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Democratic political strategy
/genuine question, asides from the obvious of republicans adopting left policy, what would have to happen for another party switch to occur?
like, i know it happened once. wondering what circumstances and context brought that about and if that’s even a realistic framing to think about today’s world?
Knowing Better has a good video about the Party Switch, although I'm not sure it's applicable to today
"Why isn't anybody voting for us"
I think the question they ask is more like "why are people voting for the other side?" ...leading to "we need to be more like them"
The problem is theres nothing on our side. Our choices are right of center and so far right they fell off the graph.
There's also the choice of doing what Bernie did, and build up an alternative from the local level, but that would require people to realise that politics aren't restricted to TV-level races nor snooze for 4 years.
If Americans did that in large scale they could to the democratic party the reverse of what the tea party did to the republican party.
The Democratic party hates Bernie though. Theyran so hard against him back in '16 and '20. I swear the Democrats would rather lose to a Republican than run an actual left candidate.
That's because there are only a handful of "Bernies". A party is not a monolithical block, it's the sum of it's members, and the centrists end up being in charge because they are the ones that end up representing the party at most levels. If you want to shift the balance you need leftists to run for school boards, and city halls, and build from there by starting taking over the state committees and DNC members elected by each state (which in turn control the DNC).
If even the most extreme of the extreme right managed to do it in the republican party, there's no reason why a moderate left movement couldn't do it in the democratic party - if anything I would expect it to be easier.
They only look at the votes that were cast not voters who stayed home
That's a slope, not an aisle
Frankly the people are the ones moving further to the right because the state does not educate them and regulate corporate power, transforming the public into a myopic panicked herd.
just playin' the long game. won't be long now and it will loop around to the far left.
Yup, we just need to accelerate and we totally won't end up in a fascist dystopia
Ah, so they are doing horseshoe theory in real life?
If there's so much appetite for a progressive/socialist party in the USA, how come there isn't one that gets a significant amount of financing and votes?
Because that wouldn't be in the interest of the billionaire class so it's actively suppressed. I mean, the government killed Malcolm X and MLK Jr. There's no telling how many more. Look at the response to BLM or the pro-Palestinian protest in comparison to the Jan 6 traitors. The left are painted as radicals for wanting equality and healthcare, while the right gets a free pass on being pedophiles, con men, and foreign assets.
When they don't have all 3 (house of reps Senate and presidency) they are forced to reach across the aisle. And they've had all 3 for, drumroll please, 4 of the last 24 years. Or 6 of the last 32 years. Or 6 of the last 44 fucking years. Don't want them to reach across the aisle? Then give them consistent and overwhelming victories.
I know posts like those feel good, but the objective fact is that the political conversation and (much more importantly) public policy has moved drastically leftward in both shorter terms (the last decade) as well as more medium-term measurements (the last fifty years).
ultimately its the voters. we have primaries as well as general and remember congress is what can really change things. The last election shows voters felt we were not right enough at all levels.
I think thats an over simplification.
Disinformation is part of it. Also leftist voters feel disempowered (they shouldn't, but they are). And voters often don't understand the politics behind good policy.
Its been shown that if dem policy were presented, then voters would overwhelmingly support it.
Maybe voters are more left than dems, but don't like dems fundamentally, because they have no backbone.
Sure there is disinformation but it does not nullify information. The voters can't say they did not know what trump was like or what the republicans have become. There was the four years previous and everything they actually say. If folks voted for it, its what they want. If folks did not its still what they wanted. What else would someone expect the results to be. What have the results been in elections before. We all know we have first past the post. We all know its a two party system. We can get that changed but its going to have to be a the primaries and working at every level. I hope the majority make better decisions in two years if they have that chance.
Everything you say might be right.
I think its perhaps a bit overblown...
But how do you plan to fix this? Go around and talk to each voter? No, let's think about why they became the way they are. I guess we could talk to voters that are disengaged and learn why. We could see what systems are in place so we can change them.
That seems more productive to me.
