to court Republicans to support very watered down democratic measures, and recently, putting forward a fairly conservative Supreme Court Justice.
The only thing these concessions have really accomplished is a better favorability rating for him, and a really shitty one for congress. That's better than nothing, but it's not much. I don't fault his reasoning, even if I think he tried to give too much away. I think that his administration thought that they'd be able to pull a republican here and there by being all too reasonable, not to mention keep the big money from going all in to derail his Presidency.
Three factors made all that worthless. The astro-turfing and subsequent takeover by the tea-party, the gerrymandered redistricting that made Republican seats bullet proof to GE contests(but not to primaries), and in most cases no incentive for republicans to compromise on legislation when their corporate masters were doing just fine with a grid-lock that maintained the status quo.
I'm surprised that anybody actually thinks that Bernie can do better. Frankly, Bernie will do far worse, because half of the Democratic party will be counted among the obstructionists. We see it here with people who aren't even being lobbied the way our Democratic representatives are. Enough people here on Democratic Underground don't want any change, and that's the population the DNC will count on when they stand in the way of good legislation.
But what Bernie has that few other politicians in Washington can claim, is a record pristine enough to call out his colleagues who are bought and paid for...in a nice way. What he has, especially if he can get into the GE, is coat-tails, and a message that enough people can get behind. If he gets the nomination, that energy can be channeled into down-ticket races, and into shaping the future of public service. It will change the way the public thinks about what a politician can and should sound like and it will hopefully, be a catalyst for future action.
Will Bernie be able to get things done as President? Not bloody likely, and I have my money on both parties working hard to make sure his first term looks like an utter failure. Hillary on the other hand, is more likely to get things done. Personally, that scares me about her, not to mention the legislation I expect her to champion.
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