You guys are doing great work. I think it’s so important to highlight the distinction between shifting values and shifting strategy. On another newsletter (I think!), someone posted what I thought was a great tagline: “Dont just resist—deliver!” I would love to see Dems apply a winning formula in terms of sentence structure that gets repeated everywhere, with the blanks filled in according to the specifics of place and circumstance as we accomplish real goals. While they’re [xyz circus getting nothing done on issue x], Colorado Dems are [xyz consumer protections against a grocery merger that would double the cost of food.” (Making it up but you get the point. We need a rhythm.) or “while they were xyz, we were passing laws that make it easier for kids in daycare to access fresh fruits and veggies grown by local farmers.” I think Americans really respond to repetition and we are just so all over the place. I know this is a bit tangential to your point — I apologize!
Apparently philosophy majors and other readers of Foucault, and theatre enthusiasts, and progressives who advocate for action on more than one issue, are welcome in the Welcome party. Guess they’ll have to remain with the others who form the base of the Democratic party
There's nothing wrong with being a philosophy major (Yglesias was too) or a theater enthusiast (I'm going Friday) or advocating for multiple issues (most politically active people do).
But if Chris Hayes wants to heap derision upon swing voters, and writes that he finds "bewilderment" when he talks to them, maybe how he spent his time and the people he spent his time with did not adequately prepare him to understand undecided voters (or how to win elections).
It’s too bad MGP’s supporters can’t retaliate jn kind against the leftists who trashed her family’s auto shop since absolutely none of them have ever built a small business.
After inflation, the most important political development of the past 4 years was the busing of immigrants to northern Democratic cities by southern Republican Governors.
The sense of chaos was finally understood by the sanctuary states.
But because immigrant groups are so well organized in sanctuary states, the change in culture that the Democratic party needed didn't materialize.
We have a huge problem with congressional districts whose population includes a large proportion of non-citizens being represented by politicians elected in primaries with the support of open borders activist organizations.
In these very low turnout primaries in districts that are poorer on average, it is very difficult to mobilize voters and canvassers and there is very little civic infrastructure.
The above describes most strongly New York and California.
Regretably, New York and California also have a total strangehold on the Democratic party.
E.g. Kamala as presidential candidate and Schumer and Jeffries in the Senate and House.
Nothing in Kamala's political history pointed to a principled opposition to open borders (unlike Bernie Sanders and others who had always pointed out that open borders is a right wing libertarian agenda).
Schumer and Jeffries are the wholesale embodiment of fecklessness as the defining Democratic trait.
New York politics is completely broken. One need only look at our Mayor and Governor.
Now with NYC Mayoral primaries on the way, the doubling down on sanctuary city discourse is rapidly consolidating.
Schumer and Jeffries failed to hold the congressional votes necessary to hold Republican proposals accountable or to showcase Kamala's ideas and Biden's accomplishments.
Silence is the preffered communication message from both.
They have a complete conflict of interest between their local political careers and their role as national party leaders. They always choose local politics because they are mediocre politicians.
Democrats are now completely leaderless and the task falls by default on these two "go along with it" paper pushers.
People are writing like nothing will happen between now and the 2026 midterms. Democrats will have to make choices very soon on immigration, tariffs, energy, transgender rights, etc.
The idiot Democratic governors of California and New York are already pushing to further define the party as the instrument of opposition to Trump.
The out of touch open borders crowd wants to make sanctuary policies and opposition to deportation the centerpiece of that opposition.
Instead the Democrats need to enable Trump so as to hold him accountable.
If Trump can point to Democratic Governors and Mayors as obstructing his policies on immigration the issue will not die down, ultimately favoring Republicans.
Democrats should defend some procedural protections in deportation proceedings, but that is completely different from the whole scaremongering and obstructionism that has come to dominate elite discourse on immigration.
Same with tariffs, Ukraine, Israel and some tax cuts.
Hold Trump accountable.
The President already has significant tariff authority. Goad him to act quickly. Use Congress the way Democrats have failed to use Congress for messaging purposes.
Yes, push to protect our key allies (mainly EU/NATO, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and a few other partners).
But otherwise Democrats have no business advocating for China and countries that choose to align with China or remain "neutral". Bush was right: you are either with us or against us.
On Ukraine, hold Trump accountable for his promise to immediately end the war.
Yes, oppose any push for total Ukrainian capitulation.
But Democrats have obstructed Ukraine from attacking Russia, so the party doesn't really have the moral high ground.
Democrats have no Ukraine strategy and it is time to negotiate and see what Putin is willing to settle for.
On Israel, stop pushing for ceasefires.
The hipocrisy and arrogance of (too many) Americans wanting to dictate the response of Israel to a 9-11 like event is stunning.
The alignment of the far left with the political interests and values of Islamist extremists is disgusting. Once again the far left cloaks its role as 5th column behind fake pacificism.
The far left only cares about humanitarianism and imperialism when it can make the US/West look bad. Liberals need to stop coddling the far left. On foreign policy the far left is just as bad, if not worse, than the far right.
The US will have more sway with Israel on humanitarian issues if it stops the Biden/Kamala push for ceasefires based on US domestic political reasons. Michigan was also lost, so time to move on.
The fact is that Israel is doing the US/West's dirty work of confronting Iran and its proxies. Trump was right about Iran all along. One has to understand that the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel was meant to disrupt Israeli-Arab peace negotiations.
As long as Palestinians are used as paws in Middle East geopolitics instead of having a democratically elected leadership that negotiates for an actually viable state there will be no peace, Iran will use the issues to distract from its domestic problems and Israel's sole alternative is defensive war with offensive strategies.
The far left cares about international humanitarian law violations ("war crimes") and imperialism by Israel but not by Russia or China.
We need to uphold the global right to self-determination. That is the United States at its best (Wilsonian 14 Points).
On tax cuts, hold Trump accountable on Trump promises.
Introduce bills and show just how incoherent his plans are. Start with Tips and Social Security benefits and go along.
Also deal with SALT in a way that brings to light the Trump contradictions and that proves that Democrats are the party of the working class and not the upper middle class.
$400,000 is not middle class and certainly not working class.
Focus on tax evasion/avoidance. Develop a discourse around taxation based on values instead of technocratic solutions.
Focus on the stupid spending habits of rich Americans. Talk about luxury taxes and conspicuous consumption.
Our culture has become crass and self-obsessed. Inequality is not a technical problem, but a moral, sociological and political one.
Learn how to deal with the role of Musk and other plutocrats in American politics. Dare to call it what it is: Oligarchy.
Anti-trust and free competition is also not about technocracy.
Musk is using Trump to protect Tesla from Chinese electric vehicles because Tesla's model is not working.
Republicans love to talk about crony capitalism. Take them up on the debate.
The problem with tariffs is not that they are an indirect tax on consumption.
Americans spend too much on throw away goods.
Taxation should in fact move from labor taxes (income and payroll) towards consumption (including environmental) taxes.
Take up Republican ideas like flat taxes with fewer exceptions. Make tax simplication one of Democrats' main goals.
You guys are doing great work. I think it’s so important to highlight the distinction between shifting values and shifting strategy. On another newsletter (I think!), someone posted what I thought was a great tagline: “Dont just resist—deliver!” I would love to see Dems apply a winning formula in terms of sentence structure that gets repeated everywhere, with the blanks filled in according to the specifics of place and circumstance as we accomplish real goals. While they’re [xyz circus getting nothing done on issue x], Colorado Dems are [xyz consumer protections against a grocery merger that would double the cost of food.” (Making it up but you get the point. We need a rhythm.) or “while they were xyz, we were passing laws that make it easier for kids in daycare to access fresh fruits and veggies grown by local farmers.” I think Americans really respond to repetition and we are just so all over the place. I know this is a bit tangential to your point — I apologize!
Apparently philosophy majors and other readers of Foucault, and theatre enthusiasts, and progressives who advocate for action on more than one issue, are welcome in the Welcome party. Guess they’ll have to remain with the others who form the base of the Democratic party
There's nothing wrong with being a philosophy major (Yglesias was too) or a theater enthusiast (I'm going Friday) or advocating for multiple issues (most politically active people do).
But if Chris Hayes wants to heap derision upon swing voters, and writes that he finds "bewilderment" when he talks to them, maybe how he spent his time and the people he spent his time with did not adequately prepare him to understand undecided voters (or how to win elections).
It’s too bad MGP’s supporters can’t retaliate jn kind against the leftists who trashed her family’s auto shop since absolutely none of them have ever built a small business.
After inflation, the most important political development of the past 4 years was the busing of immigrants to northern Democratic cities by southern Republican Governors.
The sense of chaos was finally understood by the sanctuary states.
But because immigrant groups are so well organized in sanctuary states, the change in culture that the Democratic party needed didn't materialize.
We have a huge problem with congressional districts whose population includes a large proportion of non-citizens being represented by politicians elected in primaries with the support of open borders activist organizations.
In these very low turnout primaries in districts that are poorer on average, it is very difficult to mobilize voters and canvassers and there is very little civic infrastructure.
The above describes most strongly New York and California.
Regretably, New York and California also have a total strangehold on the Democratic party.
E.g. Kamala as presidential candidate and Schumer and Jeffries in the Senate and House.
Nothing in Kamala's political history pointed to a principled opposition to open borders (unlike Bernie Sanders and others who had always pointed out that open borders is a right wing libertarian agenda).
Schumer and Jeffries are the wholesale embodiment of fecklessness as the defining Democratic trait.
New York politics is completely broken. One need only look at our Mayor and Governor.
Now with NYC Mayoral primaries on the way, the doubling down on sanctuary city discourse is rapidly consolidating.
Schumer and Jeffries failed to hold the congressional votes necessary to hold Republican proposals accountable or to showcase Kamala's ideas and Biden's accomplishments.
Silence is the preffered communication message from both.
They have a complete conflict of interest between their local political careers and their role as national party leaders. They always choose local politics because they are mediocre politicians.
Democrats are now completely leaderless and the task falls by default on these two "go along with it" paper pushers.
People are writing like nothing will happen between now and the 2026 midterms. Democrats will have to make choices very soon on immigration, tariffs, energy, transgender rights, etc.
The idiot Democratic governors of California and New York are already pushing to further define the party as the instrument of opposition to Trump.
The out of touch open borders crowd wants to make sanctuary policies and opposition to deportation the centerpiece of that opposition.
Instead the Democrats need to enable Trump so as to hold him accountable.
If Trump can point to Democratic Governors and Mayors as obstructing his policies on immigration the issue will not die down, ultimately favoring Republicans.
Democrats should defend some procedural protections in deportation proceedings, but that is completely different from the whole scaremongering and obstructionism that has come to dominate elite discourse on immigration.
Same with tariffs, Ukraine, Israel and some tax cuts.
Hold Trump accountable.
The President already has significant tariff authority. Goad him to act quickly. Use Congress the way Democrats have failed to use Congress for messaging purposes.
Yes, push to protect our key allies (mainly EU/NATO, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and a few other partners).
But otherwise Democrats have no business advocating for China and countries that choose to align with China or remain "neutral". Bush was right: you are either with us or against us.
On Ukraine, hold Trump accountable for his promise to immediately end the war.
Yes, oppose any push for total Ukrainian capitulation.
But Democrats have obstructed Ukraine from attacking Russia, so the party doesn't really have the moral high ground.
Democrats have no Ukraine strategy and it is time to negotiate and see what Putin is willing to settle for.
On Israel, stop pushing for ceasefires.
The hipocrisy and arrogance of (too many) Americans wanting to dictate the response of Israel to a 9-11 like event is stunning.
The alignment of the far left with the political interests and values of Islamist extremists is disgusting. Once again the far left cloaks its role as 5th column behind fake pacificism.
The far left only cares about humanitarianism and imperialism when it can make the US/West look bad. Liberals need to stop coddling the far left. On foreign policy the far left is just as bad, if not worse, than the far right.
The US will have more sway with Israel on humanitarian issues if it stops the Biden/Kamala push for ceasefires based on US domestic political reasons. Michigan was also lost, so time to move on.
The fact is that Israel is doing the US/West's dirty work of confronting Iran and its proxies. Trump was right about Iran all along. One has to understand that the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel was meant to disrupt Israeli-Arab peace negotiations.
As long as Palestinians are used as paws in Middle East geopolitics instead of having a democratically elected leadership that negotiates for an actually viable state there will be no peace, Iran will use the issues to distract from its domestic problems and Israel's sole alternative is defensive war with offensive strategies.
The far left cares about international humanitarian law violations ("war crimes") and imperialism by Israel but not by Russia or China.
We need to uphold the global right to self-determination. That is the United States at its best (Wilsonian 14 Points).
On tax cuts, hold Trump accountable on Trump promises.
Introduce bills and show just how incoherent his plans are. Start with Tips and Social Security benefits and go along.
Also deal with SALT in a way that brings to light the Trump contradictions and that proves that Democrats are the party of the working class and not the upper middle class.
$400,000 is not middle class and certainly not working class.
Focus on tax evasion/avoidance. Develop a discourse around taxation based on values instead of technocratic solutions.
Focus on the stupid spending habits of rich Americans. Talk about luxury taxes and conspicuous consumption.
Our culture has become crass and self-obsessed. Inequality is not a technical problem, but a moral, sociological and political one.
Learn how to deal with the role of Musk and other plutocrats in American politics. Dare to call it what it is: Oligarchy.
Anti-trust and free competition is also not about technocracy.
Musk is using Trump to protect Tesla from Chinese electric vehicles because Tesla's model is not working.
Republicans love to talk about crony capitalism. Take them up on the debate.
The problem with tariffs is not that they are an indirect tax on consumption.
Americans spend too much on throw away goods.
Taxation should in fact move from labor taxes (income and payroll) towards consumption (including environmental) taxes.
Take up Republican ideas like flat taxes with fewer exceptions. Make tax simplication one of Democrats' main goals.
Take tax negotiations out of dark rooms.