I just want to thank you for introducing me to Birdland; I've played that and am going through the rest of Brenden Hennessy's works now. They're really quite fun!

I've played Counterfeit Monkey before and I +1 that recommendation; I think it's got some very clever word puzzles.

Yeah, even fighting locally can be really frustrating, and I live in a supposedly extremely progressive area. It can be even more frustrating when people will be all, "I'm not conservative, I voted for Obama/Clinton/Biden!" as if that means anything. Still, it heartens me to find like-minded people out there fighting the endless fight, because they are out there.

I don't blame people for moving to a different party, since they almost always vote for the Democrat anyway if there's even a chance that that seat is in danger. I personally believe in making change from inside the party, but to be entirely honest I'm pretty burnt out and am taking an indefinite break. :\

I mean, I think deductibles and premium costs matter a lot, don't you? A lot of people don't really understand those things, and it can be a shock to find you have to pay a $2000 deductible before any kind of insurance kicks in.

Sure, a ton of the Obamacare plans are straight up awful or a waste of money, but the Medicaid expansion was really good (for the states that accepted it). The singular portal for applying for Medicaid is also a vast improvement, simplifying things for patients in general. As you said, the health insurance system is terrible across the board, ACA plan or not; the only real way to change that is to have a public option at minimum.

Yeah, the title "Biden is quietly reversing..." etc feels like Biden's playing whackamole while someone is literally dying of a heart attack next to him. But the ACA did more than just establish the ACA Marketplace.

I kind of feel like a lot of folks here might be focusing on the wrong thing. If you're upset with the DNC leadership, etc, then it's not even a question of turnout for the presidential election. The only way to change the party is voting at a local level. That's the long-term view. Vote on the people you want to see as leaders locally, and support them as they move up the chain.

Is this easy/fast? Hell no. A major frustration I have at all levels — local, state, and federal — is how Democrats seem to refuse to build a bench and stick to incumbents because of a multitude of reasons people have already expressed here. But that's the only way to start, and it's a hell of a better reason than "stop the GOP."