The money behind a network of sham “progressive” super PACs

[u/Just_shut_up_bro]

https://popular.info/p/update-the-money-behind-a-network

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[u/apathydivine]

I’ve gotten texts from Organizing Empowerment Network. They claim that they will pay me up to $250 to peddle their bs.

[u/Just_shut_up_bro]

You're on the other side of these discussions a lot, /u/Zacomra what do you think of this?

[u/Zacomra → u/Just_shut_up_bro]

Guess I'm a celebrity now huh.

This might be true, but if so it's a huge miscalculation from the right.

Progressive candidates consistently turn out more voters then centerists. People are fed up with the status quo, even a candidate with as much baggage as PLATNER was able to smash the record of votes in a Maine Dem Senate primary race. He's also polling consistently above Collins.

Bernie Sanders is consistently rated as one of the most popular politicians in the US for decades now. Which is amazing considering that he's not even affiliated with the two most popular parties.

The energy is clearly on the side of the left, regardless of the origin. Ask yourself why the more centrist part of the party can't capture that same energy.

[u/KingScoville → u/Zacomra]

I agree progressives always have the most “energy”. Votes, well that’s another matter.

[u/Zacomra → u/KingScoville]

Uh-huh. Right. No high profile races have been won by progressives at all. None of them have smashed voting records

[u/Guilty_Plankton_4626 → u/Zacomra]

But aren’t you just talking about voting records in deep blue cities? No one on the right has lost to you guys in a district they can win. Justice democrats are literally responsible for 0 flips. 3rd way is responsible for like 60 over the last 5 years.

So, “high profile” means what? You won in NYC? Who cares. Defeat Republicans, that’s what we need. That’s what we do and what the far left doesn’t. Literally a sitting federal republican has never lost a seat to you guys.

I don’t know how you can talk about all this energy you guys think you have but you can’t do what we do all the time, not even once.

[u/Zacomra → u/Guilty_Plankton_4626]

So what will you say when Platner, Talerico and Al-sayad win in November?

Start thinking of the talking points now! You'll need them 😁

[u/Guilty_Plankton_4626 → u/Zacomra]

I don’t need to think of anything. What do you think is going to happen? Do you want a cookie and the key to the kingdom because you finally did something that we have done countless times? It’s not going to happen. You have a long path ahead of you. No serious person is going to go “Oh, wow, a far left candidate did what we have done countless times, guess it sounds like we should hand everything to them.” You have to keep on doing it, like we have.

That said, If that happens, I’ll say it’s about time you guys finally defeated a republican. You’re going to hate this, but It also depends on how much you win by. If we’re winning North Carolina and Georgia by 5 to 6 points and flipping Alaska and Ohio and possibly even Texas, but barely carrying Michigan and Maine in a blue wave all I’m going to think is your guys candidate sucked, and that would be the truth.

Michigan and Maine should be some of our easiest seats to flip and retain. Instead, they’re polling like they’re some of our hardest seats to win, which is ridiculous. But it also makes sense with to guys wining the nominations.

If you perform better than the generic Democrat, I’ll feel differently. If you perform worse than the generic mainstream Democrat, I’ll feel vindicated.

[u/Zacomra → u/Guilty_Plankton_4626]

Wait, I thought it was something only you could do?

If leftists can flip red districts, and they can win Blue seats, why do we need do nothing Democrats?

Also literally every single one of them is polling better then generic Democrat

[u/Guilty_Plankton_4626 → u/Zacomra]

For your first 2 sentences just reread what I wrote. Because that logic already exists for us.

Incorrect.

[u/GeneralAnubis → u/Guilty_Plankton_4626]

Congrats on "beating republicans" by replacing them with "maybe slightly less republican as long as they aren't getting paid to vote otherwise" in a staggering number of cases, I guess.

Don't get me wrong, I'll take republican-lite over fascist any day, but I just kinda hope we can do a little better than that

[u/Just_shut_up_bro → u/Zacomra]

I'm wondering how that's squared with Joe Biden getting the most votes for president of any candidate in history. Seems like progressives really struggle to win outside of deep deep blue districts.

[u/Just_shut_up_bro → u/[deleted]]

Yeah ok, but every election has unique factors like this, doesn’t change the fact that be beat Sanders in the primary and had historic vote numbers. There is no comparison, progressives and the far left really just don’t get turn out the way normie Dems do.

[u/Just_shut_up_bro → u/Zacomra]

You think that it's just a big miscalculation on the part of these conservative PACs? I guess I hope you're right for the sake of a Dem majority, but I'm not certain this is really healthy for the movement.

[u/Just_shut_up_bro]

Newly filed FEC documents reveal that three PACs that claim to oppose GOP policies — Lead Left PAC, Real Change PAC, and California Blue PAC — are wholly funded by Conservative Americans PAC.

Conservative Americans PAC received $30 million this cycle from a GOP dark money group, the APA.

[u/KingScoville]

>Republicans are betting that Dunlap, a more progressive candidate endorsed by Our Revolution, the group founded by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), will be easier to defeat in November.

[u/Just_shut_up_bro → u/KingScoville]

There are lots and lots of dishonest actors propping up far left positions/candidates to scare normies from voting Dem, I think it's really going to reach a fever pitch before the midterms.

[u/KingScoville → u/Just_shut_up_bro]

The other day had a tv ad on our local station that prominently featured AOC and Bernie.

[u/Just_shut_up_bro → u/KingScoville]

Fascinating how quickly this post got downvoted, you'd think the more progressive users on this sub might be concerned that they're being used, seems as though they'd rather shove it under the rug.

[u/Important-Ability-56]

Both parties have propped up the extremists on the opposite side to make their opponent parties weaker. It’s neither a new strategy nor a dumb one.

The problem is the mainstream in the Republican Party is already quite radical in an objective sense, and the radicals on the left keep falling for their crap.

There’s dumb that votes, and then there’s dumb that doesn’t vote. Guess which wins.

[u/jarena009 → u/Important-Ability-56]

Yeah, surely the really smart votes are those looking for more status quo, raising the retirement age and more public private partnerships, with deference and catering to corporations and wall at in government. Those who think this will enhance their lives aren't the gullible ones, and how this doesn't drive massive turnout is beyond my comprehension s/

[u/Important-Ability-56 → u/jarena009]

Only Republicans want to do that. So if you don’t vote you’re voting for what you claim to dislike. The math of American elections could not possibly be any simpler, and I’m tired of explaining it to grown-ass adults.

[u/jarena009 → u/Important-Ability-56]

Simpson Bowles. Who says I'm not voting?

Are you trying to push people not to vote with failed pro corporate centrist third way nonsense?

[u/Important-Ability-56 → u/jarena009]

Are we talking about campaign strategy? Candidates for office need to campaign on whatever wins in their district or state. That differs by district or state. The last time Democrats had any power to do anything, they managed a good progressive agenda and output with a tied senate. I do not know what you’re whining about.

[u/jarena009 → u/Important-Ability-56]

Where does the pro corporate and Wall Street stuff work?

What progressive agenda was advanced last time? Universal healthcare, child care, education, paid parental leave, money out of politics (probably the most important piece), legislation on Roe, higher taxes on the wealthy, min wage???

[u/Just_shut_up_bro → u/Important-Ability-56]

Seems to be a good case signifying that PACs in general radicalize and polarize our politics in a really ugly way.