Finally! A Democrat I could vote for

[whell]

https://www.politico.com/news/magazi...class-00078215

Examples:

Natalie Fertig: You’re part of a 200-plus person Democratic caucus. How do you see yourself creating an understanding of the middle class in that caucus and getting middle-class laws passed?

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez: It feels like the Democratic Party, especially wealthy leadership in the Democratic Party, has taken it upon themselves to be champions of the poorest of the poor. And I think that’s great, but I think that it has left a lot of people in the middle class feeling like people don’t understand the issues we’re facing. I think it’s left unaddressed a lot of really critical things that are not glamorous, lionized issues, but that beat the hell out of people’s will to persist. The indignity of supply chain problems. Catalytic converter theft. Bad infrastructure. Shit roads.

Fertig: So, we talk a lot about the great relocation of Democrats to cities and Republicans to rural areas, but you just flipped a district that is majority rural. Carolyn Long tried this twice [in 2018 and 2020] and failed. What was different this time around?

Gluesenkamp Perez: I think I look more like the district. I live like the district. [And] obviously not running against Jamie [Herrera Beutler] was a huge part of it, you know?

I don’t think that your traditional pedigreed Democrats are the solution to Trump extremism. I think that a lot of these traditional Democrats, the m.o. is to go into a community and start explaining shit. Nobody likes that. I’ve heard that so often: I’ll go to an urban community, and people will be like, “Oh, like this candidate was amazing. They are so smart.” And then I’ll go to a rural community and talk to them about the same candidate. And they’ll say: “Yeah, they’re pedantic and they don’t understand. They didn’t listen to us.”

Gluesenkamp Perez: We need more and more normal people to run for Congress. We need more people that work in the trades.

When I was thinking about running, I interviewed some jackass, fancy consultant. I told him about myself, and he was like, “Well, I’ve worked with worse.” When I said I had a son, he chortled, and was like, “Hope you don’t want to see your kid again.”

He told me to talk to the governor and see if I could get appointed to some committee on aging and disability, or something like that, and build up a resume that would allow me to run successfully later on.
_______________________________

She's nailing it with every point. Today's Dems love to call any Repub an "extremist", but as an alternative to Trump all they off is their own "extremism". It keeps the rank and file Repubs and Dems fighting, so we're distracted by mundane issues and we miss the fact that Washington D.C. is nothing more than a money laundering operation where the rich get richer and the devil takes the hindmost.

MORE:

Fertig: I know that the DCCC didn’t give you any money. I know that the state party basically didn’t notice [you] until after the primary. What are they missing — besides normal candidates — what are they missing about those voters who are in those districts?

Gluesenkamp Perez: Frankly, I think there’s a lot of lip service to wanting people in the trades, rural Democrats. They say it because it sounds good, but I’m not sure that there is an actual commitment to it.
________________________________

No, there's no commitment to it because normal people who get into DC might be disgusted by what they find, if they're not corrupted by it first.

OK, so she goes a little bit "lefty hardcore" at a couple points during this piece. But you have to start somewhere. At least she gets the basics of the problem. Get some more of these folks inside the DC Beltway and we might just be able to turn this ship around.

[finnbow]

Even though I'm a former Republican and current independent (who has never been a registered Democrat), the only Republicans worthy of a vote are the handful of NeverTrumpers (e.g., Larry Hogan, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Mitt Romney).

As it stands now, only one party believes in democracy while the other wants authoritarian rule. The Republican Party deserves to die a horrible, painful death and to be replaced by a party that actually believes in democratic governance.

[RickeyM]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Even though I'm a former Republican and current independent (who has never been a registered Democrat), the only Republicans worthy of a vote are the handful of NeverTrumpers (e.g., Larry Hogan, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Mitt Romney).

As it stands now, only one party believes in democracy while the other wants authoritarian rule. The Republican Party deserves to die a horrible, painful death and to be replaced by a party that actually believes in democratic governance.

I've been saying this for quite some time now. The current crop of Republicans, with few exceptions, are more concerned with power and position, not wanting to upset the MAGA base so they go along to get along.They cower in tRumps shadow for fear of him taking his voters and (figuratively) going home. They've created the monster and now it's got them pinned down, sitting on their chest(s).
The OP mentions extremists in the Democrat party. Maybe the Democrats are just tired of playing nice while the GOP labels them as the enemy, as traitors, as communists/soci@lists/Marxists/Leftists and every other "ist" they can come up with. The Republican party has become a group that doesn't believe in cooperation with the opposition to accomplish things. Instead the follow partisanship where "others" are painted as undesirables. If some Democrats swing to extremes it's a defensive reaction to Republican extremes.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by RickeyM

The OP mentions extremists in the Democrat party. Maybe the Democrats are just tired of playing nice while the GOP labels them as the enemy, as traitors, as communists/soci@lists/Marxists/Leftists and every other "ist" they can come up with. The Republican party has become a group that doesn't believe in cooperation with the opposition to accomplish things. Instead the follow partisanship where "others" are painted as undesirables. If some Democrats swing to extremes it's a defensive reaction to Republican extremes.

To the extent that there are "extremists" in the Democratic (though I don't consider Social Democrats extremist), they don't run the party. OTOH, the GOP is now run by the proto-fascist authoritarian wing of their party.

[RickeyM]

It's those proto-fascist authoritarians who claim "The Squad" is running things and leading the whole party hard left.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by RickeyM

It's those proto-fascist authoritarians who claim "The Squad" is running things and leading the whole party hard left.

Yeh, right. AOC intimidated Pelosi. In their dreams.

[Rajoo]

In the first round for Speaker 2023, Jeffries got 212 votes to McCarthy's 203. Guess who the crazies voted for?

Disclaimer: I am still looking for a Republican I would vote for, haven't found any since none are to be trusted as long as Trump is pulling the strings.

[RickeyM]

The last Republican I voted for was Larry Hogan, a moderate Republican. He was on my good side until he said he didn't agree that tRump (the first time) should be impeached. After that, even though he was one of the few that didn't sell their soul to tRump, you couldn't pay me to ever vote for him again.

[Chicks]

We watched The Farmer's Daughter again last night. Loretta Young, Joseph Cotton, Ethel Barrymore.

It was completely believable, up to the point when the Repubs ousted their own candidate when they discovered he was a white nationalist. White nationalism pretty much defines Whell's party these days, sadly.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Chicks

We watched The Farmer's Daughter again last night. Loretta Young, Joseph Cotton, Ethel Barrymore.

It was completely believable, up to the point when the Repubs ousted their own candidate when they discovered he was a white nationalist. White nationalism pretty much defines Whell's party these days, sadly.

Whell and his fellow travelers are unwilling to hold Trump accountable because doing so would also compel them to hold themselves accountable for their unwavering support for a malignant narcissist, pathological liar and career criminal.