more hand-waving, “anyone can make a video platform”. No, you need infrastructure, SEO attention, Creators, etc etc. You don’t just “decide” to run in elections, the bar for entry is beyond anything a citizen or even most politicians can accrue. Bernie Sanders fell in line a long time ago with the same party he openly said was unfairly treating elections. Vote Biden if that’s your choice and I fully support that, but we need to stop sugar coating and pretending everything is A-ok in the DNC if we ever want an elected official who represents the average voter in the party.
More hand-waving, indeed.
Bernie Sanders whose convictions and experience are without question understands the game better than anyone here, I suspect.
I’m okay with saying the DNC has poor strategy. But that is independent from claiming they prevented anyone from running. So I say again, NOBODY FORCED anyone to NOT Run, and zero evidence to the contrary has been provided. This is an obvious wedge-driving issue that originates from right-wing and foreign operatives intending to wedge-drive the Democratic coalition. Please, don’t drink the kool-aid.
AIPAC Unleashes a Record $14.5 Million Bid to Defeat a Critic of Israel
Democratic officials keep other competitors off North Carolina ballot, leaving Biden the only choice
The Democratic Party promised to overhaul its primaries. Doing that has been anything but simple
Biden’s Democratic challengers hit ballot access roadblocks
jfc, stop falling back to the easiest and lowest form of defense because of “rightwing and foreign operatives”. This is a conversation between you and I. Bernie Sanders understands the game better than anyone here, and had to fall in line… how is that not a statement against what you’re proposing here?
First link is inapplicable to DNC; blame conservative Supreme Court.
Second link is somewhat fair, but ultimately neither candidate adhered to local NC election policy; nor was either actually going to win the election there by the polling – but I’ll credit you this.
Tell me what you want me to take away from the 3rd link that supports your argument.
The fourth link is substantive and my stance is somewhat shifted. Some shady state-level shit, or at the very least inconsistency and incompetence.
But I have to step back and ask the following: Did these change the outcome in any conceivable way? Let’s be abundantly-clear, here: Nobody who actually voluntarily threw their hat in the ring were achieving any modicum of momentum in public polling that would suggest they’d be a viable challenger. IF, there was someone who could win opening primary states and who had some semblance of national polling that competed with Biden at any level, then I’d be more inclined to agree. But there simply was no Obama waiting in the wings.
So to repeat: Nobody “forced” anyone to not run against Biden; they simply lost and could not make up either the numbers or longstanding state-level requirements to compete. That being said, was there an obvious top-down messaging campaign to rally behind the incumbent President? Absolutely. Do I agree? Not particularly.
And I’m sorry but it’s a fact right-wing operatives routinely utilize this rhetoric to drive a wedge. Plenty of reporting on the Russian IRA Troll farms; are you unfamiliar? For fuck sake my man, you’re the one who pointed out foreign interference with Israel dumping money and utilizing their own misinformation troll farm online.
Let’s not presume upon what Bernie did; fall-in-line are your words based purely on speculation when they could’ve simply been “Bernie understood the dilemma and agreed with the top-down strategy at the time, and that no other candidate who voluntarily threw their hat in the ring had a better chance.”