Because it was never supposed to be about raising money, it was supposed to be about answering the call and running for office in your community to directly impact change, but unfortunately nobody wants to do the work and take on the responsibility of running and holding offices.
And of course to be clear, I say this as somebody who also hasn’t answered the call, but nonetheless I feel like we keep forgetting that Bernie was telling all of our to be the architects of our own political destinies
Because it was never supposed to be about raising money, it was supposed to be about answering the call and running for office in your community to directly impact change, but unfortunately nobody wants to do the work and take on the responsibility of running and holding offices.
I don’t/ can’t entirely agree with that, primarily because what Bernie was doing was working. Progressives were running and winning nationally, largely supported by the apparatus that Bernie had built starting in 2014. More progressives landed state and local positions nationallly through out that time period, and still, because of Bernies leadership and vision that went beyond himself. In terms of seats, Progressive candidates were competitive with the rates at which more rightwing candidates were winning. From 2014-2022, and still, mainstream (read: neolib & neocon corporatism) were getting eaten from the left and the right. The difference is that when the Republicans noticed this happening, they rallied and used it to fight the left and used it to defeat the Democrats. When the Democrats noticed it, they also rallied and fought the left to the defeat the Democrats.
The biggest threat to progressive populism/ social democracy in this country has never been the Republicans or right. The biggest threat has always been the Democrats, as gate-keepers of the party apparatus and access to national elections. The Democrats preferred a Trump presidency in 2016 over a running popular leftwing candidate. The Democratic party is more invested in the maintenance of the status quo than it is the will of its voting base. To the Democrats, their voters are an inconvenience they occasionally have to service. Seeing as the Democrats are working to lose another election right now with their insistence on running rightwing candidates that don’t appeal broadly to their base, it might be time to start worrying about the next fight. Because unless something drastically changes, the DNC has thrown yet another election.
But about that next fight… Bernie gave us the blueprint. He’s shown us how to run successful leftwing campaigns at all levels of government. I’m going to run eventually. Maybe just for dogcatcher, but something. Probably not next cycle but maybe the one after that. I wont be running as a Democrat. I’ll be running as an independent but I can assure you my platform will be left af. And just like Bernie, I’m going to speak directly to issues people are experiencing in their every day god damned lives.
*when I say Democrats, I mean party leadership Democrats/ figurehead Democrats, not Democratic voters.
I think the biggest flaw with Bernie is he turns into a cheerleader for the democratic nominee after he loses the primaries. He did it for Hillary and he does it with Biden. I understand he is doing it because he thinks trump would be worse, but at the same time it kinda hurts the progressive movement and messaging. It feels like we are giving up our progressive goals just to elect Biden, or else suffer an even worse option. It kills the enthusiasm when both the options suck and it feels inevitable that the one we actually want will lose or has lost already.
Don’t get me wrong tho I love Bernie, but this is my biggest gripe with him.
I mean he tucked his head down and got to work. I think he does recognize the kind of existential thread Trump represents to even being able to fix the system.
The grass roots apparatus that Bernie built is basically gone at this point.
Because it was never supposed to be about raising money, it was supposed to be about answering the call and running for office in your community to directly impact change, but unfortunately nobody wants to do the work and take on the responsibility of running and holding offices.
And of course to be clear, I say this as somebody who also hasn’t answered the call, but nonetheless I feel like we keep forgetting that Bernie was telling all of our to be the architects of our own political destinies
I don’t/ can’t entirely agree with that, primarily because what Bernie was doing was working. Progressives were running and winning nationally, largely supported by the apparatus that Bernie had built starting in 2014. More progressives landed state and local positions nationallly through out that time period, and still, because of Bernies leadership and vision that went beyond himself. In terms of seats, Progressive candidates were competitive with the rates at which more rightwing candidates were winning. From 2014-2022, and still, mainstream (read: neolib & neocon corporatism) were getting eaten from the left and the right. The difference is that when the Republicans noticed this happening, they rallied and used it to fight the left and used it to defeat the Democrats. When the Democrats noticed it, they also rallied and fought the left to the defeat the Democrats.
The biggest threat to progressive populism/ social democracy in this country has never been the Republicans or right. The biggest threat has always been the Democrats, as gate-keepers of the party apparatus and access to national elections. The Democrats preferred a Trump presidency in 2016 over a running popular leftwing candidate. The Democratic party is more invested in the maintenance of the status quo than it is the will of its voting base. To the Democrats, their voters are an inconvenience they occasionally have to service. Seeing as the Democrats are working to lose another election right now with their insistence on running rightwing candidates that don’t appeal broadly to their base, it might be time to start worrying about the next fight. Because unless something drastically changes, the DNC has thrown yet another election.
But about that next fight… Bernie gave us the blueprint. He’s shown us how to run successful leftwing campaigns at all levels of government. I’m going to run eventually. Maybe just for dogcatcher, but something. Probably not next cycle but maybe the one after that. I wont be running as a Democrat. I’ll be running as an independent but I can assure you my platform will be left af. And just like Bernie, I’m going to speak directly to issues people are experiencing in their every day god damned lives.
*when I say Democrats, I mean party leadership Democrats/ figurehead Democrats, not Democratic voters.
I think the biggest flaw with Bernie is he turns into a cheerleader for the democratic nominee after he loses the primaries. He did it for Hillary and he does it with Biden. I understand he is doing it because he thinks trump would be worse, but at the same time it kinda hurts the progressive movement and messaging. It feels like we are giving up our progressive goals just to elect Biden, or else suffer an even worse option. It kills the enthusiasm when both the options suck and it feels inevitable that the one we actually want will lose or has lost already.
Don’t get me wrong tho I love Bernie, but this is my biggest gripe with him.
I mean he tucked his head down and got to work. I think he does recognize the kind of existential thread Trump represents to even being able to fix the system.
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