Democrats taking in more dark money than Republicans

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Democrats Decried Dark Money. Then They Won With It in 2020. (Published 2022)

A New York Times analysis reveals how the left outdid the right at raising and spending millions from undisclosed donors to defeat Donald Trump and win power in Washington.

www.nytimes.com

I'd be more upset about this if it wasn't for all the great legislation that is getting passed to help the common American. Oh, wait.

I really don't remember which way the NYT leans, but pretty much every major source left, right, and center is reporting this story.

 

[SuperMatt]

Democrats Decried Dark Money. Then They Won With It in 2020. (Published 2022)

A New York Times analysis reveals how the left outdid the right at raising and spending millions from undisclosed donors to defeat Donald Trump and win power in Washington.

www.nytimes.com

I'd be more upset about this if it wasn't for all the great legislation that is getting passed to help the common American. Oh, wait.

I really don't remember which way the NYT leans, but pretty much every major source left, right, and center is reporting this story.

Remember when you posted that Democrats need to stop being nice and actually fight the Republicans? If it’s officially legal and the GOP is doing it, should the Dems “stand on principle” and watch the other side collect billions more in campaign funds? Just wondering where you sit on this issue...

My personal take: dark money should be made illegal. Dems have proposed that it be made illegal. But if it is legal, they’d be foolish to let the Republicans eat their lunch.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Remember when you posted that Democrats need to stop being nice and actually fight the Republicans? If it’s officially legal and the GOP is doing it, should the Dems “stand on principle” and watch the other side collect billions more in campaign funds? Just wondering where you sit on this issue...

My personal take: dark money should be made illegal. Dems have proposed that it be made illegal. But if it is legal, they’d be foolish to let the Republicans eat their lunch.

I get what you are saying but I don't consider being the more corrupt party a part of not being nice because the end result is not getting anything done for the majority of American people. They say one thing when running for office and once they win their allegiance switches to the big money that put them there. Our government has become a monopoly with people mistakingly thinking that having a D or R in front of their name makes some huge difference.

 

[SuperMatt]

I get what you are saying but I don't consider being the more corrupt party a part of not being nice because the end result is not getting anything done for the majority of American people. They say one thing when running for office and once they win their allegiance switches to the big money that put them there. Our government has become a monopoly with people mistakingly thinking that having a D or R in front of their name makes some huge difference.

How can they get anything done with a 50-50 senate? They need to spend more dark money to get control, right?

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

How can they get anything done with a 50-50 senate? They need to spend more dark money to get control, right?

You're assuming that only money wins elections and that the more you spend, the more likely you are going to win. Trump spent far less than Clinton on the 2016 election. I think his message is what pushed him over the line, and not just race baiting. A good part of it was "drain the swamp" type rhetoric which a lot of people agree with regardless of political leaning. Hillary was the swamp.

I honestly believe no amount of dark money is going to rescue them from the mess they are in right now on so many fronts. They've even somehow managed to whittle down voting rights to just tightening up the wording on the VP not being able to change the results of a Presidential election, a law that has already existed for well over 100 years.

 

[SuperMatt]

You're assuming that only money wins elections and that the more you spend, the more likely you are going to win. Trump spent far less than Clinton on the 2016 election. I think his message is what pushed him over the line, and not just race baiting. A good part of it was "drain the swamp" type rhetoric which a lot of people agree with regardless of political leaning. Hillary was the swamp.

I honestly believe no amount of dark money is going to rescue them from the mess they are in right now on so many fronts. They've even somehow managed to whittle down voting rights to just tightening up the wording on the VP not being able to change the results of a Presidential election, a law that has already existed for well over 100 years.

Again, the problem is the numbers. 55 Democrats in the Senate? Enough of them willing to nuke the filibuster for voting rights to be passed? Nobody will give a about Manchin or Sinema. As it stands, it doesn’t matter how much the “party” wants anything. Manchin and Sinema are dead-set against it. I don’t know what you expect, but you’ve got to be realistic. You want Democrats to have enough votes to pass something? They can’t just let the Republicans work the system to get money, and refuse to do it themselves.

Longer-term, they need another campaign finance bill, but then the corporate-owned SCOTUS will just invalidate it again because money = speech and corporations = people.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Again, the problem is the numbers. 55 Democrats in the Senate? Enough of them willing to nuke the filibuster for voting rights to be passed? Nobody will give a about Manchin or Sinema. As it stands, it doesn’t matter how much the “party” wants anything. Manchin and Sinema are dead-set against it. I don’t know what you expect, but you’ve got to be realistic. You want Democrats to have enough votes to pass something? They can’t just let the Republicans work the system to get money, and refuse to do it themselves.

Longer-term, they need another campaign finance bill, but then the corporate-owned SCOTUS will just invalidate it again because money = speech and corporations = people.

But I also don't know what you expect. I know the realities, and part of those realities is most of the country is held hostage by a handful of states, ironically not by the most powerful states that the right loves to hammer on.

So within those states, do they fear the extremist right more or do they see the left failing them again more (for whatever reason). I think we've moved beyond the "not Trump" vote by now and have to look at what is happening or not happening in the country. And on that note, good luck finding anybody who is happy about our Ukraine involvement or focus on it right now who isn't in the military contractor business. This is the furthest thing from a welcome distraction but the news media sure is attempting it. I think the potential Biden/Democrat voter is going "Are you kiddding me? Now? Nothing better to focus on?" This is Russiagate Chapter 2.

 

[SuperMatt]

But I also don't know what you expect. I know the realities, and part of those realities is most of the country is held hostage by a handful of states, ironically not by the most powerful states that the right loves to hammer on.

So within those states, do they fear the extremist right more or do they see the left failing them again more (for whatever reason). I think we've moved beyond the "not Trump" vote by now and have to look at what is happening or not happening in the country. And on that note, good luck finding anybody who is happy about our Ukraine involvement or focus on it right now who isn't in the military contractor business. This is the furthest thing from a welcome distraction but the news media sure is attempting it. I think the potential Biden/Democrat voter is going "Are you kiddding me? Now? Nothing better to focus on?" This is Russiagate Chapter 2.

My point is: you regularly call out the Dems for not fighting hard enough. Then when they do, you attack them for fighting dirty. So, again… you made the thread… what do you want?

Not sure how we ended up talking about Ukraine, but based on Putin’s response today, the Biden strategy is working out well. Putin is clearly on the defensive now. He assumed Europe would fracture over this. Instead, Biden did the OPPOSITE of Trump, and pulled NATO together to show Russia that they cannot just do whatever they want without consequences. This looks like it could be a win for Biden, although Americans have no attention span when it comes to foreign affairs.