“I think we’re on course for a confidence-destroying event that wrecks the Democratic brand.”
I think you are about 8 years too late with that statement. A massive political realignment is happening in both the R and D parties. The only way to build a coalition here is to compromise and get right leaning and left leaning centrists to start agreeing, and that is going to take persuasion and policy work. There is a gigantic middle ground to grab, but the Dem coalition has to implode first so they can kick out the commies and the greens- then they can pick up the classical liberals and more market oriented folks that the R’s are alienating.
Ruy Teixeira has been shouting this from the rooftops for a long time, with multiple cogent, data-driven analyses about how there is a huge middle ground for the taking if the parties (he approaches from the D side, but the same is true for the R's) would stop granting their loudest, nuttiest factions so much authority.
Teixeira's reward for trying to help the Democrats regain their sanity? Exile to the center-right American Enterprise Institute.
I can't figure out why Teixeira's not being listened to by the dem powers that be. Makes no sense. The Dem party looks more and more to me like a niche, boutique party, not mainstream at all.
The Iron Law of Institutions is called "Iron" for a reason. It's really hard to break.
Just like lots of people inside the Republican party wanted Trump out but couldn't actually manage it (even when it was as easy as a few YES votes on impeachment) because they wanted to keep their careers, people who want to prepare for their candidacy in 2028 don't want to push too hard. Even though there won't be any elections in 2028 by their stated logic.
This problem affects both parties equally. This is basically the Yuval Levin/Jonah Goldberg weak parties theory. Neither major party can police their crazies and now that everything is governed by primary elections, everything has become so “democratic” that the parties just fill punch bowls and sit back twiddling their thumbs while shit burns.
I agree that the embracing the sensible center is the way to go. And, in fairness, Biden wasn’t exactly terrible in that respect. Let’s be honest: no way was the hard left ever going to be voting for Biden. That vote is going to be split between Cornel West and Jill Greene. Just a fascinating observation. I live in a critically important swing county in PA and while there are definitely fewer Trump signs than 2020, I haven’t seen one - one! — Biden yard sign. In 2020, Republicans for Biden signs were all over the place.
I disagree. Brandon has never governed like a centrist. He needlessly antagonized people who he could have easily courted, but hey- free college tuition!
Note that this statement does not imply that I have anything nice to say about the Rs either…
It might have been considered offensive at the start… but then his comms team turned him into Ol’ Laser Eyes and started effusively praising “Dark Brandon” energy.
lol. What we can’t make fun of a president? Is the dude Jesus? Is he infallible? I mean what do you care? Are you his kid? Cousin? Another grandkid he didn’t know about? (Or knew about and tried to legally bury?) seriously what’s the man done that gets him a free pass from flippant comments?
He managed to not lose to Donald Trump once. Before that Biden was the laughing stock of the Democratic Party. He was Dan Quayle. Can we stop with this make-believe shit? Seriously.
Argue. But if the man flippantly calls him Brandon grow a spine.
So I've been consulting the experts on the reddit subreddit r/inthenews and on the twitter/x account "Biden Wins". It turns out that Trump actually has no chance this election (did you know he's never won a popular vote?)! In fact, Biden may take all 50 states. The media is just obsessed and wants Trump to win because it's good for their ratings.
So my question, Jeff, is this: how are you going to afford to pay for groceries when Biden sweeps to victory and all your subscribers leave as Trump fades into obscurity? Where will you find absurdities to mock on the super sane and serious Democratic left? And do grocery bagggers still ask "paper or plastic?"
Shaun, good to see you've calmed your mind by consulting the experts!
Don't worry about Jeff. He has a long history of covering other absurdity. Have you heard of the Whig party? In fact, he's on record many times on how he hates to write about Trump but it's hard to ignore the elephant in the room.....
I've already passed on Jeff's contact information to Conservatives Of Tik Tok. Wherever he ends up working, even Home Depot, we will doxx him and ask him questions like "given that you said Biden had no chance of winning, when he won all 50 states, isn't it a logical impossibility for you to exist?" Eventually he will vanish in a mathikinetic implosion.
Or he could bend the knee right now. Get on board the winning team, the Biden team.
Thank you - I thought he’s waaaaaay outta it. I read this after responding to someone out here on CNN reporting that CO, NM, MN and a lotta other states are now SWING states. I advise them to go read Reddit , ask people what happening in their states. People are believing every single bit of neg news that’s posted .
Remember on the Stephanopoulos interview when Biden said he wasn't sure if he'd watched the debate? The debate that turned into a crisis for his campaign? And then, a week later, when he told a Lester Holt that he'd watched parts of the debate but not all of it?
That was a big "fuck you" to everyone. Not just to his critics, but to his nominal supporters who just want to see him make it past the finish line. He knows that his performance was met with shock and tears and despair and anger, and he still can't even be bothered to watch the fucking thing.
It's like the starting quarterback threw six interceptions in the last game, the playoffs are next week, the fans and the press are all calling for him to be benched, and he's like "I don't need to look at any film, it won't happen again I promise, trust me I won a Superbowl four years ago."
Threw 6 interceptions AFTER 3 seasons of mediocrity after being a big free agent signing who was suppose do turn the franchise around. With a massive untradable contract.
>The spat is so public and so nasty that it would be laughable to turn on a dime and say “now that he’s the nominee, I don’t think his brain is turning to pudding!”
Maybe it'd be laughable to fall in line like that, but it wouldn't be unusual. Consider the 2020 campaign where Harris spent months describing Biden as someone opposed to bussing and racial integration, then she signed on to run with him. Her defense of this hypocrisy was "it was a debate! *bizarre laughter*"
Trump's surprising success has shown how common this is. Just this week he nominated someone that said he might be "America's Hitler". Trump's other choice could have been someone that said he inspired a white supremacist mass murder, then cheerfully joined his administration as UN ambassador a few years later.
I think that the best move for any individual democrat is to publicly support Biden, as Harris is doing, then spend the next four years blaming the media for sabotaging him. There's still plenty of "I voted for the email lady" snark floating around almost a decade later and it seems to work for people. Democrats in 2028 will probably just say "I supported the guy who had a cold at the debate" and do better than someone that "repeated republican talking points".
I also can't help but notice that you haven't shared the clip of Biden supporters doing the cupid shuffle after the debate at 2 AM.
This isn’t complicated. Progressives have an outsized influence on the Biden administration through progressive advisors, far larger than their pathetic size of the electorate. They would rather roll the dice on Biden than take their talons out of his scalp. But then again, these are people who don’t win elections against Republicans (maybe one Katie Porter here and there) but instead take over seats in the bluest districts (AOC, Bowman, Khana, and many others) for a zero house seat gain, but lots of electoral damage to the party with the lunatic ideas they import from the academic far left.
Asshole cynic here. At this point, I think Biden should just be the one who loses this. I can't see a viable Dem hopeful touching this election with a masochist-foot pole (or any viable Dem hopeful at all).
This is low key the problem. The election is such a disaster and it’s so late in the process whoever you throw out there is almost certainly as a sacrifice.
They might pull a Disney. Throw Harris out there. Then complain that no one voted for her because she’s a black woman. Ignoring reality. But at least saving face and able to narrativize it.
I don't think its an asshole position. I think it is the one that best reflects the actions other Prez Caliber Democrats are taking. They talk about Trump the destroyer of Democracy, but Gavin Newsome sure does seem willing to wait and bide his time. You are accurately rendering the secret opinions of almost everyone not named Kamala Harris. You are doing this because you, like me and these Dems saw how easy it was to hamstring Trump. The control of Legacy media and cultural production centers will always give them a powerful tool for creating stories and narratives, and they remember how to tie this guy up. Trump is sure to make seven to eight boneheaded appointments and plus his kids will have business deals they have engaged in in the last four years, all of which will be conspiratorially linked to something Trump does. As a matter of fact I am going to save my comment here and predict that the impeachment over Prez Trump for some business deal Don Jr got into in 2022 will begin about six months before the 2028 midterms.
Democrats know how to handle this guy, and so in the end they will watch Biden go down, and take Kamala with him.
Ha yes I remember Dean Philips being mentioned and talked up by a guest on Bill Maher many months ago and Bill said something like "what's his name Dean what? Doesn't matter, I'd vote for him." It's just so late in the game.
Harris is the equivalent of Biden's President now. Let's elect the first black woman President and let's enlist Biden to help us do it...He did it with Obama. He can do the same with Kamala...
Over 81 million people voted for a Biden-Harris ticket. that many and more will vote to see their progress (whether you think Biden or Harris can take credit) continue...
This, exactly. "Not Trump" is a winning candidate, so long as it's not someone with massive problems of their own. Biden, he has massive problems of his own.
I would vote for "random Democrat member of Congress or governor, to be determined after the election". That's better than Trump. And as far as I know, none of the eligible candidates are on the brink of death.
If 81 million people voted once against Trump, they can and will do it again...giving representation to over 51% of our population by electing the first woman President is more than electing a "sack of potatoes". With Harris Biden, you elect 16 years of combined experience represented with that ticket (12 and 4 if you are checking my math). I happen to think that matters...
The Democratic Party (my party) must rethink many of its policies as it ponders its future. Biden stepped down while giving a big middle finger to the party by endorsing Kamala as he walked out the door. By endorsing a sure loser, his vacuous, word salad spouting, DEI selected VP, he insured a landslide defeat in November.
To have a chance at victory Democrats should try listening to the concerns of the working class for a change. As a lifelong moderate Democrat I share their distain for the insane positions advocated by my party.
Democrat politicians defy biology by believing that men can actually become women and belong in women’s sports, rest rooms, locker rooms and prisons and that children should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible.
Politicians like Harris believe borders should be open to millions of illegals which undermines workers’ wages and the affordability of housing when we can’t house our own citizens.
They discriminate against whites, Asians and men to counter past discrimination against others and undermine our economy by abandoning merit selection of students and employees.
Democratic mayors allow crime and homelessness to destroy our beautiful cities because they won't say no to destructive behavior.
The average voter knows this is happening and outright reject our party. Enough.
“I think we’re on course for a confidence-destroying event that wrecks the Democratic brand.”
I think you are about 8 years too late with that statement. A massive political realignment is happening in both the R and D parties. The only way to build a coalition here is to compromise and get right leaning and left leaning centrists to start agreeing, and that is going to take persuasion and policy work. There is a gigantic middle ground to grab, but the Dem coalition has to implode first so they can kick out the commies and the greens- then they can pick up the classical liberals and more market oriented folks that the R’s are alienating.
This ain’t gonna end any time soon…
Ruy Teixeira has been shouting this from the rooftops for a long time, with multiple cogent, data-driven analyses about how there is a huge middle ground for the taking if the parties (he approaches from the D side, but the same is true for the R's) would stop granting their loudest, nuttiest factions so much authority.
Teixeira's reward for trying to help the Democrats regain their sanity? Exile to the center-right American Enterprise Institute.
I can't figure out why Teixeira's not being listened to by the dem powers that be. Makes no sense. The Dem party looks more and more to me like a niche, boutique party, not mainstream at all.
“This ain’t the faculty lounge!” is probably my favorite political quote of the last 10 years.
Texiera and Carville are too inconvenient for the people who built their careers in the activist DEI and ESG brigades to countenance.
The Iron Law of Institutions is called "Iron" for a reason. It's really hard to break.
Just like lots of people inside the Republican party wanted Trump out but couldn't actually manage it (even when it was as easy as a few YES votes on impeachment) because they wanted to keep their careers, people who want to prepare for their candidacy in 2028 don't want to push too hard. Even though there won't be any elections in 2028 by their stated logic.
This problem affects both parties equally. This is basically the Yuval Levin/Jonah Goldberg weak parties theory. Neither major party can police their crazies and now that everything is governed by primary elections, everything has become so “democratic” that the parties just fill punch bowls and sit back twiddling their thumbs while shit burns.
I agree that the embracing the sensible center is the way to go. And, in fairness, Biden wasn’t exactly terrible in that respect. Let’s be honest: no way was the hard left ever going to be voting for Biden. That vote is going to be split between Cornel West and Jill Greene. Just a fascinating observation. I live in a critically important swing county in PA and while there are definitely fewer Trump signs than 2020, I haven’t seen one - one! — Biden yard sign. In 2020, Republicans for Biden signs were all over the place.
Moderates and centrists are the way to go , and Biden more centrist and moderate than the alt
Is he though? Seriously. Is he? Based on what? What center are you talking about that I haven’t met?
I disagree. Brandon has never governed like a centrist. He needlessly antagonized people who he could have easily courted, but hey- free college tuition!
Note that this statement does not imply that I have anything nice to say about the Rs either…
It just screams I’m an a**hole. So not worthy of conversing with
Brandon is offensive .
I voted for Brandon and think it's hilarious. To each his own I guess.
It might have been considered offensive at the start… but then his comms team turned him into Ol’ Laser Eyes and started effusively praising “Dark Brandon” energy.
You can’t have it both ways.
I agree Kris. It was uncalled for.....
lol. What we can’t make fun of a president? Is the dude Jesus? Is he infallible? I mean what do you care? Are you his kid? Cousin? Another grandkid he didn’t know about? (Or knew about and tried to legally bury?) seriously what’s the man done that gets him a free pass from flippant comments?
He managed to not lose to Donald Trump once. Before that Biden was the laughing stock of the Democratic Party. He was Dan Quayle. Can we stop with this make-believe shit? Seriously.
Argue. But if the man flippantly calls him Brandon grow a spine.
So I've been consulting the experts on the reddit subreddit r/inthenews and on the twitter/x account "Biden Wins". It turns out that Trump actually has no chance this election (did you know he's never won a popular vote?)! In fact, Biden may take all 50 states. The media is just obsessed and wants Trump to win because it's good for their ratings.
So my question, Jeff, is this: how are you going to afford to pay for groceries when Biden sweeps to victory and all your subscribers leave as Trump fades into obscurity? Where will you find absurdities to mock on the super sane and serious Democratic left? And do grocery bagggers still ask "paper or plastic?"
Shaun, good to see you've calmed your mind by consulting the experts!
Don't worry about Jeff. He has a long history of covering other absurdity. Have you heard of the Whig party? In fact, he's on record many times on how he hates to write about Trump but it's hard to ignore the elephant in the room.....
I've already passed on Jeff's contact information to Conservatives Of Tik Tok. Wherever he ends up working, even Home Depot, we will doxx him and ask him questions like "given that you said Biden had no chance of winning, when he won all 50 states, isn't it a logical impossibility for you to exist?" Eventually he will vanish in a mathikinetic implosion.
Or he could bend the knee right now. Get on board the winning team, the Biden team.
Thank you - I thought he’s waaaaaay outta it. I read this after responding to someone out here on CNN reporting that CO, NM, MN and a lotta other states are now SWING states. I advise them to go read Reddit , ask people what happening in their states. People are believing every single bit of neg news that’s posted .
Shaun’s comment was sarcasm
Remember on the Stephanopoulos interview when Biden said he wasn't sure if he'd watched the debate? The debate that turned into a crisis for his campaign? And then, a week later, when he told a Lester Holt that he'd watched parts of the debate but not all of it?
That was a big "fuck you" to everyone. Not just to his critics, but to his nominal supporters who just want to see him make it past the finish line. He knows that his performance was met with shock and tears and despair and anger, and he still can't even be bothered to watch the fucking thing.
It's like the starting quarterback threw six interceptions in the last game, the playoffs are next week, the fans and the press are all calling for him to be benched, and he's like "I don't need to look at any film, it won't happen again I promise, trust me I won a Superbowl four years ago."
Threw 6 interceptions AFTER 3 seasons of mediocrity after being a big free agent signing who was suppose do turn the franchise around. With a massive untradable contract.
Joe Biden is Russell Wilson, if the Broncos had kept him for two more years.
Biden penile helicopters? Man, why did I have breakfast so early.....
>The spat is so public and so nasty that it would be laughable to turn on a dime and say “now that he’s the nominee, I don’t think his brain is turning to pudding!”
Maybe it'd be laughable to fall in line like that, but it wouldn't be unusual. Consider the 2020 campaign where Harris spent months describing Biden as someone opposed to bussing and racial integration, then she signed on to run with him. Her defense of this hypocrisy was "it was a debate! *bizarre laughter*"
https://youtu.be/jkTOpWzC9Rc?si=m27OpRRbqhtuS89_&t=137
Trump's surprising success has shown how common this is. Just this week he nominated someone that said he might be "America's Hitler". Trump's other choice could have been someone that said he inspired a white supremacist mass murder, then cheerfully joined his administration as UN ambassador a few years later.
I think that the best move for any individual democrat is to publicly support Biden, as Harris is doing, then spend the next four years blaming the media for sabotaging him. There's still plenty of "I voted for the email lady" snark floating around almost a decade later and it seems to work for people. Democrats in 2028 will probably just say "I supported the guy who had a cold at the debate" and do better than someone that "repeated republican talking points".
I also can't help but notice that you haven't shared the clip of Biden supporters doing the cupid shuffle after the debate at 2 AM.
Yeah not believing the 2:1 AT ALL
This isn’t complicated. Progressives have an outsized influence on the Biden administration through progressive advisors, far larger than their pathetic size of the electorate. They would rather roll the dice on Biden than take their talons out of his scalp. But then again, these are people who don’t win elections against Republicans (maybe one Katie Porter here and there) but instead take over seats in the bluest districts (AOC, Bowman, Khana, and many others) for a zero house seat gain, but lots of electoral damage to the party with the lunatic ideas they import from the academic far left.
Biden devotees are being called "Blue MAGA." Does me sitting in the doctor's waiting room sick and yet laughing hysterically make me a "Jeff MAGA?"
We are all MAGA now. 😂
Wow, you crushed it with this article. Great work. The fish were certainly biting at the old giggle pond today.
Cogent but far, far too late.
A cheery thought from Charlie Pierce, now that Biden has tested positive for covid:
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a61629152/president-biden-covid-nevada/
So which storyline does this development throw onto afterburners?
A) Throw The Geezer Out (Democrats).
Or,
B) Vaccines Are A Globalist Plot. Horse Paste For The House And See What The Suckers In The Back Room Will Have (Republicans).
Great piece of humor as always, Mr. Maurer. And, er, “cajones” is set of cabinet drawers—something like that. The word you want is “cojones”.
Asshole cynic here. At this point, I think Biden should just be the one who loses this. I can't see a viable Dem hopeful touching this election with a masochist-foot pole (or any viable Dem hopeful at all).
This is low key the problem. The election is such a disaster and it’s so late in the process whoever you throw out there is almost certainly as a sacrifice.
They might pull a Disney. Throw Harris out there. Then complain that no one voted for her because she’s a black woman. Ignoring reality. But at least saving face and able to narrativize it.
I don't think its an asshole position. I think it is the one that best reflects the actions other Prez Caliber Democrats are taking. They talk about Trump the destroyer of Democracy, but Gavin Newsome sure does seem willing to wait and bide his time. You are accurately rendering the secret opinions of almost everyone not named Kamala Harris. You are doing this because you, like me and these Dems saw how easy it was to hamstring Trump. The control of Legacy media and cultural production centers will always give them a powerful tool for creating stories and narratives, and they remember how to tie this guy up. Trump is sure to make seven to eight boneheaded appointments and plus his kids will have business deals they have engaged in in the last four years, all of which will be conspiratorially linked to something Trump does. As a matter of fact I am going to save my comment here and predict that the impeachment over Prez Trump for some business deal Don Jr got into in 2022 will begin about six months before the 2028 midterms.
Democrats know how to handle this guy, and so in the end they will watch Biden go down, and take Kamala with him.
I dunno, Trump has a *really* low ceiling. I think if they actually nominated Dean Phillips, he'd win.
Ha yes I remember Dean Philips being mentioned and talked up by a guest on Bill Maher many months ago and Bill said something like "what's his name Dean what? Doesn't matter, I'd vote for him." It's just so late in the game.
Absolutely on point.
We need a Harris-Biden ticket, especially now with Biden's COVID diagnosis.
https://jonathanbrownson.substack.com/p/gods?r=gdp9j
Harris is the equivalent of Biden's President now. Let's elect the first black woman President and let's enlist Biden to help us do it...He did it with Obama. He can do the same with Kamala...
Biden. And I might be wrong. Had next to nothing to do with Obama. He was more of a hedge that it turned out we probably didn’t need.
As for Harris.
If that’s the best democrats can do then. Well it’s not good is all I’ll say.
Here's another crack at it after Trump last night...
https://jonathanbrownson.substack.com/p/amen?r=gdp9j
Over 81 million people voted for a Biden-Harris ticket. that many and more will vote to see their progress (whether you think Biden or Harris can take credit) continue...
No. 81 million people voted against Trump. Much in the same way millions voted against Hilary. Politics is broken.
A sack of potatoes with a “D” stamped on it would have beaten Trump in 2020. In fact I think a better VP would have gotten Biden even more votes.
The public is split. There is no massive majority
Though I wouldn’t be surprised to see an absolute thumping this election. We will see how it goes.
This, exactly. "Not Trump" is a winning candidate, so long as it's not someone with massive problems of their own. Biden, he has massive problems of his own.
I would vote for "random Democrat member of Congress or governor, to be determined after the election". That's better than Trump. And as far as I know, none of the eligible candidates are on the brink of death.
If 81 million people voted once against Trump, they can and will do it again...giving representation to over 51% of our population by electing the first woman President is more than electing a "sack of potatoes". With Harris Biden, you elect 16 years of combined experience represented with that ticket (12 and 4 if you are checking my math). I happen to think that matters...
Not believing the 2:1 deal off the ticket - more like 1:2 now if it’s movie stars you’re talking about, we’ll 2:1
The Democratic Party (my party) must rethink many of its policies as it ponders its future. Biden stepped down while giving a big middle finger to the party by endorsing Kamala as he walked out the door. By endorsing a sure loser, his vacuous, word salad spouting, DEI selected VP, he insured a landslide defeat in November.
To have a chance at victory Democrats should try listening to the concerns of the working class for a change. As a lifelong moderate Democrat I share their distain for the insane positions advocated by my party.
Democrat politicians defy biology by believing that men can actually become women and belong in women’s sports, rest rooms, locker rooms and prisons and that children should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible.
Politicians like Harris believe borders should be open to millions of illegals which undermines workers’ wages and the affordability of housing when we can’t house our own citizens.
They discriminate against whites, Asians and men to counter past discrimination against others and undermine our economy by abandoning merit selection of students and employees.
Democratic mayors allow crime and homelessness to destroy our beautiful cities because they won't say no to destructive behavior.
The average voter knows this is happening and outright reject our party. Enough.