Yep, keep playing identity politics with no vision or purpose and get smacked again.
2020 US Elections | Biden certified as President | Dems control Congress
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Yep, keep playing identity politics with no vision or purpose and get smacked again.
Would Oprah actually run...
I know after her speech the other night the odds have been cut
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...winfrey-presidential-bid-electrifying-golden/
But wouldnt it effectively be saying that political experience has been shunned in favor of celebrity as the way to win power... quite a worrying trend longer term potentially
What's wrong with more women being elected?
Nothing at all, but if you focus your message chiefly on 'We're going to elect more women and minorities!' then white men (and it appears a large number of white women) tend to not really care much. That's a problem when they still represent the main proportion of voters.
You can't stop spreading the correct message just because the main demographic feel threatened by minorities being better represented.
It's the white men that have the problem, not the message.
You don't have to (and shouldn't) stop spreading the message, but if you make it the centrepeice of your campaign then you're going to lose. People vote for issues that primary effect themselves. For working white Americans, they largely want a party that offers to improve their lives. That doesn't mean they oppose better conditions for others, but it's likely to be far down their list of priorities behind the opportunities for themselves and their families.
I don't understand why the Democrats don't seem to understand this, its politics 101.
But that tweet doesn't mean it's the centrepiece of their campaign. It's just a tweet and I don't see what's wrong with it.
It's not just about the tweet though, rather how the party have been running elections for many years now. Obama being elected twice covered over a lot of gaping cracks in Democratic strategy. In reality they have been getting absolutely hammered across the country, losing record numbers of state seats, governorships and so on. It's gotten so bad that the GOP are extremely close to having the power to call a constitutional convention, something that was thought to be basically impossible at one stage.
Luckily, thanks to the orange moron in the white house and the rise of the Sanders movement, the damage is starting to be undone by a new focus on economic issues and grassroots politics. The big fear however is that the people running the national party will insist on their identity politics focus and piss away the gains that are being made. There are a serious number of high profile Democrats who seem to genuinely believe that they will inevitably win total power purely based on demographic change and on being morally right. It's a horribly dangerous position to hold.
But social politics is also important. I'm not American so I'm not too familiar with this but it's also important to stress social issues such as the race and gender divide.
Sure it's important, but its also irrelevant what you want to do if you don't actually get elected. We're not talking about morality here, or what the party should stand for (this is one of the few areas where the entire Democratic party is united), it's purely about the politics of how to run election campaigns.
It's a tweet saying they want congress to be more representative of the people they serve. That's it.
Ok, I'll disregard the last decade of deep in-fighting within the party.
Let's get back on topic, please.
Is Oprah running or what? Anything new?
Is Oprah running or what? Anything new?
No, she isn't. It was a typical media 24 hour story. If she runs at a later date then I'm sure she will announce it in a more appropriate way than an off hand comment from her boyfriend at an awards show.
Agree. A trade in priority of your messaging is no great price or concession to pay for better election results. Is there evidence so far that identity politics play well at a national level?
High time for a person with a scientific/engineering background to seek higher office.
Technocrats >>>> Celebrity.
Technocrats >>>> Celebrity.
Obama 2008 is the one example that people fall back on over and over again. It's worth noting though that even with the one-off historical opportunity of electing the first black president, Obama himself didn't run mainly on identity. The identity politics there was basically just obvious to everyone and didn't need to be a chief campaign message.
The problem with identity politics is those who engage in it have a tendency to vilify others who don't even if those people voted simply on a matter of policy. Because electing a minority official is the 'right' thing to do rather than the 'best' thing to do.
If only the Presidency was all about giving speeches and doing nothing else.
Trump won on a platform of explicit identity politics just over a year ago, but because it was aimed at white, christian, non-college educated males, people don't label it as that.
And jesus christ, this isn't even that! If the US is so regressive now that you can't put out a tweet encouraging the election of people that have been historically kept away from power, then it's properly screwed.
And jesus christ, this isn't even that! If the US is so regressive now that you can't put out a tweet encouraging the election of people that have been historically kept away from power, then it's properly screwed.
How about a celebrity technocrat?
Bill Nye. Or Brian Cox. feck it, David Attenborough.
Not convinced about that. On paper sounds good (not a new thought given how many lawyers become politicians) but then I remember the typical level of people-skills you get with most engineers, scientists and tech related people.
You can make use of technocrats in the cabinet. The president is a manager.
Correct. The euphemisms of "the real America" or "average American" or "make America great again" get used instead to dog whistle to the people that might not otherwise be willing to support an explicitly white supremacist viewpoint.
It was effectively slightly wider than that, including women within the above mentioned demo and enough of the college educated male and female in swing states. But its a viable strategy for him and other Republicans because that demo is still the majority... it doesn't work with the minority.
No, that's who voted for him. I'm talking about who the campaign was specifically targeted at. The whole strategy was to motivate previous non-voters into turning out, and disaffected former Democrats into switching over. Those groups aren't the majority, but they did make the difference in the election.
And regardless, encouraging candidacy from groups that are under-represented has little to do with that. It's basic fairness in a representative democracy.
It's only worthwhile as far as their actual views. Trump won white women by a wide margin.
There is a need for diversity/diverse perspectives in leadership. There is a need to hire minorities in govt. But when it comes to a singular office like president, that diversity is primarily symbolic.
Unrelated: good thread about the wonkishness of Dems - the label and what it means in practice. Bernie's M4A was attacked for being broad and fuzzy, while the ACA was detailed and debated --- and also led to increasing costs and consolidation of private/oligopoly power.
Keep going I'm almost there
Unrelated: good thread about the wonkishness of Dems - the label and what it means in practice. Bernie's M4A was attacked for being broad and fuzzy, while the ACA was detailed and debated --- and also led to increasing costs and consolidation of private/oligopoly power.
Keep going I'm almost there
By 9 points, as opposed to white men which he won by 29 points. Overall he won with men by 11, lost women by 13. So, given that clearly so many women and minorities vote Democrat, it kinda makes sense for them to be encouraged to stand for office and not just be relied on for those votes. Surprised this is causing so much strife to some, you'd better not read up on all-women shortlists and mandated gender representation like some parties have over here in Europe.
Guess who when asked in the late 90's wanted Oprah as VP
Trump
I want more women elected to office but I want the women we elect to favor policies I favor. Being a woman isn't enough.
Technocrats are the absolute worst. People really don't appreciate a good politician. It's just all "oh politicians are all corrupt we need an educated person"
The destroyers of the world.
Any chance of Tim Kaine running?
He doesn't have much national appeal.
http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/15/joe-biden-attacked-trump-gaffes/
Find it amusing that the stupid things Biden has said in the past which they are bringing him up on and yet fail to see Trump the biggest blowhard of them all, i guess it isnt a massive surprise considering the website is affiliated with Dick Cheney.
Dailly Caller is complete trash.
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