we need a democratic tea part movement

[rdking647]

back in 2010 a GOP uprising by a base that felt ignored ignited the tea party and got rid of a lot of GOP members who they felt were what they called RINOS.

maybe we need a democratic tea party to replace some of the current entrenched leadership with a younger group who will listen to the base instead of ignoring it

[AlexSFCA]

1. and look where it got them; it led them to trump

[rdking647]

15. their base loves trump

our base is split in 2. we have the traditional dems and the sanders dems.

the traditional dem approach isnt working,maybe its time to let teh sanders wing have a go at it.

[George II]

21. There are no "wings" of the Democratic Party.

[DURHAM D]

28. lol

Apparently poster doesn't know that BS is not a member of the Democratic Party. Much like Nina Turner and Linda Sarsour.

[ehrnst]

60. It's a political party, not a panty liner. (nt)

[Act_of_Reparation]

67. LOL

If you say so.

[Puzzledtraveller]

96. yep

we have wings like a condor.

[ehrnst]

59. You say it isn't working, but you never give concrete examples of that.

The ACA, keeping Planned Parenthood funded, CHIP - these are all actual legislative successes in affordable health care.

Not to mention:

• Funding for Science, Medical and Engineering Research, Space Exploration, NSF, NIH
• Support for Public Education, Head Start, School Lunch and Breakfast Programs
• Consumer protection bureau
• Protection of Overtime, Unemployment benefits
• Protection for the Environment, Increased Numbers and Support of National Parks and Wilderness Areas, Endangered Species Act, FEMA
• Vehicles Safety Requirements, Reduced Emissions, and Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE)
• Protecting the Federal Loan Program, PBS, NPR, the Internet
• Economic Growth (Democratic Presidents: Roosevelt through Obama)

These were acheived by Democrats, not independents. Perhaps you are unclear on the difference in scope and number of the accomplishments of Democrats, with those of others not in the Democratic party.

I hope that clarifies things for you. You're welcome.

Your turn: explain to us why those things are failures.

[Wwcd]

131. Thank You. Still waiting for those reasons why...

They never answer that question do they.

[fallout87]

48. And controlling all 3 branches of government, plus most statehouses and governorships.

[ehrnst]

62. It wasn't their philosophy that got them that

There was also gerrymandering that helped, but they weren't afraid to actually roll up their sleeves and do the boring, tedious work of actual politics.

They ran for school boards, county councils, statehouses - and they got policy changed from the ground up. They established a record of accomplishment and ran on it.

They didn't avoid soiling themselves with "politics as usual" and "establishment leadership" by staying away from the voting booth unless there was a candidate that totes made them feel "validated" with their "new blood."

They got out the vote, they did the unglamourous WORK that didn't get them attention on social media. They didn't bitch and moan that "unaffiliated" voters weren't a part of party decisionmaking, they voted in primaries, even if that meant they needed to register with a party by a certain deadline in order to do so.

It's said that Democrats have to fall in love, while Republicans fall in line.

There is something to be said for having people willing to do the grunt work of building a party infrastructure even when you aren't starry eyed in love with that party or the candidates that are running. The Tea Party on the right definitely had that going for them.

I really don't see that happening in a "tea Part" on the left.

I do see it happening with women in the Party - getting out there and running themselves, even though there are those politicians who imply that Democratic gals don't really understand what they are doing, by 'splaining them "It's not enough to vote for a candidate because she's a woman," as if that's a problem.

Indivisible is attempting to apply the effective parts of what the Tea Party did to defeating them. The vast majority of people I see working in Indivisible are women who believe that the Democratic party isn't the problem - but laziness and pointless sniping might be.

Certainly it's easier to whine and complain about Democrats and demand that they change (but def leave that infrastructure in place that makes it possible for people to run for national office) than getting in there at the actual grassroots level and working for that change.

Link to tweet

[hueymahl]

79. A lot of what you say is true

Doesn't matter. They did and do what it takes to win. We sit around and bitch and moan about how unfair it all is (which is basically your last point, but with a different interpretation) and hope for the miracle of demographics to "finally" turn the country blue.

[ehrnst]

97. I'm saying that I'm not sitting around bitching and moaning

but many who think that we need a "tea part" don't seem to get that it takes more than that to make change, and it's way bigger than one candidate.

[hueymahl]

109. Agreed - no one candidate can do it

There was a movie that had this exact premise "Waiting for Superman" as it applied to the problem of poverty and other social ills.

No one person from outside the party is going swoop in and make everything better. It is going to take a movement from inside and outside the party to say enough is enough. We can't continue the way we have and expect success. The Tea Party was just that kind of movement with a healthy dose of racism and xenophobia mixed in for good measure.

I think we can do the same on our side - fight for our core principles unabashedly without all of the political triangulation that our current leaders rely so much on. Energize the grass roots. Make sure that EVERYONE knows what Democrats stand for and not be afraid to back down because some of the "moderates" think it is too severe or might cost us votes in Kansas.

[ehrnst]

111. Which current leaders are you speaking of? (nt)

[treestar]

124. [phone]

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. Half of them would end up losing guaranteeing the GOP would not just retain power but for decades

Recommending this NOW, is absolute SUICIDE

[crazycatlady]

3. While I'm no purity person

We do have a younger bench coming up. Check out the ages of some of the winners in state legislative seats and local/county seats in the 2017 elections.

If you want to focus on building a younger bench, check out Run for Something, who's mission is to build a bench of progressive millennials in local offices.

[Caliman73]

83. Well Said!

The idea of a Tea Party is understandable in a conservative movement. They have a central theme of preserving some kind of nostalgic "golden time" where things were better. They are always looking for an authority that will make that so, that will make things make sense again. They will never find it because it never existed. It was always a product of being a child, being naive, and seeing the world in binary terms like an immature person does.

To Liberals/Progressives, there is no such thing as Purity anyway. Liberals/Progressives are by nature always challenging, always changing, and changing at different paces. We seek to grow and create a better society. This is something that we need to remind ourselves BETTER NOT PERFECT. There is no perfect and will never be one. There will always be tension within our party from people who "have it figured out" and others who want to "wait and see".

As you said crazycatlady, the younger, more active people who want to engage in public service are already starting to break into politics. All are welcome to put their names into the hat and run for office to make the change they want to make.

Just know that we seek to improve, not to perfect.

[ProudLib72]

4. We have one. It's called "Our Revolution"

And if you don't worship at the alter of Nina Turner, you can't be a member.

[Tarheel_Dem]

7. +1. And if you do worship at the altar of Nina Turner, your chances of actually being elected....

plummet significantly. Let's be honest, she's seen as "fringey", and she has no love for the Democratic party.

[ehrnst]

9. +1000.

[brush]

80. Wish they would start their own party already instead of trying to usurp ours that's put...

in all the grunge, organizing work for decades and contributed multiple successes and social safety net programs over the years for the 99%—and without cheating and vote suppressing and election tampering and allying with Putin and Assange and winning from idiot Comey's letter.

Turner and other Sanders defectors, please, please, please start your own party and please, please, please have open primaries so repugs can vote in them and disrupt your primary results too.

[ProudLib72]

87. And when someone who has not registered as a Dem or voted for Dems

comes along to run on our ticket in the primaries, screw them! I'm sorry, but that was a mistake that keeps on hurting us.

[brush]

91. Yes, yes, yes.

[Joediss]

107. Agree

I vote for Sander in the primary, but on looking back, he really ought to declare himself a democratic , in order to run in a democratic primary... It makes it easy for Sander to trash the democratic because their not perfect..and I see him do it from time to time.

[Kentonio]

140. This is ridiculous.

You honestly want half the party to split off? Handing the GOP power for decades to come? Does that really sound like a smart idea to you?

[brush]

143. What half the party are you talking about? Our Revolution and the rest of that ilk are not...

half the party.

Mathematically challenged are you?

I said Sanders defectors along with Greens and others, not Sanders supporters (who I presume are Democrats).

I doubt they'll take my advice to start their own party anyway though once they find out how much work is involved.

[ehrnst]

144. But that is soooooooo much harder!!!!

One purpose of National Committees of political parties is that they create the fundraising and organizational infrastructure that supports candidates, and keep it in place so it doesn't need to be rebuilt every four years. That doesn't seem to be common knowledge, unfortunately.

In return, candidates are expected to abide by the party platform, and put back into the party some funding and resources like email lists. But as we have seen, there are those who flout protocol and expectations for their political benefit.

It's not "corrupt" to assume that the candidates who have put time and energy into the party be the beneficiaries of that readymade electoral infrastructure and fundraising efforts. It's logical.

No one can just wake up one day and decide to run for president and acheive it without the support of a major party - you would have to reinvent the wheel that the major parties already in place.

To spit in the face of a party, as you have your hand out to them for the all of the machinery and money needed to run for office, is certainly easier than doing the work yourself, or putting one's hand out to a smaller, less capable party organization.

I find it amazing that the Democratic party allows long time career politicians who have never registered as a Democrat to step right up and get in line for the benefits of years of work and fundraising.

The fact that they have not made it a rule that one needs to have been a Democrat for a certain number of years, and showing a support for the platform, to qualify for all the Democratic money, resources and infrastructure necessary to run for office is amazing to me. And to be expected to risk a nomination on someone who has not been transparent with their financials is something that has been unprecedented in decades from either party.

I think that having run for office as a Democrat, to show that they will abide by the platform should be made a rule before the 2020 race, along with requiring the release of ones financials for at least the previous 10 years.

We certainly don't want our own version of the current POTUS running on a Democratic presidential ticket.

[Tarheel_Dem]

5. I get so tired of coming here and reading divisive shit like this. I don't want to become the GOP

and I don't want to adopt their tactics. The result is a neverending stalemate that profits nobody, except those who continually try to divide Democrats, and by extension, the country.

Why don't the Greens & other malcontents strategize elsewhere, and leave us the f**k alone?

[Greywing]

101. Thank you for this Tarheel ... I feel the same way n/t

[brush]

110. Agreed. Let them start their own party and stay out of ours.

[Me.]

118. Amen

[happy feet]

132. I agree

Prefer discussions about possibilities than what should have/would have.

[Wwcd]

133. + a million. They keep threatening to take their ball and go home & then we'll be sorry..

Please Go Already!
The Democratic Party has bigger balls than anything I saw from the tea party wannabes.

We watched the shite go down & when it came time to go to the polls & vote, they couldn't even organize to showed up.

Dems are the strength of American free society. We will do just fine on our own.

[JNelson6563]

6. We have one but they hate Dems, not GOP

Sad.

[DURHAM D]

30. I just call them the Chaos Agents.

The agents on the right and on the left are butt buddies and they are all paid in rubles.

[ehrnst]

8. So how has the leadership "ignored" the base?

Can you give some examples?

[NurseJackie]

17. I don't think this person knows what "the base" actually is. I can assure you...

... that "the base" is NOT the same thing as "the fringe" or "the far-far left". Obviously that's what the OP is referring to with the "Tea Party" comparison or equivalency.

Based on my observations, that extreme wing of the left (typically this includes people like Sarandon and Stein) sadly have exhibited a tendency to have unrealistic expectations and to make unrealistic demands, and they have demonstrated an unwillingness to compromise and/or negotiate (similar to the Tea Party).

[Cary]

26. Malcontents

[brush]

92. Yes, you nailed it.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. There are many groups including "Indivisible"

that are organizing nationwide and teaching people about politics and how to run for office. Eventually there will be a turnover of elected officials as time moves on and newer, more engaged folks run for office.

[KPN]

82. Best reply yet.

I understand the sentiment in the OP, but we really don't need the GOP Tea Party experience. We can do better than that -- by far. And that does mean new blood, fresh faces and minds, and probably a different outlook on "rules of engagement" and decorum generally.

[BumRushDaShow]

95. The "tea party" was an up front Koch-funded entity

that has of course, strayed away from their purported original focus, to now include all the RW christo-fascist, anti-everything but themselves "Freedom Caucus". They were also enabled by clever GOP maneuvering that allowed them to take over state governments at all levels, leading up to and during a census year, meaning they could then redraw the lines in their own favor. That further boosted their power beyond any statistical meaning with respect to actual party affiliation in a locality. They then promptly began to enact ALEC-manufactured legislation to further tighten their grip on our states, forcing us to spend more time in the courts to save the electorate from truly dystopian laws, than have time properly organizing that electorate to engage in the process and run for office.

This time we are (hopefully) getting ourselves ready for the 2020 census and that means taking back our states and getting people trained and ready to run for office.

What we are seeing is a hyper-local, grassroots effort, but one that recognizes certain values shared by most if not all Democrats.

[ehrnst]

142. What "rules of engagement" are you talking about? (nt)

[jalan48]

11. I think it's going to happen. We're at a "What do we have to lose?" moment.

[Demsrule86]

12. We have the resistance...working pretty good.

[ehrnst]

13. Not all entrenched leaders are Dem

Some are Independents.

And by the "base" you mean Black women, right?

If you are unaware of that, you might feel more at home on JackPine Radicals.

[Cha]

16. That's right.. African American Women

are the Democratic Base. They get out and VOTE.. they're our highest number of Voters.

[Eliot Rosewater]

27. This will be news to many. Shouldnt be but will be.

[Cha]

32. Yeah, even

Joy said "The Democratic Base is furious".. but I don't think it's the Democratic Base that is furious.

I know I and everyone I see here, whom I respect, is not furious. We are a big part of the Democratic base, too.

Link to tweet

[DURHAM D]

31. This

^^^

[Cha]

33. So true

[brush]

94. Absolutely. And don't forget AA men, we're right there a couple of % points behind our women...

in voting Democratic. No other demographic group is even close.

[Cha]

99. Thank you for pointing that out, brush!

Of course!

[brush]

100. Hey, Cha. You've been gone for while. Glad to see you back.

[Cha]

102. Just 5 months..

Mahalo, brush!

[treestar]

126. [phone]

[Cha]

130. Cheers to that!

treestar! And, as brush pointed out.. African America Men are right behind them.

[NurseJackie]

19. When my boys would have tantrums, I'd ignore them.

And when they realized they were being ignored, they checked their behavior. Sometimes the demand remained the same, and the angry demanding tone and whining ended... other times, they were willing to negotiate and make concessions. I think it's fair to say that sometimes they dynamics of politics is similar to what happens in real life families and that a lot can be learned in that.

[ehrnst]

61. Word.

[Tarheel_Dem]

22. +1000

[rdking647]

14. our congressionbal leadership has been in power for 30-40 years

and in that time we've managed to become an out of power party unable to do much of anything but talk.

its time for new blood.

[Tarheel_Dem]

23. I love that our leadership has been in power for 30-40 years. It means they know what....

governance is supposed to look like.

[Eliot Rosewater]

29. Well, new blood means losing seats for sure, why do you want that?

[brush]

103. Ranking membership experience for sure.

[shenmue]

35. They're the only thing keeping us from annihilation

[Kirk Lover]

38. We need the 'old guard' and new blood...we need both. But it really bothers me when people just

want to toss out people with years of experience....experience that matters.

[ehrnst]

57. Perhaps you missed the ACA, marriage equality, keeping Planned Parenthood funded

among other things.

But white male privilege allows one to turn a blind eye to all injustice that doesn't involve their paycheck, doesn't it?

I assume you are among those who think Pelosi is a liability? You must think that the GOP wants her replaced so badly because she's ineffective at her job.

I think that this "tea part" you pine for is very white, very male, and under 40 years old.

Am I right?

[LanternWaste]

70. New blood is vague enough, meaningless enough

New blood is vague and meaningless. Though I can certainly understand why you speak in generalities rather than solutions... it makes a trendy and colorful t-shirt the kids will think is clever while they're taking another Tide pod challenge.

[ehrnst]

73. Hello? are you going to answer these questions?

You don't make the case for your judgment on the issue if you can't even answer a few questions....

[KPN]

84. I agree -- but we don't want the GOP Tea Party dynamic.

We are better and can do better than that.

[pnwmom]

136. That kind of thinking is why we lost power. You must not have been around

when the Term Limits fervor swept the country, and swept the Democrats out of power. We lost some wonderful people in my state.

No, thanks!

[Aristus]

18. You're not going to get me to wear one of those cockamaimie teabag hats.

n/t

[crazycatlady]

71. our hats are pink with cat ears

And IMO much more attractive

[Aristus]

72. I agree.

[Gothmog]

20. What do you think the Resistance is?

Link to tweet

[ehrnst]

58. Silly - those are women.

We can't have women leading the party, can we? At least as far as the OP and the GOP are concerned.

I'm betting "new blood" refers to replacing Pelosi.

[Gothmog]

63. Silly me

Only certain forms os resistance counts

[ehrnst]

64. True.

You can't have MOM in the resistance with you and feel like you're in charge...

[Gothmog]

113. Only white males count evidently

[rdking647]

93. i love how some people jump to that conclusion

and yes im in favor of replacing pelosi. and schumer...

i dont care if our leaderd are white,black,yellow,men,women,trans or whatever..

I just want them to actually get things done..

[ornotna]

24. Because that worked out so well for the Republican party.

I'll pass.

[mcar]

25. Millions of women, and men who support them, marched again

This movement is way bigger than the Tea Party.

[ehrnst]

65. Tsk, tsk - there you go with "identity politics"

If it's women in charge, then it's not a "universal" movement.

Just like if it's not an issue that directly affects white straight men, it's not a "universal issue."

We all know what defines "universal" issues and movements, don't we?

[mcar]

68. Well shame on me!

[Beantighe]

34. Seriously?

Just what we need - a Ted Cruz or Sarah Palin we can call our own. I'm not sure who you think the Democratic base is, but I have a feeling it isn't who you think it is.

[HopeAgain]

36. Tea Party grew into Trumpism

Has divided the GOP and may eventually destroy it.

Just saying...

[marylandblue]

37. We have our tea party movement, and it's been successful so far

With groups like Indivisible, Swing Left and Women's March, Democrats are energized like never before, new people are running for office, and Democrats candidates overperformed in 2017 and so far in 2018.

The Tea Party wasn't just about primarying Republicans, it was about getting Republicans elected period, and it got huge results in 2010.

[The_Casual_Observer]

39. It's called The DSA

[Mister Ed]

40. Fight crazy with crazy?

I got no use for crazy.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

41. Don't think so

I'm all for activism but the "my way or the highway" mindset of the tea baggers has not helped this country.

[hunter]

42. "Tea Party" is so fucking boring. I say more FABULOUS!

Klingon included.

Honor is celebrated.

Everything about the modern Republican party stinks of dishonor.

Even the Ferengi shun them. They make the Cardassians look reasonable.

These modern Republicans are sadder souls than the Pakled.

Deplorable.

[rogue emissary]

46. +1

Damn, I love DU.

[ProfessorGAC]

90. And Getting "Borgier" Every Day

Sorry, i had to make up that adjective, but you get my point. Hive mind. They problem is that the collective has an IQ of 50.

[Willie Pep]

43. The GOP also lost seats that they should have won by running nuts like Richard Mourdock.

The extreme Tea Party types are actually hurting the GOP in the long. Look at what happened recently in Alabama. A more moderate Republican might have beaten Doug Jones but instead the extremists in the GOP wanted Roy Moore and he won the primary but lost the general election.

We can't risk losing seats by going after moderate Democrats especially when they are good fits for their districts/states. In some deep blue areas it might be worth trying to get a more liberal Democrat elected but in some states/districts we can't risk that.

[Oneironaut]

44. I would not wish for such a thing. The tea party is a collection of ignorant rubes and nationalists.

It's the very definition of governing by emotions, populism, and tribal identity vs. common sense and a long term mission.

[rdking647]

45. and yet they control the house senate and oval office

they may be ignorant rubes but they are ignorant rubes in power while the dems are left twisting in the wind

[LanternWaste]

66. Post hoc ergo prompter hoc...

Post hoc ergo prompter hoc. It's irrational to reach a conclusion predicated on a logical fallacy.

[awesomerwb1]

47. NO. We stay united right now more than ever.

We take the country back first.

[Wounded Bear]

49. Look around...it's already happening...

but the good news is, it is real grass roots, not astroturf like the Fux Noise pumped up Trumpery that ended in Trump.

The women marching out there don't need no fancy bumper sticker label to hang on.

Oh, and their hats are miles better.

[KPN]

86. Yes!

[ehrnst]

128. But women? Isn't that just "identity politics?"

Unless it directly affects straight white men, it's not "universal."

And we're prone to "voting for someone because she's a woman" if we aren't scolded and splained to about not to do that!!

[Wounded Bear]

137. Not sure where you're going with that, but I'll explain my situation....

1. I'm a white man.

2. My Rep is a white Democratic man. I'm reasonably happy with him.

3. He is apparently being primaried by a woman. I think she's from the hard left militant faction that I'm a little leery of.

4. I will give her a look this primary season if she runs. I won't give her a pass "because she's a woman."

5. Ultimately, I will vote for whatever Dem the people in my district vote into the general election.

[ehrnst]

138. I was being ironic.

And I don't know of anyone who gives a candidate "a pass because she's a woman."

If that was the case, people I know would have supported Fiorina, Bachmann and Palin, and they didn't.

[Wounded Bear]

139. Fair enough...

I guess we don't have an irony emoji here.

[k2qb3]

50. The Tea Party had three distinct phases...

The first phase was the libertarians and other insurgent forces protesting the 2008 primary and the direction the party was moving.

The second phase was the fiscal/economic/business conservatives jumping on the libertarian small government/less taxes train and making a single issue stand against tax increases.

The third phase was when the conservative media, social conservatives, and every sort of right wing whackjob saw a vehicle they could use to push their agenda and all piled in and created a wave that swept the midterms.

It was only the third-wave, FOXnews crowd that got what they wanted, which was more or less what the first wave was protesting against.

Sean Hannity actually got booed off a stage at an early Tea Party rally, a year later he was headlining them.

[stonecutter357]

51. Bullshit like this is what gave us TRUMP.....

[JI7]

52. LOLOL, the ones Calling for Democratic TEa Party ended up Supporting Trump

FUCK THAT SHIT.

[DetlefK]

53. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. F**k No.

The Tea Party is slowly killing the GOP, driving away mainstream Republicans and replacing them with fringe extremists.

Do you want a Democratic Party run by fringe extremists?

[beachbum bob]

54. Won't work as it come off as socialists and middle america would reject it, the problem democrats

go back to voters who don't vote or want some type of litmus test met and if not they won't vote either. A minority of angry white people took over our country starting at the state level and funded by the Koch brothers, until democrats take back state legislatures and governorships, its an uphill battle

[Vinca]

55. Not unless you want a permanent Republican majority and another fool in the Oval.

If Democrats don't vote as a block, we get what we've got now. As a far lefty, I support far lefties in the primary, but in the general I always vote for the Democrat. But we really don't want to rehash the 2016 election again . . .

[TheBlackAdder]

56. Who will be our Koch/Philip Morris funders of this sham to destroy Democracy by attracting sheeple?

[MineralMan]

69. No. We don't.

You should, perhaps, think a little longer about this.

[mvd]

74. We already have grassroot movements

I am a member of Our Revolution and also get e-mails from ActBlue and MoveOn. Grassroot movements to get more progressives in are better than a corporate approved Tea Party that tears down anyone with one belief they don't like. Ideas on the "far" left are great - attitude sometimes isn't. Some on the left would call ME a Third Wayer, which is ridiculous.

[KPN]

88. Excellent points and the right way to respond to the sentiments expressed in this OP.

I'm guessing rdking647's sentiments as expressed were well intended.

[kcr]

75. I don't want politicians who are only interested in grandstanding to a reactionary "base"

who don't understand how our political system works. That is the last thing we need. We can see how well they're working out on the GOP side.

[EllieBC]

76. Can't get everyone on the same page.

This is a longtime problem. Ever been to a rally and seen signs for 90 things not related to the rally? We are like herding cats. And then like cats when half of us don't get our way we sit home and mope.

So good luck coming up with a platform everyone can agree on for longer than 10 seconds.

[Anny61]

77. I get there is a faction that wants that. Look at the mess and destruction of the Republican Party.

No thank you.

[BlueTsunami2018]

78. We had one called Occupy. They were too good for politics.

Instead of using the momentum to run OWS candidates at every level in the Democratic Party, they instead embraced ridiculous and impossible ideas like eliminating capitalism and moving to a barter system. And somehow doing this without using the apparatus in place. If we had built the grassroots that were there and used them to work the system from within, who knows how big and how far we’d have gotten? We’d have been five years into it already.

Instead the baggers have a ton of elected officials destroying the country and the left is still impotently shaking their fists in rage as it happens. OWS had real potential as evidenced by Bernie Sanders’ huge popularity among the working class in 2016, it would have worked if anyone would have had the sense to use the system to change it.

It still infuriates me how pigheaded those people were.

[Squinch]

81. Ugh.

[Blue_true]

85. We need better messaging.

I listened to NPR last night. An analyst broke down poll data. When voters were asked whether Congress should be led by Democrats or republicans, Democrats won by 5%. When people who were very likely to vote or absolutely will vote, Democrats won by 15%. That says our policy is about right, we just need to message better. Recent election results indicate that the general public is starting to view Democrats as the sane and safe choice to lead the country.

Trump is going to be Trump. I don't think that he has much more than a propensity to screw up. Once the stock market turns south and jobs continue to drop, Trump becomes a pure hazard for republicans. There are 10 months to the election, things can change and often do, one thing that I see coming is Obama's economy weakening, because republicans have done nothing to maintain it.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

89. YES AND NO - yes, the passion and drive has to come from "we the people" pushing our reps to do

what we want them to do. Too many people think that all they have to do is vote for someone and then they can sit back and expect that he/she is gonna do what we want them to. And then like us complaining on the internets is going to do much of anything? Uh, no it doesnt work that way.

But on the other hand - no, I would not use the TP's as anything to aspire to - we have our own labor movement-civil rights history to drawn upon.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

98. No thanks

The "Tea Party" has not been a good thing for the Republican Party. Oh, sure, it won them seats and helped them "re-brand" their party after the Bush II fiasco but as the last 7-8 years have demonstrated, it's made the Republicans in Congress a jumbled, hot mess when it comes to governance and turned the Republican Party into a hotbed of extremists and malcontents whom would gladly burn it all down if they could. Don't want THAT to happen to our party.

[FSogol]

108. What time does the library close?

[nocalflea]

105. In other words the center can go get effed. Compromise is bad ?

Democracy demands compromise.

Yeah , when is the last time the Tea Partiers actually made a meaningful contribution to society. They obstruct. That's all they know.

[DinahMoeHum]

106. DUDE/ETTE, WE'VE GOT ONE. IT'S CALLED "INDIVISIBLE"

And it was conceived last year.

https://www.indivisible.org/

The founders looked at what the Tea Party people did over the years and came up with
this counter-move. They figured; if the TP people can do this, so can the progressives/the left.

Go to the site, then find a local Indivisible group in your area.

Good luck and good hunting.

[Gothmog]

112. I am still curious as to why the Resistance is not sufficient?

Link to tweet

[ehrnst]

117. Hope you like pizza. (nt)

[Me.]

119. Oh Seriously....This?

You come here with trash...forgetting, of course, that HRC had million more votes than both those men.

[ehrnst]

120. That whole "clear majority of voters" thing is just so overrated, isn't it?

Just ask Trump supporters, they'll tell you.

[Me.]

121. Not When They Have Such A Poorly Thought Out Agenda

what's the point anyway...not going to change any minds here with their cult talk

[ehrnst]

123. Yes, it's not like faux progressives can fool actual progressives

who understand the difference between yelling, ranting and finger pointing and actual legislative and policy accomplishments, as we have seen demonstrated so clearly.

[Me.]

125. Aren't They Clever?

Must've gone to the James O'keefe School Of Deception

[ehrnst]

127. Moles tend to shrink in fear from the light

of actual fact checking, don't they?

[Me.]

134. ...

[ehrnst]

122. Well, if their challengers could get a majority of actual votes for themselves

then they might actually have a chance.

Until then, not so much.

[L. Coyote]

115. Under which rock have you been hiding?

[ehrnst]

116. Likely the same one that rdking647 has returned to

Last edited Tue Jan 23, 2018, 08:57 PM - Edit history (2)

to avoid actually answering the questions that have been asked.

No surprise.

Sock puppets don't generally last more than a few times through the wash.

[Wwcd]

129. Replace who? Cripe, Tea Party was formed & funded by the Kochs, to destroy democracy

..and bring back the loathsome John Birch Society.

A third party, formed in the same fashion as the Tea Party, was the original basis for the divide we witnessed in 2016.
It was pushed very early on as the primary began.

The result was a disasterous split with the help of "any one but a Democrat" call to organize.
The rest is the situation that gave Trump.

What a stupid thing to try to do.
It gave America nothing.
It never will. Because the Dem Party base is too diverse to split for a total coup against it.

How about trying Unity to unseat every Repub, rather than divide the strongest hope for this Nation.

The Tea Party & Libertarians are both Koch funded btw

[pnwmom]

135. We basically have one -- the Greens. n/t

[ehrnst]

141. The Green Tea Party! (nt)