It’s accurate that their lawyer made that true argument. That’s just how party primaries work in the US, unfortunately. It’s not accurate that “the party went to court for the right to rig”. The whole point of the argument was to avoid a potentially long and expensive case from moving forward. The context matters, and the lawyer would have been incompetent not to bring it up, as would a Republican or even Green party lawyer in that situation.

the party went to court for the right to rig.

Not a fair interpretation of an argument made by a single DNC lawyer in a single context. Also, the primary is over and Mamdani won.

DNC normally "3rd parties don’t function in our two party system, there’s no point in voting for them

That part is just reality.

But America brings so much to the table! There’s all the goods manufactured in America, there is all the creativity coming out of the American TV and movie industries, there is all the scientific research and knowledge that is totally not leaving. What about innovative software (licenses) and enshitified streaming services. America is on the cutting edge of defense and it’s partners totally trust that America would never yank away support for those weapons at the whim of a mad king or anything.

Most importantly, how will the world ever get by without the American financial system that contributes nothing to the world and demands all the wealth in return? I think the world will find America hard to shake.

(Massive /s, just in case it’s not obvious.)

Meh. We’ll see what happens when it threatens their office. A lot of them have already started changing their rhetoric.

This time the Democrats have an actual flesh and blood candidate who actually stands for something. If he wins, will that alter your perspective at all?

American voters suck, just like they have always sucked, just like voters suck everyplace else. That’s the field in which the game is played.

Being the lesser of two evils is not a good strategy. The greater evil gets all the attention and therefore enthusiasm. Good vs evil is a whole different dynamic.

Now it’s time for the “vote blue no matter who” crowd to put up or shut up. So far, party loyalty doesn’t seem very important to a lot of the establishment.

Thus my note about “social media and AI mass surveillance”. What makes insurgency so effective is the enemy of the occupier could be anyone.

The US lost in both Vietnam and Afghanistan because occupation is hard. There isn’t an army on the planet that can even come close to taking on the US military in open combat, but insurgencies are a completely different animal.

Social media and AI mass surveillance might make a difference, but I kinda doubt it.

I don’t think this is where we are headed, but it wouldn’t be an automatic win for the military. Unfortunately, the people who end up in charge after an uprising usually end up being worse than the people they replace.

Carlin was great at spotting problems, but shit at recognizing solutions. He was an entertaining crank, not a leader. In the right category he was great.

I imagine it would feel a bit like punching a pile of dried leaves.

As a hopelessly straight American, I second the motion.

It wasn’t rigged. Even if it were rigged, it should never have been close enough to be rigged, but it wasn’t rigged. If the DNC waited to say it was rigged, they are still waiting because they haven’t said they think it’s rigged, but their not waiting, because it wasn’t rigged.

They really thought she’d be worse?

For the love of God, please stop spreading this mode of thinking. Elections are won by enthusiasm, not an intellectual weighing of the pros and cons of each. This is the model Democrats have used for decades that got us here. Being the lesser evil is not a solid campaign strategy. The greater evil will always get more attention, and therefore enthusiasm.

I don’t think this is an exclusively American thing. Did Brits really think brexit was a good idea?

That would seem much more to point towards polling using the word ‘liberal’ being more useful than trying to apply leftist definitions

Who’s trying to apply leftist definitions? There is nothing in any definition of “liberal” that aligns it with leftism. It gets misused constantly in multiple ways, not to mention being confused with neoliberalism.

Funny that polling on specific issues and particular politicians rarely if ever translates into actual voting patterns

Tell that to Andrew Cuomo, or Joe Crowley.

even in ballot initiatives

Not true. Republicans (and some Democrats) are working hard at removing ballot initiatives because they work so well for the left.

Bernie wouldn’t have lost two fucking primaries due to the more left-leaning of the two parties rejecting him by double-digit percentages

Why would you assume Bernie being left is why he lost? Clinton had way more large money donations than Bernie, and she had corporate media in her pocket. Bernie wasn’t even making a serious run until he started doing far better than he thought he would. Half way through he completely reorganized his campaign to be a real candidate instead of an issue candidate. The fact that he was able to make that a race against someone with Hillary’s name recognition and the party blessing shows just how powerful left messaging can be.

The issue against Biden wasn’t that left politics was unpopular, it was that left politics was perceived to be unpopular. The number one issue for Democratic voters in 2020 was beating Trump. Voters thought a centrist candidate had a better chance, even though Bernie and Biden pulled almost identically against Trump. The media kept pounding on the electability argument against Bernie, and it stuck. Polling on the candidates showed voters preferred Bernie’s policies, but they didn’t know if he could win.

“THE COUNTRY IS SECRETLY LEFT-WING”

Oh, fuck you, that’s not at all what I said.

Polling using the word “liberal” is pretty pointless. Leftists and centrists have completely different opposing definitions of what it means, and most Americans don’t have a clue.

Polling on specific issues or particular politicians is the only way to get an accurate picture, and Americans, especially Democrats, are far more left than they self identity.

Campaign money is important, but it also has it’s limits. At some point, more spending has diminishing or even negative returns. We just saw that with Elon in Michigan.

Going after AOC for allegedly not doing anything for her constituents is pretty damn ignorant. You aren’t going to find many House members who are as engaged as she is, and her constituents are overwhelmingly pleased with her.

She is also one of maybe half a dozen House members with an effective social media game. You can belittle it as “performative” but engaging in public rhetoric is a big part of a politician’s job. I wish every Democrat advocated as well as she does.

It’s funny that you are attacking her on social media by criticizing her for attacking people on social media.

I think it’s far more likely she runs for Schumer’s seat in the Senate than the presidency. It’s pretty much her’s if she wants it.

Yes, if only the liberals, who make up a plurality of this country

Not even close to correct. Who are the most popular politicians in this country? Every poll I’ve seen in the past 10 years has AOC and Bernie at the top, and the only politician who can even compete with their approval ratings is Mamdani.

Liberals make up a plurality of the news media and the wealthy Democratic donors. They aren’t plurality of the people. A recent poll has 62% of self identified Democrats saying they want new Democratic leadership, and only 24% saying they like the leadership they have. People are fed up, and they are not looking for more “centrist” Democrats.

As it stands, both sides think the other side is completely insane, and to some extent violent

Um, is it at all relevant that one side literally is insane, or that one side commits 99% of the violence? Where is the Democrats alligator Alcatraz for Christians? Where are the Democratic brown-shirt vigilantes running around with masks kidnapping people?

I think Republicans are insane and violent because I see it with my own eyes. Are we supposed pretend their not? Screw that, I’d rather punch a Nazi.