Would it be worth framing conservatives as wanting to make America like Hungary? I always thought liberals should amplify the weirdest and most off-putting unpopular ideas by the fringe right as a representation of the larger movement. It seems to be what conservatives do for the wackiest leftist ideas.
Schlozman and Rosenfields book was great. And it’s true that neither party has been able to break the disintegration and isolation of American society. But could they try?
My party office hosts no in-person events or town halls. Endorsements feel like Tammany Hall level negotiations (except things don’t get done) and the only communication I get from the Democrats is via actblue fundraiser text messages.
Perhaps a strategy that is more local won’t change national politics—but honestly that’s ok. I think a lot of Democrats are fed up even with the problems that exist where they live. If getting involved with the local party can help shift even municipal or county policy I think that would be energizing for the party and attractive for any American hungry for participatory politics.
A friend of mine once mentioned that his grandparents got a loan to buy their home from their local Democratic Party office when they moved to the US after WWII. A party doing stuff directly like that in communities today would be unthinkable.
>“The problem is that policy-as-politics doesn’t work.”
As a younger millennial (assuming generation type is relevant here), this statement is utterly alien and baffling to me. Politics is about implementing policies you find favorable! If you don't choose your political party based on what policies they claim to implement, what are you doing?
Is this why changes in presidential approval aren't fully translating into changes in voting plans? Do people think of the Republican party the way they think of their local sports team where they can have bad players or bad coaches but that doesn't mean you change your allegiance to team that wins more because that simply isn't a thing you can do? This makes a frightening amount of sense of the behavior of Republican voters over the last ten years.
The more political discourse I’ve read, the more I suspect that the word “community” is always a cover for fuzziness and magical thinking
Would it be worth framing conservatives as wanting to make America like Hungary? I always thought liberals should amplify the weirdest and most off-putting unpopular ideas by the fringe right as a representation of the larger movement. It seems to be what conservatives do for the wackiest leftist ideas.
Schlozman and Rosenfields book was great. And it’s true that neither party has been able to break the disintegration and isolation of American society. But could they try?
My party office hosts no in-person events or town halls. Endorsements feel like Tammany Hall level negotiations (except things don’t get done) and the only communication I get from the Democrats is via actblue fundraiser text messages.
Perhaps a strategy that is more local won’t change national politics—but honestly that’s ok. I think a lot of Democrats are fed up even with the problems that exist where they live. If getting involved with the local party can help shift even municipal or county policy I think that would be energizing for the party and attractive for any American hungry for participatory politics.
A friend of mine once mentioned that his grandparents got a loan to buy their home from their local Democratic Party office when they moved to the US after WWII. A party doing stuff directly like that in communities today would be unthinkable.
>“The problem is that policy-as-politics doesn’t work.”
As a younger millennial (assuming generation type is relevant here), this statement is utterly alien and baffling to me. Politics is about implementing policies you find favorable! If you don't choose your political party based on what policies they claim to implement, what are you doing?
Is this why changes in presidential approval aren't fully translating into changes in voting plans? Do people think of the Republican party the way they think of their local sports team where they can have bad players or bad coaches but that doesn't mean you change your allegiance to team that wins more because that simply isn't a thing you can do? This makes a frightening amount of sense of the behavior of Republican voters over the last ten years.