Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

When we show up, we win.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

In after Baud. Damn.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

You are here: Home / Politics / Democratic Politics / Unite. Fight. Win.

Unite. Fight. Win.

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Unite.  Fight.  Win.

If we’re going to take on Trump, Republican extremists, and move our country forward, the Democratic Party needs to be stronger. I’m running for Chair of the Democratic National Committee to unite the party, fight everywhere, and win. Join me. 🧵

[image or embed]

— Ben Wikler (@benwikler.bsky.social) December 1, 2024 at 8:14 AM

Unite.  Fight.  Win.  That’s Ben Wikler’s pitch for moving forward.

I’d say we’re doing great!  So awesome, in fact, that some days we skip right over “Unite” and go straight for “Fight”.  But I think we’re supposed to be fighting the other guys.

“You can’t wring your hands when you’re rolling up your sleeves.”

This is a 2-minute video, please take 2 minutes to watch it.

The only other candidate that I could possibly get excited about is Beto.

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  • Baud
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    61Comments

    4. 4.

      Kay

      RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democrats in North Carolina were celebrating big wins in the swing state after the November election, including victories in races for governor and other top statewide offices. But the political high didn’t last long.
      Republican lawmakers are stripping away some core powers of the newly elected officials through a series of wide-ranging changes, anticipating that the result of a yet-to-be-called state legislative race will cost them their veto-proof majority next year. Critics say the moves, which were rushed through without any chance for public comment or analysis, undermine the voters and are simply undemocratic, but they have few options for undoing them.

      Seeing some green shoots of resistance among North Carolinians! They held a protest at the statehouse this past week. Hope that builds. Real (small d) democratic backsliding in that state.

      Reply
    6. 6.

      SiubhanDuinne

      David Hogg is running for DNC vice-chair. I don’t know who his competition is for that slot, but I can easily picture Hogg working effectively with either Ben or Beto.

      Reply
    7. 7.

      TBone

      @Kay: and there’s Wyoming bringing up the rear…

      https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/hard-right-freedom-caucus-takes-power-in-wyoming/ar-AA1wvGGF

      Just posting that in case anyone missed that development.

      The “five and dime plan.”

      Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, has radiated into the states, inspiring similar movements in a dozen legislatures, including in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Idaho and Arizona. In Texas, the House speaker, Dade Phelan, a more traditional conservative, recently announced that he would forgo another term in leadership, underscoring the movement’s surging statehouse might as President-elect Donald J. Trump prepares to return to power.

      Reply
    8. 8.

      Suzanne

      I am looking for the next Dem leadership to really speak to defining “what does it mean to be a Democrat in the 21st century?”. How to communicate our deep values. What is the Democratic vision of the future?

      Half of this year’s voters were born in 1980 or later, which means that their first election was 2000 or later. They don’t have the same cultural memories of the civil rights movement or trickle-down economics or the Vietnam War.

      Reply
    17. 17.

      RevRick

      @Baud: winning is going to be a hard slog for the next couple of years. Our church is in the process of establishing a Climate Hope Affiliate network in the PA 7 district, which flipped to a Republican, who has declared his opposition to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and tax increases as a state representative. He has suggested rolling back unspent money from the Inflation Reduction Act. So, we’ll have our work cut out for us.
      (Our church has a vested interest in protecting these monies as we seek to convert to solar and use grants to help pay for installation.)

      Reply
    18. 18.

      Terraformer

      Love this guy – he’s done *great* things for us here in WI

      But I’d imagine his message doesn’t resonate with the people who, for example, voted against AOC for an old-guard Democrat because of seniority. Sometimes, and I think strategy and tactics to win the next elections is one of those times, requires fresh energy with proven ideas rather than holding to tradition

      Reply
    19. 19.

      TBone

      I’m disappointed at having to miss attending new church again due to health issues and various emergencies.  Ugh.  I need the community connection and the uplifting “fight” messaging by the priest.

      My new church got right on that federal money and is covered in solar panels.

      Reply
    20. 20.

      comrade scotts agenda of rage

      @TBone:

      Probably mercilessly teased growing up which might explain he is who he is today.

      Have spent plenty of time in WY for work and camping. Get rid of most of the Republicans and it might be okay to live there.

      Reply
    24. 24.

      H.E.Wolf

      @TBone: ​We’ve truly got our work cut out for us at every level.

      Trouble rides a fast horse.

       And a fast horse may stumble. :)

      It’s very true that we’ve always got our work cut out for us at every level. That means we can pick a level and do a little work, knowing that others are doing the same.

      Reply
    28. 28.

      TBone

      Rather than the fact of lone Wyoming Freedom Caucus win, it was the “Five and Dime Plan” takeaway that stuck out for me.

      Like A.L.E.C. model legislation, it will be used as a template.

      Reply
    29. 29.

      Scout211

      I dunno.  Marianne Williamson is running for DNC chair and her pitch is, well, ethereal.

      As chairwoman, I will work to reinvent the party from the inside out,” Williamson wrote in her pitch to DNC members. “For if we want a new president in four years, and a new Congress in two, then we must immediately get about the task of creating a new party.”

      She said under her plan, the Democratic Party will be one that “listens more, and makes people feel that their thoughts and feelings are as important as their wallets” and “advocates unequivocally for the working people of the United States.” Williamson said the party will have “the humility to recognize we need to look in the mirror, and be willing to reinvent ourselves.”

      Because what we really need is for all of us to be all in our feels, all the time.  We never do that anymore.

      ////

      But seriously, Ben Wikler looks good for DNC.

      Reply
    30. 30.

      Omnes Omnibus

      @H.E.Wolf:  It’s great that you are able to respond this way.  Cynicism is one of our worst enemies.  As well as ironic detachment.  But I do think that many people wear them as armor over their idealism.

      Reply
    33. 33.

      Kay

      @Suzanne:

      You should expect that. That’s the job:

      “general responsibility for the affairs of the Democratic Party between National Conventions”, and particularly coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well as works to establish a “party brand” and to formulate the party platform

      I don’t have a favorite. I actually like Martin O’Malley. I think he’s underrated, but I’d be fine with any of them. I think it’s one of those jobs where it’s hard as nails to change organizational culture so you need a really firm hand at the outset.

      Reply
    35. 35.

      Phylllis

      @Scout211:

      As chairwoman, I will work to reinvent the party from the inside out,” Williamson wrote in her pitch to DNC members. “For if we want a new president in four years, and a new Congress in two, then we must immediately get about the task of creating a new party.”

      She said under her plan, the Democratic Party will be one that “listens more, and makes people feel that their thoughts and feelings are as important as their wallets” and “advocates unequivocally for the working people of the United States.” Williamson said the party will have “the humility to recognize we need to look in the mirror, and be willing to reinvent ourselves.”

      “Nonsensical tiresome yapping.” Fixed that for her.

      Reply
    39. 39.

      Kay

      Wikler came out of MoveOn, which I think is a big plus on his application. I think the early aughts were a period of real growth in the Democratic Party. We had a huge online presence with blogs and online liberal news sources, people were really engaged, standards were really high and that sort of culminated with Obama’s two terms. No one should try to replicate that, exactly, time passes, but the bottom-up energy is essential. MoveOn was a successful bottom-up org.

      Reply
    43. 43.

      Sure Lurkalot

      @TBone:

      Their agenda, known as the Five and Dime Plan, aims to immediately tighten election rules, invalidate drivers’ licenses issued to undocumented immigrants by other states, prohibit college diversity initiatives, prohibit the state from considering environmental concerns when making investment decisions and reduce property taxes.

      Aptly named, will definitely “nickel and dime” the citizens by spending money on virtually nonexistent problems like voter fraud and increasing fees and out of pockets (the usual result of cutting property taxes).

      Reply
    45. 45.

      Kay

      @WaterGirl:

      Well, my approach would be a little different. I think it’s two jobs. I think message and brand and platform are national and organizing, by its nature and always, is local. Howard Dean missed, in my view, because he insisted on nationalizing organizing. We got a Powerpoint and an organizer in NW Ohio who just wasn’t useful to us. In management they call this “tight/loose”. Very tight and disciplined national message and platform but a loose rein on local (organizers). So the opposite of what happens naturally in organizations – you have to INSTALL it.

      So I’d have co-chairs with two distinct roles. Spheres. But barring that I’d be happy with any.

      Reply
    46. 46.

      Suzanne

      @Starfish (she/her):

      I think this is the tricky bit that no one has committed to “What are the core Democratic values that we are fighting for?” 

      Right! Like…. who are we? What do we believe? What are our strengths? How do we want to live together?

      Those of us here are not just politics junkies….. but most of us here probably actually think about those questions a lot. But a lot of people don’t, and I would argue that our political life would be better if more of us did.

      This kind of gets at where I think we get a little bit astray when we make assertions about the mainstream media failing us, or needing more civics education. It’s not that I believe the mainstream media is fulfilling their role of enlightening the public, or that people know enough about civic life. It’s more that I think those are second-order issues. The bigger problem is that we don’t have values conversations, we don’t have even a concept of common life together, of shared resources and destiny, of public virtue.

      Reply
    47. 47.

      H.E.Wolf

      @Omnes Omnibus: ​
       I’ve been finishing up my volunteer work for the year by recording obituaries, as part of a database update.

      Lots of people, young and old, who led good lives and are sorely missed by their loved ones.

      It really lowers my interest in day-to-day squabbling, on- and off-line. Time’s too short.

      Reply
    48. 48.

      Kay

      @Suzanne:

      The bigger problem is that we don’t have values conversations, we don’t have even a concept of common life together, of shared resources and destiny, of public virtue.

      Love this. In my mind we’ve been in this kind of “look straight ahead and march” frantic energy which is narrowing. It’s a clamp down. We’re marching like hell, faster and faster, but we no longer know where we’re going.
      One of the things that happened in the early aughts was a kind of “let every flower bloom” energy in response to the crisis that was Bush v Gore. That to me was a much healthier response – BIGGER, not smaller. The real risk of Trump is we lower our standards in response to the threat. We only have “plug the hole!” reaction rather than “why the fuck was this ship so ready to take on water?”

      Reply
    49. 49.

      Lobo

      @TBone: Really goes to the point that there are three parties right now: the Freedom Caucus Party, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.  The FC party is slowly cannibalizing the traditional Republican Party.

      Reply
    51. 51.

      Kay

      @Suzanne:

      Most of the energy in the early aughts was not inside the Party, but instead around it. Loosely affliated with it. So, liberal blogs and online news sources, orgs like MoveOn, unions like UniteHere, marriage equality people and orgs, health care people and orgs, voting rights people and orgs. There was A LOT going on.

      So I would also look outside the party. If this happens, a rebirth or rebrand, that’s where it’s going to start. Some will be junk or grifty and peter out, but quality will stick.

      Reply
    52. 52.

      dnfree

      I don’t know anything about Wikler, but I’ve mentioned before that we took a vacation in Door County (north of Green Bay) in September. Driving up there from Illinois, the ubiquitous Democratic Party sign was a nondescript blue sign that simply said “Vote for Democrats/They vote for US”. The interspersed Trump signs, red white and blue, said “Vote Trump/Save our Country!” I’ll tell you which was more noticeable and seemed more motivating. It gave us a bad feeling which was borne out in November. I’m sure the party there was doing other outreach, but those signs didn’t do much, in our opinions.

      Reply
    53. 53.

      TBone

      @Omnes Omnibus: my grandad taught biology to teens at Upper Darby High School for 40 years.  When my parents tried family therapy, the therapist (a former student) told us the joke my grandpappy used to tell his students.  “When I die, I want a pink granite stone so everyone will say Isn’t that strange?”

      Mine, nearby, will have a peach tree so everyone can eat me.

      Reply
    54. 54.

      UncleEbeneezer

      @Suzanne: I have never felt more clearly what “being a Democrat” means than after Kamala’s campaign, the convention etc.  I think she and AOC and others are already showing us the way and the model.  Obviously there’s a range, we are a big tent, there’s no one right way to be a Dem, etc., but I don’t think because we lost one, razor-thin margin election, in a year where every incumbent govt struggled, against a guy who has a unique ability to bring out infrequent voters etc., that our party is somehow wandering lost in the wilderness.  I don’t worry about our direction.  I just saw the playbook and I love it and I think with a full amount of time to campaign in a non-Inflation-obessed year against any other Republican, Kamala probably ekes out a win and history goes much differently.  I don’t think we need to reinvent the wheel.

      Reply
    55. 55.

      UncleEbeneezer

      @Starfish (she/her): I feel like I’m being gaslit here because I think it’s really freakin’ obvious what the core beliefs of our coalition are.  Ofc there will be some in our tent who disagree here and there (because unlike Republicans and contrary to the fantasies of very online Progressives, we actually don’t march in lock-step) but generally speaking our values are:

      • Women being allowed to control their own bodies
      • Universal And Reasonably-Priced Healthcare
      • Equality of Access/Opportunity (for all)
      • Dignity/Respect (for all)
      • Environmental Policies rooted in science to protect our planet
      • Sensible gun requirements
      • A Fair and More Efficient Immigration System
      • More Affordable Housing
      • A Less Racist Criminal Justice System

      Etc.

      Reply
    56. 56.

      Librarian

      I’m sure that if Wikler wins, he’ll have people like Carville and Axelrod telling him to stop calling Republicans “extremists” and being so negative and so partisan and to be more bipartisan and reach across the aisle and all the rest of it.

      Reply
    57. 57.

      Suzanne

      @UncleEbeneezer:

      I feel like I’m being gaslit here because I think it’s really freakin’ obvious what the core beliefs of our coalition are.

      Honestly, I do not think that’s true for most people. I know what my core beliefs and values are — because I try to think about this as a precursor to politics. But if you asked 100 people on the street what the Democratic Party stands for, I bet 80 of them couldn’t answer you. Again, over half of voters are too young to have voted for Bill Clinton ever.

      Ezra Klein actually had a really simple explanation that I like a lot: he said he’s a liberal because life is unfair. I would add to that, “and we have a moral responsibility to make it more fair”. I would also add that I know I’m not a conservative because I don’t look to the past or the current day and assume that we can’t get any better than that.

      But normies just see the food fight aspects.

      ETA: I would argue, also, that what you listed is a bunch of positions, which come after values. I think we don’t talk about values enough.

      Reply
    58. 58.

      RevRick

      @Baud: I have no illusions about it being easy. But there is no Planet B, so we must do what we can. Our first task will be to round up as many allies as we can.

      Reply
    61. 61.

      Gloria DryGarden

      @Scout211:

      under her plan, the Democratic Party will be one that “listens more, and makes people feel that their thoughts and feelings are as important as their wallets” and “advocates unequivocally for the working people of the United States.” Williamson said the party will have “the humility to recognize we need to look in the mirror, and be willing to reinvent ourselves.”

      I m all for these actions, as human beings, and it would be a nice soft skill to practice in safe groups. A morning prayer and meditation group, perhaps. It would be nice if everyone, or a large minority,  had that set of psychological skills/ emotional intelligence, but I don’t see that unfolding soon, or in any useful way. However  I don’t understand these as what will help the Democratic Party.  

      It’s more about pr, marketing, branding, sales, the way the policies and messaging is conveyed in a way people relate to. I don’t understand whole pr branding aspect, I’m more of a policies person,  but what I’ve learned in the discussions here, is that doesn’t sell to most people.
      I sometimes go to those new thought churches that follow Marianne Williamson; not sure if I’ll bring this up there. I’m not in any mood for debate and argument.

      Reply

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