Matt Taibbi Interviews Bernie Sanders: Where We Go From Here

[Miles Archer]

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Bernie Sanders: Where We Go From Here

By Matt Taibbi
3 hours ago

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/bernie-sanders-where-we-go-from-here-w452786

It feels like a bomb went off in Washington. In less than a year, the leaders of both major parties have been crushed, fundamentally reshaping a political culture that for generations had seemed unalterable. The new order has belligerent outsider Donald Trump heading to the White House, ostensibly backed in Congress by a tamed and repentant majority of establishment Republicans. Hillary Clinton's devastating loss, meanwhile, has left the minority Democrats in disarray. A pitched battle for the soul of the opposition party has already been enjoined behind the scenes.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who won overwhelming youth support and 13 million votes during primary season, now sits on one side of that battle, in a position of enormous influence. The party has named him "outreach chair," and Minnesota congressman and Sanders political ally Keith Ellison is the favorite to be named head of the Democratic National Committee. This is a huge change from earlier this year, when the Sanders campaign was completely on the outs with the DNC, but many see Sanders' brand of politics as the Democrats' best shot at returning to prominence.

Sanders' rise is a remarkable story, obscured by the catastrophe of Trump's win. When I first visited with Sanders for Rolling Stone, 11 years ago, for a tour of the ins and outs of congressional procedure, he was a little-known Independent in the House from a tiny agrarian state, an eccentric toiler pushing arcane and unsexy amendments through Congress, usually on behalf of the working poor: expanded access to heating oil in the winter, more regional community health centers, prohibitions against regressive "cash-balance pension plans," etc.

His colleagues gently described Sanders as a hardworking quack, the root of his quackery apparently being that he was too earnest and never off-message, even in private. He had fans among Republicans (some called him an "honest liberal&quot and many detractors among Democrats, who often grew weary of his lectures about the perils of over-reliance on donations from big business and Wall Street.

[Cha]

1. Doesn't that belong in post mortem which I am staying

out of?

Dems aren't in "disarray".. that's just what those who have an agenda like to spread.. it's bullshite.

[Grey Lemercier]

3. Lowest power level for the Democrats since the Civil War when State governments are added in

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/12/these-3-maps-show-just-how-dominant-republicans-are-in-america-after-tuesday/

Results are still trickling in, but it looks like Republicans will still control an all-time high 69 of 99 state legislative chambers. They'll hold at least 33 governorships, tying a 94-year-old record.





Urban shift is bad news for Democrats trying to use Donald Trump's unpopularity to chip away at or even erase Republicans' historic majority in the House of Representatives. Because Democrats are clustered in one area of the state, they have less of a say in who represents congressional (and state-level) districts in the rest of the state.




snip

Lowest power level for the Democrats since the Civil War.

We have to start taking back the states, the 2020 Census could further entrench Republican dominance in the US House if they gerrymander even more districts. The Democratic Party is good (and not even that good, apparently) at one thing, a giant push every 4 years for POTUS. We are weak as hell at midterms, and even worse at statewide levels. The rot is damn near insurmountable until demographic change kicks in, but that takes decades. I also full expect white voter power blocks to continue to congeal, IF Trumpism produces even moderate successes, which will be spun into triumphs of caesarian proportions by the lap dog corporate press.

A look at 2018, 2020, and 2022 Senate races

2018

Dems will have 11 or possibly 13 hard races, all defending seats, many in red or purple states, all in an off year, and we historically do poorly in many midterms (hopefully this will NOT be the case)

FL Bill Nelson (probably retiring, but will be hard race even if not)
IN Joe Donnelly <<< probably toast, a deep Red state now, look at Bayh's collapse and Trump won by almost 20 points
MI Debbie Stabenow (2nd safest of these 11, but will not be easy)
MO Claire McCaskill <<< probably toast, DEEP red now, she barely beat an insane Rethug last time, and Trump won by over 21 points
MT Jon Tester <<< probably toast, DEEP Red state now, Trump won by 24 points
ND Heidi Heitkamp <<<< toast, she barely won last time, and trump won the state by over 35 points, the other ND Senator, Republican Hoeven won 78.6 to 17%
VA- Tim Kaine, (safest of the 11, but again, will be a battle)
NJ Bob Menendez (mainly due to his criminal case, if it is not resolved and he runs still)
PA Bob Casey (definitely a hard race)
WI Tammy Baldwin (definitely a hard race)
WV Joe Manchin (may switch to Republican or might be in big trouble, over SEVENTY percent of WV voted Trump, Manchin already said he will support all of Trump's picks, and Trump will de-reg coal)

then these

NM Martin Heinrich (probably safe unless Susanna Martinez, who is termed out, runs)
OH Sherrod Brown (not as safe as Heinrich, especially if termed out Kasich runs for Senate) Portman won by over 21 points

ME (Angus King, Independent, will probably win fairly easily)


The only Republican seats Dems can realistically flip are

NV Dean Heller

Maybe, maybe Jeff Flake in AZ

the rest are pretty much 100% Rethug safe seats (MS, TX, TN, NE, UT, WY)



2020


we have to defend these (I don't list the safe ones) the positive thing is that all are winnable for us

Massachusetts Ed Markey (Charlie Baker would make it tough)
Michigan Gary Peters
Minnesota Al Franken (second safest)
New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
New Jersey Cory Booker (safest)
New Mexico Tom Udall (safe unless Martinez waits to run against him)
Virginia Mark Warner


and the Rethugs have to Defend these (all the rest are safe)

Colorado Cory Gardner (by far our best hope to flip)
Maine Susan Collins (if she retires is much less safe for the Repubs, if not, it is safe)
North Carolina Thom Tillis (decent shot to flip)


I would say we gain 1 or 2 seats, not a chance for 3, unless Collins retires, plus we have to defend ALL 7 I listed



2022


we defend these

Colorado Michael Bennet
Nevada Catherine Cortez Masto
New Hampshire Maggie Hassan



Rethugs have to defend these


Arizona John McCain (probably retires, as he would be 92 at end of his term if he runs)
Indiana Todd Young
Missouri Roy Blunt
North Carolina Richard Burr
Pennsylvania Pat Toomey
Wisconsin Ron Johnson

I could see us picking up 3 to 4 net, but that will not be enough to pull back the majority



bottom line, we are probably looking at at least 8 years straight of Rethug senate control, and if things go truly shit in 2018, maybe a supermajority control for 2 years. This all depends on Trump not blowing up the world or getting impeached, so who the hell knows.


Overall, looks like disarray to me.

[Cha]

4. Hillary won 2 millon more votes than drumpfuck.. we're

down but we're not fucking out.

Just because they had Comey, the Russian hackers, Voter Suppression, Voter Purges, fuckng wikileaks, m$m, brainwashing for over a year.. etc etc.. doesn't mean we're in "disarray".

That's just what those who have the fangs and the long fucking knives like to spread..

[Grey Lemercier]

5. yes, but at the deep taproot levels of state control we are incredibly hollowed out

We have to absolutely stop the rot at state level, that is a HUGE task for the new incoming DNC chairperson.

The popular vote for POTUS will mean less and less as our power bases are "caged" at giant statewide levels (CA, NY, etc) and also gerrymandered into huge but isolated urban voting blocks. The 2020 Elections at statewide level are so crucial, as the 2020 Census will be used by the state legislatures for US House redistricting.

Simply having POTUS is not enough to undo the systemic and pervasive power grab the Rethugs have methodically executed over the last 30 or so years. God help us if Ginsburg and Breyer retire or die before the 2020 elections. That would leave a 7-2 decades long RW control of the SCOTUS (maybe reduced to 6-3 if Kennedy goes out post 2020 and we have unseated Trump). If the Rethugs win the POTUS in 2020 the SCOTUS is gone for so so long.

The Electoral College is never going away. The National Popular Vote Compact is unconstitutional (especially if the SCOTUS is RW).

There is a solution

Abolition will never occur, as even if the constitutional amendment were passed in the Congress, all it takes is 13 states (the smaller ones, of course) to block it. They have way more than 13 who oppose it.

BUT there is a fix, and it just doesn't fix the electoral college. If fixes the House too.

Expand the House to 1001. That would also Expand the EC to 1106 (100 for senators, 1001 for House, plus 5 for DC). It doesnt take a Constitutional Amendment either, just an Act of Congress (overturning a 1929 Act).

Its been stuck at 435 (with 2 temp added for AK and HI for a couple years, removed in 1962) SINCE 1913!


The population then was 97 million. Now is 325 million. The average rep has almost 750,000 people in his/her district.

Because the EC is based (in the constitution) off number of congress people, increasing the House also increases the EC.

THEN you can more fairly split up those 1106 EV's and those 1001 House seats. Right now, a Wyoming electoral vote is worth 3.7 times MORE than a California vote.


Expanding the House also, of course allow for a more representational distribution for the states as well, at HOUSE government levels. California, and the other large states get FUCKED right now in very way.

The main barrier to this will be getting House members to dilute their power, PLUS Rethugs to go along, as they KNOW they have all the benefits to the current system


Read this for more info. http://www.thirty-thousand.org/

The 1001 is just my own number, you could do it so many different ways (such as the much less impactful (but still better than nothing) Wyoming Rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming_Rule , or double it, plus one (has to be odd number to avoid ties)

[Jersey Devil]

2. We need Bernie to transform into Yoda and school a young Jedi

So who will that be? My money is on Warren, but then again, if that is the case, she has already graduated from Jedi School, or at least it seems that way to me.

[DonViejo]

6. Locking...

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