Have you ever noticed that the Democrats...

[Badger]

... will passionately defend every minority or special interest with zeal, but have little passion for anything else? Like, if you're gay, black, illegal, woman (not a minority but still a separate identity), a Felon, trans, make under minimum wage, have a preexisting condition etc. etc. the Democrats will go all out for you and your difference. But for the regular stiff who just works hard, gets married, has kids, has a normal life, the Democrats don't say sh**t. Have you ever noticed that? Like Trump he'll talk about the low unemployment rate & focus more on things that affect *every* voting American. It's more unifying and inclusive. I think that's why he holds his own even though GOP positions are unpopular.

Cool story bro.

[Badger]

Beet... this was bad.  And you've written some legit good stuff lately.

Focusing on poverty, the environment, infrastructure, equality and fairness and justice for all.. these are all things that affect every voting American.

Your post was borderline Naso.  Yuck.

Oh and which party is proposing paid family leave?  Higher minimum wages?  Rights to organize and bargain for better wages and benefits?  More vacation/leisure time?  Mass transit?  Public funding of the arts and outdoors so artists and outdoors enthusiasts with limited means can create/do what they are passionate about?

Who promotes subsidies to prop up family farmers and thus our smaller towns?  Organic agriculture which is LESS EFFICIENT and thus takes more labor and contributes to many farmers who would otherwise leave the profession?

Please Beet... you have deluded yourself.

Beet is wrong in substantive terms, but I think he's more correct about how Democrats have come off in the past couple of election cycles.

For all of Barack Obama's faults, this was never the case when he was the party's standard bearer. He made it clear that the party was standing on policies that stood to benefit Americans universally while also defending the rights of particular groups.

I don't see any of the candidates talking this way now, not even Bernie Sanders, whose success in 2016, I'm convinced, had more to do with this than anything else.

Whether it's a problem of media ecology or a problem in how Democrats are communicating, it has already lost them one presidential election and it might lose them another.

This.... Is a very good post. Frighteningly and painfully accurate.

[Badger]

Why would this "working stiff" prototype need defending if his life is perfectly normal? If anything this prototype usually wants to be left alone and hates the government. With that said, without Democratic policies the "working stiff" wouldn't have job, his children wouldn't get a decent education and he might not even have health care to stay healthy enough to keep working. The better question is why do Republicans have an issue with everyone who doesn't fit a certain prototype. The Republican Party has become a cult that subscribes to the idea that only some Americans should have opportunities.

     Because a perfectly normal life is hard going (that you would even see fit to ask that question is baffling). Doubly so if you are unfortunate to be in a major metropolitan area where the cost of living is sky-high. A big reason why people ridicule the sanctimony of Democrats acting like they are valiant defenders of the masses: look at how little they have done to deal with the fact that places like the Bay Area are rapidly becoming totally unlivable.

"That restaurant is so overcrowded nobody goes there anymore."  Yogi Bera

     So do you deny that the cost of living in the Bay Area is unreasonably high?

I think his point is that in that sense the Bay Area is a victim of its own overwhelming success. Supply and demand and all that. I'm sure that some Municipal housing and Zoning codes could be modified to encourage more development to try to lower housing costs at least somewhat. However, if you're trying to say that the main reason Bay Area Housing costs are so high has to do with government over-regulation, as opposed to the fact that essentially every well-paid educated person in the Western Hemisphere tried to move there in the past 20 years - - ironically, supply and demand - - then I think you're off base.

[Badger]

Why would this "working stiff" prototype need defending if his life is perfectly normal? If anything this prototype usually wants to be left alone and hates the government. With that said, without Democratic policies the "working stiff" wouldn't have job, his children wouldn't get a decent education and he might not even have health care to stay healthy enough to keep working. The better question is why do Republicans have an issue with everyone who doesn't fit a certain prototype. The Republican Party has become a cult that subscribes to the idea that only some Americans should have opportunities.

     Because a perfectly normal life is hard going (that you would even see fit to ask that question is baffling). Doubly so if you are unfortunate to be in a major metropolitan area where the cost of living is sky-high. A big reason why people ridicule the sanctimony of Democrats acting like they are valiant defenders of the masses: look at how little they have done to deal with the fact that places like the Bay Area are rapidly becoming totally unlivable.

"That restaurant is so overcrowded nobody goes there anymore."  Yogi Bera

     So do you deny that the cost of living in the Bay Area is unreasonably high?

I think his point is that in that sense the Bay Area is a victim of its own overwhelming success. Supply and demand and all that. I'm sure that some Municipal housing and Zoning codes could be modified to encourage more development to try to lower housing costs at least somewhat. However, if you're trying to say that the main reason Bay Area Housing costs are so high has to do with government over-regulation, as opposed to the fact that essentially every well-paid educated person in the Western Hemisphere tried to move there in the past 20 years - - ironically, supply and demand - - then I think you're off base.

     Good thing I didn't try to say that.

So then, what is your point?

[Badger]

Why would this "working stiff" prototype need defending if his life is perfectly normal? If anything this prototype usually wants to be left alone and hates the government. With that said, without Democratic policies the "working stiff" wouldn't have job, his children wouldn't get a decent education and he might not even have health care to stay healthy enough to keep working. The better question is why do Republicans have an issue with everyone who doesn't fit a certain prototype. The Republican Party has become a cult that subscribes to the idea that only some Americans should have opportunities.

     Because a perfectly normal life is hard going (that you would even see fit to ask that question is baffling). Doubly so if you are unfortunate to be in a major metropolitan area where the cost of living is sky-high. A big reason why people ridicule the sanctimony of Democrats acting like they are valiant defenders of the masses: look at how little they have done to deal with the fact that places like the Bay Area are rapidly becoming totally unlivable.

"That restaurant is so overcrowded nobody goes there anymore."  Yogi Bera

     So do you deny that the cost of living in the Bay Area is unreasonably high?

I think his point is that in that sense the Bay Area is a victim of its own overwhelming success. Supply and demand and all that. I'm sure that some Municipal housing and Zoning codes could be modified to encourage more development to try to lower housing costs at least somewhat. However, if you're trying to say that the main reason Bay Area Housing costs are so high has to do with government over-regulation, as opposed to the fact that essentially every well-paid educated person in the Western Hemisphere tried to move there in the past 20 years - - ironically, supply and demand - - then I think you're off base.

     Good thing I didn't try to say that.

So then, what is your point?

     Polls show widespread dissatisfaction with the trajectory of the Bay Area driven primarily by the cost of living and housing, and indicate that nearly half of people living here want to leave. If the Democratic Party's press is accurate, then I would imagine that they could take advantage of their monolithic power in our cities and in the state of California to make life better for those of us outside the tech industry and tackle the serious problems we face. Instead I see a solid consensus around me transcending party lines that the situation is bad and getting worse. It makes these glowing endorsements of liberal policy ring quite hollow.

Okay, so you ARE blaming overcrowding and high property values on liberal Democratic governance, rather than the Bay Area being a magnet for everyone and their code writing brother to move too. Glad we have that straight.