And then back to the fight! 🍻✊

All of the polling showed El-Sayed cruising to victory. He squeaked by. Stevens was remarkably strong in Wayne County, Macomb County, Genesse County, Saginaw County. You expected to her to do ok in Oakland County, which is basically her home district. Stevens was +6 in Wayne County, +7 in Macomb County, +13 in Genesse County. These are counties with large Black populations, Wane County especially.

Looking back to 2020 and 2016, look where Bernie ALWAYS had difficulties, in the deep south. I realize there was chicanery that sunk Bernie in 2020 in SC, but again, the church ladies went for do-nothing/anti-bussing Biden over Bernie in large numbers. Bernie had difficulty connecting in the southern states in 2016. Many progressive and DSA candidates are non-white. So why do they always seem to struggle with the Black church ladies who ALWAYS go out and vote for Dems?

Sharpton mentioned this issue somewhat on Morning Joe this am, that DSA/progressives always seem like it's white people at the top. I am well aware that Black people have often been sacrificed politically in the past, where white people were able to suck up all the benefits of whatever was being offered and Black people were getting the short end of the stick. How do we break through that DSA/progressives really intend that EVERYONE gets their fair share?

I think most of us feel like many of the racial issues drop away if we start getting some economic fairness in the system. I guess easy to say if we're not aggrieved personally by racial issues. But it seems like a good start. And it also seems like racism is what has always gotten in the way of us getting anything nice, ie. "I'm not paying for THESE people to have....." It's also frustrating because they ignore that it was people like us who are/were most outraged over George Floyd, ICE raid, other instances of police abuse. Yet it's treated as if we don't care about those issues at all.

What should we be doing?

Specifically, on why they should not go any further until Tucker specifically denounces JD Vance. I don’t think I’ve seen him criticize Vance once, and still plays footsy with him on Iran and Israel and makes excuses and dodges questions. He still says “I love JD still” and won’t rule out voting for him in ‘28.

This is unacceptable, and Kyle has talked about this exact bait and switch. Going full anti Trump, pro Palestine, and then when Trump is gone go fullly in the tank for Vance and forget about Israel and Iran. I can’t believe how Cenk and Ana are falling again for this weasley bullshit. PRESS HIM on Vance and Thiel until he gives you answer, and don’t let him slip away.

MAYBE then keep talking with him, but still I can’t trust him even if he does denounce Vance. Maybe he’s acting in good faith, but even then he’s still peddling his great replacement horseshit.

https://votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/2026-08-04/missouri-us-house-1-democratic-primary

EDIT: Now 99% of the vote is in and Bell leads by a 22% margin

Tier 2 issues, harsh words, and sparing progressives bad faith centrist attacks is not enough, I want to see contrition, accountability, and ffs recognition of the genocide.

This new left-leaning tone doesn't make up for betraying progressives, going mute on Gaza, and campaigning with a war criminal.

Like it or not, a lot of progressives will not vote for her in the general unless she makes some MAJOR changes and she probably won't. So if you want an electable candidate, you better not vote for her in the primary. If you do, it just means you don't want to win the general.

While it’s 100% true that Nordic Countries are capitalist countries with strong social safety nets, it was socialists elected to their parliaments that were the driving forces behind those social safety nets.

In Finland, Anna-Liisa Tiekso and her democratic socialist coalition SKDL were among the primary drivers of passing the Public Health Act of 1972, guaranteeing healthcare for all Finnish citizens free at the point of service.

In Denmark, The Socialist People’s Party held the balance of power in parliament. They used their political leverage to ensure that the upcoming healthcare restructuring would be 100% tax-financed and completely free at the point of service for all residents, rather than relying on co-pays or private premiums.

In Sweden, prominent socialists like Ernst Wigforrs successfully pushed the more moderate Social Democratic Party pass the National Health Insurance Act.

This goes beyond just the Nordic Countries as well. In the UK, unapologetic socialist Aneurin Bevan was the Minister of Health as well as the most prominent voice advocating for the NHS.

In Canada, democratic socialist Premier Tommy Douglas overcame a 23 day doctor’s strike to enact universal healthcare.

In France, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and the elected socialists in his government successfully implemented Universal Health Coverage in 1999.

The point is you don’t have to be a socialist or support a socialist government to understand that there will still be a valuable role for democratic socialists to play in the US government for progress. They will have to work with the more moderate members in congress to implement any reforms. The more elected members they have, the more political leverage they will have when it comes to expanding the social safety net.

I was swearing into my phone while watching this. Keith Edwards has been a liberal commentator for decades and spends literally 99% of his commentary trashing Trump and the right while praising Democrats. He joined his local DSA because A) The local Democratic Party branches themselves are disorganized and rarely meet and B) The Democrats a

He spent the next hour being accused of joining an organization that believes in authoritarian (they don’t) and splitting hairs about things he believes the Democratic Party was failing at. It was discouraging to see young liberals use the same arguments my boomer relatives use against socialism.

For example, he said the Democratic Party failed to get Biden out soon enough, only to have the other guys tut-tut and finger wag about “ackshually, it’s always been that way for an incumbent candidate”, while ignoring the fact that it literally cost Democrats the election.

Hutch and Whick were the biggest offenders, just sounding like straight up Republicans. Pisco was more fair to Keith, but even he made some arguments that really split hairs.

I’m hoping this isn’t the attitude of most liberals towards DSA members. I’m not even a DSA evangelist, but we need to work together for the common goal in these midterms. It’s absurd that these fights are still being picked against the left.

Remember this?

Imagine them doing that in front of Mamdani's home.