So, The Top Comments March Issues Poll was wildly successful. What started as a whim turned into some really excellent Daily Kos conversation. Truly one of the best I have been part of in some time. This is the promised deep dive into the results. Definitely a long diary. The original diary stated the following intentions.
Goes without saying. United front going into November 2020. All hands on deck: knocking doors, registering voters, donating money, and making sure that everyone you know who can vote does vote. For the Democrat.
FULL STOP
So let’s for a second imagine a future day, roughly 600 days from now, when we all wake up from the longest, greatest party the Democrats have ever had.
On that day, the most important work will be to make sure that we observe a peaceful transition of power.
The president-elect will have to worry about the transition plans. We will all have other things to do.
Now, set another day in your mind. This day comes roughly 75 later and we will convene on the National Mall to watch another Democratic president take the Oath of Office. At 12:01. the new president will begin the hard work of undoing the Trumpster Fire.
Okay. You have these two days firmly set in your imagination? Good. What do we do first?
I’m just curious where the community is on this. Feel free to elaborate in the comments.
Go ahead and scroll to the Pictures first (ahem Zen Trainer) and come back for the analysis.
But first, a word from our sponsors ...
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What I was hoping for from this poll
To be honest, this whole thing sprang from a desire to understand how much we agree on as kossacks. Without being too pretentious, I am now hoping to be able to piece together some sort of kossack platform to help us focus on the political road ahead. This primary could go off the rails very quickly and I wanted to have something to say that, on this day at least, we all pretty much agreed on these few things.
So this was almost a cry into the wilderness in the greatest diary posting tradition of them all. I just thought I would ask a question. The initial response was so good that I decided to make it part of the Top Comments series. The quick first look of the diary appeared last Sunday night.
Yes, I got what I wanted from this poll. We came together and discussed grand ideas and priorities in a passionate yet dignified fashion. That poll diary represents what we are capable of when we are focused and unified. My hope is that we can come together like that again and again going into 2020.
The issue of prosecuting the Trump mafia with RICO
This came up a few times in the diary. The issue received some very strong support in the comments. I think that if we can roll up the sub issues of money in politics and voting rights reform into this then it might just be the first thing kossacks want to see done. As such I have combined them into one poll answer labeled “fighting back against corruption”.
In my personal opinion this is what House Dems should be doing all day every day. There is no doubt in my mind that a singular focus to pointing out every dark trick and every dark dollar spent in the Trump campaign would practically cement a golden age of Democratic politics. And overturning Citizens United and abolishing the Electoral College should be tracks one and two in this fight.
The issue of Climate Change
Far and away the clear winner of this poll. At one point it had received 65% of the vote and it settled around 50%. It has been pointed out to me that there might have been a primacy effect on the poll. As a result, “climate change” will remain in the poll but the order will be randomized.
The issue of Healthcare
Much like the phrase “universal healthcare”, this option could potentially mean different things to different people. This is potentially true even among those who voted for healthcare in the poll. Therefore, the healthcare option will be split up into a couple of different categories. These will range from Medicare for All (M4A) to Medicare Plus, M4A’s dumber, more GOP cousin. I would like to see how the different approaches break down in the follow up poll.
The Immigration issue
Immigration got very few votes and I’m not surprised. The issue means something different for us than it does with the GOP. To them it basically means keep out the brown people. To us it means undoing the damage done by the GOP on the issue. I am going to assume that those who did vote for immigration had reversing the GOP damage on this issue in mind.
So I’m going to consider this an almost universally agreed upon issue and retire the option from tonight’s poll. I may be wrong. But this is the assumption I’m working under.
The Education issue
Education also received just a handful of votes. I am equally unsurprised. For similar reasons stated above, as well as the long term nature of education efforts, this option will also be removed from tonight’s poll.
The pie option
This was the most surprising thing I actually came across in this poll. It seems that pie may finally be so old, or the community grown so large, that no one really understands the old timers’ use of pie in a poll. I covered a brief history of pie in last Sunday's Top Comments.
THE USE OF PIE
This is just a best guess as for proper usage. It is snark. It is whimsical. It is pure Daily Kos. It’s one of those things that defines our community. For me personally, the use of pie in a poll means one of two things. The first is to indicate it is a silly poll and I invite you to be a non conformist. The second is to give an option that says I Voted None of the Above and Here’s Why.
With that out of the way, this section deals with the options suggested in the comments that I missed in the original poll. The discussion was fabulous and addressed issues large and small. There were even several suggestions that came with funding sources. Bonus points for thinking about how to pay for it.
Subverting White Supremacy, Poverty, and Overturning the Patriarchy
These three issues intersect at an interesting place. I purposely divided them in the first poll to see how the polling broke down. I don’t vote in my own polls but I would have had a very difficult time choosing between these three. These issues, considered together, fall under the broad penumbra of anti-capitalism. Surely it is a challenging word but it covers the things some are trying to bring to our system pretty broadly.
Maybe you are a staunch capitalist. That’s fine with me. But, do you believe in things like Universal Healthcare and anti monopolistic government regulations? Well, you’re halfway there and that’s good enough for me as far of the rest of this discussion goes.
The most important word here is “intersectional”. It’s about an approach to rebalance our society and our economic system. It hinges on a focus on the margins of our society and the forces that keep people there. In other words, systemic problems that need to be addressed in conjunction with each other to alleviate the side effects of capitalism as practiced in the US today. As such, this option in the poll will be called “intersectional socio economic equality”.
Tonight’s Poll
After the success of this first poll, we are going to offer a followup tonight. I will compare the first poll to this one tomorrow night on Top Comments. Who knows? Maybe it will be more of the same. Which, cool, short diary. Maybe it will show some differences in outcome with the new options either added or subdivided.
Oh, and randomization. We’re going to give that a shot too.
Thanks for stopping by. On to the stuff you really came for ...
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Note: Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
TOP COMMENTS
from your humble diarist:
VelvetElvis decided you need to see some Bill Hicks tonight. (NSFW!)
speaking of NSFW, aoeu surprised the hell out of me with this one.
amygdala starts a great thread about arguing with the right wing in the diary by Walter Einenkel that shared research about the link between a higher minimum wage and better metal health outcomes.
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, March 22, 2019, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
Top Pictures for yesterday, March 22, 2019. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter! btw, anyone know how jotter is doing?
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sadly this pooch doesn’t have permission to be out this late
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too bad, he was really cute playing in the mud like that
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