I’m not sure what you mean about “the greatest global crisis since WWII” during 2020
Covid. It hit the U.S. in March 2020.
The “talking points against the left” already happened and do happen regardless of Bernie backing Biden.
You’re right that they will trot it out whatever the facts are, but that doesn’t mean it’ll stick. It didn’t stick after 2016 because Bernie campaigned for Hillary after dropping out, and so far I haven’t seen it stick that well after 2024 because “I won’t endorse genocide” is hard to honestly oppose, especially when Trump forced Israel into a ceasefire before he even got inaugurated.
It would have stuck in 2020 had Bernie split the party, because that really would have had an impact on a Biden loss.
Bernie contributed to helping radicalize people, but then he reached his limits and pulled back, and from where I’m standing, he’s no longer much of a help with that.
Oh right, I thought you were referencing a political event and got stuck in that realm of things. I also sort of blanked for a moment there that that was happening in 2020. It has been a long five some years…
You’re right that they will trot it out whatever the facts are, but that doesn’t mean it’ll stick. It didn’t stick after 2016 because Bernie campaigned for Hillary after dropping out, and so far I haven’t seen it stick that well after 2024 because “I won’t endorse genocide” is hard to honestly oppose, especially when Trump forced Israel into a ceasefire before he even got inaugurated.
It would have stuck in 2020 had Bernie split the party, because that really would have had an impact on a Biden loss.
But would the tradeoff in what the left might have gained been worth it, I think is the more important question. What specifically would have been the fallout I think is hard to nail down, unless you’ve got an extremely similar event you can compare to. But I’d certainly agree there would have been fallout. I’m just not convinced it would have been overall a bad thing. The more I think about it in detail, the more I think it would have been a good thing for someone with influence to stand up to the democratic party and might have actually forced the democrats to make some concessions in order to get re-elected. Hell, Bernie could have done a halfway thing at least and gone, “I’ll support you if you adopt Medicare For All as a campaign policy. Otherwise, no dice.” I’d argue part of the problem with the dynamic of democrat-republican in the US is that nobody meaningfully holds the democratic party accountable to being an opposition party, so they aren’t. They know that as long as the republicans are bad enough, they can say “they are worse” and campaign on minor tweaks, and if a terrible republican is fresh enough in memory, it’ll probably get them back in office for another four years.
I know it’s more complex than that overall, but the total lack of anyone with power actually trying to force the democrat party’s hand and instead being expected to cave immediately with no demands… it’s stunning. Bernie folded for “anything but Trump.” And now we have Trump again. What was that worth? And even regular voters get shamed at the idea of trying to have expectations from the democratic party and not handing over their vote like it’s fealty to a king. Not saying you do that, just that’s part of the dynamic that I think contributes to how easy it is for the democrats to be a big nothing. And Bernie folding so easily hits right on that wound, of simply giving up when the stakes are high.
Covid. It hit the U.S. in March 2020.
You’re right that they will trot it out whatever the facts are, but that doesn’t mean it’ll stick. It didn’t stick after 2016 because Bernie campaigned for Hillary after dropping out, and so far I haven’t seen it stick that well after 2024 because “I won’t endorse genocide” is hard to honestly oppose, especially when Trump forced Israel into a ceasefire before he even got inaugurated.
It would have stuck in 2020 had Bernie split the party, because that really would have had an impact on a Biden loss.
That’s about where I am, yeah.
Oh right, I thought you were referencing a political event and got stuck in that realm of things. I also sort of blanked for a moment there that that was happening in 2020. It has been a long five some years…
But would the tradeoff in what the left might have gained been worth it, I think is the more important question. What specifically would have been the fallout I think is hard to nail down, unless you’ve got an extremely similar event you can compare to. But I’d certainly agree there would have been fallout. I’m just not convinced it would have been overall a bad thing. The more I think about it in detail, the more I think it would have been a good thing for someone with influence to stand up to the democratic party and might have actually forced the democrats to make some concessions in order to get re-elected. Hell, Bernie could have done a halfway thing at least and gone, “I’ll support you if you adopt Medicare For All as a campaign policy. Otherwise, no dice.” I’d argue part of the problem with the dynamic of democrat-republican in the US is that nobody meaningfully holds the democratic party accountable to being an opposition party, so they aren’t. They know that as long as the republicans are bad enough, they can say “they are worse” and campaign on minor tweaks, and if a terrible republican is fresh enough in memory, it’ll probably get them back in office for another four years.
I know it’s more complex than that overall, but the total lack of anyone with power actually trying to force the democrat party’s hand and instead being expected to cave immediately with no demands… it’s stunning. Bernie folded for “anything but Trump.” And now we have Trump again. What was that worth? And even regular voters get shamed at the idea of trying to have expectations from the democratic party and not handing over their vote like it’s fealty to a king. Not saying you do that, just that’s part of the dynamic that I think contributes to how easy it is for the democrats to be a big nothing. And Bernie folding so easily hits right on that wound, of simply giving up when the stakes are high.