Summary
Sen. Bernie Sanders is touring Iowa and Nebraska to rally against “the oligarchy,” aiming to energize progressives rather than launch a 2028 presidential bid.
At 83, he seeks to shape the Democratic Party’s future, arguing it lost in 2024 by neglecting working-class voters.
He hopes to influence budget battles and the 2026 midterms, targeting GOP lawmakers in battleground districts.
With Democrats lacking clear leadership, Sanders’ prominence and focus on economic inequality could define the party’s direction in the Trump-Musk era.
I love Bernie and I admire his tenacity even at 83. But it is not nearly enough by a mile and we should not be relying on 83 year old to generate paradigm shifts. Please, for the love of God, other decent people with influence. Step up.
AoC has been highly visible in news and media so she’s also giving it a go. I think one of our real issues is that leadership wise Jefferies is alright but Shumer is downright depressing.
Over the next two years we’ll see a constant push by establishment dems to push out the progressives because centrist politicians on both sides want to keep a pro-corporate status quo.
She looks great, but is it worth risking more MAGA on America voting for a woman? A third time? They think they were radical voting for “the black man”. Voting a woman seams beyond America even if the other choice is Trump or not voting. God know what the state the world is going to be in by the time another US election is due, let alone if it’s allowed to happen and be remotely free and fair.
Questions no one would be asking if she were a corporate ghoul.
I honestly don’t think it matters how great or not she is. I just don’t think America will vote for a woman yet. They prefer a rapist fashist narcissist.
I honestly think that all the handwringing about a woman not being able to win is because the party hates AOC and everyone she stands for and will happily hold all women back to prevent her from being able to run.
Around the world, countries voted for change last year, not just America. Not necessarily good change, but people were unhappy and didn’t like the way things were. When Biden dropped out, there was massive excitement that maybe Kamala would offer good change, but eventually she promised more of the same.
I’m not saying sexism wasn’t a factor, it was. But it wasn’t the only factor. And Trump’s margin of victory wasn’t so large that we should just write off all women because Trump won against two women who allowed him to be the “change” candidate.
“Women can’t win” is an excuse to shut out AOC and nothing else.
Kamala’s biggest weakness was trying herself with Joe Biden. She should have taken a more radical approach and sweeping changes.
I would argue the biggest factor is the lack of a primary. Kamela didn’t get to prove her 2024 chops, along with not having nearly enough time to organize a campaign. Biden and his handlers really screwed the pooch.
What it really comes down to, though, is corporate donors. Never forget that most of the high democratic leadership are a feckless and dependent lot. Kamela, like the rest, listened to the demons.
I mean, not having a real platform beyond business as usual, ignoring the cost of living crisis, and expressing a commitment to continued genocide were particularly large factors.
Harris raised 50% more than Trump. It’s hard to pin this one solely on big money influence.
That just tells me she was paid to take a dive.
Maybe. I think it’s more likely that she truly believed that her milquetoast approach was actually the safer option. I’m not even sure Harris was exceptionally cowardly.
Many other people would likely have folded and taken that “safe” option.
The problem is that we needed someone who went well beyond just “not cowardice”. We needed an actual hero. We needed a candidate who was willing to boldly face down big money interests, even when it seemed unwise and hopeless. Harris definitely wasn’t that hero.
Her messaging changed midway through her campaign, to one that was friendlier to a center-right disposition. She lost a good deal of her mojo because of that, since she became Biden v2.0. While obviously better than Trump, she was rejected for being more of the same. Many politicians across the globe felt a backlash in 2024 for not trying to rock the boat.
I agree. Her speech on the Monday after she got picked was great. She came out of the gate swinging. She laid out a solid initial vision with a realistic warning that it was going to be a hard fight.
Then she didn’t.
Somewhere along the line she got cold feet and decided that not rocking the boat would be a safe option. She thought that pushing too hard would galvanize her opponents. Instead she tried to play nice with them and alienated large chunks of her base.
Jeffries is horribly corrupt and a total stooge for monied interests. Don’t let his PR team fool you.
But but but he rhymes at times like johnnie cochran when he’s on and rockin!
Surely, that makes up for being a corporate drone that helps keep status quo fascism in place.
I was higher on Jeffries until I heard him interviewed by John Stewart. He said a bunch of nothing just like the rest of the party.
AOC’s interview was significantly better.
From Jon’s podcast? Wasn’t that a horrible interview? Jon starts put saying “what’s the plan instead of just saying you have to get the message out” and Jeffries doubles down on “branding”.
Its really disheartening to see that bullshit gaslighting is still the MO of the Democrats going forward. Every word of that interview was more of the same old shit, and unfortunately Jon didn’t push back on him at all.
Yes it was a bad interview hence me saying he said a bunch of nothing.
AOC is now old enough to run for president. I can see her running in 2028 and getting the grassroots support that Bernie enjoyed.
If anyone can get the youth out to vote she can. they need to focus hard on getting people registered though.
I also really REALLY hope she doesn’t campaign with a fucking Cheney
So watch them run a pair of old white men, or find another member of the Clinton family that hasn’t had a go yet.
Kerry/Manchin.
Well if we cant get Chelsea Clintin we can tap Hunter Biden right.
On a more serious note though, I would be comfortable with Michelle Obama from the getgo if she ran. I dont think she’d be easily controlled by the party. She had no time for their bullshit even when Obama was leading the party.
She might be a popular option but she doesn’t want the job.
She’s another dnc sheepdog like Bernie.
She was old enough during the last election as well.
aye, but there were no Democratic primaries in the last election
How about that.
The biggest hurdle for AOC is she’s a woman. She is an attractive woman, so that’s beneficial, but I think America has made it abundantly clear that we are happy being misogynistic assholes that can’t trust women with important decisions.
Gender has absolutely nothing to do with it. She is neoliberal garbage like the rest of the party
Can we pleas stop repeating this narrative? Hillary lost because she is an evil ghoul. Harris lost because she kept saying how she will continue the work of Biden who equally is an evil ghoul. And Harris invited Cheney to campaign with her, who is the father of evil ghouls in the 21. Century US politics.
There is countries more conservative than the US, where women have been Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors.
Far right and Nazis also dont have an issue with women leaders any more when it comes to elections. Look at Le Pen in France, Meloni in Italy and Weidel in Germany. Ffs Weidel is the nazi candidate in Germany and she is in a lesbian marriage with an Asian immigrant and raises two adopted children.
Gender has nothing to do with Harris loss and this narrative is kept being peddled to not face why people are alienated by her political program, character and donors.
You’re correct that Hilary was awful and Kamala was uninspiring, but that’s still glossing over the fact that they both lost to Donald Fucking Trump, and Kamala did so with the benefit of hindsight.
And she took that hindsight and ignored it
We told her how to win. She needed the working class. Instead she tried to win suburban wine moms and “sane” republicans.
America will vote for a woman if that woman doesn’t look down on them. Harris lost at that rally where she shouted down protesters with “I’m speaking”. She told us all she wasn’t listening.
Then maybe they shouldn’t have run awful people.
The party pilloried Sanders in 2020 because he allegedly said the same thing to Warren. Now, since the party doesn’t want to run AOC because they hate anyone to the left of Dick Goddamned Cheney now, suddenly the electorate isn’t ready for a woman? Fuck that. Democratic voters no longer want yet another status quo military industrial corpodem.
Repeat yourself.
Which is why he’s recruiting.
Ok, good opener, I’m listening
Eh. Fuck that asshole sideways.
We’re back on, yeah!
Ah. That’s a no-go, sorry. Especially not in this fascist-breeding-pit climate…
Hunh. Might be why the only guy stepping up is Bernie. He’s so old, he’s in Death’s phone contacts under “guy @ work”. 🙃
Democratic Socialists had a pretty serious recruiting campaign for the 2018 midterms. Cold-called potential candidates, offered training for both speechifying and organizing. Put up actual progressive candidates against incumbent dems in carefully chosen districts. That’s where “The Squad” came from.
Then they just kind of disappeared.
My point is that there are people out there willing to step up, but probably not thinking that they could be a “real” candidate and win, put up with the hassle and harrasment. People who would answer if called, but aren’t ready to jump in unasked. Bernie’s asking.
“Disappeared”? The Squad was literally targeted by the same fascists dismantling our nation this very moment (and those other cowards fired before them) until The Squad’s efforts were off the first few pages… and relegated to those who actually read (the Venn of that group and fans of The Squad is almost a single circle). FWIW, “disappeared” is exactly what the opposition prefers us to believe. Don’t.
Of the 5 current US reps with DSA history, DSA only endorsed 1 in 2024. They don’t even support AOC anymore. Maybe they’ve just refocused their efforts on state level races - which are definitely more ‘winnable’ and definitely an important part of building a pipeline to national office - but far less visible to people who don’t live in any targeted districts. To my view, they’re not the national joke that the Green party is, but they’re much harder to see than they were six years ago.
Fuck the Democrats™, in office or otherwise; they’re not your friends or neighbors, and have shown they’re capable of nothing more than jerking the ripcord when the Turd Reich yells “Pull!”
How many clays get launched before we legit recognize this isn’t just for practice? Sub-question: how many rounds would you guess before your “turn” down the slide, into the sky and their iron sights, fellow pigeon(s)?
✊🏼 The revolution may not be televised, but if anyone out there is waiting to catch the reaction vids first before forming an opinion? You’re not in traffic, you are the traffic. Pick a lane.
The Democrats succession planning was/is terrible, which is why an 83 year old independent is one of the few that can rally a crowd. I wish they had done better.
Yeah, it’s not bad planning.
They continue actively keeping the progressives and the younger leaders out of power.
(This is about AOC, not Bernie, but we all know they did him dirty at least twice already.)
Pelosi Won. The Democratic Party Lost.
In German class, in Arizona, my German teacher taught us teenage edgelords about Hitler. About his speeches. About his Charisma. He was a cult of personality. He could rally a crowd. If there aren’t videos comparing trump rallies to Hitler, I suggest you make you’re own comparison, and use your own judgment. There’s a reason fascism wins. Hate doesn’t prosper under progressives.
I have a friend who’s really into serial killers and cults, like, he’s listened to the recordings of the final moments of the Jamestown Massacre where you can hear them forcing the Flavor-Aid down people’s throats as the rest gasp and choke and die in the background, and he says that Trump sounds just like Jim Jones. From his speech patterns to the tone of his voice, it gives him chills just how alike they sound.
Jonestown, or as I just learned it was also called, the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project
the democratic peoples republic of temple
Thanks, I have no idea why my phone auto corrected to James.