Why can't the Dems do what Newt did in 1994?

[moose65]

And yes, I know that Gingrich's silly Contract With America was a gimmick. However, people see how ridiculous and dangerous Republican policies are.

Dems could campaign on a number of winning issues:

Ban this ridiculous partisan gerrymandering and set up independent commissions in each state. Also, explicitly say that redistricting will be done once every 10 years.

Vow to increase the federal minimum wage. I don't know why they didn't campaign on that in 2014 or 2016.

Vow to hold Trump in check on tariffs.

They don't have to run against Trump, necessarily. They can also say what they want to DO.

[SSJVegeta]

1. They should! Also Run on term limits, banning insider trading, and ending corruption.

[Jbraybarten]

16. I don't think that "term limits" would help like many think.

One, everyone in office has term limits in that their terms end, but they get voted in again.

If what people want happens, yeah that could be good, or the revolving do just shifts faster and few have legit experience.

[SSJVegeta]

18. As a policy enacted into law itll do little. As fodder to win campaigns it could do a lot.

It was huge for the GOPs contract with america and the GOP ended up not even doing it. Many also vowed to serve limited terms and still stayed in office forever.

[tinrobot]

23. Term limits for the Supreme Court, perhaps.

Not sure if elected officials need it. Any election can become a term limit. AOC proved it in her first race.

I'd rather they run on taxing billionaires and giving the poor/middle class opportunity to do better.

[SSJVegeta]

24. Term limits are jsut overwhelmingly popular in general

Could help with a strong populist message. I generally agree with you on its effectiveness though.

[calimary]

26. THIS!!! A THOUSAND TIMES THIS!!!

Yes, I’m shouting! Deal with it (or better yet, Just DO IT, DAMMIT!!!)!

[NYC Liberal]

44. I think the president needs term limits

because they are in charge of enforcing election laws, which, as we've seen, opens the door to rigging elections for themselves.

[moose65]

25. I don't know how I feel about term limits...

Most people who promote term limits only want it for other people's representatives - they keep voting for their own!

In theory we already have term limits - anyone can be primaried or voted out. The problem in the House, though, is that so many districts are gerrymandered and there's no chance that someone could be voted out. If the districts were a little more fair, that would be much better.

I agree about getting money out of politics - that's really the problem. Rich people shouldn't be able to buy elections.

[maxsolomon]

40. Ending corruption? What an impossibly generalized goal.

The Contract On America had specific shitty Repuke goals, not vague ones. That was the key to it:

On the first day of their majority in the House, the Republicans promised to bring up for vote, eight major reforms:[5][6]

Require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply to Congress;
Select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;
Cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;
Limit the terms of all committee chairs;
Ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;
Require committee meetings to be open to the public;
Require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;
Guarantee an honest accounting of the federal budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_with_America

[SSJVegeta]

42. Honestly "zero based budgeting" a"balanced budget" and "tax reform"

Are almost equally vague. But it sounds specific FWIW. Truth is there was virtually no road map for their end goals in the contract with america...

Ending corruption can include some specific vague goals too like giving more power to the GAO or creating an entirely new agency to investigate waste fraud and abuse in congress for individual convress people. Or something.

[mopinko]

2. kill citizens united.

the rest will take care of itself.

[RainCaster]

7. remove those that gave us citizens united

Our SCOTUS is so corrupt, it must be rebuilt.

[Initech]

14. We need a wealth cap in this country.

No one should have $500 billion dollars. No one.

[leftstreet]

17. +1 Billionaires are national security threats

[Initech]

21. We never did find out who the mystery financiers of 9/11 are, did we?

I bet I could point some fingers...

[calimary]

27. Yep.

[Wifes husband]

29. I would cut it down to one to five billion

Just too many hungry children. Also, no ceo should make more than 10 times his best paid non-manager employee

[Initech]

33. 100% agreed there!

[Jilly_in_VA]

3. Absolutely!

Let's do it!

[GiqueCee]

4. Prior to "Jellybean" Reagan...

... pissing in the punchbowl in 1980, the minimum wage was raised yearly to keep pace with inflation. For low-wage workers now, the minimum wage hasn't been raised in 16 YEARS!
The simple-minded skidmarks that still support Trump, many of whom are being adversely affected by his malicious policies, should ask him about that. And maybe the Democratic leadership should consider giving the boot to whatever policy advisers are telling them to hide under their desks for fear of arousing Trump's hair-trigger rage. FIGHT BACK! Their first concern is supposed to be the best interests of their constituents, NOT their next reelection campaign.

[Silent Type]

5. +1. After losing to trump and GOPers in November, we should have developed a Dem Project 2026/2028. Of course,

we didn't do that or much else other than yelling trump is a POS. Everyone in this country knows that, some just prefer his brand of chit.

[question everything]

15. And we have wasted a whole year "analyzing" our loss. Looking for blame. The Midterm campaign start in two days

[Silent Type]

19. And we better figure out a strategy beyond "trump is a POS."

[Uncle Joe]

6. One can attack *rump and the Republicans all they want, but if

there is no Democratic vision, the people are still lost.

Thanks for the thread moose

[ihaveaquestion]

8. There's nothing wrong with gimmicks. They're easy for average people to remember and promote for one thing.

That said, there are several popular things that most americans can get behind. For example...

[Justice matters.]

12. All that and GET Big Money OUT of politics.

Trillionaire corporations (and Billionaire & Millionaire ones) should not be allowed to purchase the people's representatives.

Ban the lobbyist class so elected representatives by the people for the people will have plenty of time to READ the bills...

[live love laugh]

9. Didn't Kamala and Biden do exactly that?

[betsuni]

31. Yes.

In a fact-less history-less world, a fictional Democratic Party to whine at about nothing real.

[moose65]

43. I'm not whining

Yes, Biden and Harris had a platform and ideas. But the American public has to be hit over the head with it it to make it stick. Democrats need short, memorable talking points.

[AverageOldGuy]

10. Newt did something else Democrats should copy

In 1990 Newt released a document titled "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control." The document had two lists: (1) good, positive, nice words; (2) bad, disgusting, negative words. Newt told Republicans to use the good words when talking about themselves, use the bad words when talking about Democrats. They did it . . . and still do.

We need a Democratic Newt Gingrich, someone who knows to bring a gun to a knife fight and a really big gun to a gunfight.

Here's a link to Newt's memo:

https://www.uh.edu/~englin/rephandout.html

This is Newt's instructions on using the words in his two lists.

As you know, one of the key points in the Gopac [instructional tapes] is that "language matters." As we mail tapes to candidates, and use them in training sessions across the country, we hear a plaintive plea: "I wish I could speak like Newt." That takes years of practice. But we believe that you can have a significant impact on your campaign if we help a little. That is why we have created this list of words and phrases. This list is prepared so that you might have a directory of words to use in writing literature and letters, in preparing speeches, and in producing material for the electronic media. The words and phrases are powerful. Read them. Memorize as many as possible. And remember that, like any tool, these words will not help if they are not used.

[ihaveaquestion]

11. Good suggestion. Democrats are right on policy and weak on promotion of themselves (not just my opinion).

They need to take more advise from basic salesmen along with the policy wonks.

[calimary]

28. THIS!!!

Thoughts are things.

And words are WEAPONS.

[Bluetus]

13. They could, but Dems (as a party) don't run on anything

That is to say, Dem candidates fiercely defend the idea that they are free agents, that their district or state is so much different from everywhere else, that they must each have their own platform, or better yet, no platform at all.

If you can figure out how to get Democrats to operate as an organized party, you will have solved a problem that has been with us for a century.

P.S. I absolutely agree with the premise. We most certainly could have a very simple list of 10 things we are committed to. And they would all be ideas popular with 60%, 70%, or even 80% of the public.

But they would not be popular with the party leadership or the big money interests.

[ihaveaquestion]

20. Too True - Unfortunately!

Even in local politics, in which I have a minor involvement, we are a group of leaders not followers. It's always difficult to get folks to promote the same united front.

[Bluetus]

22. We ridicule the Republicans

For steadfastly repeating the simple talking points. But the American public is largely incapable of following anything more.

[JI7]

30. The thing that hurts democrats are issues related to crime, race, lgbt, immigration

[bucolic_frolic]

32. It's a program that would falter

Banning gerrymandering is being tried at state levels. Do you ever really ban it? Got to draw the lines somewhere with some criteria.

Minimum wage? Be denounced as commies. Small business particularly against it.

Hold Trump in check on tariffs? How? He does what he wants and SCOTUS greenlights it.

[NeoTrajan]

35. So, would you be willing to DECREASE the minimum wage on behalf of small business?

If higher wages are bad for small business, what do YOU propose the minimum wage SHOULD be so small business would be happy in your eyes?

Don't say to keep it the same: You must be arguing for a higher principle than 'let's hide so they can't see us'

BTW, when opponents call you a 'commie' and you aren't an actual communist, the proper response is to deny it, loudly and proudly ... Not try to hide from it

We need to fight that stuff, not run away from it

[moose65]

45. I disagree

As for banning gerrymandering, you're right that the lines have to be drawn somewhere. But each state sets its own criteria. Those guidelines should uniform across the entire country. We also need to INCREASE the size of the US House. The House is supposed to be based on population and represent the people. If California has 67 times the population of Wyoming, then it should have 67 times the representatives.

The minimum wage increase is a popular item to run on. The Dems used it in 2006 when they regained control of both houses of Congress.

[NeoTrajan]

34. Totally agree

Parties need to SELL their policies to the voting public

We need to have a cogent platform of policy planks established, with the arguments AND counterarguments already penciled in, and with leaders using ANY method for widely disseminating these policies

It would be OK to attach some grand title to the whole platform, like what Newtie did in 1994

Also; recall the effectiveness of H. Ross Perot's "United We Stand, America" .. He ultimately pulled in 19% of the presidential vote

We need an ACTIVE party promotion, with an ACTIVE plan to convince voters to join the party

It takes salesmanship ...

[SARose]

36. "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." FDR

Fear.

I can’t speak for every Texan but folks in my family are afraid of brown people, black people, LGBTQ+ people, transgender people and libruls! Every single day Fox News and conservative YouTube channels and podcasts preach doomsday and fear. Too many hear this same narrative on Sunday mornings.

In a city where so much is about struggle, it's so important to have a space for joy

Zohran Mamdani

Snip

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani surprised patrons at an LGBTQ+ bar over the weekend when he stopped by their Halloween party to campaign.

The Democratic nominee was met with thunderous cheers and applause when he addressed the crowd at Papi Juice around 1 a.m. on Sunday. Speaking from the DJ booth, he thanked the Brooklyn QTPOC art collective "for creating a space for queer and trans New Yorkers."

"In a city where so much is about struggle, it's so important to have a space for joy," Mamdani said.

Snip

More

Americans need hope and joy and a government that actually gives a rats a$$ about them and their struggles.

America doesn’t need to be great again - we still are a country that helps a neighbor, volunteers to coach Little League or teach Sunday School, donate turkeys and toys, and feed the world.

Perhaps Democratic candidates need to remind us how good our country is and how we (all of us) can make it better for everyone - not just a privileged few.

Light and love

Rose

[Initech]

37. Because MAGA owns the media and they will destroy anyone that stands up to them?

Fuck MAGA. Fuck billionaires. We need to take back our media.

[progressoid]

38. Yep.

We'll need another charismatic person (or people) to lead the charge and a plan to neutralize the right wing media.

[Initech]

39. We don't just need to neturalize them - they need to be destroyed.

They have literally done nothing good for us the last 10 years and this temper tantrum shut down is just more fuel for the fire. If we are to get the US back on track, we need to derail the right wing media.

[Xolodno]

41. Newt destroyed the ability to negotiate behind the scenes.

Prior to him, they would argue like mad on the floor. Afterwards hit the bar and find a solution. Newt put a stop to all of it, he wouldn't even allow them to work out with Democrats in the gym.

Boehner, to his credit, did try to reverse it, but it was far too late by then. Too many obstructionists had taken root. Which probably why he said fuck this, I'm out.

We were patient in the hopes the GOP would come to its senses. Now, I think the only option is to act like them until they come back groveling.