Why doesn't the Bernie movement win more congressional races?

[DanTex]

Right now there are probably a total of two "purity test" worthy liberals in the Senate: Warren and Sanders. Warren hasn't even endorsed Sanders for president, and that might not happen at all. As of now, Sanders has exactly zero congressional endorsements.

Which raises the question, why doesn't the Bernie wing of the party try and get more people into congress, rather than just the one hail-mary bid for the White House?

There would be a lot of advantages to this. As we've seen, the laser-focus on economic inequality isn't faring very well with PoC. But there are plenty of states with large working class white populations, states like New Hampshire where Bernie is polling pretty well. And even more so at the district level.

The Tea Party, policy-wise is a disaster, but politically they have shown themselves more astute than the Bernie left. Their strategy is not to go all-in for Rand Paul, and when he loses, complain about how the RNC shuts them out. Sure, they do that, but they also aggressively primary sitting Republicans in conservative states and districts, to the point that they have rendered the House of Representatives mostly useless.

If, as we're told, large parts of the country are clamoring for Bernie-style democratic socialism, it should be possible to turn this into seats in congress. And please don't give me the "corrupt DNC shuts them out" excuse. All races have primaries, if you get enough votes then you can win them.

Unfortunately, what I think is going to happen, after Bernie loses the primary, is that his supporters are going to complain on and on about the DNC and how rigged the process is and all that, and not do anything else. This has been the pattern, with Kucinich, and Nader before him. It would be nice if instead they built an actual grassroots political movement and got people elected into congress in large numbers. That way they could actually make a difference.

But that requires hard work, political realism, and a willingness to work within the system.

[bobbobbins01]

1. Because it's just starting

Most people have only started paying attention to Bernie since he started running for president. And you can call it a hail-mary bid all you want, but its taking off more than anyone thought it would, and the numbers its producing alone show that its already a success. This is what the people want, and it took him entering the presidential election for people to start realizing it.

You're basically saying the same thing Bernie is. To win, this needs to be sustained and carried through at all levels, and having him at the top keeping on message as President is the best way to keep the momentum going.

[DanTex]

8. I hope you're right. That would be great.

As I've said before, I don't think Bernie has much chance of winning the primary. But if this movement continues past that, and turns into a progressive grassroots movement that changes the makeup of congress, that would be a major accomplishment.

[pipoman]

2. Such a movement requires a leader....study the history of political movements and find the truth...

'It stands to reason' logic rarely works...

[Eric J in MN]

3. There are 45 members of the US House who support single-payer health care

...including John Conyers (D-Michigan).

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2015/february/americas-new-single-payer-majority

[WDIM]

4. Hopefully Bernie running will inspire more progressives to run for office.

Sanders' campaign could open a big door for other progressives to step through.

[virtualobserver]

5. Bernie has to prove that you can win as an actual Progressive....

in order to kill the "political realism" third way virus that has infected the Democratic party.

Endorsements and a nickel could buy you a cup of coffee back in the 1920's.

If Bernie wins, Democrats will start sounding like him.....Hell, they already are.

[el_bryanto]

6. Yes - I totally agree we need to work within the system - or maybe I don't.

A system that means that every year the working class and the middle class work longer hours for less money and fewer benefits. A system that wrecks the environment and can't even grapple with the problem of climate change.
A system which is rigged in favor of the wealthy against the rest of us.
A system in which the wealthy have far more political power than the rest of us.

I'm still a capitalist, but if we don't change the system dramatically soon, i don't think we will have much choice but to break the system. And someone who wants to work within the system; well, that person would have to prove by their efforts that they wanted to change and fix the system, and not that they just wanted to go along to get along.

Bryant

[DanTex]

7. How are you going to break the system?

[el_bryanto]

9. well through revolution. I personally hope it doesn't come to that.

But you can only push people so far.

Bryant

[marmar]

10. Actually, didn't all 75 members of the Progressive Caucus sign Conyers' single payer bill?

Perhaps it's this "political realism" that doesn't reflect actual reality.

[cherokeeprogressive]

11. "work within the system" = Know your place and don't rock the boat.

[DanTex]

12. No, it means get out there and primary conservative dems and get elected into congress.

Do you have a better idea of how to change things?

[Bluenorthwest]

13. The Congressional Progressive Caucus is the largest Democratic caucus within the Congress, so

where are you getting your metrics? The fact that you don't know the various Senators other and Warren and Sanders is your own failing. What about Jeff Merkley, Sherrod Brown, Al Franken? What about all the others?

[DanTex]

14. Well, Franken has endorsed Hillary, as have 26 members of the Progressive Caucus.

Is Hillary is more progressive than her detractors make her out to be?

I hear a lot of grumbling about how the Democratic party has sold out to corporatists. If so, the way to fix this is get more progressives into congress.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. And yet the OP did not ask about Hillary but about Congressional seats. Care to stick to the point

you claimed to be making and discuss that? If you wanted to talk Hillary you should have just said so but what you asked was about Congressional seats for Progressives. 'The Bernie Movement' must mean Progressives because there has not been an election since he announced his candidacy, to there could be no possible metrics to use in terms of his campaign altering Congressional elections. Thus, the only possible metric involves current members of Congress.
Which is why I asked about your metrics. 76 current members, so 2/3 of them are as yet uncommitted to a candidate, the majority has not committed to a candidate.

So again, what are your metrics? Got any? Or is this just rhetorical crapola in the wind?

[DanTex]

18. That's true. But I think it's accurate to say that many on the left are disappointed both

with Hillary and with where the Democratic party is, and feel that Hillary is a representative of the centrist direction that the party has been taken. By "the Bernie movement" I mean progressives who think that mainstream Dems, Hillary being a prime example, are corporatist sellouts. I don't agree with that: I think Hillary is a progressive on most issues, but this is what I've read a lot of, especially on DU.

My point is, people who believe this should be primarying those Dems they consider too corporate. I would applaud that, because I agree that there are too many conservative Dems (Hillary not being one of them).

The other thing is, the Progressive Caucus only has one senator. Why is that? And, despite being larger than the Tea Party Caucus, the Progressive Caucus doesn't seem to have the same amount of influence. Why is that?

[global1]

15. If Bernie Wins The Iowa And The New Hampshire Primaries Will He Start To....

get endorsements by current members of Congress? Has anyone endorsed Bernie yet?

[DanTex]

21. That's true, but it's a big if.

Nobody in congress had endorsed Bernie last time I checked, and Wikipedia doesn't have any such endorsements listed. The highest profile politician to sort-of endorse Bernie I think is Bill De Blasio. I'm not sure if he actually endorsed him, but he did say good things about him and also skipped Hillary's kickoff rally, so that's pretty close to an endorsement.

[HooptieWagon]

17. They do. The Progressive Caucus is the largest in Congress...

...aside from the two party caucuses. Perhaps you should do more reading before posting BS.

[DanTex]

19. And yet they only have one Senator.

Do you think the Progressive Caucus is as influential as the Tea Party Caucus?

[HooptieWagon]

22. The The Tea Party just wants to throw bombs.

They want to destroy government. The Progressive Caucus doesn't want to destroy government, they want to change it. Takes longer to remodel a house than it does to tear it down.

[Romulox]

20. Because the "Hillary movement" is backed by massive corporate cash. nt

[SheilaT]

23. Because there hasn't been an actual election

since Bernie hit the national stage.

[swilton]

24. Bernie's Campaign is Already Promoting Attracting Progressives to the House and Senate

Most/many who criticize Sanders for a variety of reasons are doing it from outside his campaign and don't really know what has been going on.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/128029035