2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Bernie Sanders Allows He'd Lose The Democratic Primary If Held Today [View all]GitRDun
(1,846 posts)Both Sanders campaign and his supporters have led SEPARATE, but similarly one-dimensional campaigns:
The Sanders campaign began and still leads with the income inequality issue. Most other issues are explained or solved in part by fixing income inequality. This worldview is the reason he comes off as "insensitive" or "tin-eared" in some circles. It's my view that because of this limited worldview and unnecessary petty criticisms of the President, he gains no trust among many democratic constituencies.
From a broad perspective (meaning not all), the non-campaign Sanders support is one-dimensional as well. Hillary Clinton is "evil" (take your pick as to why, corporate shill, untrustworthy, etc.) and Bernie will save us (despite the fact that he has few political allies, people of color don't like him in large numbers, etc.)
Neither of these one dimensional approaches is inspiring in the least. Barack Obama inspired me. He made me feel like we're all in this together and we can do better. The Sanders' messages aren't inspirational in the least...they merely show me the enemy.
Nowhere in the Sanders message do you see a meaningful narrative on what a great job he did as mayor in Burlington. There is a massive story there that should be told.
Nowhere in the Sanders message do you see a laundry list of Senate amendments that Bernie got pushed thru that helped people. Rolling Stone called him the amendment king!
If you can't inspire people to vote for you, you are going nowhere. Both Sanders and his supporters have 2 huge stories they could be telling...but they'd rather point their collective fingers and tell me who to hate, distrust. It's pathetic.
Even more pathetic is the current whining narrative about how horrible Hillary supporters are on DU, when just a couple months ago, the Sanders crew was ruthlessly attacking posts that were in the slightest bit negative about BS. The proverbial pot calling the kettle black.
I have not made my final decision yet. I believe Hillary is a flawed candidate....but Sanders is seriously flawed too. I can go to the mall and see a rainbow of skin colors...and know that mostly the white ones like Bernie....not too inspiring....and it's their fault...both the campaign and his supporters.