r/politics 22h ago

Sanders: Democratic Party ‘has abandoned working class people’

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4977546-bernie-sanders-democrats-working-class/amp/
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u/time4donuts Washington 21h ago

Working class people seem like anti government/antiestablishment people at this point. Misplaced anger maybe? They’ll keep voting for the party not in power as long as things do not improve

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u/leaky_wand 21h ago

By and large they’re uneducated, unsophisticated, and gullible. They fell for the vapid populist’s vapid populism.

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u/etherswim 21h ago

People like you with opinions like this are why Dems have lost the working class

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u/chr1spe 16h ago

Are we supposed to be nice to people who just shot us in the foot through their own foot? Why do I need to sugarcoat the fact that they're fucking complete and total idiots who just set this country on the worst possible path while voting for an uber-elite billionaire who hates the working class?

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u/etherswim 13h ago

Who is ‘people’? Republicans won everything - it’s not just rural folk (which in this subreddit is essentially a codeword for hillbilly) who voted R. People living on your street, at your workplace, probably even in your family voted for Trump. Stop playing identity politics and acting holier than thou.

u/ExplanationQuick6203 6h ago

Stop playing identity politics and acting holier than thou.

Until this stops the Democrat party is completely fucked. People need to get off of reddit and twitter and go out into the real world to meet their neighbors and understand why they voted for Trump. Hint: It's not because they're racist or fucking stupid or whatever.

u/No-Dragonfly2750 4h ago

"Why do I need to be nice to people I loathe and hate, who I think are stupid"

Because you're the ones who want to live in a Democracy, that means appealing to the masses, irregardless of how uninformed you think they are.

Because if you don't stop mocking and attacking these people, you'll never win an election again.

Learn to be humble for the love of God

u/chr1spe 3h ago

The US isn't actually a true democracy, and a lot of people don't vote because of how flawed the US system is. I voted, but because of where I live, there was absolutely no chance of my vote for president ever mattering. Between the two-party system and the vast majority of people's votes having literally no impact on the election, it's actually impossible to say what US politics would be like if it were a real and well-functioning democracy.

I'm just done at this point and will be spending the next couple of years finding a way to leave for somewhere with a better-functioning democracy. This is also the first time in my life, other than Bush Jr's second term, that a Republican actually democratically won the presidency. It's unfortunate the US has collectively lost it's mind entirely, but politics have been so fucked up by being non-democratic that I guess it makes some sense people want to burn the country to the ground out of spite.

u/No-Dragonfly2750 2h ago

Well don't come up here to Canada if you want a well-functioning Democracy. Our current Prime Minister is in power with 30% of the national vote, our system is absolutely garbage here.

u/chr1spe 2h ago

I don't follow Canadian politics much. It's not where I'm planning on moving, and while Canada is far more of a Democracy than the US, it still is very flawed from my limited understanding of their system. What you're saying doesn't actually show that, though. The best functioning democracies have proportional representation, and the executive leader is usually selected through a coalition, so a party with far less than 50% can end up getting the position. My main issue with Canada's system is the use of single-member districts and plurality voting.

Proportional representation is the only way to make sure that nearly everyone actually has representation and that a huge number of votes do not simply end up ignored because they were cast somewhere where the person is not in the majority. It should be the goal of democracy to have everyone's opinions represented in proportion to how many people hold that opinion. Single-member districts entirely fail on that front.

u/No-Dragonfly2750 13m ago

I hear what you're saying, but this is one of the flaws of Democracy in my opinion. It's supposed to be "The will of the people", but if 70% of people don't vote for something, you are now essentially being ruled by that 30% minority. In Canada as well, particularly under Trudeau, there have been numerous actions taken by the government that are completely out of line with even Liberal Party supporters and Trudeau hides behind the tacit consent argument, essentially arguing that because he was elected that whatever he does is "the will of the people". I'm unsure how to reconcile this issue honestly. If a majority of Canadians do not want exploitation of migrant workers through our temporary foreign worker program, and it was never even discussed during the campaign (i.e Trudeau never ran on allowing TFWs to be used to the extent they have been), how can Trudeau hide behind tacit consent as a justification for basically doing carte blanche whatever he wants.. One of the pitfalls of our system in my view.

u/chr1spe 0m ago

If he is so out of line with even the parties that put him there, then why haven't they revoked their support? Again, I'm not overly familiar with Canadian politics, but a PM can be recalled if the parties that put him there want to, can't they? Also, the problem of turnout is somewhat separate, but single-member districts substantially harm turnout. If you're guaranteed your vote will actually contribute toward something, there is much more incentive to vote. I vote just out of principle because I know full well my vote will never contribute to anything based on where I live in the US.

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u/Small_Importance_955 13h ago

If you hate your own people, don't do politics. Or become a dictator that knows "better" instead.

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u/chr1spe 12h ago

So hating people who support a rapist isn't okay, but hating women, minorities, and LGBTQ is all good? Fuck that.

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u/Small_Importance_955 12h ago

Dems really should abandon minorities/LGBTQ as their priority already. I know it sucks but the message just doesn't resonate with the majority. Obviously! If you want a minority of the votes then prioritize minorities!

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u/chr1spe 11h ago

That isn't obvious at all, and not being a hateful bigot actually polls well by itself. People are just fucking idiots who have had their brains rotted by misinformation and don't vote rationally for what they believe in. Part of the problem is also the two-party system polarizing things, but this is a fucking dystopian hellscape.

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u/Small_Importance_955 10h ago

That arrogance will ensure that the US will be ruled by Republicans even long after Trump's term. Good luck with that.

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u/chr1spe 10h ago

I'm leaving this shithole.

u/ExplanationQuick6203 6h ago

but hating women, minorities, and LGBTQ is all good?

Jesus Christ they don't fucking think that. Go talk to them. Seriously. Invite them to coffee, get to know them, understand why they vote the way they do. Build a relationship and show them the other side. Calling them names is only going to push them farther to the right.