Luke Savage is the author of The Dead Center: Reflections on Liberalism and Democracy After the End of History and a writer on Substack.
With a billionaire onstage and every candidate but Bernie Sanders open to unelected and unaccountable superdelegates choosing the nominee, last night’s debate showcased clearly the choice facing Democrats: rule by the majority or rule by plutocratic elites.
Remember when Bernie Sanders supporters went berserk and “threw chairs” at the 2016 Nevada Democratic convention? The widely reported incident never happened — but the originator of that myth will be co-moderating tonight’s debate.
Bernie Sanders’s victory in New Hampshire served a warning to the forces of the status quo in the Democratic Party: the era of empty personality politics is coming to a close.
Joe Biden loves to insult skeptical voters and suggest that they go vote for somebody else — all while telling Wall Street donors how badly he needs their support. It’s the Democratic Party establishment’s strategy in a nutshell.
At last night’s New Hampshire debate, Pete Buttigieg said he was courting billionaires to be inclusive. It’s just the latest grotesque rhetorical gesture from Mayor Pete.
Despite a fierce and well-funded campaign by special interests, a strong majority of Iowa Democrats support a single-payer, Medicare for All system.
Donald Trump’s 2020 State of the Union was, unsurprisingly, depraved. But the speech showcased the kind of bloodthirsty rhetoric we can expect from his reelection campaign in the fall — rhetoric that a weak-tea centrist liberal candidate won't be able to defeat.
“Electability” is the public rallying cry of the Stop Bernie campaign. But look a little closer, and the real issue becomes clear: the establishment fears having a democratic socialist in the White House.
If the establishment got this nervous about Donald Trump in 2016, then imagine how much they'll meltdown with the rise of democratic-socialist Bernie Sanders in 2020.
Pundits love to narrate progressive politics as a story of “dreamers” like Bernie Sanders versus “realists” who understand the political constraints they face. They may be right about those roles — but they’ve got the casting backward. Sanders is the realist in this election.
In an absurd interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Hillary Clinton — one of the least popular politicians in modern memory — trashes Bernie Sanders, one of the most popular. Yet again, Clinton has showcased the elitism and cluelessness that cost her the 2016 election.
Donald Trump’s escalating attacks on Bernie Sanders show that he’s starting to realize something that still escapes most pundits: Sanders would be his toughest opponent to beat in November.
Listening to Joe Biden at last night’s Democratic debate, you would’ve thought he was a staunch antiwar activist in the lead-up to the Iraq war. But don’t let Biden rewrite history: he was one of the invasion’s biggest backers.
Mainstream pundits have recently realized what the rest of us have known all along: Bernie Sanders could actually win this thing. Don’t be surprised that every institution invested in the status quo will soon do everything possible to prevent both a Bernie Sanders nomination and a general election victory.
The much mythologized Republican resistance to Donald Trump is, and has always been, a media creation. Its only purpose is to perpetuate Beltway fairy tales of American exceptionalism and high-minded bipartisanship.
Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign isn’t just an obnoxious distraction — it's a case study for the danger that billionaires pose to democracy.
To make the case against socialism, David Brooks reached into his timeworn bag of anti-radical clichés: humanity is too flawed, bureaucrats can’t get anything right, and the market’s efficiency is unmatched. Has he paid any attention to the last 30 years of neoliberalism?
Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar has been crowned by mainstream pundits as a Highly Electable Candidate. There’s only one problem — people hate her platform and no one wants to vote for her.
Every time you hear a Democratic politician bashing Medicare for All, just remember: health insurance hacks are directly supplying politicians with anti-single-payer talking points so they can protect their enormous profits.
Barack Obama is using his post-presidency to attack the Left and protect the status quo. The historical myth believed by so many liberals that Obama was a progressive leader who was hemmed in by the presidency's political constraints is collapsing fast.