Democratic (Party) Direction

That rules, well played all involved.

They really *haven't* gotten their shit together, though. They got lucky. xp

this also applies to the last presidential election but thanks for the input

Of course it does, but don't bank on every opponent turning out to be a pedophile.

― Simon H., Tuesday, December 12, 2017 11:33 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the 2018 battlegrounds won't be as deep red as Alabama

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/grandparents-raiding-grandchildren/548117/

Our entitlement system was designed to fund current generations out of the taxes of younger and future generations (while pretending not to). This intergenerational compact not only made sense, but also worked, when working Americans were largely in far better financial shape than senior citizens, and population growth and economic progress went more or less hand-in-hand in steady progression. But not only is the elderly poverty rate no longer 50 percent but, rather, now 10 percent: The wealthiest, highest-income age cohort also is now those Boomers nearing retirement. The second wealthiest? Those already in retirement.

Who’s not doing well in the current economy? Younger Americans.

Reverse Social Security via 100% estate tax over $2mn.

Remove the income ceiling on Social Security, maybe?

er......... the elderly poverty rate is no longer 50 percent BECAUSE of social security.... right?

That’s not how Social Security works

the way it should work is every american gets it, birth to the earth, and generational dynasties are taxed to cover it

McElwee's piece here last week was good:

https://theoutline.com/post/2568/the-democratic-party-is-fine

The future of the party belongs to these candidates — ones who understand that justice is about paychecks and clean water and can mobilize youth without pandering. But the core questions at the heart of the party have been answered. No credible pundit would argue that the future of the party is bloodless centrism, and the primaries across the country reflect that. The Democrats have work to do, and have scars left over from the 2016 primary. But the party is increasingly united on the values of racial justice, immigration, gender equity, non-discrimination, universal health care and antitrust policy. It is the most united American party in modern political history.

are dems in agreement about immigration? what's the agreement?

100% estate tax over $2mn

The gov wouldn't see much of that money. Under current tax law most of those estates would instead be funneled into charitable foundations with extremely vague and broad remits and the heirs would sit on the board of directors, where they'd be seething over the loss of their inheritances. They'd get vengeance by funding socially regressive institutions touting the benefits of monarchy, and their kids would be hired by those same institutions at big salaries for doing nothing.

he's arguing not about leadership coalescing on policy but on the stated beliefs of the grassroots base which appear, despite the rancor & headlines about party division, to be moving in a uniform direction xp

from that lens its pretty clear from poll after poll that Dems support DACA & a means to extend it

Under current tax law

I'm going out on a limb to say that current tax law is irrelevant to the fantasy of a regime that can impose a 100% estate tax.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_AaTM-IKxM

hoos what do you make of these folks?

https://www.everydistrict.us/about/
https://medium.com/@EveryDistrict/the-road-to-160-7b0b062ce9cf

There's a great piece in Harper's last month ("Star Search: The Race to Rebuild the Democratic Party") that looks at Run for Something and Knock Every Door and the whole kinda ecosystem that's sprung up this year that I'd argue these folks fit neatly into. Let a thousand flowers bloom imo. In some states the state parties are coming to these orgs saying like "hey......we don't really have a bench of who to run. Do you have names?" I think that's very significant, and if the people being put up to run are well trained in effective campaigning (which many of these orgs seem prepared for), efforts like these could be a significant contributor to the wave I'm expecting this November.

I wonder about the overall viability of RFS's strategy of running a glut of hyper-locally-focused campaigns (a thousand Danica Roems demanding fixes to local highways) without demanding any particular strong commitments from candidates--but then I think Our Rev can go too far, demanding all their candidates sign onto a high-bar Bernie-leaning vision of the future of the party. So it's good we've got variety.

Max Sawicky:

https://thebaffler.com/latest/alabama-shaken-sawicky

i like this guy

I'm skeptical of the article Sawicky links to as evidence the party had been quietly involved from early on--

Behind the scenes, however, Democrats were heavily involved. The Democratic National Committee invested nearly $1 million in the Alabama race, focused on organizing and mobilizing. The party also sent paid staffers to the state to help out, particularly in engaging African-American and millennial voters. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent the full legal amount ― $366,700 ― to help the Jones campaign pay for expenses on staff, resources and other needs.

like, ok, aaaaand comparatively

MoveOn.org endorsed Jones early on, and its members gave more than $250,000 to the campaign and sent more than 93,000 text messages to voters persuading them to vote. Democracy for America chipped in nearly $72,000, and thousands of its members chipped in volunteering for the effort. The League of Conservation Voters contributed nearly $300,000 to Jones’ campaign and a pro-Jones super PAC. Senate Majority PAC said it spent more than $6 million on its program to elect Jones, including TV, digital advertising, mail and on-the-ground turnout operations focused on African-American voters, who were key to Jones’ win. It also partnered with Priorities USA on a $1.5 million digital campaign.

The strategy laid out in the article ("expand the electorate, organize like hell to turn out our voters, hope the other side stays home") is presented as a fresh approach developed for this race, evidence of strategic thinking form the national party invested in Alabama, but these (perfectly fine) criteria were the parameters of both Perez & Ellison's competing platforms for the DNC chairmanship. "Expand the electorate & organize like hell to turn our people out" was part of my pitch line trying to wheel votes for Keith at the April DNC meeting. Maybe I'm just eternally wary of crediting the DNC with too much, but as far as I'm concerned when you line up the facts this was a grassroots-driven victory first.

The DNC is good at gathering money, less good at directing money where it ought to go, not much good at organizing, and demonstrably weak at forming a winning national strategy. The root cause of this inverted pyramid of effectiveness is that the DNC is disconnected from policy. It is hard to do politics when you have no policy.

There's a great piece in Harper's last month ("Star Search: The Race to Rebuild the Democratic Party") that looks at Run for Something and Knock Every Door and the whole kinda ecosystem that's sprung up this year that I'd argue these folks fit neatly into. Let a thousand flowers bloom imo. In some states the state parties are coming to these orgs saying like "hey......we don't really have a bench of who to run. Do you have names?" I think that's very significant, and if the people being put up to run are well trained in effective campaigning (which many of these orgs seem prepared for), efforts like these could be a significant contributor to the wave I'm expecting this November.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, December 13, 2017 4:02 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I thought those orgs came off pretty bad in the piece

RFS particularly, yes--I'm skeptical of their coziness with the party & was disappointed the piece's author didn't talk to anyone at Our Rev or one of the organizing directors at Indivisible.

thank you hoos

yeah the woman interviewed from RFS seemed like a delusional Clintonite that had learned nothing from that campaign's mistakes.

encouraging numbers

https://report.actblue.com/

On Northam’s comments re: Medicaid and “skin in the game”

https://splinternews.com/do-democrats-want-to-make-medicaid-work-for-people-or-1821398768

...Why is a Democrat adopting conservative rhetoric on healthcare at all? Why is a Democrat talking about “skin in the game” and “incentivizing good health,” let alone god damn work requirements? Moreover, why is he conceding ground to Republicans before he has to, and not starting from, say, a more progressive version than he expects to get?

speaking of virginia, the dems just took the virginia house of delegates after a recount flipped a result blue:

https://pilotonline.com/news/government/politics/virginia/simonds-wins-house-of-delegates-seat-by-vote-balance-of/article_bbb3bb17-b131-5643-afd0-a1a7aadad1e2.html

by a single vote, right?

that rules

yep

holy shit, that's great.

i think someone mentioned that upthread and i didn't really process what happened

pretty remarkable and shows for the millionth time how important it is for people to (shit, goddamn) get off their asses and vote

If you wanted any argument for the importance of voting, all you need do is notice how diligently the powerful work at suppressing the vote. Their actions prove they fear the power of the ballot.

i think someone mentioned that upthread and i didn't really process what happened

― Karl Malone, Tuesday, December 19, 2017 10:00 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ya in the pol thread somebody noted it might flip--looks like it did!

her face on the air when it was being announced

https://i.imgur.com/TYNHaOy.jpg

same, lady, same

hell yeah

speaking of virginia, the dems just took the virginia house of delegates after a recount flipped a result blue:

Well, they tied it 50-50

right right, my flub

hey, an article about a thing i help with

https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/12/20/16798026/rebuild-left-democratic-party-democratic-socialists-tenant-rights

Democrats, who hope to recapture the House and Senate in 2018, are trying to understand their unexpected success in Alabama so that they can replicate it next year. But it was painstaking, careful organizing by black organizations that seems to have made the greatest difference—and black activists are drawing their own lessons from their successes in Alabama, as they seek to empower their communities.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/sparking-an-electoral-revival-in-alabama/548504/?utm_source=atlfb

it was painstaking, careful organizing by black organizations that seems to have made the greatest difference

so the take-away is to strengthen community organizing everywhere, which is always very hard work and is pretty much the take-away from every successful progressive movement in history.

ORPHANS > CORPORATE JETS

A brief thought on basic organizing...

As a matter of strategy, organizing requires opening a trusted channel of communication within the community being organized, so important news can be shared and activities can be coordinated. The internet, email, mobile phones, and social media provide glaringly obvious tools for creating such open channels.

However, as a matter of tactics, people respond far more strongly to voices they connect to faces, and most especially to trusted people whose character they know and understand. This is why churches have always proved such fertile ground for community organization. Electronic media are disembodied and faceless. It's their glaringly obvious weakness.

I suspect that social media are being overly relied upon by progressive organizations as a simple, cheap and fast solution to communication and the human connection piece of organizing is getting short shrift. The ease of electronic communication also leads to its abuse, by overloading it with junk messages and incessant fundraising appeals. This ends with it being swiftly tuned out. iow, it fails its purpose and proves to be an empty waste of effort.

All of which is just to say this is a big rake in the middle of the path waiting to be stepped on by newbies to organizing. The old-fashioned shoe leather and church basement organizing will never stop being the most effective and lasting methodology, even though it is the most time-consuming and difficult. Electronic media need to be an adjunct, not a primary tool.

I think that's already the approach most left orgs are taking tbh

I suspect that social media are being overly relied upon

lots of stuck up "liberals" out there and sadly, long gone, no more ACORN. o'keefe (a caricature, sure. . .) has cause more damage than dems know

ACORN was targeted because it was effective