A Truly Welcome Party
Getting Caught Up on Casual Reading, and Finding a Gem
One of the advantages of taking a break like I’ve been doing the past month1 is that I get caught up in reading more casual fare and not as intense social media stuff.2 In the past month, I’ve read a great book by Jeff Guinn (The Road to Jonestown), revisited some historical books I always found interesting (“Manhunt” by James Swanson about John Wilkes Booth and “The Day Freedom Died” about the Colfax Massacre by Charles Lane) and picked up the next Dune book by Frank Herbert since I loved the movie and never read beyond the first novel. I’ve also been un-bookmarking a lot of the online magazines, web postings, substacks and other items that don’t update very much and when they do get in the same old schtick over and over.3 I had almost 100 of these, and paring them down definitely makes it seem less overwhelming. Plus, how many different times do you have to read the same story just written from a different writer and source.
One of those I hadn’t revisited in a long time was a substack called “The Welcome Party.” I had subscribed to them back in 2020 in the depths of needing something to read during COVID, and that during the primaries and general election wasn’t the same old mainstream media crap. I’ve always been about more moderate approaches, building the Big Tent, and avoiding the more polarizing traps parties get into. The Welcome Party seemed like a good place to go at the time. Here’s the current “About” section.
My frustration was they just didn’t post much in those early days. As a result, I didn’t spend a lot of time looking at the site and it just kind of fell off the radar (even though I had them listed as a Recommendation for a long time).
Boy was that a mistake.
In the past few months they have been posting outstanding pieces on many of the topics I cover here. Aside from the content exclusive to the Welcome Party that they create, they also include content from The Liberal Patriot, which has been a good source as well. They take a grounded perspective from the moderate portion of the Democratic Party and work towards bringing non MAGA GOP into the fold. This is how you win.
I devoured a dozen articles in one sitting. Among them:
“Democrats Should Be The Pro-Normal Party.”
“You’re Going to Need a Bigger Tent.”
“Conceding Democracy: Q4 Edition.” 4
“Win the Middle; Save Democracy.”
This was bliss and everything I needed to read. Not only did it reassure me that yes, there are substantially more of us out there and that this is a neglected group of voters, but it demonstrates and lays the tracks on how Dems can win in November and beyond. Every complaint, everything that bugged me about the partisans, everything that non-MAGA republicans have been saying and their hesitancy of joining with Dems was all explicitly and directly written about here. THEY GET IT.
And make no mistake— The Welcome Party is NOT some third party hoping, alternative party intended cabal. It’s also not a group of Never Trumpers completely fixated on what is happening only in the GOP and slowly drifting towards becoming The Weekly Standard 2.0.6 It’s CLEARLY focused on voting Democratic this fall, supportive of Biden, less supportive of Progressive activism, and working diligently to bring the non-MAGA GOP into the Dem Tent. They bash No Labels for the consensus wrecking hack haven that it is and really, REALLY want to expand centrism and moderate candidates. On that last point, it puts its money where its mouth is too, funding centrist swing candidates where they can win through its WelcomePAC.
All this is to say is that 1) if you aren’t already reading The Welcome Party Substack, you should be, and 2) I am so glad to be reading more where I am not at odds with the ridiculous slants and partisan talking points that I abhor. I’m going to be paying closer attention to The Welcome Party posts and help spread the word with what I can.
Becuase the current Modus Operandi of the DNC isn’t pretty, and we need to stop seeing things like this happening.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
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Footnotes and Fun Stuff
I know, I’m still posting stuff. In reality though, I’ve only done like 1/4 of the posts I’ve normally been doing, others have helped contribute and I’m getting caught up in a whole slew of other stuff that needed attention, like taxes.
Though I do still find myself getting drawn into some Threads arguments that genuinely poke my buttons.
A great example of this is the conservative writer Andrew Sullivan. Now, for the most part I often disagree with him, but he does quite often say things that make you think, or present things in a way that it’s worth reading. That’s the kind of writer I like to read; I don’t WANT to agree with everything in lockstep, but I do want to think about the issues presented. However, he has a nauseating habit of getting stuck in the same 4 or 5 topics and talking points at which point it’s just pointless to keep reading.
This one was particularly on point to me; its about how Democrats are not running ANYBODY so far in a lot of winnable places that if they want a majority they should work toward appealing to. Instead they just stick to the coasts and concede the middle of the country. That they can’t get ANYONE to run in these races tells you everything you need to know about the current appeal of the Dem Party outside of metropolitan areas and the coasts.
Another outstanding piece about how the losers of the 2020 Dem Primaries were brought in and took over the Biden messaging operation, and why there is this fixation on appealing to the progressive left, when they should be appealing to the middle.
Looking at you The Bulwark