Originally published at: Bernie Sanders Makes The Progressive Case For Kamala Harris - TPM – Talking Points Memo
Shortly before he was tapped to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). “I’m not going to tell you that he’s a close friend — he’s not — but we’ve been in touch and touch recently,” Sanders said of Walz in a conversation with TPM on…
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Just imagine the country had he supported the candidate in 2016.
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True but it’s 2024. Amirite? Four years with Joe have moved things along very nicely. Kamala can only be stronger for having the progressive nod of approval and it’s upwards from there.
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Bernie clearly is, both imagining and supporting the candidate. No reason to beat up on the guy.
Remember: this is a big tent and we are all going to have to get along for the next 3 months, 2 years, 4 years, 8 years. If we lose even one election, Project 2025 and John Roberts will finish the gravedigging that Mitch McConnell started.
So let’s not be going out of our way to pick at old wounds. If we do not hang together we shall all swing separately.
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Democrats in array!
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Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett
You need to put your personal preference aside and put the country first
He hated HRC and help impose 45 on the republic
That being said I am pleased he’s doing the right thing now.
Even if he is no longer at the height of relevance.
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Here’s the deal. With people buzzing that Harris’ campaign could mean a clean sweep, the Democrats have one last chance to make a real difference instead of playing footsie with giant companies yet again and pissing people off forever. If we do win it all, we have to en act everything from Medicare for all to codfying all medical care to ending regressive taxes on average people to ending once and for all fossil fuel subsidies. But now I’m reading that Harris won’t support MFA. And I totally get people sitting out elections. So you know what, fuck Harris if she leaves us out to dry again. I’ll happily sit this out if she chickenshits out. You can all piss all over me if it makes you happy, but I am fucking fed up with being given a shit sandwich and being told the other guy had a bigger one for me.
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Thanks, Bernie. For nothing. Take a seat.
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In this moment, it is critical Kamala and her administration stay connected to Sanders and the progressive wing of the party. Doesn’t mean we give him an outsized role but having a real role in policy decisions is pretty important.
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Yes, it was an expensive error in judgment on his part. But here we are. Let’s play the cards that are in front of us.
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In Colorado Sanders did more campaigning for Hillary than she did for herself. He focused on universities, which she avoided.
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This is simply not true . As I said in another comment, he campaigned more for her in Colorado than she did for herself.
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I remember 2016. Bernie opposed Hillary Clinton in the primary. But once she won, he endorsed her, he did a number of speaking engagements, and he was very clear that he supported her at the convention (emphasis added):
This election is about which candidate understands the real problems facing this country and has offered real solutions.
Not just bombast, not just fear-mongering, not just name-calling and divisiveness. We need leadership in this country, which will improve the lives of working families, the children, the elderly, the sick and the poor. We need leadership which brings our people together and makes us stronger.
Not leadership which insults Latinos and Mexicans, insults Muslims and women, African Americans and veterans and seeks to divide us up.
By these measures, any objective observer will conclude that based on her ideas and her leadership, Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States.
He said a lot of stuff like this on Hillary’s behalf in 2016.
Some of Bernie’s primary voters didn’t follow along. These voters fell into at least two different groups:
- The accelerationist and/or communist left. These is the same sliver of people who are currently devoting both a lot of effort to protesting Kamala Harris and also ignoring Trump’s encouragement for Netanyahu to “finish the job”. I don’t actually think these people are Democratic voters, or even really part of the larger coalition. They’re not actually winnable, and at least some of them want Trump to win precisely because he would be a disasterous dictator who would “heighten the contradictions.”
- Bernie’s crossover Republican voters. He has always had a bunch of these, and he has always pulled more of them in Vermont elections than almost any of our actual Democrats do. For a significant number of these people, Trump really was their number 2 choice, largely thanks to his populist and anti-establishment pitch. Hillary never had a shot at these people, whether or not Bernie ran. They’re an odd demographic slice.
The rest of Bernie’s voters showed up to vote for Hillary, because ugh, Trump was obviously a nightmare even in 2016.
And Bernie himself is honestly not that difficult to keep happy, as seen in this article. Most of what he wants is concrete policy, and most of that policy has at least 70% public approval.
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Just imagine what Hell Hillary would have had to deal with when she had to deal with COVID?
Frankly I would have trusted Hillary more than Trump with dealing with COVID, but the Right has complete gone off their nut. There is something close to mythological in the Right’s perception of Hillary. And I can just image what amounts of religious misogyny that they would unleash.
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I am certain that if Congress passes MFA, Harris will sign the bill. I can tell you that as a nurse and health care lawyer, in my opinion, MFA is the way to go.
But don’t expect her to try to get out in front of a policy that might give the Republicans ammunition to paint her as a socialist. She has to get elected. And she doesn’t need to do this for that to happen. You know the saying from Voltaire, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
I should say, she has to get elected. The alternative is much, much more than a bigger shit sandwich.
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Thanks @tpr. You’re helping me maintin the Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace mood I’ve been in for a coupla weeks already.
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As Trump recedes into the past Kamala is going to have to convince people that she has the pulse of the American people. Many have forgotten that the economy tanked during Covid. Gas prices were low because nobody was driving. Millions lost their jobs. Work was changed forever. Joe Biden and America had to spend a lot of money to bring us out of the pandemic. Without doubt that created some inflation. For those of us old enough to remember the 1970s, 80s and 90s it wasn’t a lot of inflation but it was far more than we needed and was beyond the memories of many young people. Kamala has to explain how she plans to reduce the inflation while helping working class families get ahead. That of course is the hardest policy task known to progressive government. I for one am looking forward to hearing her ideas.
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I’m not sure this is accurate. Especially since inflation has been a world-wide problem, even in countries that did not “spend a lot of money.”
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I would like to know how you are defining inflation.
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Not sure the definition of inflation in this context is relevant. I’m questioning your premise that you say is “without doubt.”