cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/22940159

Bernie Sanders caused a stir last week, when the independent senator from Vermont and two-time contender for the Democratic presidential nomination sent a post-election email to his progressive supporters across the country. In it, he argued that the Democrats suffered politically in 2024 at least in part because they ran a campaign that focused on “protecting the status quo and tinkering around the edges.”

In contrast, said Sanders, “Trump and the Republicans campaigned on change and on smashing the existing order.” Yes, he explained, “the ‘change’ that Republicans will bring about will make a bad situation worse, and a society of gross inequality even more unequal, more unjust and more bigoted.”

Despite that the reality of the threat they posed, Trump and the Republicans still won a narrow popular-vote victory for the presidency, along with control of the US House. That result has inspired an intense debate over the future direction not just of the Democratic Party but of the country. And the senator from Vermont is in the thick of it.

In his email, Sanders, a member of the Senate Democratic Caucus who campaigned in states across the country this fall for Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic ticket, asked a blunt question: “Will the Democratic leadership learn the lessons of their defeat and create a party that stands with the working class and is prepared to take on the enormously powerful special interests that dominate our economy, our media and our political life?”

His answer: “Highly unlikely. They are much too wedded to the billionaires and corporate interests that fund their campaigns.”

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    13 hours ago

    It’s getting to the point where a third party push seems logical.

    People just want to move past NH having their primary delegates stolen, but that shit really happened. I don’t see anything from the DNC that would indicate significant change. They have a candidate and that’s who the candidate is going to be.

    It’s no effective at winning elections, but the do it’s would rather have a republican than a progressive.

    We need to demand the 2028 has strict campaign finance regulations. I can understand the argument we can’t not do it in the general, but the primary is just Dem vs Dem. Keep the billionaires out of it and let voters pick who they’re most likely to vote for in the general.

    • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      Progressives should take over the Green Party and threaten to run unless they get concessions from Democrats.

      Of course, this requires Democrats to care about winning and not just shutting out progressives.

    • Tinidril@midwest.social
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      6 hours ago

      Ranked choice voting systems were offered in four states in this past election and were rejected in all four. If I’m remembering correctly, around $60m was spent campaigning for them. Two states have RCV already, one of which is Alaska which just narrowly avoided switching back.

      No, now is apparently not the time to attempt a 3rd party strategy.

    • Brkdncr@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      I think if we work towards ending electoral college then other things will fall into place just because people will be more incentivized to vote.

      I heard 15million between NY and CA alone decide not to note at all because their vote doesn’t make a difference.

      Think of all the down-ballot voting would happen with all those voters.

    • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      Idk. I think building a third party seems like a distraction when its pretty easy to just become an “Independent”, case-in-point, Bernie Sanders. Find good, compelling candidates and run them. Small donor donations only.

    • minnow@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      I don’t think that’s quite the strategy we need.

      What we really need is a genuine grassroots movement with significant movement, like the Tea Party but not astroturfed, today gets more progressive in the Democratic party.

      BUT

      We need them locally, not on the federal level, because locally is where voting rules are established. The Progressives can then push for Rank Choice Voting. City by city, county by county, State by State, we get RCV implemented everywhere possible. This in turn breaks the Two Party System by allowing voters to pick third party candidates without fear of their vote being wasted.

      The only problem is that the best time for this strategy was fifteen years ago, and not enough people cared back then to do it. The second best time is now, of course, but…

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        Just a few more decades of fruitlessly pursuing a pipe dream that we’ve set up as a prerequisite and then we’ll consider not moving to the right.

    • someguy3@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      Last 3rd party push resulted in Bush and 2 wars. Instead of Gore the environmentalist. Voting 3rd party for progressivism is the biggest self own in history.

    • UsernameHere@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      Still asking for democrats to throw away their votes on a 3rd party because you think both sides are the same eh?

      That’s how Trump got elected a 2nd term. But that’s probably why you’re still pushing that narrative.

      • FutileRecipe@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        throw away their votes on a 3rd party…That’s how Trump got elected a 2nd term

        While that didn’t help, I don’t think it was the cause. Last I checked, if you gave Harris the 3rd party votes, Trump would still win. Republicans had increased voter turnout, while Democrats decreased…and overall turnout decreased. So it was apathy and lack of votes that won.

        But I’m busy, going off memory, and didn’t check latest stats. So please, feel free to correct me.

        Ref: https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections_by_popular_vote_margin

        • UsernameHere@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          Obviously it wasn’t just one thing that caused Trump to win but a culmination of things that tipped the scales.

      • Cris@lemmy.world
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        12 hours ago

        Not every single person who disagrees with you is a paid shill. I voted for kamala and did so happily, and I’m very worried about the democratic party’s ability to change in the way they need to also. At some point, we do need to upend the 2 party system, it has yielded only bad things.

        I don’t know the right way to do that. I don’t know how we can do that with the least possible compromise, giving conservatives an advantage by splitting the progressive vote while using a voting system that favors two entrenched parties over outside candidates. AND ALSO the two party system is a problem this country desperately needs to solve.

        The two parties are absolutely not the same, but that doesn’t mean the democratic party is doing a great job of representing people’s actual interests, it just means they aren’t literal fascists. I dunno about you, but I’d really hope my political representation can be better than “literal fascists, or, people who kinda sorta sometimes care about issues that represent you, except all the times when they don’t”

        • UsernameHere@lemmy.world
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          10 hours ago

          The only party that has a chance of beating the republicans is the Democratic Party. There is no other party.

          As long as we are sowing apathy towards the Democratic Party we won’t have a chance of beating the fascist republicans that show up to vote no matter what.

          So you can call it disagreeing or call it being worried or call it constructive criticism. It doesn’t matter what you call it as long as it sows apathy it will increase the fascist republicans chances of winning.

          People like OP are reposting the same posts and commenting in each one systematically with comments to sow apathy. It has been obvious to more than just me for a while now.

          • ochi_chernye@startrek.website
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            8 hours ago

            The election is over. Democrats failed spectacularly. Now is the time for criticism and accountability. If not now, when? We’re all just supposed to pretend that Harris ran a great campaign? Are you familiar with the concept of learning from failure? I was beating this drum myself before the election—you know, when it actually made sense. Now it just smacks of sticking your fingers in your ears.

            • UsernameHere@lemmy.world
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              7 hours ago

              Democrats lost because fewer Democratic voters showed up this year. That is a sign of apathy. If we spend the next 4 years sowing more apathy then it won’t matter what we are saying the months leading up to the election because everyone will already be apathetic.

              To pretend democrats failed spectacularly is to ignore the billionaires doing things like buying votes to win or Russian bots sowing apathy to Democratic voters to convince them to not vote or vote 3rd party.

              I see you’re federated with startrek.website. Ever heard the saying “you can do everything right and still lose”.

              Apathy caused Democratic voters to stay home. Continuing to sow more apathy will guarantee we lose the next one, if there is a next one.

              • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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                4 hours ago

                Just shut up and never ever criticize the party that only ever moves to the right, or you want the fascists to win!

                You will never understand that votes are earned, not demanded.

              • ochi_chernye@startrek.website
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                6 hours ago

                Sure there were Russian bots. Of course there was billionaire fuckery. That’s been the case every cycle for decades. Do you honestly believe that Democrats lost exclusively because of these things? And furthermore, that nobody should critique their performance or policies, because that constitutes sowing apathy? Weeks after the fucking election? That’s the dumbest fucking thing I ever heard.

                • UsernameHere@lemmy.world
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                  6 hours ago

                  Harris lost the popular vote by 1.6%. Trump gained more votes than he got in 2020. It was a close race but Trump got all the most important swing states with the most electoral votes. The scales were not tipped very far in Trumps favor.

                  And furthermore, that nobody should critique their performance or policies, because that constitutes sowing apathy?

                  Saying we should waste our votes on 3rd parties or claiming democrats are the same as the republican fascists is not “critiquing performance or policies”. To even claim that is a bad faith argument.

          • Cris@lemmy.world
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            9 hours ago

            Yes. There isn’t another party. Democratic voters didnt turn out, and lots of people feel that is a reflection of the Democratic party’s strategy, and it’s ability to connect with people and motivate them.

            For those who see it that way, there are two options, the reform and improvement of the democratic party, or a replacement that can better motivate people by offering more significant change. And many folks in the camp that are frustrated, and feel the democratic party isn’t reflecting their interests, or doing enough to connect with amercians, also don’t feel like the democractic party can change.

            People want to act on what they think will solve the problem. I understand you think their idea of a solution is counter-productive, the case I’m trying to make is that going around assuming everyone you don’t agree with is acting in bad faith in service of a secret agenda is AT LEAST as counter productive, if not substantially more so.

            Theres an entirely legitimate good faith reason for someone to post this kind of thing- they think it will build momentum towards what they see as the solution to the problems they care about.

            If we can’t even have productive conversations about what the problem is and why we think it should be solved a certain way, we’re fucking doomed. Democracy is fundamentally about collaborative governance, even in an unhealthy democracy like ours. These problems are fundamentally bigger than any of us can solve alone, and the solutions we pick, and how many people will throw themselves behind them, are BOTH materially improved by seeking to understand those you disagree with, rather than insinuating that they’re up to some plot to get a fascist elected, here on one of the most progressive platforms on the entire internet.

            Your frustration is understandable. We’re all fucking angry and trying to find the best way to resolve what we see as the source of our anger.

            • UsernameHere@lemmy.world
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              6 hours ago

              It’s getting to the point where a third party push seems logical.

              OP is suggesting we throw away our votes on a 3rd party. That has always been a bad faith argument in a first past the polls system. It is statistically impossible to win that way which is why it is a bad faith argument.

              I’m not claiming it’s bad faith as an emotional response. I’m pointing out that when someone suggests the option that guarantees failure, they are not acting in good faith.

              • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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                4 hours ago

                I’m not claiming it’s bad faith as an emotional response.

                Yeah. You’re claiming it as a Pavlovian reflex to people disagreeing with Democrats’ failed strategy of moving to the right.

                • UsernameHere@lemmy.world
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                  4 hours ago

                  Throwing away your vote against fascism and thus allowing fascism to take power is not “disagreeing with democrats”.

                  • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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                    4 hours ago

                    Throwing away your vote against fascism and thus allowing fascism to take power

                    This particular lecture just proved unsuccessful against the fascism you prefer to any move leftward.

                    is not “disagreeing with democrats”.

                    I said:

                    disagreeing with Democrats’ failed strategy of moving to the right.

                    But since you are pathologically incapable of admitting that moving to the right has failed as a strategy, you have to lie about my position instead.

              • Cris@lemmy.world
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                5 hours ago

                Firstly saying it’s logical to push for a third party doesn’t actually mean “let’s just piss away our votes”

                It can mean pushing for voting reform along with a new party. And the change has gotta start somewhere if you want it to happen, and if you think it has to happen then picking a place, even one that you feel is impossible, doesn’t make it a bad faith argument. Its not like there’s any easy route to overturning the two party system, so if that’s what you think has to happen, you don’t exactly have any options that will be a cakewalk.

                And furthermore, I’m not aware of statistics that say that (though I wouldn’t be surprised) but you’re essentially saying that because your (I assume) informed opinion is that it can’t be done, anyone who suggests it must be suggesting it with an ulterior motive. You reached for malice as an explanation where, if you’re right, ignorance would be a much more suitable explanation. Its an issue I care about, and if we actually have data to suggest its impossible then I would be ignorant too

                It’d be far more productive to say “I really don’t think that’s possible, here’s why: xyz. I think if you want to make that kind of change happen I think you’ll have to find a different approach”

                Do you have research or data on the topic? Or are you being hyperbolic in order to make your point that you think it’s unrealistic? (Honest question, I think both would be fair, though if it’s just a personal perspective that its unrealistic I do think that even further weakens the argument that its bad faith on OP’s part)

                • UsernameHere@lemmy.world
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                  5 hours ago

                  [The most successful third-party candidacy came in 1912, when Theodore Roosevelt finished second and got around 27 percent of the popular vote. Of course, he was a former president of the United States who hadn’t been renominated by his party and formed his own party. In recent times, H. Ross Perot’s third-party candidacy in 1992 got 19 percent of the popular vote, the second most in US history—but he got zero electoral votes. With the electoral college system, it’s highly, highly unlikely a third-party candidate could win an election.

                  Polls put the two biggest parties, the Green Party and the Libertarian Party, at around one percent of the popular vote, whereas in 2016, they got around four to five percent of the vote.](https://www.bu.edu/articles/2024/is-voting-third-party-a-wasted-vote/)

                  [Third parties that have been established were either short lived or, like the Libertarian and Green Parties, have had little impact on federal and state elections other than bringing more attention to issues for voters or siphoning votes from major-party candidates, sometimes serving a spoiler role in elections.

                  However, as has been the case for prior third-party candidates, Kennedy’s initially higher levels of support eventually faded. Kennedy also struggled to gain ballot access in many states, with his efforts landing him on the ballot in 21 states, and 13 additional states pending before he suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump.](https://news.gallup.com/poll/651278/support-third-political-party-dips.aspx)

                  • Cris@lemmy.world
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                    4 hours ago

                    Thank you very much for taking the time to type out all of that information, I really appreciate it! I would very much like to see the two party system overturned, and understanding the issue better helps me consider which (probably crappy) route has the best chances.

                    I don’t think that saying someone wants a third relevant party means they’re intrinsically acting in bad faith. I absolutely understand seeing it as completely unrealistic. It probably is. I just also have a really hard time seeing this system yielding the kind of represtation this country needs, and that’s something I desperately want for this country.

                    In an economy, only two companies vying for control of a market is a duopoly, and it’s unlikely between the two of them that they’ll do a good job of serving consumers. There’s no meaningful competition driving parties to really offer compelling solutions to the public, because both parties have to option of just saying “well I’m not THAT guy over there, the one you hate”

                    I’d like to see the first past the post voting system replaced, but l worry neither party will ever offer the public the option to replace it if it threatens their control. Obviously republicans never will. But I also don’t really believe another party can win until it’s changed.

                    Its an intensely frustrating status quo. And I can’t help but look backwards desperately wish we could have had bernie instead of Hillary. :(

          • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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            9 hours ago

            The only party that has a chance of beating the republicans is the Democratic Party. There is no other party.

            And they just shat the bed because they can’t resist moving to the right and ordering people to love it.

            Democrats aren’t interested in beating Republicans. They’re only interested in beating progressives.

            • UsernameHere@lemmy.world
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              9 hours ago

              They didn’t lose because they weren’t progressive enough. They lost because Biden inherited a pandemic that caused inflation and weak economy that required increasing interest rates.

              • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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                8 hours ago

                Oh, now the economy at the time of the election was weak. Last month it was roaring and everyone who noticed that they couldn’t afford groceries was a Russian shill.

                Democrats supported genocide, ran anti-trans bigotry in their own ads, and reveled in getting the endorsement of Dick Cheney. They moved to the right and lost. Quit defending their shitty behavior.

                • UsernameHere@lemmy.world
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                  7 hours ago

                  Oh, now the economy at the time of the election was weak. Last month it was roaring and everyone who noticed that they couldn’t afford groceries was a Russian shill.

                  Not sure what you are babbling about here. Republican ads during the election were all focused on the high inflation.

                  Democrats supported genocide, ran anti-trans bigotry in their own ads, and reveled in getting the endorsement of Dick Cheney. They moved to the right and lost. Quit defending their shitty behavior.

                  The US military supports Israel to prevent Iran from getting stronger in the region because Iran has teamed up with China, Russia and North Korea and are actively supply drones and other weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine.

                  Netanyahu is responsible for the genocide. He is the only one who can stop it.

                  Cheney had absolutely nothing to do with Harris losing. Absolutely nothing in the polls or anecdotal evidence supports that claim but it is heavily pushed as a taking point here on lemmy from lemmy.ml so that fact should speak to how disingenuous it is.

                  • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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                    7 hours ago

                    Not sure what you are babbling about here.

                    Don’t fucking gaslight me. Democrats ran on “the economy is great actually”.

                    The US military supports Israel

                    Biden and the entire centrist wing of the party supported GENOCIDE for the sheer joy of it and no other reason.

                    Cheney had absolutely nothing to do with Harris losing.

                    He sure as fuck didn’t help. But since you and your entire wing of the party has always loved everything he ever stood for, you were happy for his endorsement. Senpai noticed you.

      • dhhyfddehhfyy4673@fedia.io
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        11 hours ago

        That’s how Trump got elected a 2nd term.

        Lol, no it’s not. Have you even looked at the numbers? Third parties did worse than their already pathetic historical performance, and were inconsequential in the outcome.