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2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Here is why Bernie would have won. [View all]Gothmog
(166,836 posts)48. Sanders' whole campaign was based on a so-called revolution that never materialized
A large percentage of the Democratic base rejected Sanders in part because his policies were unrealistic and due to Sanders attacks on President Obama. . Sanders proposals are not realistic and would have no chance in the real world where the GOP would block such pie in the sky proposals. Sanders justify his platform by promising a revolution where millions and millions of voters would show up and force the GOP to be reasonable. That revolution exists only in a fantasy world and has not been evident in the real world http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/articles/2016-04-15/bernie-sanders-bad-delegate-math-and-fantasy-revolution
Thus more broadly, his attempt to delegitimize a swath of voters lays bare a fundamental inconsistency of the Sanders campaign: One of his basic answers about how he's going to accomplish his aims whether winning the Democratic nod, winning the general election or enacting his agenda is the forthcoming revolution. His super-ambitious agenda will prove to be achievable substance rather than unicorns-and-rainbows fantasy, he said Thursday night, "when millions of people stand up, fight back and create a government that works for all of us, not just the 1 percent. That is what the political revolution is about. That is what this campaign is about."
And that's fine: If he can summon the revolution, then more power to him, literally and figuratively. But the Sanders revolution is breaking on the hard realities of math. The revolution will not be televised, the old song goes; but it can be fantasized and it can be measured, in votes and delegates. And in every calculable respect, it's coming up short. That leaves Sanders to bank on an anti-democratic sleight of hand to secure the nomination. That's not a broad-based revolution; that's a palace coup.
And that's fine: If he can summon the revolution, then more power to him, literally and figuratively. But the Sanders revolution is breaking on the hard realities of math. The revolution will not be televised, the old song goes; but it can be fantasized and it can be measured, in votes and delegates. And in every calculable respect, it's coming up short. That leaves Sanders to bank on an anti-democratic sleight of hand to secure the nomination. That's not a broad-based revolution; that's a palace coup.
Sanders' revolution was not real which is why he lost the race in the real world. I and many other Democratic voters never took Sanders seriously because I never accepted the premise of his so-called revolution. There was simply no way for Sanders to come close to delivering on his promises in the real world. Sanders never generated his promised revolution and could not deliver on his promises in the real world
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Thank you, Goth, "Bernie Sanders Was On The 2016 Ballot And He Underperformed Hillary Clinton"
Cha
Jan 2017
#16
Good, factual post. And it might help if Sanders worked on his revolution now instead of . . .
brush
Jan 2017
#32
What's up with that? Those voters are a big part of the base. His obsession with WWC cost him ...
brush
Jan 2017
#37
Sanders' whole campaign was based on a so-called revolution that never materialized
Gothmog
Jan 2017
#48
You keep repeating these opinion pieces on how Bernie couldn't win as if they are gospel.
aikoaiko
Jan 2017
#39
It would have been a very different primary, but we can't conclude that he would have won.
Orsino
Jan 2017
#22