I think she is completely wrong.

The time to talk about it and negotiate is right now, while the election is approaching. If we postpone the conversation, as she so insistently suggests, and surrender our votes to the establishment before forcing concessions be made, we give away our leverage for no gain and they can go right back to ignoring us as usual.

@RoboGraham I think that argument had a lot more weight when the stakes were not as great as they are in this election, or perhaps earlier in the election process before a nominee was named.

As it is, it's more than just possible that a fascist will be re-elected, and then we won't have a democratic process to use for negotiation for the rest of our lifetimes. Our at least for mine. I'm not willing to risk that.

@Lauren

No, it's when the stakes are really high that you will have the best chance at success. If they want to win as bad as they say they do, that's a massive incentive to compromise.

How can we negotiate with the candidate before a candidate is selected? The process goes- Primary, platform negotiation, election. In that order.

It is very possible that the fascist will be re-elected if we don't pressure our candidate into offering an incentive to motivate people to actually support him. The anti-Trump vote is strong, but if the candidate has so little appeal, it won't be enough. We are coasting into a disaster and most people seem like they are too scared of the possibility of another Trump win to try and do anything about it.

@RoboGraham I don't know why you would think that the stakes being really high is the best chance at success. I can't think of any recent fascist/dictator who conceded their power because the stakes were high for their citizenry. I have seen them, however, squash the rebel faction like bugs when they could, something Trump has been doing for years, and will escalate when he's safe for another four years (or forever, according to his plans). I have not seen Trump make concessions with anyone since he's taken office, or while leading up to this election.

Bernie worked with Biden and got him to modify some of his positions so the more progressive members would have a voice and would support the candidate who won the nomination. There have been plans put in place to enable many voices to be heard. I wish I had your confidence that Trump will lose because here in Texas that seems unlikely. Just ask all the Trump supporters in my neighborhood.

@Lauren

I'm aware that they worked together on some task forces. Did anything significant come out of that?

The success I'm referring to is pushing the democrats left. We have no influence over the republicans. But the democrats need our votes. It's our opportunity to make them earn it by committing to positive reforms while they are in need of our votes. It's the only way we will get either of the major parties to support anything good.

And by forcing Biden to support popular policies, we create enthusiasm. We give people a reason to support him. This is how we could win.

I'm not sure why you think I have confidence that Trump will lose. I said that we are heading for a disaster. The establishment is never going to back popular policies, especially because so many are willing to hand over their votes without putting any pressure on them to do so, and this will likely lead to another Trump win, unfortunately.

I'm not voting for biden,, not after what he did to the Green Party in PA. Took them off the ballot! How cowardly and undemocratic of him!

@Theresa_N

Same here. No way I'll be voting for the undemocratic party.

@RoboGraham Significant changes were made with the Biden-Sanders Task Force, briefly described in this article, and the link to the actual concessions made:

[nytimes.com]

[joebiden.com]

These are, of course, ineffective if the Democrats don’t gain power. The GOP Senate has built a wall against any legislation we want for the past decade, and they’re escalating their outrageous power daily, with promises of more devastating policies to come with a Trump re-election. If we do not go blue, there will be no safety nets for Americans at all. Any concessions at this point are almost moot because if a majority if all of the third party and non-voting Americans don’t vote for Biden, we will lose, and we will be in a dystopian nightmare that we won’t be able to fight against.

I’m not a Biden fan. I’m not even a Democrat. But first one has to stop something from falling before one tries to build on it. At this late date, my priorities are stopping the devastation Trump and the Senate are afflicting our people and our land at all costs, and controlling the impact of Covid-19. Everything else stems from that.

@Lauren

For me, the tiny steps left that Biden has taken in his very half-hearted effort to appeal to progressives don't go nearly far enough. It's insulting really.

I hope that his strategy of ignoring the left to go after the center works out because another Trump term will be devastating.

@RoboGraham

Sure, I agree it's often insulting. And, in a broad sense, I'm also frustrated by the lack of the party to understand the logic of a progressive and compassionate viewpoint.

But for every new concession they make (such as the recent promise to decriminalize the use of marijuana and automatically expunge all marijuana-use convictions), there are centrist Dems who fall away. I get that they're playing a numbers game. But as the stakes keep escalating, I need to focus on what will get rid of Trump, then focus on the mid-terms to achieve other goals.

@Lauren

Decriminalizing cannabis is actually a pretty big deal. Happy to see it, just hope he follows through on it.