Hot take by Bernie

[hueymahl]

Is he right? Have we abandoned working class people? Definitely time to start doing some soul searching.

Link to tweet

?s=46&t=0YKDVlA0-PifpiC_0T1Ofg

[bearsfootball516]

1. I feel like it's a messaging issue.

Last edited Thu Nov 7, 2024, 09:12 AM - Edit history (1)

Joe bent over backwards to save the pensions of the Teamsters. He walked the picket lines. He was quite possibly, the most pro-union President the country has ever seen.

In response, they endorsed Trump, and support Democratic support among union workers is declining.

You can only do so much to help. Maybe there's a better way to message Democratic values better to them, but if there is, I don't know what it is.

I don't agree with Bernie on everything. One thing that he is good at though, is he's oddly popular in blue collar areas, and it's because he's very good at pushing economic populism, which is well liked in unions. If there's anything we can take from him, it's that pushing that message can be effective, and may be a way to break through to these voters.

[yardwork]

19. I agree. I don't know how to reach people who want to believe fantasies.

So we lie and make empty promises like Trump does?

[Baitball Blogger]

26. The GOP side has done a wonderful job of trashing our brand, that's for sure.

Not certain how you remarket a political party. The only thing that comes to mind is that we need to be proactive about protecting it from further damage, because the GOP keeps using the Democratic Party as the scapegoat for all of their mistakes.

For God's sake. Please get angry and fight back this time.

[Oopsie Daisy]

2. This is not helpful, Bernie! Stop it! Just fucking stop! Pouring salt into a wound never helps.

Plus, it's a lie. The Democratic party has NOT "abandoned working class people".

[travelingthrulife]

5. He always does this shit. I had hoped he had finally grown up when he

seemed to be able to work with Biden without making it all about himself.

[returnee]

8. If you follow this line of thinking...

…it points to utter Democratic Party fecklessness at the most crucial time in recent history. WTF is leadership if not messaging?
I will add that there were many things I wanted the Dems to address which they didn’t, which did not change my or Bernie’s vote or our support for the ticket. I also do not believe the voting tally numbers as reported, as they seemed literally not believable. If you believe the numbers you have to believe the dems fucked up royally. That is not my belief.

[Walleye]

3. Oh thanks Bernie, for telling us what's wrong with the Democratic Party that you won't join

[Johnny2X2X]

4. Democrats are the only ones doing a thing for the working class

Messaging is poor.

Joe Biden did more for the owrking class than any president in 50 years.

[Trekologer]

25. The election was lost on January 21, 2021 when President Biden wasn't constantly self-promoting

Biden's strategy was one where he'd put his head down and get to work and trust that the American people would see a competent job. That doesn't work anymore, especially against someone else whose only real skill is self-promotion.

[Historic NY]

6. Bernie isn't right for much of the time

he runs outside the Democratic Party and then complains. Why doesn't he caucus with Republicans then?

[harumph]

7. Absolute nonsense. Regarding the "working class," sure the Democratic party could

probably be better...it could always do better...but throwing it out over the person of Trump is blazingly stupid.
Bad decisions lead to bad outcomes. Every election is an intelligence test because it is essentially an
exercise in game theory. Americans failed this one. Even the folks that voted for Trump lost - they don't know it,
- maybe they'll never understand.

[Owl]

9. Bernie's remarks were crass, ill-timed and uncalled for.

[Solomon]

10. It's all bullshit. The democratic party is trying to abandon white supremacy. Lot of folks don't like that.

[Jersey Devil]

11. I don't think Bernie was talking about union support

Joe Biden was very pro union. I think what Bernie was talking about was working class people at the lower end of the pay scale in general. When Biden ran he stressed improving income for that group and programs such as forgiveness for medical debt, Medicare for All as a part of his campaign message. Harris offered child tax credits, said little about health care or income issues.

My observation is that Bernie was simply amplifying a common complaint from the left that Democrats should be proposing more progressive policies rather than moving to the center at election time in order to gain more centrist and centrist-right voters.
Was he right? Personally, I agree with him. I think most Democrats these days are much more progressive than ever. Yet, every election the party moves to the center, pretending that we are something that we are not. I suppose the fear of being openly progressive stems from the Reagan years when "liberal" was a dirty word.

I think it's time for new leadership that will openly and proudly state that Democrats are progressive.

[area51]

12. This. n/t

[bigtree]

14. that's not accurate at all

...he's full of shit.

...Sanders served as the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which marked up every piece of the Biden administration's signature legislation that was ultimately enacted in the face of republican obstinacy.

Wherever they fell short was on the legislature where he sat at the top of the ladder of every financial initiative that was able to advance out of his committee.

The Biden-Harris Administration, thanks in part to the American Rescue Plan (ARP), led America to the strongest jobs recovery on record and the strongest economic recovery in the world, driving unemployment below 4% for 28 months – the longest stretch in over 50 years - and creating nearly 16 million jobs since President Biden took office.

ARP has also led to the largest small business boom in history, with a record 19 million new business applications over the past three years - 55% higher than the year before the pandemic.

ARP’s Child Care Stabilization program was critical in keeping child care centers open. ARP led to the lowest child poverty rate in American history, thanks in part to the expansion of the Child Tax Credit, and funded a historic vaccination campaign which led to the full vaccinations of 230 million Americans– up from 3.5 million when President Biden took office.

In his Administration’s first year, the federal government provided more than $450 billion in emergency relief to more than 6 million small businesses, helping them keep their doors open during the pandemic.

Under President Biden, the federal government awarded a record $178.6 billion in contracting opportunities to small businesses, including $76.2 billion to small, disadvantaged businesses Traditionally underserved small businesses are growing at near-historic rates, with Black business ownership growing at the fastest pace in 30 years and Latino business ownership growing at the fastest pace in over a decade.

The Small Business Administration has doubled the number of small dollar loans and loans to Latino and women-owned small businesses and tripled the number of loans to Black-owned small businesses since President Biden took office.

In 2023, federal contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses hit the highest dollar amount ever awarded.

Department of Labor issued a rule raising pay for 4 million workers by increasing who is eligible for overtime compensation when they work more than 40 hours per week.

On July 1, 2024, overtime protections were extended to 1 million workers making less than $43,888 per year ($844 per week), and next year protections will be extended to another 3 million workers making less than $58,656 ($1,128 per week).

In September 2023, during the United Auto Workers’ historic Stand Up Strike, President Biden made history by becoming the first president to walk a picket line. The UAW’s strike won historic wage increases and helped ensure that electric vehicles would be manufactured in America by union workers.

President Biden signed into law the Butch Lewis Act – the most significant law for union retirement security in over 50 years. Thanks to this legislation, the Biden-Harris Administration rescued and protected roughly 2 million workers’ pensions, ensuring they remained solvent. Workers who saved their entire careers for their pensions deserve a strong, dignified retirement, and this rescue of multiemployer pension plans protects their hard-earned investments.

Moreover, President Biden has taken key steps to ensure federal dollars support good union jobs. For example, the President issued an Executive Order to require Project Labor Agreements on federal construction projects valued at or above $35 million and his Good Jobs Executive Order calls on agencies to embed high wages and labor standards into federal grant programs.

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, prime-age women’s labor force participation is the highest it has ever been, and the gender pay gap has narrowed. Prime-age women’s labor force participation is the highest it has ever been.

President Biden is also working to advance pay equity for federal employees and contractors and ensuring that workplaces are free from discrimination.

The President signed into law the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP Act, commonsense bipartisan workplace protections for pregnant and post-partum workers.

Pres. Biden also extended a $300 a week federal unemployment benefit for some 9.7 million people out of work at the time.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/

[Jersey Devil]

16. And when did our campaign mention any of those achievements?

I am not complaining about Biden's achievements on these issues. His record, as you noted, is beyond reproach.

What I am talking about is perception by voters. If you are progressive in your policies, why pretend to be centrist for elections? Biden's achievements for the working class were remarkable, yet most voters do not know about them. I consider myself pretty well informed, but I did not know about some of the things you mentioned. I doubt the average working class voter has any clue about them.

So why weren't we screaming these achievements from the rooftop during the campaign and proposing more for the future? Was it fear of being perceived as "liberal"? I think so and that it is time to stop pretending to be something else.

[bigtree]

21. it's on her campaign website, ffs

...I watched her entire campaign. Her detractors, not so much. It's not surprising to me to hear misrepresentations like this in the national discussion post-election.

The Harris campaign does not control the press. Nor does she control voters who lie to everyone, including themselves about their own antipathy to most Americans which was reflected in their vote for a known cretin and criminal.

These representations of a Trump voter as just having and voting on basic concerns like the price of eggs, which have NOTHING to do with what a president does, is just ignoring what they were really responding to; the endless stream of hate rallies that would make the 1950's Klan proud.

[Jersey Devil]

23. Reference to a web site is not good enough

The average voter is not going to bore himself to death going to a website to read endless lists of policy positions.

[malaise]

28. I thought her campaign message was excellent

although in hindsight maybe we needed more ads about ReTHUGs claiming infrastructure projects they voted against.

[malaise]

13. Neo-liberalism has effed up

The entire planet. Our so called liberal parties defend imperialism, war crimes and billionaires.

I am ready to jump off this planet.

[bigtree]

15. but it's not a liberal party

...it's a coalition of Democrats with like goals from many disparate parts of the nation with many diverse interests and needs.

[malaise]

24. Same thing we hear on this island

Everything is now for profit including elections.
I’ve had it my friend.

[hueymahl]

20. I would definitely like to see us get back to our roots

Pro peace. But real peace - far less military adventurism. Redirect a huge portion of our military budget toward domestic issues.

[Nanjeanne]

17. Biden won campaigning on a very progressive worker friendly platform. Build Back Better

would have been transformative. It failed by two Senators. But it was an incredibly strong bold piece of legislature.

Harris, I thought, would be pursuing that - particularly when Walz - who had passed many progressive Sanders style policies was picked. The excitement was real. The “call me what you want, I want to feed children” was so refreshing. But instead the walk away from that towards Cheney and other Rs who supported none of those things and were simply anti Trump happened. Speaking more about lethal military and having R in cabinet and seat at table doesn’t help the working class. Where was minimum wage? Paid leave? Medicare 4 All that she used to support? Even Walz was hollowed out by D consultants.

Yes abortion rights is extremely important. And black women once again were the standard bearers. But the idea that white R women were going to support the black woman candidate on just that issue was a misstep. Towards the end it became more about the threat of Trump than tuition free public college and addressing the insanity of $10,000/yr pharmaceutical deductibles. Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez aren’t the answer for struggling workers.

And sending Bill Clinton and Richie Torres to Michigan to chastise the Palestinian protestors was tone deaf.

Would Trump still win? Maybe. But trying to grab the illusive white Republican vote at the expense of what should be the core Dem base didn’t work in 2016 and didn’t work now. Harris is so articulate. She could have put together a really bold platform and sold it with joy. I’m sad she chose not to. But I’m not a paid insider Dem consultant making millions on failed campaigns year after year so I can get a pundit job on MSNBC. I’m just an old hippie left wing always voting Dem woman who knows why I became a Democrat and has kept hanging in here hoping for a better world.

[Jersey Devil]

27. Thank you

I tried to say what you did in my reply to the OP but you did a much better job.

[nini]

18. He never fails to piss me off

I would not be a Democrat if the party abandoned the working class and poor.

I am also smart enough to know to get anything done at all you’ve got to compromise with the other side which is frustrating as hell. For him to keep saying this crap only feeds into those voters believing the republican lies instead of seeing the democrats are the only party ever introducing bills and solutions to help.

He bitches about messaging while doing all he can to sabotage it every time.

[flamingdem]

22. If he's right the dems should have been 100% economy all the time

Specific help and funding for workers didn't do it.

It needed to be all about household budgets.

And messaged in the simplest, loudest manner.

He's trying to say it looked to elite to the average worker.

The usual gripe.

I think it's Fox News telling people to hate dems though.

[Island Blue]

29. Go fuck yourself, Bernie.

One of the reasons that we’re not celebrating the end of Hillary Clinton’s second term is because of Bernie Sanders and his bros.

[Faux pas]

30. He ALWAYS

tells it like it is. He would have been an excellent president somewhere along the line. I guess too many people are prejudice against Independents

[comradebillyboy]

31. This sort of crap is why I have never liked, trusted or

voted for Bernie Sanders. A sanctimonious, holier than thou purity tester whose actual accomplishments are miniscule.

[Phoenix61]

32. I couldn't agree more. nt

[CBHagman]

33. Says the guy who's never had to win a national election.

That's my polite take.

Seriously, if he wanted to help, there are plenty of ways he could without playing national scold and kicking us when we are devastated.