good read that fleshes out many things I've been thinking and saying. hope folks read this essay from someone who was doing work on the ground before reacting.
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I agree. As a communications professional, I was most struck by how she had to completely rewrite all the talking points that she had been given because whoever created them didn’t understand how to talk to the actual voters they needed to reach. This is a major area Democrats need to work on.
As a communications professional who began as a canvasser and has coworkers who canvass full-time - been saying this for years but (most) Dems never bother.
Not listening to the people on the ground about what they're hearing and what's resonating is SUCH a missed opportunity.
PS- How do we write our talking points? Program staff (most started as canvassers) give it the first go. The canvass directors (who still canvass at least 2 days/week) and senior staff try it out, edit or rewrite as needed, and check in at least biweekly. Super helpful & we all support each other.
I'll refer to Thom Hartmann's oft repeated comment that there scant few Spanish speaking radio stations sharing any Democratic news. The Rs are running the show.
"In all my time in Allentown, I never saw any sign of a Trump ground game like the one the Harris campaign organized. It turned out Trump did not need it."
I saw the same thing here in NV. Trump had no ground game at all. I thought it would be the reason she would win. Boy was i wrong.
It's bc right wing media is free and pushed everywhere. It's accessible & preys on time constrained working class unable to digest long think-pieces. Real journalism is behind paywalls.
The disconnect between the octogenarian millionaires running the DNC and large swaths of the people historically in the Dem coalition means ever decreasing mobilization of the base. I'm in solidly blue Boston and NOBODY was excited about Kamala here (except for my 86yo shitlib MIL, bless her heart).
I've heard countless ppl who were inspired previously by Bernie or Elizabeth Warren, felt left out this time around, bc they were working class &/or rural. The constant centrist focus on 'middle class' &/or swing state state urban areas left a gap that free right-leaning media & campaigns filled.
This is because politicians are out of touch with what Americans are actually feeling day to day. People are hurting. They want populists who will actually fix things. Not limp wrist centrists like Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, or Kamala Harris.
The biggest question we should all be asking is who elects who runs the DNC and what gives them the power to stomp on campaigns like Bernie's or Elizabeth Warren?
The doomscroll episode with Catherine Liu is worth a listen. Basically the Dems are controlled by an insular group of professional managers who scold rather than build consensus.
100%. And tbh Bernie was too classy to properly deal with Hillary. When she scolded him for calling her out for taking PAC money he backed down rather than stand his ground. That could have been his moment.
Thanks for the link - definitely on the To Read List. I did wonder, first, who she was, just some random door knocker or professional Dem? Turns out she's a journalist on the immigration beat, which she might highlight in the story but certainly explains her (what seems to be) informed take.
OK I read it. I think it was a good article, fair and accurate. Also showed the gamut of reactions to the election. Looking at the PA site, Dems has an 85% turnout - which is very good IMO - but the GOP had 95% - which gave Trump the win even with a registration deficit. The voters were there.
2. Too many voters are willfully ignorant (admitted Trump might be Hitleresque & didn't care, forgot about Covid, didn't care about 1/6, don't understand how policy works).
3. Racism and misogyny remain factors. White male mediocrity reigns supreme in the US.
They could have had another "I feel your pain" campaign, but that was even less popular. There's nothing average or even left Democrats can do about the fact that, even with a majority, they can only get policy that goes as far as the most conservative Democrat it takes to make the
majority is willing to go. That was Manchin and Sinema on the most recent round, and the reason is that Democrats didn't win the Senate races in North Carolina and Maine. These just-barely majorities aren't enough for major economic redistribution.
Maine and NC are vastly different. Angus King won in Maine because he's well-known and respected. It's not a "Dem v Rep" issue.
In 2020, challenger Sara Gideon had the temerity to be "from away" (which is anyone not born in Maine, no matter how long they've been here or what they accomplished.)
But at voting time, those two seats in Democratic hands (or the hands of Independents who caucused with Democrats) would have reduced Joe Manchin's power by a lot. There would have been three people to cut deals with, and some from Maine or NC could have subbed in for Manchin on bills he rejected.
I didn't say there shouldn't be 2 Dem or left-leaning Indies from Maine in the Senate. I just pointed out that the political scene in NC is vastly different than the political scene in Maine.
Sure, but the point for 2021/22 was that Manchin and Sinema got to decide how far Democrats were allowed to go and that two more seats (whoever was in them) would have given them more routes to a majority for big legislation. Maine and North Carolina were the closest losses in 2020.
I didn’t listen to him much before - was he always that semantically garbled? Is his brain damage and sloppy attire the secret to a Dem winning PA post 2020? I’m serious.
He was a populist, fairly progressive guy until a fateful accident caused brain damage that gave him a personality shift as a result of neurological damage.
He openly talks about how he pretty much turned into a proud right-wing sociopath overnight afterwards; It's all quite depressing.
Ugh. I remember him being a big minimum wage increase guy. The stroke and depression seem to have led to weirdness, like becoming the biggest fanboy of Israel and Netanyahu, and apologist for musk and trumps.
Since Trump barely got a plurality of the votes cast in this month's election, this problem could have cost Harris the election. It's just really odd to me the Harris campaign got nothing but praise before Nov 5 and after that date almost nothing but condemnation for its failures. Victory has many
Isn't that exactly what the GOP wants? For people not to believe the government works for them so they don't bother voting. All going according to plan.
Yeah the dems were supposed to stop that. Instead they spent a billion dollars to tell voters to shut the fuck up and that they'd keep doing everything the same.
It definitely isn't the fault of the campaign, nope. Not like it's their job to convince people that voting for their candidate is needed or important. Blame the people trying their best to survive but still willing to have a conversation with a canvasser, that's the ticket!
I blame the campaign that didn't do their job of getting more folks to vote for them than their opponent. That had a billion f--king dollars and couldn't manage.
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Not listening to the people on the ground about what they're hearing and what's resonating is SUCH a missed opportunity.
those still burdened by decades of middle class destructive policies too many
don't mock people who are concerned about the price of eggs, that they want to feed their children
I saw the same thing here in NV. Trump had no ground game at all. I thought it would be the reason she would win. Boy was i wrong.
When Howard Dean managed the DNC, it was successful. Bc he was a populist. Now it just seems like a centrist campaign fund laundering operation.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia6m3pIIS2k
If the professional managerial class maintains power and simply scolds workers (“deplorables”) more we will see a continued exodus.
2. Too many voters are willfully ignorant (admitted Trump might be Hitleresque & didn't care, forgot about Covid, didn't care about 1/6, don't understand how policy works).
3. Racism and misogyny remain factors. White male mediocrity reigns supreme in the US.
But Gov Mills may challenge Collins in the next round, which should be interesting. It still won't be a "Dem v Rep" contest.
In 2020, challenger Sara Gideon had the temerity to be "from away" (which is anyone not born in Maine, no matter how long they've been here or what they accomplished.)
I didn't say there shouldn't be 2 Dem or left-leaning Indies from Maine in the Senate. I just pointed out that the political scene in NC is vastly different than the political scene in Maine.
He openly talks about how he pretty much turned into a proud right-wing sociopath overnight afterwards; It's all quite depressing.
“A major issue seemed to be the information flow, which moved entirely in one direction: from the candidate to the voters.”
Instead all we get are people who know what mainstream media pundits think.
It's wild they have jobs.