Democratic (Party) Direction

They've known she would be on the ballot for at least a month. And when you have 1,5 million dollars on hand, you don't really need to 'mobilize' people, you can pay them.

All respect to Ocasio-Cortez for taking on a corrupt machine, and whatever happens, I hope she'll continue doing so. DSA would probably also be good for building up alternative networks in those kind of areas.

They've known she would be on the ballot for at least a month. And when you have 1,5 million dollars on hand, you don't really need to 'mobilize' people, you can pay them.

― Frederik B

that's not how money works

i mean 150 years ago if you had money you could just go around and offer people five dollars for their vote but now you have to use it for something. which requires, uh, mobilizing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/why-arent-top-democrats-acknowledging-the-black-women-running-for-office/562802/?utm_source=atlfb_test127_1

In this climate, the Democrats are trying to find a strategy that will help them win back the House. And right now, that strategy is to focus on battleground states and districts, and focus on offering an economic message: a strategy that inadvertently is leaving these black women out.

Thanks Bernie

Just kidding. That article is so frustrating, the party still doing things by the old playbook. “The DCCC’s sole mission is to win elections, and they make decisions on resource allocation, field staff, and other means of support based on one thing, and that is viability.” Even if we take them at their words - and I know many in this thread don't - this is just stupid. Long term rebuilding requires different strategies.

"Gerontocracy" is a great word

What often seems lost on Democratic strategists and politicians like Newsom, Villaraigosa, and McCaskill is that elections are more than contests to fill particular offices or seats. They’re opportunities for parties to organize and mobilize their activists, volunteers, and voters, promote their ideas to the public, and perhaps win over a few converts in the electorate. If you had asked an average Democrat in 2012, absent any action from the McCaskill campaign, whether it would be good for the people of Missouri broadly, and the women of Missouri specifically, for the Republican Party to nominate Todd Akin—a fanatical spreader of falsehoods about abortion and birth control—to the United States Senate, they probably would have said no, that it would actually be quite bad for the people of Missouri, especially the women of Missouri, for the Republican Party to further elevate one of the more unhinged disseminators of lies and poison about abortion and birth control, in our political discourse. They would have been right. McCaskill helped the Republican Party do just that anyway.

The Democratic Party is a gerontocracy driven primarily by careerism and convenience. The pathologies that make Feinstein’s return to the Senate a given and convince Democrats burning cash on the Republican Party’s Blankenships, Akins, and nobodies out in California are the dynamics keeping unambiguously corrupt New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez in the party’s good graces. They are the pathologies that encouraged Nancy Pelosi to resist asking John Conyers—an easily replaceable congressman representing one of safest Democratic seats in the country, a man who’d been in Congress for over a half-century—to step down for over a week after he was credibly accused of sexual assault and harassment by over half a dozen women. They are the pathologies that allow Bill Clinton to dismiss questions about his sexual misconduct with confidence that party leaders will never cast him aside. They are the pathologies that encouraged the Hillary Clinton campaign to consider, seriously and aptly, adopting “Because It’s Her Turn” as its slogan in 2016. The Democratic Party is a professional fraternity only secondarily interested in advancing the proposals in its grab bag of policy ideas—proposals that Democratic candidates are, in fact, free to oppose provided they can raise cash easily and appeal to voters who will inevitably tire of them and vote for the Republican candidates and policies they are likely to eventually prefer.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/californias-primary-showed-why-the-democratic-party-is-stuck-in-place.html

Defenders of Feinstein’s incumbency generally cite her competence and experience. Feinstein is indeed well-versed in the kind of transactional, collaborative, bipartisan politics that no longer exists in the United States Congress. This is something like being fluent in Esperanto. The primary responsibilities of a Democratic senator in 2018 are writing legislation that cannot pass and grandstanding in support of Democratic messaging. These are things that can be accomplished by political veterans and newcomers alike.

(piece goes on to point out that Feinstein sucks at supporting the messaging ... but hey, it's her seat til she dies)

Sorry to correct this from across the pond, but Feinstein is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and will become the Chair once the Dems retake the senate. Seniority still rules to a large extent, so a 26-year old incumbent is quite frankly more valuable to California than a newcomer, everything else considered. I'm of course still rooting for Kevin dé Leon, but that piece is stupid.

Of course it's stupid. It's on Slate.

jump out the fuckin' window plz Fred

This is also stupid:

Careerism and convenience are, of course, important forces in the Republican Party as well. But the Republican Party is about to select its third speaker of the House this decade. This is churn driven largely by internal debate and dissent about how the Republican Party can best advance its particular vision for American society—how it can more deeply empower the white, wealthy, and thus worthy citizens of this country. Every Republican politician is, really, no more than an instrument for that project, and the Republican Party is not terribly particular about who they hire to fulfill it: Accused pedophiles and mad reality show hosts are welcome to apply. The majority of Republican politicians live in constant fear that they’ll be canned for someone who might be more deeply committed to the party’s vision.

It's especially stupid coming right at the same time that Mitch McConnell becomes the longest serving Republican Senate Leader. The 'third house speaker' this decade only comes from Paul Ryan not wanting to do it, before him Boehner served for eight years and Hastert did the same.

I mean, again, if you don't want to be corrected by a fucking Dane, don't post things so stupid they can be taken apart by two minutes of wiki'ing.

I'd actually be curious to see a Boehner reappraisal - was he genuinely bad at the job or were the monkeys he was in charge of significantly worse that McConnell's? He was only there for four years (Fred has forgotten Pelosi, I'm afraid), and all post-Tea Party.

I mean bringing up bills that you don't win is a sign you're not cut out for that job, I get that.

He was bad at his job and he was one of the monkeys. Maybe in another era he would've been Bob Michel.

Yeah, sure. But he was Republican House Leader for eight years. Sorry for the confusion.

And the monkeys are worse. There's nothing like the Freedom Caucus in the Senate, and the leadership just seems to have more power, no?

They've known she would be on the ballot for at least a month. And when you have 1,5 million dollars on hand, you don't really need to 'mobilize' people, you can pay them.

― Frederik B, Thursday, 14 June 2018 13:37 (yesterday) Permalink

In about two dozen posts on the subject, which you have no up-close knowledge of, the sum-total of your insight into the Crowley-AOC race seems to be "she might not win," which was acknowledged up front. So, thanks for that.

I'm just going to say again, that if you want to posit 'up-close knowledge' is an important factor, you should post less stupid stuff.

Fred u need a new hobby

Oh, a prior unknown who had raised about $100,000 before her name started to get out there might have trouble unseating a longtime incumbent chair of the county party who already had a two-million-dollar warchest on gumption, viral ads and grassroots organizing alone? That might be an uphill battle? Where did you get your PhD in political science?

xxp we all do

Animus against Fred is so locked in at this point that he gets scolded even for saying that the Senate's worship of seniority unavoidably leads to irrational outcomes.

there are a lot of things wrong with the Senate that will probably never change

xpost: At this point I just assume it's the same motivation as Morbs posted in that other thread:

get out of town, foreigner

― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius), 15. juni 2018 16:14 (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

What thread is that in?

"Posts you had second thought about and decided not to post - put them here"

That is, he posted it there instead of in this thread.

I am not a board etiquette expert but I think the point of the second thought thread is NOT to have the beef brought back into the source thread and rehashed there.

It's like what happens in Vegas, innit?

It's not beef. Morbs was just unusually direct.

Defenders of Feinstein’s incumbency generally cite her competence and experience. Feinstein is indeed well-versed in the kind of transactional, collaborative, bipartisan politics that no longer exists in the United States Congress. This is something like being fluent in Esperanto. The primary responsibilities of a Democratic senator in 2018 are writing legislation that cannot pass and grandstanding in support of Democratic messaging. These are things that can be accomplished by political veterans and newcomers alike.

― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius)

what skills should a leader in the house of representatives have, small arms fire?

senator, whatever

I'd actually be curious to see a Boehner reappraisal - was he genuinely bad at the job or were the monkeys he was in charge of significantly worse that McConnell's? He was only there for four years (Fred has forgotten Pelosi, I'm afraid), and all post-Tea Party.

― Andrew Farrell

i'm just glad he's stopped crying. as for his belief the republican party is taking a "nap", well, a dirt nap is a kind of nap i guess

The debate: https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2018/06/15/crowley-ocasio-cortez-stay-civil-despite-differences-in-primary-debate-470236

rushomancy, writing some bills that can pass and not voting for Yam's Cabinet maybe

Posts very much out of character

“Where did you hear that??”
“On reddit.” pic.twitter.com/nhAtzbBtXs

— whiskeydrinker.exe (@we_healing) June 16, 2018

I very much hope she wins, but I also very much hope there are more candidates like her in the coming years in districts all around the country.

Progressive candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) could be the first Latina to represent her district in Congress. That means taking on an incumbent Democrat — here's why. pic.twitter.com/58b7IzNloV

— REMEZCLA (@REMEZCLA) June 15, 2018

Would also just like to point out a toxic use of the "taxpayer money" trope by Crowley. Dude said he was elected by "taxpayers." He was literally elected by voters. Saying you're elected by "taxpayers" is dog-whistling to wealthier people.

— Raúl Carrillo (@RaulACarrillo) June 16, 2018

MoveOn endorsed her.

https://theintercept.com/2018/06/18/joe-crowley-moveon-endorses-primary-challenger-to-the-potential-next-speaker-of-the-house/

Hey, cool, MoveOn still exists! Good for them.

They have 300k Twitter followers, so yes, they appear to still exist.

I assume they mostly create Facebook memes.

Nah they use that big email cannon of theirs to promote legit action from time to time--I worked with them on a few things last year. Their lawyers are terrified of civil disobedience but that e-mail cannon is worthwhile.

Pretty good article on Crowley and Ocasio-Cortez. The story about how he got his congress seat is galling. Smash the machines: https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/06/19/the-most-powerful-democrat-in-queens-must-finally-compete/

He sent a Latina spokesperson in his place to represent him at a local debate.

The nerve!

Jk, I'm not sure I get the problem here, there was one planned debate, and he was there, and is he not supposed to have Latina spokespersons?

there's an ilxor you should read on this - some danish political nut who posted a lot of trenchant commentary on political optics and race with regard to bernie sanders's poll numbers in the south.

Jk, I'm not sure I get the problem here, there was one planned debate, and he was there, and is he not supposed to have Latina spokespersons?

He was spotted in town throughout the day. It wouldn't have been hard for him to turn up if he'd wanted to.

Sure, but people don't just organize debates and demand that the candidates show up? He was at the debate both campaigns had agreed to be at. This is weak, Simon.