There is an unhinged loon running the country, dismantling/trashing US government agencies, engaging in open corruption, and sending masked goons to yank people off the streets to ship to El Salvador gulags. But we're supposed to care whether Mayor Pete is moderate enough to be a candidate in three years? This is fiddling while Rome burns, journalism style.
As for Mr. Carvilles' suggestion to stand back and let the Republicans mess up, I saw an interview with a farmer whos livelihood has been decimated by Trumps policies (or lack thereof). He expressed anger at what was happening and totally aware of the fact it was Trump who caused it. He was angry and dismayed and it showed. But when the interviewer asked him if he would vote for Trump again, he didn't even hesitate "Yes". Such is the power of years of propaganda and planned hate speech directed at the Democrats. I love Mr. Carville for his experience and plain speech, but he hasn't, and we haven't, experienced this kind of evil before. It's new territory, and the Democrats are hurting from ignoring the obvious onslaught. It might just be too late. But I'm fighting this even if the Dems won't do this for me. I know its cliche, but consider Bernie Sanders and the crowds he is drawing for more than one minute. I've always been told cliches are cliches for a reason.
This article doesn't seem to be going for Mark Leibovich-style comedy of the absurd, but it still seems to assume that Democrats are destined to be perpetual Washington Generals in a game that doesn't matter at all except as the grist for these kinds of articles.
What would it look like if we understood that we currently in the middle of an authoritarian attempt, and that the Democrats are currently the best-positioned people to resist this attempt (God help us all), that they have a hell of a lot of work to do get their act together, and that it actually matters whether they succeed? What kind of writing could specifically and constructively criticize Democrats in a way that Democratic leaders and followers would learn from?
Give The Bulwark founders credit. They've gone a long, long way to making common cause with Democrats, and not by praising or agreeing with them at all times, but at least by taking them seriously and keeping the stakes and the common enemy clearly in front of us. The beat writing about the Democrats should embody this approach.
I know the Dem party are hurting still, since it's only a few months into a long administration, but do yourselves a favour and burn all your 2024 election material you have sitting around the house, and bury the ashes in your backyard under a tree. If you want to win future elections you have to put the past in the past, seriously! Yes Biden broke his promise about a single term, yes he made mistakes as well as some good policy, but you need to wave goodbye to him in the rear window. Trumpelstiltskin will LOVE it if Democrats are still talking about Biden in 26 & 28 (assuming there are still free & fair elections, a slim chance). His demetia means you'll be helping him by making it all about years past.
And no, you Dems should not be silent whilst everything is going on. As MAGA burns down the house you guys should be out there shouting for the fire brigade and letting America know you are willing to hold the hose when the brigade arrives. The way things are going if fair elections do happen they'll be yours to lose, so don't be normal Dems shooting yourselves in the foot. Sack all the pundits you have tagging along working out the exact wording you need to say when a microphone is in front of you. Take a leaf out of Jasmine Crockett's book and actually say what you feel, from the heart and be authentic about it! Also remember that you want to be the elected representatives of your local districts, so you should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. You don't all have to sing from the same songbook, outside the fact that you are against Trump and everything he does - and for God's sake don't say tariffs are good in some circumstances, because they aren't lol.
Last note is for Lauren. I don't know what your contract and job description with the Bulwark entails, but if it includes you need to write as if you are writing a script for a CNN newshour, you need to renegotiate it. You're another that needs to leave 2024 behind, it's done and dusted, the results are in. Talk about stuff that means something to you and write like you believe it, I can get the news from other sources lol. It's good to see younger voices out there, but it means nothing if you are not using your voice and your perspective on things. Use this space to expand on how things are affecting your generation, from your vantage point, and how you think your country needs to change. Leave the rehash of past elections to others, because no matter how often you talk about them or what went wrong, the result will stay the same - Trumpelstiltskin is still the Liar In Chief!
Gotta love PB but the beard won't help and the "if someone you love is upset" blather will fall on deaf ears. Being ideologically highbrow is entirely masturbatory. Assuming such concepts will reach voters versus red meat knife fight rhetoric is to misunderstand the current zeitgeist and entire voting block mentality. THATS NOT HOW YOU WIN! Things have changed. The False Messiah changed them and there's no goin' back baby!
Its good to ask questions about why we lost and what to do. But if in the meantime the vandals are sacking Rome, and we better avoid navel gazing and fight back right now in every way we can.
Democrats have been navel gazing for seven months. It's nuts. No one votes for a party or a candidate because they talk about their mistakes. Everyone who looked at Joe Biden knew he was growing more feeble. That's why his popularity was so low. He didn't have any fight in him.
I wish that Democrats could for once in their lives tout their accomplishments and vision and stop shooting themselves in the foot. The moment calls for action and anger, not apologies.
Is it me, or does Egan's reporting sound like the NYT pitchbot.?... republicans did something terrible, here's why that's bad for Democrats. She keeps reiterating the same assumptions over and over, (that the Democrats are in disarray, they can't agree on what went wrong or where to go in the future, etc etc). As if all Democrats want to or should agree on everything all the time. This is the same framing that makes me insane about mainstream media. I'd love to hear some of your takes on this.
I completely agree with you and generally tend to avoid her articles. There's never any new insight or perspective and she's really, really bad at connecting the dots by which I mean, she personifies the 24 hour news cycle style and doesn't connect what's happening in the moment to what's happened before and what it portends for the the future. Hopefully she's being mentored and will hone her skills...
Mayor Pete is the best chance I’ve seen so far. If the Democrats have something better, they’d better start showing him/her off, pronto! All of this concern about ‘middle ground’ misses the point. The race is going to be personality/character driven and whoever exudes charisma wins. Talking points are extraneous other than as a platform to strut their stuff. BTW, somebody looking very promising will activate the ‘martial law’ forces. They are feeling very afraid of a fair fight. Bullies always are.
I can't believe that Dems are unable to quickly turn the Biden decline question into a question on Trump's obvious decline. Whether or not Biden did decline, he can still answer a policy question more lucidely than the current potus. Dems are always afraid of their own shadow. It's maddening. As for policy, again, this isn't hard. Do Dems believe in anything? What? Say it and mean it. Politics is persuasion. Try it sometime.
Democrats who trash Biden are playing with fire. Biden was voted in by democrats. Democrats supported him and implored people to vote for him while he was running. Democrats touted his record and accomplishments and campaigned for him until he dropped out, then wholeheartedly backed his VP.
If democrats (especially those who served in his administration) decide to do an about face and start bashing him and saying he shouldn’t have run and he was a bad candidate, what voters are going to hear is “you lied to us and we don’t trust you.”
Lauren, I like your directness but I think as a long time Democrat, this bashing Joe Biden is an exercise in futility. We all need to remember how many outstanding programs and policies Joe Biden was responsible for. That is part of the reason we lost. Not getting that message out. There are Democrats that can and will make the future a better one. But in order to do so, we do not have to reinvent the wheel. The party knows what we failed to do in 2024. But, the real issue is in educating ignorant voters who bought the felons lies and think that what he promised will in fact happen. They got suckered. When they feel the hurt he is causing, that is when they will wise up. Any Democratic candidate can not overcome that kind of voter ignorance.
Many of us are big fans of Buttigieg and Harris but they are not going to win until we destroy Fox and educate their audience. The Fox audience will continue to be swayed by big money and slurs - a women or a gay president has little chance. Do you remember the stupid attention given to Vance's attack on Harris? A better choice might be Beto - but he's not really white by GOP standards?
I do disagree that the Dems need to look why they lost - both of the last 2 elections were decided by the unregistered voters that were dissatisfied with the performance of the sitting party. For instance Biden promised to help with college debt and didn't. The lower class is speaking up because they are struggling and when the GOP destroys the economy and health care, they will be ready tov vote vs them again. We could be in trouble if we let the GOP change the voting rules and buy votes with Musk's money again - this worries me as SCOTUS and the Federalist Society are corrupt.
There are more registered Dems then GOP.
BTW - waiting in line to vote is so 1950's - if we had a bright and progressive SCOTUS they would demand new rules to vote by phone. Maybe someone should offer Thomas a bigger RV?
This feels rude, but I find Lauren Egen pretty blah compared to others at the Bulwark. I can get the straight news voice from the AP and Reuters. Hope you find your footing soon.
I love Pete. I voted for him in the 2020 primary. But I have a feeling that Biden's bullshit is going to take people like Pete down with him, and that's one of several reasons why I think Wes Moore is a better candidate for '28. Being a member of the Biden admin, Pete will constantly be dragged about why he wasn't honest with the public about Biden's mental decline, and I don't know that mainstream voters are going to buy into his excuses about that.
Cabinet members do not criticize their President. Voters not seeing Pete's ability and only equate him as a cabinet member, miss the point. That is the ignorance I was addressing.
"Cabinet members do not criticize their President."
This is kind of my point. Biden put Pete (and all other cab members) in a fatal political position by forcing them to cover over his decline in public. The public might understand why a politician would do that, but they won't like it at all because a whole lot of people thought Biden was too old to be president--especially a 2nd time--and Pete played cover for keeping a guy past his expiration date in office--whether willingly or unwillingly.
There is an unhinged loon running the country, dismantling/trashing US government agencies, engaging in open corruption, and sending masked goons to yank people off the streets to ship to El Salvador gulags. But we're supposed to care whether Mayor Pete is moderate enough to be a candidate in three years? This is fiddling while Rome burns, journalism style.
As for Mr. Carvilles' suggestion to stand back and let the Republicans mess up, I saw an interview with a farmer whos livelihood has been decimated by Trumps policies (or lack thereof). He expressed anger at what was happening and totally aware of the fact it was Trump who caused it. He was angry and dismayed and it showed. But when the interviewer asked him if he would vote for Trump again, he didn't even hesitate "Yes". Such is the power of years of propaganda and planned hate speech directed at the Democrats. I love Mr. Carville for his experience and plain speech, but he hasn't, and we haven't, experienced this kind of evil before. It's new territory, and the Democrats are hurting from ignoring the obvious onslaught. It might just be too late. But I'm fighting this even if the Dems won't do this for me. I know its cliche, but consider Bernie Sanders and the crowds he is drawing for more than one minute. I've always been told cliches are cliches for a reason.
This article doesn't seem to be going for Mark Leibovich-style comedy of the absurd, but it still seems to assume that Democrats are destined to be perpetual Washington Generals in a game that doesn't matter at all except as the grist for these kinds of articles.
What would it look like if we understood that we currently in the middle of an authoritarian attempt, and that the Democrats are currently the best-positioned people to resist this attempt (God help us all), that they have a hell of a lot of work to do get their act together, and that it actually matters whether they succeed? What kind of writing could specifically and constructively criticize Democrats in a way that Democratic leaders and followers would learn from?
Give The Bulwark founders credit. They've gone a long, long way to making common cause with Democrats, and not by praising or agreeing with them at all times, but at least by taking them seriously and keeping the stakes and the common enemy clearly in front of us. The beat writing about the Democrats should embody this approach.
Keep at it.
I know the Dem party are hurting still, since it's only a few months into a long administration, but do yourselves a favour and burn all your 2024 election material you have sitting around the house, and bury the ashes in your backyard under a tree. If you want to win future elections you have to put the past in the past, seriously! Yes Biden broke his promise about a single term, yes he made mistakes as well as some good policy, but you need to wave goodbye to him in the rear window. Trumpelstiltskin will LOVE it if Democrats are still talking about Biden in 26 & 28 (assuming there are still free & fair elections, a slim chance). His demetia means you'll be helping him by making it all about years past.
And no, you Dems should not be silent whilst everything is going on. As MAGA burns down the house you guys should be out there shouting for the fire brigade and letting America know you are willing to hold the hose when the brigade arrives. The way things are going if fair elections do happen they'll be yours to lose, so don't be normal Dems shooting yourselves in the foot. Sack all the pundits you have tagging along working out the exact wording you need to say when a microphone is in front of you. Take a leaf out of Jasmine Crockett's book and actually say what you feel, from the heart and be authentic about it! Also remember that you want to be the elected representatives of your local districts, so you should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. You don't all have to sing from the same songbook, outside the fact that you are against Trump and everything he does - and for God's sake don't say tariffs are good in some circumstances, because they aren't lol.
Last note is for Lauren. I don't know what your contract and job description with the Bulwark entails, but if it includes you need to write as if you are writing a script for a CNN newshour, you need to renegotiate it. You're another that needs to leave 2024 behind, it's done and dusted, the results are in. Talk about stuff that means something to you and write like you believe it, I can get the news from other sources lol. It's good to see younger voices out there, but it means nothing if you are not using your voice and your perspective on things. Use this space to expand on how things are affecting your generation, from your vantage point, and how you think your country needs to change. Leave the rehash of past elections to others, because no matter how often you talk about them or what went wrong, the result will stay the same - Trumpelstiltskin is still the Liar In Chief!
Gotta love PB but the beard won't help and the "if someone you love is upset" blather will fall on deaf ears. Being ideologically highbrow is entirely masturbatory. Assuming such concepts will reach voters versus red meat knife fight rhetoric is to misunderstand the current zeitgeist and entire voting block mentality. THATS NOT HOW YOU WIN! Things have changed. The False Messiah changed them and there's no goin' back baby!
Its good to ask questions about why we lost and what to do. But if in the meantime the vandals are sacking Rome, and we better avoid navel gazing and fight back right now in every way we can.
Democrats have been navel gazing for seven months. It's nuts. No one votes for a party or a candidate because they talk about their mistakes. Everyone who looked at Joe Biden knew he was growing more feeble. That's why his popularity was so low. He didn't have any fight in him.
I wish that Democrats could for once in their lives tout their accomplishments and vision and stop shooting themselves in the foot. The moment calls for action and anger, not apologies.
Pete is a remarkable, capable, passionate, and humble man. I would vote for him without question if he chooses to step up.
Is it me, or does Egan's reporting sound like the NYT pitchbot.?... republicans did something terrible, here's why that's bad for Democrats. She keeps reiterating the same assumptions over and over, (that the Democrats are in disarray, they can't agree on what went wrong or where to go in the future, etc etc). As if all Democrats want to or should agree on everything all the time. This is the same framing that makes me insane about mainstream media. I'd love to hear some of your takes on this.
I really wish they had hired someone to cover Democrats who didn't have contempt for them, and who had a slightly longer memory.
I completely agree with you and generally tend to avoid her articles. There's never any new insight or perspective and she's really, really bad at connecting the dots by which I mean, she personifies the 24 hour news cycle style and doesn't connect what's happening in the moment to what's happened before and what it portends for the the future. Hopefully she's being mentored and will hone her skills...
I’m with Pete!
Mayor Pete is the best chance I’ve seen so far. If the Democrats have something better, they’d better start showing him/her off, pronto! All of this concern about ‘middle ground’ misses the point. The race is going to be personality/character driven and whoever exudes charisma wins. Talking points are extraneous other than as a platform to strut their stuff. BTW, somebody looking very promising will activate the ‘martial law’ forces. They are feeling very afraid of a fair fight. Bullies always are.
I can't believe that Dems are unable to quickly turn the Biden decline question into a question on Trump's obvious decline. Whether or not Biden did decline, he can still answer a policy question more lucidely than the current potus. Dems are always afraid of their own shadow. It's maddening. As for policy, again, this isn't hard. Do Dems believe in anything? What? Say it and mean it. Politics is persuasion. Try it sometime.
Democrats who trash Biden are playing with fire. Biden was voted in by democrats. Democrats supported him and implored people to vote for him while he was running. Democrats touted his record and accomplishments and campaigned for him until he dropped out, then wholeheartedly backed his VP.
If democrats (especially those who served in his administration) decide to do an about face and start bashing him and saying he shouldn’t have run and he was a bad candidate, what voters are going to hear is “you lied to us and we don’t trust you.”
Proceed at your own peril.
Lauren, I like your directness but I think as a long time Democrat, this bashing Joe Biden is an exercise in futility. We all need to remember how many outstanding programs and policies Joe Biden was responsible for. That is part of the reason we lost. Not getting that message out. There are Democrats that can and will make the future a better one. But in order to do so, we do not have to reinvent the wheel. The party knows what we failed to do in 2024. But, the real issue is in educating ignorant voters who bought the felons lies and think that what he promised will in fact happen. They got suckered. When they feel the hurt he is causing, that is when they will wise up. Any Democratic candidate can not overcome that kind of voter ignorance.
Many of us are big fans of Buttigieg and Harris but they are not going to win until we destroy Fox and educate their audience. The Fox audience will continue to be swayed by big money and slurs - a women or a gay president has little chance. Do you remember the stupid attention given to Vance's attack on Harris? A better choice might be Beto - but he's not really white by GOP standards?
I do disagree that the Dems need to look why they lost - both of the last 2 elections were decided by the unregistered voters that were dissatisfied with the performance of the sitting party. For instance Biden promised to help with college debt and didn't. The lower class is speaking up because they are struggling and when the GOP destroys the economy and health care, they will be ready tov vote vs them again. We could be in trouble if we let the GOP change the voting rules and buy votes with Musk's money again - this worries me as SCOTUS and the Federalist Society are corrupt.
There are more registered Dems then GOP.
BTW - waiting in line to vote is so 1950's - if we had a bright and progressive SCOTUS they would demand new rules to vote by phone. Maybe someone should offer Thomas a bigger RV?
‘Biden promised to help with college debt and didn’t’ because the Supreme Court put the kibosh on the plan. It was not a broken promise by Biden.
This feels rude, but I find Lauren Egen pretty blah compared to others at the Bulwark. I can get the straight news voice from the AP and Reuters. Hope you find your footing soon.
I love Pete. I voted for him in the 2020 primary. But I have a feeling that Biden's bullshit is going to take people like Pete down with him, and that's one of several reasons why I think Wes Moore is a better candidate for '28. Being a member of the Biden admin, Pete will constantly be dragged about why he wasn't honest with the public about Biden's mental decline, and I don't know that mainstream voters are going to buy into his excuses about that.
Cabinet members do not criticize their President. Voters not seeing Pete's ability and only equate him as a cabinet member, miss the point. That is the ignorance I was addressing.
"Cabinet members do not criticize their President."
This is kind of my point. Biden put Pete (and all other cab members) in a fatal political position by forcing them to cover over his decline in public. The public might understand why a politician would do that, but they won't like it at all because a whole lot of people thought Biden was too old to be president--especially a 2nd time--and Pete played cover for keeping a guy past his expiration date in office--whether willingly or unwillingly.