratic government. We cannot to reject people who don't think exactly like us about every stupid cause. There is only one cause and that is getting rid of Trump and the Oligarchs. When we have our country back, we can have the luxury of fighting over small or big government.
That means I have to stop slamming the Far Left Progressives for what they've done to the Dem brand that lost in '24. Keeping that faction in our coalition will require some finesse on my part. I'll need some help with that.
See PalestineтАжWhen Israeli was little and the Arab nations were BIG ..the left knew the bad guysтАжthen Israel became big and used US bombs on the little Palestinians. We all want to see the wars there end. But the Arabs want "the right of Return" and the Jews want from the "the river to the Sea" Our Democracy is more important than what "THEY" want. Like JVL said pick them apart in a torrent of "I didn't vote for that"
Please consider thee possibility that corporate democrats have done as much to hurt the тАЬDтАЭ brand as the far left. Consider, as just a single example, that a significant part of the Obama coalition believed that passing the, тАЬEmployee Free Choice ActтАЭ, was their single cause Celebre. It was a pretty simple proposition back in 2008-2009; a majority of the bargaining unit wants to join a union, they get a union, and get the benefits of collective bargaining for wages, hours and working conditions. A large part of the Obama coalition thought this was going to be the primary legislative effort back in 2009. When Obama won, all energy (after that pesky little economic problem) was put towards healthcare, certainly a worthy cause. But the idea of supporting workers, was pushed off the table by corporate interests. Tell me for a moment if a couple of million workers at Walmart (twenty or so years ago) and Amazon (now) might have benefited from the ability to bargain collectively against a mega-employer? And how many more of them might be inclined to support democracy over fascism/authoritarianism? Hope this helps and apologize in advance for revealing myself as more aligned to the left side of the. тАЬBig tent Bulwark FamilyтАЭ !
Timothy, IтАЩm also on the left side of the tent. I do think the far left and the corporate side have contributed to the ineptitude that we see. We often confuse winning elections with good results. Bill Clinton won, but he did so by accepting huge swaths of the conservative agenda as correct, with very little pushback. (тАЬThe era of big government is over,тАЭ тАЬAbortion should be safe, legal, and rare,тАЭ etc. - even things I tend to agree with often absorbed conservative messaging.)
The Far Left has created issues not because they are wrong, but because they question. Those questions are often taken out of context, blown out of proportion, and, in general, not treated at all as when Joe Rogan says тАЬIтАЩm just asking questions.тАЭ
I hope the alliance can be formed between the two sides of our tent by acknowledging that we donтАЩt always meet our ideals; we rarely move fast enough; but we are trying to find a path forward that will work in macro and micro levels. We need to persuade them that even though we donтАЩt agree on certain specifics, we do agree that we should be reflective, we should be honest, we should be self-critical a little more and self-righteous a little less; and that even though our solutions might be a thesis and antithesis, we are looking for synthesis.
Thanks James, I just gave my own тАЬself righteousтАЭ side - which at least 100 times bigger than my тАЬself criticalтАЭ side, a friendly ding on the ear. It stings a little when I do it, but I need that reminder about 99 times a day!
It's not the issues, it's their tactics. The self-righteousness, the shaming, their we're-in-your-face-America! Those are tactics for building a movement but not for winning elections.
I agree re Dems and their alignment with corporate interests contributing to the Dem brand. It was political strategist Dan Pfeiffer who first noted it was the Dem brand that lost on Election Day. He said that brand is, for those not college graduates, "They don't care about people like me."
Their alignment with corporate interests is nothing new. It goes all the way back to Bill Clinton. Dems were losing the presidency since LBJ, and his neoliberalism brought them back to winning. But I don't think unions are the answer to widely-shared prosperity, as they were in the post-war period. The 21st-century economy is so different from that period. For one, It's a global economy. And having a job in a large organization is under threat by AI.
The strategy I find most promising is from one of our fellow commenters, Kathleen Weber: "a commitment to free and supported lifetime job retraining" for the majority of Americans who "have undergone a slow but steady [economic] immiseration since 1980" [https://kathleenweber.substack.com/p/how-to-fight-trump-part-one].
I really agree that corporate style dems have done as much damage as far lefters, an example of that is Kyrtsen Sinema here in AZ-we all thought she would be excellent, then she went full corporate, republican, corrupt. So as AOC said, we voted her the f*ck out (aoc didn't curse lol) . All I know is I support the working people of the U.S. and want it to be easier to live a decent life rather than feeling under threat that the Republicans and billionaires are going to take whatever leftover pennies I have after paying all the exorbitant costs of essentials for their own pockets.
Funny, I don't remember why right now, but just this morning I was wondering what would have happened if Obama admin had gone after banks and taken a pound of flesh from them for the big short. Then, it was thought that would play into the *he's a socialist!* smear. If he had, I'm sure there would have been some other Tea-Party-like movement because, well, he actually *was* black. But still...
Definitely a тАЬYesтАЭ, there. That was the same rationale that resulted in the burial of тАШEmp. Free ChoiceтАЩ without a vote ever getting to the floor. The response of many elected reps was тАШThatтАЩs Socialism!тАЩ The other thought was something to the effect of, тАШnext thing you know they wonтАЩt even let us trade stocks on the floor!тАЩ. I canтАЩt really tell you the level of betrayal felt by a lot of organizers, but I was personally very bitter about this issue. Not bitter enough to leave the party-but certainly eye opening to the influence of corporate power within the D party. This is what Trump has right - the, тАШItтАЩs all riggedтАЩ thing was true. He just isnt the remedy for it
Re the influence of corporate power, do you know about the influence since Obama of the single-issue, Progressive non-profit donors and interest groups on the party and the power they hold? If not, check out Ezra Klein interviewing Michael Lind, author of "The New Class War: Saving Democracy From the Managerial Elite." These groups don't support promoting collective bargaining or trade unionism. They focus on noneconomic cultural issues, like LGBTQ, feminists and human rights.
Understand your point and hate the fact that single issue donors have such access and influence but (BUT!!) I donтАЩt consider LGBTQ, feminist and HUMAN RIGHTS as equivalent to far the fascist Right TECH Bro Billionaires purchasing influence with legislators wanting to send us back to the 17th century - first, it is false equivalency . Second, since Citizens United and the subsequent escalation of the rich (See; Musk, Elon) literally purchasing elections, influence and actual positions in the administration they just helped buy, it is inevitable that money buys influence. I abhor and despise this. But until our elected representatives in Congress decide to sponsor, support and pass legislation that limits such financial influence, it is the world that we live in (Very regrettably).
IтАЩm not sure thatтАЩs the right approach. Unless these unpopular (poisonous in my opinion) positions become more popular, then I think hard pushback is not only warranted but necessary. The far-left hasnтАЩt finished moving people to the Republican Party they can still do damage.
Are there issues like gun-control, minimum wage, trade, etc. that shouldnтАЩt be a dealbreaker? Of course. But if Dems continue to talk about groups in ways that repulse the median American or do crazy things like sympathize with Hamas, then Democrats should prepare to sink further and further.
ItтАЩs 2 am and I canтАЩt sleep because I canтАЩt breathe thinking about the creeping American police state. This bulwark post definitely made me feel better, but not sure I have a home here. What is the тАЬfar leftтАЭ being discussed? Have folks ever spent time in communist countries, because I have and nothing in the United States qualifies as far left. Universal health care? Not far left. Taxing the rich? Not far left. Free or low cost college? Not far left. Now, if you are talking identity politics, the extreme focus on DEIA to the exclusion of at least acknowledging the real erosion of prosperity for working folks, then IтАЩm with you. IтАЩm still enraged that Schumer didnтАЩt shut down the government. AOC and Bernie are the only ones who get what this moment demands. This is absolutely NOT NORMAL. The U.S. descent into fascism- call it what it is. If the тАЬfar leftтАЭ was calling for authoritarianism, I must have missed it.
I don't think the focus is on the issues that divide Americans. Not while we're trying to save the Constitutional order. AOC didn't talk about any of those. The focus is on the Oligarchy and how Americans are hurt by it.
The "far left" hasn't moved anyone to the Republican party who wasn't already going that way.
It's moderate Dems, who have failed to recognize the threat the right poses, and have abandoned working people by promoting neo-liberal economics that has hurt the party. If Democrats hadn't ceded economic populism and pro-labor policy to the right, then Republicans wouldn't have anything left to run on other than overt bigotry
Bill Clinton promoted neoliberal policies, and won, twice. This after the Dems had a string of losses starting in '68. That's why he aligned with those policies.
However, 2O25 is a very different time from 1992 and economic populism and pro-labor policies look different in light of what AOC is calling her "Fighting Oligarchy" tour This is a different political moment from 1968 or 1992 or even 2O2O.. Agree the Dems should focus on improving the economic opportunities of the non-college working class. Biden certainly tried, but failed to win voters' approval for his efforts. Why haven't they? Is it because the Far Left, which is white and educated, consider the working class to be racist and illiberal? I think so. As college Leftists in the 6Os, we certainly thought so.
BTW, I think a message frame better than "economic populism and pro-labor" is what Pete B called "widely-shared prosperity" before he declared his candidacy in 2O19. I don't know why he didn't continue with that message in his presidency campaign.
I agree with you, and I say that as someone who is more or less politically aligned with Bernie, but felt that it would be a disaster for Dems to nominate him. Now I'm not so sure. I believe that maybe he would have channeled the rage that so much of working America feels, and might have surprised us the very same way Trump did. For certain, a Bernie presidency would have been far less damaging to the country than Trump has been, even for those who would have hated his policies.
Here's what interested me the most when I read an excellent article regarding how Poland was finally successful in overthrowing their authoritarian, elected leader....
First, keep the coalition together, and one of the ways they did it was to send the right messengers to the right parts of the country. You don't have to send an AOC into Alabama. Maybe it's better to send the Republicans Against Trump part of the coalition to speak to people there.
The coalition that has been formed in the last 2 elections are far-left Progressives, moderate Democrats, left-leaning Independents, center leaning Republicans, and the whole army of Never-Trumpers.
The important thing is to speak as one, and send out the best messengers to the places they can do the most good.
I hear you. At the same time, three things: One, the positions they have that have hurt the brand may be wrong, but are well-meaning. Two, as many of us have argued here, it wasn't like those position were actually Democratic mainstream, or even policies that were necessarily put into effect. Three, I love Chris Murphy and men and women like Chris Murphy. I like tens of thousands of energized crowds coming out for someone when there isn't an election going on at the moment even more.
Thanks! Chris Murphy is showing up as a bright light at a moment of silence. AOC and Bernie have been doing so as well. My god, 35,000 at a town hall meetingтАж unheard of!
My guess is that IтАЩve always been more politically left than the average Bulwark subscriber. A weak point in my character is that I just like to sort of be on the outside of the group. So I stay to the outside to the left of this group and the outside to the right of the Far Left.
But: here we are and we have to find a way to work together. I applaud anyone who is trying and would just ask that we withhold judgment on which specific argument will win and instead try many different things even though the ROI on those investments might not be guaranteed.
We donтАЩt KNOW the answers; we just know we canтАЩt do what weтАЩve been doing.
As to the specific argument that will win the midterms for the Dems, I think AOC is picking up this message strategy that Jonathan Rauch recommended for the Dems a few weeks ago in "The Atlantic": "a relentless, strategic, and thematic campaign branding Trump as AmericaтАЩs most corrupt president . . . connect corruption . . . with kitchen-table issues. Higher prices? Crony capitalism! Cuts to popular programs? Payoffs for TrumpтАЩs fat-cat clients! Tax cuts? A greedy raid on Social Security!" There's nothing there Progressives can't agree with.
All of these conclusions are logical. But in my тАЬground game,тАЭ higher prices never penalize Trump because heтАЩs a businessman. Trying to make the connection is futile because itтАЩs not a logical connection; itтАЩs a spiritual/emotional question.
I report this not to be oppositional or inflammatory. I report this to say that, in the middle class and working class of Oklahoma, these arguments will not hold validity.
Perhaps the issue that we are really facing is that the economic lens for dealing with our problems isnтАЩt meaningful at this point. тАЬWhatтАЩs the Matter with KansasтАЭ was written 20 years ago and itтАЩs not provided any blueprint.
We don't have to reach the die-hards who are spiritually and emotionally attached to Trump. They're cooked. Forget about them. They are not the target audience.
The target is the slice of his voters who are Independents and educated, suburban Rs in the swing states who swung his way in '24 yet voted for Biden in 2O2O; plus the Dems who didn't bother to show up. His win in '24 was very close. He got 48.9% of the popular vote, Harris got 48.4%. If we reach just 5% of them, the Dems can win the midterms. That is the goal of this strategy.
Sandy, your analysis is informed and almost certainly correct for the country as a whole. Unfortunately in Oklahoma, I canтАЩt write off those who are тАЬcookedтАЭ without leaving them as a problem for my children to solve.
I get that youтАЩre talking about immediate and near-term outcomes. I also get that the best strategy for my children may be evacuation. But I donтАЩt want to default to that, regardless of the evidence; because IтАЩm tied to this place for an unknown amount of time.
I'm sorry you're living with that concern about your children, James. Yes, this is a near-term strategy. As to those who are cooked, if the Dems don't win the House back in '26, they will just continue on, the Constitution will be dead and there will be no recourse. Your children will have to accept those cooked Oklahomans have taken over the USA. So just hang in there and support this dissident movement as best you can where you can with what you have.
I agree with some of their positions, except what James Carville calls Identitarianism. It's their tactics - power tripping on being loud, noisy and in your face, America - that hurt the brand.
I have deep concerns about embracing their tactics. Life has shown over and over than any tactics you employ will be used against you. ItтАЩs how the Yankees ended up playing Moneyball. IтАЩd rather be the Rays: closely examine what we can and canтАЩt do, try many different things, look forward to the next game and less back at 10 seasons ago.
I like that a politician came out when there isn't an election going on at the moment. All too often, we only hear from the Democrats (life-long here) during election "season", and most of what we hear are overly dramatic the-bottom-has-fallen-out pleas for money....
I am glad I am not alone in having to confess my sin. My solution to all of this is the Forward Party- a move to the center. And as JVL says, now is not the time. I want to convince you how the Sanders/Ocasio-Cortez wing of the Democratic Party has alienated me. Now is not the time. I will show up on April 5th at the Richard J Daley (don't get me started) Center in Chicago with my "pussy hat" on. (Even though I can't imagine how a thinking person can be a revanchist Catholic...whoops... my last confession was...for your penance..."ad deum qui laetificat juventutum meam"...)
Understand about how the Sanders/Ocasio-Cortez wing of the Democratic Party alienated you as they did me. But did you see her speech Saturday? Here's a clip: https://youtu.be/NZSN1H0Jt-Y?si=IUThc743wZsTc8nj
"The Democratic party has more to learn from Alexei Navalny or the protesters in Serbia than it does from Chuck Schumer or strategists obsessing over message-testing crosstabs."
ABSOLUTELY! And don't forget how Poland was able to topple their authoritarian - "keep the coalition together"...
Navalny would have supported the plans to mobilize protesters April 5. Sorry JVL, waiting 15 months to build up to a pre-election protest gives Trump all that time to destroy our institutions. The time to get out there and express our outrage is NOW!! I hope you guys at the Bulwark will get onboard with that.
There's a more fundamental flaw in JVL's plan than just the waiting: his goal is to build power and then hand that power over to Congressional Democrats to save us.
Congressional Democrats won't save us, even if they were constitutionally OR Constitutionally inclined. They are neither.
But let's assume success: that a leader emerges who inspires 2 million people to take to the street, and Democrats win overwhelmingly in the House and the Senate.
What then?
What piece of legislation will the Democrats pass that would stop Trump's autocracy? That would MAKE HIM LEAVE in 2028?
Remember, Trump has the power ministries, the guns, the prisons, the DOJ, the FBI, and the generals, in his pocket.
He isn't going anywhere.
Navalny followed JVL's plan. Navalny is dead, and the Russian pro-democracy movement has been crushed.
Excellent point! I'm afraid Mr.Last has somewhat romanticized things.
And a figuritive slap in the face for appropriating AOC and Bernie's rallies without mentioning Bernie, apparently unaware that Bernie had several large meetings with people in the last few weeks before AOC joined him.
Bernie isnтАЩt going to run for president again, ever. AOC might.
Typical reductionist way to step over a dollar to pick up a dime.
This one wonders if we aren't approaching an American political revolution. Doesn't it seem that Trump's overt corruption has exposed just how complicit our Institutions have been in their corruption, and that has made it difficult to institutionally resist him? Maybe he knows his enemies better than we do, and that is why he can effectively cripple their opposition to his filth. He knows they are filthy, too, and is welcome at his clubs. (Don't misunderstand; my disrespect and hatred for the guy are not masked by some nihilistic respect.)
Hmmm, indeed, these are suspicious times. Witness: Academics and Universities seek to bend a knee. Once respected LINO (liberal in name only) law firms and Supreme Court justices accept bribes and donations, a Democratic Senator is found (along with a bunch of gold bars) to be guilty of corruption when the ex-Democratic speaker of the house is also found to be just another Wall Street inside trader when the ex-NY Gov. is discovered to be a cad, and the CA Gov. is willing to submit to soul sacrificing interviews, it becomes plausible that our entire political structure has succumbed to the weight of corruption and has lost compassion for its people-us!
Why hasn't the Democratic Party offered unified resistance? Why has Joe Biden disappeared? Why hasn't the Republican Congress done anything legislatively for a long time? "Something is rotten in the state of" the United States.
I am afraid Biden has disappeared as he did for most of the may year of his term because he is ill and should but have run again.
That should be last year of his term. Sorry for the typo
Well, if ALL of our institutions and politicians are "filthy" why are you asking where Joe Biden is and why Democrats aren't offering an unified resistance?
JVL has a point. We will never agree on everything. Opposing Trump and his authoritarian, destructive agenda is what we can focus on.
I ask because I'm ready to fight, and some backup would be nice! And defending the USA from traitors like Trump, Vance, Rubio, et al. (and watching Trump waste away in jail) is my goal.
A long time ago, the US Govt. drafted me to fight an insanely stupid war in Asia. Ever since then, I have been more careful and particular about who is actually on "my team". If the Democratic Party does not show up with a strategic plan to protect us, then I'm left to wonder why not. And if Joe (I happily voted for Joe) is not capable of showing up to defend our democracy, then...
As an Aussie I've been wondering why American voices haven't been calling out ALL your living Presidents in the last couple of months.
Clinton, Bush, Obama & Biden all took the same path, all spoke of their love for America & its people, yet all are now silent. Now is not the time for them to be silent, as the current administration is destroying everything those 4 leaders purported to love.
To be silent now is to be complicit, as your 250 year experiment is at grave risk of collapse. If those Presidents truly believed the words they spoke in taking their oath of office, then now is the time to prove it!
If we are to unite it must be around a common set of beliefs that are not republican or democrat. It cannot be a negative stand, aka anti authoritarian. It must be a positive message around common beliefs that gets at the heart of what got us here. E.g. corporate power, money in politics, lack of means for the average American to live a productive life without fear of continually losing their healthcare, pensions, job security. Corporations paying their fair share and mitigating their outsized power.
I wish that we would have embraced this idea sooner. One thing thatтАЩs irked me, which I am as responsible for as anyone, is that they told us exactly what they were going to do and exactly how they were going to do it in the Project 2025 documents.
I read 50ish pages and I looked away instead of thinking: how can we meet this moment on Day 1? (And it really was Day -75 or so, because Biden appeared to stop governing as soon as the election results were in.)
What are our advantages? I think diversity is one. What else? Where can we push opportunities? How can we think outside the box?
I live in Oklahoma and how can I or someone else convince every single registered Democrat to change to the Republican Party by 2026? Because in states like mine with closed primaries, thereтАЩs no point to be in the opposition party. (This is obviously an exaggeration and a simplification but I do think itтАЩs strategy rooted in Game Theory and how elections actually work.)
Just more out of the box thinking. We should be saying тАЬThis ANDтАжтАЭ
It is not the job of democrats to convince republicans. Whoever, democrat, republican or independent, steps out and unites Americans around a common way forward is who will lead. As a democrat whose livelihood was harmed by Reagan in 1980тАЩs, my leanings are for someone who will unite us around the middle, lower and many in the upper class, against the corporations and billionaires who work against us for their greed at the expense of our democracy.
What are our advantaged's Yes, diversity. I also think MAGA underestimates us.(Some MAGA person unironically compared their movement to Goliath going up against David, so apparently they havenтАЩt read their Trump Bibles!) Opposition to Trump has been a great unifying force. IтАЩve seen progressives (and I consider myself one, although IтАЩm not sure theyтАЩd agree) go along with things that made them hold their noses because they recognize how much worse Trump would be. ThatтАЩs why I hate to see this in-fighting start. The pro-democracy forces are in agreement on the objectives, just not the means to get there, and those disagreements should be handled more quietly.
Yes, the anti Trump party should except all who are against a Trump dictatorship. We need to talk about how he's screwing his voters. We can't afford loyalty tests or any issues that divide us. The enemy is the oligarchs who control media. We need to reach everyday working people who are being screwed. There needs to be one message, and it's "We the people". Ignore petty differences. We want free and fair elections and leaders who come to serve the country not their cronies.
Sara, donтАЩt take away my simplest of pleasures - Christian Nationalists misquoting the Bible! The comedy keeps me going on particularly bad days.
I do think your point about celebrating too early is massively important. They assume that itтАЩs already over. They donтАЩt have much of a memory. And part of what Trump offers them is relief from critical thinking. Certainty tends to make you move more slowly and uncertainty tends to make you move more quickly. That is an advantage.
The last people that Democrats should listen to are Republicans who totally capitulated in2016. Does JVL know most democrats marched in 2017 in DC. We protested since at various times. Every week in my blue dot, we protested every Saturday. We have been marching since 1960тАЩs.
Wrong take
Jcs, what has motivated you to keep marching?
Where do I start. IтАЩm 80 and it is not as easy for me as it was in 60тАЩs. I believe strongly in America and in our constitution and rule of law. As a woman, my awareness of misogyny is so acute that I fear for my daughters and granddaughtersтАЩ future. It will take all of us and I am here to do what I can.
There are a small faction of Republicans who never capitulated in 2016 or since. The Never-Trumpers have been vocal since the 2016 election. Maybe they hung onto hope that their former party would come to its senses a lot longer than many of us would have liked, but if the shoe had been on the other foot, I think it would have taken many of us a long time to absorb that the Democratic Party had left us....
I am one of those Republicans who has never voted for Trump. I consider myself a true conservative and feel that the party left me while following after an amoral, unprincipled degenerate.
My understanding of American conservatism is that it is conserving classical liberalism or put another way- preserving the US Constitution and the principles in the Declaration.
The things happening under this administration are not conservatism in my view. Even the overall goals I might agree with like reining in the national debt and dealing with immigration are being done in an illiberal and lawless manner. And the foreign policy is a nightmare!!
So, back to the original topic of how to resist: you are so right not to paint all people with a broad and inaccurate brush. American politics has been about finding compromise and consensus at the national level and allowing more variety at state and local level. I bet the тАЬmiddleтАЭ 60% of the country broadly agrees on 75% of issues. LetтАЩs please work together to get rid of this idiotic kakistocracy.
Bulwark team capitulated in 2016. Every one of them by their own admission. Including Tim who was on JenтАЩs team. To support Jeb, or any of the other 2016 republican candidate and still vote for the felon is capitulation.
my bad. I have since learned that at least some, if not all, Bulwark team did vote for Hillary.
I think you should read Tim's book "Why we did it" and also realize that Tim is a never trumper since 2015.
Where are you getting this from? The Bulwark team has never supported Trump for 1 second.
Just now I researched Tim in 2016 and learned he did in fact campaign against the felon at least until the Republican primary. I could not find anything about him campaigning against the felon in the general election. His opposition against Hillary was not based on her stand on the issues.
Can I ask you to enlighten me on his work either against the felon in the general election or his support of Hillary.?
First of all, Tim wrote a book about it (https://a.co/d/aAj8Uqd). He then became one of the original Never Trump former Republicans making the rounds on TV, along with the then future Bulwark co-founders, Lincoln Project guys etc.
I do not doubt your facts. I am still waiting for the answer to - what was TimтАЩs stand in the general election of 2016?
"On election day, I revealed on a NowThis News livestream that I had voted for Hillary, the very person I had launched a PAC to stop three years earlier. It was a crossover so drastic that almost none of my compatriots joined me, preferring instead to throw their vote away for a third-party candidate or a random write-in. But my fear and loathing of Trump had grown to overwhelm any vestigial Clinton animus. For me, it wasn't a close call. And there was no amount of rationalizing that could have gotten me there."
Can you explain your vestigial animus for Hillary. Do you understand why women are troubled by that particularly since it never mentions a stand on an issue?
This was a quote from Tim's book relating to who he voted for per your question. There's nothing else for me to add on this topic.
TrumpтАЩs second term has made me understand to the depths of my soul why Novilny returned to Russia even though he knew he would be imprisoned and most likely killed.
Sara, I too have spent more time than is comfortable considering the fact that by standing opposed to a great injustice, I risk an outcome that will deprive me of the few things that I actually want out of this life. I want to spend time with my kids; to help my parents end their lives with dignity; to do more good in my community than bad; to play trivia and watch the Thunder win an NBA championship.
I assumed those were guarantees and IтАЩm confronted with the reality that they are not. I hope enough of us can find our courage so that my children can go back to believing that those are safe assumptions.
Hang in there, Sara.
You too. IтАЩll be 70 this year, an age most of my family never lived to see (bad tickers). So if worst comes to worst, most of my life has been good, if challenging at times. I look at it this way: none of us can control when we live, and other Americans have faced wars (including against each other), fascism, etc. that they didnтАЩt ask for. This time right now just happens to be our call to arms (FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING).
Strangers together, the Union Party, Liz Cheney and AOC.
How about AOC and Adam Kinsinger? I admire the honesty and tenacity of Liz Cheney but don't forget that she carries the unfortunate baggage of her father, who acted like a dictator before Trump did. I love her fight, though!
I love this idea. LOVE.
She only carries the baggage cause you choose to see it. She didn't speak from that baggage in her support of Kamala. It doesn't define her for me. Her absolute support for the Constitution is what defined her for me.
Liz does carry the тАШsinsтАЩ of the father baggage. Yet, redemption for a broad pro-democracy coalition to face the high stakes.
I, too, love her fight now, but she also carries her own baggage. As a Congresswoman she voted with Trump over 90% of the time, until he became an insurrectionists. SheтАЩs also opposed gay rights, despite the fact that her sister is gay. And those are important issues, but democracy is more important than any of them.
Agree with your last sentence, Sara.
I agree Sara.
I agree Sara.
I really liked the article but Navalny to me was the wrong example. His primary mistake was taking in any anti-Putin members. It lead to him associating with the worst and harmed his movement.
The other odd thing in this analogy is he stayed fought and died. I guess metaphorically that could work but it could also metaphorically not fit the winning message.
To follow your example, we should not take in any republicans who ever advocated for small government, free markets or no regulations. There is a through line from the rhetoric and actions of Reagan to the felon with the republican congress and republican SCOTUS included. Republicans need to openly disavow the felon and the complicit SCOTUS to be allowed into the opposition. Otherwise too many inconsistencies. I have strong regrets to being a paid subscriber to Bulwark and will not renew. Confirmed every time they excuse republicans who continue to completely support the felon while attacking democrats. Cognizant dissonance!
See and that's the way Trump wins. We the people means all the people who want a democratic government. We cannot to reject people who don't think exactly like us about every stupid cause. There is only one cause and that is getting rid of Trump and the Oligarchs. When we have our country back, we can have the luxury of fighting over small or big government.
That means I have to stop slamming the Far Left Progressives for what they've done to the Dem brand that lost in '24. Keeping that faction in our coalition will require some finesse on my part. I'll need some help with that.
See PalestineтАжWhen Israeli was little and the Arab nations were BIG ..the left knew the bad guysтАжthen Israel became big and used US bombs on the little Palestinians. We all want to see the wars there end. But the Arabs want "the right of Return" and the Jews want from the "the river to the Sea" Our Democracy is more important than what "THEY" want. Like JVL said pick them apart in a torrent of "I didn't vote for that"
Just think of an authoritarian-non authoritarian dimension that is orthogonal to the right-left dimension.
Please consider thee possibility that corporate democrats have done as much to hurt the тАЬDтАЭ brand as the far left. Consider, as just a single example, that a significant part of the Obama coalition believed that passing the, тАЬEmployee Free Choice ActтАЭ, was their single cause Celebre. It was a pretty simple proposition back in 2008-2009; a majority of the bargaining unit wants to join a union, they get a union, and get the benefits of collective bargaining for wages, hours and working conditions. A large part of the Obama coalition thought this was going to be the primary legislative effort back in 2009. When Obama won, all energy (after that pesky little economic problem) was put towards healthcare, certainly a worthy cause. But the idea of supporting workers, was pushed off the table by corporate interests. Tell me for a moment if a couple of million workers at Walmart (twenty or so years ago) and Amazon (now) might have benefited from the ability to bargain collectively against a mega-employer? And how many more of them might be inclined to support democracy over fascism/authoritarianism? Hope this helps and apologize in advance for revealing myself as more aligned to the left side of the. тАЬBig tent Bulwark FamilyтАЭ !
Timothy, IтАЩm also on the left side of the tent. I do think the far left and the corporate side have contributed to the ineptitude that we see. We often confuse winning elections with good results. Bill Clinton won, but he did so by accepting huge swaths of the conservative agenda as correct, with very little pushback. (тАЬThe era of big government is over,тАЭ тАЬAbortion should be safe, legal, and rare,тАЭ etc. - even things I tend to agree with often absorbed conservative messaging.)
The Far Left has created issues not because they are wrong, but because they question. Those questions are often taken out of context, blown out of proportion, and, in general, not treated at all as when Joe Rogan says тАЬIтАЩm just asking questions.тАЭ
I hope the alliance can be formed between the two sides of our tent by acknowledging that we donтАЩt always meet our ideals; we rarely move fast enough; but we are trying to find a path forward that will work in macro and micro levels. We need to persuade them that even though we donтАЩt agree on certain specifics, we do agree that we should be reflective, we should be honest, we should be self-critical a little more and self-righteous a little less; and that even though our solutions might be a thesis and antithesis, we are looking for synthesis.
There are no good results if you don't win.
Thanks James, I just gave my own тАЬself righteousтАЭ side - which at least 100 times bigger than my тАЬself criticalтАЭ side, a friendly ding on the ear. It stings a little when I do it, but I need that reminder about 99 times a day!
But-who will provide those commitments, an all powerful multinational oligarchy? The government? I just donтАЩt know
It's not the issues, it's their tactics. The self-righteousness, the shaming, their we're-in-your-face-America! Those are tactics for building a movement but not for winning elections.
No apology necessary.
I agree re Dems and their alignment with corporate interests contributing to the Dem brand. It was political strategist Dan Pfeiffer who first noted it was the Dem brand that lost on Election Day. He said that brand is, for those not college graduates, "They don't care about people like me."
Their alignment with corporate interests is nothing new. It goes all the way back to Bill Clinton. Dems were losing the presidency since LBJ, and his neoliberalism brought them back to winning. But I don't think unions are the answer to widely-shared prosperity, as they were in the post-war period. The 21st-century economy is so different from that period. For one, It's a global economy. And having a job in a large organization is under threat by AI.
The strategy I find most promising is from one of our fellow commenters, Kathleen Weber: "a commitment to free and supported lifetime job retraining" for the majority of Americans who "have undergone a slow but steady [economic] immiseration since 1980" [https://kathleenweber.substack.com/p/how-to-fight-trump-part-one].
I really agree that corporate style dems have done as much damage as far lefters, an example of that is Kyrtsen Sinema here in AZ-we all thought she would be excellent, then she went full corporate, republican, corrupt. So as AOC said, we voted her the f*ck out (aoc didn't curse lol) . All I know is I support the working people of the U.S. and want it to be easier to live a decent life rather than feeling under threat that the Republicans and billionaires are going to take whatever leftover pennies I have after paying all the exorbitant costs of essentials for their own pockets.
Funny, I don't remember why right now, but just this morning I was wondering what would have happened if Obama admin had gone after banks and taken a pound of flesh from them for the big short. Then, it was thought that would play into the *he's a socialist!* smear. If he had, I'm sure there would have been some other Tea-Party-like movement because, well, he actually *was* black. But still...
Definitely a тАЬYesтАЭ, there. That was the same rationale that resulted in the burial of тАШEmp. Free ChoiceтАЩ without a vote ever getting to the floor. The response of many elected reps was тАШThatтАЩs Socialism!тАЩ The other thought was something to the effect of, тАШnext thing you know they wonтАЩt even let us trade stocks on the floor!тАЩ. I canтАЩt really tell you the level of betrayal felt by a lot of organizers, but I was personally very bitter about this issue. Not bitter enough to leave the party-but certainly eye opening to the influence of corporate power within the D party. This is what Trump has right - the, тАШItтАЩs all riggedтАЩ thing was true. He just isnt the remedy for it
Agree with your last sentence. He just exploited that truth. He has no interest in doing anything about it.
Re the influence of corporate power, do you know about the influence since Obama of the single-issue, Progressive non-profit donors and interest groups on the party and the power they hold? If not, check out Ezra Klein interviewing Michael Lind, author of "The New Class War: Saving Democracy From the Managerial Elite." These groups don't support promoting collective bargaining or trade unionism. They focus on noneconomic cultural issues, like LGBTQ, feminists and human rights.
https://youtu.be/UIe9UsltpW4?si=P86qG5g_IMPYf8BD
Understand your point and hate the fact that single issue donors have such access and influence but (BUT!!) I donтАЩt consider LGBTQ, feminist and HUMAN RIGHTS as equivalent to far the fascist Right TECH Bro Billionaires purchasing influence with legislators wanting to send us back to the 17th century - first, it is false equivalency . Second, since Citizens United and the subsequent escalation of the rich (See; Musk, Elon) literally purchasing elections, influence and actual positions in the administration they just helped buy, it is inevitable that money buys influence. I abhor and despise this. But until our elected representatives in Congress decide to sponsor, support and pass legislation that limits such financial influence, it is the world that we live in (Very regrettably).
The Congress will when their constituents demand it.
Not to even mention Medicare for All or the Green New Deal.
IтАЩm not sure thatтАЩs the right approach. Unless these unpopular (poisonous in my opinion) positions become more popular, then I think hard pushback is not only warranted but necessary. The far-left hasnтАЩt finished moving people to the Republican Party they can still do damage.
Are there issues like gun-control, minimum wage, trade, etc. that shouldnтАЩt be a dealbreaker? Of course. But if Dems continue to talk about groups in ways that repulse the median American or do crazy things like sympathize with Hamas, then Democrats should prepare to sink further and further.
ItтАЩs 2 am and I canтАЩt sleep because I canтАЩt breathe thinking about the creeping American police state. This bulwark post definitely made me feel better, but not sure I have a home here. What is the тАЬfar leftтАЭ being discussed? Have folks ever spent time in communist countries, because I have and nothing in the United States qualifies as far left. Universal health care? Not far left. Taxing the rich? Not far left. Free or low cost college? Not far left. Now, if you are talking identity politics, the extreme focus on DEIA to the exclusion of at least acknowledging the real erosion of prosperity for working folks, then IтАЩm with you. IтАЩm still enraged that Schumer didnтАЩt shut down the government. AOC and Bernie are the only ones who get what this moment demands. This is absolutely NOT NORMAL. The U.S. descent into fascism- call it what it is. If the тАЬfar leftтАЭ was calling for authoritarianism, I must have missed it.
I don't think the focus is on the issues that divide Americans. Not while we're trying to save the Constitutional order. AOC didn't talk about any of those. The focus is on the Oligarchy and how Americans are hurt by it.
The "far left" hasn't moved anyone to the Republican party who wasn't already going that way.
It's moderate Dems, who have failed to recognize the threat the right poses, and have abandoned working people by promoting neo-liberal economics that has hurt the party. If Democrats hadn't ceded economic populism and pro-labor policy to the right, then Republicans wouldn't have anything left to run on other than overt bigotry
Coupla' comments, Millennial.
Bill Clinton promoted neoliberal policies, and won, twice. This after the Dems had a string of losses starting in '68. That's why he aligned with those policies.
However, 2O25 is a very different time from 1992 and economic populism and pro-labor policies look different in light of what AOC is calling her "Fighting Oligarchy" tour This is a different political moment from 1968 or 1992 or even 2O2O.. Agree the Dems should focus on improving the economic opportunities of the non-college working class. Biden certainly tried, but failed to win voters' approval for his efforts. Why haven't they? Is it because the Far Left, which is white and educated, consider the working class to be racist and illiberal? I think so. As college Leftists in the 6Os, we certainly thought so.
BTW, I think a message frame better than "economic populism and pro-labor" is what Pete B called "widely-shared prosperity" before he declared his candidacy in 2O19. I don't know why he didn't continue with that message in his presidency campaign.
I agree with you, and I say that as someone who is more or less politically aligned with Bernie, but felt that it would be a disaster for Dems to nominate him. Now I'm not so sure. I believe that maybe he would have channeled the rage that so much of working America feels, and might have surprised us the very same way Trump did. For certain, a Bernie presidency would have been far less damaging to the country than Trump has been, even for those who would have hated his policies.
Here's what interested me the most when I read an excellent article regarding how Poland was finally successful in overthrowing their authoritarian, elected leader....
First, keep the coalition together, and one of the ways they did it was to send the right messengers to the right parts of the country. You don't have to send an AOC into Alabama. Maybe it's better to send the Republicans Against Trump part of the coalition to speak to people there.
The coalition that has been formed in the last 2 elections are far-left Progressives, moderate Democrats, left-leaning Independents, center leaning Republicans, and the whole army of Never-Trumpers.
The important thing is to speak as one, and send out the best messengers to the places they can do the most good.
AND DON"T LET THE COALITION FRACTURE!
I hear you. At the same time, three things: One, the positions they have that have hurt the brand may be wrong, but are well-meaning. Two, as many of us have argued here, it wasn't like those position were actually Democratic mainstream, or even policies that were necessarily put into effect. Three, I love Chris Murphy and men and women like Chris Murphy. I like tens of thousands of energized crowds coming out for someone when there isn't an election going on at the moment even more.
Thanks! Chris Murphy is showing up as a bright light at a moment of silence. AOC and Bernie have been doing so as well. My god, 35,000 at a town hall meetingтАж unheard of!
My guess is that IтАЩve always been more politically left than the average Bulwark subscriber. A weak point in my character is that I just like to sort of be on the outside of the group. So I stay to the outside to the left of this group and the outside to the right of the Far Left.
But: here we are and we have to find a way to work together. I applaud anyone who is trying and would just ask that we withhold judgment on which specific argument will win and instead try many different things even though the ROI on those investments might not be guaranteed.
We donтАЩt KNOW the answers; we just know we canтАЩt do what weтАЩve been doing.
As to the specific argument that will win the midterms for the Dems, I think AOC is picking up this message strategy that Jonathan Rauch recommended for the Dems a few weeks ago in "The Atlantic": "a relentless, strategic, and thematic campaign branding Trump as AmericaтАЩs most corrupt president . . . connect corruption . . . with kitchen-table issues. Higher prices? Crony capitalism! Cuts to popular programs? Payoffs for TrumpтАЩs fat-cat clients! Tax cuts? A greedy raid on Social Security!" There's nothing there Progressives can't agree with.
All of these conclusions are logical. But in my тАЬground game,тАЭ higher prices never penalize Trump because heтАЩs a businessman. Trying to make the connection is futile because itтАЩs not a logical connection; itтАЩs a spiritual/emotional question.
I report this not to be oppositional or inflammatory. I report this to say that, in the middle class and working class of Oklahoma, these arguments will not hold validity.
Perhaps the issue that we are really facing is that the economic lens for dealing with our problems isnтАЩt meaningful at this point. тАЬWhatтАЩs the Matter with KansasтАЭ was written 20 years ago and itтАЩs not provided any blueprint.
We don't have to reach the die-hards who are spiritually and emotionally attached to Trump. They're cooked. Forget about them. They are not the target audience.
The target is the slice of his voters who are Independents and educated, suburban Rs in the swing states who swung his way in '24 yet voted for Biden in 2O2O; plus the Dems who didn't bother to show up. His win in '24 was very close. He got 48.9% of the popular vote, Harris got 48.4%. If we reach just 5% of them, the Dems can win the midterms. That is the goal of this strategy.
Sandy, your analysis is informed and almost certainly correct for the country as a whole. Unfortunately in Oklahoma, I canтАЩt write off those who are тАЬcookedтАЭ without leaving them as a problem for my children to solve.
I get that youтАЩre talking about immediate and near-term outcomes. I also get that the best strategy for my children may be evacuation. But I donтАЩt want to default to that, regardless of the evidence; because IтАЩm tied to this place for an unknown amount of time.
I'm sorry you're living with that concern about your children, James. Yes, this is a near-term strategy. As to those who are cooked, if the Dems don't win the House back in '26, they will just continue on, the Constitution will be dead and there will be no recourse. Your children will have to accept those cooked Oklahomans have taken over the USA. So just hang in there and support this dissident movement as best you can where you can with what you have.
God bless you and your family, James.
Thank you, Sandy. Hopefully God works through us in some way even when we canтАЩt see it clearly.
I agree with some of their positions, except what James Carville calls Identitarianism. It's their tactics - power tripping on being loud, noisy and in your face, America - that hurt the brand.
I have deep concerns about embracing their tactics. Life has shown over and over than any tactics you employ will be used against you. ItтАЩs how the Yankees ended up playing Moneyball. IтАЩd rather be the Rays: closely examine what we can and canтАЩt do, try many different things, look forward to the next game and less back at 10 seasons ago.
I lived in CT for a long time and Chris Murphy has always been great. Ned Lamont too.
I like that a politician came out when there isn't an election going on at the moment. All too often, we only hear from the Democrats (life-long here) during election "season", and most of what we hear are overly dramatic the-bottom-has-fallen-out pleas for money....
I'm guilty as charged on that as well, but I firmly believe we're both up to it, SandyG!
Thank you, Mom!
I am glad I am not alone in having to confess my sin. My solution to all of this is the Forward Party- a move to the center. And as JVL says, now is not the time. I want to convince you how the Sanders/Ocasio-Cortez wing of the Democratic Party has alienated me. Now is not the time. I will show up on April 5th at the Richard J Daley (don't get me started) Center in Chicago with my "pussy hat" on. (Even though I can't imagine how a thinking person can be a revanchist Catholic...whoops... my last confession was...for your penance..."ad deum qui laetificat juventutum meam"...)
Understand about how the Sanders/Ocasio-Cortez wing of the Democratic Party alienated you as they did me. But did you see her speech Saturday? Here's a clip: https://youtu.be/NZSN1H0Jt-Y?si=IUThc743wZsTc8nj
I myself was not alienated.