How can Democrats prevent the loss of more seats in 2022?

Stop using the term Latinx and stop using the phrase "defund the police"

AOC and her "squad" of far left ladies are getting too much attention for all the wrong reasons. I think she gets a thrill out of being on Fox News homepage all the time which makes her say even more outrageous things.

All the focus should be on Black Lives Matter. If we don't stamp out racism, nothing else matters.

Prosecute Trump crimes. Just that simple. Biden needs to let Trump crimes take front and center with the TMZ media, so he can be left alone to run the country.

Obama's big mistake was to walk away from Bush/Cheney crimes. This weakness signalled to McConnell to treat him like shit.

If Biden does not let his AG investigate Trump crimes and corruption, he will be a one-term president.

The focus should be on each individual House race and creating a party that makes room for all ideas. Oklahoma had one Democratic representative for the first time in forever in 2018, and she was popular in her district, but Republicans poured a bunch of money into her district and she just lost her seat. From what I can see, it didn't look like the national Dems helped her out a lot.

I love AOC and she is perfect for her district, but she could never win in Kendra Horn's district. The national party needs to give more focused support, depending on the candidate.

Generate policies that help people...raising minimum wage. forgiving some college loans, fixing Obamacare. Stop with systemic racism, trans rights, identity politics.

R1 and their ilk are the kind of people who would see one person with 6 followers on Twitter use "Latinx" and think "well, now I'm voting for Trump!"

There's nothing you can do about that kind of person. Anyone who thinks the use of some dippy term for race is more important than stopping the destruction of our entire country is a lost cause.

Anyone who would cheer on Democrats losing and/or Trump winning because "identity politics" makes them cry is not someone who really wants to help the Democratic Party.

R4 I agree totally.

[Quote] If Biden does not let his AG investigate Trump crimes and corruption, he will be a one-term president.

What's more, 2024 will be Trump again.

Boomer thread. Just die already. You’ve fucked up enough.

The first thing they need to do is try to push through another stimulus bill and when the Republicans block it, make sure it becomes a cornerstone of the messaging in 2022. "Money to bail out banks and airlines, but not YOU!"

The second thing they need to do is become louder and more forceful about condemning non-peaceful protests amongst both progressives and Trump supporters.

The third thing they need to do is shut Tlaib and AOC and Oban up,

The fourth thing they need to do is stop bleating about Medicare for All, Free University, Free Childcare, and cancelling All Student Debt unless they are being honest about how it is all going to be paid for - and not through "taxing the rich", because the "rich" know how to protect money and campaign contributions from investment banks, global corporatists, etc., will dry up in a heartbeat.

If they want to claw back some of those minority voters, the Dems need to stop endless focuses on racism racism everywhere, and not a drop to drink, and instead hoist the flag of a more positive message of more help for struggling communities, which by the way, contain white, black, and yellow working-class people. Last time I checked, Appalachia was full or poor white people. White poverty is the biggest coverup in America.

And they need to drop the reparations bit, and fast, and demonstrate a bit of old-fashioned patriotism.

The overall strategy should be focussed on clawing back the working-classes from the maw of the Republicans, and to stop demonising people who hold live different lives and have different views from the urban liberal elites.

Oh, and the TIMES should stop using a lower-case "w" in front of White as the only exception amongst every other designation on the planet, and stop using the paper as a platform for its Editorial Board's, and Executive Editor's, obsession with black and white racial issues.

A country's "paper of record" isn't one if it selects only one lens through which to view absolutely everything, from opera to elections.

It's the MONEY, stupid!

Most people in this country, sadly, do not pay attention to what happens in Congress. All they know is that they got big checks (stimulus and unemployment) that were signed by Donald J. Trump in their mailboxes. I believe that is why so many people voted for him.

Also, Democrats need to let local (congressional district) leaders select candidates. Carpetbagging candidates do not know how to connect to constituents like locals do. Nor do national ad campaigns. Put the money in local candidates' campaigns and stop running ads on their behalf.

Demonstrate that Democrats will protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. These are pocketbook issues that people universally pay attention to. Aside from that, as they say, all politics is local.

Concentrate on strong message branding. Don't let the Republicans control the narrative.

And those posters who go on and on about AOC and her "Squad" play right into the Republicans' dividing and conquering hands by making her a bigger deal and an even greater threat than she really is. The Republicans hype AOC no matter what she says and does. AOC is the new "Obama taking away our guns" scare where conservatives better barricade themselves in their homes or AOC will come in and will force universal healthcare and better paying jobs on them (oh, no!).

R10 shut down the thread.

R12 - Adding that on: Social Security and Medicare are the two most popular programmes ever passed by Congress. They shouldn't be called "entitlement" programmes, but "Earned Security" programmes. The term "entitlement" should be thrown out by the Democrats, who should focus on the fact that 1) healthcare costs due to the ravages of Big PhrMa, Big Hospital, and Big Medical Equipment, are all but impossible to pay for in reality except by the very rich.

You can't run an army on 100 generals and one private. You also can't run a successful consumer economy on 100 billionaires and 150 million working-class people realising they're just cannon fodder when the proverbial hits the fan.

R10

Trump won't be on the ballot so GOP turnout will not be as heavy.

OP is a rightwing troll calling Democrats "socialists" and "Comrade" in other threads, and praising Megyn Kelly, and whining about how New Yorkers are "anti-white."

Stop feeding the troll.

[quote]How can Democrats prevent the loss of more seats in 2022?

Hope that a large number of Trump voters die from COVID before the election.

Organize at the local level. Ideological differences are a red herring.

Tell the self-identified Socialists and uncompromising Far Leftists to go kick rocks. Let them form a third party and relieve us of their unelectable agenda

Agree with R20.

Lurch left

[quote] Social Security and Medicare are the two most popular programmes ever passed by Congress. They shouldn't be called "entitlement" programmes, but "Earned Security" programmes.

That's a good start. But I prefer they be called Earned Retirement Programs because that is what they are. Even well off and wealthy retirees use these programs and they don't need security.

Dems need to control the narrative and have surrogates go into RED areas of the country and explain and educate. Dems also need to get the covid crisis under control on their watch. Dems need to control the more radical urges in their own party to defund police and other public policies like giving single room luxury hotels to the homeless at a cost of $275 per day when our own military sleep on cots and sleeping bags. Other cost effective ways to handle the homeless must be considered.

They should let antifa burn Portland to the ground. That'll bring back the votes!

Free Cher concerts!

Republicans went more right and had great success. Dems need to go more left. Centrists win nothing because they stand for nothing.

Require voters to pass a basic information test before voting.

No r27. There Are many more Americans who identity as conservative than who identity as liberal, and they vote zealously

Oh boy some of you idiots here telling the left to go kick rocks and embrace the center and right wing is funny, you all will never win elections without us so stop alianating what the Democrats should be in the first place.

What Democrats need to do is concentrate on issues that affect people directly and they need to abandon identity politics. They need to embrace the 2nd amendment restrict abortions to only cases of rape, incest or a threat to the life of a mother. But Healthcare, jobs, infrastructure, education, police reform and workers rights should all be at the top of the list.

That doesn’t sound very leftist

Centrists believe in compromise and negotiation. The far left and far right believe in burn the barn down if they don't get their way. Both sides are pathetic and counterproductive most of the time.

It’s okay to be a leftist if you are realistic and willing to comprise and seek incremental change

By electing Boris as the DNC chair and Natasha as co-chair

Maybe Biden will do well.

The opposition party gains seats in the midterm. With the tiny margin in the House and with redistricting, there’s no question that the GOP will have the majority after 2022. So it doesn’t matter what Democrats do and they should just be honest with the American people on what their platform is.

AOC and the squad seem like an anvil pulling the Dem party under water.

Moderation is a better word than "centrist". The peasants regardless of affiliation all have a gut understanding that too far in any direction is dangerous. It's not unusual for populations to split votes in an almost instinctive attempt to achieve some sort of balance and keep too much power out of too few hands.

The Democrats need to dial back the identity politics and the Republicans need to show the plebs that the party isn't solely the tool of the Corporate Oppressors.

Give a little, get a little.

Revolutions are generally bloody, people die, excess tends to dominate, and most of the time they lead not to more freedom but to another form of tyranny.

It all boils down to two things: Never use the word "socialism" or the phrase "defund the police" EVER again.

Harvest just enough votes to win in swing states.

R23 Indeed! Case in point: Last year, my friend and colleague turned 70 in January and is retiring next month. She filed for Social Security some time last year, then started collecting in January. Before lockdown, she received two SS checks, just under $3400 each for January and February. She had them with her at lunch in my office one day in March and showed them to me and our colleague, saying "What am I supposed to do with these? I'm too embarrassed to cash them at a bank." Granted, she worked for forty years and is making a lot of money. Our employer contributes 10% of gross pay, if we contribute 5% [403(b)]. So she (and I) socked away 15% for decades, which will bring a hefty monthly retirement distribution. Additionally, she earns six figures in royalties for textbooks she authored.

Obviously, she can retire VERY comfortably on her retirement alone, not to mention the royalties. But I was insulted that she sniffed at over 3000 a month. We told her to set up a new banking account and have it direct deposited there, so that when her nieces and nephews reach maturity, she can give each of them a nice nest egg. (My friend never married and has no children.)

R41 I will fuck her with your dick for $3k a month! Sounds like a great person.

She just moved out of state -- easier to ignore than when her office was just down the hall!

The answer is simple. Vote, like your life depends on it.

[quote] and creating a party that makes room for all ideas

As long as those all idea are for unrestricted abortion, open borders, contempt for lower class whites, and the acceptance the Brooklyn socialist club knows what is best for all.

rr40 Why would swing states matter in 2022?

The Party needs to showcase rural, religious, and southern Democrats more. They need to be more of the face of the Party

R46, because if several swing states swing right in 2022, we could lose a bunch of Senate seats. That's a pretty common occurrence in elections two years after a new president takes office. It's another reason we seriously need those two Georgia Senate seats. The first two years of a president's tenure are often the best chance he has to enact his agenda.

Obama got shellacked in the midterms, it will happen again and fingers will probably all point to AOC and the squad and anyone else screaming defund the police and socialism for all. That does not sell in the midwest where people still work long hard days. They see images of the big US cities with looting and people all living in paid housing and it anathema to their beliefs.

Obama got shellacked in 2010 because he did not have Bush and Cheney prosecuted for War Crimes.

This signal gave McConnell the go ahead to kill every Obama initiative.

Biden cannot make this mistake. He must prosecute Trump corruption and criminality.

No evidence to support this. If anything, prosecuting Bush and Cheney likely would have turned out centrist and Middle Americans even more, who would have felt Obama was overreaching with recriminations. Centrists generally don’t like that type of thing

R51 - I agree. Obama's first mistake was not holding Wall Street's feet to the fire after the bailout. Even that skank Larry Summers, his advisor at the time, warned him that he needed to deal out some "prairie justice", both to the banks and the public. Obama chose to make nice with them, instead - probably looking toward contributions to his second term campaign - and Wall Street knew it was off the hook and went back to business as usual (which is still the case today).

Obama should have reinstated Glass-Steagall, which is something Biden should do. THAT would send a message that the tide is turning. Only he won't, because the Democrats were too busy endorsing the trans community, BLM, taking Confederate statues of legitimate former Congressmen out of Congress's "sacred" halls (cf. Pelosi), and talking about stuff that everyone knew the rich would never pay for, to ensure that they had enough votes in the Senate to pass it.

It was the suspension of Glass-Steagall that removed the barrier between investment and holding banks, the bill written by Phil Gramm, set the stage for the 2008 crash and the bailout, which Obama acknowledged in a televised public speech was about as popular as a "root canal". It was cute and folksy, but it evaded a hard truth: the bailout told the plebs the truth about who mattered to Congress and who didn't.

That's where the stench from the dog's burial place really arose from.

Reinstating Glass-Steagall would be a practical but hard-line initiative that would put the Biden administration's money where its mouth is about "representing" the middle- and working classes.

It will never happen. Too many lobbyists (those are the ones who got the litmus tests for banks' strength after the bailout weakened), too much money, and not enough votes in the Senate.

Stop the bullshit with promises you can't keep. Next time, do whatever you have to do to get the Senate, and then set about doing something about the infrastructure that continues to favour the rich.

Starting with Glass-Steagall.

Deport all the fascist, seditious Trumptards, and reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.

Democrats rely on big business and wealthy donors to even have a fair chance to win. It would be stupid to piss off those donors

I remember 2010. People were buying in to that Tea Party Bullshit and the media only helped them. The gays were still pissed off about 2008 and Prop 8. Black people were pissed off because they thought Obama was not moving quickly enough on their issues. The country believed the disinformation campaign about the ACA. And the progressives thought that Obama was reaching across the aisle too much. Bottom line is democrats foolishly stayed home, instead of doubling down on their support for the president. And look what happened. 2010 fucked everything, and the ripples affects continue to be felt today, and democrats have no one to blame but themselves.

R54 - That's my point. Money in politics is the problem. Kow-towing to big business and wealthy donors doesn't give Democrats a "fair" chance to do anything but perpetuate the status quo.

The Democrats can't lay claim to the moral high ground solely by removing former Confederate Congressmen from the hallways.

The old saying, "If you lie down with dogs, you shall get up with fleas" holds here. If you take Big Business's money, you do Big Business's bidding.

And nothing changes.

It's surprising that some people here don't remember McConnell and a bunch of high-level Republicans met on January 20, 2009, and vowed to make Obama a one-term president with no legislative accomplishments.

We can argue about the wisdom or folly of any of Obama's actions or failures to act, but we cannot pretend they had anything to do with Republicans' refusal to work with him. They were never going to cooperate with him on anything.

Don’t all opposition politicians want to make new presidents of the different party one-term presidents!?

Well I generally agree r38, but when a country is as far right as ours, are we allowed to move left to get that balance back. It seems like any move to the left causes shrieking and howling and calls to move even further right instead.

Let's begin with a wealth tax, long overdue.

Probably, R58, but they generally don't have a meeting and vow not to cooperate with him on anything, regardless how much the country needs or would benefit from his proposals.

[quote] Probably, [R58], but they generally don't have a meeting and vow not to cooperate with him on anything, regardless how much the country needs or would benefit from his proposals.

Which meeting was this?

I dunno. I think Democrats essentially said they weren’t gonna give Trump Any major legislative victories after 2018. Rightly so, but still. I think Democrats slow walked the latest stimulus partly because they knew Trump Would take credit for any new stimulus.

I don't think they did, r62. They passed a big bill months and Mitch did his usual don't give a fuck about nuthin but giving the rich money and putting fanatical assholes on the courts.

Slap Nancy Pelosi's ugly face and take away her lipstick.

The Democratic president and party need to campaign hard in the mid-term elections to counter the Republican lies and enthusiasm.

Obama just surrendered the House and Senate in 2010 without a fight. Obama and Biden completely rolled over and ignored the 2010 mid-terms simply because the historical trend is that a President usually loses Congressional seats during a mid-term.

They just washed their hands of the whole election and lost both houses of Congress because of it. Biden is destined to repeat the mistake if he's as lazy as he was in 2010.

I get that Obama and Biden were tired in 2010 and feel like they shouldn't have to campaign continuously, but that is the reality of modern politics and there's too much at stake not for Biden to be out there, using the "bully pulpit" to counter all the "socialism radical" lies the Republicans are telling.

Biden had better push through his entire agenda in 2 years, including an expanded Supreme Court, too. Especially if he won't campaign in 2022.

Pound McConnell's face into the dirt with investigations into his wife's theft and malfeasance.

You adopt popular policies that you've nearly fully conceded to the progressive left because you're actually a bunch of secret conservatives about most matters that are of material importance to people.

There wouldn't be desire to ''LURCH'' left if you actually went for what people want, like guaranteed public coverage for healthcare that doesn't degrade the support they had from private coverage. The party obsesses over swing red states when it could actually be making gains. When you go with 'protecting Obamacare' instead of 'expanding health coverage to all' (emphasis on the moderate 'ING' part, suggesting it isn't 'too fast' of a change), you're not gaining support, you're discouraging it save for partisans.

You need to OFFER SOMETHING. This doesn't mean lockstep with millennial socialists. And it honestly never will. But it means OFFERING SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU'RE A POLITICIAN NOT A CORPORATE LOBBYIST VENDING MACHINE, no matter how it feels like sometimes.

I see hints of this sometimes. There's a tad bit of it in the rhetoric of Biden's camp still. But you aren't energizing shit when you say you'll make effort to eliminate $10k of federal student loans with X requirements and blah blah useless blah blah. This was an anti-Trump election, and it got an anti-Trump results. Congratulations. Now actually do something.

Flint still doesn't have clean drinking water, by the way.

Maybe that has something to do with Michigan results, who knows?

Wrong, r62.

The Democrats were happy to have Trump's help with the economic stimulus in April. They even let Trump send out his vanity signature and message on every check.

Mitch McConnell decided to get stingy and embrace the lie of "we have to open up the economy and ignore the pandemic." McConnell also insisted on putting poison pills into the legislation — drastically reduced amounts and Scot-free amnesty for commercial management to force their employees to expose themselves to COVID-19.

McConnell and the Senate Republicans were the DEALBREAKERS and hold-up on new stimulus/ unemployment. It's absolutely their fault. NOT TRUMP, NOT THE DEMOCRATS.

[quote] Flint still doesn't have clean drinking water, by the way.

Rick Snyder supported Biden, so maybe Biden can appoint him to do something with the water.

Whatever happened to have a two Or three item agenda to Promote? Republicans run on a simple agenda of a few popular items like the Contract with America, but Democrats are stuck with disjointed, non unified messages.

Elect a different person to the speaker of the house.

It was stated before the election that “not Trump” wouldn’t win down ballot elections and that Democrats had to run on issues for things they were “for”. Democrats didn’t do that.

Who exactly r72? "Somebody" is always amazing and wonderful and sure to get the job done right up until the second you actually have to pick "somebody."

There are probably some people less than 80 years old who could do the job.

Do Democrats think that running on a unified pithy agenda like “Build a Wall” or “A chicken in every pot” is beneath them?

You cannot keep blaming decisions Obama made on a Republican Congress. In 2009, he had a Democratic Congress. He decided to let the banks off the hook because he wanted their campaign contributions four years later. This was 2009, not 2014.

Summers told Obama it was a mistake, and Summers was right. Wall Street never took Obama seriously again and went right back to business as usual.

And it was dear Bill Clinton who signed the suspension of Glass-Steagall.

As for "deporting all Trumptards" - I know people tend to forget this, but as American citizens, there is nowhere to deport them to without committing a breach of law that would probably, even if it were physically feasible, land America in the Hague and make it an international outcast.

Can we get back to common sense?

"The perception is that the Glass-Steagall Act created a sense of accountability among investors within the financial management industry encouraging them to (in effect) shy away from ultra-risky transactions that could lead to financial meltdown. It provided litigators validation involving cases against such sub-prime investment instruments on behalf of their clients who were impacted by such injustices. Without formal and defensible protection as detailed in the Glass-Steagall Act, investment companies felt at liberty to move toward unscrupulous investment tactics that had occurred prior to 2009 involving sub-prime mortgages. Thus a cultural shift was certainly in order after its repeal regardless of the loopholes that existed prior. Although the magnitude may be questionable, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act can certainly be considered a factor in the global financial crisis revealed in 2008."

". . . Following the financial crisis of 2007–2008, legislators unsuccessfully tried to reinstate Glass–Steagall Sections 20 and 32 as part of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Both in the United States and elsewhere around the world, banking reforms have been proposed that refer to Glass–Steagall principles. These proposals include issues of “ringfencing” commercial banking operations and narrow banking proposals that would sharply reduce the permitted activities of commercial banks - institutions that provide capital liquidity to investment management firms to shore up over-inflated market valuation of securities (whether debt or equity). Reconciliation of over-committed funds is possible by filing claims to the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Company) - hence further increasing the federal budget deficit."

Some of you really need to take the stick out of your asses about Wall Street.

Kick the fauxgressives to the curb. Investigate what dirty money is propping up Bernie, AlwaysOnCamera and Co, then send them packing!

Some people on Wall Street really belong in jail. Others deserve a serious dick punch or cunt punch.

yeah, maybe r85, but it can't just be some dingbat just cause he or she said that one thing that one time that was kind of funny or pithy on TV or on twitter. It's a very serious job and it takes a very serious person willing to put in years of effort. I hope there are people like that in the House. Even if you like Nancy, as I do, she won't be there forever.

Investigate, investigate...INVESTIGATE.

I agree r82. Part of it is criminal prosecution, and some of these bitches really belong in jail. But even the rest need to be investigated and they need to let the people in on some of this stuff, let people know just how ridiculously corrupt and dishonest this government has been. Don't save us from ourselves. Investigate and publicize.

Please note that the Dodd-Frank bill that was supposed to enhance accountability amongst investment banks to ensure against another crash like the 2008 one ended up virtually toothless due to the influence of the lobbyists, who, paid millions by the financial services sector, descended en masse on Washington and ensured, among other things, that Glass-Steagall wasn't reinstated (which would have strengthened the Dodd-Frank bill considerably) and that needed stringent regulation wasn't passed.

This was whilst the Democrats, if I remember, held the House, Senate, and Oval Office.

The failure to put the fear of God into the financial services industry blew one of the most important opportunities of the last 20th century, as income inequality rose across America AND Britain, and it was, shamefully, defended by the likes of liberal leftie Paul Krugman.

Anyone trusting that the Democrats will do anything for the Great Unwashed that risks their links to Wall Street (google how often careers in Congress close with the original holder of office far richer than s/he was when s/he was first elected) and big campaign donations and special interests is in denial.

This is where the real holdup is. People are being deflected from the matter by being directed to see everything through the lens of race, identity politics, misogyny, police reform, trans rights, removing statues, flags, etc.

The inequities of America's (and Britain's at this point, I must acknowledge) education system, and money in politics, and the cost of health care due to those same lobbyists, only for a different industry, are where America's real problems lie.

The rest is all smoke and mirrors, but they do keep the Great Unwashed and the race-obsessed editorial board of the New York TIMES nicely occupied.