This is the thing. People like to blame Berniebros and whatnot for Clinton’s loss in '16, but the reality is that the centrist Democrats that vote for the party’s corporate-backed candidate wouldn’t vote for a progressive one, so even if Bernie had won the nomination, he probably still would have lost because he would have lost the support of these DNC hardliners. I heard people literally say in '16 that if Bernie had somehow won the nomination over Hillary that they would have just stayed home. It’s wild to think how ideologically balkanized the Democratic party is, with so many people fervently belonging to the leftist minority that holds their nose every election to vote for another mediocre person whose best attributes are being “not an outright fascist” versus the people who will never vote for a truly left wing candidate because they’re fiscally conservative but socially liberal and just allergic to compromising in the same way that they’ve forced the leftists in their party to do since forever.
What is sad is the American people DID vote for progressive policy. The problem is American politicians represent their donors, and turned their backs on their constituents.
There is no expectation for an elected Democrat to align with their party platform. Likewise no one can or should expect a Republican to break from their party. Any reliance on either is a fool’s errand.
I mean about 70% of Americans support at least a public option for health insurance. Yet there is no pathway forward for 70% of Americans with either party.
So it sucks that such an intransigent faction isn’t even representative.
This is the thing. People like to blame Berniebros and whatnot for Clinton’s loss in '16, but the reality is that the centrist Democrats that vote for the party’s corporate-backed candidate wouldn’t vote for a progressive one, so even if Bernie had won the nomination, he probably still would have lost because he would have lost the support of these DNC hardliners. I heard people literally say in '16 that if Bernie had somehow won the nomination over Hillary that they would have just stayed home. It’s wild to think how ideologically balkanized the Democratic party is, with so many people fervently belonging to the leftist minority that holds their nose every election to vote for another mediocre person whose best attributes are being “not an outright fascist” versus the people who will never vote for a truly left wing candidate because they’re fiscally conservative but socially liberal and just allergic to compromising in the same way that they’ve forced the leftists in their party to do since forever.
What is sad is the American people DID vote for progressive policy. The problem is American politicians represent their donors, and turned their backs on their constituents.
There is no expectation for an elected Democrat to align with their party platform. Likewise no one can or should expect a Republican to break from their party. Any reliance on either is a fool’s errand.
I mean about 70% of Americans support at least a public option for health insurance. Yet there is no pathway forward for 70% of Americans with either party.
So it sucks that such an intransigent faction isn’t even representative.