An astute article in general. I agree with one of your other commentators. Focusing on readability scores, casting the working class as undereducated, is . . . a very elitist approach. I'll say it gently.
I would look more to the content of the speeches. The working class knows the system is rigged economically and they want results, not platitudes. That's not what AOC offers. She offers platitudes and shame; even if buried in there are some half solutions, they're lost in a lot of PMC drivel. The working class also has the game figured out (they have street smarts, even if they only "talk" at an eight grade level): you want to take someone who challenges authority out, you go after meaningless things like tattoos and mean tweets. In fact, the more you go after those, the more likely the working and middle class are to support the victim of your "cancellation" campaign.
So in the end you are absolutely correct: Platner would be well served to say, "Yeah, I did something stupid when I was young and I will likely do stupid things in the future, but we're not the party of scolds. We're the party of the working class. The working class's interests are not feelings and norms; they're results and improvement of their lives. That's why you should vote for me." I rather think it would work. It would work on me.
"Yeah, I did something stupid when I was young and I will likely do stupid things in the future, but we're not the party of scolds. We're the party of the working class" -- Yup, he should say this plus what Zaid wrote about going after the elites.
"Democratic and Republican Party leadership don’t sincerely care about any of these things. These people walk into the chamber every day and vote to send bombs to countries that incinerate children"
Excellent Zaid
"Nobody actually thinks Platner is a Neo Nazi. What they want to do is destroy him because they don’t control him."
Really sad if young leftists cant see past this attempt to bury him and put a "chosen one" machine corporate AIPAC dem in. The GOP didn't love trump in 16 but they were smart enough to see how popular he was and get behind him, now they got everything they want: abortion, immigration, etc.
The problem with your comparison is that Trump is authentic, Platner isn't, and I think voters won't be fooled. You also have the problem of Democrats hyperventilating about Hegseth's tattoos or Elon's "salute" or any number of other real or imagined cases of Nazi allusions or imagery, so if the same people are then suddenly full of excuses for this guy who had a real Nazi tattoo, people are rightly going to ask how genuine the Dems are about any of this at all. Is this guy really that talented?
Trump is authentic in that he is authentic about making sure rich folks like himself don't pay taxes while giving $40 billion to Argentina for no reason lol
I live in Maine. I liked him at first because of the message but got skeptical when he talked about “genocide” in Gaza. Since he aligns when the left he pretends to not know what genocide means.
I don’t care about his tattoo any more than I care about Hegseth’s tattoo, though it’s concerning that the media has a different take on his than Hegseth’s.
I do object to his presentation. I know alot of adult marines and they don’t lower their voice when they talk and play up how tough they were in falujah etc… see Vance, Moulton, or Gallego etc…
What I don’t like he is a privileged little shit like AOC. He could say “ I came from wealth but was lost etc….”.
As a Mainer (literally, not an aza) my choices are not good. Jordan Wood maybe?
Once again, because you keep citing them, readability scorers vary wildly in formula and the kind of readability they're scoring for. Calling the American electorate stupid when a politician uses a 4 syllable word is not a recipe for success lol.
I agree with your assessment that Left wing populists do need to take ownership of their power and use it to carve a path forward, very similar to what Mamdani is doing now, however it isn't Leftists who are pearl clutching over Platner, just like it wasn't Leftists who injected identity politics into the cultural political zeitgeist. That was the centrist, corporatist, Dems and "moderate" Republicans. That was Hillary calling half the country deplorables, that was Kamala fishing for votes by trying to rehab Liz Cheney, that was DeSantis doing whatever he was doing in the GOP primary. It wasn't Bernie Sanders fighting for the working class, and it isn't AOC because she said the word "oligarchy".
I will never understand this line of argument. You write as though economic populism and cultural regression are somehow mutually exclusive. What people like you, and many others, fail to realize is that economic populism IS cultural justice. It IS coalition building. It IS standing up to genocidal nations at the DNC. It IS trans rights, racial justice, and all the rest, innately. And it always has been. The nature of capitalism is to subsume each and every cultural movement into itself to perpetuate itself, and ultimately to generate more capital through every means. People didn't turn on "wokeness" because of the ideas it represents, or because they're racist, but because the idea of justice for marginalized groups rings hollow when it's sponsored by Amazon, Raytheon, and Palantir. Empty platitudes, virtues without conviction, those are what people hate.
That's the exact same reason you give for Trump's success; that he charges ahead despite the cultural backlash, ignoring the fact that his own "convictions" are hollow at a self sponsored level; he is his own Amazon in this case. I don't know why he gets a pat on the back for that, but Left wing populists get told to fall in rhetorical line because some people don't like trans folks, or don't believe in reparations, or think some words are big and scary, or whatever, according to you. Make it make sense.
And on cue Platner stopped apologizing yesterday and started attacking the Democratic Party. This will be interesting. Another factor in Platner's favor is youth and not only with the youth vote. He can campaign on the ground far more energetically than Mills and in a rural state like Maine that could be crucial. He's still drawing crowds wherever he speaks. Maine is a semi-open primary state so the independent vote will also factor.
I’ve been saying this since forever - never apologize. Ralph Northam did EXACTLY what Republicans do - just barrel through his blackface scandal - and not only did he win, he did well among African Americans.
I’ve been saying this since forever - never apologize. Ralph Northam did EXACTLY what Republicans do - just barrel through his blackface scandal - and not only did he win, he did well among African Americans.
An astute article in general. I agree with one of your other commentators. Focusing on readability scores, casting the working class as undereducated, is . . . a very elitist approach. I'll say it gently.
I would look more to the content of the speeches. The working class knows the system is rigged economically and they want results, not platitudes. That's not what AOC offers. She offers platitudes and shame; even if buried in there are some half solutions, they're lost in a lot of PMC drivel. The working class also has the game figured out (they have street smarts, even if they only "talk" at an eight grade level): you want to take someone who challenges authority out, you go after meaningless things like tattoos and mean tweets. In fact, the more you go after those, the more likely the working and middle class are to support the victim of your "cancellation" campaign.
So in the end you are absolutely correct: Platner would be well served to say, "Yeah, I did something stupid when I was young and I will likely do stupid things in the future, but we're not the party of scolds. We're the party of the working class. The working class's interests are not feelings and norms; they're results and improvement of their lives. That's why you should vote for me." I rather think it would work. It would work on me.
"Yeah, I did something stupid when I was young and I will likely do stupid things in the future, but we're not the party of scolds. We're the party of the working class" -- Yup, he should say this plus what Zaid wrote about going after the elites.
"Democratic and Republican Party leadership don’t sincerely care about any of these things. These people walk into the chamber every day and vote to send bombs to countries that incinerate children"
Excellent Zaid
"Nobody actually thinks Platner is a Neo Nazi. What they want to do is destroy him because they don’t control him."
Really sad if young leftists cant see past this attempt to bury him and put a "chosen one" machine corporate AIPAC dem in. The GOP didn't love trump in 16 but they were smart enough to see how popular he was and get behind him, now they got everything they want: abortion, immigration, etc.
The problem with your comparison is that Trump is authentic, Platner isn't, and I think voters won't be fooled. You also have the problem of Democrats hyperventilating about Hegseth's tattoos or Elon's "salute" or any number of other real or imagined cases of Nazi allusions or imagery, so if the same people are then suddenly full of excuses for this guy who had a real Nazi tattoo, people are rightly going to ask how genuine the Dems are about any of this at all. Is this guy really that talented?
Trump is authentic in that he is authentic about making sure rich folks like himself don't pay taxes while giving $40 billion to Argentina for no reason lol
I live in Maine. I liked him at first because of the message but got skeptical when he talked about “genocide” in Gaza. Since he aligns when the left he pretends to not know what genocide means.
I don’t care about his tattoo any more than I care about Hegseth’s tattoo, though it’s concerning that the media has a different take on his than Hegseth’s.
I do object to his presentation. I know alot of adult marines and they don’t lower their voice when they talk and play up how tough they were in falujah etc… see Vance, Moulton, or Gallego etc…
What I don’t like he is a privileged little shit like AOC. He could say “ I came from wealth but was lost etc….”.
As a Mainer (literally, not an aza) my choices are not good. Jordan Wood maybe?
Once again, because you keep citing them, readability scorers vary wildly in formula and the kind of readability they're scoring for. Calling the American electorate stupid when a politician uses a 4 syllable word is not a recipe for success lol.
I agree with your assessment that Left wing populists do need to take ownership of their power and use it to carve a path forward, very similar to what Mamdani is doing now, however it isn't Leftists who are pearl clutching over Platner, just like it wasn't Leftists who injected identity politics into the cultural political zeitgeist. That was the centrist, corporatist, Dems and "moderate" Republicans. That was Hillary calling half the country deplorables, that was Kamala fishing for votes by trying to rehab Liz Cheney, that was DeSantis doing whatever he was doing in the GOP primary. It wasn't Bernie Sanders fighting for the working class, and it isn't AOC because she said the word "oligarchy".
I will never understand this line of argument. You write as though economic populism and cultural regression are somehow mutually exclusive. What people like you, and many others, fail to realize is that economic populism IS cultural justice. It IS coalition building. It IS standing up to genocidal nations at the DNC. It IS trans rights, racial justice, and all the rest, innately. And it always has been. The nature of capitalism is to subsume each and every cultural movement into itself to perpetuate itself, and ultimately to generate more capital through every means. People didn't turn on "wokeness" because of the ideas it represents, or because they're racist, but because the idea of justice for marginalized groups rings hollow when it's sponsored by Amazon, Raytheon, and Palantir. Empty platitudes, virtues without conviction, those are what people hate.
That's the exact same reason you give for Trump's success; that he charges ahead despite the cultural backlash, ignoring the fact that his own "convictions" are hollow at a self sponsored level; he is his own Amazon in this case. I don't know why he gets a pat on the back for that, but Left wing populists get told to fall in rhetorical line because some people don't like trans folks, or don't believe in reparations, or think some words are big and scary, or whatever, according to you. Make it make sense.
If they win, the American people still lose. I’m starting to see you as another DNC in DSA species of wolf.
And on cue Platner stopped apologizing yesterday and started attacking the Democratic Party. This will be interesting. Another factor in Platner's favor is youth and not only with the youth vote. He can campaign on the ground far more energetically than Mills and in a rural state like Maine that could be crucial. He's still drawing crowds wherever he speaks. Maine is a semi-open primary state so the independent vote will also factor.
I’ve been saying this since forever - never apologize. Ralph Northam did EXACTLY what Republicans do - just barrel through his blackface scandal - and not only did he win, he did well among African Americans.
I’ve been saying this since forever - never apologize. Ralph Northam did EXACTLY what Republicans do - just barrel through his blackface scandal - and not only did he win, he did well among African Americans.
What did AIPAC do to Maine lol