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Sanders ascent brings Socialism to the forefront of Dem Party


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2020 Feb 23, 8:21pm   560 views  9 comments

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Sanders' ascent forces reckoning for Democrats

Bernie Sanders has seized a commanding position in the Democratic presidential race, building a diverse coalition that is driving his liberal movement toward the cusp of a takeover of a major political party.

The senator's ascendancy, though years in the making, is forcing a sudden reckoning in the Democratic Party's hierarchy as centrist politicians and their wealthy benefactors grapple with the upheaval brought by an electorate not only hungry to defeat President Donald Trump but also clamoring for radical change.

After Sanders' resounding victory in Saturday's Nevada caucuses, and with polls showing him on the rise, Democrats are entering a season of open warfare over whether Sanders, I-Vt., is equipped to beat Trump in what could be a brutal general election. The senator and his allies insist he could, but his detractors say he is too polarizing to win in November - and could severely cost Democrats in congressional or state races if Republicans use Sanders' self-description as a Democratic socialist to paint all Democrats as extreme.

The Sanders insurgency is the culmination of angry grievances that have simmered for the past decade among liberals who say Washington has all but ignored the problems of income inequality, health-care access and climate change.

"The party has shifted to the left, and I don't think many of the more traditional, legacy leaders of the party got it," said Andrew Stern, a longtime former president of the Service Employees International Union. "The good news for Bernie Sanders is he's like a broken clock. He's been in the same place for 35 or 40 years in terms of his positions, and the times have found him."

A headstrong, 78-year-old senator, Sanders has galvanized his supporters with an unwavering commitment to their shared cause and rageful critiques of the "billionaire class." They in turn see him, despite his unorthodox persona, as a weapon against a governing class that has failed them.

On the campaign trail, there is an unusual intensity to Sanders' performances, reminiscent of the energy that built around Trump on the right during his 2016 rise. Sanders has emerged as a movement candidate, with his rallies coast to coast drawing thousands of people who wait for hours to see him.

Sanders' stump speech is a progressive wish list - passing a Green New Deal to fight climate change; wiping out student debt and paying for it by taxing Wall Street; raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour; changing immigration laws to protect the undocumented; nominating liberals to the Supreme Court and protecting abortion rights; and, of course, his signature health-care idea, Medicare-for-all, which has become a rallying cry on the left.


"People who have been locked out of power are speaking up about corporate influence over the issues that matter in their lives," said Abdul El-Sayed, a Sanders ally and liberal organizer who ran unsuccessfully for Michigan governor in 2018. "What you're seeing is a necessary and natural readjustment in the Democratic Party."

Sanders' emphatic win in Nevada illustrated his potential to expand his coalition far beyond the ceiling of 25% or 30% that many party-establishment figures and commentators assumed he had. In Nevada, Sanders won with 29% of whites, 51% of Hispanics and 27% of blacks, according to entrance polls of Democratic caucus-goers. He won a staggering 65% of caucus-goers under 30 years old, and he carried every other age group except for caucus-goers over 65 years old, which former vice president Joe Biden won.

"In Nevada, we have just put together a multigenerational, multiracial coalition which is going to not only win in Nevada, it's going to sweep this country," Sanders said at his rally in San Antonio on Saturday.

"We are bringing our people together - black and white and Latino, Native American, Asian American, gay and straight," Sanders added. "We are bringing our people together around an agenda that works for the working people of this country."

Sanders' dominance among young people, his supporters say, signals his ability to energize this potentially important demographic in November.

"Disregard electability," said Isabel Lozoya, 19, a Texas State University student who drove for an hour on Saturday to see Sanders campaign in San Antonio. "It should be about picking somebody you really believe in as opposed to somebody you think other people will believe in."

https://www.thehour.com/news/article/Sanders-ascent-forces-reckoning-for-Democrats-15078704.php

Comments 1 - 9 of 9        Search these comments

1   just_passing_through   2020 Feb 23, 8:37pm  

Much worse than the claim the Republican party would fall apart during the Obama years. They did in a way but I can't imagine that will be worse than the direction this is heading.

Never Sanders-ers haha... Hard to say.

There is a Millennial guy I worked with. He recently quit and moved to Bezerkley to follow his ugly as fuck girlfriend up there. Big time Bernie bro. I let him know on linked in recently that I voted for Bernie. He said thanks. I didn't let him know it was only to fuck with the DNC.

I really like that guy. Super high IQ and funny. We discussed how those fuckers don't like white males and he agreed. I didn't take it any further in order to avoid a potential workplace infraction.

I hope he grows out of it. But fuck he just moved from SoCal with lots of hot chicks to the highest concentration of fugly bitches on the planet.
2   RWSGFY   2020 Feb 23, 9:15pm  

just_dregalicious says
There is a Millennial guy I worked with....Big time Bernie bro....Super high IQ


Doesn't sound like his IQ is that high...
3   Rin   2020 Feb 23, 10:17pm  

just_dregalicious says
He recently quit and moved to Bezerkley to follow his ugly as fuck girlfriend up there.


In other words, his vote still doesn't count.

Remember, I got myself a 2nd mail stop in the midwest to make my vote count over Massachusetts ...

https://patrick.net/post/1329612/2020-01-09-rin-is-going-to-make-his-vote-for-trump-count-this-year-2020
4   clambo   2020 Feb 24, 6:20am  

Bernie is tapping in to the resentment of the offspring of illegals, losers, and sundry angry minorities.

They are envious and Bernie helps them channel their angst.

The DNC is in a panic because they know Bernie will lose Florida in November.

Re: the guy moving to Berkeley: he will soon see how many lonely females live in San Francisco.
5   zzyzzx   2020 Feb 24, 7:15am  

clambo says
Re: the guy moving to Berkeley: he will soon see how many lonely females live in San Francisco.


6   just_passing_through   2020 Feb 24, 8:56am  

The_Weeping_Ayatollah says
Doesn't sound like his IQ is that high...


Lacks wisdom and self confidence...

And has learned many of the wrong things.
8   Ceffer   2020 Feb 24, 10:29am  

just_dregalicious says

I hope he grows out of it. But fuck he just moved from SoCal with lots of hot chicks to the highest concentration of fugly bitches on the planet.

Berzerkeley? He must love the smell of pot smoke and immense hirsute lesbian armpit hair in the morning.

Bernie might be an attractive 'Fuck You' to the establishment, but he would be an even bigger 'Fuck You' to the economy and the people. Voting for Bernie is either for a short term bribe (free shit, loan forgiveness, fake health care reform etc.) or cutting off your nose to spite your face.

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