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Joe BidenCongratulations to our presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden!
 

TexasTowelie

(111,300 posts)
31. "He wasn't afraid to try, he jumped right in and arm twisted his way to success."
Tue Mar 10, 2020, 08:39 PM
Mar 2020

Really?

LBJ did accomplish quite a bit, but did he try to get universal health care? No, he knew that wasn't possible so he used his influence to achieve what we take for granted now. He didn't attempt to revamp the entire economy, but he took steps to provide assistance to those that were most vulnerable.

LBJ did have a program to create a Great Society, but he certainly was not an advocate for a Great Socialist Society. LBJ didn't promise free college tuition because he knew it wouldn't pass. LBJ didn't propose that government be involved in every sector of the economy. LBJ did not argue that the energy industry be nationalized like Bernie did in his youth.

And in 1968, LBJ did show that he was timid. He was grounded in reality and knew that if he ran for reelection that he would be defeated so in that respect he was timid. He knew that his advocacy for civil rights made him a pariah among voters in the South. Yes, I'll admit that LBJ accomplished a lot but he also sacrificed a lot simultaneously.

Sanders has advocated changes that most of America is uncomfortable to support. If he moderated his views he might have built a broader coalition that supported him. However, his all-or-nothing approach has led to the outcome where he will get almost nothing. No significant legislative achievements in three decades in Congress Some states that increased their minimum wage, but no increase in the minimum wage at the federal level. And in another fifty years, he will get the same recognition as Eugene Debs--a few people will know who he is if they play Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy, but the bulk of the population won't remember him at all.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
gas stations and movies used to give away "free" dishes with purchases nt msongs Mar 2020 #1
Yes and a common savings account used to pay 5% interest Uncle Joe Mar 2020 #3
Banks used to give away free toasters when you opened an account with them. nt dware Mar 2020 #4
Banks used to give 5% interest on a common savings account, and they didn't fee you to death Uncle Joe Mar 2020 #7
Very, very true. dware Mar 2020 #10
I just donated to Charity True Blue American Mar 2020 #27
Bernie, helping fund hate-for-profit... SidDithers Mar 2020 #2
+1000 sheshe2 Mar 2020 #8
Yes ma'am! Anyone on Fox is being played. nolabear Mar 2020 #14
Moreover, Sanders packs the townhalls with his own supporters NCProgressive Mar 2020 #19
Biden and Sanders cancelled True Blue American Mar 2020 #28
That is beautiful. LuvLoogie Mar 2020 #30
Of course the audience agrees Butterflylady Mar 2020 #5
Theodore Roosevelt first proposed universal health care in 1912, Uncle Joe Mar 2020 #9
We've also been dealing with sexism and racism for far longer LanternWaste Mar 2020 #11
So have every other industrialized country. progressoid Mar 2020 #24
Doing the same thing we've been doing for 40 years isn't going to get us any closer either Doremus Mar 2020 #17
I believe that the leaders at the time that Social Security and Medicare were passed TexasTowelie Mar 2020 #21
?? Doremus Mar 2020 #23
"He wasn't afraid to try, he jumped right in and arm twisted his way to success." TexasTowelie Mar 2020 #31
The audience is packed with Sanders supporters NCProgressive Mar 2020 #20
Yes, this has happened before. nt R B Garr Mar 2020 #26
That one guy rockfordfile Mar 2020 #6
These ideas aren't radical. iwannaknow Mar 2020 #12
They probably seem radical to the billionaire/oligarch class used to thinking Uncle Joe Mar 2020 #13
And who among us is in that class? nolabear Mar 2020 #15
That class owns the corporate media conglomerates and they have great power Uncle Joe Mar 2020 #16
Scapegoating the corporate media conglomerates again? TexasTowelie Mar 2020 #22
The question that is constantly asked of which do you prefer Uncle Joe Mar 2020 #29
In other news... NCProgressive Mar 2020 #18
How can Americans reasonably expect to get things that Europeans take for granted. pampango Mar 2020 #25
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