This country has moved so far to the right

[rainy]

because corporations write the laws and fund democrats' campaigns. We can't move any more to the right. It's time to fight. Women are on the move and will bring fresh, unafraid, un-beholden new blood to the Democratic Party and guess what, as progressives we will win for the people. Now is the time for brave and bold not old blue dogs!

[leftstreet]

1. DURec

[Chasstev365]

2. +1000

[yallerdawg]

3. There's all kinds of Democrats.

Anyone who expects us all to be the same is going to be very disappointed.

[tenderfoot]

5. So you're farther to the right than Charlie Daniels?

You must be pleased as punch with all this.

Having a good laugh are we?

[yallerdawg]

8. I'm farther to the left than you.

I just live in the real world.

Keep telling me how all we need to do is run far left liberal socialists - in THIS country?

What am I missing here?

[msongs]

14. for thousands of elected posts in those red states there is NO dem candidate at all. that's why

repubs have taken over so much. ya can't vote for a dem if there is none running, and no dem running tells people dems do not even care about them

[yallerdawg]

17. Show me a ballot in any Red State...

and I'll show you Democratic candidates getting beat.

Sometimes, especially in very partisan districts and some states, Democrats understand there is no point - just as Republicans don't waste time running in Democratic strongholds.

[lunasun]

20. Exactly the Republican Party doesn't invest a lot of money in the mayoral race in Chicago

It usually comes down to two democrats running in the primary .
A lot of money is invested in some IL republican wealthy suburb areas where they always win .A Dem might run but will most likely lose.
If rich iindependants or republicans were going to swing dem IMO it's not for a LW socialist but maybe a moderate dem opposing a crazy repub tea partier but now maybe part of the current dem party will stay home on moderates.

So one type of candidate or a single solution for the whole country is not something I can imagine
It's a big country with lots of local flavors

Areas do change demographics though . Arizona Nevada are examples and that is where I hope the party concentrates , on the changing demographics where there is serious chance to win and change.
Putting money on wild cards is a big gamble unless the suggestion is they do not need funding or a ground campaign and will win anyway because they speak to the people
If they point to trump did it that way, then they may also have to be ready to self fund, play his tricks and also get involved with voter supression etc realistically to gain ground in some of those red areas IMO

[RobinA]

24. Jeez...

I did not need to see that first thing in the morning. It might be better to just move.

[inwiththenew]

16. Charlie Daniels is pretty good representation of the political change in the south

In his early career he had that song Uneasy Rider where he gets into a fight with some rightwing rednecks and he supported Jimmy Carter in his presidential run.

Once the 1980s hit though he was well on his way to being the rightwing maniac we all know today. Like that Simple Man song in the 80s talking about killing criminals and following "The good book".

[yallerdawg]

27. Another point I'd like to make...

is this new compulsion to take out the messenger and pay no attention to the message.

The OP reference to the 'old blue dogs,' the song reference to 'old bluetick hound , like to lie around in the shade' (I have one!) has no relation to what an entertainer's customer base evolved to over a decade or two or three. A customer base that reflects a skepticism towards leftwing Democratic idealism. But retains an interest in some Democratic policies (like marijuana).

This is a curse of our times - picking up our hand-held fact-checker and googling some 'fact' - to dismiss what the subject is and miss the point.

I still like Ted Nugent songs, early Kid Rock is phenomenal - does my world have to be 'politically correct' - subject to purity tests and group think, censorship and thought control, social media bullying?

Or are we the open-minded, thoughtful, introspective citizens who understand each other first, and then work towards commonly shared goals in our Big Tent?

[tenderfoot]

4. The country has move so far to the right it makes my grand-parent's generation of conservatives...

look like Commie/Save the Whales/No Nukes Hippies.

For real.

[Golden Raisin]

7. Ike wouldn't be allowed in today's Republican party.

By comparison he was WAY too liberal.

[mvd]

6. Good post

The rich and corporations were doing fine from the 1930s though the 1970s when the wealth was being shared by everyone. But the Powell memo in the 1970s really led to a full on attempt to buy our government. By the 1980s, inequality really started growing. The rich wanted most of the benefits, and who cares about everyone else. The Repukes move more strongly in protecting the rich, but Democrats have also helped. The Great Recession hurt minorities more than white people overall, showing the importance of economic justice in social justice.

[lostnfound]

23. This whole healthcare fiasco very telling: Discussion CAN'T focus on excess profits driving cost

The country spends almost DOUBLE per capita what other countries spend.
💰We have $10,000 injectable opioid antidotes that used to cost $65.
💰We have $70,000 per year MS drugs that cost $7,000 in the U.K.
💰We have kickbacks to doctors, who themselves are in deep debt due to unfunded universities and medical schools.
💰We have trumped-up dieseases wherein the limits for saying you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol were artificially lowered due to lobbying from drug companies that simply wanted to expand their market.
💰We have direct-to-consumer drug advertising every 5 minutes on TV.
💰We have very well-paid executives, like the United Healthcare CEO who received annual compensation between $30 M and $100 M per year -- whose MAIN job is to increase profits, increase revenue, and increase value back to shareholders.
💰We have at least $100 Billion dollars in dividends going back to stockholders in the for-profit healthcare industry.

Even on MSNBC, the debate isn't -- and CAN'T be -- seriously focused on why medical costs are so high, because, well, there is direct-to-consumer drug advertising every 5 minutes .

How much of the $4.5 trillion health care cost in the US is turning into profit for the top 1%? How much of it is unnecessary treatment driven by a desire to increase revenues to for-profit companies?
The Powell memo has been so successful that the only argument allowed is "some people want free stuff and they want ME to pay for it through higher taxes". do they teach the
Powell memo in school now? Ha. I doubt it -- and if they did, any person in the state of Florida has the legal right to challenge it, even non-parents.

[mvd]

25. Exactly

It's a consequence of the media being owned by a few big corporations. On this one, I am at a bit of a loss. How can we get a less filtered media? The anti-trust provisions have also not been well enforced.

[lostnfound]

31. Right now, most of us are funding the filters, brought our cable bills

Ithere are more effective ways to get through to people Han there used to be. A YouTube video or social media can be a way to get the story out. But there's a problem with "confirmation bias" and with the "battle for eyeballs". So many things that can draw attention.

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. Most polls on substantiative issues indicate that it really hasn't

Congress has because of gerrymandering and Democratic votes tending to concentrate in urban areas and voter suppression.

[colsohlibgal]

10. The Country Has Indeed Moved Right

But not the majority of people, there are more of us on the liberal side. The right has used Citizens United and voting shenanigans to move the nation to the right.

[rainy]

11. True

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. It is not that. 80 something percent of the Trump supporters still love him. It is their

hearts that have to change. How in the hell do we do that? How do we get to the 36% who still support him ? Obviously logic, slimy behavior proof, collusion with the enemy, lies upon lies, hideous immature behavior - None of that had effect !

Still think cracking the Fox and Rush hold somehow would help. But how?

[rainy]

13. Get rid of Fox and right wing hate machines😁

[earthshine]

21. I don't think we can reach them. But, we can out vote them!

They are only 36%. We can beat that. Technically, we did in the last election by 3 million popular votes.

[Initech]

15. They will never take our freedom!!!!

[Luciferous]

18. Yes! Moving to the right just leads to more conservative extremism and I don't think we can

survive much more of that!

[lunasun]

19. I guess for me I thought the 16 dem party platform was progressive and a women was nominated

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/papers_pdf/117717.pdf

What would you change/add on the dem party s last platform presented to voters? What kind of women ?

[rainy]

22. First I'd make sure people heard

loud and clear what the party represented.Either Hillary wasn't out on the trail making firery speeches or they were not being aired. The public perception of her was that she was corporate owned and a war monger. No matter what the "platform" said that was not the perception of Hillary.

Bernie's speeches, like Obama's were stirring and united people to get out and fight for their causes. Hillary was too controlled in speech and lacked the appearance of passion. I know she is a very passionate person but perception is everything. The republicans did a superb job of destroying her rep as they have done in the past, destroying the reputation of our finest.

[snooper2]

26. LOL, keep trying

You been hanging out with "Sane" Progressive?

[Eliot Rosewater]

28. So let's say in November you have a House choice of a very conservative democrat,

a very liberal progressive 3rd party who cant win and a republican.

Do you

a. not vote
b. vote for the democrat
c. vote for the progressive who cant win


?

[Greybnk48]

29. +1000! Too much of "moving right" is at women's expense!

I'm not moving a fucking inch! No triangulating, either. I'm a pre-Bill Clinton Democrat and will not change to Republican lite. We ran this place for decades just fine and people were MUCH better off.

[WinstonSmith00]

30. We need to challenge every bank owned

Politician. Democrats need to focus on grass roots and people power! Shun the special interest and lobbyist and corporate influence.