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Dec 4
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I think a good discussion would be to define just who is the base of the party everyone keeps referring to. I think the party is broader than just the farthest left Progressives. The country is really centrist, getting behind some progressive ideas and not others; getting behind some conservative ideas and not others. If you take out the knee jerk progressives, it's a pretty small group, relatively. There should be room for Progressive and more centrist Democrats in the party. The far left candidates do not do well because there aren't that many far left Americans. If there were, then the Workers and Socialist parties would be more robust on their own.

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Dec 4Edited
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There is more that connects the left to the center than divides Democrats. This is an internal wedge that has been pushed by Trump and he definitely did some damage while Democrats kinda fell for it, and did not have a good comeback. Teaching and developing our side in small business/entrepreneurship would help us get these communities back.

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Simon, any way to bring over all the comments and conversation that were already posted?

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Unlikely, but let me see. Sorry for the bother. Tried to do too much today.

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Great interview with Ken Martin! You and he both made excellent points about the way forward.

I was stunned to hear that only 10% of DNC funding is passed on to state parties. Seems that this is no recipe for building state-level Democratic Party infrastructure, nor for implementing an effective 50-State Strategy.

How is this not political malpractice? Forgive me if my question is naïve or off-base.

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As we discuss there are practices and understandings that were born in a time of scarcity which can be rethought now that due to all of you and your donations and hard work we are in a period of resource abundance not scarcity. I built this site and community to help lead that conversation over the past two years and while we made progress on some fronts we clearly have a lot of work to do.

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I am proud of the post-election video conversations I've offered to all of you so far. They are meaty, and get into the things we need to be discussing now. More to come!!!!!!!!!

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Hear, hear! And it’s such a positive contrast to the post-election circular firing squad that we see from certain Democrats elsewhere!

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We Dems love circular firing squads, apparently?

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We are very good at it. Unfortunately.

Well, that and purity testing. Ugh.

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I agree. I haven't had the heart to watch them. I started with this interview today, and I'm glad I did. I learned something useful and not a bunch of finger-pointing or mea culpas. Having Trump & Co for another four years will be punishment enough.

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I'm not sure I'm fully grasping the "post-scarcity" idea.

As you note, Ds raised and spent over $2B in this last cycle. So it's clear we can raise money when our base is checked in and motivated.

What I'm unclear on is the kind of money that's needed to sustain our voice and organizing in 50 (or 57) states year on year. Is that amount $500M/year?

If so, where does that money come from? How are we going to get Ds to give 25% as much in 2025 as they did for "the most important election of our lifetimes"?

If not, what's the kind of dollar amount that allows us to build an infrastructure and a brand in all 3143 counties?

Would love to hear more about this idea.

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Proud subscriber since Day 1 and will remain loyal!

I'm feeling frustrated in what I'm seeing in these candidates. I love their operational focus beyond campaign donations and agree with the Dean strategy of 50-states / zip codes.

But I just want a DNC that's as ruthlessly focused on our issues as the GOP is on taxes.

I know it'll take time to build our "wish list," but we need the DNC to commit to working towards getting money out of politics; to ending medical debt and moving towards a public option or Medicare for All (and away from GoFundMe campaigns); to expanding SSI and elderly care (removing the caps on wages and taxing billionaires); and to once again being either anti-war or the party that reminds us war is a last resort. That's the party that can and will win.

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Dec 4
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All we have to do is run on the Democratic Party platform in a credible way, rooted in our own history, and change course on some key issues. For the life of me, I don’t understand why this is so hard. It’s very frustrating.

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I think I will raise a glass the day when I do not have to hear or see Sanders anymore.

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Senator Warren would NEVER kneecap the Democratic Party by doing this! The difference between Elisabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders is that Warren gets stuff done. She has had a huge impact on President Biden’s policies and appointments.

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I agree. Elizabeth Warren was my first choice for President in 2020 exactly because she gets stuff done. I believe most people want their government to work for everyone. Getting billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes would be a great help.

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Ditto. Warren had her plans and policies prepared and would have been a great president. That said, Joe Biden has been a very positive surprise – his key failure being communicating his achievements to voters.

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Indeed. Biden has a stutter. I have a great quote from an article in the Hedgehog Review that starts with a stutter. I'll post it one of these days. But when you read Biden's speeches in addition to listening to them, he has something to say, and much of it is inspiring and thought-provoking, not to mention funny. Unfortunately, most of the Gen Pub neither understands what a stutter is about nor how much courage it takes to stand up in front of the GP and deliver major speeches and addresses regardless. People can be so stupidly cruel.

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I don’t really consider Biden’s stutter much of a problem. I was thinking of his administration’s failure to loudly take credit for his presidency’s many accomplishments, and to continually explain the benefits to American voters.

Instead, we got 3.5 years that were filled with Trump’s noise, Republican talking points and negativity, the lies and propaganda from Fox and right-wing media, and the same from MAGA posters and bots on social media. This was topped off by a lack of positive news from bothsiderist newspapers and legacy media.

Biden’s admin should have made sure their message was dominant.

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That's well put. I agree.

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It actually requires more that ruthlessness.

It requires getting into the right wing telecom ecosphere of talk radio. If you haven't listened in a while, I strongly suggest dialing into an all-talk AM station for a half hour. Much - maybe most - of the misinformation being spread by word of mouth, among friends, comes from 21st Century Rush Limbaugh types who permeate talk radio.

But that's still where rural, blue collar and increasingly Hispanic working men and women get their "news." Then it gets repeated on the commute home from landscaping, construction, meatpacking plant and field jobs.

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THANK YOU. This is my point exactly. We need our own radio ecosystem. I think of it as Radio Free America. The question are (1) how to make it happen? and (2) who will spearhead the effort?

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MEDIA OPPORTUNITY IN MAINE

One of the reliable progressive voices in Maine is Stephen King, the best-selling author. Less known is that King owns several radio stations that primarily play music. He's now shutting them down/selling them off.

If sold, we need to make sure they’re not snapped up by the radio equivalents of Sinclair Broadcast. Radio stations are not expensive! Surely we can encourage another millionaire to invest in them.

Republicans have seen the importance of media ownership. We need deep-pocket allies to rise to the occasion. Democrats have a helluva lot of catching up to do.

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Contact our wealthiest donors, talk to King. Perhaps he could help us in some way! Who do any of us call to make this exact situation happen in 50 states?

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I wonder why Stephen King, who has been a fierce advocate of democracy, doesn’t keep them and transform the platform to progressive media?

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You are an amazing source of extremely useful information. Thank you. Can we raise money for the radio stations?

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NORTH CAROLINA: Good news! The recount shows Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs maintaining her 734-vote lead.

https://nitter.poast.org/BryanRAnderson/status/1863981958260248925#m

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CA-13: Good news again! Stanislaus County's final update is in, adding 158 votes that break 57%/43% for Democrat Adam Gray, netting him 22 votes to increase his lead over incumbent Republican John Duarte to 165 votes. To underscore how close this race is, that’s a lead of 0.08%!

Only Fresno County remains now.

https://nitter.poast.org/CATargetBot0001/status/1864045410999824510#m

Worth noting: California election law allows for a recount only if it’s demanded by a candidate, who must then pay the costs in advance.

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How does it look for Fresno? Thoughts?

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CA-13: It’s over! Fresno is in. Grey picks up another 22 votes. He now leads by 187.

https://x.com/taniel/status/1864112524720775316?s=61&t=5copDbz1aPl7ASsRCUclLg

Adam Gray has declared victory over incumbent Rep. John Duarte in California’s 13th Congressional District.

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Told you above, you are an amazing source. Everyone calls me Mama P. Here is a warm hug from Mama P to you.

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Thank you kindly!

By the way, John Duarte has conceded.

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Heartened to see CA 13 potentially going the way of Gray!

Self reporting what I've done over the last week to help safeguard democracy and our party.

*I had a nice conversation with my local Dem chair in NJ. We are going to do things to bring the party back into everyday civil life, including more sustained voter reg drives and hopefully some form of constituent services. She agreed with me that we can't just show up at election time and expect turnout.

*I donated to the Palmetto State Abortion Fund so that women in South Carolina can get access to the reproductive healthcare they deserve but is unavailable in their state.

*I donated to the NJ Alliance for Immigrant Justice because Immigrants are here to stay!

There's a lot of work to do, hard work - but hard work is good work. It's easy to get overwhelmed with the grimness of the current horizon, but there are plenty of ways to make things better where we each live.

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I'm so glad to hear this! Good for you both for getting out and doing the hard work!

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This is very good news indeed. I have a friend who pounded the pavement for Adam Gray. She probably had some tough conversations along the way, but she did it anyway.

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Really appreciated learning about Ken Martin. I’ve had a lot of history with Ben Wikler and am encouraged that such outstanding people are running to lead the DNC.

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You verbalized my thoughts. Thanks.

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I want to share Josh Marshall's evening blog post, because I really respect Josh and this is important (especially if you don't read TPM):

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People are scared and upset about Kash Patel becoming FBI director. There’s good reason to be. But the language illustrates problems we should have learned about during the election. I hear that he’s an “extremist,” that’s he’s a “norm-busting” pick, that he’s inexperienced, that he’s a “hardcore MAGA loyalist.” This all sounds like yada, yada, yada to me. In one ear and out the other.

What I want to hear Democrats saying is that Patel has literally promised to abuse his power as soon as he’s sworn into office. He’s said that repeatedly over the last year. I want to hear Democrats saying they don’t want an FBI director who has promised to abuse the powers of his office as soon as he’s sworn in. To me, that’s not complicated. That’s pretty straightforward. Everyone can understand it.

I also hear talk about which GOP senators might be ready to stand up to Trump. It’s hopeful talk, a real wish that some might be ready to come across the lines and do the right thing. But that’s soft, loser talk. It’s begging. It’s undignified and weak.

One of the benefits of being out of power is clarity. Democrats are outsiders to all the decision-making right now. “Tough” confirmation battles, if they occur, take place entirely among Republicans. Democrats have total freedom of action to oppose on their own terms. Democrats shouldn’t be begging a Susan Collins to do the right thing. They should be eagerly putting her on notice, almost gleeful about how they’re going to use her bootlicking votes against her when she runs for reelection in 2026. The same goes for Thom Tillis and other senators up for reelection in 2026 and 2028. If she’s more focused on her reelection and doesn’t reflexively back Trump and his nominees, well … I guess Democrats will have to make do. But don’t be obsequious. Don’t exalt in your own weakness.

Wherever you are on the spectrum of political power, you can lean into your weakness or your strength. An effective opposition party is always leaning into its strength.

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That’s a great post by Josh Marshall. More Dems like Jasmine Crockett please. They need to go on offense and be loud about it, every day.

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Agree with Josh 100%. It is important to remember that candidate quality matters! State party Chairs matter. Run the right person, do a quality job of getting that candidates message out to the voters (however that needs to happen) and start now.

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Josh is my favorite writer now. Everyday I look forward to his thoughts.

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In this age of questionable news media, Josh Marshall’s Talking Points Memo is consistently excellent. I highly recommend supporting him with a subscription.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/

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Listened to Ezra Klein podcast wit Rahm Emmanuel. I recommend Everyone take time to listen. We, the Dems, became the party of the establishment White Trump and his cohorte begane the anti establishment.

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That’s why so many conservatives have joined progressives and moderates as Democrats now.

Whenever someone complains that Democrats aren’t all on the same page, I remind myself that it’s because we have more than one page. We have a whole library.

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contacted President Biden, Senators, Reps.

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Thank you for these ongoing conversations. I do not believe in finger pointing.

Our candidates were great, K&T were great, BIDEN IS GREAT!! Look at what he is still accomplishing!

A communications guru can help us reach out and then communicate across all 50 states. It's what they do.

Low income and disconnected citizens must be brought into the fold. A great (truthful) message is useless if nobody hears it. One voter can influence dozens more, if we do it well. Look how it helped them.

Our wealthiest pro-Democracy donors (such as, Bill Gates) can help build infrastructure to serve each state's needs. Media, secure technology and communications experts. Ongoing alternative messages must be immediate. A process must be developed.

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With all due respect to Ken Martin, what research shows that a "majority of Americans now believe that the Republican Party best represents the interests of the working class and the poor" (at about the 19-minute mark)? I'm not saying that such research does not exist necessarily, but this is the first I've heard of that preposterous notion and I'd like to take a look at the data and the sourcing for the data. Otherwise, color me skeptical.

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Don't shoot the messenger - I've also heard about this poll. And Trump won overall among voters making under $100K.

Even if the percentages are smaller, that a significant fraction of the country would believe Trump better represents working people's interests than Democrats do shows how damaged the Democratic brand is.

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I would love to know what this poll is or was, who conducted it and what the data says. In my opinion (based on Sarah Longwell's "The Focus Group" at The Bulwark), 2020 Biden voters who switched to Trump 2024 picked Trump over Harris not because they viewed Trump as a better representative of working class interests but because they viewed Harris as "sane but inauthentic" and Trump as "crazy, but authentic." IOW, voters selected for "authentic" over all other values. My opinion is based on the spoken opinions of focus group participants and is in no way a scientific sampling.

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/beyonce-aint-paying-my-bills-btch

Discussion of authenticity begins at about the 19-minute mark and is a real eye-opener.

FWIW, I never thought Harris was "inauthentic." But I was selecting on the value of "sane" over all other values. :)

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In addition to the DNC investing in Democratic State Party infrastructure and organizing, it should also provide funding to state parties to fight Republican power grabs before and after elections like what's happening right now in NC.

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The media effort described here is still only a start.

The real question that it does NOT answer is:

How do Democrats break into the information ecosystem silos of right-wing talk radio?

Simon seems to think that "social media" is a major driver of political sentiment, but among young, white, exurban and Hispanic males in particular, the medium of choice remains AM talk radio.

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I didn’t know that. What are they listening to there? Are there statistics on this?

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