Roland Martin: Too Late for Democrats

Dems are lousy at messaging but it isn't homophobic asshole Martin or screeching whiner Tiffany Cross who can help.

I also think that the Democratic base is becoming more conservative.

I think the right has succeeded in dragging the vast majority of Republicans off the political spectrum into Crazy Trumpland. But far left Dems are still the minority of the party despite the Squad's screeching. Democrats can be alienated by too much race-baiting, Martin's specialty.

Their messaging isn't the problem.

It's their inability to do anything beyond that.

Yeah, usually the president has the bully pulpit & can dominate the narrative. Not so with Biden. I still can’t believe he’s not given a prime time address on what’s at stake in Ukraine.

Lets just hope when Roe v Wade is overturned the Democrats get pissed.

R6, surely you aren’t that naive

Logically women should be turning out in droves because of the risk to Roe, but I'm not seeing polls reflecting this.

The Republican Party has such great messaging, that's why they've won the popular vote once in 30 years

R3, Manchin and Sinema are more of a problem than the squad. Most people support things like taxing the rich and making prescription drugs more affordable

R10 Maher - for once - had a decent show last night. He had Fran Leibowitz, Ali Velshi and Doug Jones on. He was defending Manchin and Sinema because of all the waste involved in the COVID funding measures - billions of dollars lost to fraud. I hadn't realized the extent of the fraud. Worth a look.

Any package with hundreds of billions of dollars is gonna have some questionable appropriation

This wasn't billions, it was trillions and fraudsters skimmed off hundreds of billions. Just crazy. There's no oversight.

R8, polls over the years have consistently shown that women are only marginally more pro-choice than men. Surprisingly, not as big a difference as one might expect.

While I agree the GOP will win in November and take over Congress, they will then show themselves to be absolutely horrible at governing or doing anything of substance. Now, will that translate in Dems coming back in '24? I don't know. But when the GOP's biggest accomplishment will be investigating Hunter Biden, who has never had White House access nor a job within the White House as the President's Special Advisor, nor has he ever been given $2B by a foreign government, that is what they will focus on (their version of Benghazi).

It's easy to be the opposition. You don 't have to do anything except bitch and complain. Watch what happens when you actually have to do real work.

Yeah, Doug Jones and Ali Velshi agreed if the GOP takes Congress at the mid-terms, the investigations will turn to Hunter Biden. I was talking to a friend who's a long-time Dem operative and he told me he was shocked that Biden would even run for President as he knew damn well what a massive problem Hunter would be. Too much ego, too little sense. Thanks, Joe.

R14, Women are much more likely to be devoutly religious than men. Some of the most pro-life people I know are women

If Biden announced now that he was not running for reelection, it would certainly insure Republicans take over Congress and probably create a nationwide tsunami for Republicans at every level

Most people's focus is on the economy - specifically inflation. And maybe crime.

If Democrats focused on that and explained why they would be better tackling these issues than Republicans, they'd be better off.

Plus, it wouldn't hurt for them to speak forcefully and eloquently, like the way that state senator from somewhere in the Midwest did recently, and explained to their constituents that they're on their side and want to make their lives better off.

R8 and a lot of minorities are anti-abortion:

With a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling months away, the state Senate debated emotionally Friday night before approving a key abortion bill that would be the most far-reaching in Connecticut in the past 32 years...

The often-emotional, personal and passionate debate included opposition by some members of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, who said they were inspired by a freshman legislator, Rep. Trenee McGee of West Haven, who spoke passionately recently before voting against the bill...

Sen. Patricia Billie Miller, a Stamford Democrat, and others talked passionately on the Senate floor about Margaret Sanger, the founding of Planned Parenthood and the history of abortion.

“Babies were ripped from Black mothers, African mothers, during slavery,” she said. “That’s the history that Black women and Native American women have had to endure. ... There’s no way that I can accept a system that would intentionally take a baby from a mother. ... Yes, they sterilized men, too. It wasn’t just women.”

Miller noted that legislators often say that the brain is still developing until age 25 when they talk about issues like juvenile justice.

“We’re saying if an 18-year-old wants to have an abortion, she can do that. ... That gives me pause,” Miller said. “My friends who had abortions at 18 ... and it still bothers them. ... I will not stand here and support a system that was designed to take advantage of people who didn’t know any better.”

She said that some women who are now in their 60s and 70s are still depressed about having an abortion decades earlier.

“I know I’m not going to be the most popular person after tonight,” Miller told her colleagues. “[McGee] said, in the black community, abortions are birth control. That’s true. ... I hear family planning — code word for abortion. Why can’t it be a code word for planning your family?

“I agree it is her body to choose. ... I cannot support a system that has tried, systemically, to get rid of a race of people. ... Sorry, this is about racism, and that’s how I view this. ... I’m sorry if I’m emotional ... but this goes back to Africa for me. ... This goes deeper than just choice. ... Sometimes we don’t have the choice because we don’t have the money.”

The next speaker, Sen. Marilyn Moore of Bridgeport, said that her heart was racing as she stood up to speak due to her emotions on the issue. An employee for Planned Parenthood for eight years, she said she helped women to get mammograms.

“I knew about Ms. Sanger,” she said. “What I learned at Planned Parenthood was how much racism and distrust there is in the medical system. ... People talk about why Black people don’t want to get vaccinated because we’ve had medical apartheid. ... Right now, I’m not feeling good about this bill.

“Planned Parenthood will need to step up and say we need to do better.”

Aligning themselves with the transloons was a huge mistake. They've lost a lot of suburban soccer mom support by embracing the nuts who want to use the schools to 'trans' children.

Roland Martin’s Laugh-In 😆

The House has passed a gadzillion of measures that would have helped people's pocketbooks. Many of them were stopped cold in the Senate - due to the intransigence of Manchin and Sinema. The final two years of Trump (2018-2020 Congress) have already gone done in the history books as a period with the fewest passed bills People have already forgotten that under Trump and the Republican Congress, the ONLY legislation that passed Congress was an enormous permanent tax break for the wealthy and a modest temporary tax cut for everyone else. What makes me sick is that the infrastructure measures that were built into the COVID funding bill were voted against by the entire caucus or Republicans. But who are out there cutting ribbons and taking credit? Republicans, who VOTED against the measures. There's a picture of Madison Cawthorn at a ribbon cutting ceremony just a couple of months ago for something he voted against. INFURIATING.

Part of the problem is all I see in media are Democrats whining about how the deck is stacked against them, and how bad Democrats are at messaging and organizing. Who wants to join a team that sounds defeatist and weak?

R22, would anyone under the age of 50 get that?!

[Quote] Maher - for once - had a decent show last night. He had Fran Leibowitz, Ali Velshi and Doug Jones on. He was defending Manchin and Sinema because of all the waste involved in the COVID funding measures - billions of dollars lost to fraud. I hadn't realized the extent of the fraud. Worth a look.

But asshole Maher displayed a pic of Pelosi when complaining about all the fraud. The fraud mainly stems from the Trump administration giving out money to their friends. Remember when they refused at first to even release the name of those who got PPP funds?? When they did, it was tons of huge compnaies

More like age 70, R25.

People just need to get off their fat asses and vote. In every election and not just when it's convenient or an ad convinced you to go. There is early voting and mail in ballots, there is just no excuse especially now with these anti-democratic legislation and lunatic Republicans.

R20, yes basically they are saying an 18 year old is too immature to make her own decisions about her body.

They’ll give her a drivers license, make her responsible for debts, make her buy health insurance, even give her a loan to buy a car…but her own body—too immature for that!

[Quote] She said that some women who are now in their 60s and 70s are still depressed about having an abortion decades earlier.

Many people are depressed about choices they make Over life by age 60. Thus everything should be banned?

[Quote] Maher - for once - had a decent show last night. He had Fran Leibowitz, Ali Velshi and Doug Jones on.

It’s amazing how his hosts don’t challenge his bull shit like linking the 1st Amendment to Twitter censorship.

Twitter has been used by foreign governments to spread disinformation and cause divisions in the world. It’s been used to dox and bully women. It’s been used to spread hate solely to influence elections. It has a responsibility to police speech.

In typical fashion, Maher uses one far fetched example of what Twitter has blocked and uses it to claim the entire platform is blocking important speech. Lots of GOP speech has been blocked because it’s hate speech meant to ostracize and demean.

And, again, everyone nods at his complaints and he keeps that smug look on his face

No one is going to do better if they think the problem is just messaging.

R29, yes, mature enough to decide to have a baby.

But too immature to decide against having a baby.

Messaging is not the only problem, but I think it’s the biggest problem, or at least the most abiding, ongoing problem on the left.

[quote]Most people's focus is on the economy - specifically inflation. And maybe crime. If Democrats focused on that and explained why they would be better tackling these issues than Republicans, they'd be better off.

Why would it need explanation since Democrats are already in control? Biden just needs to say if you like where the economy, inflation and crime currently are, then you should vote D. You can't explain what you would do if you were in control when you in fact are already in control.

I think that the Democrats have learned, by the grace of Fox Infotainment, that America has the memory of a gnat. I think that the Democratic Party will be pummeling the public with messaging the end of September. Hillary's EMAILS, WE WON'T BE INVESTIGATING, ....like I said the memory of a gnat.

[quote]Yeah, Doug Jones and Ali Velshi agreed if the GOP takes Congress at the mid-terms, the investigations will turn to Hunter Biden.

Doug Jones. Just think, he could have been our Attorney General, but Biden went with that paintywaist Merrick Garland. What a foolish decision.

r37, like with Kamala and Pete, the Garland appointment was for show. There were probably hundreds of people who would have been a better AG.

For show? For whom?

r39, the thought by the hyper-partisans was that appointing Garland would stick it in the eye to Republicans for blocking his SC appointment. He certainly wasn't appointed because he was the best person for the job. It would have made more sense at the time to wait until there a SC vacancy and then appoint him for that (it would be the best revenge), but of course, Biden had already promised the vacancy to an unnamed black female.

Sally Yates or Doug Jones would have been great choices for AG. Garland's an idiot.

I am voting Republican. Democrats have become crazy with their ministry of truth, and their willingness to let the antisemitic squad dominate everything. If they don't want to move to the center, drag them to the center by voting them out. And gays need to do that. If not Democrats will start building concentration camps. Trust me, they have become that crazy.

R42 Sugar.... YOU are that crazy. Turn Fox News off.

Nope r42. We’re voting solidly Democratic

R42 These are Fox talking points and you've been brainwashed.

Fox is making a lot of sense these days.

Nope

The rightwing operates by terrifying people and targetting "enemies". Fear and hatred are great motivators.

it's just like Bill Maher said, it's not that he's becoming more conservative it's just the Democrats are going so far to the left

Nah, R48, just exhibiting even just a minimum of basic common sense is enough for most.

It's rich for one voting Republican to say that a party that nominated Biden has moved too far to the left. While the insurrectionist, anti-democratic, anti-gay, Republican party has apparently occupied the sensible middle!

I don't get it. Here all I see is "endorsed by Trump" or "Trump republican" Why the fuck are the dems not pushing the "ENDROSED BY TRUMP = BAD THING" Failed politicain who tried to overthrow the government. - I saw one for Josh Mandel he says on camera A boy is a boy a girl is a girl and THEY BLM are the racists...NOT "US" I mean what the fuck.

[quote]Why the fuck are the dems not pushing the "ENDROSED BY TRUMP = BAD THING"

Maybe they read the room? It all depends on the location. In some parts of the country, an endorsement by Trump will be a positive thing for a candidate and in other places it will be a negative.

2022: Republican House & Senate, 2024: Republican President, sadly it's inevitable.

Being endorsed by Trump is an asset in the majority of the nation geographically. Democrats should be over the notion that Trump is wildly unpopular in this country. He almost got reelected despite all of his shenanigans and incompetence

I will laugh my ass off on election night in 2022. I don't give one shit about the Democrats or supporting Biden's agenda. I don't give a shit about the Republicans and Trump either.

So either way, I'm good.

You’re not smart

Correct.

I'm very smart.

Trump was NOT nearly reelected. If not for the ridiculousness of our electoral college system, which is now widely decried by other democratic nations when they see how anti-democratic it really is, he wouldn't have even been close by any measure. He lost by 7 million votes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

However, if the constant bad-mouthing of Democrats continues unabated on forums like this, some people will stay home this November and again in 2024. Do we think there's a concerted and well-planned effort to keep this drumbeat going? Why yes we do.....

Roland Martin had a gay conversion ministry. Next.

Biden made his own bed when he installed Gsrland who will probably indict Hunter while GOP criminals skate by.

I love when criticism of Dems is immediately met with"but the Republicans are so much worse and blah blah blah" Who cares what the Republicans are doing? I don't define the Democratic party based off the relative insanity of Republicans and if you do you're part of the "sports fan politics" that is a cancer on this country.

Dems are toast in short term, but have faith, this rot can be removed and when it's time to do so it can be done quickly but not painlessly. Parties can rebrand pretty quick but not until they accept there's a problem, and it will take the wipe out coming in November to get enough people on board.

[quote] 2022: Republican House & Senate, 2024: Republican President, sadly it's inevitable.

Not if past is prologue. Reagan, Clinton & Obama all lost big in their first off-year congressional elections, only to win re-election two years later.

2020 was a close election. If Trump picked up the right mix of 42,921 votes in Arizona (10,457), Georgia (11,779), and Wisconsin (20,682), the Electoral College would have been tied at 269 all. The House would have then decided the election. Republicans hold the majority of state delegations in Congress, and they undoubtedly would have chosen Trump. If Trump had also picked up the one electoral vote in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, which he lost to Biden by 22,091 votes, he would have won the Electoral College outright.

Yeah, it's always close when Democrats win, but a landslide when Republicans win with the same numbers or even smaller margins. Yawn.

Biden got millions more votes in the popular vote, but these assholes still claim the election was stolen. The ancient electoral college needs to go.

We are about six weeks from Republicans overturning Roe v Wade. That, and the crazy conservatives who come out to celebrate with more legislation, could significantly change the electoral landscape.

R61, IMO Biden made his own bed with many of his atrocious appointees. I’m bitterly disappointed in his presidency. Of course it’s better than Trump, but still.

"We are about six weeks from Republicans overturning Roe v Wade. That, and the crazy conservatives who come out to celebrate with more legislation, could significantly change the electoral landscape."

[QUOTE] Yeah, usually the president has the bully pulpit & can dominate the narrative. Not so with Biden. I still can’t believe he’s not given a prime time address on what’s at stake in Ukraine.

I think his handlers try to limit his screen time, to prevent unforced errors.

R56 what is 25 cents in Rubies?

Is it like the Yen yet?

[quote]Dems grow alarmed by lack of fear over Roe’s future. Democrats argue that the party needs to act more aggressively ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling expected this summer on a challenge to Roe v. Wade.

Yes, the Democrats should be talking aggressively about the Republican assault on abortion rights. Instead, they'll make the conversation all about how Trans Men are disproportionately affected by loss of abortion access.

The overturning of Roe will have a muted National reaction and no tangible benefit will redound to Democrats. If anything, it will only energize Republicans even more as it will reemphasize how successful prioritizing courts has caused them to solidify cultural and political power longterm.

The lack of fear or outrage over the imminent overturning of Roe is largely because a lot of the support for Roe is soft or nominal in this country. In fact, the latest Gallup poll indicates that many people who claim they support Roe also think abortion itself is immoral or wrong. You’re not gonna have people who think abortion is wrong, yet nominally support Roe, prioritizing that issue. I hear a lot of people, especially people of color, saying although they support the right to have an abortion, they still think it’s a sin or very wrong. At most, they feel ambivalent about legal abortion.

Democrats and The Democratic Underground.

RE Roe: we've just lived through a national die-off, the likes of which we haven't seen since the Spanish Flu. I wonder if voters will really be jazzed about abortion.

As to the fallout re: an appeal of Roe, it’s important to realize that Democrats are heavily concentrated in blue states that will be unaffected by a Supreme Court decision.

R73, plus, most women never have an abortion, right? And don't too many women who have one abortion end up having more than one?

R77: " And don't too many women who have one abortion end up having more than one?"

There is no such thing as "too many". We honor every abortion.

R78, well, get ready, Planned Parenthood.

They'll also being coming for the other service you offer: gender transitions.

Sarah Spector: I live in rural America. The disenfranchised are extremely misinformed about issues. Somehow Republican messaging and disinformation campaigns are permeating the community. Democrats have to do better at messaging.

Well, Conservatives want to outlaw abortion nationwide, but they are shrewd, zealous, and committed, to strategically and gradually do it. They will have judges in place for decades who will outlaw a National law outlawing abortion.

Sarah Spector: I live in rural America. The disenfranchised are extremely misinformed about issues. Somehow Republican messaging and disinformation campaigns are permeating the community. Democrats have to do better at messaging.

I think the most that the SCOTUS can do is return abortion rights to the states - that was the situation prior to Roe, and at the time of Roe, 30 states outlawed abortion under all circumstances, 16 allowed it under very specific circumstances, and it was completely legal under all circumstances in 4 states. SCOTUS cannot actually make law. It can only affirm a state's case or deny it. Congress could make a law outlawing abortion in all states, but I don't think that could survive a court appeal. About 25% of women have had or will have an abortion in their lifetimes. That translates into 40,000,000 women. (1/8th of the total population of the US) Under some of the proposed laws 40,000,000 women would be behind bars. Think that one through......

People are squeamish about abortion because there is something alive there. Lots of people are squeamish about killing mice too, and for the same reason. That doesn't mean that the fetus is what we would recognize as a human being at the normal time of abortion which averages between 8 and 12 weeks ,and the fetus is 3 inches or less in size. So most people would hesitate to say that they would HAVE an abortion themselves. But people also recognize that there could be important reasons to have that option available That doesn't mean that support for abortion is soft - it means that support for it is conditional.

What is lost in that part of this discussion is that women WILL continue to have abortions. They will just resort to back alley abortionists or try to self-medicate with something that will induce abortion. So there won't be significantly fewer abortions. They will just become much more dangerous for the health and survival of the women having them.

I wish the posters above would find evidence of a Democratic congressperson saying that he or she is committed to making sure that trans people can give birth. This is NOT a Democratic talking point. The only statements I have seen from Democratic politicians is that people of every sexual orientation should feel safe, especially teens.

Gov Jared Polis of Colorado who is gay, married and a father was interviewed on CNN about his offer to Disney to move to Colorado. When asked about the Don't Say Gay bill, he said it's ridiculous to think anybody on the political spectrum would support discussing sexuality with kids in kindergarten or the first few years of elementary school. He said sexuality is irrelevant to little kids.

Evangelicals want to outlaw contraception.

Oh fuck. I just opened up Yahoo News and there's a Fox News bit reporting the gorgeous Dr. Rachel Levine is claiming all pediatricians agree that kids need gender-affirming care.

OFF WITH THEIR TITS!

[quote] if the GOP takes Congress at the mid-terms, the investigations will turn to Hunter Biden

The DOJ is investigating Hunter Biden now.

Can you imagine how full of himself Don Jr. will be when Merrick Garland indicts Hunter Biden?

[quote] the gorgeous Dr. Rachel Levine is claiming all pediatricians agree that kids need gender-affirming care.

This shit is one of the reasons why their asses will be voted out of Congress this November (and out of office in 2024.)

[quote]The DOJ is investigating Hunter Biden now.

Yes, but we'll get televised congressional hearings in 2023.

[quote] an inability to be competent in political messaging

Their messaging is quite clear on what is important to them (see R86 for one.) Trans rights! More immigrants! (Biden is about to trigger a new flood by reversing the public health mandate that has kept them out for the past 2+ years.) People know what they stand for. That plus Biden’s inability to get anything done and sheer bumbling incompetence is their problem.

"Biden is about to trigger a new flood [of immigrants]"

Biden is about to trigger a new flood [of immigrants] whose children will be born in America, raised socially conservative, and vote for Republicans.

But we'll most likely be free to type "GQP" on DataLounge.

So there's that.

R76 I agree. Most liberals live in states that allow abortion and if they don't live in a liberal community they know they can travel to a state where they can get an abortion. This is not like 1973 when you couldn't get an abortion anywhere in this country. There are now other options. Like the morning after pill and the abortion pill and in many states abortion is legal. People don't care as much.

r77 It's taboo to mention any of the problems of abortion clinics. . . even if one is moderately pro-choice. As most things go, you get a with us or against mentality... so, the expectation either you must be 100% pro-abortion or anti-abortion.

Discussing harsh realities, such as which demographics are more likely to suffer forced (even high risk) pregnancies and why, or the problems of numerous clinics and sociopolitical mentality to skirt the law, i.e. look the other way when it involves revolving door clients; suspected human trafficking or prostitution rings, underage or otherwise unable to consent clients, abuse, untreated mental health/addictions, etc. Let alone larger scandals that get dismissed as conspiracies.

And unhelped that both sides are mired in partisan politics, so it ends up as a political litmus test and denying that most people aren't single issue voters... meaning roughly about a quarter on either side have opposing stances on this issue vs the rest of their party. Just as it's hard for some to believe there are several religious groups that take a pro-choice stance (believing that stress from an unwanted pregnancy is enough to constitutes irrevocable harm to the carrier) as there are several secular groups that believe that being pro-life is necessary to hold a consistent life ethic (anti-war, anti-death penalty, vegans, socialists, etc)

But the answer to poor Democratic 'messaging' is not 'Vote Republican'. If you elect a bunch of Rethugs this November you will completely tie Biden's hands and he'll be unable to accomplish anything. It will be 2 years of lame duck Presidency.

[quote]If you elect a bunch of Rethugs this November you will completely tie Biden's hands and he'll be unable to accomplish anything.

I think that would be the point for people voting that way.

Bump

[quote] RE Roe: we've just lived through a national die-off, the likes of which we haven't seen since the Spanish Flu.

Most people weren’t affected.

[Quote]Yes, but we'll get televised congressional hearings in 2023.

Good luck with that. If Democrats are smart, they just ignore the hearings and subpoenas and tell Republicans to go fuck themselves. I mean that's the new standard, right? Or did any of Dump's staff or treasonous offspring appear in front of any committees?

[quote]Or did any of Dump's staff or treasonous offspring appear in front of any committees?

The committee investigating Jan. 6 is holding televised hearings next month, and I don't imagine any Trump spawn or prominent staffers will be on the docket.

You just need to leave Trump's children alone. They are squeaky clean, law abiding citizens unlike that crooked Hunter Biden.

Biden ran as the most moderate Democratic candidate, with Black voters his most consistent supporters. He is now clearly governing from the cultural left. I don't quite understand it. My guess is that he is in fact not quite in touch with political realities and the agenda is being set by younger woke types at the sub-sub-cabinent level.

Just crazy.

The fascist Trumpublican Party has moved SO far right, that regular liberal values are being portrayed as extremist.

They are not.

The culture wars are nothing more than the active Trumpublican revocation of hard won inclusive Democratic civil rights victories that average Americans approve of.

The enemy is the Party of Trump. The enemy is weaponized Evangelical Christianity.

Does weaponized Evangelical Christianity advocate gender-affirming healthcare for children?

If not, then there's a front of the culture war to which you are oblivious and which is anti-gay from the left.

Why can't Democrats just shut up about trans and gender issues and defund the police bullshit until the midterms are over? Talk about the economy and lowering taxes and gas prices for fucks sake.

No one has done more to defund the police than the Republican Party. Their irresponsible tax cuts are deliberately designed to starve government out of existence. This transfers a burden to state and local governments in criminal justice, Education, Healthcare and infrastructure. If your state is run by Republicans in the legislature and the governor's office, they have inflicted great harm because the Republican Party nationally and locally is completely anti government and for privatization to enrich themselves and their cronies with no accountability. Our first responders, our teachers, and our crumbling schools and bridges are living examples of the results of years of fucked up Republican policies, while they run around lying and scaring and dividing people.

Roland is correct.

Intolerance is a Republican VIRTUE.

The ability to magically turn fellow Americans into Others is. White Supremacist, Evangelical superpower.

Intolerance and the attacking of the trans community is only an example of their hate.

R109, put down the koolaid.

Go back to Fox, Log Cabinet.

🤷🏻‍♂️ 🤡

Finish your cookie, r112, time for your nap.

🤷🏻‍♂️ 🤡

That's "Log Cabinette".

[quote]Why can't Democrats just shut up about trans and gender issues and defund the police bullshit until the midterms are over? Talk about the economy and lowering taxes and gas prices for fucks sake.

That’s what they should do. But they just can’t! They can’t help themselves! TRANS or BUST!

r116, because assholes like Republican Senator(TN) Marsha Blackburn asks questions like, "can you define woman".

In Texas, Hot Wheels Abbott just defunded the police himself. He stole $500M from the DPS budget for his border stunts.

[quote] He is now clearly governing from the cultural left.

Please expand with examples.

The difference here is dogma and the fact that Republicans are more bound to theirs than Democrats. It's a function of the homogeneity of the GOP. They're going to fall in line because they aren't a diverse coalition. An old white guy supports another old white guy. Yeah. Duh.

R116 I think the Democrats are doubling down on the trans agenda because the party has a complex about having been on the wrong side of history for most of America's existence and are overcompensating.

They supported slavery, fought for the Confederacy, founded the Ku Klux Klan, and established Jim Crow laws in the South.

It was only for 50 years (1950s-2000s) that the Democrats were on the right side of history where civil rights are concerned.

And now they're on the wrong side of history again with this trans issue.

Lobbyists control the information flow, and give those who fund them a very loud voice. It doesn’t help that a lot of supposedly objective research depends on financial backing from institutions that have dedicated themselves to towing a particular policy line already. There are 300 environmental protection lobbyists going against 4,000 lobbying for the opposite, for example.

Democrats were also against suffrage for women.

[quote]It was only for 50 years (1950s-2000s) that the Democrats were on the right side of history where civil rights are concerned.

I meant 1960s-2010s.

^ To be fair - in a far different world - a greater percentage of Republicans voted for the seminal '64 Civil Rights Act than did Democrats, Then there were moderate & liberal Republicans, while the South was represented almost entirely by segregationist Democrats, some of whom, like J. William Fulbright & Sam Ervin, became liberal heroes in other contexts.

He ran a conversion therapy center, OP.

Roland Martin is a homophobic POS.

So? He’s right about this. I don’t get people who drug truth because of the person who said it. Truth is truth . Don’t be so fragile and biased

r128 - I think you need to be educated regarding labeling: you cannot label an opinion as right or wrong or truth or lie. Those labels can only be applied if and when someone has presented evidence to support his opinions. If I say "people from the Northwest are, on average, more intelligent than people from the Southeast", that cannot be labeled right or wrong, truth or lie. It is just an opinion. If I were to present statistics on percentages of college graduates living in both locales, or high school SAT score averages in both locales, NOW I would have given enough information for someone to label my opinion as right or wrong. Martin may well be right about Democratic messaging, but he didn't present evidence. I would say rather that most Democrats are "every man for himself" when it comes to messaging, whether about the economy, social justice, unions, voting rights. In general, Republicans are a "top down" party and powerful individuals within the party don't put out messages until those have been cleared by people at the top to conform to the message that has been decided upon. In almost every case I can think of, the right wing media machine picks up on a sentence by one Democrat that they find to be controversial, and the next thing you see on FOX or hear on any right wing radio station is not that Joe Schmo said this sentence but DEMOCRATS all believe that ......xyz. In a way, I think it's refreshing that so many Democrats feel free to speak their minds about various issues, but I would agree that it becomes a problem when those who are on the fringes of the party are presented as the representative views of the entire party.

I think gas prices need to be handled. Americans are dumb as shit but things that effect the pocket is a no go

He WAS re-elected r55. Biden's "win" has never been legitimate. We'll start correcting that this,fall.

Trump haters ALWAYS outnumbered his admirers. ALWAYS. He lost (numerically) to Hillary Clinton (she got 3 million votes more than he did), and but for fluky elections irregularities in 3 states, he would never have been elected to begin with. He lost to Joe Biden by 8 million votes. If he were to run again and win, it would be an electoral college win only. He would lose the popular vote AGAIN. However, devious Republican tactics have been strengthening the possibility for overturning voter results, especially in cities. (As in Georgia, where new laws make it possible for the Georgia legislature to simply overturn results in counties they don't like , by declaring the results flawed). There have also been laws enacted in many states to make it more difficult for urban dwellers and non-white people to vote. He is popular in rural areas only, the home of low-information voters. The majority of the country's residents live in cities. But the votes of rural residents in the US matter much more than those of city-dwellers because of the odd system we have. Even the tiniest rural state (population-wise) gets two senators and at least one representative - and then that rural advantage is magnified when it comes to apportioning electors. Those maps which show a bright red America with little blue dots would lead people to believe that the majority of Americans are Republican, but the blue dots represent cities where the majority of Americans live. When corrected for proportion of population, blue takes up more space than red. Moreover, we have a winner-take-all situation in most states, so that if someone wins a state 50.1 to 49.9, that state will go for the candidate as decidedly as one where he would win 75 to 25. The rural electoral advantage would be lost if all states went to a proportional system (wherein if a state goes 2/3rds for one candidate and 1/3rd for the other, and has, say, 6 electors, 4 would vote for the 2/3rd candidate and 2 would vote for the other) That would also take the pressure off swing states, where political ads dominate the airwaves for 6 - 9 months of every election year.

He's right.

Maddow just noted conservatives plan to send a fetal personhood case to SCOTUS to make the Court say the Right to life in the womb is national

And then a miscarriage would be a case for murder.

R132 doesn't get that there is no such thing as the "popular vote" that's not how this country works. It's not how it's ever worked.

True

Americans deserve everything authoritarian coming our way if, after an insurrection attempt BY THE PRESIDENT; the SCOTUS ruling in favor of MORE GUNS, PLEASE!; and the decision that ALL of our "rights to privacy and bodily autonomy"--- and I do mean ALL---ARE UP TO STATES TO DECIDE---because accident of birthplace should OF COURSE determine what and how many human rights an American has, with the EXCEPTION OF GUN OWNERSHIP AND TOTING ABOUT. THAT "RIGHT" WAS MADE FEDERAL/NATIONAL.

IF, after all that AND MORE on the part of Republicans, Americans still vote for them and not Democrats?

We the People deserve every punitive, every repressive, and every fallacious measure, just every bit of suffering Republicans have in mind for us.

That's if "messaging" means more to voters than actual freedom.

The spelling needs to be changed.

It is now "womb-an."

[QUOTE] Martin may well be right about Democratic messaging, but he didn't present evidence.

Pretty sure evidence was presented yesterday.

Abortion is not a "human right".

So you don’t consider women to be human?

R141, That isn't the question or subject. It is, rather, one's bodily autonomy without interference from the State.

That is why Clarence warned Americans that every other (but inter-racial marriage) currently legal personal intimate behavior, from contraception to gay marriage, will quite possibly in turn be ruled on as not a "human right," not a "Federal right," but as a "right to be granted or not granted, per state."

Carrying people-killing guns, on the other hand, IS apparently a "human right" worthy of being ensconced as a "Federal right nation-wide."

The 2000 Supreme Court disgraced itself with Bush v. Gore, but the 2022 Court has destroyed itself beyond even DNA identification.

R140, Republicans and only Republicans are responsible for the latest SCOTUS rulings.

& guess who was responsible for the 2000 Gore vs Bush ruling, r143?

& who was offscreen pretending the results were rigged?

No, every Democrat who sat out the 2016 election is just as responsible. As is the DNC for pushing a candidate like Hillary Clinton in the first place, one who was guaranteed to get republiqans out in droves and who had so much baggage.

But the point is the Democratic Party hasn’t learned a thing over the many years of disasters. They still think saying they are disappointed or sad that half the population were just reclassified as chattel will make republiqans rethink the horror they just perpetrated.

R141, the vast majority of abortions are done with pills during the first 13 weeks of pregnancy; it is the same period of time that many pregnancies naturally end in miscarriage; the fetus at that time is similar to an acorn compared to a tree. There are many stages of fetal development including one where it has gills like a fish; it isn’t just a very small baby; just as the egg itself and the sperm, which both have genetic material, aren’t small babies. As development continues abortion is rare because most women would find it unethical to terminate a late term pregnancy unless there were definite terrible consequences of letting it continue- like a baby with a painful and lethal medical condition who would only suffer for a few days and then die if born, or a pregnancy that would kill the mother. Conservatives who don’t understand this are actually even more conservative than the doctors of 200 years ago, because doctors even then weren’t willing to kill a woman to cut a baby out of her womb.

A Democratic pollster is on CSPAN right now. She says she doesn’t think the Donna decision will help Democrats much in the outcome because voters are still primarily thinking about gas prices and inflation. She also said that voters have very complex views on abortion wherein most identify as prochoice but simultaneously want more restrictions on abortion and feel Democrats are too liberal on abortion.

Planned Parenthood should have - years ago - created a rule limiting abortion to 15 weeks which is already generous by European standards where the cut-off date is 12/14 weeks except for life of the mother. But they refused to recognize that the 'until viability' rule became untenable because of advances in the treatment of premature babies. They cut off their noses to spite their faces, giving the anti-abortion people a stick to hit them over the head with: late-term abortions.

I don't know how often this needs to be said, but apparently it needs to be said over and over and over again. I read a comment like r149 and I want to scream. NO ONE and I mean NO ONE has a late -term abortion because of a casual, "oh, I've changed my mind, I don't want this baby" thought. A late-term abortion means that there has been a major crisis. Either the baby's ultrasounds are showing major distress, or a genetic test has revealed that the baby has some horrible birth defect, or is missing a brain, or lungs or heart. Or the mother has been diagnosed with cancer, or is developing serious diabetes. or has pre-eclampsia or an aneurysm that might blow because blood pressure is rising. Someone who has been carrying a baby for 7 months has already picked out a name, has painted a nursery and bought clothes. A late-term abortion represents an emergency. These are the women who formerly DIED in childbirth - or they are the women you hear about who gave birth to a still-born child or one who only lived for 24 hours after birth in excruciating pain. Prior to Roe v Wade, such women commonly died. Planned Parenthood RIGHTLY wants to make sure that such women have the option of a late-term abortion to SAVE THEIR LIVES. The Irish as a nation voted to have legal abortion because a non-Catholic woman, a woman of East Indian extraction had a life-threatening health condition and could not carry the baby to term. She couldn't get one in Ireland and lost all her legal appeals. She died when the baby was in its 30th week - and so did the baby. The right wing and religious scam act on all of this is to paint late -term abortions as a frivolous choice.

R146, Points taken. But I will narrow one: I put the candidacy of HRC squarely on the shoulders of Barack Obama, who should instead have given his imprimatur to his Vice-President, as is customary.

Not that HRC isn't brilliant. Well, except for when she picked as VP the effeminate Tim(id) Kaine.

As for your other point about the excessive politeness and Milquetoast responses of the Democrats, I too find them extremely frustrating, and have since at least Harry Reid.

Bump

R151, Obama knew - and history has borne him out - that, whatever estimable qualities Biden has - Biden’s talents were not best suited for the top job. We have the presidency, &, with it, the all-important bully pulpit, but Biden is incapable of being an effective voice.

R153, And yet.....

R150 late-term abortions are extremely rare and invariably carried out to save the mother's life or if the fetus is not viable, however making 'no fault abortion' legal till 'viability' was a terrible error of judgement. Until viability is not legal anywhere in Europe where there is little or no controversy about abortion.

[quote] the sad state of Democrats is only getting worse because of an inability to be competent in political messaging

I expect the issue is democrats are too competent in their political message. Voters understand what they are hearing and seeing but don't like it.

Just the dumb and bigoted ones

r157 illustrates my point. The democratic message has been plainly articulated. Roland Martin was wrong. The messaging has been very successful.

A poster above keeps making the point about the fact that Europe doesn't have abortion up to viability. In fact, the situation is a little more complex. On paper, abortions are available in most European countries through the first trimester (12 weeks), and more stringently limited after that (mother's health, fetus's health). In practice, in most European countries, a woman can say she needs to have an abortion after that time and it is rarely denied. Sometimes she needs to have her doctor sign off on it, but it is rarely questioned.

Generic Ballot (National)

Rep 45% Dem 44%

7/19-7/20 by Emerson College (A-) 1078 RV

[quote]Planned Parenthood should have - years ago - created a rule limiting abortion to 15 weeks which is already generous by European standards where the cut-off date is 12/14 weeks except for life of the mother.

Yes and no

You are right about Planned Parenthood, but the reason they never changed it is because so many American women have to wait until they have the money to see a doctor. A 20 week cut off is enough. Democratic leadership should have stepped in.

But the democrats have always been foolish. Every bill they try to pass always has foolish things in it. It's almost impossible for them to have anything pared down. They could have had a national voting rights bill long ago, but they kept insisting on a provision to allow voters be allowed to vote without any ID.

Didn't know that. Is it Pelosi's fault? I'm beginning to think she is the biggest issue - her refusal to relinquish power, sticking her 80 year old henchmen in every position of power in the House.

R160, we should know by now that, in such National polls, Democrats have to be +4 to be truly competitive.

Martin obviously isn't seeing Fetterman's ads which are great. He knows how to advertise and without degrading.