As a Liberal and not a Progressive, I’m often frustrated at the way Ds, their interest groups, and their commentators take the most politically toxic positions in a way that is simply meant to signal their moral enlightenment and superiority. However, I think that those Ds are really stuck between a rock and a hard place in a way the Rs are not. As the maybe apocryphal quote from the 1984 Reagan campaign goes in regards to upset members of the Christian conservative movement, “what the fuck are they going to do, vote for Mondale?” The problem is that far left Ds WILL vote for third parties or stay home in order to teach Ds a lesson. So how are they supposed to take rational positions when there is very high risk of alienating the far left, but reliable voters, and shaky high risk that doing so will attract middle of the road or non-voters?
There are more votes in the middle than on the fringe. And I'd add, if they don't vote and someone worse wins, such as in 2024, it's their own fault; to hear them whine over the next 4 yrs due to their own actions only irritates everyone more.
"this is not all of the party doing this, but their activists and pundit class are all too quick to take the bait and push back in these ways."
Good point...Several Democrats in Congress have been explaining, over the past several months, that they were able to win their states and districts by distancing their respective campaigns from the pundits popular on cable news who are incentivized to elicit emotional reaction by participating in the latest culture war.
From what I've read, the successful candidates focused their message on local issues and kept the canned talking points to a minimum.
I don't see anyone doing this, even though I'm actively looking. They are ALL choosing to squander the opportunity in front of them to capitalize on the current administration's tumbling approval rating.
Mainstream corporate media have given party leaders softball chances in the past couple weeks to say "we made a mistake, we won't do it again" and have been basically told to eff off.
As a Liberal and not a Progressive, I’m often frustrated at the way Ds, their interest groups, and their commentators take the most politically toxic positions in a way that is simply meant to signal their moral enlightenment and superiority. However, I think that those Ds are really stuck between a rock and a hard place in a way the Rs are not. As the maybe apocryphal quote from the 1984 Reagan campaign goes in regards to upset members of the Christian conservative movement, “what the fuck are they going to do, vote for Mondale?” The problem is that far left Ds WILL vote for third parties or stay home in order to teach Ds a lesson. So how are they supposed to take rational positions when there is very high risk of alienating the far left, but reliable voters, and shaky high risk that doing so will attract middle of the road or non-voters?
There are more votes in the middle than on the fringe. And I'd add, if they don't vote and someone worse wins, such as in 2024, it's their own fault; to hear them whine over the next 4 yrs due to their own actions only irritates everyone more.
"this is not all of the party doing this, but their activists and pundit class are all too quick to take the bait and push back in these ways."
Good point...Several Democrats in Congress have been explaining, over the past several months, that they were able to win their states and districts by distancing their respective campaigns from the pundits popular on cable news who are incentivized to elicit emotional reaction by participating in the latest culture war.
From what I've read, the successful candidates focused their message on local issues and kept the canned talking points to a minimum.
Regarding Footnote (1).
I don't see anyone doing this, even though I'm actively looking. They are ALL choosing to squander the opportunity in front of them to capitalize on the current administration's tumbling approval rating.
Mainstream corporate media have given party leaders softball chances in the past couple weeks to say "we made a mistake, we won't do it again" and have been basically told to eff off.
Let’s give Elon some credit, that DOGE nonsense with USAID is going to accrue a pretty good body count.