Summary
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called for Democrats to elect “brawlers” who fight for the working class to counter GOP power and oppose policies endorsed by figures like Elon Musk.
Speaking alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders in Las Vegas, she criticized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for not filibustering a GOP spending bill and labeled the decision a “tremendous mistake.”
Ocasio-Cortez urged voters to support candidates willing to take bold stances.
She continues her “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with Sanders across Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona.
And she’s fucking right.
Nancy Pelosi has got to go.
The boomers except for Bernie have got to go. (which does not include Nancy, she’s fucking silent generation)
We need ACTUAL young blood, not 74-years-young.
Bernie is so old that he’s a Silent Generation and not even a Boomer, however Bernie has more energy and larger backbone than most Democrats ever have had.
Yes, those things are true. And he’s the exception.
Honestly I think Bernie should go too. He deserves a good retirement after a long career of solid work. We need people in office who can run the show for the next thirty years.
The Democratic Party has been saying Bernie is too old for over 10 years and yet he’s still has more energy & competency than 95% of the lot. He absolutely deserves a good retirement but he’ll never get that.
He’s doing a great job. When I say Pelosi and Schumer should go, it’s because they’re cowards at best and traitors at worst and they should be replaced by young people who are…not those things. When I say Sanders should go, it’s because he’s done a great job, he deserves a vacation and the opportunity to write his memoirs, and there should be someone younger at the ready to take the mantle.
There’s no vacation/retirement from social justice. All the things that riled you up and made you fight back against the ownership class are going to go on as they were. You can’t just sit back and relax. Do I think he deserves some peace and quiet? Of course. Is he going to get any? Sadly, I don’t believe so. He’s been fighting the good fight his entire life…
…and that includes leading by example. Him stepping back doesn’t mean we get a younger Bernie as a replacement. He’s been doing this long enough that there should be plenty of younger Bernies, not even waiting in the wings, but in active government. But there aren’t. The closest we got is AOC. And we could use a few dozen like her.
Bernie isn’t holding anyone back. It would be odd if he was. When he goes, he’s likely to be replaced by a milquetoast neolib at best.
And you don’t think that’s a bit of a failure on Bernie’s part? He’s been in office since the beginning of time and had a national progressive leadership profile for a decade and hasn’t been able to find a successor in Vermont to groom and grow in all that time?
People in America don’t recognize the house is on fire until it’s in ashes. Citizen’s United was an absolutely debilitating decision, and politicians on both sides of the aisle didn’t care because they are happy working for the oligarchs as long as they get a taste of the riches and the power. The media turned a blind eye because they’re in the same pockets.
Yes he failed to build a sustained movement of what was essentially centrist politics a century ago, but he failed mostly because the cultural, media, and political apparatus is full of people that either trash binned his message entirely or painted him as some kind of alarmist, or extremist.
I’m not talking about Bernie not succeeding in his campaigns, I’m talking about how he seemingly hasn’t put any effort into grooming a successor for his very own seat in his very own state. That’s not a media problem.
Elizabeth Warren is younger, but if she keeled over tomorrow there are multiple good politicians she’s groomed to rise up in Massachusetts. If Bernie dies (or just retires) we’re probably going to get some well funded neoliberal like the other poster said.
It is partially a media problem though. It’s not the job of a politician to put a succession plan in place for their little fiefdom. It should’ve been enough to inspire others through his leadership, but he is painted as anything but inspiring by nearly every observer with an audience.
And honestly Warren irritates the shit out of me after 2020. It’s great that she’ll be able to hand over the reigns of an eminently winnable seat in Massachusetts to her favorite mini-me, but when she had an opportunity to actually advance the cause on the national stage she took to back-biting and opportunism instead.
Honest question - does he not participate in local races? Endorsements, rallies, etc.? I’m not a local so I don’t know for sure. I would be very surprised if he does not.
Also, what does the local scene look like? Are progressive independents the norm? Or, just like the national stage, is Bernie the exception? We’re talking about someone who has overcome tremendous odds to be an outlier in a FPTP duopoly. He’s a statistical anomaly.
He’s spent his entire career leading by example. Did nobody follow? Or did they try, and run up against the same barriers that keep the status quo the status quo? These are honest questions on my part.
I’m not from Vermont so I don’t know much about local elections, but as a comparison, Warren has multiple politicians in Massachusetts she’s groomed to have national prominence that could take over for her when she leaves. I can’t think of anyone even from Vermont that’s been involved in any of his campaigns or speaking tours.
i saw becca balint mentioned in an article as a successor, but it’d be interesting if someone more aware of Vermont politics shared what they know.
I think the very best thing we can do for Bernie, is to win the political fight and install Roosevelt Administration v3.0 into power, and get genuine reform normalized.
It would be best if he can pass on from this world, knowing he had his part in creating a far better world.
They say that because it’s just an excuse, they don’t like him and they don’t like his ideas.
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He deserves it, but he is staying alive by sheer force of patriotism and duty. I don’t think he knows how or wants to retire. Not while things are still so fucked up
Bernie should go if and only if he’s passing the torch to a suitable replacement. (or by his own choice whenever that would be)
I will miss him, but it’s better to select a successor to endorse than to die in office
Yeah me too, he should be trying to find like minded talent to fill his seat. And maybe work on building the “resistance”.
He is great but he is also aging.
Nancy Pelosi does need to retire but she’s better than Chuck “Folding Chair” Schumer.
Would you rather have a 3 ton or a 4 ton elephant standing on your head?
IOW, it doesn’t matter whose worse, they BOTH need to go.
If public schools were segregated when you attended school you should step down.
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