Sanders: Democratic Party ‘has abandoned working class people’

He's 100% correct. This failure is a failure of the DNC to actually pay attention to what the voters want.
- This election, like every failed election effort since 2000, was a referendum on the democratic party platform: neoliberal business as usual for the top 15% sprinkled with "we're not Republicans"
  
  “we’re not Republicans”
  Trust us, we are different. Oh how specifically are we different? What a great question, is it not the best part of this nation to be able to ask such things. Anyway, as I was saying....
  
  I hope Kamala is having tea and eggs Benedict with dick Cheney tomorrow morning
- 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.
  
  Harris went too far right in an attempt to court the Republican vote. She preached peace in Gaza but she campaigned with known war-hawk Liz Cheney and staunchly defended Israel. She said she's going to stand up against big businesses and help the environment but she talked about having Republicans in her cabinets and not ban fracking. She campaigned on being tough on the border but expected immigrants to vote for her. She did a lot of stupid shit and no one wanted to pay attention because everyone was scared of criticizing her because of their fear of Trump. They literally ran on a "moderate" platform when campaigning against a far right fascist wanna-be dictator. This should have been a slam dunk victory for them.
  Democrats need to get their head of their asses and actually have progressives run. Until then, all they will do is slide more and more to the right and disenfranchise more of their constituents who want their society to progress and not cater to the radicals.

The only focused Democratic message for the past 8+ years has been, "We need to stop Trump," which I agree with, but without Trump, I can't think of a single, unified message. That's not enough to get the general population fired up and excited to vote for Dems. One thing that made Obama so popular was he had specific goals and gave people hope.
Trump, in the meantime, has been feeding people all sorts of promises and hopes and dreams. They're all terrible and full of shit, but that is a more powerful message than just, "We need to stop Harris."
- I'm also legitimately convinced that the average American person is just an asshole and likes other assholes. Trump is the most conceited, whiney, cry baby, know it all, jagoff and everybody knows it. He wears it like a medal. And people love it man. They just eat it up.
  It's just like Carlin said. The politicians come from us. Because they are us.
  
  Trump is the most conceited, whiney, cry baby, know it all, jagoff and everybody knows it. He wears it like a medal. And people love it man. They just eat it up.
  That's the thing. I'm sick of the media painting this as a "they're holding their noses and voting" thing. This dude doesn't win despite his vulger rallies and his racist, sexist, homophobic, crazy, whiney, criminal, and arrogant behavior... He wins because of that shit.
  
  I don't know, I try to be a little more optimistic. over 250million eligible voters, only 70million voted for Trump. That's less than a 1/3 and could be lower if you included the entire population. People will spend extra time to pursue things that will benefit them directly, there just needs to be better communication about the good things that will benefit them for their time, not the things to be fearful of because people will tune that out (as shown by the voter turnout).
  
  Truth!
- You know what does excite the dems though? And also the republicans?
  Actual progressive policies…..
  As close as this election was, if Bernie betrayed the Democratic Party and ran as an independent in 2016, do you think he would have won
  I do
  
  Funny how none of that ever gets even close to reality though ¯(ツ)/¯
  It used to be maddening, now it's just disappointing

Man, if he'd form a populist left party and stop caucusing with the Dems, he might get a lot of enthusiastic support and candidates running locally soon
- Yes please. Channeling my energy towards this future.
  
  We could also do this ourselves, if we could find a way to organize it.
  I’m sure with enough attention he’d acknowledge, and maybe support it.
  It may sound silly but what’s the alternative?
- A third party, eh? Nah, he needs to take over the Democratic Party once and for all.
  
  He had momentum, the DNC, also run by our oligarchs denied him of the opportunity.
  
  No let it die.

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.
- 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.
- You're likely eligible for your states Medicare subsidies. Democrats fixed the family glitch in 2022, so you'll likely save thousands switching off your employer plan, even if you're making low six figures.
  Of course those subsidies expire in 2025, and there is a snowballs chance in hell of those getting renewed now.
  Democrats did a lot of things to improve the lives of working class, at least as much as they could get pass the Republican house.
  Their problem is messaging. They are terrible at communicating what they're doing, and how it's going to help. I mean part of that problem is the media (ie fox news) is allowed to lie and Dems try to tell the truth. The playing field is not really level.
  
  Another headache is that everything dems do is means tested, so you've got to jump through a bunch of hoops to figure out if you're even eligible for any new program. Even if the programs do give relief to people, it's much harder to message on a complicated program with layers of bureaucracy rather than "everyone gets 3k per child no matter what."
  
  I really wish the DNC would get a blowhard demagogue cult of personality lying piece of shit like Trump to be their figurehead and then just actually do good shit once in office. Like read the fucking room man, you're playing to sound policy when the people are voting for bloviating dickheads. Just be one of those and then worry about doing the right thing. Quoth Trae Crowder a few years back: "Do you want to be right, or do you want to win?"

“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful Oligarchy, which has so much economic power?” Sanders asked.
”Probably not”
Bernie has been the Cassandra of the Democratic Party for decades. They need to realize that it has gone too far. The insane wealth gap, which has surpassed pre-Revolution France at this point, combined with the unaffordability of everything has created a crisis that won’t be fixed by platitudes and vague promises.
People are desperate, afraid, and angry. Changing that to hope and enthusiasm requires real plans that average voters can understand and even more than that requires correctly showing people the source of the problem.
Being beholden to billionaires is the real problem. And all their money, advertising, polling, and other bullshit didn’t do a damn thing to help Harris. Take them on the way FDR did or give the country to republicans permanently.
- The insane wealth gap, which has surpassed pre-Revolution France
  Let that sink in

God fucking dammit he should have been the fucking president in 2016. Fuck this timeline.
- Gore should have been the president in 2000

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.
- 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.
  
  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.
  
  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
  
  I have a feeling that that might change after this election. There's a real sense among liberal media (that I engage with) that a loss of this magnitude needs to be answered by a pretty substantial break with the status quo.
- we don’t do that anymore, having “democratic” in party name is enough. be prepared to have liz cheney as nominee with ben shapiro as her running mate in 2028.
- 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.
- Did Hilary not get more votes from the public than Bernie?

The what party? America still has more than one political party?
Edit: I don't mean 'both parties are the same, you knuckleheads.' I mean there won't be a Democratic party by the next election. There won't be any parties but the Republican party.
- All I can do is hope that you're wrong
  
  Oh don't worry! That's what the checks and balances is for. There will always be a check to the executive branch. Sure the executive branch is Republican but the Senate won't be-... Well wait okay it is but at least the house-... Well alright they'll have the executive branch, the house, and the Senate, but the judicial branch is still going to be able to-.... Well at the very least two of them are about to retire and will be replaced with ppl hand picked by president so th-....
  Well at least the ice cream machines at McDonald's can be fixed independently now... That's something right?
- 50/50 on that one. It's just as likely they keep an opposition party to keep up appearances as many dictators do and have sham elections.
  
  Kind of a distinction without a difference when it comes down to how anything works though.
- That was already the case, remember when Harris was excited to get Republican endorsements and promised to put one on her cabinet?
  
  It's sad people keep trying to use these against her
  
  Revisionism. Just last week you assured me that she was going to win, and that the republican party would collapse on itself. Hang on to your ego.

He's partially right.
Unfortunately, I think the bigger issue is that a majority of Americans are fascists or indifferent to fascism.
“But are there not many fascists in your country?"
"There are many who do not know they are fascists but will find it out when the times comes.”
- majority of Americans are fascists or indifferent to fascism.
  I'm not convinced of that at all. Here's what I see:
  A large portion of ignorant uneducated and easily manipulatable people who don't even know what fascism is.
  Large groups of religious people who focus on voting red because Christianity, their churches, pastors, and religious groups, and the abortion issue.
  Actual bigots. There's a lot of them and they like the racism, anti gay, nationalism, deportation stuff. Want women subjugated.
  Bullies, tough guys, "alpha male", and the "get money" crowd. There's a lot here too, and many in poor young black and Hispanic groups in addition to a lot of white males. Not necessarily bigots, but generally want women subjugated whether they know it or not (sex objects).
  The large group of just vote red without thinking because it's what family and friend circles do and always have.
  The above I think don't understand fascism at all. Not educated or informed enough.
  Edit: I would say to be "indifferent to fascism" you have to actually understand what it is, and I don't think much of the maga crowd does. My opinion/speculation.
  
  Yeah I also don't agree. You honestly have to discard a lot of public information to force yourself into this level of ignorance. For nine years he's told us he's a proud piece of shit. If they didn't listen for that long that's on them.
  
  Completely disagree, a person doesn't have to understand what fascism is to be a fascist or indifferent to fascism, any more than they need to be an expert on dogs to not kick or oppose kicking one.
  
  Did you completely miss this:
  "There are many who do not know they are fascists but will find it out when the times comes.”
  
  The abortion issue is part of fascism. It creates a lower unequal class out of women.

Nah i dont think yall are willing to do it. 2028 you'll be holding your nose again voting for an out of touch moderate to oppose trumps third term instead of giving a progressive you completely agree with any kind of chance.
- I'll be able to vote in a primary next time
  
  Theres no primaries anymore. The wealthy party leaders decide the nominees.
  
  Oh, haha-ah, you sweet summer child. Sure you will, after all but two candidates drop out of the race and give their hard-won delegates to the conservative candidate in exchange for cabinet positions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_of_the_2020_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries
  --I kid, with the condescension, because this is what happened before many of us got a chance to vote in the primaries in 2020 -A primary that Kamala Harris dropped out of because she was deeply unpopular.

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.
- 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.
  
  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.
- 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.
- 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.

If he formed a new party with young, fresh faces, I'd vote for them regardless of how that affected whatever the DNC did. I feel like there's enough similar sentiment that he could force change in the DNC
- Finally. Everybody on Lemmy has been sucking donkey dick so hard. They’re not gonna save you. Need to start looking elsewhere or force their hand. RCV will help do that.
  
  It's the reality of first past the post. Third party voting is simply almost never an option. You're mad at a natural law of the election system. Don't hate the players, hate the game
  
  RCV was on the ballot in 5 states and it failed.
- But the DNC has to shut down, because then it will just be a 50/25/25 split and that won’t work either.
  
  I really don't think that's true anymore. Maybe looking at decades of political party data but I think the games kinda changed with MAGA taking repubs extreme and Dem's going center-right. There are a lot of republicans who could find a home in the democratic party since we know 2028 will see a cult leader retiring and you know the Dem's are gonna run an old white guy out of fear. I'm hoping another party can cause a splash that election cycle but I see it going blue and hopefully the infrastructure for this third-party progressive moment can become solid in local with sites on national.
  I'm no longer holding out for election change. Oregon just voted against RCV, the push-back from changing the voting system is just too much for our set-in-stone political machine we have running now. I'm definitely gonna look into the data about why that went down though, a lot of opposition from Dems and Repubs in Alaska and Maine so would be interesting to see what coalesced.
  
  50/25/25, huh? So that must account for Republican/Democrat/Left of Democrat -Where do you think the Libertarians stand in all of this? Do you think the Democrats lost this election because of third parties or was it because a significant chunk of former Democrat voters chose to stay home altogether? If former Democrat voters chose to stay home, then I ask you why?
- That could force a change in the DNC, but the change would be to push them further to the right. The issue is that the right-wing party won the election. They got more than 50% of the total votes. So the democrats aren't going to see splitting their own base as a viable pathway to victory. If a left-wing faction splitters off, then the DNC will be forced to try to capture more votes on the other side instead.
  If the democrats won the election then we'd be in a situation where we can talk about pushing them further left. But when they lose, that's not really an option. (Most of these strategy problems disappear with ranked choice voting... but I doubt the current government has any interest in pushing for that kind of change!)
  
  I don’t think a lot of people offline think so much in red/blue and left/right. A working people’s party could peel voters from both parties, and bring in new voters. Starting right away I think a lot of wins could be made in the midterms at least locally if not nationally - maybe not with majorities but pluralities.

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
- Because they understand the spoiler effect.
  
  The Democrats have been spoiling elections plenty on their own
  
  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.
- 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.
  
  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)
- 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.
  
  Sigh I was the same way but now I see that people just won't get out out to keep evil men at bay. I had hoped we can stick with the dems until the GOP is not a threat and then make our break.
  If we made a progressive party now I wonder how many dire hard dems will join?
- 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
- There is a lot of "invisible" work that party orgs do. If you want to see why big names and attention alone don't work, look at the Green Party. They have name recognition, ballot access and even get a bit of the vote each presidential election. What they're missing is the "ground game" that gives the presence in nearly every race in every precinct, and the local engagement to actually win an appreciable chunk of elections every year (not just the presidential years).

Yesterday and today feel like I'm reliving my mom's election loss back in 2016. I was too young then to understand the weight behind what was going on at the time, although I did at least understand why Trump seemed like a dumb candidate. Anyways, I distinctly remember how when it was obvious that Hillary lost, even though she won the popular vote, that something wasn't right. My mom was sobbing while looking for places to move into, since we were moving out anyways. Now, 8 years later, I'm having those exact same feelings as she did except with my boyfriend on my side, knowing very well that come January that if nothing happens, we could very well be one of his first targeted groups. I fucking hate this timeline, man.
- I was in college and living with a bisexual Saudi friend at the time. I'm a straight white man, so I wasn't a target, but he absolutely was. I sat with him in the kitchen while we got drunk and he cried.
  The good news is he made it through fine and I think is doing well today still in the US. It's going to suck, but most of us are probably going to survive this. Don't give up all hope. Build your community, organize, join mutual aid groups, and build what we need to take back power in the future.
  They're going to try to take us backward, but make them take us kicking and screaming. Don't give up and let them have it for free.

If you don't want to be crying again in 2028, start working now.
- 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????
  
  The problem with status quo defense is that the status quo gets progressively (couldn't help myself) worse the more time goes on.

He’s right. It is time to take back the Democratic Party.
- I like your spirit but the Democratic brand and party are entirely dead. Someone will have to start a new progressive party (which will be coopted by capitalism as soon as it shows promise)
  
  Establishing a new political party is often a challenging and resource-intensive endeavor that may struggle to gain traction. Instead, a more effective approach may be to launch a political movement, advocacy organization, or even form a caucus within an existing major party, such as the Democratic Party.
  Drawing from my experience as a former chair holder for the Ohio Green Party, I saw firsthand how difficult it is for smaller parties to sustain momentum and influence. The Green Party was consistently unorganized and unstable, making it challenging to build long-term support or advance impactful policy agendas. Many of these organizational challenges are common across emerging parties, which often lack the resources and structure to compete effectively in a two-party system.
  In contrast, launching a movement or organization allows for focused advocacy, mobilization, and influence on public opinion or legislation without the structural and financial constraints of a party. Additionally, establishing a caucus within an established party, like the Democratic Party, enables you to align with its broader base while still advocating for distinct goals and principles, potentially gaining a platform and influence within the party’s framework.
  These approaches often provide a clearer path to impact than attempting to overcome the structural obstacles of party formation, allowing for dedicated action and coalition-building within a stable framework, especially in the electoral college system. We have to be realistic here.
- Back? This is what its always been.

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.

Spoiler alert: They will remain beholden to big money interests and continue to lose. God damn it.

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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Bernie is becoming a serious issue for Democratic messaging. He’s in the senate, he KNOWS what Biden has done for the working class. And instead of helping to promote that message to his millions of followers, he’s rather virtue signal. It’s really a sick game man.
  
  The voters proved your theory wrong. Working class voted Trump or stayed home. How you you explain that... Because whatever Biden did.. 1) it was not enough and 2) Harris promised more of the same.
  
  Voters aren't stupid. The reason so many people like Bernie is because he's genuine and walks the walk. Supporting a candidate that doesn't actually match his values would significantly weaken that.

I hate to defend a major party, but it does feel like people expect Democrats to fix all the nation's problems when they have utterly no power to do so.
The reality is most Americans are not with Bernie on the things he's talking about. The average American has been heavily propagandized by the corporate media (not just news media, all of it) to love corporate stuff. Capitalism good, socialism bad, cheap gas good, electric stoves bad. Go to most Americans in the rust belt, that's how they think.
If Democrats are supposed to skip to the part where they implement policies that no one currently supports outside of liberal intellectual circles with all the power they supposedly have, that's skipping to the end. What's Bernie's solution for getting people outside of Vermont on his side to begin with?
- Yougov US: Support for universal health care - 55.9 % vs 24.4% oppose
  Can't find much data on the corporatism stuff, but don't think that's true either

So the working class had to be specifically told
the democrats support unions
the democrats support breaking up monopolies
the cost of living is a complex issue with multiple causes that will take a very careful and calculated collection of regulations regarding home ownership, rent, taxes, and it's not going to work for everyone, and it's not going to happen overnight
supporting and expanding social welfare programs helps everyone
What are they expecting? The Republicans will be able to write a law saying Netflix will be cheaper and have no ads?

Working class people can also suck, tho. Remember all those stickers they put on the gas pumps blaming biden for the price of gas. Like, common you fucking fools, that's ridiculous and you would never let your bitch boy trump take the credit for that.

It's all too much. The Democratic party wants to be a big tent party, the party of all. That's just not possible. Every group wants the party to prioritize their issues. Blacks and whites, straight people and gay people, men and women, young and old, religious people and atheists, owners and workers, cops and criminals, leftists, moderates, and conservatives, etc, etc, etc. We can't give everyone what they want.
I'm sorry, I really am, but we can't make everyone happy. Especially since a lot of these groups do not like each other. Look, it would be great if all these different groups could come together in one big rainbow coalition of peace, join hands and sing Kumbaya but it ain't gonna fucking happen. Stop trying to please and appease all these people and instead try to materially improve the lives of as many people as possible.
Stop trying to achieve perfect justice for every identity group and just focus on making housing more fucking affordable for as many people as possible, and healthcare, and a decent education, and so forth.
- A party for the working class would be the biggest tent of all. But focusing on divisiveness is more profitable.
- focus on making housing more fucking affordable for as many people as possible, and healthcare, and a decent education, and so forth.
  Didn't Biden work on these issues, successfully or unsuccessfully, in the last 4 years?
- Theres very little truth to this. Like most people that have broken the law arent identifying as criminals. Theyre not lobbying for more crime. Atheists arent trying to ban religion, etc. There are a lot of things that are just universally beneficial, like healthcare, environment, education. Its not a matter of opposing groups, its one group that wants to hurt people.
  
  There are a lot of things that are just universally beneficial, like healthcare, environment, education.
  Ok, so let's focus on that stuff, then. My point is, maybe we can't achieve perfect justice and fairness for everyone, so let's just try to like make rent more affordable and make it so people don't have to stress as much about paying their bills and maintaining a decent standard of living.

Bernie is lashing out. Republicans don't walk the picket line, democrats do.
- You are confusing every day no political or financial power democrats with the democrats leadership... Democratic leadership gave up on their base 80 years ago. Can you name one major accomplishment the democrats have done at the federal level? The ACA? Maybe? But that was just a bandaid on a bullet wound.
  
  ACA wasn't even a bandaid. It only helped the middle class by reducing and capping costs and removing preexisting condition clauses. The poors still couldn't afford it, and were punished for that either by having to pay for the still expensive insurance or being fined at tax time. It's not an insignificant reason we got trump in the first place.

Hey Bernie:
Thanks for being a democratic hack for years and years. You rage against them and constantly try to dunk on them, but what's your party affiliation? Oh yeah, that's right, Democratic. Good job criticizing them while also being part of the problem.
- Bernie sanders is the longest serving independant senator in united states history. Hes been criticizing the democratic party since the 1970s, you absolute muppet.
  
  OK... so he's been part of a party he feels is ineffectual and hasn't solved anything since the 1970s?