Connecting Daily Kos Management to Workers

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Saturday January 21, 2023 · 3:56 PM PST

2023/01/21 · 15:56

Some of you might have noticed the diary from the Daily Kos Guild about layoffs amongst the union staff. This was the first that I had heard about financial problems with the site. Despite any number of differences that I have had with Daily Kos over the 16 or so years that I have posted here I want the best for the site, and for all workers.

Having little experience with media, and no experience with Daily Kos’s operations, I can’t really comment intelligently on the merits of either side’s position.

The only thing I can do is encourage management to meet with the staff and try to find a better solution to the issues.

So, I’m sharing the Guild’s petition below and hoping that you will support that position as well, and share.

actionnetwork.org/…

Maybe there is a better way forward.

2020 Isn't Going to be Easy

tigercourse

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Friday January 31, 2020 · 6:13 AM PST

2020/01/31 · 06:13

I’m going to keep this diary short and bitter.

There seems to be a prevailing feeling around here that the 2020 election is likely to go well for us. “Any of our candidates can win”, “The polls look great for us,” “Trump is so screwed/scared/whatever” are all things (paraphrased) that I read here constantly.

People honestly seem to believe we are polling well. They believe that Trump’s approval numbers are low. I think this is because of all of the very positive front page diaries. Positivity is great. Excess positivity simply creates a bubble..

We are not polling well. Trump’s approval numbers are not low. Our candidates are polling worse than Hillary Clinton was 4 years ago. Our strongest candidate, Biden, is only polling slightly better than Clinton’s aggregate polling the day of the 2016 election. Clinton lost. Tump’s approval numbers have improved over the medium term and since the beginning of impeachment.

None of our candidates have really been attacked yet. Some are as untouched as the surface of Mars by human boots. Hundreds of millions of dollars of attack adds have not been run against them. The Russians haven’t jumped in. Comey hasn’t said “boo”. Trump has not yet begun to fight. And we’re polling at a mere 4% over Trump, at best. Based upon that, if the election was held today, the electoral college might go against us. One of our top 4 candidates doesn’t even beat Trump in the aggregate.

The headwinds of history are heavily against us. Incumbents rarely lose in Presidential elections. No Democrat even approaching the age of our top two candidates has ever been elected. No incumbent has lost when the unemployment rate is falling (there is still time for it to turn around but the unemployment rate is at rock bottom).

Trump is not weak. Trump is not stupid (at campaigning). One by one Trump picked off every single one of his primary opponents in 2016. He beat one of the most experienced and respected people to ever run for President. He has survived longer than virtually anyone else in his administration. He has beaten the media, destroyed political and governing norms and is currently fighting off an attempt by some very shrewd and experienced politicians to rein him in, and seemingly growing stronger as it happens.

2020 will be close, at best. Going into it with false confidence will only lead to heartache (there might be heartache anyway). We need clear eyes and clear thinking.

www.realclearpolitics.com/… 2016 Head to Head

www.realclearpolitics.com/… Our strongest candidates’ 2020 head to head

www.realclearpolitics.com/… Trumps approval rating

The Long Game

tigercourse

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Wednesday June 27, 2018 · 2:26 PM PDT

2018/06/27 · 14:26

This is going to be a brief diary because I’m stuck with work, so I apologize in advance.

Democrats and the nation were dealt a setback today by Kennedy’s retirement. It’s not an entirely unexpected one, and there are potential other, more painful Supreme Court losses ahead. Some believe that we can keep the Republicans from installing whichever gutter scum they want in the vacancy. I doubt that’s possible, but that’s not what this diary is about.

We will lose many other battles to come. Painful ones. There is no doubt of that. But if we are to win the final war, which is really the preservation of our nation in the face of a determined group with a horrendous ideology, we must, immediately, take even tiny steps to prepare for future victories. Otherwise, painful defeats like 2010, 2014, 2016 and today will keep coming, faster and worse.

If you can donate, give money to a preferred candidate in a swing district, or to the DSCC or the DCCC. Give to your local party. If you can’t give, show up at the next party meeting and ask what you can do to help. Write a letter to a local news organization saying they will lose your patronage if their coverage doesn’t become honest. Write an op-ed. Talk to a friend and tell them to get another friend out to vote in your next local election, and in 2018 and in 2019 and in 2020…

Small steps now help lessen setbacks. Small steps now help prepare the ground for victory. The Republicans started on this path in the 60’s. They solidified it in the 80’s. Newt gave it new life in the 90’s. The Koch’s and tea party perfected it in the last decade. They are playing a long game and we have to too.

Sometimes the only response to a setback, even a huge one, is to say, “tomorrow is another day”. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay didn’t make it up the mountain the first time.

My President's Speech

tigercourse

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Thursday July 28, 2016 · 1:48 PM PDT

2016/07/28 · 13:48

So this is going to be a short, inconsequential and pretty fact free diary.

You’re welcome.

I don’t think I’ve written a diary since the 2007 primary. I was a pretty ardent Clinton supporter and thought that President Obama was too inexperienced, too kumbayaish and too moderate. I secretly or not so secretly hoped that he would fail so that I could be proven right and get to tell the world, “I told you so”.

While I’ve had any number of disagreements with the President since then, I’ve always seen him as a good man doing his absolute best in the face of exceedingly disloyal opposition. There is no sliver of doubt in my mind that we are better off now than we were 8 years ago, or that President Obama will go down as an effective President. He’s done much to repair our image on the world stage, shepherd us through an economic recovery and fight off the wolves at democracy’s gates. Thank you, Mr. President.

Now, unlike the vast majority of the human race, I was never a very big fan of his public speaking either. It was too slowwwwww and too halting for me. But the address he gave last night was a barn burner. A bulwark against the base stupidity that has crept into our politics, roared into this election season and is poised at the castle walls to break in. I teared up, I cheered and when he quoted Teddy Rooselvelt I felt like rushing into the streets shouting “America”! I didn’t because I have neighbors.

So, again, thank you Mr. President. You’ve been great.

Hillary Clinton's Problem with African Americans?

tigercourse

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Wednesday December 05, 2007 · 11:06 AM PST

2007/12/05 · 11:06

Over the past few days, it has been suggested by some diarists and posters that Hillary Clinton is angry over the campaign of Senator Obama, and that part of her anger stems from the fact that he is an African American. That in fact, Clinton her self is at least a little bit of a racist.

The argument, as near as I can tell, is that Clinton doesn't like the fact that she has been challenged by a Black man, and that the Black guy has a shot at defeating her in the Primary election. My opinion on this argument is pretty easy to guess.

Links to some of those arguments,

http://www.dailykos.com/...

Poll

122 votes Show Results

Clinton, racist?

122 votes Vote Now!

Clinton, racist?

Straight up Yes

18 votes

Straight up No

77 votes

Somewhat, her big problem is that an African American has challenged her

27 votes

Hillary Clinton Could Win By A Landslide

tigercourse

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Monday August 27, 2007 · 10:31 AM PDT

2007/08/27 · 10:31

I'd like to take another crack at the argument that Senator Clinton is the least electable candidate in the General election. It's a common argument, one that has been repeated so often that it is close to becoming conventional wisdom. People often selectivley cite her favorability numbers. They pick the worst ones and ignore the best. Some polls have her unfavorables in the low 40's or even high 30's. But we don't often discuss those.

The unelectable arguement is not actually supported by current poll numbers. The current state polls do not show Hillary Clinton losing by a wide margin. They don't show her losing by a small margin. They don't show her winning by a small margin. In fact, they show her winning a landslide election against the strongest Republican candidate, Rudy Giuliani.

tigercourse

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Monday August 20, 2007 · 10:09 AM PDT

2007/08/20 · 10:09

(and elsewhere)

A complaint about Senator Clinton that I often read here is that she's a weaker general election candidate then some of the other candidates. In extreme cases, I read that she is "unelectable". Most people site the constantly fluctuating favorability poll numbers, which can varry by some 20 points from poll to poll, day to day.

But I think the head to head poll numbers against the Repiblican candidates is a somewhat more accurate measure of a candidates electability, even this far out from the election. Well, looking at the general election poll numbers from several key states: Florida, West Virginia, Arkansas, Iowa and New Mexico, I think Hillary Clinton looks pretty darn electable.

tigercourse

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Thursday August 16, 2007 · 12:27 PM PDT

2007/08/16 · 12:27

in the early days with Bill?

A week ago I posted a diary detailing some of the events of Hillary Clinton's life before she met Bill. One of the oft repeated criticisms of Hillary is that "without Bill, she would be nothing". I'd like to argue that without Hillary, Bill might have been nothing. They were both integral to each other's success. To continue this series, I'd like to discuss her life and career up to about 1992.

My source for the information is mainly a biography owned by
© 2003 The HW Wilson Company 800-367-6770 / 718-588-8400 950 University Avenue, Bronx, New York 10452

http://www.hwwilson.com/...

I've deleted some information because I know this diary is too long as it is. If you'd like, go over there to read it in it's entirety.

tigercourse

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Monday August 13, 2007 · 7:26 PM PDT

2007/08/13 · 19:26

After glancing through the daily/nightly/constant slew of "Hillary Clinton will set the seas aflame" diaries, I felt like posting a few of the things she has done, or at least tried to do in the most recent congress. The following is a list of some of the bills she has sponsored.

This isn't the most indepth of postings, I'm just working off of Thomas. http://thomas.loc.gov/ If you have a few minutes, glance over them.

I'm only posting a few of the 113 she has sponsored this session. http://thomas.loc.gov/...

tigercourse

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Friday August 10, 2007 · 9:22 AM PDT

2007/08/10 · 09:22

A common negative comment I read about Clinton is that "she doesn't vote the way I want most of the time". When I first came onto this site, as a somewhat Clark supporter, I also believed that. I thought Clinton had a conservative voting record, closer to the right of the party then the left. I imagined a large gap between her and the liberal leaders of our party, like Boxer and Kennedy. Of course, I'd never actually looked at her record, or where she ranked. I held my opinion on faith and faith alone. And I think alot of people here are the same way.

One day someone made a comment like "Hillary Clinton is the worst Democrat in the party". And I though, "that probably isn't quite true. Bad, but not the worst". So I looked it up. And I was wrong. She's not the worst. She's not even bad. Hillary Clinton has a liberal voting record.

The other day, Alegre posted a full account of her liberal votes. http://www.dailykos.com/...
Today, I'm going to post rankings that show where she compares to other candidates. The rankings I'm using are full term ones. They encompass the total votes from when the candidate was elected to when the ranking was put together. If you have a few minutes, please look them over.

tigercourse

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Thursday August 09, 2007 · 7:46 AM PDT

2007/08/09 · 07:46

before she met Bill Clinton?

I've noticed that in many cases we remain ignorant of the biography's of other candidates. No real surprise there, why would we want to know more about people we aren't very interested in? But I thought it would be important to disspell some of the misconceptions I've seen about Hillary Clinton's past. Her history is often boiled down to "She was a Goldwater Girl!" and "Without Bill, she was nothing". I don't think the first tells the whole story, and I believe the second is just false. So, if you have a few minutes, this is what Clinton was doing before she met Bill:

tigercourse

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Monday August 06, 2007 · 5:55 AM PDT

2007/08/06 · 05:55

No, no he isn't.

And neither is Hillary Clinton. Much has been made in the past few days of Clinton's willingness to accept Lobbyist money, and her belief that they are not a corrupting influence on her. And of course, there are many lobbying groups (Labor, Environmental, Equal Rights, etc.) that Democrats love. Clinton's position earned challenges from John Edwards and Barack Obama, as well as boos from the YearlyKos Krowd.

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Connecting Daily Kos Management to Workers

2020 Isn't Going to be Easy

The Long Game

My President's Speech

Hillary Clinton's Problem with African Americans?

Hillary Clinton Could Win By A Landslide

Hillary Clinton is strong in the South

What was Hillary Clinton doing...

What has Hillary Clinton been doing?

Hillary Clinton's Liberal Ranking

What was Hillary Clinton doing...

Is Barack Obama controlled by Lobbyists?