Self Esteem
Self Esteem's JournalJoe Biden being greeted at an airport...
?si=ynwuzvHuAjILKH-tDemocrats are too old.
I'm sure this post will go over well but hear me out.
With the unfortunate news of Rep. Connolly. passing, that marks the third Democratic House member to die in office THIS YEAR ALONE. We're only in May! All three were older. That's on top of three congressional Democrats who died in office last year and the high-profiled death of Dianne Feinstein in 2023.
The youngest of those seven who passed was Donald Payne, who passed at 65 from a massive heart attack.
The last Republican congressperson to die in office was Jackie Walorski, who was in her 50s and died from a car accident in 2022.
Every other death has been an older Democrat.
Not only does that impact the margins, especially if Democrats want to take back the House and keep what will likely be a razor-thin majority if they do in 2026, it impacts perception.
This isn't even getting into the Biden news - the questions about his mental fitness and the fact he now has an aggressive cancer.
It's scary optics that absolutely hurt Democrats.
The reality is that the party's image is that of an out-of-touch one with leaders who refuse to give up power or pass the torch to the next era.
It was, for a long time there, Democrats appeared to be the party of the youth - while Republicans were the older hanger-ons.
Not so much anymore. Which is remarkable considering the Republican president is an old man!
But the face of the party, whether you think they're crazy or not, isn't. It's people like Vance and other younger members.
It's not Mitch McConnell anymore.
The Democrats? Jeffries is a great start - but Schumer is much more visible as senate leader.
The party needs to do a better job promoting the youth.
Connolly was was added to the House Oversight Committee earlier this year, despite knowingly having cancer, over AOC.
There has got to be a better way to promote younger members of the party because they often are the best at communicating the message.
I look at AOC or Jasmine Crockett and they're the ones I see making the point that some of these older Democrats struggle making.
I'm impressed.
Democrats need to realize it's not 2005 anymore. The older members of the party might be effective at compromising and deal making but right now, that isn't what we need from the opposition.
We need fighters and outsiders.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you want to save your teeth...
...the gnashing over criticism of Biden should probably pause because it's going to get exponentially worse as we get closer to 2028.
Every Democrat running for office is probably going to step on Biden - who is still extremely unpopular - and claim he should not have run for reelection and maybe even go as far as say he failed in some areas.
It's going to get ugly. Biden is the sacrificial lamb to the next Democratic president.
You're already seeing it with Pete - who said Biden running was 'maybe' a mistake, which is probably the first on record comments by an official within the Biden administration.
Even Beto is out there - taking it one step further than Pete (and he's probably not running for anything):
What Republicans did to Bush post-2008, Democrats are likely to do to Biden.
And we gotta prepare because it's going to suck and it's going to be mean and it's going to cause a lot of gnashing of teeth.
Fetterman's support for the CR is even worse than it may have seen originally.
He basically just told the GOP that he'll support whatever they want to put in the next CR just as long as it keeps the government from closing down.
That's the message I get from this: no matter how awful the CR might be in September, he'll support it. So, if the next CR eliminates Social Security and Medicare, Fetterman will support it.
I can't wait to see how Republicans exploit this later in the year.
Republicans have figured it out. Democrats have not.
The Democratic Party only has itself to blame for its journey to irrelevancy.
Republicans came out of the 2008 election unified and defiant in opposition to everything and anything Obama ever wanted to do. They decided that the best course of action was not to play nice with Obama, despite his historic mandate but to obstruct him at every turn. They knew the American people would not hold them to account on anything because Americans don't vote on whether one party plays by the rules or is nice and the other isn't. The American people have shown us time and time again they only value the perception of toughness.
So, Republicans rallied and obstructed Obama on everything. Despite Democrats having a near-super majority, the Republicans forced the party to work for every vote possible and then attacked, attacked and attacked.
And what happened? In 2010, Republicans won back the House in a historic landslide, nearly won back the Senate and reemerged from the smoldering heap Bush had left them - all in two years when, after the November, 2008 election, many people were writing the party's political obituary.
Hell, Republicans nearly ended up winning back the presidency just four years after Bush tanked the economy and left us demoralized in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Despite Obama winning reelection, Republicans dug in. They refused a gun control bill that was largely supported by the American voter and had bipartisan support. They shut down the government in 2013. And what did American voters do? They didn't hold Republicans accountable for any of it - they turned around and gave Republicans a stronger House majority in 2014 and control of the Senate.
Oh but it didn't end there! No, in 2016, when Antony Scalia died, Republicans openly REFUSED to even start hearings on Obama's replacement to the court. No hearings. No vote. They actively held open a seat because they could. Senate Republicans even hinted at opposing letting Hillary fill the vacancy. It was up to the voters, they said! Despite polls showing most Americans felt the seat should be filled, what happened? Republicans won the White House and held their majorities in the House and Senate. Trump was able to fill the seat ... no problem.
Democrats need to understand that there's no rules when it comes to preserving democracy. The party is sleepwalking to its own demise at this rate and it will be the result of refusing to fight the most corrupt administration in history because they're terrified of optics looking bad.
Republicans don't give a fuck. I hate Republicans but I envy their approach.
Trump is teetering politically and the Democrats are comfortable handing him a win. This is the path to a permanent minority if we're being honest.
No one sees the Democrats as fighters. They see them as weak-kneed capitulators. The problem with that is that perception also hits at a personal level.
How can you expect the Democrats to fight for YOU if they're so quick to roll over to the Republicans?
You want to know why Republicans win? Because people see them as fighters - and a party willing to do something ... even if it's radical.
Don't underestimate how well that plays to the median voter.
And there's nothing the Democratic Party is doing to reverse that perception.
What the fuck is Gavin Newsom doing?
I don't get it. Who's he trying to win over here? I get wanting to listen to the other side but Newsom is not just platforming the other side - he's platforming the most extreme people on the other side. Worse, he seems to let them control the narrative way too easily.
Look: don't take this as me bashing Newsom. I am asking a legitimate question: what the fuck is he doing? Because I'm not getting it.
How hard is it to say something like this on the trans issue?
"I think there is legitimate discussion on the issue of trans women in sports but that discussion is more appropriate at the school and sports level. Instead, I feel your side is taking an issue that has no baring on the lives of 99% of this country and using it to attack, marginalize and dehumanize trans people. In fact, I question the sincerity of the right's argument supporting women sports considering their history of opposing Title IX and funding for women's sports."
Newsom let Kirk control the narrative. He ceded a lot of ground on his podcast today and that's not only insulting to trans people - it's insulting in general. This was not the same Newsom who debated DeSantis a couple years ago. I'm very disappointed in his not only platforming Kirk but also letting Kirk completely own the trans debate.
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Gender: Do not displayMember since: Thu Jun 27, 2024, 11:24 PM
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