Thread by @matthewstoller

1. This is an interesting piece by pollster Stan Greenberg, who coined the term 'Reagan Democrat' in the 1980s. It's all about Obama and his legacy, and not in a positive sense. Dems are losing black and hispanic working class voters now. prospect.org/politics/democ…

2. Greenberg sees the same trend lines for black and Hispanic working class voters as he did for white working class voters in the 1980s. And this all happened under Obama, who voters see as prioritizing Wall Street and big business.

3. While he's respected, Obama was insanely out of touch on what mattered to voters, and won reelection only because Mitt Romney was more out of touch. Obama is liked but the Obama political project is perceived of as disastrous. Obama is why Hillary Clinton lost in 2016.

4. His thesis is Democrats have to repudiate Obama and his project, which voters perceive of as helping a multi-cultural big business elite and screwing everyone else. Right now, Dems are out of touch. prospect.org/politics/democ…

5. There are many political caveats I find annoying in pieces like this, the yada yada of how wonderful Obama was in a financial crisis. He was not. But what's interesting is how the Dem elites have shifted to pretty much hostility to Obama's policy.

6. Democratic voters still love Obama and the existing Dem leadership. Primaries do not work. Dem voters are a rump faction of fancy suburbanites, professional class leftists, some organized labor, and older black voters. That's why they picked Biden in 2020.

7. The debates today differ, and they don't break down the way they used to. It's not left vs center. Build Back Better was largely a way to avoid the key governance problems we have, which are Covid, monopolies and China. Racialism, masking, Covid restrictions go undebated.

8. I used to consider myself progressive, but I've been surprised to see people I used to consider on my side become obsessed with Covid restrictions. All that stuff I used to care about 'bold Democrats' and advice to the party to win elections - seems so pointless today.

9. The problem is not electoral, it's intellectual and moral. Progressives and much of the political elite, in a broader sense, have become declinists. We have stopped believing in the American project. This essay nails it. bostonreview.net/articles/leo-m…

10. To govern, to rebalance our society, we must start believing in America again. We must have a national ideal. Without it, we don't notice fellow citizens, and retreat into intellectual and physical gated communities, hoping the tide won't wash over us.
bostonreview.net/articles/leo-m…