Jake - I do not want to read about what you think about the midterms. I do not want to read what George Will writes about you. All I want to know is what you and your fellow Congress people are doing every day to rid this country of the scourge of ICE. The lawlessness of ICE - the kidnappings, the shootings, the murder of Renee Nicole Good, the detention centers that are essentially concentration camps – you have the power to work with your fellow Congress people to end this travesty. Please do it as quickly as possible.
IMHO, that's not the case. My sense is that the liberal side of the country is working from the 20, even the 15 yard line, against a team that won a position on the 49 1/2 yard line, and then simply commandeered the next 30+ yards, much as they have demanded changes in the voting maps. Somehow, that team has made many plays, has been called offside many times, yet the referees won't penalize them.
I think the large majority of the country has had enough, and when halftime comes, the elections in November will change the game in a major way.
Politics, when healthy, takes place between the end zones. George Will is a member of the Heritage Foundation trained fraternity, paid for by the Mellon-Scaifes and Koch Brothers, who have fought The New Deal for decades. In the decades prior to Barrack Obama's election, a good showing in a Presidential election was 55% of the electorate. A full 45% did not think any candidate represented their perspective. Obama brought out millions of votes for and against his election simply because he is Black. In 2016 Trump appealed to racists and white nationalists that never would have voted for McCain or Romney and narrowly captured the Presidency by increasing the right wing vote without losing the more moderate Republicans. That year on the other end of the spectrum, people "felt the Bern" in the Sanders campaign which would have expanded the range of voters on the left. But Hillary could not attract many of their votes since she played "between the 40's". Dems lost again to Trump for the same reason - he expanded his audience by a couple of million voters while Harris managed to lose six million of Biden's votes in 2020. Our objective should be to win races not pretend that the country does not have the polarization is always has had. The Trumpists take advantage of the existing polarization and drive it to extremes - the playbook of all autocrats. The answer is not to pretend the polarization does not exist, and play between the 40's, but to broaden the base and get the extra five percent you need from non-voters.
Will's point about American politics occurring between the 40 yard lines is self-serving. While true at times in history when our polity was healthier and worth getting back to, it is far from the case today. The present polarization and extremism did not materialize out of thin air. It is in response to the many deep, destructive systemic assaults to the health of our democracy, notably but not limited to Citizens United.
The democratic party is more than in the "doldrums". It is facing an existential threat as many Americans see it more as part of the problem, not the solution. With the exception of a few outstanding talents, party leaders are an old guard of complacent institutionalists who don't realize the extent to which Americans have lost faith in them and consequently the party itself. The prevailing ethos seems to be to simply pick up votes because people are so disillusioned with the republicans. Bold action is required to reinvigorate the party to make it relevant and inspiring to more Americans. There is scant evidence that this is occurring other than at the margins with certain individuals, Jake being one example. Many of us are wondering if the party will be capable of doing this.
There is symmetry between what the nation requires to restore it to health and what the democratic party needs to develop to help pull this off. Greater 'muscularity" is only one part of what's required. The big question is whether the democratic party can adapt quickly enough when playing in the clutch at the 10 yard line when they're more comfortable and effective playing between the 40 yard lines. From our current vantage point the days of 40 yard lines ball play are a distant memory and look like they could well be gone forever.
I recall well years ago hearing Hugh Hewitt express trepidation about the fearsome opponent Republicans would have in Seth Moulton, whose military and academic cred was at that time still considered a huge asset. Shortly thereafter a golden elevator ride happened, followed by a nearly whole-scale shift in what resume elements go in the assets and which in the liabilities column for aspiring political leaders. A generation of aspirants got ensnared, and some tried to extricate themselves by being everything to everyone. They just sunk out of sight. So just find your thing and be that thing. Whatever that is. The authenticity, sorry for the cliche, is detectable and something voters are hungry for. Whether yours appeals to enough of them, and whether George Will's endorsement is a multiplier or the bipartisan, mutigenerational kiss of real and true political death, is unknown. Just go do the work.
By all means, Jake, use the communications tools available to you as a congressman to inform and educate your constituents or to build enthusiasm for a particular initiative, legislative or otherwise.
But this? This is campaign hackery and fluff and imho is a misuse of your privileges to communicate with your constituents. I might describe it as self-indulgent garbage but I understand that politics is what it is. Fine, do what you need to do, but don't do it under the guise of serving your constituents.
Seth Moulton said out loud what nearly everyone in America believes…. He didn’t want his 10 year old daughter playing soccer against boys. For saying that he was vilified and called a Nazi by his own party leaders.
The Dems’ left wing has taken over their party and caused it to lose elections for the same reasons that not that long ago
Reps’ Right wing of the religious right took over the Republican Party not that long ago.
Stop trying to do dumb things that are only important to some people in the deep blue states and most people around the country either don't care about or think are stupid. It might make you feel good but you will lose elections.
Ice is not going away and if you force that issue you forget that one of Trump's major campaign promises was to do exactly what he's doing with immigration. It would be dumb to try to fight that battle as your primary electoral focus as the country has already said you're wrong. Boys and girls sports could be one of the dumbest issues Democrats could ever hang their hat on electorally. Even lots of people in the deep blue states don't like that. 80% of the people in the country are against that, including a majority of Democrats. Why don't you try to die on that hill, Democrats, and you can donate elections to Republicans.
If you were a republican, it would have been like you died and went to heaven, if Democrats were focusing their attention on anti-ICE. it may make you feel good, but it’s a losing electoral proposition. As someone who wants to see Democrats take over Congress, I shutter when I read Democrats proposing those electoral losers as their primary focus.
Jake: When are you going to work with your fellow caucus members to oust Minority Leader Jeffries? We Democrats are angry and appalled at how weak and feckless he and Schumer are. Surely there is a red meat eating Democrat amongst you who can take the fight to the administration, pull the Dems out of the doldrums, and get on the same page as your supporters. We want to see a slug fest if necessary, not capitulation. I urge you and others in the caucus to insist that you shut the country down for the foreseeable future, maybe even until the midterms. ICE is out of hand and must be stopped. Make that your key ask. We are on the knife's edge of falling irrevocably into a dictatorship run by incompetent and xenophobic thugs. I'm begging you: do the right thing and get the caucus lined up to fight. And while I'm at it, I think you should be the leader/Speaker.
I'm with Jake, but we have a Gestapo afoot in America. Let' s focus first on defunding ICE. I agree the Democratic party has far to go in returning to representing all of us, but let's respond first to this immediate threat!
The only thing that matters is holding the current administration to account. Trials. Return of our tariff money. Making sure that week don't invade Greenland for God's sakes
Do that, or lose your primary to actual Dems and not Whigs.
Jake -- have read your insightful views on the subjects that George Will highlights since a live March interview with Steve Schmidt here on Substack. Have little in common with Will, but the fact he wrote about the sanity of your ideas/solutions is much more encouraging than the angry crowd may give you credit for (with good ICE reason today!). I actually believe many of your solutions address the Majority of Americans (the 60% that are between the 20 yard lines) -- and with the moral rock foundation that will be needed to finally propose some of the bold solutions that your Majority Democrats members (https://majoritydemocrats.com/about/) seem willing to FIGHT for (Slotkin, Spanberger. Sherrill, etc.). Just as important as fighting, is to restore belief that either party can fix what took decades to break. That takes concrete plans like you have been developing to RESTORE TRUST in the institutions no one believed in, which led to Trump and his massive wrecking ball. Just anti-Trump rhetoric may be enough to win an election on the margins, but do little to provide enough Trust to implement the bold solutions you are refining. Am behind you and your organization as a possible JFK/FDR developer that we need (we are already in an great American Values depression of historic proportions). Good luck Jake!
I think the greatest problem in this country is ignorance. None of the people I know who voted for Trump - my first cousin, my oldest friend and a co-worker - ever read a book. Let that sink in. People who vote in national elections never read and they are ignorant of current events, our national history and the important issues of the day. Of course, their great leader Donald Trump never reads a book or his daily briefings, if what I read about him is true. I don't see this problem correcting itself anytime soon. Ignorant people are easily swayed by demagogues so you have a tough task ahead of you.
Jake - I do not want to read about what you think about the midterms. I do not want to read what George Will writes about you. All I want to know is what you and your fellow Congress people are doing every day to rid this country of the scourge of ICE. The lawlessness of ICE - the kidnappings, the shootings, the murder of Renee Nicole Good, the detention centers that are essentially concentration camps – you have the power to work with your fellow Congress people to end this travesty. Please do it as quickly as possible.
AMEN
This
"between the 40 yard lines"
IMHO, that's not the case. My sense is that the liberal side of the country is working from the 20, even the 15 yard line, against a team that won a position on the 49 1/2 yard line, and then simply commandeered the next 30+ yards, much as they have demanded changes in the voting maps. Somehow, that team has made many plays, has been called offside many times, yet the referees won't penalize them.
I think the large majority of the country has had enough, and when halftime comes, the elections in November will change the game in a major way.
For Democrats to get elected, they need to end citizens United or at least quit accepting their legal bribes!
Politics, when healthy, takes place between the end zones. George Will is a member of the Heritage Foundation trained fraternity, paid for by the Mellon-Scaifes and Koch Brothers, who have fought The New Deal for decades. In the decades prior to Barrack Obama's election, a good showing in a Presidential election was 55% of the electorate. A full 45% did not think any candidate represented their perspective. Obama brought out millions of votes for and against his election simply because he is Black. In 2016 Trump appealed to racists and white nationalists that never would have voted for McCain or Romney and narrowly captured the Presidency by increasing the right wing vote without losing the more moderate Republicans. That year on the other end of the spectrum, people "felt the Bern" in the Sanders campaign which would have expanded the range of voters on the left. But Hillary could not attract many of their votes since she played "between the 40's". Dems lost again to Trump for the same reason - he expanded his audience by a couple of million voters while Harris managed to lose six million of Biden's votes in 2020. Our objective should be to win races not pretend that the country does not have the polarization is always has had. The Trumpists take advantage of the existing polarization and drive it to extremes - the playbook of all autocrats. The answer is not to pretend the polarization does not exist, and play between the 40's, but to broaden the base and get the extra five percent you need from non-voters.
Wonderful article!
lol
Jake, What is your definition of Whiggish?
Will's point about American politics occurring between the 40 yard lines is self-serving. While true at times in history when our polity was healthier and worth getting back to, it is far from the case today. The present polarization and extremism did not materialize out of thin air. It is in response to the many deep, destructive systemic assaults to the health of our democracy, notably but not limited to Citizens United.
The democratic party is more than in the "doldrums". It is facing an existential threat as many Americans see it more as part of the problem, not the solution. With the exception of a few outstanding talents, party leaders are an old guard of complacent institutionalists who don't realize the extent to which Americans have lost faith in them and consequently the party itself. The prevailing ethos seems to be to simply pick up votes because people are so disillusioned with the republicans. Bold action is required to reinvigorate the party to make it relevant and inspiring to more Americans. There is scant evidence that this is occurring other than at the margins with certain individuals, Jake being one example. Many of us are wondering if the party will be capable of doing this.
There is symmetry between what the nation requires to restore it to health and what the democratic party needs to develop to help pull this off. Greater 'muscularity" is only one part of what's required. The big question is whether the democratic party can adapt quickly enough when playing in the clutch at the 10 yard line when they're more comfortable and effective playing between the 40 yard lines. From our current vantage point the days of 40 yard lines ball play are a distant memory and look like they could well be gone forever.
I recall well years ago hearing Hugh Hewitt express trepidation about the fearsome opponent Republicans would have in Seth Moulton, whose military and academic cred was at that time still considered a huge asset. Shortly thereafter a golden elevator ride happened, followed by a nearly whole-scale shift in what resume elements go in the assets and which in the liabilities column for aspiring political leaders. A generation of aspirants got ensnared, and some tried to extricate themselves by being everything to everyone. They just sunk out of sight. So just find your thing and be that thing. Whatever that is. The authenticity, sorry for the cliche, is detectable and something voters are hungry for. Whether yours appeals to enough of them, and whether George Will's endorsement is a multiplier or the bipartisan, mutigenerational kiss of real and true political death, is unknown. Just go do the work.
By all means, Jake, use the communications tools available to you as a congressman to inform and educate your constituents or to build enthusiasm for a particular initiative, legislative or otherwise.
But this? This is campaign hackery and fluff and imho is a misuse of your privileges to communicate with your constituents. I might describe it as self-indulgent garbage but I understand that politics is what it is. Fine, do what you need to do, but don't do it under the guise of serving your constituents.
Seth Moulton said out loud what nearly everyone in America believes…. He didn’t want his 10 year old daughter playing soccer against boys. For saying that he was vilified and called a Nazi by his own party leaders.
The Dems’ left wing has taken over their party and caused it to lose elections for the same reasons that not that long ago
Reps’ Right wing of the religious right took over the Republican Party not that long ago.
Stop trying to do dumb things that are only important to some people in the deep blue states and most people around the country either don't care about or think are stupid. It might make you feel good but you will lose elections.
Ice is not going away and if you force that issue you forget that one of Trump's major campaign promises was to do exactly what he's doing with immigration. It would be dumb to try to fight that battle as your primary electoral focus as the country has already said you're wrong. Boys and girls sports could be one of the dumbest issues Democrats could ever hang their hat on electorally. Even lots of people in the deep blue states don't like that. 80% of the people in the country are against that, including a majority of Democrats. Why don't you try to die on that hill, Democrats, and you can donate elections to Republicans.
If you were a republican, it would have been like you died and went to heaven, if Democrats were focusing their attention on anti-ICE. it may make you feel good, but it’s a losing electoral proposition. As someone who wants to see Democrats take over Congress, I shutter when I read Democrats proposing those electoral losers as their primary focus.
Jake: When are you going to work with your fellow caucus members to oust Minority Leader Jeffries? We Democrats are angry and appalled at how weak and feckless he and Schumer are. Surely there is a red meat eating Democrat amongst you who can take the fight to the administration, pull the Dems out of the doldrums, and get on the same page as your supporters. We want to see a slug fest if necessary, not capitulation. I urge you and others in the caucus to insist that you shut the country down for the foreseeable future, maybe even until the midterms. ICE is out of hand and must be stopped. Make that your key ask. We are on the knife's edge of falling irrevocably into a dictatorship run by incompetent and xenophobic thugs. I'm begging you: do the right thing and get the caucus lined up to fight. And while I'm at it, I think you should be the leader/Speaker.
I'm with Jake, but we have a Gestapo afoot in America. Let' s focus first on defunding ICE. I agree the Democratic party has far to go in returning to representing all of us, but let's respond first to this immediate threat!
The only thing that matters is holding the current administration to account. Trials. Return of our tariff money. Making sure that week don't invade Greenland for God's sakes
Do that, or lose your primary to actual Dems and not Whigs.
Awesome Jake! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Jake -- have read your insightful views on the subjects that George Will highlights since a live March interview with Steve Schmidt here on Substack. Have little in common with Will, but the fact he wrote about the sanity of your ideas/solutions is much more encouraging than the angry crowd may give you credit for (with good ICE reason today!). I actually believe many of your solutions address the Majority of Americans (the 60% that are between the 20 yard lines) -- and with the moral rock foundation that will be needed to finally propose some of the bold solutions that your Majority Democrats members (https://majoritydemocrats.com/about/) seem willing to FIGHT for (Slotkin, Spanberger. Sherrill, etc.). Just as important as fighting, is to restore belief that either party can fix what took decades to break. That takes concrete plans like you have been developing to RESTORE TRUST in the institutions no one believed in, which led to Trump and his massive wrecking ball. Just anti-Trump rhetoric may be enough to win an election on the margins, but do little to provide enough Trust to implement the bold solutions you are refining. Am behind you and your organization as a possible JFK/FDR developer that we need (we are already in an great American Values depression of historic proportions). Good luck Jake!
I think the greatest problem in this country is ignorance. None of the people I know who voted for Trump - my first cousin, my oldest friend and a co-worker - ever read a book. Let that sink in. People who vote in national elections never read and they are ignorant of current events, our national history and the important issues of the day. Of course, their great leader Donald Trump never reads a book or his daily briefings, if what I read about him is true. I don't see this problem correcting itself anytime soon. Ignorant people are easily swayed by demagogues so you have a tough task ahead of you.
Jake, you are WEAK, WHINEY and WHOLLY OUT OF TOUCH.
Imagine putting out this tone deaf slop while ICE terrorizes our streets.
Primary season is upon us and there are progressive challengers. You won this seat by a narrow margin. It's time to lose it by a wide one.
You've never done what is best for your constituents unless it served you more.