From the esteemed Radley Balko:

And h/t to alpha:

Not SCOTUS reform. Not getting rid of corruption. Not holding “elite” lawbreakers accountable. Not reducing existential social inequality. Not making corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share. Not healthcare. Not getting rid of the filibuster. Not reigning in ICE and the President’s illegal and personal militia. Not moving to more affordable clean, renewable energy. Not reducing the power of a unitary executive. Not reducing the deficit. Not getting rid of transferring taxpayer dollars in education from public schools to private/religous schools via vouchers.

None of the above.

Their lead is getting kids off of social media. Ok. I’ll admit it - I’m for this. It’s an admirable goal.

But you ’be got to be f*^king kidding me!

I have an idea. let’s scrap “Project 2029” before it even gets going. First of all, it sounds like a rehash of Project 2025. Poor branding. Second, if this is what they lead with, it sends a message to voters that Dems are still out of touch with people’s main concerns and the existential angst that has gripped the majority of Americans who are struggling to keep their heads above water in their daily lives. Third, wolver the consultants are behind this “launch” should be identified and figuratively flayed in the figurative town square.

Running in rural Texas is different from running in urban Michigan. Having out of touch national Dems anchoring down candidates in these disparate districts with some namby pamby about social media makes no sense.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

This isn’t rocket science people.

Tie Trump’s corruption and the complicity of every single Republican to whatever issues are most prominent in a specific district.

Ossoff’s take is different from Mamdani’s take is different from El-Sayed’s take. But their common focus is on delivering real results for real people while using corruption as the foil.

I’ll let pollster G. Eliot Morris have a word:

Individual Dem candidates need to outrun the brand. Showing independent thought, highlighting opponents’ rampant corruption and focusing on the real needs/concerns of district voters should outweigh some soft-peddle advocated by national consultants. Don’t diss other Dems - just run one’s own race.

It’s the corruption, stupid. Connected to recognition that most people are desperate for leaders to make their lives less of a struggle.

Simple example: Trump - and my opponent - are spending over $1 billion dollars on glorifying himself in Washington DC while you can’t afford healthcare (or gas or food or housing).

I’ll let Oliver Willis have the semi-last word:

Time to throw Project 2029 in the “bad ideas” garbage bin…

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Marmot Pimpernel 4 months ago

Break up the tech giants.

My new item on the Democracy wish list.

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r po4 months ago

"Not reducing existential social inequality. Not making corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share. Not healthcare."

This is the game right here. The point of the 2029 exercise is to deflect the lower classes' aspirations away from anything that might impede the accelerating confiscation of the share of the economy by the top 1%. NOT the 10% or rather, that's just an inconvenient side effect. Fixing healthcare is going to be incredibly expensive and disruptive to the incumbent parasitical skimmer corps.

For the Corey Bookers of the world, that is their entire function. It's MAGA, blue in the face.

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John S.4 months ago

The only way to fix the problem is to change the incentive model.

Cory Booker does what he does because he’s more scared of his corporate donors than his constituents. He thinks keeping donors happy is a better path to victory than keeping his voters happy.

Until that calculus changes, he’s not going to change. Nor will any of the other corporate Democrats.

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mister mixAuthor4 months ago

This is where I've ended up, too.

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Joe is Wypoxic4 months ago

Spot on John. It all comes down to money and I also agree- until we change the rules/laws for funding campaigns and politicians while 8n office, nothing will really change…

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Scott H4 months ago

89 Dems did vote against the atrocious "Kids" Act: https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/roll228.xml

It's interesting how I'm seeing a fair number of RWNJ Moms applauding the Dem vote cuz they also opposed the bill.

There's some interesting names in there from CO: Crow and Neguse voted Nay. The odious Petterson and my Invisible Congresswoman DeGette didn't vote.

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TBone Dinosaur4 months ago

AP:

BREAKING: The Supreme Court will consider striking down assault weapons bans, in Connecticut and the Chicago-area.

https://bsky.app/profile/apnews.com/post/3mpjg35zxdm24

My thoughts turn to reaping and sowing and things of that nature...

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TBone Dinosaur4 months ago(edited)

If my uterus could shoot bullets, it'd be less regulated.

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TBone Dinosaur4 months ago

This whole foray brings to mind one word:

Doofus

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John S.4 months ago(edited)

Restore America.

  • End Citizens United
  • End gerrymandering
  • Reform SCOTUS
  • Enforce anti-trust laws
  • End leveraged buyouts
  • Root out corruption
  • Regulate online gambling
  • Create guardrails for AI
  • Create guardrails for crypto
  • End the ‘Unitary Executive’
  • Close all Trump loopholes
  • Restore DOJ independence
  • Because right now, I’m not sure what the fuck this place is.

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    TBone Dinosaur4 months ago

    I'm feeling radical and would like to add

    Abolish the Electoral College

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    TBone Dinosaur4 months ago(edited)

    Almost forgot:

    Restore the right to abortion as healthcare AND ratify the ERA!

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    TBone Dinosaur4 months ago(edited)

    Abolish ICE and restore the Pentagon, National Intelligence agencies, Dept. of State, and the FBI while we've got our sleeves rolled up.

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    Scott H4 months ago

    Remember that Dem leadership has the Center for American Progress, headed by the odious Neera Tanden, formulating 'Project 2029'.

    And that the person heading the econ portion of that was Larry Fucking Summers until enough shit about him dribbled out that Tanden and crew had no choice but to jettison him.

    The Dems Project 2029 is everything we've come to know and loathe about the neolib/trickle-down/MarketUberAlles core of the Party.

    It was "bad ideas" from the instant it went to CAP for development.

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    TBone Dinosaur4 months ago

    I posted about it here one day but when I looked deeper I deleted my comment!

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    TBone Dinosaur4 months ago

    That was before this jenius move "for the children"

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    TBone Dinosaur4 months ago

    "an unhappy Mike Johnson growls when informed in real time by a reporter that the Supreme Court ruled to uphold birthright citizenship"

    https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mpja54rbfc2e

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    TBone Dinosaur4 months ago

    I'll wager Barron Trump wasn't even mentioned at any hearing or oral argument at any stage of the case.

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    mister mixAuthor4 months ago

    It's hard for me to imagine the absolutely broken "strategy" process that came up with this, from the concept (yeah, there's an issue with kids on social media), to the legislation (which is bad since it is going to lead to everyone on the internet showing an id), to the decision that this is what should be branded "Project 2029".

    These people are so far behind where they need to be.

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    mister mixAuthor4 months ago

    Also, the precursor to this stupid legislation, the KIDS act, just passed, over the opposition of the ACLU and the progressives in Congress. But you know, it's for the kids!

    https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-urges-congress-to-vote-against-online-censorship-proposed-in-the-kids-act

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    C P4 months ago

    The last twenty years have just been this ever-widening chasm between what the Democratic Party needs to be and what it actually is.

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    Scott H4 months ago

    Common Dem operating process this century:

    -Pass some bill they tell themselves was a BFD, but what got it passed was selling out the bill’s core principle so as not to disturb incumbents/monied donors, so it doesn’t solve the problem. Then they get really mad when voters don’t agree the problem is solved.

    -The fact that they sold out is a point of pride because it makes them “serious,” so they conclude the issue is bad PR, or that the critics of the sellout don’t understand how to Get Things Done in Washington. But if you’re going to run on something you need it to work!

    -Make sure that the “groups” with a “seat at the table” are captured, so they invariably agree with the politicians that the sellout was worth it & sell the sellout to their constituents. There’s no genuine pushback “in the room” so it comes as a surprise outside it.

    This is also the operating template for blue-controlled cities like Denver.

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    TBone Dinosaur4 months ago

    Nancy Mace must be orgasmic over the latest Supremacists' ruling.

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    TBone Dinosaur4 months ago

    Never have we ever had such a rich mine of corruption to plumb. I mean, there's even gold laying outside all over the ground, they don't even have to dig that hard!

    "The White House Considers Granting 250 Pardons for the Nation’s Birthday. The idea has set off a frenzy of appeals for clemency. The pardons will go for $1 mn each, payable in Trump crypto coins."

    https://bsky.app/profile/dominicervolina.com/post/3mpi6fp64vc2m

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    Joe is Wypoxic4 months ago

    read that but thought it had to be parody...

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    C P4 months ago

    Bringing a Pillow to a Gunfight

    "They pull a knife, you pull a pillow. They send one of yours to the hospital, you send one of them a box of chocolates! That's the Third Way! And that's how you get a hagiographic article in the op-ed section of the New York Times!"

    (Narrator: "They did not get a hagiographic article in the op-ed section of the New York Times.")

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    C P4 months ago

    First of all, it sounds like a rehash of Project 2025. Poor branding.

    But it's ironic!

    Palpatine: "Hey, wanna watch me tempt fate? COULD THIS DAY GET ANY WORSE!!! ... I did it ironically, so I think I'm good." Palpatine one hour later: ::gets thrown down reactor shaft and blows up::

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    C P4 months ago

    Their lead is getting kids off of social media. Ok. I’ll admit it - I’m for this. It’s an admirable goal.

    "Child social media ban" = "a ban on anyone using the Internet if they're not willing to reveal personal information."