• @[email protected]
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    54 hours ago

    I’ve been saying that since the DNC muscled him out in 2015. Stupid establishment Republicrats.

  • @[email protected]
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    161 day ago

    Everyone loves Bernie.

    But dang it the man is 83. He should be enjoying the last years of his life in retirement. It makes me sad to think he still needs to be working in politics.

    He’s as old as Trump, who is already too old for this shit, will be at the end of his term.

    Maybe there should be a hard limit at 65 or something for politicians. Both to keep out people in whom dementia is clearly starting to appear and to let old people frickin’ rest.

    • The Snark Urge
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      13 hours ago

      We should, and it should be called the Logan’s Run law, to give them something to think about

  • TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)
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    292 days ago

    It seemed that it was a rejection of whatever political group was in power across the globe for the most part this year. This is largely in part because the world as a whole is still healing/recovering from the damage of COVID, and in the US the Dems were left to clean up an economic disaster left by Trump. And we have a large number of people who felt the effects of inflation and for reasons I can’t wrap my head around felt the Dems needed to be voted out. Then we had all the people who wanted to teach the Dems a lesson because of Gaza by making sure Trump was elected to help Israel level the area and make sure there was no future for Palestinians (which is another contradiction I can’t wrap my head around).

    So really I think the Dems could have had a unicorn candidate (Bernie) and they still would have lost this election, because enough people only vote for themselves.

    • @[email protected]
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      81 day ago

      Fucking THANK YOU, for elucidating this so cleanly into a two paragraphs.

      The wandering shell shock on Lemmy for a week was miserable to witness.

      • @[email protected]
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        91 day ago

        Do you guys really believe the populist position is to “vote the Democrats out” and that Gaza was really the reason for voter apathy that effects half the population? Couldn’t be messaging or effective policies being lacking, definitely blame anyone against a continually funded arsenal in the hands of aggressive governments.

        • @[email protected]
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          81 day ago

          Your right. The anti-establishment mood in this country and abroad has been building for decades. Americans have never voted based on foreign policy unless that foreign policy is directly impacting them.

      • @[email protected]
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        21 day ago

        I agree. If we now acknowledge that genocide was a relevant factor in making the Dems loose, this is bad for AIPAC. We need to quickly reestablish different narratives to protect AIPAC interests by claiming it was everything but the genocide. It took AIPAC a few days to develop the new narratives but now we need to embrace them.

    • @[email protected]
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      52 days ago

      Under Trump, Palestine as understood today will cease to exist and Israel will have two new superfund sites to deal with

      • @[email protected]
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        71 day ago

        Do you think the outcome would be different under democrats? Please tell me how the party that has given billions in support of israel’s genocide for over a year was so totally going to stop it at any moment if they just simply got voted in again.

        • @[email protected]
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          41 day ago

          If you’re still asking this question, you are either a disingenuous troll or you are beyond help. You obviously haven’t spent even five minutes trying to understand why the U.S. is still funding Israel and the general positions of the two candidates and instead feel that time is better spent riffing on the same Lemmy buzzword.

          • @[email protected]
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            51 day ago

            The Biden/Harris administration just declared, that their “red-line” for more weapons to Israel, the continued starvation of Gaza with an ultimatum to today, was indeed not a red-line.

            Look at the actions, not at the words. There is absolutely no indication by the actions of Biden and Harris, that they would ends Israels US funded genocide. Especially now as the whole “we need to toe the line, because of the Israel-Lobby” bullshit falls apart. The election is over. If the Dems had any serious interest in preventing Israel from annihilating Palestine, now would be the time to do so. They don’t. Because they always were and still are in support of Israels genocide.

          • @[email protected]
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            …yuuuup. the US position under the two main parties is about the same on the Palestine issue. The only difference is the speed and intensity that actions will take.

        • @[email protected]
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          I don’t think that the final, final outcome would be different. You are completely right on this. But under Trump it will be supercharged and any restraint that existed to this point will be gone.

    • @CumWeedPoop
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      So really I think the Dems could have had a unicorn candidate (Bernie) and they still would have lost this election, because enough people only vote for themselves.

      I always vote “for myself” which meant voting for Harris. Her policies are more in line with my best interests than all that maga bullshit.

      • TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)
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        11 day ago

        By “vote for themselves” I meant people voting based on the outcome for them personally. My being a white male allows me a large amount of privilege in this country, and so I choose to use my vote to help others (knowing it doesn’t put us anywhere close to being treated equal overall). So my vote for Harris was to help women, people of color, immigrants, the kids (who are going to have education decimated now and white washed so much more than it already has been), and for trans kids/adults, for everyone in the LGBTQ+ orbit, and on and on. What would benefit me didn’t even play into it, because I’d be fine comparatively (minus the anxiety/depression that Trump causes).

  • @[email protected]
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    502 days ago

    As impossible and abstract as it seems to realign the Democratic base by shared class interests, it’s still much a more concrete plan than “reduce bigotry in strangers”

    Amen. Amen. Tried and failed, twice. Populism is the only way forward. Democrats must become the party of the poor again.

    Strange thing to have to say.

    • @[email protected]
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      41 day ago

      Voters are saying “I am going to be homeless and can’t even afford bread”. The Democrat response to this is “stop being racist, the economy is fine”.

      I’m really not sure what anyone expected besides failure from this.

      It sucks because some of the agencies were doing good work, especially the mounting attacks on landlords and monopolists/oligopolists, which are necessary but will almost certainly end now. Honestly it felt like they wanted to lose, having learned nothing from 2016.

  • @BoobaAwooga
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    This point about Bernie winning has been belabored, however consider a 2016 election where the DNC didn’t collude for Hillary. Then we have Bernie as the ticket and beating trump and never hearing of that fucker again (hopefully). What a different world it would’ve been having Bernie as the 45th president

    • Orbituary
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      482 days ago

      The point is to hammer this into the thick skulls of the people running the DNC. They keep forcing shit down our throats. It’s time for change.

    • Baron Von J
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      242 days ago

      Which state’s primary votes did the DNC alter or override to give Hillary the nomination by popular vote instead for Bernie?

      • @[email protected]
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        2 days ago

        What if I told you it was also about manipulating voter opinions.

        Like how the superdelegates were all pledging their votes to Hillary way ahead of the first primaries. Or how the DNC pushed Hillary over Bernie, as was clear in the Debbie W.S. leaked DNC emails. Also, the widespread pressure from party darlings on Bernie to drop out.

        Messaging from the media was to blame as well. This was reflected in:

        • Lack of coverage of the polling that showed the better margin of success in a Bernie v. Trump matchup against a Hillary v. Trump matchup. This one is especially egregious, in my opinion, since a lot of the Hillary supporters I personally knew voted for her in the primaries because they assumed she had a better chance of winning.

        • Lack of coverage about Bernie’s higher popularity with independent voters in polls.

        • Widespread reporting when Hillary decided to label Bernie supporters as basement dwellers.

        • Hillary accused Bernie of being sexist and the media did terrible due diligence.

        • Baron Von J
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          72 days ago

          Why not just tell me those things instead of making it a hypothetical?

          I think those are all valid points to raise and consider. I voted for Bernie in my primary and Hillary in the general.

          Like how the superdelegates were all pledging their votes to Hillary way ahead of the first primaries.

          Was there a single state, where the popular vote was for Bernie but the super delegates swept in and gave it Hillary instead?

          Or how the DNC pushed Hillary over Bernie

          This is not me shrugging it off as a totally cool and reasonable thing, but is that any different than any other election year, from either party, where the established power structure of the party has a preferred candidate? What I’m saying is I don’t think this is anything specifically anti-Bernie as much as a very well established pattern of nepotism that goes back centuries.

          as was clear in the Debbie W.S. leaked DNC emails.

          Correct me if I’m wrong, but did not the DNC emails show that proposed rat-fuckery was ultimately rejected?

          Also, the widespread pressure from party darlings on Bernie to drop out.

          Just par for the course, and not special opposition because Bernie is Bernie.

          Messaging from the media was to blame as well

          I agree with you that the media wasn’t fair in their coverage. Maybe just have been my own echo chamber but I do recall seeing polling data showing Bernie did better against Trump being brought up all over the place.

          However, I’m only pursuing discussion of the claims/sentiment that the DNC denied Bernie the nomination. I see that sentiment popping up a lot, and it always completely ignores the fact that Hillary won the popular vote in the primary. Just like Trump just won the popular vote in the general. The only way the parties will change is by enough people showing up in their primaries to nominate better candidates. They aren’t going to change because we’re mad about the results of the election. They don’t care what non-voters think because non-voters don’t win elections, voters do.

          • Schadrach
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            31 day ago

            Was there a single state, where the popular vote was for Bernie but the super delegates swept in and gave it Hillary instead?

            Mine. West Virginia. Hillary got 35% of the primary vote while Bernie only got 51% and therefore she got one more delegate than Bernie. She literally only ever needed 30% of the primary vote in any state because of superdelegates.

            We had a local candidate who only ran in WV, whose whole purpose for running was to try to draw national attention to economically gutted regions of the state caused by the so-called war on coal who got 9% of the vote, and even he managed to outperform Hillary in one county (taking second, because Bernie won every county in WV) - when you’re behind a protest candidate anywhere, you done fucked up.

            • Baron Von J
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              11 day ago

              Thank you! I’ve been asking that question for years and you’re the first to provide an example. Point conceded.

      • @[email protected]
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        282 days ago

        The other candidates gradually stepped aside to allow Hillary to run. The big one being Joe Biden not running as it was her “turn”, allegedly after the deal between the Clintons and the Obamas.

        If Biden had run in 2016, he probably would have won. And Trump would be a footnote in history.

          • Schadrach
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            21 hours ago

            And it will be the greatest book you have ever read, just so bigly yuge, tremendous! Not like those Democrats and their small books, with the tiny writing and confusing words and no pictures.

            …I tried. Just imagine the pitch gradually increasing and the first part being all enthusiastic, then him dropping to a low pitch and trying to sound all grave for the second sentence. Someone else better at channeling orange asshole-ese?

        • Baron Von J
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          32 days ago

          The other candidates gradually stepped aside to allow Hillary to run. The big one being Joe Biden not running as it was her “turn”, allegedly after the deal between the Clintons and the Obamas.

          Apologies, but I can’t tell if you’re trying to supplement my point or pose an answer to my question.

      • @[email protected]
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        122 days ago

        Yeah what I remember working on the campaign was a bunch of people didn’t show up and fucking vote in the primary and Bernie lost. Sure, there was some fuckery that shifted momentum but at the end of the day my fellow progressives didn’t get enough votes because we act like the DNC controls the outcome of the primaries and end up helping make that the reality ourselves.

        If all the people bitching about the DNC and telling everyone the Democrats are a lost cause showed up to vote in the primary, Bernie would’ve won.

        • Baron Von J
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          112 days ago

          a bunch of people didn’t show up and fucking vote … and Bernie lost

          It’s obnoxious how often that’s why the conservatives win.

          • @[email protected]
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            32 days ago

            It’s genuinely every time. That is the principle difference between left and right voters.

    • P_P
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      242 days ago

      The donors would have never stood for it, which is why the DNC did what it did.

        • @[email protected]
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          31 day ago

          The DNC and RNC are 527 non profit companies.

          In a country where money == speech and corporations are allowed to use their freedom to speak freely.

          They’re actively supporting the largest voices in the room, corporations.

    • @[email protected]
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      62 days ago

      Small tangent. Instead of reading it as bee-labored, I read belabored as bella-bored the first time and I was like, “Bela… bored…? Huh, that’s a new word. Let’s Google that! … Oh, I’m an idiot.”

  • @[email protected]
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    842 days ago

    I love Bernie. I know he would have beat Trump in 2016. Both tap into populist sentiment, albeit on different sides of the political spectrum. The difference is Bernie wouldn’t have any of the baggage that Trump brings with the racism, misogyny, incoherence, etc. he would have won easily. I weep for what would have been. He would have been a champion for the working class, not the charlatan that Trump is.

    I think one thing that the Republicans did that Dems didn’t is they let the people pick their candidate. It’s that simple. They didn’t care how unpolished he was, his lack of pedigree, anything. There was no ideological purity test. They duked it out in their primary and let the people decide. Something for the Dems to learn from.

  • @[email protected]
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    542 days ago

    He’s 83 years old, older than both Trump and Biden.

    I’d like to see AOC throw her hat in for 2028. She’ll be 39 then.

    • @[email protected]
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      452 days ago

      I’d love to see this but her chances are likely worse than Harris. And that’s assuming we have an honest election in '28.

      • @[email protected]
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        202 days ago

        Maybe, maybe not. Looking at the answers from her “AOC and Trump” voter cross-section, it seems like you just need to run someone who’s “genuine.” Both of them are seen as genuine or real (whether that’s true or not, it doesn’t matter).

        Populism can cut both ways and AOC might be just the ticket we need.

        • @[email protected]M
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          102 days ago

          That was my primary complaint about Harris, she had the same plastic, fake insincerity Clinton did.

          I mean, I voted for her ANYWAY because the alternative is just… 🤢🤮

      • @[email protected]
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        62 days ago

        I’m starting to be of the mind that literally nothing matters in the presidential election except vibes/personality. Assuming there is an election and assuming people are sick of Trump by then I think she’d have a great shot.

    • @[email protected]
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      152 days ago

      As much as I love her, America will never elect a female president anytime soon. There are many men who believe the presidency is a man’s job.

      • @[email protected]
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        61 day ago

        Why would you say that?

        Harris didn’t lose because she was a woman - she lost because she was associated so heavily with the Biden administration as more, and more questions started being asked.

        Hillary didn’t lose because she was a Woman, she lost because she was a Clinton and there are so many left overs - and by popular vote: She won, but the US isn’t about the popular vote. But when we look at the split - it is VERY interesting.

        AOC is generally speaking - widely approachable, talks some sanity, is willing to talk both sides of the Aisle, and so on. I can’t actually readily find a reason to be flat out opposed to her: I mean sure, there are policies and such that I don’t always agree with - but generally speaking, it is rare to find someone you completely agree with, and someone you completely disagree with: And if you ALWAYS disagree with everything, and can’t have a discussion - often times it’s not the other person with the issue.

        The reality is, there are plenty of Men and Woman that won’t or will vote one way or another for a wide number of reasons, and odds are - put into the mix, it all washes out.

        Truth is, when Covid was raging on - I kinda thought that Republicans would basically screw themselves over with the way it was handled and the death counts etc. But what it turns out - is a lot of deaths were assigned to covid but related to Cancer, heart disease, and so on with Covid as a contributing factor: So while dangerous, it seems the numbers were conflated - and that, is a very dangerous thing to do as the truth will, sooner or later, win out. And here we are.

        The thing is: AOC doesn’t strike me as mainstream Democrat. And that alone will mean the DNC is unlikely to back her as a candidate - they want a party person through and through, and that, is ultimately what lost them this election.

      • @[email protected]
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        11 day ago

        I don’t think that Harris’s problem was that she was a woman. Her problem, same as Mrs. Clinton, was everything else. And that is a long list for both of them. Being women probably didn’t help, but it also wasn’t their main chute.

      • @[email protected]
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        102 days ago

        Yeah, I’ve already seen the name “Gavin Newsom” floated around for 2028.

        DNC doesn’t learn.

        • @[email protected]M
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          There will be a proper primary in '28 and Newsome will be the Democratiic Mitt Romney. No idea if he’ll win.

          My favorite joke on Romney, I think it was Letterman? “Sears Catalog underwear model, Mitt Romney.”

          • @[email protected]
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            31 day ago

            Proper like in 2016?

            The more one looks into the DNC, the more questions exist. Is it really a wounder how much inflation took place over the Obama years? Under Biden? They push party people, they get party people, who have the same great money management skills. And people are fed up with it.

            People are fed up with GOP folk just the same - for different reasons. Trump was the NOT GOP, not DNC nominee, it isn’t really a wounder why he found support. It’s really just a wounder how the leadership of the parties couldn’t figure out that serious reform is needed internally.

          • @[email protected]
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            Why does nobody seem to understand what fascism and, “dictator on day one” means?

            Your vote will never mean anything ever again.

            • @[email protected]M
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              41 day ago

              That would also require Trump to be competent and while he’s a great many things, that is one thing he will never be.

    • @[email protected]
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      82 days ago

      This thread is ridiculous. A woman or a jewish person cannot be elected President of the United States. How much more evidence do you need.

      • @[email protected]
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        162 days ago

        They said the same thing about black people until a black man running as a progressive won the nomination. I think you’ve been learning the wrong lesson from all the elections since.

  • @[email protected]
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    322 days ago

    Anyone can win, just as soon as you guys stop fighting tooth and nail to keep anyone but the most moderate democrat from being allowed to compete.

  • @[email protected]
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    92 days ago

    The Dems have been putting workers first under Biden the whole time. Putting workers first more than any administration in decades. You guys just believe a bunch of bad press.

      • @[email protected]
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        91 day ago

        You mean the railroad workers? Did you stick around to listen to the end of the story? Where scant weeks afterward, his administration negotiated a contract for the workers that gave them more paid sick days than they were asking for.

      • @[email protected]
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        31 day ago

        Are you kidding? Is that really an event you think proves your point? Please tell me you will read further on in that event than whoever sold you a partial story and fooled you into thinking that.

    • Cethin
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      71 day ago

      They can do better. The biggest issue was messaging though. They talked about how much better the economy is now, which is true if you’re talking about stock value but the average American wasn’t necessarily doing better, and often doing worse. They kept telling the working class they should be happy instead of focusing on how they recognize the issues and focusing on addressing them.

      • @[email protected]
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        71 day ago

        Harris did… exactly that. That was a huge part of her messaging.

        The GOP controls the storylines that the media runs along: “Kamala just isn’t being specific about her policies” when she was robustly specific, and while Trump said absolutely zero specifics about anything and no one said a word about it.

        • Cethin
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          81 day ago

          No, she entertained the concept while also saying the economy is doing super well, which it isn’t if your definition focused on the working class doing well. I agree she had some good policies, but that doesn’t matter if you can’t get the message out.

          Trump said he would fix issues for the working class (with magic or something I guess, because the few policies he was willing to state certainly wouldn’t).

          It doesn’t matter how much you would have helped people if they don’t believe it.

          • @[email protected]
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            122 hours ago

            They did help people, and did it about as much as the government could. Almost 16m jobs created, 6m more than pre-pandemic.

            The issue was inflation, but that was global, and the US did better than most of the rest of the industrialized world in that regard. It is a complicated truth vs simple lies: you figure out how to get Americans to listen to the one and not the other.

            • Cethin
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              17 hours ago

              I agree, but it isn’t my job to figure out how to get people to listen. That’s politics. There are trusted people by the working class on the democratic (more left, but they caucus with the democrats) side. Harris was not this, nor was Biden. They are both establishment politicians. That’s not what the people want right now and the Democrats new this but they thought they could win anyway.

  • @[email protected]
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    He always would have. He knows how to get the people motivated and straight up fucking torqued. He hits every nail when it comes to social or economic problems. On top of it all, he’s so passionate about it he’ll argue until he’s red in the face for us. Honestly fuck everyone who worked to move that man out of the way.

    • @[email protected]
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      21 day ago

      And yet, he lost.

      Bernie bros whinge so much about how unfair such and such was to Bernie. Do you think Trump’s campaign would have been less fair?

      Also do you forget Russia was supporting Bernie because they wanted him as a spoiler, and yet you all sit here and continue to divide rather than support people who are damn close to your own values. It’s insane.

      • @[email protected]
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        61 day ago

        Bernie lost the primaries when the DNC pushed a bunch of people out of the primary and have them endorse Hillary in a night time maneuver right before the deciding states primary elections.

        • Schadrach
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          21 day ago

          …and they did this because they’d agreed not to do superdelegates in 2020 which meant they couldn’t use the same levers they’d been wielding in 2016 and before to put a thumb on the scale.

  • @[email protected]
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    A lot of democrats could have won this election. Ultimately the big mistakes were allowing Biden to run unchallenged, then sticking with Biden until it was too late. Harris then had an impossible task to win.

    If the democrats had an actual democratic process, and put their best possible candidate forward they may have won. Instead this election was very much a repeat of 2016 - the wrong candidate, being favoured through to the election by the DNC. In 2016 the DNC closed ranks around Clinton because of fear of Bernie and also because of a crazy notion that it was “her turn”. Biden didn’t run when he should have. This time Biden ran when he shouldn’t have, and other strong candidates in the party didn’t get a chance.

    But it was more than the candidate - the election focus was totally wrong. 1/3 of the electorate did not vote - and this election is not a story of Trump breaking through. Trump got 74m votes in 2020 and about 74m now. The Dems got 81m votes in 2020 and 71m votes now - Trump is basically static; but the Dems lots 10m votes because they ran a bad campaign. Those missing 10m voters are in the 1/3 who are not included in polls; because Trump has not broken much above his 74m ceiling. The Dems floor fell out under them instead.

    The polls always showed 50:50 but that was just “likely voters”. Really 1/3 support dems, 1/3 support reps and 1/3 weren’t going to vote. That vast pool of people are not all never voters; the missing 10m are in there. THAT is where the Dems should have been going for votes. Forget the republicans; they should have been reaching out to the disinterested and disenfranchised. A positive message that actually addresses their concerns.

    The “moderate” Republican votes were never in play nor worth courting, and the abortion and democracy focuses were not the priorities of voters. The dems needed to listen to the actual voters - and the message of what the voters cared about is clear: the economy. The Dems needed to have a clearer message on the economy - “it’s doing great” does not tally with voters experiences who are living with high cost of living after inflation. Prices haven’t fallen back, they’ve just stopped rising as fast. The message to voters should have been “we’ve done some stuff but there is more to do” and offer clear policies are wage growth, housing/rent costs etc. Give the disinterested in particular something to vote for.

    So yes, maybe Bernie would have won. But lets not forget he chose to endorse Biden, not run in the democratic party primary. So it’s actually his fault too.

    Only Dean Philips, Marianne Williamson and Jason Palmer actually stood up and challenged Biden in the primaries, and they were criticised for doing so as if they were the reason Trump would win.