I don't agree. I mean, I agree that Bernie is a great spokesman for his causes and should continue to be in the Senate.
But the influence of the bully pulpit is vastly overstated. Obama is 10x the orator that Bernie will ever be, and he's achieved virtually nothing via the bully pulpit.
And I haven't looked at the numbers yet, but I understand that thus far turnout in the primaries has been down from '08 (Bernie just blamed his loss on lower turnout than he wanted in NV, despite the fact that his entire theory of political change is based on him turning out new voters--a "revolution"--in numbers never seen before). So I would assume he hasn't yet pulled in greater numbers of young voters than Obama did in '08. And where were those young voters in 2010, demanding legislators advance a liberal agenda or risk getting voted out? The Democratic party was decimated in that election, losing the states, the redistricting process, and thus the entire decade, because those voters did not show up and hold legislators accountable.
The 111th Congress produced some of the greatest progressive victories since the mid-60s. The Democrats lost 63 seats (in fairness, the 89th "Great Society" Congress, arguably the greatest in history, resulted in the loss of 47 seats). The people that you're relying on will be there on election night this year and that's it. You can't rely on them after that. Personality only goes so far, as Obama has discovered. Infrastructure matters for the long haul. And that's not something outsiders, particularly those with zero history with the party, have much experience with.
I can't speak for old timers, I can only speak for myself (I narrowly missed being old enough to vote in the '04 elections so Obama '08 was my first presidential vote). I remember how great that election felt--I lived in Hyde Park, Obama's neighborhood in Chicago, at that time! But I also remember the seven years that have followed.
The next president isn't going to be FDR, sweeping in with 313 Dem House seats (with an additional 5 Farmer-Laborers!). The House is going to be held by Republicans for the rest of this decade at least. There are exactly two Democratic presidents who've had to navigate that unfamiliar terrain in the last century. One is about to leave office and his successor is clear. The other, well he'll be taking up residence again soon in a rather different role.
