So, Kyle Kulinski had a video the other about how the establishment came out against Dean Phillips when he ran for president. He wasn't sure if the establishment would hate Dean because he is, in kyle's view, a centrist like Biden, and he wondered if he would get the same hate that Bernie would get. And uh...to me, it seemed kind of obvious that he would. The democratic party is basically a party of machine politics. It's not PRIMARILY about beliefs, it's about loyalty to the organization, time served, and waiting your turn. It's about your relationships in DC.
Now, that's not to say there isnt an ideological component to it. While the DNC is a big club, and we ain't in it, and most of the people in the club likely share the same "new democratic" ideology these days going back to the 1990s (as it's mostly the same people who have run since the 1990s), but honestly, if someone who isn't approved by the establishment runs, they will get blackballed, centrist or not.
Take the 2016 election. I honestly think there was a back room deal in which Hillary would concede to Obama and support him, and the party would support her in 2016. Which is why the entire party had this weird "it's her turn" mentality. The democratic party didn't have a fair process in 2016. And it seemed like most people knew to stay out and to give it to Hillary, and the media's attempts to manufacture consent started very early, with most of them quite hostile to progressive voters who wanted differently. Heck, that's why I ended up going in the direction I did. I knew before anyone even declared I'd probably want Bernie if he ran, he was the guy who aligned most with my politics at the time, and I could tell they were trying to guide the voters to hillary and refused to even acknowledge the idea of a serious primary challenger to her.
And again, most candidates knew to stay out. Elizabeth Warren was actually favored over Bernie among progressives at the time and while I liked Bernie a bit more, I would've went for warren. But she stayed out. Why? Because the fix was in.
Heck, there were some more centrist challengers that did jump in. Martin O Malley, Jim Webb, and Lincoln Chafee. No one took any of them seriously. They had little to nothing to offer. Hillary was objectively a better politician, although I hated her guts at the time because how could I not with that entitlement attitude? And Bernie was the only challenger who gained any traction, because he was the only one who offered anything different that resonated. And because 2016 was a realigning election or at least the start of a realignment, that actually helped create the political divides that now exist in a 2024 environment.
But yeah, the fix was in in 2016. Full stop. They wanted hillary, she was annointed, coronated, it was "her turn". And they didnt even hide it. Their entire campaign was trying to gaslight and bully the voters who didnt actually want her into accepting her and that's why she lost. And the dems never admitted wrongdoing there.
2020 was different. Because they KNEW Bernie was a threat, and because he was gonna run again, they worked overtime to suppress Bernie. It wasn't just about his ideology, although that was part of it. The fact is, the establishment didn't have a set candidate in mind, so it was more open, and we had like 26 candidates or something. While in 2016 the fix was in and most avoided running, in 2020 everyone and their mother decided to run. And we had a spectrum of candidates from centrist to progressive. And the centrists were willing to go with anyone, as long as it was someone in their mold. So they pushed next gen "rising stars" like Buttigieg and Harris, as well as old classics like Joe Biden, and tried to just get SOMEONE who could beat both Bernie and Trump. And it seems like in 2020, another deal was struck. Once it became clear Biden (probably the establishment favorite) had SOME ability to win, it seemed like they got everyone together in the centrist lane and worked out a deal to get everyone to support Biden. Who knows how that will manifest itself in 2028. Will they try to shove Harris or Buttigieg or Klobuchar down our throats? Who knows. I suspect for most the deal was a spot in the administration. Idk if anyone was annointed for 2028 after Biden. I suspect the nod would be Harris next but given Harris's HORRID lack of popularity, but who really knows. But yeah, it seemed like some sort of deal was struck, everyone in the centrist establishment lane backed Biden, and that's how we got where we are.
And yes, of course, I knew this was happening, it was obvious there is a lot of behind the scenes screwery going on within the democratic party. And the unspoken rule (it's not spoken because if it were, it would basically be corruption), is that when it's someone else's turn, you get the heck out of the way if you wanna keep your job, and if you aren't a good little boy or girl and wait, you can bet that you will get torpedoed by the powers that be in all of the subtle ways.
Which is where we get to 2024. Now, I admit, I warmed up to Biden somewhat, and I haven't been out there protesting the DNC's practices much this time, but let's face it, they obviously have rigged it for Biden. They've made it hard to get ballot access, they denied a lot of electoral tools that are normally available to primary challengers to outsider candidates like Williamson (I heard her talk about it in an interview a while back). And honestly, they're not actually holding a primary. They are, because im guessing they have to have the pretense of democracy, but they aren't in practice. it's just assumed Biden is the one, and you have to be a good little boy or girl and back him or end up getting the wrath of the party brought down on you and your political career, if you have one. And obviously, Dean Phillips is getting that treatment and being shunned for his decision to challenge Biden. Because Biden is the one, and he's just assumed to get it, and we need to maintain a face of unity and blah blah blah. Typical organizational double speak.
What's going on in the democratic party is the iron law of oligarchy. The party is an oligarchical organization, they have their in crowd and out crowd, and if you dont play the social game and show loyalty to the party and blah blah blah, then you get the equivalent of excommunicated. In 2016 they were too blatant about it. Which is why people talked about the years hillary gave to the party and how she was owed this because of that and how WE, THE VOTERS, had to back her. Like they're so up their own butts that they just went full on mask off and treated independent voters like myself the way they treat their insiders. They got so much of that DC Brain they thought they could bully voters.
And again, I warmed up to Biden, but it's because, as I said, I have my own metrics and some of my demands were being met, and I had to acknowledge that. Which im fine with. The whole point of withholding my vote was to motivate them to move TO ME to adopt MY POLICIES and make them remember that i dont give a flying crap what goes on with their little intraparty politics, I am a voter, I have demands, I have every right to make demands, and ultimately, the party, the candidates, etc., have to respond to the voters. The voters dont owe the party ANYTHING.
And again, Biden shifted toward me somewhat, did make a good faith attempt to embrace some of bernie's policies, and at least earned a vote for one election cycle. Also, it's not like I'm super happy about the alternatives. The fact is, we're scraping the bottom of the barrel here. Marianne Williamson? I had her 5th place last election cycle but let's face it she is a bit of a kook with the new age stuff. I'm spiritual but holy crap her view of the world kind of bothers me sometimes. And even with her embracing Bernie like policies and shaping up into being a decent candidate, I never really liked her.
Dean Phillips started out as a virtual Biden clone and shifted to being something closer to yang gang as time has gone on, but yeah, is it worth a protest vote? No.
And that's the thing. I look at the alternatives, both inside, and outside of the party (seriously, RFK Jr? Cornel West? Jill Stein?) and given my politics, IT'S NOT WORTH A PROTEST VOTE. Especially when Trump is as psychotic as he is. Sure, in previous election cycles, I feel like the dems played up Trump as an existential threat to democracy too much. In 2016, the dude talked a lot of BS. ANd in 2020 sure he was a manchild who sucked, but I still considered the dem establishment to also be an evil worth taking on. Post january 6th, and with Trump becoming increasingly openly authoritarian and anti democracy itself, I HAVE to give that priority. The fact is, the dems have us by the balls and we cant do anything about it unless we risk democracy itself. So yeah, between Biden shifting toward me, and me not being happy with other alternatives, and me shifting away from "leftists" and Trump being a psychopath, yeah, IM just gonna vote for Biden when he wins. I say when, not if, because unless the dude becomes physically unable to run again due to health reasons or whatever, he's gonna get it. Most voters who show up in primaries will vote Biden overwhelmingly, the majority won't even know who Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson are, much less care about their policies, and yeah, we're just gonna get a second Biden term, 37% approval rating or whatever it is and all.
That's just how it is. Again, there arent really great alternatives to Biden, Biden ain't doing a bad job, and Trump is a threat. That's my reasons for backing Biden for the general at least (in the primary I will support either Dean Phillips or Marianne Williamson). And yeah. I just wanted to let people know, in case people think I'm being soft on the DNC recently, that yes, I am perfectly aware of all of the screwery they're doing. Maybe we should have an open primary, especially given Biden's unpopularity. I dont think replacing him would do any good (another reason im not prioritizing it), but I'm not opposed to the idea. I'm just not going ride or die on some specific biden alternative to the point I'd refuse to vote for Biden and instead vote green this election cycle. Im just not motivated to support anyone else, and don't think it would help. I just wanna keep trump out this cycle. We can litigate all of this in 2028. And yeah, that's my view.
As for 2028, I do expect that the DNC will have some plan for the future. Idk what it is. Maybe they'll push harris or buttigieg. Maybe someone else will get annointed. Maybe the establishment leaders will get too old and let someone else take over (I doubt it). Who knows. Even though I think the dem population is trending progressive, as are most voters, as long as the dems see fit to just shepherd all of the voters to whomever it goes, and as long as most voters remain in "plato's cave" and just keep going along with the political theater, then they will likely just get away with whatever they're doing. It's possible the next generation of dems will look like the last, because of the choices the party made in 2016 onward. Maybe the obama coalition will be dead because they decided identity politics and economic centrism are more important and the next generation of dem politics has to look more like the previous one, with many working class voters going full trumper. That's a dystopian outcome I wish we could avoid, but I'm not entirely sure we will at this point. We might be stuck in these voting patterns for a while, and this might be the actual realignment we get, not the one we wanted. We'll have to see.
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