The problem is that the Democratic party at the national level doesn't stand for any of those principles because is dominated by urban interests in both the activist and donor categories. People know this and assume this is just new packaging for the same old product. To be fair, establishment Republicans only support 3 of the 8. MAGA hits 6 of the 8. I don't know Mr. Probst so I have to assume he is on board with all 8 but he is in the wrong party. He should be helping MAGA defeat the establishment Republicans and the Left and affirm the remaining 2 principles. Then maybe we could have sane politics.
And don't utter meaningless inanities about how your "values have not changed" while carefully concealing from voters what those values are, and your record that upholds them.
In short, don't pretend to be somebody you provably are not. Remember, Trump wins on authenticity.
Define authenticity here? Trump lies more than any politician on the modern historical record has been known to lie. A good 70% of any given Trump speech is nothing but fabrications. Does saying lies in a confident tone of voice make you 'authentic'?
Because if so then, yeah, the Democrats need to drop this integrity stuff and just start making stuff up and saying it a confident voice.
I vote for "The Republicans are eating your dogs and taking your women" as a starting point.
The Democrats are stupidly still clinging to the idea that they can drag the actual socioeconomic Overton Window hard left while playing a narrative that it is firmly anchored to the center. You would think that they have learned the lesson by now that the people clearly see the lie.
This is infuriating advice, in my opinion. The author doesn't say so explicitly, but the subtext of the article is for candidates to tell people that they agree with their conservative positions on issues, that they respect working people, and support law and order. It's almost all lies, if the candidate really is a Democrat in today's Democratic party. If they actually do believe these things, and they are being truthful with the voters, they can't vote with Democrats when they get into office because as a party Democrats don't believe any of those things. And the party will punish them if they don't vote with the party, so they usually give in and vote against their district's interests. Dems have been competitive in swing districts because they lie to the people to get elected, then when they are in office they vote with the most radical leftists and hope no one back home notices what they did. It's disgusting. But the people are starting to catch on to the deception, I hope they start to vote against the liars.
I don't understand your issue with liars, though, when 70-80% of any given Trump speech is nothing but fabrications, and Trump is the fountainhead of the MAGA movement.
If you don't like liars, how on God's green earth could you vote for a man like Trump?
Trump does exaggerate to make a point, and some of what he says are jokes that the Left just doesn't get because they have no sense of humor. He also trolls them to show how ridiculous they are. But a lot of what the Left calls lies are actually truths that they find uncomfortable (because they show that the "narrative" is false), so they tell their followers Trump is lying when he really is not but they don't want to hear it, and especially don't want their followers to hear it. Can't have people straying off the progressive plantation by hearing truth!
Dems have lied routinely for decades about everything to get elected, and then vote the exact opposite when they get into office. Everybody knows they do it, they know they do it, and it's a campaign strategy for them. That was my point, this article just gave them a list of current themes they could use to dupe conservative voters back home. For Dems, it's all about the "narrative" and the "messaging", it's never about the actual message that they know the majority of the population hates.
When I reference his fabrications, I don't mean his exaggerations, I mean his demonstratively false statements--stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/A3RlwuRcuMI
Nearly every one of his campaign speeches during the campaigns of 2024 and 2020 were filled to the brim with those sorts of complete falsehoods, as was his debate with Kamala Harris.
I can understand the 'realpolitik' position of "Yes, he lies, I don't really care so long as he wins and implements policies I like", or "I don't care, lying is part of the game and winning the game is the point,"--that's a coherent perspective. (if somewhat flawed IMO) But if the act of lying *itself* offends you, then it doesn't make much sense to support Trump, much less cast him as someone to be admired.
Your YouTube link is broken so I can't comment. However, there are a number of controversial topics where the Left believes certain things to be the truth, and a good part of the center and center-right believes different things as the truth. Note that I am not citing the hard Right, I do not agree with them about very much either. A great many beliefs that the Left insists are true are objectively not true, if one looks at the real facts and not the pseudo-facts the Left broadcasts and has for many years now, about topics such as racism, climate, energy sources, various political hot-buttons, and anything else that academics are interested in. If you are getting your information exclusively from leftist sources, you are not seeing the same supporting information that is available to anyone outside the Left bubble, and I can understand that you would think that much of what Trump says is not true even though a lot of it actually is true, and has proven to be so when the real facts are known. I have not heard any Leftist say very much that is true for many years now, though the exact opposite of what they say is often close to the real truth.
I read a wide range of material, from conservative as well as classical liberal sources, and I do try to read Leftist material sometimes just to see what they are saying, but I find it very difficult to get through articles with so many unsupported statements of opinion masquerading as facts. I also research controversial topics to discover the underlying studies and evidence, as I was trained to do as a scientist. Therefore, when I make statements they are supported by evidence.
Based on what you have written, and certainly I know nothing else about you so this is an opinion based on little fact, it appears that you are not very open to widening your horizons and challenging your belief system with new information. I will not respond to any further comments.
Anyone who subscribes to or endorses these nine statements aligns with the Republican party, not the Democrats. Democrats always think it's a messaging problem. It's not. It's an ideological problem. If, as the author claims, a candidate is "progressive leaning" and is one who supports "pragmatic progressive policies", trying to balance that ideological orientation with center-right beliefs is inherently inconsistent. Progressive ideology is premised on the primacy of government to achieve greater prosperity and social justice. In particular, progressives advocate reliance on the federal government to pass legislation and issue regulations to manage the economy and social institutions in ways designed to achieve progressive goals. Take, for example, the Biden administration's legislative and executive actions designed to mandate progressive Democratic climate change goals by reducing fossil fuel production and use in favor of green energy mandates and expenditures. So does the "progressive leaning" candidate reject those governmental actions to meet the center right? Moderate them? Adopt an "all of the above approach"? Each step away from the progressive position takes the candidate toward the Republican position. Democrats can't disguise their fundamental difference from conservatives. They are the party of Big Government. The only question is how Big. That's not a political orientation that has broad support among the center right today.
Great ideas all, but a miss on actually saying anything.
“I care deeply about personal morals and values" and I too like apple pie and little babies, so what.
Strong borders we've had for forty years, what about bogus asylum claims and hundreds of thousands of Temp Protected Status visas? What if someone crosses illegally, will you deport? What of the 10 million brought in over 4 years?
How to square interest on the debt that is equal to our entire defence budget, with fiscal responsibility and lowering taxes?
Is it possible to actually say the two words no Democrat will utter, "working class"?
If your husband has been spotted wearing Realtree and maybe actually hunts you don't need to mention guns, otherwise forget telling us you own a Glock or going on a faux pheasant hunt, doesn't ring true. Best disavow any bans.
Perez might not be an Obama, and she went to a fancy school, but at least she is obviously genuine, there's zero doubt about where she is at. Being a real candidate is plenty good enough.
I'm still chuckling. In short, if you agree with most of the eight tenets, you should be a registered Republican. If not, fake it. In short, please lie with authenticity.
The Democratic party is dead. Democrats don't believe in democracy. If Trump pulled half of their schemes and tactics, he'd be called a dictator. They have no credibility. They take women's civil rights away, try to remove candidates from being on the ballot, censor vital health information, demand the public believe in anti scientific beliefs, control speech, allow ideology in public school, spread misinformation, spew propaganda, try to jail their political opponents, pardon their fortunates sons, pass unpopular laws via executive order, bully and demonize opposition. Liberalism is about personal choice and personal freedom. They are authoritarians. Conformists that demand obedience to authority. Critical thinking is punished. No thinking allowed. Follow the leader or else! Maybe they'll rise from the dustbins of history, but for now, they have no common values for anyone to sign onto. Trump ran a campaign with a universal message; Freedom, common sense and prosperity for all. He turned the country red. Not because we're Republicans, but because we're not insane.
It is a documented fact, though, that Trump executed a weeks-long campaign to throw out the results of an election he lost in 2020--including an elaborate plot involving the legal subterfuge of calling up slates of fake electors--and refused to hand over the reins of power after said loss, until the blowback of a riot at the Capitol he incited, involving the assault of police officers, literally forced him to. He was the first president to refuse to attend the inauguration of his successor since the Civil War, and was the first president since the civil war to openly call his successor an illegitimate president. It doesn't even really need to be said that he's an anti-democratic authoritarian; the evidence, and his behavior in elections, speaks for itself.
I also don't see how you square calling the basis of his campaign a 'universal', 'pro-America' message, when he was constantly spewing stuff like (direct quote): "We’re a dumping ground. We’re like a garbage can for the world."
I mean, at its core, even the main MAGA message is a fairly anti-patriotic one. "Make America Great Again" implies that America *isn't* great. A true patriot wouldn't think his country needs to be made great *again*; they would think it is *already* great.
So you think America is great? Good to hear. Trump’s an authoritarian? What rights did you lose under him? I lost rights under democrat’s authoritarian rule. I lost no rights under Trump. America has been a country in decline. Kamala’s message was very negative. She had no policies and turned to, “Trump’s Hitler.” An insult to Jews. I’m not really clear what your problem is? America chose a candidate with a positive message rather than one with “America’s a racist, sexist, transphobic bastion of white supremely.” We chose sanity, safety, prosperity. It was a beautiful free and fair democratic election. The red tidal wave came. Thanks to the evaporation of the Democratic Party. It no longer exists. Just a bunch of blue haired, angry, miserable, medicated authoritarians.
If you're talking about 'losing rights' in the context of the lockdowns, it would behoove you to remember that it was *Trump* who initially sanctioned those.
But, yes, someone who rejects the process of the peaceful transfer of power and the outcomes of elections when he doesn't like them can be fairly classified as an authoritarian, regardless. And it is notable that the most prominent person who labeled Trump a fascist was not Harris--it was John Kelly, his former Chief of Staff, and a long-serving, decorated military man.
Kamala had her own set of flaws as a candidate, but her campaign never called America "a racist, sexist, transphobic bastion of white supremacy". Her nomination speech literally ended by calling America 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' and her convention was far more chock-full of patriotic fervor than the RNC, which turned a bit more on the message that "America is a hellscape, but Donald Trump will save it".
To put the lie to your characterization, I would invite you to watch footage of a full Harris stump speech, and compare it to a Trump stump speech. In the former, you will hear a set of clearly articulated policies that one may or may not disagree with; in the latter, you will find little policy at all, outside of "I'm going to fix this" and "tariffs".
If anything, Trump is the ultimate proof that articulating coherent policies isn't all *that* important to much of the electorate--what's important is rhetorical flourish, and what people nowadays call 'vibes'.
Just a reminder, your party lost all political power and a coalition of a diverse populous won in a landslide. Kamala did not move the needle in one county in America. You can regurgitate all your garbage. Your message is a losing message. I lost my Title IX civil rights under Biden, plus so much more. Trump will reinstate them. That’s why he won! I can’t stomach Kamala, and neither can America. She’s vile. So no I won’t be watching her losing speech.
This column is either disingenuous or naive. The Democrats, most often, typified by Biden, run as 1-8, but govern as far left progressives. Why not talk about the trust lost by the Democratic Party because they constantly lie to voters about their agenda and who they are. In order for the party to take the advice offered in this post, they'd have to kick out most of the office holders and find people that actually believe in the principals noted. In fact, the principals noted in this post are totally at odds with the positions of the Democratic Party. Quite the pickle!
Some great comments above, thank you! There are also some comments that show how deeply tribal the political discussion has become. Some express sheer disbelief that a Democrat could support law and order, like rural America, or want to rebuild the working-class foundation of our society. It's disappointing but not surprising. I raise my glass to all those in either party who can authentically say, "I have good friends in the other party, I respect them, and I think some of their ideas are right." My biggest bills tended to pass with a large majority of both parties, but always with some Democrats voting no and some Republicans voting no. I liked that. It meant the most extreme people in both parties didn't like it. I always figured that meant I had it about right, then.
I agree with all of this, but for one phrase: "and keep government out of your way". That concedes too much to the right-wing, Trumper mentality. Rather, it should be explained that government can do important things that you really want done, whether it's maintaining Medicare, regulating health insurance so people don't get denied operations or medications in order to protect the bottom line of some insurance company (cf. the kerfuffle over the murder of the United Health executive), keeping (or making) your water clean and your food safe, avoiding the next Silicon Valley Bank failure, etc. It's too easy for the Republicans to blame "over regulation" for all our troubles, and avoiding discussing what the regulations are trying to accomplish,when what they are really doing is carrying water for the Kochs, et al. The Democrats have to do some heavy lifting here, as well as getting the tone right, as the discussion suggests.
As soon as I read "pragmatic progressive" I rolled my eyeballs. There is no pragmatic progressive. There is pragmatic liberal and pragmatic conservative, but there is no pragmatic progressive. Mr Probst may have some waterfront property in Arizona to discuss, but he doesn't have a leg to stand on. You can't BS your way into the center.
They would have to abandon their religious beliefs of gender ideology and this is a booming industry. For now. Some of their top donors are beneficiaries of this industry. They would also have to allow women to be a protected sex class again, and this would piss off the patriarchy. They are a party that hates women, so I'm not sure they could do this.
The problem is that the Democratic party at the national level doesn't stand for any of those principles because is dominated by urban interests in both the activist and donor categories. People know this and assume this is just new packaging for the same old product. To be fair, establishment Republicans only support 3 of the 8. MAGA hits 6 of the 8. I don't know Mr. Probst so I have to assume he is on board with all 8 but he is in the wrong party. He should be helping MAGA defeat the establishment Republicans and the Left and affirm the remaining 2 principles. Then maybe we could have sane politics.
And don't utter meaningless inanities about how your "values have not changed" while carefully concealing from voters what those values are, and your record that upholds them.
In short, don't pretend to be somebody you provably are not. Remember, Trump wins on authenticity.
Define authenticity here? Trump lies more than any politician on the modern historical record has been known to lie. A good 70% of any given Trump speech is nothing but fabrications. Does saying lies in a confident tone of voice make you 'authentic'?
Because if so then, yeah, the Democrats need to drop this integrity stuff and just start making stuff up and saying it a confident voice.
I vote for "The Republicans are eating your dogs and taking your women" as a starting point.
The Democrats are stupidly still clinging to the idea that they can drag the actual socioeconomic Overton Window hard left while playing a narrative that it is firmly anchored to the center. You would think that they have learned the lesson by now that the people clearly see the lie.
Exactly
This is infuriating advice, in my opinion. The author doesn't say so explicitly, but the subtext of the article is for candidates to tell people that they agree with their conservative positions on issues, that they respect working people, and support law and order. It's almost all lies, if the candidate really is a Democrat in today's Democratic party. If they actually do believe these things, and they are being truthful with the voters, they can't vote with Democrats when they get into office because as a party Democrats don't believe any of those things. And the party will punish them if they don't vote with the party, so they usually give in and vote against their district's interests. Dems have been competitive in swing districts because they lie to the people to get elected, then when they are in office they vote with the most radical leftists and hope no one back home notices what they did. It's disgusting. But the people are starting to catch on to the deception, I hope they start to vote against the liars.
I don't understand your issue with liars, though, when 70-80% of any given Trump speech is nothing but fabrications, and Trump is the fountainhead of the MAGA movement.
If you don't like liars, how on God's green earth could you vote for a man like Trump?
Trump does exaggerate to make a point, and some of what he says are jokes that the Left just doesn't get because they have no sense of humor. He also trolls them to show how ridiculous they are. But a lot of what the Left calls lies are actually truths that they find uncomfortable (because they show that the "narrative" is false), so they tell their followers Trump is lying when he really is not but they don't want to hear it, and especially don't want their followers to hear it. Can't have people straying off the progressive plantation by hearing truth!
Dems have lied routinely for decades about everything to get elected, and then vote the exact opposite when they get into office. Everybody knows they do it, they know they do it, and it's a campaign strategy for them. That was my point, this article just gave them a list of current themes they could use to dupe conservative voters back home. For Dems, it's all about the "narrative" and the "messaging", it's never about the actual message that they know the majority of the population hates.
When I reference his fabrications, I don't mean his exaggerations, I mean his demonstratively false statements--stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/A3RlwuRcuMI
Nearly every one of his campaign speeches during the campaigns of 2024 and 2020 were filled to the brim with those sorts of complete falsehoods, as was his debate with Kamala Harris.
I can understand the 'realpolitik' position of "Yes, he lies, I don't really care so long as he wins and implements policies I like", or "I don't care, lying is part of the game and winning the game is the point,"--that's a coherent perspective. (if somewhat flawed IMO) But if the act of lying *itself* offends you, then it doesn't make much sense to support Trump, much less cast him as someone to be admired.
Your YouTube link is broken so I can't comment. However, there are a number of controversial topics where the Left believes certain things to be the truth, and a good part of the center and center-right believes different things as the truth. Note that I am not citing the hard Right, I do not agree with them about very much either. A great many beliefs that the Left insists are true are objectively not true, if one looks at the real facts and not the pseudo-facts the Left broadcasts and has for many years now, about topics such as racism, climate, energy sources, various political hot-buttons, and anything else that academics are interested in. If you are getting your information exclusively from leftist sources, you are not seeing the same supporting information that is available to anyone outside the Left bubble, and I can understand that you would think that much of what Trump says is not true even though a lot of it actually is true, and has proven to be so when the real facts are known. I have not heard any Leftist say very much that is true for many years now, though the exact opposite of what they say is often close to the real truth.
I read a wide range of material, from conservative as well as classical liberal sources, and I do try to read Leftist material sometimes just to see what they are saying, but I find it very difficult to get through articles with so many unsupported statements of opinion masquerading as facts. I also research controversial topics to discover the underlying studies and evidence, as I was trained to do as a scientist. Therefore, when I make statements they are supported by evidence.
Based on what you have written, and certainly I know nothing else about you so this is an opinion based on little fact, it appears that you are not very open to widening your horizons and challenging your belief system with new information. I will not respond to any further comments.
Anyone who subscribes to or endorses these nine statements aligns with the Republican party, not the Democrats. Democrats always think it's a messaging problem. It's not. It's an ideological problem. If, as the author claims, a candidate is "progressive leaning" and is one who supports "pragmatic progressive policies", trying to balance that ideological orientation with center-right beliefs is inherently inconsistent. Progressive ideology is premised on the primacy of government to achieve greater prosperity and social justice. In particular, progressives advocate reliance on the federal government to pass legislation and issue regulations to manage the economy and social institutions in ways designed to achieve progressive goals. Take, for example, the Biden administration's legislative and executive actions designed to mandate progressive Democratic climate change goals by reducing fossil fuel production and use in favor of green energy mandates and expenditures. So does the "progressive leaning" candidate reject those governmental actions to meet the center right? Moderate them? Adopt an "all of the above approach"? Each step away from the progressive position takes the candidate toward the Republican position. Democrats can't disguise their fundamental difference from conservatives. They are the party of Big Government. The only question is how Big. That's not a political orientation that has broad support among the center right today.
Great ideas all, but a miss on actually saying anything.
“I care deeply about personal morals and values" and I too like apple pie and little babies, so what.
Strong borders we've had for forty years, what about bogus asylum claims and hundreds of thousands of Temp Protected Status visas? What if someone crosses illegally, will you deport? What of the 10 million brought in over 4 years?
How to square interest on the debt that is equal to our entire defence budget, with fiscal responsibility and lowering taxes?
Is it possible to actually say the two words no Democrat will utter, "working class"?
If your husband has been spotted wearing Realtree and maybe actually hunts you don't need to mention guns, otherwise forget telling us you own a Glock or going on a faux pheasant hunt, doesn't ring true. Best disavow any bans.
Perez might not be an Obama, and she went to a fancy school, but at least she is obviously genuine, there's zero doubt about where she is at. Being a real candidate is plenty good enough.
I'm still chuckling. In short, if you agree with most of the eight tenets, you should be a registered Republican. If not, fake it. In short, please lie with authenticity.
The Democratic party is dead. Democrats don't believe in democracy. If Trump pulled half of their schemes and tactics, he'd be called a dictator. They have no credibility. They take women's civil rights away, try to remove candidates from being on the ballot, censor vital health information, demand the public believe in anti scientific beliefs, control speech, allow ideology in public school, spread misinformation, spew propaganda, try to jail their political opponents, pardon their fortunates sons, pass unpopular laws via executive order, bully and demonize opposition. Liberalism is about personal choice and personal freedom. They are authoritarians. Conformists that demand obedience to authority. Critical thinking is punished. No thinking allowed. Follow the leader or else! Maybe they'll rise from the dustbins of history, but for now, they have no common values for anyone to sign onto. Trump ran a campaign with a universal message; Freedom, common sense and prosperity for all. He turned the country red. Not because we're Republicans, but because we're not insane.
It is a documented fact, though, that Trump executed a weeks-long campaign to throw out the results of an election he lost in 2020--including an elaborate plot involving the legal subterfuge of calling up slates of fake electors--and refused to hand over the reins of power after said loss, until the blowback of a riot at the Capitol he incited, involving the assault of police officers, literally forced him to. He was the first president to refuse to attend the inauguration of his successor since the Civil War, and was the first president since the civil war to openly call his successor an illegitimate president. It doesn't even really need to be said that he's an anti-democratic authoritarian; the evidence, and his behavior in elections, speaks for itself.
I also don't see how you square calling the basis of his campaign a 'universal', 'pro-America' message, when he was constantly spewing stuff like (direct quote): "We’re a dumping ground. We’re like a garbage can for the world."
I mean, at its core, even the main MAGA message is a fairly anti-patriotic one. "Make America Great Again" implies that America *isn't* great. A true patriot wouldn't think his country needs to be made great *again*; they would think it is *already* great.
So you think America is great? Good to hear. Trump’s an authoritarian? What rights did you lose under him? I lost rights under democrat’s authoritarian rule. I lost no rights under Trump. America has been a country in decline. Kamala’s message was very negative. She had no policies and turned to, “Trump’s Hitler.” An insult to Jews. I’m not really clear what your problem is? America chose a candidate with a positive message rather than one with “America’s a racist, sexist, transphobic bastion of white supremely.” We chose sanity, safety, prosperity. It was a beautiful free and fair democratic election. The red tidal wave came. Thanks to the evaporation of the Democratic Party. It no longer exists. Just a bunch of blue haired, angry, miserable, medicated authoritarians.
If you're talking about 'losing rights' in the context of the lockdowns, it would behoove you to remember that it was *Trump* who initially sanctioned those.
But, yes, someone who rejects the process of the peaceful transfer of power and the outcomes of elections when he doesn't like them can be fairly classified as an authoritarian, regardless. And it is notable that the most prominent person who labeled Trump a fascist was not Harris--it was John Kelly, his former Chief of Staff, and a long-serving, decorated military man.
Kamala had her own set of flaws as a candidate, but her campaign never called America "a racist, sexist, transphobic bastion of white supremacy". Her nomination speech literally ended by calling America 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' and her convention was far more chock-full of patriotic fervor than the RNC, which turned a bit more on the message that "America is a hellscape, but Donald Trump will save it".
To put the lie to your characterization, I would invite you to watch footage of a full Harris stump speech, and compare it to a Trump stump speech. In the former, you will hear a set of clearly articulated policies that one may or may not disagree with; in the latter, you will find little policy at all, outside of "I'm going to fix this" and "tariffs".
If anything, Trump is the ultimate proof that articulating coherent policies isn't all *that* important to much of the electorate--what's important is rhetorical flourish, and what people nowadays call 'vibes'.
Just a reminder, your party lost all political power and a coalition of a diverse populous won in a landslide. Kamala did not move the needle in one county in America. You can regurgitate all your garbage. Your message is a losing message. I lost my Title IX civil rights under Biden, plus so much more. Trump will reinstate them. That’s why he won! I can’t stomach Kamala, and neither can America. She’s vile. So no I won’t be watching her losing speech.
This column is either disingenuous or naive. The Democrats, most often, typified by Biden, run as 1-8, but govern as far left progressives. Why not talk about the trust lost by the Democratic Party because they constantly lie to voters about their agenda and who they are. In order for the party to take the advice offered in this post, they'd have to kick out most of the office holders and find people that actually believe in the principals noted. In fact, the principals noted in this post are totally at odds with the positions of the Democratic Party. Quite the pickle!
I am a moderate center right Democrat from Clark County. I wrote this and it was published November 22 by the "Washington State Standard."
Read and understand we are not alone.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/11/22/a-center-right-democrats-view-from-washington-state/
Some great comments above, thank you! There are also some comments that show how deeply tribal the political discussion has become. Some express sheer disbelief that a Democrat could support law and order, like rural America, or want to rebuild the working-class foundation of our society. It's disappointing but not surprising. I raise my glass to all those in either party who can authentically say, "I have good friends in the other party, I respect them, and I think some of their ideas are right." My biggest bills tended to pass with a large majority of both parties, but always with some Democrats voting no and some Republicans voting no. I liked that. It meant the most extreme people in both parties didn't like it. I always figured that meant I had it about right, then.
I agree with all of this, but for one phrase: "and keep government out of your way". That concedes too much to the right-wing, Trumper mentality. Rather, it should be explained that government can do important things that you really want done, whether it's maintaining Medicare, regulating health insurance so people don't get denied operations or medications in order to protect the bottom line of some insurance company (cf. the kerfuffle over the murder of the United Health executive), keeping (or making) your water clean and your food safe, avoiding the next Silicon Valley Bank failure, etc. It's too easy for the Republicans to blame "over regulation" for all our troubles, and avoiding discussing what the regulations are trying to accomplish,when what they are really doing is carrying water for the Kochs, et al. The Democrats have to do some heavy lifting here, as well as getting the tone right, as the discussion suggests.
you said it well (as did the columnist)
As soon as I read "pragmatic progressive" I rolled my eyeballs. There is no pragmatic progressive. There is pragmatic liberal and pragmatic conservative, but there is no pragmatic progressive. Mr Probst may have some waterfront property in Arizona to discuss, but he doesn't have a leg to stand on. You can't BS your way into the center.
Only do these things if you actively believe and will defend these people and principles. If this is just talking the talk, people know.
Democrats can win over more center-right voters by adopting the Trump platform.
They would have to abandon their religious beliefs of gender ideology and this is a booming industry. For now. Some of their top donors are beneficiaries of this industry. They would also have to allow women to be a protected sex class again, and this would piss off the patriarchy. They are a party that hates women, so I'm not sure they could do this.