niomi

I have always thought Sanders was our best chance for beating Trump. Opposites in many ways, both are populist candidates. Trump has since re-arranged the Republicans, and Sanders paved the way for the Squad. This is a lopsided comparison, Sanders pulling dems to the left is less than the extremity of Trump's GOP. But in 2016, each (more) opposed status quo in their parties. Both reflect their constituents desire for less typical representatives from each party.

Fun fact about Sanders many have seem to forgotten: The dude was the senate's longest running independent. He joined the Democrats in 2016 only to run for president. He wasn't even a Democrat until then and this is part of why Democrats resent him and DNC worked against his run. When DNC cheerleaders are mad when some socialists don't want to vote for Biden because that's basically a vote for Trump... fuck you, Sanders in 2016 was our best chance to take votes from Trump. Don't you dare shift the blame or I'll vote Vermin Supreme out of spite.

OK so, we have well established, I am a socialist and biased for Sanders. But making an attempt to think of strategy of opposing Trump only... in a wave of populism, dems running a longtime DNC establishment insider vs Trump is a bad play.

Every general election I try to predict the result. Last time, I said Biden would pick Kamala for VP but they would lose. I still think without the COVID pandemic Biden would have lost. We'd be in the 2nd term of Trump right now.

The pandemic scared people. This fear slows the roll toward disruption. Biden's boringness looks better in these conditions. Normalizing COVID since then is just bad for everyone. But it's also another bad play for Biden. The public has very short memories and forgot Trump told yall to inject bleach.

Perpetually declining economic conditions continues to produce populism and disruption becomes inevitable. But Biden is so boring, he's the guy chosen to make Obama look more boring. (not that Obama didn't end up boring enough all by himself)

But the worst play from Democrats: They're far too optimistic. Underestimating their opponent is one of their primary flaws. Jon Stewart clowned on DNC impotence constantly during his tenure at Daily Show.

2004: Most democrats were sure Kerry would win. Bloomberg actually called it for Kerry and had to backtrack.

Dems in my life had a problem with emphasizing how stupid Bush seemed— a poor speaker and a C student. They were waiting for Bush voters to realize this. But intelligence often serves as window dressing for elitism and classism. So this backfired, dem's attitude in pop culture contributed to Bush's relatability and his wins. They still play into this with Trump, although to be fair, it gets tougher to avoid as Trump says even dumber things.

2016: Democrats didn't think Trump could win the primaries or the general. They did not re-evaluate or take him more seriously when he did win the primary. Every stupid thing Trump said, they acted like it would tank his chance.

Hilary's estimated 85% chance to win is a drastic mistake analyzed endlessly. At the time this prediction was made, I cannot take it seriously. I haven't cared for DNC cheerleader's polls analysis since Kerry.

Trump administration: Democrats were optimistic for Trump's legal problems ending his term as president. 4-8 years later, Trump's legal problems are significant, but not enough to end his running.

FYI, I am voting for Biden. Under duress, holding my nose. This isn't about convincing you not to vote Biden. It's begging the voters and DNC to stop running some of their worst options such as Biden and Hilary. (To be fair, RFK is probably worse than either) But yall can't rely on fear of Trump or Bush being shit forever. It's not sustainable.