Many Americans Say the Democratic Party Does Not Share Their Priorities

[superrific]

I know y’all always think I’m lying or whatever but I say this win or lose: I don’t care that much who wins.

This I believe. I also believe that you do not understand what it says about you.

 

[Mulberry Heel]

If Trump really does stuff between now and the midterms that is so bad it results in 60 Dem senators in 2026, it’ll be fine with me if the power flips. That’s the way our system is designed to work.

I am not nearly as concerned with the Republicans keeping the power as you probably think I am. I dislike both parties, but just happen to dislike Democrats more.

I also happen to enjoy it in general when the power is split, so that the two parties are either forced to compromise or we just get status quo. Especially in NC, which has been thriving under the leadership of a blue governor + red legislature now for years.

Except that the red legislature keeps stripping more and more power from the blue governors and blue state officials and adding it to their own. And that they have gerrymandered the state to the point that Democrats have no realistic hope of ever regaining control of the legislature, and they have made it very easy for them to gain a supermajority that renders a blue governor's veto useless.

 

[HeelYeah2012]

Except that the red legislature keeps stripping more and more power from the blue governors and blue state officials and adding it to their own. And that they have gerrymandered the state to the point that Democrats have no realistic hope of ever regaining control of the legislature, and they have made it very easy for them to gain a supermajority that renders a blue governor's veto useless.

Yeah, I’m glad the supermajority isn’t there anymore. As a Cooper & Stein voter in recent NC Governor elections, I like those guys having veto power to keep the legislature in check.

 

[Mulberry Heel]

As a general matter Republicans are obsessed with it. Republican support and approval of gay marriage has fallen over the past few years. It seems clear to me that many Republicans that claimed to have come around on gay marriage weren't telling the truth and are giddy that transgender issues have opened the door on rolling back all LGBTQ rights.

Absolutely. I remain convinced that attacking transgenders and rolling back their rights is simply a wedge issue for Republicans to eventually go after the entire LGBTQ community.

 

[Mulberry Heel]

Yeah, I’m glad the supermajority isn’t there anymore. As a Cooper & Stein voter in recent NC Governor elections, I like those guys having veto power to keep the legislature in check.

They failed to win a supermajority by one vote, and given their advantages they can easily win it back in 2026. And with the legislature taking more of the executive branch's power with each election cycle the governor's power to stop the legislature gradually grows less and less.

 

[LosPollosHermanos]

It’s going to get real difficult for a lot of folks to act like they are so inconvenienced by the mere existence of transgender people when they have to work an extra 10 years because their party decimated the economy and laughed in their faces about it.

Haven't read the whole thread but I take stuff like this with a grain of salt. You could easily find stories all over major financial news outlets predicting massive selloffs throughout the entire bull market. I'm more concerned he keeps the markets propped up by whatever means possible and leaves a complete mess for the next administration. I also think the markets and the perceptions they create are things he actually cares about (there aren't many) and if his tariffs and other shenanigans are hurting markets he will back off. Also that's just what hedge funds do, they short stocks.

 

[Zoo_View]

Kamala got the nod because she was the only candidate who everyone could rally around in a short period of time, and the only one who would have access to the cash. If you go with "she's the VP, she should replace him" then we could move on with the campaign. Once you open it up to other candidates, floodgates.

Right.

No conspiracy.

 

[Zoo_View]

Democrats, progressive activists, whoever.

There are segments of the socialist left who traffic in parts of the identity synthesis and segments of the liberal Democratic left who do so.

There is often a conflation between the materialist socialist left and the identity focused left. There is overlap, but these are distinct camps.

I don’t like using the term woke because it’s little more than a right-wing cudgel at this point, but I think a good definition of wokeness is social justice politics with class removed. This is how the liberal identity focused segments of the Democratic Party were able to wield this strain of progressivism against Bernie in 2016.

To say that Democrats haven’t engaged at all in this kind of language is just wrong. They moved away from it a bit in 2024, but the damage had already been done.

• Socialist left
• Identity synthesis
• Liberal Democratic left
• Conflation between
• Materialist socialist left
• Identity focused left
• Wokeness is…….
• Social Justice politics
• Liberal identity focused segments…….

That’s a lot of buzzwords and buzz phrases.

 

[Paine]

• Socialist left
• Identity synthesis
• Liberal Democratic left
• Conflation between
• Materialist socialist left
• Identity focused left
• Wokeness is…….
• Social Justice politics
• Liberal identity focused segments…….

That’s a lot of buzzwords and buzz phrases.

Not at all. All of those phrases have defined meanings. Might be a bit jargony, but that’s how political theory always is.

 

[wmheel1287]

Where many (most?) of us disagree with you is here:

• “People need to be convinced that they have more in common than they don’t.”
• “That’s why I think it’s pure folly for the left to focus on identity politics over other things.”

By “the left” do you mean Democrats?

P

Not at all. All of those phrases have defined meanings. Might be a bit jargony, but that’s how political theory always is.

Just FYI, whether they are buzzwords or jargon, they are far beyond my ability to comprehend what you mean by any of them.

 

[ChileG]

I don’t care who wins or loses elections, so I might as well vote for the guys who are actively trying to ruin what was a strong economy, purge the FBI and Justice Department of anyone not swearing allegiance to the president, and promises to raid my social security. I’m just so above it all.

 

[Paine]

P

Just FYI, whether they are buzzwords or jargon, they are far beyond my ability to comprehend what you mean by any of them.

Some are fairly self explanatory, I think. The only phrase listed there that can’t be deduced by just knowing the individual meanings of the words is identity synthesis, which I explained earlier in the thread. But it goes to show my earlier point that the message board medium isn’t a great place to discuss complex topics like this one with any degree of understanding between parties.

 

[breepf]

Long story short, the youngster is just saying that the Democrats should focus less on identity politics ("I'm black!" "I'm white"! "I'm gay!" "I'm a mongoose!") and more on bread-and-butter economic and/or labor politics.

 

[Paine]

Long story short, the youngster is just saying that the Democrats should focus less on identity politics ("I'm black!" "I'm white"! "I'm gay!" "I'm a mongoose!") and more on bread-and-butter economic and/or labor politics.

Essentially yes, thank you. The other piece of it is the conflation of leftists who believe in this type of identity focused politics with leftists who believe in a class first (materialist) approach. I find that liberals often conflate the two camps. As I say, there is overlap, but they are distinct. You see this in the catch-all term that a lot of liberals use: “far-left.”

Then there are also liberals who wield the cudgel of identity against others on the left who want to put class and economics first. See: Hillary vs Bernie in 2016.

 

[mynameisbond]

It's less that I have something against socialism and more that I think even a link to the term is a poison pill in politics for about 75% of the country.

Actually, if I had to predict the future, I'd predict a predominantly socialist society for about 95% of the populace in the next hundred years. The rest will live in an effectively different society of privilege.

IOW like most of Europe

 

[superrific]

("I'm black!" "I'm white"! "I'm gay!" "I'm a mongoose!")

Really? Mongoose? WTF, man?

Whether or not you agree with identity being a main plank of the party, there is no reason at all to be denigrating peoples' identities. If a black person wants to be proud of being black, what the fuck is wrong with that, and why does that get comparisons to animals? If a gay person is proud of being gay, and wants equal treatment regardless of sexual orientation, why does that merit such a derogatory response?

 

[breepf]

Really? Mongoose? WTF, man?

Whether or not you agree with identity being a main plank of the party, there is no reason at all to be denigrating peoples' identities. If a black person wants to be proud of being black, what the fuck is wrong with that, and why does that get comparisons to animals? If a gay person is proud of being gay, and wants equal treatment regardless of sexual orientation, why does that merit such a derogatory response?

You're right. I should have gone with sparrow.

It's clearly a joke, as evidenced by the fact that I included "I am white!" too. But please froth away in the form of a 10-point pedantic reply with numerous citations to your own undergraduate work.

 

[superrific]

You're right. I should have gone with sparrow.

It's clearly a joke, as evidenced by the fact that I included "I am white!" too. But please froth away in the form of a 10-point pedantic reply with numerous citations to your own undergraduate work.

How old are you? "It was just a joke" hasn't been an acceptable excuse for that shit for a generation or two.

Including "I am white" doesn't address the problem. Nor does lashing out at me. Of all people to complain about pedantry, Mr. "I'm going to tell you what melodrama is even if it bears no resemblance to how that word is typically used" is probably not the best choice. And whether I type 1 point of 100 doesn't affect the truth of what I'm saying.

 

[breepf]

You know what, if the joke offended the shared liberal sensibility of the board, I apologize for committing an unintentional offense.

 

[ZenMode]

Really? Mongoose? WTF, man?

Whether or not you agree with identity being a main plank of the party, there is no reason at all to be denigrating peoples' identities. If a black person wants to be proud of being black, what the fuck is wrong with that, and why does that get comparisons to animals? If a gay person is proud of being gay, and wants equal treatment regardless of sexual orientation, why does that merit such a derogatory response?

There are adults who identify as a cat, dog, wolves, etc. There may very well be a mongoose out there somewhere. At the very least, mongoose isn't a stretch.