4 ms·

While Bernie Sanders may have rallied some people, in the end he didn't actually end up accomplishing much of anything.

by whyenot 9y ago

graphememes 9y ago
"It doesn't matter! he did it! he inspired people!" To do nothing.
danharaj 9y ago
These sorts of things happen on long time scales. Let's see what the future holds.
danso 9y ago
The people who backed him have gone on to participate in and influence state-level races: - https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2017/08/why-bernie-sanders-matters-so-much-minnesota-governors-race https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2017/08/why-bernie-... - https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/bernie-sanders-ben-jealous-maryland-nina-turner/533541/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/bernie-... Sanders' backers are arguably pushing potential 2020 candidates farther to the left than had Sanders not become popular. I think single-payer as a litmus test could be somehing that impacts the race, and Sanders can get credit/blame for that: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/healthcare-congress-bernie-sanders-single-payer-obamacare/533595/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/healthc...
georgeoliver 9y ago
His organization is funding and supporting local elections and initiatives across the country. If you accept that local politics is the foundation of national politics in the US, over time he may accomplish a great deal.
paulsutter 9y ago
Really? Bernie is the most popular politician in the country, and now billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and even the Ayn-Rand-reading Mark Cuban are promoting single payer healthcare. That's a big change.
- setr 9y ago
  >Bernie is the most popular politician in the country What? How did you watch him lose the democratic popular race and come To the conclusion he's the most popular?
  - zachrose 9y ago
    This is possible if he's more popular than Clinton among voters who did not vote in the Democratic primary: Republicans, independents, etc.
    - setr 9y ago
      Sure but its absurd to just assume "all non-votes were for bernie". Do the same for Christie and now he's the most popular politician in the country...
      - taejo 9y ago
        That's not an assumption, that's an answer to "how is it possible?". The answer to "how do we know that's the case?" is "polling": http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/329404-poll-bernie-sanders-countrys-most-popular-active-politician http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/329404-poll-bernie-sand...
  - subsection1h 9y ago
    http://lmgtfy.com/?t=n&q=Sanders+poll http://lmgtfy.com/?t=n&q=Sanders+poll
  - paulsutter 9y ago
    The latest Harvard-Harris poll, table 31 http://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/HHP-August-Wave_Topline-Memo_Total-Only_Registered-Voters.pdf http://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/HHP-...
Afforess 9y ago
You say that like it's some damning put-down. Of course he didn't succeed; the elites usually win. That's why they are elite. It's no shame to have tried and lost.
dguaraglia 9y ago
Except for the shift left that Clinton's platform made in the last couple mounts of the campaign? Bernie, even after losing, move the Overton window a couple notches. Unfortunately it was too late by then.
- gozur88 9y ago
  Too late? If Bernie's campaign managed to force Clinton to the left he's as responsible as anyone for Trump's presidency.
BrainInAJar 9y ago
The Democratic Socialists of America went from 5,000 people to 25,000 people in a year.
- noobermin 9y ago
  To be fair, that may more be a function of Trump more than Bernie.
- evincarofautumn 9y ago
  On a small scale, this election seemed to make a significant fraction of people more able to identify with what they actually believe, rather than in terms of what they oppose. And I think that will have a lot of value, long term, for political discourse. Now, I can say with some confidence that I’m a left-wing libertarian. Before this shitshow, I don’t think I was really politically aware enough to be able to identify as anything but “anti-Republican”.
- gozur88 9y ago
  Yes, and the National Socialists had similar growth in response. I'm not sure that was a good bargain.
  - RobertoG 9y ago
    That was not a bargain because one event don't cause the other but both events have a common cause. The common cause is that people is tired of the establishment. When this happen, some go one way and others the other way. It's not new, it's a historical pattern.
Broken_Hippo 9y ago
Bullshit. He was able to have some success on his platform, which would have failed earilier. This most definitely helps with discussion later. He was able to influence a section of society enough to get into politics. He's still able to command attention when he speaks about something. He likely inspired some other folks and made it more OK to be a democratic socialist. (Unfortunately, this has worked on more detestable outlooks with this last election as well). The aftermath of him not winning the primary influenced the election itself. Some folks voted differently than they might have otherwise and third parties were a real topic of discussion, even though no one actually thought they would win. Heck, even being able to run for president - something most citizens couldn't pull off - is a win in itself. And he did it with that message and on one of the two major parties' tickets. Not every accomplishment involves a clear defined win or money.

While Bernie Sanders may have rallied some people, in the end he didn't actually end up accomplishing much of anything.

graphememes 9y ago

"It doesn't matter! he did it! he inspired people!" To do nothing.

danharaj 9y ago

These sorts of things happen on long time scales. Let's see what the future holds.

danso 9y ago

The people who backed him have gone on to participate in and influence state-level races: - https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2017/08/why-bernie-sanders-matters-so-much-minnesota-governors-race https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2017/08/why-bernie-... - https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/bernie-sanders-ben-jealous-maryland-nina-turner/533541/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/bernie-... Sanders' backers are arguably pushing potential 2020 candidates farther to the left than had Sanders not become popular. I think single-payer as a litmus test could be somehing that impacts the race, and Sanders can get credit/blame for that: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/healthcare-congress-bernie-sanders-single-payer-obamacare/533595/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/healthc...

georgeoliver 9y ago

His organization is funding and supporting local elections and initiatives across the country. If you accept that local politics is the foundation of national politics in the US, over time he may accomplish a great deal.

paulsutter 9y ago

Really? Bernie is the most popular politician in the country, and now billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and even the Ayn-Rand-reading Mark Cuban are promoting single payer healthcare. That's a big change.

setr 9y ago
>Bernie is the most popular politician in the country What? How did you watch him lose the democratic popular race and come To the conclusion he's the most popular?
- zachrose 9y ago
  This is possible if he's more popular than Clinton among voters who did not vote in the Democratic primary: Republicans, independents, etc.
  - setr 9y ago
    Sure but its absurd to just assume "all non-votes were for bernie". Do the same for Christie and now he's the most popular politician in the country...
    - taejo 9y ago
      That's not an assumption, that's an answer to "how is it possible?". The answer to "how do we know that's the case?" is "polling": http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/329404-poll-bernie-sanders-countrys-most-popular-active-politician http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/329404-poll-bernie-sand...
- subsection1h 9y ago
  http://lmgtfy.com/?t=n&q=Sanders+poll http://lmgtfy.com/?t=n&q=Sanders+poll
- paulsutter 9y ago
  The latest Harvard-Harris poll, table 31 http://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/HHP-August-Wave_Topline-Memo_Total-Only_Registered-Voters.pdf http://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/HHP-...

Afforess 9y ago

You say that like it's some damning put-down. Of course he didn't succeed; the elites usually win. That's why they are elite. It's no shame to have tried and lost.

dguaraglia 9y ago

Except for the shift left that Clinton's platform made in the last couple mounts of the campaign? Bernie, even after losing, move the Overton window a couple notches. Unfortunately it was too late by then.

gozur88 9y ago
Too late? If Bernie's campaign managed to force Clinton to the left he's as responsible as anyone for Trump's presidency.

BrainInAJar 9y ago

The Democratic Socialists of America went from 5,000 people to 25,000 people in a year.

noobermin 9y ago
To be fair, that may more be a function of Trump more than Bernie.
evincarofautumn 9y ago
On a small scale, this election seemed to make a significant fraction of people more able to identify with what they actually believe, rather than in terms of what they oppose. And I think that will have a lot of value, long term, for political discourse. Now, I can say with some confidence that I’m a left-wing libertarian. Before this shitshow, I don’t think I was really politically aware enough to be able to identify as anything but “anti-Republican”.
gozur88 9y ago
Yes, and the National Socialists had similar growth in response. I'm not sure that was a good bargain.
- RobertoG 9y ago
  That was not a bargain because one event don't cause the other but both events have a common cause. The common cause is that people is tired of the establishment. When this happen, some go one way and others the other way. It's not new, it's a historical pattern.

Broken_Hippo 9y ago

Bullshit. He was able to have some success on his platform, which would have failed earilier. This most definitely helps with discussion later. He was able to influence a section of society enough to get into politics. He's still able to command attention when he speaks about something. He likely inspired some other folks and made it more OK to be a democratic socialist. (Unfortunately, this has worked on more detestable outlooks with this last election as well). The aftermath of him not winning the primary influenced the election itself. Some folks voted differently than they might have otherwise and third parties were a real topic of discussion, even though no one actually thought they would win. Heck, even being able to run for president - something most citizens couldn't pull off - is a win in itself. And he did it with that message and on one of the two major parties' tickets. Not every accomplishment involves a clear defined win or money.