Progressive and Moderate Dem infighting cost us Virginia.

[boston bean]

Terry was pleading with them to get it together on this issue. Give him something to run with.

Instead for months we got Dems can’t get agenda passed even though they have majorities in the house, senate and have the presidency.

We gave people nothing to vote for. We gave them more chaos.

I am fucking sick of this. from not getting out of our own way. We need to get our shit together.

[Voltaire2]

1. Manchin and sinema are not moderates.

[Amishman]

4. I would say they are

I can give you 50 names of current senators to their right, and 48 that are to their left

[NurseJackie]

8. Thank you.

[Susan Calvin]

14. That puts them in the middle of the Senate.

Which is strongly skewed toward right-wing crazy.

[jaxexpat]

71. Which puts them squarely in the "conservative" camp, NOT moderate.

If it walks like Barry Goldwater and talks like Barry Goldwater it's a republican. And republicans see every effort to equitably tax the wealthy, to redistribute wealth for the salvation of democracy as an affront to their narrow-minded sensibilities. When the consequences of right wing radicalization so blatantly approach, raising the hair on the back of the neck, there are no sighted "moderates". It's an archaic and poignant term once useful for polite, and retrospectively "superficial", conversation. A word conveniently used to disguise bottom feeding opportunism and shamelessly partisan vote trolling. There is, until the beast is dead, no honor nor dais for the poseur. The threat of neo-Naziism is real. The rumor of Democratic supremacy in congress is a myth. The senate is 48-52 decidedly republican and the media is taking effectively lethal aim on Joe Biden. His corpse is available for viewing by family and friends and anybody else who peruses the MSM. How many would consider the deceased's proposals ambitious?

[Susan Calvin]

91. Bingo. nt

[LiberalFighter]

27. Govtrack would say otherwise.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/joe_manchin/412391

2 Republicans are considered to the left of both Manchin and Sinema.

[Amishman]

32. still doesn't change that they are in the middle

48 to the right and 50 to the left of them still puts them pretty much dead center and firmly in the moderate part of the spectrum

[fwvinson]

35. Yeah.......looks like we are loosing with the assholes in the middle.

[Amishman]

83. if you mean we are losing elections due to independent voters turning away, then yes

We got our butts kicked last night because independents flipped on us.

We turned out our base in VA last night, so did the pubs. This difference was indies broke towards Trumpkin

[Farmer-Rick]

73. They are not moderates

They maybe in the middle of a bunch of right wing crazies. People hand selected, for the most part, by our oligarchy to do their bidding and to stop anything that might help most middle Americans.

But you can call them in the middle of what our oligarchy wants.

[Susan Calvin]

89. Bingo. nt

[Jilly_in_VA]

101. They most certainly are NOT

especially as Democrats. Now if you wanted to consider them Republicans, which they are in all but name, yeah. But no way in hell are they moderate Democrats. Not on this earth or any other planet I have ever heard of. Get that notion out of your head right now. They aren't even Democrats, FFS! It's only what they called themselves to get elected......at the time.

[KPN]

92. Govtrack totally ignores the reality of a long rightward slide

on socio-economic policy and issues by both parties over the past 45+ years. Blaming “progressives” is even more ridiculous in this context. Virginia was about artificial and, in reality, non-issues and messaging that effectively targeted human emotions — CRT and transgenders in public education.

[Susan Calvin]

13. Took the words right out of my mouth. nt

[LenaBaby61]

16. THIS 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻

[Amishman]

2. A lot of things cost us Virginia

The Loudoun county school board

Terry spending half his campaign focused on Trump and not his opponent

Economic factors / the supply shortages

And yes, our infighting in Congress

[rampartc]

6. +1

critical race theory and one transgender rapist (i'm not convinced either is real) in the girl's bath room lost us the election in virginia. non issues that we could not address.

this country is hosed.

[SayitAintSo]

12. The Democrats response to covid cannot be underestimated n/t

[jcmaine72]

3. I beg to differ.

Our lying scumbag media cost us Virginia. They incessantly banged the CRT drum until every undecided voter in the state was convinced that the Democratic Party was hell bent on sending every white child in the state to a Maoist-style reeducation camp, but only after being sexually molested by scary cross-dressing bullies in the school bathroom.

[LymphocyteLover]

56. the media is not our friend, that is for sure

and they never fail to normalize the GOP, no matter how dishonest and awful they are

[yardwork]

82. I agree with this.

[mountain grammy]

109. Yep

[Buckeyeblue]

5. The issue is the country is still split

But I agree that the lack of Democratic unity hurts us. We tend to go for too much sometimes instead of being happy with incremental gains.

I don't understand how critical race theory was allowed to be an issue in Virginia. It does feed people. It doesn't provide jobs. It doesn't clean up the environment. It doesn't cure the sick. Of course it makes sense and makes white people uncomfortable but don't let it be the main issue.

I do think that this is an important wake up call that might be coming at the right time. We have 6 months to get our act together.
A great deal can happen between now and next year. For one thing there will be a major Supreme Court decision on abortion. We should also hopefully see the end of the pandemic.

But there are things we need to do. We need to improve the supply chain issue. We need to get the compromise on the infrastructure bills done. We need voting rights passed.

Last thing: we need to take big steps to establish leadership that is younger and more inclusive.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. They use one wedge issue to frighten the public and gin up their base

CRT was 2021. 2016 was transgender bathrooms.

We give them issues, they twist and weaponize them. We don't know how to do the same. We didn't even make bank on Matt Gaetz and MTG and the insurrection.

[LenaBaby61]

18. We didn't even make bank on Matt Gaetz and MTG and the insurrection.

Might not make any bank on it if the mostly corporate media says it's time to move on from Jan. 6th. IF that happens, this country is gone forever.

[Evolve Dammit]

38. Yes. I seriously wonder as well.

[Buckeyeblue]

110. Why is that? Why don't we run on Republicans wanting the end of democracy?

It's because our intellectual sensibilities do not allow us to be alarmist. And when we try it doesn't come off as being genuine. Republicans lie, cheat and steal and have no problems playing to people's fears.

[bucolic_frolic]

112. In order for lies to be believable, someone has to tell the truth

We're stupid enough to do that, which enables them.

[Celerity]

9. CRT/Education and the Economy were by far the top issues in all exit polls

McAuliffe ran poor campaign, he really bollocksed up when he said (it came across as this) parents should stay out of deciding things for their children in school (he tried to clean it up, but massive damage was already done) and he made the centrepiece of his campaign anti-Trump as the primary focus, instead of a more balanced campaign about more local issues.

Youngkin threaded the needle, used Trumpian race baiting (CRT) whilst coming across as competent businessman (the economy), and kept Trump out of the race overall from his end (many said he put him in a lockbox).

as for

Progressive and Moderate Dem infighting cost us Virginia

No.

It was 2 obstructionists, Manchin and Sinema, who played (and are playing) blocking and gutting games with Biden's agenda, an agenda supported by almost all the rest of the Party.

It was not the progressives at all, as all they did was try and get Biden's agenda passed, nothing more. They are the team players.

[The Magistrate]

26. Hear Hear, Ma'am!

"It was 2 obstructionists, Manchin and Sinema, who played (and are playing) blocking and gutting games with Biden's agenda, an agenda supported by almost all the rest of the Party.

It was not the progressives at all, as all they did was try and get Biden's agenda passed, nothing more. They are the team players."

[Mister Ed]

46. Aye. I'm afraid the OP is just classic, shoot-from-the-hip bothsiderism.

If overzealous progressives were sinking Biden's agenda, I'd be loudly decrying them. But they're not.

They've been stubbornly defending the agenda, and have only grudgingly given up ground as others work to pare the agenda back.

[The Magistrate]

51. I Agree, Sir

I have been known to denounce 'overzealous progressives' a time or two myself.

Not this time.

This time obstructionists masquerading as 'moderates' are the problem. Sinema is a genuine turncoat, voting in opposition to her own campaign platforms. Manchin presents himself in his state as a 'good Democrat', which consists of opposing things the overwhelming majority of the Party consistently votes for. He is at least being true to his long-held views and strategy. A major pissant, but in some ways at least an honest one.

[yardwork]

88. Well said, Sir. I agree.

[Jilly_in_VA]

103. +1

[McKim]

77. Amen!!!

Amen!!!! People want those benefits. Incrementalism is just giving the Right Wing more power to prevent those benefits reaching people.

[jaxexpat]

80. Exactly! I just wish I could speak a succinctly as Mr Ed.

I will practice.

[KPN]

76. Well stated; spot on! Thank you.

Blaming “progressives vs moderates infighting” is claptrap. The sometimes veiled and other times overt aspersions against progressive caucus members is exhausting and ultimately self-defeating. It seems that most everyone here claims the label “progressive”, but when the rubber hits the road, the attacks come out. The blame game never really solves anything and rarely leads to success. Yes, exhausting, irrational and self-defeating.

[WHITT]

78. Yep Yep

The Progressives are team players, pushing to enact the agenda the POTUS campaigned for.

[JoanofArgh]

10. I'm sick of it, too but typically , to

pass sweeping legislation Democrats need larger majorities in the House and Senate to neutralize the Manchins who will always exist in this party. Dems need to pass something , anything , no matter how small it is.


On MSNBC, the number one reason Virginians voted for Youngkin in exit polls was education. That comment by McAuliffe that parents shouldn’t be involved in education is a big reason he lost the job in Virginia. He gave the GOP too much ammunition and they ran with it.


Presidents also get blamed for things they have no control over like gas prices, the supply chain (empty shelves) , inflation and that trickles down to all Democratic candidates.

And finally it would have been historic if a Democrat had won last night . It’s only happened once before. Not sure if McAuliffe was the type of candidate that people go crazy over.

[WestIndianArchie]

19. I don't know

The republicans can always come up with a huge shit sandwich for the people, and they always get it passed, No matter what part of government they control. It seems the two parties are working together to screw the people.

[JoanofArgh]

23. This is a Democratic Party forum. You might not belong

here if you don’t support Democrats. Right now Democrats have a piddling majority and that gives too much power to Manchin and Sinema. We need bigger majorities. There will always be Manchins in this party because we have to win over red and purple districts and states to get a majority. This is just a fact.

[betsuni]

25. +1

[WestIndianArchie]

28. Life Long democrat

But I am suspicious. At this stage, nothing changes. Democrats have not passed a plan that mattered to the people and made real change in their lives since the civil rights legislation. The narrative is always the same; we can't do it because the republicans are evil, and they won't let us.

[JoanofArgh]

37. WE DON'T HAVE BIG ENOUGH MAJORITIES

IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE TO PASS SWEEPING LEGISLATION. End of discussion.

[betsuni]

41. +1

[WestIndianArchie]

44. gotcha

The republicans always get their agenda thru. No matter what. "Trump Tax cuts" I'm simply trying to understand WHY?

[happy feet]

43. Just skip over Obamacare?

Oh, that’s right conservafrms ran away from that win😠😠

[WestIndianArchie]

45. No Public Option?????

Why not?

[The Magistrate]

54. What Part Of 'Not Enough Votes In The Senate' Confuses You So, Sir?

"Enquiring minds want to know!"

[WestIndianArchie]

57. All of it.

One more time. The republicans always get their agenda passed, no matter the legislative conditions. Why can't the Dems??????

[The Magistrate]

70. Good To Know, Sir

Two small points.

If Republicans always got their legislative agenda through, the Affordable Care Act would have been repealed long since.

Republicans actually have no particular agenda beyond fellating billionaires and maintaining themselves in power to do so, the latter coming to depend on creating and riding a fourth wave of the Ku Klux Klan. It simplifies things for their leadership.

[JoanofArgh]

55. We had a bigger majority in the House and Obamacare

Last edited Wed Nov 3, 2021, 07:46 AM - Edit history (1)

was watered down to get the Manchin- like Senators on board. Senate voted along party lines 60 - 39. 34 Democrats voted against it in the House.

[The Magistrate]

60. Many Of Those Sixty Were Problematic, Ma'am

Chief among them Baucus and Lieberman. the latter effectively turned his coat afterwards, if recollection serves Baucus retired. Other 'moderates' went down to defeat in their next election.


"So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

[JoanofArgh]

69. Good points , Magistrate!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

102. Machin was still governor of West Virginia at the time.

You're thinking of Senators Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Evan Baugh of Indiana.

[JoanofArgh]

105. You're right! My mistake. Thanks for posting .

[LymphocyteLover]

61. it's NOT fucking both sides

you bring that shit here again, and you're getting reported

[JoanofArgh]

87. +1 Drives me crazy.

[LymphocyteLover]

117. me too!

[LymphocyteLover]

59. Yes, these factors seem to be much more of the problem

[janterry]

11. Glenn Youngkin led Terry McAuliffe among "parents of K-12 children" by a margin of 56% to 39%

n/t

[liberalgunwilltravel]

15. Too true

And now, Trumpkin and a GQP House will set about destroying quality public education in Virginia. You get what you vote for.

[FrankTC]

68. Idiocracy

The deplorables are prolific breeders.

[stopdiggin]

104. That's about as far from a Democratic position

or support - as is possible. Perhaps you need to rethink you're allegiances? Regardless - valid (constructive) criticism is one thing. This type of commentary is just poisonous claptrap.

[Mike Nelson]

20. Hmm...

... since it was a 2-point loss, you could say that mattered. One way to make up that 2-points would have been passing those two bills... a VA candidate for Gov. could crow about it, due to DC being so close... and, think of the Media coverage - declaring McAuliffe had the wind at his back. The Media focus really matters... and coming right before the election... it was worth a couple points. Then, this would be an "HISTORIC WIN!" for Dems...

[Mister Ed]

74. So true: "The Media focus really matters".

Had Dems been able to pass the bills in time, then it might have helped in Virginia, depending on the media portrayal. I suspect that instead of hailing a landmark acievement, the media might have been dominated by negative-sounding headlines like, "Dems Pass Massive Spending Bill Despite GOP Deficit Concerns".

[FBaggins]

21. Probably not

A close enough race has plenty of contenders for why one side won or lost… but national budgetary issues did not appear to play as large a role yesterday as state and local ones.

[AngryOldDem]

22. I'm resigned to this.

Same shit, different year.

We’ll all wake up this time in 2022 wondering what the hell happened, same in 2024.

I think it’s a combination of the crazies on the Right who campaign on fear and hate (neither require intelligence, analysis, or nuance to be effective) and the Left that never seems to be able to get out of its own way.

I’m truly afraid for where this nation is headed.

[empedocles]

39. 2020 loss of House seats

[Nay]

114. That's almost inevitable, frankly. I still see no signs that Dems in power

have any idea what's going on or what to do about it. And the attempt to present entities like M and S as Democrats -- well, it's a distortion of reality IMHO.

[LaMouffette]

24. I think Republicans figured out long ago that most Americans pay little or no attention to politics.

They form their opinions on who to vote for based on the political commercials that come on while they're watching their favorite TV shows. They're not here on DU. They don't watch MSNBC, not even the majority of Democratic voters. They watch Fox News and maybe a little CNN.

There is a small contingent on each side that pays close attention, but far from the majority. That's a big reason why Republicans clobber them over the head with one or two stir-up-the-hornet-nest issues like abortion, CRT, and "scary" transgender and then run countless number of TV ads about those hot-button issues.

It's getting worse, too. Thanks to the internet, most of us are now borderline ADD.

[JoanofArgh]

34. +1 It's a big problem and I'm not sure what to do

about it to counter it.

[LaMouffette]

40. One small step would be to bring back civics courses in K-12 education. Although with radical Repubs

now intent on infiltrating all levels of government, including school boards, those courses, if designed by the extreme right, might teach some pretty scary ideas about government.

[JoanofArgh]

52. Civics classes should be mandatory.

Even on this board I’ve seen a disturbing lack of civics education.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

62. Where have civics classes been removed?

I’ve been hearing that mantra for 35 years - since I took Civics in high school.

[McKim]

84. Back to Basics!

The Back to Basics movement was a right wing campaign to dumb down education and with the testing craze ($$$ Cachinga for McGraw-Hill and Princeton Testing Service) education was pared down to widgets and no thinking. Civics was taken out with the "garbage".

[LaMouffette]

106. "Only nine states and the District of Columbia require one year of U.S. government or civics"

according to an ERIC site:

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1182087

Educators and schools have a responsibility to ensure that young people become engaged and knowledgeable citizens. A recent report on high school civics education nationwide, "The State of Civics Education," finds a wide variation in state requirements and levels of youth engagement. Only nine states and the District of Columbia require one year of U.S. government or civics at the high school level, and state civics curricula are light on building skills and agency for civic engagement. Few states provide service learning opportunities or engage students in relevant project-based learning. Nationwide, students score very low on the Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. government exam. States with the highest rate of youth civic engagement tend to prioritize civics courses and AP U.S. government in their curricula. While most states require only a half year of civics education, two (Colorado and Idaho) have designed detailed curricula that are taught throughout yearlong courses, and one (Idaho) focuses on introducing civics education into its early grades. Non-profits that support civics education include General Citizen, a nonprofit that works in many states, teaches what it calls "action civics" to more than 30,000 middle school and high school students, providing schools with detailed curricula and giving students opportunities for real-world engagement as they work to solve community problems. Teaching Tolerance, an initiative through the Southern Poverty Law Center, provides free materials to emphasize social justice in existing school curricula.

It should absolutely be required in all schools, from kindergarten through Grade 12, in my opinion. But can you just imagine the outcry from radicalized parents if any viewpoint but their own were taught?

[AngryOldDem]

48. I'm really afraid it may be too late.

While there’s a lot of reasons, I think the biggest, most basic one is the decline of education over the past couple decades. People are generally ignorant of history and civics, both of which have been virtually marginalized out of existence in curricula, and lack the comprehension and analytical ability to read up on issues and draw their own conclusions. It’s much easier to have someone else tell you what to think. It’s easy, too, to “go with your gut.” Attention spans, as the post above yours says, are borderline ADD. Social media has created virtual echo chambers and tribalism, too.

Is it any wonder why the GOP wages constant war on public schools and education in general? That is what will keep them in power, and damn if if isn’t working.

Case in point: The old Virginia voter who said CRT was bad and he was against it, when he didn’t even know what it was. How many people like him just trusted Youngkin on this yesterday, and voted accordingly?

EDIT — Youngkin’s attacks on CRT were even more cynical, because it never has been taught in Virginia schools. Like someone on Ari Melber’s show said, it’s like advocating for banning unicorns. But voters bought it.

[Nay]

115. General education for the regular population will never recover from the advent of

computers, cell phones and the internet, all of which are perfect purveyors of propaganda, distraction, addiction, vices of all kinds, and total fantasy (as opposed to reality).

There's a reason many elite high schools for rich kids don't allow phones or computers, and still use textbooks -- distractions interfere with learning.

[Klaralven]

29. McAuliffe had his own and Northam's records as Democratic governors of Virginia to run on

Perhaps McAuliffe was too identified with national politics to be able to run a statewide campaign?

[Hortensis]

30. 238 MEMBERS of the liberal Democratic caucuses were strongly united to produce our greatest

progressive agenda since LBJ's Great Society, some say since the New Deal. 48 senators and 190 house members. And THEY are responsible for passing everything we will of it.

Conservative/leaning-conservative senators used their untouchable power to limit what we would pass. No infighting there. They just said what they would and wouldn't vote for, then agreed to some compromises offered. Because they could.

Then there are the INFIGHTERS:

30 far left house members demonstrated grave, defining flaws of the too zealous: Overweaning belief in their own righteousness along with inability to respect principles in others. Fatal inability to unite to achieve. Infighting and intransigence. Willingness to sacrifice everything instead of determination to fight for every possible inch of advance.

The usual. Far left types are famous for all this.

This is why they, though always defining themselves separately, have never been able to have their own party. And why they have had NO significant achievements of their own. That's over the past century of great progressive achievements by liberals, in the beginning in both parties, working together. As now, they defined as failure all that was being achieved.

That said, voters are 100% responsible for their own behavior. Voter stupidity and fecklessness will kill democracy if it happens.

[empedocles]

36. Agree. LBJ had major problems from the far left despite his great achievements.

They left an indelible imprint on the national voter psyche for generations with 'Burn Baby Burn', 'anti-establishlment', etc.

[Hortensis]

98. Yes. Unfortunately for them, LBJ had a Democratic trifecta during his presidency,

including filibuster-proof supermajorities in the senate, and together they did all those really great things. As you say, zealots in the house were very dissatisfied with what the great majority agreed on, but were unable to derail it.

My circles in the '60s had a lot of them, and their atttitudes were how I learned to understand them.

Of course people who could see liberals as conservatives would tend to despise and completely fail to understand or predict LBJ. The ones I knew insisted he was a southern conservative racist, even after his presidency disproved it many times over. They didn't care about the Great Society's war on poverty and advancement of healthcare and civil rights legislation with large majorities. They might have at least appreciated his great expansion of federal government into domestic affairs, not socialism but big growth in progressive government nevertheless, but of course not. Must be denied.

The people I knew were all thrilled, even demanding, that he didn't run for a second term, using Vietnam as their complete excuse of course, but mentally never considering much less realizing they were sacrificing all that might have been achieved domestically if they'd cared more about that than about getting rid of one of our greatest progressive leaders.

[The Magistrate]

42. I Disagree, Ma'am

Two Senators refused to stand with the Democratic Party.

Those you excoriate stood by the Party and our President.

Neither of the obstructionist duo has to this day ever made a clear statement of what would satisfy them. When a man says he would be happy if no bill passed, as Manchin has repeatedly, he is not negotiating, he is extorting. Extortionists always come back for another bite, there is no satisfying them.

The only cure is three more Senators....

[Hortensis]

108. The two senators had the power to do what they did.

Sinema had indicated in many ways that she would but was still a nasty surprise.

Manchin was what he'd always been and did what he promised he would.

Being unwilling to work around the reality of them would be about as competent as throwing yourself against a wall until you give up completely intead of accepting it was there and taking another route.

That said, the 30 uberprogressives so far have only threatened to destroy far more than the two senators together. They haven't done it. I believe we'll still see them back off from the abyss, but scary that they'd even think of going extremist.

And as we face our electoral failures, I can't agree with the claim that they stood by the Democratic Party. They did raise their own national profile, which under these circumstances I also find scary. What will be their effect on the midterms?

[LymphocyteLover]

66. there are 100 members in the House progressive caucus, not to mention they have the support of Biden

and global warming is going to kill our world if we don't fucking do something about it

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

31. Manchin and Sinema cost us Virginia.

And they will deliberately cost us elections by continuing to obstruct President Biden's agenda until the fascists take control of House, Senate and White House in 2022 through 2024.

They know exactly what they are doing to the Democratic party. I'd bet they are celebrating our loss in Virginia, maybe even receiving thank you calls from TFG and/or McConnell.

They're the poster children for the word ratfucker.

[Irish_Dem]

50. Yes I believe this is the case. Manchin's speech on election eve confirmed it.

[Nay]

113. I also believe this is the case. They are high-level ratfuckers who are being paid

to screw real Democrats and keep anything worthy from being passed. The fact that they have a "D" behind their names is an abomination.

[empedocles]

33. Biden & Pelosi knew they needed and wanted to pass a bill, to show progress, to win.

A big facotor, instead, they got Dem House infighting, ignoring that necessity; to push difficult, unpassable priorities at this time . The face of Dems in Virginia became Jayapal/Omar/AOC/, et al.

They made Biden look ineffective and weak, unable to control even own his House. Biden's poll numbers and Virginia pull, weakened.

youngkin, according 'con rep on CNN, could come off as a boring, safer, Republican.

[Sherman A1]

47. Horse Hockey

Someone needs to turn off the Cable Noise.

[johnthewoodworker]

49. Republicans are Nazis. Democrats are cowards. The wealthy own Republicans and bought

a couple democrats. Progressives, like me, know this country is done. So, enjoy climate change, shortages, and football while you can.

[Bucky]

53. Or... McConnell, Manchin & Sinema preventing Biden from accomplishing his goals cost us

The narrative "The Democrats can't deliver" has been getting validated all year long. Manchin & Sinema are determined to deliver Republican victory in 2022

[LymphocyteLover]

58. Huge over-simpllification

IMO it is just a terrible environment for Dems right now, for various reasons.

[FrankTC]

63. Manchin's Incentive Is To Sabotage

If he manages to keep the number of Democrats in the Senate low, he gets to gambol and preen in the spotlight. The fewer dems, the more he matters. If there’s more than 50, he matters less. And yes he may be in the ideological center of the Senate, with 48 liberals and progressives to his left and 48 or 50 corporate shills and scumbags to his right. But I’m not sure that makes him a democrat rather than a DINO. Seems to me — I recognize that others may see things differently — to be a democrat, minimum requirement, is to uphold the New Deal vision of a robust social sector safety net with energetic government intervention into the free market fray in order to guarantee minimum standards of health, safety, security, and opportunity for all Americans. Not an accurate description of Senator Showboat, in my view.

[McKim]

96. THIS!!!

THIS!!!

[Crazyleftie]

64. just another old white guy

is why it was lost.
We need some youngsters

[McKim]

93. Amen!!!

Amen!!!! We needed a fresh face!

[Torchlight]

65. This gives us insight into the course changes needed to keep the house and senate

It may also provide a boot in the butts of our more recalcitrant members as the leverage they hold rests on the party maintaining control. If the Democrats lose control in 2022, the prima donnas lose the spotlight they raise funds off of. They must know this, and may begin backing off.

Or maybe I'm just hoping.

[CousinIT]

67. Joe Manchin & Sinema cost us Virginia. Progressive & Moderate Dems were unified

Manchin and Sinema are NOT 'Moderates'.

Look, we had 254 members of the Dem caucus in congress - ALL of them EXCEPT two (Manchin & Sinema) in agreement. That's UNITY.

EXCEPT those two. I lay this at THEIR feet. And ONLY their feet.

This was not a "Progressives and Moderate Dems infighting" issue. It was a Manchin and Sinema issue. TWO Democrats.

[NurseJackie]

95. There are 50 senators who are clearly to their right and 48 senators to their left...

... they're moderates.

Also, consider this person who makes a compelling argument:

Link to tweet

[WHITT]

72. Technically

Terry was pleading with them to get it together on this issue. Give him something to run with.

"Terry was pleading with them" to pass the "infrastructure" bill that had already passed the Senate, which would NOT have helped him, and more likely further deterred turnout.

[d_b]

75. You're right

CRT is Republican propaganda bullshit. In a couple years it’ll be some other bullshit, and on and on. There’s nothing we can do about Republican bullshit. Republican bullshit is for Republican voters specifically, with hopes it’ll trickle down to a few other dipshits.

Democrats need to produce results. The Republican Party knows this, as do manchin/sinema who prevented those results.

We’ll be wiped out in 2022 and 24 if something doesn’t change.

Spoiler: we’re going to be wiped out.

[COL Mustard]

79. This Was A Warning Shot About Next Year

Better have a solid, explainable agenda for the midterms. This also increases the pressure on Justice Breyer to retire while the Dems still control the Senate. You know good and well that Mitch won't allow any Biden nominee to be seated if they take the Senate next year.

We're fighting a rearguard battle right now and it's not good. But we have time to regroup, retrench and work the message...whatever it is.

Keep the faith, my friends...keep the faith.

[Sunsky]

81. Exactly

I have heard this sentiment echoed by firm Democratic voters. Some folks here seem to be in denial that the infighting has hurt us tremendously. We have to give the people something to vote for. Trump isn't in power, so running against Trump will not work in all circles. Also, my fellow black & immigrant community are feeling left behind and neglected.
This should be a wake-up call. We cannot just neglect some folks and then come election time we expect them to show up. The Republicans sure up their base while we neglect ours to appease "swing voters." I'm disappointed.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

107. This 👆

[NewHendoLib]

85. "It's the media, stupid".

[yardwork]

86. I don't agree. Most Democratic leaders are working very, very hard.

There was no progressive obstruction. There is obstruction from two conservative Democratic senators who have a lot of power because of our thin majority.

The media - as mentioned elsewhere in this thread - promotes lies, creates false equivalencies, and feeds racist hysteria.

Shame on white people in Virginia. They need to get their acts together.

Signed, white person in North Carolina to whom this is all too familiar.

[area51]

97. +1 n/t

[childfreebychoice]

90. Totally disagree

We lost becus rethugs r great at fearmongering...crt nonsense, vax mandates, threat of Xmas deliveries being delayed, and rising gas/food prices. We could have passed infrastructure, and had jesus as our candidate, and we would have still lost. The greater issue rethugs have found that they don't need t*, they can just run on racism, crt, anti LGBT, and anti science. The question now, how r dems going to win back indeps and suburban white women. I predicted 52/48, even Stevie wonder could see this coming

[Kablooie]

94. Manchin and Sinema were bribed to kill the Dem agenda.

It was a golden opportunity for the GOP..
Find one bribable Dem and you can destroy the whole party. They were lucky and found two.
Nothing will ever pass, you can bet on that.
They will agree and then change their mind at the last moment over and over.

[McKim]

100. Well thought out!

Well thought out! We need fresh faces and savvy media campaigns! Lay the blame where it belongs! at the wolves in sheep clothing!

[myohmy2]

99. maybe...

...but Terry shot himself in the foot over CRT and parental input...

...what the fuck does CRT have to do with anything?

...apparently the pukes fabricated another dog-whistle case while we didn't...

...we again brought a knife to a gun fight...

...not good...

[FBaggins]

111. No they didn't... not "progressives and moderates" meaning Congress failing to pass BBB

Like one reporter at huffington (Bobic?) - It is...

...not clear to me at all how congressional Democrats passing an infrastructure bill or Build Back Better, both of which would have taken years to kick in, would have fired up voters in Virginia to turn out for McAuliffe, who wasn't involved in writing either bill

Wasn't involved in writing... or campaigning for... let alone opposing.

[MineralMan]

116. You are correct, at least to some degree.

Democrats, indeed, need to unite. That's clear. For the most part, we are united, but we have a couple of Democrats in the Senate who are playing a dangerous game. We need them to vote with the overall caucus. So, how do we do that?

I suggest we stop calling them names as a first step, and work on coaxing them into cooperation. Name-calling has never worked as a strategy to build consensus. It never has worked. It always just pushes people into hardening their positions.

Not everyone is calling Manchin and Sinema names. But, some certainly are. We need to stop doing that, since we do not actually have a Democratic majority in the Senate. We have a tie. And if we do not bring the two holdouts into the fold, we accomplish nothing.

I don't like either of those two Senators, but they are Senators nevertheless, and they are Democratic Senators. We need to help them decide to vote with the rest of the Democrats. Driving them further away will not accomplish any goals at all.