Quote :

"doubt the elites are to blame for the King Birther winning the GOP nom in 2016 "

Quote :

"“Not everything is about an economic theory, right?” she asked. “If we broke up the big banks tomorrow — and I will, if they deserve it, if they pose a systemic risk — would that end racism? Would that end sexism? Would that end discrimination against the LGBT community? Would that make people feel more welcoming to immigrants overnight?”"

-- Clinton on Sanders

https://www.timesofisrael.com/sanders-says-clinton-is-coming-unraveled-by-his-progress/

She squandered the seething anger at Wall Street and directed it towards culture war the entire 2016 campaign. FWD.us did as well. Art Pope pumped up HB2 out of think tanks and wouldn't support Trump. They gave the anger a place to go when they refused to address it.

10/29/2026 6:04:16 AM

Republicans are above finding someone with the same name for political expediency.

That's why Fort Bragg is still named after disgraceful Confederate General Braxton Bragg!

10/29/2026 6:58:09 AM

Is Haley Steven's the world's sorest loser*?

*non maga edition

10/29/2026 11:35:34 AM

This omar stuff is getting good...new article on nyt today...

10/29/2026 12:50:38 PM

that's awesome

the President is a sex slave-trading felon who is waging an idiotic war, btw

[Edited on October 29, 2026 at 1:26 PM. Reason : it's the best, really]

10/29/2026 1:26:17 PM

there is nothing good about what’s happening to Ilhan Omar

10/29/2026 1:39:51 PM

Quote :

"is your tune going to change if there’s a tidal wave in the midterms next week?"

since what makes people change their tune is of particular interest to me these days, I think it's a great exercise to ask myself that as well. that said, this is more about "how you think the dem party and american voters may be shifting their views" moreso than "if midterm results show shifting views, will qntmfred be forced to adopt those views as well"

just like many republicans in 2016 may have had to acknowledge the reality that maga was ascendent, but became never-trumpers, if it turns out "going left" turns out to be an effective position in 2026, I can acknowledge that reality but not go along with the descent into madness. I'll just declare myself never-DSA or whatever, pour one out for the Dem party I used to know, and keep it movin.

To use another comparison, people have been talking the last few years about whether or not the country is starting to go through a "religious revival." if the data shows there is some truth to that, then it would be important to me to acknowledge that reality and to try to understand the factors that caused it. but it's not going to make qntmfred believe in a creator or start attending church. i'm merely an observer of trends.

so any "changing my tune" if there's a tidal wave next week will mostly be about updating my mental model on voter sentiment in the country, how the Democratic Party as an institution is responding to the current moment and what it might mean for 2028. questions about what would make qntmfred more amenable to maga viewpoints, DSA viewpoints, or theist viewpoints are not addressed here.

all that said, this cycle has been frankly pretty boring imo. nothing much has happened. just a lot of noise, a lot of useless yapping, and a lot of money down the drain.

Quote :

"there hasn’t been much if any moderation by Dems running in 2026"

there hasn't been much of anything at all by Dems in 2026. progressives haven't brought any new ideas to the table. and neither have non-progressive dems. it's all still the same old messaging. trump bad and culture war hot takes. that's not a recipe for effective governance. there's no inspiring candidates and no inspiring vision for the future. it's a stagnant party, and that's why they still can't seem to move the needle against a bozo-ass GOP. the progressives I acknowledge do seem to have more ENERGY than the non-progressive dems, but that's typical of political fringes, and i remain unconvinced that it's healthy energy for the party, the country and certainly the individuals who gravitate to the rebellion. it is energy though, i'll give them that.

but even still, I don't see much to indicate that the relative proportion of progressive support among Dems or in the country overall has grown much. seems like the same loud, relatively small faction focused on a small number of high-profile, media-hogging candidates. whereas with the non-progressive candidates I don't see much energy or interest at all. eg who even cares about Roy Cooper. plenty will vote for him, but there's no energy behind this race. and so the question will be whether or not there's enough dem energy in 2026 to create a tidal wave victory, and what proportion of it will be driven by progressive candidates vs non-progressive candidates. and that's what the midterm results will shine a light on I guess.

Quote :

"would it not shatter your whole theory if Dems win huge next week?"

i'm glad you said whole because it makes a point i've repeatedly tried to emphasize. whole implies made of parts. multiple parts. ie multiple factors required to explain a theory. ie multiple dimensions to understanding. ie don't be a 1-dimensional thinker. my theory of democratic politics is NOT reducible to "progressives and DSA bad." my theory of why dems lost in 2024 was roughly 70% biden, 20% kamala (and that factor reducible to we'll say 12% being an insincere, performative, anti-charisma, empty establishment dem and 8% latching onto the progressive/woke wave) and 10% moderate/unaffiliated/swing voter wish to not be associated with a party that tolerates the excesses of the progressive wing. ~80% of dem's failures in 2024 could have been solved by biden and kamala not being in the equation.

so back to the point of all this - what will midterm results mean, and how will it force qntmfred to update his mental model of the country and the party. when the results come in, there will be outsized focus on the results of whether dems take the house/senate, and of a few high-profile races like Talarico and Sayed. some will try to draw conclusions based on these alone. i will be inclined to look at not just the topline results for those races, but also what was the margin of victory/loss compared to other candidates in their state/region. how was turnout. will exit polls show reasons for why people vote for these candidates. will they be trump bad/culture war issues or will they be food/gas prices, etc. and the same set of questions will be asked for all the non-high profile races. and we may see different directional signals (re: progressive vs moderate strength) in the high vs low profile races. all this will take at least a week and probably several to really get a good sense of the mood of the party and the country and more importantly why. i'll probably have some reaction like everyone else as the results come in, but i'll do my best to wait until we have a fuller picture. and if it turns out moderate candidates/positions underperform and progressive candidates/position overperform, so be it. either way, i'm ready for 2028.

10/29/2026 3:28:08 PM

what are the specific policies when it comes to the DSA that you’re against and why would they make you never-DSA?

[Edited on October 29, 2026 at 4:04 PM. Reason : .]

10/29/2026 4:03:50 PM

I'm anti-seizing the means of production and pro-creating means of production.

[Edited on October 29, 2026 at 4:11 PM. Reason : If we're going to start letting mobs steal from people they disagree with, it won't end well]

10/29/2026 4:10:58 PM

I don’t think anybody is advocating stealing, unless you’re equating taxation with stealing

10/29/2026 4:34:55 PM

I want to steal venezuela and irans oil

10/29/2026 5:52:32 PM

Darializa Avila-Chevalier very much advocates stealing. Maybe she was just joking tho, maybe shes not really DSA.

10/30/2026 8:37:45 AM

Democrats can’t ever be as organized as the gop because the party is inherently a loose coalition. It would be nice to see something like a project 2025 for democrats but I can’t even imagine what this would look like. Imagine AOC and Schumer trying to agree… it would take a trump like progressive figure to essentially purge the party. Mamdani is the closest thing to this but he can’t actually be president.

But on the other hand that makes for good democracy. You want good faith leaders representing all facets of the country debating things. It’s slower in some ways but should be more stable.

10/30/2026 12:06:06 PM

Dems should be the party of democracy like in Alaska. Sure to work with voters

10/30/2026 12:42:23 PM

^^

Democrats are a looser electoral coalition, but they’re arguably more institutionally organized—through universities, nonprofits, unions, media, think tanks, and government. GOP is mostly an electoral label while Democrats have an embedded governing ecosystem. Their problem isn’t organization so much as turning that distributed network into a clear, unified agenda. Which can be difficult given the diversity in the party.

10/30/2026 3:40:06 PM