General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Top 15 Dem Candidates for 2020 According to the WaPo [View all]Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)(As to the last platform...the ideas were added, then the platform went unmentioned in the fall campaign while Sanders people were repeatedly told that their efforts were a pointless failure...clearly we should have LED with the platform-it was just as important as leading with the person, because voters care as much about what we stand for and what we will do as they do about the individual we nominate and care more about what we are promising than they will ever care about how horrible the other other party is).
I'm talking about how we create the conditions in which Bernie doesn't run, and the conditions in which those of his supporters who weren't with us in November of '16 ARE with us in November of '18 and November of '20. We should WANT them to be with us, shouldn't we?
The way to do that is to show(as we chose not to show in the '16 general election campaign)that what his supporters had done had made a difference and had made our platform better, and to accept that they have a legitimate role to play in OUR partybecause we need to give them buy-in with us rather than just demanding that they support our nominee on whatever platform we adopt just to get Trump out.
This party stands for good things. Always has. It does no harm to acknowledge that sometimes we need to stand for better things. that we are usually better when we listen more to voices from below than voices from above, and that we are at our best when we respond to advocacy for change and for better policies. We can win by being a party that is open to debate and discussion, open to honest, respectful conversation.
And while Our Revolution has often expressed itself in a far more harsh and confrontational manner than it should have, if we are honest we should admit that we needed to hear the message, despite its tone.
We can do all of that without, in the slightest, minimizing the effects of Russia, Comey and vote suppression.