What did Democrats do wrong?

[Shrinker]

No answer yet?

Can't be that hard.

No answer, thank you. I only joined in to challenge your interpretation of that video.

 

[dann]

Let's face it, calling them deplorable didn't cost Hillary a single vote.

It didn't, but right-wing Democrats still like to pretend that Hillary Clinton lost because she didn't do enough to accommodate MAGA voters.
Their conclusion was the same when Kamala Harris lost to Trump in 2024: Teaming up with the Cheneys wasn't far-right enough for them.
And this year, right-wing Democrats have been campaigning against left-wing Democrat Hasan Piker/HasanAbi for a couple of weeks:

The Real Reason Hasan Piker Is Gaining Power (The Bulwark on YouTube, April 4, 2026 – 43:57 min.)
Tim Miller and Sarah Longwell give their takes over one of the biggest questions facing Democrats right now: what to do about Hasan Piker? Should the party engage with voices on the far left to reach angry, anti-war voters or draw a hard line against rhetoric they see as toxic and illiberal? The two debate whether Democrats are picking the wrong fight at the wrong time, how to talk to audiences outside the traditional coalition, and whether engaging controversial figures risks amplifying them.

(Notice that The Bulwark is a YouTube channel recommended by dudalb. Tim Miller and Sarah Longwell are both former Republicans.)

Some 'centrist' Democrats are beginning to realize that it may be a bad strategy to repeat their mistakes from 2016 and 2024.
Ezra Klein in NYT: This Is Why There's No Liberal Joe Rogan (NYT, April 12, 2026)

New York Times faces backlash for changing headline of op-ed on far-left streamer Hasan Piker (New York Post, April 13, 2026)
The New York Times quietly swapped the headline on a contentious op-ed about Hasan Piker – the far-left Twitch streamer notorious for declaring "America deserved 9/11" – following backlash over a column that cast the pro-Palestinian fireband as "not the enemy."
Ezra Klein, a left-leaning opinion writer for the Gray Lady penned a column on Sunday that was originally headlined: "Hasan Piker Is Not the Enemy."The Times then changed the headline, which as of Monday read: "This Is Why There's No Liberal Joe Rogan."

The allegedly "far-left Twitch streamer" Hasan Piker appears to be a social-democrat, i.e. far left when viewed from the New York Post.

"WE WON" (HasanAbi on YouTube, April 14, 2026 – 16:23 min.)

COMPLETE & TOTAL HASAN VICTORY (Secular Talk on YouTube, April 14, 2026 – 15:16 min.)

 

[dann]

Is it just me or does the video thumbnail scream 'Cat's Arse'.

Hemorrhoidal cat's arse.

 

[Donal]

For the record, the Bulwark is a bunch of Republican Party operatives. Speech writers, pollsters, strategists, etc. Of course they want the Democrats to move to the right.

 

[The Atheist]

For the record, the Bulwark is a bunch of Republican Party operatives. Speech writers, pollsters, strategists, etc. Of course they want the Democrats to move to the right.

That really suggests a move left is the obvious ploy and Sanders and Warren aside - both of whom are too old - means AOC is the furthest left you can get.

 

[Donal]

Presently? Yes.

 

[Susheel]

Clinton's comment boils down to "Some of the other party's supporters are well-meaning but have been deceived and are too naive to know it; the rest of them are all evil ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊".

Did this occur in your own "imaginationland"?

 

[Garrison]

Clinton's comment boils down to "Some of the other party's supporters are well-meaning but have been deceived and are too naive to know it; the rest of them are all evil ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊".

Well even if one accepted that interpretation of what she said would it actually be inaccurate? Right now Trump's support is still in the mid 30s, that represents either monumental stupidity or the sort of people who don't care what he does so long as people they hate suffer?

 

[Brainster]

For the record, the Bulwark is a bunch of Republican Party operatives. Speech writers, pollsters, strategists, etc. Of course they want the Democrats to move to the right.

They are a bunch of never-Trump former Republicans trying to find a party they can fit in. There are quite a few of us.

 

[The Atheist]

... the sort of people who don't care what he does so long as people they hate suffer?

Definitely that.

You should take a cruise over to Skeptical Community at some stage to see them in their natural habitat of a like-minded echo chamber. They would starve to death if it triggered the Libs and smile as they take their last breath.

Make sure you have bleach on hand if you go there, the stench is hard to get rid of.

 

[bruto]

Definitely that.

You should take a cruise over to Skeptical Community at some stage to see them in their natural habitat of a like-minded echo chamber. They would starve to death if it triggered the Libs and smile as they take their last breath.

Make sure you have bleach on hand if you go there, the stench is hard to get rid of.

I think along with that are people who have one or two big issues in their mind, and will pay any price for them. The first time around, it was abortion rights, and the promise of getting an anti-abortion supreme court. This time around, it's more about refugees. Although I'm sure the administration itself seeks and relishes the suffering of others, I think for many it's just collateral damage. A surprising number of people do not have much sympathy for others, and for them everyone but them is an other. That part of the Christian message is buried somewhere in the texts they do not read.

 

[The Atheist]

That part of the Christian message is buried somewhere in the texts they do not read.

The people at SC are pretty well all atheist, white, male and 60+.

The best people.

 

[bruto]

The people at SC are pretty well all atheist, white, male and 60+.

The best people.

But a substantial number of those who voted for Trump claim to be Christians. Almost every atheist I've known is a better Christian than most of them.

 

[PitPat]

There should be a "None of the Above" option.

They're relying on critical reasoning from the American populace which as hard as I don't want to believe it, is falling into Idiocracy mode.

 

[dann]

For the record, the Bulwark is a bunch of Republican Party operatives. Speech writers, pollsters, strategists, etc. Of course they want the Democrats to move to the right.

Did you watch the video with Tim Miller and Sarah Longwell? Miller is much more sensible than most centrist Democrats. I seriously doubt that he is still a Republican. I think that he has gone the way of many of the traditional Republicans who opposed Trump, people like e.g. George Conway.

 

[Susheel]

Did you watch the video with Tim Miller and Sarah Longwell? Miller is much more sensible than most centrist Democrats. I seriously doubt that he is still a Republican. I think that he has gone the way of many of the traditional Republicans who opposed Trump, people like e.g. George Conway.

I am not so sure about that. While they tend to be not as out there as the Tea party, they would still prefer the return to a Bush-era status quo where they can still scream "communists" at progressives.

 

[dann]

Yes, some of them, definitely, but others have switched to the Democrats, and some of them are realizing that it makes no sense to "scream "communists" at progressives," when the base is flocking to those progressives. See post 4,762.
In some cases, it's nothing but strategic opportunism, but others appear to have learned a lesson from their experience with Trump, the Tea Party and MAGA. They are not as blind to the fact that progressives have the momentum at this point as some establishment Democrats (like AIPAC-financed Chuck Schumer) still are.

 

[Tero]

There should be a "None of the Above" option.

They're relying on critical reasoning from the American populace which as hard as I don't want to believe it, is falling into Idiocracy mode.

It is that, partly, but the 30-40 million MAGA people are working with ideology mostly: everything "government" is bad. Possibly fixing potholes is necessary. Fox News has convinced them that all spending is waste and fraud. Medicaid is fraud. The only thing that is not fraud is sending arms to Israel and bombing Iran.

 

[Susheel]

Yes, some of them, definitely, but others have switched to the Democrats, and some of them are realizing that it makes no sense to "scream "communists" at progressives," when the base is flocking to those progressives. See post 4,762.
In some cases, it's nothing but strategic opportunism, but others appear to have learned a lesson from their experience with Trump, the Tea Party and MAGA. They are not as blind to the fact that progressives have the momentum at this point as some establishment Democrats (like AIPAC-financed Chuck Schumer) still are.

The problem is that a lot of establishment democrats also see them as a threat and seem to be perfectly willing to sabotage their chances. And historically Republicans are only too happy to help them out.

 

[Donal]

Did you watch the video with Tim Miller and Sarah Longwell?

I've seen plenty of them, thank you.

Miller is much more sensible than most centrist Democrats.

Still rolls his eyes at real systemic change

I seriously doubt that he is still a Republican.

He's very vocally a former Republican. That doesn't change what I said.

I think that he has gone the way of many of the traditional Republicans who opposed Trump, people like e.g. George Conway.

You mean mad at Trump because he didn't give them the job they wanted or some other personal grievance, unable to do any real self-reflecting about the role they played in getting us here, and still worshipping the likes of Ronald Reagan who played a massive role in getting us here, all the while demanding the Democrats pander to people like him despite not having any numbers or influence outside of beltway cocktail parties?

No thanks.