It wasn't just this man, it was the entire Democratic Party. Remember well that in the four years leaning up to the election, while the Republican party was playing 6-D chess trying to figure out every possible avenue they could use to sieze power, the Dems decided their best chance at defeating Trump was running Sleepy Joe Biden.

[–] spicytuna62@lemmy.world 94 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

They did Bernie fucking dirty in 2016.

Then Biden knew he could run on name recognition alone and trounce Bernie in 2020. He knew people were pining for the Obama days and played off that nostalgia.

Fuck Hillary Clinton, fuck Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Kamala Harris is okay, fuck Joe Biden, and fuck the DNC. There's no reason they shouldn't run a progressive candidate, but it's clear they're allergic to winning elections.

Also, did anyone seem to notice that "weird" dropped out of campaign messaging in the last couple months following the nom? Can't help but think the DNC was behind that. Calling them weird was their kryptonite, even if Kamala Harris essentially said, "I'd do nothing different from Joe."

Joe Biden was a perfectly okay president. He was pretty invisible for the most part. He was a boring president. But he didn't bring the FIRE Bernie had in 2016 and 2020. He ran at a time when he KNEW he would win because Bernie was too far to the left for the DNC to be comfortable, and for that, I consider him a coward.

We didn't deserve a President Sanders, but holy shit did we ever NEED him. And yes, I am coping pretty hard right now.

[–] TheFriar@lemm.ee 39 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Everyone says they did Bernie dirty in 2016, but no one ever brings up how in 2020, the establishment dems all dropped out of the race in exchange for cabinet positions to rally around the elder statesman Biden—when Bernie was winning the primaries.

That, in my opinion, is far dirtier and a much bigger “fuck you” to leftists/progressives/humanists than 2016.

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 13 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I brought that up, literally minutes ago. 100%

Biden was getting trounced. The party was embarrassed, so they made a bunch of backroom deals and sharpened their knives. Then Liz Warren stuck her blade in Sanders' back on live TV.

[–] TheFriar@lemm.ee 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I was just pointing out that you said they did Bernie dirty in 2016 and then said in 2020 Biden knew he could beat Bernie on name rec alone. I was just clarifying what I think was the bigger betrayal.

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 4 points 5 days ago

Totes, I wasn't disagreeing

[–] slaacaa@lemmy.world 8 points 5 days ago

The liberal elite would rather see a fascist dictatorship, than a progressive leftist democracy, as one of those endangers their wealth and power.

[–] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago (2 children)

people gonna start switching sides permanently if DNC can't fix themselves

[–] tkk13909@sopuli.xyz 13 points 6 days ago (1 children)

As if that hasn't been happening already. Dems need to get their shit together.

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

The only way forward for Dems is to drop all the old guard. They're all remnants of a different time, and the world has moved on.

[–] OneWomanCreamTeam@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

For real. Drop anyone over 55, other than Bernie.

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I've wrestled with this quite a bit. And as someone who donated to his political campaigns, multiple times, I still think Bernie has to go too. It's not that he's wrong, it's that he's just too old to be doing work. The optics are awful.

The larger issue is that the Dem party has been nipping buds before they can even stretch for the sun, for decades. So any real progressive candidates will need to be drawn in from the outside. Which also means the Dem party itself needs to be dismantled from the top, and reconstructed to be effective in the 21st century. Late 1900s strategies are all the Dems have been offering, while losing again and again and again. Bernie has been an Independent since 1978. And that's largely a function of Vermont. So the question is, how can we affect the political landscape such that living fossils understand they're no longer wanted, when their entire careers are predicated on egoism insisting that theirs are the necessary hands on the tiller?

So, I'm not saying throw the wizened baby out with the bathwater, but asking an 83 year old man to serve another 6 years is not fair to anyone. And despite his fantastic vigor, it's a recipe for diminishing returns.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

Oh you sweet summer child thinking there will be anything but Russia-style mock elections from now on.