Is the DNC Rudderless, OR….

[Cosmic Kitten]

are they are steering the party onto the rocks?

After historically low voter turnout and huge
LOSSES for the Democratic Party, the DNC looks
incompetent or complicit in the Democratic decline.

There has been a steady erosion of Democratic
representation in congress and in governorships.

From the Democratic "Victory" Task Force Report:

We have suffered devastating losses at all levels
of government since 2008 including:
- 69 House Seats
- 13 Senate Seats
- 910 State Legislative Seats
- 30 State Legislative Chambers
- 11 Governorships

Meanwhile, in Harry Reid's home state…

Nevada was the only state last year where
Republicans succeeded in picking up the "trifecta,"
winning new majorities in both houses
of the legislature and retaining control of the governorship.

Thats some mighty fine "leadership" there
Congratulations to the DNC

[Autumn]

1. They are steering the party right where THEY want it to go.

They have firm control of the tiller.

[Cosmic Kitten]

2. Soooo...complicit?

[Warpy]

52. And they'll continue to do so while the cash flow is positive

We the people have become largely irrelevant. We no longer control enough of the country's wealth to control its politics.

That's the sad fact, right there.

Until the next huge crash, there is no hope things will change. The power brokers are deeply entrenched and have nearly unlimited resources to keep them where they are.

We're getting closer, bankers are getting very nervous and starting to try to bully legislation through that will protect them when it comes. It won't.

Oh, I'll vote Democratic unless they run an antichoice drone. Those other people are stark, staring crazy social reactionaries and no thanks.

However, I harbor no illusions about economic justice until after the next crash and only if that crash wipes out a lot of very big fortunes out there.

[fredamae]

3. Well, I can only assume

based upon their 9 page "autopsy report" (even the gops post election autopsy was 100 pages-I think I heard on TRMS) They still aren't interested in listening to their base..and apparently want to focus upon only "southern dems"....
If the "dem leadership" doesn't understand this---and also understand they're Quickly running out of time (or have Already run the clock out) to Successfully/Effectively interest the base (aka: Democratic Wing) in Every state-to turn out for them in the upcoming elections...including 2020?
Then they've already lost these campaigns for 2016/18/20 imo.

I don't know--maybe I'm the fkg gullible one because I keep thinking they'll "snap out of it" but they aren't and the voices of discontented, pissed off Democrats growing ever Louder and more shrill won't make one iota of difference to them.

[Cosmic Kitten]

6. They think/know the "left" has nowhere to turn

The DNC will never listen to or work for the Democratic Wing.
Empty promises is all we'll ever get

We need to change that.

[fredamae]

11. Absolutely agree.

Unless and until the Dem Wing stops going along with the status quo and rejects it en masse' I don't how to make effective change.....
Any ideas? I've reached out to "them" so many times...including this AM...with the "2020 Project"....and after a moment of listening and with almost a "yawn" I was "excused" from the conversation...

I don't have any other ideas aside from emails, letters and phone calls.....but when those a "trashed, ignored and unread" what next?

[Cosmic Kitten]

15. "what next"...Good question!

Maybe the Dem Wing is finished?
The DNC and 3rd-Way may have won?

Traditional methods don't seem to be effective
in making the necessary changes.

Even the DU members seem indifferent to the
complete and utter lack of effective Party leadership.

Pelosi and Reid are still in "leadership" positions
despite presiding over stunning losses?
Little Deb Wasserman is a complete DISGRACE.
She was just caught trying to trade policy for and favors!

Why are they still "leading"???

[fredamae]

19. Good Question

And I also wonder Who they're leading....
It's no secret...the Dem base is disgusted, demoralized, disappointed - We know where they're taking the party. So Who do they actually represent/lead?

Demoralized and disgusted moderate GOP? Is that why they now focus on the recovering So. Dems?

[Cosmic Kitten]

23. Cleary they are not "leading"

They are OBSTRUCTING.

Pelosi, Reid DWS are placeholders to PREVENT
the Dem Wing from making any changes.

[fredamae]

26. Thats true...regardless of Intent

your statement definitely defines the consequence(s). And I cannot disagree.
Schumer, Wasserman-Schultz, Isreal, et al...are still there post humiliating (or desired) losses. They just moved the chairs on the deck.
And WTH were they Thinking bringing "Oil loving" Tester in....when the People made a Decidedly Left Turn in 2012/2014.

[Cosmic Kitten]

30. Most of those people represent assurances to the 3rd-Way

The Democratic party is firmly in the hands
of the 3rd-Way and TBTF interests.

The Dem-Wing has virtually ZERO prominence
in positions of leadership, or in committees.

[aspirant]

4. The final question,

when will the Third Wayers finally abandon ship and return to the repub party with congratulations of a job well done?

[n2doc]

5. Once the repubs control all three branches

They they will abandon ship, saying 'the party left us'

[Cosmic Kitten]

8. NEVER...

The illusion of "democracy" must be maintained
to keep the peasants busy arguing over crumbs.

The Democratic Wing will continue to be marginalized
until they are to demoralized to give a damn.

The fact that DU'ers are more interested in what
Bill O'Reilly, or some dumb ass right-winger says
rather than WHAT their party is ACTUALLY DOING,
or NOT DOING explains why right-wingers are winning.

[jeff47]

13. When they lose primaries to liberals.

It will give them a last "Oh look at me and how bipartisan I am!".

[TBF]

34. After they've taken all the $$$ -

they're working hard to close the postal service and privatize public education and social security. Game over when it's done. In so many ways.

[uponit7771]

7. Not rudderless, they just don't try to appeal to people of color during non presidential elections

I don't know who in the hell thought they could distance themselves from the first black president and then ask for other people of color to come out and vote for them.

That's stupid...

The off year elections aren't just about what rural America wants but that's all we seem to get in speeches etc

[Cosmic Kitten]

10. They aren't appealing to the "Democratic base"!

The outreach to traditional Democratic voters is abysmal!

The DNC has abandoned the base.

[Cleita]

9. Howard Dean and his 50 state strategy got results but the PTBs in

the Party threw him under the bus so here we are.

[Cosmic Kitten]

12. Seriously, WTF? Fire a proven winner...

and replace him with a bona fide loser

It looks very much like the DNC WANTED to LOSE?!?

After a historic win for Obama, the DNC has
slowly demotivated, and depressed the base
to the point where the party is nearly out
of power completely.

And to add insult to injury...
the 3rd-Wayers blame the "left"!

[LittleBlue]

31. Yep. We were successful

Too successful

[Cosmic Kitten]

38. Fear of success?

Maybe the DNC is AFRAID that if the Dem Wing
keeps winning they will lose control over us?

[jeff47]

14. They have a model that worked somewhat in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

and do not want to change models to match how the world has changed since then.

Their model is predicated on the left-right distribution of voters being an upside-down V. Get to the middle and you get more votes, and the people on the left have nowhere else to go anyway.

Problem is that is no longer the case. It's an upside-down W now. There's a left peak and a right peak with a hole in the middle. They're still aiming for the middle. And many on the left is so tired of this bullshit that they stay home.

The party will keep trying it until enough of the old guard retire or die. And they'll keep blaming the failures of this strategy on voters with the implicit assumption that they are entitled to the vote of everyone to the left of the Republicans.

[Cosmic Kitten]

17. There's truth to that.

Yet even that analysis is over thinking REALITY.

The left-right divide is softening with the economic meltdown.
The media gins up a fake fight between left-right to
prevent the attention being focused on UP-DOWN.
POPULISM is the WINNING strategy.

The real democratic strategy NEEDS to be
focusing on the average American.
The working class, and middle class is
the Democratic base.

"FDR values" is the winning strategy.

[jeff47]

22. It's not softening.

Republicans are pushing even harder to accomplish what they can before the house of cards collapses. Their voters are happily coming along with them.

The only way it would soften is if Democrats actually turned to populism. They'd pick up a lot of "values" voters who might notice the tiny paychecks and that voting based entirely on hatred isn't helping them.

That change is not going to happen for quite a while, because that requires abandoning our Third Way-style strategy. Which won't happen as long as the old guard is still running the party.

[Cosmic Kitten]

25. Agreed. By softening, I'm suggesting...

it's "softening" on MAIN ST, not on Wall St or Dee Cee.

The "values" voters DO notice the tiny paychecks
and that voting based entirely on hatred isn't helping them!

As much as the right-wingers I know hate Obama, they are open
to a Populist message... and "like" what Elizabeth Warren is DOING!
Bernie Sanders is getting traction too.
He just needs more viability.

[jeff47]

32. And that's not gonna happen until the people running the party change.

Right now, Warren is something they only wish to contain. Not the direction they are willing to let the party go. That will eventually change, but not for many years (and many Republican victories).

[Cosmic Kitten]

39. No. The people running the party NEEDS to CHANGE, NOW.

Last edited Tue Feb 24, 2015, 03:24 PM - Edit history (1)

It's go time.
There is an election in 2016!

Pressure needs to be exerted on
"the people running the party".

Get rid of Debbie Wasserman-schultz NOW

Debbie Wasserman Schultz planned to accuse WH
of being sexist, anti-semitic if she lost her DNC job.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/democrats-debbie-wasserman-schultz-111077.html

She is a self-serving disgrace to the Democratic Party

[Agschmid]

45. Do you know much about your source there?

At least link to politico next time...

[Cosmic Kitten]

47. Meh, folks will always question the source.

Even Politico is suspect.
Politico has a gentle right-lean bias.

The reality is DWS is unscrupulous and
her "leadership" is hurting the Democratic party.

[jeff47]

48. It's not going to happen now.

The party leadership is full of Third way-style politicians. They will remain in the leadership until enough disasters befall them that they are forced to retire. Because they can destroy anyone trying to displace them.

It's going to take a string of losses before they're forced to quit.

[Cosmic Kitten]

50. Hmmm? Could be right about that

Apocalypse wow?

The Democratic Party will need to be demolished
from the inside before any changes can be made?
Destroy the village to save it?

BTW "they" don't quit...
they get cushy jobs through the revolving door.

[guillaumeb]

33. "FDR values" is the winning strategy. is right in the money

the problem is talking over a corporate media that ignores all viewpoints that deviate from the supply side economic fable that has dominated political talk for 35 years.

Americans are exposed to a constant stream of misinformation that attempts to convince them that tax cuts for the rich are the only way to prosperity. That it has not worked yet means that even more tax cuts (for the rich) are needed.

When people look at their stagnant wages, the corporate media tells them that Mexicans, Chinese, blacks, union workers, or Arabs are to blame.

Given that 40% of Americans are functionally illiterate that is not difficult to do.

But you are correct. FDR values pulled this country from a depression, and that is the only thing that can reverse the direction that the US is going in.

[Cosmic Kitten]

35. Corporate media needs to be kicked to the curb.

As more people turn AWAY from the M$M and
TO Social Media, the MESSAGE will get out.

The M$M needs to be marginalized.
Every gaff, every misstep by the M$M needs to be
pounced on to de-legitimize the system it perpetuates

Facebook has over a billion subscribers.
Other platforms have tens of millions of subscribers.
Yeah, a lot of "bots" out there.
But those numbers dwarf the M$M.

Organized communication is the key

[Orsino]

16. Money is the rudder, alas. n/t

[aspirant]

20. Greece put a

brand new rudder on the boat and how much did it cost?

[Cosmic Kitten]

21. Hmm? intersting concept.

If money is the rudder, the DNC is The Ship of Fools

So, how would you pilot a boat without a rudder?
Is it possible to navigate without control of the wheel?

[Orsino]

24. Well, you never get lost.

Money always steers right for more money.

[Cosmic Kitten]

27. unfortunatly for the Dem Wing, the future is forward...

not in circles

Although, making three rights does turn you left ;~)

[aspirant]

28. Which way does the wind blow?

When the winds and currents are sailing us to the left, is poverty our only destiny

[CrispyQ]

18. One cannot serve two masters.

Most of the democratic party is on the same gravy train the repubs are on. The dems throw us a few more crumbs, but the train is still barreling in the same direction. A bought out media is a huge part of the problem. Network/cable news is a joke. I don't know how we fix the system when the ones who can fix it benefit from the status quo.




It's a mess.

[Cosmic Kitten]

29. Time to think different, eh?

Think of it as a puzzle.

Look for the patterns.
Identify the critical nexuses.
Insert change.

Change the frame
capture the narrative

[aspirant]

36. Boats and trains

don't forget the aeroplanes.

Have we abandoned our own TWO LEGS that are independent of the master's control.

[hobbit709]

37. The bastards are doing EXACTLY what their owners want.

"It's a big club and we're not in it"

[Cosmic Kitten]

40. hat tip to Mr Carlin ;~)

So where is the outcry?

Folks on DU seem more concerned with GOSSIP
than the ACTUAL ISSUES facing "their" party?!?

DU has influence.
SCUBA got a shout out today

Isn't it time members start organizing and
exercising that influence?

The DNC needs to change NOW!

[aspirant]

41. What will be the reaction

of the DSCC and Sen Tester when Russ Feingold announces his senate run?

All hugs and kisses with truckloads of money or crickets?

[Cosmic Kitten]

44. based on campaign donors

Tester is good to go for the DSCC
Most of his money comes from TBTF

Feingold...meh not a reliable 3rd-Wayer
He gets money from, lawyers, education,
entertainment, healthcare industries.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

42. Demmie the freaking Dog will support medical marijuana for a price

Why mess with the Third Way Love we're getting from DWS?

[Cosmic Kitten]

43. Apparently the prison industrial complex is more influential?

DWS is a self-serving wretch

[DisgustipatedinCA]

49. I completely agree. nt

[Capt. Obvious]

46. I GUESS YOU PREFER PRESIDENT WALKER

[Cosmic Kitten]

51. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Here it comes!!!111!!!1!1

Defend the indefensible or else REPUBLICANS WIN!!!!11!!11!

Of course you see the irony here? eh?

The DNC runs the party into the ground.
Demotivates the base, and offers damaging 3rd-Way candidates.
The Dem Wing is given a Hobbesian choice... lesser of two evils
Dems point out the craptastic job the DNC has done
and what crappy candidates the DNC has "anointed".

3rd-Way apologist shouts...
I GUESS YOU PREFER THE RIGHT-WING CANDIDATE!!!11!!1!

BWAhahahahah
PLUS...the DNC track record is a losing record.
What make YOU think they will get it right this time?
wishful thinking?

How about we change the "leadership" that makes
the incompetent decisions that result in lost elections?!

[TheKentuckian]

53. Without a rudder the boat will drift all over not keep finding itself locked in

a direction.

[Cosmic Kitten]

54. Unless! paddles? Do we have any paddles?

Or are we up the proverbial creek without?

[Cosmic Kitten]

55. Quote: Gov. Steve Beshear

[font size=11]

"I am here to tell you the Democratic Party has lost its way,"[/font size]
said Gov. Steve Beshear of Kentucky,
who presented the report to the Democratic National Committee.

[/font size]

[aspirant]

56. Is Gov. Beshear

a possible dark horse candidate or just a purified pony?

[TheKentuckian]

57. He sure isn't a purified pony he just isn't completely delusional and utterly dishonest.

To pretend the party has not lost its way is a game for crazy people.
No matter how vigorously one points their finger reality can only be so ignored, your position is the same regardless of blame and rationalizations.

Even if it is everyone else's fault somehow that doesn't fix your situation.