# Now what should people on the left do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 6, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778 "2024-11-06T12:13:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/421 "2025-01-06T03:26:01Z")
By the way, it was May 2021 when my niece graduated and the party happened. Not sure this changes anything. I don’t know about you, but covid has really fucked up my timeline and everything is kind of a blur because of it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/422 "2025-01-06T14:15:52Z")
The essential thing is to keep the spark of resistance burning in your heart. In the Civil Rights movement they said “Keep the faith, baby!” The danger is letting resignation sap the will to resist. I keep thinking of nature documentaries where the wildebeest runs from the leopards and fights back with its horns, but when they bring it down and start tearing its flesh away, it loses the will to resist; it lies still and accepts its death as its glands secrete endogenous painkillers. That’s exactly what I have to fight within me as the leopards advance on us. So I will never stop saying that this is not normal, it is not OK, and I will not accept it. Keep the faith, baby! ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/423 "2025-01-07T01:02:50Z")
I think the #1 reason we lost is that most of the Party leadership kept insisting for weeks that Biden was PERFECTLY FINE when anyone who watched the debate could tell he was senile. When your main argument against the other candidate is that he’s a liar who can’t be trusted, telling bald-faced lies yourself is going to tank your credibility. #2 was that we nominated the VP of a very unpopular President, who then proceeded to basically pretend she wasn’t VP. She needed to either throw Biden under the bus and seriously distance herself from him, or fully embrace and defend his legacy. Also, campaigning on some actual policy proposals that materially improved the lives of working class voters would have helped (I’m not saying that she didn’t have such proposals, but that she needed to talk a lot more about them in the campaign). #3 was inflation. I don’t see this as a real error on Biden’s part; in retrospect the post-COVID stimulus package was too large and caused inflation. But I’m not going to blame him for erring on the side of not passing too small a package and causing a sustained recession. So we ran a bad campaign in the midst of a bad economy, and lost. The good news is that the first two reasons won’t apply in 2028, and there’s a good chance Trump will have tanked the economy by then, too. What we need to do is stick together and ignore those who try to split the party by creating false dichotomies between “working class voters” and “woke elites”. ---
**Author:** ![Ash\_trav511](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Ash\_trav511](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash_trav511)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/424 "2025-01-07T15:19:52Z")
I think we have to sit tight and ride it out. Zuckerberg has gone MAGA…end of fact-checking on META platforms. Following in Musk footsteps, he is replacing fact checking with “Community Notes” like in X. Also kissed the ring at Mar-a-Lago and pledged 1M dollars to Trump inauguration. > ---
**Author:** ![survinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@survinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survinga)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/425 "2025-01-07T15:38:29Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > I think the #1 reason we lost is that most of the Party leadership kept insisting for weeks that Biden was PERFECTLY FINE when anyone who watched the debate could tell he was senile. When your main argument against the other candidate is that he’s a liar who can’t be trusted, telling bald-faced lies yourself is going to tank your credibility. The debate certainly hurt our chances, and after it, there was an internal war within the Democratic party about Biden. He came across as lacking in energy, and having trouble making a coherent sentence. He said he was sick. I don’t know what his condition is, so I don’t think we can say that he’s “senile”. But the debate showed that he has aged tremendously, and certainly started the ball rolling to get Biden out. > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > #2 was that we nominated the VP of a very unpopular President, who then proceeded to basically pretend she wasn’t VP. She needed to either throw Biden under the bus and seriously distance herself from him, or fully embrace and defend his legacy. Also, campaigning on some actual policy proposals that materially improved the lives of working class voters would have helped (I’m not saying that she didn’t have such proposals, but that she needed to talk a lot more about them in the campaign). I agree with some of this. But she talked an awful lot about her proposals. You must not have watched her talk about them much, or you wouldn’t say something that’s so obviously wrong. > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > #3 was inflation. I don’t see this as a real error on Biden’s part; in retrospect the post-COVID stimulus package was too large and caused inflation. But I’m not going to blame him for erring on the side of not passing too small a package and causing a sustained recession. The inflation was caused by supply-side shocks as the world emerged from the pandemic, and it was a worldwide phenomenon. It wasn’t Biden’s stimulus that did this. Biden did get the blame for the inflation. But he didn’t deserve it. I think the main problem the Dems had was a propaganda problem. The Republicans have a much louder megaphone, and they have a right-wing “media” operation that spreads their bullshit without questioning anything. So, low information voters are mostly hearing right-wing talking points. The Dems need to invest in getting a propaganda arm that can yell just as loud as the Republicans, without the bullshit…a propaganda arm that speaks the truth… ---
**Author:** ![Ash\_trav511](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Ash\_trav511](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash_trav511)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/426 "2025-01-07T15:38:35Z")
Another depressing news…Senator Fetterman playing Trumpian politics. > He can as well change sides and join republicans. Why this charade of being a democrat ? ---
**Author:** ![survinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@survinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survinga)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/427 "2025-01-07T15:53:32Z")
> [@Ash\_trav511](#): > > He can as well change sides and join republicans. Why this charade of being a democrat ? Look, Pennsylvania is a purple state, and it’s moved in the red direction over the last 12 years. Fetterman is not down-the-line liberal. But I think it’s better to try to keep him in the party than to drive him away. The Dems currently have a larger ideological tent than the Republicans, and I’d like to keep it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/428 "2025-01-07T15:57:23Z")
> [@survinga](#): > > I agree with some of this. But she talked an awful lot about her proposals. You must not have watched her talk about them much, or you wouldn’t say something that’s so obviously wrong. Like probably 98% of voters, I wasn’t sitting around watching her speeches on YouTube or studying her website. I’m basing that conclusion on having seen a bunch of her TV ads, which ordinary voters do pay attention to. They seemed focused mainly on selling her personally to the voters (A tough prosecutor! But also kind and smart!) and on attacking Trump. I know, for instance, that toward the end of the campaign she came out for a federal $15 minimum wage and legalizing pot. But I never saw any commercials about those extremely popular positions. If I’d been running the campaign, she would have talked about little else. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/429 "2025-01-07T15:59:08Z")
Not familiar with this bill, but I don’t like the sound of “punishing criminals _before_ they have a chance to actually commit crimes”. ---
**Author:** ![Ash\_trav511](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Ash\_trav511](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash_trav511)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/430 "2025-01-07T16:05:47Z")
> [@survinga](#): > > But I think it’s better to try to keep him in the party than to drive him away. The Dems currently have a larger ideological tent than the Republicans, and I’d like to keep it that way. Hate is too strong a word but I’m beginning to dislike Fetterman these days. Disgusted seeing him almost hero worship Elon Musk. I’m no Hamas supporter but this guy is not balanced on the Israel-Gaza issue too. He is an all-out Israel/Netanyahu supporter without any inhibitions. ---
**Author:** ![survinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@survinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survinga)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/431 "2025-01-07T16:10:27Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Like probably 98% of voters, I wasn’t sitting around watching her speeches on YouTube or studying her website. I’m basing that conclusion on having seen a bunch of her TV ads, which ordinary voters do pay attention to. They seemed focused mainly on selling her personally to the voters (A tough prosecutor! But also kind and smart!) and on attacking Trump. I know, for instance, that toward the end of the campaign she came out for a federal $15 minimum wage and legalizing pot. But I never saw any commercials about those extremely popular positions. If I’d been running the campaign, she would have talked about little else. She talked over and over about policies targeting affordability for housing & prescriptions, for helping start small businesses, for the child tax credit, etc. Again - This goes to the Propaganda issue, not “Kamala wasn’t talking enough about it”. The Dems simply got out-yelled in 2024, and we can’t let that happen again. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/432 "2025-01-07T16:11:25Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > In Germany, there’s a left-wing populist party called the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). Founded just this year, it already has seats in the Bundestag and European Parliament. I can’t support its platform, but it is an intriguing experiment. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahra_Wagenknecht_Alliance): > > > “The political positions of the BSW include further restrictions on immigration, a plan for deglobalisation, opposition to green politics, [and] ending military aid to Ukraine… The BSW supports economic interventionism and greater welfare social benefits, which are to be financed by the wealthy…” Hmm, so they’re Germans who are anti-immigrant but support a generous welfare state. Sort of a…socialist nationalism, if you will. That IS an intriguing experiment. /s ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/433 "2025-01-07T16:13:35Z")
> [@survinga](#): > > She talked over and over about policies targeting affordability for housing & prescriptions, for helping start small businesses, for the child tax credit, etc. OK. Can you link to the commercials where she discussed those plans in detail? Not expecting _great_ detail, of course, but more than just “I’ll make prescriptions more affordable!” ---
**Author:** ![Ash\_trav511](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Ash\_trav511](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash_trav511)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/434 "2025-01-07T16:14:00Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > The political positions of the BSW include further restrictions on immigration, a plan for deglobalisation, opposition to green politics, [and] ending military aid to Ukraine… This looks straight out of the Trump textbook lol. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/435 "2025-01-07T16:17:32Z")
> [@Ash\_trav511](#): > > Another depressing news…Senator Fetterman playing Trumpian politics. _Is he_? Really? We have to pretend the border doesn’t exist or we are “Trumpian”? If that’s the attitude Democrats take, we are going to keep losing, over and over. > [@Ash\_trav511](#): > > He can as well change sides and join republicans. Why this charade of being a democrat ? Probably because he doesn’t agree with Republican positions on most things? ---
**Author:** ![survinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@survinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survinga)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/436 "2025-01-07T16:18:13Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > OK. Can you link to the commercials where she discussed those plans in detail? Not expecting _great_ detail, of course, but more than just “I’ll make prescriptions more affordable!” Here’s one. [Kamala Harris highlights housing plan in new campaign ad](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4849408-kamala-harris-campaign-ad-housing-plan-2024/) As a side-note, I live in Georgia. We were inundated with TV ads by both campaigns. I saw Kamala talk about housing & small business, etc, in various ads. I would note that in general, we got bombarded with more Trump stuff than Kamala stuff in general. More Trump ads. More Trump door-knocks. More Trump robo-calls. More Trump direct-mailers. The Republicans simply are more agressive about flooding the zone with their bullshit than the Dems. Georgia was a ground zero state for this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/437 "2025-01-07T16:18:16Z")
> [@survinga](#): > > She talked over and over about policies targeting affordability for housing & prescriptions, for helping start small businesses, for the child tax credit, etc. > > Again - This goes to the Propaganda issue, not “Kamala wasn’t talking enough about it”. The Dems simply got out-yelled in 2024, and we can’t let that happen again. You can insist she did everything right as much as you’d like, but the _fact_ is, she clearly failed to communicate this to the voters. ---
**Author:** ![survinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@survinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survinga)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/438 "2025-01-07T16:20:38Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > You can insist she did everything right as much as you’d like, but the _fact_ is, she clearly failed to communicate this to the voters. Where did I say she did everything right? I never said that, and will not say it because obviously she lost. I think she was put in an extremely difficult predicament. And she didn’t do all that great in a few TV interviews. But for the most part, I liked how she came across in her ads & in the one debate with Trump. But it’s the overall Democratic party that has the issue…we simply are being out-yelled by the Right-wing bullshit machine. We have to fix that. Nothing Kamala could’ve done would have overcome that, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/439 "2025-01-07T16:31:15Z")
OK, I don’t remember seeing that ad and it does give some policy proposals, albeit very vaguely. But those only come in the last fifteen seconds of the ad, with the first 45 being all about Kamala – her modest background, her close family, and things she did as California AG thirteen years ago. ---
**Author:** ![survinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@survinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survinga)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/440 "2025-01-07T17:21:19Z")
Here’s another ad where she focuses on prescription drugs, not just what Biden/Harris had already done, but more on what she wanted to do: [Kamala Harris is Working to Lower Prescription Drug Prices | Harris-Walz 2024](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg_79er5nwg) The problem isn’t that Kamala didn’t talk enough. The problem is the broader Democratic party and our inability to amplify our message. Again, I live in Georgia. I was inundated with right-wing bullshit almost daily. The Pubs badly wanted my vote. The Dems certainly campaigned hard in Georgia, but not nearly as hard as the GOP. I’m a high-information voter, and my vote wasn’t up for grabs really. But low-information voters, who are up for grabs, were more likely to encounter the Right-wing bullshit barrage than anything that the Dems were saying. And THAT is what needs to change. Kamala can talk all she wants. But without a good machine around her, she might as well be talking to an empty room. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778.md?page=23)