Current Events > Americans' favorable view of the Democratic Party has fallen to 29%

(+) Yeah! (+)

Westernwolf4 posted...

We do not have good leaders in the Democratic Party. And the fact that there seems to be zero strategy to combat the GOP after a Trump win is stunning.

But I also dont know what everybody who is frustrated with Democrats actually expects in terms of real results in the short term. Voters have decreed that Democrats have zero power over any of the three branches of government. There is only so much that can be done under those circumstances beyond rhetoric that makes us feel better but doesnt accomplish anything.

I am much more mad at the Democrats of the 80s and 90s than I am Democrats now. Those Democrats were the ones that let Rush and Fox turn a large chunk of this country into a cult while they stood around trying so hard to be polite.

Now? Again, I am shocked and dismayed that we have zero organized counter for what was so obviously coming in the event of a second Trump term. But my anger is much more directed at a GOP that has abandoned even the pretense of good faith and the voters who are getting exactly the disaster they voted for. Democrats need to do better, but they are in a trap that started closing decades ago.

90s Dems/Clinton didn't really let Rush get big. Rush saw what Neoliberalism and globalism would do to manufacturing and both parties went for it. Rush just ignored that GOP and big business were also joined when callers would complain about layoffs. GOP always attacked the illegals for being the cheap labor and not who was hiring the cheap labor. Dems have fallen into the trap of providing subsidies only and that does not address the root of the problem of exploitation. Capital/owner will go for that because they still keep prices high with government footing the bill. They can't tell the wealthy to tighten bootstraps because now the donors are entrenched with making policy.

name_unknown posted...

90s Dems/Clinton didn't really let Rush get big. Rush saw what Neoliberalism and globalism would do to manufacturing and both parties went for it. Rush just ignored that GOP and big business were also joined when callers would complain about layoffs. GOP always attacked the illegals for being the cheap labor and not who was hiring the cheap labor. Dems have fallen into the trap of providing subsidies only and that does not address the root of the problem of exploitation. Capital/owner will go for that because they still keep prices high with government footing the bill. They can't tell the wealthy to tighten bootstraps because now the donors are entrenched with making policy.

Yeah, but the point I am making is not about policy. Specific policy points is not what made Rush/Fox dangerous. It was the beginning of the construction of the world of alternative facts that MAGA now lives in. It was the beginning of voters not holding the GOP accountable for anything they do, because there was a propaganda machine framing Democrats as the enemy of America, and spewing lies about everything for the gullible to believe.

With Fox/Rush then and MAGA propaganda outlets now, specific policy is always incidental. The goal is to build a cult that will believe any lie from a politician with an R by his or her name. People were sounding the alarm in the 90s about what this propaganda was doing to the electorate and public discourse in general. Democrats then should have taken a harder line against the Republicans (Gingrich and the 94 Congress for example) who amplified these lies and hate as fact. Instead, they were too busy being polite and following norms they assumed the GOP would someday get back to following.

Now, in 2025, a chunk of the country is brainwashed, and the President is a felon who lies to people 2,000 times a day as they clap.

The US Dems should learn from the Swedish Socialdemocrats. They are in opposition right now and their leaders favourability rating is high/very high with 51%. The PMs numbers are 43%.

Then there are 6 more parties in Riksdagen.