I’ve been trying for some time to crystalize in my head the reason why I think supporters of Bernie Sanders refuse to support other candidates whose records and policies are virtually identical to his. I’ll often post a link to the site progressivepunch.org that show Senators like Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris are actually to Bernie’s left based on their votes. The reaction I get is usually derisive snickers, since clearly on no level can Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren be considered to Bernie Sanders’ left! Even though I point to quantitative voting records and scorecards from advocacy groups, it is impossible for them to accept. And I have been trying to put my finger on why they think this way. Why are they so convinced of this?
The answer, I think, is maximalism. That is, what they like about Sanders is that he stakes out maximalist positions on everything, which is something that excites people on a base level. At the Id. He rages against their enemies in a way that Warren and Harris won’t. It’s not particular policies, it’s that he advocates for those policies in a way the others won’t.
In many ways, this is what Trump does. Trump takes a conservative shiboleth and triples down on it. He then uses this as a litmus test for other Republicans.
“Torture? We shouldn’t stop it. We’re too nice and we should double it! We should get really nasty and torture their families too!”
”Immigration? Let’s completely ban all Muslims from America!”
Do Republican voters really want to double torture? Completely ban immigrants? Who knows, probably. But what they really love about that was that he was willing to stake out the maximalist position and dare everyone else to meet him there. Anyone who won’t agree is a squish or a RINO. They want someone who will go rhetorical extremes on every issue.
This is what Bernie means to those in his camp. This is why to them, nobody is remotely as “progressive” as Sanders, even though he shares so many policies with other candidates and other Senators are better on the votes.
I’ve been around here for a long time so I remember the battles of the Public Option in the ACA. At one point, the Public Option was the ultimate litmus test for who was or wasn’t a progressive. But now it’s Medicare for All, and the Public Option is the sign of sheer corruption. And not just being in favor of M4A. To hear some people, a candidate has to be for the exact same version of it or else they’re a squish or a DINO. It’s a pattern of laying out a maximalist position which constantly changes, and setting that new position as the baseline for heresy.
There’s an internet truism called Cleek’s Law. It says “Today’s conservatism is the opposite of what liberals want today, updated daily.”
And THIS is what I think is behind the cognitive dissonance at play here. What a lot of people want is the opposite of what their perceived enemies want today, updated daily. Bernie will give them that.