dckingsfan wrote:On this we completely agree. I don't know how to do this in the short-term without handing the keys to the Rs (who have slid from morally bankrupt to whatever you would call this now).
I think having a Progressive Party, a Democratic Party and a Republican Party would server the nation well. I think (in time) it would split roughly 25, 30, 25 with 20% staying Independent (this is my crystal ball, feel free to crack it).
I don't think that the Progressives are fairly represented by the Ds today. I also think there would be a natural shift (as it has been occurring) from center right to more center left.
But the two parties would kick, claw and bite to keep it from happening.
I think a third party would make a lot of sense, though I'd suggest that might result in more Republican cash grabs in general due to vote splitting.
From a progressive standpoint, I actually think it makes sense not to have a third party, at least if they play it smart. They have an opportunity to play this not as outside revolutionaries, like Bernie has/is, but to play this as a part of the establishment, like Warren is. There absolutely IS a huge voting block of progressives out there and the Democratic Party doesn't seem like it has a major problem accepting them. AOC, for example, hasn't found particular difficulty in finding co-sponsors for her bills the same way Bernie has, and while Nancy Pelosi might be pulling her hair out at times, she also seems to be more than willing to work with AOC and try to help her achieve her political goals.
The question becomes, is this some plot against Bernie, or is it perhaps something with Bernie himself? If some of these other new politicians manage to push through here, they won't just be a part of the establishment, they will be the establishment. There is a rather massive opportunity for them here if they're willing to seize it and the only people who seem to be against it thus far are Bernie supporters and Bernie himself, who seems to want to burn the establishment to the ground rather than actually make use of it. It's from that angle that it doesn't actually surprise me that we see AOC hedge a bit with respect to Warren, for example. They have opportunities that Bernie simply doesn't because they've played the game a bit different than Bernie has. And honestly, I feel that speaks extremely well of them in those cases.
The perk about riding it out as such is that it would put quite a bit more pressure on the rift within the Republican Party. They wouldn't be able to rely on the Democrats to throw candidates out there like Biden, Hillary, Obama, etc. who they might vilify, but ultimately aren't a huge stone's throw politically from centrist Republicans. Suddenly swallowing Trump would be a huge challenge and they'd have to decide if they wanted to move into that vacated ground or continue trying to maintain the charade. Moving into that vacated ground would really rankle with a lot of legitimate Trump supporters. I'd be all for forcing those kinds of cracks, which is where I see a lot of value in pursuing things with Warren, AOC, etc. rather than Bernie.
