The Reconciliation Thread

[Chan Island]

So the midterm elections are done and dusted. The American people have voted, in a shocking twist ended up confusing everybody but the pollsters, who are giving each other high-fives for calling an election correctly for once. There were good moments and bad moments. But with Congress split and in the wake of multiple terror attacks by rightwing or Incel headcases, a curiosity has struck me.

Americans: What do you believe is good about the other party? Were there any individuals running who you thought were good candidates, despite disagreements with them?

For example, for my part I align much closer with the Democrats than the Republicans. However, I could easily have seen myself voting Republican in several races due purely to personalities. New Jersey for example, where sadly a shady crony has been reelected.

In terms of policy I believe Republicans also have a few good points, or bring attention to important issues (even if their methods for dealing with them are in view bad), such as on the freedom of speech. Too often in recent times have democrats and their allies on the left rushed to the cause of censorship and ostracisation of abhorrent views on race, religion, gender and educational issues (even if I can't fault them for wanting to do the right thing).

Alternatively, is there something you think your own party might be doing wrong, even if in context of the other party it is at least a better approach? For example on guns I believe the that while control is needed, the Democrats are being myopic focussing on the big scary assault rifles which account for about 1% of gun fatalities in the US, when they should really be looking into controls or bans on handguns (which account for around 50% of fatalities, and the overwhelming amount of gun crimes committed by organised criminal gangs).


But now it's your turn! Americans (and non-Americans who are drawn to the giant dumpster fire that is American politics by family living there or because of how potentially life-and-death important it is to literally everyone): is there any good idea, policy, personality or whatnot being raised by the party you did not support? Did you perhaps split your vote, for example by voting for a Republican governor but a Democrat Congressperson?

Please don't flame or get into an arguing match here, NSG has many other threads for that purpose.

Thanks!

[Geneviev]

What do you believe is good about the other party?

I agree with Democrats on immigration. It's one of their best qualities. Republicans can sometimes be a bit racist or xenophobic.

[The Blaatschapen]

The good thing about the American political parties is that it makes the rest of us feel better about our own domestic politics

[Valentine Z]

One thing I take away is that politics can get people really really riled up. I respect the passion in debating, but sometimes, the responses sounded like what you would say if someone insulted your family, i.e. a little too personal.

Still, with that out of the way, I am not exactly that well-versed with US Politics, other than the fact that the Democrats and Republicans like to jab at each other quite frequently. Not all, but a good percentage of them.

So... I hope things go well!

[Dogmeat]

The good thing about the American political parties is that it makes the rest of us feel better about our own domestic politics

They're not doing that bad, considering.

When Europe goes Nationalist Far-Right, they go Nationalist Far-RightthroughBelgium.

[Washington Resistance Army]

But now it's your turn! Americans (and non-Americans who are drawn to the giant dumpster fire that is American politics by family living there or because of how potentially life-and-death important it is to literally everyone): is there any good idea, policy, personality or whatnot being raised by the party you did not support? Did you perhaps split your vote, for example by voting for a Republican governor but a Democrat Congressperson?

Conceptually a number of ideas the Dems have are good but they run into rather serious problems when trying to implement. IE healthcare reform is great on paper but thus far most all of the ideas thrown out suck.

I voted for a couple rather conservative Democrats along with some Republicans and would happily do so again but at the federal level I don't really see myself casting a vote in favor of the Dems any time soon.

[Western Vale Confederacy]

I agree with the attempt at instituting social programs in the US, but I personally feel like a theoretical public healthcare system should coexist alongside the various already existing private medical facilities/insurances/etc...

A public-private system where people can actually choose.

Also, stop trying to present yourselves as socialists, it just cannot and will never garner you any sympathy in the US because of the sheer amount of negative vibes the term "socialist" acquired.

[Alamka]

I've mostly forgotten what I've studied in US politics, but I must say...





The US's politics went to Jupiter to get more stupider

[Benuty]

I agree with the attempt at instituting social programs in the US, but I personally feel like a theoretical public healthcare system should coexist alongside the various already existing private medical facilities/insurances/etc...

A public-private system where people can actually choose.

Also, stop trying to present yourselves as socialists, it just cannot and will never garner you any sympathy in the US because of the sheer amount of negative vibes the term "socialist" acquired.

Given we had a guy pretty much try, and purge the military by ruining several peoples careers out of mere suspicion of far-left sympathies (contrary to popular belief McCarthy didn't go after Hollywood) I don't know why they would want the label honestly.

[Benuty]

I've mostly forgotten what I've studied in US politics, but I must say...





The US's politics went to Jupiter to get more stupider

It isn't so much to do with stupid as it has to do with the political pendulum breaking in half. Normally every ten to twenty years the pendulum would swing towards the opposite ends of certain issues depending on what was happening at the time. Two years ago the pendulum broke because people started to realize their utter disgust for mainstream parties. Of course without registering in the mainstream parties you are effectively ruining your political career so you know...it could be a lot worse. I mean you could have a mishmash of parties holding the government hostage over the slightest budget issue instead of merely barking on television to ignore the fact our budget goes to three things primarily (the military, Medicare/Medicaid, and social security).

[Benuty]

The good thing about the American political parties is that it makes the rest of us feel better about our own domestic politics

The best part of waking up is European abandonment in my cup.

[Harelia]

This is a rather difficult question for me to answer. While my views align with almost dead middle centrist, I consider the vast majority of the left to be far more of a raging grease fire than the right. So I suppose I'll look past the fault in the Democrats stars for this topic.

I find a particular intrinsic 'good' in the Democratic side in that they generally stand to maintain a more open ended system than that of the Republican side (IE. Legalize marijuana). Although much of their policy making and advocating seems to be generally a reactionary thing, there is the occasional rational thinking "true blue progressive" among them that toddles forward with a really good idea. Even through the constant hailstorm of Democratic icons spreading misinformation about firearms and creating smear campaigns, there's always the heroic free thinking libertarian among them that steps out of the crowd and rallys a good portion of the masses back with a swift "Now wait a minute, fellas."

I wish I had more diamonds to find in the leftist coal pile. And I'm more than willing to sit down with any leftists that care to become that diamond in the rough. But despite being centrist I'll definitely be seating myself in the red corner until I can feel safe to become purple party again.

[Dagnia]

I don't particularly care for either party, and don't have much good to say about the party I voted for or the party I'm registered with (two different things this time around), so I'll just say bad things about both. I voted a straight Republican ticket this time in spite of being a registered Democrat because the party refuses to give up identity politics and using the magic words "racism", "misogyny", "rapist", etc. to get what they want. That said, neither party really had an answer for "what policies are you going to pursue to ensure there are safe, affordable neighborhoods for lower to middle income people?", "what are you going to do to ensure my kids' generation gets a deal similar to my parents' where they will be able to afford houses in their early 20s even if they have blue collar jobs and they are not faced with the choice of struggle or live with mom and dad past 30?", or "how are you going to reform health care so a broken bone doesn't bankrupt me?". I couldn't name one person who had a serious plan for any of those. It was all about the evil orange meanie, or stopping the socialists.

[Ostroeuropa]

The Republicans often oppose the right people (progressives) for the wrong reasons (their own brand of racism/sexism), sometimes managing an apt observation on whats wrong with them. They're more willing to tie their politics into a narrative of Nationalism routinely, which is positive in my view. They're harder on immigration, at least in theory. They actually elected their populist candidate rather than threw their guns on stage and wolf whistle for someone that fit the demographic they want to shill for because it was their turn.

The Democrats have almost everything else right, or less wrong than the Republicans.

[Caldreania]

What do you believe is good about the other party?

I agree with Democrats on immigration. It's one of their best qualities. Republicans can sometimes be a bit racist or xenophobic.

After seeing that some of the larger online Democrat outlets keep equalizing illegal and legal immigrants, going so far as to dub the children of a legal immigrant and a citizen as "anchor babies", I am not quite sure. Besides, Republicans seem to be putting up more of an effort to modernize immigration, at least from what I could see or hear.

Speaking of which, since this is the Reconciliation thread, while being on the subject of immigration, it should be stressed that the Gang of Eight, a bipartisan group which was comprised of people such as John McCain and Chuck Schumer, was one of the best examples that the two parties can and should work together to improve the state, at least in terms of immigration.
And if the CAN work together to improve things, then it also means that they SHOULD.

[Harelia]

I agree with Democrats on immigration. It's one of their best qualities. Republicans can sometimes be a bit racist or xenophobic.

After seeing that some of the larger online Democrat outlets keep equalizing illegal and legal immigrants, going so far as to dub the children of a legal immigrant and a citizen as "anchor babies", I am not quite sure. Besides, Republicans seem to be putting up more of an effort to modernize immigration, at least from what I could see or hear.

Speaking of which, since this is the Reconciliation thread, while being on the subject of immigration, it should be stressed that the Gang of Eight, a bipartisan group which was comprised of people such as John McCain and Chuck Schumer, was one of the best examples that the two parties can and should work together to improve the state, at least in terms of immigration.
And if the CAN work together to improve things, then it also means that they SHOULD.

Good luck getting McCain to cooperate with anyone now.

[Internationalist Bastard]

At the end of the day everyone wants what they think is best for the country
We have this narrative that our political enemies want to destroy the country because reasons

[Washington Resistance Army]

At the end of the day everyone wants what they think is best for the country
We have this narrative that our political enemies want to destroy the country because reasons

Because we're no longer one country tbh. Dems and Reps are living in entirely different nations.

[Kulunja]

Democrats in Texas aint bad. Better than the GOP which are completely oil funded

[Kulunja]

At the end of the day everyone wants what they think is best for the country
We have this narrative that our political enemies want to destroy the country because reasons

Yeah the supporters of the parties aint that bad themselves. Its those running the damn parties that are in it for themselves

[Kyrinasaj]

I don't want to sound like a nasty centrist but I dislike both parties nearly equally

[Big Jim P]

I honestly cannot think of a single good thing about the democrats. If they had any decent positions, policies or actions, I would have no trouble voting for one. Sadly, they have nothing.

[Valrifell]

Whatever happened to "if you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all"? ;-;

Reps have some respectable members of Congress who do seem to have a good idea as to what their constituents want. Most Dems appear to me as slightly more out of touch, even though I prefer policy.

[The Commonwealth of Tennessee]

If this election taught me anything, it's that you don't have to be a part of a party to like someone on the other side.

Here in Tennessee, Phil Bredesen is fairly popular seeing as how he managed to become a Democratic Governor in a deep red state. I genuinely supported him during this election even if I can't vote yet because I saw something that was different. He wasn't your "gun control and censorship" candidate, but more of a prophet. He had many idea points that could be seen as conservative and I respected that. I also really liked his Democrat-based viewpoints too.

If we could take something from this election here in TN and spread it across the US, it'd be the fact of the matter to not be a firebrand and bleeding-heart fanatic but rather a moderate who can see both sides.

(Unrelated aside: Haslam is gonna be hard to replace in my eyes because of how much of a moderate he was.)

[Sacara]

As a registered and active Republican, I whole-heartedly agree with undeniable coverage of people with pre-existing conditions. Although my stance on abortion (extremely pro-life), I also can be moderate and even left-leaning in other social issues. I proudly support same-sex marriage, and I could care less what bathroom a transgender individual uses. Just my two cents.