So, what do we do? I am at a total loss.

[Saviolo]

I'm serious, it's an absolute mystery to me what we do. We hold ourselves to a higher standard that we KNOW the other side will not only not uphold, but will fight tooth and nail to avoid even looking at. They lie, they cheat, they bribe, they cover up, and they win. All the fact-checking in the world doesn't do a thing to them, but the slightest accusation of impropriety paints our side with the broadest brush.

Do we do the same? Do we start buying elections? Do we start bribing and covering up? I know the moral high ground doesn't mean anything, but do we need to abandon our principles? Do give up women's reproductive rights to win elections? Do we give up on gun control? Do we give up on LGBTQ+ rights? Do we give up on equality for POC? What do we do to fight the cesspool on the other side of the aisle without diving headfirst into it?

The wealthy own the mass media. CNN and MSNBC aren't run by liberals, they're run by corporations, and you can look pretty hard and still not find any liberals or progressives on the boards of those corporations. The right has muddied the water so much you can walk on it, now. Facts are over. There's no such thing. When a bunch of people on the right still believe in Pizzagate, we've lost the war on facts. So, what do we do? Where do we go from here?

I'm so frustrated I can't even think straight. All I see are walls going up. Traps being set by the right and the far right that we keep face planting into. Now we're going to lose Franken, a tiger in the Senate, and Moore's still looking good to win in AL. I'm grinding my teeth into splinters.

Our leaders have held back on attacking for years in the "spirit of bipartisanship" in order to make it seem like trying to reach across the aisle and bridge the gap, but every time we do, we get our arms grabbed and dragged further and further to the right. The GOP has given up any pretense of any sort of integrity or principle in favour of *actual nazis* and *child molesters*. There is no depth to which the GOP will not sink in order to gain and hold on to power.

[Irish_Dem]

1. We act like Obama, do the right thing, but fight hard and smart. nt

[Saviolo]

3. But there has to be more.

Obama's message resonated and he did big things, but the Democratic Party lost its shirt over Obama's 8 years. From fivethirtyeight:

In his eight years in office, Obama oversaw the rapid erosion of the Democratic Party’s political power in state legislatures, congressional districts and governor’s mansions. At the beginning of Obama’s term, Democrats controlled 59 percent of state legislatures, while now they control only 31 percent, the lowest percentage for the party since the turn of the 20th century. They held 29 governor’s offices and now have only 16, the party’s lowest number since 1920.

A look back at the Obama era shows that the party’s big-tent message was both working and backfiring at the same time. The raw numbers seemed to add up to Democratic power, but in American politics, two plus two can add up to four — or, just as easily, to being up crap creek in a leaky canoe. The same national trends that allowed Obama to win two terms — and Clinton to win the popular vote in 2016 — hurt Democrats in statehouses, governor’s mansions and congressional districts.

So, there has to be something else. Something more.

[Irish_Dem]

4. Hard to tell how much is a real loss or the result of election rigging, gerrymandering and fraud.

I think the first thing to do is get a secure voting system.
And not assume there is anything wrong with the Dem message.

[VOX]

5. Theres the rub: election rigging and gerrymandering can only committed by the party in power.

You’ve got to hold all the aces to re-draw districts, create extensive networks to oversee “creative” procedures at the polls, etc.

Democrats are never in power long enough to correct all the cheating the Republicans can do in their sleep. The GOP controls at least 32 states, top-to-bottom. Malfeasance and other dirty tricks are more easily perpetuated when your control extends so far.

The majority of voters in many Red States are Democratic. The majority of voters in the last general election went for the Democrat. But who winds up with all the marbles, year after year?

The Republicans are masters at this game, while Democrats remain doomed to be led around. R’s are happy to cheat, play dirty and they rarely throw one of their own to the wolves. They have discipline, high voter turnouts, and massive amounts of money (Kochs, Adelson, Mercers, etc.); in essence, all the resources Democrats lack. And the continual “purity purge” on the left only widens that gap.

[Irish_Dem]

6. Obama beat them at their own game. I wonder if he has ideas on what should be done next? nt

[VOX]

7. Yes he did. But remember the Democratic House/Senate losses in 2016?

That’s when too many Democrats ran away from Obama, distancing themselves from their president, instead of backing him up and saying, “let’s do even more.” And they paid the price, losing the Senate, which eventually allowed Republicans to prevent Obama from appointing a Supreme Court justice, and tip SCOTUS power to the right.

He may have some ideas on how to proceed, but will Democrats listen?

[Irish_Dem]

8. Yes that was a disgrace. And the Dems who fought Obama on health care were a disgrace

as well.

Good question if Dems will listen to Obama, Axlerod, etc.

[VOX]

10. Lets hope they do. And Democrats have to pull back on the *purity* business...

Dig deeply enough, and any candidate will have a skeleton or two. I’m not advocating excusing any reprehensible behaviors. Those should be addressed and dealt with, but they could wait a few weeks, at least. Every trying moment should be examined strategically before there’s commitment to some action, or else it just plays into the hands of the oppressors, at which point, it’s all over, and democracy is finished.

When you’re in an existential battle, and you’re pinned against the wall (as we are now), it’s not a winning strategy to exile the heavy hitters.

[Irish_Dem]

11. We may part ways on this issue. A sexual harassment history

should disqualify a candidate.

But I have been fighting for women's rights for over 50 years, so I see
it differently than others do.

[Saviolo]

12. But it's not the Dems that will beat us around the head and neck with them...

It's the GOP. They will pound and pound and pound, and it will get column inches and air time. It will get pundits chattering about it. It will get Democrats hand-wringing.

This site's a good example. The Franken story has entirely consumed this site, immediately after Doug Jones came out swinging against Roy Moore with a firebrand speech. But the news and this site are all Franken Franken Franken. If he's done, he's done. I'm super sorry to see him go. Let's move on, can we stop Moore now?

No, it appears we can't. Because we face an enemy that has no shame, no principle, and no integrity.

[ck4829]

2. The pseudogovernment in D.C. is no longer legitimate.

[LisaL]

9. Lose. That's what we can do.

[OliverQ]

13. Hmm, we beg Canada or Europe to let us move there?