This is one reason our party's approval is in the toilet

[EnergizedLib]

Apologies if this has already been posted, but I need to do some venting:

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/dem-strategists-urged-party-trump-military-takeover-1235415635/

----Snip

National Guard outside of Union Station on Aug. 20 in Washington, D.C.
Astrid Riecken/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Donald Trump is waging a fascist takeover of the United States, siccing the Justice Department on his political enemies while deploying federal troops to “liberate” Washington, D.C., where crime has been steadily declining. Democratic politicians are responding the only way they know how: by heeding the advice of the wonks who helped get them into this situation in the first place — and whose advice is to avoid discussing what Trump is doing.

Blue Rose Research, the firm led by Democratic establishment darling David Shor, produced a memo earlier this month digging into the effectiveness of various messages related to Trump’s takeover of Washington, D.C. The firm advised that messaging around Trump’s “rising authoritarianism” was “highly unconvincing,” while messages that say Trump wants to “distract” from his damaging tariffs or horrifying Medicaid cuts were more effective. Meanwhile, Republican messaging about how Trump is clamping down on gang violence tested through the roof.

----Snip

Of course, kitchen table issues matter. Of course, healthcare matters. Both should be a focus, but you know what else should be a focus? Actually pushing back and fighting against trump's authoritarian tactics.

Look at the polls. The Big Beautiful Bill isn't popular. Even right-leaning polls don't have trump's approval numbers through the roof. He isn't doing JFK numbers, he isn't doing Bush Sr. numbers after Desert Storm, he isn't doing Dubya numbers after 9/11. Some people are far gone to the point of hopelessness, but there's a sense of hopelessness among us because we're frustrated our leadership isn't doing enough to call out and push back against what has by far been the closest America has come to a dictatorship in my lifetime.

This makes 2017-2021 look like a picnic, and that was abysmal with those four years that felt like an eternity.

No, we need to be a united party, and we need to unite our party against this bully, this tyrant - not backing down, not giving him our lunch money. It's why Gavin's numbers have increased in early 2028 polling because he's tried to give dear leader a taste of his medicine, it's why some people split ticketed trump and AOC of all things because some perceived both of them to be authentic.

I've voted straight blue for years. That will not change in 2026, but we're getting to a point where a shredded book has more of a spine than some members of our party do. Some of the leaders in our party seem to have less courage than the Cowardly Lion does.

If it were up to me, we'd hold the House, 435-0, we'd hold the Senate, 100-0, every presidential election would be 538-0 for us and our Supreme Court would be to the left of the Warren Court.

I'm inspired, I'm motivated. Not everybody is. More of our party needs to take the fight to authoritarianism. We're not going to agree with every Democrat on every issue, but we need to agree even the worst Democrat is better than the best MAGAt and we need urge these Democrats to focus not just on kitchen table issues, not just on healthcare, but also fighting tyranny.

If we fought harder against these maniacs, our approval might go up just a smidge.

[Pachamama]

1. This is needed

And let’s also start by having a DNC Chairperson who doesn’t put you to sleep when talking about issues that matter to us all and would normally out of the mouth of anyone be a rallying cry.

[EnergizedLib]

2. Some members of our party

Fight fellow Democrats harder than they fight the lunatics in the White House, including the biggest lunatic of them all.

[Pachamama]

6. That isn't me

I am a fierce defender of the Democratic cause and the principles and what it stands for. But if there is something that is a hindrance and is preventing the Democrats from success, I will absolutely call it out.

[W_HAMILTON]

31. Indeed, although I suspect we differ on WHO those Democrats are.

You were the OP that was fighting fellow Democrats, right?

[Pachamama]

32. Huh?

I have maybe 10 posts in last month and even fewer the last few weeks.

Wrong Person

[GaYellowDawg]

19. I think you need to pay more attention.

Do you even know who the DNC chair is? He's Ken Martin and he's a hell of a good speaker. So is Malcolm Kenyatta. I met Martin at a Democratic event in Tennessee. Have you seen either of them speak? I don't think you have, or else you wouldn't be posting this.

Get off the keyboard and get involved, and get to know who's fighting for you.

[murielm99]

25. Thank you for this post.

I get tired of the non stop criticism, on a Democratic board, no less.

[Pachamama]

33. Very involved and long time DUer and met him

So yes - I know what I’m talking about and don’t agree with you on his effectiveness.

Try not insulting fellow DUers without knowing them or their history and making assumptions.

Family members don’t always agree - no need to attack. I just happen to have a very different opinion and think he is a bad choice for Chairperson. You can be a smart person, a good person and å knowledgeable person with your heart in the right place - but that doesn’t always translate into being an effective manager or fundraiser or messenger. Sorry that is my opinion and I believe over time this will be so evident that even his biggest supporters won’t be able to deny it. We don’t have the luxury of waiting to find out.

Malcolm is fantastic and met him too in Philly.

[GaYellowDawg]

41. I've been here since 2004, too.

So you can't really play the longevity card with me.

He started as chair in 2025, and that's not long enough for you to cast aspersions on his effectiveness as chair. I know that he is an effective and engaging speaker because I've actually heard him speak. I honestly doubt that you have. He spoke as well as the vice-chair. When did you meet him in Philly, and under what circumstances?

Who would you have as chair? Didn't the nature of the last election convince you that last-minute changes to leadership can be disastrous? What you need to be doing is thinking of ways to bolster every Democrat's effectiveness instead of looking for some shiny new thing.

[Orrex]

42. They were talking about Schumer, I suspect

And their characterization of his oratory was, in fact, spot on.

[GaYellowDawg]

44. Read more carefully.

They referenced the DNC chairman. That's not the Senate minority leader. Had they referenced Schumer, I would have agreed with it.

[Orrex]

45. I read it fine, thanks.

The description fits Schumer better, so I inferred that the poster referred to the DNC chair in error.

[GaYellowDawg]

46. That's interesting.

I don't think I've ever seen an "alternate facts" explanation on here before. "She didn't say what she actually said! She said what I inferred she said!" Well played, Katherine.

[Orrex]

47. Please read post 19, where "alternative facts" were also invoked.

Do you even know who the DNC chair is? He's Ken Martin and he's a hell of a good speaker. So is Malcolm Kenyatta. I met Martin at a Democratic event in Tennessee. Have you seen either of them speak? I don't think you have, or else you wouldn't be posting this.

In other words, "you don't know what you're talking about; I know what you're talking about."

[GaYellowDawg]

48. You're flailing, Orrex.

Yes, I was questioning whether her post was legitmate, and expressed doubt that she knew what she was talking about with respect to Martin. You, on the other hand, claimed she meant "Senate Minority Leader" when she wrote DNC chair and then did not respond that Schumer was who she meant to refer to. You made stuff up. I didn't. Therefore, you were indulging in alternative facts and I wasn't. Is that clear enough, or do you want me to write it out in crayon and send you a picture?

[Orrex]

49. Best wishes to you as you sort things out.

[yellow dahlia]

39. Yup

[Dem4life1970]

3. Gov. Newsom has helped lead the charge...

Gov. Pritzker is following his lead. Democratic Attorneys Generals have been suing the Trump Admin. every time it breathes. We need to continue to take the fight to this unAmerican, Autocratic, Aberration, that is now the Republican Party. Total victory, not compromise with them, has to be our goal.

[newdeal2]

4. We have two examples so far

A few thousand troops in LA and DC. Yes he is threatening more cities with similar treatment, we will see how far he goes.

It absolutely deserves to be resisted in courts and in public. But as of now this is an abstraction that hasn’t impacted 99% of Americans. That may change but I can see why the consultants are saying it’s not a winning message right now.

[EnergizedLib]

5. How can we prosper as a country

If its people only focused on issues that concerned them? What kind of progress and greatness are we going to attain where we don’t care unless it affects us?

[newdeal2]

8. We can still move forward and make progress. Voters are motivated by their own self-interests

Give them tangible things to vote for like healthcare or lower taxes.

Trying to explain the dangers of authoritarianism and getting voters motivated by that is a losing proposition IMO. Sucks, but that's where we are as a country. Go for the low hanging fruit like inflation, jobs, dismantling of our healthcare system, etc. and win.

[EnergizedLib]

10. We can give them that, too

But if I cared about just my self interest alone, I wouldn’t be as left-leaning as I am.

I miss the country I grew up in. I miss the country of even a few shorts years before trump.

You cannot be a country that values freedom, then get turned off by warning about someone and something that threatens that.

What I’m saying, talk about the issues affecting people *and* the bullying and authoritarianism.

[newdeal2]

11. Yes we can and should do both

As for your other point, I go back to two things:

1) Death of the WW2 generation. Newer generations take democracy for granted and don't know the dangers of other systems and don't know history all that well in general.
2) Covid and lockdowns really accelerated conspiracy theories and general selfishness.

Both of those factors make our systems very vulnerable. People don't seem to care that our institutions are being destroyed; they just want "change" and they want it now.

[EnergizedLib]

12. Then they'd want change from this, too, right?

I am one of the newer generations, I’m a millennial, born well after World War II. I always thought it was pure fantasy what is happening in this country could happen.

If not for lockdowns, people might not even have the chance to be selfish. When you hate liberals more than you love your country, when you vote to own the libs, you’re only cutting off your nose to spite your face. Selfishness hasn’t brought down prices, hasn’t ended wars, hasn’t fixed a job situation, hasn’t given people more rights.

Even though my life personally isn’t too bad at the moment, boy do I wish to wake up from the nightmare our country’s been in for the last decade.

Change isn’t always for the better, and there are consequences to change. If they vote for someone they think will only hurt people they don’t like, have I got news for them.

He’s convinced countless people to deny reality, even when it smacks them in the face, and that if he somehow hurts the people they don’t like that he won’t hurt them.

It’s mind boggling.

[KPN]

27. Lol. Too many if not most voters don't even know what their own

self-interests are. Sounds like the same as it ever was. And here we are.

[Lancero]

34. "First they came for the people in LA, and I did not speak out..."

[Tree Lady]

7. I have some ideas but many here would jump

All over me so not sharing. I am pretty progressive but we have a few areas most of the country is not ready for and when we stick strongly to positions that only 10% of the country is ready for we lose.

Just my opinion.

Our ideas on the economy are the best, most sides do want to save the environment and have clean air & water. Our ideas on what's fair tax wise most like. Most people agree on treating all races fairly. A majority even want some type of gun control. Most want fair judges non partisan.

I find most people want kids schools and public places safe from shootings, they want healthcare, food and gas affordable.

We just brought up other wedge issues that hurt us. And I am not talking abortion and birth control because overall most want that at least for early stages. They are not stupid they know obgyn's are leaving red states.

[EnergizedLib]

9. I mean, trans people have the right to exist

We don’t need to make that the center of our platform, but it’s okay to talk about. It’s okay to mention that a person’s preferred name, a person’s pronouns and what a person identifies as has nothing to do with real issues plaguing the country and its citizens.

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. But we don't get to decide which issues are put before us

Right-wingers hammer away at stuff like transgenderism, books in school libraries and "skyrocketing" crime rates. Then, instead of ignoring them and putting the real issues up front, we play defense. In doing that, the right- wing "issues" stick in swing voters' minds.

[EnergizedLib]

17. Then we need to hammer those real issues up front

Let them know that transgender people existing won’t solve food pricing problems.

Let them know trans people have nothing to do with jobs.

They have nothing to do with healthcare being cut.

They have nothing to do with our debt and deficit.

They have nothing to do with consumer protections being stripped and consumers getting ripped off.

They have nothing to do with their freedoms being risked.

They have nothing to do with so many people’s everyday lives.

If some dude wears a dress, I couldn’t care less.

[GoodRaisin]

16. We didn't make it the center of our platform. Republicans did.

And we didn’t push back on it. We’re losing because we let the other party define us to voters, falsely.

[EnergizedLib]

18. Then it's time to push back on it

[GoodRaisin]

21. No disagreement there. Fox News is still pushing that lie.

They beat the hell out of that drum.

[EnergizedLib]

22. It's time to get the word out about Fox

That Fox doesn’t tell the truth, Fox tells certain people what they want to hear.

[GoodRaisin]

23. Yep. We'll see it again in the next election if we don't. Right now it has been very

effective in their bag of lies they sell to voters.

[KPN]

29. Not so much "we brought up other wedge issues"

as the Rs have excelled at capitalizing on wedge issues and then effectively paired those with suggestive “communists” paranoia. And we played along ineffectively at the big picture level by essentially ignoring the middle class. Socially liberal but economically conservative kills us.

[RoseTrellis]

30. I'm sure many agree with you on some of this

Your post highlights a challenge for dems - balancing bold ideals with broad appeal. You’re right—Trump has a knack for framing positions that resonate with many Americans, often sounding like common sense to the majority while we hear them as dog whistles. It doesn’t always help we oppose everything out of his filthy mouth 100% of the time, either. A broken clock is correct twice a day after all. We can (in some cases) agree there is a problem, but focus on our ways to solve them over the authoritarian methods he proposes.
His rhetoric taps into shared concerns like safety, affordability, and fairness, but he avoids alienating swing voters by sidestepping divisive “wedge” issues or cloaking them in vague, populist terms. It’s a bad look to deny that some places do have a lot of crime, that people feel unsafe, and that homelessness with people living on the streets isn’t a bigger issue.
Progressives could learn from this. Focusing on widely supported ideas—clean air/water, fair taxes, racial equality, school safety, affordable healthcare—builds a stronger coalition. Pushing niche issues (where only 10% agree) risks losing the middle. Trump’s genius lies in simplifying complex issues into slogans that feel universal, even if the subtext is divisive.
Dem leadership. might counter by sharpening their messaging on shared values, avoiding traps that paint them as out-of-touch. Stick to what unites—most Americans want practical solutions, not ideological battles.

[writerJT]

43. Absolutely. Stop playing the culture war BS

and when they bring up a divisive issue, reply by hammering them on the economy, access to healthcare, and our standing in the world.

Don’t even acknowledge the so-called “social issues” and culture war nonsense.

People want an economy that works for all, food security, access to affordable healthcare, things like that. Stop driving away voters by scolding them because they don’t have the same values on divisive social issues.

[LudwigPastorius]

14. "Democratic politicians are responding the only way they know how: by heeding the advice of the wonks who...

helped get them into this situation in the first place — and whose advice is to avoid discussing what Trump is doing."

Funny, I've seen plenty of Democrats speaking out about Trump's misuse of the National Guard.

I've also seen lawsuits filed by Democrats that challenge Trump's authority to deploy troops for policing.

I strongly disagree with the authors' assessment that Democrats aren't "discussing what Trump is doing".

[usonian]

15. I believe that dogshit's approval among young people who know nothing, is that he was fighting.

Well, so were Tim and Kamala, but they were fighting issues, and that is seen as "wimpy"

Hate to say it, but beat up on a strawman.

The Constitution is seen as some wimp-ass "issue"

JFK was fighting for the Straits of Formosa. It's an even bigger issue today, because not a frickin thing was done about it.

But beat up on something. Who went to see Ovid when there were gladiatorial battles.

Politics changed. If it's demolition derby, be prepared to do battle and win.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

20. It's messaging

"The firm advised that messaging around Trump’s 'rising authoritarianism' was 'highly unconvincing,' while messages that say Trump wants to 'distract' from his damaging tariffs or horrifying Medicaid cuts were more effective."

What's wrong with "effective" messaging about the felon's deliberate distractions from his bullshit? This must have been before the Epstein scandal exploded. Maybe the "rising authoritarianism" is a bit broad generalization compared to specific horrifying examples.

So focus on his many attempted distractions if they're more effective! What's wrong with that?

"Meanwhile, Republican messaging about how Trump is clamping down on gang violence tested through the roof."

Whose roof? Is that good or bad? With whom was it tested? What kind of measurement is that? Sounds like hyperbolic BS to me.

PS. I just read enough of that piece to recognize yet another Democratic hitjob.

[SouthBayDem]

24. Showing one's duplicity is a time tested effective strategy in politics.

Unfortunately people in this country were willing to risk authoritarianism in the name of cheap eggs, saving women's sports, or some other nonsense pushed by right wing media. So the best messaging conveys, "hey the guy you voted for isn't delivering what he talked about."

[James48]

26. Stand UP! SPEAK OUT

This is our only chance to speak out as it descends into fascism.

[fujiyamasan]

28. How much did Blue Rose charge for this?

I see the grifting consultants are still making plenty of $$$.

Why does every message have to go through some kind of focus group? No wonder people are finding the party’s leadership to lack authenticity.

[Donkees]

35. ''The other component of Shakir's pitch involves a subject with which he is deeply familiar: media''

Bernie Sanders’s ex-campaign manager wants to rebuild Democratic party: ‘What new ideas are we bringing?’
This article is more than 6 months old
Faiz Shakir launched a last-minute bid for DNC chair and wants to mold it in to a working class, inclusive organization

The other component of Shakir’s pitch involves a subject with which he is deeply familiar: media. In 2021, Shakir founded the progressive non-profit news outlet More Perfect Union with an explicit aim of “building power for the working class”. Since its founding, More Perfect Union has produced viral content on everything from fast fashion to the exploitation of Uber drivers. More Perfect Union’s YouTube channel now has more than 1.3 million subscribers four years after its creation, while the DNC’s YouTube channel has roughly 77,000 subscribers despite launching 14 years earlier.

“They don’t value the channels as important properties of trying to talk to people because they aren’t a grassroots organization by nature,” Shakir said.

In the wake of Democrats’ losses in November, it has become conventional wisdom that the party has a “media problem”, but Shakir frames the issue as more of a platform and messaging problem. He accused the DNC of over relying on gimmicky language rather than presenting a concrete strategy to confront an unjust economy, and he pointed to More Perfect Union’s coverage of efforts to cancel medical debt and unionize Starbucks employees as a potential template for how the party can use content to send a pro-worker message to voters.

“Those kinds of things help build the case and the mandate for the direction of what the Democratic party would be if it came back into power and deliver us good content too,” Shakir said. “If you’re telling those stories, I tend to think those videos would do a hell of a lot better on YouTube than whatever [the DNC] is posting right now.”

Shakir presented a similar argument when asked about Democrats’ attacks on Trump during his first days back in office, as the party has publicly wrestled with the question of how much of its attention should be spent on condemning the new administration’s every move versus presenting a positive vision for the future of the country. Shakir implored Democrats to link their larger pitch for building a pro-worker economy with their criticism of Trump’s policy proposals.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/30/dnc-chair-election-faiz-shakir

[betsuni]

36. Establishment wonk memo: Dem messaging against Trump authoritarianism bad, Repub authentic Trump crime fighter hero

messaging through the roof good.

But spineless shredded book of leaderless Cowardly Lion Dems should pushing strongly worded words fighting calling out no backing down no lunch money against Trump authoritarianism, not kitchen tables in the toilet. To the roof!

Okay then.

[EnergizedLib]

37. He ain't no stinking crime fighter

He pardoned every J6er.

He considered pardoning Diddy.

He has considered pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell.

Until and unless he sends the military to crime-infested cities in red states (and I condone no such thing), this is nothing more than a political stunt to intimidate and try to punish cities in blue states.

[Scrivener7]

38. Oh, dear! You suggested the Democratic response to our country being taken over by fascism should be stronger!

Mustn't suggest we can do better! No, no, no!

Thank goodness the bat signal went out and you are being schooled that you mustn't say such things. Saying such things would make you a bad Democrat.

And PS. While we're at it, you know you must answer the perennial question: What are YOU doing? It is on YOU personally, EnergizedLib, to stop this fascist takeover of our country. It is YOU who are not doing enough. If only YOU would do enough, all this would go away!

obviously.

[yellow dahlia]

40. Fire the strategists!