What do you think? I think if we wanted to have more of a progressive US the opportunity was there back in 2016 with Bernie.
Because… 1) We (meaning most Americans, not necessarily you) didn’t want to have a more progressive US. 2) The opportunity wasn’t there in 2016. 3) And certainly not with Bernie.
I agree with you, Sanders would have been crushed in 2016. But; 1. Sanders would have done better with the working class in terms of protectionism and globalization, cultural issues would have still been a problem. 2. Hardcore lefties deserve a shot, if they had lost like Walter Mondale in 2016, we could have gotten them off our backs for a about two decades.
No way he would have gotten near winning in 2016. Big biz would have gotten together and thrown all sorts of trillions at him calling him commie, hates America, etc.
Bernie has never had a real job. Same with kamala, even Biden. Just swamp rats on the public doll. Donaldus would of steamrolled commie Bernie.
The mistake in 2016 was that so many Democrats (including Joe Biden) stepped aside and Hillary Clinton a relatively free pass to the nomination till Bernie stepped in. And I think what subsequent events have shown is that a lot of Bernie’s success was more about anti-Hillary sentiment within the party than it was about his ideas. If Joe Biden for instance is the nominee in 16 he beats Trump given he would have had none of Hillary’s baggage. And if Trump loses in 16 that’s the end of him and his movement politically.
I heard a musing once that Hillary had momentum in 2007...and then Barack Obama came into the mainstream. She was told to stand aside and then she'd be given the attention once Barack was done. How much of that is true? It's anyone's guess...but it's also possible that the swing voters were sick of Clinton, the way they were sick of Bush (no Jeb or anyone else) and Kennedy plus others.
I don’t think there was any deal made in 2007 and I don’t think the party was capable of even making such a deal at that time. But come 2016 Obama clearly saw her as his successor and worked behind the scenes to make it so (which was a mistake). I think with Hillary Clinton there was just the baggage of being on the national stage for so long, plus some self indicted dumb errors (like the email stuff). A lot of these things were dumb but they added up. And in an election so close everything matters. The best presidential candidates are those who come off as outsiders, but whom party elites are comfortable with. And by 2016 there’s no way Hillary could have run that way. And I think of one of the things we saw in 2008 and 2016 is she’s not the greatest candidate and in 16 she very much struggled to put away Sanders despite him having no establishment support whatsoever. Another candidate who could have peeled off such support (like Obama in 08), probably bears her in the primary.
I was a Bernie voter in the primary, I believe he would have lost in the general as well. Beyond that, Bernie's message is getting old too....The inability / unwillingness to address the massive issues that are racism/misogyny and white supremacy are rendering his message obsolete and myopic.
There is probably a good reason there has never been a US President from Vermont. I also voted for Sanders in 2016.
I do think the far left deserve to have one of their candidates get the nomination. They need another Mondale moment like in 1984, and then we can go back to ignoring them for another 40 years.
Newscum. Vance wipes the floor with him . Good luck defending his appalling record. I look forward to the culture wars
Me too. My wife is upset at me still about it, but I just thought that Hilary had too much baggage to win, on top of being female. Of course, I wholeheartedly supported Clinton after winning the nomination. I probably would have gone for Biden had he run.
I thought Bernie running would push her to the left. It worked, and she got no credit for it. That really made an impression on me.