• pjwestin@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    Buddy, half your comment history is whining about non-voters costing Harris the election, and you’re gonna turn around and say, “less people voted for Bernie, deal with it?” Bernie had the entire party lined up to block him; name another candidate the party has done that to. Meanwhile, Harris had a level playing field with Trump and he wiped the floor with her.

    Face it- if she can’t win an election then that’s on her. And this is coming from someone who voted for her in 2024. People seriously need to wake up and either start voting en masse in the general elections or realize that America is just not that moderate.

    • Carrolade@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      or realize that America is just not that moderate.

      I think we can look at the House of Representatives for a better representation of how moderate/progressive the electorate is. Where a statewide or national election requires a lot of money, a single district is much more accessible for a candidate with a smaller staff to campaign in.

      I think the real crux of our problem is the distance between how people feel about individual progressive policies vs how they feel about progressive people who espouse all those policies. The right has been very successful at linking the culture war issues to progressives and demonizing them as SJWs, to distract from actual policy proposals.

      • pjwestin@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        I don’t think that’s entirely correct. If what you were saying about progressive politicians were true, Bernie Sanders would not be the most popular politician in the country. I think the real problem is that the Democrats are no longer credible messengers of a working class message. I think that’s why Dan Osborne won by not only running as an independent, but flat out rejecting the local Democrats endorsement.

        Also, it’s important to remember that it was the centrists who pivoted towards culture war issues when they no longer had a progressive economic message they could run on. As Hillary Clinton said during the 2016 primary:

        If we broke up the big banks tomorrow…would that end racism? Would that end sexism? Would that end discrimination against the LGBT community? Would that make people feel more welcoming to immigrants overnight?

        • Carrolade@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          Bernie is the most popular politician in the country? Regardless though, what popularity he has does not extend to all people who espouse progressive ideas, so other factors are at play.

          I also don’t see that as a pivot as much as a slow march towards equal rights that dems have been fighting for for decades. And even so, it does not have much to do with the messaging strategy employed by the right. We’re not fighting against facts, we’re fighting against a messaging framework that paints progressive people as bad while ignoring the content of progressive policy proposals.

    • timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works
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      26 days ago

      It is non-voters. Whether they’re left leaning or center or whatever really doesn’t matter. They’re going to get it one way or the other. They had a chance to drive the car more left but decided it wasn’t worth showing up so now it’s going full speed right wing back to the 50s and worse.

      Congrats?

      I mean, you’re basically making my point. People who don’t vote decide the election with their inaction. Whether it was not coming out for Bernie or not coming out for Kamala, it’s the same thing.

      So yes, thank you for proving my point better than I could. I appreciate the assist.

      Bonus- Bernie finished behind Kamala in Vermont. So let’s not act like progressivism is some silver bullet here.

      • pjwestin@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        Buddy, you’re proving mine. If Bernie’s loss in the primary is proof that Americans aren’t that progressive, then Harris and Hillary’s losses in the general prove that Americans aren’t that centrist. You can’t have it both ways.

        So that would mean that the majority of the electorate is far-right, which would make no sense given how strongly progressive ballot measures overperformed against the Harris campaign, or why Bernie polled more favorably against Trump than Clinton or Biden. Somehow, Americans would have disliked centrist and progressive politicians and like far-right politicians, but for some reason prefer progressive policies, and also favor the most high profile progressive in the Senate…or, Occam’s Razor, people prefer progressives, but the Democrats keep rat-fucking them in the primaries in favor of centrists.

        • timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works
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          26 days ago

          It makes perfect sense when you realize places like Missouri and Florida voted for abortion rights yet also voted for Republicans and trump all over too.

          And again, there’s no big magical force keeping progressives out of winning primaries. They just don’t. So again, my point, either people aren’t that progressive or progressives fucking suck at voting. Either way, same result.

          Moreover, we’ll use your metric of progressive policies winning over Harris and analyze why she won more over Bernie himself. Must mean people are more moderate right?

          • pjwestin@lemmy.world
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            26 days ago

            And again, if that’s the case, then centrists are even suckier at voting, because they keep fucking losing even harder. And it still doesn’t explain when progressive preform so much better in elections where Democrats can’t put their thumb on the scales for centrists.

        • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          Harris and Hillary’s losses in the general prove that Americans aren’t that centrist.

          Expect Trump took the center voters. I think we all see through him, but the center voter loves him for economy and jobs.

            • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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              26 days ago

              Lol still on your strawman huh.

              You know you remind me of a conversation I had with someone else. I told him that I wanted environmental policy, but that environmental platforms didn’t win elections. He couldn’t comprehend separating those out. To him you had to think that environmental policy was good and think it won elections. Or if you said environmental policy didn’t win elections, well to him that meant you personally didn’t want environmental policies. He had to group those two together. He was literally unable to separate them out. Well that’s exactly like you, just on different issues.

              • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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                26 days ago

                Do tell, then. What wins elections? How do you intend to rephrase “just move to the right”?

                • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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                  26 days ago

                  No response huh! Just (effectively) more strawman. Well think about it. At least try to break that “AND” operator you insist on other people.

                  • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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                    26 days ago

                    What, in your estimation, can Democrats do to win elections, and how does it differ from “just move to the right”?