Pennsylvania Democrats, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, are pointing to a stunning upset in a special election for a deep-red state House district as proof that the party has momentum while campaigning this fall for a trifecta in Harrisburg.
Butler County Democrat Brandon Dukes said his apparent victory over Republican Scott Timko, by fewer than 100 votes as of Wednesday afternoon, was thanks to his focus on local issues, such as a major corridor perennially under construction to the frustration of residents.
“We kept it local, we kept it practical, and we kept it common sense,” Dukes said in an interview.
The 12th Pennsylvania House District, just north of Pittsburgh, went for Donald Trump by more than 18 percentage points just two years ago and had been held by Republicans since 1999.
While I want that to be true, its worth remembering they are still politicians. Sometimes we put our political heroes on a pedestal and expect them to save us, but if we blind ourselves to their potential shortcomings by heroizing them then we can only take one step forward (however far forward they can take us), and to make real progress we need a lot more than one single step
They can make good progress and still let us down at some point, and when they do we replace them with someone who will continue to carry the ball forward and do the work we need.
Be warry of presuming perfection of those who promise progress. They can be the right choice and make real change for us, but we must remain able to see when they fall short.
Sure, but step by step is how progress is made, and the first belongs to voters who in every election must rally behind someone if they expect to be represented. I know you’re trying to say we must hold our representatives’ feet to the fire, and I agree, but you must agree the time and place to do that was the primaries, the last of which was August 4th.
August 4th was the critical point beyond which every bit of naysaying, depression-posting, hem-hawing, cynicism, doomerism, and these defeatist expressions of low expectations, are now a direct service to Republicans and the Trump regime.
I know this will make a lot of people mad, but take inventory of the opinions shared around here and ask yourself: is it motivating your comrades to get out and vote?
And do be honest. Because this one’s for all the marbles.
I absolutely agree that voting is agency we should use and that the first step is necessary, you cannot take more than one step without the first. I don’t think electoralism by itself is enough, but I don’t think we should leave any available agency on on the table unused
I explicitly disagree that the time for interrogating whether people are doing a good enough job on our behalf is only at specific points in the electoral cycle. I think we have to do that constantly.
I’m extremely excited about Mamdani but I’m not going to overlook any shortcomings he displays, like recently condemning a protest outside a synagogue as antisemitic when the synagogue was organizing auctions of Palestinian land. And to be clear, I’m still excited about him, and what he represents, and the progress he might bring to new York and the national political stage.
I dont think anyone outside of MAYBE revolutionary communist folks who feel electoralism is a trap are gonna get mad at you for your point about needing to encourage people to vote, but I definitely don’t think anyone really wants to hear mamdani criticism right now.
I get the point that you’re making is that with an election coming up there isnt room for reminders to keep the fallibility of politicians in mind, but frankly I think that’s exactly how we end up treating politicians like our chosen champions who become an extension of ourself who we cannot critisize
If youre worried about whether I do enough to advocate people vote here’s me two years ago on my previous instance:
You can do both: encourage people to vote, and also encourage people to have a healthier relationship with electoralism as a tool.
It’s about durm time! Haha love it
We’re on the same page. I realize now you were speaking sincerely about a healthy form of keeping politicians accountable after elections. I was addressing the defeatism in this thread (and many others) that’s often disingenuously excused as “keeping Democrats accountable,” since that was why I broke out the pom poms in the first place. Sorry for mistaking you for a doomer.
No worries, it can be hard to read people online, and not giving into defeatism is deeply important
Hope you have a lovely day my friend ☺️❤️