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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy Stormy Daniels Poses a Problem for Democrats
April 19, 2018 at 11:20 am EDTBy Taegan Goddard
Ron Brownstein: Trump has forged a powerful connection with many working-class whites by expressing their anxiety about cultural, demographic, and economic change. If theres an opening for Democrats among these Americans, its through discrediting Trumps argument that hes championing working-class interests against powerful elites. For Democrats, the key is building a case that Trump, for all his posturing as a working-class hero, has increased economic insecurity for average families. They could do so by highlighting his attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, along with his support for a tax plan that mostly benefited the wealthy and corporations and will eventually increase pressure to cut Social Security and Medicare.
Those arguments, however, now rarely break through the tabloid maelstrom constantly engulfing Trump. Yet, as in 2016, personal doubts about the president may not prove disqualifying for enough voters to provide Democrats a winning majority.
The election results in November are much more likely to turn on which side wins the arguments over those policies than on whether slightly more or fewer Americans than today consider Trump unfit for the presidency. In other words: For a sunny outcome this fall, Democrats probably need more health care and taxesand less Comey and Stormy.
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https://politicalwire.com/2018/04/19/why-stormy-daniels-poses-a-problem-for-democrats/
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)Wwcd
(6,288 posts)..steadfast in holding Trump/Cohen et al's feet to the fire, so its not a detriment in any way.
Its up to us to continue following and pointing out that the stench permeating our nation is coming from the great big bag full of RW organized crime sh*t that Trump carries over his shoulder whereve he goes.
If Stormy & anybody else can help pinpoint the stench, they're doing the world a favor.
Her case is not a "sensationist distraction" but another layer of revealing who else contributed to Trump's giant bag of stinking sh*t.
I vote: Keep Going Forward, Stormy
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)and Don didnt say that, the article did. (I am clarifying for me not you)
Don does a great service for us with the news links and stories.
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)My post has nothing to do with Don. I read every one of his threads he brings to DU.
Its not him, Elliot.
My take on the thread message is that she is a distraction for the rest of Trump's deals.
And that is what I disagree on.
She's revealed another layer to the growing stench of everything Trump.
I despise Trump & his circle of criminals who brought him to us.
If Stormy & her attorney reveal another layer to the dirty den of crooks, then good for them.
Thanks
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)I also disagree she is NOT a distraction, anything but.
Someone a while ago might have questioned don for posting stuff as in all one sided or something and I picked a wrong time to point out he doesnt do that, should have not included that in your stuff, sorry
My NOPE meant NO she is not a problem for Democrats.
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)However we arrived at the conclusion, we seem to agree.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)talk in short hand, the other is I sometimes put in non sequitur's that throw off the whole post
What can I say, brain damage I guess
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)Imagine what greatness if we could meld our 2 brains into one!
Somewhere there's a gif for that ..
PJMcK
(22,037 posts)The Mueller investigation will grind forward. This opens the door to using Trump's malfeasance as an electoral weapon.
Meanwhile, the greater public is also titillated by the sex stories around Trump. Use those related financial misdeeds as an additional electoral weapon.
Every tool that's available should be used to defeat Republicans.
Yavin4
(35,441 posts)Even if they do win, there's no real mandate for change. They have to lay out a vision for America beyond Trump.
...unfortunately I don't see much of that. And yes, I know there is a Democratic party platform and I can go on line and read it and yes all of that. But that is not going to reach most people. I had issues with Obama but his approach and his plan and his vision was simple and direct and manageable and rooted in positivity and not in "Those guys will really suck!! Vote for us instead."
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)They have NEVER said what you posted.
"Those guys will really suck!! Vote for us instead."
Wtf!
Stop bashing the Democrats by a flat out lie like your quote.
You post a blanket statement in quotes, and yet have stated you have no intention of going online to know the Dem platform.
I know of NO DEM who has EVER said nor held that:
"Those guys will really suck!! Vote for us instead."
Please post the source of that quote.
Otherwise stop intentionally demeaning Democrats.
canetoad
(17,168 posts)snip....rooted in positivity and not in "Those guys will really suck!! Vote for us instead."
Now don't you think an apology to vi5 is in order?
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)Apologize for what?
Yavin4
(35,441 posts)Anyone who does that is probably going to vote. What the Dems need to win is NEW voters and higher turnout among those that don't vote nor read platforms. Dems have already won Rachel Maddow viewers. They need to win Real Housewives of Atlanta viewer, American Idol viewers, etc.
If the people cannot rattle off key points of the Democratic party's vision for America off the top of their heads, then that is troubling.
Here's a sample of what they all should be saying:
We need a higher min. wage.
We need an improved educational system to compete in the new global economy.
We need common-sense gun regulations.
We need better criminal justice.
We need to protect the environment and deal with climate change
We need to be mindful of the international drift away from democratic government to autocratic rule.
Rinse and repeat.
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)Yes the media will be a big problem this election as well as last.
Dems know that the only way to counter that is to do exactly what they are doing.
That has now proven successful in local & State seats they have now won.
Knowing that MSM will protect Repubs at the expense of the country, I understand what's being repeated here as a problem, but I ask what then is the solution to getting the Dem message out there when Media silences them?
They do exactly what they are successfully doing.
Media isn't going to suddenly change there $$$$ way of doing business to accomodate the Dems, who as soon as they get in power will slap regulations on Fairness in Reporting.
So we take ourselves directly to the voters.
And they have done just that.
What other way is there?
It's obviously not a direct quote and if you actually read that and thought that's what was meant then there's absolutely nothing we would be able to actually have a conversation or discussion on.
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)Last edited Thu Apr 19, 2018, 02:16 PM - Edit history (1)
Anyone listening knows what the Dems are advocating for 2018/20.
Enough of the anti-Dem bs.
Every Dem candidate, from local to Federal level has been telling their constituents.
You'll have to listen for yourself in many cases because anyone expecting to hear the Dem message on MSM will never hear it.
MSM will be no different in the coming elections then back in 2015/16.
Anyone who claims Dems have not been speaking out, hasn't wanted to hear it.
Dems haven't become a threat to Republican seats because the've been silent.
ffs
Whiskeytide
(4,461 posts)... the OPs article is pointing out when you said anyone who is listening.... Unfortunately a lot of people are NOT listening. What little they do hear is now tabloid scandal about adult models and actresses sleeping with Trump and getting paid off.
That IS a problem. Trump was an asshole in 2016 and he still won. A media focus that essentially says hes really, really an asshole isnt likely to get us very far. Voters need to understand why and how democrats can govern better than republicans. Its that simple.
Note that it is a media issue, IMO. Democrats do have a strong policy position for Americans. But its being drowned out by porn.
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)And it is working quite well.
They have taken their campaigns directly to the voters because they cannot control (yet) how MSM does business.
MSM's main purpose since Trump entered the political stage has been to promote him. Distractions have come whenever necessary to do that.
Distraction is what MSM is there for.
Stormy, Kim, or whatever..
Nothing has changed & Dems will hopefully emerge as a majority so MEDIA coups like this one become a learned lesson from the past.
It is only with the unified Dem power as a majority, that such a shift will occur.
Republicans surely won't change a thing.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)problems fore Dems when it's totally t-rump an GOP's problem. It ain't gonna work. I don't see Dems even getting close to this bullshit and yeah, just because the corporate media does not cover what Dems are doing and saying about issues that are important to everyday Americans, the everyday Americans know who's trying to keep them safe in all areas of life, i.e. economy, healthcare, civil rights, et al.
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)"just because the corporate media does not cover what Dems are doing and saying about issues that are important to everyday Americans, the everyday Americans know who's trying to keep them safe in all areas of life, i.e. economy, healthcare, civil rights, et al."
Our Blue Wave is happening with or without MSM.
Anyone who says Dems aren't doing anything, is not paying any attention, or would prefer they were'nt succeeding at all.
Same shit different election...
Thanks for your post.
zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)Both in Alabama, and Pennsylvania, the candidates basically ran on "local" issues. In every race, it shouldn't be so much about Trump and the GOP leadership. Those are the reasons people will consider a democrat in the first place. No need to push that issue. The issue is what they will do. And these candidate don't really need the national media. They need the "local" media. And that's the local radio, the local newspaper, and the local TV. Really, for us democrats, that also means letters to the editor, comments on local "social media" and just generally talking up (in a very positive way) what the candidates will do on local issues.
Over and over in general elections around here, the GOP gets real nervous when some local initiative is on the ballot. Because invariably it is some popular issue that will bring more voters to the polls, and that always means more democrats that republicans. There are more of "us" than "them", and more folks at the polls is always good for us. About the only exception is some big honkin' tax cut initiative.
global1
(25,253 posts)Trump is not on the ballot in 2018. We can't make this election about Trump. Trump is just the useful idiot for the Repugs and he runs the distractions that let them get away with all their underhanded schemes. We need to make this election about the Repugs and how they have hurt this country since Obama left office.
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)Now if anyone expects to hear the truth of the strong & successsfull subjects the Dems are out campaigning on, it'll never be supported by MSM nor the likes of Our Revolution.
Dems are winning Repub seats by their message. Not by degrading anyone but the Republicans who brought this down on America.
Some only hear what they want to hear, apparently.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Unfortunately, the popular media have their attention riveted to the ongoing soap opera that is the Trump presidency. The millionaires who control our political discourse in the media have (surprise!) no problem at all with the latest round of ruinous tax cuts, because it's more money in their overstuffed pockets. Does Brownstein have a genius suggestion for getting the popular media to make an honest analysis of the policy effects of tax reform? Democrats are hammering that pretty good, but they're not getting any traction with the talking chuckleheads.
Same thing goes for the relentless sabotage of our health care system by Republicans. All the millionaires have pretty good coverage, and their equally rich pals aren't complaining, either. Well, with the notable exception of Jimmy Kimmel. But one talk show host can easily be ignored. Meanwhile thousands, even millions, of Americans are being forced back to the bad old days of coverage denials for pre-existing conditions or no-coverage insurance. Oddly enough, those poor people are suffering in isolation, estranged from one another, with no voice or platform to amalgamate their complaints and focus public attention; the media seem far too fixated on the latest circus act. What is Brownstein's proposal to do something about that? Why don't his good friends in the media report on that instead of Stormy Daniels, and what infernal alchemy is Brownstein practicing that this failure by the media becomes the property of Democrats?
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)MSM is operating no differently now than in 2016
Their purpose is still to silence competition & promote Republicans & Trump.
"MONEY & MEDIA"
Who's name is promoted & who's is silenced?
That's who is cashing in on the destruction of our society.
"MONEY & MEDIA"
The regular faces MSM promotes at this point is basically who we must vote against.
2015/16 redux, because it worked so well then.
brooklynite
(94,597 posts)ismnotwasm
(41,989 posts)VOX
(22,976 posts)by expressing their anxiety about cultural, demographic, and economic change...
Translation: Hes as racist as all hell.
GeorgeGist
(25,321 posts)Abu Pepe
(637 posts)The self doubt and overworrying that pretty much is the reason I don't go to local or state Democratic meetings. In the case of the former I get my list of registered voters with hispanic surnames and start knocking and calling. I leave it to others to talk themselves out of good ideas, form committees, call points of order and break down into factions.
Demsrule86
(68,586 posts)Obama and the ACA...so constant attacks on Trump and the ACA should win it for us...since special election victories are because of the ACA...which makes me smile.
leftstreet
(36,108 posts)Wwcd
(6,288 posts)Wwcd
(6,288 posts)His bio also lists his Sexual Orientation!
Wtf..why?
Ron Brownstein
Ron BrownsteinAKA Ronald Brownstein
Born: 6-Apr-1958
Birthplace: New York City
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
**Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Columnist
Does everyone's bio point out their sexual orientation?
pnwmom
(108,980 posts)pnwmom
(108,980 posts)Wwcd
(6,288 posts)Oh ya, & He's straight.
pnwmom
(108,980 posts)Wwcd
(6,288 posts)Ron, you can't stop the Blue Wave no matter how straight you are.
It almost leans toward cultish. Tribal. A select class.
Ya know?
Kinda creepy
no_hypocrisy
(46,122 posts)stopbush
(24,396 posts)Rs can focus 100% on bullshit and fake issues, but Ds need to actually talk about the issues. Right.
You mean the way Hillary talked about the issues, which she did?
Which side wins and why?