I like the Osoff approach. Unfortunately, a lot of Dems don't like it because they are 'above it'. They don't understand that 'getting dirty' is the way the world works right now. A bunch of people drinking shitty coffee in Brooklyn ain't gonna get a President elected.
Of all people in this world, every Democrat representing voters in the U.S. government ought to be challenging the Republican party's drift toward fascism in Trump's sludge. "All hands on deck," including party leadership.
My reaction to Obama's speech wasn't that it was "oblique," but that it was refined, powerful and indicting of Trump and Congressional Republicans, not just in tone, but in reference to what we, as Americans, believe is our birthright and our obligation to others. It let us remember what America used to represent - no wonder the fascists who voted for Trump, or who slavishly suck up to him, were offended. They don't believe in the same America we do and which was captured by the words of the Declaration of Independence.
Except for Trump cultist, if there’s to be rapprochement among polarized Americans, it will be on the basis of the values that Obama expressed, and that you cited. Don’t sell an elegant expression of those values short.
I think this is even worse than you say. I’ve been incredibly frustrated by the Obama post-presidency. Both of them seem content to be rich celebrities, when the country, and Black people and other minorities in particular, are fighting for their lives. The Obamas could be doing much more to lead the resistance than they are, and it’s been very disappointing. I do not want to hear about Spotify playlists when the country is burning.
If Democrats want the any of the general non-MAGA voting population to be swayed toward their way of thinking, stating facts plainly and passionately as well as calling out republicans specifically is the only option.
Very few voters will put any effort into trying to figure out what Dems are trying to say, if they don’t understand it the first time they hear it they’ll just shrug and forget about it.
And yes, it’s a huge indictment of Republicans and their enablers that speeches like Obama’s enrage them and Democrats should loudly call that out as well. How pathetic that they get so pissy over someone saying things like kindness, democracy, equality should be actively practiced and protected.
I disagree. Obama didn't need to turn the subtext into text because Trump and his supporters did it for him - and then amplified it across right-wing media. Less engaged voters are unlikely to listen to the presidential library speeches as all - but they will hear everyone on right wing media saying that Obama called Trump un-American. Isn't that the message that should be conveyed? And Obama can say he remains above the fray - which probably helps maintain his positive image. Getting the other side to respond to and amplify your message is something that conservatives have successfully done for a long time.
I think you are missing a certain constraint, a standard, that no other First Family has to operate under. Considering the Tan Suit, and the Bare Shoulders, and the Feet on the Desk — and the fact that this unique Obama characteristic may have something to do with Trump’s two victories — I think Obama does an admirable job skating on the thin ice of American neurosis by never being as rude as the times call for.
What you and the educated professional left still dont really comprehend is that they are fundamentally alien in many ways to the vast majority of the electorate, and so they are constantly getting caught by surprise. Listen to the caterwauling about Platner.
For the vast majority of the electorate, and i do not say this admiringly, but because the right understands them and we by and large dont, for the vast majority of the electorate, overt villainy and dishonorable behavior is a mark of authenticity. A willingness to do what you want and be yourself in spite of the pressure to conform. This is why platners polls never go down. There are in fact Real Americans, and they want candidates who are Real in the exact way i describe.
So the message has to be that a person can be Real and also a con artist who eill hurt you and steal from you. OR the message has to come from someone who is like Platner.
Part of the problem is just media. The left doesnt control what the media fixates on for a plurality of voters, as the right does. So they can just obsess in every periodical about Platner, as if they dont have someone clearly trying to wiggle into a third term who fucked teenage prostitutes and who steals hundreds of millions that we know of.
Bush legalized torture, started two wars—at least one of which was blatantly illegal and featured spectacular war crimes—that have sucked $6 trillion and counting from the economy, killed 250,000 people, created millions of refugees, and screwed up an entire region for generations; presided over massive domestic civil liberties violations; and destroyed evidence of other crimes. Balancing that is his friendship with Michelle and his tender portraits of puppies and people he sent off to get blown up. C'est la même chose. Suitable honored guest.
The event may have been non-partisan, but you can't host historic war criminals and raise the better part of a billion dollars for what is essentially a vanity project without having chosen sides.
This is good, but I do think white liberals especially should sit with the optics of "angry black man" and grok what that communicates in American society. Much of the reason the same left deemed Jasmine Crockett unelectable statewide in Texas vis-a-vis James Talarico is that she's a frank, plain-spoken (not even angry!) black woman. Obama is a gifted communicator, but would his message come across if he didn't require Jordan Peele to be his translator?
That said, I do tire of Dems ascribing to Republicans values that they clearly do not demonstrate. The Good Lord has not blessed me with the ability to see into others hearts or minds, so I can only impute values that are demonstrated by people. Fewer and fewer elected Republicans demonstrate *any* of the values Obama listed, so I'm happy to assume those simply aren't their values. Republicans only reinforce they aren't their values by taking offense when Dems happily proclaim them. John Cornyn talks a good game now, but that's only because he's dead man walking in office. MTG saw a little bit of light and felt compelled to leave office.
Trump is not an anomaly in the party he's successfully remade. Rejecting those basic tenets of decency and democracy is what it takes to be a Republican these days, and we should say that out loud.
Politicians can utilize the flowing rhetoric of Obama or have a more direct approach like Ossoff but none of it is going to matter if there is no real agenda or plan behind the words. Take any policy proposal, send it to Jeffries and Schumer for markups, run it through a focus group, poll test it and you'll get back a word soup.
What does "Opportunity Economy" mean? "Affordability"? "Lowering prices"? "Protecting Democracy?" "Fighting Trump", "Working with foreign allies"? Ask 10 Democrats and you'll get 10 responses.
The leadership of this party is allergic to decision making and agenda setting. If we can't even understand what we stand for how are we going to communicate that to the public?
Fantastic article , well stated , points made And Yes I think Jon Ossef continuing to speak the truth rather than reacting emotionally Is What Is Needed Now …. Continue To State the Facts … Telling it like it really Is !!!
Don't wish to be disagreeable, but asserting that Democrats should speak more directly about Trump - and using the term "Trumpism" - is the same as what the piece argues against, in that it tells ordinary folks that the GOP is a legitimate political formation, and protects the GOP from ordinary folks realizing that it is malign and rotted from top to bottom. Trump is just the front man, keeping the rubes happy & distracting the rest of us with the manifestations of his pathetic neediness, while the GOP's economic clientele turn the population into civic morons and turn half the nation against the other half, all so that they can do away with the rule of law and the institutions of self-governance and put the nation, and the world, into their pockets. Trump did not create MAGA, he swept in and harvested it after decades of GOP cultivation. If the Democrats keep insisting that Trump is the problem, and that when he's gone they're ready to work with their esteemed colleagues across the aisle, we're absolutely done for.
This is it, exactly: "Yet he’s often carried himself in his post-presidency as though he’d passed the torch to a Democratic successor in 2016, and could leave politics behind. In reality, the post-Obama era has been a bareknuckle fight for democracy—to demonstrate, in a collective sense, that liberalism is morally superior to authoritarianism and fascism."
Acting like everything is fine when nothing is fine communicates that it's all fine.
And a former high-school valedictorian, I can testify that high-mindedness and lots of knowledge only take you so far. As a Black man with aspirations to the U.S. Presidency, Barack Obama probably had no other path than the one he took. But that path will not get us out of the mess we’re in. He was a decent man; sadly, that’s no longer enough.
I like the Osoff approach. Unfortunately, a lot of Dems don't like it because they are 'above it'. They don't understand that 'getting dirty' is the way the world works right now. A bunch of people drinking shitty coffee in Brooklyn ain't gonna get a President elected.
Of all people in this world, every Democrat representing voters in the U.S. government ought to be challenging the Republican party's drift toward fascism in Trump's sludge. "All hands on deck," including party leadership.
Right now messaging has to be simple and striking. Trump is an incompetent crook stealing all he can get. All he wants is your money.
Or Trump started this war because he's so stupid. Dumber than dirt! But he'll use it to steal more from us, just watch.
Have graphics with him grabbing cash from the hands of dead soldiers. Or kids.
Gotta use stuff that tells the story and makes it stick.
My reaction to Obama's speech wasn't that it was "oblique," but that it was refined, powerful and indicting of Trump and Congressional Republicans, not just in tone, but in reference to what we, as Americans, believe is our birthright and our obligation to others. It let us remember what America used to represent - no wonder the fascists who voted for Trump, or who slavishly suck up to him, were offended. They don't believe in the same America we do and which was captured by the words of the Declaration of Independence.
Except for Trump cultist, if there’s to be rapprochement among polarized Americans, it will be on the basis of the values that Obama expressed, and that you cited. Don’t sell an elegant expression of those values short.
I very much appreciated the decency expressed by both Obamas.
I think this is even worse than you say. I’ve been incredibly frustrated by the Obama post-presidency. Both of them seem content to be rich celebrities, when the country, and Black people and other minorities in particular, are fighting for their lives. The Obamas could be doing much more to lead the resistance than they are, and it’s been very disappointing. I do not want to hear about Spotify playlists when the country is burning.
Same
If Democrats want the any of the general non-MAGA voting population to be swayed toward their way of thinking, stating facts plainly and passionately as well as calling out republicans specifically is the only option.
Very few voters will put any effort into trying to figure out what Dems are trying to say, if they don’t understand it the first time they hear it they’ll just shrug and forget about it.
And yes, it’s a huge indictment of Republicans and their enablers that speeches like Obama’s enrage them and Democrats should loudly call that out as well. How pathetic that they get so pissy over someone saying things like kindness, democracy, equality should be actively practiced and protected.
I disagree. Obama didn't need to turn the subtext into text because Trump and his supporters did it for him - and then amplified it across right-wing media. Less engaged voters are unlikely to listen to the presidential library speeches as all - but they will hear everyone on right wing media saying that Obama called Trump un-American. Isn't that the message that should be conveyed? And Obama can say he remains above the fray - which probably helps maintain his positive image. Getting the other side to respond to and amplify your message is something that conservatives have successfully done for a long time.
I think you are missing a certain constraint, a standard, that no other First Family has to operate under. Considering the Tan Suit, and the Bare Shoulders, and the Feet on the Desk — and the fact that this unique Obama characteristic may have something to do with Trump’s two victories — I think Obama does an admirable job skating on the thin ice of American neurosis by never being as rude as the times call for.
What you and the educated professional left still dont really comprehend is that they are fundamentally alien in many ways to the vast majority of the electorate, and so they are constantly getting caught by surprise. Listen to the caterwauling about Platner.
For the vast majority of the electorate, and i do not say this admiringly, but because the right understands them and we by and large dont, for the vast majority of the electorate, overt villainy and dishonorable behavior is a mark of authenticity. A willingness to do what you want and be yourself in spite of the pressure to conform. This is why platners polls never go down. There are in fact Real Americans, and they want candidates who are Real in the exact way i describe.
So the message has to be that a person can be Real and also a con artist who eill hurt you and steal from you. OR the message has to come from someone who is like Platner.
Part of the problem is just media. The left doesnt control what the media fixates on for a plurality of voters, as the right does. So they can just obsess in every periodical about Platner, as if they dont have someone clearly trying to wiggle into a third term who fucked teenage prostitutes and who steals hundreds of millions that we know of.
Bush legalized torture, started two wars—at least one of which was blatantly illegal and featured spectacular war crimes—that have sucked $6 trillion and counting from the economy, killed 250,000 people, created millions of refugees, and screwed up an entire region for generations; presided over massive domestic civil liberties violations; and destroyed evidence of other crimes. Balancing that is his friendship with Michelle and his tender portraits of puppies and people he sent off to get blown up. C'est la même chose. Suitable honored guest.
The event may have been non-partisan, but you can't host historic war criminals and raise the better part of a billion dollars for what is essentially a vanity project without having chosen sides.
This is good, but I do think white liberals especially should sit with the optics of "angry black man" and grok what that communicates in American society. Much of the reason the same left deemed Jasmine Crockett unelectable statewide in Texas vis-a-vis James Talarico is that she's a frank, plain-spoken (not even angry!) black woman. Obama is a gifted communicator, but would his message come across if he didn't require Jordan Peele to be his translator?
That said, I do tire of Dems ascribing to Republicans values that they clearly do not demonstrate. The Good Lord has not blessed me with the ability to see into others hearts or minds, so I can only impute values that are demonstrated by people. Fewer and fewer elected Republicans demonstrate *any* of the values Obama listed, so I'm happy to assume those simply aren't their values. Republicans only reinforce they aren't their values by taking offense when Dems happily proclaim them. John Cornyn talks a good game now, but that's only because he's dead man walking in office. MTG saw a little bit of light and felt compelled to leave office.
Trump is not an anomaly in the party he's successfully remade. Rejecting those basic tenets of decency and democracy is what it takes to be a Republican these days, and we should say that out loud.
Politicians can utilize the flowing rhetoric of Obama or have a more direct approach like Ossoff but none of it is going to matter if there is no real agenda or plan behind the words. Take any policy proposal, send it to Jeffries and Schumer for markups, run it through a focus group, poll test it and you'll get back a word soup.
What does "Opportunity Economy" mean? "Affordability"? "Lowering prices"? "Protecting Democracy?" "Fighting Trump", "Working with foreign allies"? Ask 10 Democrats and you'll get 10 responses.
The leadership of this party is allergic to decision making and agenda setting. If we can't even understand what we stand for how are we going to communicate that to the public?
Fantastic article , well stated , points made And Yes I think Jon Ossef continuing to speak the truth rather than reacting emotionally Is What Is Needed Now …. Continue To State the Facts … Telling it like it really Is !!!
Don't wish to be disagreeable, but asserting that Democrats should speak more directly about Trump - and using the term "Trumpism" - is the same as what the piece argues against, in that it tells ordinary folks that the GOP is a legitimate political formation, and protects the GOP from ordinary folks realizing that it is malign and rotted from top to bottom. Trump is just the front man, keeping the rubes happy & distracting the rest of us with the manifestations of his pathetic neediness, while the GOP's economic clientele turn the population into civic morons and turn half the nation against the other half, all so that they can do away with the rule of law and the institutions of self-governance and put the nation, and the world, into their pockets. Trump did not create MAGA, he swept in and harvested it after decades of GOP cultivation. If the Democrats keep insisting that Trump is the problem, and that when he's gone they're ready to work with their esteemed colleagues across the aisle, we're absolutely done for.
This is it, exactly: "Yet he’s often carried himself in his post-presidency as though he’d passed the torch to a Democratic successor in 2016, and could leave politics behind. In reality, the post-Obama era has been a bareknuckle fight for democracy—to demonstrate, in a collective sense, that liberalism is morally superior to authoritarianism and fascism."
Acting like everything is fine when nothing is fine communicates that it's all fine.
We could use some f*cking help here.
And a former high-school valedictorian, I can testify that high-mindedness and lots of knowledge only take you so far. As a Black man with aspirations to the U.S. Presidency, Barack Obama probably had no other path than the one he took. But that path will not get us out of the mess we’re in. He was a decent man; sadly, that’s no longer enough.