Yves here. As you’ll see shortly in today’s Links, both The Hill and Politico show Democratic Party figures admitting they are in trouble for the midterms. As this article points out, the Democrats have (barely) enough time to shift their messaging away from not-sufficiently-motivating 1/6 and other Trump aghastitude and Roe v. Wade, which apparently not #1 or #2 to enough voters, to delivering material concrete benefits. Here that would mean sounding dimly credible on addressing the fall in living standards, such as implementing broad excess profits taxes and implementing maximum pay schemes (top pay can be no more than X times bottom pay) until inflation fell below an annual rate of say 6%. The latter would have the added advantage of getting Corporate American on the side of not putting through price hikes so as to end curbs on their compensation.
However, the Democrats are unlikely to be willing to save their collective hides by selling out their loyalties to big donors. And remember, the Democrats for at least the last decade have been more interested in the patronage/revolving door opportunities they get from controlling the Executive Branch than from owning both houses. So the party isn’t even necessarily all that motivated to retain Congressional majorities, particularly if they might have to discuss the role of sanctions blowback in the Bideninflation.
By Julia Conley. Originally published at Common Dreams
With new polling showing that Republicans have gained a significant advantage in the upcoming midterm elections, progressives on Monday said Democrats must spend the next three weeks laser-focused on the U.S. economy and their plans to end price-gouging and rein in corporate power to help working people.
The New York Times/Siena College poll showed that 49% of likely voters now plan to support Republican candidates, while 45% favor Democrats. In September, the same poll showed Democrats with a one-point lead.
“This poll should be a wake-up call for our party,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).
“You can’t cede the economic argument to folks who say the answer is to give corporations and the wealthy more money.”
Independent voters particularly have swung toward Republican candidates, with 51% now saying they would support a Republican. In September, Democrats had a three-point lead with independents.
Despite widespread outrage over the right-wing majority of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling which overturned Roe v. Wade and paved the way for at least 13 states to outlaw abortion care, women who identify as independent voters showed the largest shift toward Republicans in the past month. They favored Democrats by 14 points in September, and now they support Republicans by a margin of 18 points.
The newest poll data was gathered between October 9 and 12, with 792 likely voters responding.
While President Joe Biden has recently unveiled policies that have the support of a majority of Americans, including his decisions to pardon people with federal marijuana possession offenses and to cancel some student debt for certain borrowers, voters reported that they plan to make their decisions in November based on the rising cost of living and inflation.
In July, 36% of likely voters said economic concerns were primarily guiding them to support or oppose candidates, compared with 44% now. Respondents who were focused on the economy were more than twice as likely to support Republicans than Democrats.
As Democratic leaders, candidates, and strategists review the data, Khanna said, they must consider progressive lawmakers’ recent push “for a sharper and stronger economic message.”
This poll should be a wake up call for our party. Several of us in Congress have been pushing for a sharper & stronger economic message with a call to make things in America, tackle the supply chain crises, and address price gouging. https://t.co/i65nCrlzUp
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) October 17, 2022
Earlier this month, Khanna introduced his New Economic Patriotism Plan, which would push the federal government to support American-made products and materials and which could help address the current supply chain crisis.
Khanna and other progressives have also spoken out about price gouging by powerful oil companies that have raked in over $100 billion in profits so far this year—lavishing the money on shareholders and executives while working people struggle to afford fuel on top of groceries, housing, and other essentials.
“Giant corporations are using inflation as a cover story to jack up prices and pad profits,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) earlier this year as she introduced legislation to empower federal regulators to stop companies from price-gouging.
Those proposals are among the subjects Democrats should be focusing on as early voting gets underway across the country, said progressives on Monday.
“Democrats should close the election with a clear argument about who is prepared to fight for the working class,” said Mike Casca, director of communications for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
While Democrats have unveiled proposals to stand up to wealthy corporations in recent months, Republicans have pushed plans to raise taxes on low income households and weaken government programs relied on by millions of senior citizens including Medicare and Social Security.
On Monday, The Washington Post reported that one of the top priorities for Republicans if they retake control of Congress would be to make permanent portions of the Trump tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefited the rich and corporations.
Warren Gunnels, an adviser to Sanders, pointed to a recent report by the pro-worker media organization More Perfect Union which showed that a promise to provide direct cash benefits similar to the expanded child tax credit—which Republicans flatly opposed continuing this year despite the fact that it cut childhood poverty by 30% and helped millions of families to afford necessities—was found to be “the most popular campaign message” a candidate could have.
How about that: The most popular campaign message is lowering the cost of living by providing working families $300 a month per child paid for by taxing corporations – which the GOP opposes. Our amendment to do that got 1 vote out of fear it would offend 2 corporate Democrats. https://t.co/XH69h0EhUB
— Warren Gunnels (@GunnelsWarren) October 14, 2022
Sanders has pushed Democrats in recent days to communicate clearly with voters about the danger Republicans pose to working Americans’ finances and how the Democratic Party has worked to help the middle and lower class.
“I think they should contrast their views with the Republican positions,” Sanders told NBC News on Sunday, repeating his argument from an earlier opinion piece in The Guardian. “I believe, and most Democrats believe, that at a time when half our people are living paycheck to paycheck, we should raise the minimum wage to a living wage. No Republicans support that. I think we should make it easier for workers to join unions. Republicans don’t support that.”
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber III, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, agreed Monday.
“You can’t cede the economic argument to folks who say the answer is to give corporations and the wealthy more money,” he said.
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Time to get out the sheep dogs, Sanders and Warren, and start promising Pie-In-the-Sky which Manchin and the rest of his “Centrist Democrats” will never support.
> fight for the working class
There it is again.
Jalen Rose: You never get what you deserve; only what you have the leverage to negotiate.
A national rail strike, right now, is leverage. Is there a DC politician, candidate, or agent/lobbyist calling for this? Quo vadis?
Ro Khanna’s poll has isolated the adults age 45 to 64 as particularly unconvinced by democratic arguements. They likely don’t feel much benefit from student aid forgiveness (aimed at younger adults), right to abortion (again aimed at younger adults), or Social Security automatic COLA increases (seniors). Whereas they feel the pain of rising health insurance for their family plans; these insurance costs are obscene. Middle and working class workers and small biz truely feel overworked, overregulated, overtaxed and underconsidered. They think other citizens are taking advantage of them while they experience a struggle to maintain themselves and families; reasons why they should participate are not evident at all. Truly, many party elites do not address them.
🎯
Bullseye.
But didn’t Obamacare solve all the nations healthcare worries? ;-)
When the Democrats went full-on neoliberal under Clinton, they were just setting themselves up for a fall.
Setting the rest of us up for a fall, which we’re now experiencing.
Themselves? They’ve been and continue to cash in.
Don’t mistake the Democrats for a party with a platform and vision, it’s a career choice to make money off selling lies, not too different from Alex Jones.
45-64 recall better times, better reporting, got better education, recall candidates who were parochial rather than b**t puppets for aged, shriveled ‘national’ party ‘leaders’, and at the top half of that range have been adult and cognizant of the whole sad, slow collapse of any genuine opposition to the fundamentalist and neoliberal takeovers of the country.
The desperate attempts to suddenly push ‘progressive’ policies right before the midterms have been particularly nauseating this cycle. I truly hope the Democrats see a lot of wised-up Charlie Browns staring angrily at them and their footballs when the votes are counted.
The simple truth is that both the DNC and RNC are corporate controlled, so there aren’t any major differences in policies that affect most people. They are also both wedded to the bloated military and endless wars for profit. So there isn’t going to be any huge difference with either party in power. The current RNC advantage is mostly about the Biden administration making life worse for most Americans (except the wealthy). Biden and his incompetent crew aren’t going to change, so a lot of people just want to vote for anything different. I will be voting for Working Families Party candidates when available, because I have no interest in supporting the warmongering Red or Blue Teams.
What kind of progressives ask the Democratic Party to “wake up”? Wouldn’t it better for all if they sleep and then just die?
The progressives that are interested in real power should really hope for that and organize in a party now.
Here you go…https://progressivepartyusa.com/
And also
https://theprogressive.party/about.html
Never heard of ’em? Me neither, until I just did a DuckDuckGo search on the term.
Based on these web sites, I can’t figure out which “progressive party” is more pathetic.
But then, all the Dems want me to do is “make a voting plan.” I guess the only consolation is, none of us gets out of this life alive. It does make me sad for young people, though.
“Progressives” = PMC = the scientific management movement. Ehrenreich’s 1977 PMC essay traces the timeline pretty thoroughly.
I don’t think we need a social class dedicated to social reform by inherently corrupt “experts”. It would be better if there were no direction from “above” at all.
There is little chance that Schumer will lose here in NY. Therefore his performative commercials are informative.
He is not running against Donald Trump, he is running against Mitch McConnell. He has been fighting for Roe V. Wade for years. He is always fighting for NYers.
Not one mention of any action in either of those fights to show success. Nor any indication of self awareness about his clear failures.
Just one caveat, I haven’t seen it, but supposedly Lin Manuel Miranda is cutting a commercial to point out how Schumer fought for and got relief funding for the Arts industries in NY, particularly Broadway. So one concrete thing. And yes having spent years employed there, I do have a soft spot for the fact that most got to come back to their jobs, although they wouldn’t have survived to do so without the Trump package that extended and supplemented unemployment. So only partial credit for the workers but win win for the producers and theater owners.
My point being that clearly the approved Democratic message is scary Republicans, increased threat to reproductive rights, and a generic fighting for you with no clear agenda or policies stated. Meaning we will find raise off all of this but really promise nothing.
And I’ll be informing the supposed progressives from my state that unless there are clear policy objectives and specific promises which candidates can be held accountable to, fighting for is meaningless and pointless and won’t win any votes either.
Haven’t they heard how great Lynne Defender of the Republic Cheney is?
To be fair, the Team Blue messaging on 1/6 amounts to “this is the greatest threat in US history, but we won’t risk our vacations”. I’m not even sure it’s fair to say they have any messaging.
Has anyone even seen the DNC chair? Tim Kaine’s tenure looks dynamic compared to the current bum.
At this point in time, the Democrats have as much a chance of retaining power as Liz Truss has of remaining Prime Minister. If you are going to campaign on remaining fully in power, then you have to have something to campaign on. And from my perch, they are offering far, far too little and far, far too late. In some ways, they never recovered from cheating Americans of that $600 coming right out the gates after being elected.
As IM Doc pointed out about the Georgia Senate race and how bad both candidates are, it really is more of a toss up then we probably think.
If you had asked me six months ago, I would have agreed with you. But seriously every race I look at, both parties took a race to the bottom approach. It is almost like an agreement to discourage people from voting is in place. Anger at Biden and inflation will be a draw but I will not be surprised if it all comes down to which one issue voters get to the polls and hold their nose to vote.
Two insiders in the Georgia House of Representatives said tonight at dinner that polls in the Herschel Walker-Raphael Warnock Senate election are 46-46. Trends say Walker wins…Maybe Warnock and Biden should have come up with the $600 they owe people. The current Governor has already given us $500 with more to come. Money talks, bullshit walks.
I’m a lifelong Futurist, and have lived down in Floriduh (!) for over 55 years. I’m a Progressive political activist and poll skeptic. A few thoughts about polls: what are their sources, and are the voters likely or registered ones? Plus, are they actually scientific? Probably not. I can’t stand the DNC either.
As scientific as polls get as they rely on value choices. The largest problem is answering phones in light of the spam terror and cell phones and now early voting. Usually the pollsters list those answers. When you vote is a matter of public record, so likely voters are reasonable to model.
In 2016, the pollsters projected a 2008 style turnout, ignoring multi-cycle organizing that simply stopped once Obama had his way and Clinton disinterest in organizing except tsking people for not voting harder.
Self identified is an issue. Are there millennial and Gen Z Democrats anymore despite overwhelmingly supporting Team Blue in actual ballots? Millennial are turning 40, but Team Blue has created a situation where they can’t manage to simply expect them to show up through treating them like they were pariahs.
Rasmussen in 2005 for the Virginia governor’s race like their reputation gave the headline as a slight GOP win, but buried in their report was a bit that mentioned the Kaine/DNC turnout operation, predicting a 7 point win if it worked. Kaine won by 7 points on the back of huge turnouts in places like Charlottesville and Danville all over the state. To get this, you needed a subscription or access to someone’s password.
Like anything, they are more useful as a tool for campaigns as opposed to snap shots.
If Republicans are “scary” it’s only because they are the more honest face of what our system is all about. The Dems are the party of deception whose only role at this point is to serve as the foil in the kabuki play.The Biden administration is the ultimate expression of this–careless about the consequences of their actions but very worried indeed about losing any of their power. Take it from them if a midterm loss will do it.
The Democrats are the very essence of the Yugoloths from D&D…they are greedy and opportunistic and have no problems lying to your face or backstabbing you the moment it becomes convenient for them.
Sanders can scold the Democratic Party all he wants. The Democrats do not and will not ever care, as they only consider who signs their donor checks. The thing is, the Democrats would probably be more than happy to sacrifice Congressional control in the midterms to get the spotlight off of them and to lower people’s expectations again. It is harder to maintain plausible deniability for their own ineffectuality when they are the majority party.
In any case, if Democrats try and make abortion rights the center of their campaigns, it will ring hollow because it is blatantly obvious that the Democrats have no real plan for codifying the right to an abortion and there is certainly no push to do anything at the state level. Even if the Democrats tried to do anything at the federal level to protect abortion, the current Supreme court would have no qualms about striking it down for being “unconstitutional”.
The difference between the two parties is largely where they stand on the “how badly shall we screw the ‘little’ people” meter. They run around like courtiers beholden not to the king but to the “upper nobility”, the donors. Denizens of the court of Louis XIV would recognize them instantly. Neither party has the stones to take corporate excess to the woodshed. I shall go to the polls, but at the moment I cannot say that I will actually vote for anyone. Why bother?
Debbie Wasserman Schultz sneering under oath about DNC™ LLC’s blatant contractual obligations epitomized PMC & yuppie librul perspective (which is as far as we’ll EVER hear!) Non-affluent, non-Aryan, proletarian & death o’ disparity deplorable input is ignored, our representatives CRUSHED by foreign oilgarchs, finance, tech autocrats & senile kleptocrats & petit-bourgoise churls did SO well, Catastrophe Capitalism’s COVID caper has them panicking; fundamentally, nothing will CHANGE (for them!)
https://portlandpress.com/biochemj/article/479/4/537/230829/A-central-role-for-amyloid-fibrin-microclots-in
https://mobile.twitter.com/BeliTsari/status/1582210523219005449
It has been said hereabouts that being known as progressive in the US Congress is a performance art. Look and sound good, give solid appearance to striving for greater equality and social justice. But don’t actually do much, because you will be ousted. Easiest for the Dems when out of power. We have a corporate state.
You might lead a donkey to water but you can’t it drink.
Oops! – You can’t make that donkey drink.
Last night I was watching Sabby Sabs, and she went down the list of things that Justice Democrats, all members of the DSA (AFAIK), had to sign up to in order to be able to run on their line. While I had read it at the time, it really is surprising just exactly how badly they have failed in their mandate. Segment starts at the 26:42 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhRyjV0Zabw
They are all just a bunch of
assesdonkeys now.That’s not the only mandate the Dems failed with.
One of my friends was mandated to take a certain medical procedure last year, she suffered terrible side effects, and guess which party she won’t be voting for now.
More evidence you’re correct: AOC taken to task for being supporting war that threatens to go nuclear.
Personally, I’m simply amazed people can be for a “Green New Deal,” but not for peace.
Thanks for the link. I was not aware of her. At the end she reads from the Harvard Political Review to find a definition of socialism. There she finds as a central tenet that the workers seize control of the means of production. That would indicate that they own it and thus control it. That is probably a poor choice of words, but what would one expect from Harvard on socialism.
Lenin in the State and Revolution indicated workers control. Once in power he did not follow through. He did still claim to be on the path to socialism and the US found it expedient to let him get away with it so as to vilify socialism. But this leads to a much longer discussion which I don’t mean to undertake here. I will add one other thing that Lenin wrote: you can have liberty, or you can have equality, but you cannot have both. I would say probably not in the present stage of human development.
Sabby Sabs and the associated Revolutionary Blackout channels are, I believe, what would be termed Democratic Socialists (with workers taking over the means of production). I think she was trying to make the point that such as Sanders are actually Social Democrats (where workers have a more pronounced place at the table along with capitalists when legislating for the collective)(I may have that one wrong), and have deliberately muddied the waters as to what the terms actually mean in practice.
So her problem with Progressives is that they cannot even live up to the less stringent definition of “socialist” one commonly finds in political discourse, as with the DSA; that they are just straight up liberals gaslighting the Left as sheepdogs for the Democratic party. In that she has proven to be right, hence the point about even such as Mate’ (someone they would normally categorize as a liberal/progressive) being disappointed in her.
They are a very interesting group, and they catch on to things far more quickly than a lot of YouTubers do. The protester at AOC’s forum is a friend of theirs, so they had him on all of their shows almost immediately after the contretemps to point out the deficiencies in AOC’s arguments.
But I did find the refresher course on what the Justice Democrats platform was to be very timely. I read it at the time, but those who voted for them/funded them might want to look at that again to determine for themselves just how badly they have performed on their campaign promises.
I did find the platform the Justice Democrats pledged to uphold informative, and yes, they have fallen well short. The Democrat Party doesn’t pay attention to its own platform either.
I don’t believe RBN identifies as Democratic Socialists.
>>>Once in power he did not follow through. He did still claim to be on the path to socialism and the US found it expedient to let him get away with it so as to vilify socialism.
As I recall, there was a push to have bottom to top reform and control, guided or governed from the top immediately Revolution, but instead it became reform dictated by the top downward.
I have wondered if the more radical pro democracy types had won, if Stalin and his ilk would have gained control; it seems the effort to protect the revolution by maintaining control actually killed it by giving a true monster like Stalin the means to kill it; a functioning mass democracy is more resistant to a true dictatorship (as opposed to a King/Emperor/Chairman) than other types of government, I think
The angst expressed in Politico and The Hill today simply demonstrate what we already knew; these media outlets are aligned with the Democratic Party and that party is in trouble in an off-year election.
I was struck by the NYT-Siena poll headline and both the question: “‘How comfortable are you voting for a candidate who you agree with on most positions if they say that they they think the 2020 election was stolen?” and the continued use of the term “Election denier” to describe the opponents.
Nobody is denying that there was an election. But some people are unsure of the results based on a belief that changes in the voter registration system, the use of non-paper ballots and the huge increase in potentially “non-secret” absentee ballots have created a system where the count may not reflect the public will. All of these are valid concerns I hear expressed by knowledgeable people on both sides here in DC, where I have been for the past month.
And what the Times sees as a poll showing an unaware public to me reflects a public that sees a potential threat to democracy but does not believe that all those pointing out the problems are trying to destroy democracy. As often happens, the public has a more nuanced view than the politicians and the press tell us.
Well the election was stolen……in South Carolina at the primary level. And the steal was funded by the health insurance, health care, finance and pharma industries who were scared to death by Sanders. And the democratic politicians in South Carolina are on record as opposing any sort of campaign finance reform because they feel they need to level the playing field and their constituents cannot afford to support them.
Traditionally, Democrats love to see polls tightening just before an election, whether the races are tight or not. Helps a lot with GOTV efforts if you can put a “the sky might be falling” spin on things.
That does not rule out the possibility that just maybe the polls are much worse, and the D pollsters are calling a tight race when R’s have substantial leads.
People talk about Abortion getting out the vote, but thanks to a very quiet women’s movement (shhh! don’t say where we’re meeting aloud — other people might show up!) if there has been a serious effort to get out the vote for Choice, it’s been well hidden.
The bubble should have burst a long time ago but now it’s floated soooo high it’s hard to see how any of the people inside can survive the fall. Say kids, what season is it? FALL SEASON!
Yes, the article and comments note Democrats campaigning on Roe, but I haven’t seen it. If it’s there, it’s getting lip service and not much more. Team Blue is terrified of an expansive dedicated majority in the Senate or the status quo. They desperately want to go back to just being friends with Lindsey and Manchin.
I’ve (in NH) been getting constant pro-Roe ads from NH dems this Fall, whether on YT or the local radio station. I can’t stand it anymore. It’s pretty much all they’ve been campaigning on here.
Oh, and also in the mail.
I’m in SE Michigan. I really don’t know what the messaging is, I don’t listen to any radio, my TV hasn’t been plugged in for over twenty years, and well, I do get the mail but it hasn’t been excessive so far. On the ballot is an amendment to the MI constitution which will enshrine abortion rights and I will go to vote for that.
My mother passed away last May but we continue to get a lot of her mail. She lived to be 95, was a big Dem supporter and was on the mailing list for every liberal cause you can think of. Most of the mail seems to be the usual Dem strategy of referring to every election as an emergency. On the front of the envelopes Roe v Wade is mentioned sometimes but mostly it’s an appeal to loyalty to the party and how bad the Republicans are. While I agree the Republicans are horrible, the Democrats’ cynical fundraising is appalling.
Here ya go!
Biden to Pledge Codifying Abortion Rights if Democrats Expand Majorities
LOL. Sure. How about well, now, when you’re in power and control both houses?
Nah.
Looks like they misspelled Democrat as well. They ain’t Democratic.
Its mid-October. This is to establish the claim for donors that Team Blue tried. What Democratic Senator is the problem? Make them vote.
They could have held votes, but Biden puts Jim Crow ahead of reproductive rights. You can at least say to people, here is what we are doing and get them to register. At this point, they are trying to line up voting for shut-ins and do shuttles for students.
Agreed, that would be nice. But Rs will simply filibuster it like they have every other bill they don’t like. Unless 10 Rs will vote for cloture, like a few did for the infrastructure bill, it will never come to a vote. Thus Biden’s appeal to elect more Ds to the senate with his promise of a Roe vote.
I am always astonished at how the rot caused by Mr Smith Goes to Washington, but if Democrats control the Senate, they can simply change the “rules” or even ignore the rules because their power derives from the Constitution not past Senates which includes past instances of the current Senate.
Its how they are able to change the rules when they need to. The Republicans when they are an opposition party are under no obligation to vote for the majority.
The real question is which Democrats besides Manchin, who has been relatively quiet because he lost a lot of friends, and Sinema, who is really stupid, don’t want to risk Manchin and Sinema being pressured into voting yes or a lone Republican voting yes.
Among two other plebiscites, there’s a reproductive rights initiative on the ballot in Michigan, which I learned about from a mendacious opposing billboard supposing a trans angle on the law (no such thing is apparent in the bill text as far as I can read). Fortunately, there is also a Working Class Party on the ballot for US Congress.
The Dem estab is ignoring the very big issue of what’s happening in public k-12 schools, the parents’ rights movement, and the moms upset about k-12 novel course work around “identity”. The Dems seem oddly silent about the swing of independent (politically unaffiliated) women from Dem to GOP this year according to polls. Inflation? Grade schools? Low pay for increasing work loads on the job? Dems seem to be ignoring those issues saying they aren’t important to voters. Guess they’ll find out.
They’re running on womens health and choice and the Courts – after failing on these issues for over 40 years. B still owes me $600.
Public schools are a disaster. My kids go to school in Mississippi. State got $2.5 billion in covid funding. 1 good thing they did was expand breakfast and lunch. Blew the rest on laptops, while none of my kids’ school windows can even open. Half the Democratic PMC support charter schools, why not their kids don’t go to them, and most school systems have bloated bureaucracies where vast sums of money disappear. Additionally, most normal parents are freaked out by the transgender issue. Vandy hospital shutting down it’s transgender surgery clinic for minors was a big deal in the south. Democrats seem to offer only social/economic chaos and corruption. In the end though, when you have housing, healthcare, education, food, and energy cost going through the roof, while throwing $60 billion at Ukraine at the same time real wages have declined 18 straight months in a row, your party is going to get it’s ass kicked. And Joe Biden still owes me $600.
About a day and a dollar short for any change to the “messaging.” Plus at this point voters who’ve been paying even the slightest attention will heavily discount any promises of tangible economic programs.
“And remember, the Democrats for at least the last decade have been more interested in the patronage/revolving door opportunities they get from controlling the Executive Branch than from owning both houses.”
I’d add that Team Blue is more interested in the process of elections and the associated fund raising than the actual outcomes.
“Progressives” should have been set off in quotes.
Ro Khanna, Progressive??? Elected by rich people! Pro-Israel! Helps keep the war in Ukraine fueled!
Sanders? Somehow his listing the MIC among issues he thinks are important to root out has disappeared.
The Squad? Seriously?! More like The Squid! Each arm groping for dollars.
Politics in the US is hapless, hopeless, and utterly inane and beyond redemption.
+++
The war machine has corrupted the whole political process. Also, structurally–(the sacred 18th century constitution)–this is a non-sustainable empire (as all are, eventually).
It’s 2022. Which ‘corporations’ and ‘wealthy’?
Is Walter Mondale running against Reagan? This narrative is as worn-out as I Love Lucy re-runs.
Democrats would sweep the midterms if they eliminated the Direct Contracting scam (REACH program) which hands Medicare over to the rapacious health “care” corporations. Look no farther than Obama and his office of Medicare “innovation” as he opened the door for Trump. Biden promised to eliminate this bipartisan scheme to privatize Medicare but the president’s inaction belies his true intent. He doesn’t need the House or Senate, just a desire to save Medicare. One would think that at such a precarious time the Democrats would be beating this drum, but there’s a lot of money to be made by destroying Medicare as we know it…a lot of money! Their silence is deafening.
Its too late for this. Biden’s problem is his legislative accomplishments are turning 5 2 year highway bills into 1 10 year bill ( So there won’t be much noticeable difference), a watered down spending bill that has come too late to improve people’s lives, and a hold over covid bill that had plenty of problems and didn’t extend certain protections while Covid and the resultant fallout is still going on.
As for tackling healthcare costs and the housing crisis, what me, worry? has been the Biden approach. And on it goes. On certain regulatory sectors, Biden has made improvements, but we’ve reached a point where the benefits will take years to be noticed. All we’ve done is stop digging. And in this area, he isn’t undoing Trump but Obama. Democrats won’t even run on it for fear of offending the Great One.
I believe Medicare Advantage plans were started by the Shrub “W”.
> I believe Medicare Advantage plans were started by the Shrub “W”.
They were. “Direct Contracting” is another layer of scam, designed to destroy “traditional” Medicare.
“792 likely voters” isn’t much of a sample to draw all these conclusions from.
just leavin this here:
https://media.giphy.com/media/cKJB9iqZ2dUv6/giphy.gif
Everyone should be very wary about poll results, especially since so much of US media seems to be tilted towards Democrats and their pet causes of division.
You can make polls say much of anything by choosing the demographic polled or the numbers polled etc.
Polls are just another tactic. If you can make your opponents think they’re winning in a canter, then their supporters who find polling booths hard to get to, or who are lukewarm, won’t bother to vote.
And on the other hand, your own supporters who find polling booths hard to get to, or who are lukewarm, will make the extra effort to get out and vote if they think their side is losing. Result. Victory.
So polls are just another tactic and should be taken with an enormous grain of salt.
This is proof that Democrats aren’t serious, if we still needed it.
I’m not a politician and even I can tell that right before a midterm is the BEST possible time to offend corporate Democrats. Pick a bold initiative that’s popular with voters, force the corporate Democrats to go on record as killing it by voting no, then make that the centerpiece of your campaign. Give us this many more votes, and we can pass this bill and tell the corporate Democrats to shove it!
The fact that the Democrats aren’t doing this even though it would almost certainly improve their polling is a pretty clear tell that it’s not just the corporate Democrats who want to preserve the status quo.
Messaging is not enough. Action is required.