I posted this in yesterdays open; Casey DeSantis could easily win against the current Clown crop running in the Republican primary; she is far more popular than her husband
Donald Trump thinks he is responsible for Ron DeSantis as governor. Will Trump, who now considers DeSantis an "enemy," come out against any gubernatorial candidate DeSantis endorses? Would that be decisive?
it's so early in the cycle, I think lots more candidates will emerge and yes Trump will have an effect but I don't think it's completely his endorsement that matters
Meanwhile, the BBC has an article noting the same trend in Germany as the USA saw last November: "Why more young men in Germany are turning to the far right"
Agreed. I suspect a lot of the young male support for right-wing politicians, including Trump, is due to economic pessimism and hopelessness, anger, and the perceived threat to familiar gender roles.
Imho, the Left everywhere lost a lot of support when it shifted too much focus away from economics to identity politics. A fundamental mistake!
Whether it was the party or the donor class at the tip of the spear of the shift, the party got tagged with it and it stuck. Once again, I point to those 2019 Presidential debates as the moment when there was no longer any daylight between the party and the online identitarian left
May or may not be true, but I think it's interesting to contrast that with republicans right now. However social issue centric we want to say democratic officials are, there's no denying that republicans have dove headfirst into that topic and devote damn near all of their messaging to it.
They will not shut up about trans people. Their messaging on immigration is heavily social issue based. Everything they hate is now "DEI" or "Woke" and they expend an enormous amount of energy on it. Christian identity politics are used constantly. Even stuff like their work against public education focuses on this messaging. I'd say a solid 90% of republican messaging is either explicitly about social issues or identity politics, or it's another topic focused through that lens instead.
We might want to consider that the issue isn't that we've gone too far on identity politics and instead that politics is now identity politics dominated. Our problems would then be (a) our messaging on it is more difficult to make due to being a big-tent party, and (b) our messaging becomes half-hearted as we abandon it and attempt to get back to economic topics — hurting us rather than helping us.
When republicans embrace an issue to mainstream voters and we only embrace it to the base in primaries, normal people are only going to hear one side of the debate and will tend to agree with that side by default.
Well I think we (and parties of the left generally) have to accept the political reality that when it comes to fomenting social and cultural change, the backlash is almost always gonna be larger than the movement. Pushing for social change is more often than not the right thing to do but it's gonna be rocket fuel for the opposition seeking to exploit the majority's inherent cultural conservatism, which is why conservatives tend to win more elections than liberals not just in the U.S. but around the world.
The conservatives "not shutting up about trans people, DEI, and woke" was always baked into the cake and it doesn't seem like Democrats are ever fully prepared for that when it comes time for people to vote.
It wasn't openly advocating those views (outside of fringe House reps) but falure to push back on the activist "groups" who hold disproportionate sway over party politics and platforms. Dems get hit by with guilt by association way worse than Republicans do . . and that's just the breaks.
Sounds like a no-win situation. Any type of pushback would have both alienated parts of the base, and the reps would change their message to "look how the dem party censors its own voters!".
I think a lot of Dem pols vastly over-estimate how much voter pull a lot of these groups have, especially outside of deep blue districts. Look at how the Justice Democrat/DSA "take over the apparatus from the inside" strategy, after a handful of wins in 2018, just completely petered out.
Yes, I have noticed. Some commenters above seem to give the impression that this is a recent development. In my opinion, Democrats started drifting away from giving economic issues prime prominence decades ago.
Correct. Democrats' overarching message should be that billionaires and CEOs have too much power in this country, and that there needs to be a fundamental shift in power away from billionaires and CEOs and towards normal everyday working people like us.
Someone here mentioned just after the election that Republicans had effectively positioned themselves as being opposed to a small, unpopular segment of American society - in their case, elitists and the "woke mob". Democrats need to do the same, but the small, unpopular segment that we should position ourselves against is billionaires and CEOs.
Senator John Fetterman is a NO on RFK Jr and Tulsi Gabbard. He’s also promising to fight against Project 2025, something he warned about last year.
There have been protests at his office. However, Fetterman may have decided against RFK Jr and Tulsi Gabbard by going with his conscience, not necessarily to appease supporters or those who protested at his office.
If I recall correctly, not a single Democrat voted for Vought – but every Republican did. No exceptions. Even Collins and Murkowski. That describes the vote but, as for your question, I am as perplexed as you are.
Murkowski's up for re-election in 2028 although I instinctively think she's going to win re-election. Still three years away.
More immediately though in 2026, Senator Dan Sullivan is up for re-election and voted for Vought. Collins is up for re-election as well as is Senator Thom Tillis. All, especially Tillis, may see themselves more on the defensive as a result of the vote for Vought.
SPECIAL ELECTION: Any thoughts on tomorrow’s special election? Is Democrat Ken Jenkins likely to emerge victories in the election for County Executive of Westchester County, NY? I understand Trump is trying to rally MAGA support for the GOP candidate, Christine A. Sculti.
I'm in norther Westchester and have paid no attention to this race at all but I'm pretty sure Jenkins will win easily. He's not exactly a "knock your socks off" candidate (but then again, neither was Latimer when he won here in 2017), but whoever his opposition is (and I don't even know who that is, which says something) can't have much of a chance. I've met Jenkins a time or two before at fundraisers, though nothing more than a word or two exchanged waiting at a bathroom door, I think.
I'm a little surprised by that Michigan poll. I wouldn't have expected a recent transplant to be that far ahead of a statewide elected official. Buttigieg remains a very talented politician.
IMO, I think it came down to national prominence. He’s probably seen as the higher ranked person so gets some preferential treatment for that.
I really hope he doesn’t run. Everyone will be pissed when he underperforms the polls and the nation as swing voters don’t want to admit they’re not voting for an out-of-state gay guy. Such a stupid way for us to lose when we have plenty of in-state talent.
Yeah, I think that poll is mostly name rec. Buttigieg would be a decent senator but I think he's a poor candidate. He just moved to the state and he comes across as too stereotypically Ivy League. He mainly appeals to educated center-left technocratic types who always vote Dem anyway, and I don't think he would appeal much to noncollege low-info swing voters.
Agreed. It’s funny how he did so well in the 2020 primary bc he was such a good speaker. I think this would be a disadvantage for him in a GE. Being smart and stuffy has never been popular.
How many people can name their state elected officials right now? Granted I have an easy time of it in NH as we only have three offices elected statewide, and two of those are senators.
The advantages a stage AG or LG will have in a primary isn't limited to immediate name recognition (though that can help!) but in the fact that everyone with connections in the state will know them, and that will filter down through and cause them to get more attention and fundraising and endorsements and so on.
Buttigieg shortcuts that whole process because anyone willing to vote in a primary will have heard of him already. For a poll of a primary that's about 18 months out this is all going to come down to that existing name recognition. People answering a poll this month know who he is, what they do and do not like about him. Nessel is much less defined in their minds. Their answer is going to be who they think they know versus who they don't think they know (or literally don't know at all).
That doesn't mean the final result would end up that way. Although it could if he decided to run and things worked out right for him.
That's a good question. I comment here sometimes and I can name SC's AG Alan Wilson, I can picture the LG but can't remember her name, and when I here the Superintendent of Education's name I recognize it, but can't tell it to you w/o looking it up. I know she wasn't qualified to run but she met the qualifications by getting a mail order graduate degree. Our Treasurer is Curtis Loftis, who used to write opeds about how poorly our pension system was funded but mostly now is in trouble about whether or not we are missing $1.8B in state funds.
The Justice Department on Monday told federal prosecutors in Manhattan to drop the corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams of New York, claiming his indictment last fall came too near the 2025 mayoral primary and had limited his ability to cooperate in President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“You are directed to dismiss” the charges, Emil Bove, the Justice Department’s acting No. 2 official, wrote in a letter to prosecutors, according to two people briefed on its contents.
Not that I have high hopes here, but if we have a dem admin come Jan 2029, it's still possible for them to re-open those charges right? Because there was no pardoning or finding innocent of a crime.
I expect it to be swept under the rug even in that scenario, but I'd like to keep my hopes open at least...
I posted this in yesterdays open; Casey DeSantis could easily win against the current Clown crop running in the Republican primary; she is far more popular than her husband
I should add that Nunez is a complete non factor; the LG position is a complete joke here in Florida
LG? Liquid gas terminal? Lesbian & gay discrimination?
She is Lt. Gov.
AAACBC*
Thanks! I mistakenly thought "LG position" referred to "policy position", which is why I failed to parse it.
.
*) Acronyms and abbreviations can be confusing.
Donald Trump thinks he is responsible for Ron DeSantis as governor. Will Trump, who now considers DeSantis an "enemy," come out against any gubernatorial candidate DeSantis endorses? Would that be decisive?
possibly.. But right now the available crop is a shit show of mediocrity
I wonder if he would back Gatez?
great question
and why would that matter to the voters of FL?
within the party it does..lol
given the state of the FL gop I would not be one bit surprised if "Lurleen" was indeed their nominee
that's what I posted above👆; totally agree
Somehow I can't imagine "Lurleen" DeSantis winning as Gov. of Florida, but you know that state much better than I do.
it's so early in the cycle, I think lots more candidates will emerge and yes Trump will have an effect but I don't think it's completely his endorsement that matters
This weekend there were two elections:
ECUADOR: election ends in a tie – will require a second round.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4mnznmwlvo
KOSOVO: PM Albin Kurti's party is leading the count. It will, however, fall short of a majority and thus be compelled to form a coalition government.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23ny33jlmjo
Meanwhile, the BBC has an article noting the same trend in Germany as the USA saw last November: "Why more young men in Germany are turning to the far right"
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy082dn7rkqo
imo it's not all racism; Trump increased his votes in black men and Hispanic men
Agreed. I suspect a lot of the young male support for right-wing politicians, including Trump, is due to economic pessimism and hopelessness, anger, and the perceived threat to familiar gender roles.
Imho, the Left everywhere lost a lot of support when it shifted too much focus away from economics to identity politics. A fundamental mistake!
Did they really make that shift, though?
Whether it was the party or the donor class at the tip of the spear of the shift, the party got tagged with it and it stuck. Once again, I point to those 2019 Presidential debates as the moment when there was no longer any daylight between the party and the online identitarian left
May or may not be true, but I think it's interesting to contrast that with republicans right now. However social issue centric we want to say democratic officials are, there's no denying that republicans have dove headfirst into that topic and devote damn near all of their messaging to it.
They will not shut up about trans people. Their messaging on immigration is heavily social issue based. Everything they hate is now "DEI" or "Woke" and they expend an enormous amount of energy on it. Christian identity politics are used constantly. Even stuff like their work against public education focuses on this messaging. I'd say a solid 90% of republican messaging is either explicitly about social issues or identity politics, or it's another topic focused through that lens instead.
We might want to consider that the issue isn't that we've gone too far on identity politics and instead that politics is now identity politics dominated. Our problems would then be (a) our messaging on it is more difficult to make due to being a big-tent party, and (b) our messaging becomes half-hearted as we abandon it and attempt to get back to economic topics — hurting us rather than helping us.
When republicans embrace an issue to mainstream voters and we only embrace it to the base in primaries, normal people are only going to hear one side of the debate and will tend to agree with that side by default.
Well I think we (and parties of the left generally) have to accept the political reality that when it comes to fomenting social and cultural change, the backlash is almost always gonna be larger than the movement. Pushing for social change is more often than not the right thing to do but it's gonna be rocket fuel for the opposition seeking to exploit the majority's inherent cultural conservatism, which is why conservatives tend to win more elections than liberals not just in the U.S. but around the world.
The conservatives "not shutting up about trans people, DEI, and woke" was always baked into the cake and it doesn't seem like Democrats are ever fully prepared for that when it comes time for people to vote.
It wasn't openly advocating those views (outside of fringe House reps) but falure to push back on the activist "groups" who hold disproportionate sway over party politics and platforms. Dems get hit by with guilt by association way worse than Republicans do . . and that's just the breaks.
Sounds like a no-win situation. Any type of pushback would have both alienated parts of the base, and the reps would change their message to "look how the dem party censors its own voters!".
I think a lot of Dem pols vastly over-estimate how much voter pull a lot of these groups have, especially outside of deep blue districts. Look at how the Justice Democrat/DSA "take over the apparatus from the inside" strategy, after a handful of wins in 2018, just completely petered out.
The Trump government has been playing up identity politics constantly with their attacks on DEI. Will see if there is any backlash.
I think we are overestimating how motivated young or any men are by preservation of the social safety net.
I suspect a very high percentage of them are on their parents' health care plan....and would discover that quickly if Obamacare was repealed.
Mark here has been commenting on this for a very long time; so have I by the way
Yes, I have noticed. Some commenters above seem to give the impression that this is a recent development. In my opinion, Democrats started drifting away from giving economic issues prime prominence decades ago.
That has to stop. Democrats need to start showing their spine again.
Correct. Democrats' overarching message should be that billionaires and CEOs have too much power in this country, and that there needs to be a fundamental shift in power away from billionaires and CEOs and towards normal everyday working people like us.
Someone here mentioned just after the election that Republicans had effectively positioned themselves as being opposed to a small, unpopular segment of American society - in their case, elitists and the "woke mob". Democrats need to do the same, but the small, unpopular segment that we should position ourselves against is billionaires and CEOs.
Though they can still be xenophobic, and certainly sexist.
Senator John Fetterman is a NO on RFK Jr and Tulsi Gabbard. He’s also promising to fight against Project 2025, something he warned about last year.
There have been protests at his office. However, Fetterman may have decided against RFK Jr and Tulsi Gabbard by going with his conscience, not necessarily to appease supporters or those who protested at his office.
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-nation/2025/02/07/fetterman-trump-cabinet-vote-rfk-gabbard/stories/202502070055
And No on Russell Vought as well.
Of course. Why would anyone want to confirm an jerk like Vought?
If I recall correctly, not a single Democrat voted for Vought – but every Republican did. No exceptions. Even Collins and Murkowski. That describes the vote but, as for your question, I am as perplexed as you are.
Murkowski's up for re-election in 2028 although I instinctively think she's going to win re-election. Still three years away.
More immediately though in 2026, Senator Dan Sullivan is up for re-election and voted for Vought. Collins is up for re-election as well as is Senator Thom Tillis. All, especially Tillis, may see themselves more on the defensive as a result of the vote for Vought.
SPECIAL ELECTION: Any thoughts on tomorrow’s special election? Is Democrat Ken Jenkins likely to emerge victories in the election for County Executive of Westchester County, NY? I understand Trump is trying to rally MAGA support for the GOP candidate, Christine A. Sculti.
I'm in norther Westchester and have paid no attention to this race at all but I'm pretty sure Jenkins will win easily. He's not exactly a "knock your socks off" candidate (but then again, neither was Latimer when he won here in 2017), but whoever his opposition is (and I don't even know who that is, which says something) can't have much of a chance. I've met Jenkins a time or two before at fundraisers, though nothing more than a word or two exchanged waiting at a bathroom door, I think.
keep us updated if you have the time
I'm a little surprised by that Michigan poll. I wouldn't have expected a recent transplant to be that far ahead of a statewide elected official. Buttigieg remains a very talented politician.
IMO, I think it came down to national prominence. He’s probably seen as the higher ranked person so gets some preferential treatment for that.
I really hope he doesn’t run. Everyone will be pissed when he underperforms the polls and the nation as swing voters don’t want to admit they’re not voting for an out-of-state gay guy. Such a stupid way for us to lose when we have plenty of in-state talent.
Yeah, I think that poll is mostly name rec. Buttigieg would be a decent senator but I think he's a poor candidate. He just moved to the state and he comes across as too stereotypically Ivy League. He mainly appeals to educated center-left technocratic types who always vote Dem anyway, and I don't think he would appeal much to noncollege low-info swing voters.
Agreed. It’s funny how he did so well in the 2020 primary bc he was such a good speaker. I think this would be a disadvantage for him in a GE. Being smart and stuffy has never been popular.
Buttigeg would make an excellent strategist but he was also an effective Transportation Secretary under President Biden.
How many people can name their state elected officials right now? Granted I have an easy time of it in NH as we only have three offices elected statewide, and two of those are senators.
The advantages a stage AG or LG will have in a primary isn't limited to immediate name recognition (though that can help!) but in the fact that everyone with connections in the state will know them, and that will filter down through and cause them to get more attention and fundraising and endorsements and so on.
Buttigieg shortcuts that whole process because anyone willing to vote in a primary will have heard of him already. For a poll of a primary that's about 18 months out this is all going to come down to that existing name recognition. People answering a poll this month know who he is, what they do and do not like about him. Nessel is much less defined in their minds. Their answer is going to be who they think they know versus who they don't think they know (or literally don't know at all).
That doesn't mean the final result would end up that way. Although it could if he decided to run and things worked out right for him.
we are political animals here; Joe Six Pack knows very few down ballot pols
That's a good question. I comment here sometimes and I can name SC's AG Alan Wilson, I can picture the LG but can't remember her name, and when I here the Superintendent of Education's name I recognize it, but can't tell it to you w/o looking it up. I know she wasn't qualified to run but she met the qualifications by getting a mail order graduate degree. Our Treasurer is Curtis Loftis, who used to write opeds about how poorly our pension system was funded but mostly now is in trouble about whether or not we are missing $1.8B in state funds.
The Justice Department on Monday told federal prosecutors in Manhattan to drop the corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams of New York, claiming his indictment last fall came too near the 2025 mayoral primary and had limited his ability to cooperate in President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“You are directed to dismiss” the charges, Emil Bove, the Justice Department’s acting No. 2 official, wrote in a letter to prosecutors, according to two people briefed on its contents.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/nyregion/eric-adams-charges-doj-trump.html?smtyp=cur&smid=bsky-nytimes
Simply outstanding corruption of our "justice" system.
Then NYers have one choice:
Vote Adams out.
which is actually better for us during another Trump term
I should add because I believe Trump would have just pardoned the asshole anyways upon a conviction
Not that I have high hopes here, but if we have a dem admin come Jan 2029, it's still possible for them to re-open those charges right? Because there was no pardoning or finding innocent of a crime.
I expect it to be swept under the rug even in that scenario, but I'd like to keep my hopes open at least...
Depends on the statute of limitations. He is still subject to state charges.