Posted on 03/05/2020 6:04:16 AM PST by Kaslin
Yes, Democrats are divided over Bernie Sanders' revolution versus Joe Biden's restoration of status quo Obama. Yes, they are divided over what that means in terms of policy, like Sanders' Medicare for All versus Biden's tweaked Obamacare.
But there is a deeper cultural gap behind the Bernie-Biden battle. And it will not be resolved by the primary fight, and perhaps not even by November's election.
Some small indicators: Biden rallies often begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. It's a brief ritual that seems so basic it might not stand out in anyone's memory. But it's not done at Sanders events.
Why? When some of Sanders' supporters say they want a revolution, they really mean it. Here is what one of those supporters -- not a college student, but a 68-year-old man -- told me at a Sanders rally outside Charleston, South Carolina:
"[Sanders] wants to make real changes to make America a good country. I mean, America has never been a good country, since the get-go. We've been brainwashed. Our founders are so great, right? George Washington and all these guys? What they did was they came and committed genocide against the natives, stole their land, kidnapped Africans and enslaved them, and founded our great nation. Our nation is rotten to the core. We need a good re-foundation. We need to have love among all people. We've got to start over again."
That's not a recite-the-pledge, hand-over-the-heart kind of feeling.
By the way, 15% of the electorate in South Carolina served in the military. They chose Biden over Sanders 54% to 19%, according to exit polls.
Then there is religion. In his successful forays into the South, Biden has laid on the religion to please the African-American ministers whose support he seeks. Biden's victory rally in South Carolina, for example, began with an invocation. That would be unimaginable at a Sanders gathering.
The Washington Examiner's Tim Carney walked around a Sanders rally in South Carolina asking participants if they were religious. They weren't. One man answered "relig-ish" -- that is, kinda, sorta -- but that's as far as they went.
In the South Carolina exit polls, people who attended religious services once a week or more, or even just occasionally, supported Biden by a 56% to 15% margin. Voters who never attended church supported Sanders 36% to 24%.
Obviously the Biden approach worked better in South Carolina. But in states with larger percentages of woke progressives, Sanders remains strong.
A Biden rally looks like a Democratic rally. A Sanders rally looks like ... something else. It features a motley crew of characters on the left -- the fire-breathing pols, the old socialist brothers-in-arms, the self-described "undocumented, queer and unashamed," the rappers, AOC, Ilhan Omar -- quite a medley.
Of course, the Sanders coalition can feature internal contradictions of its own. At a cold outdoor rally recently, Sanders brought on the Texas-based rap duo Blackillac. They delivered the standard fare, and then were immediately followed on the PA system by Simon and Garfunkel's lilting "America." It was a jarring and bizarre juxtaposition, even for Sanders. But it represents two not entirely harmonious sides of the Sanders crowd.
By the way, 15% of the electorate in South Carolina served in the military. They chose Biden over Sanders 54% to 19%, according to exit polls.
Then there is religion. In his successful forays into the South, Biden has laid on the religion to please the African-American ministers whose support he seeks. Biden's victory rally in South Carolina, for example, began with an invocation. That would be unimaginable at a Sanders gathering.
The Washington Examiner's Tim Carney walked around a Sanders rally in South Carolina asking participants if they were religious. They weren't. One man answered "relig-ish" -- that is, kinda, sorta -- but that's as far as they went.
In the South Carolina exit polls, people who attended religious services once a week or more, or even just occasionally, supported Biden by a 56% to 15% margin. Voters who never attended church supported Sanders 36% to 24%.
Obviously the Biden approach worked better in South Carolina. But in states with larger percentages of woke progressives, Sanders remains strong.
A Biden rally looks like a Democratic rally. A Sanders rally looks like ... something else. It features a motley crew of characters on the left -- the fire-breathing pols, the old socialist brothers-in-arms, the self-described "undocumented, queer and unashamed," the rappers, AOC, Ilhan Omar -- quite a medley.
Of course, the Sanders coalition can feature internal contradictions of its own. At a cold outdoor rally recently, Sanders brought on the Texas-based rap duo Blackillac. They delivered the standard fare, and then were immediately followed on the PA system by Simon and Garfunkel's lilting "America." It was a jarring and bizarre juxtaposition, even for Sanders. But it represents two not entirely harmonious sides of the Sanders crowd.
Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
Neither of these people can be allowed to have power.
“What they did was they came and committed genocide against the natives, stole their land, kidnapped Africans and enslaved them, and founded our great nation. “
The communists have never killed their own? Hmmmm, Stalin was just a nice fellow that sold Girl Scout cookies in his spare time. Mao occupied himself with fortune cookies. And let’s not forget Pol Pot. That handy dandy little fellow was a true believer in human rights.
Theft of land? Hmmmm, I wonder just how the Soviet Union got so big?
The problem with the people buying into this communist bullshit is they know nothing of history, geography or other peoples cultures. They’ve been brainswashed into thinking they have it so rough that being a good commie will be much better.
The very definition of schizophrenia. I believe that George Orwell defined its effects well in the term “double-think”, the ability to hold two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct, often in distinct social contexts.
Don’t forget Cuba. Apparently Castro and Che were kindly uncles. And then there’s that sweet guy in North Korea....
Nobody is perfect and that was long ago. A lot of time has passed, and the passage of time tends to wash away past injustice. Now, they need to realize how lucky they are to be living in the greatest nation ever created. Everybody else in the whole world wants to come here, because they know how great it is here compared to everywhere else.
“When some of Sanders’ supporters say they want a revolution, they really mean it. Here is what one of those supporters — not a college student, but a 68-year-old man — told me at a Sanders rally outside Charleston, South Carolina:
“Sanders] wants to make real changes to make America a good country. I mean, America has never been a good country, since the get-go. We’ve been brainwashed. Our founders are so great, right? George Washington and all these guys? What they did was they came and committed genocide against the natives, stole their land, kidnapped Africans and enslaved them, and founded our great nation. Our nation is rotten to the core. We need a good re-foundation. We need to have love among all people. We’ve got to start over again.””
I bet anything he learned American history from Howard Zinn.
Our education system is rotten to the core. That part of America needs to be torn down to make America great again.
You are 100 percent correct
Actually it was blacks that kidnapped other blacks and made slaves out of them, or something like that
A vote for a Democrat, any Democrat for any office, is a vote to impose a Stalinist dictatorship on this country and send yourself to the Gulags.
Progtard Dildocrats all.
Right. And they sold them to the slave-traders worldwide.
PING! Wow, an amazing piece of analysis from Byron York. It well explains the Democrat divide: Bidenite vs. Bernista.
Thanks poconopundit.
“We’ve got to start over again.”
That’s what Pol Pot said, when he took Cambodia to the stone age.
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