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RainCaster

(11,766 posts)
Fri Jan 17, 2025, 12:01 PM 12 hrs ago

Guardian: It's time for Democrats to go low [View all]

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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Agree. But how many will (or won't)? nt intrepidity 11 hrs ago #1
Welp BannonsLiver 11 hrs ago #6
Millennials and Gen Z in the Democratic Party seem less squeamish about doing what's necessary Elessar Zappa 4 hrs ago #58
I'm in. Resist. It's a goddamn war. Joinfortmill 11 hrs ago #2
Yes, consistent resistance in the most creative ways we can come up with. Magoo48 9 hrs ago #18
Should but don't think they know how. republianmushroom 11 hrs ago #3
The fact that this is clearly necessary is a sad commentary... keep_left 11 hrs ago #4
Why is that sad? Cirsium 9 hrs ago #28
Well, you're certainly right about the 1850s, and you're probably right... keep_left 7 hrs ago #37
It is all from the right Cirsium 5 hrs ago #48
Great analysis! yellow dahlia 4 hrs ago #53
Yeah, that's fair. It's not "both sides" at all; offhand, I can only think of one... keep_left 4 hrs ago #57
it is indeed appalling Skittles 8 hrs ago #35
What about Nancy Macey? Maraya1969 11 hrs ago #5
that's what the rethugs want southmost 10 hrs ago #7
Amen and Amen again. Buns_of_Fire 10 hrs ago #8
Kick 'em in the balls progressoid 10 hrs ago #9
Yeah, except too many elected Democrats think they can get republicans voters to back them so they play nice ZonkerHarris 10 hrs ago #10
Voters, or dollars? Cirsium 8 hrs ago #33
exactly ZonkerHarris 6 hrs ago #45
It is past time for Biden's DOJ to arrest Trump for his insurrection and put him on trial for it. Replace Garland... xocetaceans 10 hrs ago #11
So you think this will happen over the weekend? Lulu KC 10 hrs ago #12
YES!! Rikki Tikki Tumbo 9 hrs ago #16
Unfortunately, the ruling meant the Supreme Dark n Stormy Knight 4 hrs ago #56
I could not disagree with you more in your blaming Biden wnylib 9 hrs ago #30
The leaders and voters of the dem party DENVERPOPS 10 hrs ago #13
Minute men. William769 10 hrs ago #14
the Dem base has been screaming this for ages now LymphocyteLover 9 hrs ago #15
Dems need to assert themselves! poli-junkie 9 hrs ago #17
This right here Aviation Pro 9 hrs ago #19
We should NEVER make nice to the magats Mountain Mule 9 hrs ago #20
Dems/Librulz have no counter to the Right's media ecosystem. maxsolomon 9 hrs ago #21
Controlling nothing means nothing to lose ck4829 9 hrs ago #23
I'm all in. Bird Lady 9 hrs ago #22
The pigs have been trying to pull us down into the mud for decades. live love laugh 9 hrs ago #24
Sure Cirsium 8 hrs ago #34
Your analogy makes zero sense. live love laugh 8 hrs ago #36
Do better Cirsium 5 hrs ago #49
And the high ground has gotten us...? ck4829 7 hrs ago #39
I didn't say we shouldn't go low, but I dread the muddying live love laugh 7 hrs ago #40
Understandable ck4829 7 hrs ago #42
I always thought the "When they go low, we go high" approach was idiotic. AZ8theist 9 hrs ago #25
Agreed, but they won't. flvegan 9 hrs ago #26
It isn't a choice. orangecrush 9 hrs ago #27
Yes, we need a disciplined opposition party, a shadow government bucolic_frolic 9 hrs ago #29
Shadow Government yellow dahlia 4 hrs ago #54
Go scorched earth for next two years. Sneederbunk 9 hrs ago #31
If that is even possible. yellow dahlia 4 hrs ago #55
They don't know how. DJ Synikus Makisimus 8 hrs ago #32
I've been wanting that since 1980 - no luck as of yet tenderfoot 7 hrs ago #38
It's time to elect some new Democrats who are capable of going low. Too many of the old guard live in the past. jalan48 7 hrs ago #41
People will choose an imperfect fighter over a perfect wimp dalton99a 7 hrs ago #43
That's the bare minimum Blue_Tires 7 hrs ago #44
All this doesn't mean shit... SpankMe 6 hrs ago #46
Good read malaise 6 hrs ago #47
Weird and Couch was effective. So was mentioning Project 2025. Kid Berwyn 5 hrs ago #50
Odds of that happening lower than odds of me winning Powerball awesomerwb1 5 hrs ago #51
ruthlessly, bitterly mean is NOT who we are. elleng 5 hrs ago #52
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