2024 Presidential Election -- new thread for the final week

[CameronBornAndBred]

I agree with Jason that the time to close this out is rapidly approaching though. The goal of DBR, as I have always understood it, is to be a friendly sports pub. I would rather our anger be channeled towards UNC than each other.

All the UNC fans that voted for Trump irritate the hell out of me.

Also, all the UNC fans that voted for Harris irritate the hell out of me.

 

[tendev]

Just stumbled across Chris Matthews giving his impressions to the MSNBC crew yesterday. He's specifically talking about Pennsylvania, but he could just as easily been talking about the South in general. I know what he says is exactly what I've been hearing from many folk who voted for Trump despite hating him.

Whether you like or don't like what he's saying, I believe it's impossible to deny the reality of it at this point.

Matthews said a lot of different things. Immigration, OK, reasonable point. Inflation, OK, reasonable point, except that I don't agree with his implied cause: spending in the Biden administration. I agree that for voters it does not matter what caused it. They blame the current administration. But what can Democrats do about that? Not get elected in 2020? Then he goes on and talks about the "toughness" perception and how women have difficulty getting elected because they are not perceived as being tough enough. What are Democrats supposed to do about that? Accept it and nominate a man? Or as Matthews stated, nominate a conservative woman? What was Nikki Haley? Let's stop tip toeing around this. Trump played the tough guy card all day long (even stated that Mike Tyson should step into the ring with Harris). He has now defeated two women and lost to a man. And Democrats and pundits sit there and try to analyze the rest. Can't we just acknowledge that being a female contributed to Harris' loss, that we still have a long way to go and that we should not try to placate those voters who have this attitude.

 

[crote]

(FWIW, I think Kamala ran a very good campaign. I think it is clear now that the deck was stacked against her in ways that it would have taken a miracle to overcome. She wasn't perfect -- she should have distanced herself from Biden more -- but she did pretty damned well otherwise. The economy, the timing and circumstance of her nomination and bad Democratic strategy and messaging for the last 8 years weren't things she could necessarily control. And they all contributed to her loss, IMO.)

Agreed with this. She was dealt a difficult (but not impossible) hand. She didn't play it poorly, but she had to be great to win and wasn't. (Where "she" is more accurately not Kamala but the upper echelons of the Democratic party as a whole.)

 

[CDu]

(FWIW, I think Kamala ran a very good campaign. I think it is clear now that the deck was stacked against her in ways that it would have taken a miracle to overcome. She wasn't perfect -- she should have distanced herself from Biden more -- but she did pretty damned well otherwise. The economy, the timing and circumstance of her nomination and bad Democratic strategy and messaging for the last 8 years weren't things she could necessarily control. And they all contributed to her loss, IMO.)

Yeah, we can just look at the polling for Biden vs Trump and see how far she had to come. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to remain the VP of Biden's administration while trying to distance herself from the general unpopularity of Biden's 4 years (whether that unpopularity was fair or not is another topic, but it was/is unquestionably an unpopular administration). She made what was looking like a true landslide election into a very competitive race despite those challenges. She even ran better in the swing states than in the non-competitive states. It was just too much to overcome. She was able to make it close enough that the Senatorial/Congressional damage was minimal (losing only 1-2 competitive seats in the Senate despite a very unfavorable Senate map) and likely holding neutral on the House. But overcoming the "unpopular incumbent" stigma was too tough.

Ideally, Biden would have read the tea leaves in 2023 and announced he wasn't going to run. He ran in 2020 somewhat on the idea of being a transitional president. But running again, despite being so old and unpopular, really put the Dem party in a tough place. Had they had an open primary, I don't know if that would have been enough to allow a candidate to distance him/herself enough. But it would have given the party a chance.

 

[OldPhiKap]

All the UNC fans that voted for Trump irritate the hell out of me.

Also, all the UNC fans that voted for Harris irritate the hell out of me.

Now THIS is a man who understands the assignment!!! ;-)

 

[luvdahops]

Just stumbled across Chris Matthews giving his impressions to the MSNBC crew yesterday. He's specifically talking about Pennsylvania, but he could just as easily been talking about the South in general. I know what he says is exactly what I've been hearing from many folk who voted for Trump despite hating him.

Whether you like or don't like what he's saying, I believe it's impossible to deny the reality of it at this point.

I'm a big fan of the Liberal Patriot substack, and of longtime D pollster Ruy Teixeira in particular. What Matthews articulates is very much in keeping with Teixeira's views, which are generally backed by reams of supporting data. Several weeks ago, he put out a prescient piece titled "The Progressive Moment is Over". A summary of his key arguments is below:

1. Loosening restrictions on illegal immigration was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
2. Promoting lax law enforcement and tolerance of social disorder was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
3. Insisting that everyone should look at all issues through the lens of identity politics was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
4. Telling people fossil fuels are evil and they must stop using them was a terrible idea and voters hate it.

He has a piece out today titled "The Shattering of the Democratic Coalition" and sets forth the following as a set of guiding principles for the party to regain credibility with "normie" working-class voters of all races:

• Equality of opportunity is a fundamental American principle; equality of outcome is not.
• America is not perfect but it is good to be patriotic and proud of the country.
• Discrimination and racism are bad but they are not the cause of all disparities in American society.
• Racial achievement gaps are bad and we should seek to close them. However, they are not due just to racism and standards of high achievement should be maintained for people of all races.
• No one is completely without bias but calling all white people racists who benefit from white privilege and American society a white supremacist society is not right or fair.
• America benefits from the presence of immigrants and no immigrant, even if illegal, should be mistreated. But border security is hugely important, as is an enforceable system that fairly decides who can enter the country.
• Police misconduct and brutality against people of any race is wrong and we need to reform police conduct and recruitment. However, more and better policing is needed to get criminals off the streets and secure public safety. That cannot be provided by “defunding the police”.
• There are underlying differences between men and women that should not all be attributed to sexism. However, discrimination on the basis of gender is wrong and should always be opposed.
• People who want to live as a gender different from their biological sex should have that right. However, biological sex is real and spaces limited to biological women in areas like sports and prisons should be preserved. Medical treatments like drugs and surgery are serious interventions that should not be available on demand, especially for children.
• Language policing has gone too far; by and large, people should be able to express their views without fear of sanction by employer, school, institution or government. Free speech is a fundamental American value that should be safeguarded everywhere.
• Climate change is a serious problem but it won’t be solved overnight. As we move toward a clean energy economy with an “all of the above” strategy, energy must continue to be cheap, reliable and abundant. That means fossil fuels, especially natural gas, will continue to be an important part of the mix.
• We must make America more equal, but we also must make it richer. There is no contradiction between the two. A richer country will make it easier to promote equality.
• Degrowth is the worst idea on the left since Communism. Ordinary voters want abundance: more stuff, more opportunity, cheaper prices, nicer, more comfortable lives. The only way to provide this is with more growth, not less.
• We need to make it much easier to build things, from housing to transmission lines to nuclear reactors. That cannot happen without serious regulatory and permitting reform.
• America needs a robust industrial policy that goes far beyond climate policy. We are in direct competition with nations like China, a competition we cannot win without building on cutting edge scientific research in all fields.
• National economic development should prioritize the “left-behind” areas of the country. The New Deal under Franklin Roosevelt did this and we can do it today. “Trickle-down” economics from rich metropolitan areas is not working.

This is, of course, highly prescriptive in its own way, but also rooted in a lot more common sense than has been the norm policy-wise within the Democratic Party over much of the past decade. Said another way, the party is correct more often than not in diagnosing problems, but needs to do a much better job with policy solutions. Teixeira's suggested principles seem like a good roadmap at a minimum.

 

[PackMan97]

Can't we just acknowledge that being a female contributed to Harris' loss, that we still have a long way to go and that we should not try to placate those voters who have this attitude.

Perhaps, it's a height thing? 5'4" is pretty average for a woman (5'3.5" is the average) and it's quite clear that American voters prefer their Presidents to be above average height. For comparison the male average is 5'9" (that is today, height has been growing over time). Hillary was also 5'5" or so.

Heights of presidents and presidential candidates of the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It would be interesting to see if a taller woman would fare better? The truth is the last guy of average height was John McCain (5'9") and he was trounced pretty badly and before that Michael Dukakis (5'9") was obliterated at the polls.

I think while we explore if there is sexism in US politics, we could see if that is being confused for heightism. There is a pretty clear societal preference in the US for our leaders to be taller, both in politics and business.

This is why I've always rounded up that last 1/2" and said I'm 6'0" tall.

 

[Chicago 1995]

Its simple as this, the ruling party over the current national crisis is more likely than not to lose the next election. You can point out all sorts of facts and details on why this person or that person is unqualified or a bad choice. If none of those details have any direct adverse effect on voters, they do not care. This is a "me first" country. What have you done for me lately? Aww, sucks about whatever problem that is, but what about me? This how this country votes. Me first.

Is a voter struggling to put food on the table and has a kid getting ready to apply to college really deserving of that much scorn if they put those issues ahead of whether or not Donald Trump should have taken classified documents to Mar A Lago?

To be clear, for me, Trump's done a 1000 things that personally disqualify him in my eyes. I'm also not struggling to make ends meet. I don't live in a dying rural community. I'm not in a place that's really facing issues related to migrants, yet. It's pretty easy for me to stand back and vote "selflessly."

 

[willywoody]

That says a LOT more about the gerrymandering of our state than about any political trends in our state.

We are the poster child for really terrible lines.

Ha! SC is the Farrah Fawcett of gerrymandering.

 

[PackMan97]

Ha! SC is the Farrah Fawcett of gerrymandering.

Us folks in NC got in the first time. You only have to repeat it for Florida Men.

 

[Chicago 1995]

I'm a big fan of the Liberal Patriot substack, and of longtime D pollster Ruy Teixeira in particular. What Matthews articulates is very much in keeping with Teixeira's views, which are generally backed by reams of supporting data. Several weeks ago, he put out a prescient piece titled "The Progressive Moment is Over". A summary of his key arguments is below:

1. Loosening restrictions on illegal immigration was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
2. Promoting lax law enforcement and tolerance of social disorder was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
3. Insisting that everyone should look at all issues through the lens of identity politics was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
4. Telling people fossil fuels are evil and they must stop using them was a terrible idea and voters hate it.

He has a piece out today titled "The Shattering of the Democratic Coalition" and sets forth the following as a set of guiding principles for the party to regain credibility with "normie" working-class voters of all races:

• Equality of opportunity is a fundamental American principle; equality of outcome is not.
• America is not perfect but it is good to be patriotic and proud of the country.
• Discrimination and racism are bad but they are not the cause of all disparities in American society.
• Racial achievement gaps are bad and we should seek to close them. However, they are not due just to racism and standards of high achievement should be maintained for people of all races.
• No one is completely without bias but calling all white people racists who benefit from white privilege and American society a white supremacist society is not right or fair.
• America benefits from the presence of immigrants and no immigrant, even if illegal, should be mistreated. But border security is hugely important, as is an enforceable system that fairly decides who can enter the country.
• Police misconduct and brutality against people of any race is wrong and we need to reform police conduct and recruitment. However, more and better policing is needed to get criminals off the streets and secure public safety. That cannot be provided by “defunding the police”.
• There are underlying differences between men and women that should not all be attributed to sexism. However, discrimination on the basis of gender is wrong and should always be opposed.
• People who want to live as a gender different from their biological sex should have that right. However, biological sex is real and spaces limited to biological women in areas like sports and prisons should be preserved. Medical treatments like drugs and surgery are serious interventions that should not be available on demand, especially for children.
• Language policing has gone too far; by and large, people should be able to express their views without fear of sanction by employer, school, institution or government. Free speech is a fundamental American value that should be safeguarded everywhere.
• Climate change is a serious problem but it won’t be solved overnight. As we move toward a clean energy economy with an “all of the above” strategy, energy must continue to be cheap, reliable and abundant. That means fossil fuels, especially natural gas, will continue to be an important part of the mix.
• We must make America more equal, but we also must make it richer. There is no contradiction between the two. A richer country will make it easier to promote equality.
• Degrowth is the worst idea on the left since Communism. Ordinary voters want abundance: more stuff, more opportunity, cheaper prices, nicer, more comfortable lives. The only way to provide this is with more growth, not less.
• We need to make it much easier to build things, from housing to transmission lines to nuclear reactors. That cannot happen without serious regulatory and permitting reform.
• America needs a robust industrial policy that goes far beyond climate policy. We are in direct competition with nations like China, a competition we cannot win without building on cutting edge scientific research in all fields.
• National economic development should prioritize the “left-behind” areas of the country. The New Deal under Franklin Roosevelt did this and we can do it today. “Trickle-down” economics from rich metropolitan areas is not working.

This is, of course, highly prescriptive in its own way, but also rooted in a lot more common sense than has been the norm policy-wise within the Democratic Party over much of the past decade. Said another way, the party is correct more often than not in diagnosing problems, but needs to do a much better job with policy solutions. Teixeira's suggested principles seem like a good roadmap at a minimum.

I'm a big fan of the Liberal Patriot substack, and of longtime D pollster Ruy Teixeira in particular. What Matthews articulates is very much in keeping with Teixeira's views, which are generally backed by reams of supporting data. Several weeks ago, he put out a prescient piece titled "The Progressive Moment is Over". A summary of his key arguments is below:

1. Loosening restrictions on illegal immigration was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
2. Promoting lax law enforcement and tolerance of social disorder was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
3. Insisting that everyone should look at all issues through the lens of identity politics was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
4. Telling people fossil fuels are evil and they must stop using them was a terrible idea and voters hate it.

He has a piece out today titled "The Shattering of the Democratic Coalition" and sets forth the following as a set of guiding principles for the party to regain credibility with "normie" working-class voters of all races:

• Equality of opportunity is a fundamental American principle; equality of outcome is not.
• America is not perfect but it is good to be patriotic and proud of the country.
• Discrimination and racism are bad but they are not the cause of all disparities in American society.
• Racial achievement gaps are bad and we should seek to close them. However, they are not due just to racism and standards of high achievement should be maintained for people of all races.
• No one is completely without bias but calling all white people racists who benefit from white privilege and American society a white supremacist society is not right or fair.
• America benefits from the presence of immigrants and no immigrant, even if illegal, should be mistreated. But border security is hugely important, as is an enforceable system that fairly decides who can enter the country.
• Police misconduct and brutality against people of any race is wrong and we need to reform police conduct and recruitment. However, more and better policing is needed to get criminals off the streets and secure public safety. That cannot be provided by “defunding the police”.
• There are underlying differences between men and women that should not all be attributed to sexism. However, discrimination on the basis of gender is wrong and should always be opposed.
• People who want to live as a gender different from their biological sex should have that right. However, biological sex is real and spaces limited to biological women in areas like sports and prisons should be preserved. Medical treatments like drugs and surgery are serious interventions that should not be available on demand, especially for children.
• Language policing has gone too far; by and large, people should be able to express their views without fear of sanction by employer, school, institution or government. Free speech is a fundamental American value that should be safeguarded everywhere.
• Climate change is a serious problem but it won’t be solved overnight. As we move toward a clean energy economy with an “all of the above” strategy, energy must continue to be cheap, reliable and abundant. That means fossil fuels, especially natural gas, will continue to be an important part of the mix.
• We must make America more equal, but we also must make it richer. There is no contradiction between the two. A richer country will make it easier to promote equality.
• Degrowth is the worst idea on the left since Communism. Ordinary voters want abundance: more stuff, more opportunity, cheaper prices, nicer, more comfortable lives. The only way to provide this is with more growth, not less.
• We need to make it much easier to build things, from housing to transmission lines to nuclear reactors. That cannot happen without serious regulatory and permitting reform.
• America needs a robust industrial policy that goes far beyond climate policy. We are in direct competition with nations like China, a competition we cannot win without building on cutting edge scientific research in all fields.
• National economic development should prioritize the “left-behind” areas of the country. The New Deal under Franklin Roosevelt did this and we can do it today. “Trickle-down” economics from rich metropolitan areas is not working.

This is, of course, highly prescriptive in its own way, but also rooted in a lot more common sense than has been the norm policy-wise within the Democratic Party over much of the past decade. Said another way, the party is correct more often than not in diagnosing problems, but needs to do a much better job with policy solutions. Teixeira's suggested principles seem like a good roadmap at a minimum.

I'm not trying to start anything -- particularly because I want this thread to stay open -- but there's a lot there that just seems to swallow right wing talking points whole, assume they are true, and try to force Democrats (way?) right to combat the strawman.

 

[SouthernDukie]

I'm a big fan of the Liberal Patriot substack, and of longtime D pollster Ruy Teixeira in particular. What Matthews articulates is very much in keeping with Teixeira's views, which are generally backed by reams of supporting data. Several weeks ago, he put out a prescient piece titled "The Progressive Moment is Over". A summary of his key arguments is below:

1. Loosening restrictions on illegal immigration was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
2. Promoting lax law enforcement and tolerance of social disorder was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
3. Insisting that everyone should look at all issues through the lens of identity politics was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
4. Telling people fossil fuels are evil and they must stop using them was a terrible idea and voters hate it.

He has a piece out today titled "The Shattering of the Democratic Coalition" and sets forth the following as a set of guiding principles for the party to regain credibility with "normie" working-class voters of all races:

• Equality of opportunity is a fundamental American principle; equality of outcome is not.
• America is not perfect but it is good to be patriotic and proud of the country.
• Discrimination and racism are bad but they are not the cause of all disparities in American society.
• Racial achievement gaps are bad and we should seek to close them. However, they are not due just to racism and standards of high achievement should be maintained for people of all races.
• No one is completely without bias but calling all white people racists who benefit from white privilege and American society a white supremacist society is not right or fair.
• America benefits from the presence of immigrants and no immigrant, even if illegal, should be mistreated. But border security is hugely important, as is an enforceable system that fairly decides who can enter the country.
• Police misconduct and brutality against people of any race is wrong and we need to reform police conduct and recruitment. However, more and better policing is needed to get criminals off the streets and secure public safety. That cannot be provided by “defunding the police”.
• There are underlying differences between men and women that should not all be attributed to sexism. However, discrimination on the basis of gender is wrong and should always be opposed.
• People who want to live as a gender different from their biological sex should have that right. However, biological sex is real and spaces limited to biological women in areas like sports and prisons should be preserved. Medical treatments like drugs and surgery are serious interventions that should not be available on demand, especially for children.
• Language policing has gone too far; by and large, people should be able to express their views without fear of sanction by employer, school, institution or government. Free speech is a fundamental American value that should be safeguarded everywhere.
• Climate change is a serious problem but it won’t be solved overnight. As we move toward a clean energy economy with an “all of the above” strategy, energy must continue to be cheap, reliable and abundant. That means fossil fuels, especially natural gas, will continue to be an important part of the mix.
• We must make America more equal, but we also must make it richer. There is no contradiction between the two. A richer country will make it easier to promote equality.
• Degrowth is the worst idea on the left since Communism. Ordinary voters want abundance: more stuff, more opportunity, cheaper prices, nicer, more comfortable lives. The only way to provide this is with more growth, not less.
• We need to make it much easier to build things, from housing to transmission lines to nuclear reactors. That cannot happen without serious regulatory and permitting reform.
• America needs a robust industrial policy that goes far beyond climate policy. We are in direct competition with nations like China, a competition we cannot win without building on cutting edge scientific research in all fields.
• National economic development should prioritize the “left-behind” areas of the country. The New Deal under Franklin Roosevelt did this and we can do it today. “Trickle-down” economics from rich metropolitan areas is not working.

This is, of course, highly prescriptive in its own way, but also rooted in a lot more common sense than has been the norm policy-wise within the Democratic Party over much of the past decade. Said another way, the party is correct more often than not in diagnosing problems, but needs to do a much better job with policy solutions. Teixeira's suggested principles seem like a good roadmap at a minimum.

Excellent stuff. If the Dems want to get back into the ballgame they could do a lot worse than at least consider Teixeira's points. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Matches]

Matthews said a lot of different things. Immigration, OK, reasonable point. Inflation, OK, reasonable point, except that I don't agree with his implied cause: spending in the Biden administration. I agree that for voters it does not matter what caused it. They blame the current administration.

I don’t buy it. Those are the excuses people give for why they voted the way they did. Four years ago it was a different set of excuses, and eight years ago it was a still different set (including, hilariously, negligent handling of classified information).

When the economy was good, they came up with reasons why it’s actually bad. When there was legislation to address the border they killed it.

They picked this guy *over other Republicans* three times (two if we give a mulligan for 2020). It isn’t about the economy. It’s partially about immigration but that’s a stand-in for something else. Voters liked what he was selling, and he’s been very clear about what he’s selling for the last 8+ years. In 2016 you could rationalize it away as being anti-HRC sentiment (which, believe me, I shared) or wanting an outsider. “Let’s try something different. Maybe it’s crazy enough to work.” Not this time. The country knew what it was choosing.

 

[luvdahops]

I'm not trying to start anything -- particularly because I want this thread to stay open -- but there's a lot there that just seems to swallow right wing talking points whole, assume they are true, and try to force Democrats (way?) right to combat the strawman.

I think it is less of swallowing right wing talking points whole and more reflective of what data says about how voters, particularly middle and working class voters, really think about these issues.

 

[SouthernDukie]

I'm not trying to start anything -- particularly because I want this thread to stay open -- but there's a lot there that just seems to swallow right wing talking points whole, assume they are true, and try to force Democrats (way?) right to combat the strawman.

Excellent stuff. If the Dems want to get back into the ballgame they could do a lot worse than at least consider Teixeira's points. Thanks for sharing.

LOL. I guess we see things differently. Thought our two posts, back to back, says something about diversity of opinion here. That's not bad. But in this instance I thought it was amusing.

 

[AGDukesky]

LOL. I guess we see things differently. Thought our two posts, back to back, says something about diversity of opinion here. That's not bad. But in this instance I thought it was amusing.

I just hate all these declarative statements when we are talking about 5% differences. “Voters” didn’t prove any of these points - a slightly larger group of voters believed one way versus another. And even that isn’t true. We saw what issues were most important in THIS election, but we don’t know which ones really caused a person to definitively pick a side. Demographics seem the real thing here and the issues those demographics think represent them. At the end of the day, I think Harris’s demographics were the biggest factor versus any of the policy issues…

 

[HoKogan]

I'm a big fan of the Liberal Patriot substack, and of longtime D pollster Ruy Teixeira in particular. What Matthews articulates is very much in keeping with Teixeira's views, which are generally backed by reams of supporting data. Several weeks ago, he put out a prescient piece titled "The Progressive Moment is Over". A summary of his key arguments is below:

1. Loosening restrictions on illegal immigration was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
2. Promoting lax law enforcement and tolerance of social disorder was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
3. Insisting that everyone should look at all issues through the lens of identity politics was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
4. Telling people fossil fuels are evil and they must stop using them was a terrible idea and voters hate it.

He has a piece out today titled "The Shattering of the Democratic Coalition" and sets forth the following as a set of guiding principles for the party to regain credibility with "normie" working-class voters of all races:

• Equality of opportunity is a fundamental American principle; equality of outcome is not.
• America is not perfect but it is good to be patriotic and proud of the country.
• Discrimination and racism are bad but they are not the cause of all disparities in American society.
• Racial achievement gaps are bad and we should seek to close them. However, they are not due just to racism and standards of high achievement should be maintained for people of all races.
• No one is completely without bias but calling all white people racists who benefit from white privilege and American society a white supremacist society is not right or fair.
• America benefits from the presence of immigrants and no immigrant, even if illegal, should be mistreated. But border security is hugely important, as is an enforceable system that fairly decides who can enter the country.
• Police misconduct and brutality against people of any race is wrong and we need to reform police conduct and recruitment. However, more and better policing is needed to get criminals off the streets and secure public safety. That cannot be provided by “defunding the police”.
• There are underlying differences between men and women that should not all be attributed to sexism. However, discrimination on the basis of gender is wrong and should always be opposed.
• People who want to live as a gender different from their biological sex should have that right. However, biological sex is real and spaces limited to biological women in areas like sports and prisons should be preserved. Medical treatments like drugs and surgery are serious interventions that should not be available on demand, especially for children.
• Language policing has gone too far; by and large, people should be able to express their views without fear of sanction by employer, school, institution or government. Free speech is a fundamental American value that should be safeguarded everywhere.
• Climate change is a serious problem but it won’t be solved overnight. As we move toward a clean energy economy with an “all of the above” strategy, energy must continue to be cheap, reliable and abundant. That means fossil fuels, especially natural gas, will continue to be an important part of the mix.
• We must make America more equal, but we also must make it richer. There is no contradiction between the two. A richer country will make it easier to promote equality.
• Degrowth is the worst idea on the left since Communism. Ordinary voters want abundance: more stuff, more opportunity, cheaper prices, nicer, more comfortable lives. The only way to provide this is with more growth, not less.
• We need to make it much easier to build things, from housing to transmission lines to nuclear reactors. That cannot happen without serious regulatory and permitting reform.
• America needs a robust industrial policy that goes far beyond climate policy. We are in direct competition with nations like China, a competition we cannot win without building on cutting edge scientific research in all fields.
• National economic development should prioritize the “left-behind” areas of the country. The New Deal under Franklin Roosevelt did this and we can do it today. “Trickle-down” economics from rich metropolitan areas is not working.

This is, of course, highly prescriptive in its own way, but also rooted in a lot more common sense than has been the norm policy-wise within the Democratic Party over much of the past decade. Said another way, the party is correct more often than not in diagnosing problems, but needs to do a much better job with policy solutions. Teixeira's suggested principles seem like a good roadmap at a minimum.

To me a lot of this reads like what the republicans are telling everyone else the DNC is. Too liberal, too extreme, out of touch, and people believe it. So how do the democrats respond, by moving more to the right on issues, being mealy-mouthed and milquetoast. And this is what the republicans want, so just in case the democrats do win, they aren't campaigning on any real change thats going to hurt them if implemented.
Middle of the road no longer works and they should stop trying to employ it as a useful tactic. Pivoting to "hey we're not so scary, here's Liz Cheney" is a loser message. The GOP doubled down and went about as far right as they could go before becoming full on fascists. The democrats need to then swing to the left and really become the party of the working class. They need to double down on their end.Don't be scared that the GOP are going to call you a socialist because they're going to do that anyway so what difference does it make? FDR's new deal worked because it was a post Herbert Hoover, post depression america where most people had zero to lose in buying in. That could likely be this country in 4 years as well. Middle of the road democratic platforms do not work and given how far the right has gone, they should be abandoned. Moderation is dead, diplomacy and compromise is dead. Fight for what you really believe, find people who can convey the message effectively and then do what you say. The one party who keeps trying to play nice and yearn for the days of normal politics should set it all on fire and start pushing left agendas that truly matter to the people in this country.

 

[LasVegas]

Let’s not forget that a celebrity could throw their hat into the D ring within the next 3 years. Trump has that door wide open now.

 

[SouthernDukie]

I just hate all these declarative statements when we are talking about 5% differences. “Voters” didn’t prove any of these points - a slightly larger group of voters believed one way versus another. And even that isn’t true. We saw what issues were most important in THIS election, but we don’t know which ones really caused a person to definitively pick a side. Demographics seem the real thing here and the issues those demographics think represent them. At the end of the day, I think Harris’s demographics were the biggest factor versus any of the policy issues…

The underlined is why I've been stating that there are MANY ingredients in the stew. It's impossible to say it's only one thing. It was different things for many different people.

 

[Chicago 1995]

LOL. I guess we see things differently. Thought our two posts, back to back, says something about diversity of opinion here. That's not bad. But in this instance I thought it was amusing.

I saw your post and thought the same thing! Kind of chuckled even.

I should have expanded a bit. I think it's clear from my other post-election posts that I think Democratic messaging and focus need to change and they need to reconsider how the prioritize issues. Generally, Texieira has good concepts, but maybe goes too far into the right wing rabbit hole. Some of the things he ascribes to Democrats don't have much basis in fact and are just creations from thin air by right-wing media. Taking them a fact and that they dictate a change undermines his credibility.