Lots of interesting insights and ideas! I think my thoughts and questions are split into two main categories: policy and messaging. On the policy side, I think highlighting that there are significant problems that have arisen in the past forty years is critical. And I think that it's really insightful that there is a policy agenda in Trumpism and that it's worth genuinely understanding why that policy agenda is important and worth potentially taking on board. You've convinced me that figuring out meaningful policy options that help people who have been hurt by globalization and wage inequality should be a major priority. My sense is that the Biden administration has tried to include solutions to some of these issues in some of the big bills that they have passed or have tried to pass, but I would be interested in hearing your evaluation of whether it is being prioritized at all on the policy side. As a non-expert, globalization feels so massive and inevitable to me, so figuring out how to undo some of it is hard for me to get my mind around, but I think there are natural alignments between the democratic agenda - local manufacturing with ethical, domestic labor laws, new green infrastructure, etc. - so I'm excited to learn more about policy approaches we could take on. I would love to learn more about effective policy solutions that could make a difference to help with quality of life for the working class in general and for rural Americans specifically - could you maybe make another post on that? Are there policies or approaches that have worked on a local scale anywhere that we could learn from? On to messaging. First, I'm interested in the idea of starting with an apology. I like it in a lot of ways, but I also think that it could be tricky to pull off. It could be brushed off as not real, could be leveraged by Republicans to claim this is all our fault, and / or could come across as pitying, which the NYT article highlights as a problematic lens. So I'm open to it (you've written it very well) and generally interested in thinking about having our language center people who have been hurt by globalization, but interested in your thoughts specifically about the pros and cons of leading with an apology. Also, in terms of general strategy for winning elections, I'm interpreting you to be arguing for trying to bring in people who are currently Trump supporters to join the Democratic Party. I am curious about your thoughts on that strategy versus leveraging and rallying the Democratic base. There are a lot of Republicans, but there are also a lot of Democrats. And a lot of Democrats who don't vote. Particularly in light of some of the social policies that the Republicans are pushing, like abortion bans, it feels strategically fruitful in the short term to energize the left to win elections, rather than trying to win over the right. Thoughts? Would we ideally do both, or is it worth reorienting ourselves to prioritize trying to win over Trump supporters even if it takes a long time to fully take hold, in the hopes that it's a better long term strategy?
Lots of interesting insights and ideas! I think my thoughts and questions are split into two main categories: policy and messaging. On the policy side, I think highlighting that there are significant problems that have arisen in the past forty years is critical. And I think that it's really insightful that there is a policy agenda in Trumpism and that it's worth genuinely understanding why that policy agenda is important and worth potentially taking on board. You've convinced me that figuring out meaningful policy options that help people who have been hurt by globalization and wage inequality should be a major priority. My sense is that the Biden administration has tried to include solutions to some of these issues in some of the big bills that they have passed or have tried to pass, but I would be interested in hearing your evaluation of whether it is being prioritized at all on the policy side. As a non-expert, globalization feels so massive and inevitable to me, so figuring out how to undo some of it is hard for me to get my mind around, but I think there are natural alignments between the democratic agenda - local manufacturing with ethical, domestic labor laws, new green infrastructure, etc. - so I'm excited to learn more about policy approaches we could take on. I would love to learn more about effective policy solutions that could make a difference to help with quality of life for the working class in general and for rural Americans specifically - could you maybe make another post on that? Are there policies or approaches that have worked on a local scale anywhere that we could learn from? On to messaging. First, I'm interested in the idea of starting with an apology. I like it in a lot of ways, but I also think that it could be tricky to pull off. It could be brushed off as not real, could be leveraged by Republicans to claim this is all our fault, and / or could come across as pitying, which the NYT article highlights as a problematic lens. So I'm open to it (you've written it very well) and generally interested in thinking about having our language center people who have been hurt by globalization, but interested in your thoughts specifically about the pros and cons of leading with an apology. Also, in terms of general strategy for winning elections, I'm interpreting you to be arguing for trying to bring in people who are currently Trump supporters to join the Democratic Party. I am curious about your thoughts on that strategy versus leveraging and rallying the Democratic base. There are a lot of Republicans, but there are also a lot of Democrats. And a lot of Democrats who don't vote. Particularly in light of some of the social policies that the Republicans are pushing, like abortion bans, it feels strategically fruitful in the short term to energize the left to win elections, rather than trying to win over the right. Thoughts? Would we ideally do both, or is it worth reorienting ourselves to prioritize trying to win over Trump supporters even if it takes a long time to fully take hold, in the hopes that it's a better long term strategy?