The Democrats

[Suckrates]

9 minutes ago, stevenkesslar said:

Doubling down here.  I have not been verbose for a while.  So I get a few wordy posts.

Why Democrats Couldn’t Hold Out Any Longer on the Government Shutdown

I read that article right after I made my post.  It makes many of the same points, which I obviously agree with.

But here is a statement by Schumer critic and "cave in" critic Josh Marshall made that I think captures a very key point:

 

Exactly.

The message for the next year to the midterms should be this:

Trump is a cruel cold-hearted piece of shit who wants you to pay a lot more.

Trump is a cruel cold-hearted piece of shit who wants you to pay a lot more.

Trump is a cruel cold-hearted piece of shit who wants you to pay a lot more.

Trump is a cruel cold-hearted piece of shit who wants you to pay a lot more.

Trump is a cruel cold-hearted piece of shit who wants you to pay a lot more.

Trump is a cruel cold-hearted piece of shit who wants you to pay a lot more.

Trump is a cruel cold-hearted piece of shit who wants you to pay a lot more.

Trump is a cruel cold-hearted piece of shit who wants you to pay a lot more.

Trump is a cruel cold-hearted piece of shit who wants you to pay a lot more.

Trump is a cruel cold-hearted piece of shit who wants you to pay a lot more.

Trump is a cruel cold-hearted piece of shit who wants you to pay a lot more.

But, hey.  At least the poor billionaires will get their tax cuts.

 

If there's ONE lesson that should have been learned by DEMS is that they should NEVER, I mean NEVER trust the Republicans on ANYTHING anymore, especially if its a "promise"......   Will they revisit the ACA subsidies later ?   I truly DOUBT it.....    Its clearly Trumps goal to make average americans lives as difficult and unbearable as he can.... He clearly loves the cruelty of it all, and gloats over the disparity of the classes by rubbing HIS extravagance and excess in the peoples faces....  The only thing missing is the sound bite, "nah nah nah nah nah"......

While I was hoping the special elections would have given Dems the spines they need to be an effective "opposition" party,  sadly I think I was WRONG !    

What America needs is to wipe the slate CLEAN of BOTH parties and just start over from scratch, with people that UNDERSTAND the assignment and CAN deliver. .   

[stevenkesslar]

3 hours ago, Suckrates said:

If there's ONE lesson that should have been learned by DEMS is that they should NEVER, I mean NEVER trust the Republicans on ANYTHING anymore, especially if its a "promise"......   Will they revisit the ACA subsidies later ?   I truly DOUBT it.....   

The only push back I would make to that is that some Republicans don't like cruelty .................... to themselves.  As in committing political suicide by fucking over their own constituents on health care.

We've seen  this movie before in 2018.  Just trying to kill Obamacare and pre-existing conditions killed 42 Republican House members.  Of course the GOP had a larger majority before the 2018 midterms.  So they had more to lose.  And as I argued above, killing Obamacare would have been way more severe and hurtful than just taking away relatively new help on affordability.  So you can even argue the Republicans are less cruel than in 2018.  I don't think they will lose 42 House seats.

Democrats have already mouthed off that they are expanding the number of House seats they target to include some House members in what would be considered pretty solid red districts.  Running against Trump definitely would be dumb in these districts, since Trump won them.  Running against his cruelty and how people were fucked on health care and hunger and prices is a hole different matter.  We'll see if Democrats can do a Pelosi-style raw political execution without Pelosi in charge of it.

Here's the bad news, regardless of how well things go for House Democrats. 

First, as you note, we are stuck with Trump for at least three more years.  Unless he has a fat attack and dies. Praise Jesus.

Second, in that same 2018 election when Democrats romped in the House, they lost two Senate seats.  Some red wave!  And how it happened is, I think, one of the most important problems Democrats face.  Democrats picked up two seats in Arizona and Nevada, and lost four seats in Missouri, North Dakota, Indiana, and Florida.  Charlie Cook nailed it that year by calling Trump a "color intsenifier".  He makes red redder, and blue bluer.  And a handful of states like Arizona and Nevada still don't know what color they are.  

I don't think this brawl will get settled until Democrats win back states like iowa, North Dakota, Florida, and Indiana.  It is simply mathematically impossible to break a Senate filibuster, or even get 51 votes.  And I think we know that winni9ng those states means being less woke, and more working class.  And right now there are at best only glimmers of hope that this can be done.  I ain't holding my breath for 2026.  Which means a Senate GOP majority in 2027 is still very likely, if not certain.

That said, if they fuck with health care and food prices enough, maybe not.  But my main point is that fighting Trump for being Trump is necessary, but not sufficient.  It helps in California and New York City.  It hurts in Iowa, Indiana, North Dakota, and Missouri.  If we want a majority that can actually help the working class, and not billionaires, that needs to be at the center of what the next Democratic POTUS ushers in.

Any volunteers?  How about you, Sis?  😉

 

[Suckrates]

33 minutes ago, stevenkesslar said:

The only push back I would make to that is that some Republicans don't like cruelty .................... to themselves.  As in committing political suicide by fucking over their own constituents on health care.

We've seen  this movie before in 2018.  Just trying to kill Obamacare and pre-existing conditions killed 42 Republican House members.  Of course the GOP had a larger majority before the 2018 midterms.  So they had more to lose.  And as I argued above, killing Obamacare would have been way more severe and hurtful than just taking away relatively new help on affordability.  So you can even argue the Republicans are less cruel than in 2018.  I don't think they will lose 42 House seats.

Democrats have already mouthed off that they are expanding the number of House seats they target to include some House members in what would be considered pretty solid red districts.  Running against Trump definitely would be dumb in these districts, since Trump won them.  Running against his cruelty and how people were fucked on health care and hunger and prices is a hole different matter.  We'll see if Democrats can do a Pelosi-style raw political execution without Pelosi in charge of it.

Here's the bad news, regardless of how well things go for House Democrats. 

First, as you note, we are stuck with Trump for at least three more years.  Unless he has a fat attack and dies. Praise Jesus.

Second, in that same 2018 election when Democrats romped in the House, they lost two Senate seats.  Some red wave!  And how it happened is, I think, one of the most important problems Democrats face.  Democrats picked up two seats in Arizona and Nevada, and lost four seats in Missouri, North Dakota, Indiana, and Florida.  Charlie Cook nailed it that year by calling Trump a "color intsenifier".  He makes red redder, and blue bluer.  And a handful of states like Arizona and Nevada still don't know what color they are.  

I don't think this brawl will get settled until Democrats win back states like iowa, North Dakota, Florida, and Indiana.  It is simply mathematically impossible to break a Senate filibuster, or even get 51 votes.  And I think we know that winni9ng those states means being less woke, and more working class.  And right now there are at best only glimmers of hope that this can be done.  I ain't holding my breath for 2026.  Which means a Senate GOP majority in 2027 is still very likely, if not certain.

That said, if they fuck with health care and food prices enough, maybe not.  But my main point is that fighting Trump for being Trump is necessary, but not sufficient.  It helps in California and New York City.  It hurts in Iowa, Indiana, North Dakota, and Missouri.  If we want a majority that can actually help the working class, and not billionaires, that needs to be at the center of what the next Democratic POTUS ushers in.

Any volunteers?  How about you, Sis?  😉

 

 

Hillary Clinton pantsuits REALLY dont suit me....... I am more of a cock-tail dress kinda girl !   😏

[stevenkesslar]

1 hour ago, Suckrates said:

 

Hillary Clinton pantsuits REALLY dont suit me....... I am more of a cock-tail dress kinda girl !   😏

Maybe if Mayor Pete runs you could be his running mate.  It would add to diversity to the ticket.  😉

[RockyRoadTravel]

17 hours ago, Suckrates said:

 

If there's ONE lesson that should have been learned by DEMS is that they should NEVER, I mean NEVER trust the Republicans on ANYTHING anymore, especially if its a "promise"......   Will they revisit the ACA subsidies later ?   I truly DOUBT it.....    Its clearly Trumps goal to make average americans lives as difficult and unbearable as he can.... He clearly loves the cruelty of it all, and gloats over the disparity of the classes by rubbing HIS extravagance and excess in the peoples faces....  The only thing missing is the sound bite, "nah nah nah nah nah"......

While I was hoping the special elections would have given Dems the spines they need to be an effective "opposition" party,  sadly I think I was WRONG !    

What America needs is to wipe the slate CLEAN of BOTH parties and just start over from scratch, with people that UNDERSTAND the assignment and CAN deliver. .   

I was surprised that Senator Dick Durban, Illinois, was one of the senators who caved.  He was one of the 25 Democrats who voted in the Senate against the GOP plan to invade Iraq in 2003.  

[RockyRoadTravel]

The over performance of the Democrats in special elections continues. Last week's Tennessee 7th house seat had a 13+ swing towards the Democrats. Even though during the campaign the GOP's candidate steered clear of mentioning Trump as much as possible, and the Democrats ran a candidate that was more easily misrepresented as a "radical" than other candidates would have been. The GOP also spent a lot of money in this campaign, money flooded in from out of State right-wing PACs. 

However even if this type of support holds it's unlikely that a 2018 Blue Wave might happen.  The GOP has gerrymandered House seats since 2018. This Tennessee 7th district was gerrymandered in 2022. Under the old map the Democrat would have won. 

GOP motto, if you can't win, cheat.  It seems the GOP hates American democracy. 

[RockyRoadTravel]

This time it's a 18+ point win for the City of Miami Mayor, first time Democrats have won their in 28 years. (While technically non-partisan everyone knows who the Democrat and who the Republicans are.)  The Incompetent-in-Chief was heavily involved in the race with endorsement of the Republican aligned candidate. 

Once again it's an election race that can be taken as a clear and direct rejection of the incompetents currently in the White House. 

Also, on the same day, another State seat was flipped from red to blue in north east Georgia.  That would be the 25th flip from red to blue this year.  

[Suckrates]

18 minutes ago, RockyRoadTravel said:

This time it's a 18+ point win for the City of Miami Mayor, first time Democrats have won their in 28 years. (While technically non-partisan everyone knows who the Democrat and who the Republicans are.)  The Incompetent-in-Chief was heavily involved in the race with endorsement of the Republican aligned candidate. 

Once again it's an election race that can be taken as a clear and direct rejection of the incompetents currently in the White House. 

Also, on the same day, another State seat was flipped from red to blue in north east Georgia.  That would be the 25th flip from red to blue this year.  

We are 11 months away from mids......    a lot can happen,  AND people FORGET !    

[RockyRoadTravel]

2 minutes ago, Suckrates said:

We are 11 months away from mids......    a lot can happen,  AND people FORGET !    

It's still good to acknowledge that the country is inching back towards the center from the extreme right. 

[Suckrates]

1 minute ago, RockyRoadTravel said:

It's still good to acknowledge that the country is inching back towards the center from the extreme right. 

YES, but we shouldnt underestimate the power and scheming of Trump.