c/nyt_gift_articles · by silence7@slrpnk.net · 1y

‘We Have No Coherent Message’: Democrats Struggle to Oppose Trump

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/us/politics/democrats-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uE4.zLOh.XgFaWo8vFJcW

What's going on is a coup against Congress and the Constitution

Indivisible is calling on Americans to organize in-person visits to their congressmembers local offices

119 points · 28 comments · view on lemmy.world

28 Comments

"We promised that nothing would fundamentally change. What do voters want from us?!?!?" -- Democratic party leadership

bizarroland@fedia.io · 34 pts · 1y

The person who used to run the Wendy's Twitter account back in its heyday volunteered to run their messaging for free a few days ago on bluesky and the Democrats ignored them.

We're pretty fucked.

Sergio@slrpnk.net · 32 pts · 1y (3 replies)

for chair of the Democratic National Committee, the party chose a candidate, Ken Martin of Minnesota, who said he planned to conduct a post-election review largely focused on tactics and messaging.

This sounds like advice on how to slow things down so absolutely nothing gets done. They should be doing that to Republicans, not to themselves.

inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 10 pts · 1y (2 replies)

God if I hear these fucking morons say messaging one more time I swear to god….

rhombus@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 1y

Right?! It isn’t “messaging”, it’s the goddamn message! Stop focusing on tactics and just ask the people what they want for Christ’s sake.

kreskin@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

Well they decided that Bidens entire problem was that he didnt message his good deeds enough. Like ...the uh... infrastructrure bills. "more than a trillion dollars in spending on roads, bridges, airports, railroads, ports and more."

The Dems thought that would be enough.

ininewcrow@lemmy.ca · 29 pts · 1y

The problem is that they don't like to admit that they are the second half of a one party system in the US

Maeve@kbin.earth · 27 pts · 1y (9 replies)

And in a first step toward elevating new leaders, an election this weekend for chair of the Democratic National Committee, the party chose a candidate, Ken Martin of Minnesota, who said he planned to conduct a post-election review largely focused on tactics and messaging. Mr. Martin said he had not determined the parameters of the review, other than that he was not interested in discussing whether former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. should have sought re-election.

More than 50 interviews with Democratic leaders revealed a party that is struggling to define what it stands for, what issues to prioritize and how to confront a Trump administration that is carrying out a right-wing agenda with head-spinning speed. Governors, members of the Senate and the House, state attorneys general, grass-roots leaders and D.N.C. members offered a wide range of views about the direction of their party.

Their concerns are spilling out into public, as the country’s most powerful and prominent Democratic politicians air sharp disagreements over how aggressively they should oppose Mr. Trump.

“We’re not going to go after every single issue,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, said in an interview. “We are picking the most important fights and lying down on the train tracks on those fights.”

"How can we protect our offshore accounts and look like we care about the plebs?"

Cruxifux@feddit.nl · 17 pts · 1y

And those issues will only be ones that align with the donor class of course.

silence7@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 1y (7 replies)

It's more that they weren't prepared for this kind of intensity, and don't have a great pre-planned message for coup against congress and the constitution by the executive.

The typical DNC member is a union official or party activist, and comes into this with limited savings.

alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 1y (1 reply)

The typical DNC member is a union official or party activist, and comes into this with limited savings.

Sure, but they don't have any real power, as evidence by DNC policy favoring the capitalist class over the workers literally every single time.

Note that they're not asking what we could have done differently over the last 4 years, they're asking how they should have messaged differently.

Schumer accusing Trump of defunding the police should tell you all you need to know about what anyone capable of influencing the party wants the party to be.

silence7@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 1y

The DNC has very limited power compared with elected officials; they fundraise, support campaigns, set rules for primaries, and set rules for the convention delegates to agree on a party platform. They have no votes in Congress.

What can pass in Congress is determined by the last marginal vote needed to hit either a 50-vote or 60-vote threshold, so it tends to be determined by what's ok with the most right-wing Democrat. Which is why you see the kind of policies we've seen.

In the current situation, the main power of the DNC is the ability to make noise. And they need to be doing that as much as possible.

Maeve@kbin.earth · 9 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Nancy insider trading Pelosi? Chuck Schumer?

SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y (1 reply)

The only ones who even appear as leftists are the progressives, which the Democratic party keeps in a tight little cage to never escape.

Maeve@kbin.earth · 3 pts · 1y

The progressives haven't appeared leftist in a very long time, excepting Omar and Talib, tbh.

inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 1y

Stop making excuses for this failed political party. They need to be made irrelevant.

kreskin@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

What excuse would they have for not being prepared? This is their whole damned job. If they werent prepared and dont know what their constituents want, they need to be fired.

jjjalljs@ttrpg.network · 19 pts · 1y (2 replies)

The Republican party is the far right. The Democratic party is almost everyone else- less far right, moderate, center-left, a handful of lefties. It's not surprising they don't have cohesion.

Also the American public seems especially stupid. That's probably aggravated by decades of right wing media and insufficient investing in education. But maybe everywhere has a lot of stupid people and we're not exceptional on this point.

Quadhammer@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y

Well even on here theres a bunch of infighting. Whats clear is no one wants a king. Maybe hammer on that one

DarkSpectrum@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y

Australia has stupid people too

ICastFist@programming.dev · 19 pts · 1y (1 reply)

"Our money overlords have not given us instructions! We don't know what to do!!"

CouncilOfFriends@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y

They should ask if they can craft a message about all the billionaires that Trump is putting in his cabinet and...oh wait no, that doesn't 'build unity'

electric_nan@lemmy.ml · 6 pts · 1y (4 replies)

Idk, in the last couple of days I've heard powerful statements from dem leadership about maintaining relationships with "good billionaires" and how we should go yo war with Iran.

kreskin@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y (1 reply)

They are all in to support a law going after illegal streaming services: https://politics.slashdot.org/story/25/01/30/028201/democrat-teams-up-with-movie-industry-to-propose-website-blocking-law

If blocking websites to help industry make more money doesnt help the people, I dont know what will.

electric_nan@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 1y

#resistance

silence7@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I don't think that's representative of what they're saying as a group

electric_nan@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 1y

Well they should send the memo to their leadership then!

Sergio@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 1y

After reading this article, that Indivisible approach that OP linked to, it makes a lot more sense:

Indivisible is calling on Americans to organize in-person visits to their congressmembers local offices