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I think that makes my point!

Or edited by AI?

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Two of those four issues are the economy:  health care for women and  rural areas.   Immigration is the economy, too.  But that is far tricker for Democrats.  I don't think health care hurt Democrats in 2020 or 2024.  Immigration for sure hurt Democrats in 2024. The poster child for that is Claire McCaskill.  But I'll throw in Heidi Heitkamp as well.  As recently as 2012 those two could get elected to the US Senate in Missouri and North Dakota.  Had those two been Senators rather than Manchin and Sinema, Biden would have barely had the votes.  And we  could have an expanded child tax credit and see whether my theory about focusing on real and practical economic help would have worked better. To be clear, those child tax credits were not wildly popular among all voters.  Meaning mostly among voters who did not get them.  In part because there is this whole other issue of "welfare" and creating dependency.  But even lots of conservative populists now see this policy, which has strong roots among many Republicans, as a pro-family policy that simply helps kids and helps working class families.  Arguably it would be better if we could just restore the millions of factory jobs we lost, mostly under W.  But no Democrat or Republican has that magic wand. I will recycle my rant above about Democratic Senators in "red" states, since it is so criitical.  I followed the polls closely in 2018.  And I was sending money to the Democratic Senators that lost:  McCaskill, Heitkamp, Donnelly in Indiana.  In Summer 2018 McCaskill was leading in the polls, and health care - for women, for rural areas, for everyone -was a reason why.  What changed that is the Kavanaugh thing.  What I thought of at the time as The Testicle Vote (aka men) shifted hard and fast against all three of those Democrats in Fall 2018.  That turned out to have real consequences for Biden for four years.  To be fair, as much as I trash Manchin and Sinema Biden was better off with them than two more Republicans.   The problem Democrats face is that I don't think Bernie or AOC or any college-educated socialist can bridge the "culture war" divide.  Bernie spent years trying after 2016.  He had an army of devoted young people on his side.  They hoped by 2020 he could get working class men in places like Michigan and Texas to rally around him.  I thought he was particularly good at downplaying culture war issues like reparations.  And it was just a bridge too far.  In 2020 those people went hard for Biden.  I don't think Hillary or Harris could bridge it.  Both lost in large part because unlike Bill Clinton, and to a much lesser degree Obama and Biden, they did poorly with the White male Bubba vote that Bill Clinton did well with. But I also don't think Democrats can't win in red states with women.  McCaskill and Heitkamp. among others, proved that.  I think it does mean Democrats - like those two women - have to focus on the economy and moderate and tone down the culture war issues that keep hurting Democrats. Lots of Gay men despise Bill Clinton because of Gays In The Military.  I actually think he was the best Democratic President of my adult lifetime.  I put it in the context of history.  Arguably, he was Reagan Lite.  But he still got his ass kicked in 1994 for being too liberal.  Arguably, Clinton's inability to keep his dick in his pants was just bad enough to lose Gore a very tight race in 2000.  Although Gore was no gift to campaigning either.  My point is, Clinton had huge flaws.  But during his 8 years polls show he moved the whole country gradually to the center left, in part by moderating himself.  When he left office trust in government was much higher than it was when he arrived.  Isn't that what Democrats want?  A government that helps, and that people trust? Unlike Clinton, Obama could get a signature health care reform passed.  Unlike Clinton or Obama, Biden did not get his ass kicked in 2022 for being too liberal.  So I view this as slow progress.  Biden governed as the most liberal POTUS since at least LBJ.  And he almost got away with it.  I will never be sure how I feel about Biden.  He was never my first choice.  Or second.  Or third.  But Sanders and Warren could not close the deal.  In 2020 Harris didn't even come close.  Was the problem for Biden not enough votes?  Too much age?  Or simply not enough vision?  I think all three.  He wanted to be FDR.  He didn't come close in terms of his legacy. The positive way of saying this is that Democrats did come close.  They won in 2020.  And they did NOT lose badly in 2024 in an economy ravaged by inflation.  In 2028 all of this will likely be working against JD Vance, or whoever Republicans pick.  So some Democrat should be able to do that.  In theory.   I  loved Ossoff's speech.  I think he uses "corruption" as as an us/them thing.  Meaning Trump is part of the Epstein class.  At best these rich corrupt fat cats  don't give a shit about you, and just want tax cuts while your Medicaid or Medicare or rural hospital suffers.  At worst they want to rape your daughter and be above the law.  I think that is very effective.  Part of the problem is that Ossoff is a liberal college educated policy wonk.  So was Bill Clinton.  Clinton could hide it by being from Arkansas, speaking like a Bubba, and having a sense Hillary never had of how to avoid becoming a liberal caricature.  I think "corruption" gives Ossoff a way to be part of the working class "us".  Even though he is, and seems to be, a liberal college educated policy wonk.  Ossoff is one of four Democrats I send money to every month (Peltola in Alaska, Talarico in Texas, Brown in Ohio, Ossoff in Georgia.  Once Michigan and Iowa and Maine have picked Senate nominees I add them.  I assume Cooper will win North Carolina.  And if he can't, the other four I just mentioned will likely lose.  Hold Georgia and Michigan and win four more and we have a Senate majority.  

I know exactly what you mean! I often feel the same way. It helps me when I just sit down somewhere, have a drink, and watch the hustle and bustle instead of running around like a headless chicken. What did you think of the M Bar?  Next time I’m in Jomtien, that’ll probably be my first stop because the guys there are totally my type. But thanks to the orange, the flight prices have become unaffordable 😞