I think she’s partly right, but also, if she was the one who ultimately succeeded in getting Biden to drop out when he did, then isn’t it reasonable to expect that he would have dropped out earlier if she had pushed him out earlier? Which would make it her fault. Fuck, I don’t even know anymore. I don’t have a lot of confidence that the Democratic party will learn the right lessons from this loss.
Whatever they think they need to do, they need to do it or get the fuck out of the way and let someone else in there. Hilary Clinton and Joe Biden were not exciting candidates. Too many Democrats didn’t like Hilary Clinton from the get-go. Joe Biden won because he wasn’t the previous buffoon. Then was repeatedly slandered for 4 years by said buffoon over the economy, which was/is mainly suffering because of the way it was handled previously by said buffoon. When corporations can buy candidates and blatant lies are okay to broadcast because of “free speech” this was always going to be the inevitable outcome.
We need more political parties, especially ones that aren’t political extensions of the wealthy elite.
Or we could just get the neolibs out of the core of the Democratic party. They’ve been more concerned with corporate donor profits than the welfare of the working class since the 90s.
if she was the one who ultimately succeeded in getting Biden to drop out when he did, then isn’t it reasonable to expect that he would have dropped out earlier if she had pushed him out earlier?
No. His debate performance is what pushed it over the edge. That’s when a concerted effort began to get him out.
You’re right, but I think it was a combo.
October 7th spilled a bunch of gasoline on the ground. (Almost immediately after that day his polling trailed Trump’s.)
His debate performance dropped a lit cigarette.
In my opinion, you really needed both of those things for him to drop out. A physically struggling Biden that’s polling at 60% would’ve stayed in the race. A Biden with an excellent debate performance that was polling at 45% would’ve stayed in the race.
EDIT: typo
The Times reported Pelosi also took issue with Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders saying, after Harris’ loss, that “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them.”
“Bernie Sanders has not won,” she said. “With all due respect, and I have a great deal of respect for him, for what he stands for, but I don’t respect him saying that the Democratic Party has abandoned the working-class families.”
She’s right, Bernie Sanders has not won, but neither did the liberal technocrats. American voters don’t want social democracy, but they don’t want liberal technocracy, either. They want populism, or at least the appearance of populism. She can piss and moan all she wants, but it doesn’t change the fact that liberalism/neoliberalism is not popular, at least not popular enough.
The liberals will do what they always do: blame the American people. They love America, at least technically. They love the theory of America, the concept of America, the mechanisms, but they hate Americans. They can’t stand the troglodytic unwashed, uncouth, irreverent, ignorant masses.
Sanders is a populist, though – frankly, a much more genuine one than Trump. Populism isn’t always right-wing, nor is it always demagoguery.
Sanders’ problem is that (again, being an actual populist instead of a fake one), his platform is very unprofitable for the corporate elite, including the media, and so they sabotage and character-assassinate him in every way they can.
Sanders is a populist, though
That’s true, but he’s not the right kind of populist for America.
I remember going to a Bernie rally in Salt Lake City in 2016, during the Democratic primaries. The line to get into the rally was so long it took us an hour and to get in. He got a lot of people excited, and I was one of them. To this day it was the only political rally I’ve ever been to.
But as popular as Bernie was, and still is, among a certain segment of America, he is equally hated and despised by other segments. Trump is the (faux) populist America chose. It’s because he’s an unapologetic capitalist. Americans would never vote for a socialist, even a populist one.
Trump was chosen because the republican party accepted him. The DNC refused to platform Bernie
The liberals will do what they always do: blame the American people. They love America, at least technically. They love the theory of America, the concept of America, the mechanisms, but they hate Americans. They can’t stand the troglodytic unwashed, uncouth, irreverent, ignorant masses.
I think it’s more accurate to say that they love American profits, personally.
If they loved America or the American people they would have done more than the bare minimum for the middle and lower classes over the last 25y.
Pelosi pushed Biden out of office, and now believes he didn’t submit fast enough. She takes no responsibility for anything. If Harris only had a few more weeks…right Nancy?
She’s not saying Harris needed a few more weeks. She’s saying Biden never should have gone for a second term, and they should have had a real primary process to choose a better candate. Which was a mistake I pointed out when Biden announced his second run.
Any Democrat can run in a primary. Hell, Democrats even let Independants run. There was nothing stopping Pelosi or her chosen candidate to begin a run. What did she want Biden to do? Write speeches for them? These campaign runs start years in advance, does Nancy expect Joe to know what she’s thinking in the future?
Biden never should have run a second time at all. His running scared away any other candates. If he clearly said he wouldn’t run for a second term, they could’ve had a full open primary with a dozen candates or more.
As it was, they did everything they could to discourage a real, full primary process.
Even after he was forced out, he could’ve not handed he’s entire campaign war chest and staff to Harris. And instead had a contested convention where candates lobbied attendees for their votes. Like used be done a century ago. Then given all his campaign resources to that nominee.
This is naive. A Democrat isn’t going to challenge a sitting president for the nomination. Pelosi is absolutely right about this. Biden never should have run for reelection.
With all due respect to her history and career, I don’t give a fuck what Nancy Pelosi thinks about any of this. I don’t want to see her or hear about her or any other 80+ year old establishment liberal for the rest of their lives. They did their time. Now it’s time to retire from public service and live a cushy life with the grandkids and let the next generation take over.
Bernie has been registered Independent until 2015 when he started his campaign for pres. He’s not part of the Democrat establishment (as evidenced by the way they deliberately dismanted his campaign to favor Hillary).
