My family was heavily involved with the DNC from the 60’s to the 90’s. What you’re saying is sort of true and sort of not true. They don’t force people to run or not to, but they are very adept at strongly suggesting what their people should do for the “good of the party”.
If you run when they don’t want you to, they won’t help you in your next lesser election, and then you have no power at all. Bernie was an extreme anomaly to overcome the pressure to step aside, and even then, he didn’t win. If it weren’t for his ability to motivate the far left, a skill that moderate democrats don’t have, they would have found a seemingly polite way to put him out to pasture already.
I’ve seen it and heard it from the inside, and those were descriptions of the years when things were a lot more civil. I’ve seen nothing to suggest that they control the candidates any less these days.
I agree, we generally do try to look at the bigger political picture, and especially since Citizens United, money is a very, very major consideration. Politics is an inherently ugly practice that involves a great deal of compromise, just to function in a complex world with large numbers of different interests in it.
Though I’d say the modern day is a more mixed bag, it’s easier now for a more independent politician to rise with grassroots support than it was pre-internet. This was a major factor in Bernie’s success, and we have people like Katie Porter proving it wasn’t actually just some fluke. Even Obama did well, mainly with grassroots support against Hilary.
The big conspiracy theory that these considerations amount to some shadowy suppression is bullshit though. All the interests are pretty out-in-the-open with what they want. People who did not like him were not hiding their distaste for Bernie, or reasons for not supporting him.
One thing I think gets underestimated by younger progressives is just how many educated, middle-aged soccer moms with two and a half kids that we have.
I definitely agree there. There are a hell of a lot of middle class Americans who talk the progressive talk, but when it’s time to vote, they walk a moderately conservative walk. They always have a reason like “so and so has the best chance of winning” and “the newcomer won’t be able to get anything done”, but those are self fulfilling prophecies.
Until Americans who are succeeding in the current status quo decide that change is possible and desirable, we’re going to keep getting alternations of the same old same old or alt-right dark horses.
Don’t underestimate the number of registered dems that simply aren’t very progressive, and have zero interest in talking a progressive talk. We’re a coalition party, after all. The fix for that is voting reform, ranked choice, something like that, so we don’t all have to cram into one party just to survive.
Some people are just pro-choice and want some more business regulation, but that’s it. They can be dems too. I’m personally not in favor of any kind of ideological purity, I think they should be allowed within our ranks.
edit: underestimate, not overestimate, which made no sense.
My family was heavily involved with the DNC from the 60’s to the 90’s. What you’re saying is sort of true and sort of not true. They don’t force people to run or not to, but they are very adept at strongly suggesting what their people should do for the “good of the party”.
If you run when they don’t want you to, they won’t help you in your next lesser election, and then you have no power at all. Bernie was an extreme anomaly to overcome the pressure to step aside, and even then, he didn’t win. If it weren’t for his ability to motivate the far left, a skill that moderate democrats don’t have, they would have found a seemingly polite way to put him out to pasture already.
I’ve seen it and heard it from the inside, and those were descriptions of the years when things were a lot more civil. I’ve seen nothing to suggest that they control the candidates any less these days.
I agree, we generally do try to look at the bigger political picture, and especially since Citizens United, money is a very, very major consideration. Politics is an inherently ugly practice that involves a great deal of compromise, just to function in a complex world with large numbers of different interests in it.
Though I’d say the modern day is a more mixed bag, it’s easier now for a more independent politician to rise with grassroots support than it was pre-internet. This was a major factor in Bernie’s success, and we have people like Katie Porter proving it wasn’t actually just some fluke. Even Obama did well, mainly with grassroots support against Hilary.
The big conspiracy theory that these considerations amount to some shadowy suppression is bullshit though. All the interests are pretty out-in-the-open with what they want. People who did not like him were not hiding their distaste for Bernie, or reasons for not supporting him.
One thing I think gets underestimated by younger progressives is just how many educated, middle-aged soccer moms with two and a half kids that we have.
I definitely agree there. There are a hell of a lot of middle class Americans who talk the progressive talk, but when it’s time to vote, they walk a moderately conservative walk. They always have a reason like “so and so has the best chance of winning” and “the newcomer won’t be able to get anything done”, but those are self fulfilling prophecies.
Until Americans who are succeeding in the current status quo decide that change is possible and desirable, we’re going to keep getting alternations of the same old same old or alt-right dark horses.
Don’t underestimate the number of registered dems that simply aren’t very progressive, and have zero interest in talking a progressive talk. We’re a coalition party, after all. The fix for that is voting reform, ranked choice, something like that, so we don’t all have to cram into one party just to survive.
Some people are just pro-choice and want some more business regulation, but that’s it. They can be dems too. I’m personally not in favor of any kind of ideological purity, I think they should be allowed within our ranks.
edit: underestimate, not overestimate, which made no sense.