# The "Far Left" is already being demonized

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [November 7, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994 "2020-11-07T17:53:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/21 "2020-11-08T00:51:12Z")

</div>

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> They’re the ones who either have to make accommodations or else win a numerical majority, neither of which they appear interested in. Do we know what percent of Bernie Bros voted for Biden? If it was less than 100%, fuck 'em.

I have no idea on the numbers, but I would be willing to bet one thing… If we progressives hadn’t pulled the lever for Biden in WHATEVER numbers we did, this wouldn’t have been a victory for all of us.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/22 "2020-11-08T00:52:59Z")

</div>

So you’re saying we should be on-our-knees thankful the progressives didn’t stay home and let Trump win?

Yep, there’s the cooperative spirit I’m talking about.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/23 "2020-11-08T00:54:09Z")

</div>

Well, that’s one interpretation of the words I typed. 🙄

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/24 "2020-11-08T00:55:39Z")

</div>

> [@RyanAdam](#):
>
> The difference between Biden and down ticket Democrats performance (latter worse including in New York State) says yeah, the Far Left hurt the Democrats in their tone deaf rhetoric.

> **['Every. Single. One.': Ocasio-Cortez Notes Every Democrat Who Backed Medicare...](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/07/every-single-one-ocasio-cortez-notes-every-democrat-who-backed-medicare-all-won)**
>
> The same cannot be said for those more centrist lawmakers who continue to defend the nation's increasingly unpopular for-profit healthcare system.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [November 8, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/25 "2020-11-08T01:01:24Z")

</div>

> [@Kron](#):
>
> I have no idea on the numbers, but I would be willing to bet one thing… If we progressives hadn’t pulled the lever for Biden in WHATEVER numbers we did, this wouldn’t have been a victory for all of us.

Yep, you did your job, now shut up and get back in line. Just like the Blacks and the Hispanics we will continue voting Democrat because we have nowhere else to go.

Oh wait, Trump did better with African Americans and Latinos. Maybe we should actually try to figure out why?

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> So you’re saying we should be on-our-knees thankful the progressives didn’t stay home and let Trump win?
> 
> Yep, there’s the cooperative spirit I’m talking about.

Yep, there it is.

No, we aren’t gonna stay home, because a Biden presidency is infinitely better than a Trump presidency or any other Republican. But if you don’t actually address the issues that are hurting people, they will stop supporting you.

You don’t have to worry about me staying home or not voting. I’m trying to figure out why working class people of all races who, by every logical metric should be voting democrat voted for Trump instead.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/26 "2020-11-08T01:27:17Z")

</div>

I believe Joe Biden will address important issues. I believe Kamala Harris will address issues critical to people of color.

I also believe Mitch McConnell will do everything in his powers to block them and I also believe that progressives will blame Biden for not enacting them.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/27 "2020-11-08T01:30:03Z")

</div>

Nah. Biden just has to try.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/28 "2020-11-08T01:44:07Z")

</div>

While I agree with some of **Exapno\_Mapcase** ’s cynicism, and am pissed off by “my candidate didn’t win the primary, so fuck the winner” types, I’m not sure that this thread is representative of what is really happening.

The thread was started by a centrist who realized that the Republicans stopped representing his interests and has found strong agreement by many in this thread. But let’s be fair, no one is going to accuse **Absolute** , **RyanAdam** , or **Temporary\_Name** of representing the typical Democrat (or any Democrat), so I’m not sure why I should care what they think of the far left (especially when Far Left is used here to describe groups that subscribe to universal healthcare or police reform).

For me, I have no desire for the Democratic Party to attempt to impersonate a sane Republican (assuming that is even still a thing). I’m in the Abrams camp. The “undecided” shouldn’t be a primary target although they should not be ignored. The future of the democratic party are the people who aren’t registered, or are and don’t vote. It became a running joke in this election that if someone wore a “Vote” t-shirt, they were probably voting for Biden. I don’t think that was actually a joke.

The far left and the moderate left should both be very welcome in the tent and the moderates could probably learn a thing or two from Bernie, Abrams, AOC and others. But, we’re hopefully going to need a bigger tent.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/29 "2020-11-08T01:52:38Z")

</div>

> [@Temporary\_Name](#):
>
> If you want POLICE REFORM, say Police Reform! Don’t say anything that sounds like disbanding or defunding them.

**Not a “far left radical” in this bunch**

> **[The answer to police violence is not 'reform'. It's defunding. Here's why |...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/31/the-answer-to-police-violence-is-not-reform-its-defunding-heres-why)**
>
> Bias training, body cameras, community dialogues – Minneapolis has tried them all. We need a better response

> **[Is Police Reform A Fundamentally Flawed Idea?](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-police-reform-a-fundamentally-flawed-idea/)**
>
> In January, Philip McHarris was driving from New Haven to Boston to visit a friend when he saw a familiar sight in his rearview mirror — flashing police lights…

> **[Police 'reform' doesn't work. Baltimore proves it.](https://theeagle.com/opinion/columnists/police-reform-doesnt-work-baltimore-proves-it/article_ea969f0d-9bd2-5728-b166-9a0f6f4adf99.html)**
>
> As calls to defund police departments gain prominence nationwide, police officers and their unions are already beginning to push back. Pat Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association in

> **[Incremental Change Is a Moral Failure](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/police-reform-is-not-enough/614176/)**
>
> Mere reform won’t fix policing.

> **[Police Reform Won’t Fix a System That Was Built to Abuse Power](https://www.thenation.com/article/society/police-reform-defund-iacp/)**
>
> The history of American policing shows that it was designed to eat up resources and subjugate the civilian population.

> **[Why Police Reform Is Not Enough](https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2020/06/02/police-reform-training)**
>
> The focus on reforms like improved training doesn’t solve racially biased policing. That’s because of the nature of policing itself.

> **[Why is there so little evidence on what police reforms work?](https://www.sciencenews.org/article/police-reform-why-little-evidence-data-body-cameras-implicit-bias)**
>
> When stories of police violence against civilians capture public attention, reforms follow despite a dearth of hard data quantifying their impact.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/30 "2020-11-08T01:53:22Z")

</div>

They’ve not trying to appeal to them, they’re trying to _reach_ them. To try to show them why they’re wrong. You might disagree with that approach, but calling them “deplorables” didn’t work out so well.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/31 "2020-11-08T02:22:34Z")

</div>

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> So you’re saying we should be on-our-knees thankful the progressives didn’t stay home and let Trump win?
> 
> Yep, there’s the cooperative spirit I’m talking about.

Do me a favor. Look at my posts, and look at yours.

Now tell me which of us is being divisive.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/32 "2020-11-08T04:05:31Z")

</div>

> [@Absolute](#):
>
> The Far Left nearly did cost Biden the election. It also costs the Democrats some House seats, and likely the Senate.

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> You can get nothing or you can support the actual real-world Democrat Party and gets lots of somethings.

> [@tingbudong](#):
>
> This. Many people will disagree with me, but the mushy middle is the prize.

> [@bump](#):
>
> I think considering the outcome and how close it was at all Federal levels, it would be repellent to a lot of people who voted against Trump (but not necessarily FOR the Democratic party) to go too far left now.

> [@RyanAdam](#):
>
> That New York city twit AOC

> [@Temporary\_Name](#):
>
> This is just reality. Let’s attempt the easy, moderate lifts first before going for a world record. As a devout moderate myself I am almost as distrustful of the far left as I am of the far right (almost!). But I resent the far left for motivating the entire right from moderate to right of Hitler. There is a place for progressive politics – this is not the time for extreme politics.

…so it looks like **everybody agrees** with the assertions in the OP: that Biden has been President-elect for less than a day the Far Left is **already being demonized**. We have wild allegations with no evidence that “the far left nearly cost Biden this election” even though almost everyone on “the far left” (like AOC, who has been explicitly demonized by a specific poster in this thread) came out and actively campaigned for Biden. We have personal attacks in this thread on a candidate. Somebody else blames the far left for “motivating the entire right from moderate to Hitler.”

It hasn’t even been a day and the “moderates” have already decided to throw millions of people who fought hard for the Biden victory under the bus. You were all silent when they were doing the heavy lifting but now that you’ve “won the prize” they don’t matter any more.

Its no wonder America has a police force that is out of control. That has an education system that creates crushing debt on their students. That has a healthcare system that is fundamentally dysfunctional. A country where black lives don’t matter, a country that separates children from their parents on the borders, that treats its indigenous peoples like dirt, that has white supremacy at its core.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/33 "2020-11-08T04:33:30Z")

</div>

Legitimately accused is the exact opposite of being demonized.

Any ordinary politician would look at voters fleeing from a message as a slap in the face to wake up. Instead, you’re whining like Trump that you aren’t being appreciated.

Go back and read all the articles that said “defund the police means exactly that: get rid of police.” That cost Democrats votes. I understand why people are saying it but I don’t matter. It’s the tens or hundreds of thousands of people who see the words and recoil who mattered, and showed it by their votes.

There were millions of far left people who fought hard for Biden? Good for them. There were tens of millions of centerist people who fought hard for Biden, without scaring off millions. You somehow think you should get more credit than them? Not going to happen.

This is insanity. Biden comes out tonight and makes a great speech about uniting the country, left and right. But not the far left, evidently, because they’re busy attacking the Democratic Party before Biden has had a chance to put a single policy into motion.

You had your chance during the primaries and the reality was that outside of a few places you got thoroughly outvoted. That’s politics. The intelligent way to proceed is to win over voters with ideas until they form a majority. Whining like toddlers that you won’t get your presents tomorrow even though it not your birthday won’t cut it.

Yes, I am being deliberately insulting because I’ve been through it before, in the sixties. Our side had all the moral right in the world until lunatics kept one-upping one another with their purity pledges right out of the French Revolution until all that was left were bombers and tens of millions of new conservative diehards.

In a decade or three you can move the middle gradually. But only if you stop attacking those on your side and stop alienating potential converts on the other.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![urbanredneck2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/5f8ce5/32.png) [@urbanredneck2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urbanredneck2)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/34 "2020-11-08T04:36:50Z")

</div>

It wasnt brought up much but Biden has said he will pass the [Equality act](https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/biden-vows-pass-lgbtq-rights-legislation-first-100-days-n1245244) within his first 100 days which on paper sounds good but deep in the fine print it says any born male who identifies as female will have to be allowed in any womens restroom and to be on any womens sports team.

I wonder how this will play out?

Will the feminists finally start speaking out against it?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/35 "2020-11-08T04:38:40Z")

</div>

> [@Banquet\_Bear](#):
>
> …so it looks like **everybody agrees** with the assertions in the OP: that Biden has been President-elect for less than a day the Far Left is **already being demonized**. We have wild allegations with no evidence that “the far left nearly cost Biden this election” even though almost everyone on “the far left” (like AOC, who has been explicitly demonized by a specific poster in this thread) came out and actively campaigned for Biden. We have personal attacks in this thread on a candidate. Somebody else blames the far left for “motivating the entire right from moderate to Hitler.”

You know what, you are right in certain ways, and this isn’t even my fight. But listen to what Rick Wilson has to say about AOC. She is polarizing and the right hates and fears her. Why she gets so much attention is beyond me – she is a freshman congress woman with a constituency about this big (–). But I have friends and family who lose their ability to speak full sentences when either her or Bernie are on screen. The voice doesn’t even have to be on, you know what Fox News (and it is ALWAYS Fox News in that household) is saying about her comments.

Those same people are very happy (often) to stay home on election day and let matter sort out for themselves. Do you think 70,000,000 people showed up to support Donald J. Trump??? Undelude yourself sir! 35,000,000 of those people (at least) showed up to stop Bernie Sanders and AOC and her gang of four from outlawing religious organizations and taking away their guns.

I am going to bow out soon and let **Exapno\_Mapcase** make a well formed defense of the collective point ‘don’t let your reach exceed your grasp’ for us. (Boy, never thought I would be backing him up after the slapdown he gave me when we first crossed paths)

The point is that Biden did win and while the far left was helpful – they also stirred up Trump’s base. Since we ended up with (or are likely to end up with) a mixed government, let us focus on what CAN be done. Let’s start by doing what Biden advertised, including the right (at least the moderate ones) have a say and let’s do things that many of us agree upon.

There are like fifty policy items that have over sixty-five percent approval from ALL Americans. Let’s start with those, and after the right leaning folks trust us a little more we can address more complex issues. Starting off saying: "Let’s defund the police"is saying — I never want my agenda to ever see the light of day in the Senate.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/36 "2020-11-08T04:39:53Z")

</div>

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> This is insanity. Biden comes out tonight and makes a great speech about uniting the country, left and right. But not the far left, evidently, because they’re busy attacking the Democratic Party before Biden has had a chance to put a single policy into motion.
> 
> You had your chance during the primaries and the reality was that outside of a few places you got thoroughly outvoted. That’s politics. The intelligent way to proceed is to win over voters with ideas until they form a majority. Whining like toddlers that you won’t get your presents tomorrow even though it not your birthday won’t cut it.
> 
> Yes, I am being deliberately insulting because I’ve been through it before, in the sixties.

For the record… I wasn’t alive in the sixties. And, to put it bluntly: who the fuck is attacking who in this thread?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/37 "2020-11-08T05:00:46Z")

</div>

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Legitimately accused is the exact opposite of being demonized.

…they haven’t been legitimately accused.

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Any ordinary politician would look at voters fleeing from a message as a slap in the face to wake up.

Ordinary voters did not flee from the messaging of AOC, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley or Rashida Tlaib.

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Instead, you’re whining like Trump that you aren’t being appreciated.

Instead I’m doing **nothing of the sort**.

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Go back and read all the articles that said “defund the police means exactly that: get rid of police.”

Go back and read what people like AOC have actually said.

> [@AOC](#):
>
> “What does an America with defunded police look like to you?” Ocasio-Cortez responded, “It looks like a suburb.”
> 
> “Affluent white communities already live in a world where the choose to fund youth, health, housing etc more than they fund police,” Ocasio-Cortez explained. "When a teenager or preteen does something harmful in a suburb (I say teen bc this is often where lifelong carceral cycles begin for Black and Brown communities), White communities bend over backwards to find alternatives to incarceration for their loved ones to ‘protect their future,’ like community service or rehab or restorative measures. Why don’t we treat Black and Brown people the same way?
> 
> “Why doesn’t the criminal system care about Black teens’ futures the way they care for White teens’ futures?” AOC continued. “Why doesn’t the news use Black people’s graduation or family photos in stories the way they do when they cover White people (eg Brock Turner) who commit harmful crimes?”
> 
> > Affluent White suburbs also design their own lives so that they walk through the world without having much interruption or interaction with police at all aside from community events and speeding tickets (and many of these communities try to reduce those, too!)
> 
> > Just starting THERE would be a dramatically and radically different world than what we are experiencing now.

[https://news.yahoo.com/aoc-asked-defunding-police-her-130800430.html](https://news.yahoo.com/aoc-asked-defunding-police-her-130800430.html)

Compare what AOC actually said to Exapano\_Mapcase’s paraphrase, which was "defund the police means exactly that: get rid of police.”

It sure looks like Exapano\_Mapcase is demonising the far left to me.

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> That cost Democrats votes.

Prove it.

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> There were millions of far left people who fought hard for Biden? Good for them. There were tens of millions of centerist people who fought hard for Biden, without scaring off millions. You somehow think you should get more credit than them? Not going to happen.

There were tens of millions who fought hard for Biden and didn’t scare off millions. You’ve bought nothing to this debate except assertions. No evidence. Just your word.

Nobody is asking for “more credit.” How about instead a “seat a the table?” Is that really too much to ask?

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> This is insanity. Biden comes out tonight and makes a great speech about uniting the country, left and right. But not the far left, evidently, because they’re busy attacking the Democratic Party before Biden has had a chance to put a single policy into motion.

Not evidently. **The attacks on the far left from the moderates came first**. That is what this thread is all about. If you get attacked you don’t have to stand there and take it especially if the attacks are as evidence free as what you’ve provided in this thread. We’ve had four years of disinformation. We don’t have to continue it here.

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> You had your chance during the primaries and the reality was that outside of a few places you got thoroughly outvoted.

I haven’t “had my chance.” I live in a sane country that has just elected a progressive left coalition government. This isn’t about Sanders. I never backed him. He isn’t representative of the “far left.” The movement is much bigger than just him.

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> The intelligent way to proceed is to win over voters with ideas until they form a majority. Whining like toddlers that you won’t get your presents tomorrow even though it not your birthday won’t cut it.

The intelligent way to proceed is to fight for the ideas that you feel are right. And to stop accusing people for “whining like toddlers” because they have chosen not to give up that fight.

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Yes, I am being deliberately insulting because I’ve been through it before, in the sixties.

And here’s the thing about the far left. They are going to continue to “save your ass” even when you choose to be deliberately insulting. They will vote for your candidate even when you accuse them of being “toddlers.” Because they actually are the grown ups in the room. Biden won in part because of the activism of the so called “far left.”

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Our side had all the moral right in the world until lunatics kept one-upping one another with their purity pledges right out of the French Revolution until all that was left were bombers and tens of millions of new conservative diehards.

This says nothing at all about the “far left” at all.

It says a lot about you. That’s all.

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> In a decade or three you can move the middle gradually. But only if you stop attacking those on your side and stop alienating potential converts on the other.

You admit you are being **deliberately insulting**. But you demand the “far left” to **stop attacking your side and stop alienating potential converts on the other.** I’d point out the obvious here but its so plainly obvious that I feel I don’t really have too. But thanks again for confirming that the OP has gotten it right.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/38 "2020-11-08T05:19:51Z")

</div>

> [@Temporary\_Name](#):
>
> You quoted 538??? Why don’t you just dig up a forecast from Nostradamus? Right now I cannot think of a less reliable source than Nate Silver and his band crused hopes wing men (and women).

That article is right–whether it’s by 538 doesn’t matter, and, in fact, it actually explains why _nobody_ is going to be able to provide accurate poles with the two-party system.

538 isn’t the problem. The problem is all the people who are demanding a prediction for something that can’t be predicted.

The fact is most Americans don’t know shit about how government works and don’t have a clue when it comes to choosing someone to do government to do what they really need or want. So the ones who are most shameless in exploiting that ignorance are increasingly the ones who get elected, and that’s what the Republicans and Trump have been doing. You can’t poll that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/39 "2020-11-08T05:23:31Z")

</div>

> [@Temporary\_Name](#):
>
> But listen to what Rick Wilson has to say about AOC.

…why would anyone want to listen to what Rick “The South Will Rise Again” Wilson has to say about AOC? Wilson is a horrible person who has done horrible things and now that Trump is gone he is going to go back to doing horrible things. Why should I care what he thinks?

> [@Temporary\_Name](#):
>
> Why she gets so much attention is beyond me

Because she is smart, intelligent, understands how to leverage social media **better than anybody else** in the Democrat camp, her questions in the House are consistently on point and she does her district proud.

> [@Temporary\_Name](#):
>
> Do you think 70,000,000 people showed up to support Donald J. Trump???

Why do you think they didn’t?

> [@Temporary\_Name](#):
>
> 35,000,000 of those people (at least) showed up to stop Bernie Sanders and AOC and her gang of four from outlawing religious organizations and taking away their guns.

And they showed up because they thought Biden was a socialist and his son was a security risk and Cory Booker was going to invade the suburbs and we could keep going for days on all the wrong things those 35,000,000 people believed.

> [@Temporary\_Name](#):
>
> they also stirred up Trump’s base.

Here’s the thing.

**EVERYTHING STIRS UP TRUMPS BASE.**

Why should we let Trump’s base control what the Democrats decide to do? Why give them that power?

> [@Temporary\_Name](#):
>
> Let’s start by doing what Biden advertised, including the right (at least the moderate ones) have a say and let’s do things that many of us agree upon.

> [@AOC](#):
>
> “They want to vote for a president that is at least going to be receptive to their advocacy, activism and protest,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “There’s no question that Joe Biden is a much better person in that position.”
> 
> Ocasio-Cortez said she supports Joe Biden as president, despite disagreeing with the Democratic candidate on fracking issues.
> 
> …
> 
> “We need to focus on winning the White House first,” Ocasio-Cortez said. If Biden becomes the president, “it will be a privilege to lobby him” on fracking issues, she added.

[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-25/ocasio-cortez-says-young-voters-are-pragmatic-will-back-biden](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-25/ocasio-cortez-says-young-voters-are-pragmatic-will-back-biden)

I mean, what is your objection to AOC’s position here? Biden will be able to do exactly what he intends to do. But AOC will lobby Biden to push forward her positions. Isn’t this the way democracy should work?

Or should AOC just shut up, and not represent her district and the people that voted for her?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [November 8, 2020, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994/40 "2020-11-08T05:45:00Z")

</div>

> [@E-DUB](#):
>
> They’ve not trying to appeal to them, they’re trying to _reach_ them. To try to show them why they’re wrong. You might disagree with that approach, but calling them “deplorables” didn’t work out so well

I don’t disagree with this approach, and I [quote=“Exapno\_Mapcase, post:33, topic:924994”]  
This is insanity. Biden comes out tonight and makes a great speech about uniting the country, left and right. But not the far left, evidently, because they’re busy attacking the Democratic Party before Biden has had a chance to put a single policy into motion.  
[/quote]

🤨 I’m curious which posts you are reading, because they don’t appear to be from this thread. Biden’s speech came hours after the OP, and Biden isn’t the one doing the demonizing, so I really don’t know what you’re on about. 🙄

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994.md?page=1)

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-left-is-already-being-demonized/924994.md?page=3)
