I think she's knows what she's talking about, and I think it's important if we want to understand why Sanders (and Warren) lost. https://twitter.com/gwensnyderPHL/status/1250084669770498048

In 2016, Bernie was a surprise runner-up to Clinton, the front-runner, and it was really refreshing to hear openly socialist ideas delivered without apology by a major contender for POTUS nominee.

But there was always a certain contingent -- the so-called "dirtbag left" and others -- that seemed to exploit "support" for Bernie in order to perform misogyny against Clinton.

They were far from the default Sanders supporter, of course. But they WERE there, and the problem I saw happening was that any attempt to criticize this behavior was instantly met with aggressive circling-the-wagons defensiveness.

Like, you couldn't point out that the Chapo guys are garbage without getting labeled as a A TRAITOR TO THE REVOLUTION or something.

And even a lot of Sanders supporters who weren't super aggressive with this attitude, also weren't super open to considering that it was a problem.

It was dismissed with the attitude of "oh, so what, people were a little mean to you online" as if a little harmless misogyny should be no big deal if you want that socialist paradise.

And their OPEN, SEETHING contempt for Warren and Warren supporters was just... who on earth thought THAT was a good idea that would help Sanders win?

The only POSSIBLE outcome was discouraging Warren supporters from voting for Sanders after she dropped out.

Anyway, I think a lot of that played out mostly among the Extremely Online, but it turned out to be an indicator: Sanders didn't really grow his coalition between 2016 and 2020. He was the runner-up in 2016, and he was the runner-up again in 2020.

But there's a note of hope in that -- wow, a Jewish socialist was almost the candidate for president!

And this movement can't end there, with that "almost," otherwise it's not a movement, it's just a cult of personality.

And Bernie Sanders gets that. He endorsed Biden and announced plans to work together

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-endorses-joe-biden/story?id=70123451

Not me, us.