The problem is the parties, both parties. Both parties have far to much control who wins their primary elections so that far too often the candidate running in the general election represents the money behind the party and not the voters. If this is not the case why will the Democratic establishment not support banning Super PAC and Dark Money in the primaries, allow independent voters to vote in the primaries, and support public financing of campaigns? The DNC is not afraid that candidates supports by "The Squad" will lose in the general election they are afraid they will win! This election cycle I am supporting independents and Democrats that the establishment did not want to win their primaries. Two books I recommend for voters to read are by Mike Lofgren a former Republican staffer in the House and Senate budget committees from Ohio for 28 years. In his own word he has left the cult. The books are "The Party Is Over" and "The Deep State." Lofgren's deep state has nothing to do with the Republican fantasy deep state but is rather the union of finance, big banks, the military industrial complex, big tech, and all the elected and appointed officials they have bought and paid for. The Republicans stole the term from Lofgren. Here are introductions to both books.
In 2016, 2020, and 2024 the Democratic establishment put their finger in the scales and we got the presidential candidates the party wanted. The only reason Biden won in 2020 is that Trump screwed up COVID so badly. In 2016 the Republican voters rebelled against the party selected candidates and we got Trump who conned them. The Democrats Party anointed Hillary possibly the only Democratic candidate that Trump could beat.
The Democratic establishment will not deal with the underlying problem. Discrimination has a purpose whether it is racial, sexual, ethnic, religious, LGBTQ, or whatever. The purpose is to control the blame pattern so that the people being discriminated against are blames for the rest of societies very real problems instead of the real cause which in the US (and maybe everywhere) is the corruption of the electoral process and society as whole by wealth.
When the cry goes up that these candidates are Socialist ask the question if Adam Smith were alive today would he consider our society to be Capitalist. Smith thought the downfall of his system would be people who did not earn their wealth.
Agree 💯 when you write “the candidate running in the general election represents the money behind the party and not the voters.” I’m livid that this happened in the Dem primary for SC01.
Great piece, Joe! It's hard to argue with what you're saying about the importance of authenticity, and hopefully, elected Dems will start to really understand the frustration we've been having.
Centrist Dems are delusional, pursuing a conciliatory GOP-lite platform as the far-right nut jobs run this country into the ground, desperately hoping one of the 13 living moderate Republicans will vote for a watered down version of their party. Meanwhile, "leftists" are enacting legislation that helps Americans from Day One.
"(Primary voters) are asking for a different kind of politician...Candidates who talk about the cost of living because they’ve felt it or have seen it up close."
Better articulated lip service or real policy? People want candidates with real stances unencumbered by corporate interests. That's why someone can logically support both Massie and AOC even if they differ significantly on policy views.
DSA articulates concise solutions. Healthcare for all. Raise minimum wage. Break up monopolies. Improve consumer protections. Overturn Citizens United. These policies are not only compatible with capitalism, they help society to prosper and become more stable.
While I don't agree with all DSA stances, I'd rather these be debated honestly than continue on this corrupt path. We don't need inspirational, but empty speeches. We don't need interventions that cost the taxpayers a fortune but keep the donors happy (e.g. ACA)
Trying to identify and appeal to "the middle" of corporate owned dems and corporate owned republicans is a fool's errand. The middle of corruption is still corruption.
I disagree. Voters want policies that the DSA endorses, like taxing the rich and universal healthcare. Est. Dems have had plenty of opportunities to make meaningful improvements and they chose not to. Obama bailed out the banks, not the people who were preyed on by the banks. Biden made grand overtures about student debt relief but let an astonishingly bought-and-paid-for SCOTUS overrule what Biden's voters want. And don't get me started on centrist Dems and their dedication to anti-Muslim Zionism.
Dems haven't fulfilled any promises in a way that matters. Our country and global community are facing some massive problems, like, NOW. Dems installed some solar panels and windmills, but don't kid yourself. They did NOTHING to get us off oil.
Sorry. Centrist Dems are MAGA-light, as far as I'm concerned. But I ❤️ Liz Warren!!!
“ Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” ~ this phenomenon does not bode well for the Democratic party or our country. I agree joe with your analysis. Authenticity Cannot be faked. As you mentioned in your book, voters will sniff out The candidate who Is Genuine and will forgive all sorts of Failures , Phukupz, Fornications, etc ~ Which is why Trump won a second term. He was the only one Speaking straight to the American people About the absurdity Of the Democratic party’s Fear Of its own extreme left wing interest groups who have the loudest mouths And focus on A tiny fraction of the electorate who they have canonized Because of their minority status. In addition A major majority of the American people also realized Trump was the only one Who called out the absurdity Of the CRT rewriting of history Which completely ignores the sins of every single non-white culture (Native American Indians Practiced slavery And when one tribe conquered another one It was common place for the women of the vanquished To become the property of the Victors, To be bought and sold to the highest bidder, In the 13th century The African slave trade Went both to the west and the east. The eastern Route was controlled by Islamic kingdoms Castrated an entire generation of African slaves So that there would not be a second generation. And those of us paying attention know how the extreme left-wing deals with the reality Misogyny slaughter on an industrial scale of innocent protesters The genital mutilation of young women, the sanctioned murder of homosexuals In Iran ~ They simply say we can't judge that's their culture. There's nothing wrong with that…. And that the only thing these left-wing theocratic dogmatists allow is that the western civilization in total and the white American male democratic, United States, and Israel in particular are the sources, the singular sources of all evil throughout the entire history of mankind! The American people are not stupid. They saw right through this. Trump was the only one who called it out and that is why he won the second term. , Kamala could not speak anything but psychobabble word salad when someone asked her a straight question about transgender operations for convicted illegal aliens in jail. These socialist Candidates Genuine just like Trump is Genuine. When will the Democratic Party pull its head out of it’s Sphincter And stop making the same mistakes Over and over again? Or perhaps the reality is Just like with the election and reelection of Trump The problem is not with the party The problem is with the Electorate.
The problem is the parties, both parties. Both parties have far to much control who wins their primary elections so that far too often the candidate running in the general election represents the money behind the party and not the voters. If this is not the case why will the Democratic establishment not support banning Super PAC and Dark Money in the primaries, allow independent voters to vote in the primaries, and support public financing of campaigns? The DNC is not afraid that candidates supports by "The Squad" will lose in the general election they are afraid they will win! This election cycle I am supporting independents and Democrats that the establishment did not want to win their primaries. Two books I recommend for voters to read are by Mike Lofgren a former Republican staffer in the House and Senate budget committees from Ohio for 28 years. In his own word he has left the cult. The books are "The Party Is Over" and "The Deep State." Lofgren's deep state has nothing to do with the Republican fantasy deep state but is rather the union of finance, big banks, the military industrial complex, big tech, and all the elected and appointed officials they have bought and paid for. The Republicans stole the term from Lofgren. Here are introductions to both books.
https://www.mikelofgren.net/introduction-to-the-party-is-over-book/
https://www.mikelofgren.net/introduction-to-the-deep-state/
In 2016, 2020, and 2024 the Democratic establishment put their finger in the scales and we got the presidential candidates the party wanted. The only reason Biden won in 2020 is that Trump screwed up COVID so badly. In 2016 the Republican voters rebelled against the party selected candidates and we got Trump who conned them. The Democrats Party anointed Hillary possibly the only Democratic candidate that Trump could beat.
The Democratic establishment will not deal with the underlying problem. Discrimination has a purpose whether it is racial, sexual, ethnic, religious, LGBTQ, or whatever. The purpose is to control the blame pattern so that the people being discriminated against are blames for the rest of societies very real problems instead of the real cause which in the US (and maybe everywhere) is the corruption of the electoral process and society as whole by wealth.
When the cry goes up that these candidates are Socialist ask the question if Adam Smith were alive today would he consider our society to be Capitalist. Smith thought the downfall of his system would be people who did not earn their wealth.
https://www.prosper.org.au/geoists-in-history/adam-smith-on-the-rentier/
The discussion I want to hear is what do we mean when we say someone earns their wealth and what do we do about it when they don't?
Let us end this screed with "Solidarity Forever" -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsPOgCPEeKs
Agree 💯 when you write “the candidate running in the general election represents the money behind the party and not the voters.” I’m livid that this happened in the Dem primary for SC01.
Great piece, Joe! It's hard to argue with what you're saying about the importance of authenticity, and hopefully, elected Dems will start to really understand the frustration we've been having.
Centrist Dems are delusional, pursuing a conciliatory GOP-lite platform as the far-right nut jobs run this country into the ground, desperately hoping one of the 13 living moderate Republicans will vote for a watered down version of their party. Meanwhile, "leftists" are enacting legislation that helps Americans from Day One.
I think this is a nice piece but misses the target. There is no question the Democratic Party has been moving left for years.
Dump schumer. The worst of the worst. He is probably still in isreal looking for his new home in Gaza.
The key word is authenticity.
You go Joe! Wish you were running for SC District 1 to replace Mace!
Agree! We can always start a write-in campaign…
"(Primary voters) are asking for a different kind of politician...Candidates who talk about the cost of living because they’ve felt it or have seen it up close."
Better articulated lip service or real policy? People want candidates with real stances unencumbered by corporate interests. That's why someone can logically support both Massie and AOC even if they differ significantly on policy views.
DSA articulates concise solutions. Healthcare for all. Raise minimum wage. Break up monopolies. Improve consumer protections. Overturn Citizens United. These policies are not only compatible with capitalism, they help society to prosper and become more stable.
While I don't agree with all DSA stances, I'd rather these be debated honestly than continue on this corrupt path. We don't need inspirational, but empty speeches. We don't need interventions that cost the taxpayers a fortune but keep the donors happy (e.g. ACA)
Trying to identify and appeal to "the middle" of corporate owned dems and corporate owned republicans is a fool's errand. The middle of corruption is still corruption.
The distrust is real and warranted.
YES! 🤩
This intelligent analysis omitted the virulent antisemitism in the Democratic Party and their supporter for terrorist groups
There we go again. Being anti netanyahu is not antisemitism.
Homie, you're anti-Muslim and you support Israeli terrorists. You need to give some serious thought to what you say.
I disagree. Voters want policies that the DSA endorses, like taxing the rich and universal healthcare. Est. Dems have had plenty of opportunities to make meaningful improvements and they chose not to. Obama bailed out the banks, not the people who were preyed on by the banks. Biden made grand overtures about student debt relief but let an astonishingly bought-and-paid-for SCOTUS overrule what Biden's voters want. And don't get me started on centrist Dems and their dedication to anti-Muslim Zionism.
Dems haven't fulfilled any promises in a way that matters. Our country and global community are facing some massive problems, like, NOW. Dems installed some solar panels and windmills, but don't kid yourself. They did NOTHING to get us off oil.
Sorry. Centrist Dems are MAGA-light, as far as I'm concerned. But I ❤️ Liz Warren!!!
“ Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” ~ this phenomenon does not bode well for the Democratic party or our country. I agree joe with your analysis. Authenticity Cannot be faked. As you mentioned in your book, voters will sniff out The candidate who Is Genuine and will forgive all sorts of Failures , Phukupz, Fornications, etc ~ Which is why Trump won a second term. He was the only one Speaking straight to the American people About the absurdity Of the Democratic party’s Fear Of its own extreme left wing interest groups who have the loudest mouths And focus on A tiny fraction of the electorate who they have canonized Because of their minority status. In addition A major majority of the American people also realized Trump was the only one Who called out the absurdity Of the CRT rewriting of history Which completely ignores the sins of every single non-white culture (Native American Indians Practiced slavery And when one tribe conquered another one It was common place for the women of the vanquished To become the property of the Victors, To be bought and sold to the highest bidder, In the 13th century The African slave trade Went both to the west and the east. The eastern Route was controlled by Islamic kingdoms Castrated an entire generation of African slaves So that there would not be a second generation. And those of us paying attention know how the extreme left-wing deals with the reality Misogyny slaughter on an industrial scale of innocent protesters The genital mutilation of young women, the sanctioned murder of homosexuals In Iran ~ They simply say we can't judge that's their culture. There's nothing wrong with that…. And that the only thing these left-wing theocratic dogmatists allow is that the western civilization in total and the white American male democratic, United States, and Israel in particular are the sources, the singular sources of all evil throughout the entire history of mankind! The American people are not stupid. They saw right through this. Trump was the only one who called it out and that is why he won the second term. , Kamala could not speak anything but psychobabble word salad when someone asked her a straight question about transgender operations for convicted illegal aliens in jail. These socialist Candidates Genuine just like Trump is Genuine. When will the Democratic Party pull its head out of it’s Sphincter And stop making the same mistakes Over and over again? Or perhaps the reality is Just like with the election and reelection of Trump The problem is not with the party The problem is with the Electorate.