Bernie Sanders didn't win any larger argument

[Aquaria]

38. Reality says otherwise

*BS can win with the under 45 voters all he wants, but if only a handful of them vote, then it's useless to think that matters any. Youth can't expect to get the candidate they want, or the changes they want--or for anyone to care about what issues matter to them--if they'd rather play video games or stare at their phone screens than get out and vote. Squeaky wheels get the grease in politics. The grease for the Democratic party will be going to women, African-Americans and somewhat liberal/moderate Democrats.

Because they, you know, vote. That's what counts. Not what ifs and maybes.

*Medicare 4 All--REJECTED. Especially once pollsters started asking people if they wanted to give up their private insurance for it. They didn't:

KFF polling finds more Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents would prefer voting for a candidate who wants to build on the ACA in order to expand coverage and reduce costs rather than replace the ACA with a national Medicare-for-all plan (Figure 12). Additionally, KFF polling has found broader public support for more incremental changes to expand the public health insurance program in this country including proposals that expand the role of public programs like Medicare and Medicaid (Figure 13)

https://www.kff.org/slideshow/public-opinion-on-single-payer-national-health-plans-and-expanding-access-to-medicare-coverage/

*AOC has done NOTHING to advance the party. A flea could have won her district as a D, and most Democrats who aren't hard left distrust her, dislike her, or both. Really. You might want to find out what Democrats who are somewhat liberal to moderate have to say about her in other forums, online and off. Let's say that there aren't very many fans. In fact, the consensus is that she needs to focus on becoming a legislator more, and picking Twitter wars with people less. She's not helping herself there, and she's definitely not helping the party any.

*A substantially increased minimum wage was on the policy wish-list LONG before Sanders or Warren took it up. The amount called for varied, but a generous minimum wage hike was long part of the Democratic platform. No need to claim credit for that, when it is wholly undeserved. Plenty of Democrats have written the legislation for it, but, huh, not BS. Funny how that works. He's a legislator. If he's so gung-ho on that issue, where is his legislation? Why hasn't he gotten off his back bench and put forward a bill, gathered up co-sponsors and done the necessary parlaying to get it passed?

Well, maybe because it would be a first for him. It's not like he has even a mediocre record as a legislator.

*They party hasn't shifted any further left than it was in 2008, or, heck, 1992. It's scarcely changed, in all those years. Sure, it now supports LGBT rights more than it did in the past, but that's about the only major change that's come down. There is little difference between the Democratic party now, and the party of 30 years ago in the support for fair taxation, ameliorating poverty, women's rights, legal abortion, workers, the environment, gun control (which BS has a terrible record on), and more. Maybe if BS and his supporters had read any of those platforms, rather than flinging feces at them and at REAL Democrats in general, they wouldn't look so ignorant about reality.