Every Democrat I know irl is a kind, considerate person with empathetic views.
So it’s amazing to me that the party seems to go out of its way to find the most horrific ghouls and status quo warriors to set forth in a federal election, especially really fucking important elections
Because the parties don’t represent the people. The parties represent the interests of those with most influence in the party. In the modern system it is those who make the most impactfull and sustained donation efforts. The rest is just marketing used to secure enough votes in the election show according to arbitrary rules they set and change as they see fit.
The parties represent liberals and fascists, when leftists are gaining in grassroots popularity. This grassroots movement must continue to build momentum and make real change.
So it’s amazing to me that the party seems to go out of its way to find the most horrific ghouls and status quo warriors to set forth in a federal election, especially really fucking important elections
Can you elaborate on what you mean that “the party seems to go out of its way to find the most horrific ghouls and status quo warriors to set forth in a federal election”? Are you unaware of the fact that Biden is the incumbent President?
He was nominated by a wide margin against a dozen other candidates (including over my preferred candidate), and elected with solid EC majority and a record number of individual votes.
To suggest that he was somehow appointed by the party establishment, when he’s simply running for reelection like almost every incumbent President in American history has done after their first term seems like a very disingenuous statement. It’s interesting that nobody leveled that argument against Trump when he ran for reelection in 2020, not to mention every other time it’s happened, considering it’s been the norm for decades.
A lot of us live in states that didnt get to vote in the primaries, and a lot of us show up to every election even when neither option really represents our views (albeit one much more than the other). To say we aren’t getting our way cause we aren’t voting, though undoubtedly true for some, is a bad take
This is not even touching on the DNC putting their finger on the scales in the primaries that did happen
There is a large amount of progressives who support progressive ideals but don’t show up to vote in primaries or push politicians left. Hence- they just don’t show up.
Progressive goals just aren’t that popular and there is no large cohort abstaining from voting.
Don’t get me wrong- I like some progressive ideals (though not nearly left as some on lemmy notably are.) I support fixing healthcare via single payer or at least some universal scheme with a public option, etc., I agree it’s genocide in the Gaza Strip and we shouldn’t at all be supporting Israel, etc.
But look at the results. Either progressives are sitting out A LOT or the party actually is just representing what the majority wants (like the OP stated.)
I think the general feeling of disenfranchisement comes from the DNC influence in primaries. Who they throw their weight behind in terms of advertising dollars and publicity makes a big difference in how the primaries go. Also very relevant is which states have their primaries when, as most times the primaries are called before every state has theirs. This is also hearsay and way harder to substantiate, but there are also some that cry foul that there isn’t actually much in place to monitor primaries like there are in standard elections and there is significantly higher potential for fudged numbers and misrepresented results.
Of course I would still love to see more left candidates get the nomination despite that, but it is certainly still possible that I am in the minority in that desire.
For 2024, though, it doesn’t much matter if Biden is who the left wants. When running against a literal fascist, there isn’t really as much room to voice complaints about the alternatives. I voted for Biden in 2020 and will again in 2024 even though he is much further right than my political leaning, and even for those of us on the left who are not happy with how Biden has been doing, there isn’t really room to show that with voting because the alternative is so much worse. In this scenario, votes for Biden can easily be misconstrued as support for Biden which is not really the case
So it’s amazing to me that the party seems to go out of its way to find the most horrific ghouls and status quo warriors to set forth in a federal election, especially really fucking important elections
I think its useful to distinguish between Democrats and democrats. I try to use Democrats for party officials, elected officials, talking heads within the party etc. I try to use democrats for democratic voters.
Democrats do not have the priorities of their voters in mind, and have, since the 90’s, wished that they actually had republicans for voters. Democrats don’t want to be managing a leftwing party (the votership they largely have), they want to be managing a rightwing party. The Democratic party reconfigured its self to be diet Republican after Carter and have been failing forwards ever since.
Feelings aside, Biden is objectively one of the most, if not the most, progressive President we’ve had in modern history.
[Bernie] Sanders said that some of the early goals that the Biden administration and a Democratic Congress were able to accomplish in the first two years of Biden’s presidency were progressive victories, including the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
“I think the American Rescue Plan that we passed early in his agenda, in the midst of the terrible pandemic, the economic collapse, was, in fact, one of the most significant pieces of legislation for the working class in this country, in the modern history of America,” Sanders said.
No, I know who you’re responding to, but pointing out that Biden is marginally more left-leaning than the guy who repealed Glass-Steagall and the guy who created the assassination-robot squad doesn’t really undermine his point. FDR’s party gutted the New Deal, Biden being slightly more pro-union doesn’t really mean much to the overall trend.
The point being that I don’t expect inhuman levels of perfection for my political leaders, and I don’t think you should either. There was much more to FDR’s administration than the New Deal, and when it comes the historical comparison Biden may have fallen short on matching the New Deal (although objectively he passed the biggest infrastructure and progressive economics bill since the New Deal), he has an undeniably better track record than FDR in terms of human rights, civil rights and environmental protection. There’s really no comparison.
(FWIW, it’s also worth noting that FDR had a significantly stronger Democratic backing in congress, with IIRC, a large supermajority in the Senate for multiple years. Historical political context is also important.)
Like it or not, It’s just a point of fact that Biden is the most progressive president we’ve had in at least 50 years, if not a century, when looking at the entirety of his record so far.
Every Democrat I know irl is a kind, considerate person with empathetic views.
So it’s amazing to me that the party seems to go out of its way to find the most horrific ghouls and status quo warriors to set forth in a federal election, especially really fucking important elections
Because the parties don’t represent the people. The parties represent the interests of those with most influence in the party. In the modern system it is those who make the most impactfull and sustained donation efforts. The rest is just marketing used to secure enough votes in the election show according to arbitrary rules they set and change as they see fit.
The parties represent liberals and fascists, when leftists are gaining in grassroots popularity. This grassroots movement must continue to build momentum and make real change.
Can you elaborate on what you mean that “the party seems to go out of its way to find the most horrific ghouls and status quo warriors to set forth in a federal election”? Are you unaware of the fact that Biden is the incumbent President?
He was nominated by a wide margin against a dozen other candidates (including over my preferred candidate), and elected with solid EC majority and a record number of individual votes.
To suggest that he was somehow appointed by the party establishment, when he’s simply running for reelection like almost every incumbent President in American history has done after their first term seems like a very disingenuous statement. It’s interesting that nobody leveled that argument against Trump when he ran for reelection in 2020, not to mention every other time it’s happened, considering it’s been the norm for decades.
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A lot of us live in states that didnt get to vote in the primaries, and a lot of us show up to every election even when neither option really represents our views (albeit one much more than the other). To say we aren’t getting our way cause we aren’t voting, though undoubtedly true for some, is a bad take
This is not even touching on the DNC putting their finger on the scales in the primaries that did happen
How is it not? There are two options:
There is a large amount of progressives who support progressive ideals but don’t show up to vote in primaries or push politicians left. Hence- they just don’t show up.
Progressive goals just aren’t that popular and there is no large cohort abstaining from voting.
Don’t get me wrong- I like some progressive ideals (though not nearly left as some on lemmy notably are.) I support fixing healthcare via single payer or at least some universal scheme with a public option, etc., I agree it’s genocide in the Gaza Strip and we shouldn’t at all be supporting Israel, etc.
But look at the results. Either progressives are sitting out A LOT or the party actually is just representing what the majority wants (like the OP stated.)
I think the general feeling of disenfranchisement comes from the DNC influence in primaries. Who they throw their weight behind in terms of advertising dollars and publicity makes a big difference in how the primaries go. Also very relevant is which states have their primaries when, as most times the primaries are called before every state has theirs. This is also hearsay and way harder to substantiate, but there are also some that cry foul that there isn’t actually much in place to monitor primaries like there are in standard elections and there is significantly higher potential for fudged numbers and misrepresented results.
Of course I would still love to see more left candidates get the nomination despite that, but it is certainly still possible that I am in the minority in that desire.
For 2024, though, it doesn’t much matter if Biden is who the left wants. When running against a literal fascist, there isn’t really as much room to voice complaints about the alternatives. I voted for Biden in 2020 and will again in 2024 even though he is much further right than my political leaning, and even for those of us on the left who are not happy with how Biden has been doing, there isn’t really room to show that with voting because the alternative is so much worse. In this scenario, votes for Biden can easily be misconstrued as support for Biden which is not really the case
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I think its useful to distinguish between Democrats and democrats. I try to use Democrats for party officials, elected officials, talking heads within the party etc. I try to use democrats for democratic voters.
Democrats do not have the priorities of their voters in mind, and have, since the 90’s, wished that they actually had republicans for voters. Democrats don’t want to be managing a leftwing party (the votership they largely have), they want to be managing a rightwing party. The Democratic party reconfigured its self to be diet Republican after Carter and have been failing forwards ever since.
Yeah, it seems with every candidate, we veer further to the right
Feelings aside, Biden is objectively one of the most, if not the most, progressive President we’ve had in modern history.
I mean, being to the left of Obama and Clinton isn’t exactly hard.
Reread the comment that I was responding to.
No, I know who you’re responding to, but pointing out that Biden is marginally more left-leaning than the guy who repealed Glass-Steagall and the guy who created the assassination-robot squad doesn’t really undermine his point. FDR’s party gutted the New Deal, Biden being slightly more pro-union doesn’t really mean much to the overall trend.
For all of his progressive economic accomplishments, FDR also interned in the Japanese and allowed for the creation of one of the world’s worst toxic waste sites.
The point being that I don’t expect inhuman levels of perfection for my political leaders, and I don’t think you should either. There was much more to FDR’s administration than the New Deal, and when it comes the historical comparison Biden may have fallen short on matching the New Deal (although objectively he passed the biggest infrastructure and progressive economics bill since the New Deal), he has an undeniably better track record than FDR in terms of human rights, civil rights and environmental protection. There’s really no comparison.
(FWIW, it’s also worth noting that FDR had a significantly stronger Democratic backing in congress, with IIRC, a large supermajority in the Senate for multiple years. Historical political context is also important.)
Like it or not, It’s just a point of fact that Biden is the most progressive president we’ve had in at least 50 years, if not a century, when looking at the entirety of his record so far.
Biden is currently supporting the Palestinian genocide as we speak.
This is why their only political message is “vote for us or you’ll be sorry.”