It's not about purity tests, we've had this conversation before. It's about who some of us believe will fight for the policies they propose, and frankly, Warren has waffled back and forth on M4A and that is enough for me to not support her in the primary. In the general she will have my support, I am supporting anyone who runs against Trump.
No, she's not waffling. She's leaving enough room for compromise to get enough Conservadem votes in Congress. We don't even know if we're going to take the Senate back yet. So I would much rather have a center-left president who has a little wiggle room to their policies than a leftist president who won't budge an inch, only to watch their progressive agenda die a cold, hard death.
FYI: the "Bernie Bro" myth has since been completely smashed. Sanders has the most diverse base out of -every- dem candidate. No one comes close to his diversity. So this isn't about sexism or "ignoring Bernie's pitfalls" or any "progressive purity test." It's about who will rally a large enough constituency to get things done - that's why I support Sanders over Warren.
BernieBros have nothing to do with enthusiasm. Nothing. Sanders does have a passionate base, I will give you that, but some--SOME--of his followers have gone way, way too far in the way they treat other people within the Democratic base. The BernieBros' fundamental problem is not their positions, but their tone and their methods of persuasion. Simply put, they choose not to understand that honey attracts more flies than vinegar.
Warren has some very, very solid proposals. Her wealth tax proposal is fantastic. Her work for the CFPB was incredible and I am very irate Trump essentially gutted it. The issue with Warren is her lack of support among key constituencies - which can be remedied, but time will tell. Leaked audio came out the other day showing her wafflinf on M4A and discussing incremental change; as someone who does not approve of incremental change with regard to healthcare, this is alarming to me. If M4A is implemented incrementally, we will see the same sort of industry push back that has stifled all progress in almost every other area, via legislative fiat from the right wing. They will immediately set to work undermining M4A.
You mentioned a word that progressives throw around a lot, and we need to talk about it: Incremental.
Incremental
does not mean slow. It means additive, particularly in stages, as opposed to a one-time, Hail Mary attempt. Fun fact, you can have fast, incremental changes, which is exactly what I support. Fun fact, you can cross every "t" and dot every "i" while still moving at a fast pace. Computers do that all the time, for instance.
M4A is the primary issue for me this time around. It needs to be passed 100% single payer coverage. Why? Once installed, it's going to be ridiculously popular AND shielded from the undermining republicans love to do. The public won't tolerate it. If the majority of the public is kept out of it, via incremental changes or allowances based on age or "public options" then a facet of the public will not know how much it benefits them and not work to protect it.
Fair enough. But here's my concern: When someone says that they want single-payer, they're called a progressive. When someone asks how they're going to get to single-payer, what the step-by-step process will be, they're called a sellout.
How in the world is simply asking for a step-by-step plan on what would amount to the biggest overhaul of our healthcare system in US history selling out??
That's my case -against- supporting Warren in the primary. To you that may be a purity test. To me it's about getting the job done. Sanders has shown he has that capacity. He has worked hand over fist for 40 years to get to this moment and stayed in solidarity with that vision regardless of political consequences.
He's been remarkably consistent over the years, I'll give you that. But based on the fact that he has a grand total of three sponsored bills through Congress, two of which renamed post offices, I strongly disagree with your assertion of his ability to get stuff done. I know it's a dirty word in progressive circles, but getting stuff done requires some compromise. That's why, by contrast, Amy Klobuchar has over a hundred of her sponsored bills signed into law. Call her a moderate Democrat all you like, but she knows how to get **** done.
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