Fixing the The United States Democratic Party

[LD0506]

Damn, this hit the ground runnin', too many good comments already to like/note/echo them all but a "fun" convo no matter what.

 

If by "Fix the Democratic Party" you want to define it as getting back into the majority, taking the WH, retaking state capitals, etc., you're going to choke to death on it all. Get a clear vision of where you want to go and pack for the trip. Dump the old fart regime running things and bring in some young blood with fire and passion and the decency to talk in straight lines, not all the usual political doubletalky bull****. Focus on the center, the center politically, the center economically, the center socially, where the vast majority live. Tell the ****ing truth! But do it nicely and have some answers when the wailing begins. Answers about jobs, real jobs for real people, healthcare, etc., you know, the stuff we all deal with daily. If the Rs keep runnin the national show, oh well, get over it, grassroots the **** outta it, talk with people, not at them, then STFU and listen.

 

If they wanted to they could, and probably easier than anyone believes but it has to be real, honest, they have to actually care and not just pretend to the way so many of them do now. Stop filtering every single ****ing thing through the filter of "What's best for me/ my career/ my reelection prospects/ my party" and how about filtering it through the lens of "What would actually be best for the American citizens?"

[Jumbo]

here ya go

 

<oops---didn't see shf already got it> 

[zoony]

Imagine a Democrat eating at McDonalds nowadays.  They wouldnt be caught dead.  Never in a million years.  Now consider Clinton did it several times on his way to multiple wins.  Trump had KFC on his plane.  

 

Over simplification, yes.  But symptomatic of a mindset and a much larger issue with modern liberalism.  First rule of speaking to anyone is to come downstairs and meet face to face rather than shouting from above

 

That Dems dont understand why they are getting their clocks cleaned by the working class in rustbelt states is fascinating.  Must be racism

[AsburySkinsFan]

2 hours ago, Jumbo said:

Meet the Press's "data download" segment today had soem good material on shifting demographics over the last decade that would be useful in this thread.

 

I can't find today's clip of that segment so far, but it may be too soon. I'll look again later, or if anyone else sees it....

 

 

 

Saw that two...it boils down to educated vs uneducated and old versus young.

[AsburySkinsFan]

27 minutes ago, zoony said:

Imagine a Democrat eating at McDonalds nowadays.  They wouldnt be caught dead.  Never in a million years.  Now consider Clinton did it several times on his way to multiple wins.  Trump had KFC on his plane.  

 

Over simplification, yes.  But symptomatic of a mindset and a much larger issue with modern liberalism.  First rule of speaking to anyone is to come downstairs and meet face to face rather than shouting from above

 

That Dems dont understand why they are getting their clocks cleaned by the working class in rustbelt states is fascinating.  Must be racism

There's a lot of truth here. Dems want to tell everyone how wrong thry are, Repubs just don't give a damn how wrong you are, they're gonna use it for their advantage.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

24 minutes ago, zoony said:

Imagine a Democrat eating at McDonalds nowadays.  They wouldnt be caught dead.  Never in a million years.  Now consider Clinton did it several times on his way to multiple wins.  Trump had KFC on his plane.  

 

Over simplification, yes.  But symptomatic of a mindset and a much larger issue with modern liberalism.  First rule of speaking to anyone is to come downstairs and meet face to face rather than shouting from above

Seeing as how Donald Trump is a corporate elitist, I have a hard time believing that is actually the reason his supporters like him.

 

Donald Trump... the Everyman. Here's his 10 year-old son hitting golf balls on his own private, super opulent floor of Trump Tower.

[No Excuses]

2 hours ago, Corcaigh said:

Bottom line, the trends are strongly in favor of the Dems, but they have to put up candidates and get the ground game out. I think I had four people come to the door for Hillary, and none for Comstock's opponent who appeared to be quite electable from what I saw - a doctor and business woman. As nationally, the main local strategy for the Dems was "ZOMG ... Comstock hasn't fully renounced Trump!", and not pitching their candidate.

 

This was a nationwide problem. There was a House seat in Texas where Hillary won by 2 points, but the Democrats didn't even bother finding a candidate to challenge the incumbent Republican congressman. He ran unopposed which is nuts for a national congressional seat.

 

If messaging was a major problem, the Democrats wouldn't be pounding Republicans in national election vote totals for two decades.

 

They simply aren't doing a good job of down ballot races. There were something like 23 congressional seats where Hillary won, but the down ballot Democrat House candidate lost.

 

In reality, we should have seen Democrats make big gains in the House since a 3 million vote advantage for the presidential candidate is quite a huge margin. Yet there were enough split voters in large swaths of the country, which tells me that a lot of Democrat candidates for the House either sucked or didn't receive enough ground support.

[@DCGoldPants]

12 minutes ago, Sacks 'n' Stuff said:

Seeing as how Donald Trump is a corporate elitist, I have a hard time believing that is actually the reason his supporters like him.

 

Donald Trump... the Everyman. Here's his 10 year-old son hitting golf balls on his own private, super opulent floor of Trump Tower.

Doesn't matter. This is how folks get caught up in something that apparently not enough voters care about. 

 

 No point to complain about it. If asked, the response should simply be "there are enough of his own words and actions from him to speak for who he really is." and that's it. 

 

He projects his own weaknesses and issues on everyone else. So, don't engage him directly. If anything, not giving him the respect he wants will only lead to him saying worse things. 

 

Add that to the list of what the Dems should be doing. Not worried about him. Worried about the folks running the show. Kush, Reince, Bannon, Sanders, Sessions, etc. Say that often. 

[No Excuses]

44 minutes ago, zoony said:

Trump had KFC on his plane.  

 

 

Nothing captures the sorry state of American politics where the benchmark for being "relatable" is a NYC billionaire eating fried chicken on his private jet.

[NoCalMike]

If we are talking about national elections, I still think Hillary was an aberration to the norm or at least what the norm is going to be going forward which is that Democrats will always be heavily favored to win outside of running candidates flawed to the extent of being outside of your normal "crooked politician"  Without re-legislating Hillary as a person and/or candidate, what we can't deny is there was enough attached to her to make her an easy target to rally against.  With everything she had going against her she still barely lost the election numbers-wise if you look at how many total votes in the swing states made the difference. 

 

The Clinton dynasty effectively coming to a close (for now.....Chelsea?) is an overall good thing for the Dem party as it will force them to hit the reset button on which candidates become the national face of the party.  Of course any candidate is going to get the "OMG he is a communist/socialist/liberal/anti-american" tag, because that is just what right wing media does, but it isn't going to stick like it did to Hillary, at least not with the fence-sitters. 

 

 

[RedskinsMayne]

1) get more people involved in primary elections 

2) allow those people power in the primary process.

 

 

Bernie would have been a better candidate, but party leaders chose the safe bet.

[TradeTheBeal!]

39 minutes ago, No Excuses said:

 

 

Nothing captures the sorry state of American politics where the benchmark for being "relatable" is a NYC billionaire eating fried chicken on his private jet.

 

Dems really need to explore the Popeyes/Bojangles side of this equation.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Nothing like seeing which party can lead us to idioacracy quicker 

 

**** it. The Dems should run Terry Crews in 2020. He can make his pecs dance in Trumps face 

[No Excuses]

3 minutes ago, SkinsHokieFan said:

Nothing like seeing which party can lead us to idioacracy quicker 

 

**** it. The Dems should run Terry Crews in 2020. He can make his pecs dance in Trumps face 

 

Polls show that The Rock has a +6 advantage over Trump on a 2020 ballot. 

 

I wish I was joking.

 

I don't know if it will be The Rock (though he has stated interest) but I am 100% certain that some entertainment celebrity will run in the Dem primary in 2020. 

[Corcaigh]

1 hour ago, Sacks 'n' Stuff said:

 

I'm starting to understand why he likes the Saudi's so much. They have the same terrible taste in interior decoration.

[TradeTheBeal!]

17 minutes ago, No Excuses said:

 

Polls show that The Rock has a +6 advantage over Trump on a 2020 ballot. 

 

I wish I was joking.

 

I don't know if it will be The Rock (though he has stated interest) but I am 100% certain that some entertainment celebrity will run in the Dem primary in 2020. 

 

The Rock is a pretty savvy dude.  If he's the guy that can sell a prudent center-left platform to the flyover states, so be it.

[RedskinsMayne]

22 minutes ago, No Excuses said:

 

Polls show that The Rock has a +6 advantage over Trump on a 2020 ballot. 

 

I wish I was joking.

 

I don't know if it will be The Rock (though he has stated interest) but I am 100% certain that some entertainment celebrity will run in the Dem primary in 2020. 

 

The most surprising part is that it is only 6 points.

 

 Oprah would be a strong choice

[SkinsHokieFan]

28 minutes ago, No Excuses said:

 

Polls show that The Rock has a +6 advantage over Trump on a 2020 ballot. 

 

I wish I was joking.

 

I don't know if it will be The Rock (though he has stated interest) but I am 100% certain that some entertainment celebrity will run in the Dem primary in 2020. 

 

I would have no issues voting for the Rock over Trump

 

or even my pet rock over Trump

[Warhead36]

9 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said:

 

The Rock is a pretty savvy dude.  If he's the guy that can sell a prudent center-left platform to the flyover states, so be it.

I actually think The Rock would be pretty good. He's a bright and charismatic guy who can lead and I think he'd be smart enough to surround himself with experienced Washingtonians that know how to legislate and create policies.

 

But President? No way. Maybe something like Governor first.

 

Its a shame Bernie weren't 10-15 years younger or he'd be perfect.

[Corcaigh]

The Rock is waaaay smarter and more charismatic than Trump. But I'd hope the country can do better.

 

[Warhead36]

3 minutes ago, Corcaigh said:

The Rock is waaaay smarter and more charismatic than Trump. But I'd hope the country can do better.

 

Honestly, maybe we need to get rid of the idea of career politicians being President? I mean Ronald Reagan is an all time great President and he had a background in acting and I think at the time more people knew of him as an actor than as Governor of California.

 

I think Marc Cuban would make a decent Presidential candidate. Unlike Trump he actually is legitimately successful in business and was self made.

[Corcaigh]

Reagan was governor of the largest state. Cuban does have some business savvy. 

[Corcaigh]

2 hours ago, zoony said:

Imagine a Democrat eating at McDonalds nowadays.  They wouldnt be caught dead.  Never in a million years.  Now consider Clinton did it several times on his way to multiple wins.  Trump had KFC on his plane.  

 

Over simplification, yes.  But symptomatic of a mindset and a much larger issue with modern liberalism.  First rule of speaking to anyone is to come downstairs and meet face to face rather than shouting from above

 

That Dems dont understand why they are getting their clocks cleaned by the working class in rustbelt states is fascinating.  Must be racism

 

 

Clinton stopped at Chipotle - clearly signaling that she favors illegals.

 

Also was at local diners, BBQ joints and icecream stores. But those weren't ****ty enough apparently.,

[NoCalMike]

I don't think I'd be all in on Mark Cuban as President, but comparing him to Trump as a "business man" at least Cuban built something from the ground up, yeah? These conversations are not real though because of the precedent Trump's election has set.  Reagan at least held office before running for the highest office.

[DogofWar1]

Spacey - Oprah 2020.

 

Flawless Victory.

 

But No Excuses has the right idea.  Dems aren't running in enough places.  There are other issues certainly (gerrymandering, suppression), but that's one of them.

 

Howard Dean made competing everywhere a major part of his 2006 strategy, and it paid dividends.  They capitalized on Bush's unpopularity and had people around to win the races.

 

They need to do the same in 2018.  There needs to be a Dem challenging everywhere.

 

Like I was saying in the Congress thread, all the special elections so far suggest about 64 or so seats would be in play if the election was held around now.  Dems likely won't win all of them, maybe they pull around 40 of them or so.  But that's assuming they challenge in all 64.  If you run candidates in only, say, 51 of the 64 in-play seats, odds are you then only win 30ish.  Maybe you still take the House, but holy cow have you made your job so much harder.

 

Now, certainly, a problem the Dems have is that this obviously works best with unpopular GOPers in the WH.  2006 had Blue Dog Dems, but they got beaten by a new mutation of the GOP.

 

So Dems need to emulate 2006 in terms of running people everywhere, but they need a better follow through than they had after 2006, when the GOP won back a lot of the more rural/manufacturing seats that were won.

 

There is one benefit though, and that is if the current crop of GOPers suddenly fall out of favor with people, at least they can't evolve into a MORE right version of themselves.  *2030 me undoubtedly regrets this statement*

 

 

P.S.  Zoony, Wendy's is the wave of the future.  It might not play with some crowds now, but I monitor the millenial twitters.  Wendy's is huge.  By 2028, all the popular politicians will need to be retweeted by the Wendy's twitter if they want to have any hope in the primaries.