Thursday, November 28, 2019

For Mayor Sanders, Wielding Power Meant Mobilizing Disaffected People To Vote And Ejecting Entrenched Democrats

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Paul Waters-Smith noted, over at Current Affairs that if we want to build popular power, we need an organizer-in-chief and urged his readers to take a chance with a Socialist and "back the one and only chance at a pro-labor presidency we’re likely to have for a generation. We’ve got an incredible chance and it would be criminally irresponsible not to take it. There are five core reasons why a Sanders presidency represents such an unprecedented opportunity:
1- The power of the “bully pulpit” is immense, shaping the expectations and visions of what is possible for working people and rich alike, and creating the opportunity for social movements to grow.

2- Bernie 2020 is running a working class left-wing campaign, clearly aimed at governing from the streets, not in the backrooms of Washington or in Martha’s Vineyard.

3- Sanders speaks like a good organizer and labor leader, and his proposals are universal guarantees that can serve as movement rallying-cries.

4- The Sanders 2016 campaign has already proven an enormous boon to the left, and changed the country in ways that offer a small preview of the immense changes that could occur if he were elected.

5- Radical politics is not a luxury at this point in history. It is an absolute do-or-die necessity, and Bernie’s is the only candidacy that makes effective climate action conceivable. 
"We don’t get a whole lot of viable left candidates in the United States," he concluded. "Bernie is the first such presidential candidate in at least 96 years. And he’s the first ever self-described Socialist to come anywhere near the office. The potential of a Sanders presidency to remake our concept of the politically possible and breathe new life into workers’, socialist, and left-wing movements is overwhelming. And given the looming deadline to save dozens of nations from climate oblivion, it’s an opportunity we cannot afford to give up. When we look back in decades, we do not want to have to say: We saw this chance and we watched it go by. A very special moment has come, a moment that could change the future of the country and even of human society. Let us rise to the occasion, and take a chance on the first democratic socialist president so that we may never have to regret what we could have and should have done."

Waters-Smith is a dedicated Socialist. Alexander Burns isn't. But his story in the NY Times yesterday, Bernie Sanders vs. The Machine is one Bernie skeptics might want to read. Or just start by reading Burns' great Twitter storm.




Sanders learned quickly in Burlington that winning one election was not enough. He was regarded as a fluke, an interloper who could be blocked from implementing his agenda.

He responded by choosing confrontation rather than compromise.

Sanders's 1980s letters detail his political education-- and struggle to reconcile huge Ideas w/limited power.

“I have limitations as any mayor would, but I try to overcome these by expanding the role, by taking the job out of City Hall and into the streets where the people were.”

For Mayor Sanders, wielding power meant mobilizing disaffected people to vote in city elections, jolting turnout and ejecting entrenched Dems.

He reflects today: "What that tells me is that if government does respond to the needs of working people, they will come out and participate."

This is the approach Sanders wants to bring to the White House-- a presidency defined by grassroots mobilization along class lines and against legislative obstruction. He's talked about it with Barack Obama, who seems to have been skeptical.



This is the utterly repulsive alternative, that most of us have had way more than enough of. Just think about how well Status Quo Joe or Mayo Pete would fit right into this disgusting photograph. SMILE!




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4 Comments:

At 1:27 PM, Anonymous ap215 said...

That's a great tweet feed by Alexander this can be done in this current presidential race & i really hope Bernie & the Grassroots overcome the negative odds & defeat the mega power Establishment.

 
At 6:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

In 2016, Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Will Bunch, wrote a short e-book "The Bern Identity: A Search for Bernie Sanders and the New American Dream" (85 pages), which is worth reading. He covers the time that Sanders was Mayor of Burlington as well, including this period where he had to navigate a really obstinate political opposition. e.g. not just refusing to move on his policy agenda, but also petty stuff like eliminating the one support staff position in the Mayor's office.

Sanders will almost certainly face a ton of resistance from the GOP and the Dems if he somehow wins. The first-two years would probably involve a lot of gridlock and he'll almost certainly have challenges staffing his administration. 2022 wouldn't just be a referendum on the incumbent, it would potentially be a referendum on R's and D's blocking his agenda. If gains are made in the 2022 mid-term on top of 2020. then there's a chance for a real breakthrough.

The political system left to its own devices and insider dealing is going to deliver the absolute minimum to working people, even under a more conventional Dem administration. Sanders approach offers a way out of that dynamic by bring the full weight of a mobilized and organized public to the negotiation. If his campaign team and volunteers are able to build a sufficient mass of support to win the nomination and the general election. He should have a strong base of support to work with if he's elected. Sanders is a really experienced negotiator and deal-maker too, which helps. This isn't the first time that people have underestimated him.

 
At 9:37 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

6:40 makes some solid points. The article makes solid points as well.

"What that tells me is that if government does respond to the needs of working people, they will come out and participate."

Must mean like from '32 through '52 when the Democrats enjoyed massive support and regular electoral success. Once the Democrats stopped remembering FDR's approach to governing and handling the economy, the rate of support waned. Jeepers, I wonder why.

It is no coincidence that Bernie's whole platform is very reminiscent of that of the "New Deal" time. It worked and voters repayed the Democrats for decades for their help.

However, the democraps of today are not those Democrats. The democraps of today care only about their party, their prospects in suborning bribes and the quid pro quo that those donors will demand. They still know how to pander, but they answer only to the money.
And then there are the lefty voters. They seem unable to comprehend what they see and feel. They refuse to punish betrayals by their party and its functionaries. They worship those who have ratfucked them the worst.

If Sanders can overcome the media bias and the DNC's convention fraud and becomes the democraps' nominee, he still must beat the Nazi. This is doable, but only if he can draw out several million more independents than participated in 2016.

For the VERY unlikely president Bernie to implement any of his return to the "New Deal", he'll not only have to overcome the Nazis. He'll also need to overcome the house tyrant and caucus and the senate tyrant and caucus, for they and their donors are vehemently opposed to all of Bernie's "New Deal".

And if Bernie cannot get shit done over the Nazi and Pelosi/scummer firewalls, the democrap pluralities in the house and senate will go poof in 2022, just as they did in 2010.

And that would be just fine with the democrap party, just as it was in 2010.
They and their donors just don't want to have to deal with progressivism. gets in the way of doing bid'ness, dontcha know.

And, btw, Bernie's dealmaking skill means nothing. We can't waste time with deals if anything is to get better. It must be a revolution just as 1933 was a revolution. Anything less than that is a total defeat. Anything less and Bernie goes poof in 4 years along with his party's numbers.

But that's how the democraps roll, isn't it?

 
At 11:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sanders is the only candidate who opposes corporatism, which is killing the ability for humanity to survive. Warren has caved by clearly moving toward corporatism in her policies, and no one else stands outside the boundaries of corporatism.

Imagine how much different things could be had "The Great Orator" used the Bully Pulpit to advance the policies he first ran on in 2008. There would not have been a 2010 reversal of the Congress, because there would not have been a "moderate 1985 Reagan Republican" in the Oval Office.

Sanders' positions on points 2, 3, and 4 are what make him dangerous to corporatist rule. Increased pressure on labor rights is already growing in the ranks of employers to try to remind labor, especially organized labor, who the boss is. The various wildcat Red State teacher strikes could have had a result bigger than anything organized labor did to reverse the problems Snott Walker caused in Wisconsin. Whether or not teachers in Red States did achieve positive results really remains to be seen. It isn't yet clear if other working class workers see the danger which is real and growing as point 5 attests and if they are ready to do anything about it all.

What this nation needs is a Yellow Vest movement. What we're likely to get out of the majority of the working class is apathy and hand-wringing while wailing that someone should do something about it all. It's been "Let George Do It".

Watch the linked video before YouTube shuts off most public access to it on December 10.

 

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