Comment by anigbrowl
12 hours ago
But that's why they're losing. Republicans are in permanent campaign mode. Did Trump shut up after he left office in disgrace in 2021? No, he just kept acting like he was president and kept his coalition together.
I agree with all your criticisms of Republicans. But Dems have major faults. they're bad communicators. They won't push symbolic votes (where they don't have the numbers but do it anyway to appease their base). They don't put out aggressive policy agendas because they don't want the Republicans to criticize them, instead they run like middle managers trying to ace the interview. Half of them can't articulate what they stand for besides being seen as decent and competent.
Their biggest problem is that they are fundamentally conflict averse. Great in normal times when negotiation and compromise and mutuality are in vogue, utterly useless in this political moment. Only 10-15% of them in Congress have the will and skill to fight, most of them are just like panic-stricken bystanders shouting 'keep calm, keep calm!' and 'we're having a problem, we need to do something!'
I agree with everything you're saying, but the biggest problem you point out is exactly what the democracy talk is meant to solve. The Democratic coalition includes more than a few people - not just politicians, voters too - who specifically value negotiation and compromise and mutuality over most if not all policy objectives. The only way to convince them to support a knock-down fight is to convince them that they have to fight, that we have to pause negotiation and compromise for now or risk losing it forever.