Democrats Need BTE

[Suckrates]

6 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

What if Pete and Chasten run together?   At least that way we can find out which one is which.

Pete actually looks well fucked, doesn't he?

Sis, dont "stereotype"...... I am going with BOTH VERS !   👬

[stevenkesslar]

3 hours ago, Suckrates said:

Sis, dont "stereotype"...... I am going with BOTH VERS !   👬

With Pete and Chasten, fine.

But let's not pretend your public service with Zohran is versatile, Sis.

I like to think of that relationship as Christian.

You know it is better to give then to receive.

And he is trying to help those on the bottom.

[RockyRoadTravel]

On 8/11/2026 at 7:52 AM, stevenkesslar said:

With Pete and Chasten, fine.

But let's not pretend your public service with Zohran is versatile, Sis.

I like to think of that relationship as Christian.

You know it is better to give then to receive.

And he is trying to help those on the bottom.

Any BDE thoughts on David Crawley in Wisconsin?  He has got to lose the mustache. It was interesting that neither Sanders nor AOC endorsed Hong, would that have made a difference for her campaign? I expect it was more to do with newness and inexperience with such a high profile election than it did with policy issues.  The Thanksgiving comment was made the same day that Hong had spent in meetings with Native Americans.  Though a stupid comment, I can see where the knee jerk emotional blurting out of canceling Thanksgiving came from.  Political candidates, which I don't think she was at the time, aren't allowed to make knee jerk emotional missives. 

[stevenkesslar]

1 hour ago, RockyRoadTravel said:

Any BDE thoughts on David Crawley in Wisconsin?  He has got to lose the mustache. It was interesting that neither Sanders nor AOC endorsed Hong, would that have made a difference for her campaign? I expect it was more to do with newness and inexperience with such a high profile election than it did with policy issues.  The Thanksgiving comment was made the same day that Hong had spent in meetings with Native Americans.  Though a stupid comment, I can see where the knee jerk emotional blurting out of canceling Thanksgiving came from.  Political candidates, which I don't think she was at the time, aren't allowed to make knee jerk emotional missives. 

 

I'm surprised.  And delighted.   I know nothing about Crawley.  But I wasn't wildly impressed with Hong.

If you listen to her side by side with El-Sayed, I think the difference is clear.  Or, just so I don't sound sexist, put Hong side by side with Elizabeth Warren.

El-Sayed is usually meticulously on message.  The thing that bothers me about him, which is a guy thing, is he can't help letting his vanity seep through.  And making unforced errors like calling Fetterman an "asshole."   Or, worse, telling an opponent that Muslims hate him.  It's guy stuff.  That said, there were guys who loved that Trump was a felon.  So it goes to your point about testosterone.  Arguably Ossoff has more BDE because he doesn't have to show it off.

Hong had a hard time staying on message, at least on the clips I watched.  When she tried to explain weird ideas like cancelling Thanksgiving, she just said more weird things.  Add a limited history of bipolar disorder and mental health issues, and it was easy to wonder if something was just a bit off.

Maybe it is sexist.  But being cocky is okay, and arguably desirable for a certain demographic.  Being weird is not.  Others noticed.  Sanders and AOC did not embrace her, for whatever reason.  They probably don't want "democratic socialism" to be associated with losing general elections.

More broadly, this could not be clearer to all Democrats.  If we want to win, we need BTE, BDE, and SME (Small Money Energy).  We had two very close races, which one progressive barely won and one progressive barely lost.  If El-Sayed wins the fight to get money out of politics advances.

There is some history here I love.  In the 1980's no one thought Paul Wellstone could be elected to the Senate.  Too progressive.  Peggy Flanagan comes right out of that tradition.  She taught at Camp Wellstone, where Walz was a student.  Walz is a great example of how to win.  When he won the Southern Minnesota purplish house seat where Wellstone taught college, he was one of the most pro-gun moderate Democrats.  When he became Governor, he ran and won and governed as a progressive.  Now his Lt. Guv can run in a primary as a progressive and kick her moderate opponent's ass.  And it kind of gets buried in the news.  Because now Hong and El-Sayed are the cutting edge.  

So things are moving to the left.  With a focus on being able to win general elections.  If liberals and moderates can't unite, we lose.  If we unite, we win.

I watched a WaPo interview of Ruy Teixeira.  Who I think now is persona non grata for saying things most Democrats don't want to hear.  He seems certain this democratic socialism project is going to fail, and just make Democrats more unelectable in general.  And who am I to quarrel with the guy who wrote The Emerging Democratic Majority?

That said, one person who can dispute Teixeira is his co-author John Judis.  Who was and is a democratic socialist.  I think Judis would agree with Teixeira that Democrats have to focus on economic populism.  The old time labor stuff.  And ditch the woke college student stuff like LatinX and open borders.   

I don't think Judis is as pessimistic as Teixeira.  Teixeira comes out of think tanks.  Judis has always been a journalist, starting at democratic socialist In These Times.  I think he is much more connected to, and appreciative of, grassroots movements.  

A few other factoids.  If Crowley and Florida Republican Byron Donalds wins, we will have two more Black Governors.  Donalds will be the first Black Republican Governor.  So identity politics advances, even covertly among Republicans.  

And speaking of Native Americans, Flanagan and Alaska's Peltola would be the first two Native American women in the US Senate.  Deb Haaland may at the same time be New Mexico's first Native American Guv.   

How woke is that?  But, please.  Don't call it woke.

This Minnesota ticket sets the tone.  Amy Klo is definitely a moderate, and Flanagan is definitely a progressive.  Run and win, which they will.  Sends exactly the right message and tone.

John and I ran into our fantastic Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and her daughter looking stylish as ever at the MN State Fair!

They won't cancel Thanksgiving.  Or the Minnesota State Fair.

[RockyRoadTravel]

8 minutes ago, stevenkesslar said:

 

I'm surprised.  And delighted.   I know nothing about Crawley.  But I wasn't wildly impressed with Hong.

If you listen to her side by side with El-Sayed, I think the difference is clear.  Or, just so I don't sound sexist, put Hong side by side with Elizabeth Warren.

El-Sayed is usually meticulously on message.  The thing that bothers me about him, which is a guy thing, is he can't help letting his vanity seep through.  And making unforced errors like calling Fetterman an "asshole."   Or, worse, telling an opponent that Muslims hate him.  It's guy stuff.  That said, there were guys who loved that Trump was a felon.  So it goes to your point about testosterone.  Arguably Ossoff has more BDE because he doesn't have to show it off.

Hong had a hard time staying on message, at least on the clips I watched.  When she tried to explain weird ideas like cancelling Thanksgiving, she just said more weird things.  Add a limited history of bipolar disorder and mental health issues, and it was easy to wonder if something was just a bit off.

Maybe it is sexist.  But being cocky is okay, and arguably desirable for a certain demographic.  Being weird is not.  Others noticed.  Sanders and AOC did not embrace her, for whatever reason.  They probably don't want "democratic socialism" to be associated with losing general elections.

More broadly, this could not be clearer to all Democrats.  If we want to win, we need BTE, BDE, and SME (Small Money Energy).  We had two very close races, which one progressive barely won and one progressive barely lost.  If El-Sayed wins the fight to get money out of politics advances.

There is some history here I love.  In the 1980's no one thought Paul Wellstone could be elected to the Senate.  Too progressive.  Peggy Flanagan comes right out of that tradition.  She taught at Camp Wellstone, where Walz was a student.  Walz is a great example of how to win.  When he won the Southern Minnesota purplish house seat where Wellstone taught college, he was one of the most pro-gun moderate Democrats.  When he became Governor, he ran and won and governed as a progressive.  Now his Lt. Guv can run in a primary as a progressive and kick her moderate opponent's ass.  And it kind of gets buried in the news.  Because now Hong and El-Sayed are the cutting edge.  

So things are moving to the left, with a focus on being able to win general elections.  If liberals and moderates can't unite, we lose.  If we unite, we win.

I watched a WaPo interview of Ruy Teixeira, who I think now is persona non grata for saying things most Democrats don't want to hear.  He seems certain this democratic socialism project is going to fail, and just make Democrats more unelectable in general.  And who am I to quarrel with the guy who wrote The Emerging Democratic Majority?

That said, one person who can dispute Teixeira is co-author John Judis, who was and is a democratic socialist.  I think Judis would agree with Teixeira that Democrats have to focus on economic populism.  The old time labor stuff.  And ditch the woke college student stuff like LatinX and open borders.   I don't think he is as pessimistic as Teixeira.  Teixeira comes out of think tanks.  Judis has always been a journalist, starting at In These Times.  But I think he is much more connected to, and appreciative of, grassroots movements.  

A few other factoids.  If Crowley and Florida Republican Byron Donalds wins, we will have two more Black Governors.  Donalds will be the first Black Republican Governor.  So identity politics advances, even covertly among Republicans.  

And speaking of Native Americans, Flanagan and Alaska's Peltola would be the first two Native American women in the US Senate.  Deb Haaland may at the same time by New Mexico's first Native American Guv.   How woke is that.  But, please.  Don't call it woke.

This Minnesota ticket sets the tone.  Amy Klo is definitely a moderate, and Flanagan is definitely a progressive.  Run and win, which they will.  Sends exactly the right message and tone.

John and I ran into our fantastic Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and her daughter looking stylish as ever at the MN State Fair!

They won't cancel Thanksgiving.  Or the Minnesota State Fair.

I'm having a similar but opposite reaction to El-Sayed that I had with Tim Walz. The more I hear them speak, the less I want to hear them speak.  For different reasons.  I'm a MDE guy.  Tim was too SDE and El-Sayed is too BDE for me. 

The El-Sayed message is clear, which is good. He'll need to be very clear to cut through the bullshit that is going to be thrown at him in truck loads.  Confidence is very attractive, arrogance is not. 

On some visceral level at the back of our minds in casting our support for a male politician were considering "does this guy appeal to me?".   Tim Walz - no.  El Sayed - no.  Chris Murphy - he's got a certain dad bod energy that is confident and not arrogant.  

[stevenkesslar]

33 minutes ago, RockyRoadTravel said:

Chris Murphy - he's got a certain dad bod energy that is confident and not arrogant.  

 

 

 

 

[RockyRoadTravel]

23 minutes ago, stevenkesslar said:

 

 

 

 

woof