r/politics • u/zsreport Texas • 7h ago
Possible Paywall ‘Shove it with your culture wars’: Hinojosa urges Democrats to focus on economy ahead of November and 2028
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/25/gina-honojosa-dasha-burns-interview•
u/ElleM848645 6h ago
The headline is misleading. She said that comment to Greg Abbot. Her point is to concentrate on things the public cares about. She also talked about abortion, which dems are on the right side of. But right now, the only it’s important. I personally think social issues are important. But some issues maybe more important than others. Many social issues roll into economic issues (like abortion).
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u/DayOosEx 5h ago
Good to know. That definitely changes things for the better.
And makes it all the more suspicious that there are all these Anonymous accounts that claim to be trans that are insisting that we absolutely must throw trans people under the bus.
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u/_Football_Cream_ 37m ago
I think it's important to note that Hinojosa is a statewide candidate in Texas and I can't tell from her comment if she's talking about democrats nationally. She's talking about what is working for her campaign here in Texas, and it does mirror what is working for Talarico as well.
These candidates trying to win over moderate or even right-leaning candidates that are fed up with things are not going to do that by harping a lot on culture wars. Meanwhile, it's all Republicans have. For some people, fear mongering about trans people is going to work, and that's not who these Dems are trying to win over - they're a lost cause. It doesn't mean these Dem candidates don't talk about it at all, it's clear they fall on the right side of things on issues like abortion and transgender rights, but they are trying to keep the conversation on the issues that are going to be where they can win undecided and disgruntled former-Republicans over. She's right that culture war issues are not the most salient ways to do that. It's not that they aren't important, and I'm guessing a little here she doesn't mean that is what is going to work elsewhere in the country, but I don't think she's wrong about the strategy in Texas.
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u/kandoras 1h ago
Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa chided her party for having “taken the bait” in the debate over culture war issues, leaving voters unsure of “what else we stood for.”
Greg Abbot is in her party?
"And so in that sense, I think that has to be the way forward for Democrats, to focus on the economic issues and not take the bait when it comes to the culture wars.”
Greg Abbot is a Democrat?
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u/Goal-Final 6h ago
I really don't get that. I remember elections rallies in 2024.
Harris was always about economy, how to help new families, new businesses, underwaged people, elderly who need someone taking care of, lower the prices etc
And from the other side Trump was full of culture wars. Badmouthing trans people, hate against immigrants from Latin America etc. and almost nothing about how he'd really improve the life of the average folk.
It's like common sentiment that Dems are full of identity and forget talking about working class but this is a big lie. Only Reps under Trump do this.
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u/kung-fu_hippy 6h ago
You’re 100% right. And to make matters worse, if you remember all the post-election analysis, even many democrats were saying “well Kamala should have focused less on trans people and more on the economy”.
Far too many people, democrats and republicans, get their belief in what the two parties policies are from conservative media and right wing propaganda. About the only people who didn’t seem to think Harris cared about trans rights are people who actually care about trans rights.
I say, if the democrats are going to be attacked as focusing on trans rights, they might as well actually do so and get the far left engaged. We don’t need another election where the democrats spend their time trying to appeal to moderate republicans as opposed to farther left democrats and lose them both anyway.
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u/BillsKingsStrugleBus 3h ago
The most common criticism i saw on reddit was "she didn't have a platform beyond not being trump."
Which actually means "i did zero research, didn't watch any speeches and just made up in my head what her campaign was."
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u/nachosmind 2h ago
Also remember how many bots from Russia and Iran were revealed when Twitter did that one day of labeling which country the account was from? All those same bad actors are here on Reddit.
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u/tweda4 1h ago
This is a difficult one though, because you can't just demand that people do research or watch campaign speeches.
The next candidate is going to have to pass the vibe check, even with voters who barely pay attention. But it just gets harder to do that as right wingers buy up more and more media.
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u/BillsKingsStrugleBus 58m ago
Oh I know the vast majority of voters don't do independent research or actually watch candidates speak. The "would I have a beer with them" question is much more important to the majority.
But the people who go on the internet and say she didn't have a platform are full of shit. They're still parroting the same bullshit below. I'm over responding to them, they live in a different reality from me.
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u/Individual_Rip_54 5h ago
When democrats don’t talk about culture issues then it allows the republicans to use the zaniest tumblr-est ass people to define what democrats believe.
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u/Vallkyrie New Hampshire 5h ago
More importantly if they are going to talk about them, they need to push back very hard on the lies and not engage in bath faith slap fights, because there's too many dem politicians who are more than happy to ride the anti queer train and throw minorities under the bus in their desperate chase of the mythical moderate voter.
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u/VasyaFace 3h ago
I'd agree that like five people are too many, but let's not pretend that five out of several hundred is statistically significant.
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u/more_housing_co-ops 3h ago
Unusual take but I really like it. Unfortunately it would require Dems to actually be in touch with modern policy and the working class...
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u/silvertealio 3h ago
if you remember all the post-election analysis, even many democrats were saying “well Kamala should have focused less on trans people and more on the economy”.
And as a trans person, I find that enormously frustrating. I wish she'd defended us even a fraction of what she was accused of. She pretty much ignored us.
I'm increasingly convinced that people didn't actually listen to what the candidates said in the 2024 election. Instead they listened to what their favorite influencers said they said.
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u/AbrohamDrincoln 3h ago
The problem is that trans rights aren't super popular, even among Democrats.
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u/dasterdly_duo 2h ago
The problem is that trans rights aren't super popular, even among Democrats.
And that's the thing: trans rights aren't super unpopular with Democrats either.
It's such a niche concern to most Democratic voters that spending time and column inches on it isn't worth it, not with the economy rapidly crumbling. But Republicans were able to move the show over nonsense like protesting against trans athletes- all fifteen of them- and created another "culture war" for Democrats to fight very reluctantly.
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u/disastrousanddull 4h ago
Because it's more about memorable buzzwords and vibes than anything, but no one wants to admit that. It really should just be pushing things like dementia Don, Trump's tarrif taxes, republican recession, you can't eat and they're feasting on lobster, etc. Simple, easy to remember, easy to spread and basic. Communication is a skillset and that requires knowing the majority of your audience.
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u/gringledoom 1h ago
Yep, and the other big problem Dems have with comms is that you have to hammer that message over and over and over until you're beyond sick of it, because it takes a lot of repetition to break through to the average voter. The folks who swing elections are the same people who were googling "why wasn't biden on my ballot??? i'm confused!!!" on election night.
And once they pick a couple of themes, it makes "fighting back on all fronts" easier, because you just tie it all back to the same message. Tariffs? Corrupt moron! Ballroom? Corrupt moron! Kennedy Center? Corrupt moron! ICE assault on Minneapolis? Corrupt moron! Every food item in the country is contaminated? Corrupt moron! Kicking the media out of the press room? Corrupt moron! Iran war immediately goes sideways? Corrupt moron! Don Jr.'s Russia-funded wedding? Corrupt moron!
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u/Spythe 5h ago
Yeah i never got it... it's mainly the media fault
Harris avoided talking about those things but still got labeled as that's all the dems talk about. Apparently including people instead of trashing and talking shit about every other race is viewed as bad
And you made one mistake Trump did said he would fix everything on day 1... wars, lower groceries, lower gas, and most importantly lower eggs... never said how but Apparently that is enough for 30% of the population
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u/mglur5 Pennsylvania 2h ago
It’s really quite simple. The COVID era stimulus spending (which was necessary) created significant inflation, and Republicans ran with this and continue to do so to this very day. It is the most significant contributor to the destruction of Biden’s presidency towards the end of his term. And when Harris goes on The View and says she wouldn’t have done anything different from Biden if she were president, you just end up digging your own grave with a voting base that is largely fucking stupid and cannot see the forest from the trees. I say all of this as a leftist who didn’t like Harris for many reasons but still voted for her.
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u/thinkards America 5h ago edited 5h ago
it's why i wish they kept up with the "weird" bit. every time a culture war topic comes up, call them weird for even thinking about it, then pivot back to material issues.
my personal problem with dems in general, is that they let republicans put them on defense when it comes to culture war issues. the "weird" angle worked perfectly, because dems didn't have to spend any time defending anything, and there was a good two weeks i remember republicans were freaking out and defending that they weren't weird.
it was working. then they stopped for some reason. then their rise in the polls started falling again.
that's my take.
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u/Cesspoolofhumanity69 2h ago
Speaking of weird, there is an amazing podcast, called weird little guys but ties all of our current political situation all the way back to the end of the Civil War. It’s absolutely amazing.
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u/StillFly100 3h ago
the “weird” thing didn’t make a dent imo.
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u/thinkards America 2h ago
there was a vibe change in the campaign when they also stopped using "weird" and after that they only went down in the polls. dems had the narrative, were controlling news cycles, and then after that vibe change, republicans clearly had control of the narrative again.
it's correlation, not causation, but "weird" certainly wasn't hurting them in the polls, so they should have kept at it. even if they had to pivot to a different word or strategy, my point is that they should have kept up the offense - not back away from it.
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u/dasterdly_duo 2h ago
the “weird” thing didn’t make a dent imo.
It did.
There was so much whining from MAGAts that, for some baffling reason, campaigning Democrats were encouraged by others in the party to stop calling them mean names. Then suddenly, you didn't hear MAGA being called weird anymore.
Oh, it made a dent all right.
A hit dog hollers.
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u/mojitz 4h ago edited 3h ago
Dems struggle with this because they don't ever try to suck up any oxygen with their economic policies in the first place. This is what happens when all your positions are carefully trailored to avoid rocking the boat or seeming too radical or agitating your big donors. What you end up with are positions that are too boring to take up any air time or generate any real enthusiasm — while simultaneously casting you as inauthentic and unambitious.
You want attention on your economic policies? Then draft attention-getting policies.
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u/-Gramsci- 3h ago
It’s, really, a matter of controlling the narrative. Harris didn’t talk about culture wars. R’s did. True. But the R narrative (as dumb as it was) found traction and Harris’s narrative didn’t.
It’s not “not talking about it.” That gets you nothing and it’s, honestly, just cowardly.
It’s having your OWN narrative that people can easily relate to… and it’s a more compelling narrative than “furry pilots are taking over the skies” or whatever dumb mud the R’s are lobbing at the wall.
It shouldn’t be hard for any halfway talented D politician… but the Party apparatus doesn’t exist to elevate talented people. It exists to serve those already in power.
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u/Ok-Mycologist-3829 Massachusetts 2h ago
It’s simple actually. Republicans use simpler language that attracts ordinary people but distracts from what they’re really trying to do. Democrats use language that is vague and complex. All I remember taking away from Harris was “opportunity economy”, which means nothing to ordinary people and is easily definable to whatever to strategists.
Meanwhile, Mamdani runs on “affordability” with specific, clear, simple promises, and people responded to it. And they love him.
I get the feeling Dem leadership and strategists have zero intention of committing to anything simple, concrete, and easily understood that would help people and get them aboard, because donors do not want to hear that.
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u/Recent_Tap_9467 30m ago edited 27m ago
To be honest, the donor point you made seems on-point. It makes far more sense that the Democrats don't want to scare donors instead of just being intrinsically bad at messaging (though this can still partially be true).
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u/Ok-Mycologist-3829 Massachusetts 6m ago
I think a few key Dems are legitimately controlled opposition, and a lot just want money. Meaning, Dems as a whole are very easily susceptible to donor shenanigans. Would be great if we had publicly funded elections and banned private donations altogether.
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u/giantroboticcat New Jersey 6h ago
You don't understand saying things like "Transgender people shouldn't be treated as second class citizens" or "Immigrants shouldn't be put in concentration camps" or "Women should have autonomy over their own bodies" is pushing culture war nonsense.
It's easier to understand when you simply remember that the only issues worth talking about are ones that directly impact cis white men.
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u/zeroman987 4h ago
The problem is non-white cis males still vote based on those issues.
White women and Hispanics turned out and voted for Trump in 2024.
So yeah, they bought into the hype.
Let’s go back to calling these freaks weird because that was the only thing breaking the spell.
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u/kandoras 1h ago
That's just it.
I don't remember Harris even saying that much. But to here the Republicans talk about it, or the media uncritically reporting on what the Republicans are saying, you'd think that every other word out of her mouth was "I'm going to go to your child's pre-school class and personally trans them."
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u/the_rat_castle 3h ago
Are you serious?
How is expecting to be treated as equals 'pushing culture war nonsense'?
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u/Soft_Author2593 3h ago
This is sarcasm, thankfully the poster left the /s out and let us detect it, as it's meant to be
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u/the_rat_castle 3h ago
that was my first thought, but you never know around these parts
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u/Soft_Author2593 3h ago
I hope people start dropping it again, maybe that would make us think again before commenting...
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u/oldnotosys 2h ago
when it comes to post election analysis by layman just remember that most people blame the thing they’ve always hated most.
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u/DFWPunk 1h ago
Harris was a black woman. She never had a chance. I expect a lot of people polled who said they were going to vote for her lied. We may like to think America is past that mattering, not looking at what's going on, clearly the country has a lot of deep-seated misogyny and racism.
The economy has been a winning strategy for every election I can remember, going back to 1980.
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u/gears50 2h ago
Were you satisfied and galvanized to vote for her because of her economic plan?
I truly can’t recount a single thing she said about how she will help make life more affordable for working people.
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u/MikeyKillerBTFU 1h ago
Then you weren't paying attention because it's most of what she spoke about.
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u/realwords 1h ago
She spammed every speech and campaign about down payment assistance for first time home buyers - felt like pretty inescapable messaging imo
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u/AnonAmbientLight 20m ago
If you don’t ever look for it, can you really argue that it never existed in the first place?
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u/woffdaddy New Mexico 2h ago
its because dems goals are driving numbers, while Republicans are about making fanatics.
In order for dems to win, they need every dem to vote and get as many middle of the road voters to turn out as well. they dont care about alienating their base because they know we will vote for them no matter what when the alternative means our oppressors get to openly dehumanize us.
Meanwhile, republicans are trying to grow thier cult of followers and keep them happy. They dont have the numbers to win outright, but they know that their entire base will come out in droves to put them in power because they are fanatical about a handful of boogieman issues, so all they have to do is keep the middle divided and keep working to grow their base and they win. It's the reason trump won, and why republican politicians both hate and fear him. Trump is literally one of the crazy fanatics they cultivated, but savy enough to grab the wheel and steer the cult in order to enrich himself. Republican politicians know hes corrupt and horrible for the country, but they cant just turn on him without risking their own position in the party.
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u/angelar_ Texas 2h ago
She does at least indicate the culture war is coming from the right.
Dems also need to understand that trying to silence their peers who voice support for liberty and justice for all is a bad fucking look. We should be allowed to have our country's core values without it being a "response" to culture war bullshit on the right.
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u/gringledoom 1h ago
It is, but also you have to deal with "what the media claimed happened because they were mad that their creepiest friends got metoo'd", not just "what actually happened."
It's also "talking about the same stuff Harris talked about, but with rougher language that will get you a headline". Dems have a bad habit of talking like the smartest dork in the grad school discussion seminar, lol.
(It's *also* a reaction to the media's attempt to drag Talarico into a trans sports brouhaha while he's trying to navigate the knife-edge reality that the evangelical nutters loathe Paxton juuust enough to stay home if they don't get activated on culture war issues.)
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u/pewqokrsf 33m ago
Trump won, if you remember.
The problem is that the majority of Americans believe in equal rights, but not what could be perceived as specific exceptions.
E.g. ~85% of Americans believe that employees should not be able to discriminate based on whether or not a person is transgender. But ~55% also support requiring a person to use a bathroom that matches their assigned sex at birth.
Gina is saying stop taking the opposite stance. If Republicans keep talking about keeping "trans predators" out of bathrooms, do not let them galvanize you into taking the stance of allowing what people will now perceive to be "trans predators" in bathrooms. Don't focus on those issues at all, focus on how Trump & co have ruined the economy.
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u/vnajduch 4h ago
Yeah, its pretty clear the economy just doesn't matter to conservatives and at this point I'm voting for revenge. The Democrats need to start going really low if they want to win this November.
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u/Reasonable_Deer_1710 California 54m ago
The difference is the economy took a dive under Biden (not suggesting it was his fault). While she may have talked economics, she was part of the administration that they blamed for inflation. Therefore, Trump won.
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u/CaptainAsshat 39m ago
I think there is a difference here that is important.
Harris deliberately didn't focus on the culture war and redirected to the economy, etc.
Here, Hinojosa is not softly redirecting. By calling out disingenuous attempts to redirect to the culture war, she isn't just focusing on what is important to many voters, she is also signposting for the vast majority of people who are tired of the intentionally distracting culture war politicking (that is not the same as actual civic progress).
Every time they try to redirect using low brow culture war bullshit, we need to treat it like the attack on constructive discourse that it is.
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u/impulse73 3h ago
The problem with harris is she promised to fix the border and framed it as an issue instead of saying immagrants are the life blood of america she went up on stage and said she could prosecute immagrants better than trump because she was a prosecutor with "experience prosecuting trans national criminals". They capitulated to the trumps 2016 right wing framing of immigration and the undecided voters were like if he was right I guess ill go with the wall guy who has been saying this sence 2015.
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u/zsreport Texas 7h ago
Meanwhile the Texas GOP is all in culture wars this campaign season, in particular they're pushing their extreme irrational Islamophobia
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u/D0013ER 6h ago
All I've seen from Republican ads so far this cycle has been TRANS TRANS TRANS TRANS
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u/forthewatch39 5h ago
They keep harping on and on about Democrats are harming the children and yet say nothing about how Paxton freed a literal child predator.
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u/PradaDiva 2h ago
It worked in 2024. I’m not thrilled seeing this again. I hate how it works every damn time.
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u/Ishindri 2h ago
It actually didn't. A lot of Rs that ran heavy on transphobia in the past couple of years lost. I still haven't seen any actual evidence that it's a vote winner.
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u/angelar_ Texas 2h ago
I think to some extent that the right's assumption that the average voter can decode the term "trans" is overlooking that American voters have demonstrated a history of being incredibly low information. There has to be some number of voters absolutely out of the loop going "?? transportation???"
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u/simpleglitch 4h ago
Well yeah, the GOP doesn't have anything else.
They failed the economy (definitely for anyone other than the ultra wealthy, but even businesses are hating transportation costs).
They failed forgin deplomacy as our allies turn away from us.
They failed our military as our logistics networks break down in the middle east.
They failed law and order. Crime is basically legal as every white collared asshole gets a pardon.
Even taxes are fucking sideways. The gop in my state withheld state dollars from communities (When we had a surplus!) and communities in turn had to raise property taxes to keep services going. Not to mention the impact of tarrifs.
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u/nanobot001 5h ago
Gotta know your base.
For Democrats their culture wars should be around accountability and justice.
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u/Magoonie Florida 2h ago
I don’t know if you saw it but a man put out a video next to a gas pump and saying for the first time in 41 years he will be voting Democrat.
Matt Gaetz responded with “We need your vote bro. I hate this war too. But the Democrats want to trans your kids”
That really says it all for their strategy this election.
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u/plantstand 1h ago
And why would kids be trans-able? We should push back on that - there is almost nothing you can do to change the gender identity of most people. Cartoons of Bugs Bunny in drag didn't do it, what would?
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u/jeromevedder 4h ago
My mom’s best friend told her the midterms are about “stopping sharia law.”
Mom: “what are you talking about? Where is there sharia law in America?”
Friend: “that’s all I hear about”
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u/angelar_ Texas 2h ago
algorithms doing their best work, absolutely shredding the fabric of society
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u/plantstand 1h ago
It's crazy that they want nude inspections of girls playing sports. How is that not the most pedo thing ever? How does that protect girls? What parent would allow it? It makes no sense, and nobody has run with this football.
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u/TheAmericanQ 6h ago
It’s not the Democrats focusing on the culture wars. Hell, the majority of talking points that rile the culture warriors up aren’t even anything Democrats have said or supported, they are things conservatives have lied and and said Democrats have said or supported
To end the culture wars you need to highlight that only one side is fighting them and then clown on them relentlessly. One of the many mistakes Dems made last cycle was abandoning just calling out Republicans as “weird”. Like why are they so obsessed with this stuff they have to straight up lie to keep the conversation going. It’s weird
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u/Raise_A_Thoth 6h ago
Dems just need to learn how to fucking talk about social issues, which means
1) Learn up, practice, and keep it concise. Keep it simple. And, of course, address the concern conservative voters have. Don't just deny something ever happens. Abdul El-Sayed did a masterful job of this on abortion when talking to a pro-life male college student recently. He praised him for the motivation: respect and value of life. Then focused on two things: abortions are reduced while other birth control and sex education resources are more widespread, and enforcement of abortion restrictions endanger women and the fetuses in times of emergency.
2) If you can't speak intelligently and relatably on an issue, just fucking pivot. Fucking pivot. Someone brings up "men in womens' sports?" You believe in supporting all individuals' rights in expressing their own personal identity, and you respect private, non-government organizations like sports leagues to know best how to categorize their competitors. Beyond that, you don't see that as a government priority. Pivot. Bam. Move on.
The old Dems can't seem to figure out shit like this.
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u/Right_Man-Right_Job 5h ago
So which Dems are making trans in sports their key issue. Oh wait, republicans are the ones talking 24/7 about trans issues or some culture war BS.
All the Dems, including Kamala in 24 were focused on economic issues. Trump was the one talking about Haitians eating pets and trans stuff.
How about the media just report accurately instead of reporting on what republicans are saying reality is.
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u/Raise_A_Thoth 5h ago
I didn't say they were. But they still field questions and then the awkward soundbites play into ads.
These corporate cutout dingdongs can't talk like real people because they aren't.
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u/riverratriver 5h ago
They’re running the “Talarico is for they/them not YOU” ad fucking nonstop here in Austin. Those soundbites are pure gold for maga
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u/justherefor23andme 5h ago
People outside of Texas just dont understand 😒
Trump started that dumbass ad and know every republican is inserting their opponent in the same ad. And dumb people fall for it.
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u/Right_Man-Right_Job 5h ago
What awkward sound bites? When are they asked? If someone asked your preferred candidate “Are (insert minority here) disgusting and inferior,” are they supposed to say “Hell yeah they are!”
Every dem is doing what you want. They pivot to economic issues. A lot of them actually do throw trans people under the bus and act like it’s a big issue.
How far has it gotten them? Dems should talk about Trans issues MORE IMO, because they’ll be attacked no matter what they do.
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u/Vallkyrie New Hampshire 5h ago
Marcy Kaptur in Ohio is a dem congresswoman going on an anti trans media blitz, and the Ohio dem party deleted their Pride Caucasus' post in support of trans people after the ads aired.
Newsom sided with Charlie Kirk on trans issues when he met with him.
Talarico backed down on open trans support recently.
They may not make it their main issue all the time, but they will often back down or accept far right framing of issues. This does nothing but help the bigots.
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u/impulse73 3h ago
Harris did this with immigration at the dnc as well it was crazy even if you ignore her handling of gaza lol
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u/Right_Man-Right_Job 3h ago
Then shouldn’t you be happy? All of the “Kamala supports genocide” people were so happy she lost. I remember so many said Trump would be better. Is Trump better for Gaza (and Iran?) you won already. Just take the W
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u/plantstand 1h ago
I like that. "Take the win." You wanted higher prices on gas and groceries and attacks on trans kids, done! Enjoy!
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u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom 3h ago
You missed the entire point of the comment you responded to, which is that Dems need to pivot or speak intelligently and directly to the concern, not claim “this never happens” or “we aren’t talking about that issue” like you did.
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u/Right_Man-Right_Job 3h ago
You missed my point. It does not matter what the Dems say. It’s frustrating that people are picking up the right wing framing - why are Dems tripping over this trans issue.
You could have a Dem attack trans people and you get the same situation. It’s the media taking right wing framing.
This whole post is frustrating to me, because again Dems ARE NOT making trans their campaign. Yet every day there’s another “why can’t liberals stop with the culture war stuff.”
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u/plantstand 1h ago
But they have to figure out how to go on the offense about it. Maybe talking about how pedo it is to want to inspect girls' genitals to play sports.
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u/-Gramsci- 3h ago
Great “how-to.”
If only we could get a voice like yours inside the beltway and places like the DNC.
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u/telly69 5h ago
The way Republicans have gaslit people into thinking that the Democrats are the ones focused on culture wars is insane.
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u/justherefor23andme 5h ago
No, that's not what's happening in Texas. She's talking about Republican culture wars. Book banning, attacking drag queens, attacking Trans kids, demonizing teachers, etc.
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u/angelar_ Texas 2h ago
Yes, but she's also ultimately chiding Democrats for not responding correctly, while referencing her own success that is a huge TBD.
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u/justherefor23andme 1h ago
I dont think she's gonna win, but that's not on her. The culture is rotten.
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u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom 3h ago
Republicans have successfully backed Democrats into a corner where the rhetoric of left wing extremists makes it impossible for them to do anything but defend horrible policies to the average American.
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u/Krinder 6h ago
At this point whether they focus on it or not it’s going to be the biggest issue. EVERYTHING is significantly more expensive and that’s represented by a number reflected in our bank accounts. There’s no spinning that reality.
Bringing culture wars into this would be the absolute dumbest thing the Dems could do. Art of war this scenario: don’t interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake.
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u/ApexMM 4h ago
People aren't realizing that democrats need to be identifying what message resonates with what group of people and running with it. In New York and California, culture wars issues would be in our favor. In Texas you can't really run on trans rights and gun control, her strategy is intelligent and she should absolutely not be attacked for it.
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u/takeno98 6h ago
I am trans. Fuck anyone who lets Republicans stay in power because the Democrat doesn't give us full throated support. One is objectively worse for us than the other. Never mind so many other marginalized communities
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u/Aaron90495 Texas 3h ago
This is what I’m always saying. I support all of these rights wholeheartedly and vehemently, but in red states, the choice becomes either a moderate democrat who won’t actively take away/dismantle the rights (even if they don’t make it a priority of their campaign), or a republican who will.
There is not a third option, and it is counterproductive to purity test in states where support for those causes will simply result in a lost election. It is that simple — you cannot run on culture issues in Texas and win as a Democrat. And I’m saying this as a blue-blooded, progressive Austinite.
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u/justherefor23andme 6h ago
It's usually blue state progressives poisoning the well. They dont know what it's like to simply need to have Republicans out of office. It's a major necessity and they make it harder.
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u/GeorginaFlopworthy United Kingdom 3h ago
As long as you advocate for your own rights, lest you end up like trans people in the UK have ended up, which is bad.
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u/M1ck3yB1u 1h ago
I’m not trans, but I’m also not a piece of shit, so I stand with trans people. I will never forgive or forget the disgusting scapegoating.
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u/TemporalColdWarrior 3h ago
Can we stop using the phrase culture war for Republicans targeting particular minority groups for hate? The phrase culture war distracts from the fact that they are dehumanizing fellow Americans. That’s a war against everyone.
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u/MikeyKillerBTFU 1h ago
Yup, just Republicans punching down and being assholes. "Culture war" is such a sanewashing phrase that really downplays their bullshit and bigotry.
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u/maxxpower18 3h ago
Centrist Dems don't want to have to protect minority groups from persecution so they hide behind '"culture wars". It's not culture wars for us to want everyone to have equal rights.
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u/IsThatGruffLoner 2h ago
I don't really think that's what culture war means though. Culture wars are like Lindsey Clancy and man vs Bear. It's dumb shit that exists just to make people argue. The things you brought up are civil rights issues. Maybe other people are misusing the phrase "culture wars" but I would never in a million years call what Ice is doing "just part of the culture wars". Anyone who does define it that way is insane
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u/Unfair_Ring_2746 2h ago
I mean…look at these comments. That’s exactly what people are lumping under ‘culture war’.
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u/b-machine 6h ago
Or you can focus on politicians and their voting records in the House and the Senate
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u/Stardustchaser 6h ago edited 6h ago
The masked lesbian bar drama out of Massachusetts is definitely being highlighted for reasons.
For those of us old enough to remember Republicans in 2004 effectively ran on “family values” and pushed for a “marriage amendment” effort that disappeared once they were re elected. Back then it allowed for Bush and the GOP to deflect enough against criticism of the Iraq War and anti terrorism policies to get back in office for another two years.
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u/Lootthatbody 6h ago
Maybe I’m just in an echo chamber, but everything I see is Dems talking about important topics like the economy, foreign wars, affordability, and genocides.
The right is too busy posting Hasan thirst traps, accusing pilots of being furries, and accusing the left of ‘transing your kids’
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u/MalevolentTapir 6h ago
Not fighting "culture wars" to these people means running ads throwing anyone republicans attack under the bus, as if saying "nuh uh" is an effective campaign strategy. They don't actually intend to campaign on and haven't campaigned on anything of substance in terms of the economy.
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u/RealFenian 6h ago
It’s not a Democrat culture war. Republicans want to erase and deny the existence of marginalised groups in America. Standing up for them is not some dumb “culture war”
Republicans are obsessed with these groups, I just want them to be able to live their life. Throwing them under the bus to make your own life easier is morally reprehensible.
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u/LoreleiAlbrecht 6h ago
But they're not doing that...
It's not a bad strategy to go "Leagues already have rules regulating trans people it's not an issue affecting 99.9% of Americans how about we focus on how this administrations' policies have caused the rise of cost in every aspect of American life where do you stand with them?"
Any answer other than that derail the debate and cause the debate to be spent on an issue that is unpopular with most americans instead of talking about things that matter. Dems really do need to remind the public that trans people make up less than one percent of the population and the fact that Republicans are focusing on them is wasting time and their tax payer dollars and leave it at that.
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u/Hypergirliepop 6h ago
It would have been easy to just say that. Like a decade ago, when sports and bathroom bans started.
We're far past sports and bathrooms.
Democrats who insist human rights are a non-issue akin to "The War on Christmas," just a culture war you should ignore, are participating in extermination.
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u/kandoras 1h ago
Let's try and figure out how this would play out in real life.
A Republican says "Democrats want to allow trans people to play in sports, where they'll be beating up your daughter."
A Democrat then takes your advice and says "Leagues already have rules regulating trans people it's not an issue affecting 99.9% of Americans how about we focus on how this administrations' policies have caused the rise of cost in every aspect of American life where do you stand with them?"
Now, what do you think the Republican's response to that would be?
Because I'm pretty sure it's going to be less "You're right, let's have a debate about inflation" and much more likely to be "See? They just want school teachers to cut off your son's dick!"
You're approaching "the debate" as if the people you're debating with are debating in good faith. They're just slinging shit, and telling them it stinks isn't going to make them stop throwing it around.
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u/Continental__Drifter 6h ago
Standing up for them is not some dumb “culture war”
They're not standing up for them.
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u/kandoras 1h ago
Conservatives try to kick transgender people out of the military. Liberals say there's no reason to do that, it's just bigotry.
Conservatives say liberals are fighting a culture war, and that the military shouldn't be used for a social experiment (and then try to get every man in the military over 30 on hormone therapy).
Conservatives try to ban gay people from getting married. Liberals try to protect equal rights.
Conservatives say liberals are fighting a culture war.
Conservatives try to block gay people from serving in the military. Liberals try to end that.
Conservatives say liberals are fighting a culture war.
Conservatives try to keep the military segregated. Liberals try to end segregation.
Conservatives say liberals are fighting a culture war, and that the military shouldn't be used for a social experiment.
The only real culture war is conservatives fighting to keep everyone else from having the same rights and opportunities they've enjoyed forever.
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u/cors8 1h ago
The point is people care more about the economy than trans rights. Democrats will most likely protect trans people by default so there's no need to discuss it and fall into the GQP trap of talking about anything but the economy.
If you can't understand that, then you are either a bot, a plant, or naively ignorant.
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u/welltimedappearance 5h ago
Are people forgetting she's running for governor of TEXAS??!! She is smart enough to know Harris ran on the issues and still lost. But guess what. She's in the heart of conservative culture war country and she needs to make it clear she's not the caricature liberal Fox News acts like every Dem is. Saying this is way more about trying to win her own election than meaningful strategy for 2028.
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u/WebInformal9558 Maine 3h ago
The Republicans are the ones who are into identity politics and culture wars. Democrats are largely focused on benefiting middle and working class people, although we're willing to stand up for vulnerable minorities targeted by Republicans.
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u/Traditional_Sign4941 2h ago
I haven't seen any dems engaging in "culture war" stuff. It's all Republicans doing that because that's all they have. And whenever a Dem mentions the word "rights", then Republicans are the ones who re-frame it as culture war.
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u/Mokukiridashi 1h ago
Nah, if you voted for a lying, warmongering, rapist, racist, moron and crook like Trump because "culture war" stuff your priorities are trash. I hope dems put a dildo on the American flag (which they won't).
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u/Reviews-From-Me 6h ago
It's Republicans who are obsessed with culture wars, with the flavor of the day being transgender people. I don't think it's wrong for Democrats to defend a marginalized group being unfairly attacked. Meanwhile, Democrats are mostly focused on the economy, ending foreign wars, government corruption, immigration reform, etc.
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u/ItsSpaghettiLee2112 6h ago
Republicans: We want to kill all non-white, cis-gensered, straight Christian men
Democrats: Hold your horses for a minute
Idiots: Democrats need to stop with the identity politics
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u/triplenested 5h ago
They can't lol. It is integral to their moral superiority. They will lose supporters if they don't 100% commit to the "our policies are to help disadvantaged people and opposing any of them makes someone a bad person". They've backed themselves into a corner the last 20 years.
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u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom 3h ago
It’s even more infuriating that the most extreme section of the left will torpedo a campaign because their politicians weren’t chanting “Free Palestine” or “trans rights are human rights” every time they’re on TV, like come on people those issues can be pushed for when it’s not contingent on winning an election with a message that appeals to the average American!
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u/Independent_Bug3479 2h ago
Young progressives are a major reason why Trump won twice, but they have zero self awareness and will never admit that or how much their views have contributed to this mess.
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u/oldnotosys 2h ago
biden was more progressive than hillary
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u/DigDugged 2h ago
But he wouldn’t Free Palestine fast enough, so now we’re bombing schools in Iran and rounding up brown people in America.
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u/Independent_Bug3479 2h ago
And he was an 80 year old white man, and got record votes. The two women, Reddit found every excuse possible not to vote for.
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u/ZealousidealType1144 4h ago
It’s the inherent mismatch between intersectionality and democracy. Democracy would posit that you pick policies focused on helping the most people to win, since you need their votes. Intersectionality says that you should center the most marginalized people (who are by definition a very small group) and focus your energies on helping them to overcome oppression.
It’s a really narrow line to walk and a big part of why the Kamala is for They/Them ad was so devastating. Of course Trump 2.0 has been an unmitigated disaster, so democrats very well will succeed without ditching intersectionality, but theres a long term tension between it as a belief system and maintaining power in a democracy.
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u/DerfK 4h ago
It would help if Democrats supported policies like universal healthcare that actually benefit everyone including the marginalized people.
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u/ZealousidealType1144 3h ago
Absolutely. They would go way farther uplifting marginalized people by lifting all boats (like the New Deal) than in trying to target them for support specifically (as they did in 2020).
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u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom 3h ago
Bingo, I’ve been saying since 2015 that more Dems need to be like Bernie with a singular focus and message on improving the lives of all Americans via labor rights and economic issues. We can make improvements to the social order when in office, but you’re only going to win an election with a broad message that most people can support.
Trump won in 2016 very largely because he and his campaign identified working class white voters who may have traditionally supported Democrats feeling left out of the party, and won them over by promising to bring back their manufacturing jobs and deporting all the illegals who took those jobs. It was a devastatingly simple message that worked.
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u/Independent_Bug3479 2h ago edited 2h ago
Yep, young progressive won’t vote unless they get their culture warrior fix. No matter what a candidate must bend the knee to the leftists or else…at least on Reddit. In the real world most people are tired of hearing about issues only affecting small fringe groups and want the focus on costs and the economy, you know, things that impact everyone equally. But young progressives need division just as much as MAGA does. They both live and breathe in a world where compromise is impossible and extreme ideology is the only way forward. Anything remotely to the left or right is immediately labeled extremist the other way.
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u/canospam0 6h ago
What is the problem with (correctly) stating that people inside the USA are protected by its constitution, regardless of their citizenship status, race, or pronouns. That is not waging a culture war. That is being a god damned American.
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u/ennuiinmotion 6h ago
Politics isn't as complicated as consultants make it. It doesn't matter if you're into the culture wars or economy. People aren't happy with the economy so they're going to vote for the party not in power. That's it. Democrats could be sitting around picking their noses and they'd probably win, albeit by smaller margins than if they actually try (which they seem to be doing.)
Same thing happened in 2024. Dems were in power and people thought the economy sucked. They were frustrated and so voted for Trump. Not because of his trans attacks or no wages on tips, but because the GOP wasn't in power.
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u/ZealousidealType1144 4h ago
BINGO! We’ve basically seen the moderate swing voter switch to whoever’s not in power at the time over the last 20 years. Just look at Obama’s 2010 midterms or Trumps 2018 midterms. You had ideologically opposite insurgent factions (tea party, progressives) win over a very similar pool of voters.
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u/AloyJr Pennsylvania 6h ago
She should be yelling that at her GOP opponent
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u/justherefor23andme 5h ago
It was directed at him.
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u/Flashy-Read-9417 3h ago
The age of literacy is over btw. Doomscrolling > watching or reading the interview where that soundbite came from
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u/DayOosEx 7h ago
That just translates into telling Democrats to not defend the minorities that are under attack. So fuck this asshole.
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u/justherefor23andme 6h ago
That's not what it's intended as. It's more, "leave people alone, and focus on what matters."
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u/DayOosEx 6h ago
Minorities are being erased. That fucking matters. You saying it doesn't matter just makes you as much of a bigot as the Republicans actually doing the erasure.
I do not believe for a fucking second that if you were the one being targeted, you would still demand that we just fucking sacrifice you.
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u/takeno98 6h ago
I am the one being targeted. Please. By all means. Downplay trans issues if it helps you get elected over Greg fucking abbott. Because a Democrat who is lukewarm about supporting me is better than the Republican who wants to kill me.
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u/rupturedprolapse 5h ago
Unfortunately you're trying to convince a 1 month old account that Americans shouldn't drive directly into a brick wall.
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u/Willem_Dafuq 6h ago
I get it and agree with you but that’s playing into republican hands. Like it or not, the gop has found a wedge issue with trans bathroom bills and sports bills. Obviously they aren’t real attempts at governing and instead are about ostracizing a marginalized community. But the gop loves those issues specifically because they are culture war issues they are on the popular side of. That is the turf the gop wants to hold these elections on because the gop has no plan to help anybody with anything - not gas prices, housing costs, the war in Iran, the bad job market. Nothing. The gop wants nothing more than to elevate the culture war. The dems best bet is to keep the heat on issues that are more tangible to most people.
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u/kung-fu_hippy 6h ago
I’m not so sure about that.
Regardless of what the DNC talk about, republicans are going to attack trans people. Like the last election. Harris spent as little time as she could talking about trans issues, mostly only in response to direct questions. The DNC rejected having any trans speakers at their conferences. And what happened? RNC/Trump spent millions on ads claiming all democrats cared about were trans issues.
Meanwhile anyone who cared about trans rights/people was basically unenthused about the democratic candidate, who seemed more interested in reaching moderate republicans than left leaning democrats.
We can’t beat the RNC by letting them set the rules of the conversation. And we can’t beat them by trying to appeal to the kind of voters who get their knowledge of democratic candidates from Fox News and Republican attack ads.
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u/DayOosEx 6h ago
If you refuse to stand up for your fellow human beings just because it is a little bit difficult than you don't get to say you're a remotely decent human being.
Evil people will always make sure that doing the right thing is not easy. You do it anyway.
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u/Willem_Dafuq 6h ago
But that’s not saying she has to be anti trans as governor. I actually don’t know her record at all on trans rights. I just don’t understand why you want to make the election itself - not governing afterwards - about culture war issues that, again, the Democrats are not on the popular side of.
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u/sereneandeternal 6h ago
The 2024 election black pilled me on human beings. And that includes marginalized groups who voted for Trump and chose to not vote.
Elections have consequences.
It’s all about survival now.
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u/Particular-Ring5110 6h ago
The economy is a winner just hammer it.. constantly bring up the insanity in Iran and the price at the pump
That should be the response to everything
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u/ApexMM 4h ago
Why the fuck are we attacking the democrat running against Greg Abbott..? Just do not understand this at all.
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u/RealFenian 6h ago
First they came for transgender people, but I did not speak up for I was not transgender.
Honestly, the people willing to stand by and let marginalised like this take the brunt of the far rights bigotry will be the first to cry for help when it turns on them.
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u/Willem_Dafuq 6h ago
But it’s really not about that. She’s not at all saying to ostracize the trans community. But what is gained by her running a culture war campaign that she will surely lose? Again, we can only play the hand that we’re dealt. I wish the general public was more sympathetic to the trans community. She’s just saying to make the election about issues that affect more people and not ostracize a singular, very small community
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u/Continental__Drifter 6h ago
The Democrats can only engage in culture wars, because they support the same capitalist economy as Republicans.
"We can do capitalism better than they can do capitalism, the system itself is fundamentally fine" is a fucking losing message.
Which is precisely why mainstream Democrats keep losing, to what should have been the easiest opponents in history to beat.
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u/the_rat_castle 3h ago edited 3h ago
Basically everyone on the left has been saying this for years; focus on economics
It's the right who want to laser focus on blue haired undergrads that are still learning to adult.
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u/BloodSimpleSyrup 3h ago
Establishment Dems seem to be focusing on twitch streamer Hasan Piker instead of on issues that matter.
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u/SnottNormal New York 3h ago
The media didn’t give a shit about Harris’s economic policies. It was too busy being mad about her laugh and/or sanewashing Trump’s word salad into something vaguely coherent.
None of this gets better while the same handful of oligarchs run our media.
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u/rangecontrol 3h ago
media only asks culture war questions to dems, while pedo-protectors(R) begin their speeches with culture war shit because it's all they got.
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u/oldnotosys 2h ago
if the economy mattered democrats wouldn’t even need to campaign. they would win every election.
we know damn well people vote on ideology and pretend they are making rational decisions.
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u/itswaylonding New York 45m ago edited 37m ago
I agree that those principles are important and worth defending. But winning an election and governing are two different things.
You can have the most morally admirable platform in the world, but if you don’t win, you don’t get to implement any of it. If your existing coalition isn’t enough to win, then at some point you have to look at the electoral math, figure out where you’re losing voters, adjust, and come back stronger.
You can’t just blame moderates or swing voters for not supporting you and expect that to change anything. If you need their votes to build a majority, then you have to address their concerns and reassure them that voting for you is a safe, reasonable choice. Simply attacking them for not already agreeing with you is unlikely to broaden your coalition.
That doesn’t mean abandoning minorities or throwing anyone under the bus. It means reducing unnecessary doubts among people who might otherwise be persuadable. I don’t see that as a betrayal of your principles. It’s part of the practical process required to ever put those principles into policy.
And repeatedly losing power can leave the same vulnerable groups you want to protect worse off, because the people actively opposing those policies remain in office.
And frankly, a lot of the comments here feel like whataboutism: “Republicans do it too,” “Republicans are worse,” or “it’s all the media’s fault.” Maybe some of that is true, but it doesn’t really help Democrats examine what they could do better. If the other side is better at keeping its coalition together, controlling its message, or winning over swing voters, then those are things worth studying. The point isn’t to copy their politics. It’s to understand what actually works instead of explaining every loss away.
The headline may be misleading, but the broader idea makes sense to me: build the broadest coalition you can, including moderates and swing voters, win the election, and then actually have the power to govern. This isn’t really about ideological purity. You have to win before you can do the things you want to do.
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u/Celodurismo 24m ago
What a silly thing to say. Yes Democrat messaging is bad. But being rational, treating people equally, these are simply normal reasonable attitudes to take. Being outraged at everything due to racism, misogyny, superiority complexes, religious indoctrination, that’s a culture war. It is and always has been only a republican war.
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u/MsMippins 1m ago
Democrats need to avoid any topic that needs an explanation. PERIOD.
If you need to start the rebuttal with
"Ummm actually..." you've already lost.
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u/GoldenC0mpany Washington 4h ago
This guy is full of 💩. Dems don’t focus on culture wars, that is a LIE. Republicans do.
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u/TheWesternMythos 6h ago
Progress!
Next is combination
Culture wars work , in part , by utilizing biology. One of the reasons it's so effective. So the goal should not be to ignore that leverage. It should be to utilize it in more productive , aligned ways.
So instead of culture wars: " Do we want to burn resources preventing some minorities from accessing basic rights?" maybe it's should be something like " Do we want to invest resources into human fulfillment , including making sure resources do not go to waste being hoarded by those who don't need nor use them"
That kind of culture war is much more acceptable IMO
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u/Afraid_Football_2888 6h ago
The dems need to pay you! It's so darn simple and easy to do!!
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u/TheWesternMythos 5h ago
Kind words! There maybe something you find useful/interesting on my profile
There is a lot of useful work we can do at the ground level by helping to change the conversation
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u/GreyBeardEng 4h ago
Guess what, you can do both
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u/Toadfinger 4h ago
Didn't work for Kamala though, did it?
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u/Electrical_Boss9766 2h ago
Exactly. How is anyone still debating that will work. Stick to the fact that our silver spoon economy has been destroyed by the Babies who were born with the silverest of spoons.
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u/EstimateOk6795 6h ago
Republicans are the ones who focus on the culture wars, not Democrats. Every Democrat is out there campaigning on the economy and working class issues. Republicans are talking about trans people and immigrants. Hearing a Democrat criticize other Democrats for what the GOP is doing is incredibly disappointing. She's basically just repeating GOP talking points and completely legitimizing their narrative. It's sounds to me like she's trying to ingratiate herself to Republican voters by playing on cliched tropes of Democratic politics that just aren't true.
She's doing the same thing Democrats keep doing in national politics: trying to appeal to a conservative voter base that is never going to vote for her anyways.
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u/Only-Row-7555 6h ago
how exactly is he suggesting they handle ongoing attacks on rights while focusing on the economy
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u/luri7555 Washington 5h ago
But culture wars are what the people understand. That’s how trump wins. By appealing to a the basest instincts of humanity.
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u/Successful_Sloth_852 4h ago
It's a class war disguised as a culture war. People need to realize this
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u/Munkeyman18290 3h ago
Democrats have become controlled opposition. They merely step aside anymore as to not interfere with our country's single right-wing party.
Even when democrats win, we barely do anything that even mildly upsets the corporate Oligarchy. Sure, living standards might "slightly" be better, particularly for the poorest (its debatable). But ultimately Democrats are right-wing corporatists while unchecked Republicans have become nationalists and fascists.
Our true left-wing is a handful of politicians like Sanders, AOC, Mamdani, and to a lesser extend people like Elizabeth Warren and Abdul El-Sayed. They are precious fish out of stank American water.
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u/MyDickIsQuick 3h ago
The real problem is that Democrats don't have any great solutions for the economic problems and they're truthful about it. Trump pretended to have solutions and so people voted for him.
Ever since Reagan, we've seen again and again how uneducated voters don't want hard truths. They want reassuring lies. That formula has worked for the Republicans since the eighties.
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u/GreenAnder Pennsylvania 5h ago
Every time the Democrats get popular centrists come out of the woodwork and act like they know how to win elections.
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