Share this page!

Will Stancil Profile picture
Twitter logo
10 Apr, 4 tweets, 1 min read
I'm a broken record on this, but Democrats need to stop avoiding the culture war - they need to win it.

You'll never ever convince voters to stop caring about "culture" with really good economic policy.
Here's the thing: Dems definitely CAN win the culture war! Their positions on race, immigration, etc. are generally the majority view!
The problem is that the party lives under a cloud of fear on culture issues, created by decades of white moderates warning darkly against the overwhelming backlash that will come for anyone so reckless as to advance a progressive position on, especially, race.
And to be clear, "winning the culture war" doesn't mean "reactively argue with the GOP over Mr. Potato Head."

It means "match the GOP's energy by looking for our own compelling cultural arguments, and use them when we find them."

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Will Stancil

Will Stancil Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @whstancil

Will Stancil Profile picture
12 Apr
Suburbs get a tiny fraction of the attention that major cities do, but they're really becoming the hub of civil rights conflict in America
The primary reason is the process of suburban demographic change, and the eventual resegregation that results. Most American suburbs are currently moving across a spectrum from fully white segregated to fully nonwhite segregated.
At present, many suburbs are in fact racially integrated, but it's not a stable state of affairs - the integration is a side effect of the demographic move towards nonwhite segregation, and will collapse eventually if steps are not taken to preserve it.
Read 15 tweets
Will Stancil Profile picture
13 Mar
Embarrassing ImageImage
It was completely predictable that conservatives would turn against lockdowns and public health measures, because these things require public sacrifice for the greater good. Indeed I predicted it over a year ago ImageImage
Also the reason Donald Trump always, always lands on the wrong side of every issue is because he cannot abide forming common cause with people who have criticized him, which pushes him towards positions that no one reasonable could actually hold
Read 4 tweets
Will Stancil Profile picture
12 Mar
You know, I'm not a revolutionary by nature, but if people keep spending this much money on NFTs, it may be time to break out the guillotines cnbc.com/2021/03/11/bee…
Someone spent $70,000,000 on what is literally the equivalent of a piece of paper saying they own a png that anyone else is also free to download
can someone explain to me how selling someone a NFT for a piece of digital media is any different than selling someone a piece of paper saying they own the brooklyn bridge
Read 5 tweets
Will Stancil Profile picture
3 Mar
Here's what the GOP gets that Democrats really, truly struggle with: Politics is about way more than policy. Politics is not about voters saying "Which policy platform do I prefer?" It's about making cultural, emotional and, factional appeals.
The problem is that moderate liberals and centrist Dems typically have two responses to this.

The first is to say "Well that just means we have to redouble efforts, and do things that are EVEN MORE POPULAR." But it still doesn't work because that's not what politics is about.
The second is to say "Well, we have to appeal to the cheap seats some! We have to start punching hippies! Talk about cancel culture!" Yglesias has been on this train some lately - frankly, it sounds smart to older white dudes, because they, personally, enjoy punching hippies.
Read 18 tweets
Will Stancil Profile picture
2 Mar
I see this perspective, but I don't really agree. Most people can't hold Sinema and Manchin accountable. But national leaders are responsible for the whole party. And Sinema and Manchin care (at least some) what the leaders think. So the leaders are the correct pressure point.
It's the same logic that leads us to haul CEOs in front of Congress when a company does something bad, even if the proximate cause was someone lower down the org chart. The buck has to stop at the top or the incentive is to pass it down the chain, instead of fixing the problem.
Accountability for failure MUST start at the top, in politics the same as anywhere else. It's not always fair, but Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer weren't assigned to their roles - they fought hard for them. If they don't want blame, there are certainly others who will do the job.
Read 6 tweets
Will Stancil Profile picture
1 Mar
What Democrats are doing right now might be good in some abstract sense, but there is only one question that really matters: will this fortify the country against the right-wing takeover that’s coming in 2022 and 2024? And by that standard what they’re doing isn’t nearly enough.
We’ve been granted a brief reprieve in which we can reinforce democracy before far-right, authoritarian Trump supporters sweep back into total control of all three branches, probably starting in 2022. We’re wasting it fighting the Senate rules while failing on basic agenda items.
Some people like to say that the party’s shift on issues is fast by historical standards, or that its policies like the stimulus bill are impressive. But it just doesn’t matter - in a crisis you measure the response by whether it is sufficient, not by whether it’s unusually big.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @whstancil has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @whstancil!

Read all threads by @whstancil