Why I left the Democratic Party

@edgarblythe,

First, let good democrats get elected, then let them fight the good fight.

@maporsche,

Quote:

I can't change what happened 2 generations ago...Using the tools,
people and resources that 2018 gives to me.

A useful tool and resource is reviewing the history of 2 generations back, in order to not follow the same exact road.

Quote:

I could sit here all day and wish things had gone my way yesterday,
last year, 100 years ago OR...make the best of what today gives me.

I am not saying we should dwell in the past. We merely need to look at it and learn from it. Taking that learning tool of knowledge is what will can make the best possible scenario today.

2 Replies

@Sturgis,

We are in agreement than Sturgis.

That's not what typically happens here though; this particular thread for example isn't about taking lessons of the past and using them to push for changes in 2018.

It's simply a place for people to complain about the past and about how things didn't fully go their way for the last 10, 20, 30 years.

I wish (oh do I wish) that we could focus on what lessons we take into the future and HOW we do that. Also how we convince the 60% of the country that is either independent-lean-right or republican to believe that our policies that we believe strongly in are the best for the country.

0 Replies

The persons I have been posting about are not ancient history. They all figure in the situation in which we find ourselves today. And if the mistakes these folks have made are not addressed, the morass we find ourselves in will continue.

1 Reply

@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

The persons I have been posting about are not ancient history. They all figure in the situation in which we find ourselves today. And if the mistakes these folks have made are not addressed, the morass we find ourselves in will continue.

How edgar, do you propose we address these mistakes?

That's what's been missing from all of your posts. When I ask follow up questions, I get "and your horse" as a response.

0 Replies

@Sturgis,

Sturgis wrote:

We merely need to look at it and learn from it.

I used to really believe and support this.

The problem I see is that things are now changing too quickly for many of the old lessons to have meaning.

We need to look at what is going to make a difference now, not think about what might have made a difference in the past.

1 Reply

@Olivier5,

Olivier5 wrote:

First, let good democrats get elected, then let them fight the good fight.

I do see a lot of changes coming up with some of the young, non-traditional candidates. Non-white, non-male, not ancient. It's definitely past time for the US to catch up with the rest of the world.

Now to get those new-style candidates elected - at every level of government.

0 Replies

@ehBeth,

Also this ehBeth.

The internet, social media, the cable news network, and the way our world is changing is happening SO MUCH faster than it has ever happened in the past.

I graduated high school in 1998 and I often marvel at how much has changed since I graduated and the last 20 years. It's insane.

1 Reply

@maporsche,

Twitter and facebook are noise, not message. What's important is to get a new breed of potentially electable democrats on the blocks in elections at every level. I mean, as eBeth said: young, diverse, not the same-old-same-old political machine cogs. A page must be turned. A generation must come to age politically and steer the party in a qualitatively different direction, to me of course more towards the left to counter-balance Trump. Much has been done in this direction already.

3 Replies

@Olivier5,

I'm on the fringes of the emily's list crowd. Know some involved women through social media, some as extensions from real-life friends. It's exciting to see/read what they're doing.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/365855-emilys-list-25000-women-have-reached-out-to-us-to-run-for-office

1 Reply

@Olivier5,

Olivier5 wrote:

Twitter and facebook are noise, not message. What's important is to get a new breed of potentially electable democrats on the blocks in elections at every level. I mean, as eBeth said: young, diverse, not the same-old-same-old political machine cogs. A page must be turned. A generation must come to age politically and steer the party in a qualitatively different direction, to me of course more towards the left to counter-balance Trump. Much has been done in this direction already.

You're underestimating the impact that social media has on the younger generation. It's not noise...it's how most anyone under 35 gets their news. It's also the first and last thing people typically check each day and not to mention something like 200 times during the day.

Social media is how a significant portion of the voting population HEARS your message. It's critically important that it's well understood and used to our advantage in 2018 and beyond. You must know that the DNC and HC had plans for just about every election topic in 2016. The issue is that most people only knew emails and news of the day. We MUST get better at communication (both the message and the delivery of that message)!! The message and the plans are pretty good ones, but not many outside the political junkies among us were able to hear those plans.

2 Replies

@ehBeth,

Bold step for the Women March to make, but yes, that's exactly the spirit!

0 Replies

@Olivier5,

Olivier5 wrote:

Twitter and facebook are noise, not message.

social media is much more than noise

it is a connection point - it can be used to rally people

the womens' marches last year wouldn't have been what they were without social media

#metoo came directly from the marches and social media

underestimating the power of social media is something we have to guard against - it's new and it's changing how people keep up with their worlds - and it is changing some people's worlds dramatically

we're seeing it right now in Toronto/Canada's theatre communities - they are being shaken to the ground. a few years ago, Jian got away with absolute crap. Now Albert is being taken down.

0 Replies

@maporsche,

maporsche wrote:

You're underestimating the impact that social media has on the younger generation. It's not noise...it's how most anyone under 35 gets their news. It's also the first and last thing people typically check each day and not to mention something like 200 times during the day.

not just the under-35's

I'm well out of that demographic - but twitter is where a lot of my political life is - with FB being the scheduling point for marches/meetings etc

__

I was talking to someone recently about Abuzz (one of A2k's predecessors). People were yammering on about how you had to watch teenagers and who they meet online. I pointed out that I knew (and have met) several women in their 50's (then) who'd left marriages to be with men they met online. Don't watch the teenagers - watch their grandparents. They're raring to go - and have the money to do so.

0 Replies

@maporsche,

If your message is poorly thought through and poorly conveyed by an ex-friend of the Trumps, it doesn't matter whether you spread it by twitter or mouth-to-ear or the traditional press. It will fail regardless.

1 Reply

Twitter and Facebook can go a long way toward deciding an election.

It's my opinion that a Hilary Clinton could not win in the next election. Possibly not Warren, either. It's fortunate that we still have time for a good candidate to emerge.

1 Reply

@Olivier5,

Olivier5 wrote:

If your message is poorly thought through and poorly conveyed by an ex-friend of the Trumps, it doesn't matter whether you spread it by twitter or mouth-to-ear or the traditional press. It will fail regardless.

I'll give you poorly conveyed, but not poorly thought out.

The plans that the DNC has are good ones and they're pretty thorough (at least as much as a plan can get at this stage).

1 Reply

@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

Twitter and Facebook can go a long way toward deciding an election.

It's my opinion that a Hilary Clinton could not win in the next election. Possibly not Warren, either. It's fortunate that we still have time for a good candidate to emerge.

All those sentences are about as close to fact as something can possibly be.

0 Replies

Andy Borowitz

UM, IF I CAN BE SERIOUS FOR A SECOND: I’ve seen a lot of opinion-writers online suggesting that an Oprah candidacy would be the final proof that America has been overrun by an insane culture of celebrity.
Um, not really. Historically, whenever given the chance, Americans have always elected celebrities as President.
When the most famous people in the country were generals, we elected George Washington, Andrew Jackson and Ulysses Grant.
When the most famous people in the country were movie stars, we elected Ronald Reagan.
When the most famous people were TV stars, we elected Donald Trump.
I know, that last one was gross.
Now, you might argue that electing generals makes more sense than electing TV stars. But Andrew Jackson was one of the worst Presidents in history, and Grant was pretty terrible, too. They didn’t win because they had relevant government experience. They won because they were famous.
Which brings us to Oprah.
Whatever the merits of her candidacy, let’s not act like electing celebrities is some weird new perversion of our social media age. It’s what we’ve always done.
I don't know if Oprah is qualified (I don't know enough about her yet). But being a celebrity certainly does not disqualify her.

0 Replies

@maporsche,

I don't know the details but my understanding is that the current platform bears the mark of Bernie and is about ok as a result. The problem was that nobody really knew for sure that HRC would try to implement it. Her take on policy issues is notoriously unstable.

I would argue that a even more aggressively leftist platform would work even better for the Dems -- a single payer system, higher taxes on the wealthy, a smaller armed forces, a strong impetus to public education, and the likes. The Dems need to come back to their basis, stop chasing after the ever-radicalising Repukes, stop trying to occupy an ever moving "centre", and instead respond to the desire of the nation for serious structural change.

Getting the message right is key to using any media effectively; it's not "either or". And social media, mind you, is especially useful to LISTEN to the electorate. It's not just a new way to broadcast.
A

1 Reply

Why I left the Democratic Party

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know