Democrats have no answer for Trump because they have no core values
Nothing new here. It has all been said a million times. I just wanted to type that headline. The truth of it keeps rolling around in my head. I mean, have you ever seen such a sad sack bunch of hapless losers? Pitiful.
A clear set of core values sure would make elections easier for Democrats, but who am I? I’m not some fancy DC consultant pulling down big bucks to tell Democrats that’ll they better keep investing in carefully worded TV ads and mailers or risk losing “the middle.”
Why would the DNC and DCCC put so much money into TV ads and mailers when the same money spent on a field effort could have better, more sustained results? The answer, in large part, is because these party institutions and in fact the Democratic Party as a whole are dominated by interests and attitudes which empower the consultants and undermine the field organizers.
“Field is really hard work it’s messy work,” one veteran Democratic Party field organizer from Texas told me on condition of anonymity. She’s won tough races in some of the least likely areas of the state and helped Democrats win races around the South against steep odds with field work. She sees class discrimination and sexism playing a role in this problem, even among Democrats.
A clear set of core values sounds suspiciously like a purity test. Why do you love Trump?
For every leftist we lose we’ll gain five affluent centrists in the Philadelphia suburbs.
This all sounds vaguely familiar for some reason.
If you aren’t making money off moderation, you are part of the problem.
If you are wondering what Democrats could run on, a good start is the Deldem platform. It is designed to be a signpost for Dem candidates to win on, and therefore they should start with it. If a candidate cannot run on it because their donors won’t approve, then they are the wrong candidate.
In Delaware donors mostly lay back as long as they are getting what they want. But the minute you cross them, then you will see money pouring into a more compliant opponent, and oppositon research. That’s why Delaware politicians can be bought so cheap.
You think the “DelDem platform” isn’t donor vetted and approved already? I bet it is.
But it isn’t constituent vetted and approved. That comes this September.
The state ‘DelDem’ platform is well to the left of what the Third Way supports. My theory? ‘Let ’em have the platform’ is like ‘let ’em eat cake’. You can have it, now stay out of our way while we run things.
Party platforms are the human appendix of politics — they can cause inflammation, but they serve no apparent function.
I’m less interested in core values than in the tactics of TV ads, which reach fewer people than ever, vs. field work.
Democrats have never held a shared set of core values; therefore, I conclude it’s not that important.
The rift, like the fault lines in the California landscape, is deep but usually unnoticed — if you take money from special interests, you are beholden to those interests. It’s just that simple, but you can’t get a person to understand a concept when his paycheck depends on him not understanding it.
@A “Democrats have never held a shared set of core values; therefore, I conclude it’s not that important.”
Like the old joke: “I’m not a member of an organized party. I’m a Democrat.”
But that rings true. The Democrats are nearly everything that is not the small intellectual space held in lockstep by conservatives (who seem to share a rather small brain).
So… looking for core values… Love for country? Virtue? Fairness?
Party politics is what is destroying us. Founders didn’t believe in “party politricks”. If you believe the DelDem is the only agenda we should support your an incrementalist.
If you want the whole damn thing, throw it all out and see what sticks. Democrats have always had a set of core values, platforms they voted on. Liberal Elite, I am certain by your comments your a Trump troll or supporter. Values “love for country, virtue and fairness? How naive! Progressives take YOUR values for granted, a non issue.
@a1 “Progressives take YOUR values for granted, a non issue.”
Virtue is not a “non issue”, because it’s exactly what the GOP is currently lacking… and it’s a core American value.
“Make America Virtuous Again” could be a great slogan counterpoint to Trump’s.
Winning isn’t about getting all the progressives to agree with something. It’s about drawing in enough others to actually win something.
Liberal Elite. Axelrod’s on the horn. This MAVA shit’s gold! Big winner. Nothing plays better than vague platitudes.
Can you mix it some yet-to-determined pragmatism? I’m thinking landslide…
Trump didnt come up with Make America Great again…the con man stole that from Reagun. Your claim the word “virture” is more important than say…..ahhh..freedom from (fascism) makes my head hurt. Why it wouldn’t work, 50% of the voters would have to look up the word “virtuous”.
LE: Democrats are doing just fine thank you. They are winning without taking a hint from Trump. Trump has no ethics, no values, no concience, no heart, no compassion, no virtue. He is above the law dontcha no? What your talking is incrementalism…your willing to take one slice when you could have two or three.
@a1 “Your claim the word “virture” is more important than say…..ahhh..freedom from (fascism) makes my head hurt.”
Not more important. The GOP is just more vulnerable.
Do this… List the 10 worst things about the GOP right now. Now, which of those 10 would make the best campaign ads for the GENERAL public, focusing on the undecided and the maybe votes.
Now are those the most important? No. …just the most vulnerable. Hit them where they’re weak.
This is a stupid idea.
LE, Virtue is no longer an American core value. The proof is the current president. Democrats tried to run on “being the better person” and lost most of “real America”.
Most Americans did not vote for him, but enough did. 20% is a lot of rot.
This is a nasty, mean spirited place that only advances when it has an enemy. Sometimes we pick the “right” one, sometimes we don’t. Even if this IS a “last stand” of conservatism, it will get far worse before it gets better. the beast is just very frustrated right now because total victory was easy. It isn’t wounded or even desperate yet.
We they go low, we go high.
Aim for the face.
when they go low, they make their teeth easy to kick in.
“Democrats have always had a set of core values, platforms they voted on.”
And paid no attention to once they were voted on.
“Liberal Elite, I am certain by your comments your a Trump troll or supporter.”
That’s because, as always, you have the research skills of a hamster. She’s been commenting here for years, which you could easily determine by spending a few minutes in the archives, and is a liberal Democrat who happens to disagree with your half-baked ethos.
And stop sock puppeting. Use one name here. Your childish use of “politricks” and “Raygun” give you away.
I was at the state convention last June when the Democrats adopted the current platform. I thought then it was a good one, I had contributed to the process regarding education planks and I was generally pleased with the entire platform. If politicians allow the platform and then ignore it, the problem is with rank-and-file Democrats who accept this ridiculous turn of events. The Speaker ignoring the platform is a case in point. Why should Democrats continue to support this Speaker when he does not support our position on the issues? The fact that he blatantly ignores the platform speaks to earlier points that the platform is “permitted” then ignored. When the rank-and-file accept this we are to blame, I am to blame. So I say, “Not on my name!” to the Speaker. Repeal inheritance taxes? No. Establish higher brackets for the state income taxes? Yes. Past progressive gun laws? Yes. Give money to the gambling industry? No. Protect water rights of citizens? Yes. Giveaways to corporate interests? No. Repeal Right to Work? Yes. Take a truly pro life stand by supporting living wages for workers? Yes. Advance the interests of bigots and oligarchs? Absolutely not. Mr. speaker, if a Democratic governor and Legislature cannot do this, then we need to replace this Democratic legislature with a Democratic legislature that does adhere to the democratic party platform, something said many times in this space. I don’t think progressives are finished in Delaware, but I do think it is going to be a long hard slog.
“If politicians allow the platform and then ignore it, the problem is with rank-and-file Democrats who accept this ridiculous turn of events.”
Party platforms are meaningless to all except the people who engage in the drama of drafting them. They stopped mattering once voters instead of insiders started picking the candidates for office.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/08/23/do-party-platforms-really-matter/?utm_term=.db74a3d16fb7
Republicans have been the party of big donors since the 1960s. Democrats were the party of big labor, but dropped labor during the1992 campaign. Now Democrats are divided between big donor Democrats and small donor Democrats. I am among the latter. Small down or Democrats are winning primaries across the country. Big donor Democrats, not so much. The national committee is apallingly focused on big donor Democrats and therefore I will not be contributing through the national committee. And I will do the research to determine what money candidates are accepting. I like Don Allen, candidate in the 36th district. He profiles much like my father and brother who make a living by using their hands. He deserves more support. I reject big donor candidate behavior.
I completely agree. I just want you to realize that ignoring the party platform has been SOP for generations now.
Alby, this is exactly what I am talking about. Platforms don’t matter when ignored. As far as I am concerned it is each district committee’s responsibility to shout the platform from the rooftops and educate the district about the contents of the platform and why it is in the interest of orders to support as far as I am concerned it is each district committee‘s responsibility to shout out the platform from the rooftops and educate the district about the contents of the platform and why it is in the interest of voters to support it. Course, I am a retired teacher. What else would I recommend? Teaching others about the platform and what it means to them? How quaint, you respond. Yep.
You misunderstand. The problem is structural. The platforms don’t matter because the people writing the platform are no longer the same people choosing the candidate. Therefore candidates are free to campaign using whatever appeals to the electorate they choose themselves.
Party platforms were designed when print was the only way to get information. They are outdated in a system that chooses its candidates based on sound bites and slogans instead of issues.
With all due respect, I must disagree. Platforms are written by activists, the ones who become committee members, who wade through boring and contentious meetings. Anyone can run. If voters know about the platform, they can hold candidates AND office holders to that platform or vote them out. I think you are turning a blind eye to a very useful tool. And it is easier than ever to educate one’s self to its contents.
“I just want you to realize that ignoring the party platform has been SOP for generations now.” Sorry for being so unclear until it became necessary to patronize me, but it became painfully apparent along time ago (2010). Empty suit Democrats cowbirding the best candidates. At least I can see how this shit manifests in the 36th. I quit over it, but now I intend to go back and slug it out if need be.
From the point of view of the shlub trenches, platforms are the perfect vehicle to use to demand accountability. “We all know the platform, why aren’t you adhering to it?”
“Dear voter, this is our/your party platform. Please hold us to it”
What is so fucking quaint about that?
It’s a CONTRACT!