What happens to the Democratic Party now? (1 Viewer)

[Heathen]

I’m sure much of us are having 2016 flashbacks this morning with a sick feeling to our stomachs..

2 of the last 3 elections Democrats have lost to a far right demagogue

Harris didn’t get close in many states to even Biden’s performance. We could very well lose the Presidency, Senate AND House depending on results the next few days…..

What went wrong?
What could’ve been done better?
What can we change in the future to ensure voters are motivated like they were when Obama was elected?

Democrats have no choice but to admit there’s a huge problem with some aspect of their platform— and to do a deep introspection of what’s going wrong..

 

[Optimus Prime]

Sen Klobuchar has a very valid point. The legislature has many women. State legislatures and state executives are women. I am not going to say that there are not people who refuse to vote for women. I do not believe that it is a significant number. The same was said of non white candidates but we elected an African American as POTUS twice and the federal government and state and local governments are filled with brown and black men and women.

It was and is an issue driven elelction IMV. The border and the economy mainly with crime also making the top five. So while we can debate the cause and effect of those problems for years, for better or worse, the party in power always gets the blame or the credit. The same will be true of this administration.

I think it can be a spectrum

There are levels there. There are people who would and have gladly voted for a woman for Mayor, Governor, House Rep, or Senator who absolutely wouldn't vote for a woman as President.

There are men who don't care if their company's CEO or President is a woman, but doesn't want their direct boss to be a woman

And electing Obama was one of those levels that broke something in a lot of people, after the election enrollment in KKK and other such groups more than tripled. Tea Party, MAGA, Trump all rose due to backlash to Obama

And as bad as the misogyny of the right and the Manosphere is now, let a woman become President and see how much worse it can get (certainly not saying that's a reason not to elect a woman, but it certainly would get worse)

 

[TampaJoe]

We can disagree here. The break with Obama as I recall was over health care. That is a divisive issue. It was then. It still is. And it has nothing to do with race or gender.

So how much or this is not issue based? Hard to say. But from my perspective, I don’t believe race or gender is as big a factor as it once was. As I pointed out, we have men and women of all colors serving in state local and federal governments. We have men and women of all colors serving in leadership positions in the private sector. Are the numbers where they should be? Probably not. But they are better than they were 30 years ago. The trends will only improve with time as we have more and more educated women in leadership positions.

 

[Optimus Prime]

We can disagree here. The break with Obama as I recall was over health care. That is a divisive issue. It was then. It still is. And it has nothing to do with race or gender.

So how much or this is not issue based? Hard to say. But from my perspective, I don’t believe race or gender is as big a factor as it once was. As I pointed out, we have men and women of all colors serving in state local and federal governments. We have men and women of all colors serving in leadership positions in the private sector. Are the numbers where they should be? Probably not. But they are better than they were 30 years ago. The trends will only improve with time as we have more and more educated women in leadership positions.

If you don't think there was a racist backlash to Obama the second he won the nomination, skyrocketed when he won the Presidency and again turbocharged with Trump I don't know what to tell you

 

[Dragon]

We can disagree here. The break with Obama as I recall was over health care. That is a divisive issue. It was then. It still is. And it has nothing to do with race or gender.

So how much or this is not issue based? Hard to say. But from my perspective, I don’t believe race or gender is as big a factor as it once was. As I pointed out, we have men and women of all colors serving in state local and federal governments. We have men and women of all colors serving in leadership positions in the private sector. Are the numbers where they should be? Probably not. But they are better than they were 30 years ago. The trends will only improve with time as we have more and more educated women in leadership positions.

The whole birther conspiracy theory promoted by among others Trump, shows differently

 

[MT15]

The whole birther conspiracy theory promoted by among others Trump, shows differently

The birtherism was genteel compared to the rest of the crap that his nomination and ultimate election provoked. Michelle Obama is a man, both of them depicted as monkeys, outright lies about their families. Plenty of local GOP politicians shared a lot of that crap online. And it followed through to Harris, calling her a whore and saying she got her career through sexual favors (even though she won multiple elections, many of them over the entire state).

The GOP itself got behind birtherism, though, which tells you everything you need to know about the current GOP. It’s rotten and needs to go the way of the dinosaurs. It deserves to die as a political party.

 

[TampaJoe]

If you don't think there was a racist backlash to Obama the second he won the nomination, skyrocketed when he won the Presidency and again turbocharged with Trump I don't know what to tell you

Yeah well I know a lot of folks that were tea party folks. I don’t recall them complaining about his race. They spoke mostly about ACA.

He was nominated twice. Elected twice. Quite handily as I recall. Beat McCain. Beat Romney. Two white guys.


YMMV

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Yeah well I know a lot of folks that were tea party folks. I don’t recall them complaining about his race. They spoke mostly about ACA.

He was nominated twice. Elected twice. Quite handily as I recall. Beat McCain. Beat Romney. Two white guys.


YMMV

It's all public, Joe. Now you can turn a blind eye to this if you chose but that is on you.

 

[TampaJoe]

It's all public, Joe. Now you can turn a blind eye to this if you chose but that is on you.

Yes CM. You are right. Everybody on the other side is a racist.

Stereotype much?

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Yes CM. You are right. Everybody on the other side is a racist.

Stereotype much?

Nobody said everyone. I certainly didn't. The claim was that there was a racist backlash to Obama's nomination. Are you claiming that this is untrue?

 

[TampaJoe]

Nobody said everyone. I certainly didn't. The claim was that there was a racist backlash to Obama's nomination. Are you claiming that this is untrue?

I don’t think the tea party movement was about his race. No. Where there some racial backlash. Probably. But I don’t think it is as extensive as you make out. I don’t think it was central to Harris’s defeat. But if that’s what you choose to believe, that is up to you. I don’t agree but we don’t have to agree.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

I don’t think the tea party movement was about his race. No. Where there some racial backlash. Probably. But I don’t think it is as extensive as you make out. I don’t think it was central to Harris’s defeat. But if that’s what you choose to believe, that is up to you. I don’t agree but we don’t have to agree.

The racist backlash was very real and very well documented. You are saying you don't have to agree with reality.

 

[Optimus Prime]

If a Michigan Democrat has his way, President Donald Trump could face the first impeachment vote of his second term.

Rep. Shri Thanedar’s resolution brings seven new articles of impeachment against the commander-in-chief, alleging everything from abuse of power to bribery, corruption, and “tyranny,” which the House must vote on before Thursday under its own rules.

Trump made history during his first term by becoming the first president in American history to be impeached twice by the House of Representatives, once over his quid pro quoapproach to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2018 and once for his part in instigating the Capitol riot, although in both cases he was acquitted in the Senate.

Thanedar, 70, first announced his intention on April 29, saying: “When Trump ignores the Constitution, Congress, and the courts, he is not ‘fighting for America.’ He is tearing it down and endangering our democracy.”

His resolution is not expected to pass, however, given the Republican majority in the lower chamber of Congress and because several of Thanedar’s fellow Democrats have expressed their disapproval of his actions in no uncertain terms.

“This is the dumbest f***ing thing. Utterly selfish behavior,” one unnamed representative told Axios emphatically, while another agreed it was “a waste of f***ing time.”

Trump himself, currently on his first major overseas diplomatic trip to the Middle East, has also derided Thanedar’s move.

“Some guy that I’ve never heard of… is he a congressman? This guy, he said… ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to start the impeachment of Donald Trump,’” Trump complained during a recent rally event in Michigan to mark his first 100 days.

“What the hell did I do? Here we go again.”

Thanedar has defended himself against accusations that his actions are self-serving and intended to boost his profile ahead of a future primary challenge from Democratic state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who has already been endorsed by Thanedar’s colleague Rep. Rashida Tlaib.………

House Democrat launches impeachment proceedings against Trump

Michigan Rep. Shri Thanedar’s resolution attacked as ‘waste of f***ing time’ by his own side but congressman insists it is ‘about doing the right thing’

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Incumbent]

The racist backlash was very real and very well documented. You are saying you don't have to agree with reality.

The resurgent impact racism is having on social dynamics and politics over the last couple of decades, extraordinarily amplified by social media, has been blatant. That isn't at all to suggest the influence had ever gone away, just that it has come roaring back and thrives in the almost Wild West online universe.

If you still have to unpack that for somebody, at this point, they either aren't likely going to be able to recognize it or they, openly or secretly, embrace it.

No, I'm not indiscriminately accusing anybody back here of being racist. Obtuse, perhaps. Insulated, almost certainly.

But...minority candidates are winning now more than ever! That's a measure of a shift towards the diversity of candidates who are now able to/choosing to run, and with the segment of voters willing to accept that changing landscape. It doesn't mean racism has stopped influencing policy, and in many ways, we can observe how that diversity is fueling a rise in hate speech and underpinning initiatives, including the creation of voting obstacles, to immigration, to foreign policy (all of which are topics discussed in depth on this board).

 

[Optimus Prime]

After more than 100 days of the Trump administration, it’s clear how unprepared Democratic leadership has been for this moment.

Words can hardly describe just how far Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the administration have gone to serve the interests of their fellow billionaires, undermine our economy and kill hundreds of thousands of jobs while dragging our basic civil liberties and constitution through the buzzsaw to illegally disappear countless immigrants and send them to privately funded domestic prisons and torture camps abroad.

It’s why the absence of true oppositional leadership has been deafening. After spending an entire campaign cycle naming Trump as an existential threat to our democracy and rule of law – which he is – the party’s leadership has folded at the first chance to wield the power they have, revealing hypocrisy and cowardice.


Chuck Schumer surrendered the entire federal budget and Marco Rubio, who is now championing the administration’s campaign of disappearing immigrants, was confirmed unanimously to Trump’s cabinet by the US Senate.

Every choice Democratic leadership has made to sacrifice its base and become more like the bad guys we were supposed to be fighting has led us here. And now, people are losing faith in Democrats’ ability to solve our country’s biggest problems – the party is polling at a historic low.

Americans have long been ready for the political revolution Bernie Sanders has talked about, but the party and the DC elite haven’t been. Aside from the many polls that highlight the national popularity of Sanders and the policies he supports over the last eight years, voters have made it abundantly clear that it’s time to usher in a new generation of leaders who won’t act like doormats for Trump and Elon Musk. They see this party – just like our government and our economy – as captured by the wealthy few.

Waiting for 2028 is not the answer – no president alone can provide the change we need. Massive transformation in this country has never happened without a Congress willing to act – from FDR’s New Deal to the Civil Rights Movement. As the 2026 midterm elections approach, we have an opportunity to take action.………

Democrats are failing against Trump. We need a new generation in 2026 | Alexandra Rojas

The absence of opposition has been stunning. Americans are losing faith in the party’s ability to solve our problems

www.theguardian.com