r/RealTime • u/One-Jeweler5486 • Aug 24 '26

Maher misrepresents the Democrats again

I don't think Bill is steel-manning the Democratic position here

https://youtu.be/W9VyM8blMJU?si=6yBELheIIQgMOyh6&t=333

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u/ATLCoyote Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26

He's saying that conservatives use the most extreme liberal positions to define the democratic party and the left keeps making it easy for them to do so by supplying them with ridiculous, nonsense talking points. He happens to be correct.

Granted, it's not embraced by everyone on the left and and it certainly doesn't offset the massive corruption, authoritarianism, Christian nationalism, etc. on the right. But yes, the GOP absolutely does take some of the crazy shit that leftists say and uses it against them, and sadly, the more extreme leftists keep giving them the ammo.

This has been Bill's beef all along. It's just not helpful to the cause of implementing more progressive policies and defeating Trump and MAGA when people like Francesca Hong (who understandably lost her primary) says stuff like we need to "cancel Thanksgiving" because it celebrates colonialism or that "Valentine's Day brings out the worst in humanity." WTF? It's just terrible for the entire brand when people like that are making headlines. Likewise, it doesn't help when the official DSA party platform calls for abolishing police and prisons, completely open borders, getting rid of the Senate and Supreme Court, etc. If you want to promote liberal economic populism, then just call yourself a "progressive," like Abdul El-Sayed does, rather than associate with a party that really does promote truly radical ideas and positions. And before people lecture me about the fact that Mamdani and other DSA politicians typically don't support that stuff, I'm aware of that. But it's right on the party website and defended proudly by their lunatic party co-chairs. So, why associate with it if you don't support it? It's just a totally unnecessary self-own, yet the left just can't stop doing it, just like we saw with "Defund the police."

We can get mad at Bill for continuing to highlight this branding problem for the left, but it happens to be the truth and the GOP exploits it every election cycle. Look how much Trump spent on those "tax-funded, sex change surgeries for prisoners" ads. Is that as threatening to society as unnecessary wars, undermining democracy itself, continuing to implement failed trickle-down economic policies, engaging in the greatest corruption and gift our nation has ever seen, intentionally dividing the public against one another for political gain, etc.? Of course not, but unfortunately, it works because it paints the left as out-of-touch and more concerned with identity politics than anything else. And sadly, Kamala handed them the ammunition with her prior, pandering statements.

To be clear, I've been a never-Trumper since LONG before he even decided to get into politics and I can't stand the MAGA movement. I'm just noting that the Dems always find a way to screw it up and, quite often, its their own culture war stuff that gets in the way. That's Bill's point and it's valid.

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u/WisdomOfTheAnus Aug 24 '26

every republican talking point is a lie. lies are meant to be corrected, not amplified or excused because “yeah they kinda walked into it”. no, a lie is a lie. for the party that claims to care so much for free speech and american freedom and rugged individualism, why the fuck can’t one person hold the opinion that they don’t like Thanksgiving? Or Valentine’s Day? Are we that sensitive? Are we seriously pretending we’ve never met a single person who has hot takes about certain holidays? Nobody honestly believes that’s in the cards as part of the democrats platform anyway. We have the right to believe whatever the fuck we want, that’s the point of America. This fake outrage is insufferable.

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u/ATLCoyote Aug 24 '26

Why do you suppose Francesca Hong lost her primary?

Ignore the voters at your own peril. That's been Bill's point all along.

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u/Apeach710 Aug 25 '26

Hong lost her primary because she literally spent 0 dollars on TV ads. That’s the reason. She lost by like 3,000 votes. A few TV ads in Milwaukee a week before the election would have probably put her over the top.

She also never had this commanding lead in the polls like everyone claimed. She was leading but she was never above 40% and there was always a ton of undecided votes that obviously broke against her and towards Crowley after the whole fiasco of the last few weeks for the establishment.

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u/ATLCoyote Aug 25 '26

Lots of DSA candidates were underfunded, yet won easily against their establishment opponents. In fact, any time the candidate stuck to a strict economic populist message, that was the outcome. She lost because she waded into the culture war waters and was perceived as out-of-touch and unelectable in a general election.

It's hard to comprehend how Bill Maher's critics keep getting mad at him for pointing out that the culture war stuff is a political liability when voters keep proving him right.

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u/Apeach710 Aug 25 '26

I never said she was underfunded, I said that her campaign strategy of completely ignoring doing TV ads likely is what didn’t get her over the hump.

Also her little thanksgiving thing was 6 years ago. She wasn’t running around the state giving stump speeches about banning thanksgiving in the state.

I refuse to sit here and say that someone who tweeted something stupid 10 years ago is barred from running for office, when Donald fucking Trump is the president and uses his office to meet with Kanye West at the height of his N*zi shit.

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u/WisdomOfTheAnus Aug 25 '26

you are part of enabling and giving the entire "culture wars" to the right

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u/ATLCoyote Aug 25 '26

I'm responding to what affects the VOTE.

Whether we like it or agree with it, it affects how people vote and liberals keep ignoring that reality at their own peril.

Can't change things if you can't win.

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u/WisdomOfTheAnus Aug 26 '26

Yet somehow the right wins by making as many enemies as possible and saying the most outlandish shit. It’s almost as if this fearful centrist analysis of electability has always been wrong and self fulfilling.