Alienation, autonomy, and ideology
Source: Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bernie_Sanders_2015_(1).jpg)
Let’s suppose it’s April 2020, and the New York Times reports that Bernie Sanders has just won enough delegates to clinch the Democratic Party nomination for President. Bernie will face Trump in November for the presidency.
How did he get there? What does a Bernie Sanders victory look like? And who’s a part of a winning Bernie Sanders coalition?
We hear a lot of grumbling about the so-called ‘liberal bubble’. The idea seems to be that many Democrats live in a certain state of political and social isolation.
The details vary, but we can sketch out certain features of the liberal bubble. It’s supposed to look like this: major urban area or college town, highly educated population, mixed income but higher class standing (i.e., not proletarian), strong cultural amenities, and strongly Democratic at the ballot box.
What are these places like? If they exist, so what? Are they a problem?
Each presidential candidate is traveling to Iowa, and each presidential candidate has a problem or two. Today I’ll be their consultant.
I’ve got a few quibbles with 538’s taxonomy, but it’s a good starting point. Arguably there are five corners to the Democratic primary electorate. 538 draws a distinction between ‘party loyalists’ and ‘the left,’ whereas the better distinction is probably between ‘moderate’ Democrats and ‘progressive’ Democrats, but whatever. It’s a start.
I’ll lay out one key thing each candidate needs to do to get in a position to win the nomination.
Have any plans for the new year? Any goals or resolutions? Here’s an idea: join a tenants union! Don’t have a tenants union in your city? Start one!
Photo by Pete Linforth. https://pixabay.com/en/users/TheDigitalArtist-202249/
There’s a certain pattern to how Trump and his interlocutors engage one another. A certain pattern of rhetoric, if you like.
It works something like this. Trump makes a wild claim. Usually it’s false. An opponent, or the news media, points out how and why it’s false. Trump doesn’t blink, and Trump’s supporters don’t blink. Trump wins, or, at the very least, doesn’t lose. Trump’s opponents look very confused as they fail to gain traction.
Why does this happen?
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