created by FabioFresh93 on 01/02/2025 at 21:07 UTC
106 upvotes, 19 top-level comments (showing 19)
Comment by MomentOfXen at 01/02/2025 at 21:17 UTC
128 upvotes, 6 direct replies
I think it’s interesting this came down to a Minnesotan vs a Wisconsinite. I suppose take your pick between that craft IPA or this other craft IPA. One has some honey!
You can make a decent argument for either on their state merits, a purplish state the democrats retain control over vs one they have lost-ish. The one that is lost, has valuable lessons to provide now, but so does the one that has not.
In the end, knowing that Martin was one specifically not backed by Pelosi would tend to push me to the idea he is the one that is needed - a big problem is the geriatric wing of the DNC.
The old guard should have retired 15 years ago and set up natural successors, whatever it is, pride, greed, arrogance, or fear, they have held on far too long.
Comment by D_Ohm at 02/02/2025 at 00:22 UTC
96 upvotes, 5 direct replies
“How many of you believe that racism and misogyny played a role in VP Harris's defeat?" MSNBC anchor Jonathan Capehart, a co-moderator of the event, asked the candidates. All eight contenders quickly shot up their hands in agreement, with Ben Wikler, one of the frontrunners, narrowly beating other candidates to the punch. Quintessa Hathaway, the only black woman in the race, ended up raising both hands in response to Capehart’s query. "That’s good, you all pass," Capehart said after the show of hands.”
Yeah the DNC has no clue how to go foward
Comment by QuickBE99 at 01/02/2025 at 21:50 UTC
92 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I see they did another land acknowledgment…do they not see how performative and tone deaf this sort of stuff is?
Comment by albardha at 01/02/2025 at 22:18 UTC
58 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Just 31% of voters have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this week. Forty-three percent of voters have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party.
I understand why, Republicans represent their voters better than Democrats do. Most Democrats voters are more not-Republican voters, rather than pro-Democrats.
Hopefully, this will be a new start with Midwestern national chair. Coastal Democrats are significantly further left than average Democrat voters and increasingly out of touch with what people need.
Comment by Eurocorp at 01/02/2025 at 21:35 UTC
60 upvotes, 2 direct replies
At the very least Martin actually went against pro-Hamas protestors compared to Wikler's attempts at opening a "dialogue" with them.
Comment by FabioFresh93 at 01/02/2025 at 21:18 UTC
35 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Ken Martin from Minnesota has been elected as the new head of the DNC. He beat out Ben Winkler who was seen to be the favorite for the position. Martin said he plans on refocusing the Democratic message on working-class voters, strengthen Democratic infrastructure across the country and improve the party’s anti-Trump rapid response system. He also said the party will not to shy away from dedication to diversity and minority groups. Martin said after winning the nomination, “We’re coming. This is a new Democratic Party. We’re taking the gloves off.”
Democrats seem to be directionless after a definitive loss to Trump. Ken Martin is probably a name that most of us have never heard of. I’m not sure how good of a job he will do at guiding the Democratic Party through another Trump term. He seems to be saying the right stuff about refocusing on working-class voters. Also, Schumer and Pelosi had backed Winkler, so it is interesting to see that the old guard didn’t get their person.
Comment by RedditorAli at 01/02/2025 at 21:40 UTC
35 upvotes, 2 direct replies
If you thought the push to fill a DNC vice chair with David Hogg was a joke, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
The Gen Z gun control activist has now received backing from Tim Walz, Eric Swalwell, and Randi Weingarten.
Just the coalition for 2026.
Comment by SeasonsGone at 01/02/2025 at 23:34 UTC
21 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Any one else notice that the post-election messaging of the Democrats seems to be largely in response to “billionaires” and “oligarchs”?
Biden released a response calling on the DNC to “destroy the oligarchy forming in America” and the newly elected Chair ends his victory speech calling to fight back against the “billionaires who bought our country.”
I don’t personally disagree with any of these sentiments, it’s just jarringly different messaging than before the election. Sure, there was an occasional note from the Harris Campaign about billionaires, but it’s all so much more front and center.
I think the current administration is probably the most severe example of money in politics we’ve seen in a long time, but the DNC can’t honestly make “defeating the oligarchy” a central mission without purging much of its own membership.
Comment by netowi at 01/02/2025 at 21:26 UTC
41 upvotes, 2 direct replies
This suggests to me that the Democrats are doubling-down on their existing strategy of focusing on urban and suburban college-educated people.
Wisconsin is more representative of the country as a whole--and also the part of the country that Democrats are losing--than Minnesota. Minnesota is basically one big metro area with a literal handful of outlying small cities and an essentially irrelevant rural population. Wisconsin's two largest cities together only make up a third of the state population, so state politics are driven much more by smaller cities and rural areas, both of which have much larger non-college-educated populations.
The current Democratic playbook of betting on urban and highly-educated white suburbanites works just fine in Minnesota but has been revealed to be disastrous as a national strategy. That Martin has been successful in Minnesota doesn't really say anything about Martin's abilities--only that Martin didn't screw up the way that Minnesota demographics allowed for the national Democratic strategy to be successful.
In contrast, that Wikler has been able to be successful in statewide races in Wisconsin suggests he is better able to understand and appeal to populations not well-served by the current national Democratic strategy. The fact that Wisconsin remains politically competitive despite having demographics that should have shifted much further to the right is a credit to the work of WI Democrats.
Comment by GoldburstNeo at 02/02/2025 at 02:36 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The fact Pelosi and Schumer DIDN'T back Ken Martin makes me cautiously optimistic for 2026 and beyond. I guess only time will tell here.
Comment by MinnPin at 01/02/2025 at 21:35 UTC*
8 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I didn't like Martin's comments about taking money from good billionaires (why on earth would you even say this). But he also wasn't the establishment pick so hopefully he's open to leaving the bubble and engaging with voters. And the MNDFL has done a good job getting a lot of their agenda passed with a slim majority (you can probably credit this more to Walz and the legislative leadership).
E: Derp, I meant to say Martin
Comment by xxlordsothxx at 02/02/2025 at 23:42 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The Dems have a good chance to turn this around and start winning back voters.
Trump is going to do things people don't like and the dems need solid leadership to take advantage of this.
Let's see if this guy can get the DNC back on track.
Comment by athomeamongstrangers at 01/02/2025 at 21:21 UTC*
18 upvotes, 6 direct replies
“We’re coming. This is a new Democratic Party. We’re taking the gloves off.”
What exactly does that entail? What are they going to do now that they haven’t been doing? Trying to imprison Republicans while issuing pardons to themselves? Stoking fiery riots lasting months? Heating up the rhetoric resulting in assassinations of Republicans politicians and rally attendees? Shooting up Republicans at baseball games? Assassinating CEOs? Setting pro-life centers on fire?
Comment by TheStrangestOfKings at 01/02/2025 at 21:54 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Personally, I was rooting more for Wikler, but Martin is also a good pick. The Dems needed a populist voice more than anything, so either of them were good for bringing the DNC in a new direction that’s badly needed. I’m just glad that O’Malley didn’t manage to come close lmao. That’d have been a disaster.
Comment by LukasJackson67 at 01/02/2025 at 21:38 UTC
8 upvotes, 3 direct replies
I feel that the new DNC chair has his work cut out for him.
Democrats have a substance problem that they just don’t want to face. Biden’s wild spending helped fuel inflation. His border policy was a historic disaster. The party was soft on the crime that arose in the president’s first two years. Throw in the global chaos that Biden’s policies encouraged, and you have a catastrophically bad presidency. Of course, the party lost the 2024 election.
It will be interesting to see what the plan to dig out of this will be.
I predict that the trump presidency will implode economically and that the pendulum will swing back
Comment by doff87 at 02/02/2025 at 02:29 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I don't really know either of these guys that well - I did about five minutes of research yesterday. It seemed to me that Wikler leaned a little more into populist/progressive economics though which seems to be speaking to the electorate as a whole. I probably would have preferred him instead of Martin.
In any case Martin has a lot of work ahead of him.
Comment by timmg at 01/02/2025 at 21:25 UTC
1 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Interesting that it came down to two white men in the midwest. I can't tell if this is more about being realistic -- or if the "DNC chair" is not the public face of the org, just the behind-the-scenes leader.
Comment by ggthrowaway1081 at 02/02/2025 at 00:13 UTC
0 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Thank God the Democratic party is rejecting this DEI nonsense and elected a competent white man to run it again. His firm rejection of antisemitism and transgender surgeries for minors gives me hope that he'll lead the Democrat party back towards the center.
Comment by alotofironsinthefire at 01/02/2025 at 22:47 UTC
0 upvotes, 0 direct replies
While I am hoping for More reform within the party, And taking steps away from Reaganomics/ Clinton types.
I have to say this seemed to have gone well for the party with very little infighting. Much better than what happened with the RNC chair.