Anat Shenker-Osorio

The fact that we’re having this whole progressive vs centrism debate in our outdoor voices is proof positive that we have not learned to stop selling the recipe and start selling the brownie.

No, when reports of Pelosi, Clyburr, et al. came out attacking the squad, they had to exercise their persuasive power, which runs through the public. We need this debate in the country. As with the conversations & awakenings that slogans like “defund the police” foster

Moderate Democrats are vulnerable to people associating leftist policies with them b/c they don’t have a public moral vision of their own. That’s on purpose—if they had one, it would conflict w/neoliberalism & make their top $ funders mad. They actively destroy political meaning

Yup. So let’s not give them our precious airtime.

Just to be clear (and I'm a big fan!) what should AOC, etc. do when criticized by Clyburg, Spanberger, etc.? Not push back? I'm really wondering what the effective move is!

In my experience & testing, best approach is say what you’re for. Eg instead of “centrists are wrong“ - “Voters turned out in record numbers Bc they want care for families without fearing they’ll go bankrupt to get it. They want to earn a good living & have a good life, etc” 1