In 2016, Bernie Sanders, a politician I had admired since I became aware of him about a decade before, offered an economic populist message and agenda that caught-on and resonated with many Americans. It was a threat to the existing order in the Democratic Party and the entrenched power structure put on the full-court press. I had always been firmly planted in the far left, and celebrated as such in liberal circles. Suddenly, however, to many of my “progressive” friends and family I was surprised to find that I was now a pariah, a Bernie bro.
Ever since, the Democratic Party has increasingly hitched its wagon to corporate interests, elitism, identity politics—while pushing aside, belittling, ridiculing, and sometimes demonizing those of us who have reservations about how we participate in military adventurism and international trade, among other things.
Only one person out of a couple hundred in my 2020 caucus supported Joe Biden. Kamala Harris had already dropped out due to a lack of support. These are candidates that thrive within the media ecosystem, but they perish in the wild like animals raised in the zoo. The Democratic Party has done its best to remove the grassroots wildcard from the primary process, preserving the elite grip on the apparatus of control. This is why we lost 2016 and 2024. We only won 2020 because of COVID. We need the party elite to trust our base.
The Democratic Party needs to learn from its name and let the voters have some purchase on the steering wheel. We are still paying dearly for the intentional mistakes of 2016.
Ever since, the Democratic Party has increasingly hitched its wagon to corporate interests, elitism, identity politics—while pushing aside, belittling, ridiculing, and sometimes demonizing those of us who have reservations about how we participate in military adventurism and international trade, among other things.
Only one person out of a couple hundred in my 2020 caucus supported Joe Biden. Kamala Harris had already dropped out due to a lack of support. These are candidates that thrive within the media ecosystem, but they perish in the wild like animals raised in the zoo. The Democratic Party has done its best to remove the grassroots wildcard from the primary process, preserving the elite grip on the apparatus of control. This is why we lost 2016 and 2024. We only won 2020 because of COVID. We need the party elite to trust our base.
The Democratic Party needs to learn from its name and let the voters have some purchase on the steering wheel. We are still paying dearly for the intentional mistakes of 2016.
