The Progressive - Sanders' Success: Democratic Socialism Goes Mainstream

[Scuba]

http://www.progressive.org/news/2016/06/188778/sanders-success-democratic-socialism-goes-mainstream

Hillary Clinton’s capture of the Democratic presidential nomination—an historic milestone for women—should not obscure the significant long-term opportunities created by democratic socialist Bernie Sanders’s sustained and scorching attack on a “rigged” economy and an increasingly undemocratic political system.

A January 2016 poll of likely Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa found that 43 percent described themselves as “socialist.” Fully 56 percent of registered Democrats, including 52 percent of Clinton supporters, view socialism favorably according to a recent NY Times/CBS News poll. These poll results signal the emergence of democratic socialism as a mainstream idea—at least in the Democratic Party.

...

The Democrats’ donor class remains overwhelmingly committed to the financialization of the economy and the “free-trade” deals that have led to the offshoring of jobs to nations like China and Mexico. Democratic officeholders remain cowed by the fear of alienating donors who wield enormous power. Bernie Sanders managed to surmount this system with an impressive base of small donors. But it is improbable that less visible Democratic candidates will be able to launch viable campaigns on $27 contributions.

...

In the late 1970s socialist leader Michael Harrington tried mightily to build a strong socialist current within the Democratic Party. Ultimately, his efforts were blocked by the Democratic leadership’s dogged embrace of business as usual. But the dire conditions facing ordinary working people, who are or potentially could be Democratic voters, make this moment ripe for a powerful democratic socialist bloc. The Progressive Democrats have been trying to stoke the flames in recent times. As Harrington would put it, is the Democratic Party willing to seriously explore “the left edge of the possible”?

[Renew Deal]

1. Bernie mostly won red state caucuses

That's not very mainstream. He didn't win with the liberal base in most Democratoc states.

[seabeckind]

2. Like Washington.

The actual facts are that where there was active discussion of issues, Bernie won hands down.

Hillary's success was a result of frontloading the primary process with red states that wouldn't vote blue if there were only blues on the ballot.

Where there was a strong democratic party machine Bernie had to fight the machine more than the issues.

[Renew Deal]

3. Hillary won Washington

At least the primary where 3 times as many people voted

[seabeckind]

4. I thought you said caucus.

Just move the goal post to match your field position whenever you like.

Oh, and just make sure you ignore any other parts of responses.

[Renew Deal]

10. I also said red state

[Surya Gayatri]

5. Where browbeating and intimidation were possible, Bernie won.

Where people were able vote their consciences, in total confidentiality and using secret ballots, in closed primaries and with no outside manipulation, Hillary won. It's that simple.

[seabeckind]

6. Oh, active discussion means browbeating?

As I thought about it.... wouldn't it be wonderful if the general election could be a closed system?

Makes life so much easier.

I think in the very red states that's the way they work.

[Surya Gayatri]

7. Depends on the decibel level. YMMV.

[Surya Gayatri]

8. Apples to oranges, but you know that, don't you?

False equivalency gambit.

[seabeckind]

9. Nah, you're rationalizing

to avoid an inconvenient truth.

Where there is an active comparison of the position of the candidates regarding the critical issues facing our country, Hillary falls well short. In fact, her position matches many of the republicans... like Jeb for example.

She's a neoliberal... a social liberal wrapped around reaganomic conservatism.

IOW, all the things that brought us to this place in history puts her on the side that got us here. Bernie was saying we need a change of course.

And where his arguments were given a fair hearing, he won.

[Surya Gayatri]

11. .../...

And where his arguments were given a fair hearing, he won.

Balderdash, codswallop, claptrap and bunk.

[seabeckind]

13. Typical response when faced with the irrefutable.

Buh bye.

[Surya Gayatri]

14. Chiao bambino ! Adieu mon petit !

[JimDandy]

31. They have absolutely nothing, because she has nothing

Her new stump: "Not Trump" is going to get old fast.

[liberal from boston]

39. Senator Sanders

Exactly seabeckind: Post on Truthdig: AP’s Clinton ‘Victory’ Story Breaches Journalism Ethics and Public Trust

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_associated_press_clinton_victory_story_20160609

[zentrum]

23. Geewhiz….

…never knew Hillary supporters were such weak-willed, non-conviction-driven, quaky-spirited people. What delicate petals.

As a woman for Bernie, I'm sure relieved that our feminists know how to stand up for ourselves, carrying out the grand tradition of having convictions.

[RazBerryBeret]

29. weak willed indeed

playing that victim card in NOT going to win many points in the GE. Fact: the GOP will NOT be handling her with kid-gloves.

[Bluenorthwest]

28. Bernie won Oregon's closed Primary by 12%, we vote entirely by mail with ultra privacy

Hillary won fewer votes in Oregon 2016 while losing to Bernie than she did when losing to Obama here in 2008.
So your wee theory is based on falsehoods, characterizations and nonsense. Smearing away at the 20+ States that Bernie won is foolish politics.

What States is your own? My guess, a Red State.

[Surya Gayatri]

32. CA (Orange County). And, your theory, referring to ONE lone state,

widely viewed as one of the most white, liberal electorates in the US, is even less factual and less worthy of consideration.

[Bluenorthwest]

25. The Democratic Party of Washington insisted upon the caucus, rejected the primary and that's

what the Primary is not used to allot delegates. Your entire complaint is with the Democratic Party. It actually sued the State of Washington for the right to caucus.

I thought the Hillary folks were the Party Loyals and always proudly stood with Party decisions?

[raindaddy]

20. Liberal base??? A large % what was once the liberal base left the democratic party...

They've become Independents, because the party left them...The reason the Democratic party has shrunk from representing 50% of the American public to barely a third.. Many of those folks received provisional ballets that were never counted..

Traditionally the largest % of progressive voters are the idealistic 30 and under voters.. The current moderate Republican version of the democratic party has completely lost that group.. Not very encouraging for the future of what was once the party of the poor and middle class..

[SouthernDemLinda]

21. They moved right!

That is why they moved to the right. They need the Republican vote.

[Bluenorthwest]

24. Like the closed Oregon Primary Bernie won by 12%? What State do you live in?

Trashing all the States that voted for Bernie is idiotic politics.

[Renew Deal]

37. I said red states

I'm not trashing anyone.

[ananda]

12. I think most of the country is liberal.

But the party machinery and voter suppression
are still things we have to deal with.

In any case, we have so much to be grateful for
with the courage of Sanders in getting his message
out to people.

It gives us hope.

[pangaia]

16. Bernie and all other human beings are the real winners.

[Live and Learn]

18. +1000 nt

[SouthernDemLinda]

22. and things like this...

fair.org/.../action-alert-aps-premature-call-for-clinton-does-disservice-to-

Fair fairness & accuracy in reporting
Action Alert: AP’s Premature Call for Clinton Does Disservice to Democracy
By Jim Naureckas

The Associated Press (6/6/16) has unilaterally declared Hillary Clinton to be “the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for president,” based on the news agency’s own polling of unelected superdelegates.

Superdelegates—who have a role in the Democratic nominating process based on their institutional positions rather than being chosen by voters—do not vote until the Democratic National Convention, to be held on July 25. They can declare their intention to vote for one candidate or another, just as voters can tell pollsters who they intend to vote for before Election Day, but like voters they can (and do) change their mind at any time before the actual voting. Media do not generally call elections weeks before the actual voting based on voters’ intentions.

The timing of AP’s announcement–on the eve of primaries in California, New Jersey, New Mexico, Montana and South Dakota, and caucuses in North Dakota—raises concerns of voter suppression, intentional or not. The six states choose a total of 806 delegates on June 7, making it the second-biggest day in the Democratic primary calendar (after “Super Tuesday,” March 1, when 865 delegates were at stake).

News outlets generally withhold the results of exit polling until voters have finished voting, regardless of how far ahead the leading candidate is, because they don’t want to confuse poll-based speculation with the actual electoral results. AP, it seems, has no such qualms.

Compounding the damage done by AP’s premature call were other major news outlets that joined the rush to declare the nominating process over. NBC News (6/6/16) came out with “Clinton Hits ‘Magic Number’ of Delegates to Clinch Nomination.” “Hillary Clinton Clinches Democratic Presidential Nomination,” was CNN’s headline (6/6/16); an onscreen graphic reported that “Hillary Clinton Earns Enough Delegates to Win Democratic Nomination,” an odd choice of verb to describe the inclinations of unelected delegates.

At least NBC and CNN claimed to be making its own independent count of superdelegates; USA Today (6/6/16) had the headline “Hillary Clinton Clinches Nomination: Here’s How She Did It,” as if the AP call were an objective fact that needed no attribution.

ACTION: Please tell AP not to preempt the democratic process by telling voters their votes don’t matter.
To: AP political editor David Scott
email: [e-mail]

[malaise]

15. And not just in the USA - there is renewed discussion in places where it once thrived

Rec

[Barack_America]

17. !!!

[Beowulf]

19. Please note that the one word The Progressive didn't use to describe the desired movement

Was "liberal."

They used "progressive" and "democratic socialist" and "socialist," but not "liberal."

I really recommend Thomas Frank's Listen, Liberal for a thoughtful and sometimes savage critique of what the Democratic Party has become. That's what the primary should have been about.

[HassleCat]

26. Socialism not just for the left anymore.

Many people we would consider right wingers are coming to see socialism as a good thing. Of course, they only want socialism that benefits them, not socialism that benefits "them." The same holds for progressive ideas. Our party is nervous about this because a cross-party coalition of socialists and progressives would pull large numbers of voters from our party. It would also upset the comfortable relationships many of our candidates have with financial interests.

[beastie boy]

27. There is no doubt that left-leaning views are enjoying a surge at the moment.

Whether it is a response to a celebrity presidential candidate and his appealing fiery rhetoric or a longer lasting political phenomenon still remains to be seen.

One thing is clear: to sustain the momentum of this movement, it is no linger enough to have Bernie whip up the crowds. It is now up to Bernie supporters to put their money where their mouths are and start growing grass roots to match their cojones.

I am not too sure that they are up to it.

[Bluenorthwest]

30. Bernie supporters are among other things, the folks who delivered cannabis reform to the US

brought Medical Marijuana to 25 States and DC along with full legalization in four other States. Can you name any other political movement that has delivered so much absolute results in recent times? LGBT, and we have a major contingent in the Bernie campaign. Winning of both LGBT rights and cannabis reform involved defeating the Republicans but also defeating or persuading the more conservative Democrats of the Clinton sort. Remember, in NC many Hillary endorsing Democrats voted for that bigoted so called 'bathroom bill'. That's what we have faced, and what we have defeated.

[beastie boy]

33. Among others, yes. But not as a political movement. As a movement, you are barely a year old.

You (I am assuming you count yourself among Bernie supporters) have yet to show that you can sustain yourselves as an independent political force. And it takes time and a great deal of effort to do so.

I hope you have the patience for this that goes beyond cheering for Bernie. I really do.

[Surya Gayatri]

34. "And it takes time and a great deal of effort to do so."

Which is precisely the reason Sanders chose to hitch his campaign wagon to the Dem Party infrastructure and resources. He walked into a "turnkey" operation. Ready to go on day one.

[seabeckind]

36. Take the label off.

It is a progressive movement.

Take the label off the Occupy movement and see what their stand on the issues is.

Take the label off the civil rights movement.

Take the label off the minimum wage issue.

Take the label off the labor and environmental issues.

Etc.

Look under all those labels and look for similarities.

That is the movement. It started long ago. There was a field in England, moved to the revolutions in the 18th century, then to the slavery and suffrage movements.

Bernie is just one more step away from the current gilded age.

[beastie boy]

38. If I take the labels off, you have no argument at all.

With the exception of the Occupy movement, all the movements you cited, having little in common with each other, occurred either as completely standalone or within the Democratic Party. Furthermore, the outcomes these movements aspired to became possible only after these movements had gained a critical mass of support within the Democratic Party. The leaders and rank and file of these movements worked long and hard alongside mainstream Democrats to gain the support within the Democratic Party.

As is the case with the Occupy movement, which eventually fizzled out of relevance, the Bernie movement shows no interest in making strategic alliances powerful enough to give themselves a realistic chance to succeed. The civil rights movement, the minimum wage issue, the environmental movement, the labor movement, etc., are not in any significant degree contained within the Bernie movement. They are either relatively small independent movements in and of themselves, with a history and an agenda far preceding the Bernie movement, or part of the Democratic Party mainstream. The Bernie movement has amalgamated certain elements of these movements, but in no way can the Bernie movement claim credit for starting or sustaining any of them. Furthermore, the various movements you mentioned are very much distinct and separate from each other. This is just a historical fact.

The best you can claim is that the Bernie movement provided a potential umbrella for the others to coordinate and synchronize under. Whether this umbrella can be sustained, whether all these movement with varying agendas are willing to come under it as one, and whether the hoped for coordination will ever take place remains to be seen. This is the part that takes a lot of patience and sweat.

And like I said before, I am not sure you guys are up to it.

[Scuba]

35. "Celebrity"? Bernie had about 3% name recognition 15 months ago. Some "celebrity."

Besides, it's not about Bernie, it's never been about Bernie.





It's about the truths he speaks. Those remain popular.




.