January 18, 2018

If you ask the question like that, out loud... "Can Democrats Follow #MeToo to Victory?"...

... I hope it's because you believe the answer is no. If this is your actual strategy, you better keep it to yourselves. If you can. Don't repeat the Jennifer Palmieri screwup. Remember, earlier this month?
The Center For American Progress (CAP) Action Fund circulated a memo... co-authored by former Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri...  “The fight to protect Dreamers is not only a moral imperative, it is also a critical component of the Democratic Party’s future electoral success..."...
"Can Democrats Follow #MeToo to Victory?" is a NYT column by Thomas B. Edsall. I haven't read it yet, but I suspect that he's posing the question to answer it in the negative. Let's see:
The issue has the potential to accelerate the growing discontent among well-educated white women with the Republican Party. But it could also intensify hostility to the liberal agenda among conservatives, particularly white men, many of whom view women’s complaints of discrimination as “an attempt to gain advantage” in the workplace....
Edsall goes on to quote a lot of academics and pollsters in a way that should inspire caution about using this issue too much. He mostly lets data and experts do the talking for him, and the closest he gets to answering the question in the column title is "what looks like a favorable climate now for Democrats is in fact highly volatile."

One of the pollsters — Alex Castellanos — says something so interesting that I'm going to make it a separate post. So if that's what you're inclined to talk about, please save your comment for a post that will come up next and very soon.

40 comments:

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Democrats need to import an underclass and a new voter base. Illegal immigration needs to flow for the good of the party.

peacelovewoodstock said...

This #MeToo stuff has the feel of a cultural fad, flash-in-the pan, like, say, Michelle Obama's #bringbackourgirls campaign in response to Boko Haram atrocities. What did that ever accomplish?

David Begley said...

#MeToo, identity politics, global warming and sanctuary cities are clearly the winning issues for the Dems.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The left see everything thru the prism of division. Black white/ male female. They do not consider the individual. How can the left divide us, import illegals, and create their over-taxed faux-Scandinavian socialist paradise.

BTW - Crazy Polis is running for pot head of Colorado - he's the guy who said that if you are a male accused of rape while at college - you are automatically guilty. No due process for you.

Lance said...

How does voting Democrat keep the Clintons, Weinsteins, Weiners, Frankens and the Conyers out of power?

Ray - SoCal said...

Some women are married to men, and have male children.

Their male relatives may communicate their feelings of being discriminated against or false accusations of sexual harassment to women they know and/ or related too.

Paul Zrimsek said...

Aren't they at all concerned that voters might remember their previous strategy of following #HarveyWeinsteinFundraiser to victory?

rehajm said...

This is the leftie strategy on DACA and it isn't about rescuing Dreamers, at least not right away:

The phrase “political animal” was invented for people like Sen. Durbin. Lost down the Trump-Durbin you-know-what hole is a question: Why did Dick Durbin do it?

The answer is inescapable: Sen. Durbin poisoned the well of the immigration negotiations. He instantly recognized that Democrats would gain more politically from public exposure of Mr. Trump’s private words than they would from any DACA deal.

For Democrats, every waking moment has telescoped down to one thing: gaining control of the House in November. They have concluded, not without reason, that success at the polls will correlate directly to public dislike of Mr. Trump personally. For Sen. Durbin, the Trump expletive was a gift from the gods. As to the 800,000 dreamers who had a deal in sight at last Tuesday’s White House meeting, well, they can wait.


The Trump Paradox

Matt Sablan said...

Matters how many Roy Moores the Republicans run and how many non Roy Moores Democrats can make have to cut an ad saying something like "I am not a witch."

Leland said...

I recall a few times Democrat leaning women have used the threat of withholding sex against men as something they thought would work. I first recall this with Code Pink and resistance to the various Bush wars. Later, it was a strategy employed again, but I can't remember exactly what issue, maybe abortion or something.

What gets me is that it seems safer for Republican men to keep sleeping with conservative women, because those women are less likely to try and ruin your career if things don't work out.

With that in mind, go ahead Democrats, ride #MeToo to victory. Let us know how that works out this election with male voters.

rhhardin said...

many of whom view women’s complaints of discrimination as “an attempt to gain advantage” in the workplace.

Men like women in the workplace. It's not competitive. The women think it's competitive because they're not really able to be as interested in the work as men routinely are, so feel they're always losing to the men.

What men dislike is the really awful reading of the sexual situation that #metoo puts forth. Grudges, suspicions, fears, needs, desires, and nacrissistic postures are automatic and expected and won't go away in the relations between men and women. Men work with and around it, women complain about it.

The nagging instinct.

Darrell said...

The Democrats will start talking trash against famous Republicans like Harvey Weinstein, James Franco, Paul Haggis, Ben Vereen, Peter Martins, Charles Dutoit, Morgan Spurlock, Tavis Smiley, Marshall Faulk, Ike Taylor, Heath Evans, Ryan Lizza, Mario Batali, James Levine, Garrison Keillor, Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Glenn Thrush, Russell Simmons, Sen. Al Franken, Matt Zimmerman, Andrew Kreisberg, Louis C.K., Steven Seagal, Ed Westwick, Brett Ratner, Dustin Hoffman,
Brett Ratner, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Spacey, Mark Halperin, Terry Richardson, Leon Wieseltier, James Toback, John Besh, Bob Weinstein, Oliver Stone, Roy Price, and Ben Affleck. Among others. Now we all know these people are Democrats and/or Lefties, but their voters are too stupid to put 2 and 2 together.

Sebastian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sebastian said...


"They have concluded, not without reason, that success at the polls will correlate directly to public dislike of Mr. Trump personally."

It's all they got, but it will suffice.

Bruce Hayden said...

"Polis is running for pot head of Colorado - he's the guy who said that if you are a male accused of rape while at college - you are automatically guilty. No due process for you."

Got out just in time. Was in his district for years, gerrymandered with 3 research universities, and a bunch of ski areas to be impossible for a Dem to lose. My memory is that he was the first out gay married (to another dude) in Congress. Now he is apparently running for governor, with Hickendooper term limited. CO is wacky enough these days that #metoo might just work there. Now I am registered in MT, where pulling nag that sort of stuff is looking jelly to lose significant votes.

Michael said...

Glenn Reynolds has a exert from a Joan Didion piece taking down 1970s feminism. All sensible people share her views including many non-deplorables. It is a losing strategy, one doomed to fail.

BTW, I doubt there will be hashtag me toos by the end of this year.

Most women are not susceptible to the stupidity of this "movement."

Jersey Fled said...

I will truly believe that we are in the end times if Democrats can convince anyone beyond their own fevered base that sexual predation is purely, or even predominantly, a Republican thing.

Also, what's with the unquestioned assumption that smart, educated white women will naturally and inevitably become Democrats. I saw a smart, educated white woman testify before congress the other day while a black male Democrat made a fool of himself.

Fernandinande said...

If the sexual misadventures of obscure US actresses and newsreaders render their opinions important, then whatever -

"French film legend Brigitte Bardot attacked the #MeToo movement Wednesday, claiming that actresses who complain of sexual harassment were just looking for publicity.

'The vast majority are being hypocritical and ridiculous', she told the French magazine Paris Match.
...
But she said that if she was reincarnated she would be like to be a 'mustang, that wild and free horse of the American West'."

Bob Boyd said...

Is Trump really immune from #MeToo accusations or are the Dems saving their best ones until they think the timing is right? If they come out with a story too early, it could blow over before the election or fall apart under scrutiny. They would want to time it right, like they did with Roy Moore. In the mean time they need to keep MeToo alive in the public mind as well as protect it from being co-opted by crazies so it turns people off and they ignore it when the time comes.
On the up side, if it's something that will blow over or crumble, they must not have a blockbuster on Trump.

Bay Area Guy said...

At least Dem hack Jennifer Palmieri is being honest. The Dems want poor, unskilled, minority immigrants - legal or illegal - to fill their voter rolls. They've totally distorted the concept of assimilation. If you're blue collar and black, you'd be crazy to support Dems. They are literally trying to replace you.

And, of course, if you resist this, then you're a racist!

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

There's panic in the disco right now because Trump is quietly doing the impossible while the #MeToo rallies the already left-affiliated single women and democrat harpy vote. Meanwhile Black support for Trump has doubled in one year. If he erodes even 15% support from D's by strengthening his standing among Black voters, then 2018 will be very bloody for Them and not Us. Two recent polls both note that Black and Latino men especially have turned to supporting Trump since he was elected, effectively doubling the numbers he pulled in 2016.

Remember, the D's didn't notice the Blue Wall had crumbled until way too late, like 11 p.m. Eastern on election night. What makes you think they will see or acknowledge this weakness?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Is Trump really immune from #MeToo accusations or are the Dems saving their best ones until they think the timing is right?

I think immunity is the right word, correct concept. The stories were rolled out in 2016 and the voters elected him anyway. He can effectively run the old Clinton playbook: "That's old news," "the public decided it didn't matter as much as MAGA did," etc. Unlike Bill Clinton, Trump has not brought that (alleged) behavior into the White House with him, so he can wave it away as as unrelated to his serving as President.

Unknown said...

> Lake argued that the issue of sexual harassment will motivate young and unmarried women to vote, that it has already helped restore Democratic loyalty among college-educated women and that it will improve prospects for women running for office.

In the 1980 the lefties decried the Moral Majority for attempting to enforce their social utopia via "voting".

Evangelicals gave up believing in officials as an agent of morality after Clinton whupped Starr. Now they settle for Trump after Obama used them as a foil.

The lefties won the schools, but now have come full circle. Vote against bad dates!

SJW are the new "Moral Majority" (in the coastal states)

mockturtle said...

How does one equate 'educated women' with Hollywood-inspired mass hysteria?

Bob Boyd said...

@Mike

Hope you're right.
Candidates for House and Senate don't share Trump's immunity, but MeToo is a double edge sword. Are the Republicans prepared to wield it in the midterms? The Dems surely will.

Caligula said...

"How does one equate 'educated women' with Hollywood-inspired mass hysteria?"

It's easy if one conflates "educated" not with "knowlegable" or "wise," but with "credentialed."

A very well educated woman wrote this: "Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica is a 'rape manual' because 'science is a male rape of female nature'."

Wince said...

Can Democrats Follow #MeToo to Victory?

I look at nuclear warfare for an analogy to describe effect on the public mind of the relentless pace of #MeToo attacks.

Nuclear fratricide

In relation to nuclear warfare, nuclear fratricide denotes the inadvertent destruction of nuclear warheads or their delivery systems by detonations from other warheads in the same attack. The blast, EMP and debris cloud may knock them off course, cause damage or destroy them.

Estimating fratricidal effects is complex. One source states that "It appears that two weapons targeted on a silo must arrive at least ten seconds apart to avoid fratricidal fireball effects, and less than one minute or more than one hour apart to avoid fratricidal nuclear dust cloud effects." Hence "deconflicting" attack patterns and using staggered "walking barrages" became part of U.S. and Soviet nuclear tactics.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Are the Republicans prepared to wield it in the midterms? The Dems surely will.

I don't see it having resonance beyond what Hillary's "I am the first woman to win" did. Not enough people cared about that to carry her to victory. Or, in another sense, enough people were driven by the need to prevent that outcome that her continually harping on it made it "double-edged" in reality. Many of us expressed the desire to vote for a good woman candidate, but "not that woman" last year.

The best thing Republicans can do to prepare for the midterms is pass some bills that fund the wall and curb illegal immigration, with or without "saving" the dreamers (hate that term) and RUN ON THEIR RECORD.

Get nothing done and be replaced. Regardless of what crap the D's run on, this is the crux of the matter.

Limited blogger said...

Why is everything a 'strategy'?

Why isn't it because they actually care about the issue?

Darrell said...

@Althouse

Do a better job of restoring my comments or get Blogger to do it or explain why they are deleting them. This is ridiculous.

Unknown said...

I often shop at a nearby Whole Foods in Silver Spring MD, which underwent a big renovation last year. This story seems to confirm what I suspected at the time - reduction of “back room” space in favor of more customer space.
That’s some heavy investment in a strategy that might not pay off! Maybe Jeff Bezos thinks Americans need to get used to empty shelves.

Birkel said...

Limited blogger:

Because the only issue about which Democrats care is power.

n.n said...

The Progressive plan was demographic replacement. A plan that was surely inspired by diversity and Choice. That said, instead of #MeToo, lose your quasi-religion, acknowledge individual dignity and intrinsic value, and recognize that men and women are equal and complementary. Also, the witch hunts, the public lynchings, the conflation of public and private, are bad for public relations, fail to address the issues, and are unconstitutional.

JAORE said...

If he erodes even 15% support from D's by strengthening his standing among Black voters, then 2018 will be very bloody for Them and not Us. Two recent polls both note that Black and Latino men especially have turned to supporting Trump since he was elected, effectively doubling the numbers he pulled in 2016.

Perhaps (have not seen the polls), but 2018 is about Congress Critters, not election of the President. Most districts with minority populations are solidly blue. Might take some robust analysis to see how a uptick in Trump popularity with minorities translates into 1) coattails effect on congressional votes and 2) by districts.

Anonymous said...

How is ANTIFA?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"Two recent polls both note that Black and Latino men especially have turned to supporting Trump since he was elected, effectively doubling the numbers he pulled in 2016. "

Why else do you think the media are still talking about the "shithole" comment and making it sound as though Trump used the word to describe people rather than poor and corrupt countries? They will continue to play that race card as often and as long as they can, because they are terrified that blacks and Hispanics just might decide that more money in their paychecks is more important than whatever Trump thinks about Haiti.

n.n said...

media are still talking about the "shithole" comment and making it sound as though Trump used the word

Has it use now been established?

It does not have inherent diversitist implications. As a reference to a preexisting condition, it is less material than Obama's "shitshow" comment.

Bob Loblaw said...

The issue has the potential to accelerate the growing discontent among well-educated white women with the Republican Party. But it could also intensify hostility to the liberal agenda among conservatives, particularly white men, many of whom view women’s complaints of discrimination as “an attempt to gain advantage” in the workplace....

So... people are going to continue to vote the way they've been voting, but they'll mash that lever more assertively?

Meh. I guess "vote for me because people with vaginas are victims" isn't quite as bad as "vote for me because I have a vagina."

mockturtle said...

Exiled asks? Why else do you think the media are still talking about the "shithole" comment and making it sound as though Trump used the word to describe people rather than poor and corrupt countries? They will continue to play that race card as often and as long as they can, because they are terrified that blacks and Hispanics just might decide that more money in their paychecks is more important than whatever Trump thinks about Haiti.

And, because the Leftist media are racists, they believe blacks and Hispanics will just eat it up because they're too stupid to see they're being had.

n.n said...

among conservatives, particularly white men, many of whom view women’s complaints of discrimination as “an attempt to gain advantage”

No, not in the workplace or anywhere else. We have sons and daughters. There is no justification to favor one or the other for causes of diversity, for causes of social or political agendas. Sons and daughters, men and women, are equal and complementary in rights and nature, respectively.