one of the biggest problems with "we must partner with a Reasonable Republican" messaging - even if your goal is to pick off R-leaning indies - is that it completely contradicts the (correct) messaging that the Republican party is now a fascist cult that wants to destroy the country - ThreadSky

rincewind.run • 291 days ago

one of the biggest problems with "we must partner with a Reasonable Republican" messaging - even if your goal is to pick off R-leaning indies - is that it completely contradicts the (correct) messaging that the Republican party is now a fascist cult that wants to destroy the country

Reposted from Catbus

the thing is, the idea always stunk, never worked and the GOP has only grown more insane and extremist over the years

something like "we're the sane ones, join the party" instead of this Pelosi brand "we need a partnership w a strong, manly Republican party!"

Comments

lostweather.bsky.social•291 days ago

Key thing I do appreciate is that they mention someone “who WAS a Republican”. Still not great messaging but that’s a lot more half-decent options

blindgoblin.bsky.social•291 days ago

Yup, don't give them an inch.

The proper response should have been "if by republican you mean backing trump, then absolutely not"

kodra.bsky.social•291 days ago

Yeah, but at the same time, didn't we have a bunch of non-elected Republicans attend the DNC and full throatedly endorse Democrats? Isn't it more likely that they pick one of those?

librarianjenne.bsky.social•291 days ago

The thing I kept thinking was, which department do we want to have stagnate, if not go backwards? Which one does the least damage to the public if it's mismanaged by the party of being an obstacle?

bruceboyde.bsky.social•291 days ago

Yeah, the attitude should be "these are a bunch of extremist lunatics trying to enact a theocratic minority rule via any means possible. They can appeal to voters if they want positions of power". Fuck this "bipartisan" nonsense.

kapitalradio.bsky.social•291 days ago

Exactly! I said it earlier but this isn’t even the Republican party that blocked Obama’s presidency! There are no Chuck Hagels left!

glassshark.bsky.social•291 days ago

Yeah, I think a large part of moving forward living in a country with so many Right-Wing folk has got to include them purging the modern day GOP. Some kind of schism. Them trying to "fix" their party just can't happen while Trump is alive. Then again, it's been this way since Reagan.

beccasmullet.bsky.social•291 days ago

God, yes! And Kamala needs to break this campaign promise when she gets elected.

crs1.bsky.social•291 days ago

not to mention there has to be SOME pushback about make rhetorical concessions in light of the other side's UTTER failure to do the same.

See also, whatever is going on with brain dead Durbin on blue slips

tomstpatrick.bsky.social•291 days ago

Kinsinger? Cheney?

uhjustin.bsky.social•291 days ago

One can give an off-ramp to moderates to leave the fascists without declaring the need to partner with a bunch of thugs.

anthonymoser.com•291 days ago

a perfectly reasonable response would be to say "my opponent has vowed to prosecute members of my party and staff the government with people loyal to him personally and anyone who supports that cannot be trusted with anything that matters"

ernekid.bsky.social•291 days ago

In Northern Irish politics there’s the concept of the ‘garden centre Unionist’ eg. Someone from a middle class Protestant background who doesn’t like the fundamentalism of the DUP because they spend their weekends at the garden centre but they still support the Union.

ernekid.bsky.social•291 days ago

The problem with this concept is that election after election has proven that the ‘garden centre Unionist’ doesn’t exist. It’s a political unicorn with no basis in polling in Northern Ireland.

ernekid.bsky.social•291 days ago

The ‘moderate Republican’ is the American equivalent of the ‘Garden Centre Unionist’ it’s a political constituency that only exists in the minds of establishment media figures.

camobscura.bsky.social•291 days ago

All of them were right into all the things Trump believes until he refused to give them a job and now suddenly they're guardians of democracy and liberty.

rincewind.run•291 days ago

"they will destroy everything you hold dear and also we're delighted to work with them as friends and colleagues": also not great

focus on the message that matters, please

bigbadbugsteak.bsky.social•291 days ago

Like, the suggestion that any current REP is even *somewhat adjacent* to anything that could be described as "reasonable" would be paralyzingly hilarious if it weren't so immediately and incandescently infuriating.

andytobo.bsky.social•291 days ago

For all the damn consultants they hire you'd think one of them would understand branding. Maybe middle America wants a uniter not a divider but which message is more effective, "we must defeat these people who are actually really nice" or "I care about what you care about, we will stop them"

cynbelterreus.bsky.social•291 days ago

The ones who do are the younger ones who have consistently been ignored for a long time

psheth.bsky.social•291 days ago

This is exactly why Biden's message that the 2024 election was crucial to save democracy never resonated. You cannot simultaneously argue that the Republicans are a threat to democracy and also that you love making bipartisan deals with them!

cecilharr.bsky.social•291 days ago

Hmmm. Not really. I think the message is that the current leadership of the Republicans are loonies, but just having a history of being Republican previously does not mean you are necessarily a loony.

flopperdog.bsky.social•291 days ago

Yes, I would have preferred that she said "former Republican" but none of it matters to my vote, if she'd made Kinzinger the VP I would have been baffled and angry and still voted for her

farwent.net•291 days ago

Yeah, the reality is that a lot of voters still see a distinction between Trump-loving GOP officials and old-school Republicans, and however one feels about that, they're not going to change their minds between now and November, but they will see a Cabinet appointment as meaningful.

proptermalone.bsky.social•291 days ago

because…. there is? I don’t think it’s all that complicated, there are a bunch of people who fairly recently were Republicans who are now independent or Dem or at least behaving that way

farwent.net•291 days ago

Oh, absolutely. I was thinking about voters but also about GOP federal politicians, the majority of whom I think it *is* fair to label Trump lovers and traitors, based on their choices if not their hearts, and was a little sloppy with the elision.

sknowsthatp.bsky.social•291 days ago

YELLING, PLEADING 🎯🎯🎯

hayao.lol•291 days ago

i have never understood or agreed with the DNC strategy of pretending 'extremist MAGA republicans' were somehow a separate creature from the 'real' GOP who were reasonable friends who had just somehow lost control of their party

patrocalypse.bsky.social•291 days ago

Yes! Good opportunity to differentiate between “principled” conservative thinkers and members of the Republican party

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply