US Politics

Los Angeles city council president resigns from post over racist commentsIn leaked audio clips from October 2021, Nury Martinez can be heard making disparaging comments about a colleague’s Black son The president of the Los Angeles city council has stepped down after a series of bombshell audio clips captured her calling a colleague’s Black son “a little monkey”, among other racist and disparaging remarks.Nury Martinez apologized for the October 2021 remarks during a meeting over redistricting with fellow council members Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and labor leader Ron Herrera, and stepped down as city council president on Monday. “I take responsibility for what I said and there are no excuses for those comments. I’m so sorry,” she said on Monday.“In the end, it is not my apologies that matter most; it will be the actions I take from this day forward. I hope that you will give me the opportunity to make amends,” she added. “Therefore, effective immediately I am resigning as president of the Los Angeles city council.”She did not say she would resign her council seat.At least 14 unhoused people froze to death in LA last year, records revealRead moreThe leak of the audio had thrown LA city politics in turmoil on Sunday, providing a rare look inside the political process in America’s second largest city ahead of November’s mayoral election. In the leaked audio, the Latino leaders can be heard denigrating various groups of constituents as they try to determine how to use the redistricting process to secure more political power for Latinos and keep political rivals from making perceived gains. All the politicians involved are Democrats. It wasn’t immediately clear who made the recording. The audio was leaked on Reddit by a user who has since been suspended, the LA Times reported. The series of clips has been published by Knock LA, a non-profit community news platform.On the recording, Martinez referred to fellow council member Mike Bonin, who is white and represents the city’s 11th district, as a “little bitch”.She can be heard talking about an incident in which Bonin’s two-year-old Black son was bouncing off what was apparently a parade float, and said he was difficult to control. “There is nothing you can do to control him,” she said, going on to say in Spanish “parece changuito” – which in English means “he looks like a little monkey”.“It’s like black and brown on this float,” she also said.She added that she believed the boy “needs a beatdown”.“Let me take him around the corner and I’ll bring him back,” she said, breaking into laughter after a few seconds.De León, a powerful player in California politics who unsuccessfully ran for LA mayor and the Senate and represents parts of East Los Angeles, including the Boyle Heights neighborhood, said Bonin’s handling of the child was similar to “when Nury brings her little yard bag or the Louis Vuitton bag”.Of the LA district attorney, George Gascón, Martinez said: “Fuck that guy – he’s with the Blacks.”In another recording, council members are heard talking about the Koreatown neighborhood, which is now predominantly Latino. “I see a lot of little short dark people,” Martinez said, apparently referring to Indigenous Oaxacan immigrants.Someone else in the room is heard referring to them as “little Oaxacan Korean” and “little ones”.Martinez breaks into laughter, adding: “I don’t know what village they came from, how they got here.”She also said she feared a suspension of council member Mark Ridley-Thomas, who had been in the public eye for charges of bribery and conspiracy, would prompt Black constituents to “come after us”.De León and Herrera can also be heard speaking dismissively of Black voters.“The 25 Blacks are shouting,” Cedillo says, at which Martinez laughs again.“But they shout like they’re 250,” adds De León.After the release of the tape on Sunday, politicians and civil rights groups called on the council members to resign. Bonin called Martinez’s remarks “vile, abhorrent, and utterly disgraceful”.“We love our son, a beautiful, joyous child, and our family is hurting today. No child should ever be subjected to such racist, mean and dehumanizing comments, especially from a public official,” Bonin’s family said in a statement.“It hurts that one of our son’s earliest encounters with overt racism comes from some of the most powerful public officials in Los Angeles.”City council members Nithya Raman, Paul Koretz and Joe Buscaino also called for Martinez’s resignation.On Sunday evening, a crowd of protesters gathered near Martinez’s home. The Independent reporter Jon Peltz shared a video of dozens of people outside the building.“Angry in part because I work with Black kids in LA,” Peltz said, adding he was particularly concerned that Martinez had previously tried to run for a spot on the local unified school district governing board. “The freedom, the ease with which they disparage and demean and talk about a Black child is disgusting.”The California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called for the resignations of all those involved: Martinez, Cedillo, de León and Herrera.“This kind of overt racism has no place in political discourse,” said the chapter’s president, Rick L Callender. “We clearly know where your heart and mind are, and both of them are corroded with the rust of racism and hate.”The leaked audio of Martinez and her colleagues has statewide implications, with US senator Alex Padilla of California calling the recording “racist” and “dehumanizing”.“At a time when our nation is grappling with a rise in hate speech and hate crimes, these racist comments have deepened the pain that our communities have endured. Los Angeles deserves better,” Padilla said in a statement.Martinez apologized for her comments in a statement, arguing they came in a moment of “intense frustration and anger”.“The context of this conversation was concern over the redistricting process and concern about the potential negative impact it might have on communities of color,” she added. “My work speaks for itself. I’ve worked hard to lead this city through its most difficult time.”Herrera, Cedillo and De León have apologized for the comments and their role in the conversation.“I regret appearing to condone and even contribute to certain insensitive comments made about a colleague and his family in private,” De León said. “I’ve reached out to that colleague personally.”“While I did not engage in the conversation in question, I was present at times during this meeting last year,” said Cedillo. “It is my instinct to hold others accountable when they use derogatory or racially divisive language. Clearly, I should have intervened.”The revelations come at a tense time in Los Angeles politics. In November, voters are set to elect a new mayor, with polls showing a tightening race between US Representative Karen Bass and billionaire developer Rick Caruso. Several city council members are stepping down as well.Latinos make up about half the Los Angeles population of about 4 million. Martinez was elected to the council in 2013 and became its first Latina president in 2020. As of 2018, her district had a primarily Latino population that outnumbered Black voters.The Guardian has contacted Martinez’s office for further clarification and comments.TopicsLos AngelesUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

In the days after the January 6 insurrection, top House Republican Kevin McCarthy was ready to dump Donald Trump. “I’ve had it with this guy,” he said, and pondered whether to ask him to resign, the New York Times reported.It didn’t take long for McCarthy’s anger to subside. By the end of the month, he was with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, taking a picture together that made clear the now-former president was back on good terms with his party. While some Republicans never lost sight of the serious threat the January 6 insurrection posed to American democracy, many have since taken to downplaying the deadly attack on the Capitol, as today’s CNN report about McCarthy’s meeting with officers who fought the rioters makes clear.Perhaps it was worth it for McCarthy and his party. They are favored to pick up the few seats necessary in the upcoming midterms to win a majority in Congress’s lower chamber, putting McCarthy on track to be elected speaker.If the GOP wins the House in the upcoming midterms, they will investigate Hunter Biden and attempt to turn a blind eye towards the January 6 insurrection, according to an interview with a top lawmaker and the memoir of a police officer wounded in the insurrection. But that hasn’t happened yet, and today brought news that a key witness before the January 6 committee is cooperating with a probe into election meddling in Georgia, while a lawmaker on the panel signaled its Thursday hearing may include more details of the Secret Service’s actions around the attack.Here’s what else happened today:
Joe Biden condemned Russia’s missile strikes across a swath of Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, and said the country has Washington’s support. Later, he spoke with the country’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy about Kyiv’s need for more air defenses.
Republican senator Tommy Tuberville resorted to racism at a rally for Donald Trump.
In a column for the Guardian, Senator Bernie Sanders warned Democrats of the perils of campaigning on abortion rights alone.
The White House has now released its version of president Joe Biden’s phone call with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy.The readout largely matches Zelenskiy’s tweet from earlier this afternoon:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., spoke today with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. He expressed his condemnation of Russia’s missile strikes across Ukraine, including in Kyiv, and conveyed his condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured in these senseless attacks. President Biden pledged to continue providing Ukraine with the support needed to defend itself, including advanced air defense systems. He also underscored his ongoing engagement with allies and partners to continue imposing costs on Russia, holding Russia accountable for its war crimes and atrocities, and providing Ukraine with security, economic, and humanitarian assistance.Last week, Nebraska’s Republican senator Ben Sasse announced he would leave Congress to take over as president of the University of Florida.As documented by The Tampa Bay Times, he did not get a particularly warm reception from some students today during his visit to the campus in Gainesville:Outside Sen. Ben Sasse’s moderated forum to meet with students, hundreds have gathered protesting Sasse as the sole finalist in UF’s presidential search, citing his previous public statements on same-sex marriage and the search sealed from the public among reasons. pic.twitter.com/Uay2bQIbEf— Divya Kumar (@divyadivyadivya) October 10, 2022
In a previous session with faculty, Sasse’s first question was regarding how he would ensure LGBTQ+ members felt protected. Sasse said he believed in the “immeasurable worth and universal dignity of every single person.”— Divya Kumar (@divyadivyadivya) October 10, 2022
Protesters are now in the room Sasse’s forum with students was held and a forum with staff is scheduled for 3:30. pic.twitter.com/NFh998ZrHP— Divya Kumar (@divyadivyadivya) October 10, 2022
Ben Sasse, Republican who voted to convict Trump, to depart CongressRead moreSome of the biggest revelations from the January 6 committee’s public hearings came from the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, a White House aide who witnessed and overheard shocking behavior by Donald Trump and others in his administration.CNN reports she is now cooperating with the special grand jury empaneled by a county prosecutor in Georgia to investigate the effort by Trump’s allies to interfere with the state’s backing of Joe Biden in the 2020 election.Here’s more from CNN:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The former top aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows could offer Georgia prosecutors insights about what she witnessed in the West Wing, as well as steps her former boss took specifically when it came to Georgia.
Prosecutors have called for Meadows to testify before the special grand jury, but they are still working to secure his testimony. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for late October.
Meadows was among the participants on the January 2021 call between Trump and Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, and Meadows also made a surprise visit to a Cobb County location in December 2020, where officials were conducting an absentee ballot signature audit.
Hutchinson has also been cooperating with the Justice Department, which also faces a pre-election quiet period, in its criminal investigation into efforts to subvert the 2020 election.
An attorney for Hutchinson did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he has spoken with Joe Biden after the Russian missile attacks on his country.The topics of conversation included Ukraine’s need for air defenses and today’s United Nations general assembly vote on a resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions:Productive conversation with @POTUS. Air defense is currently the number 1 priority in our defense cooperation. We also need US leadership with the G7’s tough stance and with support for our UN GA resolution.— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 10, 2022
The White House hasn’t yet provided their own readout of the call.The same day that Moscow barraged Ukraine with missiles, Russian-speaking hackers have taken down the websites of several US airports, Gloria Oladipo reports, but flight operations do not appear to have been impacted:Websites for more than a dozen US airports were temporarily brought offline by cyberattacks on Monday morning, with Russian-speaking hackers claiming responsibility for the disruption.About 14 public-facing websites for a number of sizable airports, including LaGuardia airport in New York City, were targeted and inaccessible to the public. Most have since been brought back online.A senior official told ABC News that the attacks did not affect air traffic control, internal airport communication or other key operations. But the official said that the interruption caused an “inconvenience” for travelers attempting to access information.Cyberattacks force over a dozen US airport websites offline Read moreThe January 6 committee’s hearing on Thursday will probably center on evidence collected over the summer, including the Secret Service’s actions around the insurrection, a lawmaker on the panel said over the weekend.In a Sunday interview with MSNBC, Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat serving on the committee, also downplayed the importance of its interview with Ginni Thomas, the wife of conservative supreme court justice Clarence Thomas who has lobbied state lawmakers nationwide to support efforts to overturn the 2020 election. “I don’t think she was a major player in this personally,” Lofgren said.The committee hasn’t held a public hearing since late July, and Lofgren said the upcoming session will likely focus on evidence collected by investigators during the break. “I think it will shed some light on the events of the day and the events leading up to it, the connections between the extremists and the Republicans,” she said.You can watch the interview here. The January 6 committee will hold its next hearing beginning at 1pm eastern time on Thursday.Here’s more from the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell about what Christina Bobb, a lawyer for Donald Trump involved in the Mar-a-Lago secrets case, told the justice department:Donald Trump’s lawyer Christina Bobb was instructed to certify to the justice department that all sensitive government documents stored at his Mar-a-Lago resort subpoenaed by a grand jury had been returned, though she had not herself conducted the search for the records.The certification of subpoena compliance appears to be at the center of a criminal investigation into obstruction of justice surrounding the former US president after the assurance was proved to be untrue when the FBI’s search of the property turned up more than 100 more documents marked classified.The saga around the Mar-a-Lago documents has become increasingly mired in the courts as Trump has repeatedly claimed the FBI search and resultant investigation is politically motivated. Meanwhile, the justice department and Democrats have portrayed the taking of the documents as a potentially serious national security breach.Trump lawyer told to certify Mar-a-Lago document search she did not conductRead moreThe Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports that Christina Bobb, a lawyer for Donald Trump, spoke to the justice department as it investigates the government secrets discovered at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in August.Confirming NBC that Trump lawyer Christina Bobb spoke to the Justice Dept on Friday — @GuardianUS story with a different take coming shortly— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) October 10, 2022
Bobb was one of two attorneys who are considered as potential witnesses or targets in the case, after the justice department alleged the Bobb and Evan Corcoran had lied about complying with a grand jury subpoena.The Guardian will soon have more on this developing story.Two Trump lawyers could be witnesses or targets in FBI investigationRead moreTop White House adviser Jake Sullivan is set to talk about the Biden administration’s national security strategy in a speech Wednesday at Georgetown University:NEW: Top Biden advisor @JakeSullivan46 will discuss the administration’s first National Security Strategy in a speech this Wed at @georgetownsfs, followed by a moderated conversation w/ @OSullivanMeghan. Follow us and co-host @CNASdc for live coverage! pic.twitter.com/YnOWyP64wL— Georgetown SFS (@georgetownsfs) October 10, 2022
American presidents periodically release the document spelling out their security concerns and how they intend to deal with them. Biden released an interim strategy last year, but was late getting the full report out because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, The New York Times reports:Biden’s National Security Strategy is overdue. WH officials decided to rewrite a draft after Russia invaded Ukraine. They brought in @thomaswright08 to oversee that. A main idea will be bolstering “democratic resilience” in the US & abroad. Earlier story: https://t.co/6szm9K5cPh https://t.co/Lhm7C2Vu6U— Edward Wong (@ewong) October 10, 2022
The GOP lawmakers poised to take over the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections will investigate Hunter Biden and downplay January 6, according to recent interviews and the memoir of a police officer wounded in the insurrection. While it’s a quiet day in Washington – where federal offices are shut for Columbus Day – candidates nationwide are scrambling to make their pitch to voters before the 8 November polls.Here’s what has happened today so far:
In a column for the Guardian, Senator Bernie Sanders warned Democrats of the perils of campaigning on abortion rights alone.
Joe Biden condemned Russia’s missile strikes across a swath of Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, and said the country has Washington’s support.
Republican senator Tommy Tuberville resorted to racism at a rally for Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden has condemned Russia’s missile strikes on a number of Ukrainian cities today, including the capital Kyiv, and said they reinforce America’s commitment to help the country fend off Moscow’s invasion.Here’s the full statement from the White House:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The United States strongly condemns Russia’s missile strikes today across Ukraine, including in Kyiv. These attacks killed and injured civilians and destroyed targets with no military purpose. They once again demonstrate the utter brutality of Mr. Putin’s illegal war on the Ukrainian people. We offer our condolences to the families and loved ones of those who were senselessly killed today, as well as our best wishes for the recovery of those who were wounded. These attacks only further reinforce our commitment to stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes. Alongside our allies and partners, we will continue to impose costs on Russia for its aggression, hold Putin and Russia accountable for its atrocities and war crimes, and provide the support necessary for Ukrainian forces to defend their country and their freedom. We again call on Russia to end this unprovoked aggression immediately and remove its troops from Ukraine.The Guardian has a separate live blog with the latest on the global reaction to today’s attacks:Russia-Ukraine war live: UN chief condemns ‘unacceptable escalation’ by Russia after deadly wave of missile strikes across UkraineRead moreAnother of Donald Trump’s allies is on trial in New York over charges he acted as an unregistered foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates in order to access its vast investment pool, J Oliver Conroy reports:“Trump is the man,” Thomas “Tom” Barrack, a wealthy investor friend of Donald Trump’s, wrote to someone in a foreign government, in 2016, as Trump’s likelihood of being named the Republican nominee for president began to become a certainty. Barrack added, cryptically, that someone called “HH” should be ready to travel.The meaning of those words, and the intent behind them, are at the center of the latest court case to roil Trump’s circle. Prosecutors have said that the “HH” in Barrack’s email referred to His Highness Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the current leader of the United Arab Emirates, and that Barrack was trying to secretly and illegally trade his access to Trump’s ear for the graces of the Emirati government and its vast pool of investment money.‘Trump is the man’: trial paints a White House plagued by foreign influenceRead more More

Sanders warns Democrats not to focus solely on abortion ahead of midtermsSenator urges party to center campaign on economy, warning: ‘You can’t win elections unless you have support of working class’ The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders warns that Democrats should not only focus on abortion rights ahead of the midterm elections in November.In an opinion column for the Guardian published on Monday, Sanders warned that Democrats need to embrace an agenda that addresses the economic woes facing America and supports the working class, not just one solely focused on abortion.Democrats shouldn’t focus only on abortion in the midterms. That’s a mistake | Bernie SandersRead more“It would be political malpractice for Democrats to ignore the state of the economy and allow Republican lies and distortions to go unanswered,” said Sanders, adding that he “has a lifetime 100% pro-choice voting record” and disapproves of the US supreme court’s decision in June to eliminate federal abortion protections.Sanders said that Democrats are recruiting “consultants and directors of well-funded Super Pacs” who urged their party to exclusively focus on abortion rights.“Cut the 30-second abortion ads and coast to victory,” wrote Sanders, who is an independent but votes with the Democrats.But Sanders argued that Democrats also need to focus on countering “anti-worker” views from Republicans and ways that their policies could hurt the working class.Sanders wrote: “Now is the time for Democrats to take the fight to the reactionary Republican party and expose their anti-worker views on the most important issues facing ordinary Americans.”Sanders highlighted stark economic inequality in the US. He noted that 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and questioned if Republicans will legitimately address such issues by ending tax breaks, raising the federal minimum wage or providing universal healthcare.“Is there one Republican prepared to raise taxes on billionaires, or do they want to make a bad situation worse by extending Trump’s tax breaks for the rich and repealing the estate tax?” Sanders wrote.He added: “Is there one Republican in Congress who is prepared to raise the federal minimum wage to at least $15 an hour … Is there one Republican who believes that healthcare is a human right and supports universal coverage?”Sanders noted the importance of gaining the “support of working-class people” ahead of the November midterm elections, especially through actions like extending the child tax credit, increasing social security benefits and expanding Medicare coverage.“You can’t win elections unless you have the support of the working class of this country,” Sanders wrote. “But you’re not going to have that support unless you make it clear that you’re prepared to take on powerful special interests – and fight for the millions of Americans who are struggling economically.”Sanders concluded by promoting a multi-pronged agenda for the Democratic party to implement, one that includes addressing economic inequality and securing abortion rights.“If we close this critical midterm campaign with a clear, unified vision to meet the needs of working families, to take on corporate greed, and protect a woman’s right to choose, we will begin to rebuild the trust between Democrats in Washington and the working families of this country,” Sanders said. “And we’ll win the election.”The Democrats hope to preserve – or even widen – thin advantages in both congressional chambers these midterms.TopicsUS midterm elections 2022Bernie SandersUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

Two injured in shooting outside New York governor candidate’s homeTeenage boys, both 17, treated in hospital after being hit by gunfire from moving car outside home of Lee Zeldin in town of Shirley New York congressman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin says his family is safe after two teenagers were shot outside his Long Island home on Sunday afternoon.The boys, both 17, were walking with a third teenager on the street in Shirley, New York, where Zeldin lives when they were hit by gunfire from a moving car, local police said.The wounded teens then tried to hide in Zeldin’s yard, ducking under his porch and into the bushes, while the person who was with them fled.Zeldin and his wife were not at home at the time of the shooting, but their teenage daughters were in the kitchen doing homework when they heard gunshots and screaming, the congressman said.“One of the bullets was actually found 30ft (9.14m) from where they sitting,” Zeldin said at a news conference late on Sunday.Police said the wounded teens were treated at an area hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening.Authorities didn’t release their names.“At this time investigators have no reason to believe there is any connection between the shooting and the residence,” said a statement from the Suffolk county police department, whose jurisdiction includes Shirley.Zeldin said he did nt know either of the injured teens. He said his 16-year-old daughters locked themselves in a bathroom and called 911.The congressman added that he and his family were shaken but OK.Zeldin and his wife were returning from a parade in the Bronx when the shooting occurred. He said police officers were at his home investigating on Sunday evening and were looking over the home’s security cameras.Police said they had no information to release about who fired the shots.Zeldin is challenging New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, in an election set for 8 November, and he has made violent crime a focus of his campaign. He has called for the state’s bail laws to be toughened, among other measures.“Like so many New Yorkers, crime has literally made its way to our front door,” Zeldin said Sunday.It is the second scare he has had in several months. In July, while Zeldin campaigned in upstate New York, a man approached him onstage and thrust a sharp object near the congressman’s head and neck.He was uninjured, and the attacker was arrested.Hochul said in a statement posted on Twitter that she had been briefed on the shooting outside Zeldin’s home.“As we await more details, I’m relieved to hear the Zeldin family is safe and grateful for law enforcement’s quick response,” the governor said.TopicsNew YorkUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

Democrats shouldn’t focus only on abortion in the midterms. That’s a mistakeBernie SandersAmerica has long faced structural economic crises. Democrats must win on the economy and present a pro-worker agenda As someone who has a lifetime 100% pro-choice voting record, and is outraged by the supreme court’s horrific decision to overturn Roe v Wade, there is no question but that Democrats must continue to focus on the right of women to control their own bodies. This is a fight that most Americans want us to wage and, given the Republicans’ extremist position on the issue, makes them genuinely vulnerable.Can Latino voters help Democrats hold Arizona in crucial Senate race?Read moreBut, as we enter the final weeks of the 2022 midterm elections, I am alarmed to hear the advice that many Democratic candidates are getting from establishment consultants and directors of well-funded Super Pacs that the closing argument of Democrats should focus only on abortion. Cut the 30-second abortion ads and coast to victory.I disagree. In my view, while the abortion issue must remain on the front burner, it would be political malpractice for Democrats to ignore the state of the economy and allow Republican lies and distortions to go unanswered.This country has, for decades, faced structural economic crises that have caused the decline of the American middle class. Now is the time for Democrats to take the fight to the reactionary Republican party and expose their anti-worker views on the most important issues facing ordinary Americans. That is both the right thing to do from a policy perspective and good politics.We have more income and wealth inequality than at any time in the modern history of this country, with three people owning more wealth than the bottom half of our nation. Is there one Republican prepared to raise taxes on billionaires, or do they want to make a bad situation worse by extending Trump’s tax breaks for the rich and repealing the estate tax?Today, 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and millions work for starvation wages. Is there one Republican in Congress who is prepared to raise the federal minimum wage to at least $15 an hour?The United States pays, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Is there one Republican prepared to allow Medicare to immediately begin negotiating prescription drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry and cut the cost of medicine by half?We have a dysfunctional healthcare system which, despite being the most expensive in the world, allows 85 million Americans to be uninsured or underinsured. Is there one Republican who believes that healthcare is a human right and supports universal coverage?We remain the only major country on earth not to guarantee time off for moms who have babies or need to take care of sick children.Is there one Republican who supports at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave?The list goes on: childcare, housing, home health care, college affordability. On every one of these enormously important issues the Republican party has virtually nothing to say to address the desperate needs of low and moderate income Americans. And what they do propose will most often make a bad situation worse.Nevertheless, in poll after poll Republicans are more trusted than Democrats to handle the economy – the issue of most importance to people. I believe that if Democrats do not fight back on economic issues and present a strong pro-worker agenda, they could well be in the minority in both the House and the Senate next year.And it’s not only the long-term structural crises that Democrats must address. It is the outrageous level of corporate greed that we now see every day that is fueling the inflation hurting so many people.While the price of gas has soared over the last year, the five big oil companies made $59bn in profits during the 2nd quarter of this year alone, and are spending $88bn on stock buybacks and dividends to benefit their wealthy shareholders.While global food prices soared by over 33% last year and are expected to go up another 23% this year, billionaires in the global food and agri-business industry became $382bn richer during the pandemic.While we continue to pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, 3 of the largest pharmaceutical companies in America – Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and AbbVie – increased their profits by 90% last year to $54bn.While 46% of Americans either skipped or delayed the healthcare they need because they could not afford it, the six largest health insurance companies in America last year made over $60bn in profits.What do Republicans have to say about corporations that are charging Americans outrageously high prices, while enjoying record breaking profits? They talk a lot about inflation. But what are they going to do about it? Does one of them have the courage to consider a windfall, profits tax? Absolutely not.You can’t win elections unless you have the support of the working class of this country. But you’re not going to have that support unless you make it clear that you’re prepared to take on powerful special interests – and fight for the millions of Americans who are struggling economically. Whether it is extending the $300 a month child tax credit that expired in December that slashed the child poverty rate by over 40%, or increasing social security benefits, or expanding Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision or making childcare affordable, the Democrats must stand with the working class of this country and expose the Republicans for the phonies that they are.None of what I am suggesting here is “radical”. It is, in fact, extremely popular. It is what the American people want. If we close this critical midterm campaign with a clear, unified vision to meet the needs of working families, to take on corporate greed, and protect a woman’s right to choose, we will begin to rebuild the trust between Democrats in Washington and the working families of this country.And we’ll win the election.
Bernie Sanders is a US senator, and the ranking member of the Senate budget committee. He represents the state of Vermont
TopicsUS politicsOpinionBernie SandersUS midterm elections 2022DemocratscommentReuse this content More

Can Latino voters help Democrats hold Arizona in crucial Senate race? The economy with high inflation is a major issue for voters, but Latinos are not a monolithic bloc and shifted slightly right in 2020, a factor that could decide the race this timeIn her back pocket Ana Diaz carries a smooth grey pebble she calls her “knock knocker”. She uses it to get a loud rap on the front doors of the South Phoenix neighborhood where she is canvassing for the Democrats ahead of November’s crucial midterm elections.It’s 110F (43C) in the early afternoon sun and Diaz is aiming to knock on 80 doors in this largely Latino neighborhood and speak to at least 20 people, encouraging them to vote. Diaz, a Los Angeles-based bartender and Unite Here union member, is a familiar face to many in this working-class area. In her T-shirt that reads WORKER POWER she has been knocking on these doors since 2018.Voters are all talking about the economy. Diaz too worries about inflation, her grocery bill is so high she thinks she may have to stop buying beef. But, for her, the Democrats and good union jobs are the answer. “When we get together, we can make them change,” she said.“Donald Trump called us ‘the crazies.’ Well we kicked him out,” she said as we walked the block, chugging water and looking for shade. Not many people were in. Diaz and her colleagues will be back. “We’re not going to stop,” she said.Joe Biden narrowly won Arizona in the 2020 election, beating Trump with 49.4% of the vote to Trump’s 49.1%. As in neighboring Nevada, campaigners like Diaz who got out the Latino vote were crucial to that victory. It’s going to take every vote this time too for the Democrats to hold the state – where a crucial Senate seat is up for grabs and with it control of Congress.But Democrats enter election season with two major handicaps: the incumbent party historically loses seats in the midterms and the economy – the top issue for voters – is a mess.For the first time since 1980, when Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in a landslide, inflation is a major electoral issue. For decades the specter of inflation had seemed vanquished – hovering around 2% in the US. Now the shadow of soaring prices hangs over everything. In Phoenix the inflation rate hit an annual rate of 13% in August, a record for any US city in data going back 20 years. The national average is 8.3%.chartHistory tells us that the economy is usually the deciding factor in US elections. But whose economy? If there is one word that economists are using to describe the current state of the US economy, it is “weird”. Inflation is at a 40-year high and yet unemployment is at a 50-year low. There were more than 10m job openings in July in the US, over one and half jobs for every person currently looking for work. Interest rates are rising sharply, the once white-hot housing market looks like it could fall, loan rates are rising, and yet consumers are still spending.Phoenix maps all the contradictory signals the economy is sending. The city’s long economic boom continues. About 200 new residents have moved there every day in recent years, attracted by a lower cost of living and by businesses moving for less regulation and lower taxes. It’s not enough. The construction industry alone needs to add 265,000 qualified workers. Healthcare, financial services, all are struggling to fill vacancies.That pressure cooker environment has led to soaring rents in the city – up 46% over the year – but still lower than many other US cities. The situation is particularly hard for lower wage workers and long-term residents now competing with more moneyed migrants from nearby California and elsewhere. For many, wages are failing to keep up with the cost of living crisis as inflation pushes up the price of everything from gas and food to construction costs.“As cross currents buffet the Arizona economy, it looks different depending on the lens used to view it,” University of Arizona professor George Hammond wrote in his latest report on the state of the state. Hammond is expecting slower growth in 2022 and 2023, which could help with costs but also cost people their jobs. Over the long term, he expects Arizona’s economy will still outpace the rest of the country.Diaz believes the Democrats are best placed to navigate these strange seas. “People are like ‘I really don’t care who gets in.’ But you should. Your streets need cleaning, you have no lights, your alleys are full of trash, we have a problem with homelessness. If we don’t choose the right people to snake these changes, it’s not going to happen,” she says.In Scottsdale, Phoenix’s affluent neighbor that is rapidly being absorbed by Phoenix’s sprawl, others have different views. “Biden is a nut,” says Jim Baumann, 60, shopping in Whole Food in his orange Harley Davidson T-shirt. “He screwed this up.” The retiree’s grocery bill now averages $300 to $350 a month he says, up from $200 before inflation bit. “I didn’t like Trump’s mouth but he was better than Biden.”Like so many other issues in the US, views on the economy are fractured, filtered by political and personal views and not always in line with today’s party doctrine.Immigration is a major issue for Republicans, and one that has big economic consequences in the area. Kari Lake, the Trump-backed candidate for governor, has said the Central American migrants now entering the US “could be terrorists, they could be murderers and they are most likely hardcore criminals”. Blake Masters, running for Senate, has accused Democrats of being pro-immigration to “change the demographics of our country”. Privately some local, Republican-leaning, business leaders are embarrassed by the rhetoric and see immigration reform as essential to solving their worker shortages. At the same time Latino voters are not a monolithic bloc and shifted slightly right in 2020, a factor that could decide the race this time.Then there is abortion. Few decisions have greater economic consequences than the decision whether or not to have a child. In recent elections Republicans have paid the price for the supreme court’s decision to end the constitutional protection of abortion even in deep red states like Kansas. Last month an Arizona judge revived a highly restrictive law, that dates back to 1864, banning almost all abortions. Polls show the majority of Arizonans (Republicans and independents included) are in favor of keeping abortion legal in the state in most cases.All this complexity is exacerbated by the weirding of the economy. “Strange would be an understatement,” said Greg Ayres, president of Corbins and chief operating officer of Nox Group, construction companies that specialise in water and waste management, data centers and work for the semi conductor industry.Prices have soared for the construction industry, talent is in short supply, wages are rising and pandemic-related supply chain issues are still rippling through and causing delays. “Everything is so volatile,” he said. “Almost every project is over budget.” And yet business is good. His biggest immediate issue is finding enough people for all the projects he has on the go.The company employs 750 people at present, up from 650 before the pandemic. He wouldd like to be at 1,000 within the year. “But it’s really competitive,” Ayres said.To attract workers Corbin has upped its training programs, benefits and wages. Across the street from his office is a cavernous gym, recreation and health center with a full-time trainer on staff, added to attract and retain talent. Salaries are rising too. With overtime, Ayres said, a mid-twenties journeyman could make over $104,000 a year. The company will train up as many competent workers as it can get its hands on, he says.It’s the same story across the Valley of the Sun, said Todd Sanders, president of business lobby group the Greater Phoenix Chamber in 2009. “It’s almost like we are defying the laws of physics,” he said. The area is suffering from high inflation like the rest of the county but companies are still moving there in large numbers, he said. “By and large we are seeing an economy that is still very strong. It’s an interesting time.”For some low-wage workers buffeted by these economic riptides “interesting” doesn’t even begin to describe it.People know Jarvis Johnson in Phoenix. He went viral for his high-octane audition on reality show So You Think You Can Dance and again for his dedication to Black Friday bargain shopping. His friends describe him as a “ball of energy” and an “eternal optimist”. But when I caught up with him between jobs he seemed tired. It’s not surprising.Johnson, 32, has been working three jobs in order to support his wife and his three young children. His day starts at 3.30am at a Covid testing center, at 11am he starts his shift at a senior living center. Often he isn’t home before at 8pm. He also puts in shifts at a local gas station and is hoping to increase his hours there now that the Covid work is tapering off.All of the jobs pay better than Arizona’s minimum wage of $12,80 an hour. The testing job paid $25 an hour during the worst of the pandemic and at one point Johnson was working there 40 hours a week. But even then, his wages were barely keeping up with the cost of living.Two years ago when he moved into his apartment, he was paying $960 a month in rent. Now it’s close to $1,500. Gas prices have fallen in Arizona, as they have across the US, but are still about $4.90 a gallon, up from just over $3 a year ago. The couple have two cars and it costs $160 to fill them. Food is more expensive. His wife could go to work but daycare costs would wipe out her wages. “It’s crazy. Everything has got more expensive,” he said.“It’s hard. It’s hard right now. I’m just trying to keep my head up and not let my kids see I’m struggling,” he said. “I have to work my butt off to make it. I’m getting by but it’s still not enough.”Biden has promised a fairer, more equitable economy. His administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act which will increase taxes on the US’s largest companies and cut prescription drug prices. He’s also pouring money into solar energy and silicon chip production – both of which will benefit Arizonans. But will it be enough to persuade voters he really has a plan to steer them through this strange economic landscape?Johnson says he will vote Democrat but he doesn’t believe either party has the solution. “They can’t do nothing for me, these employers, they need to pay their people,” he says. “People are struggling.”He wants to start his own business, a hot dog food truck. “I think I’d make more money working for myself, to be honest,” he said. At the moment he has about $1,000 saved but it’s not enough and he’s worried that an incident, a broken car or worse, could wipe out his savings. “Anything can happen,” he said.TopicsUS midterm elections 2022ArizonaUS politicsUS economyInflationEconomicsJoe BidenfeaturesReuse this content More

‘Trump is the man’: trial paints a White House plagued by foreign influenceThe legal woes of investor Tom Barrack, accused of secretly lobbying for the Emirati regime, add to the image of a Trump circle beset by influence-peddling and corruption “Trump is the man,” Thomas “Tom” Barrack, a wealthy investor friend of Donald Trump’s, wrote to someone in a foreign government, in 2016, as Trump’s likelihood of being named the Republican nominee for president began to become a certainty. Barrack added, cryptically, that someone called “HH” should be ready to travel.The meaning of those words, and the intent behind them, are at the center of the latest court case to roil Trump’s circle. Prosecutors have said that the “HH” in Barrack’s email referred to His Highness Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the current leader of the United Arab Emirates, and that Barrack was trying to secretly and illegally trade his access to Trump’s ear for the graces of the Emirati government and its vast pool of investment money.The US government has charged Barrack, whose trial began last month in New York, with acting as an unregistered foreign agent – lobbying Trump on the Emirates’ behalf, over several years, and feeding confidential information back to the small but powerful Middle Eastern petro-state.Barrack denies the charges against him, which his attorneys have called “nothing short of ridiculous”. They argue that he was trying to be useful as an intermediary, and was engaged in wholly legal wheeling and dealing. “He did things because he wanted to,” Michael Schachter, a defense lawyer for Barrack, said last month. “The idea that Tom Barrack was controlled by anybody is nonsense.”Although there is no evidence that Trump was aware of Barrack’s alleged wrongdoing, the case adds to the mounting pile of legal woes afflicting the Trump camp. They now include Congress’s hearings on the US Capitol attack, a federal investigation into whether Trump illegally kept classified White House documents, a New York state lawsuit accusing him of fraudulent business practices, and a New York state prosecution of Steve Bannon, the former Trump adviser, for allegedly defrauding people who donated to a campaign to build a wall on the Mexican border.The prosecution of Barrack as an alleged semi-spy for the Emiratis is yet another scandal involving foreign influence on the Trump campaign and administration, which were dogged by impeachment proceedings and special investigations over alleged collusion with Russia and inappropriate pressure on Ukraine.Barrack co-founded a pro-Trump fundraising group, Rebuilding America Now, with the lobbyist Paul Manafort, who later pleaded guilty to bank fraud, witness tampering, and conspiracy to defraud the United States in charges stemming from the Robert Mueller investigation. The US senate intelligence committee has said that Manafort’s interactions with Russian nationals constituted a “a grave counterintelligence threat” and created openings for “Russian intelligence services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information on, the Trump campaign.”Mike Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser during his campaign and his first White House national security adviser once in office, was forced to retroactively register as a foreign agent after admitting that he had done lobbying work for the government of Turkey. He resigned less than a month into his tenure, after serious questions were raised about his close relationship with the Russian ambassador.Barrack has been a business associate and confidant of Trump’s for decades. They met through their mutual work in real estate, and in the 1980s and 1990s, Barrack, Trump, and the socialite and sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein formed a trio of “nightlife musketeers”, the journalist Michael Wolff wrote in his book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. When Trump ran for president, Barrack, working with Manafort, raised millions of dollars for his campaign.Barrack began colluding with the Emirati government before Trump had even taken office, according to prosecutors. In May 2016, Manafort gave Barrack a draft speech of Trump’s and, according to the New York Times, asked, “Are you running this by our friends?”Barrack shared it with Saudi and Emirati officials. “They loved it so much! This is great,” Barrack’s Emirati contact, Rashid al-Malik, told him. As the speech was revised, Barrack worked to make sure it remained favorable to the Emirates’ geopolitical interests.Barrack, who is of Lebanese descent and speaks Arabic, liked to think of himself as someone who understood the Middle East better than most American officials and could act as a broker between the Gulf states and the US.This became particularly salient when Trump, shortly after entering office, angered the Middle Eastern world by banning people from numerous Arab and Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. Saudi Arabia and the Emirates were also keen to influence Trump against their rival, Qatar.Less than two weeks after Trump entered the White House, Barrack tried to persuade Steve Bannon to support a plan that would supply high-level American nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. Barrack argued that this would help “balance the current noise” caused by Trump’s travel ban.At the same time, according to the New York Times, Barrack was trying to get Saudi officials to pressure the US to appoint Barrack as a Middle East envoy. The nuclear plan never happened, and Barrack was not made an envoy.From 2016 to 2019, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates disbursed about $1.5bn to Barrack’s real estate company, Colony Capital, which is now called the DigitalBridge Group. In 2017, for example, Emirati sovereign wealth funds put $374m into two deals arranged by Colony Capital.In February 2019, while at a conference in Abu Dhabi, Barrack appeared to excuse Saudi Arabia’s murder of the Saudi-American journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “Whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal, or worse,” he said, though he later apologized for the remark.Barrack’s ties to the Gulf states were reported by the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform in 2019. “With regard to Saudi Arabia,” the committee’s chair, Elijah Cummings, said, “the Trump administration has virtually obliterated the lines normally separating government policymaking from corporate and foreign interests”.As foreign influence on Trump’s court became the subject of increasing scrutiny, Barrack came under investigation. Prosecutors have accused him of deceiving federal agents who interviewed him in 2019.The messy case has sucked in other people. Barrack’s Emirati contact, al-Malik, was charged as an accomplice, but has avoided trial because he is not in the US. Barrack’s assistant at Colony Capital, Matthew Grimes, has been charged with a lesser crime related to lobbying.Barrack “illegally provided a foreign nation with access and influence at the highest levels of the United States government,” a prosecutor, Hiral Mehta, declared during the government’s opening statement last month. “The actions they took were not business; they were crimes.”Witness testimony recently began, with Rex Tillerson, Trump’s former secretary of state, called to testify. Tillerson said that he did not know Barrack well, that he did not know of his connection to the Emiratis, and that his influence on the US state department was minimal.Regardless of the outcome of Barrack’s corruption trial, it seems unlikely that it will do anything to improve the already murky legacy of the Trump White House.“I believe it unprecedented in any US administration for so many of the closest circle of persons around the president to have been shown to be conmen, grifters and base criminals,” Patrick Cotter, a former federal mob prosecutor, told the Guardian in 2020.TopicsUS newsUS politicsDonald TrumpfeaturesReuse this content More

‘We’re positively BEGGING you’: how Republicans and Democrats demand money differently Meticulously crafted campaign emails and text messages, with a heavy dose of guilt-tripping, reveal their parties’ worldviews“Is your phone off, Patriot?”“Are you still a Republican?”“This is getting SAD!”“HOW MANY TIMES ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO ASK?”The midterm elections are approaching, and political messaging teams are hard at work overwhelming inboxes across America. And while Republicans and Democrats rely heavily on guilt trips to squeeze money out of voters, the language they employ is markedly different – and says a lot about what’s wrong with each of them.Princeton researchers reviewing more than 100,000 campaign emails from December 2019 to June 2020 found they rose from a peak of about 600 a day in December to twice that in June – and that didn’t include text messages.But, despite the annoying nature of the communications, they seem to work, perhaps because they are so meticulously crafted. Toby Fallsgraff, email director for the Obama 2012 campaign, explained to NPR how the campaign would test up to 18 versions of a message on certain subscribers before sending it out widely. Emails brought in roughly $500m for the campaign. A few years later, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign asked for money 50 different ways in one month.So what does all this linguistic fiddling say about the parties behind it? With just a few weeks before voting begins, the Guardian sorted through some of the most memorable messages of the 2022 campaign to shed light on the question.RepublicansFor the GOP, it’s all about unswerving loyalty to the party – and to the great overlord, the chosen one, he who alone can fix it. He is not running for office this year, but his party seems unaware.Text messages from the Republican National Committee dangle a wide range of perks: donate and you can be a part of the Trump Gold Club, the Trump Advisory Board (he undoubtedly takes direct calls from members), the Trump Free Speech Committee (I was flattered to receive an “EXECUTIVE INVITE” to this one), the 1 Million Trump Social Club, or the America First 100 Club. Failing that, you can become a Trump Social Media Founding Supporter or get on the Trump Life Membership List (the messages do not specify what it would mean to be a lifetime member of Trump). Gifs of the ex-president often adorn the bottom of emails.And if none of these clubs are for you, beware the RNC’s wrath. “Don’t you care?” asked a message on 30 June. “Our records show your Trump Advisory Board membership status is STILL PENDING ACTIVATION!”This was just one of many similar messages that arrived after a failure to donate. In February, I was threatened with “possible suspension” – from what, I’m not sure – if I didn’t provide my “$45 payment”. Then in April: “Patriot! YOU NEVER ANSWERED!” (Capitals theirs.)Later, things got passive-aggressive. “Do we need to talk, friend?” the party wondered. A few weeks after that, in May: “We’re not mad, we’re just asking. Why haven’t you pledged to follow Pres. Trump on Truth Social [his social media platform]?”All of these, it should be noted, were positively gentle compared with an apparently genuine message that made the rounds on Twitter and in the media a year ago, in line with New York Times reporting in April 2021 describing a “defector” list supposedly maintained by the GOP:These NRCC fundraising texts are getting intense pic.twitter.com/2Smm3NXCYy— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) October 14, 2021
But it’s not all accusatory – the party employs flattery as well. In June, I learned that I was the party’s “BEST PATRIOT”, despite the delinquent behavior that had so recently forced it to reprimand me. The party’s forgiving nature was on display again in August, when my “strong support” – I had never once donated – “earned … a spot on the 2022 Republican Advisory Board”.Clearly, the party’s marketing team believes donors are motivated by accusations of insufficient loyalty. In a March email describing the invasion of Ukraine, the party said a poll had found most Democrats would flee the country if the US found itself in a similar position. “So we must ask: Would you fight for your country if it was under attack? Researchers need your response by midnight tonight. If you do not respond in time, we will assume you side with the Democrats who wouldn’t fight for America.”Those Democrats, of course, are framed as not just opponents but enemies of the people, as in this February message, when Ketanji Brown Jackson made her way to the supreme court:“HELP US! Biden’s Radical Supreme Court pick wants to TOTALLY TRAMPLE your right to:-1st Amnd-2nd Amnd-RIGHT TO LIFE.”I’ll admit, this text did leave me a little concerned about my right to 1st Amnd and wondering what, exactly, the “right to RIGHT TO LIFE” was – was Jackson planning to legalize homicide? Another message was similarly poetic, simply stating:“T Y R A N TB I D E N”Demands for loyalty might seem to contradict the Republicans’ supposed mantra of liberty above all, but George Lakoff, distinguished professor emeritus in cognitive science and linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, says it fits with the way he describes the conservative worldview.We operate according to the idea that the nation is a family, and on the right, that family is driven by a “strict father” who “knows right from wrong. What he says should be is always correct, and you should do what he says,” Lakoff says in a phone interview. “The Republican party is an authority-based system. It says, ‘This is how things should be and let’s make them that way.’”As for the clash between an authoritarian viewpoint and the party’s professed love of freedom, Lakoff says it’s simple: “There are two different views of freedom,” and on the right, freedom “means you are free to use whatever authority you have”.So perhaps it’s no surprise that so many Republican fundraising messages, short on nuance and written in simple language, sound like a parent chastising a wayward child, while others warn of encroaching enemies. The subtext: donate now – or you’re in deep trouble with Dad.DemocratsThe opposing party is equally inclined to hyperbole, though it often takes a very different tone – one of vulnerability and occasional self-flagellation. “We’re downright BEGGING you,” wailed the subject line from a late-September Democratic email. “Election day is 64 days away and we’re getting nervous,” warned a text early last month.It’s really upsetting to have to send multiple texts and emails every day: “This isn’t easy for me,” wrote Joe Biden in April. A few months later: “I hate to ask.” (If Republicans’ word choice was occasionally odd, Democrats made mistakes of their own – this particular message suggested I “take a moment to read this email, and then chip in $0 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee”, which I did.)Republicans’ emails weren’t entirely free from vulnerability in messages such as, “If we fall even a dollar short, we will lose the House to Pelosi FOREVER,” which would be pretty remarkable even for Pelosi, a known mortal. But such warnings were still underscored by a sense of menace, while Democrats seem content to appear pitiful: “we’re PLEADING”, “we might miss our goal”, “throwing in the towel”.When they’re not PLEADING, Democrats, in classic Democratic fashion, struggle to get their message out. While Republicans spit out brief, simple messages, Democrats offer subject lines like this from April: “I hope you’ll read this long email about how the DNC is bringing advanced data infrastructure to thousands of midterm campaigns this year, and then consider chipping in to support that work.” What red-blooded American could resist?Perhaps working more in the Democrats’ favor, the messages contain a sense of warmth: instead of “Patriot”, the recipient is “Friend”. The word “please” is abundant. And there’s a sense of community: “This is the time to fight for our country with everything we have”, “thinking of this team,” “You power the DNC [Democratic National Committee].”And in another feature that’s typical of the party more broadly, the Democrats have no trouble hauling out celebrities from Barbra Streisand to John Legend (all of whom seem to have a remarkably similar writing style). “Matthew, I’m sure that you weren’t expecting to hear from me today,” Martin Sheen texted me, accurately, a few days ago, along with a lovely picture of his own face.If Republican messaging aligns with Lakoff’s “strict father” worldview, Democrats’ touchy-feely messaging fits his description of the progressive mindset, which he calls “nurturant parent”. That’s the empathetic figure who “isn’t imposing on the child but rather wants to find out what you need”, Lakoff says. “For the Democratic party, democracy is based on empathy. Why would you have a democracy, you know? In order to help other people, to make sure everybody gets treated equally, that everybody gets what they need from the government.”The “begging” and “pleading”, then, seem to be based on the assumption recipients wish to do good; describing nervousness and sinking hearts appeals to empathy. And Barbra, John and Martin are all just part of the family.And what would a nurturing family be without guilt trips? Of course, Democratic guilting is more “have you forgotten the parents who worked so hard to raise you” than the Republicans’ “if you don’t cough up now, you’re dead to me”:Did I…date Nancy Pelosi and completely forget about it? pic.twitter.com/UVDSr7tCMq— Megan Collins (@ImMeganCollins) October 1, 2022
As for the more complex language involved in Democratic messages, Lakoff says, “Democrats tend to assume what I call Cartesian rationality: that is that you should be able to reason things out. And they give you reasons for things and then it takes some reasoning to get there. The Republicans tend to just say, ‘This is how it is.’”Across the divideThough each party’s tone is very different, there’s plenty that looks just about the same – well beyond the red, white and blue formatting of each email.Along with weaponizing guilt, both parties make use of what might be described as trickery. The 2020 Princeton study found manipulative tactics in emails were widespread – including “devious” techniques such as formatting emails so they look like they’re part of actual conversations between you and a campaign. Many of the emails I received, seemingly from Democrats in particular, had subject lines that contained “re:”, even though I’d never written to them.Even more deceptively, I received Republican emails with subject lines such as “Your flight is CANCELED”, with no indication that they were political emails until you opened them – the sender was labeled as “urgent notice”. (In this case, it turned out the email was warning me that I was about to lose access to a proffered dinner with Donald Trump.)And while definitions of left and right can fluctuate, says Justin Gross, associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, there’s one thing that clearly unites each party: “a distaste for what the other side is doing”. As the pollster and political strategist John Zogby put it in an email: “They both need to hear from me because the sky is falling.”That fear, Gross says, is “enormously motivating”. “When we feel that anxiety that’s kind of accumulated from a bunch of sources” – the rolling ball of political worries that seems to get bigger every day – “we feel like we don’t know what to do about it”, Gross says. When parties ask for donations, “it’s kind of a channeling of: well, at least you can do this.”TopicsUS politicsUS political financingDemocratsRepublicansfeaturesReuse this content More