Umm the problem is that's exactly how a lot of people in some very important states think. They're relatively content with the current state of things like their job and insurance and the state of the economy. They'd just prefer Trump's annoying bullshit to be out of their lives. The exception to this is young people but they don't vote enough. So these voters that we need on our side to win are turned off by someone thundering in with words about a radical revolution that could, in their minds, threaten to overturn what they already have. And for some that means sticking with Trump instead. It's a legit concern that Bernie people like to brush over because they don't have an answer to it.
Seriously this isn't a minor issue and I'm tired of Bernie supporters dancing around it with vague promises of the youth vote coming through or that he'll drag historic non voters to his side or some other magic bullet. The fact that you thought that tweet was automatically stupid instead of a window into the mindset of a shit ton of people says something.
I'm going to piggy back off this a bit.
I want to preface this by saying, this is not me being an asshole towards Bernie. I have said this before, and I will say it again. If I genuinely thought Bernie was the best (or even a good) shot at beating Trump, I would be marching in the streets banging a drum telling everyone to vote for him. My personal disdain for him aside, the only thing I care about is beating Trump. That's literally it. If our best chance was a cheese sandwich, I'd fucking max out to that thing tomorrow. If Bernie gets the nomination, he'll get a check for the maximum from my husband and I. I will vote for him without question.
But, let's be real here...Bernie has some real issues as a candidate. And folks just hand waving them away is a disservice to both his candidacy AND to our chances of actually beating Trump. Some of the weaknesses are things he can't do anything about (ie his health issues). Folks will just have to make a value judgement on that one way or the other. But, Bernie has never been vetted. He has had basically no attacks levied against him by anyone. Pete has been more heavily scrutinized than Bernie has, not to mention Warren and Biden. (Warren having a vagina means she gets 3x the critique from all sides.) Bernie has real weaknesses as a candidate, especially in the states we need to win.
Most everyone, even Bernie supporters, freely admit that with him on the ballot Florida is pretty much off the table. (A combination of anti-socialism sentiment among winnable Cuban voters, older voters, etc.) And while I do not believe we should rest all of our hopes on Florida, you cannot pretend that Florida exists solely in a vacuum, and that there are no demographic conclusions to be drawn. (you know what other state has an older population? Arizona.) Also, the old Florida joke, the further south you go the more north you end up holds true. The I-4 corridor is populated with transplants from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc. And while one can argue the utility of state specific polling this far out, we have data points that Bernie runs worse than Biden in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. And I think folks need to be honest with themselves as to why that is.
For most folks, the economy is actually doing really well. They do their 9-5, they have enough in the bank and if they need a new job they can find one. They're mostly happy with their health insurance, and the idea of massive REVOLUTION is not appealing to them. Couple that with America's history of...let's say skepticism towards socialism, makes nominating a self described socialist worrying.
Folks LOVE to point out the idiocy and risk of nominating someone like Pete who struggles so much with the most important constituency in the Democratic electorate--black voters. Yet most Bernie supporters literally seem to give zero fucks that Bernie is basically DOA with anyone over 35, and literally dead with voters over 65. (In the Iowa poll in which Bernie is leading? He's running SIXTH among voters 55+. He's at 6%. He's running behind Klob!) This is a HUGE fucking problem. There aren't enough young people to offset older voters in the General Election. One, the youth don't vote, and two, even if they do, you cannot lose olds by massive margins (especially in places like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan) and expect to win. For example, in the national congressional ballot in 2018, those 65+ made up 26% of the electorate. We only lost them by 2 points. No one has articulated any possible solution to this demographic problem.Pretending it doesn't exist, that it isn't worrying, that it's nothing to be concerned with.....that's just not reality.
And, finally, no one has been able to articulate a single swing state in which Bernie is better poised than Biden to help us win.Everyone admits Florida is totally off the table with Biden as the nominee. I feel pretty safe to say you can say the same with North Carolina and Texas. Bernie runs behind Biden in polling of PA and WI. Arizona is literally full of old people.
If you like Bernie, that's fine. That's cool. I'm glad you have a candidate you like. (I don't get it, but I also don't get people who like Mariah, sushi or heterosexuality.) But every gosh dang critique of Bernie is not some media neo-liberal conspiracy. Once in a while, there are legitimate critiques that need better answers than just "Ok boomer."
