General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "Bernie Sanders talks about...the possibility of a presidential run...." [View all]True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)There has always been a contingent in our party and our side of the spectrum that doesn't know the difference between being right and making progress. Sanders, Kucinich, etc. - they take the right positions, they say the right things, and then...nothing happens, because they don't know how to translate their knowledge into political substance. In the rare circumstances where they rise to the Presidency (e.g., Carter), the whole federal bureaucracy just ignores them and waits them out, until the next Republican can just wave away all of their well-meaning initiatives in an instant because they failed to get legislation passed. And they never, ever see it coming when the institutional powers set them up to fail. The Democratic Party has to always keep in mind that morality and political competence are not mutually exclusive, and neither one is optional.