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Given that the system is heavily skewed toward incumbency, your comment is a bit disingenuous. We both know that the DNC intended Biden to run. He had the advantage of thier coffers, thier PR machine, and the support of their leadership. Implying that the playing field was at all fair ignores reality.
I do agree, though, that Biden's many faults are his own. His most recent failure, support for ethnic cleansing and denial of aid to refugees, should have made him unelectable by the party that claims to be pro-human rights... but here we are, with him as the best of two terrible candidates.
Also, any possible challengers to Biden had to know that anybody they pissed off by doing that would remember in 2026, 2028, etc., and that they should just "wait their turn" instead
Shades of Clinton's "Russian plant" slander v. Gabbard, perhaps?
It's not disingenuous at all. If you don't want Biden to run, work to primary him. That's how it works. The fact that almost no candidates even tried to primary him shows that people like the person I responded to didn't want to actually do the hard work it takes. They just waited until the inevitable and then complained. So I am going to point that out when they bitch about Biden like this. If they had at least tried, there was at least a chance Biden wouldn't be the nominee. They didn't try.
It shows nothing of the sort.
There was approximately a zero percent chance, statistically, that the superdelegates would vote for anyone beyond Biden. There was nearly no chance that a challenger would have been received with anything but contempt. This "logic" is the same logic both Reps and Dems use to gaslight third party challengers, too. "If you try real hard you can overcome our utter control of the debates and privileged position to win! We promise!"
Alternately, there WAS a choice and the vast majority of Democrats are okay with a candidate who is 100% okay cutting off aid to the victims of ethnic cleansing. I prefer to hope that that isn't the case.
And that's why President Hillary Clinton won her 2008 primary
I still say that if you don't work for change and just complain after the possibility of change has passed, you're being ridiculous.
Bernie was willing to run despite the DNC establishment. He knew what he was going up against. He did it more than once even. Maybe he thinks that if you don't at least make an effort to change things and just complain about them afterward, you're being ridiculous too?
And he was vilified and his supporters were blamed for Clinton's loss, as I recall. The party elite are on record noting that they would be comfortable bypassing the party's choice. There was no real chance that Sanders would get the nomination. Regardless, your assumption that anyone displeased with Biden just sat on their hands is... somewhat ridicluous. Given that they were going up against one of the most powerful political machines in the world, the chance of them making a dent in the establishment, even if they were activists full-time, would be low.
And if you think running within the party is difficult, hoo boy. You don't even want to talk about the anti-democratic fuckery that the GOP and DNC collude to impose on third part hopefuls.
I know it's difficult. And I know not doing it is very easy.
Maybe the difficult thing is necessary, if for no other reason than to try to push the eventual primary winner to the left.
I really do not understand this utter defeatist attitude that primaries are pointless.
This smells an awful lot like the "poor people just need to try harder" nonsense conservatives hit people with when low income people complain about being low income.
I have campaigned for alternate candidates for many years. Unfortunately, it's a battle that I'm meant to lose, every time. Contrast with the average party line voter, whose effort is often showing up for an hour to vote as they're told.
The primary system is an incredibly undimocratic process. I live in West Virginia. The primary is almost always decided by the time it gets to my state. Everyone else has simply dropped out. Does my vote not matter?
How do you suggest a candidate be chosen?
A one day primary in which all candidates go against each other and everyone votes on a national voting day. We also completely get rid of the super delegate system and make it raw popular vote.