Please tell me Democrats; WHAT EXACTLY IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR?

[JMCKUSICK]

If Dems had done this to any, and I mean ANY member of the R caucus, there would be calls for war all over RW propaganda channels and it would raise a groundswell of holy hell.

This is how Democrats have been losing voters!

I read the wonderful post from Dennis Donovan re: Representative-elect Sarah McBride and it dawns on me that we have Political version of the epic poem First They Came for Me by Pastor Martin Niemoller (no umlaut on my keyboard lol) that describes the slippery at best hold that Dem have on most of their constituencies.
As I write this, please know I am fully aware of the impossibility of accomplishing most of these things, and please be aware of the reality that each individual constituency is facing going forward from now and ask, what exactly have we done for "people here illegally", the poor, the millions who have had their lifes work dismissed and devalued in the name of profit, and I could go on and on.
Republicans fight every fight, no matter how ridiculous for one simple reason. They get to look like they're really standing up to these Commie, left wing lunatics every day.
I'm reminded of one of the Senators in the movie Gladiator stating that Commodus "will give them death and they will love him for it".
Many of the fights R's are on the verge of decisively winning today were initiated in the 70's and 80's and fought with the diligence and passion that made each one sound like the difference between life and death.
Think about it, abortion, judicial activism, right to work, anti regulation, religious freedom, again, I could go on and on.
Democrats haven't really fought for anybody in a long long time. Not in a way that inspires the masses or earns respect and loyalty (street cred). Dems are great at negotiating with themselves, when your opponent knows you'll always settle for half a loaf, that's coincidentally when they start.
I've been reading about the coming extinction of the republican party since the late 90's. It's with an appalling lack of vision combined with almost criminal neglect and topped off with arrogant incompetence that we are now, almost 30 years later, on the verge of that permanent majority that Rove dreamt off in the early 2000's.
We have been watching master tacticians beat the crap out of Dems since the 90's. We're still trying to win the same fight. Every policy conversation begins on R terms. I named 5 different fights that R's have been winning because they fought these fights every day, every place, thousands of times, loudly, gaining incremental wins that have literally opened the door to the dismantling of the right to privacy
The performance of the last 3 Democratic presidents has been by any measure nothing short of excellent. How is it that we couldn't tell that story in a way that voters could recognize?
Where is the Billy Beane (Moneyball) of the Democratic party?
Somebody please talk me off the proverbial ledge.
Isn't it a little late to start screaming when these last 16 years especially, when anyone with a pulse could see most of this coming and a regular Joe on the street couldn't name a thing Dems did to protect us?
I'm a news junkie and all I can remember is the law changing Jan 6 rules for contesting election and cementing VP role as ceremonial.
Any laws adding protections to the various agencies under threat? How about further cementing the employment protections of these 50 Thousand federal employees that will truly determine whether this Democracy lives or dies.
Republicans look like they're fighting because they are.
Democrats look like they're talking because they are.
THAT IS THE PROBLEM, PERIOD.

[usonian]

1. Fear and hate draw a bigger response in people than positivity. It's just the old brain at work.

Our culture is built around blaming others and opposing them.

So, the GOP goes on the attack against anything that will get an emotional response, certainly not a logical one, since their platform ensures that everyone will lose pretty badly who isn’t a billionaire. And what’s more powerful (sad to say) than racism and misogyny?

I have proposed that Democrats choose a target, say Putin or some policy (welfare for the rich, for example) and hammer on it.

Too much positivity! Can you imagine that?

The campaign of Lyndon Johnson against Goldwater was forceful, and what we have fought is infinitely more extreme. Of course, I can say that in hindsight, but many of us wanted some apocalyptic messaging because apocalypse was at stake. Credit the campaign for an incredible job with little time to get out the message and tune it to what may have worked better, against the monstrous forces of racism misogyny and so many others ( I’ve spelled them out in my posts).

You cannot change hearts and minds of bigots and nazi symps. But you can overpower them.
Just a suggestion.
Looking for the time machine.

[Ponietz]

2. The rule of law?

Climate catastrophe looms (and all that entails) regardless of which Party is in power.

I’ve stated this before: at least they have a long-term plan. Build a wall to secure the southern border to seal it off off from mass migration due to famine and uninhabitable homelands. Destabilize Canada, seize Greenland, alliance with Russia, and tell the rest of the world to fuck off.

I’m fatalistic since this AG failed to uphold the rule of law. We need a long-term vision but I can’t see it now.

[Ndp5]

3. Free societies, not authoritarian oligarchies

That is the fight of our era.

You’re going to see increasing pressure for the press to stay neutral in that struggle, even though the press is only the press so long as it serves democratic aims. Take away that raison d’etre and it becomes something else entirely — advertising, fiction, propaganda.

If Democrats had a time machine, they should go back to 2009 and crack down on the wealthy special interests that are now strangling democracy. There was a mandate for reform then. The Democrats chose bailouts. Ask working- and middle-class voters who swung from Democrats to Republicans if they now think the system is rigged against them. Trump has profited from that cynicism and nihilism.