12 ms·

> neither political party addressing them This bothsaming is a stretch. The Democratic national platform is all about increased support for the poor and middl

> neither political party addressing them This bothsaming is a stretch. The Democratic national platform is all about increased support for the poor and middle class, the more radical wing of the party is pushing for dramatic and fundamental restructuring of much of the national economy and welfare system as part of combating climate change, and their current Presidential slate includes several avowed anti-war anti-corporate-hegemony candidates. Even judging purely by recent history, while Obama was kind of underwhelming in many ways, he still got the ACA pushed through, which has dramatically improved the lives of many people previously left to suffer and die because of 'preexisting conditions'.

AnimalMuppet 7y ago
> The Democratic national platform is all about increased support for the poor and middle class The "basket of deplorables"? The Democrats talk about caring about them (sometimes - Hillary seems to have forgotten that part when she was running), but the contempt shows through. Actually caring about them instead of paying lip service might take the Democrats a long way. Listening to them wouldn't hurt, either.
- orf 7y ago
  Some of Trump’s supporters are completely deplorable. Those where poorly chosen words spoken at the wrong time, but that doesn’t make them incorrect. “The Republican Party: not racist, just #1 with racists”
  - chrisco255 7y ago
    Identity politic race baiting is a great strategy for avoiding ideological discussion about ideas to govern society. This is just inflammatory garbage that serves no constructive purpose whatsoever. And so far as the article mentions the so-called Southern strategy, it's completely bogus and there are plenty of counter points about the "parties flipping" due to the Voting Rights Act. Senator Byrd, of West Virginia, a former KKK member and a Democrat, remained in power until he died in 2010. Al Gore is from Tennessee and carried the state for Clinton, of Arkansas, also blue at the time, in the 90s. If you actually look at the Presidential elections and Congressional and Senate races, and local legislatures the shift from the solid South as a shoo in for Democrats didn't occur until the 90s. Reagan, of California, was almost universally popular and won 49 of 50 states in his second run. Reagan did more than anyone in the 20th century to shift the country to the right. Yes, the Californian Hollywood actor. The voting rights act "flip" is a myth. The truth is that Democrats stopped focusing on working class people as a voting block, which used to form their base. They lost the blue collar working class and then retroactively blamed the voting rights act, which is complete BS because no one since the 70s in either party has ever run and won on a platform of repealing the VRA.
anarchodev 7y ago
It's not a stretch. Look at the main contention within the party right now -- every candidate except one is pushing to prop up a for-profit healthcare system. The idea of the ACA was okay, but ultimately it left in place the systems which were the real problem, and unsurprisingly it's gotten worse since then. > Obama was kind of underwhelming That's a stretch! His healthcare plan was underwhelming, and while that was being dragged through the republicans, he was deporting immigrants at a rate we've not seen since and ordering hundreds of drone strikes. He was not progressive. Now we're trying to make sure the same type of candidate doesn't fool everyone again. Most of the "dramatic" restructurings we're pushing for aren't "radical" anywhere outside the US.
- mistermann 7y ago
  > Look at the main contention within the party right now -- every candidate except one is pushing to prop up a for-profit healthcare system. The idea of the ACA was okay, but ultimately it left in place the systems which were the real problem, and unsurprisingly it's gotten worse since then. I'd say this is a good example of the (extremely difficult to communicate) point the author is trying to make. The ACA, and health care delivery & funding models in general, are extremely complicated topics. Most people's mental model of the situation is likely comically simplistic compared to the true complexity of the problem. If people were intelligent and highly logical, their proper "stance" on this matter (and others like it) would be something like "undecided, but leaning one way or the other", but from anything I've seen people tend to have extremely confident opinions on any topic regardless of the complexity.

AnimalMuppet 7y ago

> The Democratic national platform is all about increased support for the poor and middle class The "basket of deplorables"? The Democrats talk about caring about them (sometimes - Hillary seems to have forgotten that part when she was running), but the contempt shows through. Actually caring about them instead of paying lip service might take the Democrats a long way. Listening to them wouldn't hurt, either.

orf 7y ago
Some of Trump’s supporters are completely deplorable. Those where poorly chosen words spoken at the wrong time, but that doesn’t make them incorrect. “The Republican Party: not racist, just #1 with racists”
- chrisco255 7y ago
  Identity politic race baiting is a great strategy for avoiding ideological discussion about ideas to govern society. This is just inflammatory garbage that serves no constructive purpose whatsoever. And so far as the article mentions the so-called Southern strategy, it's completely bogus and there are plenty of counter points about the "parties flipping" due to the Voting Rights Act. Senator Byrd, of West Virginia, a former KKK member and a Democrat, remained in power until he died in 2010. Al Gore is from Tennessee and carried the state for Clinton, of Arkansas, also blue at the time, in the 90s. If you actually look at the Presidential elections and Congressional and Senate races, and local legislatures the shift from the solid South as a shoo in for Democrats didn't occur until the 90s. Reagan, of California, was almost universally popular and won 49 of 50 states in his second run. Reagan did more than anyone in the 20th century to shift the country to the right. Yes, the Californian Hollywood actor. The voting rights act "flip" is a myth. The truth is that Democrats stopped focusing on working class people as a voting block, which used to form their base. They lost the blue collar working class and then retroactively blamed the voting rights act, which is complete BS because no one since the 70s in either party has ever run and won on a platform of repealing the VRA.

anarchodev 7y ago

It's not a stretch. Look at the main contention within the party right now -- every candidate except one is pushing to prop up a for-profit healthcare system. The idea of the ACA was okay, but ultimately it left in place the systems which were the real problem, and unsurprisingly it's gotten worse since then. > Obama was kind of underwhelming That's a stretch! His healthcare plan was underwhelming, and while that was being dragged through the republicans, he was deporting immigrants at a rate we've not seen since and ordering hundreds of drone strikes. He was not progressive. Now we're trying to make sure the same type of candidate doesn't fool everyone again. Most of the "dramatic" restructurings we're pushing for aren't "radical" anywhere outside the US.

mistermann 7y ago
> Look at the main contention within the party right now -- every candidate except one is pushing to prop up a for-profit healthcare system. The idea of the ACA was okay, but ultimately it left in place the systems which were the real problem, and unsurprisingly it's gotten worse since then. I'd say this is a good example of the (extremely difficult to communicate) point the author is trying to make. The ACA, and health care delivery & funding models in general, are extremely complicated topics. Most people's mental model of the situation is likely comically simplistic compared to the true complexity of the problem. If people were intelligent and highly logical, their proper "stance" on this matter (and others like it) would be something like "undecided, but leaning one way or the other", but from anything I've seen people tend to have extremely confident opinions on any topic regardless of the complexity.