Independent Senator Bernie Sanders floated Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a potential presidential candidate in the 2028 elections, saying that even though it’s “her decision to make,” she is a “very, very good politician.”

Speaking to Axios, Sanders said that he has been “out on the streets with her” and noticed how she responds when people come up to her. “It’s so incredibly genuine and open.”

Ocasio-Cortez is seemingly positioning herself to run for higher office, whether it is challenging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for his seat or to make a run for president.

  • thespcicifcocean@lemmy.world
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    I would like to say: clinton didn’t lose because she’s a woman, she lost because she’s a sleazeball. harris didn’t lose because she’s a woman, she lost because she was courting the right wing for some reason. AOC can win because she’s not a sleazy right winging neolib. I’d vote for her for president.

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      I’m not saying you’re wrong, but don’t underestimate the role of misogyny. A commentator on a podcast i listen to was in the US in the run-up to the last election and they said that something they heard over and over again in the people they talked to was variations on “i hate Trump and everything he stands for, but i couldn’t trust the country to a woman”

      • MyNameIsAtticus@lemmy.world
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        I had one friend like this. Basically all he talked about was how much he hates Trump, then come election he said he wasn’t voting at all because “Trump is bad, but Harris is worse because she’s a woman”.

        In the sake of honesty, it wasn’t just that. He also said a few times that she’s worse than Trump because she claimed to be from a working class family, but almost always it was that she was a woman that was his reasoning.

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          “Trump is bad, but Harris is worse because she’s a woman”

          It is stunning to imagine somebody actually saying this out loud, conscious of what they are doing rather than mindlessly acting on biases without introspection like a normal moron.

          But somehow I also have zero surprise about it. Even if it’s just a fake story you made up for Lemmy it doesn’t matter because it’s genuinely a mundane everyday concept in so much of the country. (middle aged USian white dude from a conservative family here, it’s been a long time but I’ve heard it all)

          I feel like I’ve gained a new understanding of quantum superposition!

          • Coskii@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            My SO phrased it as “I don’t think I can vote for a woman for president.” and so they didn’t vote at all.

            An issue with the presidential race isn’t getting the republican vote, it’s getting the dems to actually show up.

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              I’m curious, what gender is your SO?

              I’d assume a guy, but conservative culture and media convinces a lot of women that they themselves are made from lesser stuff and should generally be deferring to the men anyway.

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            I almost thought the guy was doing a bit when I first heard it. I guess I always assumed misogynists would be more subtle about it. It was my first brush with someone that open about it.

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            Now that you suggest the idea, I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve since booted the guy from my life (or at least as much as I could) but I wouldn’t surprised if this was the case based on some of the things he’s said.

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      What you said is true. But any woman, even a great one, is going to have a tougher time than a man would. Sexism is still a problem in this country.

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        Sexism and racism. It’s absolutely foolish for anyone to think that Americans won’t abstain from voting, or worse vote against a woman or a non-white person. It’s abysmal to think about, but it’s true.

        If a woman or a non-white person runs, there will be a subset of the population who refuse to vote for them specifically because of their race or gender.

        It’s why the republicans always run an old white male asshole, because no one refuses to vote for old white male assholes specifically out of principle, but a large amount of people (larger than you or I would likely think) will absolutely vote against a woman or a non-white person specifically due to their race or gender.

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      Both Harris and Clinton position themselves as more of the status quo. Trump both time always positions himself as an outsider who taps into to racism and white rage. The only time you can win off a status quo type deal if the Dem admin was doing amazing during when they had power.

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    I appreciate Bernie for being an adult and helping to boost up the people that will be here after him.

    Most every other politician, when they aren’t cramming their unqualified, entitled broodspawn where they don’t belong, is gnawing off limbs trying to make sure they’re entombed with their positions like the pharaohs.

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    A female president of a normal age would be an amazing change for the US. Why does it always have to be geriatric males?

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      America is incredibly sexist. And racist.

      As much as I would love for her to change things up, the reality is America isn’t ready to elect a woman. She simply won’t win. We need a male candidate, especially against the current testosterone driven gop. A woman simply won’t convert vites from gop to democratic, it just won’t happen.

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        But half the population is female. I would expect all (except the hardest GOP followers) of them to welcome a female president for a change? The problem with Kamala was just that she was pretty invisible during Biden’s presidency and with him pulling out so late she had this whole “second choice” thing hanging over her.

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          True, when I look at the numbers there’s enormous potential if one side can manage to get the non-voters to get off their couches for once. Even in states that are deeply red.

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    AOC vs Erica Kirk.

    The brown girl vs all that is white and right beauty pageant queen pick me. I can already call it. She will be the pied piper leading all the women into the Handmaids Tale.

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    The thing about AOC is that she can bring in the millennials which far out weigh the normal voting demographic.

    Her first executive order should be to nullify all executive orders Donald Trump ever made.

    Remove that man from history make everyone forget his name.

    You know, kind of what happened with Caligula.

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        Funnily enough “Caligula” is actually a nickname (and one depised by the man himself). His actual name at birth was Gaius Julius Caesar (not to be confused with the famous Dictator Gaius Julius Caesar)

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          So let’s just call our guy “Diaper Don” in the history books. It’s the best nickname I’ve heard. Pretty fitting to his maturity level and how he’s constantly throwing tantrums.

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          Ya… His uncle came up with it after he killed most of his family and sequester him and his sister to an island so he can mentally torture the boy for decades.

          Or something like that.

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    Support for what ever she decides is next, although I feel like the senate would be a better step. However the democrats dont really have a face to back that isnt some centerist that thinks its ok to play with the bully after they have taken your lunch money or someone that is older than Wonder Bread ™.

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    Non an american but I feel like US needs a revolutionary candidate to come back from Trump. It has to be someone strong enough to put nazis back into their place.

    It’s still early to talk about this though right? From what I understand the upcoming midterms will shape everything else.

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      The Midterms will represent a potential check on Trump’s power, though we still have major hurdles in the Supreme Court and Trump himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump keeps doing what he wants under cover of a Reich-Wing Supreme Court and with a threat of an armed revolt of his MAGA base. The hope is that we can limp through the next two years after the Shitgibbon gets put in check, forcing him to run around the board trying more and more unhinged things until we checkmate him in 28. The reality is that he’s still got plenty of pieces and isn’t afraid to flip the board if he doesn’t get what he wants.

      But maybe if he and his followers see tens of millions of people standing up when he tries it, they might fuck off back to the holes they came from.

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      The way things work in the US, the politicians are always campaigning. I’m sure there are those who can explain why much better than I can, but I think it boils down to the influence of money in our system and the need to constantly fundraise to win.

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    As inappropriate and watered down as it sounds, I honestly don’t think this country is going to vote in a female president this decade. Race plays a part too, but I honestly think that this country is more sexist than it is racist when it comes to presidential voting. It’s partially a gut feelings, but I think gender played a bigger role than many people think in the 2016 and 2024 elections. As messed up as it sounds, I think Bernie POTUS with AOC VP would stand a better chance of winning right now as opposed to the other way around. Even with all of the socialist/communist boogie-man bullshit that Bernie gets thrown at him.

    • gmtom@lemmy.world
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      I kinda agree, but crucially I think it’s less that the country isn’t ready to vote for a female president, it’s that after Kamala and Hillary, the Dems think the issue is with them being women.

      Also the republicans would have no issue voting in a woman if it was one of their own.

      And also, Bernie is way too old to be president. I think the most realistic thing would be to put a “”“moderate”“” dem on the ticket to help ease the pearl clutching from corporate Dems you would get by running AOC so someone like Waltz or Newsom.

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        I’ve said this before, but I listen to a politics podcast and one of their commentators was in the US for several weeks in the run-up to the last election. They said that over and over again they heard variations on “I hate Trump and everything he stands for, but I couldn’t trust the country to a woman”. That includes people who’d voted for Obama and Biden.

        Obviously that wasn’t the only factor, and it doesn’t mean that AOC couldn’t win, but we definitely shouldn’t hand-wave it away, either.

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      Everyone demanded Biden step down for someone better and younger. So he did.

      and all that accomplished was that the left started shutting on her instead of Biden. as a non American watching it all unfold, race and especially gender was noticeably what turned people even on the left off of Kamala. And were talking before the gaza shit show turned into an election issue.

      Again im not American, but your last election definitely felt racist and well, here we are. That there are still people on the left shitting on her as if they’re not living under the alternative is crazy. How can anyone in 2025 say she wouldn’t be better than this? Can’t explain it but with sexism

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        You’re not wrong, but I shit on Kamala because she was a shitty centrist candidate, not because she was a woman. I would back AOC in a heartbeat.

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        They asked for a better and younger but she was younger but worse. Harris is one of the dumbedt politicians ever

        • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world
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          Trump is better?

          If you didn’t vote Harris or stayed home you’re straight up stupid. You’re asking for the Democratic Party to change but you don’t take part so why would they care. Everyone on Lemmy complains about the democrats but when was the last time you guys registered as official democratic voters and voted in the primaries and local elections to get your people in? When did you join the newsletters and reply to the questioneers? Did anyone here go volunteer to work for the local politician that fits their view? If you show up at the end, at the federal election, how are you mad at the decisions that got them to this candidate when you took no part in the process?

          It’s not hard, the last election i helped my local candidate hand out information and cards throughout dozen condo buildings within 5 minutes of my home. My wife helped them with some online work for their website and Facebook. Take part, from top to bottom, make sure the party knows you’re a member and you demand change.

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      I dunno about that race vs gender analysis.

      Obama sent them into a racist rage, and thats what trump actually campaigned on/what people actually voted on.

      Worse still, thats what hes delivering, and conservatives are mostly happy enough to make sacrifices if it means the dark skinned marginalized people get hurt.

  • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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    I mean how many times do we have to learn the hard way that America won’t elect a woman to be president?

    Look at this country.

    It’s a shitshow.

    It didn’t elect a woman when the other option was a felon, rapist, insurrectionist manchild with one failed presidency and two impeachments already under his belt.

    Do we really want to do this again when the stakes are so unbelievably high?

    Goddamn. People need to get their heads screwed on straight. She isn’t just a woman, she’s also profoundly hated by a lot of Americans for being so progressive. Why the fuck would we do this to ourselves? I mean America wouldn’t even elect Bernie, the male version of her with a lot more experience.

    WE NEED TO START LIVING IN REALITY.

    I like AOC. I respect her for what she does. But she’s not going to be president in 2028.

    • 🍉 Albert 🍉@lemmy.world
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      I think it’s not necessarily “because she was a woman”, though without a doubt it was factor.

      it was also because they were out of touch neoliberals. Hillary was clearly playing dirty with Bernie, and Kamala was actively participating a genocide.

    • Pacattack57@lemmy.world
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      This is why we have primaries. We don’t need to guess. The last 3 democratic candidates bypassed the primaries because the dem leadership are morons.

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      People don’t understand that you need more than hardcore Democrats, you need other groups like Christian swing voters to get elected President.

      Christians do not allow woman to be elected to any leadership roles in the Church, because they blame women for the downfall of mankind in the Garden of Eden.

      If they won’t let a woman lead the church, why would anyone think they would elect a woman to lead the government and country?

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    I think that plenty of people who voted for Trump would be fine voting for a woman president as long as she’s strongly advocating change

    These people just know that things aren’t great, they don’t know whose fault it was or what policies caused it. So they vote for the person who says they’ll change the most.

    The largest deciding factor stated by people after voting was the economy. People remembered that there was a lot of inflation under Biden, and didn’t want to keep similar policies. Of course, we know that Trump’s first term had a pretty large influence on the state of the economy under Biden, and Biden’s policies probably didn’t hurt the economy. But the average voter is not that informed.

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      I think that plenty of people who voted for Trump would be fine voting for a woman president

      I’m sorry, but this is based on what, exactly? I know you didn’t base it on historical data. Trump won against Hillary Clinton, a woman, lost against Joe Biden, a man, then won against Kamala Harris, a woman.

      2016 turnout for Clinton/Trump: 128,837,949

      2020 turnout for Biden/Trump: 155,507,476

      2024 turnout for Harris/Trump: 152,319,643

      3,187,833 fewer people turned out for the Harris/Trump election.

  • Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca
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    Look at this point you could literally run George Washington himself as a Democrat and MAGA wouldn’t vote for him.

    Also, compared to the current guy, a rancid portion of tuberculotic lung coughed up in a pool of fetid blood on the floor of some 18th century eastern European sanitarium is a “very good politician”.

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    I saw this coming a mile away and I hope she does win the Presidential Election to break barriers and to end the nonsense going on currently.

    Problem is the conservatives will argue/debate no woman should be in power followed by countless historical references to prove their point. Then someone will show even more historical references of conservatives causing twice to three times the issues. This will turn into one giant circle jerk of why they (conservative) won’t listen to a woman when they don’t even listen to their own parents.

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      The greater risk isn’t misogynist republicans IMO, it’s misogynist liberals who will cynically use her gender and ethnic background as examples of her unelectability instead of addressing their opposition to her populist agenda.

      I don’t take issue wither her being a woman, but dumb rural americans will, so we can’t nominate her”

      Every time a populist candidate gains momentum in the democratic party, democrats suddenly become greatly concerned about electability. See: Obama, Sanders, Mamdani, Fatah, ect.

      Maybe if democrats placed as much emphasis on a popular policy agenda as they do on identity, they wouldn’t have as much of an electability problem.

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        The greater risk isn’t misogynist republicans IMO, it’s misogynist liberals who will cynically use her gender and ethnic background as examples of her unelectability instead of addressing their opposition to her populist agenda.

        Spot on.

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        It was wild seeing the libs blame lower turnout among black people for Hillary’s loss.

        At no point did they question what policies lowered turnout, or address that white people, including women, voted Trump.

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      Yep. I would love AOC to win but there’s no chance in America for that to happen. Our populace is deranged.

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        The people who would especially hate her would never vote for a non-republican anyway so ya’ll just need to get over it and just go for all-in.

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          Utterly boring “safe” candidates on the supposed left is how we got here in the first place. Give me a straight-up Marxist, just not with that messaging. And who would they be running against, Vance? Ha

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          Third female candidate in four election cycles. I dunno, feels like we are asking to lose. And again, I would love to vote for her. Just don’t think the populace can muster it. I have lost all faith in Americans. The hope from Obama’s terms is completely gone.

          • Soup@lemmy.world
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            Yea, it wasn’t the support for genocide or the fact that she was running around with Liz Cheney for a lot of the campaign. Nope, it was all because she was a woman.

            Be serious.

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                It’s true, but we aren’t talking about that now are we? I imagine you’re trying to get at the fact that Trump is worse for Gaza and Liz Cheney is a “better” Republican?

                There are/were a lot of people in the US who were/are getting incredibly fucking tired of the right-wingedneas of the Democratic primary. This party did not give them a primary to get to choose their candidate and then they ran a full-blown conservative who alienated their voter base to try to entice people out of a fucking cult. The Dems spat in the face of the people who wanted to vote for them while sucking off the people who would come to assassinate one of their reps and not give a shit about it.

                It had nothing to do with her being a woman. Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton were conservatives and people are tired of handing over “wins by default” to those people. I mean, look at how both of them who “totally cared so much about the US” just immediately faded into the background except for a book deal and you can see immediately why no one was buying their garbage.

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                  If you think that any kind of intellectual examination was part of people’s decision making process last election, you are sorely mistaken. It really surprises me that on Lemmy, people think that 90% of voters even think about these things. They don’t. And they won’t. Look at the polling leading up to 2024. Harris was ahead for quite a bit. As the day got closer and Trump started running tabloid ads about trans and immigrants, the polls shifted.

                  The shift in polling had nothing to do with these nuanced takes about centrists and war hawks and corporate Democrats. Nothing. The masses voted based on last minute bigoted propaganda and claimed it was about the economy.

                  Your reasoning may apply in small, isolated circles. We are talking about the masses and no, I don’t buy it. I’ve talked to too many people.

          • anarchiddy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            The fun thing about intersectionality is that you could also look at her as the first latina candidate

            But looking at what her politics are is somehow never the consideration. In terms of platform, she could hardly be more distinct from either Clinton or Kamala. I like the odds of popular socialist policies much, much better than focus-group tested middling capitalist policies.

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              Most lemmings do. But it’s about who can finish. I’ll vote for the candidate furthest to the left for as long as I can.

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        She’d face the exact same misogyny that Harris did, the difference though would be she’d have a strong enthusiastic volunteer base behind her. I think if the election is fair she’d have very good odds.

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          We tried Clinton. We tried Harris. I know the conditions are different, but do we really want to risk it when abject fascism is the consequence?

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            I think having an authentic populist voice is more important than any race or gender considerations. We simply don’t have another candidate that can do this as credibly as AOC. I think if she runs, in the primary, she’ll handily beat out Newsom, Pritzker or any other white guys in the party who are in a position to run.

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            Running a milqtoast centrist is just fascism with extra steps. They will do nothing of substance and then people will vote for fascists to enact change.

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                I’m not going to go for fascism with extra steps when there is even the slightest chance of something better.

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                  So when the primary is done and the candidates are a centrist vs fascist, you’re going to sit out?

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          Hillary won the popular vote and still lost in a system where the popular vote doesn’t matter. We have a rigged system. I voted for Hillary. It’s not that I don’t have faith in our candidates. I don’t have faith in the system and my fellow Americans.

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            Seriously. A bland corporate candidate who gave the opposition two decades of lead time to build up an opposition strategy. One of the worst candidates to have run of all time.

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    I really hate to say this, but there’s no way a woman will win in 2028 (if an election even happens).

    The vast centrist vote will go towards stability and a return to the ‘values’ they think have been lost.

    It sucks a lot, but the only viable choice will be a white man. I hate this, but it’s true.

    Walz is probably the most politically viable choice. Does that suck? Yeah. But pragmatically, it’s just true.

    • 0x0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      Sorry to be crass, but fuck that. Is anyone excited about the generic geriatric white male candidate? Tons of people love AOC and Bernie, too, for that matter. I think we need a candidate that actually inspires people. Someone that people want to vote for, volunteer for, canvas for, etc. Maybe I’m just a dreamer, though.

      • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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        5 days ago

        Hey man, I’m with you. This sucks a lot.

        This situation is fucking terrible. Personally, I’d prefer Bernie would run himself, but he clearly doesn’t want to (and given his age, I can’t blame him).

        To be completely honest, though, he’s got sort of a bad track record of backing other candidates, so if he’s endorsing AOC, that’s even more evidence she won’t win.

        I agree with him on most things, and I’d absolutely back him as a candidate like 10 years ago, but he’s not a kingmaker. I wish we lived in a better world, but we don’t. Our world is fucking awful, politically speaking.

        • SoloCritical@lemmy.world
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          Frankly, I’ll vote for any democrat that challenges Trump. My logic is that only the Democratic Party has ANY actual shot at winning, so whether it’s AOC, Bernie, or he’ll even Vermin Supreme if they put him on the ballot. I will vote for a fucking brick if it’s a democrat and challenges Trump. It almost certainly cannot get worse.

          Edit: and before people say Trump won’t be on the ballot in 2028… I wouldn’t be so sure about that lol. You hear/see the shit this guy says/does?

          • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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            and before people say Trump won’t be on the ballot in 2028… I wouldn’t be so sure about that lol.

            I think a large part of the problem is that he likely won’t be. He’s not in charge now, and once he dies in office, people will think the danger has passed.

            The issue is people think trump is the cause rather than a symptom.

            In 2028, especially if he’s dead and his grave is the county’s biggest toilet, many people will breathe a sigh and think everything has gone back to normal, ignoring that the real fascists are still in control. That will be when it becomes truly dangerous.

            Trump is not in charge, and things will not change when he’s gone, but most people will think everything is fine then, and will go back to ‘politics as normal’.

            • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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              Yep. People like Curtis Yarvin and Thiel and Musk and “JD” are quite a bit younger than the pedo-in-chief.

              The donor class that supported the construction of all the systems of radical right wing epistemic closure, long before Taco came along, are not going away, and neither is their money. And neither are those systems. If anything, those systems are being honed and perfected to be even worse than ever before (cable and local news are nothing compared to things like TikTok for being able to control minds).

              People might think that Gen Y or Gen Z will be pissed off to make real changes, but I don’t believe it, for two reasons. One is that I’ve seen the same claims made about boomers and Gen X. The second is that Gen Y and Gen Z are poised to be the biggest beneficiaries of the largest wealth transfer in history. I seriously doubt that will radicalize them, and there is not much evidence of any kind of a big progressive swell in either of them as-is.

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                You’re right, but more to the point: they’ve largely solidified changes to the system via Project 2025 that will take decades to reverse, if they can be reversed at all.

                I’m not talking about philosophical or ideological changes, but real, tangible changes to laws that are impervious to differences in who’s president or what the political landscape is.

                The damage is largely done now. Even if by some miracle of the electorate going against everything that’s ever happened in the history of the nation and defying people’s nature and misogyny and whatever, AOC was somehow elected, it will take decades to begin to fix this.

                The fact that people don’t understand this only solidifies my assessment that there’s no chance she could be elected. People simply do not understand the current political climate.

                I wish this pipe dream could be true, because that would be a much better world than the one in which we live.

              • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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                Yeah, in the same way a cut allows you to get a staph infection.

                But a hangnail or certain kinds of sex at a bad time can do that, too.

                Trump is just the method of delivery. Staph was always there, waiting for an opportunity.

      • moakley@lemmy.world
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        Walz actually would have me a little excited. He seems like a great person and a solid candidate.

        I’d be more excited for AOC. It’s possible she wouldn’t have a chance, but if the will of the American people keeps disappointing, then at some point we have to hang it up and say we deserve what we get.

        If we can’t vote in a woman at this point, then maybe the experiment really is over.

    • quick_snail@feddit.nl
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      The problem isn’t their genitals. The problem is their policies.

      Especially support for Israel.

    • Bennyboybumberchums@lemmy.world
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      I really hate to say this, but there’s no way a woman will win in 2028

      Bullshit. That the lie youve all told yourselves, but the reality is that you choose a shit candidate that happened to be a woman, in Harris. She was presenting herself as a republican moderate, while she had hollywood running around on her behalf saying the “woke” shit that people are fucking sick to death of.

      No, the reason that AOC wont get the nom, or the support, is because shes what the Dems dont want. Someone who wont bend the knee to the party leaders or their rich donors. Just last year she was nailed on for a house committee seat, and Nancy fucking Pelosi from her fucking hospital bed, rallied to make sure she didnt get it. Instead it went to a 75 year old man with fucking cancer. And yes, he died 4 months later, and they STILL wont give her the seat.

      AOCs problem, isnt that shes a woman. Its that shes the second coming of Bernie. She would get shit done that most voters actually want. In 2016, being utterly sick of the money and corruption in politics, even Republicans said they would vote for Bernie. YES, OVER TRUMP!!! And the DNC still fucked him. They will fuck AOC as well, like they already have. Because she would win. She would get votes from all over the political spectrum because she would drag the US into the new millennium, finally getting Americans healthcare that doesnt bankrupt them or deny them service, because it would be free at point of need. The millionaires and billionaires would get taxed properly, and education would be easier to access and afford/be free.

      AOC, Bernie and those like them are what America needs to realise the dream that so many Americans have been denied since birth. Her vagina isnt the issue. The fact she would be good for the people is.

      • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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        Lol no. I’m old enough to not care about Harris’s minuscule blip on the political landscape, and to understand far larger social trends than that.

        The fact you think this is about Harris of all the decades of social trends makes it clear you have no idea what I mean, and maybe you should take a moment to learn some things before writing such a diatribe.

        In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re precisely the type who, when trump dies, will think everything has gone back to normal. I hope I’m wrong about that, because this whole thing is far larger and plays out over a far longer time scale than you think. Please prove me wrong.

        • Bennyboybumberchums@lemmy.world
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          Social trends have changed. No one gives a fuck that youre a woman. Only racists and sexists think a 50 year old white man is the only option.

          Trump is not now, nor has he ever been the problem. The culture wars, and those that participate in them are the problem. It would be fine it stuck to the internet, but its bleeding out. And Trump, among others, weaponised it.

          But the fact remains, that the desire to see change in American politics is as strong now as it was in 2016, when Trump conned a lot of people with “Drain the swamp”. AOC is that change. The only question is whether or not the DNC and the party as a whole will get the fuck out of the way, or just fuck her over again like they did last year and like they did Bernie in 2016 and 2020.

          • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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            No one gives a fuck that youre a woman.

            Bullshit.

            You don’t, but you’re not everyone.

            A massive part of understanding the world is understanding that you’re not everyone. My entire career has been to understand other people, and step 1 is to realise that you are not everyone. It’s very counterintuitive for most of us, but also very necessary if you hope to understand things.

            I am not everyone, and I am not speaking for myself here. If the world were me, I’d 100% say AOC could win. I’d fucking love that.

            But I am not the world.

            • Bennyboybumberchums@lemmy.world
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              Bullshit.

              Sorry, but thats just culture wars talking. AOC is the new Bernie. And people will vote for the change that they represent. Loud, doesnt mean majority. It never did.

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                Okay. Sure, my entire life on this planet and all of my lived experience is ‘culture wars’.

                Believe what you like, I’ll not stop you.

                This isn’t ‘culture wars’ – whatever that even means here. It’s me talking to you. Being reductionist only makes you seem pithy, which is actually rather sad.

                We’re probably done here, if you can’t even have a conversation without resorting to catch phrases.

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        Can we just have her as the 1st pres of New California, instead? Fuck the rest of these maggoty losers and their suckhole fanbase. Maybe a new start ain’t so bad an idea, and the DNC can choke on their long-impatient headstones, et al.

    • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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      I agree, but Walz would have to be allowed to be himself. They reined him in last election and that sucked. I want him to go unchained and I don’t want anyone trying to have him dial it back…we need someone that is giving good reasons to vote FOR them, speaking plainly and showing some fight.

      I wish it were otherwise because I would so love to see AOC in that office. But I just think there is just so much misogyny in this country. And the only people that Taco has (supposedly) won against were women.

      It’s wild that places like Japan - often described to Westerners as being very male-dominated, etc. - have beat us to having a woman in the highest office. I guess maybe it’s possible that we were projecting a little there, hmmmmm?

      • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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        I get it. The truth hurts, especially right now when what we desperately need is hope.

        • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          You’re 100% correct but last time the US ran on HOPE they got wedding drone strikes… I don’t have a whole lot of hope for them but maybe they can change that….

          Quick edit: anything gives me more hope than the current shit sooooo

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      I really hate to say this

      Come on, do you really think that though? gender is an issue to be factored in, but considering it the primary factor is a level of cynicism thats effectively bordering on hopelessness. Maybe you earned that cynicism, I get that, being a a real american lefty is hard lately. How about we stand behind someone who inspires? Who seems to care about the issues that affect the constituents? who at least seems to not be one of the bought and paid for AIPAC drones?
      But you’d ponder running some asshat zionist like walz or shaprio instead, simply because they have a pecker and no tits? I dont think america is so far gone that they would pass up an inspirational human for a male human. And if we are, then its not worth fighting for anyway. If we are that far gone then its time for all of us to run.

      Reminds me of a quote from the green mile movie.
      “I’m rightly tired of the pain I hear and feel, boss. I’m tired of bein on the road, lonely as a robin in the rain. Not never havin no buddy to go on with or tell me where we’s comin from or goin to or why. I’m tired of people bein ugly to each other. It feels like pieces of glass in my head. I’m tired of all the times I’ve wanted to help and couldn’t. I’m tired of bein in the dark. Mostly it’s the pain. There’s too much. If I could end it, I would. But I can’t.”

      Gotta keep fighting till its time to run, and then keep fighting after that, or we’ll be a disappointment to our kids.

        • kreskin@lemmy.world
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          well. shit. If we cant unite behind a good candidate because we think an asshat consolation candidate must win, I dont know how we win, because the asshat candidates always sell us out in the end. It the DNC way of things.

          • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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            It’s the human way of things.

            DNC or not, even if they were as perfect as you’d like them to be, trying to unite people on the left is like herding cats.

            Have you tried having discussions with multiple people on the left? I’ll bet you have, and I’ll bet you’ve been frustrated.

            The problem with any of left of centre is that we believe in things and aren’t a flock of sheep. That’s good, but also politically very bad for us.

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              even if they were as perfect as you’d like them to be

              debateable. We cant grease the wheels of our government with massive amounts of innocent’s human blood. If we do that then we dont deserve to exist ourselves.

              Unfortunately. zionists support war crimes, and you can depend on them causing more war crimes if they get power. I cant have that. I’d rather the whole system burn down around us, and lots of people think that way. I think people conflating red lines with “not being perfect” is leaning into excusing ourselves of our responsibilities to each other.