election 2020, part 3

Just reading this Twitter thread from AOC and I seriously can't get over how freaking awesome she is. I truly believe progressive Democrats like AOC (including Pramila Jayapal, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, etc.) are the future of the party if it's even to have one. Ignore them and their progressive (and winning) ideas and policies at your own risk. The Democratic Party’s rejection of progressive policies and candidates by both leadership and primary voters did more harm than good. I think there's enough evidence from the results of elections around the country that progressive policies and candidates have far wider general appeal than many Democrats realize, from the success of progressive candidates winning seats or reelection and progressive measures such as $15 minimum wage in Florida to the loss of centrist Democrats.

On top of that, I think that Democrats owe a huge debt to black and brown voters and organizers for Biden's win (which looks likely at this point). I also think they also owe the many leftists and progressives like Bernie and AOC who campaigned so hard for Biden despite his unwillingness to adopt progressive policies like Medicare for All. And while I'm not going to hold my breath that the Democratic Party will do right by any of them, I hope they prove me wrong. One way of doing that is by making AOC the next speaker of the House, because her vision and energy is what the Democratic Party needs guiding it.

Also, the Lincoln Project was a grift. I'll never get tired of saying that or shitting on the very idea of it and how many liberals were suckered by it. They raised $67 million, more than they could spend during the election, so they're using it for some media project that'll likely help Republicans and/or try to push Biden right, and a larger percentage of Republicans voted for Trump in 2020 than 2016, so yeah. Back in August, I said on Facebook that, "I honestly don't think the election can be won by courting Republicans and neglecting the younger voters, progressives, latinx and Muslim voters, and the majority of working people and voters who are hurting and support things like universal healthcare." And I think the data from this election has proven that right. You're not winning over these mythical, moral Reoublicans, so let's not go that route again and instead support actual progressives and not pander to the party that gave us this "existential threat" in the first place, ok?

But the most important point in all of this, I think, is that made by Bree Newsome Bass, who wrote on Twitter, "I hope folks recognize the power actually resides with the people, that it’s not about voting folks into office & then crossing your fingers while hoping they’ll do what you need. We have to build organized power in our communities, set our own agendas & mobilize as necessary." I don't think that point can be stressed enough, which is why my politics are predominately socialist in nature, because it gives the people's needs primacy and take the efficacy of their collective power seriously.