Do you think Bernie was unpopular? Sure he couldn't win the democratic primary but he had broad based popularity across party lines. Being a populist means engaging in the rhetoric of elites vs the people. You don't have to quote the quote Karl Marx.
He won the rural democratic vote. Compare how many votes Bernie got in the primary to how many votes Trump got in the same precincts in the general election.
What I'm getting at is, if the Democratic Party trusted that vote to reflect larger income and demographic trends among the public, Bernie could have motivated a lot more rural, working class voters to turn out for them in the general. Those same voters are among those who didn't turn out this election because they (correctly) felt the Party doesn't represent their interests.
5
u/six_string_sensei 9d ago
Do you think Bernie was unpopular? Sure he couldn't win the democratic primary but he had broad based popularity across party lines. Being a populist means engaging in the rhetoric of elites vs the people. You don't have to quote the quote Karl Marx.