Their status quo is benefiting from the revolving door of lobbying and promised board member positions and insider trading. No amount of convincing is going to convince them to change those grifting mechanisms. I think it's time to stop pretending that Bernie's failures are only his fault rather than the fault of self interested politicians who wouldn't shift on their positions lobbying, donations and promised board seats.
That and also because they felt he was mentally unfit. It was pretty much the same stuff that has been circulating here.
I think @jiggyfly is right...Bernie and AOC also have self-interest and ambition. I think the convincing is that future generations look like they mostly agree with AOC and Bernie's position, AOC's strategy is thus to stay in the game for when these voters are ready and mature enough to actually get out and take elections...right now though they simply don't come out to vote enough for Bernie or AOC to have the "My way or the highway" approach. AOC was going to get targeted if she kept up with the Bernie mentality, we already had rumors of that, this new more mellow and cooperative AOC instantly becomes an asset instead of a threat. I think the point is that Bernie's stubborn way wasn't working and it wasn't reaching as many people as progressives thought it was. AOC is smart to realize Bernie's failures and learn from them.
That's not very democratic of you. You don't want candidates and folks to exercise their campaign & voting rights?
I understand what Bernie has done even if I'm disappointed but I also understand that Biden has does nothing to win my vote. Fack "the party," my vote means something to me and the candidate has to earn it.
I think finding someone who can rise to the position of US Senator or Rep and also not be ultra ambitious in creating wealth is rare and Bernie was one of them. Did he have personal ambition? Yes but not at the level of someone like Pelosi or Feinsten. Again, the world is a gradient. Not everyone has an equal amount of ambition or tie wealth with ambition. Bernie was one of the most ideological politicians of our time in that he believes he merely represented a ideology rather than just thinking of his seat as a personal grifting seat. Bernie had ample opportunity through his decades in Congress and as a mayor to accumulate far more wealth by the time he was approaching 80 than a messily 2 million dollars. Most politicians who spend that much time in Congress accumulate far more wealth.
I'm a Bernie supporter and you're wrong. The DNC, Joe Biden, are also real enemies just different types. As of now, they are no friends of Bernie or his supporters. Now you could call us(Bernie supporters) names, disparage us, vote shame us, etc... but that will only Biden/DNC more of an enemy. Perhaps ask us why we feel this way? Perhaps, bring some of Bernie's policies to your platform like healthcare for all which is Bernie's #1 issue and why he's so popular. But so far that hasn't happened. Only attacks so far and in my opinion that risks another Trump victory. It's up to "you all" not "us" and I've been attacked for saying that.
You defend Trump more than support Bernie's polices in the past half decade of posting here. I just don't find your positions genuine. Biden is not the diametrically opposite candidate to Bernie. Trump is though. Biden isn't my preferred candidate but he's a hell of a lot better than Trump. Another 4 years of Trump will mean any future proggesive president would have their policies and desired bills struck down at the Supreme Court.
Nobody has to ask you how you feel because you talk about how you feel every chance you get. If this is how you feel about the DNC and the democratic party why did Bernie run as a democrat? Why did you back him as a democrat?
But all of that isn't relevant to Bernie's strategy. The burn it down playbook hasn't worked for him on a national level. I think the amount of ambition someone has in regards to gaining money doesn't mean they don't have ambition in gaining power, and there is a distinction there. Bernie did want power, AOC does want power, progressive politicians do want power even if it means they won't be as wealthy (because of their own policies) as politicians like Pelosi. Pelosi or Feinstein weren't running for president, they are content in their positions while Bernie was not. Yes, he's ideological, but he was still incredibly ambitious to go for the highest seat in the nation. As you said, he just didn't tie getting wealthy into his ambition. It's sort of like the NBA players that want to win championships and the ones that just want to get paid. Durant/Curry wanted championships, they take less money to get on better teams to do so...while Carmelo wanted money, he went to worse teams and blew up said teams just so he could get the most money possible. I think the point to all this though is still that Bernie's way wasn't working. I don't think it has to do with the ambition of other politicians and everything to do with who is voting. The country simply isn't ready for his agenda. For AOC it makes no sense for her, as a 30 year old politician, to go down with that ship.
We live in a democracy (at least at this minute)... I have the right to express my opinion that he should have dropped out some time ago... likewise you have the right to think he should have stuck it out until the end. This isn’t really about being “democratic”... then again you being confused or out of touch is par for the course.
I think Sanders is a decent and moral man. I think he has integrity too but I don't think he has the personal ambition comparable to Pelosi or Feinstein. I think he has more. No one makes a run for President and certainly not two runs without an outsized ego. One's ego is fed by the constant adulation and also tested by the microscopic focus on their lives. I don't think any normal person would be willing to put up with that. The constant monitoring by the press and friends and opponents. The constant attacks and constant questioning of ones actions and motives. To me and most people that just sounds like hell. You have to have monster self-confidence on par with clinical Narcism and/or sociopathology. Sanders doesn't express it like other politicians but he has an ego as large as the White Mountains of Vermont. That's not necessarily a bad thing. We don't want a completely self-obsessed narcissist like Trump but we also don't want a President with little self-confidence.
Would you rather run for president or accumulate 20+ million in wealth? Again, their ambition is to generate wealth. It's funny that you completely removed the possibility for Bernie truly believing in his cause and believing he is the only major politician who advocates for these ideas thus he feels it's incumbent upon him to run rather than merely stroking his ego. Maybe he is just ultra self-aware and is just appeasing but he constantly labels the movement he is the leader of as "our". He always states that the movement is bigger than him which is the opposite of Trump. My entire point is this. Why would politicians who benefit from the status quo regardless of how friendly the individual is, support said individual and their policies if they are advocating for removing of mechanisms that make them grow wealth? For many politicans, the office they hold is a mere stepping stone for wealth generation. They serve their time appeasing large corporations and those corporations gift them board member seats. They don't care about the office. Their sights are on that board member seat at that pharmaceutical company or health insurance company. The office they hold is just a mere stepping stone like an internship is for us plebs.
Bernie kinda just proved again (in political history) that there is a base to be had by OG fringe disruptors, but it doesn't grow. young dreamers usually don't stay that way, on both ends of the political spectrum. Michelle Bachmann, the poster-darling of the 2010 Tea Party movement, got toasted in the 2012 Primaries. We could say a female for Republican Candidate was before its time, moreso than AOC...but Rand Paul and Marco Rubio were also OGs of the Tea Party, and they got locked out of their own game versus 2016 MAGA. further back... Gingrich, the poster-boy of Contract with America "Republican Revolution," became a lasting member of Congress, but unelectable for POTUS I never take these young Congressmen who gain national spotlight on fringe idealist "movements" seriously wrt POTUS, because there is no real proof that young voters continue voting on far, idealists ends of the political spectrum, as they get older. Also, OG Movers get tested with big money in their rookie seasons. If they don't move where told, they get pushed out....at least, it seems ... because the money doesn't like unpredictability.
