Writes Jeet Heer in The Nation. Subheadline: "Trump won because the opposition party is committed to ancien régime restoration in a country that desperately wants change."
The key to understanding the Trump era is that the real divide in America is not between left and right but between pro-system and anti-system politics. Pro-system politics is the bipartisan consensus of establishment Democrats and Republicans: It’s the politics of NATO and other military alliances, of trade agreements, and of deference to economists (as when they say that price gouging isn’t the cause of inflation). Trump stands for no fixed ideology but rather a general thumbing of the nose at this consensus....
Democrats... need... to embrace radical policies to change that status quo. This is the only path for the party to rebuild itself and for Trumpism....
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Wow, The Nation is sort of right. That doesn't happen very often. I take it as a huge step that they recognize it isn't left vs. right, it's establishment vs. everybody else. And the Dems are the establishment.
Wrong. The Dems wanted to remake America in their woke image and that was rejected.
"Trump stands for no fixed ideology but rather a general thumbing of the nose at this consensus."
You don't hate these people enough.
The Lib consensus is always: Agree with us or you are a Nazi. See, e.g., Green New Deal and all that trans business. That was thoroughly repudiated.
Trump is transactional. People say that like it's a bad thing, well, ideologues do, anyway. We need to get along peacefully with socialist countries who have huge populations, and militaries that we would rather not test with the lives of our own boys. The only way to do this is with a transactional foreign policy. Otherwise the imperative is for conquest, and we might not like how that turns out. The days that it is guaranteed we win are over, no matter what that dotard napping in the White House right now thinks.
That’s stupid.
The now common argument that Trump has no policies and that Trump supporters are Deplorables motivated solely by the desire to thumb their noses at authority. Of course, Trump ran on very well defined policies… securing the southern border, ending useless wars, civilian control of the intel agencies, less regulation and lower taxes. I’m an old 1960s anti-war veteran whose formative experience was learning that the CIA tricked the American public into supporting the Vietnam War. Why don’t leftists still oppose CIA incited wars without public or congressional consent? They forgot, as Althouse pointed out, that Masters of War was once a leftist argument.
I couldn't read more than a few paragraphs of this guy's dreck.
I woke up this morning thinking I was doing a pretty good job of it. Now before dinner time I’ve learned I was insufficient…
Trump troubles have given way to Democratic doubts.
I like the part where the people with firm beliefs and a coherent ideology created the Taliban because we didn't like that there was a socialist coup in Afghanistan in 1979. That would be Jimmy Carter, and if you think that women here have it bad because they might have to drive a few hours to get an abortion, imagine living under the US installed Taliban. But hey! It is a coherent ideology! Just a stupid one.
So the takeaway from this election is that Democrats should go even further left? 😂🤦🏻♂️ Kamala’s attempts to veer left in her 2020 campaign (well, really just 2019, when her campaign went down in flames) are why she seemed to lack authenticity when explaining her views in 2024.
That diagnosis isn't completely off base but the solution is completely wrong. Radical policies is what put them in this position in the first place.
The Democrazis retreat as America renews its conservative consensus.
Democrazies.
The Nation is a Marxist publication. When they call for "radical change" they mean full on communism. I agree that Trump is not an idealogue, though I think that is a positive thing. But he ran on definite policies, which Kamala was unable to run against because they are popular.
Isn't it amazing that price gouging didn't occur under Donald Trump, but only under Biden. I guess all the grocery stores woke up one morning in 2021 and decided to start charging more.
If only one grocery store had the courage to hold the line on prices, they would have been overwhelmed with customers. But we all know that there is absolutely no competition in any markets, just Monopoly guys with monocles in top hats and tuxedos fixing prices.
In the case of the Democratic Party, they might discover Heer's cure is worse than the disease. In the case of unlimited free trade and Deep State wars, Heer's revolt against the Dem Elites might be onto something. But given much of what else the Progressive Left has imposed on the Democratic Party--open borders, defund police, identity politics (DEI and reparations) and the Green New Deal (requiring all automobiles and trucks to be all electric), a radical revolt would only make national electoral politics more difficult
The billion dollars made no difference. Maybe you should dump the donors and get more freedom to set the agenda? Or is running for president as a Democrat too lucrative of a grift?
Yes, although I would observer that she did very little in terms of explaining her views.
Let me guess- the policies we need to enact based on this election just happen to be the same ones this author advocated before the election. What a coincidence.
Good comment. I've been harping on this since 2016. The government is stuck in a loop of the aftermath of WWII and refuses to move out of it. Trump threatened to move them into the 21st century.
From what I've seen so far, the Dems still largely don't get it. It's not really the ideology or the policy positions, its how the candidates connect with the populace. Trump is engaging, often funny in a non-forced way, and doesn't come off scripted. Those are things that Hillary and Harris were really bad at. Everything seems forced and they come off fake and like they'd rather be anywhere else. Obama was pretty good at it. Biden has his moments.
Pro-system politics is the bipartisan consensus of establishment Democrats and Republicans: It’s the politics of NATO and other military alliances, of trade agreements, and of deference to economists (as when they say that price gouging isn’t the cause of inflation). Trump stands for no fixed ideology but rather a general thumbing of the nose at this consensus...
What?!
Trump is pro-NATO - especially pro-NATO members' fulfilling their obligations. He is pro-trade agreements - just not necessarily the ones the so-called "pro-system" people are. He is absolutely on the same page as economists about the relationship between "price gouging" and inflation (none, that is).
Trump's ideology is clear, just not to this person, apparently: "America first" (no, not in the Stormfront sense, sheesh) is a perfectly understandable ideology. In fact it's an eminently reasonable one in that it doesn't wed itself to any one set of military or trade alliances, or to any single category of experts, but instead evolves as the needs of the nation evolve.
How bad do your policies have to be to drive people to vote for literally Hitler? The radical policies drove AWAY the moderates. Doubling down on those kinds of policies will make it worse. I really thought the left would do a little navel gazing and look at why people walked away from the left, but I guess they just can't do that. I had hoped Trump would have spanked them harder in the election, but since it was relatively close, the Left will not learn any lessons.
They have to pretend that he's not because if they acknowledged his actual policies, they might have to acknowledge that he's a response to their failures.
Jeet Heer, comic book guy? It's a pity that we probably can't deport him back to Canada, or all the way to India.
The problem for the Democrats was that their party elite wasn't that far away from the Nation gang, and they'd gone pretty far in implementing their agenda. Their policies had failed, and the country wasn't in the mood for going any further.
The hard or "real" left howls about "neoliberalism," but the elites -- and the base -- of the Democratic party are committed to DEI, LGBTQ, and green this and that, but unwilling to actually kill the capitalist goose that lays the golden eggs.
I guess this writer could be more wrong than he is, but not by much. This and the Bret Stephens article and the aggregate from the MoDo post just shows that libtards have a loooooong way back to meet the normies halfway.
By the way, is it just me or is ther an absence of black-pillers in the comments today?
Jeet Heer, the Yankees Hall of Fame shortstop?
Oh no, this Jeet Heer is Canadian.
To a large extent, the Democratic party was done in by its absolute hatred of Donald Trump - a hatred that led them to oppose anything and everything he did or proposed, even (or especially) those notions actually favored by a majority of Americans. There has never been a groundswell of support for open borders, or "trans rights," or arming Iran and ruining Middle East peace initiatives. Yet many Democrats went all-in on these fatuous notions because they figured all right-thinking people must oppose Trump and EVERYTHING he stands for. "If Trump's for it, I'm against it" is hardly a strategy for success because it required putting together a winning coalition that encompasses less than half the electorate.
Democrats... need... to embrace radical policies to change that status quo. This is the only path for the party to rebuild itself and for Trumpism
Is there any defeat in the history of the Left where their knee-jerk response isn't Our problem was that we didn't follow the party plan with sufficient purity. We must re-double our efforts to implement the goals of the Five Year Plan as outline in the Yadda-Yadda-Yadda document of the Full Party Plenum.
No, the truth is that the American electorate is historically a center-right mass, and they most certainly do not want all power to the Workers' Soviets, no matter what The Nation might think.
deference to economists (as when they say that price gouging isn’t the cause of inflation)
Would that be deference to ass-clowns like Krugman? My take on this election is that most Americans do not wish to be led around with a nose ring by elitist self-anointed moral superiors and "experts". Nor do they wish to be finger-wagged and neck-snapped by crone scolds and femme leftie male beta cucks.
- Krumhorn
The have the correct diagnosis, but the wrong prescription.
Democrats... need... to embrace radical policies to change that status quo.
Yeah this seems like bad advice. Various transgender issues are radical policies that change the status quo, and I would bet that if there is one single issue that convinced moderates or center-left folks to abandon the Democrats more than anything else it was transgender stuff, especially anything related to transitioning children.
Since Barack Obama is responsible for this they CANNOT hold him responsible or they are racists.
They built this bed and now must lie in it.
I literally hope he becomes a facist dictator and disappears every one of these people and is the threat to Democracy that they portrayed him.
The government CANNOT exist without the arms sales that continuous wars cause. So we will continue to have them until we GET RID of this government and find new guards for the defense of our liberties just like our forefathers did. A violent, shooting war will be required.
And true to form it looks like they're on the hunt for a few scapegoats. I'm thinking it will probably be Biden, Pelosi, Bernie, Warren and maybe Hillary.
Who is calling Obama "ancien"---he's only in his early 60s after all. LOL. We saw the third term of Obama playing puppet master from his Washington D.C. mansion. Fool me once it's Obama's fault. Letting Obama fool me twice with four years of Kamala--that would be my fault--and it just didn't happen.
Put ‘em against a wall, Jeet!
Its not "left" vs "right". Its the fact the democrats have rigged their own nominating processes for 2 elections in a row which short circuited the process by which the democratical party would have adjusted its outlook and policies to better address the concerns of the populace they seek to govern.
Which groups were the driving force behind Bernie Sanders? Working class voters. Latino voters. Some would term this the appeal of a left populist movement which was driven by the globalist/elitist agenda for the last 50 years which harmed those groups and more.
And what groups has Trump fused together into an America First populist party? Working class voters, Latino voters, younger black males, younger voters, etc.
Gee, who could have seen that coming.
Dems are to blame, but let's not agree in any way that this was a "catastrophe." First, the country has already been governed by Trump, and generally things went very well, save for a few super-elite political careers that we the general public would be far better off not caring about so much. Second, the country has been governed by a number of awful Presidents - Wilson, Carter, Obama (IMHO), etc., and we remain the USA. Third, we did just dodge a bullet on a number of issues that ordinary dems, if totally being honest with themselves, probably strongly disagreed with - e.g., the notion of trading off the right to abortion with acceptance of mass unlimited and unvetted illegal immigration or letting men compete with women in sports (which paradoxically fees both very important to me, as a father of a 20-something daughter who competed in a sport that had an unusually high number of trans athletes and also super-trivial, given the paucity of meaningful post-college jobs in womens' sports and the overall meaninglessness of which color jersey wins which flamboyant trophy). For the vast majority of us, this election will affect the borders of our finances and really not much more, other than our finely crafted sensibilities.
Bernie bros you're wanted on stage. LOL
Honestly, is there anything faker than the Dissident Left in this country? Heer will jabber and chatter about "Tired old policies" and "The need for radical change" and will support the Biden/Kamala/Schumer Establishment every election.
Yeah, we need to take on corporate America and big business. Unless they support our candidate and oppose those Goddamn Republicans. LOL.
Democrats... need... to embrace radical policies to change that status quo.
It's just like socialism - if only they had tried it - er, yelled - hard enough!
Is Jeet Heer pronounced the way it looks? If so, do people ever mishear it as a rapidly-spoken colloquial "Did you eat here?"
Lets look at the record of the anti-Establishment Left:
2016 - Supported Bernie when he took a dive against Hillary and refused to hit her hard on any issue. Then fell in line to support Hillary.
2020 - Refused to get upset at the shortened and rigged primaries that nominated Biden. Then fell in line to support Genocide Joe because the only thing that mattered was beating trump.
2024 - Didn't utter a peep when D's cancelled the primaries to coronate Joe Biden. Then, equally silent when the crown was passed to Kamala. Lined up behind her, because the only thing that mattered was beating those Goddamn Republicans.
"Jeet yet?" "No, jew?"
How much cash do you think remains in Kamala's war chest, and where does it end up? Running a failed Presidential campaign can be very lucrative. Based on what I can find, Hillary pocketed at least $1.3 million from her campaign's fundraising (and directly raised $770 million), and she actually ran a full-length campaign. Kamala inherited $95 million from Biden and allegedly raised an additional $997 million, and she only spent over the course of a mere three months (she became the nominee on or about August 1st) as compared with Hillary's 7 months of formally running.
Cha-Ching!!
College students are prone to similar pontificating first exposed to political science, sociology, or the poorly named "critical theory." Big concepts in small minds leads to endless cliches and crude generalizations.
Drago: it's three primary seasons. The DNC was operated as a Clinton campaign subsidiary in 2016.
Trump ran on very well defined policies… securing the southern border, ending useless wars, civilian control of the intel agencies, less regulation and lower taxes.
Well defined policies include a plan for implementation, that is where Trump is woefully lacking. Like he said about health care, he has a concept of a plan.
She was plenty "antisystem" during St. George mostly peaceful protests.
and of deference to economists (as when they say that price gouging isn’t the cause of inflation)
Gotta go with the economists on that one. Not surprised that he's writing in The Nation.
"Well defined policies include a plan for implementation, that is where Trump is woefully lacking."
Haw-haw! The simpleton thinks he knows an implementation plan from a hole in the ground.
LOL
Field Marshall Freder, could you provide a link to the detailed plan of action put out by the biden team in 2020 that lays out the precise plan for turning our border into a wide open crossing without vetting? Be sure to include the details for the secret plane rides for unvetted illegals coming from outside US borders into the interior of our nation with no warning to local politicians/authorities.
When you've done that, provide a detailed plan of action put out by the kamala-la-la-la-la for implementation of her Unrealized Capital Gains tax plan.
Thanks in advance for being an utter dolt.
Hey, I'm a Sox fan, and even I think that's a cheap shot at Derek.
Rory is correct of course.
I guess the Dems' platform of "We hate America" wasn't a winning one.
Wait, I'm confused. Harris was the one who kept accusing companies of price gouging, but Trump is the one who won't defer to economists who say the problem isn't caused by price gouging?
Sounds like a call to violence.
Stupid policies will bring on greatness. The past failure rate (100%) is because the attempts were not stupid enough and were not implemented stupidly enough. Time to DOUBLE DOWN!
Of course, never having run businesses, they don’t understand the concept of profit margins, which are razor thin in the grocery business. If they want to look at price gouging, they should look at tech monopolies Ike Apple and Microsoft.
Can you imagine how much the Democrats would be in panic mode if they had gotten two of the big things on their wish list: Getting congress to eliminate the filibuster and expanding the Supreme Court by 6 additional justices. And since there would be no filibuster, Trump's nominations for Supreme Court justices would be easily approved by the Republican controlled Senate.
"The key to understanding the Trump era is that the real divide in America is not between left and right but between pro-system and anti-system politics."
Pure deflection. The strategies the (D) Party used are left wing to the core: disruption, destabilization, tribalism, and class warfare.
I think the political divide was a basic rural vs urban mindset. In rural communities, you helped your neighbor because the government was too far away or did not have the resources to help. In urban areas, you call 911 or some agency and government takes care.
With dem policies, more and more people are living in a ‘rural’ environment. Local resources are overwhelmed by illegal immigrants. Crime is out of control and if 911 is called, the police are late or don’t show up.
As this happens, more and more people and more and more urban constituents are Red Pilled.
On top of this, dem policies became more and more bizarre. Men can give birth, men are women; what is a woman?
It reached a tipping point. Will dems come around? Not anytime soon. They also think they are smarter than anyone else and that if you don’t think like them, you are a Nazi.
That’s not a mindset that easily changes.
I think the Dems divide everyone in this country into one of two groups - oppressors and transgressors. And you become a good person by saying someone else is a bad person. Easy-peasy, huh? This is the Turtle Island outlook; it's binary. You are either an oppressor or you are a transgressor showing up the oppressors. If you are white, you have no choice, you are an oppressor; if non-white, you have choice but you must exercise that choice by joining the transgressors or else you are really evil because you chose to side with the oppressors and you knew better.
And this outlook is one of the things this election rejected. Naturally, Americans didn't work out the theory in tortured langiage and syntax and then explain its faulty philosophical underpinnings in small-print academic journals whose conclusions were then transmitted to the elite by the loftiest of liberal journals in the most mimbling language possible. No. Trump drove up to a rally in garbage truck and went on stage dressed as a garbageman and had himself photographed tossing out the garbage. And people then voted for him. It's so easy to understand that the elite find it incomprehensible. The Dem party may disappear because its leaders honestly can't understand it. No loss.
Jeet Heer: Hold the democratic elite responsible!
Wait. No, not me! I meant the other democratic elites!
Heh
I have said it before, and I will say it again: the median voter theorem is dead. Appealing to the mythical “center” of US politics is a highly inefficient route towards national electoral victory in the 21st century, something which the Republican party seems to have realized under Trump. If they want to reverse their fortunes, Democrats should spend less time trying to appeal to Republicans and more time trying to appeal to the people who actually vote for them — including both registered Democrats and many independents. I don’t know how many failures it will take for them to learn this lesson. There is no such yhing as a nevertrump voting bloc and there never was.
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