iwillspankyou wrote:fightinfrenchman wrote:We gained seats in the House. And yes I can blame the voters, they made bad decisions! If you are upset that those Dems voted with Republicans "almost every time" (not true), you're gonna be really upset to find out that the Republicans replacing them will vote with Republicans literally every time.
well, they did, and that is a fact
and that is why they lost.
I do not think its a bad thing to get the traitors out of office. Maybe next time Dems will run a real Person, who listen to the public, maybe a popular candidate
This comment gives me some headaches. Every single part of it.
To me, there cannot be such a thing as a "fact" in a counterfactual argument of "If they behaved differently, the outcome would have been better". We cannot observe this situation, since it never happened. Hence, there is no facts in here. Just speculation.
We also don't know if "that is why they lost". Maybe the Dems would have come out even worse.
The US has a problem with societal polarization. The view, that a politician who does not always vote with his own political group is a traitor, just enforces polarization. To me, the democratic ideal would be to vote on issues as you think about them. Conformism is something quite destructive in a two-party democracy, as we have seen in nearly the whole Obama era.
The wording "next time Dems will run a real Person" effectively dehumanizes the previous candidates, even if it is not meant that way. Further, expecting a real person, "who listens to the public", assumes a general understanding of what the "public" and its opinion are. This has a quite autocratic touch. A scent of "L'état, c'est moi" combined with the authoritarian classic of "I am the representation of the will of the people".
Finally, in politics you are always forced to choose between popular candidates/positions and authentic candidates/positions. Of course, one can have his own opinion of what is better. But I prefer candidates who make an authentic impression and do not just say/support what is beneficial for themselves. I always thought of John McCain as being such a person. Even though I did not share many of his views, he was a refreshing personality and someone who at least took other arguments into consideration.
Whatever is written above: this is no financial advice.
Beati pauperes spiritu.