quote:

Democrats announced Tuesday that they are spending at least $35 million this election cycle to "persuade and mobilize" Latino, Black, Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian voters to help the party win control of the U.S. House in November.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told NBC News in advance of the announcement that the planned 2024 spending would surpass the $30 million spent on those groups of voters in the 2022 midterm elections and other previous cycles.

The DCCC, which is tasked with financing and helping Democrats win House elections, has dubbed the effort "Power the People" (with Power standing for persuade, organize, welcome, educate and reach).

quote:

The investment and work associated with the program “honors our commitment to the multiethnic coalition that our fragile democracy depends on,” Missayr Boker, DCCC deputy executive director for campaigns, said in a news release. “While extremist Republicans continue to lie, cheat and suppress the vote of people of color in order to win elections, Democrats understand that democracy is strengthened when everyone’s voice is heard.”

***

The DCCC said some of the money has already been spent, including for the first time to research and survey where voters are going to get their information. Latinos spend a lot of time on YouTube, for example, said José Muñoz, a DCCC spokesman.

“Obviously we are going to do smart, targeted outreach to understand nuances not just between groups, but between different regions and localized by district. For example, what may speak to and resonate with Latinos in Florida is different from those in the Central Valley” of California, Muñoz said.

quote:

Other spending areas will include:

* Conducting in-depth research and polling within the different communities to understand voters' priorities.

* Creating media that reaches people in their language of choice — including Spanglish — and for different social platforms.

* Organizing with local leaders and community members to register, rally and connect voters and build connections between local and national organizations.

* Providing information on voting laws, options and any changes that may make voting harder, as well as building up trust in voting by mail in places where it's offered.

* Tracking and countering disinformation spread through social and traditional media and aimed at particular communities. This work will include “In It Together,” an expansion of the “Juntos” (Together) tool that Democrats used in the last last election cycle to counter false and misleading information. "In It Together" will provide shareable content and resources that will be available in English, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese.

quote:

The Biden campaign insists it understands. Quentin Fulks, Biden’s principal deputy campaign manager, told NBC News that “hundreds of millions of dollars” have been committed to reaching Black voters. Much of it will be via radio and television ads and public service announcements between now and the election.

“For us to win this thing, we have to have long, sustained conversations with African Americans in their communities, in the ways in which they get their news about what we’re going to do for them and about what we have done for them as a whole,” Fulks said.

He cited the lowest Black unemployment rate in history, at 4.7% in April; marijuana reform through Biden’s pardon of all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession; the Child Tax Credit that has cut Black child poverty; lower prescription drug prices and energy costs for seniors through the Inflation Reduction Act; the investment of almost $7 billion in historically Black colleges and universities; 400,000 more Black people enrolled in health insurance coverage through HealthCare.gov; the appointment of Black judges to a third of open judicial seats around the country, and many other wins.

Willa Rogers posted:

Democrats to spend $35M targeting voters of color in House races

(I guess that's more honest than "Power to the People")

quote:

Since the expiration of the Child Tax Credit expansion at the end of 2021, the credit has reverted to a maximum of $2,000 per child and no longer is fully available to all low-income children. Some 19 million children live in families whose incomes are too low to qualify for the full credit. This includes nearly half (46 percent) of Black children, 1 in 3 Latino and American Indian and Alaska Native children, about 1 in 6 white and 1 in 7 Asian children, and 1 in 3 children in rural counties.

Willa Rogers posted:

DU libs are wondering if IA & NH dems should choose to operation-ratfuck trump & vote for haley instead so the cbs poll showing that she does better than trump against biden is hilarious.

Shear Modulus posted:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nikki-haley-fares-best-against-biden-2024-presidential-election-poll/

Platystemon posted:

America doubled the number of children living in poverty.

Willa Rogers posted:

that story linked to a november story about the black vote drifting away from biden & that one is p. lol too:

1glitch0 posted:

Television and radio (lol) ads aren't a "conversation".

Willa Rogers posted:

quote:

* Conducting in-depth research and polling within the different communities to understand voters' priorities.

Platystemon posted:

America doubled the number of children living in poverty.

Willa Rogers posted:

* Creating media that reaches people in their language of choice — including Spanglish — and for different social platforms.

SixteenShells posted:

Isn't that something they should have done more than eight months prior to the election

super sweet best pal posted:

lol if Trump manages to win two nonconsecutive terms.

Hatebag posted:

if he's still alive and not in jail by November he's got it in the bag. biden barely won 2020, he's extremely unpopular, and unlike republicans dem voters won't come out unless they actually want to vote for the candidate. he's going to taft!

Hatebag posted:

if he's still alive and not in jail by November he's got it in the bag. biden barely won 2020, he's extremely unpopular, and unlike republicans dem voters won't come out unless they actually want to vote for the candidate. he's going to taft!

Horseshoe theory posted:

Don't you mean Cleveland?

Horseshoe theory posted:

Don't you mean Cleveland?

Fleetwood posted:

the bolded part isn't really hyperbole

the modern Dem power elite are a throwback to Teddy Roosevelt Progressives from the Hamptons who lobbied the federal government to begin formal eugenics studies, inspiring Nazi Germany to follow suit within a couple decades. all we've really done since 100 years ago is change the meaning of progressive, just like we've done with terms like democracy/oligarchy, materialism/consumerism, etc

super sweet best pal posted:

Yeah, a Taft situation would be if Biden won because the never Trumpers reformed the Bull Moose party and split off a huge section of the Republican base. Trump's more likely to be the Wilson in 2024 if the Muslim vote impacts the Dems.

H.P. Hovercraft posted:

quote:

After three months of Israel's war on Gaza, and after months of widespread mass protests against the war and calls for US President Joe Biden to support a ceasefire, Washington ordered air strikes on Yemen, an escalatory move that could push the region into a wider war.

The decision by Biden has exponentially increased the level of anger from lawmakers and progressives who have been working since October to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.

But anger and dissent aren't limited to the progressive camp. Middle East Eye spoke to congressional staffers from several offices across both chambers, as well as several staffers working in the Biden administration who say that frustration towards Biden and Congress has reached a boiling point.

"The level of anger at Joe Biden is now comparable to the level of anger at Donald Trump," one progressive Capitol Hill staffer told Middle East Eye on the night the US conducted the first strikes on Yemen.

"The idea that he would do that and then ask us to vote for him is ludicrous," the staffer said. "I don't know what planet they are operating on, but this is not how you win in November."

[....]

Since 7 October, one White House staff member told Middle East Eye that she has had a letter of resignation typed up and ready to send. Each day, she takes a look at it, wondering whether it will be the day she decides to leave.

"The only reason a lot of us had for staying is, if we're not here, who will be at least advocating. I think that's what's held a few of us back, but that one specific cause is slowly - it's fading away. There's not much else left," the staffer told MEE.

"There's nothing really tying us to want to stay here and also make us feel even more complicit."

The staffer's experience and feelings resemble many others across the administration who decided to join the Biden administration to work on a number of domestic policy issues such as education or the environment. But now, each day the war continues, they see working there as risking complicity in Biden's fervent support for the war, even as Israel has been brought to The Hague to defend itself against accusations of genocide.

"Staffers feel demoralised, and they feel disconnected, kind of appalled and very uncomfortable working for this president," another White House staffer said.

"It's very difficult to continue to work here."

Members of at least every agency in the Biden administration have expressed support for a ceasefire, according to several White House staff members who spoke to MEE.

So far, two people from the administration have tendered their resignations - Josh Paul, who oversaw arms transfers at State, and Tariq Habash, who worked on education policy at the White House.

The morale of staff in the White House is so low that the chief of staff planned a party in the hopes of cheering up the employees, according to a report from Axios.

However, it's not clear if the senior staff members of the administration understand why morale is so low. After the report of the party for White House staff, another report stated that hundreds of federal employees across 22 government agencies are planning a walk-out to protest against Biden's handling of the war.

"Mass resignations would be powerful, but I don't know if we are there yet," the first White House staffer said.

A few blocks away in Congress, staffers tell Middle East Eye that the situation is similarly bleak, and it's not just a matter of dissent brewing within Washington. All across the US, the number of Americans who are against their country's support for the war has grown.

"We have people crying or sobbing, begging us to do something, telling us that we're complicit in what's happening, that we have blood on our hands, desperate for some direction or actions on what to do as Americans to help stop the violence that they see unfolding," said one congressional staffer.

More than 140 staffers wrote a letter in mid-December stating that, across 71 offices, they have received more than 700,000 calls urging their elected officials to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The actual number of calls for a ceasefire coming into congressional offices is likely in the millions, according to several congressional staff members who spoke to MEE.

But members of Congress wouldn't know this, since the congressional staff who spoke to MEE said that senior staff members often lower these numbers or simply don't present them to their representatives.

The suppression was a bitter reality that left many staffers demoralised. They didn't come to the Hill naive about how Congress operates. But similar to the experience of many Biden staffers, they never expected such a severe loss of life to be met with silence.

"I grew up as someone who always wanted to do politics, and so I would always hear that you should stand up for what you believe. So now that we're doing that, the fact that we have to be concerned about losing our jobs, I can be sued, all these threats. It just makes life really awkward in the office," said the second congressional staffer who spoke to MEE.

"I don't even know if I want to return to the Hill. It's just a very weird feeling."

Beyond questioning their own jobs, some individuals working in Congress have gone as far as saying elected officials refusing to speak on the subject should not even have the job of being a member of the US Congress.

"If you're hiding behind a podium, saying it's tough, there's a long history, [Israel] needs to do what they need to do, that is just a sign that you're unwilling to do your job as a member of Congress. You do not deserve the title or the responsibility that comes with it," said the third congressional staffer who spoke to MEE.

"That's where a lot of staff feel right now," the staffer said.

[....]

To the congressional staffers who spoke to MEE, the findings of these polls are what they themselves have been witnessing during their interactions with constituents. The fact that their offices have still yet to call for an end to the war does not bode well for them come election time.

"All of the people who are engaging with constituents are largely supporting a ceasefire, are largely coming out to our protests, and are largely calling for better from our bosses," one staffer said.

"I don't think a lot of these members understand exactly how unpopular and untenable their positions are."

Horseshoe theory posted:

Don't you mean Cleveland?

ex post facho posted:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-staffers-internal-anger-with-biden-congress-reaches-boiling-point

the democrats are going to get loving annihilated

space uncle posted:

I remember in 2016 making the case that perhaps a Donald Trump presidency would be preferable to a Clinton one in that it would accelerate our failing systems. That piecemeal reform was impossible and we needed to identify our irreparably broken systems (Supreme Court lol) by stress testing them with a big dumb evil idiot.

But now is Biden the accelerationist candidate? Wouldn’t re-electing him cause more instability and chaos and conflict? His party is actively jailing and disenfranchising his only competition. His party hates him. The public hates him. He has no popular will or agenda anymore other than eternal war. He can’t work with Congress or the Courts.

If you truly believe in DTA or DTI, maybe you should vote for Biden? Heighten the contradictions?

space uncle posted:

maybe you should vote for Biden?

space uncle posted:

I remember in 2016 making the case that perhaps a Donald Trump presidency would be preferable to a Clinton one in that it would accelerate our failing systems. That piecemeal reform was impossible and we needed to identify our irreparably broken systems (Supreme Court lol) by stress testing them with a big dumb evil idiot.

But now is Biden the accelerationist candidate? Wouldn’t re-electing him cause more instability and chaos and conflict? His party is actively jailing and disenfranchising his only competition. His party hates him. The public hates him. He has no popular will or agenda anymore other than eternal war. He can’t work with Congress or the Courts.

If you truly believe in DTA or DTI, maybe you should vote for Biden? Heighten the contradictions?

Echo Chamber posted:

Trump is funnier.

space uncle posted:

I remember in 2016 making the case that perhaps a Donald Trump presidency would be preferable to a Clinton one in that it would accelerate our failing systems. That piecemeal reform was impossible and we needed to identify our irreparably broken systems (Supreme Court lol) by stress testing them with a big dumb evil idiot.

But now is Biden the accelerationist candidate? Wouldn’t re-electing him cause more instability and chaos and conflict? His party is actively jailing and disenfranchising his only competition. His party hates him. The public hates him. He has no popular will or agenda anymore other than eternal war. He can’t work with Congress or the Courts.

If you truly believe in DTA or DTI, maybe you should vote for Biden? Heighten the contradictions?

quote:

Today, more than half of Democrats don’t want Joe Biden to seek a second term. But as he formally embarks on his reelection campaign, Democratic leaders are increasingly confident that the polls fail to capture Biden’s real strength, and that the electoral map favors him over a Republican.

My colleague, Jonathan Weisman, explains why. It’s Wednesday, April 26.

quote:

About 70 percent of Americans don’t want Joe Biden to run for reelection, and that includes about 51 percent of Democrats. The man will be 81 years old on election day 2024. He is already the oldest president in American history. He’ll be 86 at the end of his second term. That’s pretty old. And in the eyes of a lot of Americans, there’s a real worry there. It’s a very difficult and tricky issue.

[…]

And yet, if you talk to the Democratic cognoscenti, the leaders of the party, they’re pretty happy with the way things are developing.

[…]

Democratic leaders are looking at the structural advantages that President Biden has going into 2024, and the most important structural advantage is the map. Right now, there are only really three big swing states that matter. Three — Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia.

[…]

And President Biden only has to win one of those. The Republicans need to sweep all three. And Democrats feel pretty confident they will win either Wisconsin, Arizona, or Georgia.

quote:

Jonathan Weisman
And for now, for now, the map and the issues terrain looks very good for Joe Biden.

Michael Barbaro
If I’m reading between the lines of what you’re saying, for Democratic leaders, this is a clear case of it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.

Jonathan Weisman
That’s a good way to put it. People know Joe Biden. They’ve known him for years and years. It will be very difficult for Republicans to somehow rebrand him. And the Democrats are thinking, let’s not try anything fancy, let’s go for it with Joe Biden.

Michael Barbaro
And a challenge to Joe Biden, a primary that perhaps might satisfy some Democrats’ hunger for a true contest in which the most popular person emerges, you’re saying the leadership of the party just thinks that is a bad idea, it can only make things more complicated, let’s not even entertain that idea.

quote:

Jonathan Weisman
Democrats don’t want that to happen. And there’s a good reason for that, because if Joe Biden faces an opponent, especially a more liberal opponent, he’ll be pulled to the left on very difficult issues, and he might have to embrace positions to win over Democrats that would come back to haunt him in November against the Republican candidate.

quote:

But at its heart, this is about Joe Biden. And is Joe Biden loved? Is he revered? No, he’s not. But he’s not hated either. Joe Biden inspires a certain comfort level.