My one takeaway from this is that primaries are important. Republicans held a primary, nominated an incomprehensibly stupid candidate, and managed to win. Dems held no primary, Biden strong armed his way into the de-facto nomination for a second term, and was replaced by his VP when he imploded on the campaign trail. At no point did Dem voters ever get to have a say in their candidate this year. Not that Kamala or Joe are bad candidates, but clearly, they’re lacking something if Trump was able to win again after changing nothing from 2020.
So, the DNC fucked us again and we got Trump a second time in exactly the same way.
He should have only served one term like he was considering and let Harris and whoever else have a primary. But just like with RBG, hubris clouded an old fucks mind and screwed the rest of us.
The 2020 primary was a joke too. The Democratic establishment manipulated it with a heavy hand in plain sight of everyone. Even so, their first choice, Kamala, flamed out spectacularly. Yet, somehow, we ended up with her being crowned as the next nominee almost before anyone saw it was happening.
I think it’s fair to say that we wouldn’t be in this position today if Bernie had won. The “anyone but Bernie” coalition is 100% responsible for the next 4 years.
Agreed. However, I’m less bitter about 2016 than 2020 because Bernie was such a longshot who wasn’t even running to win at the outset. The establishment also didn’t get that Trump could actually win. By 2020 their eyes were wide open about Trump, Bernie was a serious contender, and the establishment did everything they could to undermine him. That was a totally unforced error made with full knowledge of the risks.
There’s definitely some truth to that. The media gave Kamala front-runner status in the 2020 primary and she blew it so hard she dropped out before a single vote was cast. If we’re being as generous as possible, we might describe her as, “unproven.” There was never any real indication she had decent political instincts or could draw people in, and it’s unlikely that she would have won in a competitive primary. Internal criticism is necessary to root out ineffective strategies (and candidates), but there was never a time when that was really permissible in this cycle.
Dems held no primary, Biden strong armed his way into the de-facto nomination for a second term, and was replaced by his VP when he imploded on the campaign trail.
Of course he shouldn’t have run again, but he did. Maybe some other Dems should have challenged him in the primaries, but they didn’t, and they would have failed anyway. By the time he dropped out there was no time to hold another primary and still get a campaign going for a new nominee. So pretty much all they could do was rally around the VP as the successor.
My one takeaway from this is that primaries are important. Republicans held a primary, nominated an incomprehensibly stupid candidate, and managed to win.
Dems held no primary, Biden strong armed his way into the de-facto nomination for a second term, and was replaced by his VP when he imploded on the campaign trail. At no point did Dem voters ever get to have a say in their candidate this year. Not that Kamala or Joe are bad candidates, but clearly, they’re lacking something if Trump was able to win again after changing nothing from 2020.So, the DNC fucked us again and we got Trump a second time in exactly the same way.
He should have only served one term like he was considering and let Harris and whoever else have a primary. But just like with RBG, hubris clouded an old fucks mind and screwed the rest of us.
The 2020 primary was a joke too. The Democratic establishment manipulated it with a heavy hand in plain sight of everyone. Even so, their first choice, Kamala, flamed out spectacularly. Yet, somehow, we ended up with her being crowned as the next nominee almost before anyone saw it was happening.
I think it’s fair to say that we wouldn’t be in this position today if Bernie had won. The “anyone but Bernie” coalition is 100% responsible for the next 4 years.
I still think about what could have been back in 2016…
Agreed. However, I’m less bitter about 2016 than 2020 because Bernie was such a longshot who wasn’t even running to win at the outset. The establishment also didn’t get that Trump could actually win. By 2020 their eyes were wide open about Trump, Bernie was a serious contender, and the establishment did everything they could to undermine him. That was a totally unforced error made with full knowledge of the risks.
Agreed for sure!
With everything that’s happened since then, today feels real bad tho’.
Yeah. This is the most unsatisfying “I told you so” opportunity of my life - by a long shot.
There’s definitely some truth to that. The media gave Kamala front-runner status in the 2020 primary and she blew it so hard she dropped out before a single vote was cast. If we’re being as generous as possible, we might describe her as, “unproven.” There was never any real indication she had decent political instincts or could draw people in, and it’s unlikely that she would have won in a competitive primary. Internal criticism is necessary to root out ineffective strategies (and candidates), but there was never a time when that was really permissible in this cycle.
I believe the democratic party called bernie “unelectable” so I feel we should be using that in this situation.
Democratic Party : Republican Party :: Washington Generals : Harlem Globetrotters
So you’re saying the Dems are controlled opposition? Yeah I can see that.
Wrong., Dems held their primaries as usual, and Biden won them as the incumbent (almost) always does. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_of_the_2024_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries
Of course he shouldn’t have run again, but he did. Maybe some other Dems should have challenged him in the primaries, but they didn’t, and they would have failed anyway. By the time he dropped out there was no time to hold another primary and still get a campaign going for a new nominee. So pretty much all they could do was rally around the VP as the successor.
Geez, the primaries were such a sham that I forgot they even happened. Anyway, I corrected my OP. Thanks.