Ruy Teixeira
Monthly Commentary and Analysis
August 2021
Class Matters: David Shor Explains What's Wrong With the Democratic Party and Why It Must Be Fixed

I ran across this recent interview with David Shor in an obscure place, the liberalish independent Orthodox Jewish site Yated Ne'eman. It's quite an interesting interview if poorly transcribed-- there are quite a few obvious misquotes of Shor on data-related stuff (see if you can spot 'em!) But the message is still clear and bracing.
Latinos Are Sending a Message to the Democrats

There was an interesting interview with David Shor on NPR recently. Bizarrely, the transcript left every single one of Shor's "you know's in the text and he says "you know" a lot. That makes it hard to read but it's still worth plowing through. Bill Edley had the excellent idea of taking out the you knows from a key part of the interview so it's easier to read. Here it is:

"I'm a liberal Democrat and everything. But I think there's a real point, which is that the big thing that Donald Trump did is he created these large coalitional shifts.
Republican Voter Suppression Efforts: Intent Vs. Impact

Democrats are rightly decrying the multiple GOP attempts in various states to tighten voting procedures and enhance partisan influence over the election results certification process. But the rhetoric on the Democratic side is both overstated and confused.

Take the voting procedures issue. The key source of confusion is the failure to distinguish between intent and impact.
The Problem With The "Biden Boom" Strategy

My latest at The Liberal Patriot!

"The Democrats have a plan for 2022. It’s called the Biden boom. Into that boom will be folded Democratic policy successes like the vaccine rollout, the American Rescue Plan and, possibly, a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a budget reconciliation bill providing substantial new investments in education, child care and clean energy.

This is not a crazy strategy. The Biden boom does seem to be happening....And yet…we see no evidence of any surge in the Democrats’ direction.
Why Does the Center-Left Give BLM a Pass?

Black Lives Matter has, in certain obvious respects, been a very successful movement. Indeed, as measured by bodies in the street, expressed levels of support on the broad left and prominence in the national conversation, the movement has been astonishingly successful.

But a movement has be evaluated by other metrics than these. All movements, after all, have strengths and weaknesses, areas where the movement is making progress and areas where it is falling far short. In short, BLM needs critical evaluation, not just adulation or endorsement.
The Democrats' Reliable Nonwhite Working Class Vote Not So Reliable Any More

I sketch the contours of this change in The Liberal Patriot.

I thought it would be useful to do a companion post to last week’s post on “Ten Things We Now Know About the White Working Class Vote in 2020” focusing on the nonwhite working class vote. The nonwhite working class vote has received significant attention lately because of its central role in driving the strong performance of moderate, pro-law and order candidate Eric Adams in the New York City mayoral primary. Perhaps if the contours of the nonwhite working class vote in 2020 were more well-known the demographics of the New York results would have come as less of a surprise....