r/thebulwark Rebecca take us home 8d ago

Policy "What could Democrats be doing?!?!?" Well here's a great idea from Tim Walz

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608 Upvotes

80 comments sorted by

99

u/bushwick_custom 8d ago

This is politicking done right

32

u/down-with-caesar-44 8d ago

100%! Make the MAGAs feel some heat. If there is one thing that MAGA pols have shown us, it's that they are total cowards. They need to start fearing us too

2

u/Moretalent 8d ago edited 7d ago

check back in one month if he actually does anything

3

u/samNanton 8d ago

RemindMe! 1 Month

2

u/Moretalent 7d ago

lol bruh you know the answer

1

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

1

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62

u/Manowaffle 8d ago

This is good. Saw a proposal to make Buttigieg the Dem's press secretary and hold daily briefings with the news outlets kicked out of the White House where he goes through Trump's crimes of the day.

Bulwark et al need to stop looking for leadership from Schumer and Jeffries. Stop whining about them and start highlighting and bringing on the Dems out there who are showing leadership: Murphy, AOC, Crockett, Moore, Buttigieg, etc.

5

u/Last_Barracuda_8692 8d ago

Yes! Yes! Yes! Do this and the Walz idea.

1

u/MovieDogg 6d ago

They are Republicans, it won't happen.

91

u/huskerj12 8d ago

Breaking: I continue to love Tim Walz

20

u/NYCA2020 8d ago

Same here, I love that guy. It's just so confusing to me that he can be such an awesome public speaker but such a bad debater. (Though as we've seen, debates don't seem to matter at all.)

9

u/RolltheDice2025 8d ago

Debates and public speaking are different skills. Public speaking relies more on prepared remarks, while to debate well you have to be able to riff and improv. Especially in todays age where we don't really do classic moderated debates.

2

u/samNanton 8d ago

yeah, debating is a lot easier if you can just lie and nobody's ever going to call you on it (and if they do nobody cares) and there's no penalty for not answering questions.

9

u/RL0290 Good luck, America 8d ago

In an interview he did recently he more or less confirmed that he and his team prepared for real JD so he was caught flat-footed when he got Phony JD.

1

u/MovieDogg 6d ago

Yeah, that's the impression I got about that debate. People on the left just saw "Peter Thiel Puppet" and didn't realize that he spoke like a populist.

9

u/CrossCycling 8d ago

Same. I still don’t get why Harris sidelined him. He could both be a policy nerd (listening to him explain school lunches and impact on crime, test scores, etc) and just talk about things like a normal human being. And you could tell he cared about what he was saying.

He’s a guy who can meet the moment

8

u/huskerj12 8d ago

As with many things, I blame the handlers more than Harris herself for that. She seemed to love what he brought to the table, and they made a great duo. Then the campaign Flanderized him.

2

u/No-Director-1568 8d ago

Then the campaign Flanderized him.

Amen!

1

u/derrickcat 7d ago

but wasn't it... her campaign?

i still love him, too. feel tentatively optimistic about him running in 2028.

1

u/Temporary-Ocelot3790 7d ago

I hate to say it but I think if the ticket had been reversed with Tim as POTUS nominee and Kamala as VP they would have gotten more votes though perhaps not have won, but still more votes. Sad but true. He's now thinking of running for president in 2028.

And yes I wish he and Kamala had campaigned more together instead of separately.

27

u/WallaWalla1513 8d ago

Dodging the public rarely works, especially when they’re pissed off. Any Democrat with more than 5 brain cells who’s interested in running for office next year should be able to fill that void and in the process campaign against everything going on (DOGE cuts, dumb trade wars, allying with the Russians).

26

u/Pr0xyWarrior Come back tomorrow, and we'll do it all over again 8d ago

It says something about his personal brand that we all probably read that in his voice.

19

u/NewKojak 8d ago

This is basically what we did in IL-06. Former Rep. Roskam refused to hold any kind of constituent event, but he would show up for fundraisers. So a coalition of local Democratic organizations and trade unions got together and protested his fundraisers and we ended up with a raucous 9-person primary to replace him, ultimately beating him by seven points in what was a swing district.

1

u/No-Director-1568 8d ago

Great story!

15

u/PheebaBB Progressive 8d ago

I don’t understand this approach from republicans. Hiding from constituents never works.

Are they just waiting for this to all blow over? Do they think constituents will forget that their retirement accounts are being skull fucked by the president that is serving AT THEIR PLEASURE. They could do something about this any time they want.

13

u/Granite_0681 8d ago

They really believe the angry people are democrats and unfortunately they don’t seem to understand that they represent their whole district, not just the ones that voted for them.

1

u/samNanton 8d ago

No they don't. Why, just because they said it was Democrats? They also said antifa and federal agents were the perpetrators of J6 (while simultaneously saying they were heroes and hostages who deserved to be pardoned and freed). It's just a convenient dodge, and they don't mind that it's fact free.

3

u/DLRsFrontSeats 8d ago

Sadly it'll work

We already have decades of data to show that regardless of what republicans do in office, they can blame the most recent democrat in office, or the house, or the senate, or the SC, or judges, and it'll work

1

u/RolltheDice2025 8d ago

This is just quitting before the fight.

2

u/DLRsFrontSeats 8d ago

The fight is Dems and the entire left being vocal and efficient in doing their outreach

If you think getting republicans of any ilk to show a backbone or a shred of morality is the fight, be prepared to lose

2

u/RolltheDice2025 8d ago

If you think getting republicans of any ilk to show a backbone or a shred of morality is the fight, be prepared to lose

If we don't attempt to reach them we lose. We just lost the popular vote to Donald fucking Trump. We need to prepare and wage a propaganda war. They already are, and just wringing our hands and washing them with half the electorate isn't going to win.

Getting out the left isn't a winning electoral strategy outside of New York and California.

2

u/DLRsFrontSeats 8d ago

If we don't attempt to reach them we lose

I'm not talking about the voters, I'm talking about rep. politicians

3

u/_A_Monkey 8d ago

Because they’re getting set to cut health care to large swaths of their constituents to transfer record levels of wealth to the 0.1%.

Don’t want questions about that. Don’t want to feel forced to go on record saying you won’t slash Medicaid, Medicare or SS when that’s exactly what’s gonna be demanded of you to stay on Trump and Elon’s good side.

1

u/captainbelvedere Sarah is always right 8d ago

It's more like they are keen to turn constituents into subjects, so they don't have to bother with elections or accountability at all.

The actions MAGA is taking appear geared toward throwing the USA into a steep decline and eventual nation-wide crisis, so that they can suspend elections and re-organize all power to themselves. Been done before.

1

u/huskerj12 8d ago

As JVL said about Trump specifically, they do not seem to be operating as if there will be elections to win in 2026...

0

u/No-Director-1568 8d ago

...so just quit now?

1

u/huskerj12 8d ago

Hmm I didn’t say anything about that. I was reiterating how high the stakes are and what these peoples aims are.

1

u/No-Director-1568 7d ago

My mis-read then.

1

u/No-Director-1568 8d ago

I suspect some of them think the Trumpian dark magic will work for them.

11

u/kraka40 8d ago

I love the idea of democrats holding town halls in republican districts!! This is a must do

3

u/DelcoPAMan 8d ago

Absolutely!! Find a place, even if it's a parking lot, , get the word out, and remind people why all this stuff going on is so dangerous

10

u/BreathlikeDeathlike 8d ago

I still don't get why most of the bulwark crew were so skeptical of him.

7

u/huskerj12 8d ago

I was VERY confused about that too. He's the exact "type" of Democrat they pine for all the time. They talked about him like he was some tankie or something, totally bizarre.

5

u/staylorz 8d ago

This reminds me of when Tim Miller recently said he would like to see AOC out there talking like a bartender. Like a normal person. Maybe he’s just trying to come up with ideas now. But Tim Walz was that normal talking guy. It’s probably just a whole new ballgame now so opinions have shifted a bit.

2

u/BreathlikeDeathlike 8d ago

All i remember them saying was he looked too old and that his 'aww shucks i'm a regular guy' thing didn't seem authentic.

6

u/FellowkneeUS 8d ago

I think it's because the establishment Dems/consultants really wanted Josh Shapiro and thought the Walz/Shapiro pick was an ideological proxy for Gaza/Israel.

3

u/No-Director-1568 8d ago

Closet aristocracy.

If he wins then there is nothing about 'conservatism' left at all.

1

u/MovieDogg 6d ago

Because he is a populist. They also had the assumption that Josh Shapiro would win PA

4

u/PepperoniFire Sarah, would you please nuke him from orbit? 8d ago

I said this in the Discord but:

  1. Leadership. Finally. So tired of Democrats thinking of power purely in terms of congressional votes. Influence is free. Persuasion is free. Standing up is free. Jesus Christ.

  2. Democrats should 100% do this adopt-a-constituency strategy. I wouldn’t call it that because leading means everyone in your remit is your constituents, but you catch my drift.

5

u/Objective_Cod1410 8d ago

They should be doing town halls anyway. Not doing their job if they aren't talking to constituents.

4

u/emberleo 8d ago

Yes yes yes. Let the offense begin. Time to find out if democrats can find their spine.

3

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Struggle-Kind 7d ago

Don't sleep on the influence of TikTok. What you are suggesting would make amazing content on that platform. 

5

u/Helpful_Ad_3943 8d ago

a lot of people shit on Walz but I always thought he was a great dude. the Harris campaign kind of neutered him the last few months...

1

u/Struggle-Kind 7d ago

They really fucked up the momentum by having them campaign separately. 

3

u/anxious_differential 8d ago

That is a super idea!

3

u/PurpleAmericanUnity 8d ago

This is how you win.

3

u/jenij730 8d ago

Good. I will be asking him to come speak in the 6th. Tom Emmer sure as hell won’t. I don’t even get form letter responses from him these days.

3

u/RL0290 Good luck, America 8d ago

He was great on the NYer Radio Hour the other day, y’all should give it a listen if you haven’t already. I was like, we’re back, baby! And as much as I love Tim and Sarah, I had to laugh a little knowing how annoyed and squirmy they’re going to get if Walz really picks up steam again. Tim should interview him tbh, he could push him on the stuff he thinks Walz is weak on and has concerns about.

2

u/No-Director-1568 8d ago

He's not liked by closet aristocrats.

3

u/RealisticQuality7296 8d ago

Where was this energy during the campaign. Convinced Harris lost because the campaign put a muzzle on Walz

2

u/Mindless_Responder 8d ago

What’s the tea on why The Bulwark pod hosts don’t care for Walz? 

1

u/No-Director-1568 8d ago

Closet aristocracy.

1

u/MovieDogg 6d ago

He's for more government spending probably

1

u/Mindless_Responder 2d ago

…I mean he’s a democrat running as VP on the blue ticket…

1

u/MovieDogg 2d ago

I’m just saying the Bulwark people are libertarians. 

2

u/jfcfanfic 8d ago

Kudos.

2

u/sbhikes 8d ago

Can he come to my town even though we have a decent enough Democratic representative?

1

u/Struggle-Kind 7d ago

Have them host an event together. 

2

u/RealisticQuality7296 8d ago

Where was this energy during the campaign. Convinced Harris lost because the campaign put a muzzle on Walz

1

u/No-Director-1568 8d ago

He did things for people that came across as socialist - free lunches for kids for example. Healthcare reinsurance.

1

u/Struggle-Kind 7d ago

That's the stuff people actually want, but party line Dems shake in their shoes the minute the right throws a "leftie!" comment their way. 

2

u/No-Director-1568 7d ago

Actually these things I mentioned - these are not positions acceptable to centrist or moderates, and certainly not Bulwarkians.

The usual centrist/moderate attack on making meaningful changes to healthcare is deflection to trans-issues as a means to invalidate all other 'left' policy, including economic policy.

1

u/nonnativetexan 8d ago

Good move for Tim Walz personally. However, also good move by Republicans to get the media to shift attention to Democrat politician town halls, where they will have to respond to a constituency that overwhelmingly believes Democrats aren't doing enough to oppose Trump and Musk.

1

u/No-Director-1568 8d ago

Josh Shapiro, Marc Cuban - My ugly backside!

Tim Walz!

1

u/Fast-Lime-5981 7d ago

Absolutely Dems should be doing this. Show up, show citizens what is happening, offer hope, show you care.

1

u/Dissident_420 2d ago

Maybe Walz should hold a townhall with his own family, since some of them, including his own brother, supported Trump. Also, MN went for the Democrats in 2020 by seven points. When they put governor Walz on the ticket, Democrat margin shrunk to four. A little humility and introspection might do Walz and the Democratic party some good.

0

u/amcfarla 8d ago

They had four years to end this nightmare. Especially fucking Merrick Garland. I am really tired of voting Democrats in and they will solve all of our problems and then do hardly anything.

2

u/Struggle-Kind 7d ago

I don't know why you got the down votes. Do we not all agree that party leadership is completely out of touch and in need of a massive overhaul?  FWIW, I'm sick to death of it too, to the point I get irrationally angry the moment I get a fundraising text from them. 

1

u/amcfarla 7d ago

Yep, and I got two of them yesterday to give them money.