My brother was doing this earlier.

I was criticizing the DNC, and he would agree, but then start trotting out “but the Republicans blocked them on that,” or “the Republican media made that look worse,” and so on.

And I called him on it every single time: stop letting them get away with that excuse, the electorate are tired of it! Hold them accountable for failing to be more popular than fascism!

Even giving them the benefit of the doubt of “Republicans blocked them,” ok… It’s been since at least Obama they’ve been doing that, why can’t a party of Harvard and Yale law school graduates not come up with a counter strategy to that after, hmmm, over a decade?

Why’d the cookie go to the hospital?

He was feeling crummy!

What’d the envelope say to the stamp?

Stick with me, kid, we’ll go places.

DNC Leadership: Is “left” your people’s way of saying “status quo?”

I’ve been saying the entitlement thing since the midterms! You’re not entitled to someone’s vote just because the other option is fascism.

And this entitlement has turned a large part of eligible voters apathetic. What difference does it make if you vote if you’re always just voting for the lesser evil? If you’re never actually represented in the people you’re forced to choose between?

If you’re going to be fucked either way, what difference does it make if the party in power is fascist or not?

And yep, plenty of people today telling me I’m the problem, despite the fact I voted for Harris. I just am also not naive enough to think the average American should be impressed by the lackluster campaign she just ran, and the Democrats botched on the whole.

“If liberals are so fucking smart why do they lose so goddamn always?”

• Will McAvoy “The Newsroom”

No one can argue Trump didn’t get things done. He got a lot done, especially when you compare that to the perception people have of the Biden administration.

But I brought this up earlier: Trump may hate his followers, absolutely loathe them, but he still panders to them, even if it’s fake promises. He accomplishes things they want done, and shows he can make progress, something the Democrats botch literally anytime they get any semblance of power. Trump makes his constituents feel heard.

The Democrats, just, don’t. Everyone on Lemmy I’m sure has seen people offering criticism of Biden/Harris, and the response has been to immediately insult, scold, condescend, and shame the individual for not towing the party line. Your concerns, anxieties, hangups, none of that matters because fascism bad so stfu and vote and also fuck you anyway.

Trump’s supporters ask him to abolish vaccines, and he seriously considers it.

Harris’ supporters ask her to not support a genocide in Palestine, and she sends Bill Clinton to lecture them about why Israel has the right to do what they’re doing.

It’s a two-way street, the politicians just can’t keep demanding our votes and ignoring our issues. And if that’s what they’re going to do, then congratulations, you’ve turned your voting base apathetic, and you deserve to lose to fascism.

Those that didn’t vote failed to stop fascism from rising.

The Democratic party, who failed to rally non-voters and instead chose to try and court Republican voters to their cause, failed to stop fascism from rising.

Stop blaming voters for politicians running on unpopular policies. I’ve checked repeatedly today, Harris lost Michigan by under 100,000 votes, but there were over 100,000 protest votes during the primary.

Before the election, 35% of Pennsylvania voters and 37% of Arizona voters polled said they would be more likely to vote for Harris if they would agree to cease weapons shipments to Israel without contingencies. The DNC sent Bill Clinton to lecture the residents of Michigan about why Israel is justified in killing their loved ones instead of, idk, taking a stance that could win you much needed votes in a swing state. They brought Republican after Republican to speak at the DNC, but allotted no time for Palestinian Democrats to speak.

They gave their own constituents the middle finger, like always, while demanding their unwavering support. All while being more concerned about trying to win over Republicans instead of rallying their own non-voters to the polls.

Gee, that sure worked out great for them, is that the voter’s fault too? It’s astounding how the same people who were insulting and condescending to conflicted Dem voters the last couple weeks are now screeching and crying that it’s the fault of the people they insulted and bullied that they lost.

Y’all don’t have mirrors you can look in? Maybe start there, and understand why you can’t dismiss the concerns of entire swaths of your constituency and still feel entitled to their support, regardless of the dire threat that the Democrats didn’t take seriously enough.

“I didn’t hear anyone calling for other candidates.”

That was a response I got from a guy when I brought up the botched primary all thanks to Biden’s hubris.

Like, no shit Sherlock, we couldn’t call for anyone else, there was no time!

The fact you’re willing to list the ACA as progressive when the only reason it was passed was because yhe Dems let the Republicans kneecap it as a “progressive win” is fucking laughable.

And it shows the exact problem with the DNC, and why they lose: they can’t just be progressive, they have to work across the aisle, and have to compromise, no matter what.

And to be clear, I’m not playing both sides, what you’re listing as “progressive” is so laughably not progressive by any metric of the word, that it’s almost funny. The “progress” has been returning to the status quo, every fucking election cycle, and yet you guys bitch and moan the left don’t show up. Why would they, the candidates you’re listing have one progressive policy you’re attributing to them

And wow, cool, you listed Gore as the “progressive” candidate, and then list a single progressive policy he had while dismissing that the Dems gave up the fight for him and let the SCOTUS give it to Bush. Then you talk about one policy Obama had that was progressive and then claim he’s punished for it: it clearly didn’t have anything to do with the fact the ACA wasn’t what the Democrats promised at all, and then they let the Republicans control the narrative on it.

There’s no point discussing further with you, clearly Harris and Biden were the golden children, and all the voters, the people politicians fucking work for, they have to change and get over it. No no, it’s not the Democrats who need to change, no, they’ve only lost 4 out of the last 7 presidential elections, they’re completely right.

So let’s keep voting them in so they can see that their centrist policies work and they don’t have to change everything. Oh, you’re going to change their mind after they’re elected? That’s cute, they already got your vote, what does your opinion matter anymore? You gonna protest? Yeah, ask the Anti-Genocide protestors how that was handled under the Biden admin, and how open they were to changing their stance on that after the fact.

What a fucking joke. 🙄

Yep, let’s blame the person who A. Told people to vote for Harris leading up to the election, if you check my comment history, and B. Voted for Harris.

The Democrats lost because of their own hubris, Drag, and their own entitlement and arrogance. My words made no difference, especially considering Harris lost Michigan by less than 100,000 votes. The same state that launched the Palestinian Protest Vote movement, where over 100,000 people cast uncommitted votes to protest the Biden admins stance on Israel.

So maybe the Democrats should listened to the voices of their constituents, Drag, and maybe people like me would have less to complain about.

But your friend’s blood, and mine (I’m trans, drag, you’re not the only one that exists on the queer spectrum), is on the Democrat’s hands, and no one elses. They reran their playbook from 2016 and it cost them, maybe they’ll finally learn their lesson.

Ok, but think about those policies, and think about how much they actually affect the average American. Not the white collar worker making clost to six figures working from home with solid benefits, retirement, etc.

Green energy

He’s done a fair amount, but Harris blew this when she reversed her stance on fracking. We’re using more renewable energy, but we’re still heavily dependent on fossil fuels.

EVs

Biden did EVs? Idk what that means, but, ok, first, most Americans still can’t afford an electric vehicle, and the charging infrastructure is incredibly lackluster outside of major metro area. Even with any rebates or tax incentives, I don’t know anyone in my social circle who can afford a new EV, and we’re definitely all average American.

So the average American wasn’t affected by this, at least not in a way that they can directly observe, which is important.

IRA

40% of Americans can’t afford an emergency car repair, and over 30% have a negative net worth. Doesn’t sound to me like a good number of Americans can afford to contribute to an IRA, but even then, I haven’t heard about this or at least don’t remember, and I actually pay attention to politics. So it likely wasn’t on the minds of most Americans.

Student debt relief

This one I thought would carry him more, but I don’t remember the Dems pounding this home the last few weeks. Regardless, yes, Biden has done student debt relief, but not to the extent he promised, and regardless of the reasons, that’s what voters remember.

Could also throw in there that there was a lot of animosity around student debt relief when no relief has been offered (or even really discussed) for credit card debt incurred during the Pandemic. That’s something Biden could have addressed and didn’t, and neither did Harris.

non-compete clauses being banned via FDA

This was a win, I’ll give Biden that, but this doesn’t affect the majority of average Americans. I’ve never worked a job where I signed a non-compete, and the only people I do work in tech or engineering.

Again, a win for Biden, but not a flashy one, and one that people clearly quickly forgot about.

Pact Act

My only criticism of this one is the fact it was passed, and then disappeared from public discourse. It’s been at least a couple years since it was passed, so it likely just fell from people’s memories, which is unfortunate.

supporting Ukraine

There was congressional fuckery around this though, and the support hasn’t always been as much as the American people want to provide.

Though, I think alongside Israel, aid to Ukraine was actually a detriment. Why can we send Israel whatever with no strings attached or Congressional approval, but we can’t send a bolt to Ukraine without a majority across the government?

I understand the intricacies of those two aid situations, but does the average American? Probably not.

The left is done. No one is going to run a left platform for fucking decades. Because the left never shows up, or doesn’t exist.

I find this funny, that it’s always the left’s fault for not supporting centrist, status quo candidates. I’m genuinely asking, has the DNC ever, ever, run a true, progressive candidate for the presidency? I mean, seriously, have they ever done it?

Because in my memory, they haven’t, they just keep trying these centrist candidates, and they keep losing, but then keep blaming the left for not supporting them while they move slightly more right.

Why am I such a radical on this platform for thinking, or even suggesting, that maybe the Democrats need to move left for once. Maybe try a progressive candidate and see if you motivate people to vote for someone, instead of expecting them to come out and vote against someone.

If they just flagrantly broke the law and kept doing it until the SCOTUS and others actually stopped them, the dems would be far more popular than just throwing their hands up and saying "better things aren’t possible.

This is basically what FDR did with a lot of his social and work programs during his presidency. He’d establish an agency or authority or whatever, regardless of the legality, and by the time the court’s or whoever made the decision to close it, they’d have 5 others going simultaneously, and/or they’d make another one. And the process would start all over again.

That could’ve been a typo on my part, but in that sense, I meant the constituency of the Democrat Party didn’t want Kamala.

Biden didn’t drop out until well after the primaries had begun, do the members of the Democrat party weren’t given the chance to choose their candidate. A few names were floated around for a week or so, and then the party establishment basically all got behind Harris.

So we don’t know who the voters of the Democrat party would have wanted, they were having Biden forced on them until they moved to Harris.

I’d say the idiot is the career politician who lost to a fascist, convicted felon who gained votes by insulting his base. 🤷‍♀️

And instead of reflecting on her own shortcomings and those of her political party, we’ll blame and insult those who supported her regardless of her lackluster campaign and policy promises.

And huh, 98% of Michigan is in, and Harris is behind by about 100,000 votes, roughly the same amount as those who protest voted during the primaries… Good thing we completely wrote off that entire demographic of our party in a key swing state, fucking voters should have known better.

First of all, Drag, I voted for Harris, and actually voted Democrat down ballot. So from this trans veterans lips to your ear canals: Drag can go fuck Dragself for calling me a Nazi for having the audacity to criticize the party I’m forced to vote for that doesn’t represent any of my interests.

And that right fucking there is why Democrats lose, and Democrats are to blame: they can’t do anything but give us a candidate to vote against, and not one to vote for.

How many voters do you think they would have pulled running on an actual, progressive platform instead of the status quo bullshit we’re all clearly tired of? Medicare4All, free tuition, free school meals, actually funding social welfare programs, actually enshrining LGBTQ+ and bodily autonomy rights into law, expanding the supreme court to actually reflect the country’s wishes, abolishing the filibuster so progress can potentially start again in the Senate, stopping weapons shipments for the Palestinian genocide (or ffs, even taking a stance on the genocide)?

The Democrats lost, and fascism won, because the Democrats refuse to listen to their base. Dem voters stayed home because their party leadership failed to inspire them, and I’m sick of the people asking for policies that will actually benefit them instead of some billionaire oligarchs (where’s the blame pointed at the millions they funneled into the elections) being blamed for everything. This isn’t even considering the four years Biden had to show the American people any progress, any discernible improvement in their economic lives, and failed to do so.

Just like in 2016: the DNC forced a candidate onto the party they didn’t want, refused to listen to any vocal portions of the party while condescendingly telling them that party leaders know best and they need to fall in line, campaigned on uninspiring centrist policies and a return to the status quo, keep preaching about working across the aisle while being slandered and shit on, and then assume the race is in the bag because the other candidate is a fascist reality star.

And just like in 2016, they lost, and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Bodily autonomy of women.

The same bodily autonomy Democrats failed to enshrine in law at any point in the decades following the initial Roe v. Wade decision? Or the bodily autonomy that Harris and the dems wouldn’t have had the votes to pass anyway even had they won? Or do you mean the bodily autonomy that Biden has done nothing meaningful with since he took office four years ago?

Gerrymandering

What specific policy platform did Harris put forward and advertise to the American people regarding gerrymandering? I don’t recall anything specific beyond “we need to stop it.” Ok, how? How do you plan to do that when, once again, you won’t have majorities in both houses, and SCOTUS is corrupt and you/Biden refuse to do anything about that, either, like pack the court?

Climate change

She reversed her policy on fracking a couple weeks into her campaign, might make voters think you can’t trust her and her commitment to the climate crisis, which Biden has shown to also not be doing great on.

Land grabbing

I’m assuming this is related to housing? Yeah, Harris said she wanted to build 3 million new homes and offer first time homebuyers down payment assistance. This doesn’t address all of the corporate consolidation of housing, and it doesn’t prevent these corporate entities from gobbling up huge amounts of these new homes.

Corporate tax evasion

What has Biden done in regards to this? Have the tax breaks put in place by Trump been reversed? No? Because they have to be undone by Congress? Cool, so what’s Harris’s plan if she doesn’t control both houses of Congress, send me 8 emails a day for the next 4 years begging me for money while not raising the minimum wage in any meaningful way?

I voted Harris, to be clear, but her policies were centrist at best, and that’s why she lost. Regardless of what the stats and polls show, Americans don’t feel better off than four years ago. Americans want change, and if it’s not going to be progress, then I guess it’ll be regress. And the Dems have no one to blame but themselves.

No, the Democrats let their base get rallied by the Republicans, I don’t blame the voters at all.

And you’re acting like people voted for Trump instead of Kamala, when it seems more like a lot of people who would have voted Kamala stayed home. And that’s thanks to the Democrats running a centrist platform that didn’t inspire anyone, Biden being a centrist Status-Quo democrat for four years, ignoring the Palestinian Protest Votes during the primaries, refusing to let any Palestinians speak at the DNC but allowing numerous Republicans to, while their best piece of policy to the average American was, “Hey, we’re not Trump.”

I voted Harris, btw, but not because I liked her particularly much, and I think that’s a big part of it. Democrats don’t listen to their constituents, so their constituents stay home due to apathy. That’s on the DNC, not the voters.

So, her failing to be more popular than fascism is the fault of the voting base… Makes sense.

Tell me again how you fail to clear that bar, and how that’s the voters fault?

What the fuck happened?

Four years of a milquetoast, centrist Democrat telling the American people what they’re living isn’t the actual reality of the situation. Biden’s admin kept rolling out the “soft landing, economy is doing great,” schtick despite numerous news outlets reporting Americans don’t feel like it’s an economy working for them.

Then that Democrat finally stepping aside, too late for his constituents to have a say in who they want representing them. And then she ran on a centrist, return-to-the-status-quo platform that didn’t inspire the majority of Americans, who are so apathetic based on decades of being ignored by politicians they just don’t vote. Because what’s the point?

And if they weren’t willing to choose the least bad option, I think that says more about the least bad option than it does about the worst option.