What do people expect those of us who support Bernie's agenda to do?

[cab67]

93. For many of us, it's not about the agenda.

I count myself as a progressive, and I want a lot of what Sanders wants. But when I see Sanders, I see an empty suit - someone who gives great speeches, but whose list of actual accomplishments toward what he wants is rather thin.

A lot of his supporters point to his long history of championing progressive causes. They're right to do it. But they don't take the next logical step of highlighting the progressive legislation he successfully navigated through Congress. And they don't because they can't.

To me, this is a warning flag. To enact even one of his goals, we'd have to have solid majorities in both houses of Congress and a way around the Senate filibuster - and that's assuming Sanders is effective at promoting his agenda in Congress in the first place. I see no indication that the most probable outcomes of the Congressional elections this year will facilitate someone like Sanders, and I see even less indication that Sanders would be willing to make the compromises needed to get anything done at all. I fear that if he got elected (and that's a big, big if) he'd be an unsuccessful one-termer.

What's the point of moving someone who's been unsuccessful at promoting progressive causes in Congress into the executive branch? Do we really think that will change things?

There's no such thing as a perfect candidate. We have to find a balance between vision and reality. I don't know what that would look like, but I'm not convinced nominating someone with lots of vision, but minimal success with making any of it a reality, is the answer.