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And we all lose.

what if centrists pithier “politics about what’s feasible” or Pelosi’s “art of the possible” easy to debate 345,678 residents/Rep (more responsive & harder to g.mander) and PRico (3.2M residents) should be 50th state (after merging Dakotas 1.7M residents) 60+ Senate still rules

I wrote about it some here. the abundance guys will read right wing criticism of policy and then build their policy based on that, without bothering to do actual research into what they're talking about I saw it repeatedly with Ezra Klein and broadband

Yes -- definitely a thing.

Yes but sometimes the roles are reversed. It's the centrists that come up with a solution, but doesn't go far enough for the Leftists. Regardless RW media is adept at amplifying intraparty fissures.

RW make sure the problems are never adressed or benefits them.

There should be a push for academic prowess to be applied exposing these bad actors. "How much of x persons content is a lie or exaggeration?" "How is news manipulated?" It's started but we need more. Then centrist pundits, academics and lefties will need to make normies aware of this cycle (3/3)

This is also borne out in the data from Way To Win. It is the conclusion based on their polling of Democrats’ ads for effectiveness.

... do you worry *at all* that, by pushing critiques of trans kids to the center of media attention, where they are relentlessly amplified by RW bad actors, you might be unleashing something that will go much farther than you want, and end in a place you find horrific?

I love you so much but this is a wonderful example of the wrong solution to the right problem. I would love centrists to get moral BIGGER, but then they'd be progressives, not centrists.

If you compromise your principles then you really don't have any. Equal rights and equal justice for all under the Constitution is a fundamental bedrock American principle. That is different from ordinary policy differences such as how to raise revenue, streamline regulation, etc.

The moral capacity of the centrist is BARELY bigger than the moral capacity of the conservative. If progressives don't fix the problem, the problem isn't getting fixed. You have to grow your HEART to serve upstream harm reduction. Not cast blame down the pretend hierarchical ladder serving profit

I’ve long described the Democratic Party as a bunch of cats in a bag, and I see no reason to stop describing them that way now.

Step 3 and how it cynically plays out over and over again to the detriment of Dems’ own centrists is crazy to me. The centrist Dems just let it happen! Don’t they want to win? Only on their terms it seems.

That would require most centrists to genuinely want to make the plan better rather than worse and/or torpedo it.

That would require both sides of the centrist-left divide to put aside their tribalism and I think what we're seeing around us is that even the literal triumph of fascism won't make that happen. I despair.

They never admit they might have been played. NEVER.

This has been the Republican playbook for a few decades now. Point out flaws but offer zero solutions. Fear and hate from them. That's it. It's unfortunate that the strategy works with so many.

But in their minds they're just trying to help, is what his point is. Which explains why centrist think tanks and policy speak are incredibly insufferable to begin with

the well-meaning but flawed part is the only salient part of this. centrists are centrists because they are too timid and/or bought-off to do anything. we need to make sure the policies we put into the world WORK or we don't deserve to govern.

I think the order of 2 and 3 are often reversed. RW media start with a media campaign to discredit some progressive thing, which then gets sanewashed and amplified by centrists because of the flaws of 1

You would almost think the problem is how much better the conservatives are at selling an emotionally framed story about a false reality rather than the progressive failure to sell an emotional story about a TRUE reality.. but no, it must be the willingness to criticize destroying the world 🤨

The people that I recall were actually a problem were the Blue Dogs led by Lieberman. Pelosi got a better version passed in the House, and it was watered down in reconciliation because of Lieberman. But at least we got something, and that something saved me from going bankrupt.

You are quoting the NY Post - and the other outlets which covered that bill that way were other right-wing echo chambers, or was quoting one of them. So using that article to back up your argument is, at the minimum, disingenuous as hell. www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releas...

There were leaders and followers who more or less abandoned the party over the ACA not being single payer. So, no.

it was originally stronger, but they wanted the perceived legitimacy of bipartisan legislation, not realizing that era was long gone and the GOP was taken over by the tea party, soon to morph into MAGA.

That figures: he’s from Connecticut, home of many big insurance companies. Corporations and plutocrats own the government.

I remember self-proclaimed "progressive" FDL demanding that Congress "kill the [healthcare] bill" because it didn't solve the problem a specific way. Even though the imperfect bill brought relief to me and millions of Americans. I started distancing myself from "progressives" after that.

I don't believe that "centrists" want to replace with something better. I believe they find the status quo perfectly attuned to their tastes.

Moreover, even the best-crafted solutions run into unforeseen issues when implemented and need to be adjusted. This isn’t a flaw. It’s a fact of imperfect knowledge. No battle plan survives contact with the enemy and all that. The best solutions require iterative implementations to get really good.

By letting the flawed be the enemy of the perfect, they often ensure that we get the absolute fucking worst

It's infuriating watching people who agree 90% with each other going to war over that last 10%

"Now, about more transit" "Rich people's problems!" "Bike Lanes?" (same) "Recycling?" "Higher Density Development?" The coalition died at the first meeting.

Yeah you see this with Noah Smith and Matty Y. Also a lot of right-wing money is making people like them go from clearly center-left to centrist.

You know what would have helped? If the left hadn't been attacking it from the moment it passed until literally now. If they'd been trying to improve it instead of holding out for single payer or bust. But alas.

There is no gradual collapse of the ACA, there is GOP destruction. Taking out the public option was the price extracted by Joe Lieberman to get anything passed. “The website everyone hated” stopped being an issue c. 2011. ACA approval had gone up steadily every year since passage.

That's comforting, if you're on the left and simply want to dismiss everyone to your right as comically evil, thus simplifying things for yourself, but I don't think it's true.

Means testing is a clever way to stigmatize a program and to ensure that it's always treated as a handout to the poor and to shiftless freeloaders.

If you've dealt with lawmakers you know that the biggest factor driving political inertia is fear of unintended consequences. If there were a way to stay in office without ever having to vote on anything, that's their perfect world. Stasis is not good a governing principle. Things do need doing.

Swap "Progressives" for "Centrists" and liberals for Progressives and you're on to something. Examples: ACA, Inflation Reduction Act, student aid relief, etc. I mean you're an EV guy, weren't there significant investments in EV infrastructure in the IRA that liberal Biden pushed?

safe injection sites and needle exchange programs

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good

They are shit people who don't give a f*ck about anything but themselves. What they say is irrelevant; they have no values, standards, or decency. They elected a literal criminal to the presidency of the United States. They should be ignored and shunned.

Never have I seen your second point include an attempt to make it better. Just attacks and allying with right wing media in that effort

You forgot the part where the legislation gets riddled with flaws by centrists before it passes. Progressives haven’t had enough power to pass anything for my entire life, it’s all been compromised by centrists.