How do we avoid future authoritarians? Winning back the working class is key

[nitpicker]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/24/bernie-sanders-working-class-win-back-from-donald-trump


How do we avoid future authoritarians? Winning back the working class is key
Bernie Sanders
Tue 24 Nov 2020 19.17 GMT

As the count currently stands, nearly 80 million Americans voted for Joe Biden. With this vote against the authoritarian bigotry of Donald Trump, the world can breathe a collective sigh of relief.
(snip)

Yet, a certain segment of the working class in our country still believe Donald Trump is on their side.

Why is that?

At a time when millions of Americans are living in fear and anxiety, have lost their jobs because of unfair trade agreements and are earning no more in real dollars than 47 years ago, he was perceived by his supporters to be a tough guy and a “fighter”. He seems to be fighting almost everyone, every day.
(snip)

But one thing is clear. If the Democratic party wants to avoid losing millions of votes in the future it must stand tall and deliver for the working families of our country who, today, are facing more economic desperation than at any time since the Great Depression. Democrats must show, in word and deed, how fraudulent the Republican party is when it claims to be the party of working families.

And, in order to do that, Democrats must have the courage to take on the powerful special interests who have been at war with the working class of this country for decades. I’m talking about Wall Street, the pharmaceutical industry, the health insurance industry, the fossil fuel industry, the military industrial complex, the private prison industrial complex and many profitable corporations who continue to exploit their employees.

If the Democratic party cannot demonstrate that it will stand up to these powerful institutions and aggressively fight for the working families of this country – Black, White, Latino, Asian American and Native American – we will pave the way for another rightwing authoritarian to be elected in 2024. And that president could be even worse than Trump.
(snip)

[beachbumbob]

1. Goes much deeper than this. Goes to education and unfettered propaganda

outlets. Uneducated people are easily manipulated. They continue to vote against their own self interest time and time again. Also ignoring the underlying racism that flourishes in these same working class families is the tie that binds them together. The opinion misses the mark by a 1000 miles.

[flibbitygiblets]

2. A new deal for this century

Needs to happen, it’s the only thing that will save us.

We must get the senate to make this happen.

[brush]

3. We won millions of working class voters, maybe not the racist, white working class...

Last edited Wed Nov 25, 2020, 08:40 AM - Edit history (1)

but many working class voters are include in winning 80 million votes Biden won.

Too often the phrase "working class" infers white voters. Pursuit of the white working class proved futile for Bernie Sanders twice so do we really need to change our policies to appeal to people who voted for a racist a-hole like trump?

And back to Sanders, his mis-reading of the working class voters he kept pursuing is laughable when you think about it. He's lived in this country his whole life and doesn't seem to understand that socialism is toxic to the very people he, an avowed democratic socialist, was trying to appeal to.

That isn't going to happen.

[Squinch]

4. This. Sadly. We can't compete with their racism. We need to look elsewhere.

[Magoo48]

5. Yes. Without a financially and socially secure working class,

one which has a voice and feels included and heard, we’ll lose it All eventually. Corporate America must be reigned in and become a partner in our common welfare, vulture capitalism must end, extraction, GNP driven, economics must be replaced with sustainable, cyclical economic models. A compassionately administrated Green New Deal will be a good faith point of origin for our nation to prove to workers they are respected and appreciated.

[dawg day]

6. The working class includes many millions Biden voters

Winning the white male working class might be a futile quest at this point.

[brush]

7. Yes, we just won the top of the ticket without them. Now if we can rein in our resident...

Last edited Wed Nov 25, 2020, 02:03 PM - Edit history (1)

democratic socialist to understand how toxic that is to majority of voters, maybe we won't lose anymore seats in the House and maybe win a majority in the Senate.

[dawg day]

10. "Democratic socialist" policies are popular...

In state referenda. It's difficult to figure out how to frame progressive candidates with voters who want $15 minimum wage but not the candidates who support that.

[brush]

11. Please. It's not rocket science. The word "socialist" is toxic to millions of voters.

That's nothing new as it's been that way for decades to those who know anything about this country. Progressive policies on the other hand are popular, but again, the word I just mentioned is not. There are two nationally prominent and outspoken Dems who unfortunately are self-avowed democratic socialists and the republicans have used that to brand Dem candidates all over the nation with the term radical socialists.

It is what it is and the two need to distance themselves from that term. If that's at all possible.

[dawg day]

12. I always ask those who are so scared of socialism

How they define it. They then usually offer a definition that defines "fascism". And yet when they see fascism, that is, Trump, they don't notice.

[brush]

13. Even if they can't define it or confuse it with fascism, they know they don't like it.

And we can't change that so if we're smart, we stay away from it. I've posted the following here before but at times it seems it's like braying into the wind.

Three generations of voters, millions of voters, the greatest generation, Boomers and GenXers were schooled in their formative years that socialism, failed communist collectives, Stalin, Kruschev, Brezhnev, the iron curtain, the Cuban missile crisis, fall out shelters...are all toxic and to be shunned.

Many voters learned nuance with critical thinking and matured out of that knee-jerk, negative reaction to socialism as there are aspects of it in our system (mostly us Dems) but millions haven't and never will and will vote against anything associated with socialism, democratic socialism, communism, whatever.

Anybody who doesn't get that has a depth of knowledge of their own country as that of a sidewalk puddle. We'll keep losing elections we don't have to until we figure out how to distance ourselves from that label. Maybe combat it by labeling repugs fascist, as they are, but the deplorables don't know the difference, as you said.

[dawg day]

16. I'm just not sure that those people would ever vote for a Democrat--

I have an elderly relative who reflexively calls any Democrat "socialist." She said, "Joe Biden-- he's a socialist!" I pointed out that he actually wasn't a socialist at all, just a moderately liberal Democrat, but to her, that's the same as a socialist. I don't think she's reachable at all. She finally said that her father had hated 'FDR the socialist" and so she could never vote for a Democrat. (Daddy would be MAD! Daddy, obviously, has been dead since the Nixon years, but she can still feel his wrath.)

The "daddy hated FDR" group is old enough that most will probably die out, while more and more young people who weren't bathed in socialist-hate all their lives are turning 18. They're more likely to vote for a progressive regardless of the label applied by Trumpers.

[brush]

17. Let's hope so. Let's also hope the they weren't taught by their daddies to hate socialism too...

as nearly half of the country still do.

We have the numerical advantage but that, as we've seen, is not always enough to beat them when it's very close because they're always looking to cheat, suppress our vote, hack votes, eliminated whole Dem neighborhoods off the voting rolls (black and Latinos ones)—whatever they can think of to "win" they will do.

Too often our saving grace when we win is to peel off some of the more sensible ones when the repug admin or incumbent is just absolutely awful like trump this time. I still don't like to give them easy slam dunks by being too closely associated with socialism.

[keep_left]

19. Much better to call it social-democratic...

...which is what it is. Unfortunately, we weren't the ones who kept throwing the term "socialist" around; that was AOC, Bernie, et al. I'm sure they were just trying to get ahead of the inevitable Rethug attacks on hate radio, FauxSnooze, etc. But their policies are avowedly not socialist; they are social-democratic, like the Scandinavian countries, etc.

I'm not sure this distinction matters that much, however. I'm sure that Rethug candidates and media will attack even Joe Manchin as "socialist" if he suddenly gets behind something resembling M4A--or even something like the (public/private) healthcare system of Germany. (Which would, of course, be highly beneficial to pretty much everyone in his state). The main difference here, I guess, is that AOC and Bernie embraced the "socialist" label without clarifying what they meant. (Bernie sort of did, by putting the term "democratic" in front of it). But I wish they had used the more correct term "social democratic" for their policy preferences. Just don't think for a minute that Sean Insanity, KayLie McEnemy, et al would refrain from constant whining about "socialism", "Venezuela", etc.

[brush]

20. True enough. We lost several seats in the House because of it.

Sanders used to appear on the Thom Hartman radio show for years when he was still calling himself just plain socialist. Then when he wanted to run for president for our party he started calling himself democratic socialist. As you said, big mistake. He should've called himself a social democrat, and in the nordic model.

As for AOC, she was naive in following Sanders and calling herself a democratic socialist also.

[JI7]

8. Even among White Working class, those who say the economy is important to them voted Biden

and for Clinton also. This includes Rural Areas.

The ones that voted for Trump said things like Immigration are the biggest problem.

[ssgbryan]

18. I live in Red State 'Murika (70% voted for Fat Nixon), so this is what I have seen.....

It is only futile if you don't actually address any of their issues.

And so far, the Democratic Party hasn't.

The only thing the Democratic Party has done in my lifetime for the working class was NAFTA. That didn't work out too well for them.

The only thing we have told them in my lifetime (56) is that:

1. Your situation is your fault. (Opiod crisis)
2. Those jobs you and your parents held were not as important to the country as the sweet, sweet money we get from the business donor class. (NAFTA)
3. Any solution we come up with, won't work with your population density. (NAFTA)
4. We will offer you retraining for low-paying jobs that don't actually exist in your location. Good luck in being a 21st century version of the Oakies from Grapes of Wrath. (NAFTA)
5. We are make up for past injustices, so your needs are at the back of the line. Time for you to learn what minorities have dealt with for the past 200 years. See: Item #1.

If you are wondering why their is nothing past NAFTA well, that is the last time the Democratic Government looked to the working class.

Before that it was TVA - As the Government, we are going to drown all of your property and businesses, pay you 10 cents on the dollar of the land value and call it good. My family never recovered from TVA.


The whole Country boy can survive ethos exists because people here have literally no other choice.

[JI7]

9. Does he ever actually listen to people and look at the evidence ?

[SmartVoter22]

14. Pass laws that revent authoritarian options

The first two years of Obama's first term could have done anything ( other than the ACA).
Congress could have reformed election laws and standardized a stronger ethical enforcement by outlawing the 527 groups, creating publically financed elections and most importantly, reformed Congress' oversight with a citizen run committee.
We continue to let politicians police themselves.
We've all seen how that works in the Trump term.

We need to take the rule of law to those who abuse it most. Our politicians and our current sloppy legislative processes.

[Skittles]

15. Trump fought for tax cuts for rich folk

what the F*** did he ever do for the working class??? He tried taking away their HEALTCARE over and over.

[Kablooie]

21. They see Republicans as being on their side

Even while Republicans are the main ones that make their problems worse.
It's more about marketing than actual results.
Republicans are willing to lie about everything while Dems don't.
It's image that Dems have to work on even more than policies.
Dems could have policies that start to fix the problems but Reps will lie about them so the benefit goes to Rs. That's what happened with ACA.

It marketing, not politics that needs reforming.