Senator Sanders had announced that in
2018 he will run as an Independent.
Some “analysts” call Senators’
decision a “betrayal” (https://www.salon.com/2017/10/24/sanders-betrays-democrats-announces-reelection-run-as-an-independent).
I do not want to get into a
discussion “who betrayed whom or by whom”; I find it useless.
For me, Senator Sanders’ decision
says very clearly that he has made his mind about what will be his legacy as a politician.
He had a very “simple” choice to
make – does he want to be a “king”, or does he want to be a “king maker”?
I have deep doubts that Senator
Sanders wants to run in 2020. He does not want to publicly rule it out, in case
there will be no good progressive candidate. But he would rather give his full
support to that candidate, than being that candidate himself.
He weighed his chances to become
the President and then he decided that he wanted to be a “king maker” (i.e. the
one who will have a strong influence on who will run in 2020).
Based on his knowledge of the
internal state of the Democratic party, he decided that his influence from the
outside the Democratic party will be much stronger than he had if he stayed in
the party. Clearly, talks about “unification” between different wings in the
Democratic party lead to nowhere.
Now, after his announcement, his immediate
political goal, naturally, is to win 2018 Senatorial election.
His strategic political goal should
be the formation of a strong nation-wide coalition of the progressives (mostly
“outsiders”, i.e. people who are not the Democrats and not the Republicans, or
at the fringes of their parties). When this coalition becomes large enough,
Senator Sanders will be able to force the Democrats to follow his agenda and
support his candidates by threatening that otherwise his coalition would not
support the Democrats.
The difficult problem will be to overcome a perception general public has - people hear " Sanders" and immediately assume "President". Many turns away right away just because do not believe in his chances. Another perception is "Socialism". For many Americans it is the opposite of capitalism, and is also a turn off. Probably, he will need a better term - as a compromise between his platform and the tittle of his movement (ideally, the tern should appeal to the left and to the right: "Fair Capitalism"? "Conservative Liberalism"? http://the3dforce.blogspot.com/2017/10/porg.html). He will also need to convince his current base that the Presidency is not the goal. And finally, he will have to start reaching out outside of his base. His "Our Revolution" is no enough.
The difficult problem will be to overcome a perception general public has - people hear " Sanders" and immediately assume "President". Many turns away right away just because do not believe in his chances. Another perception is "Socialism". For many Americans it is the opposite of capitalism, and is also a turn off. Probably, he will need a better term - as a compromise between his platform and the tittle of his movement (ideally, the tern should appeal to the left and to the right: "Fair Capitalism"? "Conservative Liberalism"? http://the3dforce.blogspot.com/2017/10/porg.html). He will also need to convince his current base that the Presidency is not the goal. And finally, he will have to start reaching out outside of his base. His "Our Revolution" is no enough.
He also needs to find at least a
couple of more independents who could run in 2018 and win the Senate races,
hopefully by taking down some of the Republicans (but even if they would beat
some Democrats, that would be good, too).
Having brought both – the Republicans and the Democrats – to the Senate minority, the Senate Independents (even
just 4 or 5 of them) would be able to take over the Senate, meaning – over the
Congress, meaning – over the Country.
Getting back the Congress, the Governor seats,state legislates, and finally, the Presidency is NOT an ordinary problem, and as such cannot be solved by ordinary means (http://the3dforce.blogspot.com/2017/10/spectre.html). That is why Senator Sanders needs to lead all progressives toward extraordinary actions. For starters, he needs to do what Donald Trump has already begun doing - start 2020 Presidential campaign.
I have deep doubts that Trump will be willing to run again; I think by 2020 he will solve all his problems which pushed him to run in the first place. Plus, he will get really really tired. But he surely wants to make everyone to think he will run.
Senator Sanders needs to team up with Joe Biden! Biden's age will not be a problem (he is barely older than Trump, but much fitter).
But they have to make the announcement "TODAY"!
This step will greatly help to fight Republican Senators in 2018 (technical details of that would take much large space than a short post; and who knows, maybe by 2020, young, energetic, and widely known and popular candidates will finally emerge).
Getting back the Congress, the Governor seats,state legislates, and finally, the Presidency is NOT an ordinary problem, and as such cannot be solved by ordinary means (http://the3dforce.blogspot.com/2017/10/spectre.html). That is why Senator Sanders needs to lead all progressives toward extraordinary actions. For starters, he needs to do what Donald Trump has already begun doing - start 2020 Presidential campaign.
I have deep doubts that Trump will be willing to run again; I think by 2020 he will solve all his problems which pushed him to run in the first place. Plus, he will get really really tired. But he surely wants to make everyone to think he will run.
Senator Sanders needs to team up with Joe Biden! Biden's age will not be a problem (he is barely older than Trump, but much fitter).
This step will greatly help to fight Republican Senators in 2018 (technical details of that would take much large space than a short post; and who knows, maybe by 2020, young, energetic, and widely known and popular candidates will finally emerge).
As I mentioned before (Ignoring
sloppiness: a sign of tolerance or mismanagement? And how did it affect 2016
election), until 2016 I was out of politics. Things changed (you know why).
" Based on the 2016 elections, and the following events, I believe that – at least in Washington – most Republicans are generally smart but evil, and Democrats are generally nice but stupid (or dumb, or choose whatever word you prefer to describe their inability to think). And both parties are in the pocket of big money."
" Based on the 2016 elections, and the following events, I believe that – at least in Washington – most Republicans are generally smart but evil, and Democrats are generally nice but stupid (or dumb, or choose whatever word you prefer to describe their inability to think). And both parties are in the pocket of big money."
That was a quote from an old post (www.3dForce.net).
Time passed, but unfortunately, the assessment still stays.
The Democrats are deep in an internal quarrel, they are lost, they don't know what happened (the book does not help), and what to do, and they do not see farther then one step ahead (Democratic Party
Leaders Have No Vision).
That is why nowadays the politics needs to be based on bold actions of popular individuals (An Open Letter to Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Senator Al Franken).
BTW:
Currently, progressives of all sort are busy with fashioning a big fiery GALA (http://the3dforce.blogspot.com/2017/11/3dforcedown.html).
At the same time Regressive Republicans developed a network of disinformation: http://the3dforce.blogspot.com/2017/11/disinformation.html.
Who is a real revolutionary here?
That is why nowadays the politics needs to be based on bold actions of popular individuals (An Open Letter to Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Senator Al Franken).
BTW:
Currently, progressives of all sort are busy with fashioning a big fiery GALA (http://the3dforce.blogspot.com/2017/11/3dforcedown.html).
At the same time Regressive Republicans developed a network of disinformation: http://the3dforce.blogspot.com/2017/11/disinformation.html.
Who is a real revolutionary here?
Much more on the topic is at:
and
Appendix: added on 11/28
Politico
writes that Bernie Sanders is getting ready to run in 2020
I already mention in a larger
post
“Senator Sanders has made his
mind – he will NOT run in 2020 to become the President, but ...”
that Senator Sanders would
prefer NOT running in 2020, but keeps this option open – in case there will be
no other strong candidates.
The real issue is – unexpectedly
– his team.
They ALL want him to run.
Like generals live waiting for a
war to happen, political operatives live waiting for a big political campaign
(and what can be bigger than Presidential elections).
Only the closest family members
may have some concerns and reservations about Senator Sanders’ Presidential bid
in 2020.
Imagine that Clinton’s team had
someone who would said to her “Mrs. Clinton, Michael Moore and Bill Maher say
again and again that Trump has a stronghold in Michigan, Wisconsin, and
Pennsylvania. They are not politicians, but very smart guys, maybe we should do
something about it?” This could have changed the outcome of the elections.
(this article gives nice visual
aid!)
But Clinton was not smart enough
to keep around uncomfortable people, who could criticize her and her ideas, and
offer unexpected opinions.
I’m afraid, we see the same
happening again, and not just in the Sanders’ team, but in all other political
groups like Our Revolution, People’s Party, etc. – you name it.
I’m afraid, we see the same
happening again, and not just in the Sanders’ team, but in all other political
groups like Our Revolution, People’s Party, etc. – you name it.
A failure of imagination” has
lead to 11/08/2016
Which is why 2020 may just
repeat 2016.
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