November 7, 2024

"Democrats across the ideological spectrum are quickly seizing on this raw moment to try to redefine the party in their image."

From "Democrats start clawing each others' eyes out" (Axios).

123 comments:

rehajm said...

Will the big-money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lesson from this disastrous campaign? ... Probably not," Sanders said

I couldn’t disagree with Bernie more. The correct answer is definitely not

The big problem is their policies are bad. Unpopular. The host here wanted a dialogue on the issues but the leftie party elites understand they lose bigger if that happens. My wager is on them concluding they need to do a better job of communicating and go back to doing what they always do- resist, fill the air with propaganda, waste more money on consultants…

Dan from Madison said...

For all the hand wringing and navel gazing that is about to happen, I have three words. Get better candidates.

rehajm said...

I mean what are they going to do, talk more about late term abortion?

Derve Swanson said...

Needs an accompanying picture, ann!

Derve Swanson said...

Rejigger your policy positions...

Derve Swanson said...

No more wars. No more cheney people in the party.

Derve Swanson said...

Top surgery and adam's apple shaving.
Get with the program! /s

Todd said...

Wait so Democrats are now seizing?!? What is next "pouncing"?!? Isn't this like one of the signs of the end times, has the Rapture started already?

Derve Swanson said...

eye-clawing pictures, mmm...
what will you lady bloggers put out next? Red meat me! ;-)

Derve Swanson said...

Nancy Pelosi is on the ground, seizing?!?
Stop spreading rumours, people!

Derve Swanson said...

I do love the smell of rancor in the morning, I do!
How my eggs coming, mister meade??

Breezy said...

Kind of hilarious. People have been squawking about the border, the economy, the lawlessness, the unfairness of men in women’s sports, etc, and they have to have to a retreat to figure out where they went wrong? They’re beyond hope.

Christopher B said...

I keep biting my tongue on facebook as I see the almost comical (except I know these people have kids, and they are infecting them with this fragility) handwringing posts about Trump. If any of you Democrats or GOPe RINOs read this, here's my suggestion.

Which candidate represents America better?

"I would never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any Americans even if they chose to support a candidate that I didn’t support"

or

Call Her Daddy and Lesbian Doritos Communion?

Dixcus said...

Nancy Pelosi's house sits right on the street in San Francisco and is easily located.

How'd her coup work out for Democrats?

Off Topic: There's a sale on hammers at Home Depot.

Todd said...

For all the hand wringing and navel gazing that is about to happen, I have three words. Get better candidates.

That might not hurt but the real solution is "get better policies" BUT they can't because if they did, they would be Republicans (just kidding). There is actually a LOT of room to for the current Democrat party to drift right and still stay far to the left of Republicans. They just need to be less nutty. There can and SHOULD be strong and honest debate on how to curb the deficit, how to maintain SSN and a social safety net, as well as real immigration reform, crime, etc. but most of the Democrats current public positions are just so far out on the fringe of lefty/progressive politics that they can't even see normal from there while standing on a hill. As has been pointed out by others, Bill Clinton couldn't get the nomination in today's DNC. The media/DNC keep telling everyone the the GOP needs to save its self from Trump (how did that turn out for you?) whereas in reality the DNC needs to save its self from its self and tack back to the center some.

Dixcus said...

These Instagram and Tik-Tok kids have been told for years on end that Hitler is coming to End Democracy.

Of course they're scared shitless.

Dixcus said...

They could talk up their "taxpayer paid sex change operations for Illegal Aliens."

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I love the headline from Axios. Are we meant to take it seriously but not literally? Because I'm pretty sure that formulation is a sign of latent nazism.

Mary Beth said...

They're seizing? Next thing you know, they'll be pouncing.

Dixcus said...

"They just need to be less nutty."

They just elected Adam Schiff to the United States Senate.

They will require lobotomies to function in polite society.

Dixcus said...

I'll bet Darth Cheney is laughing his ass off that he literally had Democrats begging him to campaign for them this go round.

Just Asking Questions Tech Bro said...

Here is a suggestion. Now that you know that money doesn't buy election victories, kick your donor class to the curb and base your agenda on what your voters want. Here is a free clue: There are orders of magnitude more working people than billionaire donors, and the billionaires only get one vote apiece. Or does grifting off of these people pay too well?

Dixcus said...

Democrats have literally been killing small animals (RIP Peanut).

That's the first sign of serial killers.

rehajm said...

I don’t like to feed the trolls but there’s a good point here- the candidates born of woke ideology are by definition ever more radical personalities and that’s a big problem when so much of the electorate chooses based on how likable or personable or…fuckable a candidate is…

Dixcus said...

Reid Hoffman needs to flee the country.

Dixcus said...

Democrats don't need to figure out what went wrong: I'll happily tell them what went wrong:

13 MILLION fake ballots never showed up because Republicans had armed men watching the drop boxes this time.

Just Asking Questions Tech Bro said...

One obvious mistake they made was to not force Biden to resign, make her president, and let her create some daylight between her and that ancient cold warrior who still dreams of a nuclear decapitation of Russia and of dividing up all of its wealth with Hunter Biden's clients. Instead we had the candidate who we had to elect in order to find out what she was for.

Readering said...

All losses are hard to get over but this should be easier than mist. So obvious the biggest problem was failure to live up to 2020 promise of Biden as transitional president.

Shouting Thomas said...

Maybe run real, competitive primaries as a start?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

This cartoon/graph at PowerLine blog perfectly illustrates the changes in the "center" from a Liberal's POV. I'm represented by the conservative figure at right and I think most of us would agree this is more salient examination of recent political evolution than any pre-post- or plain old post-mortem we have seen anywhere.

Iman said...

In a nutshell!

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

At the very least the cartoon (link above) accurately shows where RFK Jr. and Elon and Tulsi are by their own descriptions.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

There's a problem with this scenario. If somehow you can't spend the last billion in your campaign account, you the principal, get to keep it!

Dave Begley said...

Truth. The Left never admits it was wrong and that’s why they will do what you suggest.

Iman said...

Through the mist of time, you and your kind will remain bumfuzzled.

Dixcus said...

I paid $6 for 12 eggs recently and $6.35 for a gallon of gasoline.

Democrats should thank God that they're not literally on fire right now and merely wounded by an election.

Dixcus said...

Threatening a President and FORCING him to resign and replacing him with a Figurehead is a COUP, Tim.

You are advocating for a coup. In the United States.

MadTownGuy said...

From Axios: ""Will the big-money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lesson from this disastrous campaign? ... Probably not," Sanders said."
and...
"Suozzi, a moderate, told Axios, "We have to stop pandering to the base and we have to start listening to the people ... people are sick of extremism."

Suozzi predicted that he is "going to get beaten up" for his post-election takes.
"The far-left is going to say it's because Kamala Harris was a war hawk ... they'll try, but I think no one's buying it," said another House Democrat.
"

I think Suozzi gets it. They need to clean house. Let the radical leftists join up with Sanders.

DanTheMan said...

More Hitler insults! That will work next time!

planetgeo said...

Democrats have literally also been killing little humans just before birth too. Lots of them. Talk about serial killers.

planetgeo said...

Mike, if you think about it, for Kamala losing was the best option...no hard work or mind-bending speeches, and keep all the dough. Jackpot.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

What? Not Obama’s party anymore?

Todd said...

If Kamala gets to keep the dough, does she also have to give the big guy his 10%? Asking for a friend...

Ralph L said...

"Some House Democrats are hanging onto the slim hope that they can keep the House"
Keep the House?

planetgeo said...

How sweet it is...no 4th term for Obama and his minions, and the real Fascist Party in ruins, squabbling over who messed up by letting the truth get out.

Just Asking Questions Tech Bro said...

Maybe there wasn't an actual, you know, democratic majority in favor of this "transition" that Biden and Harris were pushing on the American people? Naaah! In fact, I think we just had an election on the matter, and Biden-Harris lost it.

But they did manage to import tens of millions of people who just walked into the country without so much as a glance to see if they had a criminal record. That will be a problem for us a long time, a "transition" that Biden created.

Dixcus said...

I wonder if Democrats will continue to allow Leni Reifenstahl to design their speech backdrops going forward.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

I recommend the wilderness until Trump is out of office.

Dixcus said...

Kamala Harris called Literally Hitler last night and congratulated him on his historic victory.

They don't eat their own bullshit. They feed it to others.

Breezy said...

Funny I don’t see anyone saying progressivism is the cause of their loss. They are nibbling around the edge, but not biting. Why not? $$?

mikee said...

I, for one, welcome our new revamped Democrats to become the party that desires to lose gracefully, the party that makes all concessions in bipartisan negotiations, the party that has maverick members who break with party doctrine and join with the R's on close votes, the party that can't run a viable candidate for president (oh, wait, they already did that one, twice now).

Jamie said...

But what does that mean, Readering - "failure to live up to 2020 promise of Biden as transitional president"? What were Democrats trying to transition from, and what were they trying to transition to? Because from where I'm sitting, Biden looks a lot like the "ancient cold warrior" tim in vermont named him above, except that he* spent his* term very obviously "transitioning" ever leftward (tits on the lawn, anyone?) - and Harris was the most leftward senator in Congress before her 2020 presidential run and gave no indications of moderating during her stint as VP, and she was certainly soundly rejected in this election.

So it seems to me that Democrats transitioned just fine from "ancient cold warrior" to "brat joy," but we dogs didn't like the dog food. So is failure to transition properly really the problem here?

* By which of course I mean "they/their," the people running Biden from 2020 to the present.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

The winners might leave their yard signs up for a little longer than usual. A gesture in memory of 2020 maybe 🤔

Leland said...

I have a hunch your last egg fled your body long ago.

Readering said...

It means 1 term only.

rehajm said...

I’m not in any mood to offer them constructive advice. Maybe after some heads roll…

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

Now we know why Beyoncé didn’t sing. $ 🎤

Just Asking Questions Tech Bro said...

Chris Cuomo has a pretty good take, in fact an excellent take only minority marred by partisan rancor.

There is a little bit of projection, the party that called Trump "Hitler" is scolding the other party for "exaggerating threats," but still, it's pretty good.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

keep all the dough. Jackpot.

Now we know what the “joy” was about.

rhhardin said...

A party of women can't be fixed.

Michael said...

Just as 2016 signaled the end of any influence the Clinton's had inside the party, 2024 marks the end of the Obama era. Every crushing defeat creates space for the next generation.

Christopher B said...

Ruy Teixeira (who I think Ms Althouse linked at some point) has been telling them where they went wrong for at least four years

https://www.liberalpatriot.com/

Christopher B said...

eadering
It means 1 term only.


So, what happened, dude? Did the senile old goat forget he made that promise or did the rest of clan didn't want to knife him in the back (until they had no choice) because the replacement was so horrid?

Christopher B said...

We can hope.

Drago said...

"Or does grifting off of these people pay too well?"

The reality is the tech revolution, culturally, provided astonishing resources to the left for their political purposes which was timed with the capabilities to finetune the weaponized deep state post 9-11 spy apparatus and jigger all the social interaction algorithms to forever benefit the democraticals.

How many votes are shifted from right to left each election season just due to the censorship and 1 party support of silicon valley (until Musk and X that is)?

The left, swimming in cash, is always willing to trade that readily available cash for power (funding NGO's, ACTblue donation fraud, etc), whereas the GOPe-ers and the compromised "conservatives" have had far too much $$ dangled in front of them and so many have been more than willing to trade power to the dems for the payoffs...and perhaps silence for some of their no doubt captured on video behavior.

That is what led to the true rise of the uniparty and the attacks against any true grassroots movements to try to rein in their pan-global, citizen of the world agenda....agenda's that led to horrific conditions for the working class and deplorables but conditions "elites" could always soar over as they jet from coast to coast (the New Yorker cover showing the view of America from Manhattan once again comes to mind).

No one hated the Tea Party more than Mitch McConnell.

Drago said...

Lunatic progressivism and globalism is the cause of their loss...and their hatred and disdain for their deplorable co-citizens. Populism, the type that Bernie Sanders had in his hand until he left the dem heavies push him around so he could get that 3rd house (for socialism baby!), whereby Sanders emphasized focus on the working class was the winning message.

Unfortunately for crazy bernie, it was Hillary's turn...then it was Joey's turn...and each time crazy bernie folded like a cheap suit. Because in the end, that's what he is: a dimestore left populist socialist.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Ruy Teixeira was the guy who told the Democrats that demographics were destiny and that the future was their's for the taking. Why would they listen to him now? Why would anyone listen to Ruy ever again?

Maynard said...

The Left needs a crisis to win the 2026 and 2028 elections.

Will we see Covid redux? Imminent global heat wave? Cold wave? numerous false flag operations? All of the above?

Jamie said...

"It means 1 term only"? The reason Harris lost is because Biden didn't fulfill his promise to be a one-term president?

Now, I agree that he shouldn't have run. But can you honestly say you think the reason Harris lost is because she didn't campaign for long enough?

I attended her Houston rally. Literally all she has was abortion. Abortion's teeth as an issue are pretty worn down these days. And Harris herself, given multiple opportunities to draw a distinction between Biden's administration and what would be hers, just... passed on the question. Don't you think the policies are the likelier problem? And the fact that Harris has never fought a truly contested election anywhere, that she lost ignominiously in 2020, that she was explicitly chosen as VP to check two DEI boxes (regardless of any qualifications she may have had - if I were she, I know I would've struggled with some serious imposter syndrome over that), that she frittered away almost four years as VP, and that she listened to advisors who told her to base her compressed campaign on "brat joy"?

rehajm said...

Burn…

Captain BillieBob said...

Democrats: America loves your policies keep pushing for more illegals, open boarders, higher taxes, Green New Deals, abortions for everyone everywhere, more law fare, ballot fraud, vote fraud, no internal combustion vehicles, no fossil fuels, embrace every progressive policy, more government regulation, more wars, more wokeness. Biden is sharp as a tack, Kam is the smartest women in the room. Go for it, you know you want to.

Aggie said...

The Progressive Democrats have spent the past 16 years cultivating weakness, a demanding vulnerability, and neediness, as virtues within their own base. Now there's a whole generation of them out there, with tackle-box faces and neon hair clutching at anything to pull themselves out of their despair at the Orange Man. Let them cry and be shrill - they'll either mature or go away somewhere else, but: They're irrelevant right now, the way they are. Oxygen is all they deserve, certainly not any deference or air time.

As for the Democrat Party leadership: Any signs of Resistance behaviors from Government workers should call for immediate removal of sinecure and the Bum's Rush. No more of that sh*t, forever. There's only 2 years and a very long list of Important Things to Get Done.

Drago said...

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy......

Rusty said...

And yet here we are, Drago. The TEA party in all it's myriad forms having elected Trump to clean house. I hope McConnel gets the piles or a staff infection.

Drago said...

Christopher Wray and Garland are probably bleach-bitting and shredding like madmen right about now.

Christopher B said...

Dixcus ... these aren't from kids. The posts are from Millennials who are (nominally) adults.

Drago said...

The relatively recent Supreme Court decision regarding the power of the President as head of the Executive Branch, thanks to the overreaching New Soviet Democraticals, should help that effort along nicely.

Radar O'Reilly in Ottumwa said...

The Dem "post-mortem" articles I've seen never mention the lawfare as one of the mistakes. Of course, they don't think it's a mistake.

Rusty said...

Readering. You fucked up. But that's baked in the leftist pie. You will always fuck up and you will always blame someone else.

Christopher B said...

Bernie got kicked out of that commune because he was lazy.

Readering said...

Don't know what happened to Biden but suspect it was a combo of him taking wrong message from 2022 midterm and Trump running again and polls quickly indicating he likely to win. I think Harris made the best of a bad job in wake of June debate debacle to secure nomination, but looking back too many voters disapproved. There should have been real Dem primary like 1968. Doubt it would have produced Harris (but who knows; how many predicted Humphrey when Johnson dropped out?). Whoever it was, as primary victor would have been in stronger position against Trump. Very frustrating I had to vote for Rep. Dean from Michigan to express my disgust in Calif primary.

Christopher B said...

Not having read "Emerging Majority" I don't know if he has been walking stuff back but he has been pretty emphatic in his substack that looking for The Great Replacement was a misreading of what he and John Judis said. He has been data driven and 100% correct about the shift of first white and then non-white working-class voters from the Democrats to the GOP. If the Democrats had listened to him after Biden was elected and actually governed the way Biden campaigned I don't think Trump would be President Elect right now.

Readering said...

Bernie Sanders just got reelected at 83. Crazy.

Readering said...

How's life in that alternate universe?

doctrev said...

And I thought I was harsh on her.

Oso Negro said...

Excellent summary

doctrev said...

Kamala Harris was barely able to masquerade as a sentient mammal with a captive media backing her. Being installed in the Presidency would have been a catastrophic mistake, even if the Biden family could possibly endure that kind of extra humiliation.

phantommut said...

Democrats start clawing each others' eyes out

They say that like it's a bad thing.

gilbar said...

should we get a pool going, on How Long before Igna starts posting again?
I'd say: within 3 days.. Her life is TOO Empty to stay away..

Lazarus said...

The promise of being a "transformational president" was stronger than the promise that Biden would be a "transitional president." In a way, that made sense. Democrats controlled Congress, they weren't going to be contented with half measures and a caretaker president.

Biden has wanted to be president for at least 60 years. He wasn't going to give that up easily. If the "red wave" had materialized in 2022 he might have been forced to step aside, but Democrats managed to hold on to the Senate and Republicans didn't make use of their gains in the House.

Lazarus said...

The base of the Democratic Party is now suburban white women and colleges. That means certain policy preferences and a certain style are "baked into" the party for the foreseeable future. Some "Bill Clinton" character is going to take the nomination at some point and bring the party back to some idea of a political center, but it won't be pretty. There will be plenty of internal fighting, and no guarantee that the new Clinton would be any better than the old one.

tommyesq said...

If you enjoy this kind of thing, check out the back and forth between the DNC Philly head and the Harris campaign:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/lack-of-respect-phillys-dem-chair-rips-harris-and-says-biden-probably-shouldve-been-nominee/

Trump Won 7 out of 7 swing states/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

Democrat elites are horrible horrible people. The lie and their lust for power is like and never-ending torture chamber. Democrats do not care about people. They are frauds.
Well - they do love to kill the unborn.

Trump Won 7 out of 7 swing states/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

LOL - Sanders has profited mightily off of the democxrat money machine. old commie hypocrite.

Trump Won 7 out of 7 swing states/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

Oh please. The left are corrupt liars. Better candidates just do a better job of camouflaging their true intentions. (Like shiny clean Obama)

Trump Won 7 out of 7 swing states/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

Get rid of MSNBC. The entire network should die in a fire.

AMDG said...

What dough? She raised $1,000,000,000 and spent $1,020,000,000.

Prof. M. Drout said...

I think the "plan," as much as there was one beyond "Trump Bad!" was to turn off all the covid restrictions the minute Biden was installed and let him take credit for the economy roaring back to normal. But what the Democrats discovered was that their fear-mongering propaganda had been way too effective on their base of middle-aged white women, particularly those who run the teachers' unions. The Democrats were boxed in and had to extend everything WAY too long, causing much more and more long-term economic damage than limiting restrictions to March-November of 2020 would have.
So instead of roaring back, the economy struggled and sputtered, and they had to keep writing checks to various constituent groups that produced the massive inflation we have experienced, since there was no productivity to match up with the flow of $$ from D.C. Biden tried to yell "Jobs, jobs, jobs!" as he had done his whole career, and there was a lot of fake economic "good news" as during the Obama administration, but household balance sheets have not recovered and most middle class people have lost something on the order of 30% of the purchasing power of their disposable income since 2020.
Given the economic disaster (and it could easily get worse, since Biden dumped the strategic petroleum reserve to lower gas prices and Yellen poured even more gasoline on the inflation fire to try to goose the economy before the election), the fact that the President has obvious dementia, and the VP is a moron with an day-drinking / drug-using problem, the Democrats had nothing to run on but crazy identity politics and calling their opponents fascists.
That it came as close to working as it did shows why we need massive oligopoly break-up in the tech, communications, publishing, and entertainment industry. Giant, undiversified networks are bad for the country in every possible way.

Trump Won 7 out of 7 swing states/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

Here is what is going on inside the authoritarian money-whore hivemind at D-MSNBC.

"WE didn't destroy Musk. WE must destroy Musk."

That's as deep as they get. Total psychopath.

gilbar said...

which raises the shaker question..
will there BE a democrat party in another generation?

Jersey Fled said...

Decision Desk gives them a 3% chance.

Jersey Fled said...

Just checked. My Lefty neighbor still has her Harris/Walz sign out.

Jersey Fled said...

Maybe if the woman is Margaret Thatcher. At least for awhile .

The Middle Coast said...

Dang — I’ve been seizing for years. Am I the baddy now?

Big Mike said...

Preliminary analyses suggest that Trump handily carried Gen-X and did much better than expected with Gen-Z. What the eff is wrong with you Millennials?

And to my fellow Boomers, the Democrats keep pushing for Single Payer Heathcare. Can you name me any country where the government pays for healthcare and access to healthcare is not rationed by age?

Dr Weevil said...

Rusty (7:47 am):
Is "staff infection" a typo for "staph" (staphylococcus) "infection"? Or were you slyly wishing he would have his "staff" infected?

Dr Weevil said...

First two comments in this sub-thread: "easier than mist", "the mist of time". I can't help thinking that "Mist" is German for "crap". Serendipity!

Dr Weevil said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dr Weevil said...

Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) Tweeted an excellent description of how Trump should handle "resistance" from bureaucrats: link.

Rocco said...

Lazarus said...
"Biden has wanted to be president for at least 60 years."

Until 2080?

I can see a lot Dems going along with this.

Lazarus said...

Axios is still pushing the Project 2025 hoax.

It seems like they had a story about it every week during the campaign. Maybe the person who wrote those stories is worried about getting fired.

Rusty said...

Dr. I knew it was wrong the second I hit send, LOL. But let's make lemonade out of it. I hope his whole staff gets a staph infection.

Iman said...

I see the “Licking His Wounds” phase has been completed.

Iman said...

Yes, that old coot is crazier than a shithouse rat.

PM said...

Sure hope the Redefinition Committee flies in Bill and Barack to help form that strategy. Those guys are awesome.

Trump Won 7 out of 7 swing states/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

yep. Go for it!

Night Owl said...

This is like the third time you've encouraged violence against the Pelosis. It's not funny. Others have suggested that you're here to stir up trouble.I'm starting to suspect that as well. Please go back to the rock you slithered out from under.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Mrs Bushman has already received an email from a group of local suburban Karens associated with one of her book clubs. They’re planning a Zoom meeting to discuss ways to “fight back” against Trump. I’m guessing it will be the first insurgency to be fueled mostly by wine and scented candles.

Paul Zrimsek said...

Well, the pouncers are criticizing the Democratic Party. That makes them honorary Republicans for as long as the criticism goes on.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Sure their policies are bad, but their campaign was worse. Most LIV's know jackshit about policy.

Trump's people ran a brilliant, reactive, targeted campaign. The exact opposite of the usual rote Romney-esque turgid Republican pile.

The Democrat's just vomited money and hysteria. The money was taken but the hysteria is laughably stale.

mccullough said...

Tell them to take migrants into their homes. That will show Trump

Derve Swanson said...

Lol, where's my commission for setting you old geezers up like that?
It's not easy being a straight man today! heh.

Breezy said...

Agree - When can we savor the Political Information Complex post mortem...!