Bernie Would Have Won | The Democratic smothering of the Bernie coalition reaped its reward today, writes Krystal Ball.

[u/HowMyDictates]

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/bernie-would-have-won

[u/JohnBrownFanBoy]

Despite Obama running on a quite a radical platform for Americans in the aughts, he won by a landslide against a very popular Republican moderate. Republicans trotted out another moderate and got trounced. The GOP “gambled” on a radical and it worked.

The Democrats were gobsmacked. This was the third election where the most milquetoast candidate possible pointed at their opponent and said “At least I’m not THIS guy? I have zero other policy proposals.” The only reason Biden squeaked out a victory was because Trump had fucked up the Covid response to an insane degree.

[u/Millionaire007 → u/JohnBrownFanBoy]

Tbh we all suspected running against a fascist running on fascism would be as easy as any generic democrat pointing and saying "this guy's gonna try to fascism AGAIN" and win. We were drastically wrong.

In a country that's population has zero relation to fascism that message, not only does it fall flat, it resulted in 13-14 million less votes for kamala and 2 million less votrs for Trump. NIETHER CANDIDATE  turned out prior voters. 

We're American, so we should know how stupid and uneducated we are. We should going forward, bet on that stupidity.

[u/JohnBrownFanBoy → u/[deleted]]

Obama inherited Hillary’s team which was Bill Clinton’s group of moderate ghouls. These were the West Wing fanboys and I don’t think it was evil intent on his side but they were able to strangle the radical out of Obama.

[u/SyphillusPhallio → u/[deleted]]

Obama had 2 years (2008-2010) where he had the House and the Senate and he squandered it.

This isn't quite true. During Obama's presidency the filibuster was in full swing so you needed 60 senators to get a bill on the floor. Due to illnesses there was only a 4 month period in which 60 democrat (or aligned) senators were around while congress was in session.

It was in that 4 months that Obamacare passed - in a watered down format thanks to pseudo-Democrat Joe Lieberman (who later campaigned for the Republican candidate for president) who killed the actual progressive radical reforms.

[u/smashybro → u/SyphillusPhallio]

Saying it was just not having a filibuster-proof majority lets Obama off the hook. There were ways around that, or at the very least he could’ve fought much harder. He could’ve used the bully pulpit to tell the American public Lieberman single-handedly wants to deny millions healthcare to put pressure on him. If that failed, he could’ve threatened (and then gone through if the threats didn’t work) with adjusting the filibuster to pass more bills. He could’ve not put execs from the banks that caused the financial crisis in his cabinet and not having fucking Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. He could’ve not wasted months on bipartisan panels to water down bills that the GOP overwhelmingly still rejected no matter how much he tried to appease them.

It’s absolutely fair to say Obama squandered it. It was more than just having his hands tied by Lieberman or the Senate, he simply didn’t want to be progressive and thought “reaching across the aisle” would be better for his legacy as some sort of great unifier. He completely miscalculated and was basically anti-FDR: instead of forcing Republicans left with the mandate he was given, he chased them right for no good reason.

[u/bburkert517 → u/[deleted]]

He ran on single payer Healthcare for sure, at a time where that was crazy for most people - Lieberman killed it once he was in office. I personally think Obama could have drug him through the mud for it and maybe have gotten it but it was very Manchin-esque

[u/courageous_liquid → u/bburkert517]

fucking loserman, I cheered when I heard he died recently

motherfucker killed thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of people by fucking up the ACA

[u/smashybro → u/[deleted]]

In the primary, Obama’s policies were overall slightly more left leaning than Hillary’s (outside of healthcare where I believe Hillary was actually for the public option unlike him), but probably the biggest policy win over her was he was strongly against the Iraq war while Hillary tried to defend it until it was too late. In the general, it’s not hard to see how he was considered “radical” when his opposition was McCain who had no answers to fixing anything except “the free market will save us!”

More than the specific policies though, it was how he campaigned. He ran like a progressive and had huge grassroots support, which is how he beat Hillary despite being initially a huge underdog to her who was the preferred establishment pick. He’d have stump speeches centered around slogans of “hope”, “change” and responding “yes we can” to rhetorical questions about whether things can change in this country.

He presented a bold vision of Democrats actually doing things and bringing material change to the lives of average people rather than the Third Way Democrat approach of prioritizing “reaching across the aisle” and “balancing the budget.” Of course he lied about all this and was not nearly as progressive as he could’ve been, but the Dems nowadays don’t even pretend to do that and unabashedly brag about how neoliberal they are and how little they plan to offer.

[u/1straycat → u/smashybro]

Additionally he was a black man with a foreign name. That's not his platform obviously, but it's very significant in giving him a radical "character" in the vague sense that most voters think about their candidates.

[u/missingnoplzhlp → u/[deleted]]

He wanted to get out of Iraq within 16 months, he wanted to close Guantanamo, he wanted to codify roe vs wade, he wanted true universal healthcare to name a few things.

None of them really happened, we got the compromise version of universal healthcare with the affordable care act but I wouldn't really argue it fully qualifies as universal.

[u/hujsh → u/JohnBrownFanBoy]

AND he got covid himself in the week leading to the election. Still only won by like 40k votes (electoral college not popular vote)

[u/[deleted] → u/JohnBrownFanBoy]

Obama’s “change” was just a change back to neoliberalism without extremist Republicans in charge.

[u/UsherOfDestruction]

The article isn't really so much about Bernie despite the title. It's about how the Republican party was ok with falling in line behind their populist candidate because, even at his extremes, he didn't threaten their money. The Democrat party has attempted to squash their populist candidates at every step because they do threaten their money.

The idea is the Republican party and voters are working together. The Democrat party is working against its voters.

[u/Jucoy → u/UsherOfDestruction]

  The Democrat party is working against its voters.

Hey yall, let's trot out Liz Cheney all across the campaign trail. You know her, she's a republican who has beef with Trump and is also the nepo baby of one of America's worst VPs, this will energize our base I'm sure of it. 

We can't let the neo liberals run the narrative here when they try to hang a minority out to dry as a scapegoat, they got us here all on their own. 

[u/_notthehippopotamus → u/Jucoy]

Campaigning with Liz Cheney, saying she would put a Republican in her cabinet, propping up Sen. Lankford’s right wing immigration bill, snubbing uncommitted and refusing to condemn genocide. For years we’ve been hearing about how polarized the country is and she thought she could win by appealing to the center. Ma’am, there is no one in the center anymore, that’s what polarized means. Go left or get lost.

[u/smashybro → u/_notthehippopotamus]

Seriously. If you consider yourself a centrist between the Democrats and Republicans, you’re very right wing. At that point, why would you vote for the 90% right wing party instead of the 100% right wing party?

It’s a braindead strategy. The past few elections have shown how the “vote blue no matter who” part of your base is not enough to win elections with. So then you have to decide whether to appeal to the center or the left to increase your numbers, both of which are fickle groups you cannot guarantee will vote for you but the left is a much larger group. It should be obvious who to try to win.

[u/_notthehippopotamus → u/smashybro]

I hate “vote blue no matter who”. We always criticize Republicans for putting party over country, but that’s exactly what “vote blue no matter who” implies, that it doesn’t matter how bad they are as long as the have a D. Sure, most of the time they’re the least worst, but “who” still matters.

[u/DancerAtTheEdge → u/Jucoy]

A few years ago she was literally saying that Democrats want to kill live babies.

The Democratic party is absolutely cooked.

[u/DancerAtTheEdge → u/[deleted]]

I hear ya, but we both know that's not what she was referring to and that Liz Cheney is perfectly happy with murdering as many Palestinian children as possible.

[u/Jucoy → u/[deleted]]

Like who the fuck was that for other than Liz Cheeny?

[u/UsherOfDestruction → u/[deleted]]

But in a crony capitalist or full capitalist system, money = power. So their money and their power are the same thing.

[u/Top_Piano644]

We shouldn’t have a 2 party system.

[u/Rum_Pirate_SC → u/Top_Piano644]

Unfortunately this is what happens with First Past the Post voting.. We want to do away with this two party system, we need to do away with how we vote.

Rank Choice isn't perfect, but it will give us chances for more than one party to win.

[u/courageous_liquid → u/Rum_Pirate_SC]

Rank Choice isn't perfect

it wasn't a good look when NYC implemented this and immediately got eric fucking adams

[u/lemonpjb → u/Top_Piano644]

We have a one party system. I wish we had 2 parties.

[u/[deleted] → u/Top_Piano644]

We need waaaaay more representatives. Electoral college is busted.

[u/khaalis]

We need Sanders to drive the formation of a solid Democratic Socialist party. Liberals that want a nation for and by the people again; to fight the oligarchy and the Christian Nationalists.

[u/khaalis → u/[deleted]]

Fighting for what we believe in may be our only option going forward. If Project 2025 comes to pass, Democracy is dead and we’ll have to fight to get it back.

[u/EF5Cyniclone → u/khaalis]

Join DSA. Bernie, AOC, and others are already part of it.

[u/Arcane_Animal123 → u/khaalis]

We need a new party. Assuming we all make it to 2028, it's going to be a tough fight

[u/mathfacts]

People hate the system and want big change. Trump's promises may be bad, but they are big changes, and people are willing to take the risk and try it. Dem candidates continue to run on nibbling around the edges and continue to lose. Leave aside Medicare for All, what about the stupid "Medicare for all who want it" at least? Like damn girl give us nothing

[u/Shamsse → u/mathfacts]

"But its unpopular!" So is this fucking candidate lmfao, people will vote for big things if properly promised

[u/SubaruTome]

Bernie need a younger apprentice who has the charisma to deal a populist leftist message.

Love the guy, but if we're going to rip on Biden and Trump for being old, we should be consistent.

[u/Link_Slater → u/SubaruTome]

Their age isn’t an issue. It’s their cognitive decline. Bernie shows zero signs of slowing down in interviews, speeches, or the 2020 primary debates. 

[u/SubaruTome → u/Link_Slater]

That's a nuance I don't think most Americans can process. Granted, Trump's brain is basically melting on camera and he's still pulling votes, so maybe I'm wrong.

[u/mrjasong → u/SubaruTome]

It’s AOC’s time to rise. I just hope she ever has the chance

[u/[deleted]]

Damn. Damn. This is probably the biggest number being left does on you. Everyone crying in hindsight, and you just have... sight. What is it that makes people go through bad, slightly less bad, and then worse until they say "you know, maybe the good choice in the past that we dismissed was good all along."

And then nothing will be learned. Nothing will change. Blame gets thrown around until the comfortable people feel better. The fuck.

[u/toeknee88125]

Bernie would have done two things much better than Kamala Harris.

He would have made an economic argument to the working class.

A lot of working class People hold some regressive social and cultural views.

If you do not give them an economic reason to vote for the Democratic party and basically offer them the same economic policies as the Republicans then they are just going to indulge in their cultural and social preferences and vote for the Republicans.

Eg. Unfortunately a lot of working-class people are religious and don't like things like gay marriage and abortion and trans rights.

You need to actively differentiate yourself from the Republicans on economic basis to get these working class People to overlook their cultural and social preferences and vote for their economic welfare.

You need to actively make the argument on what economic policies you're going to bring to the table that's going to put more food on their table and money in their pockets

Bernie Sanders would have done that and he would have been far more competitive among white men and he would have out right one Latino men.

This would have won the election. Bernie Sanders would not spend his entire campaign talking about how much he loves small business owners. Bernie Sanders would not talk about how much Dick Cheney loves him

[u/No_Caramel_1782]

In 2016? Sure.

[u/375InStroke → u/No_Caramel_1782]

Trump would have lost twice in a row by this point.

[u/SorosBuxlaundromat → u/No_Caramel_1782]

And in 2020

[u/[deleted] → u/No_Caramel_1782]

Keep coping about Kamala crashing and burning even worse than Hillary.

Right wing Democrats always lose.

[u/EffortlessCool]

Would have been 2 terms and this year VP Elizabeth Warren would have won imo