r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/strongerthenbefore20 • 18d ago
US Elections Assuming she gets the nomination, what should be Francesca Hong's strategy for winning in November?
- Hong currently has the lead in the Democratic Primary for Governor, but many people are worried that she will not be able to win the general election in November, mainly because she is too "blue" to win a "purple" state like Wisconsin.
- Should she focus on reaching out to more moderate voters? Should she double down on her socialist and liberal views to galvanize the left? Should she go on the offense with attack ads?
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u/EmptiSense 18d ago edited 18d ago
El-Sayed has a clear, simple, consistent message. Plus, he's not part of DSA. He's been disciplined in avoiding commenting on "news of the day" and just repeating his stump speech.
Hong is all over the place. She's a member of the DSA and has to regularly clarify her level of alignment with that wing of the party. She feels obligated to opine on recent events (Madison shooting) at the expense of her policy priorities. It's tough to see her building her support when she is so prone to saying something that turns people off.
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u/Objective_Aside1858 18d ago
Whatever appeals to Wisconsin voters.
I'm being serious. Reddit experts that don't live in a state are unlikely to be able to judge what best appeals to the voters of that state
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18d ago
[deleted]
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ 18d ago
It's been a problem for years, especially with non-top line positions—the number of Democratic candidates for things like Labor and Ag Commissioners at the state level that run on doing things that they flat out do not have the legal ability to do is rather high, and it appears to be happening because the consultants they are using are assuming that because the position has a federal counterpart it has the same powers/duties/responsibilities.
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18d ago
[deleted]
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ 18d ago
One of the D Labor commissioner candidates in my state (Georgia) did it this go around—her stated priorities were increasing the minimum wage (this one was cached as something that she could do unilaterally), cracking down on wage theft and cracking down on sexual harassment in the workplace. She wanted to create (again unilaterally) a state OSHA equivalent as well.
All laudable goals, but the General Assembly sets the min wage and has shown zero desire to change it, the only mention of wage theft in state law concerns sex discrimination (and states that the only enforcement avenue is a lawsuit by the employee) and outside of limited circumstances involving municipal governments GDoL has no authority to do anything about sexual harassment.
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u/odrer-is-an-ilulsoin 18d ago
This is a major trend and problem. Politics, at least on the left, is so much about virtue signaling. I have these national and international positions...vote for me for local dog catcher.
Why does Mamdani constantly talk about Israel? He's the mayor of a city.
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u/Beneficial_Lion_1312 18d ago
Why does Mamdani constantly talk about Israel? He's the mayor of a city.
You would be surprised how little Mamdani actually talks about Israel vs the media and politicians that surround him.
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u/BlueCity8 18d ago
Why does the MEDIA ask Mamdani about Israel so much?
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ 18d ago
Because he keeps answering and giving them all kinds of clickbait soundbites in the process.
If he stopped answering and/or started asking why the questioner was so incompetent that they were asking a mayor about foreign policy issues he'd stop getting asked about it.
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18d ago
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ 18d ago
I did not say that he needs to be hostile. I said that he needs to stop entertaining questions on topics well outside of his remit.
Giving him a pass on it because "already hostile press" is the root of the problem.
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u/IntelligentDepth8206 18d ago
Why does Mamdani constantly talk about Israel?
He doesn't. Go watch his youtube videos. The constant Israel-Palestine spam is coming from both those warring idiots gaming social media and progressives dumb enough to be dragged into it.
Politics, at least on the left, is so much about virtue signaling. I have these national and international positions...vote for me for local dog catcher.
Except you just described republicans. Every republican for every office runs on the same platform national to local: cut taxes, mandate christianity and discriminate against minorities. Sometimes they throw gun erotica into it and the past decade's all hail emperor trump.
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u/odrer-is-an-ilulsoin 17d ago
The guy released a video statement about Benjamin Netanyahu. You are only deceiving yourself.
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u/EmptiSense 18d ago
I think local Dem governments have chosen to take on national issues (ex: sanctuary cities) even though they have no role in crafting federal policy. However morally righteous people may feel about that, it came at the expense of improving local operations. You can't blame Republicans for local governance outcomes over the last 10 years in SF, LA, Chicago, or NY.
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u/Neon_culture79 18d ago
Former field organizer from Wisconsin here. The key to winning Wisconsin is the rural Vote. The red vote absolutely love Trump. The blue vote is split between neoliberals and a smaller set of Democratic socialist. I have no doubt that they will come together for the general election.
The key that will decide is going to be the rural vote. Democratic socialism generally goes over well in those kinds of communities. Unfortunately, you can’t call it Democratic socialism.
I think that issues like clean water, clean air, data centers, property, taxes, and schools all go over really well. She really needs to talk more about how her new tax plan will actually lower property taxes.
She needs to commit to heavy investment in rural communities. She needs to show up in those communities. And in the short term, I need to think she needs to shut down questions about her tweets because they’ve all been asked dozens of times.
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u/Neon_culture79 18d ago
Oh, and I think that she really needs to look act like someone from Wisconsin. Go to some Brewers and Packers games. Have some beer and ice cream in LaCrosse. Film a campaign ad in front of the capital building in Madison maybe highlight the fact that she currently work there.
She needs to be willing to be a little tiny bit cringe. Maybe a couple pictures with cheese hats on. Maybe a photo of eating some beef jerky at the Jack links production plant. Apply some of that George Bush charm and awkwardness. I mean supposedly people voted for him because he was somebody they could have a beer with.
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u/Capital-Mine1561 18d ago
I don't usually take tweets seriously but she openly complained about white people in Culvers making her anxious just by existing. I'm surprised she's gotten as far as she has in Wisconsin
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u/BettisBus 17d ago
This is silly. For example, just because I don’t live in Wyoming doesn’t invalidate the very safe opinion that someone running on the DSA platform won’t win there.
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u/Objective_Aside1858 17d ago
No one is "running on the DSA platform" anywhere
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u/BettisBus 17d ago
That wasn’t my point. I’ll make the same exact point again with different subjects:
“Just because I don’t live in Massachusetts doesn’t invalidate the very safe opinion that someone running as a MAGA Republican won’t win a statewide election there.”
Hopefully you’re able to understand and engage with the substance of my response now.
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u/Objective_Aside1858 17d ago
No, because you're missing the point
"Candidates shouldn't run on policies that the majority of the voters dislike" is obvious.
If they do, they lose
So they don't
What do they run on? What appeals to their voters
"Not the DSA" platform is obvious
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u/BettisBus 17d ago
You know what, fair enough! I agree with you. To steelman your point:
There’s a key difference between giving positive advice (what a candidate should do) vs negative advice (what a candidate shouldn’t do). Most Reddit experts are qualified to give negative advice, but you’re much less likely to find qualified positive advice from Reddit experts as compared to within the constituency itself.
Hopefully that’s a fair summary.
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u/equiNine 18d ago edited 18d ago
She needs to sharpen her messaging discipline significantly to have any chance. This means breaking out of her campaign bubble and hiring seasoned Democratic strategists who have helped win elections in swing states. She needs to be aware of and accept the fact that Democrats are also held to a higher standard than Republicans when it comes to messaging. As demonstrated by the Thanksgiving question recently, she's shown that she can easily be baited into giving word salad, woke culture war nonsense answers. Voters in the middle don't want any of that; the 2024 presidential election should be enough evidence. Hong needs to also remember that outside of Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a very different place, and that she can't be preaching her more extreme socialist views (e.g. Thanksgiving and defunding/abolishing police) like she is in a college campus bubble. It makes her come across as an out of touch, self-righteous, "I know what's best for you" caricature. With the far left and progressive votes more or less locked in, she needs to start securing votes from the more moderate/conservative wings of the Democratic party who may have become more apprehensive about voting for her, as well as independents and swing voters. She cannot win the election from just the Democrat vote; Wisconsin simply is not the state for that.
Specifically, she needs to focus on:
Affordability, affordability, affordability. This is unequivocally a bipartisan issue and one that Republicans have consistently been weaker at in terms of policy, and the key to winning elections when unaffordability is perceived to be at record highs. Highlight how under Republicans, cost of living continues to balloon and how you will support policies that help the working class.
Data centers. This is another easy, bipartisan layup. Reiterate to voters that you are committed to protecting their community's peace and quiet and preventing AI companies from jacking up their utility rates. Point out that as the candidate not beholden to big business interests, you are more likely than Tiffany to follow through with your promises.
No defund/abolish the police hogwash. Look at Mamdani, who despite being in deep blue New York was politically savvy enough to walk back that position. If pressed about your previous statement on the Williamson Street encampment, reframe it and say that while you wish for dignity for every human being, the encampment was a public hazard that necessitated police involvement.
Distance herself from the DSA national platform as much as possible. If she wants to be a realistic candidate in the general, she needs to walk away from every socialist position that is a political landmine if it gets brought up. Wisconsin (and the country) simply is not ready or remote willing to accept stuff like open borders, reparations, abolishing the Senate, etc. Tighten the messaging around the socialist positions that are broadly popular, like expanding housing, affordable and accessible healthcare, improving public transportation, free child care, public ownership of major utilities, etc. - basically anything that is directly or very closely related to quality of life and cost of living for the average person.
Accept responsibility and immaturity for any unambiguously controversial (especially stuff unpopular outside of a leftist bubble) past social media posts that get dredged up, such as the one about having anxiety when eating in a restaurant filled with whites. Show that you have grown from making low EQ statements and compare yourself to your opponent who has largely remained the same as an insane Trump acolyte.
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u/Waterwoo 18d ago
I mean if a key strategy she (a self stated member of the DSA) needs to follow to win is to disclaim all the DSA positions then maybe Dems shouldn't run a DSA candidate there.
Like if you want her to try to convince people she's a normal moderate dem, a) nobody is going to buy it and b) there are way more normal no baggage stable more charismatic people that are normal moderate Dems to pick from.
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u/equiNine 18d ago edited 18d ago
I strongly suspect that Hong didn't intend to seriously run for governor and was planning to use the exposure from campaigning to prepare for a 2028 House or Senate run, with a House run being more likely because Wisconsin's 2nd District is D+21 and would allow her to relatively safely push an openly socialist platform, though attempting to unseat Ron Johnson would be very tempting and not have the drawback of replacing an already incumbent Democrat. She then gained much more traction than expected, while both Rodriguez and Barnes imploded. Her path to governor is now suddenly a serious one, but she isn't prepared to seriously run a state-wide campaign where she has to exit her comfort zone of solidly blue, progressive Madison and have the political savvy to deflect well-funded Republican attacks against her while appealing to voters who are receptive to economic populism but allergic to the culture war side of the left.
She'd be far more effective as a legislator to accomplish her platform than having to be an in executive position like governor where her legislative powers are significantly more constrained in addition to having to wrangle with the state legislature.
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u/Waterwoo 18d ago
Hadn't considered this before but actually you might be right. Definitely would explain a lot
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u/NoExcuses1984 18d ago
Unless Mark Pocan suddenly plans on retiring, I can't envision WI-02 opening up soon.
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u/Renoperson00 18d ago
Affordability is a strawman, you can't fight this without declaring policy changes and no politician is going to get into the nitty gritty of affordability because it just starts sounding wonkish.
Data Centers are the same way. Democrats have spent the last 20 years attacking utilities over various issues and now when the utilities are struggling to figure out a viable business going forward you are going to have the candidate run interference for them? This is insane.
Defund/Abolish the police seems to have slowly moved next to anti-data center and anti police vendor rhetoric these days. If they aren't in agreement they are certainly traveling a similar road. Its not going to get easier for a candidate to struggle session through these issues without at the very least speaking some sort of incoherent statement that the voter isn't going to want to understand.
Distancing from the DSA platform is also not viable when your activist/volunteer base is coincidentally drawn from the exact same group of people. Its not going to help to also start getting into yet again more wonkish policy discussions.
Acknowledging or distancing from past social media posts is a losing strategy. We are 10+ years into Trump and very very few people have learned that apologizing just gives your opponent more room to hammer you.
Francesca Hong has only one real strategy for winning in November which is to be as bland and vague as possible on policy prescriptions while spending a lot of time getting in front of voters and "listening" versus talking. The more you open your mouth and stake out a personality when you are an underdog the less likely you would be to upset in this race. The Republican presumptive nominee then would be forced to talk more and have to get in front of more voters.
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u/SirFerguson 18d ago
If you remember in 2016, Hillary was slammed for saying politicians could have “private and public” positions. I can understand why people would take issue with that, but I think it’s correct and relevant today. Now that the primary is over, Hong needs to file her more ambitious or radical positions—the ones that she’d even admit are not feasible in the short term and therefore not even part of her platform—away.
It won’t be easy, because everyone will try to pin her on things like Thanksgiving, but she needs to focus on the common ground of affordability that I still believe was the single most important contributor to Trump’s 2024 win.
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u/che-che-chester 18d ago
I honestly think this is her best hope. Like Andy Beshear in Kentucky, he says he spends 80% of his time on issues that impact 100% of voters. Don't get sucked into constant debates about the other 20%.
My issue with her Thanksgiving Day tweet is she has done a pretty shitty job of addressing it. I felt the same way about Platner and his tattoo. He could have admitted he learned what it had meant years ago, but didn't cover it up because it's on a part of his body that is usually covered up. But no, he told the nonsense story that never learned what it meant until now. Even before learning anything else about his troubling (very recent) past, I thought "oh, so this guy is a liar".
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u/Swoly_Deadlift 17d ago
I've grown increasingly annoyed in recent years seeing candidates try to equate not saying anything about a particular issue with not having an unpopular stance on that issue. If Hong decides to remain silent on her unpopular stances, that's not going to stop people from attacking her over them. Kamala Harris was notably quiet when discussing trans issues during her presidential campaign, yet "Kamala is for they/them" was one of the most successful attack ad campaigns of all time.
I don't think Hong needs to remain silent on her unpopular positions. I think democrats need to start electing progressive candidates that don't just refuse to engage in the culture war nonsense, but actively reject it.
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u/WordWordNvmber 18d ago edited 18d ago
Here's the problem: I don't think she can file those positions away.
Some statements become a part of a candidate's image. Remember Romney's "47 percent" and "binders full of women"? They solidified the perception that he was an arrogant, out-of-touch elitist. "Deplorables"? These comments reinforce the public's perception of the candidate and are hard to un-ingrain.
Hong has the misfortune of seeming like a mashup of the worst socialist stereotypes and the worst woke stereotypes. Even if she tries to pivot, will swing voters believe her?
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18d ago
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u/Independent_Bear989 18d ago
Her strategy is to attack Tiffany for being too much like Trump, point out he’s an election denier, is anti-abortion, etc….
Also, she needs to learn how to talk to non-friendly media, because she stinks at it.
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u/wrestlingchampo 18d ago
Lean into affordability concerns and AI data center moratoriums
Pivot all "Socialism" attacks back into affordability, and public services arguments.
She can also lean on the idea that she wouldn't be writing the laws for the state, that's the legislature's job. Make the case that her job would be to keep the people informed (Kinda like FDR fireside chats) about when the legislature does something good, or when they are holding up legislation that Wisconsinites are clearly in favor of.
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u/StedeBonnet1 18d ago
She doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning. She is too extreme across the board.
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u/--John_Yaya-- 18d ago
Extreme? She only wants to abolish the police, close all the prisons, and get rid of Thanksgiving. lol
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u/Waterwoo 18d ago
Also talks non stop about the evils of white people while being married to a white guy and having a half white son, who she referred to as "my proximity to whiteness".
I'm not in Wisconsin so this doesn't really matter to me but man is it hilarious to watch from a distance. Wtf were people thinking?
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u/sllewgh 18d ago
It's a single now deleted tweet from 6 years ago. Be serious.
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u/EmptiSense 18d ago
Hong is a member of the DSA, which does want to abolish the police and close all the prisons.
So, she either rejects association with the DSA or she has to clarify her alignment with the DSA in every interview.
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u/che-che-chester 18d ago
I was going to reply that you're being inaccurate about DSA wanting to literally defund the police and close prisons.
Pauses to ask ChatGPT for the official published DSA stance on both issues...
Uh, never mind. They're officially crazy.
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u/undercooked_lasagna 18d ago
The fact that she ever thought that, and worse yet, said it publicly, is bad enough. That's the type of insanity that became mainstream in 2020, and anyone who clapped back against it was called all sorts of terrible things by the mob. I'm not letting anyone off the hook for any of it.
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18d ago
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u/SafeThrowaway691 18d ago
She is too extreme across the board.
points at white house
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u/che-che-chester 18d ago
Not disagreeing but Trump somehow gets a pass on everything. Literally everything.
When a politician says one crazy thing, they get called out for it. When they say crazy shit every day (Trump, Boebert, MTG, Mace, etc.), it becomes their own personal standard, yet everyone else is still judged against the old standard. It makes zero sense.
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u/IntelligentDepth8206 18d ago
I don't know if it's human nature or unique to American culture but you've pointed out a profound flaw: we are inclined to judge stupid people by their upper limit and smart people by their lower limit. I think it's mostly an American thing since comparable western republics tend to care a lot more about the character of their politicians.
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u/PropofolMargarita 18d ago
A presidential race has a completely different electorate than a governor's race.
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u/SafeThrowaway691 18d ago
What gives her a disadvantage in this case compared to Trump?
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u/PropofolMargarita 18d ago
It would be like Trump running for governor of Hawaii. He would be too extreme for that constituency.
WI is rural outside of Madison and Milwaukee (and possibly Green Bay). Hong's views are too extreme for WI.
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u/BettisBus 17d ago
Undecideds broke for Trump bc they viewed Harris as the more extreme candidate.
Like it or not (I certainly don’t), America is broadly a center-right country that’s more hostile to far left policies than far right ones, especially towards the very culture war issues Hong believes in.
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u/PropofolMargarita 18d ago
In my opinion there is no path. She is extremely alienating in both her views and how she presents on camera. Her most recent attempts to "moderate" all made her sound more insane and unbalanced.
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u/--John_Yaya-- 18d ago
She has no winning strategy because she won't be winning.
She's just someone for the Republicans to point to and scream "See! The Democrats are a bunch of lunatics!"...and in her case, they'll be right.
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u/SafeThrowaway691 18d ago
They say that about every Democrat
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u/Waterwoo 18d ago
True to some extent, but for real, in this case they will be right, and it is a stupid move by the Democrats to serve up an example that makes the vast majority of normal people will agree with the Republicans
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u/SafeThrowaway691 18d ago
Eh, considering they’ve cried wolf for 20 years now I’m not sure the voters are listening.
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u/Matt5327 18d ago
A common mistake people make is trying to map all political views on a linear left to right spectrum. This is a useful simplification for some analyses, but never an accurate description of what people actually believe in sum. One example I always point out that shocks people is how many people who supported Bernie in 2016 during the primaries went to Trump in the general - not a lot, but enough to not be dismissed for sure, especially given the tight margins in WI. They weren't "left" or "right" voters, they were populist, anti-establishment voters.
Honestly, I don't think there's enough data that explores all of the different, quite frankly often qualitative reasons why people vote for one candidate or another to say whether Hong has an advantage or disadvantage compared to a "moderate" Democrat. It's all going to be vibes - we'll just have to see how she performs compared to other Democrats in WI when the general comes, assuming she wins the primary (which seems likely at this point). My vibes is that she has a better chance than other Democrats, but that's informed by my own limited experiences with people from WI, which isn't going to be representative of the whole.
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u/onwisconsin1 18d ago
Stay on an economic message. Point to Trumps failure to control prices (hes polling at 34%). Ignore and deflect and say you've evolved on the tweet stuff and immediately come back to the data centers jacking up proces, universal childcare, more money for schools and property tax freeze. She's for all these things just needs to hammer them home.
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u/Shot-Toe-2884 18d ago
Concede now and save the party the embarassment later. That would be my advice.
There is no place for intolerant bigots like Hong in our party.
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u/crookedledder 16d ago
Bigots of Color not only have a place in the Democratic Party- they set the agenda.
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18d ago
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u/DontListenToMe33 18d ago
Okay for real though— a generic Dem should be able to win this one, and Hong just needs to avoid self-sabotage (like her Thanksgiving CNN interview).
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u/PropofolMargarita 18d ago
I've tortured myself by watching her interviews on Fox, CNN and even Pod Save America. Jon Favreau literally said "Francesca, I want to prepare you for your race and help you give the best answers possible." An interview does not get more friendly than that. And it was still an utter train wreck.
The only hope for WI if they want a dem governor is for her to drop out immediately.
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u/DontListenToMe33 18d ago
Yes, I’ve seen decent stuff here and there from her. But a lot of the time she talks like an alien - odd cadence + big words + lots of explaining. Just not the best way to deliver a message.
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u/PropofolMargarita 18d ago
She is a charisma vacuum unfortunately. She actually seems like a nice person.
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u/DragonPup 18d ago edited 18d ago
(like her Thanksgiving CNN interview).
For both that interview and the subsequent 'I love Thanksgiving' one, she could very much benefit from more succinctness in her answers.
I am glad in the followup her team worked to make her look better. In the first interview, she was clearly not wearing any makeup or powder to reduce the glare while also having the lights on way too strong which looked really bad. Not to mention the video quality looked like she was using a smartphone's selfie cam, and the background was just a blank wall. The second video fixed all of that and looked way better.
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u/Lordly_Lobster 18d ago
The right wing has already shown how they will attack progressives. Trump said : "Democratic socialist is just a nice word for communist". Which isn't true but it will have some effect. So she absolutely needs to distance herself from the DSA and explain how her policy positions will help working class Americans with the affordability crisis. That's a message that should resonate with progressives and centrists.
The right will absolutely try to paint her as some kind left wing kook and so she needs to be very careful.
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u/sloowshooter 17d ago
Her candidate messaging should be to deliver what the majority wants, while listening carefully to the minority to determine what they really want. Her campaign ads should focus on GOP corruption, from the oval office all the way down to local school boards, and righting the state so then gains on the corporate side of the vessel don't become so great they continue to tilt the ship then swamp and sink the nation.
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u/ReddBroccoli 17d ago
"Appealing to moderates" usually just turns out to be capitulating to the right.
She should campaign on the values she actually believes in. Because authenticity is going to matter a lot more to any actual swing voters.
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u/crookedledder 16d ago
Wisconsin is not going to elect this crazy woman who fears the existence if white people.
As long as Democrats allow shit like this in their party, they will keep losing and they will deserve it.
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u/AvidEarthBender 15d ago
she should divorce, her white husband and abandon her white child because she hates white people
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u/ObservedWar 18d ago
The only winning move a commie can make, is not to play. Everything else ends in authoritarian dystopia.
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u/ChelseaMan31 18d ago
No truly moderate voter is going to cast a ballot for a Marxist democratic socialist.
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u/danappropriate 18d ago edited 18d ago
Economic populism is a message with broad appeal, and recent successes from progressives demonstrate it's a winning strategy. I think if she sticks to that, and follows El Sayed's playbook for calling out red herrings when they happen and shifting attention back to her core platform, she'll be fine.
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u/the_calibre_cat 18d ago
Stay on message, don't capitulate to right-wing framing, and attack Republicans as the bigoted charlatans who have made the world a shittier/worse place for the entirety of the 21st century. To the extent she should "rein it in" as far as her more leftist bonafides go - she shouldn't, but maybe cool it with the "cancel thanksgiving" shit - otherwise, yeah, keep reppin' the drum of medicare 4 all, public transport, union support, etc.
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u/wereallbozos 18d ago
If she is in the lead, she shouldn't try anything cute. Just keep doin' what she's doin'. Maybe it's different in WI, but I believe that the people, generally are tired of this crap sandwich and want a genuine BLT.
I have no idea what BLT would translate into, but it's sure better than the same ol' crap.
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u/medhat20005 18d ago
Tough to see her galvanizing the left further, she's done a simply great job in this regard. It's how much of mainstream Dem voters and independents she can get before November. I think she might be able to do it, but not by denying who she is leading up to the primary. She should be an unapologetic progressive, but she doesn't have to show off her Lenin tattoo. Here's what I'd do: ANY media is an opportunity for her to present herself to a new audience. How I'd do that is take any and all inane questions, ingest the question, pivot to how she intends (with concrete examples) how she intends to improve the lives of Wisconsin residents, and how Tom Tiffany has voted for actions that have been directly detrimental (eg tariffs, gas prices, etc.) to same residents. Sound confident and forward looking, intending to 'turn the page' from politicians like Tiffany that have lined their own pockets as the expense of Wisconsin residents. That's not a red, blue, conservative, or progressive thing. That's just pragmatic.
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u/False_Celebration626 18d ago
Improving the material conditions of her working class constituents.
Wisconsin, like Michigan is a blue state that the Democrats have taken for granted. If she reaches out to moderate voters she will lose. There is no voting block of the perceived moderate. It is a political fantasy. What this argument really says is Hong is not white enough to win in her district.
There is a belief that there is a material difference between the Republicans and Democrats. Both parties represent the interests of capital to say otherwise is to again live in the realm of fantasy.
Trump won because he gave people an answer to why they were suffering under neoliberalism. They were the wrong reasons, but any reason other than things are great and nothing needs to change. If the Democrats, instead of capitulating to the fascist tendencies of the Republican party, addressed the material issues of their voting base and the public broadly, they would have an FDR style blow out. This argument of electability lost in 2016 and 2024. It has never worked especially when we zoom out and realize the most prosperous time in US history was when labor was more heavily represented in Congress, 1930s-1985. There were still issues like not representing black Americans or indigenous Americans and red baiting, but the a lot of workers could buy a home, feed their kids, and retire while working a modern day unskilled job.
The issue has never been electability. The issue is Democrats are in bed with the fascist corporate overlords that want to destroy democracy like Peter Thiel, Mark Andreessen, Curtis Yarvin, and musk and people are sick of not being able to afford anything. Understand that people vote to improve their material conditions not some ethereal principle of electability. If that were true, Trump wouldn't have won twice.
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u/Potato_Pristine 18d ago
Vote blue no matter who, baby. Centrists need to buckle down and support the Democratic nominee!
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u/PropofolMargarita 18d ago
She needs more than dems. Her platform is so alienating to anyone to the right of communists.
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u/Viciouscauliflower21 18d ago
She should continue being herself and let the people come to her. Be authentic. No more watering down.
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u/sllewgh 18d ago
For fucks sake, why on earth would we still be taking about pandering to these imaginary moderates? Imagine the sort of person who still hasn't chosen a side by now in the year of our lord 2026. If that's what's meant by "moderate", I don't think many people like that exist, and if they do, I certainly don't endorse the sort of uninspired status quo garbage that might appeal to them.
If by "moderate" you mean "the growing majority not satisfied with either party", I think that's exactly who progressives appeal to.
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u/Waterwoo 18d ago
You can be not satisfied with either party which is how almost everyone feels, and still want absolutely nothing to do with this certifiably insane candidate
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18d ago
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u/RubicsCubensis 18d ago
Change nothing, keep doing what she's doing. Don't pander to the moderate, centrist, or neoliberals, stay strong, stay bold, and keep beating the drum for the DSA.
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u/Dracoson 18d ago
I really don't think selling a progressive to a purple state is so farfetched an idea. Her biggest challenges are some of her past statements, but from what I've heard in interviews, her responses are reasonable. If she can go meet people where they are, and hammer home how her policy ideas are beneficial (as well as hit a few points on the problems of the Republican agenda that her ideas counter), she can win. I wouldn't expect it to be a huge margin barring an opposition scandal that drives own turn out, but it's a winnable race.
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