Why Don't Bernie Voters Matter?

[stopdiggin]

98. Sanders tried this strategy in 2016

largely to success. He was in fact able to exert a lot of influence on the platform and rules. This cycle that is much LESS likely to happen because 1) that card has already been played .. and people remember. (fool me once ..), and 2) the country, the electorate, and the party are in a radically different place, and with a radically different set of concerns and priorities than they were in 16.

If you thought the electorate was going for "safe and stable" in Feb-Mar .. just imagine where they're going to be after another rugged 2 or 3 months of C-19? So .. no .. I predict Sanders will get a fair hearing for his agenda and ideas .. but I suspect great deference and the collective wisdom that he represents "the future of the party" is probably fast fading into the distance.

Like any candidate, it is up to Senator Sanders to play his own hand .. but he doesn't hold the same hand that he did in 2016. (And many of us wish he would try a different hand for this cycle.) Equally, what Sanders supporters chose to do about this changing set of circumstances .. is also .. their hand to play.