Electabilty is something that is constantly being talked about in the mainstream media. And yet, no one seems to have any idea what they’re talking about. I mean, just look at what happens when you type the word into Google. Pages and pages of articles written by supposed “experts” in political analysis. Yet none of them have a solid answer as to what “electability” really means. Worse, many of them seem committed to misleading their audiences into believing one candidate has better chances than they actually do; usually because they’ve been paid to do it.
Mainstream Manipulation
Take this article, in the Atlantic, citing a poll done by Third Way which found that Joe Biden has the most electability in the general election. Their finding of this is based upon the results of a poll conducted of 1,600 Democrats asking a mixture of open and closed-ended questions about what qualities they perceived to be most electable in a candidate.
This poll was ridiculous for many reasons, not the least of which being that Third Way is an establishment think-tank. So any poll they do should be under the highest levels of skepticism. It is extremely easy to make a poll say what you want it to. Especially when you have experienced manipulators running it.
The other big reason this poll is ridiculous is because it contradicts itself. They claim that the best indicators of electability are all superficial aspects of a candidate, such as ability to unite people and fighting against “adversaries” – by which they mean the GOP & Trump. However, later on their own chart indicates that these are not important to younger voters polled – at least not as important as the candidate’s policy positions.
Lastly, there’s no breakdown of how many of the 1,600 voters were between 18-35, 35-55, etc. Did they call 1500 people on a landline – people who are statistically more likely to be older – and then 100 younger? Was it more equal? We don’t know because they haven’t disclosed that. But we can make the safe guess that they heavily sampled older voters, just because that’s one of the tricks that these types of organizations use to try to influence people. They’ve done it before.
Consistently Inconsistent
How does this contradict their narrative? Younger people are the base of the entire democratic party. The progressive wing is large and is getting larger every day as more people turn 18 and are able to vote. This poll is essentially ignoring them in favor of older, “boomer” voters who are, frankly, stuck in the past where the appearance of “civility” is important. For evidence of how this concept is irrelevant in today’s political climate, I ask you to look back to the outcome of the 2016 election.
Joe Biden is the chosen establishment candidate. That is no secret. So is it really surprising that this poll conducted by the establishment found that the establishment candidate is the most electable? It gets even more laughable when you consider Biden’s campaign has been on figurative life support for months, with the man himself making gaffe after gaffe every time he appears in front of a camera. Not to mention his abysmal record – all of which has been heavily publicized by people not bought by the establishment.
Who’s Electable Then?
So, you may be asking, if Joe Biden is not really the most electable candidate in the race, who is? The answer to that is simple. Bernie Sanders.
The mainstream media would vehemently disagree with that statement, despite poll after poll after poll showing Bernie handily winning against Trump in the general election. You won’t hear this from the media though. They’re committed to pushing the narrative that Bernie isn’t electable.
That crowd was from Bernie’s rally in Kentucky, by the way. You know, part of the South, where people are supposed to be super Republican and hate Democrats. And yet, here is a huge crowd come to support Bernie Sanders. His rallies elsewhere draw even bigger numbers.
The reason why is simple. Bernie has captured the spirit of political revolution stirring all over the country. People are sick and tired of being kicked around by soulless politicians who promise nothing but middle-of-the-road changes that ultimately only help the wealthiest people in the country. Bernie is different. He represents real change. Change that people are thirsting for like a person in the desert thirsts for water.
The numbers are on his side. Bernie’s policies poll extremely well all over the country. 70% of the country supports Medicare For All, for example. Again, this isn’t something you’ll hear from the mainstream media, who take every opportunity to smear him as a “radical socialist”.
Most damning of all to the narrative that Bernie isn’t “electable”, however, comes from this article in the Daily Beast, citing sources close to Trump. They say that Trump is most concerned about his odds of beating Bernie Sanders in the general election. I rest my case.
What is Electability, Then?
Electability, plain and simple, is the concept of which candidate has the best chance to win an election. The problem we are facing is not confusion about the word itself. It’s a concentrated campaign to attempt to manipulate uninformed voters to vote against their best interests. By repeating the lie that the establishment candidate is the best bet, eventually people believe it.
This is what happened in 2016 with Hillary Clinton. We were told over and over again that she was the “most electable”. That she would beat Donald Trump easily. That it wouldn’t even be a contest.
I think we all remember what ended up happening.
In the wake of the election, hours of air time and veritable forests of trees were spent analyzing why she lost. The consensus amongst the establishment was it was a mixture of Bernie Sanders’ fault – despite him having endorsed her after the primaries and encouraging his supporters to vote for her, the voters themselves who either didn’t vote at all or voted third party in protest, and somehow Susan Sarandon.
Not one establishment pundit mentioned the real reason, that Hillary was a terrible candidate and everyone hated her. She alienated the democratic base of progressives every time she opened her mouth and had a record as abysmal as every other corporate democrat. All of this was ignored, because it didn’t fit the establishment narrative.
And now we’re going through it again with Hillary 2.0. Mark my words, if Biden is the nominee he will lose in the general. We’ll have 4 more years of Trump and 4 more years of pundits blaming everything under the sun for Biden’s loss besides Biden himself.
Are We Fucked?
Depends. There’s still time before the primaries start. And then the whole election. But the spectre of electability looms large over it all. The establishment sure isn’t going to stop pushing their narrative, that’s definite. It’s up to alternative media sources and we the people to push back against their lies and misinformation. We need to spread the word about Bernie’s real chances and actual policy substance everywhere we can. Tell a friend. Yell it from the rooftops. Start a blog. Do whatever you can do to get the word out.
Electability doesn’t have to be our enemy. Make it work for us. Change the narrative.
That picture shows what I know to be true. In a one on one match up between Bernie and Trump, Bernie is going to run away with the election!