(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . “If we want people to think it’s a big deal, we need to tell them it’s a big deal“ [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-01 Here we go again… David Axelrod, a former top aide to President Barack Obama, meanwhile warned Biden against being "tempted to flood the zone about the conviction." "While Trump wallows in his own troubles, the right play for Biden may be to lean even more into the day-to-day concerns of people. The contrast would be powerful," Axelrod said on X. I am pretty sure that contrast won’t get out unless you are able to break into the news cycle. What if, and I’m just spitballing here, you did both?? (He really believes it’s 2008, but that’s a discussion for another day). But, it’s not just David Axelrod. It goes all the way into the WH. Biden aides note that they can readjust their hands-off strategy if the ruling serves to be more damaging to Trump in the weeks and months ahead This is dangerous, wrong, and a microcosm of a risk averse leadership across the WH and Senate. This can not be allowed to proceed as is. And the reason is simple. It doesn’t work! The biggest problem with the senior leaders of the party (Biden, Pelosi, Schumer) is they just assumed Trump’s misdeeds would break through and Republicans would throw him overboard. They believe the media environment, comms strategies, and ways to engage voters haven’t changed in the era of negative polarization and social media. You can see this across many decisions. Take a look at how Nancy Pelosi tried to preempt the Mueller report, because she learned the wrong lessons from the Clinton impeachment 20 years earlier. “Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan,” she told the Washington Post in March, “I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he’s just not worth it.” Even after the Zelensky call, Democratic leadership had to be dragged kicking and screaming into impeachment. It was bad politics, but eventually recalcitrant caucus members figured out more was on the line than their fear of losing the next election in the district. It also included prioritizing Valentine’s Day over a full impeachment trial with witnesses in order to put everything on the record while it was fresh in the public’s mind AND make Republicans face their dereliction of duty for more than a day or two. “I’m not taking that deal,” Raskin said flatly, stunned that Coons, as a fellow lawyer, would expect any prosecutor to entertain such unsavory terms. “No way are we allowing McCarthy to deny Herrera Beutler’s story without cross-examining him.” But Coons was adamant. “You’re going to lose Republican votes,” he warned them. “Everyone here wants to go home. They have flights for Valentine’s Day. Some of them are already missing their flights The rumors at the time were that Coons was following direction from the WH, who wanted to get nominees through (as if that couldn’t be done in parallel) and..wait for it…wanted to move past Donald Trump. This continued into just the last month where Schumer and Durbin were bent on unilaterally laying down their arms on the Supreme Court. “I think [Alito’s] explained his situation. The American public understand what he did,” Durbin proclaimed, as if Alito’s excuses were the definitive explanation for a gross breach of judicial ethics. “But I don’t think there’s much to be gained with a hearing at this point. I think he should recuse himself from cases involving Trump and his administration.” And if Alito doesn’t recuse, Durbin cannot find any “recourse other than impeachment, and we’re not at that point at all.” That weak-kneed response would not be Durbin’s worst on Alito this week. For some reason Democrats seem to think that they can just let the GOP dig their own grave and the public will know where the funeral is. These are all examples of Democrats biggest Achilles heel. I’ve called out Democrat’s “Political Poker Paralysis” for years. I was reminded on this piece I wrote based on Kos’ anniversary post All-In: Political Poker and How Democrats Start Winning From getting Democrats to apologize for accurate statements, to making them run and hide on judicial votes, to running from the current censure resolution, it is same old story and Republican's have the Democrats game down pat. The Democrat's table image is atrocious. How do you counteract this nonsense? A professional poker player rarely considers their own hand. They review their opponents actions, assess what the believe is their opponent's most likely hand, determine what their opponent would want them to do, and they do the opposite (if it benefits them). This is even more important when your opponent doesn’t have the most chips (in this case, issues where the GOP has a large polling disadvantage, like say, the election of convicted felons) In other words, Republicans and short-stacked and desperate Boxers are trained to bounce on their toes or even smile after they've been hit hard so that the judges won't think that the opponent scored a blow. It's called smiling through the face of adversity But the Democrats don't take their table image, or their opponent's actions into consideration. They simply continue to play the same lazy, lackluster, poker game they have played for the last 20 years. It is a leak, in poker terms, of tremendous proportions. Unwilling to take any chances, Democrats keep getting their blinds stolen from them because they are unwilling to stand up to the bully at the table. ​​​​​​…. The key is to put pressure on your opponent and continuously put them to the test by forcing them to make the tough decisions. It doesn't matter what is in your hand. It is more important to understand your opponent's tendencies and take advantage of them. Republicans know this, Democrats apparently don’t. At this point, Democrats are putting our democracy at risk with their inability to meet the moment. However, the good news is there are some people within the party apparatus the get it, and are ready, willing, and able to point it out. Other operatives expressed concern that, in a vacuum, Trump would avoid any political repercussions for being the first ex-president found guilty in a criminal trial. They argue that even for people who think Biden himself should stay above the fray, there is a certain negligence to the idea that the rest of the Democratic party should follow suit. “I think it’s complicated for the president, but it’s less complicated for everyone else,” said Amanda Litman, co-founder of the group Run for Something. She called it “classic Dem” to see an immediate split on how to message around the conviction. “If we want people to think it’s a big deal, we need to tell them it’s a big deal,” she said. This is the right answer, and the only answer. A conviction is not going to overtake inflation or abortion for most voters, but it does fit nicely into the story Democrats want to tell. The message is that Donald Trump is a danger to democracy, and he is running for president to help himself, avoid legal accountability, and punish his enemies. The fact that he was convicted of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to interfere in an election seems more than a little relevant. The conviction is not the whole story, but it is a very important piece of evidence. No Democrat should hesitate to make that argument. This is the moment for Democrats to pivot. The moment to realize that our politics has changed. Maybe not forever, but for at least the current period. Our democracy is too important. 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