This I can easily agree with. Personally I have always liked Sanders. I agree things need to be changed and I agree those changes need to be radical. But you hit the nail on the head in mentioning flexibility. If people don’t buy in 100% they are considered as bad as Trump’s supporters. This purity policing is a huge turnoff for me.
And the yelling and humorlessness. I know I’ve had enough of that with DJT and I don’t think most people want to listen to 4 more years of it even if it is coming from someone they agree with.
I’d guess there’s more than a small chance that - provided moderators are fair - Biden gets his head handed to him at the March 15 debate. Could give Bernie a significant boost.
In one of the debates, tickets started at $1,750 of your American dollars, in a country where the median income is $56,516.
The debates are mediated by the same corporate interests that fund Republicans and centrist Democrats. It isn’t some loony conspiracy to say the debates are partisan.
That might be too late: he needs to win in Michigan and Ohio. Michigan will already be in the books by the time of the debate, and Ohio will come only two days after the debate, and Biden appears to be fairly strong in both states. And you can probably forget Bernie winning in Florida. Ultimately, it looks like Bernie is going to repeat 2016, winning states that are white, some of which are dominated by Republicans anyway, but not really providing evidence that he could compete in winnable states that really matter.
I think Sanders’ success in Nevada and New Hampshire does matter, but he needs bigger, more diverse states, particularly states with black voters, in order to really make the case that he could do as well as, if not better than, Biden in a fight against Trump. I won’t disagree that Bernie is a more exciting candidate and personality than Biden. I respect his organization and his movement. There’s a place for Sanders and his supporters; it’s just not at the top of the ticket. The sooner his fans can accept that and think about how to work within the framework of the Democratic party, the better our chances of getting rid of Trump.
Just saying that the moderates aren’t fair doesn’t make it true. How have the moderators treated Bernie unfairly? I think the consensus has been the Bernie has done well in the debates and that Biden has been pretty damn shaky. Maybe there’s more than the debate performances that is hurting Sanders.
Of course Bernie did well. He has retained full mental acuity (of a smart man), mainstream popular policies to talk about, a consistently great record.
Also, it has been discovered that your media is quite biased from people with money making it say things that help people with money. Some people wrote books about it.
“Your American dollars”. Sounds contemptuous, like a line out of a movie from a Bond villain or something. What currency are you more familiar with, rubles?
Bernie did a rally in Grant Park, Chicago today on a glorious day. But why? Ok, next Saturday is when Chicago will celebrate St Patrick’s Day, a horrible day for a rally. But, Illinois doesn’t vote until March 17 and Bernie needs to be in March 10th states this weekend. It’s even better given good Midwestern weather since Bernie has abandoned the March 10th state of Mississippi and might not be viable there.
The audience were miced and responding so it’s relevant.
I feel like we are talking at cross purposes. Is it really controversial to say that the US media is pro-establishment because it is part of the establishment, owned by the wealthy and run for profit? That would be a whole other thread.
You also need to separate Sander’s views from his supporters. I’ve compromised and moved rightwards to support Sanders who is basically a moderate candidate. Of course I want the Democratic party destroyed, they have been ineffective for years.