Joe Zissman
@jzissman.bsky.social
It's literally this. He's the meme.
a man in a suit and tie is making a funny face and asking who 's your daddy ?
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is making a funny face and asking who 's your daddy ?
media.tenor.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:59 PM
It's literally this. He's the meme.
I realize we're focusing on Schumer, but the top five positions are also held by Dems. Between this and YouGov's similar findings, "find another Barack Obama" would seem to be a strong approach for 2028... the challenge is whether people want inspiring 2008 Obama or competent/moderate 2012 Obama.
November 18, 2025 at 2:49 PM
I realize we're focusing on Schumer, but the top five positions are also held by Dems. Between this and YouGov's similar findings, "find another Barack Obama" would seem to be a strong approach for 2028... the challenge is whether people want inspiring 2008 Obama or competent/moderate 2012 Obama.
The "1/95" is the chef's kiss on this.
November 14, 2025 at 2:32 PM
The "1/95" is the chef's kiss on this.
To a less dramatic extent you could say the same about Biden and Harris. It wasn't just that Trump killed the compromise bill. The Left should own the moral absolute - immigration is good and migrants and refugees deserve our help - and stop looking like wimps or half-measures. It has never worked.
November 13, 2025 at 3:36 PM
To a less dramatic extent you could say the same about Biden and Harris. It wasn't just that Trump killed the compromise bill. The Left should own the moral absolute - immigration is good and migrants and refugees deserve our help - and stop looking like wimps or half-measures. It has never worked.
This seems petty now, but isn't that what college is all about?
dailynorthwestern.com/2009/04/07/a...
dailynorthwestern.com/2009/04/07/a...
Pulte Campaign Violates ASG's Campus Publicity Guidelines
Chalk ads for ASG presidential candidate Bill Pulte cluttered the entrance to the Technological Institute on Tuesday, in clear violation of the campus publicity guidelines for ASG campaigns. The ads, ...
dailynorthwestern.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:55 PM
This seems petty now, but isn't that what college is all about?
dailynorthwestern.com/2009/04/07/a...
dailynorthwestern.com/2009/04/07/a...
I was voting against Bill Pulte in a student government election in 2008. He cheated and lost anyway.
November 12, 2025 at 11:49 PM
I was voting against Bill Pulte in a student government election in 2008. He cheated and lost anyway.
I think there's a lot of people who really wanted to believe that any Democratic candidate in 2024 wasn't doomed, in part because you can't just give up on a whole election if you're in politics, but also because Trump's return has always been obviously (to us) apocalyptic for the country.
November 7, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I think there's a lot of people who really wanted to believe that any Democratic candidate in 2024 wasn't doomed, in part because you can't just give up on a whole election if you're in politics, but also because Trump's return has always been obviously (to us) apocalyptic for the country.
Isn't this true of any CEO, or for that matter, anyone who gets paid in stock? If I own 1% of my company, and my actions contribute to its being worth 100 trillion dollars someday, my take would be a trillion. Doesn't make it likely.
November 6, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Isn't this true of any CEO, or for that matter, anyone who gets paid in stock? If I own 1% of my company, and my actions contribute to its being worth 100 trillion dollars someday, my take would be a trillion. Doesn't make it likely.
It didn't happen primarily because the Supreme Court gave Trump immunity, and Biden was elected in 2020 to manage covid, which he did.
October 30, 2025 at 7:09 PM
It didn't happen primarily because the Supreme Court gave Trump immunity, and Biden was elected in 2020 to manage covid, which he did.
Why do we keep blaming Democrats for things Trump has done wrong? Framing like this places Trump in the power position and implies that if he's not prevented from doing bad things by others, then it's fair game for him to do them. He's the one breaking his oath. It's his fault. Blame him.
October 30, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Why do we keep blaming Democrats for things Trump has done wrong? Framing like this places Trump in the power position and implies that if he's not prevented from doing bad things by others, then it's fair game for him to do them. He's the one breaking his oath. It's his fault. Blame him.
No, because after Obama won those folks in 2008 the GOP successfully convinced their voters (a) that Dems look down at them, and (b) to adopt ever-more bonkers offensive beliefs to ensure that we actually DO look down at them. Baldwin, maybe Walz can still overcome this, but Harris had no chance.
October 30, 2025 at 2:21 PM
No, because after Obama won those folks in 2008 the GOP successfully convinced their voters (a) that Dems look down at them, and (b) to adopt ever-more bonkers offensive beliefs to ensure that we actually DO look down at them. Baldwin, maybe Walz can still overcome this, but Harris had no chance.
Unless what you meant is that you would need to validate your sincerity in fighting corruption outside the Party to Is and Rs by (softly) purging and reforming the party at the same time.
October 29, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Unless what you meant is that you would need to validate your sincerity in fighting corruption outside the Party to Is and Rs by (softly) purging and reforming the party at the same time.
I'd go further and say they're more than just related. Sanders didn't call Hillary corporatist, he called her corrupt, which inspired Trump to call her crooked. Corruption is fundamentally just the unfair concentration and abuse of money and power. "Corrupt", as a bad thing, is very broad.
October 29, 2025 at 9:02 PM
I'd go further and say they're more than just related. Sanders didn't call Hillary corporatist, he called her corrupt, which inspired Trump to call her crooked. Corruption is fundamentally just the unfair concentration and abuse of money and power. "Corrupt", as a bad thing, is very broad.
The progressives did this before, though... you can be the party that hates the banks that foreclose on the farmers while also being the party that hates the abusive urban factory owners... the through line of resolving unfairness works everywhere in a Gilded Age.
October 29, 2025 at 8:51 PM
The progressives did this before, though... you can be the party that hates the banks that foreclose on the farmers while also being the party that hates the abusive urban factory owners... the through line of resolving unfairness works everywhere in a Gilded Age.
I was taking off the "new dimensions" part, though. The parties are currently set on completely definitive axes - liberal-conservative, urban-rural, socialist-authoritarian. If you can't reverse the nationalization trend, can you redefine around a concept that can just mean many things as needed?
October 29, 2025 at 8:48 PM
I was taking off the "new dimensions" part, though. The parties are currently set on completely definitive axes - liberal-conservative, urban-rural, socialist-authoritarian. If you can't reverse the nationalization trend, can you redefine around a concept that can just mean many things as needed?
Wouldn't it be deeper, though? A candidate couldn't just run on these things, the party as a whole would need to be identified with them. I really hope "anti-corruption" catches on, because I think "corruption" can mean a lot of different things in different contexts and races.
October 29, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Wouldn't it be deeper, though? A candidate couldn't just run on these things, the party as a whole would need to be identified with them. I really hope "anti-corruption" catches on, because I think "corruption" can mean a lot of different things in different contexts and races.
"Yes, I saw that iceberg too, but the people really want to focus on how great the band sounds on the Promenade Deck..."
October 27, 2025 at 8:59 PM
"Yes, I saw that iceberg too, but the people really want to focus on how great the band sounds on the Promenade Deck..."
By making an argument at all? Every argument actually advanced on immigration is a GOP one - close the border, deport, etc. Dems don't contest the debate by saying immigration is good or that we should let more people in... why would anyone pick the half-assed version of the same thing?
October 27, 2025 at 7:57 PM
By making an argument at all? Every argument actually advanced on immigration is a GOP one - close the border, deport, etc. Dems don't contest the debate by saying immigration is good or that we should let more people in... why would anyone pick the half-assed version of the same thing?
How would immigration have a positive impact on public safety, though? You can formulate a way, sure, but it's much easier to see how immigrants would improve culture or the economy than public safety. There, it's intuitively negative impact or no impact, which matters when we're talking net.
October 27, 2025 at 7:46 PM
How would immigration have a positive impact on public safety, though? You can formulate a way, sure, but it's much easier to see how immigrants would improve culture or the economy than public safety. There, it's intuitively negative impact or no impact, which matters when we're talking net.
What this work actually suggests to me is that framing your arguments matters a ton, so you should probably be trying to figure out how to tie progressive policies to common values to make them popular rather than demonstrating how much people hate them when they're worded in the worst possible way.
October 27, 2025 at 6:47 PM
What this work actually suggests to me is that framing your arguments matters a ton, so you should probably be trying to figure out how to tie progressive policies to common values to make them popular rather than demonstrating how much people hate them when they're worded in the worst possible way.
Reading through this, I can't help but notice that the Democratic policies at the bottom of the list are mostly GOP smears or misstatements - they claim Congressional Democrats tried to fully ban police and prisons, for instance - while the Republican ones are Project 2025 planks or Trump policies.
October 27, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Reading through this, I can't help but notice that the Democratic policies at the bottom of the list are mostly GOP smears or misstatements - they claim Congressional Democrats tried to fully ban police and prisons, for instance - while the Republican ones are Project 2025 planks or Trump policies.
That sounds more like kleptocracy than autocracy. Trump as more Yeltsin than Putin. No mandate, fundamentally weak, but propped up by oligarchs and mafia bosses who personally profit from his holding power.
October 24, 2025 at 10:45 PM
That sounds more like kleptocracy than autocracy. Trump as more Yeltsin than Putin. No mandate, fundamentally weak, but propped up by oligarchs and mafia bosses who personally profit from his holding power.
Some context for this: at its peak, the American Protective League (a precedent for current DHS enforcers) claimed 250,000 members between 1917 and 1919, a time in which the US population passed 100 million. It's 340M now, and they're at 20% of the interest. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America...
American Protective League - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 24, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Some context for this: at its peak, the American Protective League (a precedent for current DHS enforcers) claimed 250,000 members between 1917 and 1919, a time in which the US population passed 100 million. It's 340M now, and they're at 20% of the interest. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America...
I think that's partially because Trump in his first term was still pretending he was a populist, so the elites weren't feeling as personally served and benefited by him. He's transitioned to a complete oligarch/kleptocrat in term 2. Elites aren't objecting because this time they know he's their guy.
October 24, 2025 at 2:30 PM
I think that's partially because Trump in his first term was still pretending he was a populist, so the elites weren't feeling as personally served and benefited by him. He's transitioned to a complete oligarch/kleptocrat in term 2. Elites aren't objecting because this time they know he's their guy.