The trust in either party, sadly, is about much more than the individuals involved, when they say they trust the Republicans as "better at economics and foreign policy" what they mean is "we trust the team of White men" not the "Blacks, Browns, and Women the Democrats support".
My impression of Dems like Pelosi is they sincerely thought focusing on infrastructure and green jobs would win over working class voters. When it didn't, they became like zombies repeating "kitchen table issues" and "distraction" because they don't know what to do.
Focus groups will not help because people will say they care about "issues" and then devour tabloid content.
I’ve been paying attention to politics more than ever for nearly a decade, and I know it's there, but it's hard to clearly wrap my mind around the generational shift in politics. I imagine it’s easier to understand if it's broken down into smaller parts, it becomes more apparent with age and could even be quantified.
I think there may be a growing disconnect between the older Dems trying to restrain passions and go about business as usual, like it was the last century or something, and the younger Dems who lived through the BS of the past twenty-five years and are clamoring for change.
I have to restrain and handcuff my passions just thinking about the idea that any Democrats would need focus groups to understand what they need to run on. If that's the reality of any Democrats, they need to be primaried ASAP. Then again, who's going to replace them?
Some of the younger Democrats in office or running for office understand and are not afraid to call out the tsunami of BS that can and should be called out every week, like they mean it. Thankfully, more young people are stepping up, and the likes of Pelosi need to get out of the way. Then again, I'm not sure she wants to because I think she represents business interests more, like many other Democrats. Though it seems the dam will break at some point if it's not already experiencing cracks.
I don’t recall Republicans ever responding to even a mini-scandal involving Biden or Obama with “this is just a distraction, let’s focus on their [insert thing Republicans would rather hammer them with]”. The way to handle it is take your digs, and tie the “distraction” scandal to the “bigger issue” as part of a theme.
Like this—“yes that’s very fucked up that Trump’s bleached-out Attorney General is covering up for his many strange visits to Child Rape Island. It’s amazing he found time to hide the fact that he visited Child Rape Island while he also managed to cut health care for millions of American children. I guess kids are just not safe around that guy!”
Amazingly, we can jump on new scandals without having to ignore old ones, and don’t have to downplay either of them! Just like we can appeal to one segment of our target voters without having to insult another segment.
And look, I came up with that in ten seconds, no political consultants either.
"The newspaper stands by its story, so Murdoch shockingly has more journalistic integrity or at least more “fuck you” money than Paramount or ABC News."
I'd argue that Murdoch has an incentive for 'ending' Trump...He and 2025 and heritage foundation got what they wanted from him and now he is a liability...Its time for them to start building their 2026 campaign and Trump ain't part of it...again. he's a liability...Murdoch is simply being a pragmatist
I’ve been thinking along those lines too for a few weeks. The slow-burning Ides of March have started. Trump is a liability to the moneyed interests now.
And Pelosi should know by now that kitchen table issues ONLY MATTER when democrats are in the driver's seat...EVERYTHING that Americans on the right complained about under Biden are WORSE under Trump and its nothing but crickets out there...From everyone on up..People SHOULD care about 'kitchen table issues' but they DON'T...We're in Thunderdome territory now and you'd better the fuck be ready to play and play dirty when your number is called....
She's been rambling like that for several years. I don't know why nobody on either side has tapped that vein. Maybe they all figured that Biden Old was enough to carry them.
I'm pretty old myself. I know I'm not as vital or decisive as I used to be when I had a position of some authority. I had no problem letting go when the time came. We need to take a page from the military. If you're not advancing, promoting, you're causing a backup in the system. Get out of the way and let those behind you take a bite. She held on to power a bit too long, but was still pretty effective. She's not doing anyone any favors commenting from the sidelines. Time to spend more time with your family, Nancy!
There are three major things that give the impression that life in America is increasingly unaffordable:
1. Housing
2. Health care
3. Energy
The economic numbers and Dow can be so rosy that it makes the WSJ see sparkles, but if people can't afford to buy a house or rent a house in their hometown, they can't afford to see a doctor, and they have to make trade offs to get to work, they're going to feel insecure.
Democrats should have solutions ready for all of those things. A plan. A Project for 2029, even. Presented in fifth grade language for consumption. And that should be that. Any Democrat asked about those things should be able to recite some talking points from the webpage.
But that's not exactly the fucking thing that people are concerned with now.
People are concerned about jackbooted ICE assholes kidnapping grandpa at church or grandma from her court appointment.
And fucking yes, people are fucking concerned that rich and powerful people are skating justice because they're rich and powerful. THAT IS A CORE FUCKING RULE OF LAW ISSUE AND A DEMOCRATIC PARTY VALUE THAT EVERYONE IS EQUAL UNDER THE LAW AND NO ONE GETS SPECIAL TREATMENT!!! THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A GOOD ATTACK POINT TO DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF FROM MAGA! PEOPLE FUCKING CHEERED OR AT LEAST SYMPATHIZED WITH THE KID WHO GUNNED DOWN A CEO! IT OPENS UP SO MANY ATTACK AVENUES, INCLUDING ONE ON SCOTUS THAT IS CURRENTLY HANDING THE RICH AND POWERFUL GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARDS LIKE THEY GROW ON TREES!
The media, who apparently is terrified of Rump, should keep hammering the Epstein files hard if they ever want freedom of the press again. He can’t sue EVERYONE even though he’ll try like hell. The only way to beat a bully is to gang up on him.
Stephen, your column is 100%. Even though Biden did help people - most of the people polled said they were doing well but worried about the economy as a whole, thanks to the RW disinformation ecosystem - Pelosi is now so out of touch. As are most of the Congressional Democrats. Epstein is hurting Trump. Hammer him with it. Notice there are no full-throated denials from Vance. He's supporting Trump with carefully worded statements that can be read many ways. Hunter Biden, of all people, is a voice in the Democratic wilderness!
I think the corporate Democrats are the problem. At least that’s how some people on Substack refer to them, and it's a fitting moniker. I don’t have time to analyze them, but they probably, generally belong to the 102 Dems in the House and 18 in the Senate who voted with Republicans to legitimize crypto that will, in part, make the corrupt AF racist and rapist criminal and his associates even wealthier (besides all the other BS) instead of say, using it as leverage.
I am of the opinion that some people say this though because the pricktator (as the representative of the unreconstructed) is insulated from consequences. That's the entire point of having Frau Pam in there, to keep him out of legal exposure. And then there's the backup of his captive Taney Court 2.0.
Even WITH 34 felony convictions (imagine a Black man with a rap sheet like that being elected President) he was reelected. A lot of people love dancing around the point; he was elected because of his ethnic cleansing plans. The torture and concentration camps are here *because a lot of Americans voted (or non-voted) for that.* That means your electorate has to upgrade and not wish to get rid of the minorities they hate.
"Unfortunately, what Democrats don’t understand is that trust is more important than policy. If voters trust you, they will forgive any number of policy lapses. If they don’t trust you, they don’t care about your “kitchen table” issues."
Thank you, Stephen. I've hated the Trump "distraction" narratives for the longest time, because they can be highly counterproductive; they are basically talling people that we should only focus all of our rage and disgust in the biggest, most awful thing Trump has done.
One thing dems could talk about endlessly is all the things we could do to improve people's lives, all people, through Medicare for All, a UBI, free education all the way, including med or law school, and guaranteed basic housing. We can have all that, no more people going bankrupt from medical bills, people creating art instead of having to chase the next dollar, nobody sleeping outdoors. All we have to do is tax the rich. But fancy Nancy can't get behind that message, can she? And that goes for most of the rest of them. The only way forward is to get money out of politics. Public funding of elections and banning lobbying would be a great start. Anything else, is the real distraction.
Kamala actually offered almost all of that up on a silver platter, the voter’s said, and I quote, “Meh”.
Trump’s reelection was supported by roughly 70% of registered voters, half that voted for him and half that sat at home on their sorry asses and couldn’t be bothered to vote against actual fascism.
Stephen is right that Democratic messaging sucks, their incompetence enrages me. There is plenty of blame to share within the Democratic Party, but still I have to wonder: What can anyone really do to counter the abject stupidity of 150 million people?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but approx 35% of registered voters voted for Trump, same for Harris, and same DID NOT VOTE (approx 80m registered voters).
That’s roughly 70% that supported his return to the Presidency, either explicitly or implicitly. (Excepting, of course, those whose votes were suppressed.)
Kamala actually offered almost all of that up on a silver platter
Citation needed for that. All I heard was more of her continuing status quo Joe. Did Biden do good stuff? Sure. But is it all being undone because he didn't care to even try to change the system? Also yes.
If I say I’m in the mood for pizza and you suggest Domino’s, I’ll probably refuse but it doesn’t mean I was lying about Domino’s. Voters fundamentally disapproved of Biden’s performance on the economy and Harris was seen as simply offering more Domino’s. Fair or not, she was the sitting VP of an incumbent president who is unpopular. It’s a miracle she did as well as she did (note how Obama routed McCain, who wasn’t even Bush’s VP).
The trust in either party, sadly, is about much more than the individuals involved, when they say they trust the Republicans as "better at economics and foreign policy" what they mean is "we trust the team of White men" not the "Blacks, Browns, and Women the Democrats support".
My impression of Dems like Pelosi is they sincerely thought focusing on infrastructure and green jobs would win over working class voters. When it didn't, they became like zombies repeating "kitchen table issues" and "distraction" because they don't know what to do.
Focus groups will not help because people will say they care about "issues" and then devour tabloid content.
I’ve been paying attention to politics more than ever for nearly a decade, and I know it's there, but it's hard to clearly wrap my mind around the generational shift in politics. I imagine it’s easier to understand if it's broken down into smaller parts, it becomes more apparent with age and could even be quantified.
I think there may be a growing disconnect between the older Dems trying to restrain passions and go about business as usual, like it was the last century or something, and the younger Dems who lived through the BS of the past twenty-five years and are clamoring for change.
I have to restrain and handcuff my passions just thinking about the idea that any Democrats would need focus groups to understand what they need to run on. If that's the reality of any Democrats, they need to be primaried ASAP. Then again, who's going to replace them?
Some of the younger Democrats in office or running for office understand and are not afraid to call out the tsunami of BS that can and should be called out every week, like they mean it. Thankfully, more young people are stepping up, and the likes of Pelosi need to get out of the way. Then again, I'm not sure she wants to because I think she represents business interests more, like many other Democrats. Though it seems the dam will break at some point if it's not already experiencing cracks.
I don’t recall Republicans ever responding to even a mini-scandal involving Biden or Obama with “this is just a distraction, let’s focus on their [insert thing Republicans would rather hammer them with]”. The way to handle it is take your digs, and tie the “distraction” scandal to the “bigger issue” as part of a theme.
Like this—“yes that’s very fucked up that Trump’s bleached-out Attorney General is covering up for his many strange visits to Child Rape Island. It’s amazing he found time to hide the fact that he visited Child Rape Island while he also managed to cut health care for millions of American children. I guess kids are just not safe around that guy!”
Amazingly, we can jump on new scandals without having to ignore old ones, and don’t have to downplay either of them! Just like we can appeal to one segment of our target voters without having to insult another segment.
And look, I came up with that in ten seconds, no political consultants either.
It can still be the kitchen table, just a change in the menu so to speak!
(:
"The newspaper stands by its story, so Murdoch shockingly has more journalistic integrity or at least more “fuck you” money than Paramount or ABC News."
I'd argue that Murdoch has an incentive for 'ending' Trump...He and 2025 and heritage foundation got what they wanted from him and now he is a liability...Its time for them to start building their 2026 campaign and Trump ain't part of it...again. he's a liability...Murdoch is simply being a pragmatist
I’ve been thinking along those lines too for a few weeks. The slow-burning Ides of March have started. Trump is a liability to the moneyed interests now.
And Pelosi should know by now that kitchen table issues ONLY MATTER when democrats are in the driver's seat...EVERYTHING that Americans on the right complained about under Biden are WORSE under Trump and its nothing but crickets out there...From everyone on up..People SHOULD care about 'kitchen table issues' but they DON'T...We're in Thunderdome territory now and you'd better the fuck be ready to play and play dirty when your number is called....
Good lord...That Pelosi screed was equal parts soporific and word salad...
Be better NP...JFC
She's been rambling like that for several years. I don't know why nobody on either side has tapped that vein. Maybe they all figured that Biden Old was enough to carry them.
I'm guessing we are playing by outdated hierarchical rules that don't fit the changing reality of the 21st century
I'm pretty old myself. I know I'm not as vital or decisive as I used to be when I had a position of some authority. I had no problem letting go when the time came. We need to take a page from the military. If you're not advancing, promoting, you're causing a backup in the system. Get out of the way and let those behind you take a bite. She held on to power a bit too long, but was still pretty effective. She's not doing anyone any favors commenting from the sidelines. Time to spend more time with your family, Nancy!
There are three major things that give the impression that life in America is increasingly unaffordable:
1. Housing
2. Health care
3. Energy
The economic numbers and Dow can be so rosy that it makes the WSJ see sparkles, but if people can't afford to buy a house or rent a house in their hometown, they can't afford to see a doctor, and they have to make trade offs to get to work, they're going to feel insecure.
Democrats should have solutions ready for all of those things. A plan. A Project for 2029, even. Presented in fifth grade language for consumption. And that should be that. Any Democrat asked about those things should be able to recite some talking points from the webpage.
But that's not exactly the fucking thing that people are concerned with now.
People are concerned about jackbooted ICE assholes kidnapping grandpa at church or grandma from her court appointment.
And fucking yes, people are fucking concerned that rich and powerful people are skating justice because they're rich and powerful. THAT IS A CORE FUCKING RULE OF LAW ISSUE AND A DEMOCRATIC PARTY VALUE THAT EVERYONE IS EQUAL UNDER THE LAW AND NO ONE GETS SPECIAL TREATMENT!!! THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A GOOD ATTACK POINT TO DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF FROM MAGA! PEOPLE FUCKING CHEERED OR AT LEAST SYMPATHIZED WITH THE KID WHO GUNNED DOWN A CEO! IT OPENS UP SO MANY ATTACK AVENUES, INCLUDING ONE ON SCOTUS THAT IS CURRENTLY HANDING THE RICH AND POWERFUL GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARDS LIKE THEY GROW ON TREES!
STOP FIGHTING THE LAST BATTLE!
The media, who apparently is terrified of Rump, should keep hammering the Epstein files hard if they ever want freedom of the press again. He can’t sue EVERYONE even though he’ll try like hell. The only way to beat a bully is to gang up on him.
Stephen, your column is 100%. Even though Biden did help people - most of the people polled said they were doing well but worried about the economy as a whole, thanks to the RW disinformation ecosystem - Pelosi is now so out of touch. As are most of the Congressional Democrats. Epstein is hurting Trump. Hammer him with it. Notice there are no full-throated denials from Vance. He's supporting Trump with carefully worded statements that can be read many ways. Hunter Biden, of all people, is a voice in the Democratic wilderness!
I think the corporate Democrats are the problem. At least that’s how some people on Substack refer to them, and it's a fitting moniker. I don’t have time to analyze them, but they probably, generally belong to the 102 Dems in the House and 18 in the Senate who voted with Republicans to legitimize crypto that will, in part, make the corrupt AF racist and rapist criminal and his associates even wealthier (besides all the other BS) instead of say, using it as leverage.
I’m calling bogus on MAGA and their “identity politics” claim. They all want to know the identities of the pedophiles in the Epstein files.
Well we can't have an ordered universe.
I am of the opinion that some people say this though because the pricktator (as the representative of the unreconstructed) is insulated from consequences. That's the entire point of having Frau Pam in there, to keep him out of legal exposure. And then there's the backup of his captive Taney Court 2.0.
Even WITH 34 felony convictions (imagine a Black man with a rap sheet like that being elected President) he was reelected. A lot of people love dancing around the point; he was elected because of his ethnic cleansing plans. The torture and concentration camps are here *because a lot of Americans voted (or non-voted) for that.* That means your electorate has to upgrade and not wish to get rid of the minorities they hate.
This is the truest of true statements:
"Unfortunately, what Democrats don’t understand is that trust is more important than policy. If voters trust you, they will forgive any number of policy lapses. If they don’t trust you, they don’t care about your “kitchen table” issues."
Bravo, Stephen!
Thank you, Stephen. I've hated the Trump "distraction" narratives for the longest time, because they can be highly counterproductive; they are basically talling people that we should only focus all of our rage and disgust in the biggest, most awful thing Trump has done.
It's true, we have to work that wound.
"Kitchen table" is an outdated phrase, like a subway tile backsplash.
One thing dems could talk about endlessly is all the things we could do to improve people's lives, all people, through Medicare for All, a UBI, free education all the way, including med or law school, and guaranteed basic housing. We can have all that, no more people going bankrupt from medical bills, people creating art instead of having to chase the next dollar, nobody sleeping outdoors. All we have to do is tax the rich. But fancy Nancy can't get behind that message, can she? And that goes for most of the rest of them. The only way forward is to get money out of politics. Public funding of elections and banning lobbying would be a great start. Anything else, is the real distraction.
Kamala actually offered almost all of that up on a silver platter, the voter’s said, and I quote, “Meh”.
Trump’s reelection was supported by roughly 70% of registered voters, half that voted for him and half that sat at home on their sorry asses and couldn’t be bothered to vote against actual fascism.
Stephen is right that Democratic messaging sucks, their incompetence enrages me. There is plenty of blame to share within the Democratic Party, but still I have to wonder: What can anyone really do to counter the abject stupidity of 150 million people?
Sorry, please review your 70 percentage 🙃
Correct me if I’m wrong, but approx 35% of registered voters voted for Trump, same for Harris, and same DID NOT VOTE (approx 80m registered voters).
That’s roughly 70% that supported his return to the Presidency, either explicitly or implicitly. (Excepting, of course, those whose votes were suppressed.)
Oh, sorry, that tracks. I misunderstood you.
Trump
~77.3M
~31.6%
Harris
~75.0M
~30.6%
Did Not Vote
~87.9M
~35.9%
Thanks, I didn’t have good connectivity so I could look up precise percentages but knew I was close.
Kamala actually offered almost all of that up on a silver platter
Citation needed for that. All I heard was more of her continuing status quo Joe. Did Biden do good stuff? Sure. But is it all being undone because he didn't care to even try to change the system? Also yes.
If I say I’m in the mood for pizza and you suggest Domino’s, I’ll probably refuse but it doesn’t mean I was lying about Domino’s. Voters fundamentally disapproved of Biden’s performance on the economy and Harris was seen as simply offering more Domino’s. Fair or not, she was the sitting VP of an incumbent president who is unpopular. It’s a miracle she did as well as she did (note how Obama routed McCain, who wasn’t even Bush’s VP).