I’m pretty sure most of us understand his age is not a good factor, but if he feels like he is well enough will be a personal choice.
The bigger issue for many of us is that his ideas form the seed of the Democratic party platform going forward - the days of being ‘republican lite’ need to be over. It’s no longer good enough when the other side has gone down the racist/nationalist rabbit hole with a side helping of evangelical nightmare with a ‘ignore anything if it keeps us in power’ cherry on top.
Civil governing between the parties requires both sides to have at least some spine. You can’t be civil when your can’t trust that the other party has no threshold of accountability.
Bernie would have rode into the White House on Shadowfax, pure light of socialist goodness flashing from his staff, scaring the corporate Nazgul away from Washington… If it weren’t for Hillary of Many Colours leaving the path of wisdom!
My dear fellow Dems. Looking forward it’s really really, simple.
Something beats nothing.
Yes - enable Trump’s self immolation. But if you got nothing else (and fer Chris sakes- from someone who lives in PA - not just targeted at rust belt states - that economic message is broad based. Every community needs empowerment and inclusion) -
We lose when they throw up a new faux populist faux anti Trumper.
Maybe it depends on what one means by kneecapping? Here’s just one blow from the corporate hammer:
I think it’s entirely possible that the networks (including CNN) spent more time showing an empty podium while waiting for Trump to speak than they showed Sanders speaking.
Even if that’s the case, the criticisms are valid. The Dems don’t have to run Sanders himself in 2020, but if they don’t start internalising his approach about getting away from big-money donors and neoliberalism-lite (and the internal corruption that kneecapped him in 2016) it’s at their own peril – not to mention everyone else’s.
My theory about why an old socialist was so popular with young people in 2016 is that they appreciated a crabby septuagenarian grampa who (unlike a certain complacent Boomer) was honest enough to tell the kids that they were screwed if things didn’t change fast.
He’s also done plenty of governing, including working with the Dem caucus despite their ideological differences in Congress. One doesn’t have to be in an executive position to govern.
Better to ask what does it mean for 2018, because they should be pushing his supporters and reforms in the party for the midterm elections in Congress. The time to start isn’t now, or yesterday, but 3 months ago.
He’s not a senator? He has way more experience than Obama did in 2008. I don’t understand the heightened standard for experience, especially when Trump effectively obliterated it. I’ll take an “inexperienced” Bernie win over anything the Republican party has to offer.
ETA: And I wanted to point out, as an aside, that if you think this has anything whatsoever to do with Hillary, you’re fighting an ancient battle, in political timescales. Hillary is no longer near-term relevant.
Trump will not run in 2020. He’ll claim everyone is being unfair and he’ll be done. That’s assuming he doesn’t take a heart attack or stroke before then. The Democrats will sadly back a Tim Kaine type. Not great. Not terrible. Just …there.
