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KING: The Democratic Party doesn't get why it's so unpopular
The New York Daily News ^ | March 9, 2017 | Shaun King aka Talcum X

Posted on 03/10/2017 12:59:26 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

A troubling new poll was just released showing that the Democratic Party is significantly less popular than both Donald Trump and Mike Pence. My gut tells me that Democrats will ignore this poll, or blame it on bad polling, and continue down the same course they are currently on: being funded by lobbyists and the 1%, straddling the fence or outright ignoring many of most inspirational issues of the time, and blaming Bernie Sanders for why they aren’t in power right now.

As a general rule the Democratic Party doesn’t listen well and struggles to hear the truth about itself.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Republicans now control the House, the Senate, the presidency, and the overwhelming majority of state legislatures and governorships. This new poll from Suffolk University illustrates just how that’s possible. Here are the base results of the poll with favorable/unfavorable ratings.

Pence: 47%/35%
Trump: 45%/47%
GOP: 37%/48%
Media: 37%/50%
Dem Party: 36%/52%
Hillary: 35%/55%
Congress: 26%/52%

In other words, the Democratic Party has a favorability rating 11 points lower than Pence, nine points lower than Trump, and even one point lower than the GOP.

Their unfavorable rating is 17 points worse than Pence, five points worse than Trump, and four points worse than the GOP.

This is a disaster. At a time when Donald Trump is the least liked President ever measured at this point in his first term, the Democratic Party has found a way to be even less liked than him. This is how Donald Trump wins a second term. This is how congressional Republicans win the next midterm elections. This is how conservatives not only maintain their current power from coast to coast, but also expand it.

The Democratic Party is deeply unpopular – period. It’s a fact. Don’t look away. Don’t call me a Bernie Bro. It’s a problem that must be seriously addressed. Not a day goes by when I don’t have people reach out to me and ask if it would be worth it to start a credible alternative to what the Democrats are offering. Most people, I believe, would also be open to a brand new way of business for the Democratic Party, but core leaders seem hell bent on doing the same old crap.

When good people who are frustrated with the Democratic Party express their genuine concerns, I see them being told to shut up and unify. “Now is not the time for public complaints,” they are told. “We must all work together.”

But what this apparently means to the people who are calling for unity is getting behind the corporate, suit and tie, lobbyist-driven agenda of the establishment. But let me break it to you – the establishment has almost no grassroots momentum. Virtually every progressive grassroots movement in America right now is fueled by people outside of the Democratic Party establishment and this is a huge reason why the party is so outrageously unpopular.

Huge grassroots movements, made up of millions and millions of people, are fueling the fight for a $15 minimum wage, fighting back against fossil fuels and the Dakota Access Pipeline, fighting to end fracking, fighting to remove lobbyist money from politics, fighting to end senseless wars and international violence, fighting for universal healthcare, fighting for the legalization of marijuana, fighting for free college tuition, fighting against systems of mass incarceration, and so much more. But mainstream Democrats aren’t really a central part of any of those battles, and, to be clear, each of those issues have deep networks, energized volunteers, and serious donors, but corporate Democrats virtually ignore them.

In the past two months, I’ve spoken in a dozen states around the country and thousands of people show up. Wednesday night, in the freezing rain, lines were wrapped around multiple city blocks to attend an event I was hosting at a local Seattle high school. We literally formed the event a few days ago on Facebook and didn’t spend a single penny putting it together.

When I see these crowds, I don’t see them and think “Wow, I’m so popular.” I see them and think “Wow, people are hungry for change, and insight, and direction.” When I see those crowds, those polls showing how outrageously unpopular the Democratic Party is frustrate me even more. It just doesn’t have to be this way.

People show up in huge numbers for my events, or Bernie’s events, or for events put on by the organizers of the Women’s March, not just because we all want to stop Donald Trump. That’s a gross oversimplification of who we are and what we stand for. People are showing up, by the thousands, by tens and hundreds of thousands, because we have many of the very same beliefs, and passions, and preferences for how America can improve and be a better place for all of us.

The Democratic Party is not a fiery Barack Obama speech away from being popular. He may be beloved and mobs of screaming fans may follow him all over the country, but the party he represents simply doesn’t have that same type of support. And they won’t if they don’t do some serious soul searching about who and what they truly stand for.

Recently, I’ve asked the crowds where I am speaking two key questions about the Democratic Party. The response that I get is always the same – mass laughter or audible frustration.

The first question is, “If I asked you, in just a few sentences, to sum up what specific policies the Democratic Party stands for, what would you say?”

People have no genuine idea. They know some things the party stands against, but it’s genuinely hard to be sure of what they stand for.

The other question is, “What exactly is the strategy of the Democratic Party to take back the government from conservatives across the country?”

That one always gets the most laughs. Nobody has any idea. Not once has somebody stood up and said, “Hey, I know the strategy.” Hell, I don’t know it. I don’t think one exists. Whatever the strategy was this past election, it didn’t work either. And again, I don’t just mean in the presidential election. Democrats lost all over the place in national, state, and local elections.

Losing is hard. It sucks. I hate losing. But this much I know – if the Democratic Party does not come to grips with why it is so wildly unpopular, many more losses will be on the horizon.


TOPICS: Issues; Parties; Polls; State and Local
KEYWORDS: democrats; hillary; pence; trump
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Rachel Dolezal is homeless and jobless while this guy has a column and is all over the place. Huh?
1 posted on 03/10/2017 12:59:26 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Shaun King Talcum X
2 posted on 03/10/2017 1:29:05 AM PST by Governor Dinwiddie
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Huge grassroots movements, made up of millions and millions of people, are fueling the fight for a $15 minimum wage, fighting back against fossil fuels and the Dakota Access Pipeline, fighting to end fracking, fighting to remove lobbyist money from politics, fighting to end senseless wars and international violence, fighting for universal healthcare, fighting for the legalization of marijuana, fighting for free college tuition, fighting against systems of mass incarceration, and so much more

conflation at its finest. This writer is not worthy of comment.


3 posted on 03/10/2017 1:36:11 AM PST by 867V309 (Lock Her Up)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This guy just doesn’t get that the Democrats are rotten right down to the core. And for the most part, so are the Republicans.

They’re NOT going to change. If they changed, they’d have to give up their perks, luxury, and lifestyle. And they’d have to stop screwing the American people to do it. None of these are acceptable to the DC ruling class.

But because his sense of self-worth is wrapped up entirely in his politics, he’ll never question that.


4 posted on 03/10/2017 1:42:06 AM PST by Luircin (Dancing in the streets! Time to DRAIN THE SWAMP!)
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To: Luircin

It’s Trump vs. EVERYBODY in Washington, DC.


5 posted on 03/10/2017 1:53:10 AM PST by who knows what evil? (Yehovah saved more animals than people on the ark...www.siameserescue.com)
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To: who knows what evil?

where can they hide?


6 posted on 03/10/2017 2:15:54 AM PST by FreeperCell
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

The media? An approval rating of 37%??? ROTFLMAO!


7 posted on 03/10/2017 2:24:28 AM PST by who knows what evil? (Yehovah saved more animals than people on the ark...www.siameserescue.com)
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To: who knows what evil?

I’ve been following politics since I was a wee thing in Mayor Daley’s Chicago—who didn’t? And I have never seen anything remotely like this.

You’re right—Trump is taking incoming from every possible direction. A lesser man would be done in by it.

He’s got some serious intestinal fortitude. He can probably count on one hand the number of people he can truly trust. His loving family, probably VP Pence—he strikes me as a good man, to the core. And well grounded.

And yet our president just plows ahead, keeping promise after promise. Pro bono. For us.

He needs our prayers.


8 posted on 03/10/2017 2:30:53 AM PST by jazminerose (Adorable Deplorable)
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To: who knows what evil?

Why is the media’s approval so high?


9 posted on 03/10/2017 2:32:11 AM PST by jazminerose (Adorable Deplorable)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Pelosi, Schumer?
follow these, “leaders”? BARF.


10 posted on 03/10/2017 3:03:01 AM PST by Joe Boucher (President Trump makes obammy look like the punk he is.)
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To: 867V309

Huge grassroots movements, made up of millions and millions of people, are fueling the fight for:

a $15 minimum wage,
fighting back against fossil fuels
the Dakota Access Pipeline,
fighting to end fracking,
fighting to remove lobbyist money from politics,
fighting to end senseless wars and international violence,
fighting for universal healthcare,
fighting for the legalization of marijuana,
fighting for free college tuition,
fighting against systems of mass incarceration,
and so much more.

But mainstream Democrats aren’t really a central part of any of those battles

You’re right this guy is absolutely clueless. He’s the very reason why the democrats are unpopular. The Democrat hierarchy is being driven to the left by this ‘fight for’ rhetoric. Most americans don’t like it. He didn’t list a single ‘fight for’ that wasn’t funded by the soros “country killer” engine. Americans see that list of demands by the democrat radical wing and are instantly repulsed. Especially that you cant do line item veto’s on them. So the guy who likes the idea of legalization of marijuana wont vote for democrats because they are rioting in the streets opposed to affordable fuels. The guy who likes universal health care can’t tolerate the democrats demand for the release of lifetime criminals from the prisons.

But that being said, I wholeheartedly encourage his efforts to drive the democrats off the ideological cliff.


11 posted on 03/10/2017 3:06:43 AM PST by Samurai_Jack (War is cruelty, there is no use trying to reform it; the crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Its obvious that their message is just not getting through. They need to shout it out louder and more often so that the proles can see them for what they truly are.


12 posted on 03/10/2017 3:16:08 AM PST by yuleeyahoo (Those are my principles, and if you do not like them...well I have others. - Groucho Marx)
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To: yuleeyahoo

More violent demos..thats the ticket according to lynch


13 posted on 03/10/2017 3:20:25 AM PST by RummyChick
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To: who knows what evil?

Why such a high rating for the media?? Ain’t buying it.


14 posted on 03/10/2017 3:49:47 AM PST by CMailBag
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
The first question is, “If I asked you, in just a few sentences, to sum up what specific policies the Democratic Party stands for, what would you say?”

This guy should have paid attention to what he wrote just a few paragraphs above:

Huge grassroots movements, made up of millions and millions of people, are fueling the fight for a $15 minimum wage, fighting back against fossil fuels and the Dakota Access Pipeline, fighting to end fracking, fighting to remove lobbyist money from politics, fighting to end senseless wars and international violence, fighting for universal healthcare, fighting for the legalization of marijuana, fighting for free college tuition, fighting against systems of mass incarceration, and so much more.

While a couple of goals (removing lobbyist money from politics and stopping the practice of pointless wars) would have across the board support, most of those goals are exactly the reason the Democrat party is so unpopular.

I wonder if it ever occurs to any of those kids who support the Democrat party that their lifestyle becomes absolutely impossible without fuel. While they are protesting pipelines (and causing extreme damage to the environment while they are at it), does a single one of them ever stop to think that if they got their way, their precious iPhones, iPads, and other electronic toys would become useless? They claim to want "sustainability," but does a single one of them have a clue that without the high-intensity farming practices and other modern technologies which actually do sustain a high population, most of them would starve to death?

I would guess that the reason they are upset with the Democrat party is that they imagine this fantasy utopia is actually possible, and the Democrats have no compunction about promising it. However, the more intelligent elected Democrats realize just as well as any conservative how impossible that utopia is, so do not and will not deliver on their promises. (The Sheila Jackson Lee and Nancy Pelosis of the congress are actually stupid enough to believe that they can get utopia by more socialism and ludditism.)

15 posted on 03/10/2017 4:03:52 AM PST by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Republicans now control the House, the Senate, the presidency, and the overwhelming majority of state legislatures and governorships.

And all they are doing with this power is continuing the democrat agenda and renaming democrat policies with republican monikers...


16 posted on 03/10/2017 4:14:18 AM PST by null and void (Drain the swamp! Get rid of the mosque-itoes!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The guy’s initial point is correct - I don’t remember a time when Republicans were actually MORE POPULAR than Democrats, not even Reagan’s day, as the Dems could always promise the Candy Store to Americans, where the Republicans were much more of the ‘tough love’ types.

But now the Dems have run out of promises, and simply sit there to thwart Trump at every turn...and people are getting very sick of that, particularly since most of Trump’s agenda is VERY POPULAR in the country.


17 posted on 03/10/2017 4:26:03 AM PST by BobL (In Honor of the NeverTrumpers, I declare myself as FR's first 'Imitation NeverTrumper')
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Huge grassroots movements, made up of millions and millions of people, are fueling the fight for a $15 minimum wage, fighting back against fossil fuels and the Dakota Access Pipeline, fighting to end fracking, fighting to remove lobbyist money from politics, fighting to end senseless wars and international violence, fighting for universal healthcare, fighting for the legalization of marijuana, fighting for free college tuition, fighting against systems of mass incarceration, and so much more. But mainstream Democrats aren’t really a central part of any of those battles, and, to be clear, each of those issues have deep networks, energized volunteers, and serious donors, but corporate Democrats virtually ignore them.


Yes the Democrats are losing because they are not more Socialist. By all means move the Democrat party further left.

Those millions of grass root supporters are for the most part in the coastal socialist bubbles of big cities and universities.

Move out of the bubble and you will find people who want smaller government, control over our borders, lower taxes, and less government regulations.


18 posted on 03/10/2017 4:33:22 AM PST by CIB-173RDABN (US out of the UN, UN out of the US)
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To: CMailBag

If I like the results of a poll, then the poll must be valid.

If I dislike the results of a poll, then the poll must be fake. :)


19 posted on 03/10/2017 4:35:08 AM PST by spintreebob
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

My dad...a life-long FDR Democrat...absolutely hates the Democrats now. Thinks they’re intentionally destroying the country. I just tell him, yes—they are.


20 posted on 03/10/2017 4:39:51 AM PST by WKUHilltopper (WKU 2016 Boca Raton Bowl Champions)
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