In no world is this comparison real, this comparing Evanston's school elections in 2017/2018 and this election really lets me know you didn't get enough data from Wisconsin or Michigan or even from GOP voters in Illinois.
Lots of people are annoyed that Democrats nationally didn't do what we promised (student l…
In no world is this comparison real, this comparing Evanston's school elections in 2017/2018 and this election really lets me know you didn't get enough data from Wisconsin or Michigan or even from GOP voters in Illinois.
Lots of people are annoyed that Democrats nationally didn't do what we promised (student loans, reverse anti-choice moves, protect the environment) and we look feckless and silly. However, years of political organizing and working campaigns has also taught me to never try to broad strokes any of this because you cannot be correct.
I can tell you locally that not only has the state and county and even parts of the city done a TON since 2016 and Trump 45, but that Evanston's schools screwups don't need a larger analogy. Jan Schakowsky cares a ton about D65, Robyn Gabel's granddaughter is about to enter next year with my kid too, D65 is all everyone has ever talked about when we got past the national race (a thing about Evanston Democrats that everyone around the county and state know is that we are utterly pillar to post, we go from hyperlocal to national and we have a hard time thinking about much in between.)
We had (have? had) terrible governance because we had terrible governance. We aren't going to get our spending down by more than 8% by analogizing to a national political movement. We aren't going to close our achievement gap with just Evanston and the President either.
Nobody got hosed Tuesday, the DCCC/DSCC/DNC didn't do their jobs nationwide, and DPI was focused elsewhere, JB was running pro-choice amendments in 10 states, and then (I know this sounds dumb) but we'll have a bunch of mail-in ballots, something like over 360,000 that will come in 4:1 blue in Illinois and then it rained in the afternoon/evening of election day in a state and region that everyone "knew" it was already going one way.
Looking forward, a major part of our state-level education agenda is expanding preK. The state will also be dealing with a $3.1 billion-ish budget deficit and a transit reform package that needs funding. There was talk of a statewide school infrastructure bill, a la Build Illinois Bond style, but thats likely delayed. Clearly we can expect little to no help from a Trump DoE (if they keep one). We'll have to dig us out ourselves and thats gonna take the better part of a decade.
D65's current situation is way more analogous to digging out of Blago/Rauner budget holes than it is to Democratic politics of the 2024 cycle. We let charisma and an incomplete vision that most of the body politic agreed with become the north star. It happened, now it is time to dig out. Pretending that anyone could have stopped this from happening that wasn't in the room at the time is not anywhere near close to reality.
If Jan Schakowsky cares a ton about D65, where has she been? I haven't heard a peep from her as the District falls apart - surely there is federal money available for things like Bessie Rhodes under a Biden Administration.
Dude, we got absolutely hosed. Worse than 2016. The numbers speak for themselves. I don't think there is a single person reading this blog besides you that feels otherwise.
You elected the Congresswoman to go to Congress. You also voted for school board members. It is wildly unfair to assume Congresswoman has to micromanage one of dozens of school boards in her district.
I think when you say "hosed" it sounds like there is something unfair about it. I am saying we got our ass kicked nationally but thats not as true locally. Our local numbers will keep getting better. We won here. The GOP flipped nothing in Illinois.
You are correct in that Congresswoman Schakowsky isn’t responsible for D65. I do believe that she does “care.”
It’s a complicated problem, but it may boil down to the feeling many of her constituents have (probably more than you realize) that the quality of their lives are deteriorating. Yes, we care about democracy, women’s rights, equity and being a welcoming community. But it’s
the daily indignities that grind down the quality of life here. Below I offer two examples of many.
Public transportation in Evanston and the region is a mess. Have you been on the Red Line lately? When you sit among the urine, pot smokers and trash hoping not to be mugged just to get to work, you wonder if the leaders rallying you to “protect democracy” could just get the friggin’ train you take to work halfway decent, too? Not to mention that the poor rely on public transportation more than other economic groups. When you used to take your kids to the neighborhood Grey Park to play but don’t anymore because of the drug dealing, harassment, and public safety fears, it doesn’t feel like restoring DEI preferences is at the top of your wish list.
You can say for each of these situations, it’s not entirely the fault of the Congresswoman. It’s not entirely the fault of Representative Gabel, Senator Fine or Mayor Biss. But they are collectively our leaders. Who does have the responsibility to improve nagging everyday quality of life problems if not the people we elect? And why should we believe they’ll fix the big problems when the “little” ones just seem to get bigger?
I am a lifelong Democrat. I’ll continue to be a Democrat. But I increasingly feel that my party is out of touch with how people actually feel. And when they express those feelings, they are shamed about not seeing the “big picture.” Or, that’s “another office.”
One final tangent. I can’t escape the nagging suspicion that if Bessie Rhodes was closed by a group of white Republicans, the Congresswoman would have been out marching with Bessie Rhodes families.
I wish I could pin this comment. Thank you for saying this, I couldn't agree more. We have City Council elections coming up and I think this needs to be part of the theme of my conversations with them.
And as far as federal money, there is the accountability and competence questions - I was just at a ribbon cutting for the new health center for CCSD21 in Wheeling where they got over a million in federal funds thanks to Cong. Schneider. Did they count on Schneider to just do that for them, or did they ask, follow up, and do what they were elected to do and advocate strategically for the district?
It will be, I can promise that. Board members and staff need to be asking for that money. I worked with her team when it was at 820 Davis, they all know me and know I am going to do the right thing. I also know when to ask.
But that's the way it works when you're working with a congressperson's office - it is only in our hometown and its because Jan lives in town that you would suggest she just takes care of our problems for us like a parent to a wayward child - we need a board that can do what boards are supposed to do.
I get it, I don't think I am asking her to swoop in and provide a deus ex machina ending. But I do think there needs to be vastly more collaboration between the city, the schools, and the state and federal governments. We missed a good opportunity during the Biden years and the next four could be a real mess depending on what Trump does to the Dept of Ed.
I agree with that, I just will draw a big bright line on getting close to "we elected 7 people to do a job, they didn't do that job well, let's be frustrated that this other person in a different elected job didn't do it for them"
You are certainly not the first person to get close to that line, this isn't my first time through this counterargument. Part of the motivation for running - I know how much all of those name brand politicians care, I know what it looks like when local school board members build the relationships that lead to success, I can do this for my kids and the district I grew up in. And boy do we effing need it.
Agree but like, the Evanston/Skokie Mayors sending an email to D65 over the Bessie Rhodes 7th and 8th grade thing moved the needle. I have no idea why - they have no statutory authority - but it worked. Probably because it embarrassed them.
I don't think they need to step into every issue, but if parents are protesting and having multiple marches - it might worth taking a look at and levering their power, even if it's just a tersely worded letter of concern.
As you know, power is a weird thing and hard to write about. I have power via this blog so I definitely get a sense of the caution you have to use when wielding it. Hard to write about.
I agree and have a track record of bringing these community issues to the electeds I work for, because that's part. I can say that Rep. Gabel cares a ton and is waiting for someone on that board to do their part, but also looking for opportunities to help. I just don't think it is realistic to think the other electeds can, could, or should solve what is inherently the school board's primary function: strategic vision and oversight of execution of that vision.
The board we elected didn't do their jobs, doesn't matter the reasons. The board has power. The board members haven't used it, even if you want to give them the best of intentions. Outside electeds can do pressure, sure, but let's not get into Harley Clarke, the branch libraries, or any other crisis we have gotten into. The Mayor letter worked here, but it doesn't always.
And all of that is to still say I do not have the experience where Tuesday plays into this either for or against. Our current D65 is post Blago or post Rauner, much better analogies for your future podcast.
Do you think NU would help dig the district out? If there was a responsible board plan for it? I read years ago that Yale and Princeton contribute quite a bit to their local school districts. I don’t know much about this stuff works.
I don't want to get into a fight over this - I hear what you're saying, I do and after January when you're running for Board we can talk more about this (I'm thinking about doing a podcast)
The Suburban Cook county results alone show that sure we won but lost more ground. In an election like this, with Donald Trump on the ballot, I find this incomprehensible. How are we losing ground to a guy we're calling a fascist. I think this alone is worth some navel gazing by the party.
Lost more ground yes, but I point to mail and rain again. In the few bellweathers that had to be really worked, like the state house races against Grant and McLaughlin, we might even be gaining seats.
We all locally spent as many hours and resources in WI and MI as we could because we are over 50%+1 and wanted to get the White House. Don't conflate that with the national failure is my point.
I'm a D65 parent, lifelong Democrat, blah blah blah. I am not at all surprised that Trump won. The writing was on the wall for anyone who bothered to read it.
I know that you're running for the school board, so perhaps you're open to feedback. I commend you for running - it's a hard job right now, and we need smart people to do it.
Respectfully, the vibe you're giving off in the comments is, IMO, not the vibe that Evanstonians want to hear right now from a potential board member. You sound like an angry incumbent defending himself against...well, it's kind of unclear...and blaming the weather to boot.
We want a board who will actually listen to us, not yell, hide, or make excuses. As Ezra Klein recently said, if Dems want to get out this (shit)hole they dug themselves into, they need to show curiosity, not contempt.
The issue is Fetterman & Klein think that when volunteers go to a door and they talk to someone who is an undecided voter, we get to fill in the blanks and promote policy, etc., and hopefully persuade them. Instead, we are going to the door of someone who just watched a six part TikTok series about Kamala & Diddy with Biden as a supporting character and wants to educate us.
Not sure if you are joking but I think that Ezra Klein and John Fetterman are a core part of what they need to win going forward. And before this election, I would wager about 20% of Dem party's most progressive members were ready to boot Fetterman out if they could.
I tend to like Governors because they get things done, so I'll go for Whitmer/Evers/Pritzker et al. Not a fan of the pundit class, I always think its hyper reactive and I can't imagine them having their conversations at actual canvasses with real people and real problems.
Yes, any future D65 candidates who bill themselves as progressives need to admit the terrible mistakes of their predecessors and tell how they would operate differently (such as valuing the quality of Supt candidate experience over a candidate's ethnicity, recognizing that valuing education fundamentals is needed even for progressives, pledging open search processes and town halls to actually seek out feedback rather than just holding forums to push decisions down the pike, valuing fiscal responsibility, etc.).
Thanks for speaking up on this. We've had plenty of smart people on the board in recent years who might seem to have relevant experience, but look where it's gotten us. I don't even know how much they can claim credit for getting Foster School over the line as a key accomplishment, other than a suggestion of "we took a by-any-means-necessary approach". Good luck getting people to trust you if you're pointing at circumventing democracy and the people you volunteered to serve as a win.
I hope more of the community who is starting to pay attention appreciates the nuances you touched on: curiosity, intent to listen, a desire to (re)build a connection with the community, and absorbing the collective ideas to shape the vision vs. coming in convinced yours is "right".
Hey Megan, I have no contempt! But I was at the point where the election was won or lost, both here and out of state. I am expressing what just happened - not what I think happened nationally, but what just actually happened on the ground.
I am angry we just lost nationally! But certainly trying to draw a realistic line on what is a growing narrative that somehow Illinois is on watch for rising Trumpism or something - we aren't, we won't be, we won lots of local races. I think Tom made a political analogy which is heading into my profession (note I do far more listening than posting on his many other posts) so I gave a qualified personal opinion and defense of what I see as an unnecessary analogy.
I have plenty of national curiosity, but there isn't enough data to start drawing quantitative solutions yet. If we are dealing in qualitative analysis, I can count mine as pretty solid.
I'm certainly not yelling about education policy! Just the politics I sweat and bled for is all. I am a yeller though (a hearing defect in my right ear leaves me at 60% so I have always been loud) so I often apologize for being loud and I certainly apologize for any contempt vibes - I'm frustrated too and I'm in about eight places helping get a legislative agenda together.
I also find Ezra Klein usually contemptibly smug and often out of touch with the solutions he advocates for directly, my hope for the direction of the party hasn't emerged yet. I'm reading The Black Book by Adlai Stevenson to see if I can get some help there, and if I find something I'll bring it up.
Your second paragraph is pure spewing of media talking-points and relying on the magic "stroke of the pen fallacy"
- Biden still got a ton of debt-relief done but the biggest proposals were killed by GOP lawsuits and the Supreme Court
- Many major climate initiatives were also undone by lawsuits and the Supremes who went way beyond what they were supposedly ruling on to basically remove any environmental liabilities from corporations
- Codifying Roe is only accomplished through electing a Democratic House
but this is why people didnt trust us - it doesnt matter at the end of the day that there were legit technicalities, there was a big public scoreboard and we lost.
Retired65, I don't know how many people you have ever tried to persuade to change their vote from A to B, but in my experience (and I think I qualify as an expert) persuasion is much more closely tied to perception than reality and if the reality goes my way but the perception goes against then I have to go uphill to win that vote.
Voters are allowed to have fallacies! Most have lots, some break our way at doors some break the other.
I think it's natural, given the national political whiplash of the last few days and the last eight years, and the roiling local issues we've been experiencing, to look for patterns on the local, state, and national level. Some conclusions might be overly simplistic or even demonstrably wrong, while others might point to legitimate reasons we're seeing more disaffected voters. We're seeing seismic activity on a local level, and on a national level, and a lack of trust. (This will always unfairly benefit Republicans, who throw wrenches into the system only to claim that the system can't work.) While it's unfair to equate the local and national realities, I think it's natural to look for throughlines, especially at a fraught moment like this. And if that searching leads to engagement like we're seeing on this page, messy as it may sometimes be, then it brings me hope for where we go from here.
I don't have experience in politics other than volunteering and some recent efforts trying to advocate for specific local and state reform, but your comment about perception rings very true. And it seems there's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that Democrats, locally and beyond, are losing ground on voters' perceptions of their effectiveness. There are many reasons for this, as you've noted; some, like media narratives, probably shouldn't be primarily attributed to the politicians themselves. But I think voters see, in the lurchings of our various levels of government, that there's often a very big gap between voters' sense of urgency about day-to-day issues and the willingness of politicians to spend political capital to address those issues. This doesn't discount things you personally know and experience -- the care and hard work of our reps, that their hearts are in the right place, the fact that many of them are doing good and valuable work every day in an imperfect system. But the perception is there, and it has basis in genuine experience and concern.
There will always be practical limitations, but the more responsiveness we can foster in our government -- local, state, national -- the better able we'll be to channel voter engagement to effect real change. Otherwise, I fear we'll continue to lose ground at every level.
I’ve been a dem my entire life and a HS social studies teacher for 25 years. Here’s what I would say to your points.
- What did Biden and the Dems do about a packed court hijacked by republicans? Nothing.
- Again, what did Biden and the Dems do in response? Nothing.
- Did the Dems codify Roe when they had the chance? They did not.
Could they have done these things? They had unified control in 2020. No, Roe had not been overturned yet. But codifying it did not need to wait for that. Yes, I know, Manchin and Sinema. Yes, I know, the filibuster.
I’ve been hearing those kinds of excuses my whole life from Dems. In 2008 it was Lieberman and Baucus. In 2000 it was the Supreme Court (Again). The Dem Senate confirmed Clarence Thomas in 1991, with Biden heading the judiciary committee and chairing the hearings.
I’m sick of them. I want results. I want policies I believe in enacted. I’m tired of waiting.
We may get to see if the filibuster stops republicans from passing a nationwide abortion ban. My guess is the republicans won’t hesitate to eliminate the filibuster to pass one.
The Biden Administration didn't even close the open Dept of Education cases against District 65 for the DEI training! First day the Trump admin shows up, they've got a hot live case against District 65. They can start right where they left off in January 2021. What exactly were they doing over there in DC to protect our interests?
He didn't close it, it was just put on hold because he passed some EO about DEI stuff early in his administration. The last time I looked the OCR case was still open.
I might make a post on this, because someone has to close this before Jan 21 or its gonna cost taxpayer pile of money to litigate over dumb culture war fights.
Tom, thank you for the bait.
In no world is this comparison real, this comparing Evanston's school elections in 2017/2018 and this election really lets me know you didn't get enough data from Wisconsin or Michigan or even from GOP voters in Illinois.
Lots of people are annoyed that Democrats nationally didn't do what we promised (student loans, reverse anti-choice moves, protect the environment) and we look feckless and silly. However, years of political organizing and working campaigns has also taught me to never try to broad strokes any of this because you cannot be correct.
I can tell you locally that not only has the state and county and even parts of the city done a TON since 2016 and Trump 45, but that Evanston's schools screwups don't need a larger analogy. Jan Schakowsky cares a ton about D65, Robyn Gabel's granddaughter is about to enter next year with my kid too, D65 is all everyone has ever talked about when we got past the national race (a thing about Evanston Democrats that everyone around the county and state know is that we are utterly pillar to post, we go from hyperlocal to national and we have a hard time thinking about much in between.)
We had (have? had) terrible governance because we had terrible governance. We aren't going to get our spending down by more than 8% by analogizing to a national political movement. We aren't going to close our achievement gap with just Evanston and the President either.
Nobody got hosed Tuesday, the DCCC/DSCC/DNC didn't do their jobs nationwide, and DPI was focused elsewhere, JB was running pro-choice amendments in 10 states, and then (I know this sounds dumb) but we'll have a bunch of mail-in ballots, something like over 360,000 that will come in 4:1 blue in Illinois and then it rained in the afternoon/evening of election day in a state and region that everyone "knew" it was already going one way.
Looking forward, a major part of our state-level education agenda is expanding preK. The state will also be dealing with a $3.1 billion-ish budget deficit and a transit reform package that needs funding. There was talk of a statewide school infrastructure bill, a la Build Illinois Bond style, but thats likely delayed. Clearly we can expect little to no help from a Trump DoE (if they keep one). We'll have to dig us out ourselves and thats gonna take the better part of a decade.
D65's current situation is way more analogous to digging out of Blago/Rauner budget holes than it is to Democratic politics of the 2024 cycle. We let charisma and an incomplete vision that most of the body politic agreed with become the north star. It happened, now it is time to dig out. Pretending that anyone could have stopped this from happening that wasn't in the room at the time is not anywhere near close to reality.
If Jan Schakowsky cares a ton about D65, where has she been? I haven't heard a peep from her as the District falls apart - surely there is federal money available for things like Bessie Rhodes under a Biden Administration.
Dude, we got absolutely hosed. Worse than 2016. The numbers speak for themselves. I don't think there is a single person reading this blog besides you that feels otherwise.
You elected the Congresswoman to go to Congress. You also voted for school board members. It is wildly unfair to assume Congresswoman has to micromanage one of dozens of school boards in her district.
I think when you say "hosed" it sounds like there is something unfair about it. I am saying we got our ass kicked nationally but thats not as true locally. Our local numbers will keep getting better. We won here. The GOP flipped nothing in Illinois.
Christian,
You are correct in that Congresswoman Schakowsky isn’t responsible for D65. I do believe that she does “care.”
It’s a complicated problem, but it may boil down to the feeling many of her constituents have (probably more than you realize) that the quality of their lives are deteriorating. Yes, we care about democracy, women’s rights, equity and being a welcoming community. But it’s
the daily indignities that grind down the quality of life here. Below I offer two examples of many.
Public transportation in Evanston and the region is a mess. Have you been on the Red Line lately? When you sit among the urine, pot smokers and trash hoping not to be mugged just to get to work, you wonder if the leaders rallying you to “protect democracy” could just get the friggin’ train you take to work halfway decent, too? Not to mention that the poor rely on public transportation more than other economic groups. When you used to take your kids to the neighborhood Grey Park to play but don’t anymore because of the drug dealing, harassment, and public safety fears, it doesn’t feel like restoring DEI preferences is at the top of your wish list.
You can say for each of these situations, it’s not entirely the fault of the Congresswoman. It’s not entirely the fault of Representative Gabel, Senator Fine or Mayor Biss. But they are collectively our leaders. Who does have the responsibility to improve nagging everyday quality of life problems if not the people we elect? And why should we believe they’ll fix the big problems when the “little” ones just seem to get bigger?
I am a lifelong Democrat. I’ll continue to be a Democrat. But I increasingly feel that my party is out of touch with how people actually feel. And when they express those feelings, they are shamed about not seeing the “big picture.” Or, that’s “another office.”
One final tangent. I can’t escape the nagging suspicion that if Bessie Rhodes was closed by a group of white Republicans, the Congresswoman would have been out marching with Bessie Rhodes families.
I wish I could pin this comment. Thank you for saying this, I couldn't agree more. We have City Council elections coming up and I think this needs to be part of the theme of my conversations with them.
And as far as federal money, there is the accountability and competence questions - I was just at a ribbon cutting for the new health center for CCSD21 in Wheeling where they got over a million in federal funds thanks to Cong. Schneider. Did they count on Schneider to just do that for them, or did they ask, follow up, and do what they were elected to do and advocate strategically for the district?
Jan had no problem getting D65 money for Horton's failed teacher residency program:
https://www.foiagras.com/p/district-65-teacher-residency-program
There was almost no accountability for this money - over $300k just went out the door to one of Horton's pals.
These things need to work together. They are currently not working together. I hope this can be part of your Board campaign.
It will be, I can promise that. Board members and staff need to be asking for that money. I worked with her team when it was at 820 Davis, they all know me and know I am going to do the right thing. I also know when to ask.
But that's the way it works when you're working with a congressperson's office - it is only in our hometown and its because Jan lives in town that you would suggest she just takes care of our problems for us like a parent to a wayward child - we need a board that can do what boards are supposed to do.
I get it, I don't think I am asking her to swoop in and provide a deus ex machina ending. But I do think there needs to be vastly more collaboration between the city, the schools, and the state and federal governments. We missed a good opportunity during the Biden years and the next four could be a real mess depending on what Trump does to the Dept of Ed.
I agree with that, I just will draw a big bright line on getting close to "we elected 7 people to do a job, they didn't do that job well, let's be frustrated that this other person in a different elected job didn't do it for them"
You are certainly not the first person to get close to that line, this isn't my first time through this counterargument. Part of the motivation for running - I know how much all of those name brand politicians care, I know what it looks like when local school board members build the relationships that lead to success, I can do this for my kids and the district I grew up in. And boy do we effing need it.
Agree but like, the Evanston/Skokie Mayors sending an email to D65 over the Bessie Rhodes 7th and 8th grade thing moved the needle. I have no idea why - they have no statutory authority - but it worked. Probably because it embarrassed them.
I don't think they need to step into every issue, but if parents are protesting and having multiple marches - it might worth taking a look at and levering their power, even if it's just a tersely worded letter of concern.
As you know, power is a weird thing and hard to write about. I have power via this blog so I definitely get a sense of the caution you have to use when wielding it. Hard to write about.
I agree and have a track record of bringing these community issues to the electeds I work for, because that's part. I can say that Rep. Gabel cares a ton and is waiting for someone on that board to do their part, but also looking for opportunities to help. I just don't think it is realistic to think the other electeds can, could, or should solve what is inherently the school board's primary function: strategic vision and oversight of execution of that vision.
The board we elected didn't do their jobs, doesn't matter the reasons. The board has power. The board members haven't used it, even if you want to give them the best of intentions. Outside electeds can do pressure, sure, but let's not get into Harley Clarke, the branch libraries, or any other crisis we have gotten into. The Mayor letter worked here, but it doesn't always.
And all of that is to still say I do not have the experience where Tuesday plays into this either for or against. Our current D65 is post Blago or post Rauner, much better analogies for your future podcast.
Do you think NU would help dig the district out? If there was a responsible board plan for it? I read years ago that Yale and Princeton contribute quite a bit to their local school districts. I don’t know much about this stuff works.
We won around here and everyone I know is running around like Democrats are losers. We won because we work at this all the time, this isn't a hobby.
I don't want to get into a fight over this - I hear what you're saying, I do and after January when you're running for Board we can talk more about this (I'm thinking about doing a podcast)
The Suburban Cook county results alone show that sure we won but lost more ground. In an election like this, with Donald Trump on the ballot, I find this incomprehensible. How are we losing ground to a guy we're calling a fascist. I think this alone is worth some navel gazing by the party.
Lost more ground yes, but I point to mail and rain again. In the few bellweathers that had to be really worked, like the state house races against Grant and McLaughlin, we might even be gaining seats.
We all locally spent as many hours and resources in WI and MI as we could because we are over 50%+1 and wanted to get the White House. Don't conflate that with the national failure is my point.
Hi Christian,
I'm a D65 parent, lifelong Democrat, blah blah blah. I am not at all surprised that Trump won. The writing was on the wall for anyone who bothered to read it.
I know that you're running for the school board, so perhaps you're open to feedback. I commend you for running - it's a hard job right now, and we need smart people to do it.
Respectfully, the vibe you're giving off in the comments is, IMO, not the vibe that Evanstonians want to hear right now from a potential board member. You sound like an angry incumbent defending himself against...well, it's kind of unclear...and blaming the weather to boot.
We want a board who will actually listen to us, not yell, hide, or make excuses. As Ezra Klein recently said, if Dems want to get out this (shit)hole they dug themselves into, they need to show curiosity, not contempt.
Thank you, for listening.
From now on, I declare the party to be run by Ezra Klein and John Fetterman
The issue is Fetterman & Klein think that when volunteers go to a door and they talk to someone who is an undecided voter, we get to fill in the blanks and promote policy, etc., and hopefully persuade them. Instead, we are going to the door of someone who just watched a six part TikTok series about Kamala & Diddy with Biden as a supporting character and wants to educate us.
Okay maybe the party should be run by Ezra Klein, John Fetterman, and the dude that makes Skibiti toilet analysis vidoes
Not sure if you are joking but I think that Ezra Klein and John Fetterman are a core part of what they need to win going forward. And before this election, I would wager about 20% of Dem party's most progressive members were ready to boot Fetterman out if they could.
I think (hope) he’s being serious…?
I was 100% being serious
I tend to like Governors because they get things done, so I'll go for Whitmer/Evers/Pritzker et al. Not a fan of the pundit class, I always think its hyper reactive and I can't imagine them having their conversations at actual canvasses with real people and real problems.
Yes, any future D65 candidates who bill themselves as progressives need to admit the terrible mistakes of their predecessors and tell how they would operate differently (such as valuing the quality of Supt candidate experience over a candidate's ethnicity, recognizing that valuing education fundamentals is needed even for progressives, pledging open search processes and town halls to actually seek out feedback rather than just holding forums to push decisions down the pike, valuing fiscal responsibility, etc.).
Thanks for speaking up on this. We've had plenty of smart people on the board in recent years who might seem to have relevant experience, but look where it's gotten us. I don't even know how much they can claim credit for getting Foster School over the line as a key accomplishment, other than a suggestion of "we took a by-any-means-necessary approach". Good luck getting people to trust you if you're pointing at circumventing democracy and the people you volunteered to serve as a win.
I hope more of the community who is starting to pay attention appreciates the nuances you touched on: curiosity, intent to listen, a desire to (re)build a connection with the community, and absorbing the collective ideas to shape the vision vs. coming in convinced yours is "right".
Hey Megan, I have no contempt! But I was at the point where the election was won or lost, both here and out of state. I am expressing what just happened - not what I think happened nationally, but what just actually happened on the ground.
I am angry we just lost nationally! But certainly trying to draw a realistic line on what is a growing narrative that somehow Illinois is on watch for rising Trumpism or something - we aren't, we won't be, we won lots of local races. I think Tom made a political analogy which is heading into my profession (note I do far more listening than posting on his many other posts) so I gave a qualified personal opinion and defense of what I see as an unnecessary analogy.
I have plenty of national curiosity, but there isn't enough data to start drawing quantitative solutions yet. If we are dealing in qualitative analysis, I can count mine as pretty solid.
I'm certainly not yelling about education policy! Just the politics I sweat and bled for is all. I am a yeller though (a hearing defect in my right ear leaves me at 60% so I have always been loud) so I often apologize for being loud and I certainly apologize for any contempt vibes - I'm frustrated too and I'm in about eight places helping get a legislative agenda together.
I also find Ezra Klein usually contemptibly smug and often out of touch with the solutions he advocates for directly, my hope for the direction of the party hasn't emerged yet. I'm reading The Black Book by Adlai Stevenson to see if I can get some help there, and if I find something I'll bring it up.
Your second paragraph is pure spewing of media talking-points and relying on the magic "stroke of the pen fallacy"
- Biden still got a ton of debt-relief done but the biggest proposals were killed by GOP lawsuits and the Supreme Court
- Many major climate initiatives were also undone by lawsuits and the Supremes who went way beyond what they were supposedly ruling on to basically remove any environmental liabilities from corporations
- Codifying Roe is only accomplished through electing a Democratic House
but this is why people didnt trust us - it doesnt matter at the end of the day that there were legit technicalities, there was a big public scoreboard and we lost.
Retired65, I don't know how many people you have ever tried to persuade to change their vote from A to B, but in my experience (and I think I qualify as an expert) persuasion is much more closely tied to perception than reality and if the reality goes my way but the perception goes against then I have to go uphill to win that vote.
Voters are allowed to have fallacies! Most have lots, some break our way at doors some break the other.
I think it's natural, given the national political whiplash of the last few days and the last eight years, and the roiling local issues we've been experiencing, to look for patterns on the local, state, and national level. Some conclusions might be overly simplistic or even demonstrably wrong, while others might point to legitimate reasons we're seeing more disaffected voters. We're seeing seismic activity on a local level, and on a national level, and a lack of trust. (This will always unfairly benefit Republicans, who throw wrenches into the system only to claim that the system can't work.) While it's unfair to equate the local and national realities, I think it's natural to look for throughlines, especially at a fraught moment like this. And if that searching leads to engagement like we're seeing on this page, messy as it may sometimes be, then it brings me hope for where we go from here.
I don't have experience in politics other than volunteering and some recent efforts trying to advocate for specific local and state reform, but your comment about perception rings very true. And it seems there's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that Democrats, locally and beyond, are losing ground on voters' perceptions of their effectiveness. There are many reasons for this, as you've noted; some, like media narratives, probably shouldn't be primarily attributed to the politicians themselves. But I think voters see, in the lurchings of our various levels of government, that there's often a very big gap between voters' sense of urgency about day-to-day issues and the willingness of politicians to spend political capital to address those issues. This doesn't discount things you personally know and experience -- the care and hard work of our reps, that their hearts are in the right place, the fact that many of them are doing good and valuable work every day in an imperfect system. But the perception is there, and it has basis in genuine experience and concern.
There will always be practical limitations, but the more responsiveness we can foster in our government -- local, state, national -- the better able we'll be to channel voter engagement to effect real change. Otherwise, I fear we'll continue to lose ground at every level.
I happily cosign this sentiment.
I’ve been a dem my entire life and a HS social studies teacher for 25 years. Here’s what I would say to your points.
- What did Biden and the Dems do about a packed court hijacked by republicans? Nothing.
- Again, what did Biden and the Dems do in response? Nothing.
- Did the Dems codify Roe when they had the chance? They did not.
Could they have done these things? They had unified control in 2020. No, Roe had not been overturned yet. But codifying it did not need to wait for that. Yes, I know, Manchin and Sinema. Yes, I know, the filibuster.
I’ve been hearing those kinds of excuses my whole life from Dems. In 2008 it was Lieberman and Baucus. In 2000 it was the Supreme Court (Again). The Dem Senate confirmed Clarence Thomas in 1991, with Biden heading the judiciary committee and chairing the hearings.
I’m sick of them. I want results. I want policies I believe in enacted. I’m tired of waiting.
We may get to see if the filibuster stops republicans from passing a nationwide abortion ban. My guess is the republicans won’t hesitate to eliminate the filibuster to pass one.
The Biden Administration didn't even close the open Dept of Education cases against District 65 for the DEI training! First day the Trump admin shows up, they've got a hot live case against District 65. They can start right where they left off in January 2021. What exactly were they doing over there in DC to protect our interests?
I just remembered this. I thought Biden closed it but I guess it was moved to the back burner. How will we find out if this will be pursued?
Update: I just looked it up and the case is closed now. I'd like to take credit for it but who knows.
He didn't close it, it was just put on hold because he passed some EO about DEI stuff early in his administration. The last time I looked the OCR case was still open.
I might make a post on this, because someone has to close this before Jan 21 or its gonna cost taxpayer pile of money to litigate over dumb culture war fights.