In an interview with the Guardian from his home base in Burlington, Vermont, Sanders urged the Democratic president to inject more urgency into his bid for re-election. He said that unless the president was more direct in recognising the many crises faced by working-class families his Republican rival would win.

“We’ve got to see the White House move more aggressively on healthcare, on housing, on tax reform, on the high cost of prescription drugs,” Sanders said. “If we can get the president to move in that direction, he will win; if not, he’s going to lose.”

The US senator from Vermont added that he was in contact with the White House pressing that point. “We hope to make clear to the president and his team that they are not going to win this election unless they come up with a progressive agenda that speaks to the needs of the working class of this country.”

Sanders’ warning comes at a critical time in American politics. On Monday, Republicans in Iowa will gather for caucuses that mark the official start of the 2024 presidential election.

Biden faces no serious challenger in the Democratic primaries. But concern is mounting over how he would fare against Trump given a likely rematch between them in November.

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[–] 265 points 2 years ago (20 children)

Every once in awhile I catch myself thinking about how different the world would have been if Bernie was president and it's just so fucking sad.

I get that all the other problems would still exist, but there would be a glimmer of hope to cling on to.

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  • [–] 165 points 2 years ago (8 children)

    I voted for Bernie and he would have been great, I always find myself thinking about Gore winning more often. I have more respect for Bernie for sure but we’d have been in such a better place by 2016. Jesus, there’s a non-zero chance that the 9/11 warnings don’t get ignored and the US definitely doesn’t invade Iraq or Afghanistan. The housing bubble would probably still have burst in a bad way but I doubt it goes down the same way. Supreme Court wouldn’t be as full of neocons and zealots.

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  • [–] 57 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Not just that if Gore had won and 9-11 would have still happened we would have likely seen a push away from oil starting in the early 2000s. I think Gore could've turned that into an opportunity to say "to hell with these middle east authoritarians and their oil, we can do better for ourselves and better for the planet."

    Unfortunately I was 6 when 9-11 happened so I didn't have much say in these matters.

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  • [–] 48 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Yeah, this was always my big one too. I'm a green at heart, but I learned a brutal lesson then, that I'll carry inside of me forever. A lesson that has only gotten reinforced by the slow march of modern fascism.

    Democracy requires dialogue, patience, empathy and compromise. The alternative is authoritarianism, and the unavoidable power struggles that come from too much centralized power in a world with ambitious humans. We need to remember that, and dialogue and compromise with our, in many ways younger-self progressives, instead of trying to corral them. We can do this. We are not too afraid.

    Give em hell Bernie.

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  • [–] 53 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I do wish he had been president, but I also wonder how much of his agenda he could have gotten past congress, even if Democrats were in charge. Most Democrats are, at best, about preserving the status quo and I hate having to vote for them just to stop the people who will make things even worse.

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  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I voted for Bernie every chance I've had, but I genuinely doubt he could have achieved the current level of success much less something better.

    Without a Congress full of like-minded people, it would have been a struggle. I think we can have someone like Bernie for president one day, but it's people being passionate and engaging with every vote and every election.

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  • [–] 43 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Remember when debbie Wasserman shutlz stole the dnc nomination from bernie to give it to Hillary?

    That one rug pull gave donnie the win.

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  • [–] 24 points 2 years ago (1 child)
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    [–] 145 points 2 years ago* (7 children)

    He said that unless the president was more direct in recognising the many crises faced by working-class families his Republican rival would win.

    No, The Guardian, you missed the whole fucking point.

    The important thing Sanders said is that unless the president was more direct in recognizing the many crises faced by working-class families then our entire democracy would be destroyed.

    This is an existential threat, not a goddamned motherfucking horse race, and I am sick and tired of the media supporting fascism by treating it like the latter!

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    [–] 129 points 2 years ago* (69 children)

    Unless the Trump is held accountable, He will most likely win. People's material needs are important and Dem messaging has basically been hey we showed this graph so you're not struggling and anything popular you want won't happen. But everything bad will happen with the other guy. Being not Trump once again is a dangerous way to win the election. Trump's cultist ass should be getting crushed.

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  • [–] 66 points 2 years ago* (29 children)

    Trump's cultist ass should be getting crushed.

    Makes me wonder what might have happened if the DNC hadn't f**ked Bernie over, twice.

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    [–] 112 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    He's right. Biden is coasting into this election. Reminds me of Hillary in 2016.

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  • [–] 53 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    So odd how dems always fumble it away.

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  • [–] 46 points 2 years ago* (3 children)

    Eh, Obama went hard on election stuff and so did Bill. This hubris seems recent and tied to a belief that Trump isn't a serious candidate.

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  • [–] 97 points 2 years ago (11 children)

    Centrist Democrats would rather lose and have a hereditary dictatorship run by the Trump family than treat workers with respect.

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    [–] 80 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I'm sure Biden and "his team" want to win, but not at any cost. Certainly not at the cost of taxing his donors and using the money to help the working class.

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  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago (10 children)

    How would that policy be enacted even if they did? Congress certainly will not pass it.

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  • [–] 19 points 2 years ago

    Of course congress wouldn't pass anything like that. Ultimately they all play for the same team-- Capital. The "bully pulpit" and executive orders are largely reserved for things like supporting genocide, and antagonizing our geopolitical rivals.

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    [–] 65 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    Valid criticism. The left has been brilliant at ignoring what used to be their core problem field.

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    [–] 48 points 2 years ago

    Rock on, Bernie

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  • [–] [S] 39 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Just a quick fyi here:

    Kudos to the Guardian for calling Trump a demogogue. At least they say the truth when no North American news source will.

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    [–] 35 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    With an election coming up, the Schrodingers Leftist dilemma is in full force, even on Lemmy -

    Where we're simultaneously both powerful enough to be personally behind every Republican win of the past 20 years, and also so insignificant that we must be ridiculed and bullied at every turn to remind us that we have NO PLACE in their party they blame us for not backing.

    The best part is that most of the time people hit both sides of the coin in the same comment.

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  • [–] 21 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    You can look at my post history and see I'm pretty far left, but I'll be pinching my nose and voting for Joe Brandon, the reason the GOP has built so much power over the years is because their base always pinches their nose and toe the party line. Voting for the lesser evil is still keeping less evil out of the world.

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    [+] 25 points 2 years ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
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