Moren said: Given the trend in 2018, would you say a Sanders ticket would complicate efforts to flip the Texas State Legislature? |
Nope. First of all because I don't see anyone flipping the Texas state legislature any time soon and secondly because the reality of the matter is that the more left-leaning, inspiring candidates candidates who could turn out a movement fared better in 2018 than their more conservative counterparts. I mean seriously, while Andrew Gillum and Beto O'Rourke might have lost their respective races (as arguments against nominating more leftish, populistic Democrats routinely point out), they fared better, even as challengers, than the conservative Democratic incumbents in other red states; they came closer to winning their statewide races in general.
The risk in nominating Bernie Sanders is that middle class, suburban voters specifically either won't show up or will vote third party because they're, for obvious reasons, economically more center-right and, as we're seeing in this nominating contest, inclined to favor more conventional, neoliberal candidates. Those voters, key in 2018, are the weak link in the chain for Sanders. I get that. But while there's a possibility that that's what will manifest on election day, I don't see the concrete evidence of it. In every national survey I've seen, Sanders fares as good as or better than anyone else in the Democratic field against Trump, including among these voters. I suspect they can be stretched further than what the more centrist "experts" think is possible, hence, especially with the re-election of Trump as the alternative. Moreover, a Sanders nomination would definitely maximize youth excitement and probably also generate more support among Latinos (due especially to his unique stance in favor of abolishing ICE), in addition to rural, and working class white voters than more conservative candidates would be able to; people the "experts" aren't even thinking about.
Bofferbrauer2 said: Interestingly, many Democrats are fearing this: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/15/texas-dems-sweat-bernie-sanders-ticket-110524 |
Pfff. Maybe if this article featured interviews with ordinary Democrats here, that would be something, but when instead they rely on inquiries of "a longtime Austin lobbyist who has worked with both Democrats and Republicans" and a "campaign consultant...who has been working in Democratic politics since he served on Clinton-Gore’s campaign team in the 1990s", somehow I don't consider those opinions to be derived from a sincere place so much as in having a direct personal interest in a different, more pro-corporate sort of Democrat winning.
Last edited by Jaicee - on 16 February 2020