2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Forget Sanders and Clinton for a moment. This is a symbolic schism that has been long brewing [View all]merrily
(45,251 posts)Because the latter sure tried.
Yes, Obama did try reaching across the aisle--to a right driven even further right to distinguish themselves unmistakeably from the DLC types. Since "the left has nowhere else to go," the assumption was they could do anything to us without losing a critical number of votes. Supposedly, the votes were to picked up from right leaning indies and the right and they were to picked up by going further right.
New Democrat Obama himself has said that his politics are those of a 1980s Republican (the DLC having incorporated in 1985 to capitalize on the popularity of a 1980s Republican, namely Reagan). So, to reach across the aisle, he had nowhere to go but less than moderate Republican--and got stonewalled anyway. My guess is that's why he now has a fuck it bucket list. However, there is only so far he can go without running afoul of the DLC/DNC strategy for 2016 and only so far he can go with a Republican Congress.