Corbin, since you're trying to understand voters in these districts, I'm curious how you think about why Cori Bush's unfavorability rating was second only to AIPAC, especially since she is so outspoken against AIPAC. Why do you think she did so poorly in her primary?
I don't know if it was justified or not, but her husband was indicted for wire fraud involving covid funds, and Bush herself was accused of using campaign money to prop up his defense.
Again, I don't know if these charges were accurate but I can imagine they impacted the election.
I read somewhere that her local offices/constituent services were not managed well when she was in Congress. Things like not retuning phone calls and emails. I can’t say if that’s true, but taking care of the district is a minimum for anyone in Congress.
came here to ask the same. I remember hearing two years ago it was AIPAC money flooding airwaves in a small district that led to her loss. What happened this year?
I’m running for State Rep in Massachusetts vs a Trump voting, anti choice bill writer and investor in fossil fuels. He has name recognition and money. I just need my name and message to get out. www.Lee4theMasses.com
I took a look at your site, and I think you have a solid platform, but if I might offer some constructive criticism, I think more specificity on how you plan to implement your policy objectives would help. I think by pushing your experience as a first responder as an analog to fast-paced, high stakes decision making that prioritizes the patient (voter) over yourself or stakeholders, you can get traction faster. Medical staff have to juggle the trade-offs between short-term stabilization and long-term quality of life constantly. I'd suggest more intensity behind how your priority has been helping people while minimizing harm, while theirs has been stuffing their pockets.
If you're going against a conservative (or full-on trumper), the typical rebuttal to damn near anything is "how are we going to do that?" or "that's impossible" and so on. To be fair, it's the same as a progressive against an incumbent neoliberal, and in either case, you'll benefit from pre-emptively heading off their first line of attack by providing quickly accessible executive summaries of actionable policies for constituents to directly read and assess.
Corbin, the polling is good data. I’m in Missouri and it is good to learn how district 1 feels.
We need leaders with conviction and vision, willing to stand up for the just and the good. I’m so feed up with Corporate Do Nothing Democrats who are so milquetoast. Steven’s personified this.
I’m putting my money behind A Fight Worth Having, shifting 90% of monthly giving away from Our Revolution and Justice Democrats, and I have been impressed with what they have accomplished, but as you point out, the system gobbles them up. More is needed, and your arguments resonate with me.
Keep going!
I felt there was a little more joint campaigning but not to the degree and messaging that you call for. I think Warren helped in Michigan.
Can you share more about the progress you are making with candidates? Have there been conversations? Are candidates reaching out to A Fight Worth Having? Has the PAC been able to get meetings with candidates?
The current national Democratic party leadership appears to me to be utterly devoid of goals or objectives (something like what we used to call a "platform") message other than "Send me money - at least I'm not as bad as them." Money to do what? Send me more e-mails and texts? To pay for what? Consultant fees? Let's find a new speaker, please!
So sad. There are great house members who would be first-rate Speakers: my top person, Rashida Tlaib (I like her for a presidential candidate as well, but.. that would happen .only when Kosher horses can fly). But AOC, or Ilan Omar would be great as well. Or, if we insist on a white guy, what about Brad Lander?
12% of the vote going to a completely unknown quantity is crazy. If that many people hate Jeffries' leadership enough to vote for literally anyone else, that's a hell of a starting point.
I know this is long, so my core point is, we need deep canvassing teams to suss out the explicit convictions of persuadable skeptics and identify how to translate our messaging to assuage rational fears while dismantling irrational fearmongering. It's a mix of strengthening how we communicate, and leveraging adversarial views to plug holes in our action plans.
----
I see a lot of similar momentum towards the political will for substantial, progressive change, especially in the topics you've covered. People are growing to meet the urgency of the situation, one disillusioned soul at a time. I understand the urgency of the situation. We're fighting against the clock to avert a fascist uprising, build resilience against and mitigate the extent of climate change, and we're at a point of crisis in terms of how hard the people are squeezed economically and socially.
In spite of that, we have to acknowledge there *is* a limit to how fast we can go, and this is largely determined by how hard our detractors pull against our efforts. We saw this during Covid with anti-maskers and general defiance incited by their perception of being ordered to police their behavior. It's akin to trying to stomp the pedal to the floor on an oil-slicked road. You'll just spin in place if you don't take a breath, and carefully apply your force in the right way.
So, how do we maximize our ability to exert our energy effectively? I think we need to understand the grease on the road. It's anxiety and fear mongering. But I *do* think there are vital lessons wrapped up in there. So I would like to see some deep canvasing teams seek open-minded understanding of the exact anxieties and friction points underlying conservative and neoliberal voters' resistance to our efforts. We need to parse out where the real blind spots in our policies are, and expose to voters where their fear of change or failure is being exploited by bad actors.
Right now, by just sharing our vision without explicitly targeting their unique perspectives and how they find validity in critiques we tend to dismiss as unimportant, we're slowing down the rate of uptake. We're leaving oil on the road we could mop up.
Doesnt matter unless the Dems and the self avowed socialist/capitalists roundly disavow the Democratic Socialists of America and its platform’s radical Marxist/Leninist aspects. Else the GOP is going to have a field day and the DNC will be wasting time, money and media trying to counter the $Billion$ war chest, Trumps 24/7 spew about communism and the oligarch driven PACs media blitz! Rather than attacking the GOPs complicity with Trump! Keep on talking up “…a new system” and It will be turned on you and used to turn away the one demographic people like you and the DNC never seem get, the INDEPENDENTS and Old SCHOOL REPUBLICAN RINOS! Who make up more of the electorate than all the Republicans and Dems. COMBINED!
We all remember how the DNC snuffed Bernie - their lawyer arguing that the DNC reserved the right to select the Candidate; that the primaries existed just to enhance interest in the forthcoming election. Yes things have changed - for the worse.
The strategy of the author to elect a "critical" number of generally good, progressive people, who share the same generally progressive ideas and will change the system by promoting and voting for these ideas is a standard liberal strategy that can work in a certain environment supported by both political and business establishment for certain kind of ideas. This was the time of FDR attempted to be emulated.
First, as has been mentioned many times, the current economic, social, and political conditions are fundamentally different. Second, this "critical" number, realistically, cannot be even dreamed of. And, third, which is the most critical factor, the 'window of opportunities" for the transformation envisioned by the author is rapidly closing, first of all because of environmental/climate and/or AI-related factors. In nearly permanent state of emergency no social and political discontent will be tolerated. Without a mass grass-root organization that supports author's ideas and the candidates that express them, no practical changes can be implemented and even started. One more progressive person in the Senate won't do more than Sanders has done – progressive rhetoric.
DSA can do phenomenal, but logistically limited, electoral work. They are unlikely to be able to scale it up significantly, which is absolutely required to support the author's strategy. And, beyond the elections, they function as a regular Left organization with many factions of quite different views. Also, they are neither popular nor populist. Various liberal, social-democratic organization affiliated with the Democratic party, which organized multi-million protest, are much more capable of mass mobilization and, potentially, organizing, but they are not radical and independent enough to support author's ideas.
Natural conclusion: a popular Third Force is urgently required, and it will inevitably appear, as multiple examples of many developing countries demonstrate, but the situation may deteriorate too much that a peaceful electoral way may not be feasible anymore, again, as many developing countries demonstrate.
Corbin, since you're trying to understand voters in these districts, I'm curious how you think about why Cori Bush's unfavorability rating was second only to AIPAC, especially since she is so outspoken against AIPAC. Why do you think she did so poorly in her primary?
I don't know if it was justified or not, but her husband was indicted for wire fraud involving covid funds, and Bush herself was accused of using campaign money to prop up his defense.
Again, I don't know if these charges were accurate but I can imagine they impacted the election.
I read somewhere that her local offices/constituent services were not managed well when she was in Congress. Things like not retuning phone calls and emails. I can’t say if that’s true, but taking care of the district is a minimum for anyone in Congress.
came here to ask the same. I remember hearing two years ago it was AIPAC money flooding airwaves in a small district that led to her loss. What happened this year?
I’m running for State Rep in Massachusetts vs a Trump voting, anti choice bill writer and investor in fossil fuels. He has name recognition and money. I just need my name and message to get out. www.Lee4theMasses.com
I took a look at your site, and I think you have a solid platform, but if I might offer some constructive criticism, I think more specificity on how you plan to implement your policy objectives would help. I think by pushing your experience as a first responder as an analog to fast-paced, high stakes decision making that prioritizes the patient (voter) over yourself or stakeholders, you can get traction faster. Medical staff have to juggle the trade-offs between short-term stabilization and long-term quality of life constantly. I'd suggest more intensity behind how your priority has been helping people while minimizing harm, while theirs has been stuffing their pockets.
If you're going against a conservative (or full-on trumper), the typical rebuttal to damn near anything is "how are we going to do that?" or "that's impossible" and so on. To be fair, it's the same as a progressive against an incumbent neoliberal, and in either case, you'll benefit from pre-emptively heading off their first line of attack by providing quickly accessible executive summaries of actionable policies for constituents to directly read and assess.
Thanks for advice. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/lee4themasses
Corbin, the polling is good data. I’m in Missouri and it is good to learn how district 1 feels.
We need leaders with conviction and vision, willing to stand up for the just and the good. I’m so feed up with Corporate Do Nothing Democrats who are so milquetoast. Steven’s personified this.
I’m putting my money behind A Fight Worth Having, shifting 90% of monthly giving away from Our Revolution and Justice Democrats, and I have been impressed with what they have accomplished, but as you point out, the system gobbles them up. More is needed, and your arguments resonate with me.
Keep going!
I felt there was a little more joint campaigning but not to the degree and messaging that you call for. I think Warren helped in Michigan.
Can you share more about the progress you are making with candidates? Have there been conversations? Are candidates reaching out to A Fight Worth Having? Has the PAC been able to get meetings with candidates?
The current national Democratic party leadership appears to me to be utterly devoid of goals or objectives (something like what we used to call a "platform") message other than "Send me money - at least I'm not as bad as them." Money to do what? Send me more e-mails and texts? To pay for what? Consultant fees? Let's find a new speaker, please!
So sad. There are great house members who would be first-rate Speakers: my top person, Rashida Tlaib (I like her for a presidential candidate as well, but.. that would happen .only when Kosher horses can fly). But AOC, or Ilan Omar would be great as well. Or, if we insist on a white guy, what about Brad Lander?
12% of the vote going to a completely unknown quantity is crazy. If that many people hate Jeffries' leadership enough to vote for literally anyone else, that's a hell of a starting point.
I know this is long, so my core point is, we need deep canvassing teams to suss out the explicit convictions of persuadable skeptics and identify how to translate our messaging to assuage rational fears while dismantling irrational fearmongering. It's a mix of strengthening how we communicate, and leveraging adversarial views to plug holes in our action plans.
----
I see a lot of similar momentum towards the political will for substantial, progressive change, especially in the topics you've covered. People are growing to meet the urgency of the situation, one disillusioned soul at a time. I understand the urgency of the situation. We're fighting against the clock to avert a fascist uprising, build resilience against and mitigate the extent of climate change, and we're at a point of crisis in terms of how hard the people are squeezed economically and socially.
In spite of that, we have to acknowledge there *is* a limit to how fast we can go, and this is largely determined by how hard our detractors pull against our efforts. We saw this during Covid with anti-maskers and general defiance incited by their perception of being ordered to police their behavior. It's akin to trying to stomp the pedal to the floor on an oil-slicked road. You'll just spin in place if you don't take a breath, and carefully apply your force in the right way.
So, how do we maximize our ability to exert our energy effectively? I think we need to understand the grease on the road. It's anxiety and fear mongering. But I *do* think there are vital lessons wrapped up in there. So I would like to see some deep canvasing teams seek open-minded understanding of the exact anxieties and friction points underlying conservative and neoliberal voters' resistance to our efforts. We need to parse out where the real blind spots in our policies are, and expose to voters where their fear of change or failure is being exploited by bad actors.
Right now, by just sharing our vision without explicitly targeting their unique perspectives and how they find validity in critiques we tend to dismiss as unimportant, we're slowing down the rate of uptake. We're leaving oil on the road we could mop up.
Doesnt matter unless the Dems and the self avowed socialist/capitalists roundly disavow the Democratic Socialists of America and its platform’s radical Marxist/Leninist aspects. Else the GOP is going to have a field day and the DNC will be wasting time, money and media trying to counter the $Billion$ war chest, Trumps 24/7 spew about communism and the oligarch driven PACs media blitz! Rather than attacking the GOPs complicity with Trump! Keep on talking up “…a new system” and It will be turned on you and used to turn away the one demographic people like you and the DNC never seem get, the INDEPENDENTS and Old SCHOOL REPUBLICAN RINOS! Who make up more of the electorate than all the Republicans and Dems. COMBINED!
Jeffries is a traitor to his party and country and I hope he he replaced. He is not helping everyday Americans. He licks Netanyahu’s shoes.
Likewise for Schumer. Amazon's highest paid Lobbyist is Schumer's daughter.
see https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/index.php?action=social&chash=2fd5d41ec6cfab47e32164d5624269b1.4373&s=ee5c983f74669c58faf159e9172babf2
We all remember how the DNC snuffed Bernie - their lawyer arguing that the DNC reserved the right to select the Candidate; that the primaries existed just to enhance interest in the forthcoming election. Yes things have changed - for the worse.
So great to hear Corbin talk to Waj Ali on The Left Hook today!
Kakistocracy
The strategy of the author to elect a "critical" number of generally good, progressive people, who share the same generally progressive ideas and will change the system by promoting and voting for these ideas is a standard liberal strategy that can work in a certain environment supported by both political and business establishment for certain kind of ideas. This was the time of FDR attempted to be emulated.
First, as has been mentioned many times, the current economic, social, and political conditions are fundamentally different. Second, this "critical" number, realistically, cannot be even dreamed of. And, third, which is the most critical factor, the 'window of opportunities" for the transformation envisioned by the author is rapidly closing, first of all because of environmental/climate and/or AI-related factors. In nearly permanent state of emergency no social and political discontent will be tolerated. Without a mass grass-root organization that supports author's ideas and the candidates that express them, no practical changes can be implemented and even started. One more progressive person in the Senate won't do more than Sanders has done – progressive rhetoric.
DSA can do phenomenal, but logistically limited, electoral work. They are unlikely to be able to scale it up significantly, which is absolutely required to support the author's strategy. And, beyond the elections, they function as a regular Left organization with many factions of quite different views. Also, they are neither popular nor populist. Various liberal, social-democratic organization affiliated with the Democratic party, which organized multi-million protest, are much more capable of mass mobilization and, potentially, organizing, but they are not radical and independent enough to support author's ideas.
Natural conclusion: a popular Third Force is urgently required, and it will inevitably appear, as multiple examples of many developing countries demonstrate, but the situation may deteriorate too much that a peaceful electoral way may not be feasible anymore, again, as many developing countries demonstrate.
Please fix the donation page. It automatically put in $250. Happy to donate, but not in such a large amount.