Base and Superstructure

Alienation, autonomy, and ideology

Category: Partisan Politics (Page 12 of 18)

Bigger Than Bernie: The US Left After Sanders

August 6, 2020 /

bigger than bernie bernie and matt

After Bernie Sanders lost to Joe Biden, think pieces rolled off the assembly line. Whence did the Bernie Bros come, and where shall they go hence? Is there a movement bigger than Bernie?

In fact, that’s not quite true. The think pieces didn’t roll off the assembly line. COVID-19 washed most of them from the headlines along with everything else. And so, the U.S. press largely spared us from endless speculation on the future of the Bernie Sanders movement. But COVID also held us back. Leftists should think about this a bit. Where does the Bernie movement go from here? Even this question might assume too much. Is there still a Bernie movement? Or did it die in the couple of weeks after Super Tuesday?

Most electoral campaigns fall apart quickly. I’ve written about some of them: Cathy Glasson in Iowa and Elizabeth Warren nationally. That’s how most campaigns end. Remember the ‘Pete Buttigieg Movement’? Of course you don’t. Neither do I.

Is ‘Sandersism’ any different?

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leftist candidates

4 Mistakes Leftist Candidates Make

August 3, 2020 /

I’ve returned a few times in this blog to the dismal track record of leftist candidates. Especially ones running for local or regional offices. We all know about the successes of Alexandria Ocasio-Corez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib in strongly Democratic Congressional districts. And the 2016 and 2020 Bernie Sanders campaigns offered some reason for optimism. But the overall track record of leftist candidates is terrible. It’s especially so at the local level.

Let’s talk about why. I think – at a minimum – leftist candidates repeat a small litany of mistakes.

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snake emoji warren sanders

What The Snake Emoji Gets Wrong About Warren

July 6, 2020 /

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders had a dust-up in January. After that, a number of Sanders supporters directed the snake emoji at Warren on social media. You know the one. It’s the one in the photo above. What’s going on here? Is Warren a snake?

No, not exactly. Or so I’ll argue. Sanders supporters got it wrong with the snake emoji. But I don’t think they know why they got it wrong. I’ll say a bit about why and what I think they miss.

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social democratic poster

A Dilemma for Social Democratic Parties

April 20, 2020 /

It’s one thing to say we need a social democratic party – or socialist party – in the U.S. It’s quite another to say who its members will be.

But plenty of leftists think they’ve got it down. The story goes something like this. First, we organize around a social democratic platform: Medicare for All, a $15-20/hour minimum wage, free college and cancellation of student loan debt, housing for all, a Green New Deal, et al. Then, we use the strength and momentum from the social democratic program to push for more. We directly challenge the basic capitalist structure of ownership and control.

Sure, the plan has its problems and pitfalls. For example, do we organize within or outside of the Democratic Party? But most leftists endorse it in its broad outlines. For a couple of recent examples among many, see Bhaskar Sunkara’s book The Socialist Manifesto and Nathan J. Robinson’s book Why You Should Be a Socialist.

I do think the plan’s proponents underestimate the difficulty of finding a constituency for a social democratic party. They heavily rely on appeals to the materials interests of the U.S. working class, but those interests – and the size of the working class to which they appeal – are shakier than they think.

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pie in the sky electable

Is Bernie Sanders Electable?

March 9, 2020 /

Some Democrats don’t like Bernie Sanders, and they’re not shy about expressing it. They think his negative campaigning cost Hillary Clinton the 2016 election. They think his online supporters – the dreaded ‘Bernie Bros‘ – display misogyny, racism, and authoritarian tendencies. But the most common reason – especially as of late – is that they think he’s not electable. He can’t beat Trump, so the story goes, because he’s too divisive, his policies are ‘pie in the sky’ or ‘far left,’ he has skeletons in his closet, and/or he’s too old.

Whew! I’m setting aside the question of the merits of most of these charges. Some, e.g., the one about costing Clinton the 2016 election, we can dismiss as false and widely debunked. Others are more complicated. I’m also setting aside the question of whether Bernie can still win the nomination. Nor is this a post of evangelism. Instead what I’m doing here is addressing the ‘electable’ question. Is Bernie Sanders electable? And how can we tell?

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