Democrats Must Become the Workers’ Party Again
Democrats Must Become the Workers’ Party Again
Reconnecting the Democratic Party to the working class is an electoral and a moral imperative, and it will be my mission for the rest of my life.
Summary
Democrats must reclaim their identity as the party of the working class to regain electoral strength.
Despite pro-labor policies under Biden, working-class voters feel disconnected, seeing Democrats as defenders of a failing system.
The party’s decline traces back to NAFTA and neoliberal economic policies that favored corporations over workers.
A generational effort to prioritize labor rights, fair wages, and economic security while addressing working-class frustrations are needed.
Without serious reform, Democrats will continue losing ground to populist alternatives.
-
No shit. Now convince the democratic party leadership that winning elections is more important that kissing donor ass.
-
Now convince the democratic party leadership that serving their constituents is more important that kissing donor ass.
Convince them of that, and the winning elections thing will solve itself.
-
The problem is "kissing donor ass" is a euphemism for serving themselves.
-
lol no it won’t. If I’m a Republican candidate, I can literally just say some culture war bullshit and still beat you in an election. Especially if you’re a woman or a minority.
-
-
Don't convince national Democratic leadership of anything. They're too disconnected and don't care about any state they don't live in. Run for, and take control of state Democratic parties. Start telling national leadership your terms for your state supporting or working with them.
If enough people do that. They will change or become irrelevant.
-
The problem is they see large donors as the only path to victory as campaigns are expensive
-
The best way is to bring single payer health care.
Every other G7 nation has it
-
They tried to do that the moment they had senate supermajority with caucusing ind over a decade ago, but caucusing ind Joe Lieberman voted against it and the GOP filibustered it in 2010.
They haven't even had more than 50 since like 2013, they only had bare minimum to select majority leader in 2021 because of caucusing independents and VP tiebreaker.
If you want single payer then the only way to get that is not to change the DNC, it's to convince millions more people to vote for them or to remove Republicans.
-
-
Losing is more expensive
-
Convince the voters to stop falling for culture war bullshit then
-
Here I thought "providing the better option in a binary race" would be enough; but snowflake voters need individual attention?
"Here. We'll keep a traitorous felon out of office because that's the choice" and people still preferred the felon.
I think we need to start by apologizing to the Democrats for being stupid. Not just "oops I voted wrong" stupid, but "oops I voted for the Russian agent who's raped everything he touches and sold every secret he probably touched too, and is now oddly hellbent on destroying a country as a favour to Russia" stupid.
That's a lotta stupid.
-
Your hostage situation electioneering is the past, electoral reform is the future.
We will not be abused by people like you any longer. We will be free to vote how we wish. The people will have many options to choose from, and the democrats will have to represent people to earn their votes or be tossed into the garbage can alongside the republicans.
More democracy is the way forward, not this domestic assault you try to pass off as representation.
Videos on Electoral Reform
First Past The Post voting (What most states use now)
Videos on alternative electoral systems we can try out.
-
Winning elections by checks notes demanding voters apologize for not voting for you.
Brilliant.
-
They’re downvoting you, but you’re right. One day they’ll grow out of this communist shit
-
-
That'll be the day.
The Democrat party is not a democratic party, they are a neoliberal, technocratic party. They don't want the people to rule, they want neoliberal technocrats to rule. I don't see that changing, anytime soon.
A workers' party would have to be a majoritarian, democratic party, because the workers are the vast majority of the population.
-
MAGA took over the GOP in just a few years. I think the same thing can happen to the DNC. Just need a little propaganda, some charismatic leadership, and people willing to slander the establishment.
-
MAGA had a lot of money pushed at it. The Koch Bros independently funded the Tea Party movement until Trump was created, then Russian money began to flow.
There is no such money faucet for leftist groups. In fact, a massive lack of funding has been one of the chief struggles these groups have had for decades.
-
MAGA voted for Republicans.
If you're suggesting the left change the DNC by starting to vote for them, then I'm in.
-
-
-
Yes, AND it's worth bearing in mind that some democratic strategists apparently think the path to being the "worker's party" is to embrace social conservatism. Trans people aren't the reason I will never retire, they aren't the reason I'll never be able to take my kids on a real vacation, or why we're one "get fucked lmao" from being bankrupted by health insurance. The assholes in this party who have a vision of trying to capture moderate Republicans need to show themselves the door. Bernie and Trump both show that you'll get the votes when you promise big changes to this busted ass system AND people believe that you'll actually do it. Stop trying to be yesteryear republicans; start promising shit that hurts the big donors' feelings and meaning it.
-
There needs to be a worker's party. It doesn't have to be the Democrats.
That there are only going to be two viable parties in this country is a mathematical inevitability of how our voting system works, but there's no reason why the Democrats have to remain one of those parties. If what they're doing right now is the best they've got then they shouldn't be difficult to replace. A damp sandwich could do a better job.
-
DAMP SANDWICH 2028
-
Its a first past the post 2 party system. It's gonna have to be the Democrats.
-
Democrats have no intention of being pro-labor. They need to go away and be replaced by a better party.
-
Check out the Working Families Party. It's not in every state, but they aren't delusional about running their own candidates as third parties. The strategy is generally to find candidates that align to their values and get them into Democratic primaries.
Now, at the end of the day, I don't think any political party can save us. The best case scenario is to make sure the state isn't too repressive, but that's useful in itself.
-
-
-
Democrats should be doing a lot of things instead of waiting around for those "good" billionaires to show up. Both parties need to split and take huge chunks of resources with them to form a party that actually does represent the majority. This has happened before in American history but, at this point, it's just wishful thinking I guess.
-
Biden’s pro-union moves are historic, but voters need more than symbolism. Effectively outlines the problem and proposes actionable solutions.
🐱🐱🐱🐱
-
I keep hearing this, but Biden shut down the rail workers strike and then slowly got them a small portion of that they were striking for. They would have gotten a better deal if Biden had just stayed out of it.
Teamsters wouldnt endorse him in 2024. Whens the last time you saw unions not line up behind a Dem?
When I look up what else he did, people like to say he appointed some people to some positions, and upped funding for NRLB. NLRB arbitrates labor disputes, but doesnt advocate for unions specifically. And Biden walked 1 picket line, while ignoring some others, like during the amazon strike. He did nothing in many cases where the cops were called in to brutalize picketers and demonstrators in both the amazon teamsters strike and the rail union workers strike.
So all this adoration for him showing up for one picket line for a few minutes, and one needless derailing of a rail strike. And no blame for his ignoring some other labor stuff he could have helped with if he actually cared about labor even just a little bit. Seems like a C- grade to me.
Following the new DNC flowchart: Is that better than an trump? OK, sure. If thats our only yardstick for everything.
Following the DNC critics: is that enough to get elected? Eff No. Biden and Harris both hemorhaged votes amongst union members too, along with every other working demographic. Working people do not see pro business centrists as serious partners. Dress Biden up in the clothes of being pro union all you like, I think everyone see thats thats just performative BS for the chumps. Just like his phony 'red lines' in pretending to push against war crimes while enabling them in both constant weapons shipments on the US taxpayer dime, and running interference for Israel in the UN. Should we give Mr best labor president ever a nobel peace prize for his strong stances against war crimes? Or can we stop this charade of his being the best president ever in every possible category?
-
Biden actually kept working to get the union their demands after the fact, when he clearly had the power to ignore them if he wanted to.
EDIT: GOVERNMENT WEBSITE LINK HERE "On Biden-Harris Administration's watch, the percentage of rail workers who are guaranteed paid sick leave has gone from 5% to 90% "
-
Biden’s rail decision wasn’t perfect, but it prevented economic collapse while securing paid sick leave—a historic first. Teamsters’ hesitation reflects union independence, not failure. NLRB funding and pro-union appointments are structural wins ignored here.
Biden’s labor record isn’t flawless, but it’s leagues ahead of anti-union predecessors. Your ‘C-’ grade ignores these achievements and oversimplifies complex realities. Pragmatism beats ideological purity in advancing labor rights.
😺😺
-
-
The problem is that the voters do need symbolism. Voters are too stupid and propagandized to know what actions a party actually takes. Symbolism is all that matters. You can even just straight up lie and these dumbasses will believe it.
-
Observe the contempt for workers.
-
-
-
I think that is one of those "far left" ideas that the DNC said they need to run away from.
-
The same neoliberal policies republicans supported yet aren’t held accountable for because 🤷♂️
-
Because Democrats are holding the bag
-
They kinda were. People hate "RINOs," ofc Trump is in reality just more of the same, but like the author said he represents a "wrecking ball," and only thing resembling a deviation from the mainstream Washington consensus.
-
-
No. The Dems must implode and let something actually decent come in
-
Best they can do is embrace fascism.
-
Nobody is coming to save us. The working class needs to organize to save itself.
The good news is that if it works, we'll be in a much better place than where we were a decade ago. It's going to take a lot of hard work, and we all need to pitch in a little to make it happen. It might not work, but there's nothing to lose in trying except our chains.
-
Yup. The Democrats as we've known them need to die or completely metamorphose. I don't want my political party to be friends with CEO's and billionaires, I want my political party to get the American people's fair share. I want my party to look upon trillion dollar companies and billion dollar families with the same disgust and ire I have. There's no such thing as a good billionaire, a good person could never take that much.
Let's bust some monopolies, let's tax the fuck outta tycoons. Stop giving billions of government dollars to privately owned and traded companies. Let's invest in infrastructure projects that make our country better. Who gives a fucking shit about GDP, it doesn't make my life better.
-
General Strike. Shut the country down, they'll get violent. They will use the police and the national guard to attempt to break the strike. But hold firm, because then they'll beg.
-
-
So long as they have corporate donors and insider trading, they will never be the workers' party.
-
Theres a massive problem with propaganda in this country to the point where Unions, public school Educators, Farmers, Poor folk just barely managing to survive until their next paycheck would all rather vote for the guy who wants to make unionizing Illegal, who wants to dismantle the Department of Education and public schools, who wants to take away farmer subsidies so that small time farmers collapse in on themselves, and who wants to take away the very federal programs that help poor Americans survive. As opposed to a candidate who wanted to support more unionization across the country and support workers right to strike, who wanted the department of Education to remain in existence and had a teacher as her VP who talked about how teachers needed raises, who talked about going after big time corporations who also happen to be massive farmers and force the small time farmers to sell to them so that the small timers now make no or actually lose money while the corporation gets their subsidy, and who talked about raising the minimum wage to 15 an hour "at least" and supported legislation that would allow for said poor folk to get more benefits and be lifted out of poverty.
Democrats are and were pro worker, even if not perfect. But the workers abandoned them because at least the Republicans say they'll fix everything right away. And hey if they don't, these things take time. But if a Democrat is elected and says they'll fix everything right away, that they'll change the country and they don't do it immediately, well that's just because Democrats are incompetent.
Many many workers are voting for Republicans knowing it's against their interests because of hatred and bigotry. The Democrats need to do better, the need to be reshaped into a more progressive party, and they need better messaging and marketing, but to say they aren't already the pro worker party is fucking disingenuous at best and outright spreading far right propaganda at worst.
-
Democrats never lifted a finger for me. Every time I hear them doing something it's somehow not helping me again. My wages have stagnated while their donors got richer. Obama bailed out companies that closed production anyway. Dems handled this election so poorly it's barely believable. I genuinely don't know if they're actually opposition. They seem like they're on the same team as the other guys from where I'm sitting.
-
Where I live, it has looked the same for the last 18 years of my life. Most of the changes are from state laws, even then it's hard to get the companies to respect them without threat of a legal action I can't do from being broke.
Dems handled this election so poorly it’s barely believable. I genuinely don’t know if they’re actually opposition. They seem like they’re on the same team as the other guys from where I’m sitting.
Have been since at least 2016.
-
-
-
But then the corporations are not going to pay them.
-
Just let the DFL take over nationally
-
Ken Martin is now the chair of the national Democratic party. He was the leader of the DFL.
He also doesn't seem to be moving the party in any useful direction. Congrats on getting your monkeys paw wish I guess?
-
Ken's got Elissa Slotkin queued up to give the dem rebuttal to Trumps speech tomorrow. She's the same zionist dem who is ranked the most centrist in the senate and participates in the "New democratic Coalition" (pro business dems) and the "problem solvers coalition" (laser focussed on bipartisanship). I guess Fetterman was already booked?
So Ken, the "DFL" and the DNC have not changed course even one little bit from the Biden/Harris loss.
-
-
-
As a non American, I've been told by an American colleagues that the Republicans are traditionally the worker's party. Could someone please clarify?
Additionally, my opinion is that the entire system needs to be abolished to allow representation from more than two parties to represent how diverse America is.
-
It's like pro wrestling. Their gimmick is that they are working class that busts their assess working hard labor jobs to feed their families. The democratic gimmick is that of well meaning and educated individuals seeking a bright future.
But in reality is that they are both moronic abusive assholes and one is a nazi.
-
So a long time ago, you could argue the Republicans were the worker's party. Abolionist-focused, was comfortable with immigrants more than other parties at the time, and Lincoln even exchanged letters with Karl Marx, but indrectly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_of_the_International_Working_Men's_Association_to_Abraham_Lincoln
Republicans in the 1800s stood for minimum wage, pushed for suffrage of women, and other generally good ideas like "Maybe we should listen to the unionists who are willing to die for an 8 hour work week."
But over the centuries since, the lines blurred. In the 1930s a Democrat pushed for expansions of the social net due to the great depression. In the 1950s, a Republican advocated for billions to spent on the interstate highway system, that has never once made a dime back over the last decades.
Then the southern strategy happened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy Republicans marketed themselves towards the white South as a way to say "Hey we back what you stand for, whatever it is" and that's when South started to vote for Republicans, and Nixon took advantage of this.
But the Republicans today don't even care about the white workers, they don't about any workers, they only care about the rich. Have been since at least the 1980s from Ronald Reagan. Democrats lately tend to protect the workers more, but it varies from state to federal, but generally wages are up with Democrats, and we've had more expansions of workers rights with them.
-
I would really like to know why your American colleagues think that.
-
Probably briefly remembering high school talking about Republicans doing good things, and then thinking Fox News is accurate reporting.
-
Non americans here. None of their parties will be a worker party. If they do I cut my left ball.
-
How far back are they talking "traditionally"? You can make an argument that they were a century ago. Not a particularly strong argument, but there's an argument. Go back even further, and Karl Marx himself was congratulating Abraham Lincoln. After all, slaves are the most exploited workers.
The last 50 years, though? Absolutely not, but their bleating about "coastal elites" hoodwinks a lot of people to think otherwise.
-
-
A two party system isn't it and this can be the best time to start a new party, one that focuses on the worker's not to say this party would completely destroy help for the wealthy but make them do what's fair for living and operating in this country.
-
biden was the most pro labor president in my lifetime.
-
And even he fucked over railroad workers when they striked.
-
Why does this keep getting repeated? It’s not true.
Here’s a fun game: go look it up and bring back sources. You’ll be surprised what you find.
Edit: Y’all need to learn to not stop your research in 2022.
-
Ain't saying much.
-
Claiming to be pro labor starts at livable wages.
-
-
I don't know why these articles keep coming up, because the party at large already was. One or two turds in the punchbowl do kind of ruin ones appetite I suppose, but when you're up against a fascist ideology completely based on lies and bullshit social posturing as issues, you can't rely on something like being the "worker party" to combat.
Democrats need to fucking smarter and more nimble at turning the tables on lies and misinformation. That's what we need. They're fucking failing at that right now.
-
The problem with the DNCs version of being the "worker's party" is that the left leaning policies they do pass tend to be things that feel intangible to most workers. They pass infrastructure bills that in theory create jobs, but in reality usually take way too long to actually implement and are killed or watered down by the opposition. Even before they are watered down, they tend to largely be hand outs to large corporations who capitalize the lions share of the funding before anything trickles down to actual workers.
Workers want to see a political party that aren't afraid of taking direct action, they want to see tangible benefits.
-
Unfortunately, the GOP has enemy nations helping them with their campaigns/propaganda.
-
Are you so blind to the fact that a bipartisan system cannot possibly represent the people. The Democrats haven't driven politics for the working man for a long fucking while...
-
-
That's what I'm talking about
-
They can't. Middle class oil workers, workers in the gasoline auto-sector will not vote for Democrats. The same goes for many who are contractors; plumbers, electricians, HVAC.
Those working for Amazon might be able to unionize, same with Walmart. Hopefully they can get better pay, and hours. But they are not fighting the same fight as climate activists.
Trump might break teacher unions soon with school vouchers.
Democrats need to start with hyper-local issues, and organize around those.
-
Why do people act like the only real workers are oil workers, coal miners, and building contractors? This is a tiny sliver of the workforce.
-
Because it simultaneously gives them an excuse to do noting for both unions and the environment.
-
-
-
Just hopping back on lemmy to see if we're still doing the "blame Democrats for literally everything" thing.
Yeah?
Cool.
Ok bye, dumbasses
-
good riddance, idiot.
PS sorry your fav genocider lost.
-
They won't leave, this is like their 4th time saying "I'm done with lemmy".
-
-
If they occupy the only space to fight Republicans, and they are doing a bad job at fighting Republicans, they should receive criticism.
-
-
Democrats are already the workers party, but the "real" workers party voters refuse to vote for Democrats.
-
Can we stop this working class bullshit? You people are so damn disingenuous with this. Just say what it is. Culture War Bullshit!
-
Organizing along class lines is literally the farthest thing from "culture war bullshit" there is.
-
Go organize with the right wingers then, and see how far you get.
-
-