this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2025
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Aside from the fact that it worked in 2020, you mean?
They did do some of it in 20, but Biden actually brought some stuff to the table; two things that spring to mind are student loan forgiveness and national passenger rail revitalization, there's probably some others I can't think of ATM. Yeah, in hindsight, the loan forgiveness ended up not being much to write home about, and the rail revitalization might be getting derailed, but at least he had some actually useful and interesting policy planks besides "not Trump" and "look, it's [celebrity]!"
You're underselling it. They had Bernie Sanders help them write an economically-populist platform in 2020. For all of Biden's many, many faults, he saw which way the wind was blowing in 2020 and leaned into it. Then, in 2024, they decided it was safe to move back to a middle-class centric, moderate economic message, and boy, was that a bad idea.
Well, they were correct that right-wing rhetoric was popular. Diet Republican will just never beat the real thing.
I'm sure if they just go little further right they'll get 'em next time.
Not only that, but many (but not all) of the implementations of those policies were either middling or incomplete, and there was still so much further to go on progressive economic policies, that it was truly baffling to me that they basically rolled out the "mission accomplished" banner on the economy when the 2024 campaigns were asked about it. Democrats seem terminally terrified of casting stones within the party, to the point of refusing to acknowledge the reality that voters are experiencing because it might make the guys not seeking election look bad. It was frustrating to see that while I was financially worse off then when Biden took office, as was almost everyone else I knew, the democrats were crowing about how great the economy was and essentially declaring economic victory for Biden. I remember getting banned by more than one Mastodon account and labelled a Trump supporter when I raised concerns that this messaging was going to fail to resonate.
It's similarly frustrating now to see the Democratic party leadership and presidential campaign staff saying "well, yes, that makes twice we've lost what should have been the easiest election ever, but we made no mistakes and have nothing to learn here except that we need to be more like Republicans." Likewise, it's concerning to see Democrats legitimizing this administration and already announcing that they're eager to work with them where their priorities align. It makes me think a lot about how back in the 30s, the capitalists were all too ready to align with the Nazis, and a big chunk of the democrats are occupied by the crony capitalist block. I really hope the democrats as a party can get their shit together on a national level, but I'm not counting on it. I'm expecting a lot of lip service about resistance as 96% of them fall in line.
100% spot on, although I will say this; it's not that Democrats are too scared of casting stones within their party. It's that they're too terrified of displaying behavior that would displease donors. They're happy to throw Jamaal Bowman or Rashida Tlaib under the bus if AIPAC is displeased. They'll sideline AOC if her rhetoric makes one of their, "good," billionaires nervous. They've been trying to find a balance between making their wealthy benefactors and their working class base happy for years now, and they still haven't figured out that those goals are antithetical.
Biden ran a much different campaign.
Harris ran a much more progressive yet inclusive campaign then Biden but I don't think people were ready to vote for a Black Indian woman.
You can't be serious with this more progressive than Biden bullshit?
Harris had Cheney and corporations cozying up to her. She acted like she was going to be progressive at first and then she decided to go after those moderate voters. If she was a little bit progressive then she would have allowed the Palestinian to speak at the DNC. Instead she let some right wingers and a billionaire.
People who called themselves progressives had more and more strict purity tests on what actually makes someone progressive until they decided to support the Republicans.
Progressive for who? Not the workers. Not for unions . Not for regulation. Who was it Progressive for? There's this myth that she was super Progressive but I didn't see any evidence of it anywhere. The few Progressive movements of the Biden White House we're on the chopping block for Harris. She nominated a great vice president choice and then she put them in the closet so no he couldn't spread the message. Her intentions were very clear she was running well to the right of Joe Biden's campaign.
She was very clearly for big business and for this mythical middle class that doesn't even exist anymore. She could give a shit about the working class. A sentiment that was being shared by the way in interviews of potential voters which is how you knew she was about to lose.
Which ones?
So Harris was so far right you all flocked to Trump or didn’t vote to send a message that you’d go further right?
And there it is. The old Hillary Clinton that's all I fucking have campaign in a nutshell. Immediately accuse them of liking Donald Trump. Because the only thing they are is not Trump. Lost them two elections. It's going to lose them every other election ever to come if we even get any. Cuz these fucking neoliberals have nothing for us. They can't run on their Promises to the voters because they don't have any. Every freaking time.
…and they won’t court the leftist because they don’t/won’t vote so it’s just going to go further right.
Except in 2020 when Joe Biden was the furthest left president we've had this country since the seventies. Low bar I know, but most pro-union president of my lifetime and he won. Put in a fantastic head of the FTC and Lina Khan, who Harris was eager to get rid of, and he won. Worked to bring back us Manufacturing, and he won. It's almost like leftist policies are popular. Democrats can't handle that though. Terrified Wall Street and thus it terrified the Democratic Leadership. The neoliberals in the Democratic Party who have run away from left as hard as they can in the last 50 years can't sit here and complain that left don't vote for them when they try as hard as they can not to appeal to them.
Show me some courting and we'll see who votes.
Can you answer this because Harris was left of Biden on everything she spoke about in the time she had to campaign.