Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
I think it's true that folks increasingly want progressive candidates, but I'm not sure a focus group of 13 people is really a definitive look at public opinion. Focus groups are good at getting at underlying reasons for why people might prefer A over B, but they aren't good for determining the number of people who prefer A over B.
But the headline did get me to click and read more, so there's that.
Moderates have failed us. I can't say I 100% support leftist candidates as I'm not a leftist, but since Mamdani's win, I feel they are a much more viable option than the status quo.
This is not how you read a focus group.
This is a small 13 person group. These groups are waaaay too small to see how the general public feels about policies.
You’re supposed to use focus groups to get insight into WHY people might feel a certain way about a policy. Then you survey a broad audience to see if the sentiment exists at scale.
I’m all for more progressive policies, but I also do a lot of research professionally, and this article annoyed me. These are the wrong conclusions to draw from a little focus group.
I was looking for information about how the group was selected. It's not in the Common Dreams article.
Common Dreams seems to be right up there with Jacobin and WSWS for unbiased news reporting. It's one of the most commonly cited on Pravda News.
Ditto. That was my first question as well. Who was recruited?
Then I realized, that question is irrelevant, because little qualitative studies like this are not supposed to answer broad questions like this.
I imagine there is no malicious intent here. The author likely doesn’t have a background in research and doesn’t understand what information you can reliably pull from a focus group.
The author may be ignorant, but they probably spend a lot of time looking for stories that support the narrative they're trying to push, and this is just another example.
That's why they're going to get neoliberals or conservatives.
The ruling class knows what we want and they are intentional in denying it from us.
The number one thing I want is a law and order candidate. I want somone that will fucking throw the book at everyone and anyone in leadership that's corrupt and dirty.
Nothing else will matter until criminals and child rapists are held accountable.
We need a massive restoration campaign for public trust in our institutions and they can only happen by locking up all of the criminals.
Telling me to move on and unite so we can move forward is no longer an option. We're past the point of policy disagreements, these motherfuckers are literal child rapist and accepting bribes in broad daylight.
The consequence will of course be more corporate candidates.
Expect the DNC and leadership to continue throwing anyone actually left of them under the bus from here on out.
Being right wing supporting wall street and the 1% more than the general population is not moderate.
USA has 2 right wing parties, where one is extreme and the other only less extreme.
By European standards the real moderates are the left democrats like Bernie and AOC etc.
Honestly with how some of the Democrat leadership has acted, it feels like they're more of the same face of the same coin, just different lettering.
It's like the more popular social democracy is becoming in USA, the more Democrats pull away from it.
They are trying to get some of the Republican vote, and by that they are failing as untrustworthy, and without real political goals and values.
That said, Democrats are still the lesser evil, and with only 2 options, that's where Americans have to go for now.
Because ultimately people want our society to progress, get better, so that the quality of their lives can improve.
Holding back our progress isn't healthy.
Reverting to less functional practices is dumb.
These are basically our political choices any time we vote on something that's not purely about the methods we employ to achieve necessary tasks.
Evolve, remain stagnate, or devolve/regress.
In other news, NYT focus groups prefer car mechanics that fix cars.
Which of the many links in the Common Dreams article is to the NY Times article it is based on? I tried quite a few and couldn't figure it out.
Or, maybe, as I have been trying to teach people for years, the Democrats don't represent the interests of the working class, but instead they represent the interests of the ruling class, with a slight twist of social progressivism.
Democrats are the enemy. Party politics are not the solution. We need revolution.
*Some D's are enemies to the WC, not D's are the enemy of the WC. Even some R's can be WC allies, or can be in certain situations.
Please be careful with those absolutes. Thanks
No, sorry, I disagree, all politicians should be considered our enemies. Even the "good" ones are part of an evil system that limits the good they can do to the point of uselessness. We can do better. We need to.
It is STILL much easier to take over the Democratic party in THIS system using populism than to try to demolish it and hope for something better.
The proof is that it worked for MAGA.
I disagree completely. There is a huge difference: ruling class support. Ruling class support fascism because it benefits them. The ruling class will not support socialism.
It is impossible to reform the Democrats. They are fascist sympathizers. They are bought and owned by the ruling elite. Please, I am begging you, wake up. We need real change, not 99% Hitler.