It's the only way Obama can say things like "Don't let them take away your democracy" while the DNC actively rejects things that are undeniably popular among a majority of all Americans, let alone people who register as democrats.
It's the only way Obama can say things like "Don't let them take away your democracy" while the DNC actively rejects things that are undeniably popular among a majority of all Americans, let alone people who register as democrats.
I see this argument come up a lot about Obamas time in office and it requires far more nuance about how hard it is to actually get anything done in a large legislative body. Especially within the American system where elected officials operate much more as local public figures rather than some anonymous entity that has no other option but to stick to the party line. Our form of government, by design, makes change incredibly difficult even when you in theory should have all your cards in order.
The way in which democrats won their super majority was through a massive expansion of the blue dogs, who in the current year basically no longer exist because you'd just be a Republican. The only thing that made these people democrats is their willingness to vote for Pelosi (or really any other democrat) as speaker. The conservative wing of the democratic party today is much more liberal than they were in 2008, and would actually be able to pass things relating to the rights of women and minorities, something they were totally unable to do back then (like seriously, they couldn't even pass workplace protections for LGBT in the house even with that super majority, nor could they pass any sort of immigration reform). Hell, they were only able to pass the ACA by giving out a fuck ton of pork in the stimulus, todays democrats would be far more willing to advance some sort of healthcare reform without needing to bribe people en mass (including reps in safe blue districts).
I totally understand that the realities of party politics are way more nuanced than what I wrote, but this is far too charitable to the democrats.
Yeah no shit they couldn't, gay marriage wasn't adopted by the Democratic party until a bunch of rich gay guys brought it to the Supreme Court (and of course, liberals tout that as a win for themselves, forgetting that they told activists "now's not the right time" for decades). It's a pretty cherry-picked example of what was untouchable legislation-wise. How about moving election day to a weekend, making it a holiday, expanding mail-in voting, or taking the shackles off the post office? None of those are anywhere near as controversial as LGBT anything or shudder socialized health insurance (even though it isn't). What, is Joe Manchin supposed to stand up and say that protecting voting rights is "too divisive" or whatever?
And the worst part about this is that it's just horrible politics. We all know the adage that when more people vote, the more Democrats win (and vice versa for Republicans). So expanding or protecting voting rights (even in bullshit meager reforms) helps keep Democrats in power, and allows them to continue executing their agenda. And what's absolutely killer is that Republicans love these strategic objectives - they can be heavy handed like with Trump sabotaging the post offices, or privatizing schools to undercut teacher unions (who vote and donate to Democrats), or more subtly. My favorite example is when W. Bush campaigned on "Tort Reform" and ending "junk lawsuits", which conveniently would lower the compensation for tort lawyers, who overwhelmingly donated to Democratic campaigns (I remember reading that at the time, 75% of the Texas Democratic party funds came from tort lawyers).
And here's the thing: They didn't even try. It's a slam dunk set of reforms that can easily be sold to the public and keeps them in office. And the alternative is that you risk losing your seat to a Republican who won't waste an opportunity to give himself even a marginal edge in the next election. But there was no attempt. A competent party who cared about wielding party would press their advantage at every opportunity, but the Democrats have proven that they aren't that party.