The Dworkin Report: The Enormous Gaetz Report Scandal Hidden in Plain Sight

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47. Here is the central Dem problem.

I was talking about how Garland's actions are perceived. As you noted, there is absolutely no ambiguity about what Garland's actions said. They said he wanted no part of holding any politicians accountable for anything, at least no Republicans. The public gets that. They don't need a verbatim quote. They understand the meaning.

But Dems instinctively want to turn that obvious observation into a debate about precise citations. This is why so many people just can't vote for Dems anymore. At some level, we supposedly have a set of values that are honorable, but rather than making sure our talk and actions align with those principles, too often that just becomes empty rhetoric.

For 14 years, we have not had a functioning majority, but the public perceived us as being in charge for 12 of the past 16 years. Everyone here can play the Manchin or Sinema card to explain why we have not accomplished much real progress (and done a lot of backsliding in some areas). But the public no longer hears any coherent messages from the Dem Party, and they can't really judge us by our results, because that has been messy.

We will never have a functional majority until we have leaders who present a few big, bold ideas that connect with the public, and the party rallies around those ideas.

Explain it to me like I'm a 5th grader.Tell me what Democrats are willing to fight for today. Give me the three big bold ideas that the vast majority of Dem politicians will fight for. If we can't do that, then don't expect the public to vote for us.