Look Bernie can distance himself as much as he wants from the party and technically not be a member, but his voting record and two attempts at running for president as a democrat indicate that he is a democrat in all but name. I know I know “he couldn’t win unless he joined a party” but come on. His not being a democrat is basically a technicality.
I mean the main reason atleast senate wise he caucuses with democrats is because they are the party that is closest to his views and if he didn’t caucus with anyone he would be powerless in the Senate. And sure you can say from the current place America is in he is basically a Democrat he definitely is more progressive and pushes for more progressive ideas then Democrats would ever do.
Which Democrats? All 50 of them? Yeah, they’re not all progressive. But that doesn’t mean that progressives aren’t part of the party. Being a progressive pushing for more progressive ideas than the entirety of the caucus would support doesn’t mean you’re not a Democrat.
In fact I applaud the progressives who are steadily pushing the Democrats further left - it’s easy to go “I’m changing things from the inside” but it’s another matter entirely to move the needle in a way that is relatively easy to observe.
To look at the party platform in 2014/2015 and then where it is now is wild. The 2019 primaries in particular showed how further left the party has been pushed, even if it’s still conservative by most western standards for “liberal” or “progressive.” Some ideas that are baked into the platform now were unthinkable back then.
Look Bernie can distance himself as much as he wants from the party and technically not be a member, but his voting record and two attempts at running for president as a democrat indicate that he is a democrat in all but name. I know I know “he couldn’t win unless he joined a party” but come on. His not being a democrat is basically a technicality.
I mean the main reason atleast senate wise he caucuses with democrats is because they are the party that is closest to his views and if he didn’t caucus with anyone he would be powerless in the Senate. And sure you can say from the current place America is in he is basically a Democrat he definitely is more progressive and pushes for more progressive ideas then Democrats would ever do.
Which Democrats? All 50 of them? Yeah, they’re not all progressive. But that doesn’t mean that progressives aren’t part of the party. Being a progressive pushing for more progressive ideas than the entirety of the caucus would support doesn’t mean you’re not a Democrat.
In fact I applaud the progressives who are steadily pushing the Democrats further left - it’s easy to go “I’m changing things from the inside” but it’s another matter entirely to move the needle in a way that is relatively easy to observe.
To look at the party platform in 2014/2015 and then where it is now is wild. The 2019 primaries in particular showed how further left the party has been pushed, even if it’s still conservative by most western standards for “liberal” or “progressive.” Some ideas that are baked into the platform now were unthinkable back then.