What the Left Keeps Getting Wrong

[Jk23]

https://archive.fo/yZYUG#selection-869.0-895.239

There is no single explanation for Donald Trump’s unambiguous win. But if, as we were constantly told, this was in fact the most important election of our lives, in which the future of democracy really was at stake, Democrats never conducted themselves that way.

It was an egregious mistake—not just in retrospect but in real time—to allow Joe Biden to renege on his implicit promise to be a one-term president, and to indulge his vain refusal to clear the way for younger and more charismatic leaders to rise up and meet the magnitude of the political moment. Perhaps no candidate, not even one blessed with the talents of a Bill Clinton or a Barack Obama, could have overcome the handicap imposed on Kamala Harris when she emerged valiantly from the wreckage of the Weekend at Bernie’s campaign this summer, which her own administration had so brazenly tried to sneak past the voting public.

But other major mistakes were made over the past four years. The Biden presidency was understood to be a return to normalcy and competence after the terrible upheavals of the early months of COVID and the circus of the first Trump administration. That was the deal Americans thought had been accepted—that was Biden’s mandate. Instead, as president, even as he leaned into plenty of policies that served all Americans, Biden either could not or would not forcefully distance himself from the Democratic Party’s need for performative “wokeness”—the in-group messaging used by hyper-online and overeducated progressives that consistently alienates much of the rest of the nation.

Here’s one narrow but meaningful example: On day one—January 20, 2021—the Biden administration released an “Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.” The order said that “children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.” Supporters argued that the order was simply pledging that the administration would enforce previously established legal protections for LGBTQ people, but critics saw it differently. As the author Abigail Shrier wrote on Twitter: “Biden unilaterally eviscerates women’s sports. Any educational institution that receives federal funding must admit biologically-male athletes to women’s teams, women’s scholarships, etc. A new glass ceiling was just placed over girls.”


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Interesting take from The Atlantic. I do not agree with all the conclusions of the article but other voices are important as we figure out what went so wrong.

[gab13by13]

1. It is a bullshit article.

[dalton99a]

2. It is evident that most Americans do not share DUers' adulation of Biden.

His refusal to allow a primary was a colossal mistake, as was his hesitation to shut down the border

[Jk23]

8. Popularity wise he never seemed to recover from that withdraw from Afghanistan fiasco.

And yes, I know that was Trump's deal, but new Presidents are often handed such things. Fiascos like that happen (Think Waco the first year of Clinton's) but you need to admit your mistakes and move on.

[radius777]

29. The biggest mistake was the border,

as soon as there were images of migrants streaming across, Biden's numbers plummeted and never recovered. Everything he accomplished was overshadowed by the border situation - and the R's bussing of migrants all over the country 'worked' to shift even blue areas rightward. States like NY, NJ, IL shifted 10 points to the right.

The border and inflation were the two things that hurt us most, as well as Gaza, which depressed enthusiasm amongst our base.

[travelingthrulife]

14. You want the border shut down?? Why?

Because Republicans pretend horrific things are happening?

[Jack Valentino]

19. Biden DIDN'T 'refuse to allow a primary', we HAD a primary!!!

However, no candidate with any viability chose to run against him!

What, was he supposed to go recruit viable candidates to run against him??

This "refusal to allow a primary" is a talking point that I've heard from right-wing sources.
I'd rather not see it perhaps unwittingly parroted on this site.

[Charging Triceratops]

30. He could have helped

1. He could have stuck by his 2020 pledge to serve one term. Announce an open primary and step aside.
Harris would not have won the primary.

2. He should have declared a five-year moratorium of amnesty.

3. The Democrats should have realized they gave away the immigration issue in 2016, and seized upon it before the fascists even started in 2024. If Hillary would have been the first to proclaim she'd "build the wall," she would've won the presidency.

4. And - forgive me - but that trans issue regarding participatory sports will kill us over and over again. The people who support that are already voting D! There's a reason the right spent hundreds of millions of dollars on those anti-trans ads. They worked.

[GusBob]

4. Death by a thousand cuts

Some a little deeper than others

My eyes are opening up to some of the causes

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. The positions are not wrong. Perhaps the framing is. But backing away from equality is never right.

[Amishman]

15. It gets more complicated than that, especially with LGBTQ+

I think we're also seeing a split in public perception of LGBTQ+, with transgenderism being its own topic and scenario.

LGB are seeing very gradual increasing acceptance. Most people know same sex sexual preference occurs in animals as well, and is understood as a natural variation in behavior. It also aligns with conventional social and biological definitions of gender. It also is not outwardly visible, so is easier to push out of mind. It's also less intimidating for conservative parents, as if their children show inclinations this direction, the parents can tell themselves it's just a phase.

Transgenderism is not seeing that rise in acceptance; if anything the opposite as it becomes more high profile. It clashes more with social convention. It is also more intimidating to conservative parents, as transitioning involves hormone therapy and/or surgery and is not truly reversible. There is no hope that the child will 'snap out of it' later.

Those who are trans are typically visibly identifiable. I also think trans people are unfortunately subject to a reaction similar to the 'Uncanny Valley Hypothesis'. The Uncanny Valley describes the phenomenon where people are made uneasy by something that appears human but isn't quite realistic - originally used in the context of people being unsettled by near human robots. There is a school of thought, and I do agree with it, that something similar occurs with trans people. The residual physical clues of the trans persons birth gender could cause a similar aversion because their appearance does not fully match up with the expectations of gender that are hardwired into our brains.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

16. It's not complicated and making policy around conservative parents' fears is a recipe for disaster.

Those who are trans are typically visibly identifiable. I also think trans people are unfortunately subject to a reaction similar to the 'Uncanny Valley Hypothesis'. The Uncanny Valley describes the phenomenon where people are made uneasy by something that appears human but isn't quite realistic - originally used in the context of people being unsettled by near human robots. There is a school of thought, and I do agree with it, that something similar occurs with trans people. The residual physical clues of the trans persons birth gender could cause a similar aversion because their appearance does not fully match up with the expectations of gender that are hardwired into our brains.

This is gross and you need to stop.

[Amishman]

17. It is gross and unfortunate, but it is also quite possibly true

It's been discussed for over a decade. Do some reading on the subject before you dismiss the concept.

Old discussion on it that covers it fairly well: https://www.transgenderpulse.com/forums/index.php?/topic/39095-the-uncanny-valley-and-being-trans/

[WhiskeyGrinder]

20. The day "conservatives get the ick from trans people" drives policy is the day I leave this party.

Giving it any credence implies that there are appearance standards a person has to hit before they are accepted as valid and I will reject that every goddamn day of the week.

[Silent Type]

26. Yeah, that's kind of the essence of the Democratic Party to me. Unfortunately, it cost us this time.

[Ocelot II]

6. This is a lot of bollocks.

The author is a nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, the right-wing think tank whose board includes Dick Cheney and Harlan Crow. So there's that.

[MustLoveBeagles]

7. What a bunch of horseshit

The media just lives to kick Biden in the balls. This was NOT his fault.

[Ferryboat]

9. " Performative wokeness"

Wonderful term.

This is what drove many to the R's.

Give marginalized groups a seat at the table, start the needed conversation.

Doing a 180* on policies to accommodate the marginalized scared many away. Too soon, to fast.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

22. "Too soon, to fast."

Please describe the ideal timeline and speed, including specific markers, for accommodating the marginalized that would keep from "driving people to the Rs," and how that timeline is then presented to the marginalized.

[BlueTsunami2018]

10. These are things that can't even be discussed here.

Without getting your post hidden or even your account banned.

We have to be able to understand how people outside our bubble perceive a lot of this stuff. But if you can’t discuss it, you can’t understand it.

A lot of people trash Bill Maher for always bringing this up but he’s not wrong. People who traditionally would be on our side are so turned off by some of these ideas that they’ve gone the other way and left us in the hands of people who would literally murder anyone who doesn’t toe their line 100%.

I’m afraid to elaborate because I don’t want to get banned or suspended or whatever.

But this was a real problem that should have been addressed. It’s all moot at this point really.

[violasays]

11. Perfomative wokeness is offensive

To people like me who are biracial and thinking they perhaps my gender is not as straightforward as I once thought it was. Telling people like me that our desire for the equality and chances that white people and cisgender people get is “wokeness” is actually disgusting, and to be very frank, if you agree with the toxic garbage an imbecile like Bill Maher spews then perhaps your posts deserve to be hidden.

[BlueTsunami2018]

21. I'm not saying that at all.

Of course you should have every opportunity. Everyone should. I’m all for equality. My daughter and her wife are gay, both of my kids have friends that are trans. It’s never been a problem for me or my wife, we’ve always welcomed everyone with open arms and zero judgement.

But you have to understand how these things are perceived by most people outside that experience, like 90% of the country, and how going too far, too fast alienates them and ultimately hurts the cause.

I know you don’t want to hear that. I don’t like to say it. But that is the case.

Playing those anti-trans ads nonstop hurt us badly. Making up bullshit about kids going to school as one gender and coming home as another hurt us badly. The whole biological men in women’s sports thing hurt us badly.

And now we’re never going to get even the incremental progress we need on these issues because people were so turned off that they gave the country away to the most evil assholes possible.

It’s not your fault, of course it isn’t, it’s the fault of the ignorant cretins who can’t accept people for who they are. Unfortunately, you have to play the long game in politics and that long game often means the people you want to help have to wait until the rest of the population catches up.

I’m sorry for the pain you have to endure.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

23. But don't you see, viola? People *here* support you; it's just that other people over *there* don't, and it's more

important to cater to *those* people than protect you. Your time will come, though! Because people *here* support you!!1!!1 Just don't get mad or uppity or anything! See my paperclip??

/s

[Ferryboat]

24. Well said

We need to recognize those outside our "bubble" get very uncomfortable, especially when it comes to their kids.

In conversations with coworkers, social issues was wedge that pushed them to R's.

[Silent Type]

28. Good point about discussion. I'm hopeful we can discuss these matters openly in coming months. With that said,

equality for everyone is pretty much the essence of the Democratic Party. I'd expect DU and Democrats to fall on that side, even if we differ on how to approach it.

[Self Esteem]

12. Joe Biden never promised to only run for one term.

There was no implicit promise of such a move. In fact, he routinely denied such claims.

So, this article is already pushing bullshit from the start.

[marybourg]

13. From the Democratic Party perfection is expected.

From the tRump party chaos insurrection bowing to fascist heads of state theft of secret papers nepotism disrespect to service members etc etc etc are rewarded.

[mcar]

18. Biden never said he would be a one-term president

This is all BS.

[Jk23]

25. He did kind of hint at it

Anf to be blunt he was extremely old when he ran the first time I think people just assumed he would run again in his eighties.

I think we can all agree that the Democratic party dropped the ball by not really pushing this issue two years ago.

[Wanderlust988]

27. I do think the transgendered ads hurt Harris and she had no comeback.

The thing with transgendered is that everyone should be allowed to do what they want and be free. There should be no violence, etc. However, we shouldn't force feed pronouns and upend womens sports, at least from a policy level. It caused a blowback and now things will actually worse.

[johnp3907]

31. Load of crap.

Trashing.

[snot]

32. Two points:

First of all, I think most people vote their pocketbooks. Americans have been struggling – for too long, and with steadily increasing difficulty and stress – to afford not just the American Dream but food, housing, and health care; and at least some of that difficulty appears due to the actions of Dem leaders (the repeal of Glass-Steagall, NAFTA, the refusal to adequately regulate credit derivatives, the refusal to prosecute bankers after 2008, expensive foreign wars that drain our resources without obviously helping anyone other than the MIC {Republicans have been as bad or worse on many of these, but the Dems used to be the ones that we looked to to help us}.) The expense of the war in Ukraine is a related concern here, one that Trump promised to fix.

Secondly, I disagree that "wokeness" per se was that big of a factor. I live in one of the most conservative states, and I literally know no middle class person, Dem or Republican, for whom economics weren't the main concern.

I think "wokeness" was more of a make-weight. (That said, I wish we'd consider resolving the controversies re- competitive sports by simply classifying athletes based on non-gender -related characteristics – i.e., why not rely instead on height, weight, or even hormone levels – whatever physical characteristics are directly related to performance in the particular sport – rather than fixating on what bits of flesh they've got in their crotches, gender preferences, or other criteria that are relatively irrelevant to athletic performance?)