If the Democrats are as selfish as the Republicans with their own absolutism, you don't give voters anything to reach toward. Selfish in particular rhetoric (we must stand up for they/them pronouns!). Selfish in 2A concerns (we must wedge in an assault weapons ban now!). Selfish in national debt and taxes (the debt will be solved when th…
If the Democrats are as selfish as the Republicans with their own absolutism, you don't give voters anything to reach toward. Selfish in particular rhetoric (we must stand up for they/them pronouns!). Selfish in 2A concerns (we must wedge in an assault weapons ban now!). Selfish in national debt and taxes (the debt will be solved when the rich are taxed until they cry!). Selfish in who gets to speak for the team (Joe Biden must shut the hell up!) Selfish in religious matters (all believers are idiots who believe in a sky fairy.) Selfish in causality (everything is awful and it's all the right's fault.) I'm not saying that reason is absent at the heart of these things. But if you atomize the party platform, where all advocates speak up and scream, "I need to get my own way, or I won't show up at the polls," then you give candidates nothing to talk about, really, because they fear you not showing up. Because, the thing is, you didn't show up, and shame on you. We need to get back to the days when the Democrats stood for broad values. We stood for Civil Rights, period, all of them. We need to once again speak about the reality of life as a blue-collar worker and, as it is now, service worker - reality in regard to wages, housing costs, groceries, and the cost of educating their children. Care about families, in other words, but in the broad sense, and explain more clearly how the right has little interest in the well-being of middle- and working-class families, unless of course they belong to the right religion. In the 2024 election, Harris' handlers told her to say "yes" to every progressive mantra, and this gave her little time to simply identify with and talk about the broader things Democrats should stand for. Instead, she talked about paying money to have kids. She laid down her life for the right to transition kids. She couldn't be too Black, or too female, except for abortion rights. There was zero cohesion around the basic ideals the Democrats once held as important truths. So, the question is, do we still hold those ideals? Or do we need to splinter off and attract moderate Republicans, call ourselves something different, and hope that in 40-50 years enough money will show up to help us win an election. Because I agree with Walz, I hear nothing that gives me hope that we'll take the mid-terms. Outrage is not a compelling reason to get to the polls unless it is attached to an understanding of how life really is for the middle, working blue collar, working service classes. People are exhausted.
If the Democrats are as selfish as the Republicans with their own absolutism, you don't give voters anything to reach toward. Selfish in particular rhetoric (we must stand up for they/them pronouns!). Selfish in 2A concerns (we must wedge in an assault weapons ban now!). Selfish in national debt and taxes (the debt will be solved when the rich are taxed until they cry!). Selfish in who gets to speak for the team (Joe Biden must shut the hell up!) Selfish in religious matters (all believers are idiots who believe in a sky fairy.) Selfish in causality (everything is awful and it's all the right's fault.) I'm not saying that reason is absent at the heart of these things. But if you atomize the party platform, where all advocates speak up and scream, "I need to get my own way, or I won't show up at the polls," then you give candidates nothing to talk about, really, because they fear you not showing up. Because, the thing is, you didn't show up, and shame on you. We need to get back to the days when the Democrats stood for broad values. We stood for Civil Rights, period, all of them. We need to once again speak about the reality of life as a blue-collar worker and, as it is now, service worker - reality in regard to wages, housing costs, groceries, and the cost of educating their children. Care about families, in other words, but in the broad sense, and explain more clearly how the right has little interest in the well-being of middle- and working-class families, unless of course they belong to the right religion. In the 2024 election, Harris' handlers told her to say "yes" to every progressive mantra, and this gave her little time to simply identify with and talk about the broader things Democrats should stand for. Instead, she talked about paying money to have kids. She laid down her life for the right to transition kids. She couldn't be too Black, or too female, except for abortion rights. There was zero cohesion around the basic ideals the Democrats once held as important truths. So, the question is, do we still hold those ideals? Or do we need to splinter off and attract moderate Republicans, call ourselves something different, and hope that in 40-50 years enough money will show up to help us win an election. Because I agree with Walz, I hear nothing that gives me hope that we'll take the mid-terms. Outrage is not a compelling reason to get to the polls unless it is attached to an understanding of how life really is for the middle, working blue collar, working service classes. People are exhausted.