And in the Senate yesterday Democrats blocked a measure that would prohibit trans girls competing with girls in sports. Showing that they still favor progressive ideas instead of ideas that Americans want. They haven't learned a darned thing.
things like this is why my wife and I, voters for Democrats for 50 years, switched to being Independents. When Progressives don't want to win, then that's the end of the show. Why should we try to win more than the Progressive-infested party does?
The column is advising Democrats to hide what they've become over the past twenty years or so starting when they became the anti-Iraq War party (a war we did win, btw.) Now they are the pro-Ukraine War party which doesn't make sense when you think about it.
There is much to be hidden. The response to covid when Democrats acted like Bolsheviks needs to be relegated to the American memory hole if possible, as does the five months of rioting in the run up to the 2020 election in which the Democrat left began imagining America without police or laws against theft. The fascist tactics used against Trump in which they tried to jail and confiscate the property of a candidate for President of the United States needs to be soft-peddled. Pronoun idiocy was a peculiar way to persuade heterosexual Americans, that is to say the vast majority of them, to pledge allegiance to the Democrat Party and allowing people with testicle to compete with women in women's sports did not warm the hearts of families with athletic daughters.
They will have to hide the fact that they believe in abortion up until birth and that abortion is a legitimate and easy form of birth control.
Democrats, who have been the anti-war party for most of my baby-boomer life, are suddenly petrified by the Red Menace in a country on the other side of the world that has for much of its ethnic life been part of the Russian Empire. They also pledge allegiance to Europe and NATO, even though the US has spent a large portion of it's wealth in defending Europe in two world wars in the last century and providing 200,000 soldiers for half a century to defend it from the Soviet Union, which no longer exists.
Yes, there is much to be hidden and much lucubrating to be done to fashion a platform that causes Americans to forget all of the above.
You seem to be aware of this implicitly, but it's worth noting to the rest of the commentariat here that this sudden shift only happened because Putin was remanufactured into a proxy for Trump and his base via the Russiagate hoax. Absent this framing, it would be impossible to sell a war to the Democrat voting base given that the only group they have the bandwidth to be galvanized against are their domestic political opponents. Prior to 2016, not a single liberal cared about what Putin did in Crimea or Georgia. I'd wager 95% of them hadn't even heard of Key-ehv or could identify "The" Ukraine on a map. Most notably, Barack Obama stated in The Atlantic (of all places) that Russia was always going to have military interests in Ukraine and there was nothing we could do about it.
And then there was Obama in the 2012 campaign after Romney before the debate asserted Russia was our greatest geographical threat:
"Gov. Romney, I'm glad you recognize al-Qaida is a threat, because a few months ago when you were asked what is the biggest geopolitical group facing America, you said Russia, not al-Qaida," Obama said. "You said Russia. And the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back. Because the Cold War has been over for 20 years. But Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policy of the 1950s, and the economic policies of the 1920s."
He also got caught on a hot mic telling one of Putin's ministers that he would be able to deal with Putin after the election. No Russian threat then.
I wish we still lived in a political environment where hostility toward Russia was limited to Mitt Romney and other Cold War fossils. Truly an incredible and tragic realignment. Sometimes I wonder if we'd be in a better situation had Granny MacBeth, of Reset Button infamy, won in 2016. My understanding is that most US intel concluded that Putin preferred her over Trump since he was perceived as a loose cannon and she was rightfully perceived as for sale. Remember that $500,000 donation from the largest bank in Moscow to the Clinton Foundation? While she's certainly a warmonger, I doubt she was as ideologically committed to a war with Russia as Victoria Nuland and would have preferred an environment where she could grift off of both sides.
The cut isn't between economic or bread-and-butter issues and social issues but about appeals to voters' self-interest vs moralizing, mandating altruism, demanding that voters sacrifice for the environment, endangered species, migrants, the homeless, and all the wretched of the earth--mandatory virtue. I'm not interested in virtue and neither are most voters. I care about me, me, me and look to politicians to serve my interests. That's why we vote: to get what we can for ourselves.
It's not that people aren't willing to make sacrifices for others, it's that they want to make MEANINGFUL sacrifices, not pointless "sacrifices" that make everything worse. Who did it help to allow mass immigration into the country? Not the people who can't find living wage work or affordable housing. Who did it help to "defund the police"? Not poor people living in high crime neighborhoods. Who did it help to let biological males play in female sports? Not trans people like my son (a trans man), who are now suffering a backlash that NEVER had to happen.
The Dems don't encourage genuine altruism, they encourage performative altruism for which the most vulnerable pay the highest price.
Data show that conservatives are the highest givers to charities.
We are interested in a party that follows Christian beliefs of looking out for ones neighbors. Being sensible and being Christian in one's outlook are not mutually exclusive.
But that’s not what people look to the government for. They give voluntarily. They don’t look to the government to force them to give. They look to government to support their self-interest.
In a democracy, all voters have the right to vote for their own interests. However, more intelligent ones recognize many government programs that benefit most Americans even though each individual doesn’t benefit equally from each one. Free or subsidized education in civics and practical subjects is one example. And then there is the further desire of some like me to “share the wealth” through programs like progressive taxation and Medicaid targeted to poor people without regard to identity politics. I support ways of making these programs more fair and efficient, but am basically content to pay taxes in addition to my charitable contributions. I think that most moderates agree with me.
I would rather decide who gets 100% of charitable money instead of the government taking 20% off the top and then give it to those who are opposed to my beliefs.
I am a consistent voter: I voted for Dems my entire life, but voted for Trump in November. Without realizing it, I consistently tend to vote for whichever party is most popular with the working class.
I doubt I will ever vote for Dems at a state or national level again. Their betrayal of common sense and common people just cuts too deep.
I am not seeing the "hopeful" signs you write of, and it may be too little too late for the Dems.
Nothing changes for the good until the Dems learn to act like adults. Acting like petulant little children always whining, threatening and reminding the important voting block outside the party why we don't want them in charge. Schumer, bent over the lectern getting closer to see the words with his glasses at the end of nose and reading every word he utters now days, reminds us, the Dems are the party of old white guys better suited for a retirement home. Young people with the same message don't help. The Republicans embrace the young, DOGE being a great example, while the Dems denigrate them. Even old guys like me see DOGE as young Americans starting to clean up govenrment from the mess made by both parties. As the Dems fight DOGE more and more, the young view them as anti young. The old and far left Dems time is over, the young are starting to take the reins of govenrment and the Dems are fighting them tooth and nails. You can't even identify the leaders of any of the "protests', seen as violent actions to lead the party. I'm a child of the 60s. The protests made a difference. Violence was rejected. You knew who the leaders were, right, wrong or indifferent. As you pointed out, the Dems have no policies, denigrating and fighting every thing the other side is not a good strategy, no message, no leaders, no young people. Just 80 year old white and black children out of touch and planning childish actions for tonight. That won't look good for the Dems and will hurt not not help with voters outside the party. Partisans don't win elections. And it seems all the Dems try to do is piss off people like me.
I would love to be able to vote for genuinely moderate Democratic candidates because Republicans are in the grip of a cult of personality - one of the lowest character people to ever be President - and they have no serious plans to address most major issues, especially the nearly $2 trillion annual budget deficit. But Democrats won't moderate on any issues, including the cultural issues where large majorities of the public - sometimes even large majorities of Democratic voters - disagree with the far Left position.
The wokester Left is the most energized part of the Democratic party, and they vote in primaries at a very high rate, usually overwhelming the majority of more moderate Democrats who aren't obsessed with politics. Sorry, folks, in choosing candidates for elective office the Democratic party is getting more left-wing and woke by the year.
one of the lowest character people to ever be President
First let's point out, the "cult" didn't get him elected. Independent's and cross overs from disaffected Dems did. As such, to non partisans, is not only not so bright, the best I can describe with without trying to offend, and offensive. It won't win the left the any new voters from any where in future election.
No wars. Peace treaties in the Middle East and going down a different path to end the war in Ukraine over his deep concern for the lives lost. I'd show the comparison between Trump and biden, where biden comes out worse, but those arguments are already out there.
If you don't forgive and hold one accountable for ever for their life long flaws, we all have flaws, I might agree with you. If nothing else, his level of transparency puts him well above any modern time Presidents.
It's a leftist talking point that the Republicans are in a personality cult, and like most points, are really a mirror image of the Left itself, and its cult of crazy progressive ideas that are nonsense or extremely destructive to our country and its people. Trump is no saint, though in comparison to some Democrats in office and the things they have done, well, I would be careful about throwing rocks if I were on your side. Republicans and many independents are well aware of Trump's character, but he is delivering by actions the promises he campaigned on, and those were mostly about putting America first and fixing the mess that the Democrats created. That's why we are solidly behind him.
The Democrats, along with compliant old-type Republicans, created the Deep State, though with Obama and Biden they have directed most of its graft, fraud, corruption, and floods of money at Democratic causes. I don't know how you can say the Republicans have no plan to address the budget deficit, eliminating the above wasted spending will go a long ways towards fixing the problem and they have identified more of that than any previous administration, ever. They are also acting on it by shutting down spending, reviewing contracts, and hopefully revoking grants to many groups that, it is becoming clear, are only fronts for fraud. Much of the rest of the overspending can likely be addressed by eliminating government agencies, regulations, enforcement, and general interference in business that acts as a huge drag on the productive economy.
Both parties seem to be missing. From the More In Common chart on what we all want, Economy, Inflation, Immigration in some sort of priority, yet both Trump and The Third Way who were also quoted in the story, offer hardly any solutions.
Trump has closed the border, deportations are extremely slow and E verify gets absolutely no mention, I suspect corporate America is complaining that labor costs might rise.
The economy eventually reacts to the market, which has indigestion. Inflation will go up, it has to, inflation is the price of tighter labor and tariffs, it's also a price I'm willing to pay. Other than sending checks as we did during covid I see little that will immediately boost the incomes of the working class.
Trump and Musk are giving erratic vibes. I like that they are upsetting the apple cart, I'm not sure they are replacing it with anything.
Putin Ukraine is a fiasco. I've lived in two communist countries, Russia is still totalitarian. Ukraine is bleeding out Russia on the cheap.
Illegal crossings at U.S.-Mexico border down 94% from last year, so not sure why you'd say Trump is not offering any solutions? Deportations are slow because of activist judges and also resistance of Democrat mayors and governors (who insist on keeping criminals in U.S. who have already have deportation orders). There is a big article on e-verify in our local newspaper today. Problems with inaccuracies and saddling small businesses with more regulations is an issue. Democrats/activist judges are making DOGE difficult, but at least now there is a clear choice between Dems insisting federal workers have lifetime guaranteed jobs and defending bloated, inefficient government and DOGE.
E verify has been used for 20 years. The kinks got worked out. I used to have employees and file taxes, workers comp, etc. E verify is very easy, the only reason some employers still don't use it is because they want to hire people working here illegally. E verify is part of the basic background check many employers already do.
Deportations are hard to do, they are working beyond capacity now with assistance from all other federal sworn officers, ATF, IRS, etc. E verify removes the reason people stay. A couple R senators at the end of 2024 had a good plan on how to implement e verify over a couple of years so to make the change in employees gradual.
Closing the border has been the biggest success. I'd think it's even more than 94% by now.
In here before we get “the Democrats can never be reformed, MAGA Republicans shall rule for eternity” from one of TLP’s endless sea of alt-right readers who are only here to hear the Democrats get shredded.
For the rest of us, I say—yes, there is a rising common sense faction, but it’s going to take a little time, plus an economic downturn and the bearing of the poison fruit from the political overreach and fairly disastrous foreign policy decisions being enacted by the current administration right now, for this faction to gel and gain power.
Plus, I don’t think Gen Z is as conservative as the current iteration of the right believes it is—just as it wasn’t as liberal as the current iteration of the left believed it was.
Hello. I'm one of those "alt right readers" only here to see the Democrats get shredded. Or to put it more accurately, I'm one of those former democrats who saw her party destroyed from within by a betrayal of both common sense and of working class people.
If the Dems can only regain power through increased economic pain and the "poison fruit" of political overreach (with a straight face you're claiming it's the GOP that's most guilty of political overreach?) then I pray they never regain power. Ever. But you are probably one of those "alt left" readers only here to call people like me irredeemable fascists who are too stupid and uneducated to know what their own interests should be.
They can start by accepting that males should not be in female sports or prisons. That would help to regain the trust of voters. If they can't do that, then nothing else they do will matter, because the voters will dismiss them as insane and untrustworthy.
If the goal is to fight Trump, you are doing it wrong. Coming up with a working class centric set of policies, including cultural policies as well as economic ones is the first step. Focusing on fighting Trump will lead to people believing that you will return to the old ways as soon as he is gone.
A lot of us rolled our eyes at the woke identity sh*t at the fringes of the Democratic Party and enthusiastically voted for the party (Democratic) that we trusted to govern ethically and honestly. I’d say that it is the “I don’t like Trump but trans tran trans” voters, who probably swing the election for Trump, that placed too much value on identity politics.
Pointing out the obvious, the people advocating the woke identity sh*t and the Democrats that you "trusted to govern ethically and honestly" are the same people. And could you explain what is "ethical and honest" about anything that Biden's handlers did in the last 4 years, or about the morass of fraud and corruption that DOGE is uncovering in Federal contracting and expenditures? Also, who is an "ethical and honest" Democrat? I can't think of a single one, except maybe the new version of John Fetterman, who may be approaching that description.
Let's put that to the test: yesterday EVERY SINGLE SENATE DEMOCRAT, including supposedly "moderate" John Fetterman, voted to allow men to compete against girls in sports.
No, the party hasn't gotten one iota smarter or more moderate.
Now, in response to an earlier column about a special election in NY, over the weekend we saw rather massive voter registration changes. I don't care about polls, especially the Hoax Polls that missed 2024 by a galaxy. I care about actions, namely voter registrations. So what have we seen since November---in some cases, since December? Is Trump "losing?" Is the GOP "crashing?"
*Nationwide, the GOP net gained over 100,000 voters. Over the course of a year, that would be over 1m additional NET GOP voters. In November, Trump won the national popular vote by 2.3 million. By 2026, that margin is headed for 3.3 million, and remember, we still have a LOT of fraud being cleaned out of the voter rolls and all the illegals to flush out. Look for 2028 to show a GOP margin of around 5 million.
*AZ saw its R county, Maricopa grow from R+6.2% in November to R+7.2% in February, while the chief blue county, Pima, went from 11.2% in November to 8.2% in February.
*In NJ Rs gained a net of about 40,000 more voters in a purge that saw both lose, but as usually happens, Ds seem to lose a lot more in voter roll culls (dead voters?) In OK, Rs also gained substantially.
*In NC, one of the bigs, in 2020 Ds had a lead of 175,000. Now it's 30,000, but in ACTIVE voters Rs took a LEAD in NC of about 200.
*In NV, Rs maintained their lead in overall voters of about 200. In November it was D+30,000
*In PA, where in 2016 Ds had a lead of 1.1 million (!!), it is now 150,000 but in active voters it is now only 89,000. PA will likely be tied in active voters in about eight months.
Not a single state outside of CO is moving in the D direction and the best explanation is what happened in the Senate.
If you're voting to remove women's historic Title IX civil rights then call yourself "the party of women's rights," you are not common sense. FYI ALL Democrats voted against women's civil rights.
I'm sympathetic to many of Third Way's conclusions. At the same time, I see a few problems with their takeaways:
1. Their conclusions are impressionistic -- they need to document, not simply assert, the ways in which identity politics and cultural extremism undermined Dems
2. Rely less on SMALL donors? How about rely less on Reid Hoffman-billionairre donors?
3. They don't have anything to say about farmers, small businesses and reversing and repairing the damage done by NAFTA and other free trade agreements -- this is a major oversight that leaves rural America and factory towns in the hands of the GOP
Imagine if Third Way had chosen in the summer of 2023 to spend its time, energy and influence convincing Biden not to run again. Instead, they worked closely with MoveOn (one of "the groups" they now blame for the Dem predicament), as well as Ron Klain and Cedric Richmond (two of Bidens closest advisers so guess they were not going to oppose Biden) to take down and deny ballot access to No Labels and Dean Phillips for daring to suggest Biden might not be able to beat Trump. This was summer of 2023. Thank Third Way and Move On for giving the country Donald Trump. The stakes were always too high to let Biden and his crew hide his decline and assuage his ego that only he could beat Trump.
Also, having a meeting of Washington insiders at a "tony resort"--Politico's term--does nothing to reconnect the Democratic Party to normal American voters who could care less about Washington machinations as long as they can afford the basics. Readers, listen to Michael Baharaeen and the Liberal Patriot--they are brilliant, and not DC Insiders. Tell Matt Bennett to retire and let the next generation of Democrats lead.
A faction is just that-a faction. Until sane Democrats take over the party machinery and nominate and elect like minded politicians, it is mostly meaningless. Others have referenced yesterday's vote about girls sports.
And in the Senate yesterday Democrats blocked a measure that would prohibit trans girls competing with girls in sports. Showing that they still favor progressive ideas instead of ideas that Americans want. They haven't learned a darned thing.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/03/03/senate-vote-transgender-athletes-womens-sports/
Saw that. Electoral malpractice. I assume they were more scared of "the groups" advocating that perspective than they are of the voters.
things like this is why my wife and I, voters for Democrats for 50 years, switched to being Independents. When Progressives don't want to win, then that's the end of the show. Why should we try to win more than the Progressive-infested party does?
A list of democratic senators who voted in favor of the "Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act:
We didn't get the rest of your message. I'd be interested.
Sorry, I was being a bit of a smart a$$ -- the vote was along party lines, all Democrats voted 'no.' (2 Rs and 2 Ds didn't vote, can't find who/why).
That's why I'm still MAGA. The Dems are captured by spoiled university kids.
We envy you in a way. There is no place my wife and I feel we belong. We've officially become Independents, but that means little.
This is the way conservatives felt before MAGA.
Totally agree. Been saying that ourselves.
The column is advising Democrats to hide what they've become over the past twenty years or so starting when they became the anti-Iraq War party (a war we did win, btw.) Now they are the pro-Ukraine War party which doesn't make sense when you think about it.
There is much to be hidden. The response to covid when Democrats acted like Bolsheviks needs to be relegated to the American memory hole if possible, as does the five months of rioting in the run up to the 2020 election in which the Democrat left began imagining America without police or laws against theft. The fascist tactics used against Trump in which they tried to jail and confiscate the property of a candidate for President of the United States needs to be soft-peddled. Pronoun idiocy was a peculiar way to persuade heterosexual Americans, that is to say the vast majority of them, to pledge allegiance to the Democrat Party and allowing people with testicle to compete with women in women's sports did not warm the hearts of families with athletic daughters.
They will have to hide the fact that they believe in abortion up until birth and that abortion is a legitimate and easy form of birth control.
Democrats, who have been the anti-war party for most of my baby-boomer life, are suddenly petrified by the Red Menace in a country on the other side of the world that has for much of its ethnic life been part of the Russian Empire. They also pledge allegiance to Europe and NATO, even though the US has spent a large portion of it's wealth in defending Europe in two world wars in the last century and providing 200,000 soldiers for half a century to defend it from the Soviet Union, which no longer exists.
Yes, there is much to be hidden and much lucubrating to be done to fashion a platform that causes Americans to forget all of the above.
"suddenly petrified by the Red Menace"
You seem to be aware of this implicitly, but it's worth noting to the rest of the commentariat here that this sudden shift only happened because Putin was remanufactured into a proxy for Trump and his base via the Russiagate hoax. Absent this framing, it would be impossible to sell a war to the Democrat voting base given that the only group they have the bandwidth to be galvanized against are their domestic political opponents. Prior to 2016, not a single liberal cared about what Putin did in Crimea or Georgia. I'd wager 95% of them hadn't even heard of Key-ehv or could identify "The" Ukraine on a map. Most notably, Barack Obama stated in The Atlantic (of all places) that Russia was always going to have military interests in Ukraine and there was nothing we could do about it.
And then there was Obama in the 2012 campaign after Romney before the debate asserted Russia was our greatest geographical threat:
"Gov. Romney, I'm glad you recognize al-Qaida is a threat, because a few months ago when you were asked what is the biggest geopolitical group facing America, you said Russia, not al-Qaida," Obama said. "You said Russia. And the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back. Because the Cold War has been over for 20 years. But Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policy of the 1950s, and the economic policies of the 1920s."
He also got caught on a hot mic telling one of Putin's ministers that he would be able to deal with Putin after the election. No Russian threat then.
I wish we still lived in a political environment where hostility toward Russia was limited to Mitt Romney and other Cold War fossils. Truly an incredible and tragic realignment. Sometimes I wonder if we'd be in a better situation had Granny MacBeth, of Reset Button infamy, won in 2016. My understanding is that most US intel concluded that Putin preferred her over Trump since he was perceived as a loose cannon and she was rightfully perceived as for sale. Remember that $500,000 donation from the largest bank in Moscow to the Clinton Foundation? While she's certainly a warmonger, I doubt she was as ideologically committed to a war with Russia as Victoria Nuland and would have preferred an environment where she could grift off of both sides.
The cut isn't between economic or bread-and-butter issues and social issues but about appeals to voters' self-interest vs moralizing, mandating altruism, demanding that voters sacrifice for the environment, endangered species, migrants, the homeless, and all the wretched of the earth--mandatory virtue. I'm not interested in virtue and neither are most voters. I care about me, me, me and look to politicians to serve my interests. That's why we vote: to get what we can for ourselves.
It's not that people aren't willing to make sacrifices for others, it's that they want to make MEANINGFUL sacrifices, not pointless "sacrifices" that make everything worse. Who did it help to allow mass immigration into the country? Not the people who can't find living wage work or affordable housing. Who did it help to "defund the police"? Not poor people living in high crime neighborhoods. Who did it help to let biological males play in female sports? Not trans people like my son (a trans man), who are now suffering a backlash that NEVER had to happen.
The Dems don't encourage genuine altruism, they encourage performative altruism for which the most vulnerable pay the highest price.
MAGA.
Data show that conservatives are the highest givers to charities.
We are interested in a party that follows Christian beliefs of looking out for ones neighbors. Being sensible and being Christian in one's outlook are not mutually exclusive.
Exactly. Compassion without common sense ends up being very destructive.
But that’s not what people look to the government for. They give voluntarily. They don’t look to the government to force them to give. They look to government to support their self-interest.
In a democracy, all voters have the right to vote for their own interests. However, more intelligent ones recognize many government programs that benefit most Americans even though each individual doesn’t benefit equally from each one. Free or subsidized education in civics and practical subjects is one example. And then there is the further desire of some like me to “share the wealth” through programs like progressive taxation and Medicaid targeted to poor people without regard to identity politics. I support ways of making these programs more fair and efficient, but am basically content to pay taxes in addition to my charitable contributions. I think that most moderates agree with me.
I would rather decide who gets 100% of charitable money instead of the government taking 20% off the top and then give it to those who are opposed to my beliefs.
I am a consistent voter: I voted for Dems my entire life, but voted for Trump in November. Without realizing it, I consistently tend to vote for whichever party is most popular with the working class.
I doubt I will ever vote for Dems at a state or national level again. Their betrayal of common sense and common people just cuts too deep.
I am not seeing the "hopeful" signs you write of, and it may be too little too late for the Dems.
Nothing changes for the good until the Dems learn to act like adults. Acting like petulant little children always whining, threatening and reminding the important voting block outside the party why we don't want them in charge. Schumer, bent over the lectern getting closer to see the words with his glasses at the end of nose and reading every word he utters now days, reminds us, the Dems are the party of old white guys better suited for a retirement home. Young people with the same message don't help. The Republicans embrace the young, DOGE being a great example, while the Dems denigrate them. Even old guys like me see DOGE as young Americans starting to clean up govenrment from the mess made by both parties. As the Dems fight DOGE more and more, the young view them as anti young. The old and far left Dems time is over, the young are starting to take the reins of govenrment and the Dems are fighting them tooth and nails. You can't even identify the leaders of any of the "protests', seen as violent actions to lead the party. I'm a child of the 60s. The protests made a difference. Violence was rejected. You knew who the leaders were, right, wrong or indifferent. As you pointed out, the Dems have no policies, denigrating and fighting every thing the other side is not a good strategy, no message, no leaders, no young people. Just 80 year old white and black children out of touch and planning childish actions for tonight. That won't look good for the Dems and will hurt not not help with voters outside the party. Partisans don't win elections. And it seems all the Dems try to do is piss off people like me.
I would love to be able to vote for genuinely moderate Democratic candidates because Republicans are in the grip of a cult of personality - one of the lowest character people to ever be President - and they have no serious plans to address most major issues, especially the nearly $2 trillion annual budget deficit. But Democrats won't moderate on any issues, including the cultural issues where large majorities of the public - sometimes even large majorities of Democratic voters - disagree with the far Left position.
The wokester Left is the most energized part of the Democratic party, and they vote in primaries at a very high rate, usually overwhelming the majority of more moderate Democrats who aren't obsessed with politics. Sorry, folks, in choosing candidates for elective office the Democratic party is getting more left-wing and woke by the year.
one of the lowest character people to ever be President
First let's point out, the "cult" didn't get him elected. Independent's and cross overs from disaffected Dems did. As such, to non partisans, is not only not so bright, the best I can describe with without trying to offend, and offensive. It won't win the left the any new voters from any where in future election.
No wars. Peace treaties in the Middle East and going down a different path to end the war in Ukraine over his deep concern for the lives lost. I'd show the comparison between Trump and biden, where biden comes out worse, but those arguments are already out there.
If you don't forgive and hold one accountable for ever for their life long flaws, we all have flaws, I might agree with you. If nothing else, his level of transparency puts him well above any modern time Presidents.
It's a leftist talking point that the Republicans are in a personality cult, and like most points, are really a mirror image of the Left itself, and its cult of crazy progressive ideas that are nonsense or extremely destructive to our country and its people. Trump is no saint, though in comparison to some Democrats in office and the things they have done, well, I would be careful about throwing rocks if I were on your side. Republicans and many independents are well aware of Trump's character, but he is delivering by actions the promises he campaigned on, and those were mostly about putting America first and fixing the mess that the Democrats created. That's why we are solidly behind him.
The Democrats, along with compliant old-type Republicans, created the Deep State, though with Obama and Biden they have directed most of its graft, fraud, corruption, and floods of money at Democratic causes. I don't know how you can say the Republicans have no plan to address the budget deficit, eliminating the above wasted spending will go a long ways towards fixing the problem and they have identified more of that than any previous administration, ever. They are also acting on it by shutting down spending, reviewing contracts, and hopefully revoking grants to many groups that, it is becoming clear, are only fronts for fraud. Much of the rest of the overspending can likely be addressed by eliminating government agencies, regulations, enforcement, and general interference in business that acts as a huge drag on the productive economy.
The Democrats are still exiling heretics, while the Republicans are welcoming in more disaffected erstwhile Democrats.
Until that changes, very few people will find the party appealing.
Both parties seem to be missing. From the More In Common chart on what we all want, Economy, Inflation, Immigration in some sort of priority, yet both Trump and The Third Way who were also quoted in the story, offer hardly any solutions.
Trump has closed the border, deportations are extremely slow and E verify gets absolutely no mention, I suspect corporate America is complaining that labor costs might rise.
The economy eventually reacts to the market, which has indigestion. Inflation will go up, it has to, inflation is the price of tighter labor and tariffs, it's also a price I'm willing to pay. Other than sending checks as we did during covid I see little that will immediately boost the incomes of the working class.
Trump and Musk are giving erratic vibes. I like that they are upsetting the apple cart, I'm not sure they are replacing it with anything.
Putin Ukraine is a fiasco. I've lived in two communist countries, Russia is still totalitarian. Ukraine is bleeding out Russia on the cheap.
Illegal crossings at U.S.-Mexico border down 94% from last year, so not sure why you'd say Trump is not offering any solutions? Deportations are slow because of activist judges and also resistance of Democrat mayors and governors (who insist on keeping criminals in U.S. who have already have deportation orders). There is a big article on e-verify in our local newspaper today. Problems with inaccuracies and saddling small businesses with more regulations is an issue. Democrats/activist judges are making DOGE difficult, but at least now there is a clear choice between Dems insisting federal workers have lifetime guaranteed jobs and defending bloated, inefficient government and DOGE.
E verify has been used for 20 years. The kinks got worked out. I used to have employees and file taxes, workers comp, etc. E verify is very easy, the only reason some employers still don't use it is because they want to hire people working here illegally. E verify is part of the basic background check many employers already do.
Deportations are hard to do, they are working beyond capacity now with assistance from all other federal sworn officers, ATF, IRS, etc. E verify removes the reason people stay. A couple R senators at the end of 2024 had a good plan on how to implement e verify over a couple of years so to make the change in employees gradual.
Closing the border has been the biggest success. I'd think it's even more than 94% by now.
In here before we get “the Democrats can never be reformed, MAGA Republicans shall rule for eternity” from one of TLP’s endless sea of alt-right readers who are only here to hear the Democrats get shredded.
For the rest of us, I say—yes, there is a rising common sense faction, but it’s going to take a little time, plus an economic downturn and the bearing of the poison fruit from the political overreach and fairly disastrous foreign policy decisions being enacted by the current administration right now, for this faction to gel and gain power.
Plus, I don’t think Gen Z is as conservative as the current iteration of the right believes it is—just as it wasn’t as liberal as the current iteration of the left believed it was.
Hello. I'm one of those "alt right readers" only here to see the Democrats get shredded. Or to put it more accurately, I'm one of those former democrats who saw her party destroyed from within by a betrayal of both common sense and of working class people.
If the Dems can only regain power through increased economic pain and the "poison fruit" of political overreach (with a straight face you're claiming it's the GOP that's most guilty of political overreach?) then I pray they never regain power. Ever. But you are probably one of those "alt left" readers only here to call people like me irredeemable fascists who are too stupid and uneducated to know what their own interests should be.
The Democratic Party can become majority party only by focusing on the concerns of non-college educated Americans.
How to Fight Trump: Part One
Long term strategy
https://kathleenweber.substack.com/p/how-to-fight-trump-part-one
They can start by accepting that males should not be in female sports or prisons. That would help to regain the trust of voters. If they can't do that, then nothing else they do will matter, because the voters will dismiss them as insane and untrustworthy.
If the goal is to fight Trump, you are doing it wrong. Coming up with a working class centric set of policies, including cultural policies as well as economic ones is the first step. Focusing on fighting Trump will lead to people believing that you will return to the old ways as soon as he is gone.
A lot of us rolled our eyes at the woke identity sh*t at the fringes of the Democratic Party and enthusiastically voted for the party (Democratic) that we trusted to govern ethically and honestly. I’d say that it is the “I don’t like Trump but trans tran trans” voters, who probably swing the election for Trump, that placed too much value on identity politics.
Pointing out the obvious, the people advocating the woke identity sh*t and the Democrats that you "trusted to govern ethically and honestly" are the same people. And could you explain what is "ethical and honest" about anything that Biden's handlers did in the last 4 years, or about the morass of fraud and corruption that DOGE is uncovering in Federal contracting and expenditures? Also, who is an "ethical and honest" Democrat? I can't think of a single one, except maybe the new version of John Fetterman, who may be approaching that description.
Let's put that to the test: yesterday EVERY SINGLE SENATE DEMOCRAT, including supposedly "moderate" John Fetterman, voted to allow men to compete against girls in sports.
No, the party hasn't gotten one iota smarter or more moderate.
Now, in response to an earlier column about a special election in NY, over the weekend we saw rather massive voter registration changes. I don't care about polls, especially the Hoax Polls that missed 2024 by a galaxy. I care about actions, namely voter registrations. So what have we seen since November---in some cases, since December? Is Trump "losing?" Is the GOP "crashing?"
*Nationwide, the GOP net gained over 100,000 voters. Over the course of a year, that would be over 1m additional NET GOP voters. In November, Trump won the national popular vote by 2.3 million. By 2026, that margin is headed for 3.3 million, and remember, we still have a LOT of fraud being cleaned out of the voter rolls and all the illegals to flush out. Look for 2028 to show a GOP margin of around 5 million.
*AZ saw its R county, Maricopa grow from R+6.2% in November to R+7.2% in February, while the chief blue county, Pima, went from 11.2% in November to 8.2% in February.
*In NJ Rs gained a net of about 40,000 more voters in a purge that saw both lose, but as usually happens, Ds seem to lose a lot more in voter roll culls (dead voters?) In OK, Rs also gained substantially.
*In NC, one of the bigs, in 2020 Ds had a lead of 175,000. Now it's 30,000, but in ACTIVE voters Rs took a LEAD in NC of about 200.
*In NV, Rs maintained their lead in overall voters of about 200. In November it was D+30,000
*In PA, where in 2016 Ds had a lead of 1.1 million (!!), it is now 150,000 but in active voters it is now only 89,000. PA will likely be tied in active voters in about eight months.
Not a single state outside of CO is moving in the D direction and the best explanation is what happened in the Senate.
If you're voting to remove women's historic Title IX civil rights then call yourself "the party of women's rights," you are not common sense. FYI ALL Democrats voted against women's civil rights.
I'm sympathetic to many of Third Way's conclusions. At the same time, I see a few problems with their takeaways:
1. Their conclusions are impressionistic -- they need to document, not simply assert, the ways in which identity politics and cultural extremism undermined Dems
2. Rely less on SMALL donors? How about rely less on Reid Hoffman-billionairre donors?
3. They don't have anything to say about farmers, small businesses and reversing and repairing the damage done by NAFTA and other free trade agreements -- this is a major oversight that leaves rural America and factory towns in the hands of the GOP
Imagine if Third Way had chosen in the summer of 2023 to spend its time, energy and influence convincing Biden not to run again. Instead, they worked closely with MoveOn (one of "the groups" they now blame for the Dem predicament), as well as Ron Klain and Cedric Richmond (two of Bidens closest advisers so guess they were not going to oppose Biden) to take down and deny ballot access to No Labels and Dean Phillips for daring to suggest Biden might not be able to beat Trump. This was summer of 2023. Thank Third Way and Move On for giving the country Donald Trump. The stakes were always too high to let Biden and his crew hide his decline and assuage his ego that only he could beat Trump.
Also, having a meeting of Washington insiders at a "tony resort"--Politico's term--does nothing to reconnect the Democratic Party to normal American voters who could care less about Washington machinations as long as they can afford the basics. Readers, listen to Michael Baharaeen and the Liberal Patriot--they are brilliant, and not DC Insiders. Tell Matt Bennett to retire and let the next generation of Democrats lead.
A faction is just that-a faction. Until sane Democrats take over the party machinery and nominate and elect like minded politicians, it is mostly meaningless. Others have referenced yesterday's vote about girls sports.