Post 599, The Democratic Primary is Upon Us! - Biden is the Presumptive Nominee - POSTED: 14 April 2020 8:32 am
Still, I do think there was an empathy problem for those who didn't already subscribe to Sanders' worldview and were supporting him, though I think tstorm mostly stirring shit. Like, if you liked Obama, Clinton, and Pelsoi, Sanders essentially was trashing them under the banner of "the Establishment," and did little to appeal to their interests, especially older black voters who view the Democratic establishment, and Obama in particular, with pride. Most of them saw GOP efforts to hamper those politicians and the party and don't hold them responsible for not getting more done (though the truth to that varies widely based on when and what policy is at issue). And, as we can see in even lower-stake issues around identity and around even minor celebrities, Sanders trashing those individuals (even if indirectly), primed them to oppose him rather than give him a shot.
At its core, I think Sanders' loss fundamentally is not a failure of policy, but of politics.
Sanders' Medicare for All bill in congress got widespread reflexive support from multiple presidential candidates who cosigned on it.
Progressive policies are becoming increasingly popular. The biggest problem with Sanders has never been his policies,
it's been his politics. It's just not a viable electoral strategy to alienate large portions of the applicable electorate (in this case the primary) by slamming the mainstream establishment politicians they generally support. He also couldn't pull in the voters who the campaign alleged were just waiting in the wings for his style of politics and policy, largely because it doesn't appear they're there in any substantial way, at least in the primary (
there's evidence they barely exist at all).
The future for progressive policies remains coalition building and working within the party system to supplant more moderate members without alienating their voting base (i.e. keeping intra-party fights in the primaries and leadership contests rather than in general elections without turning ugly). Reaching voters where they are rather than demanding they come to you, getting them on board with a campaign that feels actually inclusive (Sanders regularly touted diversity and inclusion in his campaign,
but had a problem doing with the largest voting blocks of older black voters), and not treating primary voters who aren't aligned with your campaign like trash or puppets so that next time around you can try to convince voters who's last memory of progressives isn't negative. Get them to slowly identify as progressive (or dress up progressives as moderates in some cases, particularly in swing districts) and we can win the political battle that's needed to win the policy battle.