The Dem. establishment is way too SOFT on Trump.
What Sanders' presence in the race for president does is force Democratic voters to either see or at least feel how weak their party's opposition is against Trump, and to ask themselves why a Vermont independent could steal their entire thunder in making the case for what needs to happen once we wrest power from the hands of a fascist party.
It's very important to point out again and again and again that Democrats are going to continue to get absolutely creamed if they keep opposing Trump primarily on matters of procedure, decorum, professionalism and decency (which are very important things!), without taking the microphone out of Trump's hands and saying exactly what they're planning to do to help people instead.
Take a recent Tweet by Congressman Adam Schiff, who admirably fought against Trump's corruption during the impeachment process, an effort which was doomed to fail for a number of reasons.
Translation: "Look at this! Trump, aided by Republicans, is really nasty, and what's worse, he's really foolish, and listen people, he's making us vulnerable, and somebody needs to stop him, especially you, Republicans! Please HELP."
Now, Adam Schiff is still making important and legitimate points. He is Exhibit A that there are scores of good Democrats whom Sanders will need as allies in Congress, should he get elected. But Schiff's tweet does shockingly little to actually propose something that Democrats can DO about Trump's abuses of power. What if he had tweeted something like the following instead:
I don't know for a fact whether this sort of rhetorical campaign would be more effective, but ask yourself, have you seen the higher-ups in the Democratic party even try it?
(Here I'm talking specifically about Congress and the DNC; the candidates for president are a slightly different story, because by virtue of the electoral media cycle they do better at getting their points across about what they'll do to help people, though none are more effective at this than Sanders.)
Pelosi's, Schiff's and Schumer's rhetoric is much more based on sending signals of "Somebody stop this man!" than "Here's how we plan to stop this man and undo the damage he has done, starting with helping improve people's lives." I'm sure that if many Democratic party operatives read this they would grow instantly defensive and start saying that this is, in fact, exactly what they're already trying to do. To which I would say: is it working? Is it strong enough? Are people outside your base hearing you? Does only calling Trump corrupt undermine his support among working people? Did people hear about "A Better Deal"? Did anyone buy it? Do you have a vision? What is your vision? What is your vision? What is your vision?
It's very important to point out again and again and again that Democrats are going to continue to get absolutely creamed if they keep opposing Trump primarily on matters of procedure, decorum, professionalism and decency (which are very important things!), without taking the microphone out of Trump's hands and saying exactly what they're planning to do to help people instead.
Take a recent Tweet by Congressman Adam Schiff, who admirably fought against Trump's corruption during the impeachment process, an effort which was doomed to fail for a number of reasons.
Translation: "Look at this! Trump, aided by Republicans, is really nasty, and what's worse, he's really foolish, and listen people, he's making us vulnerable, and somebody needs to stop him, especially you, Republicans! Please HELP."
Now, Adam Schiff is still making important and legitimate points. He is Exhibit A that there are scores of good Democrats whom Sanders will need as allies in Congress, should he get elected. But Schiff's tweet does shockingly little to actually propose something that Democrats can DO about Trump's abuses of power. What if he had tweeted something like the following instead:
I don't know for a fact whether this sort of rhetorical campaign would be more effective, but ask yourself, have you seen the higher-ups in the Democratic party even try it?
(Here I'm talking specifically about Congress and the DNC; the candidates for president are a slightly different story, because by virtue of the electoral media cycle they do better at getting their points across about what they'll do to help people, though none are more effective at this than Sanders.)
Pelosi's, Schiff's and Schumer's rhetoric is much more based on sending signals of "Somebody stop this man!" than "Here's how we plan to stop this man and undo the damage he has done, starting with helping improve people's lives." I'm sure that if many Democratic party operatives read this they would grow instantly defensive and start saying that this is, in fact, exactly what they're already trying to do. To which I would say: is it working? Is it strong enough? Are people outside your base hearing you? Does only calling Trump corrupt undermine his support among working people? Did people hear about "A Better Deal"? Did anyone buy it? Do you have a vision? What is your vision? What is your vision? What is your vision?
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