Democrats

“The Hillary Clinton of 2020.” By Nathan Robinson The Guardian (1/4/20) Supporters of Joe Biden are unlikely to be persuaded by most of the common criticisms. They know he can be rambling and unintelligible. They know his record is unimpressive and that he doesn’t really have “policy proposals”. None of this matters, though, because to them he has the most important quality of all: he can beat Donald Trump. Nothing you can say about Biden’s record, platform, or mental state matters next to the argument that he is the best hope Democrats have of getting Trump out of office. His electability…

By Branko Marcetic In These Times (4/26/19) Former Vice President Joe Biden, who officially announced his presidential campaign on Thursday, is positioning himself as the defender of the embattled working class: giving speeches to union audiences, tapping organized labor for early support, walking the Stop & Shop picket lines, and pairing his announcement with a reportedly impending endorsement from the International Association of Firefighters, who have pledged to help him raise money. However, an episode from the not-so-distant past cuts against this “friend of the working man” image: Biden’s leading role in the Obama administration’s 2011 efforts to slash the deficit by offering Republicans spending cuts to…

“The Democrats don’t like the issue anymore, because they know we’re right. When you see what’s happening over there, they know we’re right. They sort of let that one sail through.” — Donald Trump By Bill Van Auken World Socialist Web Site (12/24/19) With conditions facing immigrants and those seeking asylum in the US becoming increasingly horrific, US President Donald Trump gloated over the weekend that the Democratic Party has bowed to his rabid anti-immigrant policy by voting to approve billions of dollars in new funding for his border wall. In a speech to a meeting organized by the far-right student…

What a grotesque way to waste our money! By Ralph Nader Common Dreams (12/21/19) While attention was focused on the House of Representatives’ impeachment of Donald J. Trump, legislators from both parties were secretly huddling with White House aides to seal a $1.4 trillion budget deal to fund the government until next September. They were rushing to do this to avoid a partial government shutdown starting December 21, 2019. Had the budget been deliberated in open Congressional hearings, the media would have reported on this backroom deal and the people of this country would have had a chance to weigh…

  [Editor’s Note: Good Lord, does even Bernie need a spinal transplant? Usually so clear, steadfast and fearless, in this case Bernie blinked and betrayed a steadfast progressive who has helped him immeasurably tarred by Democratic National Committee and corporate media smears and old — resolved — news. If he wins, he better be better prepared for such sabotage because this was just one small  example of what he will face. — Mark L. Taylor] Rising (12/16/19) Saagar Enjeti argues about the fakeness behind Left Twitter’s outrage over Senator Sanders endorsing Cenk Uygur. Link To 8+-Minute Video ***** Cenk Uygur…

Will Democrats offer a vision to voters for change and a credible shot at handily beating Trump? By Kate Aronoff The Guardian (12/15/19) Britain’s Conservative party won big last on Thursday, and its Labour party –under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn – lost handily, giving Boris Johnson’s Tories their biggest majority since Margaret Thatcher. Not long after exit poll results came in, pundits across the pond started making bold claims: if Corbyn – what with his leftwing manifesto and socialist politics – could lose so badly against Johnson, surely this spells doom for any allied efforts in the United States, namely the…

“I haven’t picked up a phone once this year to dial for dollars, and I don’t meet with corporate lobbyists. That is the power of your grassroots support.” By Jake Johnson Common Dreams (11/27/19) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised more money for reelection than any other House Democrat in the third quarter of 2019, an achievement the New York Democrat touted as a testament to the power of grassroots fundraising over schmoozing with corporate lobbyists and wealthy executives. The New York Post reported late Tuesday that Ocasio-Cortez raised $1.42 million between July 1 through September 30 for her 2020 reelection campaign, topping all House Democrats including…

Peaceful protestors can now be charged with a felony punishable by up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine. By  David Armiak Center For Media And Democracy (11/22/19) Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) signed a bill into law Wednesday designed to criminalize and chill environmental protests, despite widespread opposition from local and national environmental and social justice groups, as well as some of Wisconsin’s federally recognized tribes. In a press release, the Governor echoed oil and gas industry talking points, which the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) revealed earlier, saying, “Today, I signed Assembly Bill 426, which aims to ensure…

If you’re an actual, real progressive and not just a latte-sipping NPR listener with a sense of self-righteousness and a pro-choice bumper sticker, you’ve got no business regarding Obama with anything but disgust. [Editor’s Note: This article was written a couple years ago and will undoubtedly piss off many dems, but they really need to read and absorb it’s message. If the dems once again elect a neoliberal progressive pretender who will blithely promise one thing and deliver the opposite we will have probably lost our last chance of redemption and survival. Feel good campaign slogans are not enough. — Mark…

Democrats are now the ones who feel like strangers in their own land. By Arlie Hochschild The Guardian (7/21/19) In a surprising new national survey, members of each major American political party were asked what they imagined to be the beliefs held by members of the other. The survey asked Democrats: “How many Republicans believe that racism is still a problem in America today?” Democrats guessed 50%. It’s actually 79%. The survey asked Republicans how many Democrats believe “most police are bad people”. Republicans estimated half; it’s really 15%. The survey, published by the thinktank More in Common as part of its Hidden…

No, we don’t want to go back to the way it was before Trump. We have to go forward. By Robert Reich RoberReich.com (10/9/19) I keep hearing that the Democratic primary is coming down to someone who’s “electable” versus someone who has “ideas.” This is pure nonsense. Beating Donald Trump requires getting out the vote. And in order to get people to turn out and vote, a presidential candidate has to be inspiring. Which means big ideas, a vision of an America that could become a reality if we all got behind it, a sense of where we need to…

Alarm bells. By Kate Aronoff The Guardian (10/5/19) The standard lines from Democrats about Hunter Biden and his business dealings in China and Ukraine have been consistent: Donald Trump has abused the office of the president by asking foreign leaders to investigate Biden’s son, and there is absolutely no proof that either Joe or Hunter Biden have done anything to break the law. Any questionable dealings by Biden’s son also pale in comparison to ethical breaches on the part of Ivanka, Eric or Donald Trump Jr, who have routinely blurred the lines between the extended Trump Organization – the family’s business empire…

By David Siders Politico (10/5/19) The latest batch of fundraising reports released this week confirmed a new reality of presidential politics: the traditional, big-dollar model of funding a presidential campaign is going the way of landlines and the VCR. With Elizabeth Warren’s announcement Friday that she had raised nearly $25 million in the last three months — slightly less than Bernie Sanders reported Tuesday — two candidates who didn’t hold traditional donor events became the top two fundraisers in Democratic primary. And they both blew past the ones who did. Warren and Sanders, who raised $25.3 million, both finished about…

“First they came for the House candidates; now they’re gonna come for the Senate candidates. It’s not rocket science to see where this is heading.” [Editor’s Note: This story was forwarded to me by a  long-time community dem party organizer who has worked hard in campaign after campaign. The link came with the following comment: “It is very hard to stay connected to these as*holes.” The dems continue to cast off some of their most passionate volunteers. — Mark L. Taylor] By Aída Chávez & Akela Lacy The Intercept (8/29/19) BEFORE THE Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee [DSCC] endorsed former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper in…

  His message sounded like something that could have “dribbled out of the mouth of Scott Walker.”   [Editor’s Note: Really, Tony? Do you think surrender and humiliation is what we voted for in a governor? Disgraceful. No doubt a Gov. Mike McCabe would have delivered a very different and much-needed message on behalf of the people of Wisconsin to this band of thieves.  — Mark L. Taylor] By Matt Rothschild, Executive Director Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (8/14/19) Gov. Tony Evers bowed down to the biggest business lobby in Wisconsin yesterday [4/13]. In a speech to Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, which…

“I don’t understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for.” — Sen. Elizabeth Warren ***** “Moderate” sounds so much nicer than, say, “enmeshed with Wall Street” or “supportive of the military-industrial complex.” [Editor’s Note: Make no mistake, while the current crop of ‘moderate’ dems may be better on social issues, when it comes to matters of deference to Wall Street, war and protection of the corporate state, they’re a bunch of moderate republicans. These dangerous times demand far more…