Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Election Issues Wither the Democratic Party

This is a topic I wanted to address. Wither the Democratic Party?
Populism has two connotations: 1 positive = actually addressing the needs of the population and 2) negative = a con man/woman feigning to address the needs of the people.
What we have seen, from Dems and Trump alike, in this last cycle is the second type. Bernie was an exception. But they (the DNC) made sure he was pushed aside.

Glenn Greenwald has the most on point analysis of this phenomenon and, rather than repeat what he is saying, I offer it as a strarting point for this discussion.


The Intercept

I don't think that Glenn Greenwald is all that much "on point".

The liberals have not been stomping on 'the little guy' all this time. Liberal vs Conservative is the wrong characterization.

The correct split is Capitalist vs common citizen. Unfortunately, a great many common citizens have been brainwashed over the last three decades into believing that they are Capitalists and that liberal Socialists are the enemy. The ConROT movement has been successful. 1984 is upon us, nothing is what we are told it is. Greenwald has fallen into the same trap, lamenting with classic liberal self-flagellation and 'compassion' for the plight of the 'little people', demonstrating the sort of superior self-righteousness that insults that same common citizen. Greenwald doesn't know what the problem is.

The enemy is Capitalism. Sanders and Warren are on the right track. The task ahead is to make that clear, to develop and propagandize solutions that are populist and progressive, to root out the accomplices and supporters of Capitalism (the Clintons among them). Unfortunately, we are so steeped in a Capitalist culture that we are at once too greedy to work against it, too afraid to let go, and too ignorant to have a clear alternate system ready to replace it.

The ACA is actually an excellent example of the problem. Maybe we should use it as a basis for discussion of what an appropriate economic model to replace Capitalism would look like.

There were voices that were ignored. Steve Kornacki and Nate Silver both emphasized that Trump has a path that, though narrow, was doable if specific demographic groups in specific areas overproduced. They did.

Democrats still represent the majority of Americans, but that majority doesn't always recognize it. It is a problem with messaging, as I have frequently noted. They have been outmaneuvered locally, and nationally, because they've failed to recognize how merciless their enemy is. And, no mistake, the Republican party is the enemy of not only Democrats but democracy. It is demonstrated over and over whenever they gain power. They target unions, minorities, education and voting with precision. Gerrymandering and vote suppression, tax cuts and education manipulation are their especial tools.

There are enough of "us" to resist that, but Democrats have lost the perception battle. I would trace that, sadly, to the Clinton method of "triangulation." The DLC effectively borrowed from the GOP playbook tactically, but lost their way philosophically. They also played the wrong game. They were still abiding by the Marquess of Queensbury rulebook, seeking compromise, being gentlemanly, while the GOP was playing for keeps and using every underhanded, dishonest means they could to gain advantage: kicking, biting, headbutting and gouging eyes. They assumed the refs would step in, but the refs are easily distracted.

To regain the advantage, they need to accept that the game has changed and get brutal. They need to remember - and remind people - that they are the party of the New Deal and what that has meant for America. They've allowed the GOP Great Lie to overtake reality.

Organize, inspire, act.

This article is "on point".

How Clinton lost the working class

Reread.
That is what he is saying. It is Capitalism vs. Working People. The Clintons have always represented the former. So, it is on point.

You miss my point. While it is true that the working class has been stomped on by the Capitalists, the Trump voting working class believes they are the Capitalists and that Liberals are to blame.

The Trump voters, who are also improperly classed as 'working class whites', are racist, bigoted, xenophobic, etc. The 'elites' and journalists who blithely pointed that out are part of the reaction to the problem, not the problem itself. The real problem is that the delusional Trump voters have been trained for many decades, by a certain faction of what used to be the Republican Party, to respond to dog whistles. During the same time, what used to be the Democratic Party fell into apathetic acceptance of the cancerous debt capitalistic economy.

To put it another way, we have been stomping on ourselves.

You don't get much support calling voters "racist, bigoted, xenophobic, etc." - even if they are. The perception of the Trumpites is that the Dems, the media and the "elites" were labeling them as such. And in fact, all three were doing just that.
And as far as white working class, well, I have to disagree. I have a home and family in Western PA, the heart of the rust-belt. In 2008 they voted for Obama (in 2012 too, although less so), because they believed there would be change. Many of them are racist but they still voted for him.
When said change didn't materialize they stopped believing. They went solid Trump this year - guess why?
The Dems have shot themselves and the country in the stomach. They have been selling the wrong story. Hillary never had an "energized" campaign as did Obama and Bernie. There is a reason for that too, which I don't think needs repeating.
Yes, they are being conned by Repubs. But they have been conned by Dems too. Anger is a great energizer.

What do you recommend, anything?

What I am recommending is that we develop and implement a similar long term propaganda effort to turn "capitalism" into a poison word, and to rebrainwash the persons who have been brainwashed by the Limbaughian right. We'll have to avoid using the poisoned word 'socialism", though.

I think it is a mistake to oversimplify classifying those people who elected Trump as basically "white working class".

Start building a truly progressive party with people like Sanders, Warren, Robert Reich, Michael Moore, some elements of the Greens, some elements of BLM, the progressive unions, etc.
Create a united progressive front against Trump.
Call it whatever, probably the Democratic Party not a good choice.
Put forward a platform that addresses the concerns of ALL WORKING FAMILIES. Create a narrative that is comprehensible to ALL VOTERS.
Have a strong presence in regional/local elections. Work in communities (have meetings - DO NOT RELY SOLELY ON SOCIAL MEDIA - where people get to know the party, its ideas. TAKE SUGGESTIONS from the rank-and-file. Run the party as a true democratic institution.

Just for starters...