Timex
1577
Well the dsa will be responsible for nevada, for better or worse.
Who gives a flying fuck what she wears.
Democratic Party: You canāt just not participate if you want change, you have to work within the party.
DSA: Okay. *wins elections in the Democratic Party*
Democratic Party: no not like that
Lantz
1580
Thatās a bizarre framing of the situation. Establishment people loses election and move on in a peaceful transition of power.
Mike Madigan who has been basically the god of the Democratic Establishment here in Illinois forever finally lost the Speakership and resigned promptly.
Usually these folks stay in their position. They tend to be the folks who keep things organized and running for the precincts.
Isnāt this just more Dems in disarray? Notably, in the Party elections, both factions called themselves progressives.
KevinC
1584
It just seems like quite the legislative achievement given the very slim control of the House and Senate the Democrats have, combined with the usual total obstructionism of the GOP.
While Iām sure itās apples and oranges to a degree, I contrast this with how the ACA went despite having much larger majorities. I feel like Bidenās decades of experience in congress had to have played a role here?
In any case, huge props to the Biden administration and Democratic leadership for getting this through almost wholly intact.
I think the circumstances are pretty different. The Dems had 60 votes in the Senate, so there was no question of needing to break the filibuster to pass it, no need (until later) to consider reconciliation, but the Dems had a Senator or two (Baucus comes to mind) that predicated their yes vote on a sincere attempt to attract some Republicans to the bill. So a lot of energy got spent there, probably because it seemed in reach and because Baucus insisted.
I think the events since then have taught everyone involved (yes, even Manchin) that Republicans arenāt going to cooperate no matter what, and Dems have to use the majorities they have to act. So I donāt think it was so much Bidenās experience as it was the past twelve years of Republican behavior.
KevinC
1586
Those are all really good points. If all thatās the case, I will say this: it alleviates one of my major concerns about Biden during the primaries. All his talk about reaching across the aisle, working with the GOP, etc. It was just likeā¦ were you asleep during your entire time as Vice President? Are we really going to make that same mistake again? Is he too old to adapt to what the GOP has become and instead just remembers when they were at least a party interested in governing? I was never sure how much was reality vs how much was calculated remarks to woo centrist/conservative voters from the Trump column.
Me, too! I came to be a Biden supporter when it became clear that he was the guy who could win, but I always worried about his antiquated notions about what the Senate really is. But heās been amazingly pragmatic and focused in his first couple of months, and refused to be drawn into pointless and derailing negotiations with the other side. I donāt really see any basis for the left to be unhappy with him at this point. Plenty of time for that, I guess!
Really focused, and on multiple fronts. Itās so needed.
When you select a competent staff instead of toadies to boost your ego, itās easier to get shit done!
Remember Trumpās first full cabinet meeting? They went around the table one by one to offer praise to glorious leader.
So far Biden and the Dems have been organized and effective. Weāve got a COVID relief bill passed with hardly any concessions of real note. The entire thing with minimum wage is starting to feel like it was well crafted political theater to distract the GOP. Have them and their media machine focus their outrage on the minimum wage rider and take the ālossā on itās inclusion with the COVID bill to get the rest of the bill passed intact, meanwhile Manchin and Sinema come away with their āmoderateā reputations not just intact, but enhanced, helping them and their party in their home states while also setting the narrative that āthings were sacrificedā to get this bill passed, neatly neutering any objections that the Radical Left got everything they wanted. As icing on the cake weāll get Merrick Garland appointed because the GOP got sleepy.
While all this is happening the Biden Administration has reached 92 million total vaccinations and itās only been 84 days since vaccinations started (during the Trump Admin), so we will meet the 100 million vaccinations in 100 days goal before even 90 days have passed. If you start on Inauguration Day and subtract the 18 million doses given prior to that date, weāre still at 74 million shots in 46 days, which is on track to dramatically exceed the 100 million in 100 days promise. Returning people to ānormal lifeā at a rate far faster than anyone predicted is the kind of success that will earn Biden respect even among the people who didnāt vote for him, and brings those who did back out to the polls in the next election cycles.
I think some of it is the Dems learned from the failures of 2009-2010. Biden had a front-row seat.
Lets hope they keep learning, and start doing even more, and welcome the hatred of Republican politicians.
Honestly, I expected Biden to be this pragmatic, this is why Iāve been relatively mute on my criticism of Biden- I believed much of his centrism was performative. Iām pleased my instincts were right- and this is why I was much less disappointed that Bernie didnāt win this time- I knew Hillary was an ideologue, but Biden wasnāt, and as such I knew he could be reasoned with and pushed.
I donāt think Sinema had her reputation enhanced by all this- Manchin might.
Biden promised 100 million shots in 100 days post inauguration, so itās even better than that! Thereās a decent chance (depending on what todayās numbers look like) that theyāll hit that goal in 50 days.
Which yeah, they totally undersold that to a fairly ridiculous degree, but still. :)
That was so fucking gross.
This Pew survey paints Biden as a clear winner with the Covid-19 bill.
70% of Americans support the bill. The kicker is that 63% of lower-income Republicans support the bill.
Well yeah, I went on to do that math right after what you quoted. :)
I included the ā100 days from first vaccinationā numbers because theyāre easy to find on the internet and it dispels any attempt by the right to claim we didnāt achieve the 100 million goal in the first 100 days of vaccines being available (goalpost moving is their hallmark as you know).
In other words, despite struggles in some states (and I am deeply sorry for those folks in this very thread who are experiencing said struggles) the vaccination initiative under Biden is looking like a resounding success, and easily trumps (pun intended) anything the previous administration achieved in itās entire four year run.
