Bernie Sanders is (still) the future of the Democratic Party
By Matthew Yglesias from VOX
Even in defeat in New York and most likely in the overall quest for the 2016 Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders has already won in another, perhaps more important way: His brand of politics is the future of the Democratic Party.
Sanders is the overwhelming choice of young voters, scoring 67 percent of voters under 30 in New York even while losing overall amidst a set of election rules that were highly unfavorable to his cause. National Reuters polls now show him with a large 56-38 edge over Clinton with voters below the age of 40.
The votes of old people count just as much, of course, but any young and ambitious Democrat looking at the demographics of the party and the demographics of Sanders supporters has to conclude that his brand of politics is extremely promising for the future. There are racial and demographic gaps between Clinton and Sanders supporters, but the overwhelming reality is that for all groups, the young people are feeling the Bern.Whether the first Sanders-style nominee is Sanders himself or Elizabeth Warren or someone like a Tammy Baldwin or a Keith Ellison doesn't matter. What's clear is that there's robust demand among Democrats — especially the next generation of Democrats — to remake the party along more ideological, more social democratic lines, and party leaders are going to have to answer that demand or get steamrolled.
Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal or Bill Clinton's Neoliberal Economics ?
From Salon -
"The 2016 primary elections will significantly influence the Democrats’ political course for the next generation. Demographics imply Democrats will be the majority of the future, but the party’s political identity and agenda is up for grabs.
If the Clinton vision prevails, the Democratic Party stands to become a party of neoliberal economics, wrapped in socially liberal identity politics. A Clinton-led Democratic Party will also continue President Obama’s tactical appeals to “bi-partisanship”.
The goal would be to enlist moderate upper-middle class Republican-leaning professionals into a corporate controlled Democratic Party franchise.
If the Sanders vision prevails, the Democrats will pivot toward their New Deal social democratic roots. In that case, economic solidarity and inclusion become the headline.
Under those circumstances, the Democratic Party would once again aspire to be a mass movement — rather than continue what it currently is: an awkward stitching together of corporate money, social liberals and minority voters."
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