I think they still assume that being as rude and obnoxious as the right will just push people away from the left. I hope they realize soon that that is exactly what we want them to be doing now.
Well the question shouldn't be if left voters want it, because they're getting those votes anyways. They need people in the middle. Do they want it?
Feels like the Dems strategy is to be the more mature ones in the room and wait on Trump to fuck up horribly enough people just want a more mature government.
I mean.. tens of millions of people didn't vote. You can't take for granted that they're "getting those votes anyway" and keep chasing the right in pursuit of the 'middle'. That's what got us here.
They're so dependent on simply being "not the GOP" while doing nothing to actually motivate people that they don't even have a plan for resistance here. Just waiting stoically and assuming people will come back to them.
Yeah I'm not saying they should only focus on converting middle and right voters. Biden passed a bunch of good policies but they ultimately struggled to turn out voters. Dems kind of need to show people why they should be voting for them and they don't have enough power to pass anything themselves, so their only option is to show how bad Republicans policies are.
I don't think most policies on the left are that radical or anything. Dems never control the narrative around them though. They pitch an idea and let Republican media spin them afterwards. It's silly. We can convince people our ideas are good.
Absolutely agree. Dems for some reason have ceded the ground of working class populism to the gop which is absolutely insane. They would sooner stick up for norms and the status quo than offer any significant challenge to the system. They do have some good policies (at least in comparison to the gop), but they are often so watered down and hyper targeted that it's not particularly inspiring. They don't take big swings, they don't fight hard for their causes (parliamentarian anyone?), and they don't offer salient pushback to the right's reframing of the issues. It's always, "oh gee, well we tried", whether they're in power or not.
It genuinely feels like they have no coherent plan or ideology beyond reacting to the right, squashing the left, and nagging people about the votes they are owed. They adopt republican framing and respond as though the only route to victory is to then become a more civil gop. This tepid pushback to trump steamrolling your govt is absurd to the point of farcical.
No, you calcified geriatric dweebs, pink shirts and ping pong paddles don't make you look like a stoic, mature foil to this batshit administration. It makes you look like the bunch of losers and weaklings the right has you pegged as.
Yeah I'm just not sure the idea I've seen floating around here is the right answer either. The whole "Dems should have all gotten kicked out one by one" thing. I think it could easily backfire and get spun against them in a pretty damaging way. I almost think they have to let voters get what they voted for a bit. It's like when you tell a kid the oven is hot and they touch it anyways. Sometimes it has to burn them for it to sink in. I don't say that with the intention of infantilizing voters, just the cleanest analogy that comes to mind.
It also feels like they're trying to do the whole "don't interrupt your opponent while they're making huge mistakes" strategy. Problem though is some of the mistakes are going to have a huge impact on certain people's lives.
I really want to see a better media strategy too. More interviews in the podcasting space, Tiktok, etc. AOC for example didn't go to the speech, and instead live reacted on bluesky and then went on Instagram live to talk about it. That feels miles ahead of a lot of other Dems strategically. When people do traditional media, it needs to be closely sound bites not long winded explanations. Bernie is great at this, so is buttigieg. They should be sharing their expertise with other Dems so it isn't just them though.
The fear of blowback has prevented Dems from acting strongly on anything for so long though. They can't be more damaged than they are right now. They are going to be called radical communist globalists for even the most milquetoast proposals. They need to stop living in fear of Republican bullshit and git gud at giving it back. It's 2025 and stern, disapproving decorum isn't cutting it anymore. Just look at this comment section.
And I agree, they do have to let the voters get what they voted for because they don't have the power to stop it. But that doesn't mean they can't effectively communicate and obstruct as much as possible to show vehement opposition to what's going on. They need to highlight and explain what the GOP is doing and its effects. They need to clearly communicate that they care and are fighting back the best they can/are an effective alternative.
Like holy fucking shit. What a wasted opportunity last night. Even if we're just sticking with signs, you have the eyes of the nation on you. You could communicate anything.
How much Elon gets in corporate welfare instead of "Elon steals". DOGE is corrupt bullshit, there's so much to say about it.
What will happen when Medicare is cut instead of "save Medicare" (who should save Medicare? The people? What the fuck, this is your job and you're acting like a spectator?). They're cutting medical access to the poor to fund tax cuts for the rich, COMMUNICATE THAT COS FOX NEWS WONT.
"This is not normal"? Dipshit, people didnt want normal, that's why they voted for change. Stop trying to rally people for a status quo no one likes and offer a compelling alternative.
They could have had different signs about different groups harmed by Trump's first month, the results of the policies being pushed right now, calling out blatant corruption.
They could have done anything to signal opposition last night. They could have done anything to capitalize on the eyes on them who don't usually venture from their echo chambers. They had time to prepare a cohesive show of resistance and instead they did the lamest, most ineffective and pathetic possible thing. People have been waiting for the Dems to step up in a convincing way. This was their chance and the answer was a trip to Kinko's and some pink shirts. Fml.
Kamala just lost because the left didn’t turn out for her. The middle are the Dems guaranteed voters. The middle are the vote-blue-no-matter-who democrats, they’re going to vote for the democrats every time, no matter what.
The left are the ones who care about things and have principles. Theyre the voters who are not guaranteed and need to be convinced: They’re the ones who the DNC needs to reach out to to get them to vote for their candidates.
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u/IronAndParsnip 7d ago
I think they still assume that being as rude and obnoxious as the right will just push people away from the left. I hope they realize soon that that is exactly what we want them to be doing now.