The US Democratic Party - The Road to 2026 and 2028

HTG said:
That’s been the case since Reagan really.
And qualifications didn’t matter before, too. All that matters was being part of either the military, corporate or evangelical elites.
Click to expand...

Reagan was a Governor, which has historically been the best qualification one could have before running for POTUS, especially when its a major state like California. Trump is really the first example in modern history who has tangibly removed the barrier (and not necessarily in a good way) that people needed to be politicians to run for higher political office.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
Good if he is a good public speaker then I'm all for the Dems trying something new.

Going with the establishment seniority and "most qualified" Washington politician has been a failed strategy for the Dems and it's how we basically got two Trump residencies.
Click to expand...
Stephen A. Smith is a weapons grade moron. A professional shouter of nonsense. Surely there's a way to disregard seniority and go with Democrats that are charismatic and competent. It's not like they don't exist.
 
Mike Smalling said:
Stephen A. Smith is a weapons grade moron. A professional shouter of nonsense. Surely there's a way to disregard seniority and go with Democrats that are charismatic and competent. It's not like they don't exist.
Click to expand...

That's obviously his sport persona, but we know very little about him politically.
 
Raoul said:
Reagan was a Governor, which has historically been the best qualification one could have before running for POTUS, especially when its a major state like California. Trump is really the first example in modern history who has tangibly removed the barrier (and not necessarily in a good way) that people needed to be politicians to run for higher political office.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Perot ran for President without being a politician in 1992. And the Predator movies elected two governors (Arnold and Jesse Ventura) without being politicians first. I think the barriers were already removed or least lowered which allowed Trump to take advantage since people had somewhat got used to non-politicians in government roles. And the whole concept of government needing a "businessman" in charge had been floated for a while even without a specific candidate.
 
Last edited:
oneniltothearsenal said:
Hmm. Perot ran for President without being a politician in 1992. And the Predator movies elected two governors (Arnold and Jesse Ventura) without being politicians first. I think the barriers were already removed which allowed Trump to take advantage
Click to expand...

Yeah sorry. Completely forgot about Perot! He was probably the first, although there was a good 20 year gap before Trump's rise, which was largely fueled by the residual sentiment of the Tea Party movement of the early Obama years.
 
Raoul said:
That's obviously his sport persona, but we know very little about him politically.
Click to expand...
He did an interview with one of the Pod Save America guys (Obama era liberals), and he did not come across well, in my opinion. Just confirmed my view of him as a blowhard.
 
Mike Smalling said:
He did an interview with one of the Pod Save America guys (Obama era liberals), and he did not come across well, in my opinion. Just confirmed my view of him as a blowhard.
Click to expand...

I'm sure he shouted a lot, which is part of his schtick. Not sure about his policies, or even if he has any preferred ones to talk about, or whether he's simply doing it all for publicity.
 
Mike Smalling said:
Stephen A. Smith is a weapons grade moron. A professional shouter of nonsense. Surely there's a way to disregard seniority and go with Democrats that are charismatic and competent. It's not like they don't exist.
Click to expand...

I don't know enough about him personally to have an opinion on him personally but its not so much I want him as President but that the Dems need to shake things up. An outsider can help shake things up and not let them carry on the way they have been which isn't working.
 
At least Stephen A rhetorically can go toe to toe with the right.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
I don't know enough about him personally to have an opinion on him personally but its not so much I want him as President but that the Dems need to shake things up. An outsider can help shake things up and not let them carry on the way they have been which isn't working.
Click to expand...
An outsider might be good, but in that case there are better outsiders. Give me freaking Mark Cuban over Stephen A.
 
I'd like to see a lot of the old guard bugger off to be honest, this debacle in Texas should've been relatively easy to avoid.

 
I know this is so far fetched that it borders on the off topic, but I've reached the point where I want dems to nominate 50 cent so he can run an entire campaign solely on trolling Trump. I don't think he'd even need to leave NYC to win either.
 
Raoul said:
Cuban has zero political acumen. It would be like the Rs attempting to run Dave Portnoy as a Trump replacement.
Click to expand...
Neither does Stephen A. And at least Cuban is seemingly smart and has a business background, which helps with electability.

But to be clear, I don’t want either. I think it could likely be a “return to normalcy” election, and there are actually decent Dem governors to choose from. It doesn’t have to be a TV douchebag.
 
thisisnottaken1 said:
Exactly. The Democrats need to move to the left if they want to win the next election (If there is an election that is free and fair, that is).
Click to expand...
I don't know about this anymore, it seems a lot of voters are moving to the right. The Labour party made the same bet of becoming Tory lite and won. I think Democrats will become republican lite and win. Left wing politics seem to be more popular here and certain sections of the internet. I hope I am wrong but it seems this way to me considering recent election results in most places.
 
Dr. StrangeHate said:
I don't know about this anymore, it seems a lot of voters are moving to the right. The Labour party made the same bet of becoming Tory lite and won. I think Democrats will become republican lite and win. Left wing politics seem to be more popular here and certain sections of the internet. I hope I am wrong but it seems this way to me considering recent election results in most places.
Click to expand...
People are swaying to the right, because they are constantly getting bombarded with misinformation about immigration and economics. After they’ve been told by a highly corrupt group of media companies, that governments are dumb, inefficient, wasteful and damaging to the economy, many bought into this. After they’ve been constantly told that immigration causes massive social issues, a lack of safety and security and costs incredible amounts of money, they started to believe that.

However, if we were to suggest to the same people certain policies, for example a program that would benefit poorer mothers while giving birth, these would usually be incredibly popular. It’s a bit of a paradox. In my opinion the people are mostly social and good hearted, but have been manipulated for decades and argue for wrong policies. The left parties, in order to remain relevant, chase those voters and start to talk exactly like the right wing parties, which again manifests these wrong beliefs.

It’s a huge tragedy and I have no idea how it can be solved.
 
Sweet Square said:
Such a strange political party
Click to expand...

Crockett is a bit of an odd one. One of the few that is willing to scrap with the worst MAGA people like Marjorie Taylor-Green, but then she also comes up with some very weird quotes once in a while.
 
Sweet Square said:
Click to expand...


Yeah, all this is all well and good but Bernie isn't going to run in 4 years, if he's even still with us then (I hope he is) and even the Mid Terms aren't till late next year. Is he going to be able to maintain or even grow momentum, interest and crowd size for that long? Or is he just an old man shouting at clouds?

I know AOC is often with him (despite that clips attempts to show her as little as possible) but has she got or can she get the popularity needed to make a run at the Presidency in 4 years time? I must admit I've always liked her, don't always agree with her but she's a great orator and can be ruthless in Congressional hearings but for some reason she isn't as popular as what you would expect her to be.
 
langster said:
Yeah, all this is all well and good but Bernie isn't going to run in 4 years, if he's even still with us then (I hope he is) and even the Mid Terms aren't till late next year. Is he going to be able to maintain or even grow momentum, interest and crowd size for that long? Or is he just an old man shouting at clouds?

I know AOC is often with him (despite that clips attempts to show her as little as possible) but has she got or can she get the popularity needed to make a run at the Presidency in 4 years time? I must admit I've always liked her, don't always agree with her but she's a great orator and can be ruthless in Congressional hearings but for some reason she isn't as popular as what you would expect her to be.
Click to expand...
I think Bernie is done electorally. He is 83 and was just elected to another six year senate term last year. I doubt he runs for anything again. So with that in mind, I think he just trying to influence the Democratic party by showing them that his ideas are popular and how to fight back against Republicans. It's probably the most he can do. If Democrats insist on drifting right as a response to Trump you could classify it as "Old Man Yells at Cloud", but at least he will have tried.
 
langster said:
Yeah, all this is all well and good but Bernie isn't going to run in 4 years, if he's even still with us then (I hope he is) and even the Mid Terms aren't till late next year. Is he going to be able to maintain or even grow momentum, interest and crowd size for that long? Or is he just an old man shouting at clouds?

I know AOC is often with him (despite that clips attempts to show her as little as possible) but has she got or can she get the popularity needed to make a run at the Presidency in 4 years time? I must admit I've always liked her, don't always agree with her but she's a great orator and can be ruthless in Congressional hearings but for some reason she isn't as popular as what you would expect her to be.
Click to expand...
I think it’s at least partly due to how the media portrays her.
 
langster said:
AOC
Click to expand...
Whatever about her record, she hasn't a got a singular chance in 4 years. The DNC, somewhat to its credit, but also terrible ideas re Harris, has put two women candidates out and each has lost. Clinton won the overall vote (a good candidate) but lost the election (massive mistakes made on that campaign too)

Anyway, AOC will fall into the performative trap that Harris went into. Sanders has nearly 40 years of history doing this kind of stuff which is why he draws crowds. AOC doesn't.

It'll be a competitive DNC primary or there won't be a democrat in the white house in four years. Fairly confident there will be a reaction to lean left by that time and the GOP will have exhausted its political capital on whatever its doing at the moment which is madness. The bigger problem is whether the Dems even want to. In the UK, Starmer, who professes socialism, won the largest landslide since Blair and decided to continue the Tory government. Who knows.
 
HTG said:
People are swaying to the right, because they are constantly getting bombarded with misinformation about immigration and economics. After they’ve been told by a highly corrupt group of media companies, that governments are dumb, inefficient, wasteful and damaging to the economy, many bought into this. After they’ve been constantly told that immigration causes massive social issues, a lack of safety and security and costs incredible amounts of money, they started to believe that.

However, if we were to suggest to the same people certain policies, for example a program that would benefit poorer mothers while giving birth, these would usually be incredibly popular. It’s a bit of a paradox. In my opinion the people are mostly social and good hearted, but have been manipulated for decades and argue for wrong policies. The left parties, in order to remain relevant, chase those voters and start to talk exactly like the right wing parties, which again manifests these wrong beliefs.

It’s a huge tragedy and I have no idea how it can be solved.
Click to expand...

What’s interesting is how this shift has flipped the traditional roles of political parties. A lot of conservative parties have moved towards right-wing populism, pushing for big changes based on that same misinformation and anger. In response, left-wing parties have ended up defending the status quo, basically stepping into the shoes of old-school conservatives. It’s like they’re trying to hold things together while also chasing voters who’ve been pulled to the right.

But by doing that, they risk losing their own identity. The space that opens up might be where a new kind of left-wing populism could grow, one that actually speaks to people’s frustrations but offers progressive solutions instead of reactionary ones. It’s a strange and messy shift, and yeah, it’s hard to know how we get out of it.
 
Mike Smalling said:
I think Bernie is done electorally. He is 83 and was just elected to another six year senate term last year. I doubt he runs for anything again. So with that in mind, I think he just trying to influence the Democratic party by showing them that his ideas are popular and how to fight back against Republicans. It's probably the most he can do. If Democrats insist on drifting right as a response to Trump you could classify it as "Old Man Yells at Cloud", but at least he will have tried.
Click to expand...

I can't believe I hadn't looked at it like that. I just got so rolled up in all the crowd size and the fight Trump and Elon stuff they have been saying.

I think that's probably right and it helps AOC show that she's more politically aligned with Bernie than the majority of the rest of the Dems and gets her recognition and popularity from voters although I doubt that she would be the Dems candidate for President, I do think she could get the VP spot for a number of reasons. If it is the case and they are doing it to make a point to the Dem leaders then it would be great if they could get some others to join them help spread the message and put more pressure on the Demoat party and its leaders and members. Whitmer and Cesar would be perfect.

I'd say the rest of the Squad but the other two especially get so much negative press, I'm not sure if they would do more to hinder than help? After all Bernie and AOC will be hoping that they will be able to reach independents too and possibly even some of the never Trumpers and disenfranchised Republicans however few or many that may be.
 
Vitro said:
What’s interesting is how this shift has flipped the traditional roles of political parties. A lot of conservative parties have moved towards right-wing populism, pushing for big changes based on that same misinformation and anger. In response, left-wing parties have ended up defending the status quo, basically stepping into the shoes of old-school conservatives. It’s like they’re trying to hold things together while also chasing voters who’ve been pulled to the right.

But by doing that, they risk losing their own identity. The space that opens up might be where a new kind of left-wing populism could grow, one that actually speaks to people’s frustrations but offers progressive solutions instead of reactionary ones. It’s a strange and messy shift, and yeah, it’s hard to know how we get out of it.
Click to expand...
It really is a mess and we’re seeing it all over Europe. However I like that you mention the part of the populist left. That’s our chance, basically. And it is happening in Germany already. The left party managed to gain a surprising amount of votes, especially with young voters. If that trend can continue, it might move other parties to the left again, as they need to chase those voters.
But it’s a difficult thing to do, as left parties nowadays have next to no backing by a media landscape that loves nothing more than shitting on socially conscious policies.
The left needs to find ways to use social media to their advantage. Otherwise I don’t see any chance for success.
 
langster said:
Yeah, all this is all well and good but Bernie isn't going to run in 4 years, if he's even still with us then (I hope he is) and even the Mid Terms aren't till late next year. Is he going to be able to maintain or even grow momentum, interest and crowd size for that long? Or is he just an old man shouting at clouds?
Click to expand...
It’s difficult to not see it as this -



The centrists have left a void post Trump win which the progressives are trying to fill. But it’s ultimately nothing more than old man shouting at clouds and also less coherent than 2016/2020.
 
Sweet Square said:
The centrists have left a void post Trump win which the progressives are trying to fill. But it’s ultimately nothing more than old man shouting at clouds and also less coherent than 2016/2020.
Click to expand...
It needs to be about labour and labour organizing from the bottom up. That's how you change things. Unionization and education, agitation, and organize.

If the union numbers move up significantly then you will have a real counterbalance to decentralized DC politics and one which is left-wing only by virtue of being for poor-people rather than some communist ideal. I.e., republicans also benefit from union jobs and unions.

I don't see any other way. Showing up for a rally once a year or every few months without the strategic plan for change at almost every level (unions do this when organized and not even just unions but spin-offs) is not going to cut it. So Sanders is best off leveraging his capital in that direction rather than Democrat reform. You can force the reform (of both parties) with a strong labour movement.

Zizek's point is that, really. A constant counter-balance rather than sporadic and then "job done let's go home".
 
Sweet Square said:
It’s difficult to not see it as this -



The centrists have left a void post Trump win which the progressives are trying to fill. But it’s ultimately nothing more than old man shouting at clouds and also less coherent than 2016/2020.
Click to expand...


The whole left wing/liberal/progressive wing of the Dems shocking handling of basic equality and fairness for all, which any normal reasonable person wouldn't even consider being in question, was an utter shambles and created the fecking awful 'Woke' nonsense that is used in almost every single wrong way possible by those on the right who use to mock or as a slur.

Also it wasn't helped by the relentless spread of Fake News by people like Trump, Musk, and lots of famous right wing folk, the media (both left and right outlets) and all over social.media that constantly reported bullshit like Drag Queens being responsible for child abuse, kids getting trans surgery or getting drugs to start the body changes at school. Drag and homosexual and fetish performances in schools etc etc....

It reminds me how badly the Remain crew handled getting their message out the months leading up to the referendum for Brexit. A mixture of absolute arrogance and confidence that Brexit wouldn't happen and piss poor media coverage, advertising, general information as to why it was bad and just all round diabolical advertising. I mean, the PM who called for the referendum didn't want Brexit to happen and he was cock sure it wouldn't. That's the same as the way the whole woke nonsense has been handled in the US. I think the Dems just naturally assumed the vast majority of people would have the reasonable opinion that equality for all should be a given.

Both are also pure cases of failing to read the room thus appearing completely out of touch with a t least halfthe population.

Subsequently you had Trump campaigning and often spending half the time talking about woke bullshit and using it to blame whatever popped in to his head at that particular moment. You also had the knock on effect of this becoming an issue tied to immigration and all sorts of perverted crimes and that completely overshadowing any other message the Dems tried to get out.

It's still a constant issue now and it really fecking needs to be nipped in the bud, although I fear it's probably too late for that and as long as it's an issue it's going to be like an anchor around the Democratic party's neck.

It's also going to be a huge part of why the two parties are so toxic towards one another and so polarized. But all the time you have the dishonest spread of bullshit by many Republicans the chance of people learning and if not accepting at the very least understanding what 'woke' means it's going to be near impossible to change anything. An honest Republican President or Vice President putting things right would sort it but the chance of that is like finding a unicorn that shits gold and throws up 20nyear old scotch in your back garden.
 
Last edited:
langster said:
The whole left wing/liberal/progressive wing of the Dems shocking handling of basic equality and fairness for all, which any normal reasonable person wouldn't even consider being in question, was an utter shambles and created the fecking awful 'Woke' nonsense that is used in almost every single wrong way possible by those on the right who use to mock or as a slur.

Also it wasn't helped by the relentless spread of Fake News by people like Trump, Musk, and lots of famous right wing folk, the media (both left and right outlets) and all over social.media that constantly reported bullshit like Drag Queens being responsible for child abuse, kids getting trans surgery or getting drugs to start the body changes at school. Drag and homosexual and fetish performances in schools etc etc....

It reminds me how badly the Remain crew handled getting their message out the months leading up to the referendum for Brexit. A mixture of absolute arrogance and confidence that Brexit wouldn't happen and piss poor media coverage, advertising, general information as to why it was bad and just all round diabolical advertising. I mean, the PM who called for the referendum didn't want Brexit to happen and he was cock sure it wouldn't. That's the same as the way the whole woke nonsense has been handled in the US. I think the Dems just naturally assumed the vast majority of people would have the reasonable opinion that equality for all should be a given.

Both are also pure cases of failing to read the room thus appearing completely out of touch with a t least halfthe population.

Subsequently you had Trump campaigning and often spending half the time talking about woke bullshit and using it to blame whatever popped in to his head at that particular moment. You also had the knock on effect of this becoming an issue tied to immigration and all sorts of perverted crimes and that completely overshadowing any other message the Dems tried to get out.

It's still a constant issue now and it really fecking needs to be nipped in the bud, although I fear it's probably too late for that and as long as it's an issue it's going to be like an anchor around the Democratic party's neck.

It's also going to be a huge part of why the two parties are so toxic towards one another and so polarized. But all the time you have the dishonest spread of bullshit by many Republicans the chance of people learning and if not accepting at the very least understanding what 'woke' means it's going to be near impossible to change anything. An honest Republican President or Vice President putting things right would sort it but the chance of that is like finding a unicorn that shits gold and throws up 20nyear old scotch in your back garden.
Click to expand...
The culture wars stuff definitely plays a part. Imo this is a product of struggling economy which is becoming more and more dependent on rent seeking.

Some people are willingly to say any nonsensical shite into a camera with the hopes of going viral and making some short term cash. Creates a toxic and confusing environment. Sadly it’s not going to get better anything soon.
 
Sweet Square said:
It’s difficult to not see it as this -



The centrists have left a void post Trump win which the progressives are trying to fill. But it’s ultimately nothing more than old man shouting at clouds and also less coherent than 2016/2020.
Click to expand...


More ominously, there is no one capable of remotely replacing him as a voice of reason on the left - at least for now. Although Maxwell Frost looks to have a promising political future ahead.
 
Raoul said:
More ominously, there is no one capable of remotely replacing him as a voice of reason on the left - at least for now. Although Maxwell Frost looks to have a promising political future ahead.
Click to expand...
In the current system, it's impossible for anyone to establish themselves as a serious candidate without the support of party machines or people rich enough to buy that machinery.

Sanders established a base as an independent which allowed him to be that centre-left voice of reason without DNC influence. I don't see how anyone can establish that base now as an independent in this climate. Even with that base, he still needed the Dem nomination and the DNC weren't having that. I can't see anyone within the Dems taking similar positions getting anywhere near high office. They'll be slapped down unless they tow the line.
The US (and the world) really needs a economically left-leaning party to seriously challenge the Dems and platform some even slightly socialist policies like free heathcare. If nothing else, it will stop the Dems being called radical left.

Thinking about it, from the position the US is in right now, it's similar to the UK parliamentary shift in the late 1800s/early 1900s when the UK was a declining Empire. It was the conservative, religious, landowning, tariff loving establishment that was the original Tory/Conservative Party VS the increasingly socially liberal, free trade advocates, the Liberal party.

The rise of the Labour Party disrupted that duopoly. The Tories abandoned the argument against protectionism and started to embrace free markets. Whilst Labour simultaneously pushed socialism at the other end. It ended with the Liberal party being torn apart.

We're seeing that in reverse in a way in the US. The Regan to W Bush era GOP has been torn apart by the rise of that historic Tory style party, and the Dems abandoning anything that the usurping Labour Party represented.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.