Schumer openly stating plans to adopt Bernie's imperatives for the party.

[JudyM]

Last edited Sun Nov 20, 2016, 02:51 PM - Edit history (1)

...

“When you lose an election the way we did, you don’t flinch, you don’t look away. You look it in the eye and say ‘What did we do wrong?’” said Schumer, who also had a significant role in Democrats’ 2016 calculations. “To me, overwhelmingly, we did not have a strong economic message. What we need is a sharper, bolder, stronger, more progressive economic message.”

Schumer explained that includes staples from the Sanders and Warren wing of the party ― debt-free college, at least some of the free college that was so mocked by the Clinton campaign, a higher minimum wage, a “bolder” stance on trade, a tougher stance on the “rigged” system of lobbyists and special interests, and major investments in infrastructure, among other ideas. ...

It’s almost as if Schumer thinks Sanders would have been the better candidate against President-elect Donald Trump, but he was not willing to say so. “I’m not going to point fingers looking back. I think that is divisive,” he said. “But Bernie makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways.”

Regardless of progressive distrust of Schumer, he has long made it his mantra to focus on the needs of the middle class. And for him, the successes of both Sanders and Trump with disaffected white voters tells him he needs to address them more clearly. And the fact that the economic messages of Sanders and Warren from the left resonated better with them than the cautious pronouncements of Clinton tells him the progressive message is actually the one that speaks to the broader audience.

“There’s this debate ― do we appeal to the Obama constituency or the blue collar constituency? A bold, strong, progressive economic message that focuses on the rigged system and what we’re going to do when we change it, will appeal to both groups,” Schumer said. “The beauty of that message is it unites Democrats.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chuck-schumer-is-all-in-on-bernie-sanders-democratic-party_us_58307a38e4b030997bbfc3cc

Good to see this position stated outright. Maybe they did learn. More substance at the link worth reading, including a discussion about Wall St. There is a disappointing backhanded characterization of our movement: "I don’t attack Wall Street just for the sake of attacking it,” Schumer said. “But whenever there’s a challenge, I go after them..."

Not perfect alignment, but a big step in the right direction!



(On edit, just noticed this article was also posted in the 2016 Post-Mortem forum
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=2617319
but believe it's significant enough to our group's interests to still leave it here as well)

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Gonna watch him/them with a cautious eye...n/t

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

2. Better late than never!!

Last edited Mon Nov 21, 2016, 10:11 PM - Edit history (1)

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!

[dae]

3. It was definitely encouraging to hear.

[JudyM]

5. Yes, much better than the lukewarm reception I was anticipating. They must've been stunned

badly, between the eyes, because they seem to be seeing things as we do now, or much closer, anyway.

[Arazi]

4. I hope so. It's the way back to success

[LP2K12]

6. If only they'd supported him earlier...

I'll take what I can get though.

[JudyM]

7. Yeah, have to work with the now. What they did with him sux.