Posted on 11/07/2017 12:05:17 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
In the run-up to the 2016 election, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) dismissed the possibility that Donald Trump’s popularity with rural and working-class voters spelled trouble for the Democratic ticket. “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia,” he proclaimed, reflecting the prevailing attitude within the party establishment. “And you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”
One year after the election, it’s not clear that Democrats have learned their lesson. Many have deluded themselves into believing that Russian interference, and not the party’s abysmal failure to win over the working class, was the primary culprit in Hillary Clinton’s crushing defeat.
In the absence of an official inquiry, a group of Democratic and progressive activists last week published “Autopsy: The Democratic Party in Crisis.” While the 33-page report covers a range of issues, it offers a particularly harsh indictment of the party’s self-defeating attempts to simultaneously please its billionaire backers and the working-class voters who make up the Democratic base. “Corporate domination over the party’s agenda—and, perhaps more importantly, the perception of corporate control over the party’s agenda—rendered the Democrats’ messaging on economic issues ideologically rudderless and resulted in a decline in support among working-class people across racial lines,” the autopsy states. “We live in a time of unrest and justified cynicism towards those in power; Democrats will not win if they continue to bring a wonk knife to a populist gunfight.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thenation.com ...
False springs anew...
False HOPE springs anew...
Vanden Heuvel has the most “punchible” face I have ever seen.
Mz Vanden Heuvel is wrong. The Democrat base is not made up of working-people. It is made up of those getting a government check. Many get their daily bread from government jobs, 50% of which are a detriment to our economy. Many others get their bread from government welfare payments. There is a growing dearth in those looking for work, because welfare pays better than jobs they can do with their very limited skills.
Those who are pulling the wagon are not Democrats.
Mitt Romney described these people as the 47% who do NOT pay federal income taxes, but vote.
Democrats pander to them, Republicans fear them.
No, next question.
Reading comments on MSM web sites show there’s still PLENTY that believe the election was hijacked by Russian’s. They believe the “social media propaganda” meme. It’s astonishing.
They have learned nothing and, if anything, are still wallowing in the lies perpetuated by the DNC itself.
Hard core democrats are unteachable.
But even as Democratic leaders have cleared the wreckage and begun to rebuild, there has not been a full and honest reckoning with what actually happened in 2016 or how the party can avoid the same outcome in the 2018 midterms.
And that's the problem. Hillary's immediate descent into paranoia and accusation with a book tour to follow sort of short-circuited any formal assessment on the part of the Dems of what was wrong with her campaign. And the continued focus on trying to do Trump in through impeachment and legalistic shenanigans has further prevented any honest effort in that arena. This silliness has gone on for an entire year now and shows no sign of abating.
Democrats will have to work harder to establish a clear, compelling vision of what they are for beyond opposition to Trump.
That advice is good but about two years too late. So long as the Dems are stuck in "America is awful and so is Trump" and Trump sticks with "Make America great again," the Dems lose.
They have to build and expand a cross-class, cross-racial coalition of voters in every part of the country.
That's not exactly a revelation, it's how politics works in America. But that wasn't and isn't the Dems' formula, which has leaned so heavily on cross-class and racial resentment and hatred that somebody ended up the principle target, and guess what? That's the demographic they lost, and so long as the hatred and the scapegoating continues, promising them the world isn't going to make a dent. Can the Dems halt the incessant race baiting and contempt thrown at the middle and working classes? No. And would they if they could? No.
The piece does not disappoint. Lots of assertions from Katrina vanden Heuvel's part, but I don't see anything to support the claims.
For example, she said "Trump’s plutocratic agenda is a massive betrayal of the working-class voters who once believed he would fight for them."
Huh? Where? What?
She claimed Democrats assumed Trump's shortcomings will lead them to election victories, but she made the same mistake of simply assuming Trump = unpopular.
Tell that to those who have a job now who did not during the Obama years.
Katrina’s husband is always the better read but it doesn’t hurt to read her, she’s pretty much the midpoint of the progressive wing and you can always tell right away what that wing is thinking from her.
For those who don’t know her husband is Stephen F. Cohen, the Russian expert and he’s always worth listening to, even if you don’t agree with the conclusions.
“The triumph of hope over experience.”
She failed to notice that the Democratic Party is the party of illegal immigration (and a boatload of “rights” and giveaways to illegal immigrants)—didn’t even mention the issue in her article.
They can’t even honestly discuss the issue. much less start to deal with it.
“Hard core democrats are unteachable.”
Rattlesnakes don’t change neither do democrats.
“Mz Vanden Heuvel is wrong. The Democrat base is not made up of working-people. It is made up of those getting a government check.
Ding!
Not only are they NOT working people, they’re NOT even taxpayers.
(how can you pay taxes if your paycheck comes from taxes?)
Many get their daily bread from government jobs, 50% of which are a detriment to our economy. Many others get their bread from government welfare payments. There is a growing dearth in those looking for work, because welfare pays better than jobs they can do with their very limited skills.”
Overpaid Gov workers are a plague across this country:
Ever see a 55 year old gent with his wife in their $100,000 RV, off to the next campground, while you’re on your way to work?
Chances are it’s a retired Gov worker making 50-100 grand/year for the next 35 years. They need you to dig ditches until you’re 67 to keep their privileges.
“Those who are pulling the wagon are not Democrats.”
Can we raise taxes on registered Democrats?
They are pinning their hopes on newly minted American citizens - Dreamers and others given citizenship. To hell with regular Americans, right?
My hope is that is still is comprised with many working Americans, who will one day, see the light and vote Republican.
There’s reason for hope? So the answer is no?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.