The one where a national reporter finds out what I’ve said all along about Dems focusing on Epstein— voters are not focused on the files. Every group I’ve spoken to is concerned about Medicaid cuts and grocery prices and high rent. I hope Democrats will listen. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Actually Democrats can focus on more than one thing at a time. I AM worried about healthcare (coverage and what RFK is doing to it) AND I want the Epstein files released. AND I want ICE abolished AND I want Trump in jail. See. More than 1 thing.
Public attention to serious matters takes time and information. Then it snowballs. Watergate for example. Watergate break in 06/17/1972. 1st WaPo article Lewis 06/18/1972. 1st Bernstein/Woodward WaPo article 06/19/1972. Nixon landslide 11/1972. Nixon 68% approval 01/1973. Nixon resignation 08/1974.
First, I know you want justice for the victims. Everyone except the perpetrators and their supporters wants justice for the victims. We want this crime to end and we want the guilty punished. This is not about a scandal. This is about a heinous crime. I know you know that and feel the same way.
I think Dems began to focus on Epstein because it rattled Dump's base of support. That won't last... as long as he stirs up their grievances, racism, and hate, there's nothing he's done or will do to lose them for long.
They are much more related than people know.
I don’t understand why they can’t divide and conquer all the issues at once.
I think kitchen table issues depend on where the kitchen is. I also think that it matters whether a race is for a local, state or federal position. I think it matters if the goal is to move indies, fire up the base, or get the attention of the media.There are times and places to talk about Epstein.
But probably not in a local or state election and not as the main thing at the federal level. It's mostly useful to undermine Republican snobbery about how moral they supposedly are.
I agree with Jess but this is a very sound counterpoint.
We are concerned about the victims and we should be. Who will support them?
Dem voters are smart and know where the real priorities are. MAGA voters are the ones demanding Epstein ‘files’, and any crack in their coalition of idiots should be welcomed.
1. Release the files 2. Trump is dragged out of the White House 3. Focus on the economy/Medicaid etc.
The Epstein files are a shiny object, that's why MAGA voters responded. Democrats like this particular shiny object as having mass appeal among the MAGA. Happy to clear that up for you. And yes, when you deprive your constituents of public benefits they've paid for, you will hear about it.
We can be focused on more than one topic at a time. Apparently trying to coerce a foreign president got no punishment. Apparently trying to overthrow the government got no punishment. Will there be punishment for raping little girls??
I agree we can walk and chew gum, which is why I’m confused when Democrats continue to say that everything from high prices to controlling blue cities is a distraction. It’s not a distraction.
The distracting part is how they slam us with something new every day. Being shot in the abdomen is not “a distraction” from being stabbed in the chest. They are both dire wounds. I think we hope that being exposed with proof that he is a rapist will finally get him the punishment he deserves.
I really admire what you are doing. Listening and responding to voters is key. But so is showing them key issues, drawing connections to their lives. The fundamental, non-partisan issue of the systematic attack on rule of law must be addressed. It can affect anybody and puts us all at risk.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t find justice for victims, but there will be no justice under the GOP. The only way to get the GOP out of office is to listen to voters. I know this post will piss some off, but I’m in the trenches with voters every week. I talk and I listen.
I think we can walk and chew bubble gum. I think keeping the pressure on Epstein files cause Trump and GOP to have another front they have to fight, using up resources. Using up valuable national airtime.
👏 👏 Frankly, don't have to agree on everything. Those who are on the ground, speaking to people KNOW because they hear it first hand. Can believe the Epstein files are important AND focus on the price of groceries and cuts to Medicare at the same time. Walking and chewing gum. Doable.
Nope Americas gonna walk right into the trap again. Lipstick on a pig.
I’m with you. I don’t think the Dems can let the issue drop but they need to focus on what voters want - lower prices, healthcare, fight back on Trumps agenda.
Last week, when I was in Iowa, do you know what the big controversy was? Windmills. Who’s talking about windmills right now? It’s a huge issue in Iowa along with their poor water quality. Listen to voters.
Windmills, or wind turbines? There's a huge difference. What's the controversy?
In the Midwest, the only other relevant windmills are the water pumps on the farms, but those are mostly just for looks now. The real water pumps are electric, powered by wind…er… turbines.
live around windfarms. I see them from my kitchen window. The colloquial term is a windmill.
It's hard to have a meaningful discourse about a topic when you can't even use correct terminology.
Look. People are always telling me their flight got delayed for hours on the runway. No, it didn’t. Almost never, unless It was on a ramp, or possibly on a taxiway spur, but that’s immaterial to the conversation - I actually comprehend what they’re trying to say. Same thing here.
There’s a term for a man explaining something to a woman when that woman has experience with that something…
I'm sorry, I don't mean to be that guy, but I also have experience with that something, and words do matter! I have the utmost respect for you, but I do believe in order to sound authoritative about something, you do need to use proper terminology.
Windmills kill whales. Even if the windmills are in Iowa. They emit whale-killing rays. The President told me so.
What are Iowans saying about windmills? I’m curious.
Like I said, this post will piss a lot of people off. I’m reporting from the ground. The reporter from the Atlantic said she was shocked to find out that there weren’t more people asking about Epstein. I’m not.
It doesn't piss me off. I think it's important for candidates to be able to read the room. What's important to voters will invariably differ by what is effecting their lives, farming communities will be different than urban areas. Candidates should understand the voters enough to gauge priorities.
We *already know* the president rapes teenagers, but he has a 100% success rate on changing the subject. He won again.
I don't think he'll ever be held accountable, but we sure as shit should *try* to stop all the predators that got away with it and continue to abuse.
No, he won't. There's just so much more important right now. Like sustaining our democracy. FOCUS, people.
So a child rape industry is no big deal to the voters you’re talking to? Instead it’s windmills? Shoot this country into the sun.
Nothing? No response at all? You just think the rest of the country should give a shit about a group with such awful priorities?
I don’t care about the Epstein files because based off his character and personality I believe the victims! So he should be thrown in jail indefinitely along with every other sex abuser! And I think if we did that, then we would be able to fix a lot of the other problems more efficiently.
Those files don't really affect their lives. No matter who's names are in it. They don't care that trump will never be held accountable anyway...
I work/travel in Georgia-Florida & in mid-low, income areas & the concerns are data center land grabs, high energy costs, solar project funding cuts, FOOD costs & loss of farm/construction workers. The Epstein talk, if any, is zero seriousness & like 'did u see the netflix doc'
I think Epstein is important but all the stuff you mentioned is too. I think for the survivors, who’ve been ignored, the Dems are on the right side of this.
I'm not shocked. Ordinary people, whether rural or urban, care about what affects them directly. Sure, some might be shocked to know the real truth surrounding Epstein, et al. But until and unless that comes out, we care about prices, safety, jobs, and, for many, what's happening to our country.
Journalist need to multitask here. I realize the zone is flooded with shit but in every state and town there are more important issues that can be addressed. In Wisconsin, the fastest growing cheese market is going to deport most of their experienced workers. Someone needs to cover that.
Absolutely. Not one soul I know of cares about Epstein (nor do I for the record). But when I spent $400 at the grocery store yesterday, there was a crowd outside complaining about the costs.
Nothing? No response?
Do you have any idea how evil that sounds? “Hey, it’s not my daughters being raped, let’s talk about my grocery bill!!!”
That fact that not one soul cares tells that America doesn’t get it. At all…. JFC Watching this is painful. Until you address the corruption nothing will change. Slapping lipstick on a pig again. It will take decades to get respect again. But ok….. 😣
People care. But not in the sense that they can do anything about it. We all know trump is guilty and we all know nothing will ever happen to him. But maybe talking about windmills and food costs and inflation and everything else might move the needle somewhere
Yes, the rubes will have questions about whatever they see on Faux News. Rather than just playing defense, we need to put the rubes themselves on defense. I want to hear more about how following trump is not about white supremacy, from the rubes. Make them say it out loud and hear it ring hollow.
People care about those girls. They care about the files. I have no doubt about that. But as you said, people worry about themselves and their families and that’s what they vote on. Right now those worries are financial.
Journalists are shocked whenever people don't care about sensationalism. That's where the money is for them, so it's hard for them to understand what people are paying attention to.
Exactly. The unhinged right-wingers who are obsessed with it are always over-represented in the media.
Not the tarriffs ruining the markets for farmer’s? Wow. I thought that would be a huge issue for them..hmm…
It is— comes across in grocery prices.
So I have a question, did tRump come up with the crazy windmill talk from Iowans or did they get it from Faux and tRump??
#HeyIowa - Finally someone is talking about Iowa issues. Thanks @piperformissouri.bsky.social for visiting Iowa!
I think we can have multiple messages at once. We don’t just have to have tunnel vision & focus solely on “kitchen table issues.”
Which is why I’m confused when we are laser focused on Epstein.
Sorry but in what universe is Dem leadership “laser focused” on Epstein? They are solely focusing on “kitchen table issues.”
Because IT WORKS. His minions are losing their minds over it, which means they need to be reminded before they wander off on the latest shiny thing shown them on Fox and X. But yes-- cutting funding for hospitals, especially rural, is a big deal. The disaster over at HHS. Tariff impacts!!!
Was the windmill talk for or against windmills?
Having lived in Iowa there are tons of wind mills there. Are they against or for them. ?
People aren't aware the majority of Iowa's energy is produced by wind energy. I no longer live in the midwest. We knew who trump was before he was put in office the first time. Sadly people still voted for him anyway. I want justice for the survivors and whatever that is to them.
what is the windmills issue about?
They have wind farms. There are a lot of people who don’t like them because they’ve heard a lot of misinformation or they just don’t like them. I was smack dab in that controversy. One man walked out in my talk because he was so angry about windmills funding schools in Northwest Missouri.
I can't understand this at all, they are stately sentinels, Big Friendly Giants. In 2024, about 30% of UK electricity came from wind farms. If only CO2 was visible as a disgusting smelly brown gas.
I don't mind them during the day, but you look out at night, the incessant red blinking is...unnerving, I guess? It would be worse if it weren't in tandem, but it's a lot. I live in a depression, so most of them are over the horizon, but my neighbors hate it.
This needs a technology tweak.
Thank you, Jess. You are doing the hardest work.
Generally farmers like wind farms because they make good money leasing part of their land for turbines. Doesn't this issue set up intra-GOP friction, between those people profiting off wind and those who get the side-effects without getting a check?
Lived in a town where a farmer was a arrested for shooting at a blade headed to a wind farm. Most like the income though.
I think the focus can be on both. The Epstein Files Cover-Up is more important to point out to the Trump people who care about it to show them they’ve been lied to. They may never vote for a Democrat but they might stay home.
👍💙
It's true that the Epstein files mean nothing to individual Americas, but if our president is proven to have raped teenagers, that's something the whole country needs to know.
Exactly. And the fact that you have to justify it says the American people Still Do not get what’s happening to them right before their eyes. Blame the dems fall For the coup. Jfc America Call out the corruption.
Our media is really to blame for this. Fox News and the like are the problem. People aren’t getting the correct information. There’s the 33% who are fascists and they’re likely not going to be anything but. But we need to open the eyes of the 10-14% who are not fascists but were wooed to Rs.
Isn't it so enraging that they whine incessantly about 'liberal bias' in the media, when Fox et al are blatant propagandists for the right? If all you ever see is right wing media, you live in total delusion.
Right, but midwesterners clearly don’t give a damn about justice for victims. They care more about windmills. That’s shameful, and the fact that you don’t see that is beyond alarming.
They are survivors not victims. Some are speaking out tomorrow. They deserve this.
ANNOUNCEMENT - Everyone should absorb what Jess is saying here☝️. If we neutralize (burn to the ground) the GOP, issues like the Epstein files will take care of themselves.
I agree Jess! Its an important isdue where many need justice. But we need to focus on what will bring in voters for the common good to save ourselves and Democracy. We can do better together.
🥱 you all still don’t get it. At all
Do the people you speak to say things like, "I worked hard for what I have."? Do they realize that the same opportunities given to them were systematically denied to others for decades? Do these conversations ever come up when discussing DEI? What do they say?
I think that’s a dead conversation. They can’t be convinced on that in time. I read voters don’t want to think of themselves in need of help, but to frame these arguments in terms of positive movement for them. The undercurrent that isn’t mentioned is the racism and sexism. /1
2/ It’s “those people” that need help and the ppl you’re talking about don’t want to help them, so it’s not worth trying to convince them they could be in the same straits one day. We have to cater to their selfishness.
That's terrible. Why do we have to cater to their selfishness, exactly? The currency here is self-image. They want to think they are good. Once they understand why they're not perceived as such, they'll have to own it or change. If they own it, then they open up themselves to disenfranchisement.
Catering to these people just delays and denies justice. You're catering to the proliferation of white supremacy. And in that, nobody can trust you because the net effect of your suggestion is to maintain the racist, sexist, xenophobic, religious bigotry of the status quo.
So it's no surprise that democrats don't historically spend campaign funds in red states.
And, as someone with GenZ kids, all they seem to be focused on is Mamdani and Platner and the slither of hope they provide for a future they can't see at the moment. Does Epstein matter to them? Sure. But not having to live with their parents forever is center stage right now.
Wasnt it Trump and MAGA that screamed about Epstein? Yup. Until they realized Trump is in embedded. So don’t blame the Dems.
I have a difficult time understanding why an issue that is a wedge for GOP voters and makes it easy to mock Trump can’t be carried forward as we have a national discussion on multiple issue. This post just confuses me and make it clear why Missouri Democrats have zero power.
If the Dems go left, they will win. Leave the oligarchs behind, we will win. The Democratic leadership are like addicts afraid to give up their centrist oligarch donations fix.
MAGA's are focused on Epstein. If they get mad enough at Trump for withholding the files, they may stay home in the midterms.
We can do both
Good point
The D's talk about the kitchen table stuff all the time, & then get criticized for acting like it's business as usual & not talking about "the fascism" / the troops in the streets, etc. If they didn't talk about the Epstein files, they'd be criticized for not talking about the Epstein files. The /1
truth is that they focus on multiple things & get criticized by various people for not focusing on some subset of things that they are focusing on, by people who have only a minimal window or "vibe" kind of impression of what they're focusing on. 🤷♂️ It's just become sort of sport to criticize the D's
Everything we've had released about the Epstein files the past few months is because of as Trump said "ridiculous amount of press" so that's why we're talking about Epstein all the time to keep feeding the story so he will be forced to release more. Lot of Maga were single issue voters.
Yeah, they’re confusing the MAGA faithful with the average voter. A coalition of people voted for Trump, including people who are not all that crazy about him, and hunks of that coalition can be peeled away. “Can’t afford groceries” will peel off a much larger hunk than the Epstein files.
A slight correction - it is MAGA who want the files released as Trump promised during the campaign not exclusively Dems.
[a] Walk. [b] Chew gum. [c] All of the above. There are a lot of your fellow women and mothers in this country who find the sex trafficking of young girls to be intolerable, and who demand that it be addressed. "Kitchen table issues" are the distraction Pelosi uses to ignore fighting fascism.
I think the 2 issues can be linked. It’s all about this administration taking care of the rich. Whether that’s tax cuts, crony capitalism and corruption or protecting pedophiles from consequences of lawbreaking.
Jess, are the groups you’re meeting with Democrats or a combination of Dems and GOP? I’m wondering if GOP’ers are actually concerned about grocery prices, Medicare, etc. — to the extent they’d vote differently — or if they don’t mind because the libs are suffering as well.
Mostly rural Dems…I have quite a few independents show up and rarely a pissed off Republican
Thank you. I do hope that pissed off Republican listened!
But is this one republican lying in those town halls
@hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social just talked about Medicaid cuts.
He needs to go. Primary his ass out.
True!
we do so love our children here in murka
Democrats need to figure out why Mamdani, AOC, Crockett, to name a few, are popular. They are speaking to voters and their needs. They are the future.
Democrats focused on those things in the last election and still lost. The reality is the electorate is 30-40% drooling racist idiots who are totally fine with a pedophile President.
@meiselasb.bsky.social
We should amplify ALL of it. The Epstein files release push isn’t about Dem votes, it’s to crack into the MAGA religious base who still may have a fraction of scruples, empathy, or brains. It’s to make MAGAts wake up a little. And it’s working.
Why can't we voters focus on more than one thing? And we DO want those files to come out because it would prove to voters what hypocrites many Republicans are.
I agree! I fully doubt Republicans thought they’ll beat out Democrats by dwelling on “just this one thing”! No! Either intentionally or serendipitously their multiple absurdities & catastrophes work to dilute the weight of other absurdities & they work on us!
Pushing him on the Epstein files is to pressure him on a subject he wants to disappear. It's not about convincing the voters but harassing him and getting justice for the victims. Which Dems are going to go after billionaire pedos if you treat it as a taboo subject not deserving of attention?
They will focus however briefly on the files if they become public. If they provide evidence that he raped girls, they’ll keep their focus on the issue for as long as it takes to remove him.
We are good. We can focus on more than one thing at a time. I commend your hard work.
THIS. We need to focus on ALL THE THINGS. Relentlessly. This Epstein stuff throws Trump off his game and then he overplays his hand ... not to mention, if dems retake the house, the resulting REAL INVESTIGATION will undoubtedly reveal some damning stuff about rumpy.
Well that's oligarchy's game, isn't it? Keep the electorate so desperate and focused on their ability to survive, they stop caring whether their president is a pedophile or whether they still live in a democracy.
I think most people care that he is a pedophile. I don’t think they think Democrats in Congress can do anything about it. I think they are hoping for the courts.
Okay but can Democrats and Congress do any other things that you're saying people are worried about either like what can Democrats in Congress do about Medicaid cuts and high rent? Why didn't Democrats do anything about it under Biden when they had full control?
The value of Epstein is that it fractures MAGA, not that it will bring down Trump who is on his last cankles anyway.
It doesn’t though. He’s not losing support from his base. We outnumber them anyway.
Hard to believe the US is currently being destroyed because of less than a third of the electorate. thehill.com/homenews/hou...
Potentially merely anecdotal but I've witnessed the brainwashed "Pizzagate" Trumpists truly sour on him post-Bondi "nothing to see here" announcement.
Medicaid cuts. High grocery prices. High rents. Tariffs. Tax cuts only to the rich. Billionaires getting rich off the backs of poor people. All are happening under the Republican watch. Trump will be gone soon. Blame Republicans. Tie the economic disasters to the GOP. Make them own this mess.
I'm in SE Kansas and you are spot on. Folks want to see justice, but are more worried about the price of soybeans, gasoline, and groceries on a daily basis.
We’ve had enough focus groups to last us a lifetime.
I said we should pretend we don't want the files released so maga will stay on it. Once we started demanding them they moved on.
Epstein is meant to troll Trump. The Dems need to focus on the important stuff but also keep on the trolling.
This. And not only Trump, but more importantly troll Trump voters. THEY were the ones that were incessant about the files and would not let up. Don’t let them forget how they were taken in as the suckers they are. They need to have this in their face and be shamed for their tragic choice!
Exactly - it's important to understand if Windmills move votes but no reason to not also knock on those feet of clay.
Having town halls and being able to answer pointed questions are two different things. "Why did you come here to hear me lie" seems rather rhetorical from a politician. IMO, they still don't want to answer to their employers, just their party. (and the felon)
We can do both. Put a wedge between the ‘clinically sane’ GOP voter who does care about the issues, and MAGA, who defend daddy Trump (pedophiles) at any cost.
factual evidence that the president is a child sexual abuser should be something everyone would focus on
I swear, as a party, democrats tend to latch on something that's a moral failing so that we can always take the moral high ground but what has the moral high ground gotten us?
We can chew gum and walk at the same time.
Why should anytime listen to Republicans in this day and age? No matter what they're saying in their town halls and interviews they've all abdicated the power voters gave them to trump. They are two-faced cowards. The Dems know well what people are focused on and the fact that some Dems are on the
the Epstein wagon doesn't mean they've forgotten what the real issues are with people. I haven't a clue where you get the idea that we can't walk and chew gum at the same time. There are many important issues, just one being we could have a pedophile in the Whitehouse. We can address BOTH.
Politicians get confused. We troll the WH daily for the Epstein files because it bothers THEM. What bothers US are the cost of rent/food/medicine. They don't design polls to follow that. So... maybe bumper stickers? Include signs at the protests (It's the $food, stoopid!)? Change OUR messaging??
We should do both.
This. How is it Dems fail to listen to voters over and over again?
Ds can do both. Rs have been throwing spaghetti for years. Epstein cracks MAGA base and economic issues strengthen the base and draws in new (and lapsed) voters.
Whatever will take him down Jess. ✌️
It seems like the D leadership has got zero object permanence. Kitchen table issues are always going to lead because people's paychecks are always under pressure. Why does this seem so hard to them?
Minimally educated voters just identified the painfully foreseeable tariff and BigBB incoming pain earlier than republican voters because of the Feaux News silo and the silly recess. Epstein is the only thing that will hold feet to the fire while they’re back in DC again hiding from their voters.
Agree. We can walk and chew gum!
Prices will get a lot higher. Nothing will be better until this regime falls. Where's the Epstein files?
Oddly, we are clever creatures, we humans, and can focus on many things. Often in quick succession. We can even manage to find many subjects important, and have many issues be actual deal breakers when we are served political pablum by right-wing Dems posing as "moderates." Weird, right?
IMO Epstein is more important as a wedge issue within MAGA/GOP than as a motivating factor for Dems and independents to vote, and should be cultivated as such. No need to present these (Epstein vs economic concerns) as binary alternatives, both have immense tactical value if employed the correct way
I think you can focus on both. All of it is based on morals.
Yes. But also, release the Epstein files. I can walk and chew gum at the same time.
I don't see anything wrong with bringing up the fact Trump broke all of his campaigns promises. Episten files, Groceries, Jobs, Healthy Economy, Cost of living, Housing, Healthcare, Disaster relief and safety, healthier environment, lower utilities, "manufacturing" jobs, int. Corporations to USA etc
Only what we were TRYING to get voters to focus on BEFORE the dang law passed!! And what were they focused on then?!
I agree. We all know that Trump is in those files and who other big names probably are as well. But at the supermarket this morning, I couldn't get over the rise in prices and wonder how does a family make it each month.
They can focus on more than one thing at a time. The Epstein stuff is not so much about justice for the victims as it is a very good chance to prove how wannabe #kingtrump lied to his supporters about something they really care about. They believe what he tells them, and proving that wrong is big.
This please. Focus on healthcare and real solutions not "I'm bringing drug prices down one drug at the time." Focus on wages. Focus on busting monopolies and grocery store prices. Focus on education both k-12 and college affordability. Address food deserts and homelessness
They're not going to impeach him. Not for that. They're down with it. Put that on the back burner and prosecute that asshole on the other end.
Epstein is important not as a voter issue but as a weapon. Dems need different campaign messages for red state voters who have been living under R rule for decades, and for blue state voters, who see freedoms recently eroded. Blue state voters are PISSED about ICE and the National Guard and RFK Jr.
Voters are focused on all sorts of things. Missouri voters focused on healthcare and their own governor overturned their vote. I sure hope Missourians will pay attention and stop blaming Dems for things they aren't doing. Journalists love sensationalism. They are focused on anything sensational.
Voters may not be focused on the files, but Trump sure is. Not entirely sure where that takes us, but it isn’t entirely about what voters think.
This. I think Dems are pushing because it bugs the sh-t out of the GOP (cf. Gavin Newsom) They have no reasonable answer. The response on prices from the GOP is "just wait - once tariffs get to work jobs will be going thru the roof." Or "a little pain is worth all the winning."
People care about the Epstein files, but it's the status of their pocketbooks that drives them to the polls.
The DNC is looking for a magic bullet instead of listening to the people so they can avoid responsibility.
Can't we do both?
One more way RFKjr will be killing Americans and making their lives miserable Jan 2026 Medicare Will Require Prior Approval for Certain Procedures It's a step towards privatization of Medicare and residents in six states are the guinea pigs Arizona New Jersey Ohio Oklahoma Texas Washington State
Priced out of existing should be the main concern.
WE CAN DO BOTH
Let's be honest, most Dems running for office in 2025 are not focusing on Epstein anything. They are running on other local issues like grocery cost escalation, etc. As for 2026, my guess is that job loss, high grocery/healthcare/other costs are going to be what Dems run on.
Anyone who does not know what Trump did with underage girls is guilty of willful ignorance. The files are not going to tell many people anything they do not know. Yes, we should pursue justice for victims. But other issues will carry more impact on politics.