Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

For discussion of religion and politics

Moderators: LawBeefaroni, $iljanus

Post Reply
User avatar
Little Raven
Posts: 8608
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:26 am
Location: Austin, TX

Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by Little Raven »

And Biden gets the credit.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A new Democratic president has inherited a nation in crisis. His first major policy initiative is a short-term relief bill intended to lead the way out of that crisis. He follows that bill with proposals to address longer-term problems and, if possible, to change American society for the better. His party holds majorities in the House and the Senate, but both of his initiatives face scorched-earth opposition from Republicans.

I could be describing the early months of either the Obama administration or the Biden administration. But there’s one huge difference between them: Even though Barack Obama began his presidency with high personal approval ratings, his policies never had strong public support. Public approval for Joe Biden’s policies, by contrast, is almost surreally high. Why?

...

Biden, then, benefits from having a nonthreatening persona and an opposition that has forgotten how to make persuasive policy arguments. But the popularity of Bidenomics also reflects the effectiveness of a party that is far more comfortable in its own skin than it was a dozen years ago.

...

Biden isn’t just going big, he’s going obvious, with highly visible policies rather than behavioral nudges. Furthermore, these forthright policies involve doing popular things. For example, voters have consistently told pollsters that corporations pay too little in taxes; Biden’s team, buoyed by the Trump tax cut’s failure, is willing to give the public what it wants.

So Biden’s 2021 isn’t playing anything like Obama’s 2009, and Republicans don’t seem to know what hit them.
/. "She climbed backwards out her
\/ window into Outside Over There."
malchior
Posts: 24794
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by malchior »

I think Krugman is a brilliant economist but his weakest pieces are the ones where he strays into pure political prognostication. And I think this one is not going to hold up. This Biden honeymoon is probably eventually going to evaporate booming economy or not.
User avatar
Kraken
Posts: 43690
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:59 pm
Location: The Hub of the Universe
Contact:

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by Kraken »

malchior wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:37 am This Biden honeymoon is probably eventually going to evaporate booming economy or not.
Americans are determined to keep the pandemic going, and Biden's plans hinge on ending it. The honeymoon will end when we still need to wear masks at this year's winter holidays because we're facing the fifth or sixth surge and btw we all need booster shots.
User avatar
Jaymann
Posts: 19324
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 7:13 pm
Location: California

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by Jaymann »

malchior wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:37 am I think Krugman is a brilliant economist but his weakest pieces are the ones where he strays into pure political prognostication. And I think this one is not going to hold up. This Biden honeymoon is probably eventually going to evaporate booming economy or not.
I'm not so sure, if the economy is still booming that is. Those who are not in a Florida Man induced coma might look around and realize no one came for their guns or potato heads or Dr. Suess books and give it a rest.
Jaymann
]==(:::::::::::::>
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Zarathud
Posts: 16437
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:29 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by Zarathud »

The Republicans have forgotten how to persuade someone who doesn’t fall into the mindless FOX circle of influence but they’re still a cult that hangs together.

Biden’s initiatives need to pass with enough votes and there is barely enough votes to win. Stories like these put pressure on Democrats not to screw up like they normally do.

It’s still 50/50. And we could easily fall apart.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
User avatar
stimpy
Posts: 6102
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:04 pm

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by stimpy »

Jaymann wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:04 am Those who are not in a Florida Man induced coma might look around and realize no one came for their guns or potato heads or Dr. Suess books and give it a rest.
The odds of this happening are about as low as the odds of those that were like rabid tin-foil hat wearing dogs when he got elected and predicted the end of the world will give it a rest now that he is gone and the world is still rotating.
He/Him/His/Porcupine
User avatar
Skinypupy
Posts: 20335
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:12 am
Location: Utah

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by Skinypupy »

stimpy wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:42 am
Jaymann wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:04 am Those who are not in a Florida Man induced coma might look around and realize no one came for their guns or potato heads or Dr. Suess books and give it a rest.
The odds of this happening are about as low as the odds of those that were like rabid tin-foil hat wearing dogs when he got elected and predicted the end of the world will give it a rest now that he is gone and the world is still rotating.
The end of the world? Of course not, don't be daft.

The end of the Republic? He came really damn close. If a select few individuals had been less stalwart in their duties and caved to the immense pressure he was putting on to throw the election, we could be looking at a very different USA right now.
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
User avatar
Unagi
Posts: 26376
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by Unagi »

Dear Lucy,

OMG. There is no way I’m reading an article that declares Democrats have finally learned how to play ‘the game’.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

Love,
Charlie Brown
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41247
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by El Guapo »

malchior wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:37 am I think Krugman is a brilliant economist but his weakest pieces are the ones where he strays into pure political prognostication. And I think this one is not going to hold up. This Biden honeymoon is probably eventually going to evaporate booming economy or not.
FWIW I tend to think the most important part of Biden's success to date has been: (1) his established and known "nice guy" persona, which makes it difficult for Republicans to get any of their crazy conspiracy theories to stick; (2) Republicans have almost entirely stopped trying to persuade anyone outside of the Fox News bubble; (3) Donald Trump largely smashed a lot of the fundamental precepts of "both sides" journalism, so the number of media outlets willing to write stupid "questions have been raised about [X insane GOP claim]" is much lower than pre-2017; and (4) the ongoing vitality of Trumpism is helping to maintain Democratic unity.

One big question is what happens once Democrats (probably) lose one or both chambers of Congress in 2022. Also how much of this is going to be gutted by SCOTUS.
Black Lives Matter.
milo
Posts: 594
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 12:20 pm
Location: Irvine, CA, USA

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by milo »

(0) Biden isn't black.
--milo
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41247
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by El Guapo »

Yeah, I mean being a white male protestant is definitely a key part of coming across as inoffensive and not "scary" to much of the American polity.
Black Lives Matter.
malchior
Posts: 24794
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by malchior »

El Guapo wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 10:27 am
malchior wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:37 am I think Krugman is a brilliant economist but his weakest pieces are the ones where he strays into pure political prognostication. And I think this one is not going to hold up. This Biden honeymoon is probably eventually going to evaporate booming economy or not.
FWIW I tend to think the most important part of Biden's success to date has been: (1) his established and known "nice guy" persona, which makes it difficult for Republicans to get any of their crazy conspiracy theories to stick; (2) Republicans have almost entirely stopped trying to persuade anyone outside of the Fox News bubble; (3) Donald Trump largely smashed a lot of the fundamental precepts of "both sides" journalism, so the number of media outlets willing to write stupid "questions have been raised about [X insane GOP claim]" is much lower than pre-2017; and (4) the ongoing vitality of Trumpism is helping to maintain Democratic unity.

One big question is what happens once Democrats (probably) lose one or both chambers of Congress in 2022. Also how much of this is going to be gutted by SCOTUS.
I agree. Presidential honeymoon's end on their own but when the GOP starts to really rumble especially when the House is on the line next year...it'll be messy I suspect. The gloves will come off.

As to point 3 - I'll say the GOP has made a bit of an insidious adjustment here. They say crazy things to the base via the usual mechanisms and then repeat a "cleaned" up version of it to the press who inevitably bullhorns it 'for balance'. So it isn't at dial to 11 crazy as they were amplifying before but they are still signal boosting the crazy through linkage. I don't know how to avoid it entirely. We also are seeing Biden and Psaki fielding some off the wall questions but they've been good at knocking them down. She does it through smarm/smarts and he gets away with exasperation. It works for now.
User avatar
gbasden
Posts: 7664
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:57 am
Location: Sacramento, CA

Re: Democrats have finally learned the secret of success.

Post by gbasden »

El Guapo wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:48 pm Yeah, I mean being a white male protestant is definitely a key part of coming across as inoffensive and not "scary" to much of the American polity.
Well, white male Catholic, but not that much difference these days.
Post Reply