Do you think that Bernie and Biden are similar, at all, politically? I don’t. And Pete’s policies were much closer to Biden’s than they were to
Bernie’s.
IMO pretending that Biden/Pete want the same things Bernie and the left does is harmful. It gives the impression to voters that the outcomes of a Biden presidency will be largely the same as the outcomes of a Bernie presidency. That’s why you get people voting based on personality and how loud someone is and whether they think their neighbors will like Joe or Bernie more.
The problem is that for 50 years it has been largely correct (minus some outliers like Jackson) that every Dem candidate is going to enact essentially the same BS policies that don’t help their voters in meaningful ways or, in instances like the ACA, provide SOME help but significantly less than a proper progressive policy would.
So no, I don’t think we’re on the same team. But I think my team is better and there is room for everyone on it. I welcome people to join. I encourage people to share their stories and reasons for being on my team and hope that others will hear them and be inspired to join.
And good news - lots of people have! Every state that has voted so far has indicated they prefer a total abolition of private health insurance to keeping any form of private insurance. Progressive prosecutors are being elected across the country in large cities. There is growing support for decriminalizing illegal immigration and drug possession. Sexual assault and gender discrimination has a spotlight on it like never before. There is a movement for doubling the federal minimum wage. An Asian guy convinced millions of people to support UBI, a concept that I guarantee those people had never heard of before. A fucking self avowed socialist is currently tied for the lead in the democratic primary.
So like, yeah, I’m going to be vocal when people like Biden or Pete pretend like joining their team leads to those outcomes. They will actively fight against most of them (although I will say Pete is better on some of this stuff than Biden). And, perhaps incorrectly, I give enough credit to a bunch of grown ass adults that they can take it when I say “you’re on the wrong team” and reevaluate their stances. I was an Obama fanboy back when he pushed for a public option and closing Guantanamo in 2008, but largely due to the people in this forum I have moved away from that type of politics. I didn’t complain about Fly or microbet or whoever being mean to Obama when they pointed out that he was droning civilians. I fucking looked at it and saw it was an evil thing to do, and changed my stances accordingly.
Anyway nobody cares about my personal political manifesto, but I’m sick of people with their hot take of “don’t you think you should try being NICER” because 99% of the time what they really mean is “don’t you think I should be able to join your team while holding my current views?”. That kind of politics works when you don’t have any intention of actually DOING anything politically. Anybody can join team Biden because team Biden doesn’t actually fucking stand for anything. My team does.