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[Dr. Benton Quest]

Look no further than our own recent thread for proof of this:

The left: the Democratic Party needs to recognize the depths of its crisis.

Establishment Democrats: These special elections are encouraging signs!

Ossoff represents the blockhead mentality of so many of the corporate Democrats,” said the National Nurses United spokesperson Charles Idelson. The organization advocates for moving the Democratic party to the left, and Idelson argued Ossoff lost in part by rejecting single-payer health care and by running a scrupulously centrist campaign on economics. “This is the time to recognize the bankruptcy of the old methods of the Democratic establishment.”

So which is it? Is Pelosi the problem? The message? Both? Congressional Democrats can’t seem agree — and the discord will undoubtedly prove challenging to overcome in every race ahead. Many close to Democratic leadership even say it’s neither, sticking to the establishment message of writing off the narrow losses as victories.

Call each other Republican-lite or Berniebots if old.

Edit: Sorry forgot link

 

[Deleted member 231381]

It's disappointing to watch centrist Democrats continue to condemn the LGBT and black communities by proving unable to win elections with such a milquetoast national party message. Even good candidates can't escape being dragged down by that millstone.

 

[Lightning_Roller]

It's disappointing to watch centrist Democrats continue to condemn the LGBT and black communities by proving unable to win elections with such a milquetoast national party message. Even good candidates can't escape being dragged down by that millstone.

It is sad. I'm losing hope we'll ever see another dem victory for a long time.

 

[excelsiorlef]

So A) no link

B)

This:

Ossoff represents the blockhead mentality of so many of the corporate Democrats,” said the National Nurses United spokesperson Charles Idelson. The organization advocates for moving the Democratic party to the left, and Idelson argued Ossoff lost in part by rejecting single-payer health care and by running a scrupulously centrist campaign on economics. “This is the time to recognize the bankruptcy of the old methods of the Democratic establishment.”

Is nonsense...

 

[rjc571]

We just turned an R+20 district into an R+4 district. TIME TO PANIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Lime]

cf. minimum wage, single player health care, taxing the rich, etc.

 

[HStallion]

I predict some of the left will panic and the rest will continue to truck on like they have been.

 

[Aaronology]

Is it?

I see a lot of people saying that, but I don't see any noteworthy panic. Or a link to the article in the OP.

 

[Shard]

It is sad. I'm losing hope we'll ever see another dem victory for a long time.

The statistical thru-line running from each of the special elections does portend a blue wave next year.

 

[Nikodemos]

The hard left has this annoying tendency to point fingers at everybody apart from their actual adversaries after a defeat.

 

[excelsiorlef]

I want to see the overlap between folks who think Ossoff wasn't left enough and that's why he lost a previously GOP +20 district and those calling for Pelosi's head, who if she were to go now would be replaced by someone far less progressive than she is.

 

[Blader]

The left is always in panic.

 

[hammysaurusrex]

Yes, clearly running a straight up socialist would have brought an easy victory to a white wealthy district like GA-6.

Come the fuck on.

 

[Dirtyshubb]

cf. minimum wage, single player health care, taxing the rich, etc.

Damn, some truth there for many centrists i believe.

 

[water_wendi]

Diet Republican is not going to cut it any more. Maybe after there is no change of course in 2018 and 2020 there will be enough to get something new going. Also keep in mind that when the Democratic Party moves right it forces the Republicans to move even further right. Who knows where the US will be in 2020. Hopefully ill be dead by then.

 

[The Flop]

This is fun to watch, but it's a wake up call they need.

 

[Mikef2000]

So you mean to tell me that panic didn't already set in once a narcissistic pathological liar and racist orange man won the highest public office in the US?

 

[balladofwindfishes]

The statistical thru-line running from each of the special elections does portend a blue wave next year.

Yea, but let's forget that and PANIC

 

[excelsiorlef]

Diet Republican is not going to cut it any more. Maybe after there is no change of course in 2018 and 2020 there will be enough to get something new going. Also keep in mind that when the Democratic Party moves right it forces the Republicans to move even further right. Who knows where the US will be in 2020. Hopefully ill be dead by then.

Christ the Dems are not Diet Republican....

And wait are you now saying it's the Dems' fault the GOP moved right?

 

[Crocodile]

GA-06 was lost on culture wars not policy. At no point did Handel argue affirmatively for her policies but rather sought to tar & feather Ossoff. The quicker Dems start using those dirty tricks back at the GOP the faster/better. Dems already have the policies, just need to get madder and grimier!

I also really wish people would stop getting pissy and just take the special elections - which were all going to be tough since those members were taken from those seats for a reason - as lessons rather than reasons to start contemplating seppuku. This is not the first time in political history that a loss in a special election was thought to be the end times but was wrong. It won't be the first.

 

[Blader]

cf. minimum wage, single player health care, taxing the rich, etc.

Raising taxes on the rich to pay for healthcare, infrastructure, etc. has been the guiding principle of the Democratic Party, left and center, for fucking years. The tweet itself is asinine but you couldn't have called out worse examples to support it!

Diet Republican is not going to cut it any more. Maybe after there is no change of course in 2018 and 2020 there will be enough to get something new going. Also keep in mind that when the Democratic Party moves right it forces the Republicans to move even further right. Who knows where the US will be in 2020. Hopefully ill be dead by then.

...no. Bill moved to the center in order to break 12 years of Republican hold on the White House, and even then it was to get shit done with a far-right congress. As Bush, Romney, and Trump looked to push the GOP further right, Obama and Hillary pushed the Democratic Party to the furthest left it has been in decades.

 

[water_wendi]

Christ the Dems are not Diet Republican....

And wait are you now saying it's the Dems' fault the GOP moved right?

Every time the Democrats move right the Republicans have to move further right to differentiate themselves.

 

[netBuff]

Christ the Dems are not Diet Republican....

And wait are you now saying it's the Dems' fault the GOP moved right?

Ossof did run on "cutting wasteful spending", which is pretty much "Diet Republican".

 

[NoblesseOblige]

I don't exactly see the panic.

 

[Alucrid]

I can't believe we didn't win the district that elected newt Gingrich 11 times

 

[excelsiorlef]

Every time the Democrats move right the Republicans have to move further right to differentiate themselves.

This makes zero logical sense in the context of Obama

 

[Aaronology]

Diet Republican is not going to cut it any more. Maybe after there is no change of course in 2018 and 2020 there will be enough to get something new going. Also keep in mind that when the Democratic Party moves right it forces the Republicans to move even further right. Who knows where the US will be in 2020. Hopefully ill be dead by then.

Explain how a candidate further to the left of Ossoff would have performed better. In what way should Ossoff have been more progressive to win over GA-6? What issue(s)? Please, lay it out for me. We'll momentarily put aside that Democrats put up a fight for a district they initially had slim hope of winning, and actually made competitive a seat held by the GOP for the last several decades.

 

[tbm24]

Well, while the left runs around with their hair on fire, I'll just be waiting patiently until it's time for me to vote again.

 

[moffattron9000]

cf. minimum wage, single player health care, taxing the rich, etc.

Says a left wing that wants to chase after the White-working-class and wants to abandon "Identity Politics".

 

[Blader]

Ossof did run on "cutting wasteful spending", which is pretty much "Diet Republican".

Ossoff was running in a heavy Republican district that hasn't sent a Dem to Congress in 40 years.

It's not as if a lack of progressive bona fides depressed turnout. Dems turned out! But so did Republicans. And there just happens to be more Republican voters than Democratic voters in that district.

 

[Kinyou]

The hard left has this annoying tendency to point fingers at everybody apart from their actual adversaries after a defeat.

Is there much gained by pointing fingers at the opposition after a loss? Not like you can really make changes to your opponent.

 

[excelsiorlef]

Is there much gained by pointing the fingers at the opposition after a loss? Not like you can really make changes to your opponent.

Sometimes a loss isn't time to point fingers at all...

These results in deep red places are solid...

 

[teruterubozu]

Rush Limbaugh was cumming to this yesterday. It's fun being right-wing masturbation material.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Ossoff was running in a heavy Republican district that hasn't sent a Dem to Congress in 40 years.

That Democrat being part of the Dixiecrats that all died out.

Disarray.

 

[MrHoot]

Says a left wing that wants to chase after the White-working-class and wants to abandon "Identity Politics".

Haha, fucking what ?!

The left doesn't want to "abandon identity politics". The left wants leftist politics for both social and economic issues, who both serve in favour of identity politics. Compared to dems and a subset of liberals who wanna be left on social issues but are still rep-lights whenever it comes to economics

Freaking liberals I swear

 

[Darryl M R]

Any link? I feel like the vast amount of "the left is in panic mode" articles are hyperbole. I think there is a lot of work to be done but the special election in GA seemed like a great start. A hard fought battle.

I think the Democrats shouldn't use "well we were going to lose anyways" as an excuse, but I don't see how it is now means panic-mode. I like when fire is under the Dem's ass because I think it means they will move closer to the Left and I believe they are understanding that they need to have one voice.

 

[Trumplestiltskin]

We just turned an R+20 district into an R+4 district. TIME TO PANIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FWIW the democratic candidate in 2016 won 124,917 votes and Ossoff won 124,893 despite it being

1) in opposition
2) with the benefit of massive fundraising
3) with a lot of hype from progressive/democratic sources

If it didn't look winnable, then it shouldn't have been positioned as such.

 

[Necrovex]

Ossof did run on "cutting wasteful spending", which is pretty much "Diet Republican".

He was running in a Republican district, therefore he tailored his message to suit his constituents.

 

[StayDead]

It still amazes me that people begin to call the Democractic party in America the left, let alone the far left.

 

[nintendoman58]

I don't exactly see the panic.

Look in any thread about Trump or Republicans.

 

[Blader]

Haha, fucking what ?!

The left doesn't want to "abandon identity politics". The left wants leftist politics for both social and economic issues, who both serve in favour of identity politics. Compared to dems and a subset of liberals who wanna be left on social issues but are still rep-lights whenever it comes to economics

Freaking liberals I swear

There was literally someone here who posted the other day that we need to tone down our message on civil rights.

CIVIL RIGHTS.

 

[Draxal]

I mean there is fiscal and social ideologies, you can't conflate the two in such discourse, because the democratic party is diverse there.

 

[teruterubozu]

I predict some of the left will panic and the rest will continue to truck on like they have been.

Pretty much. The reality is the majority of Dem voters don't even know about this election in GA. Only the hardcore political heads have been following this.

 

[entremet]

Democrats are so dramatic. They really suck at the long game.

 

[jakonovski]

Raising taxes on the rich to pay for healthcare, infrastructure, etc. has been the guiding principle of the Democratic Party, left and center, for fucking years. The tweet itself is asinine but you couldn't have called out worse examples to support it!

The Democrats are for a lot of things that they then fail to achieve, much like Republicans with abortion. I don't see why the Democrats should celebrate their stance when the trend has for decades been for lowering taxes for the wealthy and fuck the rest.

 

[Crocodile]

It still amazes me that people begin to call the Democractic party in America the left, let alone the far left.

It still amazes me when people from other countries like to use arbitrary foreign metrics to evaluate where American political parties stand as if its insightful or meaningful.

Seriously though, stop it. It's dumb.

Haha, fucking what ?!

The left doesn't want to "abandon identity politics". The left wants leftist politics for both social and economic issues, who both serve in favour of identity politics. Compared to dems and a subset of liberals who wanna be left on social issues but are still rep-lights whenever it comes to economics

Freaking liberals I swear

There are 100% people on the left who would throw LGBT, POC, etc. under a bus if it meant they could score wins. The man who gunned for Pelosi's Speakership role early this, Tim Ryan of Ohio, is a moderate example of one.

There was literally someone here who posted the other day that we need to tone down our message on civil rights.

CIVIL RIGHTS.

Jesus fuck seriously? LMAO

 

[water_wendi]

Explain how a candidate further to the left of Ossoff would have performed better. In what way should Ossoff have been more progressive to win over GA-6? What issue(s)? Please, lay it out for me. We'll momentarily put aside that Democrats put up a fight for a district they initially had slim hope of winning, and actually made competitive a seat held by the GOP for the last several decades.

https://electjon.com/priorities/

The economy is the first priority in his list. Great. Lets see whats here.

That looks like Diet Republican to me. Dead last is a living wage. Note that "support" doesnt mean "fight for."

 

[dynamitejim]

I like how the left's goalposts have moved from "We have to compete everywhere!" to "We have to win every race we compete in!". It's kind of in line with the obsession with purity and getting 100% of what they want or taking their ball and calling you a sell out.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

I *really doubt* a harder left candidate could win GA-6. That kinda hardcore fiscal liberalism might play well to the Midwest, but not really to a decently wealthy suburban area.

 

[MrHoot]

There was literally someone here who posted the other day that we need to tone down our message on civil rights.

CIVIL RIGHTS.

Well that person is an asshole. But as far as i'm concerned, anecdotal asshole doesn't equate to "leftists" (and if he said that, he's not one). Knowing quite a lot of leftists and following a bunch on youtube like Garrett or Hbomb, Contra, S&J and such, none would reject "identity politics"