I am honestly not sure exactly what Platner's victory means other than maybe people are sick of elderly politicians not willing to retire!
I say that half jokingly, the other half of me is excited that he is speaking forcefully and not backing down. I am also very excited that he has enlisted historian Harvey Kaye in his campaign. Kaye is extremely knowledgeable about FDR and TR and their styles, as well as of Thomas Paine. See here: https://youtu.be/geI-5Z7Ajws?si=m_UpQiyJCTVdoO3l and here: https://youtu.be/mYy-GKh61Pc?si=hgFCI_kMZHU2onYC
I think speaking with conviction and having conviction are two critical areas where Dems fall woefully short year in and year out. Prof. Steve Fish of Berkely in his book "Comeback" does and amazing job of showing this in detail with historical context as well as with a path forward.
The most passionate and well-intentioned leaders in the current environment must be getting tired of seeing their efforts reversed every two or four or eight years, so I would hope that even if they're benefiting from electoral politics as they are, they would also see the advantage in a renovated system that doesn't swing from one extreme to the other.
Thank you for the analysis. I would only add that there is a huge, untapped, renovating force in school students, especially public high school students. They are fully capable of understanding and debating all the issues in your essay. But they are invisible to the political world because they don't yet vote and because they are thought of as unserious. They are, in fact, extremely serious about what matters to them. And they'll be eligible to vote very soon. Their invisibility is demonstrated by the absolute failure of those who compel them to attend school to recognize that young people are making democratic sacrifices by attending, and that they are extremely angry about the lack of democratic reciprocity on the part of the authority that tries to control them. I don't think it's technically difficult to remedy these failures. Repeating them year after year is a good way to lock in the "disempowered, trapped, exhausted, alienated, and angry" non-voting electorate that confuses our democracy.
Hi, Danielle,
I am honestly not sure exactly what Platner's victory means other than maybe people are sick of elderly politicians not willing to retire!
I say that half jokingly, the other half of me is excited that he is speaking forcefully and not backing down. I am also very excited that he has enlisted historian Harvey Kaye in his campaign. Kaye is extremely knowledgeable about FDR and TR and their styles, as well as of Thomas Paine. See here: https://youtu.be/geI-5Z7Ajws?si=m_UpQiyJCTVdoO3l and here: https://youtu.be/mYy-GKh61Pc?si=hgFCI_kMZHU2onYC
I think speaking with conviction and having conviction are two critical areas where Dems fall woefully short year in and year out. Prof. Steve Fish of Berkely in his book "Comeback" does and amazing job of showing this in detail with historical context as well as with a path forward.
My personal crusade these days follows both of these lines of reasoning, I think: A "Democracy First" pledge, along the lines of what Grover Norquist did TO America with his anti tax pledge over 50 years. Details are here: https://christopherhughes.substack.com/p/the-democracy-first-pledge-what-ive?r=9alur&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Keep up the good work!
CMH
Thanks, Christopher! I think this is super interesting. Would love to discuss.
Happy to!
Planter needs to add Portland cement and aggregate to the sand … then we can call it concrete
The most passionate and well-intentioned leaders in the current environment must be getting tired of seeing their efforts reversed every two or four or eight years, so I would hope that even if they're benefiting from electoral politics as they are, they would also see the advantage in a renovated system that doesn't swing from one extreme to the other.
Thank you for the analysis. I would only add that there is a huge, untapped, renovating force in school students, especially public high school students. They are fully capable of understanding and debating all the issues in your essay. But they are invisible to the political world because they don't yet vote and because they are thought of as unserious. They are, in fact, extremely serious about what matters to them. And they'll be eligible to vote very soon. Their invisibility is demonstrated by the absolute failure of those who compel them to attend school to recognize that young people are making democratic sacrifices by attending, and that they are extremely angry about the lack of democratic reciprocity on the part of the authority that tries to control them. I don't think it's technically difficult to remedy these failures. Repeating them year after year is a good way to lock in the "disempowered, trapped, exhausted, alienated, and angry" non-voting electorate that confuses our democracy.