A revolution was started this night. Mark my words. Y’all don’t know what you’ve done.
From Heather Cox Richardson's post last night:
But there are four long months between tonight and the Democratic National Convention in mid-July, and we are in the midst of both a health issue and a shaky economy, with a president who seems more unstable by the day (today he told reporters after a phone conversation with the cofounder of the Taliban that the two men had a “very good relationship”). I think it is a mistake to see the Democratic contest as separate from the crises in the nation at large, since those crises will certainly affect how the Democrats campaign, and whom Democratic voters see as their best choice as a presidential candidate.
As for the mechanics of the nomination, it is entirely possible that there will not be a clear front-runner at the convention. This situation used to be quite common, and actually has a lot going for it because it enables delegates to cement support for a candidate in a contested struggle. Senator Warren has said she will not leave the race, likely in expectation of a brokered convention when frustrated delegations could easily turn to her.
https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/posts/2194053880738666?__tn__=K-R
Given the many predictions for this year, and how unclear the democratic nominee has been in those, it seems safe to say we're in for a bumpy road and some surprises. My gut tells me it will come out okay, and I will send energy toward folks coming together to get out the vote and hold onto our democracy no matter who is on the presidential ticket, especially given that we need to let RGB retire and cannot take any more GOP Supreme Court appointments. Congress and senate are also hugely important! I also feel vitalized by a local victory for county commission in which the pro-development candidate lost to one who is progressive and focused on environmental issues (works in solar). We need to build the changes we want to see from the ground up.
Here is my Gen X take on it. I dont think there is a real problem with an establishment Dem in office next year. Remember, many here predicted that the 2020 victor wouldnt bring the change everyone wanted immediately. Sadly, at this point of the Trumpnado, establishment government is a drastic change. Boomers arent at war with Millennials, they just see things from a viewpoint of experience and have lived thru other drastic changes. The more drastic it is, good or bad, the more opposition it gathers. I love the ideas of Bernie and Warren platforms, but Bernie is a bull in a china shop and that could push us over the edge. Trump.isnt going quietly and we need to repair the massive divide before we can move in the other direction. Warren had a chance at that but Bernie would drive the wedge deeper with his hard headedness. There are more like Bernie coming and we will get there soon. In the meantime, Biden(definitely not my favorite choice by any stretch) will mend the divide to a point where we can move forward after him. He will only be a 1 term President that will bridge the gap and remind people that Trump was an anomaly.
Also, if you take out the emotion that Bernie stirs up, you can see that he doesnt have, or hasnt expressed, his foundation of how to get where he wants to go. Govt funded healthcare(I prefer the option vs being forced to use it but either is better than nothing) and schooling is great but it has to be paid for without financially destroying the households it is there to protect. That is a very tricky endeavor and even harder to get it passed in the 2 houses. It wont happen anytime in the next 4 years even if Bernie is elected.
I am not a fan of Biden but I see Bernie as a pendulum to the other extreme in a society that can't or isnt ready for that kind of upheaval. I want Warren, but to me Biden - all his faults notwithstanding - is the candidate to nurture peace at our thanksgiving tables. He's familiar, he's uncle Joe and he rights the ship post Trump. Besides him being on the same team as me I don't care for him particularly but the media is staunchly against Bernie- if Bernie is actually supposed to accomplish any of his agenda, and he's burned all his bridges in Washington, has no friends besides his voters, how will this play out? We need radical action on climate change and other areas- but if we look at history, radical changes (especially after Trump) are likely to create more chaos- how would Fox news viewers react? It could cause the pendulum to swing violently back again in states and the congress? I'm trying to think about things from historically perspective and what the nation can handle vs what I want personally. I'm trying to consider all the balls in play and how each will act or react. One thing I imagine Biden would have to do is chose a stacey abrahms for running- he may be the catalyst to usher in the new guard after a calming for years of repairing the Trump damage. The delegate count will end up with both candidates close- nothing but Biden remaining viable happened yesterday.
In CT, we don't vote until April 28 (Acela primary). I intend to vote for either Bernie or Warren, depending on where we are at that point. I highly suspect that Bernie will pick Warren as his VP, However, down the road, if he hasn't announced that yet and it looks like the nod will go to Biden, then Biden should pick Warren as either VP OR a major cabinet position and announce that along with his VP pick. Rumors are that Biden is looking at Kamala Harris or Stacy Abrams as VP.
For both Biden and Bernie, picking a progressive is important for them. I don't like predicting this but I just get the feeling that Biden and Bernie will slow down physically after the election (for some reason I sense this more with Biden) and the VP will end up either becoming the POTUS at some point or just take the reigns.
I'm not a big Bernie fan - but if he is the candidate I will vote for him. However, and I believe I have said this before on this forum, his health is of great concern to me. I've read his numbers and around his birthday in the fall, something BIG will happen to him, just like in 2019 when he had that heart attack. I've posted this on other sites and got completetly bashed by Bernie bots telling me I was a fake and that Bernie was strong as a horse and fit as a fiddle- bla bla bla. sigh.
For BOTH Bernie and Biden, I believe who they pick as their running mates will be crucial to beating the orange Turd, more so than the actual #1 spot. BOTH men are hovering around 80 years old, and to me, their health appears fragile. My motto is ABT - anybody but Trump- but we still need to be prudent with this choice.
I am feeling very tired, cynical and jaded this morning after last night’s results. My gut is telling me that we’re about to repeat all of the same mistakes of the 2016 cycle, and will get the same results if something doesn’t change drastically before November. The deeply entrenched establishment has decided on their chosen moderate to uphold the status quo, while the youth is desperately crying out for change.
The status quo has failed my generation entirely, yet we will once again be expected to sit down, shut up, hold our noses and vote for candidates & policies that are horribly out of touch with our day to day reality. If the Democrats lose again due to poor turn out, it will somehow be our fault yet again - despite our voices being diluted, ignored and silenced on all sides throughout the process. Then they wonder why so many of us are so cynical & unenthusiastic about participating in a system that clearly doesn’t care about us.
I posted something on February 9 and feel the need to repost some of it now:
I sense that in general people are craving peace and stability. Something/someone to calm their nervous systems. So people can “regroup” and see where we go from here. Does that mean our best chances are with, as @Vestralux discussed in an earlier post, a “middle of the roader” who makes incremental change? I just let out a sigh of disappointment – fortunately no hives, Vestralux! -- but could that be? I’m so sick and tired of the status quo. Would it even be worth combining a moderate/progressive Democratic ticket, or would that seem a bit schizo? Whoever it is needs to be authentic, absolutely fearless and have the moxie to take T head on.
But like I said, there’s something to be said about having time to regroup.
I sensed this very strongly when I posted it, and I sense it just as strongly now. It is my gut feeling, partly influenced by my own history of trauma and how it affects the nervous system. Since T’s election we’ve all been collectively traumatized and need to heal from it. We can have different views on how best to accomplish that, but ultimately, we need breathing room.
That could be partly why many people voted for the person they view as the safer choice, Biden. Plus many people seem to connect with him on an emotional, almost personal level. I myself am a Warren supporter, and am very disappointed that she hasn’t gained much traction. But that disappointment won’t stop me from doing all that I can to support the Dem nominee and boot that orange monster out of office.
If Bernie ends up not getting the nomination, I believe he’s played a pivotal role in mobilizing people to wake up and see what’s going on, and will continue to do so. Without Sanders and Warren, we wouldn’t be talking about any of these issues. And, most importantly, without Sanders and Warren, we wouldn’t believe that we have the power to actually change this country for the better. So even if we do step back to take that breather, it’s temporary. There’s no going back to the way things were.
I will say, though, that I don’t see Biden as President. I’m not seeing Bernie, but I’m not seeing Biden. Maybe it's just me, but energetically things seem slightly calmer to me now. And yet, it’s all a big jumble. This is one crazy ride we’re on.
@triciact politically Bernie can't pick Warren for a VP. They are aligned in ideology- but that's not how people pick VP's. Maybe she could get secretary of state though. He will need to pick an Abrahms or someone who brings very different things to the table. Most people don't really choose co-runners unless they dropped out early- that's why Kamala and Pete may have a chance. They look for someone who will bring the black/latino vote, someone who brings votes from a swing state like Wisconsin or offers whatever the candidate themselves struggle with or lack. Bernie has to choose someone that calms voters who may think he's too radical etc. Warren will get a cabinet position if she wants it.
There is real fervor in this country that is going unnoticed or unacknowledged by many. This is why we got Trump in 2016 and in part why I came to this forum; the energy is massive and I wanted to know if it was just me who felt it. I started to feel the waves “offshore”, as you called it, last year. The thing with energy this massive is that it is also volatile. It’s going to channel itself towards the path of least resistance which is also the path of most change, like a flood breaking through cracks in a dam. This is why thinking about politics in left-vs-right terms is no longer accurate, and if you look at the numbers in recent elections the left-right lines are incredibly blurred. I feel massive, massive changes coming. Upheaval - not violent (that is not my sense at this time), but big. This much energy feels like a mountain balanced on a needle. It can go in one of two directions - Trump or Sanders. There is no center when a mountain falls over.
So now what happens? Candidate place holder may win the nomination, he will then have a neck and neck race against trump and there is no guarantee that he will win. If he wins he will change precisely nothing which will entrench the current divisions even further. In 2024 the sizable progressive base will abandon the democratic party and focus more on what they can do locally. This election will put the final nail in the coffin for the idea that any change can come from the two main political parties. And the republicans will nominate a better fascist, one with a brain and that person will likely win if only because the progressives will be so disgusted that they will have abandoned the DNC. The end result, we are worse off than before.
The alternative is Sanders who if he wins will change a lot and make a second trump a near impossibility in the future. So for me the choice is radical, change the system to ensure that our slide towards fascism is halted and reversed or simply put a pause on it and wait until someone else pushes it forward again.
Those of us who support Sanders and to a lesser extent Warren want radical change, the kind of change that is dramatic and greatly improves everyone's lives. These are philosophical and political discussions we've been having for years, debating everything and coming to a conclusion that a compassionate society means things like health care for all and a fundamental rebuilding of our systems. My office voted Biden yesterday, all I said to them was Ok boomer.
I can no longer disguise my anger at the older generations. Starting in 2014 I began to see them negatively, today I view them as having betrayed the future for their own selfish interests.
I am angry and I am blowing hot air, especially since I can't vote so who cares what I think. I won't post again because I may very well say things that are deeply unpleasant. I hope I'm wrong and if Mr. place holder wins that he will be smart enough to make the necessary changes to get this country to a healthier place, but his record (which by the way we will be hearing a lot more of in coming months and it's not pretty) suggests otherwise.
Yes, @anumidium, we are at the height of a wave that has been traveling across an ocean of our collective for many years and that wave is about to crash on the shore. We spoke about this wave at length last Wednesday night on line after the Circle of Light event I held. Am holding another one tonight (see event box on this page).
Big change is coming. The reason many Bernie supporters do not want to support Biden is that they want a new paradigm.
Biden does not offer a new paradigm, however for many it will be a welcome return to normalcy in the Oval Office. But while the Oval Office may be more sane under Biden, the system he will inherit is not sane. It's pathological. I don't know how he can stop the direction it has been going, a direction that has been building for 30 years.
If you take antibiotics for an infection you need to take enough to kill off all the bugs or they just grow back. Electing Biden will be better, but I don't know if it will be enough.
As for a violent revolution, I haven't seen that happening, and pray it won't. I see something eventually that brings on a new paradigm. The Covid19 virus, if strong enough and long lasting enough could do that. Climate change would do that. A financial crash, if severe enough. These developments can break the economic system and cause people to take up a new lifestyle - -more peaceful, more laidback.
Those of us who support Sanders and to a lesser extent Warren want radical change, the kind of change that is dramatic and greatly improves everyone's lives. These are philosophical and political discussions we've been having for years, debating everything and coming to a conclusion that a compassionate society means things like health care for all and a fundamental rebuilding of our systems. My office voted Biden yesterday, all I said to them was Ok boomer.
I can no longer disguise my anger at the older generations. Starting in 2014 I began to see them negatively, today I view them as having betrayed the future for their own selfish interests.
Hi @natalie. A compassionate society begins with each of us. One way to start bringing it about right now is to look past your anger and try see your older colleagues as just other humans who make mistakes and are here to learn from those mistakes. Can you empathize and sympathize with the fear they feel towards the drastic change younger generations are advocating? Can you understand why they are afraid, having lived through previous periods of chaos brought about by sudden, drastic changes? Compassion doesn't mean giving up on your ideals, it just means showing love and understanding to those who may not be there yet.
Compassion is something I am still working on. I too have been through hell and seen my life turned upside down more than once so it's hard for me to feel sympathy for those elders who are comfortable and determined to stay that way at the expense of others. Quite honestly no I don't have compassion, I wish I did but I don't.
Compassion is something I am still working on. I too have been through hell and seen my life turned upside down more than once so it's hard for me to feel sympathy for those elders who are comfortable and determined to stay that way at the expense of others. Quite honestly no I don't have compassion, I wish I did but I don't.
Maybe one of the lessons they're here to learn is that there's no need to fear sacrifice in order to help others and perhaps one of the reasons you are here is to help them learn that lesson...
I have had a very traumatic life too....it teaches us.. quite a lot if we allow it to.....as you work through it - it's tough going and tolerance is hard to feel.. Once you do grow on through it....your Empathy/Sympathy will return. That does not mean that you will tolerate being mistreated or abused again... only that you will understand who and what they are...and.. that some are doing a great service having shown us how we don't wish to be. Compassion is a crop that has to be tended with care to grow it well. Start with compassion for yourself, you have to heal your own trauma first....then put yourself in other peoples shoes not to judge but try and understand . Give the Gift of listening and kindness..without being a people-pleaser. You don't have to share lifestyles,ideals..remain true to your visions...nor do you have to push everyone away... you are able to give them space to travel the Journey they have come for. Truly...we are... all in this together.
I understand how difficult it all is, these are emotionally hard times and I feel for everyone who is hurting. I want to point out that I am dismayed at the expanding epithet - Okay, Boomer. This is the second time I've heard that in this forum.
I'm a boomer. I voted for Bernie. There are many boomers in this community. They are good people. At some point, climate change is going to ramp up, as well as the rage of the younger generations. Some members of the younger generation are already throwing out the Okay, Boomer epitheth. We can be angry at specific people who are from the older generation. That's fine. But as @Coyote pointed out here a month ago, we need to keep our frustration specific to specific people.
GenX launched the behemoth Google and the AE craze. Millenials created Facebook and the social media that has made the disinformation campaign around the world so successful for electing Donald Trump and other right wing authoritarian-types. When GenXers were at Harvard I read that 75% of the graduating class was going into finance. There is darkness in every generation, and there is also much light.