Bernie Sanders is NOT a socialist – despite the fact that he professes to be one. Not once have I heard Senator Sanders loudly propose that the state should take over the means of production and distribution.
Sanders is a social democrat. And I wish he would be intellectually honest enough to use that term, instead of "socialist" which is inaccurate as well as toxic in American public discourse.
Bernie Sanders is NOT a socialist – despite the fact that he professes to be one. Not once have I heard Senator Sanders loudly propose that the state should take over the means of production and distribution.
Sanders is a social democrat. And I wish he would be intellectually honest enough to use that term, instead of "socialist" which is inaccurate as well as toxic in American public discourse.
Social democrats are a type of socialist, but aside from that, my main objection to how Bernie campaigned for president is that he tried to argue that all governmental organizations including the military were socialism but never laid out his vision of the ideal society that's his end goal. It's entirely unclear to me whether a classless society in which the people collectively own the means of production through a democratic government is or is not his ideal and the end goal he'd like to strive towards, and if it is, I'd like to see him explain why he considers that vital.
Back in the day, I favored Bernie over Hillary. Four years later, I was extremely disappointed to realize that Bernie had done nothing to build bridges and enlarge his campaign coalition. Bernie had four years to prepare but did squat!
So glad we elected Joe Biden, who certainly exceeded my expectations. While Bernie has a heart of gold and many worthwhile ideas, I believe he would have been a catastrophe as president. Why? I see little if any evidence that Bernie Sanders knows how to build bridges, nor how to compromise and win legislative support. We would have had four years of his rhetoric from the Oval Office bully pulpit – but few if any accomplishments.
PS. In 2020, I strongly supported Elizabeth Warren for President. That said, imho Warren has been far more impactful than Bernie on Biden’s policies and personnel choices. Kudos to her!
Bernie has collaborated with people far to his right on legislation, so he's definitely capable of compromise, but Biden's ability to get legislation through Congress was unmatched for a Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson and there's no way any other Democrat would have been as successful, and certainly not Bernie.
Bernie Sanders is NOT a socialist – despite the fact that he professes to be one. Not once have I heard Senator Sanders loudly propose that the state should take over the means of production and distribution.
Sanders is a social democrat. And I wish he would be intellectually honest enough to use that term, instead of "socialist" which is inaccurate as well as toxic in American public discourse.
Social democrats are a type of socialist, but aside from that, my main objection to how Bernie campaigned for president is that he tried to argue that all governmental organizations including the military were socialism but never laid out his vision of the ideal society that's his end goal. It's entirely unclear to me whether a classless society in which the people collectively own the means of production through a democratic government is or is not his ideal and the end goal he'd like to strive towards, and if it is, I'd like to see him explain why he considers that vital.
Back in the day, I favored Bernie over Hillary. Four years later, I was extremely disappointed to realize that Bernie had done nothing to build bridges and enlarge his campaign coalition. Bernie had four years to prepare but did squat!
So glad we elected Joe Biden, who certainly exceeded my expectations. While Bernie has a heart of gold and many worthwhile ideas, I believe he would have been a catastrophe as president. Why? I see little if any evidence that Bernie Sanders knows how to build bridges, nor how to compromise and win legislative support. We would have had four years of his rhetoric from the Oval Office bully pulpit – but few if any accomplishments.
PS. In 2020, I strongly supported Elizabeth Warren for President. That said, imho Warren has been far more impactful than Bernie on Biden’s policies and personnel choices. Kudos to her!
Bernie has collaborated with people far to his right on legislation, so he's definitely capable of compromise, but Biden's ability to get legislation through Congress was unmatched for a Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson and there's no way any other Democrat would have been as successful, and certainly not Bernie.
Also, in the 2020 primaries, I favored Inslee, then Warren and then Bernie.