The Politics Thread

[DRW50]

 

It's not really trolling when he trolls first though. It's just stooping to his level. This will now be the story, not anything else Perez says.

[GregNYC]

I'd say it's about 70-30% Republicans will gain a filibuster-proof Senate majority in 2018. 25 Democrat Senate seats are up for grabs, including 10 that went to Trump in 2016.

 

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[MissLlanviewPA]

 

He IS called Tom, though, so that didn't bother me much. And I don't see him being like John Kerry, but YMMV. 

 

 

[DRW50]

 

It's the defensiveness + trying to be tough in an awkward way that reminds me of Kerry. That tweet reeked of it to me. But then I hate Twitter anyway. If you loved it that's what matters, not my opinion.

[Wales2004]

Watch out, the Trumpkins are about to put all the high end stores who don't bow down to the Trumps out of business:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/a-trump-voters-message-to-retailers-keep-your-mouths-shut-about-our-president/2017/02/25/7aa87228-f852-11e6-bf01-d47f8cf9b643_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumpretail-824am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.8ed6362c3af5#comments

Welcome to that land where the only ones who should get to speak their minds are Trumpkins.

 

[MissLlanviewPA]

 

Loved it might be going too far, but I didn't hate it. 

[ReddFoxx]

Trump is a bully that hates being responded to at all. He is his own worst enemy and the key is to get him to damage himself.

[DRW50]

 

I used to feel that way during the election, but now I feel like that's one of the reasons Hillary lost. He can't be ignored, per se, but I think the best the Democrats can do is to harness that energy on state and local levels and try not to let him distract and demoralize. 

[DRW50]

Democrats have kept control of the Delaware state senate via a special election win tonight.

 

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/25/senate-district-10-race-draws-crowd-complaints/98375166/

[rhinohide]

 

The DNC learned nothing from this election.

 

 

 Marceline is right. Many Bernie supporters are not Democrats. That includes me. I'm a former moderate Republican (there is no such thing anymore) who is registered in WV as "No Party Affiliation" because there is actually a fringe party called the Independant Party. At least there was when I first went to register to vote when we moved here 22 years ago. I dislike both parties and think both are corrupt.  The Democratic Party is no more the Party of FDR or Kennedy than the GOP is still the Party of Lincoln. I've never been more proud to cast my vote than when I voted for Barak Obama, first in the primary vs. Hillary Clinton, and then both his Presidential Campaigns.  I will always be grateful for his leadership and dignity but I opposed the TPP, The Iran Deal and more than a few of his foreign policies. 

 

Bernie supporters want to shift the Democratic Party, much the same way The Koch Bros and the Tea Party shifted the GOP. I don't believe a third party will ever emerge, much less prevail. The Democratic Party remains the best hope to defeat the evil empire, but if they continue to do the same things that brought them down, they will not achieve different results. Putting yet another establishment insider in charge of the most Herculean rebuild the party has faced in my lifetime is more of the same ol' samo.  It's very discouraging. 

[Vee]

I'm glad for votes that cross the aisle. But I don't necessarily think ex-Republican voters are the voice of the soul of the Democratic Party anymore than all Sanders voters are.

 

To me, I would've been happy with either man but the fact is Perez is a solid choice, and there's not much ideological daylight between him and Ellison for anyone who isn't simply interested in refighting a proxy war over Sanders and Clinton.

 

As for the Perez commentary on Trump, a friend of mine today - a fairly politically disengaged Latino Democratic voter - saw the news about the vote and was encouraged by the news, and loved what he had to say. So take that anecdote however anyone will, or not.

[marceline]

 

I disagree. Bernie supporters don't want to shift the part because they don't care about the party. They care about Bernie. The Dems are a coalition. Neither Bernie nor his supporters are care about that. That's why they've fallen back on the call to get away from "identity politics." Little by little they would've thrown every constituency under the bus because that's what they did during his campaign. Putting the party in the hands of people who won't vote unless they get their balls tickled would've been a disaster. I mean look at how they're acting. Ellison is second in command and they're acting like he got a bucket of pig's blood dumped on him at prom. These are people who couldn't even be bothered to learn the rules for open vs. closed primaries and then when they did they claimed "rigging."

 

More people chose Hillary. Millions more chose her during the primary and millions more chose her during the general.

[JaneAusten]

I'm also not sure what they believe they would be getting with Ellison as DNC chair.  They got the platform changed which is an accomplishment. I think Perez is a good solid choice. Not my choice but neither was Ellison. But Perez does have a good track record on civil rights and he did talk again yesterday about tackling voter suppression, something he seemed to back off from during the past several weeks. The Bernie contingent believing this is a non issue are delusional. When you use tactics to suppress millions of voters, democratic voters THAT'S a big deal. Ellison in his favor did talk about it but I don't think I ever heard Bernie or any of his core supporters recognize it as a big issue. Let me ask those who think Perez is a bad decision, you have Obama, Eric Holder, Ellison, Perez all talking about voter suppression and gerrymandering, yet Bernie and his core supporters not touching it. What's the common element here? I can see it. Buttigieg by the way also talked about it along with redistricting. Obama, Holder, Ellison, Perez, Buttigieg get it because they are all voters who the GOP is actively trying to disengage.(Buttigieg is a gay man). We all know economic issues are key yes and I do believe that the democratic party needs some sort of approach, like a contract with America or New Deal or something to get the message out on what they represent but that needs to be more than economics.

 

Anyone who understands the party should also know that Ellison is much more valuable where he is at. Frankly I am no Pelosi fan at this point so let's see him fight for being House minority leader or maybe even Speaker should the House fall back into democratic hands in 2018. Rumor is that's why Schumer supported Ellison for DNC chair was to get him away from that battle this year.

[DRW50]

This just annoys me. Trump again sets the tone and everyone else responds. It's not even that he's some tactical genius - he's not - it's just a cheap trick that often works. 

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/perez-dismisses-trumps-claim-that-dnc-process-was-rigged-235406

 

And it looks like Sanders supporters were trying to go after anyone who didn't play ball. I really wish these people would just be drummed out of any party role.

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/sanders-revolution-resists-dnc-loss-235404

Edited February 26, 2017 by DRW50

[Vee]

If he was setting the tone and winning he wouldn't be angrily tweeting every morning at 4 AM, hiding from the press and the WHCD, and sinking below 38% rapidly.

 

This is done to bait him and drive him mad, because it is extremely easy to do so. Countless articles from leaks inside prove this. He is infuriated. But he must be responded to, not ignored.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Vee