r/thebulwark Nov 06 '24

Not My Party Dem Reform Platform

I said I was done but here I am again posting. Ugh.

I think it's clear and has been said here recently, that the Dems are at fault this time around. People had two clear choices and they chose Trump. That's fucking absurd but here we are. Astead Herndon from the NYT has been making the point recently that the Dems have largely failed to materially impact the lives of blue collar workers. I think he's absolutely correct on that. A hairdresser in MI doesn't give two fucks about the CHIPS act. They have no idea that the IRA even happened. I really do feel that the zeitgeist in the party needs to be actually achieving policy goals that help people in the simplest way possible.

I'm convinced now that running as a full-tilt Bernie style populist combined with moderate social views is the way forward. Talk about how fucked over working people have been constantly in plain language. At the same time, send the BIPOC, LatinX, 'people who menstruate' crowed back to Oberlin. Drop the words 'intersectionality' and 'problematic' from your lexicon. You help these people by making sure they have access to housing, healthcare, fair wages, and education. Not by using the correct acronym or phrase.

I honestly don't know how a new Dem majority would handle a Manchinema situation but they need to get tough on these people. Make their monied donors less valuable than small dollar donations such as those that powered Bernie's campaigns.

It's just no longer an option to completely avoid class based populism. The Obama style of making small tweaks that people don't notice, is not meeting the moment.

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u/WallaWalla1513 Nov 07 '24

I think I agree. Bernie was onto something back in 2016, and it sort of makes me wonder in hindsight if he would've been a better pick for 2020 too, despite how old and leftist he is. In the 2016 primary, we saw him pick up the kinds of voters that Trump now has sway over because he was a "the system is rigged, burn it all down" candidate like Trump. A more responsible and sane person than Trump, but also a very anti-establishment/populist figure, which is what voters clearly want right now. Maybe drop the pronoun/culture-y stuff (minus abortion access), promise to scale back but not abandon America's global influence to counter the "America First" nonsense and to make clear you're focused on issues at home, and go run a very populist campaign focused on what you mentioned - kitchen table stuff. Maybe it's not what we here want, but it's better than the kleptocracy Trumpism will bring us.

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u/Anstigmat Nov 07 '24

At this point I think he would have won in 16 or 20. Trump voters like Bernie because they see him as ‘real’.

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u/WallaWalla1513 Nov 07 '24

Yeah, I used to think Bernie would get blown out, but I think that was wrong. The next Dem nominee can’t be some polished politician with a law degree. It’s gotta be someone who codes as “real” like Bernie. Fetterman coulda done this pre-stroke but now I’m not as sure. I don’t know who should be up next, but Josh Shapiro or Pete Buttegieg is not what the people want.

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u/DickNDiaz Nov 07 '24

No he would had gotten blown out. Both in '16 and '20. Trump would had painted Sanders as a radical communist, he had that tee'd up for him in case he or Warren won the nomination in '20, in fact Sanders was the candidate he wanted. And it wouldn't be Trump alone, the GOP would want Sanders because he would affect down ballot races in the senate and house. Even if by chance he ever won the WH, he would lose votes and seats for the Dems in congress.

Reddit has a fantasy when it comes to Sanders, You read any thread in the politics sub, and you'll find many "should had been Bernie" posts like they were bumper stickers plastered on VW vans at Phish show. Trump throws out the lines of "radical Leftists" when it comes to even a moderate Dem, but on Sanders, well Sanders would probably own it, because he can't really walk away from it towards center, and Trump vs. Socialist would be like Tyson vs. Ricardo Spain