Read on Twitter
1)My meta-take on the Bernie Sanders Era is now up at @jacobinmag.
It's an attempt to take stock of both the real achievements and grim lessons of Bernie's two losing campaigns, fueled by a look at precinct returns I haven't seen analyzed anywhere else: https://jacobinmag.com/2020/08/bernie-sanders-five-year-war
It's an attempt to take stock of both the real achievements and grim lessons of Bernie's two losing campaigns, fueled by a look at precinct returns I haven't seen analyzed anywhere else: https://jacobinmag.com/2020/08/bernie-sanders-five-year-war
2) Why do we need to reckon with the rise & fall of Bernieland? Why now? A quick thread:
First, for all its defeats, the Sanders movement has also won the American Left's most significant victory in a half-century, proving that 'democratic socialism' has a mass base in the USA:
First, for all its defeats, the Sanders movement has also won the American Left's most significant victory in a half-century, proving that 'democratic socialism' has a mass base in the USA:
None of the American horrors in the headlines this summer—from the deadly pandemic to racist police violence—can be fixed without a left political movement that is capable of building a *national majority* and winning *national power.*
Sorry, there's no shortcut here
Sorry, there's no shortcut here
Recognizing the importance of this political project does not mean dabbing our way past the boneyard of Bernie's defeats.
It requires a hard look at the limitations of today's Left, including its crippling weakness with working-class black voters, which goes well beyond Bernie:
It requires a hard look at the limitations of today's Left, including its crippling weakness with working-class black voters, which goes well beyond Bernie:
(Cori Bush’s hugely inspiring victory, which occurred after the piece went to press, suggests it's possible to overcome this weakness, although a look at the ward results in North St. Louis shows that the Left still has a long a way to go on this front: https://twitter.com/lithiumaneurysm/status/1291082824653701121)
It means taking stock of the retreat of blue-collar workers within the Democratic coalition, generally—not just the fabled 'white working class,' but the shrinking or plateauing participation of less-educated, lower-income voters almost everywhere, a trend Bernie did not reverse.
And it means grappling with a new breed of Democratic voter—affluent, suburban, and centrist ex-Republicans, who now not only dominate party media, but cast decisive votes in the primary, too. I call them "Halliburton Democrats" but "Home Improvement Democrats" would also work:
Anyway, give the piece a read: it challenges some of the other Bernie autopsies you've seen, both from Vox-style liberals and American Affairs-style populists.
There’s a lot to argue about! But I hope we get better arguments than “Um, a working-class majority?? Yikes”
There’s a lot to argue about! But I hope we get better arguments than “Um, a working-class majority?? Yikes”
Related: this article by Ben Davis is a really good demographic rundown of the Sanders coalition in 2020, whose analysis and conclusions anticipated much of my piece -- somehow I didn't see it until today! https://twitter.com/cpn_dsa/status/1256284353098911744?s=20
