Thread by @DeLowDown

My problem with Bernie's campaign (Thread)

A big reason our politics are so bad right now is that politicians figured out long ago that if they can rally a base to be angry at its opponent then they don't have to win a policy debate.

Trump is a master at this & so is Bernie.

Trump is the effect, not the cause, of decades of this style of politics being built up by Republicans and amplified on Fox.

Now he does this with everyone from his Democratic opponents to any Republicans or career diplomats that dare step out of line.

When Pete talks about turning the page on our politics this is precisely what he is referring to. Trump knows that if he can keep us focused on his absurdities then he won't lose a debate about healthcare because we won't have one.

It's his greatest strength as a candidate.

While Bernie is not nearly as bad as Trump (and I will fight like hell for him if he's the nominee) he has clearly chosen to embrace a similar strategy to take on Pete by constantly calling out the number of Billionaire's that have donated to his campaign.

Substantively, this point means nothing.

Pete doesn't have a Super Pac and is therefore held to the individual limit. He's also entirely transparent about his bundlers while Bernie is reportedly skirting campaign finance laws.

apnews.com/345bbd1af529cf…

Part of Bernie's appeal is that he's unquestionably been focused on the right issues for a long time. I understand and respect that.

However, being mad about the right things for the longest time doesn't necessarily mean your answers on how to solve those issues is the best one.

Notably, his M4A proposal is significantly less popular than Pete's Public Option.

nymag.com/intelligencer/…

It's also notable to see the lack of detail in Bernie's proposals to pay for M4A.

theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Whenever he's asked about the cost of his plan he pivots to a line about how it's strange that we don't ask the same thing about endless wars.

This is a strong line because we definitely spend too much on our military, but it's effectively just a distraction.

If you look one layer deeper, what he's really saying is "We spend too much money on a bad thing so we should spend too much money on a good thing."

We've spent a whopping 7.5 Trillion Dollars on our military in the last 10 years, & Bernie's M4A plan would be 5 times that total.

Pete's plan, on the other hand, would achieve the same things in a more effective way for approximately 1/30th of the cost of Bernie's.

It also has the added benefit of having support from Senate Democrats, who oppose Bernie's plan essentially making it impossible to pass.

This is why we see Bernie so desperately pointing out the number of billionaires donating to Pete's campaign.

He knows he's losing the debate on substance, but if he can make people think Pete is corrupt then he won't have to win that debate because we won't have it.

I've seen Bernie supporters say things like "If you support anyone besides Bernie you must think poor people aren't human."

Bernie may mention unity in the debate and in speeches, but actions speak louder than words and his actions promote this behavior.

Not only am I entirely sick of this type of politics, I'm also afraid that if we choose to embrace it by making Bernie our nominee that the voters we need to win back will assume that Democrats are just as bad as Trump and decide to stick with the devil they know.

This is why I find it powerful when Pete says he wants to turn the page on this style of politics.

It's not only the right thing to do, it's also likely to be the most effective, because (and I can't stress this enough) *voters are with us on the major issues*.

It's also what we need to protect our democracy from the next Donald Trump. People keep saying that Bernie is the candidate of change but in reality, he's offering more of the same:

- Deeply divided politics
- Big promises
- Gridlock in congress
- Nothing gets done

Pete, on the other hand, has not only the best chance of defeating Trump, but also the best chance of delivering a majority in the Senate which is what we'll need if we want to get anything of substance done.

And just speaking personally, I think that's pretty important.

Apologies for the rant, and again, I will unquestionably fight for Bernie with everything I have if he's the nominee. Here's a little about why if you're interested.