The usual political conventional wisdom probably won't apply this year

[EarlG]

After every election, win or lose, political pundits tell the Democrats what they shoulda-coulda-woulda done better, and it always goes like this: Democrats need to do more to cater to Republican voters.

Usually this strikes a chord with some factions of the Democratic Party, and we then spend the next couple of years arguing about whether it makes any sense or not. Et voila, Democrats are in disarray!

But if you think about it, this time around, what more could we do to cater to people who voted for Trump in 2020?

Lock up more kids in cages?
Go all in on "COVID is a conspiracy theory"?
Be more brutally and overtly racist?
Insult more women?
Engage in more gaslighting, lying, and abuse?
Suck up more to authoritarian dictators?
Do a better job shitting on the Constitution, destroying American institutions, and subverting democracy?

Because let's be honest, THAT is what Trump's voters love about him, and we're not going to do any of that stuff. And nobody is going to suggest that we should.

Which means that -- assuming Biden wins -- this could be the first election in a long time where Democrats will actually get to forge their own path for once. Yeah, a ton of people voted for Trump this year, but I don't think Biden is going to have to cater to those people, because how could he? For one thing, he's not a raging narcissistic asshole.

I think Biden is going to do what he can to lead us out of this mess, and remind people of what an American president is supposed to be like. And I hope that once people get a taste of it, it might actually take the temperature in this country down a few notches.

There are tons of actual, meaningful issues that the American people agree on -- controlling the pandemic, improving healthcare, better environmental policies, the need for infrastructure spending, etc. -- that the Republican party has simply ignored for the past four years in favor of their insane government-by-cult-of-personality experiment. We're going to be recovering from the after-effects of Trump for a while, but if he is removed from office, I'm hopeful that things are going to change fairly quickly -- probably in ways we can't even really conceive of at the moment.

But I'm pretty sure that what we're NOT going to be doing this time around is wringing our hands over how we can better cater to the people who cast their votes for Trump. Because the only way to cater to those people is to actually BE Trump -- and the nation just (apparently) decided they don't want another helping of that shit sandwich.

[Skittles]

1. excellent assessment

still, it is absolutely sickening to see so many people voting for a man who utterly fails not just as a president, but as a decent human being

[Polly Hennessey]

2. Agree. Stop catering to those people.

It has never been successful and never will be. They see things differently and always will. We cannot teach them not should we need to. The brick wall our heads keep hitting has never moved. It will never move.

[Cosmocat]

3. There appears to be one practical limitation

assuming the senator majority leader is the Turtle, there is literally nothing that Joe Biden will be able to do through congress. Extraordinarily unfortunate, but it leaves him in a position to have a lot of time over the next two years to fix the federal government that 45 has decimated, and start to reset our position relative to foreign relations.

The dems have to sit down starting today and figure out their battle plan to keep the House and win some senate seats to have the chance to do systemic reform like statehood for DC and reforming the SC the last two years of this term, assuming he pulls this out ...

[EarlG]

5. Maybe, maybe not

grantcart had a good assessment of a possible outcome here:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214444446

The upshot being that McConnell will have less control over a tighter Senate when Trump is out of the way and "moderate" Republican Senators like Romney are trying to lead their party away from Trumpism. McConnell may find it difficult to stop a "Gang Of x" group from making deals in the middle and getting popular legislation moved.

[Cosmocat]

8. All due respect Earl

When was the last time republican's did ANYTHING with Ds?

BHO passed THEIR version of health care reform, and not only did not not get one single vote to support it after bending over to try to get one in the senate, they spun against it to win the biggest mid term win in our lives and spent the remainder of the next decade running against it.

Seriously, they did not reach out one big to Ds during Ws tenure, spent 8 years doing literally nothing with BHO ...

And, IF we can get him out of the White House, 45 is not going away.

Every cock roach in the country came out this election to vote for HIM ...

[EarlG]

12. I think it's possible that a handful of R Senators are going to want to try to wash away

the stink of the last four years. Trump insulted and belittled them, cost some of them their seats and endangered others. And the country is in a precarious place now, and can't afford to be further divided. With weakened R control of the Senate we only need to get a couple of them to step back from the ledge, and I think there may be a handful who are willing.

Oddly enough, it may be MORE possible with people like Susan Collins hanging in there, giving them a 51-49 majority, than it would have been if we had taken the Senate 50-50, which would probably have prompted a knee-jerk obstructionist reaction from the opposition. Some of those Senators in the middle have to realize that with a Biden presidency, they suddenly have more power than Mitch McConnell.

Anyway, if nothing changes, then nothing changes. But it's also possible that the next few years are not going to be quite like the last few years. We shall see!

[totodeinhere]

16. That may be but no Republican, moderate or not, is ever going to support

packing the SCOTUS. That idea is dead for at least the next two years.

[Midnightwalk]

4. The focus should be on tangible results for midterms

Can we make enough of an impact so we keep the house and get the senate in 22.

The obvious problem is the senate may stonewall all legislation. Do we hold up funding bills if other popular bills are not brought up for a floor vote? Don’t know.

Biden has to be relentless about republican obstructionism. Demand votes on bills every press conference.

People are tired of the corruption. Yes, the DOJ will have to drive the investigations but talk about the importance and prioritize going after the profiteers of covid aid. I think most people want to see corrupt politicians do perp walks. It also keeps the spot light on the senate to pass stimulation.

My two cents.

[totodeinhere]

17. Making gains in 2022 will be a tall order.

The party out of power in the White House almost always gains in midterm elections. Remember 1994 and 2010?

[The Magistrate]

6. I Quite Agree, Sir

There is already a fair amount of this from the punitocracy, and it mostly boils down to this:

Democrats need to start courting uneducated white racists, the real Americans, and knock off this nonesense about racial justice and economic equity --- that's socialism, you know, completely un-American.

We face an old divide, between the town and the countryside, and somehow, at least in our polity, the townspeople are told we must listen to and understand the country-folk. They are never told to listen to us, and they damned well ought to..

The fact is, life experience of urban people is a good deal wider and more varied than that of rural people. Because of this, it is much easier for city folk to understand rural sorts than vice versa. The idea rural people have of city life is often ridiculous, and generally amounts to nothing but ignorant bias, clouded by their own overweening self-satisfaction. Which is itself rooted in their ignorance of any lives or conditions other than their own. The need for listening and education runs from the town to the country, not the other way round.

[ProfessorPlum]

14. well said

as someone who grew up in the countryside, I agree

[BainsBane]

7. Maybe not be so open about wanting to end fossil fuels

I think that was Biden's only real misstep.

That said, people don't vote based on issues. They vote based on the candidate. We need younger, more charismatic candidates.

Going further left certainly wouldn't help us in places like S Florida and Ohio.

[EarlG]

10. "Going further left" is a bit of a red herring though

It's been pretty well established that the American people say they don't want to "go further left" while simultaneously supporting -- in significant numbers -- individual issues which are typically considered "going further left." Issues like, say, minimum wage increases, universal background checks for firearms, a public option in the ACA -- or even Medicare For All -- have majority support.

I think that if Biden wins, his job going forward should be to deliver as many tangible results as possible that show how the power of government can be used to help all Americans, not just rich people and cronies. Hopefully his image as a moderate and his campaign as a unifier, plus weakened Republican control of the Senate combined with some Republican senators who want to move away from Trumpism, could actually produce meaningful legislation that creates real change.

If we have power I say we should wield it effectively and get as much done as we can, then let the chips fall where they may.

[BainsBane]

11. I don't have any problems with leftist policies myself

In fact, I like most of the advances proposed by the progressive wing. My concern is how it plays politically at election time. On the other hand, the GOP calls Democrats socialist regardless, so it may not matter. I'm all for what you say about Biden delivering tangible results that shows the benefits of government.

I do think that charisma seems to play a role. And the party really needs to make way for younger leaders. People claim they vote on issues, but I don't think they really do. A fair amount of poly sci research backs that up.

Close to half the country voted for a literal mad man. I just can't get my head around that.

[EarlG]

13. Agree on the need for younger leaders

I do think Biden is going to be the last of the "old guard." We have a whole group of good young, new leaders coming through.

Edited to add: also I hear what you are saying about people not voting on issues. When it comes to the presidency it's all about personality. But I do think we need to make a significant push to stop people identifying government as "bad" when really it's what's holding our society together. Republicans have spent decades belittling and diminishing the very concept of a self-governing society, which appears to have come to a head with them electing a literal authoritarian who tried to do away with democracy altogether. We need to make some serious efforts to push back on what they've done.

[democrank]

9. Recommended

[Gidney N Cloyd]

15. K & R & Bookmarking