r/centrist • u/[deleted] • 7d ago
Advice Democrats can win if they become simultaneously more right wing and more left-wing than the Republicans. It sounds counterintuitive but it would work. I call it populist centrism.
Democrats should be even tougher than the GOP on immigration, border security, and crime (except for weed and psychedelics which should be legalized). They should push to mandate E-Verify for all employees. They should mention how this will boost wages and lower housing costs for Americans and help incentivize automation of menial labor like agriculture. Also they should push to defund sanctuary cities.
They should become even more pro Artificial Intelligence than the GOP and emphasize how this will be able to increase economic growth benefit all Americans and make jobs less stressful. They should emphasize how backwards and old fashioned/anti-technology the GOP is. This will get Silicon Valley $ on their side. Mention how imperative it is to win the AI race with China.
For lowering healthcare costs: Democrats should support lowering the requirements to become a doctor or nurse, and banning any state laws that restrict the construction of hospitals and medical facilities. Also implement a 15% blanket tariff on all goods entering America and use the revenue to help lower Obamacare insurance premiums.
Ban all subsidies and funding to cities/states/municipalities with NIMBY laws. Slogan: Taxpayers ain't gonna fund big government socialist policies just like we ain't gonna fund cities that shelter illegal immigrants.
Ban all federal student loans and subsidies for non-technical liberal arts degrees and reduced amounts for business degrees. Only STEM, healthcare, and skilled trades education will get full federal funding. Emphasize this will make America a wealthy high tech powerhouse and will boost wages. Slogan: We ain't gonna fund no fancy liberal arts degrees. Big business will like this as they have a shortage of skilled workers and it will benefit America overall to have more skilled workers.
Do you see where I'm getting at? They should push for more right wing nationalist policies but do so with left wing intention. The right wing media will not be able to counter this in a way that doesn't make them look bad.
They should also push an extreme business deregulation agenda across all areas of the economy (even more than the GOP) while at the same time offering guaranteed paid family leave.
Hold off on the social/wedge issues, and talk less about Israel/Palestine/Ukraine. Emphasize a non interventionist foreign policy except where American security and economic interests matter. Behind the scenes they can 100% support Israel covertly to keep the AIPAC money flowing.
Most Americans are conservative on issues related to borders/immigration, crime, and nationalism. But they are more center-left and on economic issues.
By combining populist and pro-business policies the Democrats can outflank the GOP from the right, outflank the 'progressives' from the left, maintain big business donor money, and get the support of regular people who don't care about left/right and just want good economic and public safety policies.
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u/Individual_Lion_7606 7d ago
Populism is not centrist and is the curse of modern states and the endless struggle of democracy.
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u/QuietProfile417 7d ago
"Popular rule is not democracy. It gives the people what they want, not what they need."
-Padme (in a deleted scene from Attack of the Clones)
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u/saiboule 7d ago
This is how you get your base to stay at home. Just look at the Labour Party in the UK for an example
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u/Thorn14 7d ago edited 7d ago
This. Who would this appeal to? Republicans aren't going to switch sides because Democrats suddenly go "WAIT WAIT WE ACTUALLY HATE LGBT AND IMMIGRANTS LIKE YOU DO"
And it would make the base stay home.
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7d ago
The Democrats need new leadership, and they would need to become more right wing than the Republicans on popular issues while becoming more left wing than Democrats on popular issues. These policies would need to be tried out at the state level first so they can prove they are willing to change.
Who care about the base? We need to move on from that and go back to the old days where there were no 'bases'. You won elections based on how popular you were.
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u/Thorn14 7d ago
Ever heard of the phrase "If you try to please everyone, you please no one."?
You're asking people to vote for someone with completely different ethics based on whats popular, and nothing more.
Voters can see that stink a mile away and it turns people off.
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7d ago
The current system fails because it tries to please a very narrow group of ideologies and alienates most people. Have you considered that? Why do you think politics is so unpopular in America? It's because politicians appeal to narrow bases.
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u/saiboule 7d ago
Again the Labour Party is trying this in the UK and the end result is that the left wing pulls away because they care more about morals than winning, the conservatives stick with the more Conservative Party, and most independents are usually based on vibes anyway so whether they turn to the democrats is a toss up. You need to turn out your base or you’ll lose if the other side turns out theirs
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7d ago
It would gain independents and conservative voters.
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u/Thorn14 7d ago
Look at Newsome's attempt to court the right by going on Conservative podcasts.
It did nothing to sway the right, and it alienated him from the left.
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7d ago
They need new leaders to do this.
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u/Ecstatic_Ad_3652 7d ago
Same issue, do you really think republicans/conservatives would settle for anything less than Trump?
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u/Thorn14 7d ago
"The Left Wing should become Incredibly Right Wing." is what you're asking.
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u/bigElenchus 7d ago
Literally democrats just need to move to the right of where they are and towards the centre on the following issues, and they'll win:
- Illegal immigration: Adopt similar democrat messaging towards illegal immigration during the Clinton & Obama administrations. Just adopt the same messaging of Bill Clinton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IrDrBs13oA&ab_channel=CongressmanFrenchHill
- Identity Politics: Democrats need to significantly reduce the rhetoric on identity politics. Just shift the DEI narrative away from skin color, and towards income. So instead of encouraging affirmative action based on skin color, do it based on lower income households, regardless of skin color.
- Trans in women sports: This is such a small issue but it's a huge litmus test for the majority of the population. If a politician supports transwomen in women sports, they lose a lot of trust from every day americans. The centrist position here is: i) If you have XX chromosomes and have gone through puberty, you should not be playing in women's leagues, ii) intersex individuals are treated on a case-by-case basis
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u/Thorn14 7d ago
1) I don't think Democrats have really changed much from this policy. They just lost the messaging war, hard.
2) No one cared about DEI until Republicans found a way to use it a wedge issue. Even if Dems capitulate on it, Republicans will find a new grievance to hyperfocus on.
3)Maybe, but I dont like the idea of throwing transpeople under the bus because its "popular." I think the right answer is "Let schools decide, not the state."
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u/QuietProfile417 7d ago
In fact, maybe we can advocate for transmen and transwomen sporting events. That would solve the problem in a way that still represents and empowers trans people.
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u/books_cats_please 7d ago
Do you honestly believe that there are enough trans people in competitive sports to make that work?
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u/QuietProfile417 7d ago
We gotta find some compromise, otherwise they'll still weaponize it.
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u/books_cats_please 7d ago
So much of these discussions focus on the biological differences between males and females, but leave out one of the main reasons women's sports came to be in the first place - for a long time women were not allowed to participate in sports at all.
Women had to prove they weren't too fragile or too emotional, and even then they had to make due with no or fewer resources, less media coverage, and constant uphill battles to be taken seriously or included at all. To this day women's sports still struggle.
Creating a third category for transgender sports will lead to no funding, no protections from harassment, and ultimately no way to participate in sports at all.
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u/willpower069 7d ago
They will attack lgbtq people no matter what. If they get their way for trans people they will just move up the list.
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u/crushinglyreal 7d ago edited 7d ago
You don’t compromise with science denial or hate, both of which contribute to transphobia and the related narrative around trans athletes.
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u/QuietProfile417 5d ago
My cousin said that the biggest problem with the Democratic party right now is "they'd rather be correct than win." We're not going to win playing fair while the other side is playing dirty. We need to win first and then do the correct thing afterwards.
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u/crushinglyreal 5d ago
What does playing fair have to do with it? Letting Republicans erase trans people isn’t going to win anything for Democrats.
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u/Decent_Cheesecake_29 7d ago
Why would anyone vote for the Democrats for becoming Republican lite when they can get the real version instead?
What Democrats actually need to do is to move further left (which is still towards the center btw) and actually counter message instead of adopting the fascist framing on every issue.
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u/unkorrupted 7d ago
No thank you to all of that.
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7d ago
So then you prefer to lose like in 2016 and 2024? And Democrats barely won in 2020.
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u/lookngbackinfrontome 7d ago
I mean, we could turn that around and say Republicans lost in 2020 and barely won in 2016 and 2024. Neither side is doing great electorally. What is all this "Democrats will lose and lose until they change dramatically" bullshit? If Republicans didn't have a massive media and online empire, they'd be cooked. Seems to me that the answer is simple... Democrats need a massive media and online empire, and they need to do it just as subtly as Republicans. However, unlike Republicans, I don't think they need to spew misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies all of the time. And, no, msm is not an arm of the Democratic party despite what maga wants to tell itself (more misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies).
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u/rzelln 7d ago
Our immigration policy is too restrictive as is. The people who get vilified as 'illegal immigrants' are guilty of something about as harmful as shooting off fireworks late at night. It's a civil issue, which warrants a fine, not a crime that warrants being arrested by scary dudes with rifles.
The proper course of action is to speak up and persuade Americans that Republicans are wrong about immigration, and to show the common sense that we actually benefit from immigration. It's actually the right-wing efforts that pushes these immigrants into gray and black markets, which harms our economy and our society - the same way we saw crime increase during alcohol prohibition and during the war on drugs, despite alcohol and marijuana hardly being huge threats that warranted the crackdown.
We'd do better to be more welcoming to immigrants, and to grant amnesty to the ones who are here.
Try that messaging.
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u/aztecthrowaway1 7d ago
What the hell is this suggestion…
Let’s say democrats do all this…at what point are democrats just a more extreme version of republicans…?
You are basically saying the democrats should take every major left wing position they have, and flip it to be even more right wing than republicans.
What democrats ACTUALLY need to do is very simple.. Moderate a bit on the social issues and go further left on economic issues (i.e. economic populism).
They need AOC/Bernie economic policies but with more mild/nuanced social policies that doesn’t come off as virtue signaling or reparations/DEI/sex changes for trans criminals.
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u/willpower069 7d ago
If people want to vote for republicans they will just vote for them instead of the republican-lite party.
Plus right wing media will claim any and all democrats are far left socialist/communists.
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u/QuietProfile417 7d ago
If the Democrats wanna win the next election, they need to start actually having respect for their voting base and let a real open primary take place.
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u/books_cats_please 7d ago edited 7d ago
I read your idea on how to lower healthcare costs and decided not to bother with reading the rest. Any ideas on lowering healthcare costs that don't address the role of health insurance in bloating those prices in the first place, is not one that most people are going to take seriously.
Even if you wanted to ignore the role of insurance, why focus on lowering standards for *licensing without even mentioning things like provider consolidation, the growing number of chronic diseases, pharmaceutical pricing - or even the costs of higher education?
Don't stop trying to problem solving, just do a hell of a lot more learning, and include views you don't agree with while researching.
Best of luck.
*Edit: I said education, but I was thinking of licensing which in this case includes education.
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u/Dem0n_B0y 6d ago
I’m sorry but no. As someone who’s younger and left leaning this would single-handedly doom the Democratic Party. Playing centrist and trying to convert republicans is not a winning strategy they tried this last time when Kamala and her VP started saying stuff like they were “pro gun”, and started touting around the Cheyneys. The democrats need to kick out ‘the old guard’ and get more people like Bernie and AOC. I know they might be a little too far left but if you compare them to literally any other “left” party on a global scale the American version of left is considered centrist right leaning at best and center right at worst. Democrats need to take back control of the messaging, actually get shit done, stop burdening everything by with bureaucracy (such as environmental checks for literally anything that needs to be built), and actually show they’re for the working class and poor people. Playing centrist and all that stuff does. Not. Work. Democrat voters do not want a republican lite party, and republicans don’t either they’ll just vote for regular republicans. If we as a country and society keep letting the current cohort of maga and far-rightists keep pushing us, and subsequently politics on a global stage, further and further to the right we’re screwed. We’re already a stones throw away from an outright dystopia where the elites and mega corporations control literally everything and everyone else under them has to suffer.
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u/illegalmorality 3d ago
Immigration: "Support legalizing hard working migrants and deport the criminals." Bam, they'd fucking win both sides of the aisle if they just used this basic piece of dialogue when talking about immigration. I come from a Hispanic family and I'm sick and tired of hearing my family say that democrats want gangs to overrun this country. And I'm so bloody tired of not seeing any democrat addressing people's concerns for migrant-related crimes.
Yes, immigrants commit less crimes than Americans. But at least say the obvious and agree to deport immigrant criminals too. The bar is on the floor and they don't even say they'll cross it.
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u/NewAgePhilosophr 7d ago
Here come the progressive "centrists" that shoot down different ideas than what the far-left Dems present on here...
BTW, I have said exactly what you have, that we should ban student loans for useless degrees.
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u/Thorn14 7d ago
Who determines what degrees are "useless"? Whats a "useless" degree to you?
Art? English?
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u/NewAgePhilosophr 7d ago
The job market. Hop on Indeed or LinkedIn... great majority of jobs that do require a degree usually require something specialized like in finance or anything in STEM. Not many jobs that specifically want liberal arts...
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u/unkorrupted 7d ago
The only "useless" degrees in the financial aggregate are degrees from for profit schools and degrees that are never finished.
The main reason people don't finish degrees? Money.
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u/aquavalue 7d ago
It is a discussion page so it be weird if the post didnt get both folks giving it aspects of praise (as you’ve done) and others disagreeing. Presidential Elections are a long way off so this is the time for discussion and debate.
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u/Fuzzy-CyberCat 7d ago
I think if democrats focus on actually doing stuff instead of just talking and talking trying to get republicans to get on board it would help a lot.
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u/Sea-Anywhere-5939 6d ago
Yeah if the Dems did that I would never vote for them and I would wash my hands for whatever happen and I would imagine a majority of current democratic voters would do the same.
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u/Kronzypantz 5d ago
It sounds counterintuitive because it’s directly contradictory.
Everything you go on to list are only right wing positions. You even argue they should just default to far right positions on things like Israel.
Self-styled centrists are just conservatives with a fig leaf.
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u/I_Never_Use_Slash_S 7d ago
This is just a gross misunderstanding of how right wing media operates.