Amen!

match President Donald Trump’s tough tactics and worry less about offending people.

He's getting this is a Culture War. Those of us who are Democratic Party members for whom our cruelty is the point . . . just stay out of our way. From day one this country's cruelty is a feature, not a bug.

a lot

He would make a great president. He's done a great job in Minnesota.

IMO - they should be having these conversations about how to approach issues/people/Trump/etc. in private conversations. We should not be broadcasting to the country that "Yeah, we think we suck, too."

Dems can not roll over. Tim is right.

from Tim Walz, unlike many other prominent Dems. Unless I've missed something, he saves that for Republicans, who well deserve it.

Really like his fire, wit, intelligence and great sense of humor.

Unfortunately big money donors have infiltrated politcs on both sides. We need grassroots appeal to generate massive small money donors and social media reach. The current system with large media buys is sputtering out. TV ads will become less important. We are going to have to have sound bites, memes and be able to play "what about" better than the GOP. We can win on truth abd it will be hard work. We ran 2024 like it was 2008. We should have run against big money in visible ways. It would have allowed us to show the plublic we were running against the billionaire class. We spent too much effort on focus groups that didn't reflect the typical voter. There was a GOP tax timebomb that we didn't address. A crushing middle class tax hike is coming in 2026 and will hit hard before the midterms. The GOP will try blame it on us and Biden, even though it was passed in 2017 and signed by 45. They could succeed as we failed to adress another one in 2009 & 10 that cost us those midterms to the fake Tea Party. We failed to run clearly against it in 20, 22 or 24.

Last edited Sun Jun 1, 2025, 01:46 PM - Edit history (2)

...since he was on the ticket that lost, which caused all this Democratic handwringing to begin with.

when the republicans are out of power, a memo goes around the gop who are told to look and act like they are in power. I have heard that from a few gop strategists. We on the other hand, look like a bunch of headless chickens.

Yes, they are evil but that is why the Reps are winning. When the majority of people in the psych field are quite liberal (I’m one of them). It’s like the Democrats are like Bambi and we’re fighting Godzilla.

Anyway, there's nothing wrong with self-reflection but you don't want to kill the brand.

He spoke for about a half hour .. and a fiery speach it was. We (the delegates) were so fired up that Walz could have done an encore.

But he disappeared. The state party chair, Crystale Spain, then informed us that Governor Walz had a very tight airline connection and had to rush to the Columbia (SC) airport. We had no idea that he was going to California to speak to their Democratic Party Convention!

But that's what you do when you are running for president.

I don’t actually think the Dems have lost touch with working people. After all, the party consists of millions of Dems on the local level. We are the party. But we have lost our ability to communicate on a national level with the working class as effectively as we need to. We need to address the sense of desperation they feel every time they go to work worried that their livelihood may disappear by the end of the day. We need to address the frustration they feel at working and saving and still not being able to afford a home or to have a family. We need to address the burden of debt the student loans have placed on them and how the party can provide policies to help them manage the load. We need to address the cost of childcare, groceries and medical care and contrast it with the policies that put them in this place of desperation. We need to compare where they are today with earlier generations who could make a living on one income if they chose to and the policies that now make that nearly impossible. We need to tap into their anger for getting screwed over and over and over again and the policies we support that will relieve some of their burdens and add fairness to a system that has been designed to use them up and throw them away.

Tim Walz is a very effective communicator in all those areas. I think he would make a great candidate. Still it pisses me off that what he has in his pants is more of a qualifier with the American people than what he has in his brain. Except for that, Kamala had everything Walz has, but didn’t tap into the indignity and anger the American people feel as effectively. Women must follow different social rules than men. She was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t follow those rules. I’m still crushed.

But she didn't provoke their anger at their current situation before she did it...you know, ladies aren't supposed to do that sort of thing.

Candidates will be known by what they focus on. That's why Bernie is known for Democratic Socialism, AOC is known for the Green New Deal, Obama was known for voting against the Iraq travesty, Dumpf is known for wanting to put all brown immigrants to death, etc.

What you equate with FEAR is partially correct (repukes vote entirely based on fear of non-whiteness and womxn), but the ideal candidates have forged an identity that coincides with their political moment. Harris is a generalist (that is not a bad thing), but it also means that none of her policy choices will resonate much because voters know those polices aren't set in stone. Generalists will be judged based on whiteness, maleness, and likeability (hence why Bill did so well as a generalist).

You can see this with what Wes Moore is doing, because he is clearly sacrificing short-term wins (reparations study) for a Presidential setup. He knows how important it is to appease white violence to win elections in America, and a Black candidate offering a post-reparations worldview is just that. Some may call it cynical, but it undeniably improves his electoral chances.

https://marylandmatters.org/2025/05/22/lawmakers-confident-they-can-override-moores-veto-reinstate-reparations-commission-bill/

Think like a maga Repub or an indie with a chip on their shoulder.

They are only moved by fear and vindictiveness. Their cultural identity is wrapped up in being given excuses to be losers. They only way they can win in life - is to have a big daddy to be their revenge.

We heard it in 2016, 2020, and 2024.

...because clearly information and solid policy is irrelevant to so many.

Seeing what we're dealing with, to start talking about the next presidential election this soon might be a good thing. It generates some excitement, interest and ideas, at least among us as democrats.

Ever since meeting Tim in February of 2005 at an event in Mankato when he announced his run for Congress in Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, I knew then this man was special and we would get on beautifully. From humble High School teacher to Congressman to Governor, Tim Walz has morphed into a Political powerhouse NOT to be ignored. He has grown immensely in the art of communication and speaking style. The gloves are off.

Mine and my late husband's close friendship with him and Gwen these past 20 years, are Joy's to be cherished. His attending my husband's Celebration of Life for a bit on May 22nd showed he is just a person who cares about others and values close friendships as anyone else would.

Dems/liberals need a leader to keep us together and pointed at the objective.

But I’d still love to have Kamala a Harris as the first female President in my lifetime !

While it is true that we lost both houses and the Presidency, consider that Trump/Republican victories were not that different than Biden/Democratic victories in 2020. Were they road kill them?

I don't think it is good to OVERSTATE the size of the Republican victory. It also is not a good idea to help the Republicans in rewriting the 2024 election buying into every negative characterization.

The Democrats did speak of healthcare, probably as often as abortion rights.

They did speak of the economy. Here, I think their problem is the same as the problem in 2016. In both years, prudent management of the economy had improved the likelihood of Americans and were a BIG improvement from the chaos of 2008 and 2020 respectively. The problem, I think, was a fear that any triumphant recounting of what went right might be seen as uncaring to any left behind.

Joe Biden was the first President to leave office with a more equitable division of income than when he came in. This should have been spoken of more. Couldn't a message have been that Biden succeeded in passing many important bills that will continue to make life better, but much work still needed to be done.

I liked Walz, but I don't think he is the best choice for candidate.

What "working class" did Biden/Harris administration and Harris/Walz campaign ignore? If he says nice totally not racist or anything Trump voters are just suffering from the economic anxiety those mean old Democrats created, it will be official.