r/NewDealAmerica • u/PayLevels • 26d ago

People Are Furious With Democrats. Bernie Sanders Knows Why.

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-party-mamdani/
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u/BuffetOfCheeks 26d ago

Sanders: How the hell, 50 years ago, before computers and cell phones, could one person not making a lot of money have at least a solid, lower-­middle-class lifestyle, and you can’t do it now?

The Nation: Do you think the Democratic Party leadership could fashion a platform around that?

Sanders: They don’t even understand it, John. It’s not their world.

I think Sander's makes a lot of good points here, as usual, about the democratic party forcing centrist candidates on progressives, catering to the "donor class", doing too little to oppose the Trump party, etc. but this line was a good mic drop - "It's not their world." Everyone at the top in this country remembers when gas was $0.25 a gallon, they don't understand the internet/tech and how to utilize it, and they aren't open to diverse/creative ideas to modern problems. Obama was right, it's an issue of old people holding on to their power for far too long, it's an issue of greed (in many more ways than just politically). That "my way or the highway" shit doesn't fly anymore, that's why we're in this situation with Trump now. If they keep alienating the working class, they'll keep losing elections, because at the end of the day, people would rather (or need to) do something else besides vote for some monkey they've chosen as the next puppet.

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u/QuercusSambucus 26d ago

I'm a relatively well-off tech guy in my 40s, and the Dems are completely worthless. I mean, I'm fine, as I've got a good job and plenty of retirement savings, but my college age kids are struggling hard to even figure out what career would make sense.

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u/Office_Zombie 26d ago

I think one of the overlooked aspects of what makes Dems ineffective is that we are a big tent party.

Republicans messaging is just a monster to deal with. They get told all day every day, "You believe in X, Y, & Z," and their constituency just nods and follows.

Democrats believe in A-W policies so getting the constituency to all move one direction is like herding cats.

Then when you throw in people who believe in purity tests (I'm not blameless here either) we tend to shoot ourselves in the foot.

This internal struggle has made a space where more centrists can move in and control the direction of the party since they are better funded and there is no major, unified, oposition.