OK, that headline’s just a little click-baity. :) (You don’t get points for repeating this first line and saying “… Ya Think?”)
The point is: February 1st is the first Democratic primary. There are three others in February. Things happen quickly in the following weeks, like the March 1st “super” primary. (Wiki “Democratic primary schedule” for particulars.) June 7th is the big one for me, including both California and my home of New Jersey, but I think it’s going to be over by the end of March. Not much in the way of surprises.
This creates an existential dilemma for this website. The vocal, younger participants are supporting a candidate not likely to win, either the nomination process or (God forbid) the General Election — and there is nothing they can do about it. Worse, this website is a vehicle for electing Democratic candidates, as kos has made clear on multiple occasions. A “purge” of posters who don’t get it is not unlikely.
I’ve been on the losing side of a few election cycles, supporting Gene McCarthy and George McGovern (among others). I know what it’s like to have to fold your tent and skulk home. What we didn’t have, 40+ years ago, was a way to keep a community intact after such a debacle.
For this reason, I suggest current Sanders supporters develop a Plan B approach to the primary election and its aftermath. Maybe it’s early, but if you understand how the mathematics of a Democratic party nomination work, our lead candidate is already more than a third of the way there before the voting even starts. Something in the way of a completely unexpected catastrophe would have to occur — something that would be of a political magnitude great enough to alter the GE as well.
Meanwhile, this period of 75 days could be used to develop funding, marketing, and a logical construction addressing group survivability when the Inevitable becomes Real. If, Miracle of Miracles, BS becomes ascendant, all that’s required is to reposition the server. However, each person who is favoring the underdog in the present fight needs to understand that his or her personal preference(s) may become unwelcome here, and not just for the duration of the General Election.
To forestall comments suggesting I do the same for my preferred (and currently leading) candidate, I’d like to say that there isn’t much I could add to what’s already in place. First, all user data from the HRC campaign is already shared by agreement with the DNC. And second, there is not likely to be a similarly positioned Democratic candidate for the next election in 8 years (assuming any GOP winner would be able to engineer a re-election). So it’s a vastly different situation in that you don’t have infrastructure behind an insurgency.
Thoughts? Comments? I’m trying to make this diary a non-trolling exercise, and work toward a scenario of political survivability. Unfortunately, I don’t think BS would be viable in eight years, much less Hillary.