In an interview with the Guardian from his home base in Burlington, Vermont, Sanders urged the Democratic president to inject more urgency into his bid for re-election. He said that unless the president was more direct in recognising the many crises faced by working-class families his Republican rival would win.
“We’ve got to see the White House move more aggressively on healthcare, on housing, on tax reform, on the high cost of prescription drugs,” Sanders said. “If we can get the president to move in that direction, he will win; if not, he’s going to lose.”
The US senator from Vermont added that he was in contact with the White House pressing that point. “We hope to make clear to the president and his team that they are not going to win this election unless they come up with a progressive agenda that speaks to the needs of the working class of this country.”
Sanders’ warning comes at a critical time in American politics. On Monday, Republicans in Iowa will gather for caucuses that mark the official start of the 2024 presidential election.
Biden faces no serious challenger in the Democratic primaries. But concern is mounting over how he would fare against Trump given a likely rematch between them in November.
Every once in awhile I catch myself thinking about how different the world would have been if Bernie was president and it’s just so fucking sad.
I get that all the other problems would still exist, but there would be a glimmer of hope to cling on to.
I voted for Bernie and he would have been great, I always find myself thinking about Gore winning more often. I have more respect for Bernie for sure but we’d have been in such a better place by 2016. Jesus, there’s a non-zero chance that the 9/11 warnings don’t get ignored and the US definitely doesn’t invade Iraq or Afghanistan. The housing bubble would probably still have burst in a bad way but I doubt it goes down the same way. Supreme Court wouldn’t be as full of neocons and zealots.
Not just that if Gore had won and 9-11 would have still happened we would have likely seen a push away from oil starting in the early 2000s. I think Gore could’ve turned that into an opportunity to say “to hell with these middle east authoritarians and their oil, we can do better for ourselves and better for the planet.”
Unfortunately I was 6 when 9-11 happened so I didn’t have much say in these matters.
Gore would have been a timeline-changer. I would vote for him now. I wonder if he’s a viable candidate at this point?
Wilson threw us onto the bad timeline.
Goddamnit, when can we get some time machines already!
If nothing else, I’m fairly sure Gore would have actually read his intelligence briefings.
Ugh…you’re 1000% right. That timeline sounds wonderful.
His EO’s alone would have accomplished more in one term than any Dem since LBJ.
It’s possible we’d be in a better situation now. Lots of obvious things like not tossing out known facts about terrorism efforts and having a climate change awareness leadership. There’s much that would still be the same, like the system of consumerism that is the core of much of our problems. One person in a limited power seat can’t fix that, I’m not sure anything can outside of failure of the system itself. But I do think we would have at least avoided that one historic turning point that revved back up the military drive of the US. Even GWB’s administration was looking into ways of reducing the military into smaller, more mobile parts until suddenly we went into revenge mode. Or useful crisis mode.
Fix the whole last century and just assassinate Wilson in 1911-1912 before the damn election.
I always find myself thinking about Gore winning more often.
We might be thinking about Biden winning his second term as Nazis take over the US in the future - Get your friends to vote
I do wish he had been president, but I also wonder how much of his agenda he could have gotten past congress, even if Democrats were in charge. Most Democrats are, at best, about preserving the status quo and I hate having to vote for them just to stop the people who will make things even worse.
I voted for Bernie every chance I’ve had, but I genuinely doubt he could have achieved the current level of success much less something better.
Without a Congress full of like-minded people, it would have been a struggle. I think we can have someone like Bernie for president one day, but it’s people being passionate and engaging with every vote and every election.
You underestimate the “soft” or indirect power of the bully pulpit.
Biden uses his speeches to reinforce the status quo and talk about how at our soul we are a good country - something no one except people who already have all their major tangible needs addressed care to hear.
Bernie has always talked about direct and material type needs - like healthcare, rights - not only social, but also economic - and how little Americans have on average when it comes to social safety nets compared to even modest economies across the rest of the industrialized world… issues that a vast majority of disenfranchised would-be voters want addressed, but otherwise have given up hope for.
Never mistake that a populist activates a ton of apathetic voters, whether first time or those long disengaged. It’s how Trump could take a person like Cesar Sayoc, who didn’t give a shit about politics before Trump - and turn him into a sticker covered madman dipshit terrorist. It’s how he convinced a bunch of assholes attending his rally to literally storm the Capitol.
Populism is powerful. And it is only possible to be most effective when a country’s elected leaders have done little to address real material condition type problems, ripening a populace grown restless, desperate and angry for any change… and unfortunately - more likely also to be vulnerable to demagoguery.
Though I agree with you that Bernie may not have been able to do things directly, I can guarantee you he would’ve indirectly gotten more people actively working - both from a citizenry perspective and those who would work to be elected into office themselves for the change that is needed.
Don’t forget that people like AOC literally ran after volunteering for Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.
That’s a really great point and something I hadn’t really considered.
Undoubtedly they would’ve sabotaged Bernie every chance they got, just like the labour party sabotaged Corbyn in the UK. Both of those parties are glad they only had to sabotage during the elections.
Or if Gore won
I mean, he did.
The 2000 election was decided by the Supreme Court, not the voters.
This is the most upsetting part, he fucking won, and we still have to live with the consequences of the GOP blatantly stealing the election
But, But Bernie would’ve turned us into the USSR! /s
It wasn’t just Bernie who got the screws from Democrats. Henry Wallace got the same shaft from Democrats. On the other hand, Republicans don’t have populist fliers, they have fascists fliers who are promoted to the top.
Have you seen this video yet?
Bernie’s Legacy w/ Killer Mike https://youtu.be/ZlZaVtCT5HI
Never forget the movement… Not me. Us.
Remember when debbie Wasserman shutlz stole the dnc nomination from bernie to give it to Hillary?
That one rug pull gave donnie the win.
Remember when this was challenged and the court ruled the Parties have no obligation to play fair
With an election coming up, the Schrodingers Leftist dilemma is in full force, even on Lemmy -
Where we’re simultaneously both powerful enough to be personally behind every Republican win of the past 20 years, and also so insignificant that we must be ridiculed and bullied at every turn to remind us that we have NO PLACE in their party they blame us for not backing.
The best part is that most of the time people hit both sides of the coin in the same comment.
What
Centerists, or people who voted for Biden in the primaries tell progressives and leftists we’re minority viewpoints within the Democrat party. Implying that we have no business trying to influence the direction of the party. These same centerists also blame us when their garbage candidates don’t win in the general election and tell us things like “Biden was a good compromise” or “You got pretty much everything you wanted” despite neither of those things being true.
Centerists got so comfortable winning elections on their own they forgot how to compromise and accuse anyone else trying to negotiate as “throwing a tantrum”.
He said that unless the president was more direct in recognising the many crises faced by working-class families his Republican rival would win.
No, The Guardian, you missed the whole fucking point.
The important thing Sanders said is that unless the president was more direct in recognizing the many crises faced by working-class families then our entire democracy would be destroyed.
This is an existential threat, not a goddamned motherfucking horse race, and I am sick and tired of the media supporting fascism by treating it like the latter!
Media is owned by the fascists.
I feel isolated thinking this.
Or, they are aware of the media and they are creating talking points for people to discuss.
Do you not know what the word demagogue means?
Given that half the accounts commenting here are incendiary puppet accounts designed to sow outrage, I’m not sure if matters if they do.
He’s right. Biden is coasting into this election. Reminds me of Hillary in 2016.
So odd how dems always fumble it away.
It’s almost like it’s on purpose… Like the offense and defense of the capital class…
Surely the people that own everything wouldn’t use the government to get what they want.
Of course not! It’s the best democracy in the world, anyone can buy it!
What, regulatory capture is real? Surely voting harder will fix that.
That’s because the corporatists that control the messaging want some periodic austerity to keep the working class in line. “You should be happy with what we give you” or something like that.
Yes… odd
Centrist Democrats would rather lose and have a hereditary dictatorship run by the Trump family than treat workers with respect.
Bernie is in Biden’s back pocket, he’s incredibly influential to the presidency right now. Bernie has helped Biden come up with nearly every progressive policy he’s rolled out. This statement actually will mean something.
Bernie has helped Biden come up with nearly every progressive policy he’s rolled out.
Which ones?
He played an important part in pressuring rail companies to give workers more sick time and remove the advanced notice clause, the Inflation Reduction Act, Build Back Better, the infrastructure bill, and several executive orders.
Don’t forget when the Dems caved to the GOP and only Bernie fought to get the $600/week extra for unemployment for the people…
Fuck Joe Biden for blocking the rail strike.
Because they’re just rich people. When are people going to realize they’re all just rich people. None of them will ever do anything for you. We can either eat them or die.
What do you think? Are they bitter from a life of uselessness and moral squalor or tender from never working on anything of value, soft like a baby lamb kept out of the light? I think about it sometimes at night when my tum-tum rumbles
Your comment seems detached from reality, Biden appointed people to the national labor board and they changed the rules so that when companies try to do their anti-union fuckery, unions get automatically implemented:
https://prospect.org/labor/2023-08-28-bidens-nlrb-brings-workers-rights-back/
This is why we’ve been seeing so many successful unionizations and strikes lately.
I think the operative word in his post was “centrist.” By that, I’m sure he means center to right Dems like Pelosi and Manchin.
The corporatist profit loving ones who would rather climb a ladder to tell a lie than stand on solid ground and speak truth.
https://fortune.com/2024/01/03/members-of-congress-profit-from-stocks-2023/
Neither of these people, nor the dozens of lawmakers like them, support unions in a real way. They care about money first and appearance of support to their constituents second. Pelosi keeps getting reelected because she’s the biggest money maker for the DNC.
Pelosi keeps getting elected because she’s one of the best Representatives and speakers in the US history. What a fucking muppet
Yeah she’s the best for rich people. The rest of us find her to be a procorporate piece of shit just like Joe Biden.
And minorities, and LGBT and poor people
She has a long and storied record
Pelosi has not been good for poor people or LGBT. We live in a capitalist society and the damage she’s done to the rights of everybody who works for a living far outpaces any good she has done. She’s a corrupt piece of shit.
You can’t cherry pick Biden’s appointments and claim worker support. Biden also appointed Janet Yellen and reappointed Jerome Powell who are both in an outright war with the working class. Fuck Joe Biden.
I’m sure Biden and “his team” want to win, but not at any cost. Certainly not at the cost of taxing his donors and using the money to help the working class.
How would that policy be enacted even if they did? Congress certainly will not pass it.
Of course congress wouldn’t pass anything like that. Ultimately they all play for the same team-- Capital. The “bully pulpit” and executive orders are largely reserved for things like supporting genocide, and antagonizing our geopolitical rivals.
Even a clearly over reaching executive order that immediately gets smacked down by the courts would relieve the pressure.
Ahh yes, the classic “there’s no reason to support good policies because other people do not.”
What a bunch of losers.
Lemmy is largely populated by children who lack the intellectual maturity to appreciate that democracy is about compromise and that winning elections doesn’t mean that you get to do everything you want.
There’s this myth that somehow Biden can just wave a magic wand and get everything he wants, but he’s not doing it because in spite of being arguably the most powerful man on the planet, he’s secretly in the pocket of corporate America. It’s a very childish view of the world and is entirely disconnected from reality.
This is an extremely common trope from establishment Democrats who like to pretend the left is just naive children. Let me make this perfectly clear to you. Yes, we get politics. Yes, we understand that Biden can’t get everything he wants. Yes, we get that Republican obstruction is a thing.
Now, here are some things for you to try and grasp. Most of the time, Biden and the Democratic establishment is leading the opposition against the left. The establishment also plays dirty to get their unpopular candidates past the primary, then blames the left when they lose in the general.
It’s not generally the politically active left that doesn’t vote blue. Most of us are well practiced at holding our noses at the ballot box. It’s normal non-political Americans who see no point in getting engaged when neither party even speaks to their problems.
Say it louder for those in the back.
Say it loud for those in the front too.
Both parties in the US are in the pocket of corporate America to some degree (Citizens United made it legal anyways), it’s just that one party actually cares about having a functioning country with a decent living standard for people and the other will happily burn it to the ground to hurt minorities and gain short-term power. What you see is the frustration in the general US population that sees the Republicans openly ruining things while the Dems have their hands tied by the underhanded tactics Republicans use and talk about “reaching across the aisle” and compromising with the fascists. Stuff gets done, but you often don’t hear about it or openly see the effects of Elizabeth Warren taking corporations to account for their actions compared to the 1.3 anti-trans laws per day that Republicans tried to pass in the first 6 months of last year.
Says the immature child posting on Lemmy…
Yeah, and democracy isn’t perfect.
We’ve seen that from the very beginning of the US.
Who knows what’s happening in their heads… but my guess is they think that once the ‘3rd party people’ fall back in line they will regain the lead so they don’t have to worry. And the rest is Biden being as establishment as you can get so obviously he’s not interested in any radical policy changes.
Valid criticism. The left has been brilliant at ignoring what used to be their core problem field.
You’re confusing “the left” with “democrats”.
lol democrats are not the left
In the context of elections where a two party system guarantees that any potential third party will be lose - yes, they are.
There’s far right and center right. It’s time to stop calling neoliberals “the left.” Call them center right or even just center, but stop enabling the illusion of democracy by calling Democrats “the left.”
Neither are any working class voters who pick Trump because Biden doesn’t inspire them.
What exactly is their core problem field right now?
Procorporatism with some entitlements for boomers.
I would argue their core issue is that fundamental democratic values can’t co-exist with rich people’s drive to get richer. Democracy is all about equality and rights … whereas the drive for personal wealth supersedes everyone else’s rights except the rich.
Not “right now”, but always. The plight of the poor and working class.
Rock on, Bernie
With an election coming up, the Schrodingers Leftist dilemma is in full force, even on Lemmy -
Where we’re simultaneously both powerful enough to be personally behind every Republican win of the past 20 years, and also so insignificant that we must be ridiculed and bullied at every turn to remind us that we have NO PLACE in their party they blame us for not backing.
The best part is that most of the time people hit both sides of the coin in the same comment.
You can look at my post history and see I’m pretty far left, but I’ll be pinching my nose and voting for Joe Brandon, the reason the GOP has built so much power over the years is because their base always pinches their nose and toe the party line. Voting for the lesser evil is still keeping less evil out of the world.
Voting for less evil is still addition of evil. Everyone parrots this “blue no matter who” shit but dems have done nothing to stop fascism or serve the needs of citizens, because they benefit from those systems and citizens going without. Voting mid right instead of far right is still voting for the right, voting Democrat doesn’t stop the march to fascism, it just delays the official kick off date by 4 years as Republicans continue to seize power unchecked from the bottom up.
I’ve always voted third party and will continue to do so cause I’m over this vote between fascism and fascism but with a rainbow pin on its cap. If Democrats wanted the votes to beat Trump, they should have run Bernie who won the primary in 2016 instead of running status quo Hillary then having a court decree that their voters are, legally, not shit to them.
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep shouting it from the rooftops - if leftists are so fucking important to Democrats maybe they should stop dedicating their lives to insulting and belittling us. 🤷
If you vote third party you have no right to cry when Trump win. You are as much responsible for it as anyone who didnt vote.
If you vote Democrat you have no right to cry when Trump win. You are responsible for voting for a party that explicitly demonizes half of their supposed base as they screech at us for not voting for them.
I don’t wanna vote for Biden, so I’m going to twiddle my thumbs while other people vote for wish.com Hitler.
“I’m so against moving away from my right wing duopoly I’m going to call the guy who’s only a few shades less right wing and has done nothing to stem the rise of fascism because his party benefits from the same mechanisms being exploited by fascists ‘oUr OnLy ChAnCe.’”
Voting for Biden doesn’t stop fascism, it delays it for 4 years as dems continue to turn a blind eye to fascists overriding every system from the bottom up until next time.
It’s not the leftists. Oh the Democrats blame it on them. But we saw this in 2016 with Hillary. It’s a hurt working class that feels like they’re being ignored.
“leftists” is just what the centerists are willing to call us even if it’s not technically correct. The point is they blame us for not winning the general elections but outright vote against us in the primaries. It’s fucking pathetic.
All I know is I get called a socialist all the time and I can’t get in contact with this Soros guy for my check. Seriously though, it is pretty screwed when you can tell whose going to get the nomination by who gets the party chair positions.
If Biden doesn’t at least say he wants to do something about housing affordability then I won’t be voting. I’ve voted blue my entire life.
Just a quick fyi here:
Kudos to the Guardian for calling Trump a demogogue. At least they say the truth when no North American news source will.
That’s just bullshit. Many North American publications have called him far worse than a demagogue. You’re saying something that “feels” right but that isn’t actually true. It’s part and parcel with how disconnected from reality so many of us have become.
Communist Trolls: The left doesn’t say enough bad shit about Trump!
Left and center news calling him a white supremacist, neo-nazi courting, racist, rapist, cheating, fat fuck, and now smelly fascist for 8 years now.
Suckers for propaganda: Uhhh… Biden supports Jews exterminating Muslims! I’m helping!!! Why didn’t all of America vote for Bernie! It was the evil Democrats! It couldn’t be that he was more popular and appealed to the sensitivities of anyone over the age of 40! Nor could Bernie court enough young voters to care to vote.
This coming from someone that has voted for him every chance I got. Which was exactly once lol. Bernie hasn’t challenged him for the nomination at all. There’s a reason why, and it isn’t because he’s cowtowed.
calling Trump a demogogue.
So this is not a “stranger things” insult
Sad to think that we coulda had Bernie as Prez.
To be fair, attention span is short. Anything the administration does too early before the election will be completely forgotten by November.
True!
Can’t pass up an opportunity to blame progressives and leftists can you? It’s not that Joe Biden is a procorporate piece of shit. No no, it’s those young 40 year old kids with their tiktoks that are the problem.
Get real Boomer. Biden was a terrible candidate and anyone who voted for him in the 2020 primaries is a selfish piece of shit.
Didn’t single out anyone. Attention spans are low across the spectrum.
I didn’t vote for him in the 2020 primary. I’m all for election reform to move away from FPTP and the lesser-evil voting strategy it necessitates. But as it stands, voting is FPTP in this election, so I’m definitely going to vote for the proto-corporatist over the fascist, and I’m going to encourage actions that make the fascist staying out of power more likely.
Single out the selfish piece of shit boomers who voted for Joe Biden in the primaries.
Whatever you say bud. You can complain, or play the hand you’re dealt. Can’t do much about it not. If you disagree with what happened, get out ahead of primaries next time and promote the candidates you like. If more people vote for another candidate, that’s just democracy.
Buddy, if you didn’t vote for Biden in the primaries who did you vote for? And why aren’t you willing to acknowledge there was no good reason to vote for Biden in the primaries?
I voted for Bernie, but alas he did not win the primary. More people voted for Biden, so he did. That’s the hand we are dealt.
I’m only saying there’s no benefit to complaining about it now. Biden is shitty, but Trump is shittier. So it goes.
So are you willing to call out the people who voted for Biden in the 2020 primaries for the selfish pieces of shit they are?
This is the problem, Biden is a historically pro-union president and people don’t seem to recognize it. His appointments to the national labor board are responsible for the resurgence of unions were seeing.
Rare sane voice in the mass of users that shift with the whims of the GOP.
It’s the same with the AFD in Germany. People were so busy insulting those who vote AFD and telling them how stupid they are that now even more people vote AFD. I wonder how anyone thought this was going to vote for a different party?
Centerists literally screaming at people they have to vote Democrat because a vote for a third party will destroy democracy.
These are the same people who voted for Biden in the primaries intentionally to block progressive and leftist candidates from getting elected and now they want to act like we’re responsible for propping up their garbage candidate.
Call for a ceasefire Bernie.
“I strongly support and wish and hope that the United States will support the United Nations resolution that was vetoed, that we vetoed the other day,” Sanders said. “That was a humanitarian pause, humanitarian cease-fire, that would have by the way called for the release of all of the hostages held by Hamas, and would have allowed the U.N. and other agencies to begin to supply the enormous amount of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.”
However, he added, “in terms of a permanent cease-fire, I don’t know how you can have a permanent cease-fire when Hamas, who has said before October 7th and after October 7th that they want to destroy Israel ― they want a permanent war. I don’t know how you have a permanent cease-fire with an attitude like that.”
Weak shit tbh
Better than nothing, but it was a pause regardless of him trying to spin it as a ceasefire.
Dems are just mid rights who don’t care if you’d rather slave away and not afford healthcare or housing with a masculine pronoun instead of feminine (or vice versa)
Call me stupid, cuz I don’t know. But why isn’t anyone challenging Biden in the media? Or even talking about Marianne Williamson’s (who I thought was a challenger) bid for the Democrat ticket?
How do we not have people lining up to replace Biden on the left?
Without the support of the DNC they know all they can do is weaken biden.
Media is a scary thing. Progressive ideas are so popular rn, and yet centrist and corporate donors still control everything. This election cycle has been such a slow boil and everyone seems to be tapped out already
Trump has both parties strangled and nobody is willing to make inroads for third parties or ending FPTP. Voters are abused spouses that aren’t willing to fuck off to the shelter or streets because it will suck.
Biden’s procorporate bullshit is what’s strangling the chances of a Democrat victory. He fucked the BBB, negotiated down on student loan forgiveness, argued with us about how much stimulus money he campaigned on, blocked the rail strike, signed off on Yellen and Powell’s war on the working class, gave a handout to corporate America with the chips act and continues to support Israel against wishes of the voters he depends on.
If Biden loses it’s because Biden is a piece of shit.
Because it would be a good way to ensure a Trump victory. I hate that it’s come to this, but unfortunately it’s the reality.
Marianne is the one who had letter drafted from her staff to take her race more serious & focus on getting on more ballots than Iowa & New Hampshire. Huh, I wonder why nobody is taking her serious.
