What is the worst idea being debated in the 2020 Democratic circles?

[Barack Oganja]

I personally voted for reparations. If Dems campaign on reparations Trump may very well win a landslide and I say that as a black person. Eliminating private insurance is a close second.

[Mr. Morden]

Do you mean worst on policy grounds, worst politically in a general election, or worst politically in the primary?

[S019]

Court packing, followed closely by abolishing the EC

[Barack Oganja]

Do you mean worst on policy grounds, worst politically in a general election, or worst politically in the primary?

Good question, I was going to clarify when I posted, but wanted to leave "worst" open-ended to voters

[DaWN]

Court packing, followed closely by abolishing the EC

I suppose your favourite idea being debated is Democrats meekly surrendering to Republicans on every issue

[S019]

Court packing, followed closely by abolishing the EC

I suppose your favourite idea being debated is Democrats meekly surrendering to Republicans on every issue

I find this odd, coming from someone who left a leftist Labour Party in the UK, are you a Conservative, and if so, wouldn't you support right-wing governments in other countries

[PSOL]

These are all great ideas. What on earth are you talking about?

The real answer is not even here yet. On the debate floor, no doubt would it be UBI.

[DaWN]

Court packing, followed closely by abolishing the EC

I suppose your favourite idea being debated is Democrats meekly surrendering to Republicans on every issue

I find this odd, coming from someone who left a leftist Labour Party in the UK, are you a Conservative, and if so, wouldn't you support right-wing governments in other countries

Errr no, I'm not a conservative. A brief look at my posting history would have indicated that. My hate for the current iteration of the leftist party in my country doesn't mean I don't sympathise with centre-left parties in other countries.

And you haven't answered the point I made. You seem very averse to Democrats trying anything radical, so what do you want them to do if they get power? Sit around and let Mitch McConnell set their agenda?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Write-in: Pandering to anti-Semites

[RINO Tom]

Reparations.  Totally ludicrous, infeasible and impossible to administer.

[S019]

Court packing, followed closely by abolishing the EC

I suppose your favourite idea being debated is Democrats meekly surrendering to Republicans on every issue

I find this odd, coming from someone who left a leftist Labour Party in the UK, are you a Conservative, and if so, wouldn't you support right-wing governments in other countries

Errr no, I'm not a conservative. A brief look at my posting history would have indicated that. My hate for the current iteration of the leftist party in my country doesn't mean I don't sympathise with centre-left parties in other countries.

And you haven't answered the point I made. You seem very averse to Democrats trying anything radical, so what do you want them to do if they get power? Sit around and let Mitch McConnell set their agenda?

If Mitt Romney won in 2012, Harry Reid was going to do the exact same thing, let's not forget Harry Reid was the one who started the trend of removing the power of the minority party

Also it's not like Daschle and Reid did not do this to Bush, Mitchell did not do this to HW Bush, Byrd did not do this to Reagan and HW Bush, Mansfield did not do this Nixon and Ford

Republican President after Republican President had their agendas blocked by Democratic leaders, why is it wrong for McConnell to reciprocate

[DaWN]

Court packing, followed closely by abolishing the EC

I suppose your favourite idea being debated is Democrats meekly surrendering to Republicans on every issue

I find this odd, coming from someone who left a leftist Labour Party in the UK, are you a Conservative, and if so, wouldn't you support right-wing governments in other countries

Errr no, I'm not a conservative. A brief look at my posting history would have indicated that. My hate for the current iteration of the leftist party in my country doesn't mean I don't sympathise with centre-left parties in other countries.

And you haven't answered the point I made. You seem very averse to Democrats trying anything radical, so what do you want them to do if they get power? Sit around and let Mitch McConnell set their agenda?

If Mitt Romney won in 2012, Harry Reid was going to do the exact same thing, let's not forget Harry Reid was the one who started the trend of removing the power of the minority party

Also it's not like Daschle and Reid did not do this to Bush, Mitchell did not do this to HW Bush, Byrd did not do this to Reagan and HW Bush, Mansfield did not do this Nixon and Ford

Republican President after Republican President had their agendas blocked by Democratic leaders, why is it wrong for McConnell to reciprocate

And Republicans spent most of the Obama administration obstructing. I'm aware there's history of this. I'm noting that you're heavily opposed to ways Democrats can try and put forward an actual agenda, and no doubt if the situations were reversed your moral outrage would be rather quieter.

Republicans seem to be very interested in 'bipartisanship' and 'respecting institutions' and that guff when it serves their interests, but I noticed an interesting absence of that when they held the House and the trifecta.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

I want to SCOTUS pack, but I'm terrified of how it could impact the next 100 years, so that.

[darklordoftech]

In order from my favorite to my least favorite of these:

1. Abolishing the Electoral College
2. Single-payer healthcare
3. The Green New Deal
4. Reparations
5. Court-packing

[progressive85]

The expansion of the Supreme Court is ridiculous - it opens up a door to just madness.  Reparations for slavery may not even work in eradicating poverty...and it would fuel racial resentments.  It's also not going to ever happen.

Medicare for All is not going to be good either... it should be Medicare for Anyone That Would Like It.  The way to go is to expand choices and focus on freedom of choice in health care options, allowing flexibility so that people can do what's best for them at the time.

The Green New Deal - I still have no idea what that would entail but if it means more plastic bag and straw bans, then no.  The environmental damage unfortunately is going to have to get really bad before Congress will do anything serious about it.

I'm fine with abolishing the electoral college and making it popular vote for President.  That seems like just common sense and its the way it should have always been.  You could have someone become President who really comes no where close to winning the popular vote.

[The3rdParty]

Reparations, it will just fuel Trump's base. Poor whites will turn out for trump in droves.  I am half white half black myself and think there are better ways to help the black community than to give out cash payouts that may or may not be used for good. If politicians are interested in helping the black community it is best to fix issues that disproportionately affect blacks BUT a policy ONLY for blacks is a very tough sell in this country. Personally, I am not completely opposed to the idea of reparations, but it is a losing campaign strategy. It would also cost trillions of dollars. Lowering incarenation rates, improving inner city schools, more jobs in inner city communities would be a good start.

[Bourbonfan]

Reparations.  infeasible and impossible to administer.

This is pretty much my knee-jerk to it as well. I can wrap my head around how a lot of large projects could be worked out but politicians and bureaucrats hammering this out while a large (probably majority) proportion of the nation ranges from annoyed to outright seething would be an unforced error of tremendous proportions.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

I would put Reparations at the top but note the following:

1. Current legislation around "Reparations" isn't to institute reparations, it's about to create a congressional committee to investigate the worthiness of reparations. That is, it is to create a concerted government effort to research historic and systematic discrimination against black people in this country. In a political vaccuum that isn't a bad thing (although one does have to wonder, in addition to resentment from most white voters, at what findings that black community would be willing to accept).

2. Reparations in the form of a check to voters is obviously a kinda laughable idea but there are plenty of reforms that could be introduced to purposefully, precisely, and explicitly counteract historic inequities. These would likely be in the form of transfer payments that disproportionately help black people, e.g., housing assistance or school improvement for neighborhoods where victims of redlining got packed. These could plausibly fit under the umbrella of "reparations" and the impetus for enacting these would be the type of reparations commission that candidates are debating right now.

The fact that the issue takes this much nuance to explain and can't be condensed into a sound bite, combined with the fact that 40% of the country probably doesn't think that black people are still affected by historic inequality, means this issue is a political loser. But there are reasons why it shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

[libertpaulian]

Reparations.  It's the modern American political version of Tetzel's indulgences (giving away your money as penance).

Not to mention it's the most completely un-American concept imaginable.  Holding one demographic group responsible for a past sin that they currently aren't committing goes against our very founding values.

Court-packing, EC abolition, GND, and private insurance bans are all garbage, but none of those carry the same implications as reparations.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Abolishing the EC is a popular idea.

[Third Party]

None of the above. The worst that the Democratic Party has to offer is its tin foil hat conspiracy theories about Russians and its ultra-cringy sex/gender identity politics. That is what is sending the working class fleeing into the far-right's open arms. And these ideas are being pushed the hardest by the Democrats' "centrist" leadership, because they pose no economic threat to the super-rich that fund the party machine (unlike any policies that would actually improve workers' lives, like universal health care or a right to paid time off).

[walleye26]

Reparations, obviously. It would be impossible to determine a fair way to send a check. Would you have to have a 100% ancestry of former slaves? 50%? 25%?
If we are talking about maybe more scholarship grants for minority students that isn’t a bad idea, but the word “reparations” will turn off half the electorate immediately.

[John Dule]

Do you mean worst on policy grounds, worst politically in a general election, or worst politically in the primary?

On policy grounds: Easily the Green New Deal, which would be legitimately disastrous if any of its prescriptions became law. It would add trillions to the debt, but because Cortez believes in something called "MMT", she truly thinks that this wouldn't be a problem. It is unbelievably dangerous that our elected officials want to treat the economy like their own personal guinea pig in some quasi-Marxist science experiment.

Worst in the general election: Reparations, because it's the most intuitively stupid of these proposals.

Worst in the primary: None of these. In fact, they're probably not stupid enough for the progressive base, which is saying something.

[Wazza [INACTIVE]]

Court packing followed closely by eliminating private insurance and reparations.

[Orser67]

Good idea:
Abolishing the EC
Green New Deal (though it really depends on the specifics)

Bad idea:
Eliminating the legislative filibuster (write-in)
Eliminating private insurance

Terrible idea:
Reparations (I'm moderately opposed to the policy, but it's a terrible idea politically)
Expanding the Supreme Court (terrible in terms of both politics and policy)