Summary
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has criticized the Harris-Walz 2024 presidential campaign for playing it too “safe,” saying they should have held more in-person events and town halls.
In a Politico interview, Walz—known for labeling Trump and Vance as “weird”—blamed their cautious approach partly on the abbreviated 107-day campaign timeline after Harris became the nominee in August.
Using football terminology, he said Democrats were in a “prevent defense” when “we never had anything to lose, because I don’t think we were ever ahead.”
While acknowledging his share of responsibility for the loss, Walz is returning to the national spotlight and didn’t rule out a 2028 presidential run, saying, “I’m not saying no.”
Well they are 100% dependent on the voters for that.
I disagree a lot that Dems need a “socially conservative” candidate. What they do need is a candidate who does NOT focus on identity politics and does focus on wealth inequality and all directly and indirectly related issues.
It’s genuinely insane how many people keep thinking and saying this nonsense. Identity politics are a reason Republicans won but they are NOT the reason democrats lost.
If anything they lose every battle on identity politics because they keep ceding ground to the right wing. If they bit BACK - if they called a spade a spade, if they called out bigotry and actually supported and amplified minority voices - they would get more support. Not less.
It’s becoming mainstream again to be outright homophobic and that’s only possible because democrats insist on civility, “focusing elsewhere” and allowing right-wing assholes to run the conversation.
Don’t get me wrong - economics is ultimately the true make-or-break for the country and the world - but abandoning allies and friends is a losing strategy. The less empathetic and open-minded the populace, the less likely they are to support any meaningful economic progress.
It’s kind of the same thing right? I mean when I mean socially conservative, I mean a candidate that when asked about trans right will say what Newsom said not too long ago. The fact of the matter is that the republicans rely on democrats staying mum about trans issues. They will spend hundreds of millions to stir up grievances that don’t really affect most of the voters but it stirs their emotions. If dems don’t address it directly, the voters think (rightfully), is because they agree with this agenda, so I won’t vote for the dem candidate because I do not want men in women’s bathroom.
You need a dem candidate that says he is not for that. The progressive wing might not like it, but the progressive wing is not gonna win the elections alone.