The left wing want the Democratic Party back; it's just that simple.

50 years ago, the left took over Democratic Party. The centrists had controlled the party under Roosevelt, Truman, (Stevenson), Kennedy, and Johnson, the nominees from 1932-1964.

The left fought hard against Johnson in 1968, resulting in him dropping out, and Humphrey "winning" the nomination. They made sure that he paid. There were huge demonstrations at the convention and outside it. The left basically stayed home in 1968. They didn't work very hard for their nominee. Humphrey, the liberal/moderate lost a close election to Nixon. But the left was in full control. They nominated McGovern in 1972. Somehow the squeaky clean Carter slipped by them in 1976 in the reaction to corruption in DC. They still controlled the party though. They nominated one of their own in 1984 (Mondale) and again in 1988 (Dukakis).

The moderates in the Democratic party met after losing the presidency in 1988 and formed the Democratic Leadership Conference with the idea being to move the party to the center and actually win the presidency. Clinton was elected twice, and Gore came close in 2000. When Clinton left office, there was a budget surplus, many millions of jobs had been created, and the plan was for the debt to be retired within 10 years, along with Social Security and Medicare being fully solvent. And then came Bush, 911, and the wars. Within the party, the struggle to take back the party was afoot. Obama interfered, was elected and re-elected. Clinton somehow won the nomination in 2016 and lost, with Sanders and the left feeling that were robbed of the nomination.
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THE LEFT SMELLS BLOOD
The left is sure that they can bring back the party to what they think of its roots, the leftist agenda that has NEVER, NEVER won a presidential election. But they are believers. They believe that it is time for democratic socialism and that this agenda will easily defeat Trump.

I must say that they may be right. The moderates in the Democratic Party don't have much of a chance. Obama did little to support anyone coming after him. The moderates have almost all been pushed out. It is the time for the left wing. But make no mistake, the Republicans are cheering almost every Democratic speech and proposal. The Green New Deal will even be introduced in the Senate. The only candidate that the Republicans are doubtful about beating is Biden. The rest are easy pickings. I suppose someone else could surprise, but I doubt it.

Much will happen in the next 6 years, especially if Trump is re-elected. There will be great opportunities for major changes in both parties over the next 10 years. This will happen at the national, state and local levels.

The Republicans of every period called every Democrat a leftist (and a socialist). Of course, every social program was considered "socialistic", their strange word, or "communistic".

Believing in some progressive ideals does NOT make someone a leftist or even left of center, no matter how many times the Republicans say so. Sanders and the left are much further to the left than the Biden's of the world, and of the moderate liberals of the past. The DLC was hated for a reason by the left. It was centrist and opposed their radical programs.

FireDragon76 said:

Roosevelt wasn't a leftist? Many paleo-conservatives back in the 30's certainly thought so.

Also, Johnson was not merely a centrist, but like Roosevelt, had strong sympathies for progressive ideals. Johnson was not only opposed by anti-war Democrats ,but also by Republicans and paleoconservatives in the South.

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Thank you.

It is my own writing.

dzheremi said:

Is this from some outside source? It's written like an Op-Ed. If you didn't write it yourself, you should credit whoever did.

If you did write it yourself, you should write for the New York Times.

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hmmm

I believe this has usually been the case.

However, Ronald Reagan was the exception. He was a New Deal Democrat, who became a conservative Republican. As he said, the Democratic Party left him; he didn't leave the party. Reagan brought together all the elements of the Republican Party, including those who often stayed home. In addition, he appealed to working class Democrats, "Reagan Democrats".

As I have often said, 1980-2000 was a really good time for this country. Politics worked. The parties fought and then worked together for the common good.

FireDragon76 said:

Republicans have always been a narrow interest party, going all the way back to the beginning. It's just at one time, some of the interests they embraced were the right ones (ending slavery), but they've always had to engage in propaganda to sway the public, because they do not represent the natural interests of most people. That's where Democrats had their strength.

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I'm not surprised. In 2016, Sanders was one of two candidates, the only one with his beliefs. Now there are 20 or so candidates, many who support Bernie's key positions. In addition, those candidates do not have the disadvantage of being an old white man.

HOWEVER, Sanders is, even now, one of the two leaders in the polls, #1 of those who have announced.

Albion said:

Knowing that many people seem to feel that Bernie is positioned to pick up where he left off in 2016, I was actually startled to hear some news commentator (I don't remember who it was) just yesterday say that he does not any longer have the following that he had then.

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