In fight between Clinton and Sanders, a raging battle over Democrats' future

[NJCher]

snip
The Democratic presidential campaign is most obviously a fight between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. It is also a contest over what kind of party Democrats want to have and what level of purity will be required to be part of it.

The party’s leftward swing this year, made obvious by the surge of support for democratic socialist Sanders and his call for political revolution, marks a direct reversal of the party’s shift to the center in the 1990s. That lurch, engineered by Clinton’s husband Bill and his allies, moderated the party after its loss of 5-of-6 presidential campaigns from 1968 through 1988 and ushered in a period of top-of-the-ticket Democratic dominance and, for a time, control of Congress.

Clinton's response to Sanders' strength has been to put forward her own brand of pragmatic liberalism and to insist that her plans are more achievable given Republican strength on Capitol Hill and a deeply-divided country. That is a less-than-satisfying response for many Democrats who want to seize on this campaign to pick a nominee who reflects the party’s more-liberal present and not its moderate past.

Both Sanders and Clinton are riding the impact of increased partisanship and polarization in the country, the same factors that have forced Republicans through internal bloodbaths.
snip

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-prez-debate-analysis-20160205-story.html


Cher

[Armstead]

1. Except for her use of the word "purity" a good objectuive analysis

Rather than "purity" I would call it a re-commitment by the Democratic party to the principles of Liberalism and Progressive populism.

[daleanime]

2. There's a difference between partisan and populist...

but I guess the writer is more interested in scoring points then in being accurate.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. The difference as I see it.

If Bernie tries to get what he says he wants, there is some infinitesimal chance that he gets it. But if he fails, he probably still ends up getting as much as Clinton, if not more. Clinton wants to start haggling with the car salesman at the list price, asking for a free undercarriage coating. Bernie wants to start by asking for 5000 off. He probably won't get it, but he probably WILL get more than just a free undercoating.

[NJCher]

4. an aggressive approach to our agenda

As I put it (and I like your car analogy, too), somebody has to start the conversation. Nobody--but nobody--starts off with our issues as aggressively as Bernie. There is no one more qualified than he is to do so, either, as he has repeatedly voiced concerns as this nation turned rightward.

Now it is time to straighten that out, and it's much more expedient for Bernie to lay out our framework than for us to hope Hillary, with her massive obligations to Wall St., to parse out a little here and a little there. That is not acceptable.

Even if Bernie is put in the position of having formidible opposition, it still puts them (republicans, right-leaning Democrats) in the position of saying no. That is not a position they will want to be in, especially if Bernie continues to build the massive support he's been able to do so far.




Cher