2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumSalon: There’s too much denial, conjecture and nonsense being passed among Sanders supporters.
Theres too much denial, conjecture and nonsense being passed among Sanders supporters. I thought liberals were the voice of evidence and reason? My own, 22-year-old, Bernie-loving son regurgitated conservative talking points to me the other day. Hillary and Trump are no different, he said. This is the wet dream of the Trump campaign, to conflate Clinton with an orange buffoon. Hillary has run a good campaign. She is a respected politician with a passionate followingand more votes than my guy. I didnt escape the Fox News echo chamber just to embrace an equally angry liberal version.
I one wrote that the Sanders revolution reminded me of the Ron Paul campaign, a revolution in which I was also deeply enmeshed. Sadly, some Bernie supports would feel right at home at a Paul rally.
Paul is a libertarian-leaning Republican and his supporters were rabid to the point of blindness. They held onto kooky conspiracy theories and an unquenchable rage. Their insistence on purity tore at the foundations of their own ideology. In the end, they hurt no one but themselves. I see too many uncomfortable comparisons between Paul and Sanders supporters. It has become almost a personality cult. Sanders supporters are also in danger of overplaying this moment and doing themselves lasting harm. The Paul movement thought itself invincible, yet whatever happened to that Rand fellow?
The desperation and rage has led to harassment of some super delegates. One supporter was even charged with a felony count of threatening a public servant. We Sanders supporters face a choice about how we will behave. I dont want to look back in ten years and be ashamed of what we did. The behavior of the losing side means something, and there is still a lot of good that can be done if we seize the moment.
<snip>
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/18/sorry_bernie_i_love_you_but_this_is_over_and_getting_embarrassing
nc4bo
(17,651 posts)Elections and out of our politics.
Number23
(24,544 posts)Renew Deal
(81,897 posts)Paul never won a state.
SpareribSP
(325 posts)Being conflated is okay though? That's been happening for a long time, including recently by DWS herself. Wouldn't be surprised if a large part of it is frustration being unleashed back after being unfairly labelled and maligned.
LexVegas
(6,121 posts)Norrin Radd
(4,959 posts)click bait on Salon.
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)This is hilarious considering the source!
reformist2
(9,841 posts)taught_me_patience
(5,477 posts)Where denialism and conspiracy reign supreme. Brock controls they whole world right?
Quixote1818
(29,018 posts)Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)of similarities between both campaigns shortly after the primaries began: a message that supposedly takes on the so-called "establishment" despite both men being part of said establishment for years, big (but fairly homogenous) crowds of young people, both campaigns offering catchy slogans but little details, both candidates being portrayed as pacifists despite evidence to the contrary, confrontational and fundamentalist supporters online who see their candidates as the only pure choices, etc. It's interesting how similar the tactics and messages are of both campaigns despite both candidates being far apart on the spectrum. While BS has been losing badly against HC, his campaign has without a doubt been more successful than RP's presidential run. He gained more media attention than him, and he actually won a few states. I will give him credit for that at least.