If you don't have the support of the base, you won't be the nominee. [View all]

It's fine to like Bernie and his message. Most Democrats probably agree with him on most things. But without support of the base, it doesn't matter.

There have been plenty of threads about whether or not Sanders would have won had he been the nominee. Posts about aspects of his past that may have caused serious problems, posts about how Bloomberg would have run, speculation about what turnout would have been like, etc. ***THIS THREAD IS NOT INTENDED TO PRODUCE MORE OF THE SAME***

The writing was on the wall after Super Tuesday. Many of us were saying back in March that it was clear Clinton would become the nominee. The race was essentially over after March 15, if not after Super Tuesday. And caucuses, which are undemocratic, are the only reason the race was even remotely close.

Clinton had the support of the base. Sanders did not.

That's the reality. You may not like that reality, but it is what it is.

So, instead of arguing about whether or not Sanders would have beaten Trump, perhaps folks should be thinking about what it would take to produce a nominee in 2020 who speaks out strongly against plutocracy/corporatocracy *and* has the support of the Democratic Party base (and can, of course, pass the inevitable vetting process).

It will need to be someone who gets that not all disparities are rooted in class. Someone who views so-called social justice and so-called economic justice through the lens of a Venn diagram (there is a great deal of overlap and there are also important distinctions). Someone who has a proper appreciation for how historical injustices (both race-based and sex-based) continue to impact the present (to say nothing of ongoing institutionalized racism and sexism), and that even wealthy persons of color often get horribly mistreated based on race. Someone who gets that it's not enough to simply promote policies that help all poor people in the same way to the same extent.

***EDIT:

Defining the base: The base, for quite some time, has been predominantly POC, women and urban dwellers. The base is not nearly as fluid as some in this thread are claiming.