this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2024
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Summary

Bernie Sanders criticizes the Democratic Party for neglecting the working class, leading to their recent election losses.

He highlights issues like economic inequality, job displacement, healthcare costs, and foreign policy as key concerns for the American people.

Sanders questions whether the Democratic leadership will address these issues or remain beholden to big money interests.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 hours ago

Yeah, just like the republicans. Its the part of all this leftist shaming on here never addressed. I voted democrat because they were the lesser of two evils. At no time did I think they were going fix whats broken.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 16 hours ago (3 children)

Bernie is correct for the 100th time. But is little too late now. Unless Dems are serious about tackling working class issues. I don't see anything changing. Many people view the Dem party not for the average person anymore.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

The party is done. I switched to being a Independent. The machine is too big to change from the outside, and those that are the inside are blind to what is happening to regular people that would result in voters not showing up or just voting for a Fascist.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 12 hours ago

Every path people have tried to reform the party or change course ends up dead end. I'm over it. I'm not doing the whole lesser evil shit anymore. I wish them the best because I don't want Republicans to endlessly win. Until Dems choose to stand for something collectively, outside donor interests all the time. It will be a loop of them losing elections.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Do people mean anything other than commodity and gas prices when they say "working class issues?" I feel like abortion, healthcare, education, and student loans are also working class issues, but I take it that's not what people mean.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Let's start with the 70% or so of people that report living paycheck to paycheck[1] rather than claiming that the 'economy is doing fine. Let's even acknowledge that inflation is making good and housing prohibitively expensive[2].

The things you mentioned are important. For people that are struggling to keep a roof over their heads though the issue of Healthcare or education tend to be less critical than keeping food on the table. We can't keep saying the economy is doing fine while people keeping trying to tell us it isn't.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/advisor/banking/living-paycheck-to-paycheck-statistics-2024/

[2] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/price-tracker/

[–] [email protected] 4 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

I appreciate the sources and the rigor. But is it not the left that's consistently pushing for a higher minimum wage? For exploring solutions like UBI or even just expanded social safety nets for the people who fall out the bottom?

The costs of healthcare continues to skyrocket, when we're already paying twice what other nations are. Healthcare bills are a leading cause of bankruptcy. But is it not the left (sorry, I started the "is it not" thing, and I feel like I need to keep it going, ahem...) that's been pushing universal healthcare? For transparency in hospital costs?

I'm just saying that I don't think it's accurate to say the DNC has "abandoned the working class." The DNC's never been able to communicate effectively (or perhaps they've just never been believed) when they try to explain that they haven't abandoned the working class. And they're not very good at fellating microphones.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

Democrats passed the ACA without any Republican support. They should have passed MFA then. It was terrible and made my life much harder at the time. It's better now, but barely. My wife has a low paying government job and her health insurance costs went up significantly more than her 2% raise. Both of us took cuts in net pay while food, property taxes and seemingly everything else went up. What have Dems done about housing, pay, taxes, food costs in the last term? Nothing. Oh, Biden got one drug to be cheaper. But I'm not ba diabetic. Yet.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 minute ago

Didn't have any student debt?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 13 hours ago

Yes. UBI has been a leftist conversation point for the last few years. Overall though the Democratic Party is opposed [1]. Two years ago when asked if the democrats would step up efforts to help people in financial straights the response was an effective no [2]. If I remember correctly that was even a campaign promise from Joe Bidden, that nothing significant would change.

And despite that, when the democrat's made promses when it comes time to follow through they have a hard time enacting their goals. I will grant that a big chunk of that is republican interference, but the democrats seem to be extremely hesitant to use the levers of power available to them to follow through. When one side is blatently, openly cheating, its folly to keep trying to play by old rules.

And please don't get me wrong, nothing I'm saying should be taken as endorsement for the Republicans. I want to live in a world of rational debate and law. However, both sides have to agree to that for it to work. When one side wants to win at all costs the democrats can't keep playing from the same old book forever.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/policy-2020/economic-inequality/universal-basic-income/

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/us/politics/biden-economy-midterms.html

[–] [email protected] 5 points 14 hours ago

Agreed 100%.

If they did this, they would easily carry states with high populations of blue collar and union laborers. Stop paying lip service and actually do it.

States that have had major manufacturing centers in the late 20th century like the Rust Belt.

Like...Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

The Democratic party is just paying the price for ignoring blue collar middle class voters since the late 80s. They took those votes for granted, and they lost them over time. Just like after blue collar folks they then took the votes of minorities for granted...and now they're losing those.

All they need to do is ask what they've done for these people lately...like in the past few decades. And when they came really answer that in any terms other than what they prevented the other guys from doing, they shouldn't have to wonder why enthusiasm for their party's candidates is at an all time low.

Literally ZERO people I know personally have actually liked and actively, enthusiastically supported any democratic presidential nominee since Obama. That's twelve fucking years and zero candidates that got people excited and inspired. Most of my friends voted for these candidates, but nobody liked them.

Honestly, if it weren't for the opposition being so unbearably awful, I'd almost be happy to see the Democratic party handed loss after loss until and unless they learn their lesson and stop taking their base for granted.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

If you don't want to be crying again in 2028, start working now.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Some of us never quit. It's just annoying that everytime you bring up legit concerns its met with people defending the status quo. 2016 the status quo was drug to the town square and hung. I don't care if you pulled it down marionette it around, it's 2024 and a knife was stabbed through the heart of this country. Democrats still have the helm and they will do nothing, they will let it bleed out. All the power of the american government and they cannot weird it despite a lifetime working in it.

If democrats were even going to consider change they would spend their political capital, NOW. Since it is all gone come January.

Say I'm wrong and they can keep playing political footsy with NAZIs till the end of time, why, why, why, would anyone want that????

[–] [email protected] 85 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Hi. Working tradesman. I still voted blue even when the 4 years under trump were mostly better for me than under Biden. Of course most likely coasting off of Obama's era. But I got no relief under Biden. I pay $20k a year for my Healthcare and still have to pay thousands a year out of pocket for visits. My family in Ukraine is still unsure what's going to happen in the next year. Many of brothers in my local are unemployed now during the hardest time to pay to live. We hear the record profits the corporations made and swindled the working class dry so we can eat yet there has been no relief. How did making 6 figures for a family of 5 turn into almost living pay check to pay check.

I'm ok with sacrifice if it means others get the help they need. But I don't think anyone got the help they needed. We sacrificed for no benifit to anyone but the elite, and we are continuing to be ignored.

This is what Sanders is talking about. And I'm afraid of what Trump is going to do for many Americans. For my Ukrainian family back home. For my neighbor who is Taiwanese. But recently I'm more worried to keep food on the table for my kids. I don't even care who won anymore. I have election and political fatigue. I did what was asked. I keep doing what everyone thinks is right. But I'm burning out.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 17 hours ago

This comment spoke to me. I'm in the trades as well. I vote blue because, its further left than I can get from the red party.

Best of luck. We will need it.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 day ago (5 children)

I wonder why Bernie and other progressives don't band together and announce their own party. With enough big names (especially Bernie) they could gather enough attention to be a viable third party that actually represents progressive and more left leaning ideas than the democrats. They have two years until the next local elections to get their foot on the race, I think they could get done traction if they actually go for that

[–] [email protected] 16 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Bernie is not nearly as popular as most on the internet echo chambers would have you believe.

The fact is this is now a money game. Grass roots campaings and parties are more disadvantaged than ever at being able to get their voice out to people, especially ones that arent perptually over connected to the internet and forums.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

In terms of grassroots support, he's been very effective. This map is from 2020 when there was an actual primary but it does paint the picture pretty well:

Source of graph (it's paywalled but I found the image directly in the search results and copied it lol)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 18 hours ago (5 children)

Bernie purposefully did not do that because he did not want to be seen as another Ralph Nader. He believed working inside the system would do more good than doing a dirty break. I also wish he went in the direction of a break from the democratic party, but that's just not who he is.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Because they understand the spoiler effect.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 19 hours ago

We already lost. The time is now to work on something new. Tuesday and the 60 days before it were shut up and vote. Today and the next 3.5 years are shout and organize.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 20 hours ago

The Democrats have been spoiling elections plenty on their own

[–] brian 3 points 16 hours ago

there is the democratic socialists of america that have a handful of elected officials, oddly not including bernie. it seems like they're more of a sub party or organization within the dems though, not their own party

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 day ago (4 children)

The DNC needs to allow voters to elect who they actually want during the primary. We were force fed Hillary because the DNC didn't want Bernie. We didn't even have a primary because we were force fed Biden, then given Harris because Biden was so unelectable. The DNC must allow democratic process to take place so that voters elect the presidential candidate that they want.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

The DNC is too old and too set in its ways. They're like a bad police force- unreformable.

The only way forward for the DNC is to visibly jettison their old guard and hope enough voters give them another shot- which is also a maybe at best. Losers lose.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 23 hours ago (4 children)

Democratic party aside, Bernie couldn't get the votes. I actually think the news media has been a much much bigger problem with someone like Bernie getting power. They always try to paint someone like him as being radical, when anywhere else in the world he would be a normal person on the left.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 19 hours ago

The issue with Bernie is that everyone knows he's a socialist. If there was someone else who presented the same ideas Bernie has while also saying "I'm totally not like Bernie" people would actually vote for that candidate. Most Americans are closeted socialists, they'll in favor of socialist policies as long as you don't call it socialism.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 19 hours ago

they're too busy sanewashing totally normal ideas like seperating children from parents, tariffs on every import, and mass deportation. Totally rational positions squarely in the overton window.

What will they say about the concentration camps those immigrants are rounded up into? What will they say about the military being deployed to round up residents? I guess we'll find out.

Taxing billionaires though, how radical

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 17 hours ago (5 children)

This is an inaccurate claim by Sanders. Biden was the first President to walk a picket line with striking workers.

With union negotiations, he was pretty balanced. He did come down on the railroad strikes some after both sides got stuck, but they did get improvements beyond what management wanted to give. With the ports, though, he stuck with the workers and forced management to negotiate by refusing to override the strike.

Could the Democrats do more? Sure. But they're still recovering from the fever that took the party over with Clinton in '92. There are a lot of people who believe that win was a meaningful approval of the pro corporate but not racist Democratic Party platform, when in reality Clinton only won thanks to Perot.

I don't know that there was any magic messaging that Harris could've deployed this time around. I'm not sure there was any likely alternative even from a short post-Biden primary that could've done better than her.

Trump has everyone thinking he has some magic way to boost salaries and lower prices. And he railed against the elites more stridently and apparently people believed him.

On the other hand Google saw a lot of traffic with people asking if Biden dropped out so who knows what could have been done to avoid Trump 2.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 13 hours ago

Could the Democrats do more? Sure. But they're still recovering from the fever that took the party over with Clinton in '92.

If that's true, Jesus H. Christ, Democratic party, just get out of the way and let someone else fight fascism. If you're "still recovering" 32 goddamn years later, you're not recovering. That's just a permanent part of the party identity. And the people are clearly not wild about what you've become if you lose to Donald Fucking Trump two out of three times.

So just quit.

Shut the party down and let something else take its place, because whatever happened in 92 is chronic and terminal, and you're bringing the rest of the country down with you.

I think the American middle got taken by surprise at their own apathy in '16. Then in '20 they were motivated by fear. This week, they showed that they've simply lost faith in the Democratic party, plain and simple. That they're tired of what they've been getting from the party and they'll accept a horrible person over perpetuating the arrogance and inaction of the Democrats.

And while I can't say I was too fed up to support Harris, now that Tuesday is behind us, as much as I despise Trump, I have to admit that the Democrats got exactly what they deserved at the ballot box: the same lukewarm apathy they've shown the American people the past 12 years.

Maybe they'll finally get the message and put together a cohesive, intelligent, inspiring platform and message for the midterms, but if history is anything to go by, I'm guessing that this time in 2 years, they're thrilled as fuck to take back the House (with too slim a majority to do much beyond hold up legislation), with progressives gaining slightly more seats than now, and the party as a whole will still have the same lack of focus, direction, and message...

...and I would bet money that this time in 2026 they still don't have anything close to an idea of a possible presidential nominee that gets people excited.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 13 hours ago

Harris said she could not think of anything she would do different from Biden in a period where Biden was remarkably unpopular and people are hurting, a lot. And she essentially promised them more of the same. "We won't go back" is not a promise to move forward. And her promises to help people start a business and give child credits.. does not help anyone not interested in starting a business, who already has kids or does not want kids. Everything was contingent on very narrow promises.

So the voters that needed change stayed home... They can say they did not vote for Trump and wash their hands of anything bad that happens.

Let's see how it pans out.

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[–] [email protected] 237 points 1 day ago (5 children)

He's 100% correct. This failure is a failure of the DNC to actually pay attention to what the voters want.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

I don't believe that it is. I believe that the problem lies in the fact that we're not communicating effectively with the voting base. Her policies we're not bad and effectively DID target the working class, for example child care and expanding taxes on the upper class. Her economic policies were strong and we would have seen benefits. However, none of this matters if this information isn't getting to the voter base.

Conservatives are actively targeting Gen Z and nonpoliticals with absolutely bullshit lies - for example, staying that liberals are actually racist, that DEI is making things worse for people, and that our whole policy is based on insults and hatred. Of course, to anyone paying any attention, this is blatantly false....but to an outside viewer, whose struggling to make ends meet, who's single and insular, whose constantly told that women have it rough (and nothing about how to deal with men's problems) they find the conservative arguments start to gain roots.

We want to win next time? We need to talk to people. Tell them what being a man really means. That empathy, not control, is what a society like the US should be based on.

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