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After Mamdani Victory, Progressives Call for Primary Challenges to Democratic Establishment
(www.commondreams.org)
this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2025
201 points (99.5% liked)
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I honestly think corporate Democrats are more content with Republican (non)governance than the idea of being progressive-led.
That's a well known fact. That's why they openly sabotaged Bernie Sanders both times he ran.
https://observer.com/2017/08/court-admits-dnc-and-debbie-wasserman-schulz-rigged-primaries-against-sanders/
One time. He simply didn't get the votes second time around.
In that case you should read this and this. By their own admission the Democratic establishment did everything they could to undermine Bernie and make sure Biden got the nomination.
"Less discussed is the all-out media campaign, waged primarily on the cable news channels most watched and trusted by the older voters who vote disproportionately in Democratic primaries,"
Newsflash people- this is POLITICS. This is no different than young podcasters on tiktok or whatever the hell giving air time to Bernie and not Biden, etc. Hell, it's no different than Jacobin, which I do read occasionally, giving WAY more preference and bias to more left wing candidates. If you can't see that is two sides of the same coin then I don't know what to tell you.
He LOST. Get over it.
Again, 2016 he definitely got fucked and I'd find it hard to believe anyone could not believe that. But you're upset at political maneuvering which is a thing in ANY race. Again, he could've made different decisions AND he could've won if the young people he was relying on bothered to show up. I mean- it says it right in that quote. "The older voters who disproportionately vote in primaries." Why? Why can't young people go out and vote?
Zohran just won. Know why? Fully 1/4 of voters had not voted in a primary in the decade and a half prior to this one. You should be more pissed that people decided Biden was the right call than normal political operations.
Do I want all that money in politics? No. But I also know it's what it is and you gotta win like Zohran did and stop blaming anyone and everyone else for your faults. Bernie was a great candidate. So why in the fuck after he got screwed in 2016 and we saw the complete shitshow that was Trump's first term did people not come out in droves to vote for Bernie? That has jack to do with being ratfucked and everything to do with primary voters either not showing up or deciding he wasn't the choice compared to Biden.
That's only one part of the article, though. What really got me on the "they fucked Bernie" train was this:
I do find it distasteful, but the media stuff is just political maneuvering. However, forcing voters to choose between their vote and their health is not something that should happen, ever. That was blatant abuse of power.
Lol, wrong.
They learned in the media to not even mention him as a candidate half the time, despite consistently being in the top 3.
Then after Bernie won several early primary states, the entire rest of the Democratic candidate pool orchestrated dropping out at the same time to back the guy who hadn't broken 5th place yet, except Warren to split the progressive vote, to manufacture consent for backing Biden.
Oh so you mean he couldn't play politics? Why did he and Warren not make a deal where one would drop out and the other take up a position in their cabinet or something?
You're mad at politics. There was no reason he couldn't have done the same and gotten the win.
Again- HE DID NOT WIN. Sucks because I got off my ass and voted for him but bringing up 2020 is just sour grapes and makes you look like nothing but a whiner.
You're acting like people ratfucking the primary is fine because the entrenched group of elites had a stranglehold on the process and were able to do it better. You're "ends justify the means" bullshit doesn't fly.
And Warren obviously threw in with the establishment, so why would she do a deal with Bernie?
People are bringing it up BECAUSE the establishment Dems are clearly GOING TO DO IT AGAIN. Holy shit pay attention
I am not excusing 2016....at all. But I am excusing politics because...you know, that's politics. Do I like it? No. But it is what politics is. It's messy, dirty. Has been forever and probably will continue to be.
And that's Warren's deal then. She was the main competitor on the progressive flank. If you can't win the primary, you don't get to go to the general. Whose fault is that? Why could Bernie not convince her to go out? Why could he not win out?
And if somehow the Democratic party says "do not vote for the winner of our primary" and throw in behind Cuomo then sure, I'll believe you.
But until then you're still just fantasizing about everyone being against you. Note that a lot of the people you think are so against you- you're going to need their votes in November. So maybe don't go all cold war over nothing.
You guys are so damn eager to find the "enemy" in the "establishment" that you can't just be happy your guy won and work to get him elected. No instead you gotta bring up BS (like Bernie not winning 2020). Good luck. I honestly hope Zohran wins. But the funny thing is- you're acting JUST LIKE the "establishment" dems who can't wait to bring the pitchforks up against people that should be your allies instead of your real enemy- more conservative bullshit.
once again using the results of ratfucking to justify the ratfucking.
Also, you're assigning shit to me I never said nor insinuated. Pointing out the very obvious public motions these elites are already taking to try to ruin the chances of an actual progressive winning, is not "looking for enemies". They were never hiding their actions. We don't have to go looking.
They haven't done anything but make offhand comments. I haven't heard anyone colluding with Cuomo. The official party chairs haven't said anything that I know of. Once they do, hey, I'll give you credit and say burn it down. But they haven't...
And I brought up 2016 because it was a ratfucking. That is in comparison to 2020 which you did bring up where it was not. Bernie lost because he couldn't convince the majority of voters that he was the guy to win. It's that simple.
Now- how is this that much different than David Hogg saying "we should primary people in safe blue districts?" I mean, he very blatantly called for change and this is before primaries where he could influence it. Not unlike what Clinton and every other rich person did in the primaries.
FWIW, I wholeheartedly agree with him. But you can't say "they can't say this!" when you agree with someone else doing the exact same thing.
And you think the media often purposely not even showing Bernie as a candidate despite being top 3 the entire cycle, often first, didn't play into that?
Stop making excuses. Just because you were too blind to see the manipulation doesn't mean the rest of us were
The fact that the Democratic Party cares more about internal politics than the good of the country is part of why we're in the situation we're in now.
Yep- and that's what makes it so frustrating. Like we can have differences but goddamn, you gotta WIN and then quarrel over semantics.
It's not an isolated incident. DNC fucks over everyone constantly. Heck, they literally rigged primaries for Biden while shouting that democracy is in danger.
FDR said, "I welcome their hatred." Look at how today's Democratic establishment wring their hands over the Republican reaction to a democratic socialist winning a primary.