Democrats embracing Tea Party tactics? That won't work without a new ideology

[portlander23]

Democrats embracing Tea Party tactics? That won't work without a new ideology
Jamie Peck
The Guardian

Operating on a local level, acting defensively and waging constituent phone call campaigns are all ideas that can easily be appropriated. Considering the razor-thin margins by which Republicans won in many states, it should not be hard to frighten Republican representatives with the prospect of getting voted out.

Activists can also empower (or pressure, as the case may be) Democratic lawmakers to stand up for progressive principles, and this means tugging the political spectrum back to the left. Republicans have long known it’s foolish to start negotiations in the middle. They stake out extreme positions – a six-week abortion ban, a complete gutting of the Office of Congressional Ethics – so they can bargain down to what they actually want – a 20-week abortion ban, a “bipartisan” gutting of the OCE.

While some Democrats ( Elizabeth Warren and the logical left-Tea Party choice for DNC chair, Keith Ellison) are already reasonably progressive and more can potentially be dragged left by political expediency, many are simply too committed to neoliberal ideology and/or beholden to monied interests to be rehabilitated. Which means some pink-slipping and primary-challenging is in order.

Black Lives Matter, Fight For $15 and Bernie Sanders’ remarkable campaign are all examples of regular people coming together to effect change that put the Tea Party’s “grassroots” theatrics to shame.

[Dustlawyer]

1. +1!!! THIS

Non more corporate Democrats! We have to get rid of campaign contributions and the rest of the ways the corporations/plutocrats control our representatives. If we can acheive that, most f our problems will be much easier to solve!

[Wellstone ruled]

2. These are not really Tea Bag ideas.

Organizing Grass Roots is a Progressive old time Democrats idea. Happened in the Thirties and Forties. And to a small extent in the Early Fifties until Nixon and McCarthy sent the FBI after many of the organizers. There are some of us that remember the Fifties and Nixon and how he went after the Diary Farmers and the NFO. Still carry scare on my scalp. The Name Calling and threats were ugly. But,hey I am more than ready for a new challenge.

[coco22]

3. Teabaggers are copying Democrats ideas only..

they do it STUPIDLY and only protest because the hate.

[annabanana]

4. go look at "Indivisible".. The tactics work regardless of ideology

It was highlighted on Rachel's show last night. Written by Congressional Interns about what really works when contacting Reps & Senators

https://www.indivisibleguide.com/

[Wounded Bear]

5. No argument here...

just one point, though. The Repubs still have the media advantage. One big reason that the Tea Party worked was it had a free megaphone on Fox News, who gratuitously posted "news" clips on every TP event in every podunk small town anywhere on national TV. Much like Trump's free media coverage in the last election cycle, that free coverage can have a big effect.

That part of the strategy will be tougher. But using social media can possibly offset that. Idivisible is a good example of this. The coming women's marches also.

To fight back effectively, we need to get an upswelling at the grass roots level.

[Wounded Bear]

6. Just got a little tied up in a discussion....

in this thread. The gist of it being that CBS shouldn't compare Trumps tweeting with FDR's fireside chats.

The main point of the complaint was about the content. My argument was that the important thing is the tactics and the art of using technology to our advantage. Back then it was radio. Now it is the internet, and we got jobbed by internet fake news and twitter attacks and we need to learn to counter those tactics if we hope to get our country back. (Yes, I went there