Right on, Dan! Great cut at the contract! I've loved the idea of a contract with the Democrats for specific things that can be accomplished with the House, the Senate, and two more Senators since even before the Perry Bacon article, though that jelled it for me. And yes, I know everything is as serious as a heart attack, but is there any way we can make following all this a tiny bit more fun? People are checked out of the news for their own mental health. In a recent Guardian piece the Reuters Institute discovered that 42% of Americans avoid the news because they just don’t believe it or it grinds them down. 100 Million Americans are not getting even the minimum of news. We have to do something to help them check back in so they will vote in the midterms! Another point made in the article was that there are three ingredients that humans need to thrive in an information saturated environment and those are hope, agency and dignity. I love the idea of a contract that emphasizes the spirit of freedom and the underlying support for hope, agency, and dignity its contents inspire. But we need to find a way to add some life into this, some spunk! Some reason to get up in the morning and not hide under the covers! Ask your friend Jon Lovett what needs to be added to the contract to make it even more fun. A date with Beyonce? Taylor Swift will write a song about you? See my comment on your last post for more of my stupid ideas. I’m not saying I’m good at this, I just know something is missing. But total 100% thumbs up on the commitment to a contract! Yay! Hooray for Dan! I’m more cheerful after reading this!
Your takeaway here makes a lot of sense. I've seen a ton of research backing the power of "freedom" as a guiding value, and it makes sense intuitively, and we've been paying the price since the 70s for conceding freedom to the Right.
My main tweak would be to put an umbrella over your freedom categories. "Freedom to thrive" or "freedom to live" are two potentials. I also wonder a lot about the potential differences between "freedom" and "free," but that's a side conversation.
I think this agenda is a good idea, including SC reform. It has been frustrating seeing the constant negative barrage of what's going wrong with hardly any mention of what's going well - gas prices have come down but you wouldn't know it reading news reports. Under Economic Freedom you can also mention how Republicans want to make Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid be voted on every five years since they want to end these programs.
Also compare and contrast. For each positive Democratic goal remind people of the Republican negation. The reaction among our supporters will be we want that and we have to prevent the opposite. And please, let's not go down swinging. Let's go up hitting and scoring!
2 points. The gun bill is a CYA gift to the GOP. Democrats would have been better served by not capitulating, and taking the fight to the people.. It has no practical effect. Second, Democrats need to laser beam focus on abortion. Why we didn’t start the day Boner Carrot was confirmed is political malfeasance.
I think the Personal Freedom section should also include marijuana legalization nationwide. Seems to be just as popular with blue collar Obama-Trump voters who we need to re-flip.
I really like the bridges--and it really works. The "thing" here is to use the effective words to convey that the Democrats are together on wanting to help make people's lives better. The Republicans do not give a damn about doing that. Also--I think we need to find a way to say: "Hey--it is a good thing to vote for Democrats. It is a good thing to be a Democrat." I like the plan, Dan!
There are people who would say the Democratic Freedom Agenda is too radical. What on earth is the radical regressive’ agenda? Eliminate personal privacy rights, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, tax lower income people instead of the wealthy. The radical regressive Smash and Grab Agenda.
I remember a certain presidential candidate who had aa plan for alla that. I was just talking with my husband about a couple of friends of ours who think Dems need to back away from being so Trans-friendly. This is ridiculous - but it is indicative of how some centrists are reacting to modern issues. Like you said, this isn't a comprehensive list, and it could certainly be tweaked to be inclusive of current issues, like 10 year old rape victims being forced to give birth.
Court reform too or none of it will last.
Right on, Dan! Great cut at the contract! I've loved the idea of a contract with the Democrats for specific things that can be accomplished with the House, the Senate, and two more Senators since even before the Perry Bacon article, though that jelled it for me. And yes, I know everything is as serious as a heart attack, but is there any way we can make following all this a tiny bit more fun? People are checked out of the news for their own mental health. In a recent Guardian piece the Reuters Institute discovered that 42% of Americans avoid the news because they just don’t believe it or it grinds them down. 100 Million Americans are not getting even the minimum of news. We have to do something to help them check back in so they will vote in the midterms! Another point made in the article was that there are three ingredients that humans need to thrive in an information saturated environment and those are hope, agency and dignity. I love the idea of a contract that emphasizes the spirit of freedom and the underlying support for hope, agency, and dignity its contents inspire. But we need to find a way to add some life into this, some spunk! Some reason to get up in the morning and not hide under the covers! Ask your friend Jon Lovett what needs to be added to the contract to make it even more fun. A date with Beyonce? Taylor Swift will write a song about you? See my comment on your last post for more of my stupid ideas. I’m not saying I’m good at this, I just know something is missing. But total 100% thumbs up on the commitment to a contract! Yay! Hooray for Dan! I’m more cheerful after reading this!
Your takeaway here makes a lot of sense. I've seen a ton of research backing the power of "freedom" as a guiding value, and it makes sense intuitively, and we've been paying the price since the 70s for conceding freedom to the Right.
My main tweak would be to put an umbrella over your freedom categories. "Freedom to thrive" or "freedom to live" are two potentials. I also wonder a lot about the potential differences between "freedom" and "free," but that's a side conversation.
I think this agenda is a good idea, including SC reform. It has been frustrating seeing the constant negative barrage of what's going wrong with hardly any mention of what's going well - gas prices have come down but you wouldn't know it reading news reports. Under Economic Freedom you can also mention how Republicans want to make Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid be voted on every five years since they want to end these programs.
Also compare and contrast. For each positive Democratic goal remind people of the Republican negation. The reaction among our supporters will be we want that and we have to prevent the opposite. And please, let's not go down swinging. Let's go up hitting and scoring!
2 points. The gun bill is a CYA gift to the GOP. Democrats would have been better served by not capitulating, and taking the fight to the people.. It has no practical effect. Second, Democrats need to laser beam focus on abortion. Why we didn’t start the day Boner Carrot was confirmed is political malfeasance.
Great thoughts Dan. Also easy to move seamlessly from this to the counter-factual (Scott's Republican "plan").
I think the Personal Freedom section should also include marijuana legalization nationwide. Seems to be just as popular with blue collar Obama-Trump voters who we need to re-flip.
I really like the idea of "going down swinging."
I really like the bridges--and it really works. The "thing" here is to use the effective words to convey that the Democrats are together on wanting to help make people's lives better. The Republicans do not give a damn about doing that. Also--I think we need to find a way to say: "Hey--it is a good thing to vote for Democrats. It is a good thing to be a Democrat." I like the plan, Dan!
Hey Dan, you say it here - it comes out there! https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/27/democrats-roe-freedom/
There are people who would say the Democratic Freedom Agenda is too radical. What on earth is the radical regressive’ agenda? Eliminate personal privacy rights, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, tax lower income people instead of the wealthy. The radical regressive Smash and Grab Agenda.
It seems to work at the doors to encourage voters to despise Republicans more than Dems. But that leaves the need to drag 'em out to actually vote.
I remember a certain presidential candidate who had aa plan for alla that. I was just talking with my husband about a couple of friends of ours who think Dems need to back away from being so Trans-friendly. This is ridiculous - but it is indicative of how some centrists are reacting to modern issues. Like you said, this isn't a comprehensive list, and it could certainly be tweaked to be inclusive of current issues, like 10 year old rape victims being forced to give birth.