As a Californian, Newsom is just the other side of Trump’s coin. He has no principles. He puts his finger in the wind before he does anything. I’d vote for literally any other Democrat first. It’s not about him being a Progressive or not. It’s that he’d pursue literally any position if it was advantageous to him, including hard right ones.
There is a hot car with an infant inside and parent no where in site. Should you break the window and save the child? Breaking a window is bad so we shouldn’t do it. They just shouldn’t have locked the baby in the car. I’m not going to vote for vandalism.
-protest non-voter
OH boy I sure do love purity checks. It’s worked out so great for us in the past.
Why is this shit always all or nothing, goddamn. It works for maga because they have no nuance and it’s all groupthink, but the rest of the nation is far more complex and won’t just go for a hard left progressive in the same way. It needs to happen but it won’t happen in a single election.
I am in no way endorsing newsome, but at least he’s doing LITERALLY ANYTHING.
Exactly, people tried that shit with Carney up here and we all knew we were not getting a progressive PM but we sure as hell didn’t get a right wing mini trump.
Could we have gotten better? For sure but desperate times man, desperate times…
Yeah I might not vote for him in the primary but its not a deal breaker.
Don’t care. Way better than fascism and besides, the tweets are hilarious.
…you expect the dems to run a progressive?
I fully expect to see a repeat of 2020. The party establishment will be split between Elderly Nepo-Ghoul With Fanatical Partisan Following and Young Pretty Boy Who Says Progressive Things To A Room Of Millennial Age Investment Bankers.
On the edge of the debate, you’ll see a few genuinely progressive leftist voices saying things like “We should be against genocide” and “Homelessness is easily solveable if we put forward even the least amount of political capital” and “Granting DC statehood is the most obviously smart and moral Act any future Congress can pass”. Maybe even a few “Medicare 4 All is still a good idea” die-hards shouting from the extremely cheap seats.
And then one (or both) of the insider candidates will pick up a few of the more popular slogans as their own. This, while denouncing any of the fringe voices as Anti-White Racists, Politically Toxic Far-Left Anti-Capitalists, Eco-Terrorists, and Fat Ugly Unfuckable Losers.
Come primary day, said fringe leftists will do shockingly well in some of the early states. At this point, the centrist candidates will panic, drop the kabuki of intra-party squabbling, align behind whomever the current Party Elder tells them to select, scream that a vote for Fringe Candidate is a vote for Fascism, blanket the airwaves with a deafening smear campaign, disavow every nice thing they said up until this point, and maybe squeak in to the convention by a few points on a technicality about who gets to be Superdelegates.
The Convention will be a coronation of a rotten corporate homunculus. Any leftist disgusted by the process or the annointed candidate will be denounced as a Far-Right Foreign Plant designed to undermine the fundamental principles of democracy itself. Said rotten homunculus will pick a Token Minority/Progressive as their running mate, then immediately dump that person to the sidelines and campaign exclusively with the reanimated corpse of Rush Limbaugh.
Trump wins by a ten point margin in 2028. Leftists are blamed for the loss. Democrats vow to purge their party of anything resembling progressive values or human decency even harder. By 2032, they’re running a Bitcoin Billionaire in an uncontested primary, because it’s unreasonable to trust an election process that’s been infiltrated by Hamas.
This is exactly why they’ll run him.
Reddit just called me a Republican plant for not liking newsom. Before the primaries have even started. Pisses me off
Remember when we were told that we could criticize Dems during non-election years?
Or primaries were the time to have debate, but I guess that too has gone out the window with the DNC tiping the scales since 2016.
Nope. But I don’t list to those trying to control me.
I vote, and not for fascists.
Clearly you are in favor of an oceanic based monarchy.
Poseidon?
It’s the “if you don’t like Biden you’re a Russian troll” all over again. It’s started.
It’s happening here too
He also thinks children shouldn’t be allowed to transition genders.
Ending purity tests doesn’t mean we can’t criticize or demand better of someone.
I agree with that…? People should be allowed to transition but with parental/guardian permission or are legal adults (18, in the US). Is that considered right-wing take? I thought I was a moderate!
Listen, I know we are the tiny bubble, so posting this here has no negative effect — but 2028 has to be about people on the right and left joining together to repudiate fascism and totalitarianism. Who cares about the past under these circumstances. I hope that Newsom’s lack of prog cred gives him cred with the pugs who hate Trump. Or are lukewarm on Trump.
2028 has to be about people on the right and left joining together to repudiate fascism and totalitarianism
not pictured are all the ignorant morons that believe billionaire news media that sanewashes the people those pictured in hoods follow.
reality has nuance, removing it hurts us all.
The right does not think this is fascism. So, there goes that fantasy.
There has to be economic pain so bad that they can’t refute it anymore. That’s our only hope.
That or Trump dying before the end of his term.
The Harris thinking Cheney would sway voters pipeline again? Oof.
The right wants this. You are hopelessly deluded if you think they will lift a finger to prevent it. Double if they have to work with the libs they despise.
the “right” that you refer to doesn’t exist, because the overton window has been slammed really fucking far right. There is a sea of idiots somewhere in the middle, Trump was able to take advantage of that, telling them he would fix it all quickly. That lie will only become harder to ignore as these same idiots struggle more and more to afford groceries.
These are the people that are not hard right, but they are hard dumb. Reality and struggle is the best teacher and they’re about to get a lesson they have never had before in their safe relatively comfortable American lives.
By just crossing them all off as ‘the right’ and that they want fascism is foolish and self-defeating. Yes the far right DO want this, but everyone that isn’t some semblance of ‘left’ are absolutely not the only ones that don’t.
Blanket statements provide no value, only serve to remove nuance, and the removal of nuance only serves fascists.
Today Texas Democrats will be present for the session that will gerrymander their state, they could have stayed out of the state to keep it from passing, but the decided to return and allow it to pass.
The gerrymandering that Gavin says will happen in California is going to be voted on in November, it will probably not happen.
This chain of events will result in Republicans gaining extra control in the house/senate, because of the choices and lies made by Democrats.
The gerrymandering that Gavin says will happen in California is going to be voted on in November, it will probably not happen.
I will say this. They aren’t waiting until November 2026 to vote on it. So they’re at least pretending to take this seriously.
But I’ll also say that some right-wing court is going to decide the ballot measure is unconstitutional. And the California Dems are going to throw up there hands, announce collectively “Oh well we tried!”, and then find a way to blame Transgender people for the Permanent Republican House Majority.
probably wont happen, what makes you say that?
It’s been the cycle for the last 40 or so years
The way we stop the cycle is to stop it
Leadership will pick the least objectionable neolib to promote the shit out of, and they’ll end up gambling - again - that voters care more about sticking it to Trump than achieving real relief from our capitalistic hellscape.
Newsom’s only redeeming qualoty is his ability to get under Trump’s skin. Literally everything else is focus-group tested neo-liberalism.
Early to be predicting anything but dems are fucked if Newsom is gonna be their guy.
Backing big oil list my vote
Hopefully, the Democratic Party will go the way of the Whigs, and take Newsom with them. I want a genuinely good party whose mission is to overhaul America in all ways. UBI, a renewed Constitution, universal healthcare, the extinction of ICE and border patrol with minimized police, ect.
The America we have is a sick creature, that cannot be saved by Geronocrats.
We know. He’s a sociopath
Why, what did he do? I keep hearing hyperbolic statements with no facts that make me think Russian bots are responsible.
Sadly so many people are okay with ignoring it because it’s not trump
He’s not worse than Trump. So is the solution to not vote? Putin, is that you?
Edit: the Russian astroturfers are strong in this thread.
here’s a terrible dem candidate we shouldn’t vote for him in primary
what are you Russian?
The only tool in the establishment Democrat defender toolbox is pillory all opposition as Russian disinformation bots or shills. It’s been their trusty go to for a decade now. They can’t stop beating a dead horse
Nobody said shit about a primary. Try again asshole.
Where else would people vote for him?
In a fucking general election. I get it. Russian education probably hasn’t explained the subtleties of how us elections work. Maybe you’ll get better at it before you’re sent to the front lines.
Edit: I’ll make it even clearer for you. The original comment was a comparison between newsom and Trump. They are different political parties. Comparing them as it relates to votes in a primary is beyond stupid. They can’t be in the same primary because they’re in different political parties. So that means your attempt to associate a trump newsom decision in a primary means either 1. You’re an idiot 2. you’re too young to even know what voting actually means or 3. You’re from another country that doesn’t understand how the US election system works. I’m assuming it’s number three, but if you would like to make a case for one or two, go for it.
So there’s not gonna be a primary?
And this is amazing how quickly people resort to personal or racism
Friend I don’t give a fuck I just don’t want to live in hell anymore. I’m going to be first in line slamming my fist on the table for a progressive but apparently we need to be at Gavin Newsom before we can ask for a progressive. Lemmy and Current Affairs isn’t the average American. We suck. That’s abundantly clear to me now. You know what? If Mandani or similar figure was running for president I’m all in. I’m all in on that no matter what. I’m in for the most progressive candidate at all times. Unfortunately right now I just need to not be under threat of everything completely falling apart and not being fixable. Maslow’s hierarchy I need that first foundational level to build my pyramid on. I don’t necessarily mean this to convince anyone, sometimes you just have to yell into the void because it all feels so bad.
I’m not. If there’s a Bernie or AOC like candidate vs Newsom, I’m voting for the Bernie AOC candidate. I’ve played it safe the last 3 elections I, no longer care if it hurts Dems chances because Dems have had their assses handed to them and were already in hell. I want someone who is going to fight Republicans and help get policies we actually want and they will fucking despise
I voted for Bernie every time. It didn’t do anything. This is where we are. I’ll vote for the most progressive candidate who is on the ballot, but if it’s Newsom versus Trump I’m not going to purity test gatekeep.
As amazing as a Bernie , AOC America won’t let them win. America is too racist, and misogynistic to ever let that happen.
Damn, .ml is starting their crap early. They already got trump back in, now they are working to get more of the GOP in power by fomenting infighting…reruns suck.
Thinking that an unliked party putting forward a candidate, who’s only nominating quality is a second order connection to Obama, lost because of a triad of leftist servers on lemmy is genuinely delusional.
More referring to their CCP overlords’ general efforts. They are just the mouthpieces and bots.
The path to progressivism does not run through assholes like Gavin Newsom. “Lesser-evilism” has brought us to Trump!
It is more nuanced like that. You and I are not the average American voter. We can’t assume all voters will act like us. We have to play the field and represent our true ideals as much as possible in balance.
Show me the average American voter. I know a lot of people, but I’ve never met the average one.
Pretty sure greater evilism brought us trump.
It’s another way of looking at it. You’re always going to have a fascist element in society who loves the “greater evil”. Maybe we should demand more than “not quite as bad” to represent the opposition. Every time the “lesser evil” manages to win and then disappoints people, it demoralizes its own electorate. Every time the dems move rightward on issues, they push the “greater evil” even further right. This is how “lesser-evilism” helps bring us to where we are now.
So, I don’t think you are entirely wrong, but I think you (and by extension, all americans) are out of luck on that front. There is not a single democratic candidate who, if elected with a supermajority in congress and a supportive supreme court, that would turn around the economic situation in the US from the course it’s on.
You can get some wins with social issues and foreign policy, and tinker around the edges of the economy, but even if Sanders or AOC became dictators tomorrow, their stated goals, while being light years ahead of Trump or any Republican, would not reverse the decline in living standards for the majority of Americans.
For the issues most Americans care about most, their pocket book, lesser evil is all there is or will be for the foreseeable future.
The lesser evil gets more evil every cycle. Foreign policy is the least likely to change between administrations. We are watching how an executive can wield power in spite of the courts and legislature.
Let’s be clear, the courts and legislature could stop this, they choose not to. They are captured. When/if a Democrat reaches the White House again they will not have half the power that Trump wields.
(The courts are a little iffy, but I’m still confident the legislature could stop it if they wanted)
Could they? By what mechanism?
You’re not wrong
You Americans don’t learn, constantly punching left, nobody is good enough to be an ally. While the right is unified and eating your lunch
Punching Newsom is punching up. Telling voters they are wrong to criticize him in regards to economics, Zionism, LQBTQ rights, and social safety nets IS punching left.
He’s not on the left though. He only ran as a dem because he is in California and Republicans have no chance there
Can you show your work on this?
You want me to go though his entire polical history to show how he’s only on the side of whatever he thinks is popular instead of being principled?
Proof goes hand-in-hand with credibility.
So yes you do on a thread about this article?
https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2023/11/gavin-newsom-is-not-a-progressive
Or you just want it from other sources?
You said this:
He only ran as a dem because he is in California and Republicans have no chance there
Prove it.
Newsom was sworn in by his father and pledged to bring his business experience to the board.[23] Brown called Newsom “part of the future generation of leaders of this great city”.[23] Newsom described himself as a “social liberal and a fiscal watchdog”.[23][24] He was elected to a full four-year term to the board in 1998. San Francisco voters chose to abandon at-large elections to the board for the previous district system in 1999. Newsom was reelected in 2000 and 2002 to represent the second district, which includes Pacific Heights, the Marina, Cow Hollow, Sea Cliff and Laurel Heights, which had San Francisco’s highest income level and highest Republican registration.[25] Newsom paid $500 to the San Francisco Republican Party to appear on the party’s endorsement slate in 2000 while running for Supervisor.[26] He was reelected.[27]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Newsom
You want more?
This is true to an extent, but when you look at the history of the moral majority (new right movement) and what actually unified the right, it should give you some context about how the Dems aren’t really doing themselves any favors by distancing themselves from progressive values. The right were always willing to offer some concessions to what were once considered fringe voters (and now is essentially the base of the Republican party) in exchange for their vote.
I say this as someone who is almost always willing to vote blue no matter who, continuously catering to the wealthy and failing to follow through on promises is going to be the nail in the coffin for Democrats (and possibly American democracy in general). Midterms will probably be their last chance to get it right (if we’re even allowed to vote) and they are definitely not off to a good start by giving the cold shoulder to Mamdani.
It’s very hard to battle voter apathy and “both sides” disinformation when Democrats will not even acknowledge that much of what progressives are asking for is pretty reasonable. Establishment Dems seem to believe once they’re accused of cultural marxism (which btw is a term that was popularized by the same people that created the moral majority/new right) they will lose centrists voters that might help them gain an edge over the competition. Meanwhile they seem to be oblivious to all the support on the left that they’re absolutely hemorrhaging.
Some of that support is going to the right (and those are the people Gavin Newsome seemed really be worried about reaching with his podcast that “reached across the aisle” to some absolutely vile people), but a big chunk is being lost to people who just no longer see a point in bothering to vote for an establishment that seems to intentionally exclude and dismiss them.
I believe what I believe, and whoever shares my values, will get my support. Compromising on my values to get some kind of “strategic alliances” is something I don’t do. If you look across the world and across history, that generally doesn’t end well in the long term.
Bruh what do you think political parties are?
Unions, national alliances, society… It’s all people compromising on their individual values.
Good for you for letting perfect be the enemy of good, bet you feel so vindicated as the world burns down around you.
And where did partisan politics bring us to? The world is burning down around us even without my help. I think this validates my point.
I dunno, I’d say the left tried it your way in 2016 and 2024 and how’s that working out?
