Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumNY Times Op-Ed: The Simple Reason the Left Won't Stop Losing
The Trump presidency has created tremendous energy among progressives. More than half of Democratic voters now identify as liberal. Most favor Medicare for all. A growing number are unhappy with American capitalism.
This years campaign offered the prospect of transformational change, with a Democratic nominee who was more liberal than any in more than a half-century. Instead, the nominee now seems likely to be a moderate white grandfather who first ran for president more than 30 years ago and whose campaign promises a return to normalcy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/08/opinion/sanders-democratic-primary.html
This is a very good article in my opinion. Sanders and his campaign have focused too much on appealing to the fringe of the Democratic party. In fact so much so, he has probably done more harm than good to the progressive movement.
NOTE: There is a paywall but you might be able to get through it by going incognito. That worked for me.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Turin_C3PO
(15,888 posts)would have done much better if Sanders wasnt in and the media wasnt misogynistic. Progressivism will do well though as more Trump voters die and the millennials start voting in greater numbers. Sanders is certainly not the be-all, end-all of left wing politics.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
honest.abe
(9,238 posts)She could have won have things gone a bit different.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
ismnotwasm
(42,454 posts)I get repeatedly told Im gender doesnt matter, but you know? It really, really does
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
TwilightZone
(28,833 posts)Instead, his campaign strategy was to get 30% of the vote, get a plurality, and then demand the nomination.
When your entire strategy is based on luck, timing, and then demanding something from the very people you've been targeting for decades, it shouldn't be a surprise when it fails in the end.
Some would argue that he almost got away with it, but I would argue that the race was always closer than it appeared, especially going into SC. Biden was always going to do well in SC, and the wild swing in the projections based on a couple of states never made sense.
Yes, the coalescing of candidates and the party behind Biden undoubtedly helped, but if Sanders had built a coalition of his own over the years instead of alienating those would who have formed said coalition, it might have been an entirely different race.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
still_one
(96,523 posts)and his hiring of Jill Stein supporter Gray, and Hillary hating Sirota and Turner only highlighted that strategy
When you disparage 70% of the party you are running under, is it a surprise that Sanders has not been able to attract people beyond his base?
Surrogates have doubled down on this " war against establishment Democrats "
so is this really a surprise?
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
msongs
(70,170 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
elleng
(136,043 posts)'return to sanity/normalcy' more appealing to BROAD electorate, which we MUST attract this time. imo.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
NYMinute
(3,256 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Yavin4
(36,366 posts)What do I mean by "Linear Politics"? I mean they only want pols, voters, media, etc. who lie on the same line as they do. Being near the line is not enough. Even more, being near the line in their eyes is worse than being far away from the line. No, you must be on the line perfectly.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Hav
(5,969 posts)Especially the point about being the bigger enemy the closer you are to their position. Reaching 80% with a Dem is the bigger travesty than steps in the opposite direction under Trump.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
abqtommy
(14,118 posts)we elected Barack, or in 2016 when we elected Hillary but got ratfucked. If that's what the Times calls
"losing" then I'm all for it. And I'm very disappointed so many people here at DU took this sucker bait...
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
honest.abe
(9,238 posts)He is talking Sanders and the progressive left.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
StevieM
(10,540 posts)off the hook for what he did.
Hillary was heading towards a decisive electoral college victory before he intervened. And that was after he pulled his devastating stunt in July with that ridiculous press conference. Had he not done that she would have obliterated Trump.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
pecosbob
(7,904 posts)For those of you who are uncertain or frightened or confused, listen to the youth...they will point the direction that history will take, whether it's a direction you like or not. If you insist on any other path, you are blocking progress.
Oh, yeah...and fuck the NY Times Editorial Department.
*Self-edited for an insensitive term.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
honest.abe
(9,238 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
pecosbob
(7,904 posts)when it seems every pundit in the entire world is telling us to vote moderate or conservative...and then we go moderate and lose, more often than not.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
highplainsdem
(52,344 posts)FWIW -- since I doubt you'll consider this viewpoint -- "the youth" can point any damn direction they want (and they'll point multiple directions since they aren't a single bloc with only one opinion), but unless they can build a coalition large enough to win elections, they'll get nowhere with their finger-pointing.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
pecosbob
(7,904 posts)If we don't bring more people to the polls, we will lose again. Many think we can win running the same sort of candidate we have run in the past. I do not.
Not Undecided...I voted for Warren.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
highplainsdem
(52,344 posts)wasn't crazy about our candidates, but they were still much better than the Republican alternatives.
Re bringing more people to the polls -- there's no evidence from the primary race so far that the wave of new voters Sanders has talked about is materializing.
I don't blame progressives for often overestimating how many people agree with them. They're probably going on their own experience, what they hear from their friends. I remember Seth Abramson tweeting some time back that he didn't know a single person who supporter Biden. And as bizarre as that sounded, I believe he believes that -- that he's surrounded by likeminded people, and maybe those who disagree with his views simply don't tell him. People often exist in bubbles they're unaware of.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Hav
(5,969 posts)This is about what can be achieved. Progress isn't just one path and everything else is a dead end. Not one person has the right to claim that only his positions are the right ones. You couldn't have possibly proven the article right in a clearer way. Losing with purity over progress results in no progress at all. The inability to compromise and find common ground ends in achieving nothing at all. Calling something a revolution might sound fancy and cool but in a society, we move when there is a consensus. BS clearly failed in generating enough support and he failed in persuading the voters he could implement his plans.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
pecosbob
(7,904 posts)but I do have the ability to compromise...that is exactly what I did when I voted for a Democratic candidate in the general that I did not support in the primary.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Hav
(5,969 posts)as it is something I often see from BS supporters but in part also aimed at the line about blocking progress. I get that you understand what is at stake this November and I also think that despite differences, Biden clearly offers progress on many issues. The more important point is, for the sake of progress, the different factions of the left shouldn't sabotage each other if one of them is in the minority.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
uponit7771
(91,754 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
pecosbob
(7,904 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
uponit7771
(91,754 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
NCProgressive
(1,315 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
pampango
(24,692 posts)"More than half of Democratic voters now identify as liberal. Most favor Medicare for all. A growing number are unhappy with American capitalism."
It looks like Sanders will not be president. I am not happy but that is the way the game is played. At least some of his 'socialist' policies (which work just fine in capitalist Europe) are proving popular with Americans too. The future looks better.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
CaliforniaPeggy
(152,071 posts)But we'll need a different person to carry this message forward.
Sanders is too old now, and 4 years from now will definitely be a bridge too far.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
pampango
(24,692 posts)I give Bernie credit for presenting and popularizing the progressive ideas but they will survive his departure from the race, I hope.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Ferrets are Cool
(21,957 posts)So much stupid here. Sheesh
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
stillcool
(32,768 posts)is that people do not care. They care about a Presidential election every 4 years, to elect one human being who can do absolutely nothing by themselves. They don't care who runs their states. Maybe they haven't experienced enough of life's harsh lessons, to learn enough to care.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Me.
(35,454 posts)other politicals have said that BS thinks he knows more and is better than anyone else. If this is what's being called purity, I would also say, it makes them mean spirited about others and other's ideas.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
maxsolomon
(35,048 posts)I won't speculate why 78 (soon to be 79) year old Sanders didn't step aside after his heart attack and endorse Warren, but he didn't. That opened the door for the moderates to consolidate.
Not misogyny as much as that simple analysis.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)And there are a lot more Democrats than them. As said, its a lot less about winning than about acting out. But at base, just like their counterparts on the far right, their inability to respect or care about joining with others is a fatal and contemptible flaw that means they really shouldnt win.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden