Very good discussion with Jen and Simon Rosenberg.
Jen, I beg of you and Norm to PLEASE start discussing the fact that Dominion was bought by right wing owned "Liberty Vote." The ramifications of what can be done with the Dominion voting machines are absolutely frightening.
this is the message from Indivisible. FIght like hell for the BEST candidate in the primaries and then fight like helll to get that winner elected, no matter who you voted for in the primary! That's how we win!
It’s always good to hear Simon weigh in. You are both correct that we should continue along the same basis that we did in 2025. I also think Simon is correct that we need to include political philosophy along with kitchen table issues in our discussions .
I agree with your analysis of focusing on the damage Trump and the Republicans have done and are doing to the welfare of working class and middle class Americans, by their opposition to extending the subsidies under the ACA, by imposing high tariffs on all sorts of consumer goods which is adding to inflation, by undercutting the food stamp program, etc. But it is also critical that Democrats espouse the policies that will improve cost of living affordability and income tax equity which are related. First a commitment to make the income tax system equitable so that the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes which will require higher marginal tax rates for the wealthy and the elimination of special benefits only available to the ultra wealthy such as the special treatment given to income of venture fund managers and a revision or elimination of the capital gains lower tax rate. With those added revenues e siting and new programs for the working and middle classes can be better funded and new benefits instituted like subsidizing college education for middle class and working class families, financing and subsidizing trade schools for trades needed in the AI economy, etc. one more point, tone down identity politics and tone down the emphasis on LGBTQ issues. The Democratic Party is committed to equality and equal rights for all but we don’t need to be emphasizing the rights of a small
minority which makes us look like we are placing their rights ahead of the rights and welfare of the overwhelming majority of people, white , Black or any other color. I’ e seen data that many Independent voters voted for Trump in 2024 because that felt the Democrats were to “Woke” on some of those issues. Finally, stop catering to Islamists and the Palestine State supporters. Data shows that these groups in large part are interested in undermining not only support for Israel and the Jewish People it in undermining Western democracies and their values. Just look at what is happening in zzz England, Australia, Canada and other. Countries and what they are beginning to do here. The mayor of Dearborn Michigan, an Islamist has told white resident who objected to naming a street for a Palestinian terrorist to get out of Dearborn if he didn’t like it; this was in an open city council session. The Democratic Party has to push back on the inevitable accusations of Islamophobia and make it clear that all residents and officials, be they Muslim, Christian, Jewish, etc. must comply with our Co situation and laws and if they are not willing to do that it is they who should leave this country. Taking such a position would result in significant support from Independents and even some Republicans.
I was going to say the same thing about income tax, etc., but I'll just make a couple of points to expand on this issue. First, why did so many working-class folks, formerly the heart of the Democratic Party, choose Trump to begin with, a person who normally would have been laughed out of town? Answer: if you look at either the share of wealth or income for the majority of people (the working folks), it's either been stagnant or declining since the 70's. People in that category rightfully began blaming the government that Trump promised to bring down.
Ironically, Trump is doing just that, but people began to realize in his 2nd term, he's going after the programs that benefited them, like health care, education, and housing. Hence, when people like Spanberger and Sherrill, et al, made "affordability" the spearhead of their campaigns, they made inroads on the most important concern of almost all the working-class electorate, especially minorities and young folks now entering the job market (as James Carville once said, "It's the economy, stupid"). If only the DNC would translate this campaign rhetoric into concrete pledges (like an overhaul in our income tax code), they will run roughshod over any GOP candidate in the midterms and beyond.
But there's one other angle Democrats need to address to win a landslide and that is the conversation itself. Democrats are inherently liberal (at least in comparison to right-wing GOP fat cats), but we've allowed the right wing to couple Democratic ideas with the old criticisms surrounding liberal ideas, and I'm speaking of the words "socialism, "communism," and now "woke."
Here's how to decouple those words from a truly fair and prosperous plank. Since when does our health, our education, our housing not affect our right to liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness? The correct answer is that these things are essential to maintain our rights under the Declaration of Independence. My advice to the DNC and Democratic candidates is to build a common-sense platform that corrects the economic injustice of the past 50 years and tie it firmly to our rights in the Declaration of Independence, and then dare any GOP candidate to argue against it.
Recent elections have proven my points, but we need to promote common-sense platforms and safeguard them against the old GOP tropes by coupling them with our rights in the Declaration of Independence (and I'd even take all this a step further and encourage Democratic candidates to take this conversation right into the bedrock of right-wing media like Fox, etc. The working class is not our enemy. They are a constituency begging for relief.
All of them are at play the way I see it. Roy Moore sexually harassed young high school girls at a mall and that got Dem Doug Jones elected to the Senate. Steve Marshall who is running for Tommy Tuberville’s seat is just as bad. Marshall is our now AG in Alabama who threatened the good people of this state with prosecution if they financed in any way for a pregnant woman to leave the state for a legal abortion elsewhere. Threatening your own citizens for something that is 1. Perfectly legal that is outside the borders of your own state 2. None of his damn businesses in the first place what I or any other Alabamian wants to do to help someone else is enough for me to call them out. Merrick Garland wouldn’t call him out until a federal judge finally did. You can’t threaten people for doing something that is perfectly legal. Marshall and Ken Paxton of Texas are both trying to out AH 🤬 the other.
Thanks for mentioning that voters, not party honchos, decided "electability." The whole it's-his or her-turn thing killed Dems chances and installed Trump twice. What about telling Joe Biden that voters literally demanded of our reps that he not run? What about structuring primaries for competition, not automatic promotion?
Even though I supported Clinton and Harris, the myopic choices made by the DNC have literally ruined my life for the past 10 years--and possibly for the remaining years. We need an entirely new process for elevating our leaders because right now, we have none.
Agreed. That's why I support David Hogg and his "Leaders we Deserve" campaign. Young as he is, he has some very good ideas and I wish Ben Wikler had been elected as DNC chair, instead of Ken Martin. Martin got rid of David Hogg and seems to be perfectly happy with all the old Democratic fogies now in Congress.
I know exactly what you mean. That's why I had to take an entire day off this week from reading anything in the Contrarian and I didn't even open up the other Substacks I subscribe to. From now on, I will take one day off every week. It's better for my mental health. Try it, it works for me and most likely will for you, too.
Barely dealt with Dec. 7, now solstice then Christmas pajama pantsed by new year’s. Thank you for thinking back and forward in the maelstrom of the terminal year 2025 (still haven’t gotten a decision from IRS on my tax refund for 2024 - to refund, refile or throw me in jail). Thank you both for your great contributions.
Fine discussion, but I suggest we look deeper and avoid traditional methods of evaluating strengths and weaknesses in the Democratic Party. For example, Hispanics supported Trump, and now, should any Hispanic openly do so, there would be open hostility toward them. So, that statistic is expected. Democrats need only to point to ICE!
I suspect that our seeing better results than we may have expected, although being a positive sign, it does not address what the Republicans have planned for November 2026. They, too, are seeing the results of their actions, and that is why Trump called upon Red red-state governors to use gerrymandering to create a better result to ensure control of the House and the Senate. But that, too, may not work. So now they have openly moved into the shadows again by setting up the purchase of Dominion Corporation and their voting machines by a Republican operative. Certainly, he was financed by the wealth available to him, but now, as he stated, "Dominion no longer exists"!
What does this mean for Republicans? It means that they intend to use control of the once independent corporation to change the end results for machines across the country! I have yet to read that Democrats have filed a lawsuit regarding the end of a non-partisan corporation and the beginning of Republican control over our voting across the country!
This is the point that is not really given enough discussion by either Jen or her guest. Although Trump is being caught openly accepting bribes for political favors, as well as his stomp toward authoritarian control, voters now understand who he is. We must recognize that he will not stop his natural inclination to cheat and lie. He believes he is above the law, and thus far, has been successful, with the full support of the SCOTUS! Voters may decide who gets elected, but that only works when you have a democracy!
Trump, the Republicans, and those who support them, the billionaires, are here for the long haul. They know what this battle is about, and those values like elections and
voters' rights are not any one of those! They care about unlimited corporate freedoms and the beginning of a new form of segregation, with the main interest being maintaining a white, Christian majority that can control education and all other aspects of citizen rights! This is a new Civil War to them.
So, I suggest we need to be looking at this as a longer road than 2026. They have plans and consistently work to ensure those plans are followed. I do not agree that either Schumer or Jeffries is the person we need to address this authoritarian takeover. We need war consigliere's in both Houses and in the DNC as well. The only question is, who fills that role? Where are the candidates who recognize and can develop plans to address this battle? There must be people who believe that fighting against Trump and these Republicans for our democracy is a war, and as such, they will proceed with that as their goal!
Fine discussion, but I suggest we look deeper and avoid traditional methods of evaluating strengths and weaknesses in the Democratic Party. For example, Hispanics supported Trump, and now, should any Hispanic openly do so, there would be open hostility toward them. So, that statistic is expected. Democrats need only to point to ICE!
I suspect that our seeing better results than we may have expected, although being a positive sign, it does not address what the Republicans have planned for November 2026. They, too, are seeing the results of their actions, and that is why Trump called upon Red State Governors to use Gerrymandering to create a better result in terms of House and possibly the Senate. But that, too, may not work, so now they have openly moved into the shadows again by setting up the purchase of Dominion Voting machines by a Republican operative. Certainly, he was financed by the wealth available to him, but now, as he stated "Dominion no longer exists"!
Very good discussion with Jen and Simon Rosenberg.
Jen, I beg of you and Norm to PLEASE start discussing the fact that Dominion was bought by right wing owned "Liberty Vote." The ramifications of what can be done with the Dominion voting machines are absolutely frightening.
Yes, Jen. This is a true threat!
Treat it as such!
this is the message from Indivisible. FIght like hell for the BEST candidate in the primaries and then fight like helll to get that winner elected, no matter who you voted for in the primary! That's how we win!
It’s always good to hear Simon weigh in. You are both correct that we should continue along the same basis that we did in 2025. I also think Simon is correct that we need to include political philosophy along with kitchen table issues in our discussions .
I agree with your analysis of focusing on the damage Trump and the Republicans have done and are doing to the welfare of working class and middle class Americans, by their opposition to extending the subsidies under the ACA, by imposing high tariffs on all sorts of consumer goods which is adding to inflation, by undercutting the food stamp program, etc. But it is also critical that Democrats espouse the policies that will improve cost of living affordability and income tax equity which are related. First a commitment to make the income tax system equitable so that the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes which will require higher marginal tax rates for the wealthy and the elimination of special benefits only available to the ultra wealthy such as the special treatment given to income of venture fund managers and a revision or elimination of the capital gains lower tax rate. With those added revenues e siting and new programs for the working and middle classes can be better funded and new benefits instituted like subsidizing college education for middle class and working class families, financing and subsidizing trade schools for trades needed in the AI economy, etc. one more point, tone down identity politics and tone down the emphasis on LGBTQ issues. The Democratic Party is committed to equality and equal rights for all but we don’t need to be emphasizing the rights of a small
minority which makes us look like we are placing their rights ahead of the rights and welfare of the overwhelming majority of people, white , Black or any other color. I’ e seen data that many Independent voters voted for Trump in 2024 because that felt the Democrats were to “Woke” on some of those issues. Finally, stop catering to Islamists and the Palestine State supporters. Data shows that these groups in large part are interested in undermining not only support for Israel and the Jewish People it in undermining Western democracies and their values. Just look at what is happening in zzz England, Australia, Canada and other. Countries and what they are beginning to do here. The mayor of Dearborn Michigan, an Islamist has told white resident who objected to naming a street for a Palestinian terrorist to get out of Dearborn if he didn’t like it; this was in an open city council session. The Democratic Party has to push back on the inevitable accusations of Islamophobia and make it clear that all residents and officials, be they Muslim, Christian, Jewish, etc. must comply with our Co situation and laws and if they are not willing to do that it is they who should leave this country. Taking such a position would result in significant support from Independents and even some Republicans.
I was going to say the same thing about income tax, etc., but I'll just make a couple of points to expand on this issue. First, why did so many working-class folks, formerly the heart of the Democratic Party, choose Trump to begin with, a person who normally would have been laughed out of town? Answer: if you look at either the share of wealth or income for the majority of people (the working folks), it's either been stagnant or declining since the 70's. People in that category rightfully began blaming the government that Trump promised to bring down.
Ironically, Trump is doing just that, but people began to realize in his 2nd term, he's going after the programs that benefited them, like health care, education, and housing. Hence, when people like Spanberger and Sherrill, et al, made "affordability" the spearhead of their campaigns, they made inroads on the most important concern of almost all the working-class electorate, especially minorities and young folks now entering the job market (as James Carville once said, "It's the economy, stupid"). If only the DNC would translate this campaign rhetoric into concrete pledges (like an overhaul in our income tax code), they will run roughshod over any GOP candidate in the midterms and beyond.
But there's one other angle Democrats need to address to win a landslide and that is the conversation itself. Democrats are inherently liberal (at least in comparison to right-wing GOP fat cats), but we've allowed the right wing to couple Democratic ideas with the old criticisms surrounding liberal ideas, and I'm speaking of the words "socialism, "communism," and now "woke."
Here's how to decouple those words from a truly fair and prosperous plank. Since when does our health, our education, our housing not affect our right to liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness? The correct answer is that these things are essential to maintain our rights under the Declaration of Independence. My advice to the DNC and Democratic candidates is to build a common-sense platform that corrects the economic injustice of the past 50 years and tie it firmly to our rights in the Declaration of Independence, and then dare any GOP candidate to argue against it.
Recent elections have proven my points, but we need to promote common-sense platforms and safeguard them against the old GOP tropes by coupling them with our rights in the Declaration of Independence (and I'd even take all this a step further and encourage Democratic candidates to take this conversation right into the bedrock of right-wing media like Fox, etc. The working class is not our enemy. They are a constituency begging for relief.
All of them are at play the way I see it. Roy Moore sexually harassed young high school girls at a mall and that got Dem Doug Jones elected to the Senate. Steve Marshall who is running for Tommy Tuberville’s seat is just as bad. Marshall is our now AG in Alabama who threatened the good people of this state with prosecution if they financed in any way for a pregnant woman to leave the state for a legal abortion elsewhere. Threatening your own citizens for something that is 1. Perfectly legal that is outside the borders of your own state 2. None of his damn businesses in the first place what I or any other Alabamian wants to do to help someone else is enough for me to call them out. Merrick Garland wouldn’t call him out until a federal judge finally did. You can’t threaten people for doing something that is perfectly legal. Marshall and Ken Paxton of Texas are both trying to out AH 🤬 the other.
Thanks for mentioning that voters, not party honchos, decided "electability." The whole it's-his or her-turn thing killed Dems chances and installed Trump twice. What about telling Joe Biden that voters literally demanded of our reps that he not run? What about structuring primaries for competition, not automatic promotion?
Even though I supported Clinton and Harris, the myopic choices made by the DNC have literally ruined my life for the past 10 years--and possibly for the remaining years. We need an entirely new process for elevating our leaders because right now, we have none.
Agreed. That's why I support David Hogg and his "Leaders we Deserve" campaign. Young as he is, he has some very good ideas and I wish Ben Wikler had been elected as DNC chair, instead of Ken Martin. Martin got rid of David Hogg and seems to be perfectly happy with all the old Democratic fogies now in Congress.
How the hell can we get any change??? Boy, some days I hit a wall.
Me too, KnockKnock. I know where you are coming from!
I know exactly what you mean. That's why I had to take an entire day off this week from reading anything in the Contrarian and I didn't even open up the other Substacks I subscribe to. From now on, I will take one day off every week. It's better for my mental health. Try it, it works for me and most likely will for you, too.
Excellent synopsis of our countries plight, Simon!
Thank you for your insights, patriot.
And a most heartfelt thanks to Jennifer Rubin, Americas patriot who DID stand up tall when called!
Barely dealt with Dec. 7, now solstice then Christmas pajama pantsed by new year’s. Thank you for thinking back and forward in the maelstrom of the terminal year 2025 (still haven’t gotten a decision from IRS on my tax refund for 2024 - to refund, refile or throw me in jail). Thank you both for your great contributions.
Fine discussion, but I suggest we look deeper and avoid traditional methods of evaluating strengths and weaknesses in the Democratic Party. For example, Hispanics supported Trump, and now, should any Hispanic openly do so, there would be open hostility toward them. So, that statistic is expected. Democrats need only to point to ICE!
I suspect that our seeing better results than we may have expected, although being a positive sign, it does not address what the Republicans have planned for November 2026. They, too, are seeing the results of their actions, and that is why Trump called upon Red red-state governors to use gerrymandering to create a better result to ensure control of the House and the Senate. But that, too, may not work. So now they have openly moved into the shadows again by setting up the purchase of Dominion Corporation and their voting machines by a Republican operative. Certainly, he was financed by the wealth available to him, but now, as he stated, "Dominion no longer exists"!
What does this mean for Republicans? It means that they intend to use control of the once independent corporation to change the end results for machines across the country! I have yet to read that Democrats have filed a lawsuit regarding the end of a non-partisan corporation and the beginning of Republican control over our voting across the country!
This is the point that is not really given enough discussion by either Jen or her guest. Although Trump is being caught openly accepting bribes for political favors, as well as his stomp toward authoritarian control, voters now understand who he is. We must recognize that he will not stop his natural inclination to cheat and lie. He believes he is above the law, and thus far, has been successful, with the full support of the SCOTUS! Voters may decide who gets elected, but that only works when you have a democracy!
Trump, the Republicans, and those who support them, the billionaires, are here for the long haul. They know what this battle is about, and those values like elections and
voters' rights are not any one of those! They care about unlimited corporate freedoms and the beginning of a new form of segregation, with the main interest being maintaining a white, Christian majority that can control education and all other aspects of citizen rights! This is a new Civil War to them.
So, I suggest we need to be looking at this as a longer road than 2026. They have plans and consistently work to ensure those plans are followed. I do not agree that either Schumer or Jeffries is the person we need to address this authoritarian takeover. We need war consigliere's in both Houses and in the DNC as well. The only question is, who fills that role? Where are the candidates who recognize and can develop plans to address this battle? There must be people who believe that fighting against Trump and these Republicans for our democracy is a war, and as such, they will proceed with that as their goal!
Fine discussion, but I suggest we look deeper and avoid traditional methods of evaluating strengths and weaknesses in the Democratic Party. For example, Hispanics supported Trump, and now, should any Hispanic openly do so, there would be open hostility toward them. So, that statistic is expected. Democrats need only to point to ICE!
I suspect that our seeing better results than we may have expected, although being a positive sign, it does not address what the Republicans have planned for November 2026. They, too, are seeing the results of their actions, and that is why Trump called upon Red State Governors to use Gerrymandering to create a better result in terms of House and possibly the Senate. But that, too, may not work, so now they have openly moved into the shadows again by setting up the purchase of Dominion Voting machines by a Republican operative. Certainly, he was financed by the wealth available to him, but now, as he stated "Dominion no longer exists"!