He had plenty of influence. Up until he lost but he and his supporters were insisting they were still in it and trying to convince delegates to change their votes. And, rather than get concessions, he mostly just made Hilary look less legitimate. Its great that he still inspired folk like AOC but his influence was MUCH smaller than it should have been for being runner up.
Whereas, in 2016, he conceded at close enough to the right time and, by all accounts, got a decent number of things added to Biden’s platform. I would still have preferred he focus more on building up the younger progressive politicians while he had a platform but, so be it.
Sanders had The Voice Of The People. And rather than use it to build up the representatives and senators that we need to get actual progressive legislature through Congress, he mostly built up a cult of personality. People like AOC and the rest of The Squad are doing a MUCH better job of carrying on Bernie’s “legacy” but they are also young and prone to stupid gaffes.
Also: If Sanders HAD won (and not gotten demolished in the actual presidential election because of his long history of easily soundbited statements…): Biden is struggling to get freaking means-testing student loan forgiveness through. Can you imagine how fucked any attempts at ACTUALLY progressive legislature would be?
Sorry but you’re asserting that Bernie had no influence when he was running his highly successful and disruptive presidential campaign?
He had plenty of influence. Up until he lost but he and his supporters were insisting they were still in it and trying to convince delegates to change their votes. And, rather than get concessions, he mostly just made Hilary look less legitimate. Its great that he still inspired folk like AOC but his influence was MUCH smaller than it should have been for being runner up.
Whereas, in 2016, he conceded at close enough to the right time and, by all accounts, got a decent number of things added to Biden’s platform. I would still have preferred he focus more on building up the younger progressive politicians while he had a platform but, so be it.
Sanders had The Voice Of The People. And rather than use it to build up the representatives and senators that we need to get actual progressive legislature through Congress, he mostly built up a cult of personality. People like AOC and the rest of The Squad are doing a MUCH better job of carrying on Bernie’s “legacy” but they are also young and prone to stupid gaffes.
Also: If Sanders HAD won (and not gotten demolished in the actual presidential election because of his long history of easily soundbited statements…): Biden is struggling to get freaking means-testing student loan forgiveness through. Can you imagine how fucked any attempts at ACTUALLY progressive legislature would be?
Sorry, but you do realize he’s the chair of this committee?
Yes. As of 2023.