General Discussion

EarlG

(23,056 posts)

75. No need for a straw man

Tue May 27, 2025, 03:19 PM

May 27

"Perhaps our problem is that we're too awesome" is your construction, not mine.

"The discussion isn't how bad are Republicans" -- agreed, I didn't say that either.

My argument was that we should stand up for the rights of marginalized populations and not base our electoral strategies on how far we should throw people under the bus.

I said that it is the Republican Party that is forcing culture war issues down everyone's throats, not the Democratic Party. But we're the ones getting blamed for it -- by Republicans. This is a political problem, and the problem is that:

It's way too easy for Republicans to convince voters that Democrats want to do all this wacky cultural shit. ... The real problem is Citizens United, which allowed unrestricted dark money spending on US elections, and a social media ecosystem which has essentially become nothing more than a massive commercial propaganda machine which shovels incendiary garbage in front of people's faces 24/7 based on algorithms owned by billionaires.

I'm arguing that the biggest problem the Democratic Party faces is that with the assistance of a handful of psychopathic billionaires, Republicans have turned the modern Internet into a massive propaganda machine, which has become extremely efficient at convincing people that the mainstream Democratic Party shares or is responsible for the views of fringe activists. And right now, we do not have a way to combat that.

You seem to be arguing that the biggest problem the Democratic Party faces is that nowadays there are too many people on dating apps telling gay men that if they don't want to have sex with trans men, they must be transphobes.

I was going to end this post by saying that you are kinda making my point for me, but that would be flippant. Instead let me ask, since this is clearly an important issue for you, how do you think this problem with gay men being browbeaten by trans men on dating apps should be resolved by the Democratic Party going into 2026? I could use something more specific than, "Just get rid of the crazy."

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Democrats spending millions to learn how to speak to 'American Men' and win back the working class [View all] TheProle May 26 OP

lmaooooo what on earth WhiskeyGrinder May 26 #1

How about, hildegaard28 May 26 #2

+ 100!! CrispyQ May 26 #5

The big brains hildegaard28 May 26 #10

IMHO atreides1 May 28 #103

Ill throw one out: legalize a distinction between wages and income, Volaris May 27 #44

I don't think it's the economy. They have been trained to hate liberals and Democrats, travelingthrulife May 27 #59

Exactly Rebl2 May 28 #99

There's nothing wrong with Dems trying to plan a strategy senseandsensibility May 26 #3

Ahhhhh--More "Bad Things About Democrats". Kingofalldems May 26 #4

Oh those Democrats! Doing what people say they should, learn to speak to the working class. But ... but ... THE HOTEL. betsuni May 26 #29

Bad? Sound like they're researching what went wrong. WarGamer May 26 #36

Lost the WH, House, Senate, Judiciary GreatGazoo May 27 #68

Why is that a bad thing? Mountainguy May 26 #6

I am done with male victimhood Ritabert May 26 #7

I think the male bashing when male concerns are considered Alpeduez21 May 26 #21

I'm laughing....my wife said, "Why don't they just go to school walkingman May 26 #8

Or they could take a page from republican men kacekwl May 27 #54

it's my party........everybody sing along now. nt msongs May 26 #9

... Celerity May 26 #14

Judy;s gonna get what's coming to her.... nt msongs May 26 #16

DNC giving me a good reason to ignore donation appeals. nt delisen May 26 #11

I don't understand why people have a problem with this, republicans got in power because of stuff like this unblock May 26 #12

I think a lack of authenticity might be the problem LearnedHand May 26 #34

I think Democrats focus test too much AZProgressive May 26 #38

cringe level 7 Celerity May 26 #13

Not taking the bait on every single culture war issue the GOP conjures up costs nothing. BannonsLiver May 26 #15

"donors and strategists holing up in luxury hotel rooms" Retrograde May 26 #17

It's the "cost" that bothers me most. lees1975 May 26 #18

The only issue I see here is the "luxury hotel room" thing jmowreader May 26 #19

Why are you framing this so negatively? Prairie Gates May 26 #20

I posted the title and 4 paragraphs verbatim TheProle May 26 #24

How do you make a stupid idea look better? leftstreet May 26 #28

According to YouGov it was 19 million womanofthehills May 26 #32

Maybe what YouGov meant was that 19 million eligible voters didn't turn out? CrispyQ May 27 #58

believe me, repuke elites have these same sorts of events cadoman May 26 #26

Young men feel like they have lost their power Tree Lady May 26 #22

That's a lot of kids right now womanofthehills May 26 #33

I think part of it is giving too much to the kids Tree Lady May 26 #37

I don't know how young people afford to buy a house today, CrispyQ May 27 #63

My daughter 46 making over 200k Tree Lady May 27 #74

Social media has convinced too many that they can make tons of money online or in some get rich scheme tulipsandroses May 27 #78

Exactly this is the issue with my grandson Tree Lady May 27 #84

all they need to do is use simpler language, more baby talk, a lot of googoo, gaagaa and maybe they can get through to ImNotGod May 26 #23

Unfortunately, what it takes to "please" the portion of men Bettie May 26 #25

Let me guess - they are using the very same strategists who put the party in this position to try to get us out of it. Midwestern Democrat May 26 #27

Bingo n/t Sympthsical May 26 #40

Kind of like "our big brain is gonna get us out of this mess that our big brain got us in." CrispyQ May 27 #65

Does that mean I have to grunt and scratch my crotch? Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin May 26 #30

Well, one just needs read most of the responses in this thread and it is understood that men are not welcome here Alpeduez21 May 26 #31

What would you, personally, like to hear from the party? WhiskeyGrinder May 27 #55

Some of what I'd like to hear we cant discuss here. Callie1979 May 28 #101

You are correct RJ-MacReady May 27 #73

Many think the podcasts won the election. womanofthehills May 26 #35

That makes sense to me, especially in light of the recent study that men, especially young men, don't read much anymore. CrispyQ May 27 #66

What a waste of money JI7 May 26 #39

Is this a job creation program? jalan48 May 26 #41

So I guess this means that minorities will be thrown under the bus? DSandra May 26 #42

Why does it have to be either or? RJ-MacReady May 27 #76

Maybe instead of blowing millions of dollars MorbidButterflyTat May 27 #43

DU may ridicule, but I agree with the findings. Wanderlust988 May 27 #45

I'm pretty sure few Democrats use those terms. Anybody know? I remember AOC defending "Latinx": betsuni May 27 #46

Elizabeth Warren Shrek May 27 #53

This doesn't help RJ-MacReady May 28 #100

According to Pew pattyloutwo May 27 #57

The biggest mistake Democrats have made is failing to tell people when they've done something good. Vinca May 27 #47

That says more about young people that it does the party. walkingman May 27 #51

I suspect that SS and Medicare rank really low on the list of what your average 25 yr old is concerned about MichMan May 28 #105

I just gave that as an example because they're among the biggest and most successful programs. What would a 25 Vinca May 28 #110

Why we'll keep right on losing. Passages May 27 #48

In my view we need a strategy that will answer 2 questions. Prairie_Seagull May 27 #49

Two parties and both have lost their way. nt Autumn May 27 #50

I have a better idea gab13by13 May 27 #52

Actually all they needed to do was undo Reagan's actions. Blue Full Moon May 27 #56

Women make up nearly half of the working class. Quiet Em May 27 #60

We need new leaders that don't come across as wimps. It doesn't matter how stupid you doc03 May 27 #61

Obama was pretty good at reaching young men: a dynamic messenger promoting "hope and change" andym May 27 #62

Bernie just showed how to do it. Save your millions. thought crime May 27 #64

We're losing the culture war Sympthsical May 27 #67

Interesting EarlG May 27 #71

I feared this would be more or less the shape of the response Sympthsical May 27 #72

No need for a straw man EarlG May 27 #75

Keeping it very simple - a question Sympthsical May 27 #79

So much crap you've said... Brenda May 27 #87

Have you seen some of our national rhetoric towards Latinos? Sympthsical May 27 #90

This message was self-deleted by its author Brenda May 27 #91

This message was self-deleted by its author Brenda May 27 #89

You asked me a direct question EarlG May 27 #93

I actually agree with much you say here Sympthsical May 28 #102

Hostility towards males here? Brenda May 28 #108

No, I got it Sympthsical May 28 #109

Sorry for the late reply EarlG May 30 #112

Sorry, this got lost in the shuffle and just saw it Sympthsical Jun 2 #113

I completely agree with this and your later post as well. Abolishinist May 27 #77

This is the part i ageee with: "ever-changing list of cultural offenses people must be persecuted for committing" LearnedHand May 27 #81

Well said. Littlered May 27 #82

The odd thing is, I don't think this moralizing tone fujiyamasan May 27 #86

Thanks for these posts. BluesRunTheGame May 27 #95

Agreed. I came of age politically in the 1980s and being a liberal minded young man inclined towards intellectualism Midwestern Democrat May 28 #97

NAFTA was, in my opinion, a HUGE political blunder. BluesRunTheGame May 28 #98

It made me glad. LAS14 May 27 #69

I'm so tired of Democrats blaming voters for our electoral failures biocube May 27 #70

Hard to do when the infinite dark money ads define you. BlueTsunami2018 May 27 #80

Are they taking Faux pas May 27 #83

They Couldn't Have Rented... ProfessorGAC May 27 #85

We need to reach young men too. Initech May 27 #88

That's the biggest pile of horseshit I have seen in some time... kentuck May 27 #92

Working class young men are pretty much like foreign people. kerry-is-my-prez May 27 #94

Once again these "consultants" fujiyamasan May 28 #96

The Dems must learn to jerk off a mic. Clouds Passing May 28 #104

Here's the answer: lots of Democratic men are racist and sexist. That's why they Scrivener7 May 28 #106

Save money, just listen to Trump's rally speeches Deminpenn May 28 #107

The solution: "holing up in luxury hotel rooms" is the problem. usonian May 28 #111

Doing yard maintenance Tree Lady Jun 2 #114