Winning Elections Means Becoming The Establishment
When you’re winning elections, you become the establishment.
Currently, the GOP has 31 governors, 70% of all state legislatures and nearly a 1000 new GOP legislative seats. They have the biggest House majority in 70 years. This is in response to the first black President who the right perceives as uber liberal (and black), and the far left feels is a corporatist JV Republican.
Since October 2012, 2/3 of the entire deficit has been cut. The deficit has decreased each year for 4 straight years and is the smallest in 7 years. It’s the third lowest since fiscal year 2000-2001 when we ran a surplus (a sure feature of a Clinton presidency after what Obama has already started).
Winning Elections
Is it about winning elections or not? The answer to the repudiation of legitimately moderate centrist policies that are viewed as too far left is not to go further left in reality. You don’t reverse a losing trend of centrism and good governance viewed as extreme leftism, though no doubt marred in some part by racism, through forcing democratic socialism.
A manufactured political movement will always fail if it doesn’t grow organically from a genuine need to exist. What is the rationale behind going further left than how we’ve actually been governing when that perception of leftism has been overwhelmingly rejected by the people? I don’t remember talk of Democratic socialism in 2014? Bernie briefly challenged Obama in 2012 for the presidency. Where was the overwhelming yearning for Democratic socialism then? 2010? The people are overwhelmingly rejecting that kind of leftism even when they aren’t getting it. You can’t implement policy without winning elections.
I get it. Bernie offers hope to those frustrated or stymied by the present dynamics of the ever changing global economy with free healthcare and college for everyone! He wants to make deals with foreign countries that favor America, keep out cheap labor that steals American jobs, and generally disenfranchise special interests. With Bernie, you’re getting the good, the bad and the ugly:
He’ll make America great again! Wait, that’s somebody else though that guy is promising to build a wall and deport every undocumented immigrant. That’s just as realistic.
Becoming The Establishment
It’s interesting to watch the left frustrated by “establishment Democrats”, calling them DINOs and faux liberals now aligning themselves with Bernie. His ideological moorings are scattered to say the least. He is somewhat of a chaos candidate for Democrats whom are poised to regain the Senate provided purple and red state candidates don’t have to go into lengthy and detailed explanations of the similarities and differences between socialism, democratic socialism and democracy relating to the party’s nominee for President within a span of about eight months.
If elected, President Sanders will do what’s best for people who feel government should help them as much as possible. It’s the guiding principle of his candidacy as people who denigrate the “establishment” seem to be dissatisfied with governing and compromise. Once Bernie begins doing so (should he choose to govern instead of stand on principle as indicated), he’ll then become the establishment. Ask Obama. His flock will look for a new outsider, and throw the old, outsider, former “hero” under the bus. Cycle, rinse, repeat.
