Because the Democratic Party intentionally ceased to be that in the 1970s. The modern Democratic Party is not the Democratic Party that passed the New Deal or the Civil Rights Act.
Yep, they were so traumatized by losing to Reagan that they abandoned everything they ever stood for and started racing right trying to find the “center” and to this day think it’s the only way to win.
Carter gave up the game before Reagan even came to power
Another circumstance where an extremely unpopular incumbent refused to get out of the way for a primary challenger that had popular support and plans for the party to return to new deal politics which lead to a fascist taking control of and destroying our government. Good ol Jimmy Carter.
Well at least he lived long enough to be a horrifying living corpse being wheeled around and told to stare at the sky while being refused a rest.
Ehh he could still have built some more houses.
H-how dare you speak ill of the uwu smol bean that is Jimmy Carter?! Something something peanut farm something something.
Seriously though, yeah. Carter’s historic unpopularity and unwillingness to step aside are a big part of why the loss to Reagan was so overwhelming and why Reagan was able to do so much lasting harm to the country.
Its interesting to me because he’s historically been remembered as “the most progressive” or some such when hes pretty much the death knell of progressive democrats. Im not just jumping in to say Carter was a fascist, I want people to engage with the real history and how it corresponds to the current day. We’ve long been fighting these battles.
Oh yeah, for sure. Personally I see Carter as the “good version” if you can call it such a thing of the “Do-Nothing Democrat” if that makes sense. The thought that basically all Democrats have to do is be faithful stewards of the status quo and allow the arc of the universe to slowly bend towards justice. To tinker around the edges letting incrementalism and institutionalism carry them forward.
Then as time wore on more and more the Democrats would start saying “why shouldn’t I enrich myself a little? After all, all we really have to do is keep the institutions going and they’re doing that just fine on their own,” until you get to the ghouls of today. Where they’re there because they deserve to be there, and they deserve to be there because they’re there. All the while lining their own pockets and saying “Fuck you, I got mine,” to everybody else.
If you’ll indulge me, I got recommended this video today that puts the Carter admin into context perfectly with what we’re talking about. It’s in the beginning of the video so dont feel obligated to sit through the whole thing if you dont want to, but this is a more concise description than I can muster off the dome. It was both an unfortunate circumstance Carter was thrust into eg nixon and a capitulation to the worst instincts of the party allowing the corruption and rot to continue festering and subsequently thrive after his loss to Reagan.
Because the Democratic Party intentionally ceased to be that in the 1970s. The modern Democratic Party is not the Democratic Party that passed the New Deal or the Civil Rights Act.
Yep, they were so traumatized by losing to Reagan that they abandoned everything they ever stood for and started racing right trying to find the “center” and to this day think it’s the only way to win.
Carter gave up the game before Reagan even came to power
Another circumstance where an extremely unpopular incumbent refused to get out of the way for a primary challenger that had popular support and plans for the party to return to new deal politics which lead to a fascist taking control of and destroying our government. Good ol Jimmy Carter.
Well at least he lived long enough to be a horrifying living corpse being wheeled around and told to stare at the sky while being refused a rest.
Ehh he could still have built some more houses.
H-how dare you speak ill of the uwu smol bean that is Jimmy Carter?! Something something peanut farm something something.
Seriously though, yeah. Carter’s historic unpopularity and unwillingness to step aside are a big part of why the loss to Reagan was so overwhelming and why Reagan was able to do so much lasting harm to the country.
Its interesting to me because he’s historically been remembered as “the most progressive” or some such when hes pretty much the death knell of progressive democrats. Im not just jumping in to say Carter was a fascist, I want people to engage with the real history and how it corresponds to the current day. We’ve long been fighting these battles.
Oh yeah, for sure. Personally I see Carter as the “good version” if you can call it such a thing of the “Do-Nothing Democrat” if that makes sense. The thought that basically all Democrats have to do is be faithful stewards of the status quo and allow the arc of the universe to slowly bend towards justice. To tinker around the edges letting incrementalism and institutionalism carry them forward.
Then as time wore on more and more the Democrats would start saying “why shouldn’t I enrich myself a little? After all, all we really have to do is keep the institutions going and they’re doing that just fine on their own,” until you get to the ghouls of today. Where they’re there because they deserve to be there, and they deserve to be there because they’re there. All the while lining their own pockets and saying “Fuck you, I got mine,” to everybody else.
If you’ll indulge me, I got recommended this video today that puts the Carter admin into context perfectly with what we’re talking about. It’s in the beginning of the video so dont feel obligated to sit through the whole thing if you dont want to, but this is a more concise description than I can muster off the dome. It was both an unfortunate circumstance Carter was thrust into eg nixon and a capitulation to the worst instincts of the party allowing the corruption and rot to continue festering and subsequently thrive after his loss to Reagan.