Vienna Teng
@viennateng.bsky.social
Songwriter and hopepunk climate nerd. Whateverworksist. Holding two truths in my head at the same time. Incapable of shitposting.
No. 31 when I checked it just now! 🚀 Congrats!
May 14, 2025 at 9:05 PM
No. 31 when I checked it just now! 🚀 Congrats!
Ooh you're doing deep canvassing! Yes, super interested in what those conversations reveal.
(While I'm here, a hearty +1 to a recent repost of yours: "I'm not interested in Democrats winning, I'm interested in democracy winning")
(While I'm here, a hearty +1 to a recent repost of yours: "I'm not interested in Democrats winning, I'm interested in democracy winning")
March 26, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Ooh you're doing deep canvassing! Yes, super interested in what those conversations reveal.
(While I'm here, a hearty +1 to a recent repost of yours: "I'm not interested in Democrats winning, I'm interested in democracy winning")
(While I'm here, a hearty +1 to a recent repost of yours: "I'm not interested in Democrats winning, I'm interested in democracy winning")
Great points. I guess I'm wondering if there's a c) revisit Democratic priorities/approaches/etc along with that? The "I didn't love voting for this but Dems/progressives are worse" sentiment is a real thing. Maybe that's entirely perception due to poor media infrastructure, but I doubt it.
March 25, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Great points. I guess I'm wondering if there's a c) revisit Democratic priorities/approaches/etc along with that? The "I didn't love voting for this but Dems/progressives are worse" sentiment is a real thing. Maybe that's entirely perception due to poor media infrastructure, but I doubt it.
I totally hear you. (Big hug for the exhaustion!) It's a pragmatic thing for me - I absolutely wish the American public were different, that it rewarded different behavior, that its attention were calibrated differently. But to get real things done, we have confront reality & seek to understand it.
February 28, 2025 at 3:09 PM
I totally hear you. (Big hug for the exhaustion!) It's a pragmatic thing for me - I absolutely wish the American public were different, that it rewarded different behavior, that its attention were calibrated differently. But to get real things done, we have confront reality & seek to understand it.
Not at all - thanks for the conversation! 😊
February 28, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Not at all - thanks for the conversation! 😊
Good question - I know the analyses of House candidates by Split Ticket are designed to separate candidate quality from the fundamentals of a race that year. Can't speak for the other data. But the Trumpward shift precedes 2020 and Biden, too. split-ticket.org/2025/01/15/o...
Our 2024 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) Models
Today, we’re releasing our 2024 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) candidate quality models, for both the House and the Senate. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, here’s a brief primer: our mo…
split-ticket.org
February 28, 2025 at 4:07 AM
Good question - I know the analyses of House candidates by Split Ticket are designed to separate candidate quality from the fundamentals of a race that year. Can't speak for the other data. But the Trumpward shift precedes 2020 and Biden, too. split-ticket.org/2025/01/15/o...
I think @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social makes a trenchant point that victim-blaming & gaslighting is a pernicious tendency, and we shouldn't buy into it. But I don't think that lets us off the hook for figuring out how to win *in the current context* - because that's ultimately how victim-blaming ends.
February 27, 2025 at 9:08 PM
I think @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social makes a trenchant point that victim-blaming & gaslighting is a pernicious tendency, and we shouldn't buy into it. But I don't think that lets us off the hook for figuring out how to win *in the current context* - because that's ultimately how victim-blaming ends.
Much credit to orgs like this, which provide incredible tools & trainings for empathetic convos:
"Deep canvassing is the only scientifically proven method to influence constituents by using empathy and understanding to bridge gaps across differences."
deepcanvass.org
"Deep canvassing is the only scientifically proven method to influence constituents by using empathy and understanding to bridge gaps across differences."
deepcanvass.org
Deep Canvass Institute – People's Action | New Conversation Initiative
deepcanvass.org
February 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Much credit to orgs like this, which provide incredible tools & trainings for empathetic convos:
"Deep canvassing is the only scientifically proven method to influence constituents by using empathy and understanding to bridge gaps across differences."
deepcanvass.org
"Deep canvassing is the only scientifically proven method to influence constituents by using empathy and understanding to bridge gaps across differences."
deepcanvass.org
My two cents: just re-focusing on persuading the persuadable is a big shift for many folks, and one that would make a big difference.
Showing curiosity about someone's point of view first, without arguing one's own, is powerful. Right there you've created a different impression of progressives.
Showing curiosity about someone's point of view first, without arguing one's own, is powerful. Right there you've created a different impression of progressives.
February 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
My two cents: just re-focusing on persuading the persuadable is a big shift for many folks, and one that would make a big difference.
Showing curiosity about someone's point of view first, without arguing one's own, is powerful. Right there you've created a different impression of progressives.
Showing curiosity about someone's point of view first, without arguing one's own, is powerful. Right there you've created a different impression of progressives.
I agree it's absurd to blame progressives for the cruelties of Trumpism. Yet we are still losing the argument - against Trumpism, and against moderate politics.
There are simply too many people who aren't with us (yet). So...how do we persuade them? And...what are we missing, that we should amend?
There are simply too many people who aren't with us (yet). So...how do we persuade them? And...what are we missing, that we should amend?
February 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
I agree it's absurd to blame progressives for the cruelties of Trumpism. Yet we are still losing the argument - against Trumpism, and against moderate politics.
There are simply too many people who aren't with us (yet). So...how do we persuade them? And...what are we missing, that we should amend?
There are simply too many people who aren't with us (yet). So...how do we persuade them? And...what are we missing, that we should amend?
Justice Democrats + Our Revolution House candidates underperformed last November (as did MAGA candidates), while Blue Dogs overperformed. We groan about milquetoast moderate pandering, but progressivism is losing voters where it matters most. Why?
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
February 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Justice Democrats + Our Revolution House candidates underperformed last November (as did MAGA candidates), while Blue Dogs overperformed. We groan about milquetoast moderate pandering, but progressivism is losing voters where it matters most. Why?
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Democrats gained *affluent & white voters* while losing share of *every other demographic* from 2020 to 2024. Enough Black, Hispanic, female, and young people voted for Trump, or stayed home, to usher in what we're living through now.
Why? Should we not have some humble curiosity about this?
Why? Should we not have some humble curiosity about this?
February 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Democrats gained *affluent & white voters* while losing share of *every other demographic* from 2020 to 2024. Enough Black, Hispanic, female, and young people voted for Trump, or stayed home, to usher in what we're living through now.
Why? Should we not have some humble curiosity about this?
Why? Should we not have some humble curiosity about this?
February 27, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I think we agree. I wasn't saying try to win back MAGA. I was saying let's win back the people cautiously optimistic about this administration (whether they voted for them or not).
The truly disengaged are worth pursuing too, but that seems like a heavier lift than those already following politics.
The truly disengaged are worth pursuing too, but that seems like a heavier lift than those already following politics.
February 26, 2025 at 5:44 PM
I think we agree. I wasn't saying try to win back MAGA. I was saying let's win back the people cautiously optimistic about this administration (whether they voted for them or not).
The truly disengaged are worth pursuing too, but that seems like a heavier lift than those already following politics.
The truly disengaged are worth pursuing too, but that seems like a heavier lift than those already following politics.
It's a good question whether to focus on the non-voters vs. the swing voters, but <insert "why not both?" emoji> Plus we don't always know who becomes which from one election to the next anyway.
February 26, 2025 at 3:38 PM
It's a good question whether to focus on the non-voters vs. the swing voters, but <insert "why not both?" emoji> Plus we don't always know who becomes which from one election to the next anyway.
I think there are a lot of commonalities between people who stayed home & the people who aren't MAGA but cast a vote with them anyway just to see what would happen. Fed up with the system as is, need to see something fresh if they're going to vote affirmatively for anything.
February 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
I think there are a lot of commonalities between people who stayed home & the people who aren't MAGA but cast a vote with them anyway just to see what would happen. Fed up with the system as is, need to see something fresh if they're going to vote affirmatively for anything.
I mean, in the near term it's probably just about hitting low-information voters with new scary messages to get them to vote against what's happening. But I hope we can do more than just swing the pendulum around.
February 26, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I mean, in the near term it's probably just about hitting low-information voters with new scary messages to get them to vote against what's happening. But I hope we can do more than just swing the pendulum around.