As we've said on The Politics Bar a number of times lately, Democrats shouldn't run left or right, they shouldn't run from anything - they need to stand and fight for what good folks believe. I'm more disappointed in McBride every time she does something to get media. And Ezra freakin' Klein is a bad joke these days, in general.
Plus, today's ruling at SCOTUS is like Plessy for trans kids. Grr. One o' those days.
Thank you for this analysis! Because so few openly transgender people are in positions of influence in politics WE the transgender public are incredibly vulnerable to weak principled and lame representation. We need progressive transgender people to run for office.
So well said, Parker. As someone who's defended McBride in the past, she lost me with this totally and completely. I've been screaming that the problem during the election (and since) is that Dems ran from trans issues and therefore the GOP totally and completely controlled the narrative, which was disgusting and hateful. (Though it's still maddening to me when I see people say that "Dems can't stop talking about trans people and pronouns" when it's the Republicans that can't shut the f up about us.)
Dem leadership needs to actually start talking to trans people to understand us better and thereby get ways to answer and effectively push back on the MAGA assault on our lives. Dems need to start calling bullshit on the lies and nonsense spewed by the right. And the only way they're going to accomplish that is by listening to us and learning, because most trans people can effectively argue against any of the nonsense that the other side is pushing out; sadly most Dems in power can't, because (I think) they don't care enough to.
There are only a handful of Dems that I've seen push back and who do so effectively and consistently. When more do that, the polling (which is apparently SO important to someone like McBride) will change. It just sucks to be thrown under the bus by one of our own. So incredibly disappointing.
The thing that gets me about this argument is that conservatives have done PRECISELY THE OPPOSITE for at least a generation now, pushing ahead with unpopular positions and succeeding. I would not say that it's because they have more political courage or conviction, but Democrats should at least take the lesson that tacking the the perceived middle isn't even the strategy their opponents use.
Anyway, in this case it doesn't matter at all because the attacks on trans people are monstrous, and it doesn't matter what public opinion is; everyone's responsibility as a decent person is this society is to stand up for trans people and their rights. Full stop.
So inspiring that even a trans woman like me could be a powerful politician as long as I am willing to ritualistically disown my own community on a public mic
What astounds me about how so many mainstream Democrats have responded to trans rights is that they act as if public opinion can’t be shifted, that the public has an objective opinion: “People don’t like New Coke, so we shouldn’t sell them New Coke.” However, Republicans have spent years attacking public opinion. (Somewhat ironically, it was Bill Maher who observed during the Obama administration that Democrats *fear* polls while Republicans *shape* polls.)
It seems clear to me at least that the right weaponized “concerns” about women’s rights and children’s safety to demonize trans people. However, it doesn’t take much examination to reveal the true intent. Republicans can’t maintain a facade of “concern” for women or children without revealing their overall animus. Hell, the “polite” bigots who didn’t want their neighborhoods integrated could usually hold it together better than Nancy Mace, who went straight to the burning cross regarding trans people.
Sarah, in particular, could humanize what the bigoted bullying she’s receiving and present it as an experience so many trans people face in the public life. The Sarah McBrides who aren’t Congress members but Starbucks baristas have to do their jobs while dealing with bullies like Mace. (And why that wasn’t turned into a pro-trans ad, I’ll never know.)
I’ve written about this before that Harris simply taking punches and never returning them regarding the they/them ads is hardly evidence that trans people are a political third rail.
This is an excellent essay . . . I could not have said it better! The best I can say about McBride's and the Democrat's approach is -- Milquetoast! As a Transgender person she ought to be horribly embarrassed. . . and the Democrats simply must find that spine in whatever storage locker they've stored it in.
I think it's very rich for someone like McBride to lecture others on what they need to do to influence public opinion when Democrats' approval rating is in the toilet. If the Democratic Party wants buy-in from us, including but not limited to political donations, it would help if they gave us something in which to believe.
Any new party would be co-opted by the Professional Managerial Class as is the Democratic and non-MAGA Republican Party until and unless we remove all the politician and government bureaucrat conflicts of interest with the private economy.
We need a giant bill that addresses ALL of the money connections with politicians and government employees. This should include eliminating all public employee unions. This should include the Pelosi Bill to disallow any stock trading for the politician and the politician’s family while in office. This should be extended to include all senior government officials. There should be a 3-year restriction on all senior government officials and politicians for going to work for any private corporation, and 5 years for any with a NAICS code connected to any of their work in politics and government. That would be simple to track in a database.
As a private sector corporate CEO I am beset with government regulations and oversight to eliminate even the perception of a conflict of interest. Yet, our politicians and government employees loot, skim and gamble from a system where they have both direct and indirect self-dealing risks.
If we stop that corrupt gravy train, the Democrat and Republican Parties will become better representatives of the people and not big corporate interests.
Sarah McBride climbed up a ladder that was built by the activists and advocates who she's now condemning, and she wants to kick the ladder away now that she's climbed up it. Shame on her.
As for the merits of her argument, it's BS. Andy Beshear won re-election as governor of a deep red state after steadfastly defending trans people.
Meanwhile, right across the Ohio River, Sherrod Brown lost his senate seat of 18 years after shamefully capitulating to conservative transphobia.
Some people see things as they are and ask "Why?" I see things as they might be and ask "What's that focus group of Republican women in the Philly suburbs got to say about it?"
Representative government is only supported by the left when it results in benefits that the left wants… otherwise it is all a threat and needs to be done away with.
Please spare us all the hypocrisy as ya’ll continue to refuse to enforce the laws of the land for politics, perpetually protest for resistance and demand we end the electoral college and pack the Supreme Court.
As we've said on The Politics Bar a number of times lately, Democrats shouldn't run left or right, they shouldn't run from anything - they need to stand and fight for what good folks believe. I'm more disappointed in McBride every time she does something to get media. And Ezra freakin' Klein is a bad joke these days, in general.
Plus, today's ruling at SCOTUS is like Plessy for trans kids. Grr. One o' those days.
Thank you for this analysis! Because so few openly transgender people are in positions of influence in politics WE the transgender public are incredibly vulnerable to weak principled and lame representation. We need progressive transgender people to run for office.
So well said, Parker. As someone who's defended McBride in the past, she lost me with this totally and completely. I've been screaming that the problem during the election (and since) is that Dems ran from trans issues and therefore the GOP totally and completely controlled the narrative, which was disgusting and hateful. (Though it's still maddening to me when I see people say that "Dems can't stop talking about trans people and pronouns" when it's the Republicans that can't shut the f up about us.)
Dem leadership needs to actually start talking to trans people to understand us better and thereby get ways to answer and effectively push back on the MAGA assault on our lives. Dems need to start calling bullshit on the lies and nonsense spewed by the right. And the only way they're going to accomplish that is by listening to us and learning, because most trans people can effectively argue against any of the nonsense that the other side is pushing out; sadly most Dems in power can't, because (I think) they don't care enough to.
There are only a handful of Dems that I've seen push back and who do so effectively and consistently. When more do that, the polling (which is apparently SO important to someone like McBride) will change. It just sucks to be thrown under the bus by one of our own. So incredibly disappointing.
The thing that gets me about this argument is that conservatives have done PRECISELY THE OPPOSITE for at least a generation now, pushing ahead with unpopular positions and succeeding. I would not say that it's because they have more political courage or conviction, but Democrats should at least take the lesson that tacking the the perceived middle isn't even the strategy their opponents use.
Anyway, in this case it doesn't matter at all because the attacks on trans people are monstrous, and it doesn't matter what public opinion is; everyone's responsibility as a decent person is this society is to stand up for trans people and their rights. Full stop.
So inspiring that even a trans woman like me could be a powerful politician as long as I am willing to ritualistically disown my own community on a public mic
What astounds me about how so many mainstream Democrats have responded to trans rights is that they act as if public opinion can’t be shifted, that the public has an objective opinion: “People don’t like New Coke, so we shouldn’t sell them New Coke.” However, Republicans have spent years attacking public opinion. (Somewhat ironically, it was Bill Maher who observed during the Obama administration that Democrats *fear* polls while Republicans *shape* polls.)
It seems clear to me at least that the right weaponized “concerns” about women’s rights and children’s safety to demonize trans people. However, it doesn’t take much examination to reveal the true intent. Republicans can’t maintain a facade of “concern” for women or children without revealing their overall animus. Hell, the “polite” bigots who didn’t want their neighborhoods integrated could usually hold it together better than Nancy Mace, who went straight to the burning cross regarding trans people.
Sarah, in particular, could humanize what the bigoted bullying she’s receiving and present it as an experience so many trans people face in the public life. The Sarah McBrides who aren’t Congress members but Starbucks baristas have to do their jobs while dealing with bullies like Mace. (And why that wasn’t turned into a pro-trans ad, I’ll never know.)
I’ve written about this before that Harris simply taking punches and never returning them regarding the they/them ads is hardly evidence that trans people are a political third rail.
This is an excellent essay . . . I could not have said it better! The best I can say about McBride's and the Democrat's approach is -- Milquetoast! As a Transgender person she ought to be horribly embarrassed. . . and the Democrats simply must find that spine in whatever storage locker they've stored it in.
I think it's very rich for someone like McBride to lecture others on what they need to do to influence public opinion when Democrats' approval rating is in the toilet. If the Democratic Party wants buy-in from us, including but not limited to political donations, it would help if they gave us something in which to believe.
Any new party would be co-opted by the Professional Managerial Class as is the Democratic and non-MAGA Republican Party until and unless we remove all the politician and government bureaucrat conflicts of interest with the private economy.
We need a giant bill that addresses ALL of the money connections with politicians and government employees. This should include eliminating all public employee unions. This should include the Pelosi Bill to disallow any stock trading for the politician and the politician’s family while in office. This should be extended to include all senior government officials. There should be a 3-year restriction on all senior government officials and politicians for going to work for any private corporation, and 5 years for any with a NAICS code connected to any of their work in politics and government. That would be simple to track in a database.
As a private sector corporate CEO I am beset with government regulations and oversight to eliminate even the perception of a conflict of interest. Yet, our politicians and government employees loot, skim and gamble from a system where they have both direct and indirect self-dealing risks.
If we stop that corrupt gravy train, the Democrat and Republican Parties will become better representatives of the people and not big corporate interests.
Sarah McBride climbed up a ladder that was built by the activists and advocates who she's now condemning, and she wants to kick the ladder away now that she's climbed up it. Shame on her.
As for the merits of her argument, it's BS. Andy Beshear won re-election as governor of a deep red state after steadfastly defending trans people.
Meanwhile, right across the Ohio River, Sherrod Brown lost his senate seat of 18 years after shamefully capitulating to conservative transphobia.
Some people see things as they are and ask "Why?" I see things as they might be and ask "What's that focus group of Republican women in the Philly suburbs got to say about it?"
Representative government is only supported by the left when it results in benefits that the left wants… otherwise it is all a threat and needs to be done away with.
Please spare us all the hypocrisy as ya’ll continue to refuse to enforce the laws of the land for politics, perpetually protest for resistance and demand we end the electoral college and pack the Supreme Court.
I will spare no hypocrisy in increasing your suffering.
Stop demanding we end the Electoral College! How dare you!
To imagine that I suffer anything from you is evidence of your inaccurate sense of self.