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Guardian: It's time for Democrats to go low
This is from The Guardian.
It’s time for Democrats to go low
Democrats should make the next four years of Republican governance as grueling and painful as possible
by Peter Rothpletz
What the 2024 election results made clear is that the Obama coalition is dead. If Democrats are to have any shot at reclaiming power, so too must be the niceties and mores of the Obama era.
Yes, Democrats must get mean – ruthlessly, bitterly mean. This is not to say, however, that they need merely to cast aside the former first lady’s once-famous, now-infamous messaging mantra. No, what I prescribe is not just a new approach to political discourse but a new theory of opposition party politics.
Trumpsim has corrupted America in myriad ways, but one of the most obvious is how voters now expect lawmakers and surrogates to be truly vicious cultural warriors for them. One can see manifestations of this in Congresswoman Nancy Mace’s deranged bullying of Congresswoman-elect Sarah McBride, the endless and deliberate mispronunciation of Kamala Harris’s first name, and the fact that Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of the top fundraisers in the House of Representatives.
This phenomenon also exists on the left. The coffers poured open for Jasmine Crockett following a tet-a-tet with the aforementioned Taylor Greene, during which Crockett mocked her colleague’s “bleach-blonde bad-built butch-body”. And one could argue the strongest period of the Harris-Walz campaign – at least in terms of Democratic enthusiasm – was during the “weird” and “couch” sagas of Brat summer.
There is far more to read at the link, and it's worth your time.
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intrepidity
(8,009 posts)
BannonsLiver
(18,486 posts)If the fact that what we’re permitted to call Elon, Melania and Drumph are regular recurring debates on this forum is any indication that number is probably fairly low. But DU isn’t really representative of RL so who knows.
Elessar Zappa
(16,275 posts)than the older folks are. I’m all for younger people leading the party if the old guard won’t adapt.
GusBob
(7,655 posts)I’m missing the point here
yankee87
(2,470 posts)Start saying how they are checking children genitalia before they go to the bathroom. Say how the felon and Leon are having sex with each other.
Nothing matters anymore. Flood the feed with anything
Joinfortmill
(16,978 posts)
Magoo48
(5,737 posts)republianmushroom
(18,606 posts)keep_left
(2,628 posts)...on the country as a whole. The political system has become so polarized that we can probably expect a modern version of the Charles Sumner caning incident within a few years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Charles_Sumner
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/James_Buchanan#.22Oh.2C_I.27m_sure_it_will_be_better_after_a_while.22
Cirsium
(1,485 posts)The alternative to the "polarization" in the 1850s was the perpetuation of slavery.
The failure to fight back is the sad commentary. We did not start the fight and it won't go away if we are nice. The question is not whether or not the country will be polarized, the question is will we fight back or will we roll over?
keep_left
(2,628 posts)...about the present time as well. I'm just rather apprehensive about the rancor in politics over the last 30 years or so--the vast majority of it coming from the far right--which arguably began with Newt Gingrich and his disciples in the mid-'90s. (There were antecedents, but Gingrich definitely brought a new kind of viciousness to politics). And now we have the spectacle of elected representatives like MTG and Nancy Mace, who make Gingrich look like Churchill.
Cirsium
(1,485 posts)We shouldn't make this a "both sides" issue. The Republicans are the vandals, the destroyers. They are the source off the rancor in politics. "Rancor"is an inadequate word. Terrorism is what the Republicans are up to; extortion, bullying, persecution, cruelty, chaos and destruction.
They take advantage of our desire for peace, our tolerance, our kindness, our compassion and ramp up the threats and disruptions, the sabotage and the criminality.
There have been so many lost opportunities; Watergate, Iran-Contra, fake WMDs and Guantanamo, the 2008 crash, Trump's disastrous first term - we have had them on the ropes again and again, and we keep letting them back up.
We have kicked the can down the road for decades now hoping to avoid confrontation, hoping that things will work out, settling for small wins, celebrating moral victories and giving ourselves style points.
There is no more road remaining now.
As the Whigs discovered with the slave power, the longer you put off the inevitable confrontation, the worse it will eventually be when you finally have no choice but abject surrender or fighting back.
The Republicans are terrorists, and compromising with them or negotiating with them strengthens them and weakens us. Show them consideration or compassion and they will kick you in the teeth, every time.
If people are afraid, that is entirely understandable. These are terrifying times. We are "under the constant hot fire of a disciplined, proud, and pampered enemy," as Lincoln said about the slave power in 1860. But if that is the case, let's at least be honest with ourselves and with each other about that. Let's not say we are being "practical" or being "realistic," let's not say we are taking the "high road," when the truth is we are afraid of what will happen if we fight back.
yellow dahlia
(773 posts)Thank you!
keep_left
(2,628 posts)...person on the "left" who goes anywhere near the kind of rhetoric we all experience on a daily basis from MAGA politicians and their media apparatus. And it's been going on for at least three decades, and arguably a lot longer.
Your point about all the political scandals and criming (Iran-Contra, etc.) seems to be part of the DU zeitgeist these days, to use an overused word. It keeps coming up in discussions. Here's a post from this week.
https://democraticunderground.com/100219906798#post28
Response to Cirsium (Reply #28)
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Skittles
(161,171 posts)behaving in ways that could get you fired in ANY other job.....UGH
Maraya1969
(23,097 posts)
southmost
(818 posts)to prove government is useless, bad, and to gift that power to the corporations and to the wealthy (because they believe they will be better at governing themselves in an invisible hand of free market way)
Buns_of_Fire
(18,039 posts)As I've said before, the only "reaching across the aisle" I want to see is with a 2x4.
The Marquis of Queensbury is long dead. It's time to bury him.
progressoid
(50,895 posts)and other places.
GreenWave
(9,858 posts)ZonkerHarris
(25,577 posts)and co-operate and it gets them nothing but losing
so I'm not expecting much fight from most of them.
Cirsium
(1,485 posts)My Dad told me a story once about my grandfather paying the kids a penny for every dead fly they brought him. The kids quickly figured out that the more flies they let into the house, the more money they could make, so when my grandfather wasn't there they would open the doors and windows and let in more lies.
We have a small army of "allies" grifting off of this catastrophe. The more power the Republicans have, the more dire the situation, the more money there is to be made.
We "pay" the Democratic party leadership to get rid of the "flies" - the right wing. When we aren't looking, they keep letting more "flies" into the "house" - compromising with, working with, normalizing, and in general playing bipartisan footsie with the republicans and groping across the aisle.
Before the election: "The Republicans are an existential threat to the nation! Send money!"
After the election: "I think we can work with them."
ZonkerHarris
(25,577 posts)
xocetaceans
(4,019 posts)Last edited Mon Jan 27, 2025, 11:52 AM - Edit history (1)
...and just get it done. Ceding power to a Constitutionally disqualified insurrectionist should not be what President Biden does, but Biden is still playing by rules that the other side neither acknowledges nor respects. Lincoln did not allow the Supreme Court to interfere with ending both the Confederacy and slavery. Biden should not continue to allow both the DOJ's feckless leadership and the Supreme Court to interfere with the prosecution of Donald Trump, the insurrectionist and felon. President Biden's "warning" speech the other day was but a hollow substitute for actual leadership.
All of what happens in the next four years of this country's future are down to President Biden playing by rules which the other side does not care to respect. He just does not seem to fathom that following rules is only worthwhile if those rules are respected by all of the parties to which they apply. If the other side does not and will not respect the rules, see Abraham Lincoln's example for how matters should be addressed. If any here wonder about how the exercise of power looks, if President Biden fails to act now (and he by all signs will undoubtedly fail to act), you will see that exercise of raw power at the hands of Donald Trump, and it will not be for the benefit of our constitutional democracy or the citizens of the US.
Articles like the above article from the Guardian are merely pathetic collections of afterthoughts and vain words taking the place of actions that the Democrats should have taken long before now. Based on the twin examples of President Obama's coddling of the bankers and W's use of torture and President Biden's coddling of Donald Trump and his fellow insurrectionists, it is clear that the Democrats cannot actually muster the will to act decisively to protect the country from constitutional threats be they exploitation by financial interests, the use of torture, an illegal invasion of Iraq, or an insurrection clearly fomented by a losing GOP President. Such articles are meaningless.
Lulu KC
(5,803 posts)It had not crossed my mind that this would be possible, but what a finale that would be!
Rikki Tikki Tumbo
(3 posts)THIS. Reinstate the Jan. 6 indictment, arrest the felon and jail him pending trial. Then, try him in D.C. court and let the chips fall where they may. The Presidency will hold until such time as there is a verdict by a jury of his D.C. peers.
Biden can do it. He has immunity while committing official acts. Justice needs to be saved and served.
Dark n Stormy Knight
(10,107 posts)Response to Dark n Stormy Knight (Reply #56)
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Dark n Stormy Knight
(10,107 posts)"What constitutes an "official" versus an "unofficial" act by the president is not precisely defined in the opinion, and Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledged it could raise "difficult questions."
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/constittes-official-act-president/storyid=111583865
According to law professors Andrew Weissann & Mary McCord, as expressed on their podcast, the immunity decision was cleay crafted for Trump, with no guarantee others will be entitled to exercise the lawlessness it grants him.
Say Biden does something Rs try to prosecute him for calling it criminal & not an official presidential act. Say the lower courts side with Biden. Guess where the case will eventually end up.
Do you really believe corrupt SCOTUS will rule the same for Biden as they would for Trump? What's keeping them honest--shame? Scruples? Fear of public opinion?
Talk about sounding made up!
wnylib
(25,183 posts)and then Obama for where the US is politically today. The current situation has been several decades in coming, back to Reagan at least, but I'd say farther than that, back to the RW determination after WWII to undo all of FDR's legacy and return to the days of the robber barons. If you watch Rachel Maddow's documentary, Ultra, you will see that there were RW traitors in Congress, acting as Nazi agents, who were charged, tried, and made such a mockery of the legal system that they were not convicted.
I am all for full on political attacks on the RW authoritarian oligarchs by Dems and anyone else who wants to join us in resistance. I want to see MAGAs politically and socially destroyed so that they have no standing in American society. But I totally reject the notion that Biden or Obama are responsible for a movement on the right that began before Obama was born and when Biden was an infant.
Holding Nixon accountable when he resigned would have derailed the RW movement toward authoritarianism. So Gerald Ford has some responsibility for pardoning Nixon. But even after Watergate and Nixon's pardon, the race between Ford and Carter was close, so that's where the mind of the American public was in the 1970s. Racism and opposition to civil rights progress led to support for Reagan.
Republicans had no candidate who could have beat Hillary Clinton until a malignant narcissist with foreign backing stepped into national politics. In order to hold power, RW media and the Republican Party leaders embraced him. That's how we got where we are today.
choie
(4,934 posts)Bush jr and his cabal accountable for their war crimes, and Biden is responsible for choosing Garland as his AG, who failed to hold trump accountable. Not only did they fail to hold trump accountable for J6 and the stealing of classified docs, but also for the despicable immoral and illegal separation of immigrant families. And now here we are.
wnylib
(25,183 posts)Have a nice day. Bye.
choie
(4,934 posts)And should not "sow divisiveness". It should teach us a lesson.
Response to wnylib (Reply #30)
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wnylib
(25,183 posts)Response to xocetaceans (Reply #11)
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DENVERPOPS
(10,511 posts)continue to try and go high, while our adversary goes low......Even after what we have just witnessed, and are continuing to witness.
The Dems continue to try and go high, fighting as if we are fighting a conventional war, playing by the rules and obeying the law and constitution....... when in fact, for 45+ years, the Republicans have been using guerrilla warfare tactics.
For all of these past years, the "New" RepubliCON Party and Uber Rich RepubliCON Corporations, RepubliCON Think Tanks, and RepubliCON Oligarchs, have had the mantra: "The End Justifies The Means"......
William769
(56,490 posts)It worked with the red coats then, it will work against the current red coats now, 
LymphocyteLover
(7,147 posts)
poli-junkie
(1,171 posts)Stand up and articulate what we stand for! No more mealy-mouthed make-niceties! Shine a spotlight on how the fascists are stealing from the American people while we fight over the stupid culture war!
Aviation Pro
(13,753 posts)We need to get dirty.
Mountain Mule
(1,063 posts)Who are attempting to destroy the very fabric of our democracy. They long to cause the deaths and suffering of millions of Americans by getting rid of the already tattered social safety net in order to give deserving millionaires and billionaires a tax cut. It seems to me that my own days are numbered because I'm disabled and depend on a housing voucher along with a small social security check to get by. If the muskrat and his adoring maga fans get their way I'll be out on the street along with my poor sweet fur babies (my faithful catahoula hound and my two beautiful orange tiger striped kitties). None of us would survive that.
I am delighted to go low.
maxsolomon
(35,576 posts)They've been building it for decades with endless deep pockets - 1st talk radio, then Fox, then Sinclair, then Social Media and now he-man podcasting. It reaches into the smooth brains of bazillions of Americans and doesn't let go.
Traditional newspapers and TV News are hobbled by their Journalistic standards and are essentially neutral. They're increasing irrelevant.
Dems can get "mean", but no one's going to notice because the Right controls the narrative.
ck4829
(36,458 posts)maxsolomon
(35,576 posts)You're invisible now, you've got no secrets to conceal. How does it feel?
Bird Lady
(1,968 posts)The meaner the better. I have been known to be mean when it is called for. Right now I fantasize about things I would like to do. I just need to be given a direction.
live love laugh
(14,780 posts)Joining them is a slippery slope.
Literally.
Cirsium
(1,485 posts)And the slave holders were always trying to pull everyone else down into the mud with them.
Good thing we didn't fight back and join them in the mud!
Oh, wait...
live love laugh
(14,780 posts)Cirsium
(1,485 posts)The issue is too important to settle with one liners hurled back and forth.
Explain your point, please.
krawhitham
(4,926 posts)ck4829
(36,458 posts)Adapt or die, what will we choose?
live love laugh
(14,780 posts)Of the political waters with a Republican media who will not fail to focus on Democrats’ bad behavior which they ignored with Republicans.
ck4829
(36,458 posts)Skittles
(161,171 posts)repukes are treated like white men - they have a right to be angry and misbehave, but Dems are treated like women and POC - their anger and misbehavior is held against them
krawhitham
(4,926 posts)ck4829
(36,458 posts)History didn't start 16 years ago.
AZ8theist
(6,619 posts)
flvegan
(64,717 posts)Besides, that sweet dry powder. Driest powder ever.
orangecrush
(22,646 posts)Unless you want to give them time to turn us into the American version of Putin's opposition.
bucolic_frolic
(48,209 posts)just like Trump sniped and whined for 4 years. It's how you don't become irrelevant.
yellow dahlia
(773 posts)Timothy Snyder has been explaining its necessity right now.
Sneederbunk
(15,556 posts)Then regain at least one house in Congress.
yellow dahlia
(773 posts)They control the vote and the elections - in SO many ways. How do we have a fair election?
summer_in_TX
(3,399 posts)The feds have relatively little say in running elections.
DJ Synikus Makisimus
(855 posts)Sorry, but the trend isn't toward confrontation, it's toward appeasement. Fetterman (1) and Coons (2) have made strong signals in this direction already. All that the rest seem able to muster is outrage; which just emboldens and entertains the fascists because it means they "own the libs." Oh, and notice please how Democrats have stopped calling the MAGAt assholes "fascists."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143370074
(2) https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219911033
tenderfoot
(8,982 posts)
jalan48
(14,614 posts)dalton99a
(85,602 posts)every time
Blue_Tires
(57,596 posts)And we need to go more extreme than that, IMO
SpankMe
(3,346 posts)...if we can't get some of the 90M+ voters who sat out the 2024 election to fill out a fucking ballot. Does becoming assholes, like Republicans have been since Newt Gingrich, get some of those voters mobilized without driving more devoted Dems away?
Being nice and "going high" hasn't worked. Being dicks and starting a psy-op campaign, like the Republicans have been doing, is a start.
malaise
(280,119 posts)It’s way past time
Rec
Kid Berwyn
(18,888 posts)Then came Plouffe.
awesomerwb1
(4,651 posts)
elleng
(137,605 posts)summer_in_TX
(3,399 posts)As someone who works to communicate without giving or triggering hostility, this won't be easy. It'll require undoing the habits of a lifetime.
The Guardian is right too about not publicly expressing injury or horror. They WANT that reaction. Trump feeds on that and feels glee. I'm not about to give them the satisfaction.
B.See
(4,203 posts)
GreatGazoo
(4,041 posts)Next week is going to be rough but after that the midterms loom and then 2028.
Rothpletz is Don Lemon's senior writer. Lemon gets 68,000 views per video on YouTube now -- not exactly successful. Would it not be better in the long run to think about what works outside the angry, naming-calling echo chambers?
Political strategy is very simple:
1. Define your opponent in a negative way before they have a chance to define themselves. That translates to a focus on JD Vance. Finding his most actionable negatives and then defining him by those negatives.
"Phony" is the default in politics. You define your opponent as faking it and then call out every time they seem to change positions on issues. Every time they tailor their speech to a niche audience you make clips of that and get it in front of the people who are NOT in that niche. The effect is to show that your opponent is different people for different audiences, insincere and standing for nothing. A used car sales man.
2. Separate your opponent from their natural base. This was done to Obama and HRC. Obama's natural base, part of it, was POC so the attack was both "Obama is not really black / not black enough" / "has not lived the African American experience" AND "Obama is too black" and "does not have appeal outside of" such demographics. The attack on HRC tried to separate female voters from her by claiming she was a "long suffering wife" in a one-sided open marriage and many other things which need not be repeated.
For Vance, his natural base is white voters in PA, OH, MI and other swing states. The attack would take the form of surrogates constantly reminding that base that Vance is a slick Yale lawyer who sold them out and never looked back. A crypto pirate who has plans for eliminating social security, job training, tuition help, etc. A guy who sold his soul to climb the ladder and then pulled that ladder up so others could not follow.
More broadly, a rule of marketing is "Sell the difference". Trying to out-name call, etc. Trump gives up difference and lets him pick the field of battle. If Democrats imitate Trump then there is no winning.
GusBob
(7,655 posts)I looked it up but I ain’t bright
I thought it meant the sausages we grill at tailgates
Oopsie Daisy
(4,944 posts)
samsingh
(17,948 posts)and that's why we may see the ruin of Democracy.
The republicans have long waged war on us, while we try to be purists in everything.
They right with machine guns, we have butter knives and empty threats of accountability.
krawhitham
(4,926 posts)
RecoveringJournalist
(185 posts)Agreed! I'm all in! In any comment section now I've been referring to Republicans as RepubliCONVICTS. I suggest others do the same or similar.
Make no mistake. This is war!
Kali999
(109 posts)Until they joined the pile on Biden. I still read them though. Unlike Wapo and Nyslimes. Do folks really believe we will have a free election in 26 ? I sincerely doubt it. Maybe we need the country tanked for 10 yrs. Screw dems fixing only to be slimed by mass media. The foxes have the hen house. It's been the same shit for 40 yrs. I did get a healthcare fix, Thanks Obama. Had to wait till 2015 though. Pre existing and rejected the first time.
Kali999
(109 posts)elocs
(23,147 posts)Democrats, on the other hand, consider themselves too righteous and pure and noble to engage in a street fight which is a recipe for getting your ass kicked by street fighters.
It's time to take off the gloves and abandon the Marquess of Queensberry rules and fight like you really want to win because I'm tired of fighting nice and being good losers.