Do we have any politicians capable of making coherent policies anymore?

[IronWing]

Seems like we're living in a movie.

 

[brycejones]

No

 

[ivwshane]

Yes, they are currently called Democrats. They might not be around for very long though because they apparently suck at having a coherent political strategy for getting elected.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

No

 

[Jhhnn]

Yes, they are currently called Democrats. They might not be around for very long though because they apparently suck at having a coherent political strategy for getting elected.

Repubs have simply become highly adept at making elections about FUD, then pandering to it. Repub voters are very much afraid, of all the wrong things.

 

[ivwshane]

Repubs have simply become highly adept at making elections about FUD, then pandering to it. Repub voters are very much afraid, of all the wrong things.

That's true but if Democrats were politically competent they would be able to counter their fud or at the very least be trying to do that.

 

[IronWing]

I was just thinking about how the U.S. got out of the business of uranium enrichment. We had by far the largest enrichment program in the world from the 1940s through 2001. Then we were going to replace our spectacularly inefficient, but reliable gaseous diffusion process with much more efficient centrifuges (this was our second run at centrifuges; we built but never operated a full scale centrifuge plant in the late 70s and tore it down in the early 80s). So, one by one, we shut down the enrichment plants while dinking around with centrifuges. Then we pulled the plug on the prototype centrifuge plant while shutting down the last diffusion plant. Now we have no capacity and we got here with no national policy discussion at all. It just sort of happened. Things fall apart.

 

[Sunburn74]

That's true but if Democrats were politically competent they would be able to counter their fud or at the very least be trying to do that.

True. They have demographic advantages as well in every state.

There are not more republicans in alabama or texas than democrats. There are just more voting republicans than democrats.

 

[nickqt]

That's true but if Democrats were politically competent they would be able to counter their fud or at the very least be trying to do that.

Try arguing with a scientologist and see how far reasoning and rational discussion gets you.

The people the Democrats, aka the centrists, are supposed to be convincing are brain damaged from Masters Limbaugh and O'Reilly shitting directly into their skulls for the past 30 years.

 

[Jhhnn]

That's true but if Democrats were politically competent they would be able to counter their fud or at the very least be trying to do that.

Dems real problem is that they try to tell the truth. Way back in 1994 Gingrich & Co discovered that insincerity sold better than the truth, if they picked issues where people are already somewhat emotional. They discovered that wedge issues win elections & that the more hate & discontent they could spread the more they could exploit it. Most of all, they could blame govt for the economic problems that implementation of their own ideology facilitated.

Their efforts corrode the very fabric of society but as long as they're winning & serving the Jerb Creators they really don't care.

 

[woolfe9998]

That's true but if Democrats were politically competent they would be able to counter their fud or at the very least be trying to do that.

Messaging is off target. They should ease up on the race issue. It's just pissing off the white working class. They are feeling like the dems are the party of minorities, instead of the party of the middle class and poor. Emphasize it, but not to the same degree.

The emphasis should be that the GOP has been the reverse Robin Hood party for decades now and it's time that people wake up to it. Every policy position they take involves taking from the poor and the middle class and handing it over to the rich. Very few people support tax cuts for the rich, or giving up individual privacy to increase corporate profits, or taking healthcare from the poor. We've had lots of economic growth over the last 20 years, and all of it has gone to the top 1% while the rest of us tread water.

Expose them. Over and over again.

 

[Sunburn74]

I would just run a single issue campaign.
Vote for us if you want universal healthcare. Full stop. Refuse to talk about anything else.
Make it really hard for people to say no. Make your argument so strong and so simple that it overrides all the other stupid single issue things people get hung up on.

 

[fskimospy]

I would just run a single issue campaign.
Vote for us if you want universal healthcare. Full stop. Refuse to talk about anything else.
Make it really hard for people to say no. Make your argument so strong and so simple that it overrides all the other stupid single issue things people get hung up on.

Republicans will turn that into you poor white people are giving money to the lazy darkies. It's the same as it ever was.

 

[manly]

That's true but if Democrats were politically competent they would be able to counter their fud or at the very least be trying to do that.

How do they deal with gerry-mandering or alleged voter suppression tactics? Take away the former and the House of Reps is probably close to 50/50 right now.

Long term, I think demographics will solve part of the problem.

 

[ivwshane]

How do they deal with gerry-mandering or alleged voter suppression tactics? Take away the former and the House of Reps is probably close to 50/50 right now.

Long term, I think demographics will solve part of the problem.

The same way the Republicans were able to create a wave election in 2010 that allowed them to do the gerrymandering in the first place...by having a political strategy to win elections. As it is right now, there are several congressional seats coming up for election where the incumbent Republican is going unopposed. As also mentioned, dems have av messaging problem, not only is their messaging poor but it's usually lacking entirely.