As Democrats grapple with (or panic about) @BernieSanders entirely predictable strength in the face of a very talented multitude of alternatives, I am reminded of this time in the 2016 presidential campaign ... (1/) washingtonpost.com/news/post-poli…
“Today, I believe that I am being called to lead by helping to clear the field in this race so that a positive, conservative message can rise to the top of the field,” @ScottWalker said, months before any ballots were cast
“I encourage other Republican presidential candidates to consider doing the same so that the voters can focus on a limited number of candidates who can offer a positive, conservative alternative to the current front-runner,” Walker said.
“This is fundamentally important to the future of the party and, more importantly, to the future of our country,” @ScottWalker concluded then.
You can fill in the rest: @ScottWalker’s warning was prescient. @realDonaldTrump took down the rest of the field one by one, and by the time @SenTedCruz faced him basically head to head (in Indiana) it was far too late.
How you feel about today’s GOP depends on how you feel about President Trump. But there’s no denying Scott Walker correctly predicted the Republican Party as he knew it then is not what it is today.
Democrats who’ve worked in the party for decades are panicking because something similar is going on in their party. A wide field of talented candidates who’ve played mostly by the elite rules set in the Clinton era is splintering the opposition.
.@BernieSanders & supporters don’t like being compared to Trump and it’s clear why. But they do share an anti-elite sentiment that’s been building across ideologies as inequality has skyrocketed in our country.
Sanders is an economic populist whose supporters don’t care how much his plans cost or even whether they are actually feasible — they are sick and tired of being told all the reasons why Medicare For All will never pass the Senate, for example
And Bernie Sanders has captured his supporters’ fervor in a way other candidates simply have not. His events feel like rock concerts even when there is no rock band.
And the Democratic Party is on track for a reckoning as significant as the GOP’s in 2016 if Sanders is the nominee....
...but to cement it, @BernieSanders will have to beat @realDonaldTrump. And that brings us back to where we started.
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