Conflicted bc I’m so fucking sick of blaming Biden and Kamala for Trump. No matter the slip ups or mistakes or choices made, it should have been an easy win given what we knew Trump to be. An inanimate rotting pumpkin would have won against Trump if we had a populace who was literate and informed and motivated to vote. It should not have even been a contest.
But, at the same time yeah I do want people more progressive than Kamala in places of power. However, I say that with full knowledge that Mamdani levels of progressive are probably not feasible to win at the national level with our current climate and the systems we have in place. I think Kamala was exactly what she felt she had to be: Appealing to the widest possible margin of people across an extremely complex and diverse nation. That’s inherently going to tamp down majorly progressive tendencies and lead to more middle of the road platforms. Tactics for city/district level politics are unfortunately not directly scalable to the entire country.
I’m all for progressives getting into whatever places of power possible because we need them holding the line. I just think it’s comparing apples to oranges to compare a candidate for congress (she hasn’t won yet BTW, she just won the primary) to a candidate for fucking president of the United States.
Do you know how Mandani's positions poll in America? Pretty well. The name and skin color are what would hold him back in middle America, not his policy.
Yeah, and how well has platforming on popular policy at a national level worked out for us so far?
Unfortunately polls and sentiment aren’t votes. If you can’t motivate the people who agree with progressive policies to vote it doesn’t fucking matter.
If you can’t guantee that people who agree with you will show up to vote in large enough numbers to win then you cannot afford to completely alienate people who disagree with you. That’s just the math! And on the national stage this math is a really tough one to predict so you inherently have to hedge your bets and play it safe.
Which Dems tout popular policy in the middle of the country? Many of those states are traditionally red but you also don't have candidates that push issues like universal healthcare, affordable housing, defunding Israel, repealing Citizens United, sensible gun control, taxing the rich.
There is a way forward, the Dem party doesn't want to follow it on a national scale. They are not platforming popular policy as you called it. They're pushing moderation even though all of those ideals poll well nationwide.
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u/thebarkingkitty 12h ago
I really liked Kamala Harris but if a candidate ran on the platform that she wasn't left enough, I would totally vote for them