AOC loses key vote in House Oversight race to Gerry Connolly

the people who advised Hillary’s 2016 campaign were still advising Harris’ 2024 campaign.

And still running the DNC.

Biden and Kamala inherited everything from Hillary, the people behind the scenes are the same, and are still likely listening to Hillary

She's like our Dick Cheney

They failed multiple times and the consequences have been catastrophic,

They succeeded in the only thing that matters to Democratic leadership: They kept a progressive from winning the nomination.

The mayor from Jaws 1 was still the mayor in Jaws 2.

Leadership Democrats: Fumble the ball for three downs, then throws an interception

"Well, its no longer my fault if the opposition scores."

The democrats still think the populace is smart enough to look at the alternative and choose the less-worse option.

The country proves them wrong at every turn.

I don’t see an alternative

I want to point out how this (and I'm not doing this to single it you out, but you offer an example example of how a) lack of imagination about what is possible, is the precise kind of lack of vision that brought people to the conclusion that we "had" to support Biden in the primary, because you "can't challenge an incumbent": they were wrong. His brain was melting out of his ears and the establishment was telling you to not believe your lying eyes and ears. Authority takes advantage of this cynicisim and abuses you with it.

Its the kind of mindset that results in "Kamala has to be the nominee", because she's the only viable option; turns out, she wasn't viable. We were told she had to turn to the right, to "get centrists"; turns out, there were no centrists. We were told her campaigning with Liz Cheney was 8d chess because she'll get "never Trump Republicans". How'd that work out.

We've been conditioned into a cynical fatalism, one that is truly not borne out by reality: it does not predict the future. I can not make that point any more emphatically. This toxic fatalism is in-opposition to the results we have on hand. New ways are possible, constantly. I have no problem with either cynicism or fatalism. However, I do have a problem with a world view being expressed which doesn't predict future states of the world. BNMW, Blue Maga, the cynical fatalists who had elevated themselves into moderators of the Democratic process this election cycle: their cynical reductive fatalism is why Democrats can't do better. Not because it isn't possible, but because they refuse to ask for it, and for MONTHS they refused to allow the kinds of conversations necessary to carve and change a candidate like Harris into one who could get elected.

If anyone, here there or elsewhere, was suppressing speech challenging the narratives or strategies of the Harris campaign or Democratic party, challenges that would have led to a more viable candidate had they addressed them: these are the true enemies of democracy. There is a reason why Free Speech is the first amendment. It goes beyond what the government is allowed to do or not do: its about what we're allowed to say or not allowed to say. Its about who has power, and who is allowed to challenge existing narratives. We can absolutely change this world, but first, we have to work on ourselves, and the communities we are a part of. This cynicism is a cancer we need to stamp out.

You have all the power you need to already to make the changes. If you need inspiration: Actions speak louder than words. You have to decide if you are part of the resistance or part of a costume party. Which is what some people, recently in the news, have decided.

The future is undefined. Pretending it isn't is giving in.

Same. Every four years, I fight within myself on whether I should bother to vote. I'm an Independent voter and I base my decision by analyzing the political parties across the scope while realizing the reality of the world we're living in alongside it.

And it gets tiring of the same old thing. I go and vote not Republican, I see some of the people in my circle vote Republican which makes me consider axing them to spare myself and they the drama of getting political. I get disparagingly cynical towards the American populace for their collective decision making or lack thereof considering we're pitted again in this mess that'll unfold in under a month.

I look at the ballots before making my predetermined choices - D, R, D, R, G, I in a blue moon, D, R like everywhere. Maybe I could've written someone in, maybe, but what good does that do except win meaningless brownie points?

Looking forward to another 4 years I'll have a hard time remembering because of my mental efforts to block out the enormous amount of bullshit yet to come. Just like the last time between 2016 - 2021.

I did that for years with nothing to show for it. No one ever (metaphorically) came knocking on my door asking how they could win my vote away from a third party. None of the candidates I voted for even came close, except Ross Perot and if he couldn't do it, I guarantee no one else can. That dude's whiteboard presentations were watched by 16.5 million people in an age where there were three channels and everyone watched TV. You can't replicate his success today and he only got 20%

You want to change things, you have to change a major party from within, and that's the effort of a lifetime, not an election cycle.

We just tried the whole "not voting" thing and look what happened.

Then you’ll just get the idiots voting in fascism eventually so you’d be as well to join them to speed it up.

More like Americans should just not vote anymore.

Its not a popular take, but I agree that voting probably the least important thing any American could do, politically. Its a misattributed quote but its still a good one:

Voting is the least important thing you can do, politically. There are somethings that have happened recently in the news that have vastly more impact, politically.

Ha!

And unless they do much, much better in the future, you shouldn't. Regardless of whether or not you agree with the philosophy of accelerationism, its clear thats the kind of environment we're in. On the bright side, it might actually be the opening we need to truly break up the two party system.

Thank you.

I read that as Democrats blowing oligarchs... Same feel tho

We're already spoiled due to a fucking useless DNC. A complete replacement is warranted at this point.

They can worry about the spoiler effect... Or they can worry about the massive amount of people who don't vote because they feel it's pointless or barely muster enough care to do it.

Worth a try since the Democrats are worthless spineless losers anyway.

Worrying about the spoiler effect is why were here in the first place.

The spoiler effect will work in the short term, but if a progressive party can oust the DNC in even a few states Congress should look a lot different to how it is now. A bit of pain is worth it to escape the slow death promised by the DNC.

That's a false worry.

As a Canadian with multiple political parties in our house of parliament, numbers don't change.

If one left party gets 100 seats, the second left party gets 20, and the right leaning party gets 115 (for example) The right leaning party, yes technically, gets to say they're in charge. But they can't really do anything without cooperation from the left.

115 < 120 regardless of the number of parties.

Parties matter less than right vs left matters.

Make the DNC the spoiler... I think Bernie and the squad could pull enough Dems away, plus get enough new people, to actually have a bigger party than the DNC

They are using the fact that people can't go anywhere else and are weaponising that to do absolutely nothing.

An old white man with cancer that he announced a month ago. He should be focusing on his treatment, not adding more to his plate.

Dude is probably already in diapers. Old as fuck

Somebody arrest this man.

Wait, what's your salary?

Oh yeah, if we're talking Republicans too, don't forget that the 82-year-old Senate minority leader, who has had mysterious freezing spells this year, was hospitalized for a fall just last week.

In the US House there are 16 committees. There are ranking chairs and minority chairs for each committee, along with committee members. The ranking chairs are for the majority, in this Congress the Republicans. The minority chairs are, of course, for the Dems. The chairs dictate subjects, schedule and rules. The Republicans choose their chairs, the Democrats vote for theirs. AOC is running for the minority chair of the Oversight Committee, which is the main investigative committee of Congress. They took a straw vote today and AOC lost, but all of the Dems will vote tomorrow.

Yes, but if AOC becomes a fundraising juggernaut she’ll be harder to ignore