2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Progressive Pragmatism versus Liberal Elitism [View all]Ok, assuming you are not trolling me and are actually curious about my political ambitions for the country, I'll try to answer. If you choose to respond, please dispense with the snark and personal disdain. It really is quite distasteful.
* We may not have many pro Bernie Dems in congress currently; but we can elect some if we try. You say "but you're not getting pro Bernie Dems in congress" -- says who? Maybe if we try and the American people like his ideas, we can elect some. And for the rest, we work to persuade the current congress people that enough Americans support his policies. That is what democracy means to me.
* "let things go unaccomplished because you would like the warm fuzzies associated with electing Bernie": No, I assure you I will continue to be outspoken and active in politics to work for what I believe in regardless of who wins the election. As for electing Bernie, there will be no warm fuzzies; those are reserved for when we accomplish free tuition at universities (hey, Germany does it and they have some damn good universities) or single payer. Until then we work our asses off for the cause.
* "Are you content with kidding yourself that something would be different versus his congressional career where even Dems don't support his proposals if only he was president?" -- Are you trying to come across as an asshole? I am not kidding myself about anything. That you think I am not dead serious about the long term direction I want to see this country headed means you fail to grasp anything I stand for. Bernie is part of that (Warren would be if she ran as well), I care little about individual candidates outside of the particular election we are fighting in.
* As for his accomplishments, I read a good article when I was much younger by Matt Taibbi, "Inside the Horror Show That Is Congress", on how the sausage gets made in Congress. It made clear to me that those not in leadership have no chance of accomplishing much except by using the amendment process. As for floor votes, he has voted in a way that represents my opinions on most of the major issues facing America. Good enough for me. In his only leadership position in the Senate, he worked pragmatically to accomplish a major piece of Veterans legislation that Brookings has since studied to see how bipartisanship can work because it was an unlikely success.
These are some of the reasons I am not at all worried about Bernie moving the country in the right direction. He is not a savior; he is simply the best candidate (based on past votes, position statements, and personal integrity) for President we have fighting for progressive causes this time around. The fight will go on much longer than his inauguration, and even longer than his successor's.