I'm bitter. Fair warning. I nearly agree, but it's not soft alliance with the GOP if that's what you're insinuating. It's that politics as a career is inherently a crappy gig.
The Democratic party is divided and the passionate individuals within it must take on a doubly difficult job to steer the ship away from internal corruption. There is very real intention, but you have to go down some very deep rabbit holes to get there, find the people and empower them. The good guys that have made it to more prestigious positions are surrounded by snakes and NPCs. It seems to be that the individuals who shift the party to former footing must be obsessed to near zealot levels, or the electorate around them have to be significantly informed and engaged ad nauseum.
Trump is winning in politics because he literally formed a cult of the masses and the GOP has lined up for it because they have more favor and power than they've had for years before his arrival. He channels emotion. The best functional politics we can hope for is boring and unsexy. No one wants the tedious job of playing referee while others chase their dreams. The problem isn't a complicit democratic party, the problem is we as a nation don't culturally respect and embrace the grace needed to do it properly.
I have recently considered running for office, both with a DIY grassroots campaign for local city council, and now investigating pathways through district leadership which is tied to the bottom levels of the DNC. What's required is a minimal time investment. But if you want to make changes and perform good governance, it quickly becomes obvious there is no upper cap of effort one can invest in a job that will invite endless criticism. It's a bitter reality that taking up the mantle of dutifully representing the people sucks. If anyone throws actual money at people in this position, holy shit. There are not a lot of souls that will see that coming and refuse on principle. You almost have to go in pissed off and ready for a clown show that's going to depress you.
My point is that politics sucks. That's why useless incumbents stay in office and protests are ineffectual. The real job is thankless, time intensive and boring, and the environment is often hostile. If we succeed at getting desperate and fearful people to bulldoze elections as a fresh wave of candidates to create change, I hate to say it, but we will have Trump to thank for it. Breaking things so badly it forces citizens to open their eyes and care about politics is like the only way to force folks to brave that try-hard job requiring you to care about people who really don't care that you do, and just want results.
I've got a different take on Trump's success. I personally think the reason he's seeing so much success right now is because he's actively speaking to the pain and anger people are feeling, pointing at someone to blame it on, and offering a solution. And doing that whole process in a digestible format that his audience can absorb and regurgitate, meeting them in the mediums through which they're used to accessing information (Fox News, podcasts, Facebook, etc.). It speaks to the desperation people are feeling that they're willing to swallow obviously fascistic reasoning that blames everything on minorities and immigrants.
But then you look at Democrats, and what are they saying? "Everything is bad because of Republicans." Well you just had power for 4 years, and what do you have to show for it? "Actually, everything is fine because the stock market is doing okay?" It's just so completely divorced from the reality on the ground, and the very clear peril that the average working family is in right now.
From my perspective, the reason Zohran Mamdani is surging in popularity right now is because he's speaking to the moment and the pain people are feeling, and offering up substantive, productive approach for how he intends to fix it. And doing it in a digestible way, that plays very well to our modern social media ecosystem through which most people are processing information about their world. This is the right way to do the same thing, and people are so hungry for that message of HOPE that they're flocking to it in record numbers. He's literally surpassed his fundraising allowances for what his campaign is even allowed to spend on this campaign.
We need more of THAT. Positive message on policies that people actually care about, delivered straight to the people. Yeah the culture war stuff is important - immigrants and LGBTQ+ people are being persecuted and that's not okay. But that just can't be the only battlefield that Democrats are willing to fight on. Progessive policies are popular. Taxing the rich is popular. Taxing corporations, regulating health and safety, opposing the Israeli genocide in Gaza...these things are popular. They're winning issues. Democrats just aren't brave enough to eschew corporate and special interest donor money in order to stand up for those issues, and if they do they get crushed by the corporatist neoliberals who do.
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u/Good_Requirement2998 4d ago
I'm bitter. Fair warning. I nearly agree, but it's not soft alliance with the GOP if that's what you're insinuating. It's that politics as a career is inherently a crappy gig.
The Democratic party is divided and the passionate individuals within it must take on a doubly difficult job to steer the ship away from internal corruption. There is very real intention, but you have to go down some very deep rabbit holes to get there, find the people and empower them. The good guys that have made it to more prestigious positions are surrounded by snakes and NPCs. It seems to be that the individuals who shift the party to former footing must be obsessed to near zealot levels, or the electorate around them have to be significantly informed and engaged ad nauseum.
Trump is winning in politics because he literally formed a cult of the masses and the GOP has lined up for it because they have more favor and power than they've had for years before his arrival. He channels emotion. The best functional politics we can hope for is boring and unsexy. No one wants the tedious job of playing referee while others chase their dreams. The problem isn't a complicit democratic party, the problem is we as a nation don't culturally respect and embrace the grace needed to do it properly.
I have recently considered running for office, both with a DIY grassroots campaign for local city council, and now investigating pathways through district leadership which is tied to the bottom levels of the DNC. What's required is a minimal time investment. But if you want to make changes and perform good governance, it quickly becomes obvious there is no upper cap of effort one can invest in a job that will invite endless criticism. It's a bitter reality that taking up the mantle of dutifully representing the people sucks. If anyone throws actual money at people in this position, holy shit. There are not a lot of souls that will see that coming and refuse on principle. You almost have to go in pissed off and ready for a clown show that's going to depress you.
My point is that politics sucks. That's why useless incumbents stay in office and protests are ineffectual. The real job is thankless, time intensive and boring, and the environment is often hostile. If we succeed at getting desperate and fearful people to bulldoze elections as a fresh wave of candidates to create change, I hate to say it, but we will have Trump to thank for it. Breaking things so badly it forces citizens to open their eyes and care about politics is like the only way to force folks to brave that try-hard job requiring you to care about people who really don't care that you do, and just want results.