Such an important point: “Progressive policies…are very popular in this country…but you have a segment of the Democratic Party that keeps trying to convince progressives we’re losing elections because their policies need to be more moderate.” Matt Dowd I wish more understood this. A confession… 🧵
I struggled with my own political identity for years. There isn’t a progressive policy I don’t support, but I often found myself siding with moderates—because I thought that’s how we win. And honestly, it was how we won in many cases. 2.
That was always the lie they sold you.
Incredibly important post here! As we prepare for fighting within a binary system. I also am left on policy but felt moderate labels opened ears. “Moderates” have lost their right to call themselves reasonable and sane. Watching winds blow and accepting bad faith lies is not the center holding.
Progressive radical ideas might work if we actually commit to them. Voters are willing to burn it down - why not make radical new change that helps people like healthcare and universal income that protects our basic humanity through automation!?
I feel all of this! For a long time I was stuck in the “socially liberal, fiscally moderate” cycle. The current madness has opened my eyes to how corruptly wealth has been moved upward. There is always $ for the rich, for war and for pet projects. It’s time to spend on “we, the people”.
That is what I struggled with too. I thought all the things accomplished were due to the middle. There's no center right, center left any longer. So I support progressive policies and that is what everybody else better understand.
All politics is local, right? You can’t run every race like it’s in New York or Los Angeles. I always understood that. But since November 2024, things have shifted for me. I’ve found myself standing with the left unapologetically, because they are the ones fighting back. 3.
Or trying to?, anyway!!!
I’ve been engaging more with progressives, and even saying it out loud: I’m left. I’m progressive. Do I agree with everything they say or do? No. But that’s okay. We’re in the fight together. More specifically, I’m a pragmatic progressive. 4.
👍😉
I believe in bold, progressive policies—but I’m not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We have to win elections. Republicans are not just a bad option. They’re a dangerous one. I don’t share their values, and I won’t pretend there’s common ground when there isn’t. 5.
moderate corporate democrats need to stop trashing progressives & independents, who dont matter to them in the least until they shame us into voting at election time. they say vote blue no matter whom...until its a progressive running, & then they scream FUCK NO, NOT HIM.!! & rob us of our vote.
i was FURIOUS abt biden being slammed onto the ticket when bernie was the frontrunner, & i was FURIOUS when they said, after the election, that "progressives won us the election", like i predicted they'd say. fcking liars....our black brothers & sisters won us that election.!
I prefer progressive over liberal
But in 2025, I learned something else. I will no longer support candidates who co-opt language from the right to attack the left just to chase white voters they think they lost in 2024. That’s not strategy. That’s betrayal. And it’s unacceptable. 6.
💯
They can find someone else to support them. It won’t be me. That said, when it comes to general elections, I will always support Democrats. The stakes are too high not to. I am a pragmatic progressive, and I own it. -end
Why do you feel the need to qualify your progressive beliefs? STOP it. That is part of their strategy to divide and conquer. Stop buying their explanation. Being progressive IS pragmatic.
Thank you, for all you try to sum up. Truly needs to be said.
I think there are MANY of us!!!
Pragmatic progressive is an oxymoron. You can’t tell me that after jumping on a progressive thread you heard any willingness from them to be pragmatic or open minded to any moderation if it means winning. They are purists who DO actually cause losses to dems.
Well said. I'll never support republicans, period.
Support your candidate until you cannot support them any longer. And then support whomever is the Dem still in the race (fight). Because, as you say, voting Republican isn’t an option. But neither is staying home because your progressive candidate is no longer in the fight.
Thinking giving in to the bratty child will make them behave better is a fallacy we see all too often in this world. How we ended up with a bunch of white dudes my age acting like cartman.
I’ve long said that you cannot work with a party that reacts to us reaching across the aisle by shitting in our open hand. Compromise used to be possible, but now they just keep pushing the Overton Window to the right while we chase them. No more. We fight as lefties or die as a movement.
There. That.
No more bringing a butter knife to a street fight
That is what happened in Canada. We refused to let the rightwing nutbar lead this country through hard times
When the Democratic party did go for a Progressive in Moderate clothing, Clinton, she was vilified. But perhaps what this has all brought home is the compliance, how old a story it truly is. These people will consume us all and then other. Dominance. Media is follow the money, not right or left.
And also... impossible to surgically remove gender as a factor there. We don't know precisely, but we know it's a thing.
This is me. Vote the most progressive candidate in the race, always. Whether that is a moderate democrat or or ultra left, every one of them is better than every republican.
@unroll.skywriter.blue
The thread as a shareable webpage: https://skywriter.blue/pages/did:plc:uo2fna47c4v6zcnklxfhcvjb/post/3lvpdeyawc22c.
Right on. ✊️
Amen!
Unapologetically!
Feel every single thing you said here
another pragmatic progressive here. I did not like Hillary Clinton - she bent with every wind and was a corporate Democrat, but in the end I voted for her because I knew she was a far better choice that the Orange Cancer who ended up winning.
Pragmatic progressive. Left-leaning centrist. Practical local official. I have been all of those. I still work well w/others. But I will never vote for any Republican for anything. People who will trade away American ideals and democratic foreign allies (❤️ 🇨🇦🇺🇦) cant be trusted with power.
✊❤️❤️❤️✊
sankara was a great man. like khadaffi, he threatened the usa control of africa.
This is a pretty accurate description of me as well.
The point about withdrawing support from democrats who co-opt language of the right to attack and disenfranchise progressives is an extremely important insight! We can disagree and discuss, but do not dismiss. Solidarity is how we defeat them.
I often wonder… Did I become a progressive, or did the political spectrum get shifted so far to the right that the progressive label came to me?
Dems problems has been they are cowards and are afraid of articulating why they support something like freedom from religious tyranny, AKA, pro-life fascists. They struggle with being able to connect the dots (like why would men care about bodily autonomy and listening to scientists and experts?)
Progressive policies are not as popular as polls claim they are. The more bigoted voters are, the more they vote against what they claim to support in single-issue polls. This is a VERY bigoted culture, and that means real support for progressive policies is MUCH lower than it appears to be.
“I will no longer support candidates who co-opt language from the right to attack the left just to chase white voters they think they lost in 2024.” But: “When it comes to general elections, I will always support Democrats.”…
…Which begs the question: What if the only Democratic candidate in a general election is one who “co-opts language from the right to attack the left?”
BLESS YOU!!!
I love this. As Progressives we need to work with Democrats, and show up for Democrats in the general elections. We can’t go it alone. But we also need to push from inside. Show up to Dem Primaries! We should also organize as Progressives. Could be a Democratic club, or WFP, or Indivisible…
Think about how a powerful progressive caucus in the house can push the democrats left... just like the freedom caucus pushes the R's right.
same
👏👏👏👏👏
💚🙏🏼💪🏼✊🏼
I'm an old, what's called in Texas, yellow dog Democrat. But, now...
Same
Total respect!
I’ve often used the word pragmatic to describe myself, at least my voting choices. My guiding light has been who is going to do whatever they can to make sure children get fed.
Music to my ears. I think we are now more united than people realize. We just need the leadership!
There are people who think that the only way to win elections is to do nothing, thus upsetting nobody. They want to turn the Democratic Party into a conservative party. But it can’t compete with the Republican Party’s reputation for being conservative. So it’s progressive or nothing.
This is the way.
I too believed appealing to the middle was the way to win over votes to the left. Sometimes it worked, but not anymore. We can’t expect a different result from the same tired playbook. The reason people are threatened by the likes of AOC and Mamdani are exactly why we need them.
I've been saying that all along. Dems always think they can persuade the maga voters to see things their way. Ain't gonna happen. They need to persuade the one-third of people who never vote to get out and vote. That's the difference between winning and losing.
I’ve shared a similar experience. At some point I realized perhaps I was the problem. Until we stop supporting the “middle” (which has moved very far right) we won’t make any progress. I now equate the middle with corporate owned Dems. I fight like hell in the primaries for progressive candidates.
I think the issue is most progressives aren’t pragmatic. I’m the same way, I think basically everything they say is the way things should be. Problem is, to achieve those goals you have to do things like convince millions of Americans on very good health care plans to give those up. Hard to do.
And the second you bring that up you are an “asshole normie lib” or some shit. It’s like you don’t have to convince me everyone should have health care, you have to convince a subset of the population that drinks raw milk and thinks vax have Gates nanoparticles. And they accept no middle ground
Good points!
I live in a country w national health care and also have private insurance. National is great for the annual stuff, the big stuff like cancer, organ transplants. Private is faster, freedom of choice of drs., more services. Most drs. wrk public and private.
Yes!!
I'm in a similar but not identical position. One thing I'm afraid we're up against is that the current crop of elected Democrats have been trained that the left will always abandon them when the going gets tough.
We have to retrain them, and the left has to stick with it through more than just one election. I don't know how we get there without spending years out of power. We can't afford those years, and we've just started down this road.
Yasss'sir!
💯
Ohhh, yes. 💯
Hello, I am Misulin Bahadur. I have 6 children and I live in Gaza. Can you help me? gofund.me/556d5689
Game theory should be employed in today's politics. Anyone against Trump and MAGA should support the candidate who has the best chance of beating MAGA, whether that person is the party favorite or not.
💙🇺🇸💪
Voting for republicans (or not voting at all) is not the solution. It’s the problem.
Well said.
You are speaking for me.
Yesssssss ‼️ agree with you 💯
Well said. Thank you. Same here.
I like your term "Pragmatic Progressive".
What you shared in your string of comments is spot on. I'm 70 & ready for dramatic change, as I feel Progressive policies are the next step in Dem-political policy evolution The old guard need embrace change like some elder voters have or they need to pass the baton Let the younger remake the US
I am 64 and feel the same. The same old same old we have been experiencing is obviously not working, so time for some kick-ass attitudes - as he says, that speak to the gut. Plus, it is natural (and vital) to have younger people take the reins with new perspectives and energy.
Agree
Mamdani represents a turning point in our elections. Bernie was/is it with progressive's ideology. He, like I @70 & others, recognize Progressive is the next phase of democracy. The younger generations should be allowed to elect those they believe can do best for them. Time to change the guard.
Yep. Hilary Clinton almost lost my vote when she was in Philly and addressed the crowd of whites (like 97%) and said “we know who the hardworking Americans are”. She was trying to appeal to them from a white working class perspective but it edged too close to me to racist pandering/stereotypes.
I’m voting for whoever the Ds put up. I’m not fussy. The Republican/ MAGA have all caved to Trump/Vance and the billionaires. You are a vanity voter if you split any kind of hairs at this point- even the moderate Ds are getting my active support. Every port in a storm folks!👊✊🇺🇸
Or we could look at this as an opportunity to solve some of the problems that have been plaguing the Dems for years. At what point do we stop "electing whatever Dem is running" -- playing defense -- and elect the people who will actually vote in the policies that serve US.
I would argue that moderate Dem policies, particularly under delivering on the economic policies and not addressing billionaires is how we ended up here Vote for lesser evils in the general, but primaries are very important right now to get the party away from being Republicans from 20 years ago.
If we don't address how they lost 2/3 times to the orange fascist, or how the Dems are still currently polling as less popular than Republicans, then I fear we're doomed to just repeat things. We'll ratchet further to the right evermore as the Democrats still refuse to deal with their problems.
I agree with this!
Hide the veggies, not serve candy. We need more proud smart fast progressives!
"That's not strategy. That's betrayal." Two good full-stops, man.
I reached out to Dems when I discovered Texas was 50th in special education. Realizing that some of our Dems do not give a 💩 was a giant smack of reality. Our politicians need to represent us, they need to work for us, and they need to give a 💩. Betsey Waters said it best, but she usually does.
💯 !
🎯 I'm with you on this
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
1000% THIS
bsky.app/profile/albe...
YES!
Definitely! It's a death blow, not to an individual, but the all of USA, and entire world.
This right here.
Hello, I am Misulin Bahadur. I have 6 children and I live in Gaza. Can you help me? gofund.me/556d5689
I like that term. It's realistic.
Pragmatic! Yes!
This is Nebraska.
No thinking person--as opposed perhaps to mesmerized cult members...if even them--will EVER agree 100% with everything their sociopolitical "in-group" believes, says or does. Anyone searching for a perfect political home is engaged in a snipe hunt and is headed for grief and disillusionment.
Me 2. I’m a pragmatic liberal/progressive. Honestly, to support civil rights & its history you have 2b. However, I won’t ever not vote just because a democratic candidate is singing the song out of tune from my POV. Why? Bcuz Rs narrow focus excludes (me) & threatens democracy. Ds not so much.
I identify myself in your comments.
Yes! 💯
I like the sound of that. A "pragmatic progressive" is much better. I'm not in the "defund police" camp, but I'm not in the unlimited funding camp either.
Christopher I am willing to fight on your side everyday.
I wish more people would be pragmatic.
Yes!!!!
As a former conservative and 35 year Republican, the most important thing I’ve learned is: The opposite of progressive isn’t conservative - it’s regressive. I don’t want to go back to racism, sexism, homophobia, music bans, rampant pollution, the Hayes code, etc so now I’m a progressive!
"All Politics is local" that's the most important point still. The swing states determined the President, you must adjust the messages wherever you go. It can be done without betraying core values.
I always admired Bernie, but never supported him. Because he didn't have a chance. Now...he's getting heard. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 And he's brought some young'uns along with him!
Politics is local in some cases. In West TN (where i live), Congressman Kustoff all but runs unopposed! Why? Last two election the democrats ran: 1. A black Female who never campaigned.
2. A white female who was born in Bedford, Virginia. She earned a high school diploma from the West High School, Davenport, Iowa. She also earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1996, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa in 1981.
Her career experience includes working as a professor. Now, do you think the LARGLY white hayseed hick overall wearing farmers in West TN are gonna vote for a Black woman or a White 'elitist' overly educated woman who is not even from the area? The answer is 'Hell No'.
It pains me to write this but Dems will never win this seat. What HAS to happen is a McCain old school 'man of the people' republican needs to primary Kustoff. Kustoff has not held a town hall in years. An opponent holding them could win this thing!
I believe that Democrats win by identifying the needs of their potential constituents and addressing those needs by offering concrete solutions and doing so on an upbeat manner.
I've identified as a far left liberal Democrat because of the Reagan years, until now. Now I'm a liberal, progressive Democrat because the far right has gone so far right, they've driven off the track. We need a hard course correction with progressives leading, not more same old, same old centrists
The Electoral College is absolutely NOT local.
John Brown was right
Agree! 💯
I agree, wholeheartedly. In normal times I may have been a moderate, but at this moment, I am actively protesting out loud and in your face, because our house is truly on fire. We cannot get a cup of water to put out this raging inferno that is destroying our democracy. We need all hands on deck.
They are the ones who didn’t vote or voted 3rd party! The far left is the least reliable voting block, going all the way back to when they voted for Ralph Nader because they thought Al Gore was boring.
That is my experience of working (not in politics, just at work) with the core of the Democratic Party--older Black women. They were moderate because they keep hoping against hope that it would be enough to get white voters.
The evolution in feelings of Black women during the '08 election was visible and also heartbreaking: resisting supporting Obama over their desires➡️fear that his Blackness would be blamed for Dems' loss ➡️ fear that he'd be another martyr. Not one phase was untempered by fear.
It is also how they lost in many more. Democrats controlled the Congress for almost the entirety of 50 years. They lost that control as the centrists took over the party with the Clinton’s. Now republicans control Congress more often than Dems. Dems only win backlash cycles.
The reason they lost the ‘94 midterms and the 50 year majority was PRECISELY because of progressive policies like universal healthcare, NOT centrist policies. Read this for yourself.
Democrats did not pass universal healthcare. Elections are not determined by what republicans say. If anything democrats got punished for NOT PASSING THE AGENDA THEY RAN ON. Aside from that democrats were losing ground throughout the 80s as they backed Reaganism more and more.
Clinton only won because of Perot. It also is not a good idea to tell off someone from your base of support in an election. The Clintonites have you guys convinced of things that just aren’t true.
Yeah. They started running scared after that. Republicans took advantage of that fear by pushing the Overton Window as far right as they could. Dems chased that—never quite pushing it back but never fully. And here we are today.
They did not lose that control bc of Clinton. They lost because the Dixiecrats that had eventually decided to assimilate back into the Democratic Party started dying off, and the Southern white voters who had left the party over civil rights but kept voting for the Dixiecrats then switched parties.
This is why West Virginia was a solid blue state, until Robert C. Byrd died, whereupon it flipped hard red.
Democrats were swept out in northern states like Ohio as well. Then they decided to stop even organizing in rural America at all, in a system designed to favor rural America. In the 2016 cycle there were a couple parts of red states where the only Democrat on the ballot was the clintonkaine ticket.
It was how we won...in the 1990s. But Obama's win and then Biden's proved people WANT progressive policies, because those were what they both campaigned on. They both tended to govern more moderate, though, which I think explains a lot of what happened.
Don't forget the effect Congress had on both of them trying to implement their policies.
I agree, that's where a lot of the issues popped up, Congress has been full for too long with these corporate Dems who go against what the Democratic party used to be for decades.
I was referring to not having filibuster-proof majorities.
There's that, but there's also been too many Democrats who occasionally vote with Republicans in general, see how many votes a lot of Cheeto's newest Cabinet have gotten from Dems.
It’s how we got fascists controlling our government
You do not know it is what won sometimes. You are assuming that too.
By the time Oregon voted the candidate was chosen but I now regret it wasn’t Bernie. We need leaders who want real change. When a handful of billionaires are running our country & giving themselves tax breaks they don’t fucking need while people lose their healthcare, it’s beyond time to change.
Both things can be true?
I want specifics. Im sick of people on the sidelines complaining without specifics. Im sick of the Left not taking responsibility for losing democrats elections. What policy was watered down?
I really relate to this. I have had my own political evolution that has led me to identify as a progressive. I have voted Democrat my entire life, but now I find myself further to the left of my younger self.
I relate.
Honestly, same. But I started to realize that progressives are almost always right. Israel/Gaza is one example where I had a much more centrist view of things right up until the election. The far left was right. I was so wrong.
Same
The Clinton effect
Yes, with his triangulation strategy. Frankly, I felt like Obama governed like a left leaning republican. I’ll take flack for that (and that’s okay). I do understand the congressional context. However, I wish he and the Ds had pushed harder on some issues during his first two years in office.
Likewise.
The thing about Bill Clinton, though, is that he "talked progressive" but his policies were not. His "Third Way" appeasement approach gave us private prisons, school vouchers, industry consolidations (especially media), CDO legalization, & the repeal of Glass-Steagall banking regulations.
Of course "progressive policies" are important to the American people, or at least the enlightened ones. Time moves forward, or in another word, PROGRESSES. It's kind of impossible to go backward in time.
This describes my husband I am very much a progressive liberal, and he argues that Dems need to be more centrist to attract Rep voters to switch. I disagree.
Matt Dowd said that??? WTF is happening?
Say that!! 🔥🔥🔥
I’m tired of progressive policies being dismissed as “left” when they’re just what happens when government wants to be responsible and responsive to the largest % possible of its citizens. “Promote the general welfare…” is right up front in the Constitution, dammit! It’s an originalist proposition!
A case in point is - pick any* of Bernie Sander's rallies.
Preach! You said ALL. OF. IT!
Truth
Yes, to your entire statement!
Most independents lean center (I include myself in that bunch), which is why when ideas go too much to the left, Dems lose appeal.
📌
Yeah, shore up the base instead of trying so hard to be MAGA lite and peel off some red voters... You will never be "conservative" enough for MAGA or the GOP in general. This line of Democratic "strategy" has always baffled me... That along with helping the "crazy" candidates win GOP primaries.
Bull Shit. Let's re-examine how the centrists are now left radicals due to the how far Right things have shifted. Govt subsidizing childcare, national Healthcare, paid parental leave. You know successful policies other countries have.
Maybe that segment of the Dem Party is listening too much to big money contributors and not their constituents!😡
👍
We live in an election fraud autocracy, as witnessed here: thiswillhold.substack.com/p/ex-cia-whi...
Thank you, Sir, & I am 💯 with you. Power to the People. ✊🏽💙
How much more "moderate" could Democratic Party policies be? They won't even support universal healthcare coverage, which even conservative parties support in most Western countries, including Canada. They won't support a universal daycare program, which Canada now has and all parties support.
No, let's be real. Dems do have a communication problem, but they're losing elections because the GOP has managed to capitalize on hate and turn empathy and respect for those different than you into a bad thing. And apparently, this is a much more hateful country than most of us believed, pre-Trump
the older i get the further left i slide. bernie's the only politician in my lifetime whose ideas were close to my own. i voted obama 3 times ( the 1st primary & both elections ) & was disappointed by some things he did or didnt do. i do get why he felt he had to walk on eggshells but still...
He is not wrong.
The section of the Democratic Party who don't or won't accept that “Progressive policies…are very popular in this country," are usually corrupt and bought by their donors.
Old-school #Dems thinking is the reason we are where we are. #Progressives are the only ones fighting for democracy... It all makes me think some #Democrats are simply joining the Elitists, closet #magas.
As a moderate Democrat, I've always been for progressive ideas. The problem I found with the left is many of their progressive ideas lack structure. They get angry when you tell them that. I also realize that to get progressive ideas through, you need power, the more power the better. 1/
The left has cost us significant power with poorly thought out slogans like defund the police. Don't care what you mean by it, you need to understand what it sounds like to political opponents and how they can use it. I look at what's happening on the Supreme Court with voting rights today... 2/
and I have a really hard time for giving the left that told me Supreme Court picks don't matter and the Democrats needed to be punished and cost us desperately as a federal level. These are very unserious people to me and until they can acknowledge their role in this they will remain so to me....3/
Not because I need to hear them say they were wrong, but I need to hear them understand what went wrong and why and how it gets fixed. And it's harder, so much fucking harder to fix today and it would have been back in 2016 and much of it because of the left... 4/
The Democrats as a party have been liberal. They want change. But they cannot work for change with absolutely no power in the government. When the left refused to show up. When the left chose to vote third party over and over in districts were a third party couldn't win, they cost us power... 5/
And now they scream at Democrats. Mandani It's very likely to win in NYC. Because Democrats understand the alternatives they risk are worse. They're not going to go out and vote to punish the left, they're going to go out and vote for the lesser evil, because it will always be the lesser... 6/
Fucking evil to someone. 350M people are not entitled to their specific candidate. You vote for the fucking person that can win that closest aligns to you. You build fucking power and you use it. While we've been dicking around poking each other with sticks, that is exactly what Republicans did.
I’m sure you’ve heard the Bill Clinton quote, “Democrats want fall in love. Republicans fall in line.” Perfectly explains the challenges within the Dem party and why Republicans continue to hold power even though they are in the minority nationally.
It explains it some. What else explains it is the unbelievable lack of knowledge about the basics of how our government works and the absolute willfulness to refuse to learn how to pull the levers to gain the power to make the change you want.
🎯
Same in the UK and I imagine many other places.
The issue is not the policies, the issue is letting themselves be branded by Trump and GOP. Example - Want to protect criminal immigrants... Many voters can't resolve nuance.
I agree!!
I get it.. they like their cushy lives
See ACA.
Yeah what's wrong with being progressive? Okay let's not be progressive, we don't want to be progressive... Let's go back in time and become slaves and poor let's do that instead... Argh 😫
'A segment': neoliberals, rentiers, the status quo, late-stage capitalists. . . call that segment what you will, but the consistent hallmark is a desire to keep on keeping on because the returns are good and a lip-service to social policy is of no consequence. Conservatives are honest in their evil.
Stop dragging the Overton Window to the right. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton...
Remember when Universal Healthcare was not a “progressive “ policy, but actually considered to be a universal right by Dems? A problem is that the Dems have allowed the “center” to move toward the right.
The segment is composed of corporate dems. They negotiate with the billionaires to get a few crumbs for the people. The people are fed up with crumbs. Tax the rich. Medicare for all. Money out of politics. Go big on these issues and don’t stop until you have it. That’s how the gop wins.
Forget siding with moderates! If the US has any chance of survival the popular progressive policies have to be implemented. There is no other way.
Yup.
Key to the upcoming elections is communication of popular democratic policies.
Or, the progressives, centrist democrats, & independents all share the same issues of unmanageability & unsustainability in their family's lives, but realize an aggressive strategy will most effectively trigger behavior. Call it the Mamdani effect. This still doesn't mean the party can coalesce.
In 2025 if you don’t know this you’re clueless. Everyone hating on Bernie but love his policy ideas.
Is it trying to elect a female president too "progressive"?
Huh?
Sometimes Democrats are their own worst enemy.
Those people are all the republicans who can’t stand trump so they became Dems and are trying to pull the party right.
This. All day. Run a primary in every D race. Every one. Old farts and wimps need to head off to pasture.
The fact that most americans haven't learned this has enabled the dem party to become increasingly right wing, while using progressive policy to get elected... That's why they never attempt to keep their campaign promises.
Can someone please let Rob Sand of Iowa know this? He is positioning himself slightly to the left of maga and he is going to lose.
I disagree.
Nah. You really don’t get it.
I certainly hope Democrats are writing their own Project 2028 with a path to get there, including 2026 midterms. Have those Executive Orders ready on day 1 to overturn all this shit and Bill’s ready to shove through Congress. Like all disasters, you must have a plan. OODA Loop for unforeseens.
Progressive policies and ideas individually poll well but the public regularly votes against those very same concepts when it actually matters
Not on the local level. Much easier to get the most progressive candidate in office there. When you broaden it out it's more difficult. Vote Bernie, or someone like him in the national level, until he's out. He'll push the platform left. Then vote the next most left leaning, and so on.
And don't vote third party. Gain power, have a strong left wing, make change, show people it works, and keep pushing in the next election,
Follow it with the same philosophy in the senate, house, governors, state legislatures, city/town council, etc. Just dint quit when the they don't all become the Democratic Party candidate.
Due to 50 years of neoliberal economic propaganda that made us believe the ludicrous notion that if we give all our money to billionaires we’ll have more money. 😳
Note: Most of us never actually believed that.
Well, the smart ones maybe never did, but I’ll bet most people don’t know that the people who made up neolib economics admit now that it was bullshit. How many people still think that government should run like business, that tax cuts on the wealthy stimulate the economy?
Too many, probably, but I'm sure most of those benighted true believers are MAGAs or MAGA-adjacent. I don't know any Democrats who buy into the "trickle-down" nonsense; they understand it's more like "gushes up".
How many neolib Dems hate on progressives worse than they hate on MAGA? Too many still don’t understand the economics behind Dem establishment inaction snd feigned incompetence.
Exactly!Those policies are coming home to roost! And hard working people are sick of this shit!The Democrats have a chance to flip the narrative of they embrace the left instead of fighting it!
And racism. Everything has been framed as a zero sum game (at least by republicans) & even some Democrats in trying to get white voters. It’s more subtle tho.
I voted for Bernie in the CA Primary. I wasn't voting for the Win but voicing my opinion that Bernie was more progressive; nudging Hillary further left of center. Of course I voted for Hillary in 2016 general. Way too pragmatic to vote for a third candidate, any time. People who do drive me insane.
The primaries are your opportunity to change the party and get rid of ineffective leaders. You are right to have voted with your heart in the primaries and your head in the general election.
Thx!! I'll never forget Ralph Nader and Florida... But, also sure there are more I have forgotten.
And we are fed up with these corporate democrats. They’ve put us here as much as anyone but musk who I still believe rigged it.
That's like trying to warm up a cold bath with lukewarm water.
Initially it may have been true but the more radically MAGA has moved to the far right the more left the rest of us have become. Dem leaders better get with the program & recognize their base has moved away from them or get out of the way!! @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social @schumer.senate.gov
Half the people that voted for Trump thought he was getting them Universal Healthcare. We all suffer under our current healthcare system.
When you hear a Democrat claiming that we have to kick trans folks, immigrants, etc. to the curb to win, the first question should always be, "Where will they be when I need someone fighting for ME?!?" Because we're all on that list of people who can be tossed if they need to.
Another words you need to accept bribery in politics forget whats affecting peoples lives, NO , the neo liberal, neo cons days are over, Bribed Democrats time to end the jump onboard the Republicon bribery train! Its tracks are going over the clift! Either get onboard the everyday people or else!
I’m with you. I have become alighted with progressives because it’s time we started doing something else. The current system is not working for the rest of us. Where we lose some moderates is culture war issues. The party needs to emphasize the things that will change Americans quality of life.
Progressive policies are fine and are largely supported, it's the extreme left PC issues that turn voter away. If we focused on making life affordable for everyone instead of all the PC bullshit we would win a lot more elections.
I believe it’s all in how it’s presented. Universal healthcare, lifetime public education and retraining, universal childcare programs, a functioning, humane immigration system etc etc. I believe these are basic policies that most Americans would support.
#VoteThemAllOut We have a captured government. The only thing to do is to vote them all out. Sure there's a couple that will probably survive, but we need to vote out every incumbent. Because these people will never have our interests at heart.
One other point: we can no longer let the "right" define our policy positions. The right pushes a narrative on us and we immediately abandon our ideals.
Problem is the stranglehold of the moderates over the party's platform bc they r more interested in appeasing corporate and rich donors& the administrative upper middle class. Today's centrist establishment Dems would've actually been considered conservatives 50 yrs ago while the GOP's gone fascist
This is absolutely true.
The dems are terrible at messaging.
I’m a Democrat and I believe that the job of the government is to work for the people. And that the government CAN work for the people when it isn’t being destroyed. * I feel that is the basis of the Democratic Party.
FDR was very progressive and hit hard with it. How popular was he? He won 4 presidential elections which prompted the republicans to push for term limits on presidents. Learn from history…go big or stay home
Approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans were put into concentration camps during World War II. This mass removal was authorized by Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. The majority of those interred were U.S. citizens. This is not "progressive."
Yes it was a horrific & shameful stain on his legacy. Despite unconstitutional internments of Japanese American citizens, violating his otherwise progressive proposed 2nd (social) bill of rights, regulation of WS, FDIC, Soc Sec, etc has recognized FDR historically the most progressive presidency.
He also specifically excluded black people from the Social Security Act and the National Labor Relations Act, and instituted redlining at the FHA. Nobody with a functional understanding of US history calls FDR a progressive. Quit spreading partisan horseshit.
❤️
I describe myself as a pragmatic progressive, too. It’s a movement. 👊
I think first of all, the Dems need to compromise on a direction we think the country should move towards. I think there is sound thinking to being both moderate and progressive, but we need a unified message. This needs to happen quickly. Then we can move to winning the midterms and beyond.
So well said Christopher!
Thanks, my friend. 🙏🏽❤️
The Neoliberal brainrot in the party leadership is hurting what slim hope they offer against the Reich-wing.
Democrats need to pay attention to this
This is soooo true!
All pols answer to their donors first. These 2 won't support Mamdani
You couldn’t have made your point without putting a racist meme in my replies?
Tap Dancers = dancing to AIPAC'S tune. Really complcated! ▶️ All Jeffries has to do is say "I support the Democratic candidate for Mayor,no matter who it is, but Israel won't let him ▶️ While Booker fellates Israeli War Criminal, Gallant for a photo op, in his DC office. ▶️A perfectly fitting analogy
Thanks for calling that out.
I was just going to say something about that.
Bernie is popular! Right up there with The Pope! news.gallup.com/poll/693155/...
Bernie is old. I thought that was a cardinal sin. Or is that just for Joe Biden?
Bernie is old. I'm referencing his progressive policies not him for the presidency.
Polling reveals what should be obvious. The public prefers social democratic policies because these policies make good sense. Investments in public health, retirement security and educational and employment opportunities are crucial. Not every family has resources. That's why we chip in.
Biden signed Infrastructure bill, $400 Bil in climate chg legislation, $188 Bil in student loan relief, PACT act for vets, Chips bill to bring back manufacturing and Dems got shat on….so do they really want that or just a white cis male felon instead🤔
"They"?
The establishment Dems shat on Biden and got what they deserved. Unfortunately, it’s literally killing us.
Ugh the genocide joes, anti establishment Berners and I’m not voting for the black woman tanked the Harris campaign and are proud of their work…so stop trying to blame the folks who’ve been working in the trenches for yrs trying to hold onto gains made only for them to be stabbed in the back…
I am so sick of them. Are they still waiting by the mailbox for their pony to arrive? 🦄
We're losing elections bc the DNC refuses to be anything more than a pack of pussies! They refuse to change (get tough/fight) bc their afraid of Trump for some unknown reason. We need, No, we demand change! We're sick of taking the high road. But the GOP knows that the DNC will never change.
That segment is what I like to call the Bill Maher whiners. They grab hold of a weird poll result that they misinterpret and use it to claim that being like Hillary Clinton is more of a winning strategy than being like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Besides, Maher's a sexual harasser...
Here's the thing, the majority of Dems are beholden to the same lobbyists as the Reps. The majority of politicians are 2 sides of the same corrupt coin. For decades, Bernie was the only one who didn't trade stocks or accept $ from lobbyists. Both sides hate him equally. His agenda is well liked tho.
Progressive, liberal, moderate, conservative, raving Trump lunatic… I don't think it's as simple as a needle moving left or right. There are certain "progressive" positions that alienate a large swath of Americans. We do best when concentrating on bread and butter issues and women's rights.
I just said this to my partner last night!! Democrats problems are not policies it is communication.
We’re a full 7 months into Trump 2.0 and I still don’t know what the Dems message is.
bsky.app/profile/xxch...
bsky.app/profile/xxch...
You have donors who don't like progressive policies because they lose power. Better just to have ineffectual leaders in the opposition.
The Good Guys are losing elections for one primary & very simple reason: The Bad Guys flood the zone with crafted pernicious propaganda. Lies. Big money. More lies. Designed to ignite emotions. A refrain I hear: “I don’t know what to believe. They’re all crooks.” Disengagement. Persuasion.
They flood the zone with shit (as it used to be called).
We have to keep getting the facts out, using all platforms. Don’t despair.
Yes, a great point. Another thing is I always hear about progressives and liberals. They are fundamentally different than conservatives because conservatives always add things that have nothing to do with ideals.
I agree with everything you wrote 100% and I would also describe myself this way
❤️
+1
We’re DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVES. We’re not supposed to agree with ANYTHING 100%. NOTHING is perfect and claiming it is with “I wouldn’t change a thing” is what lost the election. “I agree 100%” is what Orwellian sheep say. Please please! Someone agree with that 100% and prove my point.
Same ✋
Same here. The crappy thing is where I live in western NY, basically 99% of the democrats have that old mindset. Which is why someone like AOC wouldn't stand even the tiniest chance in even a state wide primary. Basically all the dems here are at least a little "GOP curious" and HATE progressives
It's the fear of other people having better stuff from the government, not the table scraps from the business owners.
I believe Dowd’s point to be accurate.
Yes, times 1000x. It's like we've got our own version of the NRA.
This is *Matt Dowd* of all people, btw... "Matthew John Dowd (born May 29, 1961) is an American political pundit and consultant. He was the chief strategist for the Bush–Cheney 2004 presidential campaign..." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew...
This fucking guy. driftglass.blogspot.com/2024/10/matt...
Every politician knows this, they are paid by the wealthy to pretend to be stupid.
The point of the speaker in this video about communication is so critical too. Dems tend to use the language of the highly educated, multi-syllabic words, complex sentence structures; not clear, directive, imperative sentences. We need to talk like regular people.
1000% agree
Thx for this CLEAR message.
Absolutely!
The division between people and donors.
The current DNC has fossilized
💯% 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Move over Roll Overs Out Dated Schumer Pelosi Jeffries Booker
Haha, okay
Progressive policies, Bernie's policies will win the election.
What’s funny to me, is of all the Dems I know, most were centrist. Now they have all moved a bit to the left. The word “socialist” used to scare them but Democratic Socialism is getting legs as a way to say “give back to the voters.”
Follow the $billionaire donations ...
Progressive policies are always popular in theory, but what always happens is that the potential of them passing drums up an insane backlash. The mere promise of universal healthcare led to the rise of the Tea Party and the Democrats being crushed in 2010.
They also get diluted & thrown out window when the saber rattling of race starts. Whites run away and turn their backs. Why? Black people will benefit. It both tells their stereotypes about black people, their fears re: black people, and that they don’t know black people.
I've always thought of it like a horseshoe. The problem is that the pendulum has swung so far to the right, liberal dems are actually right of the middle. The only people on the left are progressives.
No kidding. Moderates will win over trump anytime but the organization shows too many elbows wanting their voices at the top of the agenda
BINGO! BINGO! BINGO!
I think the way some people express policies they are passionate about is an obstacle sometimes. Almost like a demand that others show anger in order to be admitted to the club. I don't want Trumpism, but I don't want to replace it with an angry mob, either. I like diplomacy and negotiation.
This is the time to move further to the left. The moderate Dems have to be educated that staying in the middle means the republicans continue with advantage. This is time for major change in the Democratic Party. Policy and players. Dems in the swamp have to go.
Perhaps it’s because they aren’t doing a good enough job selling those policies.
He made a more important point about addressing people by what is in their heart rather than what is in their brain. Logic does not win people over. Democrats are always thinking, but they spend almost no attention on feeling, which is what motivates most people.
Fascism has been popular also. People believe BS, and you don't get anywhere telling them they are wrong. Elections are won with votes, not polls. Moderates were not moderate because they did not like progressive policy, rather winning requires independent voters, who lean into BS.
I completely feel every bit of your post. Same, same, same here.
A segment of the Democratic party is not democratic. Their way, non progressive, is just that. We need more pro labor and less pro management. Give the people what they want or get the hell out. We get what we're strong enough to take, together. Fight the right.
Absolutely, we need these middle of the toad, peace time politicians to grow a pair or get out of the way! We will only see progress through progressive policy. You're not going to appeal to working class people while you're still pandering to rich. Get rid of the lobbyists and corporate donars!
@sanders.senate.gov has been saying this for years and advised Kamala Harris to lean into progressive policy. She didn't listen. Didn't listen about Gaza either.
The centrist are moving to take up the void left by alt right. But they forget that the progressive left is not automatically absorbed.
most aren't interested in the middle anymore. "centrists" sound people-friendly but, as we found w/Clinton & Obama, they give preference to their alliance w/industrialists and control of assets & data we want Bernie Sanders-like candidates. Mamdanis, Crocketts et al. no more Schumers & Jeffries
This is a man who has been a Rep, Ind and Dem. He knows what he’s talking about. Preach Matt!
The most progressive societies in the world - those with universal health care & many other social programs - tend to be ranked as the best places to live. They have the high standards of living, longer life expectancies, less poverty and homelessness, happier populations. US rarely breaks top 20.
This has to be a parody account. Most Americans aren't this stupid.
So wanting health care coverage for all, parental leave is now too radical?
It's ALWAYS been 'too radical'... HillaryCare anyone? But since Citizen's United it's become toxic. The corporations do not want universal healthcare. The insurance companies have spent billions lobbying against it. Billions that COULD HAVE BEEN SPENT ON HEALTHCARE.
It shouldn’t be. It is squarely center left. But the right has gone so far to the right and drug the Dems along with them that they act like solid center left democratic socialism is dangerous. 🙄
*Corporatist Dems willfully followed them
Yes. For the longest time, I couldn't understand what they meant by far left. Because everyone they described as far left just seemed reasonable to me. I am in my forties and the Democrats have been dragged right my entire life. It's crazy how skewed it is.
Karl Rove used to openly talk about how that was the strategy . . . and that strategy has worked.
The other big truth that Matt spoke is that 35% of Democrats are upset with the Democratic Party because we see them not fighting to save democracy. They cave and capitulate instead of resisting and fighting back!
Yes, but that, at least, seems to be changing. Several of the Democratic governors especially appear to have come to the realization that they're trying to play by the rules against people who wipe their asses with the rules and that that's a losing game. It's late but maybe not too late yet.
Here’s the thing: The three branches are lawlessly destroying the democratic infrastructure and checks and balances faster than we can respond. We have to all intensify our efforts in an urgent literal disaster. I don’t know what all that looks like, but we all must do something, do more, and fast!
Yes! We have to push and prod them, and support them. I know my Congressman and go to every townhall. I get out on the street regularly with our Dem club and Commit To Democracy. I regularly write postcards to swing districts I wrote a book-The Happy Activist. We need to be out in the streets daily!
👍❗💯
They impeached Dump TWICE and were rewarded by getting kicked out of office so miss me with the fight bs…🙄
Those were two battles. And then Trump lost an election. This is a war. We have authoritarian rule. Your thoughts?
Stop dragging Dems, unify party and let’s pick off MAGA districts to get House and Senate back! Let’s start there…the continuous denigration of Democrats only helps MAGA and depresses potential voters…talk about bills passed while in majority which shows they can lead…
The 35% is fact. I’m 14 year active member of largest Dem Club on the planet, continually writing postcards, attending rallies. When I had to be in FL for 2yrs, I was paid by FL Dems, volunteered to flip Anna Paulina Luna’s FL13 & was on a special content creation team for Biden, then Kamala.
Ok fine…again there are TWO choices…so that 35% need to get onboard to help defeat MAGA instead of sniveling and dragging Dems who are actually doing work! Dems fought cried and hollered about Project 2025 and got dismissed so now they need to fight and decide if they want a democracy!
Support independent media, for sure. Fight against gerrymandering. Participate in turning out the vote AND assuring all votes are counted. Call Congressional reps daily. Tell them to do whatever is necessary-like the Texas Dems. Congress should have not allowed a quorum for the Bad Bad Bill!
👊🏾👊🏾👊🏾
Yes!
I agree with every damn word!
Matt's got it totally right....
Clinton ended running on ideals for the Dems. And that became the establishment. After he introduced triangulation it switched running on ideals to chasing after polls. It used to be leaders communicated ideas to convince people. Now the establishment chases after what polls tell them is hot.
The leaders of the DEMs are corporate. They dont support progressives. Screw them. Moderate keeps the door open for more corporate money. Progressive will cost corporations because they will have to clean up their messes, pay fair tax & treat their employees like valued assets not slaves.
"I believe in bold, progressive policies—but I’m not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good." Now, let's see how those who most often call themselves "left/progressive" react to that. I'd bet there are lots of "pragmatic progressives." I'd be one. BUT:➡️
"Left/progressives" piss me off with their constant, wholesale Dem-bashing & burn-it-down crap. So I can't identify with terms they've stolen & ruined. They were yelling "genocide Joe/killer Kamala" before Nov. '24. They helped give us Trump 2.0. That made it flying fuck/rolling donut time for me.
Meanwhile, "Mainline Democrats" such as yourself do nothing but tamp down on Progressives that have any energy and are getting voters active- From Bernie to AOC to now Mamdani. And face it- Biden fully backing Netanyahu was the worst foreign policy blunder of any Democratic president since LBJ.
Thanks for providing a TRULY deplorable illustration of the destructive dumbassery from the so-called pRoGrEsSiVe LeFt that pisses me off. Much obliged. Tell me, if you can before I mute you: Are you ENJOYING how things have gone in Gaza since you helped get Trump back in office? Gnat-wit.
That Undecided movement, probably funded by russian bot farms really netted some results. For Trump.
LOL I voted for Harris. Thing is, maybe if Biden didn't outright support genocide, the Palestinian expat vote in Michigan may have turned out for him, and that bloc was huge. But you know, keep on yelling at Progressives ya loser.
A pragmatic progressive is a liberal.
Not to mention Republicans have been very effective in confusing people regarding popular Dem programs. Example: people hate ObamaCare but love the Affordable Care Act, which of course are one and the same.
Bernie Sanders was right ,too bad the Dems chose the wrong person & the Media was so enthralled with the orange clown.
Sanders is not, was not, and never will be a Dem. The party chose one of their own as it should have. He wanted all the party power with none of the work and his supporters stamped their little feet and handed the county over to the cretics in power now.
Takes two to argue, you have your point of view, I have mine. He had bigger crowds than dumpy or Hillary & he appealed to young people & he,after Hillary was chosen gave her his full support . Guess your idea of work is different than mine
Progressive policies address America's CENTRAL issues & solutions for our present & future. Progressives are America's CENTRISTS. Moderate Democrats are America's Center Right.
The Dem establishment, epitomized by Sen Chuck Schumer, is either totally out of touch with the people, or they just don’t give a damn. That’s why they’ll keep losing.
Minimum wage is the problem. We need to aim toward UBI also. We need young ones to stop taking jobs that adults need. Immigration and young ones can do similiar jobs, when it comes to low level entry type jobs and schools should take part. Immigrants need to be included in high level entry jobs....
In my opinion, it’s actually the moderate corporate democrats that are the problem, the Democratic Party should go further to the left!
And if they do it well they could be even more popular. Like Mamdani.
All politics are local. The country has very different streams of voters. Landslides are few- don’t chase the landslide.
Hello, I am Misulin Bahadur. I have 6 children and I live in Gaza. Can you help me? gofund.me/556d5689
Hello, I am Misulin Bahadur. I have 6 children and I live in Gaza. Can you help me? gofund.me/556d5689
The saying is that, if voters have a choice between a Republican & a Democrat who acts like a Republican, they'll choose the Republican. Dems are definitely NOT Reps but they need to differentiate themselves from them more explicitly, more obviously. Scared to be Bernie? OK. How 'bout FDR then?
Hello, I am Misulin Bahadur. I have 6 children and I live in Gaza. Can you help me? gofund.me/556d5689
BTW THEY ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME POLICIES OF FDR!!!! But Democrats are beholden to their corporate interests. So “progressive policies” are not allowed, I guess 🤷 Outside of a marginal tax rate-a Eisenhower policy, it’s insane to hear this from the DNC.
They're losing voters because their policies are too moderate.
Yes! Thank you!
All That I'll Say To That Is That Obama Ran His Successful Campaigns From The Center....
dragging their feet as they are afraid of change
Tell you what. Bernie would have won in 2016. That's not a reflection on Hilary - it refers directly to the principle being talked about in the video. Progressive policies are popular in the United States, period.
He has no path without the Black vote.
In 2016, the year I'm referencing, the black vote declined by 7% (Pew Research). I believe Sanders would have carried enough of the white vote (and overall vote) to beat Trump. Just had to turn two of the swing states in play. All I know is, we sure as hell couldn't have done worse.
Harris lost the popular vote by only 1.6%. A tragedy for the US. Trump won swing states just within the threshold negating a recount.🧐 Trump’s actions, such as issuing numerous EOs & GOP (in majority) legislators ceding power to trump, shows that the GOP prioritizes power over their constituents.
Bernie would not have been a good president.
Unfortunately, we'll never know. I use the word unfortunately because under any circumstances, we couldn't have done worse. As well, I believe what Matt says in the video Christopher posted regarding progressive policies to be true. Perhaps he would have been the right person at the right time.
Bernie doesn’t get along with much of anyone, and it’s his way or the highway, as his wife says. His place is right where he is. I do wish he hadn’t been such a clod along the way though.
He’s also not a serial sexual predator and rapist like Bill and Donald.
He would not have ever beaten Bill Clinton.
It's funny you say that when the current guy in charge is definitely a my way or the highway guy. Dems play too fucking nice when they are in charge. Bernie is the most principled politician in my lifetime.
If bernie would have been the candidate and not Hillary, he would have won and been a good president. Hillary was and is unlikeable and would have been an ok president. X
Mainly because Republicans would do what they are only good at. Obstruction. We're here because of 40 years of Republican bullshit. Let's put that out on the table as a discussion point.
Yes, I’ve certainly lived through 40 years of Republican bullshit.
Better than both Hillary and Trump by far. The list of reasons Hillary lost is long. Once you wake up and see that Democrats might actually start winning and keeping both houses and presidency more than just 2 years.
Bernie doesn’t like women nor POC. His constituents seem okay with him missing votes to be on the road, so what’s the big deal. He’s happy as much as he can be. And he’s very rich.
Who is Briana Joy Gray? Former national press secretary for the Bernie Sanders campaign. I would say what you said is silly propaganda that you willfully believed
I was going to ask who she was.
That's pretty silly but you be you
He’s not very rich. Quit lying. He’s ranked bottom 3 in wealth out of 100 senators.
I always am the ME!
Yes a fake feminist.
It was Hillary who called black youth “super predators” & said they needed to be “brought to heel”… but sure, Bernie was the problem
Ask Black women.
What evidence do you offer that Bernie doesn’t like women or POC?
I've heard this said many times and world also love to see the evidence. His relationship with AOC seem to indicate it's not true, but if there is evidence that I'm wrong being it on
his major supporters in Congress are POC and mostly women.
Supporters in Congress?? Like one?
DNC Clinton propaganda
1) the way he, his campaign and his supporters treated Liz Warren during the 2020 primary 2) the fact that his policy platform refuses to admit that systematic racism exists …there are many more
Funny I thought all of the 2020 primary candidates treated each other about the same. And I’ll have to ask you for proof of what you say about his policy platform.
That’s hilariously false 🤣
😂🤣😂
What are you talking about? He was literally arrested while protesting segregation in 1963. What is this "he doesn't like POC" story?
Same shit the Clinton dnc has been spreading since 2015.
You don’t know your man very well. The Bernie Bros are his people.
That’s a slur
Protesting in Vermont really doesn’t count for much since it wasn’t a bastion of civil rights activity …do you have any pictures of him in Mississippi marching🤔
The famous image of him being arrested was taken in 1963 Chicago during a segregation protest
Wow🥱
Misogyny…
Yes there’s a lot in the DNC but it’s not as bad as in GOP.
I think Bernie is too old to run again, though he's wearing it much better than Trump & even better, at least in terms of appearing vital & present, than Biden, but...why would blacks NOT support him? Are blacks not overwhelmingly in favor of progressive policies too?
You're right and he knows that. My original entry in this thread refers to 2016, when he (I believe) had a formula that would have fit perfectly with the mood of the country'selectorate, which wanted radical change (and got it in the worst way possible). BTW, good to see you here!
Ditto. But I was mainly responding to Chris Webb's post seeming to imply that Bernie wouldn't get much support from blacks. I was puzzled by the thought that blacks wouldn't be in favor of progressive policies.
A bit puzzled myself. About too many things.🤷
No he would not have won nor did he deserve to.
I agree 100%.
Bernie lost two primaries because the people who showed up to his rallies didn’t show up to vote. Also he got zero support from his colleagues which I took as a sign that no one wanted to work with him.
This makes it very clear that they are not listening to us.
Not only are progressive policies popular, but they actually work People have far better quality lives: they are healthier, safer, enjoy affordable housing, education without crippling debt, etc. There would still be plenty of super rich but not so rich as to hoard OUR wealth and strangle the 99%.
Why do we need to have super rich people… people say we can tax the super rich and they would still be super rich like it’s a pro or a plus… what benefit does having super rich people actually have for society that is not actually just propaganda from the super rich to justify themselves?
Absolutely. There is no need for super rich. Yet wealth disparity has always existed. We are living in the age of the grossest disparity. That started with Reagan. We can turn back that. We must turn back that soon before they destroy all of us. Climate crisis is driven by the super rich.
Absolutely, I would rather create a world where everyone gets enough and no one takes too much and we can all have clean air and water, enough to eat, free healthcare, free education, free childcare and human rights…
Some might say that such a utopia is impossible. Yet the extreme opposite is not simply possible, it’s happening now. Therefore we could have that paradise. First we need get to rid of fascism in America. I’m taking an American centric view only cos that’s my lane, not from false superiority.
They can be about as rich as they like as long as that doesn't come at our expense. And they have to be forced to keep their overbearing asses out of politics! Which, yeah, I know, is easier said than done. But a vibrant middle class should be the goal.
The end of classism and a world where everyone has enough should be the goal… and if it didn’t come at our expense they wouldn’t be super wealthy… at some point anyone having more than their fair share comes at someone else’s expense due to depleting planetary resources…
Meh. Sometimes, yeah, but I'm not convinced that has to be the case. If we were to take all the wealth of all the billionaires and even the multimillionaires, say $50M & up, & distributed it over the rest of the 8B+ of us, how much good would that actually do? How much poverty would be relieved?
Huge amounts…
You may be right. I just ran this question past Grok & it estimated the total wealth of US persons worth $50M & up to be in the range of $25T-37.5T & in the world in the range of $62.7T-$94T! Even if the totals are in reality only half those estimates, that's some serious loot.
Yes, and imagine putting that into sustainable agriculture, sustainable energy, education and healthcare etc…
And the rich would ultimately be just about as rich and--not to put too fine a point on it--they'd also be safer and more secure. A vibrant middle class is good for everyone and the best thing that ever happened to the wealthy. Satisfied people aren't much inclined to storm the Bastille.
Voters like progressive policies, but they hate Democrats. And that is a big problem that can’t be fixed by calling people stupid.
Democrats lose elections because 1) the system gives more weight to rural voters, 2) Republicans control most of the media, 3) Democrats are terrible at marketing
That's the segment that's getting paid to undermine their constituents.
What if that segment got on our side a little bit more? Could we have a movement? Right now I’d settle for more representation!
💯💯‼️💙 Totally agree, things have got to change!
The Third Way ideologues get in the way. They are mostly white men who fear sharing real power with anyone else.
Amazingly, even in maga, progressive policies are popular. Go back and listen to them interview on accounts like the Good Liars and what not. Often times you will hear them say things like worker pay is low and CEO pay is high and so on. Their problem is they are racists so they get duped every time
No mfkingbody wants to go back to neanderthal, leaches, and caves. If you aren't moving forward YOU'RE IN THE WAY, MOVE...
Other things I wish people understood: progressive policies are often popular **in the abstract**. They often get a lot less popular when they become concrete proposals with real trade offs.
Not even real ones usually. The policies are popular in a vacuum but when it comes time to vote they don’t want the policies if they benefit people they don’t like (not a real trade off) or Fox convinces them of some made up “trade off” like death panels
Not to minimize the right wing slime machine, but the effect I'm talking about doesn't require it. The best known example is Medicare for All, which polls well when you describe it simply as extending Medicare. But when you describe it in more granular (but still accurate) detail, support drops off.
@schiff.senate.gov @wyden.senate.gov @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social @aoc.bsky.social @repjasmine.bsky.social @raskin.house.gov @progressdems.bsky.social @sanders.senate.gov @warren.senate.gov @repbonamici.bsky.social
It's worth pointing out that from outside the US, many of the policy positions on healthcare, tax, policing etc that are apparently regarded by establishment Democrats as 'moderate' are seen as extremely right wing. From Europe, Bernie Sanders position would be seen as a moderate centre - right one
The democrats are not progressive at all. They can’t even call what’s going on in Gaza a genocide in the face of overwhelming evidence. Even when they control both houses they are unable to pass anything progressive. Their job seems to be to mire true progressives in procedure and political dung.
You have Schumer, the senator for AIPAC to thank for that.
It's a balancing act because there ARE still a lot of voters who don't realize that MAGA has declared war on America. Change is unsettling. And younger voters include some who expect extremes. Anarchy is not a good option. But anybody who thinks ANY MAGAt is rational is living a delusion.
Meanwhile, republicans are leaning hard into fascism and are winning elections.
At this point in time, anyone trying to argue both sides are equally as bad, does not follow politics.
Totally! Years ago I used to be scared to come off as too left. Now I'm unapologetically a leftist. Yes we want progress. No we don't want to negotiate with Trump, we don't want to be half maga, or have concentration camps. Yes we want to fix our tax system, we want equality, universal healthcare.
This is absolutely 100% accurate.
I know! I'm sick of the do nothing Democrats!
Democrats have always embraced the progressives, who are simply young liberals who had that word poisoned by the radical right for so long they couldnt defend using it, opting for progressive instead to avoid the baggage of being, gasp, a ‘freedom lover’.
Does this guy forget working for the Bush Christian battallion along with Ashcroft???
Propaganda wins elections, not policy. You cant convince me otherwise.
Yeah, WTF is that about??
Perfect to run progressives where they can win. They can’t win in most of Kansas - even if particular policies are popular. Fact-Justice Dems win primaries in blue districts-but have flipped ZERO R Congressional seats ever. Need right candidate for the district.
And this is coming from a former republican strategist
Isn’t t that what an independent is ? Which is why I am one . I do also mostly vote democratic. But this past election. Voted straight Democrat. Even though we has some faults. We have no choice now !
I agree with the part about the democrats. They drive me crazy saying we need to worry about the moderates.
I don't buy it. They know damn well what they're doing. The party has been infiltrated by corporate shill conservatives post-Reagan, who only use issues we connect with to campaign on. They love the way things are and need to be voted out and replaced by real progressives.
It isn't the policies of progressives. Though some are ridic, many are good. It's the extreme left (loudest) judgmental lecturing hyper PC everywhere that puts complete stink on the policies for maga to use to bury the good. In fairness, a decent % of voices are fake (trolls, bots) but
it matters. Yes maga does same but they are not a big tent. That is the diff. They have a 20% homogeneous unitary party w/the billionaires, strategists, ultra corrupt at helm. They only need pick up 15% to join for one reason or the other & they can rule the rest bc it is easy to divide any
big tent, which they are relentlessly strategic about. Left has no equal. No unifying ideology,policies,culture. All of the left sucks at strategy. Extreme left is dumb, never get w/o democracy there will be no policies to fight about - so they refuse to rally around one cause with the rest. Just
constant "burn it down" to ignorant to get they will burn not it. W/o unity to single cause across left, only takes maga 25% to rule all. Here we are-still dumb, fighting about policies that will be nice poems as autocracy closes in on all. Center left to center right must unite or lights out.
I hope those people who refused to vote because their student loans didn’t get paid off are happy now.
do you part, go use a women's public restroom today
The people who keep saying progressive policies are too extreme are the conservatives. And conservatives think even moderate progressive policies are too much. When you are on the far right - even the middle seems like the extreme left.
You have a certain neoliberal branch of the Democratic party trying to convince them that policies need to be more neoliberal.
If progressive policies were that popular, Progressives could flip red seats blue like moderate Dems could. But they can't.
I don’t think you read my thread.
This is true. Progressives are natural allies of farmers. Of blue collar workers. But the "moderate" dems from those states don't invite AOC home for dinner. Until that happens, we're not going anywhere.
The middle or center or establishment or whatever label you put on it Democrats have all the money. The big donors. Progressives that move to the center are often cornered by that. More often than not whomever has the most money wins in this fucked up broken system.
Corporatist Democrats.™️ They are undeniably right of center when courting literal Cheneys. Not 20 years ago, Dick was considered the furthest accepted reach of conservatism. Progressives must start local before looking higher, which Working Families Party does well, upsets over corporatists aplenty.
I don't think the U.S. yet realizes they have two right wing parties. Or more accurately, a right wing party, and a far right fringe racist party lead by an incompetent pedophile.
I feel that the 'segment of the Democratic Party' is on the take like most of the GOP & should be rooted out before they sink the ship.😡
Clearly, the moderate approach has not been working out. I say go full blown progressive! That would include more progressive leadership.
I believe the “IDEOLOGY” purity test kills the more important consideration that more Americans have regarding problems, solutions and the future of the country. We are prisoners of big money politics and big money justice etc.
The old guard are financed by billionaires, they don't want any changes that would make their masters unhappy
@cwebbonline.com thread is great. Pragmatic progressive! Thank you
🏆
🙏🏽❤️
Hello, I am Misulin Bahadur. I have 6 children and I live in Gaza. Can you help me? gofund.me/556d5689
Progressive policies are fine. I want a candidate that promises: Statehood for DC Expanding SCOTUS A lot can be solved with just those two things.
Life is changing so fast moderate is redundant. Change and passion is good.
Oh I understand why...
My take. Moderate Republicans started fleeing the party in the 80s, ducking into the Democratic Party. There they could find traction. They pushed out progressives and liberals, shifting the party to where their views sit.
We lost the left in doing so, with nothing to balance the increasing fascist right. We need the Democratic Party to move back left, way back left, but stop being soft. The one area they need to be comfortable. Punishing the criminals. The white collar ones. The Trumps.
If they don’t punish this bullshit when they get back in power, it will just keep happening. Treason is a high crime for a reason and we’re seeing why play out in front of us. Historically treason is punished with life imprisonment or death. Which is the better deterrent?
*Some* progressive policies are popular. But a whole lot of people are voting against those because they do not support women (reproductive rights), LGBTQ+, POC (DEI) or immigrant rights. We see this often. The reasons are varied but the exist. Doesn't mean progressive policies are wrong though.
Indeed.
Unless the Democrats embrace progressive values they will never get the youth votes. They will continue to lose. @housedemocrats.bsky.social
Harris had many progressive plans for her presidency, but even some progressive voters stayed home. www.bbc.com/news/article...
We don’t need to win over republican voters or conservative voters, we just need to get ALL democrat voters to show up at the polls, and VOTE BLUE. For those who think Progressive Policies are too radical, thanks to your shitty attitude, we’re now in a dictatorship run by a fucking 🍊🤡 conman pedo!
