David Hogg, the former DNC vice chair, writes for Zeteo that the victories of Abdul El-Sayed and other progressives show Democrats didn't lose young voters – they just needed candidates to vote for.
As an 82 year old, I agree wholeheartedly with your article. I am tired of spending what is left of my life watching things we accomplished being destroyed with little or no pushback from establishment Democrats, other than strongly worded letters. There is so much more to be done.
David Hogg and the younger voters know the Democratic Establishment is either out of touch with the American public or just doesn't care what the public wants. Maybe this is because most of the Democratic leadership is even older than I am (75) or, again, they just don't care about anything but their corporate donors and AIPAC.
I used to consider myself a moderate liberal, but the pervasive inhumanity throughout our political system and the obscene influence of big money on both establishment parties have pushed me left beyond Progressive. The Democratic Socialist message speaks to the desires of most Americans across both parties.
The Democratic leadership needs to wake up and realize most of us believe they are too similar to Republicans and are concerned about only their own power. Most of us Democrats don't care what they think, and that's why we don't donate to the DNC or the DCCC anymore. We donate to the candidates who understand what we want from our government and will fight for it.
Perhaps it is because we are getting to the end of our for sale date that we feel so strongly. We have watched the things we have given our lives to broken ( a nod to Kipling) and know we do not have much time left to rebuild. I will be gone but worry about the world I am leaving my sons and grandchildren. Someone once asked why a group of us (part of our PTA) fought so hard to for money and programs for all of the schools not just ours. As we pointed out that all the children needed the same opportunities as ours or what kind of society would we leave them.
Kathleen, you are a shining example of the foundational difference between America's two main political parties: you believe that everyone deserves the same opportunities to build a good life, and a worthwhile government ensures those opportunities are available to everyone. Sadly, we can look around today and see the class-divided society of misinformed, distrustful, hate-filled, fearful people that results from a government that refuses to do that.
Exactly, I’m a 72 year old “boomer” and I agree wholeheartedly with Mr Hogg. Democrat establishment is definitely eating at the same trough as Republicans. We need fresh representatives who understand that when the working class is more prosperous the entire country is more prosperous. I have no problem with David Hogg and his generation stepping up and taking over for Schumer and Co. We will all be better for it.
I as well — I’m a 75 year old boomer (always a progressive, now rabid!) who is utterly disgusted with the corporate dems who are as corrupt and feckless as the republicans. Corruption appears to be completely acceptable, our representatives are too comfortable and only care for protecting their cushy status quo, so nobody has a spine… (With a few notable exceptions — and we all know who they are, and thank god they are still fighting). I am outraged to see the rights won during my lifetime disintegrating, and the future we thought would benefit our kids and grandkids disappeared. I love the vision and the fire of the young candidates, the engagement of their efforts building community and providing a roadmap for real change. I am supporting (individually) as many of the new visionaries and change-makers as possible & am thankful for young men like David Hogg. It is appalling to hear Ken Martin (yawn) doling out the same BS. The house is on fire - the world is on fire. Stop clutching pearls and being concerned. Fight, goddamnit. And it’s their world, so they ought to have a big hand in shaping it! 🤯
73 years old here! And I agree with you 100%, Kathleen. I may not have a lot of cash, but I am supporting Leaders We Deserve and a number of progressives with what I can spare. We need strong new leadership in the Democratic Party. We need enthusiastic, smart people who aren’t afraid to rock the boat and do what’s right for the majority of Americans, not just a few corrupt billionaires who are building their obscene wealth on the backs of the rest of us. Above all we want leaders who will lead with integrity, transparency, and accountability. And we need it NOW!💙
I noticed this firsthand while canvassing for Abdul. ---> "It turns out that a focused affordability message, moral clarity, and a commitment to not being bought motivates voters across the political spectrum."
I noticed that too(phone banker, though, not canvassing since I live in CA). What really frosts me is that the dinosaur Dems lined up behind Stevens who was a lousy candidate from day one: spending money on her to defeat El-Sayed and now those dollars are not available for Abdul to defeat the Republican. How stupid was that? Does Ken Martin ever look at his own track record and ask himself, "Maybe I should stop listening to Chuck and Kirsten???"
Yes. And now the money that AIPAC and other right-wing PAC’s donated to Stevens expressly to defeat El-Sayed will be transferred to Rogers, the candidate these organizations favored all along. But a lot of these “moderate” (read right-wing) Democrats would rather have Republicans win than lose their billionaire and corporate donors and the lifestyles that go with it. What El-Sayed said about Stevens is also true of these old prostitutes. If you have to spend $60 million on an election, maybe you’re not electable on your own merits. These corrupt politicians are certainly not being elected because of their policies and their (lack of) accomplishments in office. (Oh, I forgot. They are making sure Israel gets what it needs. Pay to play).
It seems that for quite some time the DNC has been skilled at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. In retrospect, I wonder if it was on purpose, due to shared corporate donors.
It's why we have conserva-Dems as our Senators in CA. The DNC made sure progressives were not on the ballot through some super hinky maneuvers. I wish we could clone Dr. El-Sayed for California and have true progressive voices representing us(the 4th largest economy in the world)in Congress.
if only the DNC had listened to david, when they have the chance[to that degree they have only themselfs to blame], then they wouldnt be giving themselfs heartattacks now, at a emerging socialist scene....but the DNC has made a habit about not wanting to change...anything...and now it is too late, change is coming whether they wish it or not :(
Could not agree more! EVERYONE is sick of old white guys making other old white guys rich. There should be term limits on amassing greed and power. Here is a link of how I was talking about it day before yesterday. Don't worry, it is only six minutes long. The piles of crap we have all around us do no really need a lot of studying to realize they are crap. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GiPJtGJ8V/
Right. Identity politics is an establishment Democratic Party trope. I used to get Hogg’s emails when he was still at the DNC. All they talked about was electing younger people. He never said a word about policies. Had he said then what he’s saying here about funding the killing and maiming of children, I would have supported him. One of his young colleagues at the DNC did take an early stand on Gaza and introduced a resolution proposing an embargo on arms. The DNC voted the proposal down, through no fault of the young staffer (who, unlike Hogg, still works for the organization). I don’t vote for anyone because of her or his age, gender, race, religion or ethnicity. Nor do I exclude anyone on those grounds. Hogg should have focused on policies and not identities early on.
And that goes for Mehdi on occasion, too. At a DC event Medhi hosted, he actually said that people over 50 “don’t care about Black and brown people.” He was obviously talking about white people over 50, as I doubt he was talking about “self-hating” people of color. He clearly dismissed all of us who worked in the civil rights movement, helping get laws passed and wars ended. Those of us who protested in front of the South African Embassy to end apartheid and the U.S.’s support for it. The comment was both ageist and racist, and very much aligned with the Democratic Party’s successful division of its constituents by identities so they don’t unite to demand something different. I embrace the young who align with my principles. Every candidate to whose campaign i have contributed is younger than I. But that’s not why I support them.
One would think that the civil rights movement would not be so easily forgotten; it is not in such a distant past and Americans who have lived in the US for a generation or two would at least have relatives who went through it. Mehdi not being one of those. Not me either. I was born in the US to Norwegian immigrant parents (I like using this line to counter the idea that most immigrants are dark-skinned). Anyway, I moved to Norway in 2008 after reading The Shock Doctrine among other reasons. No regrets, though Norway too has spine-less leaders who are afraid to stand up to the fascists currently polluting our world. Anyway, thanks for responding and thanks for contributing to the civil rights movement which at least temporarily made the US into a nicer place to live. I don`t doubt the spirit of that time lives on in most people there.
You are right, David. I've been writing this from the beginning. Ken Martin lost the whole state of MN (my state) to the GOP. In business he would have been fired. But in the old boys network, he got promoted, got a raise, and kicked out everyone (like yourself) you might have threatened his position and exposed his incompetence. But now he is exposing it all himself. You can't hide stupidity forever.
What are you talking about??? We’ve had Democratic governors in Minnesota since 2011, with Dem majorities in both houses for a few congressional sessions, and Dems accomplished a lot of progressive goals legislatively while Ken Martin was the DFL chair. He also turned around the DFL’s fundraising, while the MN GOP’s fundraising became a joke. Nothing you wrote is true
The superdelegates put Hillary over the top of Bernie. Out with the superdelegates. By the way, do they get their personal vote, and then an added vote through the DNC?
I volunteered for a candidate who would have benefited from your endorsement. How do I submit names for consideration in future?
Otherwise, you guys are tearing it up! I'm watching your good works and cheering you on. Thank you, David, for all you're doing. The establishment derserves every death knell that rings them out. And thank you, Zeteo, for publishing this piece.
I've had your back on a long ActBlue monthly David. They should have kept you to right rhe floungering ship and sent the clueless Martin packing. This old fart has out progressived every Progressive since 1956. bird doging precincts for Adlai Stevenson. I'm in it for life and back you 110%
Progressive leftists have a curse, much like Cassandra of Greek myth… we can see the truth of things, we can (in a way) know what will happen in the future, and yet no one ever listens to us.
And now many of us are predicting that unless the Democratic Party turns itself into a formidable opposition to MAGA and the GOP, we will soon be ruled by people much worse than Trump and his current regime.
If the dems don’t go in strongly against the rampant lawlessness and corruption of the Trump regime, and investigate and PUNISH those involved in his crime spree, if there are no repercussions for this abhorrent criminality… our country is done.
If they “look forward and not backward” to pretend to “unify” like Obama did after W’s reign of war crimes, and let the mob bosses and Menegele’s of Trump’s regime off the hook, we are in deep sh*t.
And if there are no practical and enforceable reforms to prevent a violent, fascist thug from taking over, raiding our treasury, and destroying our country and constitution, the next GOP candidate will make us wish for the halcyon days of Trump’s small-time fascist cosplay.
Someone will come along as psychopathic and corrupt as Trump, but smarter and more efficient and we will be absolutely over.
As an 82 year old, I agree wholeheartedly with your article. I am tired of spending what is left of my life watching things we accomplished being destroyed with little or no pushback from establishment Democrats, other than strongly worded letters. There is so much more to be done.
David Hogg and the younger voters know the Democratic Establishment is either out of touch with the American public or just doesn't care what the public wants. Maybe this is because most of the Democratic leadership is even older than I am (75) or, again, they just don't care about anything but their corporate donors and AIPAC.
I used to consider myself a moderate liberal, but the pervasive inhumanity throughout our political system and the obscene influence of big money on both establishment parties have pushed me left beyond Progressive. The Democratic Socialist message speaks to the desires of most Americans across both parties.
The Democratic leadership needs to wake up and realize most of us believe they are too similar to Republicans and are concerned about only their own power. Most of us Democrats don't care what they think, and that's why we don't donate to the DNC or the DCCC anymore. We donate to the candidates who understand what we want from our government and will fight for it.
Perhaps it is because we are getting to the end of our for sale date that we feel so strongly. We have watched the things we have given our lives to broken ( a nod to Kipling) and know we do not have much time left to rebuild. I will be gone but worry about the world I am leaving my sons and grandchildren. Someone once asked why a group of us (part of our PTA) fought so hard to for money and programs for all of the schools not just ours. As we pointed out that all the children needed the same opportunities as ours or what kind of society would we leave them.
Kathleen, you are a shining example of the foundational difference between America's two main political parties: you believe that everyone deserves the same opportunities to build a good life, and a worthwhile government ensures those opportunities are available to everyone. Sadly, we can look around today and see the class-divided society of misinformed, distrustful, hate-filled, fearful people that results from a government that refuses to do that.
Exactly, I’m a 72 year old “boomer” and I agree wholeheartedly with Mr Hogg. Democrat establishment is definitely eating at the same trough as Republicans. We need fresh representatives who understand that when the working class is more prosperous the entire country is more prosperous. I have no problem with David Hogg and his generation stepping up and taking over for Schumer and Co. We will all be better for it.
I as well — I’m a 75 year old boomer (always a progressive, now rabid!) who is utterly disgusted with the corporate dems who are as corrupt and feckless as the republicans. Corruption appears to be completely acceptable, our representatives are too comfortable and only care for protecting their cushy status quo, so nobody has a spine… (With a few notable exceptions — and we all know who they are, and thank god they are still fighting). I am outraged to see the rights won during my lifetime disintegrating, and the future we thought would benefit our kids and grandkids disappeared. I love the vision and the fire of the young candidates, the engagement of their efforts building community and providing a roadmap for real change. I am supporting (individually) as many of the new visionaries and change-makers as possible & am thankful for young men like David Hogg. It is appalling to hear Ken Martin (yawn) doling out the same BS. The house is on fire - the world is on fire. Stop clutching pearls and being concerned. Fight, goddamnit. And it’s their world, so they ought to have a big hand in shaping it! 🤯
73 years old here! And I agree with you 100%, Kathleen. I may not have a lot of cash, but I am supporting Leaders We Deserve and a number of progressives with what I can spare. We need strong new leadership in the Democratic Party. We need enthusiastic, smart people who aren’t afraid to rock the boat and do what’s right for the majority of Americans, not just a few corrupt billionaires who are building their obscene wealth on the backs of the rest of us. Above all we want leaders who will lead with integrity, transparency, and accountability. And we need it NOW!💙
Perhaps we need a Candidate Hogg.
He has much more impact where he is!
Bravo young man! For you 100%! I’m old and you and your ilk give me hope for our country.
The "leaders" of the Democratic party are entrenched and complacent. They need to be replaced with people who have some "fire in the belly."
I noticed this firsthand while canvassing for Abdul. ---> "It turns out that a focused affordability message, moral clarity, and a commitment to not being bought motivates voters across the political spectrum."
I noticed that too(phone banker, though, not canvassing since I live in CA). What really frosts me is that the dinosaur Dems lined up behind Stevens who was a lousy candidate from day one: spending money on her to defeat El-Sayed and now those dollars are not available for Abdul to defeat the Republican. How stupid was that? Does Ken Martin ever look at his own track record and ask himself, "Maybe I should stop listening to Chuck and Kirsten???"
Yes. And now the money that AIPAC and other right-wing PAC’s donated to Stevens expressly to defeat El-Sayed will be transferred to Rogers, the candidate these organizations favored all along. But a lot of these “moderate” (read right-wing) Democrats would rather have Republicans win than lose their billionaire and corporate donors and the lifestyles that go with it. What El-Sayed said about Stevens is also true of these old prostitutes. If you have to spend $60 million on an election, maybe you’re not electable on your own merits. These corrupt politicians are certainly not being elected because of their policies and their (lack of) accomplishments in office. (Oh, I forgot. They are making sure Israel gets what it needs. Pay to play).
It seems that for quite some time the DNC has been skilled at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. In retrospect, I wonder if it was on purpose, due to shared corporate donors.
It's why we have conserva-Dems as our Senators in CA. The DNC made sure progressives were not on the ballot through some super hinky maneuvers. I wish we could clone Dr. El-Sayed for California and have true progressive voices representing us(the 4th largest economy in the world)in Congress.
Great article. This is spot on.
if only the DNC had listened to david, when they have the chance[to that degree they have only themselfs to blame], then they wouldnt be giving themselfs heartattacks now, at a emerging socialist scene....but the DNC has made a habit about not wanting to change...anything...and now it is too late, change is coming whether they wish it or not :(
Could not agree more! EVERYONE is sick of old white guys making other old white guys rich. There should be term limits on amassing greed and power. Here is a link of how I was talking about it day before yesterday. Don't worry, it is only six minutes long. The piles of crap we have all around us do no really need a lot of studying to realize they are crap. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GiPJtGJ8V/
I am NOT sick of old white guys. I’m sick of conservatives.
Congrats for missing the point. It's not conservatives vs. old white guys, it's old whote guys vs. social democrats.
Absolutely not.
It’s conservatives vs. social democrats/progressives.
Age is NOT the issue.
They are not even conservatives. They are MAGA
All of the people I oppose are not MAGA. Some are just run-of-the-mill conservatives. They still don’t support the world I want.
I find the ultra right so much more destructive.
The farther right they are, the more destructive, but I still oppose all conservatives.
Hillary Clinton is very much an old white guy too. So much for women`s liberation.
Right. Identity politics is an establishment Democratic Party trope. I used to get Hogg’s emails when he was still at the DNC. All they talked about was electing younger people. He never said a word about policies. Had he said then what he’s saying here about funding the killing and maiming of children, I would have supported him. One of his young colleagues at the DNC did take an early stand on Gaza and introduced a resolution proposing an embargo on arms. The DNC voted the proposal down, through no fault of the young staffer (who, unlike Hogg, still works for the organization). I don’t vote for anyone because of her or his age, gender, race, religion or ethnicity. Nor do I exclude anyone on those grounds. Hogg should have focused on policies and not identities early on.
And that goes for Mehdi on occasion, too. At a DC event Medhi hosted, he actually said that people over 50 “don’t care about Black and brown people.” He was obviously talking about white people over 50, as I doubt he was talking about “self-hating” people of color. He clearly dismissed all of us who worked in the civil rights movement, helping get laws passed and wars ended. Those of us who protested in front of the South African Embassy to end apartheid and the U.S.’s support for it. The comment was both ageist and racist, and very much aligned with the Democratic Party’s successful division of its constituents by identities so they don’t unite to demand something different. I embrace the young who align with my principles. Every candidate to whose campaign i have contributed is younger than I. But that’s not why I support them.
One would think that the civil rights movement would not be so easily forgotten; it is not in such a distant past and Americans who have lived in the US for a generation or two would at least have relatives who went through it. Mehdi not being one of those. Not me either. I was born in the US to Norwegian immigrant parents (I like using this line to counter the idea that most immigrants are dark-skinned). Anyway, I moved to Norway in 2008 after reading The Shock Doctrine among other reasons. No regrets, though Norway too has spine-less leaders who are afraid to stand up to the fascists currently polluting our world. Anyway, thanks for responding and thanks for contributing to the civil rights movement which at least temporarily made the US into a nicer place to live. I don`t doubt the spirit of that time lives on in most people there.
Thank you. I have plans to visit Norway next year — for the first time.
I hope you enjoy it! Just come prepared for all kinds of weather.
I love Norway, especially dancing Telespringar!!!
You are right, David. I've been writing this from the beginning. Ken Martin lost the whole state of MN (my state) to the GOP. In business he would have been fired. But in the old boys network, he got promoted, got a raise, and kicked out everyone (like yourself) you might have threatened his position and exposed his incompetence. But now he is exposing it all himself. You can't hide stupidity forever.
What are you talking about??? We’ve had Democratic governors in Minnesota since 2011, with Dem majorities in both houses for a few congressional sessions, and Dems accomplished a lot of progressive goals legislatively while Ken Martin was the DFL chair. He also turned around the DFL’s fundraising, while the MN GOP’s fundraising became a joke. Nothing you wrote is true
Check the stats.
I know the stats and I live here, I know what happened in MN while Ken Martin led the DFL.
I am not a young person, but this is the moment I’ve been hoping/waiting for my entire life.
We would not be in the mess we are today if the Democrat establishment had not forced Clinton on us in 2016. Bernie would have beaten Trump easily.
Keep up the good work!! Some old folks are solidly in your corner.
The superdelegates put Hillary over the top of Bernie. Out with the superdelegates. By the way, do they get their personal vote, and then an added vote through the DNC?
I volunteered for a candidate who would have benefited from your endorsement. How do I submit names for consideration in future?
Otherwise, you guys are tearing it up! I'm watching your good works and cheering you on. Thank you, David, for all you're doing. The establishment derserves every death knell that rings them out. And thank you, Zeteo, for publishing this piece.
Thank you for your stellar work, David, from another boomer who supports progressives and dem socialists who can't be bought.
Well said, people are hungry for this kind of moral clarity!
I've had your back on a long ActBlue monthly David. They should have kept you to right rhe floungering ship and sent the clueless Martin packing. This old fart has out progressived every Progressive since 1956. bird doging precincts for Adlai Stevenson. I'm in it for life and back you 110%
Thank you Mr. Hogg for doing the hard work behind the scenes to defend American democracy ❤️
Progressive leftists have a curse, much like Cassandra of Greek myth… we can see the truth of things, we can (in a way) know what will happen in the future, and yet no one ever listens to us.
And now many of us are predicting that unless the Democratic Party turns itself into a formidable opposition to MAGA and the GOP, we will soon be ruled by people much worse than Trump and his current regime.
If the dems don’t go in strongly against the rampant lawlessness and corruption of the Trump regime, and investigate and PUNISH those involved in his crime spree, if there are no repercussions for this abhorrent criminality… our country is done.
If they “look forward and not backward” to pretend to “unify” like Obama did after W’s reign of war crimes, and let the mob bosses and Menegele’s of Trump’s regime off the hook, we are in deep sh*t.
And if there are no practical and enforceable reforms to prevent a violent, fascist thug from taking over, raiding our treasury, and destroying our country and constitution, the next GOP candidate will make us wish for the halcyon days of Trump’s small-time fascist cosplay.
Someone will come along as psychopathic and corrupt as Trump, but smarter and more efficient and we will be absolutely over.