cover of episode Resistance or Opposition: Which Route Should the Democrats Take?

Resistance or Opposition: Which Route Should the Democrats Take?

2024/11/12
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Al From
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Richard Trumka
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Ro Khanna
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主持著名true crime播客《Crime Junkie》的播音员和创始人。
Topics
播音员:民主党需要反思自身,采取反对党而非抵抗运动的姿态才能在2028年赢得选举。在2016年和2020年,民主党将特朗普描绘成生存威胁,并采取激烈的抵抗姿态,但并未奏效。民主党需要弄清失败原因并尝试下次获胜,扮演反对党而非抵抗运动的角色。 Al From:民主党允许极端派系过度影响党的决策,导致与工薪阶层脱节。 Richard Trumka:民主党对极端派系的让步使其与工薪阶层,特别是少数族裔工薪阶层选民疏远。极左翼的乌托邦式社会实验不受工薪阶层选民欢迎。 Ro Khanna:民主党人需要承认其在经济政策上的错误,并弥补与工薪阶层选民之间的裂痕。民主党议员应该与总统合作,为国家利益服务,同时对不利的政策提出异议。民主党应该停止迎合党内极端派别,关注更广泛的选民。

Deep Dive

Chapters
Following the 2024 election results, Democrats must decide between continuing their resistance or adopting a new opposition strategy. The episode explores the failure of the resistance approach and suggests a different path forward.
  • Democrats lost the 2024 election by a significant margin.
  • The resistance strategy employed after Trump's 2016 victory proved ineffective.
  • A shift towards an opposition strategy is proposed as a way to achieve future electoral success.

Shownotes Transcript

Even your most optimistic Mar-a-Lago member didn’t see Donald Trump winning the popular vote and taking all seven swing states. He even came within five points of taking the Democratic stronghold of New Jersey!

So, what on earth does the Democratic Party do next? 

They can stay the course and resist. It’s what they did the last time Trump won.

In the aftermath of Trump’s 2016 victory, America was stunned. Every time he opened his mouth, Trump exploded political norms, and the Democratic Party responded in kind. Being a mere opposition party—at least at that moment for the Democrats—was not strong enough for this situation they believed. Instead they needed to become a resistance.

And while Democrats won in 2020, the resistance ultimately did not work. Democrats spent a decade telling Americans that Trump was an existential threat, yet Americans didn’t care. The Democrats’ goal was to scrub Trump from future history. Instead, he now controls it. 

Democrats need to look inward if they want to have a shot at winning in 2028. They need to act like an opposition, not a resistance. 

Today, Ei Lake explains why this will require a different approach, but one for which there is already a template. He tells the story of how a few centrist renegades saved the Democrats from oblivion 40 years ago. In 1984, after Ronald Reagan’s 525–13 Electoral College landslide over Walter Mondale, the Democrats were not just in disarray—they were on life support. And yet, eight years later, they found their savior: a young governor from Arkansas named Bill Clinton. And they remade their party.

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