Bernie’s revolution stalled, but his movement can still win
In states across the nation on Tuesday, pluralities of Democratic primary voters expressed a favorable opinion of “socialism.” In revealing that a candidate could secure a hammerlock on 20 percent of the Democratic electorate, and ownership of a historically powerful online fundraising apparatus, by embracing radical social-democratic reform, Sanders changed the ideological incentives facing his co-partisans and the terms of the Democratic debate. In the 2020 field, the “moderate” candidates supported a public option strong enough to undermine private insurers’ business model, expanding Social Security, a $15 minimum wage, and multitrillion-dollar climate plans. Most auspiciously, Sanders and his supporters have ostensibly radicalized the rising generation of Democratic voters. This may not prove adequate to win progressives control of the party in 2020 — but it very well might by the time Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turns 35.
Last night voters in 12 states were asked if they back Medicare For All—"a government plan for all instead of private insurance?" All 12 states said yes.
CA: 55%-35%
TX: 64-33
NC: 55-41
VA: 52-45
MA: 50-45
MN: 62-35
CO: 57-36
TN: 53-43
AL: 51-43
OK: 53-43
ME: 69-28
VT: 62-25— Matt Karp 🌹🦏🇺🇸 (@karpmj) March 4, 2020
If shifting America’s political discourse leftward and spreading the seeds of a new socialist movement were the most the Sanders campaign could realistically hope for, then the senator’s insurgent approach would qualify as a smashing success. But he was — and, for the moment, still is — a serious contender for the U.S. presidency. And the benefits the American left would derive from electing a democratic socialist far outweigh the costs of rhetorical moderation and tactical concessions to the necessity of coalition building.It’s therefore imperative that the left does not respond to last night’s disappointments by retreating into conspiracizing or scapegoating. It is not anti-democratic for moderate candidates to consolidate their support. Yes, the corporate media is biased against the left. But that’s always been a given. Yes, some segment of Democratic donors aren’t sure whether they prefer democratic socialism to Trumpism, while many moderate Democrats on Capitol Hill are less concerned with gauging the popularity of the left’s agenda than maintaining their future employability in the lobbying sector. But many Democrats, elite and otherwise, do genuinely fear that Sanders would lose to Trump. And as tendentious as their conceptions of “electability” may be, Sanders failed to demonstrate his own viability. Over and over, the Vermont senator has insisted that he cannot defeat Donald Trump unless he inspires unprecedentedly high turnout; and over and over, he has not done so. [Continue reading…]