“accelerationism” quite possibly means AOC gets hanged, so no. They’re all just navigating a very complex political landscape that sometimes makes for weird bedfellows.
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I added a pertinent Bernie quote from the interview. Cliffs: It’s true he can’t speak but he has to be the candidate for bunchareasons™
I’ve been running under the assumption that they don’t want to get thrown under the bus for trying to force him out/maybe they think it’ll harden his resolve to stay in if it’s them calling for it.
I have to admit I enjoy politics partially because it is entertaining and I find it interesting. This cycle has certainly been those things. So I guess we have that going for us.
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It’s because Pelosi/Schumer are 100% beholden to the people that provide the party with the money, and they are reacting to pressure from big donors that are threatening to turn off the taps.
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More from the interview (more substantive Bernie reasoning):
Sanders: I have been critical of the Biden campaign—above and beyond the debate, which everybody understands was a disaster. The truth of the matter is Biden’s record, in my view, is the strongest record of any President in modern American history. I don’t think they’ve done a particularly good job of getting that out
I’ve been extremely critical of this and I see it beginning to change now—it’s not good enough just to talk about what you’ve done in the last three and a half years. The American people are hurting. Sixty per cent of our people live paycheck to paycheck. Young people are worried, appropriately, about climate change; women are worried about their reproductive rights. What the President has got to do is get out there and say, “You know what? You reëlect me, give me a Democratic House, give me a Democratic Senate, and let me tell you what we’re going to do.” Did you happen to hear the speech in Detroit on Friday?
Chotiner: I did.
Sanders: I thought that was, between you and me, an excellent speech. And I think it was the kind of speech that he needs to take all over this country. He talked about an agenda for the first hundred days, which speaks to the needs of a long-forgotten working class in this country. And he’s prepared to take on powerful special interests. If he does that, he’s going to win this election.
Chotiner: To merge the question about him selling his agenda with the question about his age: I watched President Biden with Lester Holt Monday night, and I watched him on “360 with Speedy Morman,” and he is definitely getting out there more than he was the night after the debate. But just to be honest, Senator, I mean, the guy has trouble completing a single sentence.
Sanders: He does.
Clotiner: And then there’s this substantive question about whether he can be President for four more years. You have no concerns about that?
Sanders: Look, I have concerns about everything, you know? And everybody should have concerns about everything. As a nation, we do a very poor job, both in Congress and in the media, of focussing on issues that impact the working class. So I would much prefer to have somebody who can’t put three sentences together who is setting forth an agenda that speaks to the needs of working-class people: raising the minimum wage, making it easier for workers to join unions, dealing with the existential threat of climate change, protecting women’s reproductive rights, building millions of units of affordable housing—
Clotiner: Right, but you have to get elected for all these things to happen.
Sanders: All right, but I am saying that the American people are not stupid and they understand that substance matters. They understand what you have accomplished and what you want to accomplish is enormously important. And my criticism of the media, and some of my colleagues in Congress, is that we’re not focussing on that. So let’s focus on substance.
After reading the whole thing, he’s not doing a good job of persuading me.
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Maybe Bernie is losing a step also bc that seems bad.
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I think there’s a reason the greatest generation named themselves that
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Who cares about that as long as they vote for the Dem nominee?
I’m taking credit for this
iirc the story a few days ago was that Bernie and AOC had traded their public support of Biden for his agreeing to push for more progressive policies in general and on housing in particular. And that AOC/Bernie further believed that focusing on these in the campaign was the way for Biden to win.
Of course it’s more complicated than that and of course it’s a weird bet for them to make when if you lose then the entire game could change and you’ll be fucked beyond all imagining, but whatever. For me their support was a big gut punch, but at the same time it’s not like they can’t walk it back in three seconds and if Biden is actually gonna get forced out then the crux of that was never gonna happen in public.
agree with folks saying the only way this works is if Biden gives a very believable & stentorian endorsement of whoever’s next but tbh have never been stressed about that; no matter how wary or incensed any of us are about Biden the one thing everybody who knows him seems to always circle back to is that his love of country is sincere to the point of being absolutely cornball, i.e. the chances he would spite kneecap his replacement seem basically zero. Totally get the counterargument that if that were true then he would have been making different decisions for a long time now. But suspect that in biden’s mind those dots are way further apart to connect and if he’s out then he’ll understand what his one job is. Lots of copium here but that’s what we’re down to.
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Maybe one way is better for winning in another way is better for fundraising?
list of who would be upset if Biden steps down: EDems, people whose life motto is “vote blue no matter who”
list of who would be upset if Biden doesn’t step down: swing voters, independents, young people, people who would legitimately stay home or vote third party if Biden is the nom.
the choice here is pretty simple, you appease the second group and you tell the first group to vote blue no matter who just like they told us in 2020.
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No one has really explained imo how any way of replacing Biden at this point increases the odds of beating Trump. Any replacing would be bad. Kamala would be bad. Not Kamala would be bad. Some people seem to think there just must be a better way than keeping Biden, but mostly they don’t seem to have anything specific in mind. And Biden just does not seem to be willing to withdraw on his own.
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the consensus at this point is that it has to be Kamala due to norms or some other bullshit finance law, its not a great option by any means but a 10% chance is better than 0%
What? Biden was who the vote blue no matter who people wanted.
edited: “just like they told us in 2020”
I don’t really know who has a better chance of winning, but why do you think you know better than the polls? As bad as the polls are, what is better?