this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2024
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Leopards Ate My Face

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[–] alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 24 points 1 month ago (2 children)

One where the 2026 election gives the Dems control of both Houses.

We've got lib media trying to argue that the 2024 election indicated a rightward shift of the electorate.

It remains to be seen if the dems are just going to keep doubling down on trying to be republicans from the previous election.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 27 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Here's the thing. If the Left doesn't vote, they look at the people who do vote.

I was educated by some old school Communists; folks who actually were in Spain fighting Franco and who got blacklisted in the 1950s.

One story they always told was that in 1968 a lot of young radicals were saying that Humphrey was as bad as Nixon and they would never vote for him

The folks who had been around told the non-voters that Nixon was truly terrible and that they should do what they could to defeat him.

I've yet to see an election where the Left sat by idly and got anything good.

[–] alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Here’s the thing. If the Left doesn’t vote, they look at the people who do vote.

That's just gaslighting. Black people are the single most reliable dem voting bloc, and get fuckall from the dems, but are still blamed when they lose.

Meanwhile, republicans vote for republicans. 5% of dem votes in 2024 came from registered republicans, down from 6% in 2020.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I’ve yet to see an election where the Left sat by idly and got anything good.

That's the main point. But please, prove me wrong. Show me a time the Right won big and the Left benefitted.

[–] alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

My argument isn't a prescription of "the left shouldn't vote", it's observations that "the left has absolutely nothing to do with the dems moving to the right" and "when the dems move to the right, they perform worse"

The dems go to the right because left policies hurt their corporate benefactors. Everything else is a post-hoc justification.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Look up Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority.

They had a simple program to purge the GOP of anyone they didn't like. They would show up at every local GOP event with enough people to get their way on any issue. If twenty people had gone to the clubhouse the last time they'd had to pick the new county clerk, the MMs would show up with fifty.

Pretty soon those county clerks and sheriffs were Congress members. All it took was some on the ground organizing.

AOC and Omar did it.

[–] GoodEye8@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Aren't you proving his point by pointing at AOC and Omar? AOC and Omar are proof leftist policies are popular and when you compare their stance on the economy, immigration and Isreal, they're on opposite ends. A and O are pro-worker, Harris ran pro-business. A O don't want strong border control, Harris ran on stronger border control. A O wanted to stop the support for Israel, Harris toed the party line of doing nothing.

AOC and Omar are proof that there is a left demographic to appeal to. Harris's campaign is proof the DNC would rather appeal to the right. The election is proof appealing to the right doesn't work.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago

Please re-read what I wrote.

I said that if you want people like AOC you have to go out and work inside the Democratic Party exactly like she did.

[–] Eatspancakes84@lemmy.world -2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The electorate has clearly shifted right. That’s why this time the right side won, whereas last time the left side won. I hope (but am by no means certain ) that a high quality left-wing candidate can help to shift the electorate back to the left.

[–] SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social 2 points 1 month ago

Is that why quite a few progressive ballot initiatives and referendums also passed?

[–] alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 month ago

Trump got the same number of votes, the dem's base just didn't turn out because they abandoned them to chase after "moderate republicans", again.

The electorate didn't move right, the democrats did.