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Related: About this forumHas Bernie Sanders Changed The Face of Tomorrow's Democratic Party?
Ring of Fire's Sam Seder and Farron Cousins discuss the current state of the democratic party.
tonyt53
(5,737 posts)Most supporters of Bernie Sanders wouldn't even bother to vote for him in November if he was the nominee. They will have lost interest.
You think that the guy with millions more people showing up at his rallies and million more donating to his campaign doesn't have engaged followers?
But the least liked and least trusted Democratic front runner of all time will be better able to get out the vote?
Riiiiiiiight.
He is irrelevant. He will remain irrelevant. It will be obvious when some other new and shiny object appears on the horizon.
stopbush
(24,393 posts)not an ideological run.
Had it been ideological, his followers would have had deep concerns about his short-sighted tax proposals etc that would never have fully funded his policies. The fact that this didn't concern them - or, worse, that they allowed themselves to accept half-assed, Sanders-friendly analysis that reputable economists laughed at - shows that it was really all about Sanders as a celebrity, nothing else.
Once he's gone from the stage in a few weeks, the revolution that never materialized will be over. Two years in politics until the 2018 midterms is a lifetime. Four years until the next presidential election is an eternity. The country will have moved on, and Sanders' core issues will have picked up another 4 years of distance to add to the decades of distance between today and his stuck-in-the-60s ideas.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)But we wouldn't show up to vote if he was the nominee? That is just plain ridiculous!
highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)lost possibly to the corporatocracy.
Bernie is not successful because he's a matinee idol candidate, but because of the popularity of his ideas. He has shown clearly the strength, the power, the lasting popularity of Progressive/Populist ideas. He has already succeeded in many ways.
He has shown you can fundraise a national campaign without corporate money.
He has motivated throngs of people, many of whom had given up hope or hadn't even been involved in politics before.
He has shown the completely evident cracks in "American exceptionalism".
He has defeated or weakened the thrall of numerous "wrong ideas" that are commonly held.
He has shown others they can succeed without being corporate sellouts.
He has gotten Hillary to campaign on a largely Progressive playing field, and it looks like she will stick with at least some of these ideas and policies for the foreseeable future. (I know. It's hard to feel secure on that shifting sand.)
After working towards Social Security dilution, President Obama just called for Social Security expansion.
Democrats would be wise to wake up from the post-Reagan nightmare, and their less than successful DLC triangulating, and get with the program. Americans clearly want Progressive/Populist change, and their is poll after poll that backs this up. Get on the Progressive/Populist platform and rid that horse home to a winning New Progressive Era.
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)surrealAmerican
(11,358 posts)Only time will tell.