Third Way panics over Bernie Sanders and the new American mainstream

[Demeter]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/29/1442324/-Third-Way-panics-over-Bernie-Sanders-and-the-new-American-mainstream

Remember Third Way, the Wall-Street-run front group of supposed "Democrats?" Fresh off panicking over Elizabeth Warren, they're now panicking over Bernie Sanders.

"You would be back to 1972 if Bernie were nominated," warned Bill Daley, President Barack Obama's former chief of staff and a Third Way board member, referencing the blowout Richard Nixon win that year. "It was not a happy time for Democrats. The guy has been a socialist his whole life and now decides he is a Democrat and therefore the Democratic Party has got to move to that extreme? I think it is a recipe for disaster."

I love these assholes talking about the "extremes" inhabited by the likes of Sanders and Warren. What exactly is in Sanders' bucket of issues that is so far out of touch with America? Granted, he's hostile to Daley's friends on Wall Street, but that's actually popular. In fact, I'd be hard-pressed to find anything in his portfolio that is out-of-touch with the American mainstream.

There's a reason that Clinton has moved in his direction this past year instead of in the other direction. And where she doesn't quite go as far left as Sanders does, well, that's where her biggest liabilities emerge.

In its presentation, Third Way argued that a focus on issues like a $15 minimum wage, expanding Social Security benefits and advocating for single-payer health care all create the political dynamics that make Democrats electorally vulnerable.

Holy shit, those fuckers are delusional. Raising the minimum wage is overwhelmingly popular, even at $15. And who the fuck do they think is going to lose an election by advocating for greater Social Security benefits? And single payer? Popular! It's funny that the issues that supposedly doom Sanders are all issues supported by a majority of the American people, whether you want to slap the scaaaary "socialist" label on them or not.

Fact is, Sanders is well within the Democratic Party mainstream, which is well within the American mainstream. If you are against health care for all, against a minimum wage hike, and against a robust social net, then there's a word for you, and it's not "Democrat." So fuck off, Daley—this isn't your friends' party anymore.