Democrats' "Blue Wave" is essentially gone
Three months ago the Democrats were going to crush the Republicans.
Today the Democrats' lead is within the margin of error.
About six months out from Election Day, 47% of registered voters say they back the Democratic candidate in their district, 44% back the Republican. Voters also are divided almost evenly over whether the country would be better off with the Democrats in control of Congress (31%) or with the GOP in charge (30%). A sizable 34% -- including nearly half of independent voters (48%) -- say it doesn't matter which party controls Congress.
The Democrats' advantage in the generic ballot dipped from 16 points in February to six points in March to just three points now.
The dip in approval is especially pronounced among millennials.
So why is this happening? What has happened since March?
The most obvious event that has occurred on the Democratic side since March has been the start of the primaries.
So how have they gone? Let's look at today's article.
The Democratic establishment is alive and well, thriving after big wins in the fall that have continued through this early political season.
...On Tuesday, two Democrats without ideologically pure voting records advanced without much friction: Centrist Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana won renomination uncontested, and Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia won by 40 percentage points. They are among the small group of Democrats who supported a rollback of some Obama-era Wall Street regulations and voted for some of President Trump’s nominees, including Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, but have so far faced only minor anti-establishment blowback.
..Democrats had pushed potential anti-establishment challengers out of the way in Arizona, Nevada and Tennessee, seats held by Republicans that, if won by Democrats, could flip the majority.
Well that sure will excite the base, amirite? Nothing like a continuation of a corrupt status quo to get young people to the polls.
And what does the news media think about this?
NY Magazine: ‘Rigging’ Primaries Is Fine. Backing Bad Candidates Isn’t.
NY Times: Actually, National Democrats Should Interfere in Primaries
WashPost: Pelosi defends party intervention in Democratic primaries
So let's add all of this up.
The Democratic establishment, despite being destroyed in the past eight years of elections, having led the party with unprecedented incompetence to century lows, were on the verge of a massive Blue Wave.
So what do they do?
They deliberately undermine their loyal base. They knee-cap the young people who are most enthusiastic. The news media cheers this trend.
Now, with bland moderates in place that don't stand for anything, enthusiasm has waned and the Blue Wave is becoming a mirage.
Have I missed anything? Is that all?
Just this one last thing: This was foreseen six months ago.
Six months ago, the independent report—titled Autopsy: The Democratic Party in Crisis—pointed out that young people “increasingly want politics to be for something profoundly positive rather than just against Republicans.” As a member of the task force that worked on the report, I was struck by how the top echelon of the Democratic Party keeps trying to insulate itself from—and fend off— the tremendous energy that mobilized behind Sanders during the primaries.In short, the Democratic Party is still dominated by elected officials and power brokers who appear to be deeply worried that a future progressive upsurge of political engagement could loosen—or even end—their corporate-funded grip on the party. As the Autopsy report said, “Emerging sectors of the electorate are compelling the Democratic Party to come to terms with adamant grassroots rejection of economic injustice, institutionalized racism, gender inequality, environmental destruction and corporate domination. Siding with the people who constitute the base isn’t truly possible when party leaders seem to be afraid of them.”
The problem is not Trump.
Trump is a symptom of the problem.
The problem is the Democratic Party.
Comments
DCCC does what the DCCC does
Nebraska
Meanwhile, Bernie does what he does
They’re still the ‘Party of Clinton’. Won’t change
because they can’t change. The Dims thought the support and contributions would keep rolling in regardless of what they said and did, or didn’t say and do.They’re flailing around desperate to bring back money and support while claiming they have the right to scam supporters and donors at the same time.
Not a winning ‘platform’.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
It'll be ok
"Miss Chelsea... Tear Down This Wall" ~ V. Putin (3rd Gen Clone)
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu
They do not want to win
IMHO, if they actually won they might be forced to do something and they can't have that. Their plan for a dumbed down electorate isn't working so much on the younger of the cohort who aren't satisfied with electing one more lying shill.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
And yet the Establishment
keeps winning. How does
that keep happening with the "dissatisfaction" numbers well above 50% ? Where is the "Resist!" vote? The pussy hats vote? The "Bernie or Bust!" vote? Where is it?
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
As a #BernieOrBuster who voted for Stein in MI,
I'm sitting on the fence. Between the general and primary, we have a great progressive running against Stabenow as an Independent who doesn't stand a snowballs chance in hell. Our race for Governor is a joke. We have one establishment and one batshit crazy Republican running against the establishment Democrat and two progressives, one of whom may not be real. I will probably vote because of the state elections and legal recreational pot on the ballot. Our GOP controlled government is now considering legalizing rec pot before the election so as to tamp down young voter turn out and undermine our referendum process once again. We also have gerrymander reform on the ballot. Yeah, I need to vote. Problem I have is I don't a clue for whom.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Bernie needs to lead
or get the fuck out of the way. Pushing paperwork thru Congress that the Repubs will use to wipe their ass isn't leading.
It's going to take bloodshed to move these fuckers (Oligarchy) out of the halls of Congress, they will Not go quietly, and it's obvious Bernie is not willing to shed his for the cause. Too bad. There would have been a nice statue of him in the Hall and outside the capitol, and we would have had a chance to take back our government. Alas... like Occupy, we go it alone.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
As long as Bernie still believes that the Democratic Party
can be changed from within, he will remain on the fringes of power not matter how many people show up for his rallies. It's so sad.
And with the DCCC pushing candidates who are either former CIA or military (to the tune of 40% of their 'red to blue' candidates), we could be seeing a bigger take over of our government by the CIA than we have now... if that's even possible.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
Well gee, this will help
Pelosi says she wants to increase taxes
While attempting to survive under the overwhelming debt of their student loans, Millennials ( and their parents btw) definitely want to pay more taxes on what income they can make while still paying their student loans.
How about loan amnesty? How about forcing colleges to stop increasing tuition every year beyond inflation? I graduated BC in 1979. Tuition/room/board = $1,800. Today BC TRB is over $50K. So glad they're paying the janitorial staff (not) as they do their 6 figure professors and of course their Jesuit overlords... Crap.
#Winning
Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!
Firesign Theater
Stop the War!
Hey Ed!
T, R & B was a slightly higher $16K per year for me ... which seems like a freaking bargain these days. I can't comprehend how anyone attends a private university anymore.
I wish I could feel sorry for them...
But I'm a damn dirty Russian, donchaknow?
Especially so since we've always been at war with Iran...
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Better red than dead?
Or was it the other way around? The fog of BS over the decades has affected my memory. Alas.
Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!
Firesign Theater
Stop the War!
The price of cars
has gone up three, 4
times since '79. College has gone up ten times or more. Mostly more.
Just keeping up with inflation.
Or keeping the riff raff out of the Halls of Academia.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Yep!
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
And then refuse to hire them at a living wage
after graduation. Legalized bribery truly makes the U$ the best democracy money can buy. Besides legacy and heritage, I got my grandkids dual citizenship for a reason. The boy in Sweden may be the beginning of a family underground railroad.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Yup. Establishment Dems voter suppressing their own base.
We could be looking at a situation where there is a high turnout in general election but dems still lose due to progressives simply not voting for establishment candidates but rather going third party.
The lesser of two evils pimp looks to be falling on more and more deaf ears.
The Democrats have nothing substantive to offer . . .
. . . voters.
All their smoke-and-mirrors, "identity politics" posturing and Russia-gate bullshit that they use to supposedly fool the public into believing they offer something different than the Republicans (when in reality, they just offer pretty much the same shit, but dressed up and marketed in a fashion that is more palatable to the people that vote for them), is suckering fewer and fewer people.
Remember that their main goal is not to win. It is to keep the gravy train (in the form of contributions, bribes, lucrative jobs in the private sector, etc.) coming from the people that own them while they do their TRUE WORK: i.e., making sure top elbow out true progressives so that they never get a chance to get near the levers of power. So long as they've done that, and still present some viable semblance of an illusion of a "resistance," or "hope for change," or whatever other thing that gets people to vote for them in reaction to the GOP, the gravy train will keep rolling in and keep them in business.
I recently posted a link to an article that said something like 66% of the American people have no faith in either party. Two thirds of the population doesn't believe either party works for their good or for their interests. If that's true, than only a third still believe in the R v. D scam. Yes, probably a lot of those other two thirds will still vote for a Republican or Democrat, but they will do so with ever waning enthusiasm and conviction as time passes, and this country continues to go down the crapper.
Excellent points and two ironies.
You've successfully defined the Democratic Party as a fund-raising organization, only. Looking at the Party through that lens brings recent years into sharper focus. Any candidates with a large committed donor base will be endorsed by the Democratic Party. Little wonder party bosses sport a moderate Republican ideology and support the kind of candidates who can pull that off.
One irony of the 2018 midterms, which was apparent early on, is that the Dem's Trump freak-out and Russia hysteria set them up for a rebound win. The Democrats were guaranteed to sweep the midterm elections — but ONLY if they said and did absolutely nothing to break the underdog spell. When they started lying, they lost control over their mental faculties. Every time they open their mouths, they expose their unworthiness by blurting out their selfish feelings and stingy vision. If they could just behave like loyal underdogs and button their lips, they would own the mid-term voters. Sigh.
Another irony for voters is that they are setting themselves up to fall for the illusion of Democracy, again. The winner-takes-all grift of the US election process reinfects them every time. It defines the people as simple-minded voting livestock — and they arrive at the polls thinking they are getting a choice! And most of the time, the outcome will be a relatively close call. "Gee," they say, "We almost won/lost that one. We have to start now and work harder and spend more money on the next race. We could actually lose/win next time!"
The overriding insult here is that they are considered simpletons in a complex system. They are given a pick of two choices [gasp!] that will define them aspirationally, morally, and economically — while satisfying their sense of representation in government. Both choices are inevitably geared to predatory capitalism and violent foreign manipulation. And the people are actually good with that! They muck around in the scraps they are thrown until they find something they can like a little, and then don their team colors. "Yay!" Only in America.
It is increasingly clear that the Democratic brand has been a shape-shifter from the very beginning. It was designed as a sheep-dogger of the humanitarian types, in service to the Oligarchs. That is all this party will ever be. To the extent that more People are more aware, the midterms will likely be dismal for the Dems. But, as long as there are herds of evangelical voters who are conditioned at the pulpit to support god-fearing sociopaths in government, the American people will never achieve even basic human rights.
Conversely, if an actual political party that represents the Left in America were to form — for the first time in US history — it would certainly be a step in the right direction. The US may be one of the only Democratic nations that does not have a political party that represents the Left. Americans may not know this due to their constant propaganda, but the rest of the world does. Efforts to create such a party would be met with the same violence and sabotage that the Oligarchs used against the early Labor movement in the 1880s. If such a thing were to happen, the US government would be discredited the world over. That, perhaps, is another path toward regime change in the US.
evangelical voters?
What "basic human rights" do you see evangelicals opposing as a unified bloc?
For America will always have evangelical voters. Colonial era European Monarchs made sure of that!
That it would, indeed.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Evangelical voters empower Our Overlords
...via support of the sociopathic party ideology, to withhold basic human rights from the American People.
Basic human rights the world over include Freedom from hunger, adequate housing, health care including dental care, protection from the death penalty, and protection from cruel and unusual punishment and slavery while incarcerated, etc.
If you were thinking of comparing the US to Bangladesh or Ghana to make a point of how good we have it, please don't.
basic human rights
Not to mention freedom from the Evangelicals' cruel religion!
And multo grazie for the list, by the way!
The parallels between Ghana and the US are actually rather frightening! Ghana has an official, admitted militarized police system; and
its Wikipedia article includes this remark:
Ghana also is a heavy military spender, partially for hegemonic reasons. Yet another disturbing parallel with the US!
As for Bangladesh, they've got problems with their own evangelical (Muslim) voters, so the parallels with the US appear here also!
Not only do we not have it any better from a human rights standpoint, but from that aspect, we're essentially equal! Only in the matter of LGBTQ rights are we appreciably better off; both Bangldesh and Ghana felonize homosexuality. And Bangladesh and Ghana have a relatively high excuse level for the economic rights, both being poor nations struggling to develop to the point where these rights are implementable as such. As the richest nation on Earth, the USA has no such excuse.
Wikipedia:
Bangladesh
Human Rights in Bangladesh
Ghana
Human Rights in Ghana
LGBT rights in Ghana
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
This
This.
I've seen far too many people (not particularly this site) talking about how the Democrats haven't learned anything or why aren't they doing this or that or hullabaloo.
The existence of the Democratic Party isn't to win.
The existence of the Democratic Party is to prevent the left from ascending. They are the guardians at the gate. That is their one job. That is it. They are then handsomely paid for it.
That last remark in particular,
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
You're much to hard on FDR.
His accomplishments, though greater than any other 20th century president, are much less than his aspirations. FDR wanted universal health care. He wanted to move further in the direction of guaranteed income.
FDR was constrained by the Supreme Court and had to worry about a coalition of Republicans and (mostly) southern Democrats who could have solidified. He was forced to replace Henry Wallace with Harry Truman in 1944. FDR's accomplishments were less than his dreams.
So what do the Dems want?
If, as Lizzy says, the Dems don't want to win (I think I come down on the side of "they don't care if they win or lose") then what is their goal?
They'd have to be pretty dumb to not have noticed all the lost seats. Yet if they were that dumb they wouldn't be able to have such a strong hold on these primaries, such a strong hold on the press. I think it can be established that they are only interested in your $3, or the corporate $1 mil.
More of a problem is the electorate that doesn't see through it. Or maybe it's obvious, everyone knows and they don't actually count votes. Only half kidding there.
We all remember how terrified they were when they had 60 Senate seats and a large majority in the House. I guess they're more comfortable where they are.
Dem grassroots getting closer to rebellion
little by little
wow...goodbye to primaries!
sad to say, I'm rooting for the collapse of the party, to be replaced by something else. It's happened before!
It looks pretty simple to me...
A Socialist/Democrat coalition would win in a landslide, but would need to implement socialist programs to get re-elected. Democrats can no longer win without socialist votes, and socialist voters have been burned too many times. To attract socialist voters the Democrats need to deliver first, but they don't have any power and wouldn't deliver if they did.
How many Democratic voters would vote socialist? That's the only way this is going to get better.
This will shape up into three parties in our two party system -- fascists who lay claim to the Republican brand, neoliberal/neoconservative DINO/RINOs who lay claim to the Democratic brand, and a yet-to-form socialist party with a new brand.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
But what is the event
that will trigger this formation. I can't figure it out. Inertia of the Political system seems to be the rule for decades.
Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!
Firesign Theater
Stop the War!
Inertia
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Considering Tim Kaine just cosponsored
I've officially given up on the idea that the people can do a goddamn thing, short of cheese shops.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3KBuQHHKx0]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
"It is amazing how much agreement there is across party lines"
Yep!
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
I love
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Love it. Rec'd, cuz it's the sad and sorry truth.
"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey
Don't kid yourself:
"neoliberal/neoconservative DINO/RINOs who lay claim to the Democratic brand"
are just as much fascists as the GOP people are. Hell, just look at Senator Ben Cardin and his sponsor-ship of a bill that would have criminalized criticism of Israel (which he ultimately backed away from after people like Glenn Greenwald called attention to it.)
The Democrats are just better at hiding the reality by way of their rhetoric and identity-politics bullshit.
Remember, Musoulini said that "fascism" could be properly called "corporatism" because it represented a union between corporate and state power. Most dictionary definitions also throw in the characteristics of aggressive/militaristic foreign policy and authoritarian domestic rulership. By all these definitions, the Democrats certainly qualify as "fascists." The fact that you didn't recognize them as such, just shows me how effective their disguises have been and still are.
The wave is coming!
wait for it...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGKIjh9skYw]
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Nah, this is a wave
Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!
Firesign Theater
Stop the War!
What is needed
a socialist wave
Registered Democrats won't elect progressives
This isn't just the party undermining candidates, this is D party members not interested in real change.
I didn't see any of Bernie's backed candidates getting the nomination....not one. Most people don't give a shit, or at minimum feel participation is pointless. Unless or until, the non-voting majority starts getting out, socialists and progs are out of the picture.
Yes and no
Yes the registered Dems aren't demanding progressive candidates.
OTOH, no. If the registered Dems didn't at least want progressive candidates, then the Dem establishment wouldn't have to be putting their thumb on the scales.
@gjohnsit I think the Dem
@Blueslide
>I didn't see any of Bernie's backed candidates getting the nomination....not one.
Many Berniecrats and progressive Dems inspired by Bernie have won (though most were not directly endorsed by Bernie, since he has endorsed relatively few). Many have lost too, but you're being too pessimistic in saying none won. Here is a list of some who have won so far (all of these candidates support Medicare-for-All and other Bernie-like positions):
Texas: - note that Texas has runoff elections if no candidate receives 50%+ of the vote
Congressional District 5 - Dan Wood
Congressional District 7 - Laura Moser
Congressional District 12 - Vanessa Adia
Congressional District 14 - Adrienne Bell
Congressional District 21 - Mary Wilson made the runoff
Congressional District 23 - Rick Trevino made the runoff
Congressional District 24 - Jan McDowell
Congressional District 25 - two progressives in a runoff with each other - Julie Oliver and Chris Perri
Congressional District 26 - Linsey Fagan
Congressional District 31 - Christine Mann made the runoff
Congressional District 32 - Colin Allred
Congressional District 36 - Dayna Steele
State Senate District 25 - Steve Kling
Illinois:
Congressional District 4 - Chuy Garcia
State Senate District 8 - Ram Villivalam
State House District 1 - Aaron Ortiz
State House District 4 - Delia Ramirez
North Carolina: - Note that North Carolina has runoff elections if no candidate receives 40%+ of the vote.
Congressional District 10 - David Wilson Brown
Congressional District 11 - There may be a runoff with a progressive Berniecrat (Steve Woodsmall) in it
Indiana:
Congressional District 5 - Dee Thornton
Congressional District 9 - Liz Watson
State House District 15- Chris Chyung
Ohio:
Congressional District 15 - Rick Neal
State House District 13 - Michael Skindell
West Virginia:
Congressional District 3- Richard Ojeda
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now it is true that they've only won the nomination of the Dem party (or made the runoff election). They still have to face an opponent in the general election in November. But people should know that there are some wins in our column so far.
Good info....
As someone pointed out, it took the right 40 years to take over the world and destroy our country and the planet. Movements don't happen overnight, but it is a painful wait.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Hi Scientist34again
So I agree, I was being overly pessimistic, but not by a lot
The Demosaurs
refuse to go extinct and are choking the rest of us in the meantime.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
Let's see...
We have a party that stands for nothing and whose only motto is we are not Trump. We have a party that has openly bragged that they have the right to choose any candidate they wish regardless of the wishes of the voters. In other words, we have a party that is telling its voters that their votes do not count. We have a party that has done everything to reject and ignore the biggest and potentially most enthusiastic voting block, the youth. We have a party that is so out of touch and ossified that they refuse to listen to the electorate over and over. We have a party that cheated Bernie Sanders voters in the last Presidential election, thus handing the Presidency over to Trump.
And now this same party and the same people who continue to run it are expecting people to come out in a blue wave to elect more of the same ossified candidates that they keep shoving down our throats? This voter is saying nevermore.
I am not wasting my time and my effort on a party that so disrespects its own members and the sanctity of the election process. I refuse to give any validity to the corrupt Democratic party until it either dies or changes. And I believe that those who run the party would rather it die than change.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
OT: That'll teach an old man for protesting a torturer
"Quit Resisting!"
"Quit Resisting!" "Quit Resisting!" "Quit Resisting!"
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
These godamned cops
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
You have to wonder
Exactly what resisting was the old man doing that required dislocating his arm?
Was it because he resisted being quiet?
And if there weren't a whole bank of cameras, how much force would the police have used?
Fucking pigs.
Of course, then they call anyone who opposes them in equal numbers a gang, and break out the guns.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Some polls say democrats were going to win
but now they don't. I suppose they don't talk about third parties either. It's all meant to keep the power with and attention on these two corrupted political parties.
The "blue wave" as predicated by the oligarchy's corporate media, was and is the same bullshit we've heard forever with this political system.
Well according to the WI Democratic Party Chair they have the
State Republicans right where they want them!
O.k. When is the next meeting for the revolution?
-FuturePassed on Sunday, November 25, 2018 10:22 p.m.
The Democrats
If they actually wanted to win all the Democrats would have to do is start addressing the growing wealth gap. That's all.
Instead we get more crap on Trump's affairs, more hints that this Russian or that made a deal with this lawyer or that, etc.
The people running the Democratic Party are finally proving that there really is no difference between the Repubs and the Demos except maybe an automatic weapon here and a TED talk there.
I really think it is by
I really think it is by design. If they were to win, the gig would be up. The democrats would be completely exposed for the corporate shills and, at the risk of being redundant - warmongers that they are. From the minority, they can sort of continue the pretense that they stand on ethical ground, at least sometimes.