2386 – The Path Forward For The Left w/ John Nichols

Happy Monday! Sam speaks with John Nichols, national affairs correspondent for The Nation, to discuss his recent interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders, and the paths forward he sees for the Left after the 2024 election. First, Emma runs through updates on the acquittal of Daniel Penny, the potential detaining of the United Healthcare CEO killer, the fall of Assad in Syria and the imperialist responses from Israel and the US, South Korean President Yoom, Trump’s pledge to pardon insurrectionists, and Trump’s developing cabinet, before parsing through Trump’s inhumane and unconstitutional plan to end birthright citizenship, and Democrats’ failure to prevent this threat. Then, John Nichols joins Sam as he dives right into his recent interview with Bernie Sanders, unpacking Bernie’s major takeaways from Democrats’ failure in the 2024 elections, from the need for a new way to communicate with a multi-racial, multi-ethnic working class to the imperative for Democrats to stand aside and let independent, working-class progressive candidates run without the burden of the party establishment weighing them down. After briefly expanding on the challenge of convincing the Democratic Party Brand to stop pushing the Democratic Party Brand, Nichols steps back to walk through the history of this tactic’s success on the left, playing a particularly prevalent role in bolstering FDR’s progressive coalition and the major progress they achieved. Next, John and Sam look to Bernie’s 2016 anti-oligarchy candidacy, exploring how Democrats’ failure to address that growing political inequality provided a path (twice) for Trump and the GOP (twice) to successfully stand as the party of money power and as anti-establishment, bolstered by the GOP’s messaging dominance (see: Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase), before looking deeper into the contemporary examples for Bernie’s model – namely himself and Angus King, two independents that, while outside of the party infrastructure, caucus (and vote) with Democrats. Wrapping up, Nichols and Sam look at the ongoing race for DNC chair, and the promising future of a Blue-Wall-led party – touching particularly on the success of DNC chair candidate Ben Wikler.

And in the Fun Half: Emma unpacks the potential capture of the United Healthcare CEO killer in Altoona, PA, and the wide-ranging coverage of the event, from the incensed and out-of-touch Ben Shapiro to the ever big-brained Bill Burr, with additional commentary from Joe from Illinois. Zack from Missouri unpacks the MAGA defense of Trump’s character, Brie from New York on their view of the View, and Jim Clyburn and Chip Roy come to the defense of Trump and his administration, respectively, plus, your calls and IMs!

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Check out John’s interview with Sen. Sanders here: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/bernie-sanders-working-class-candidates-challenge-both-parties/

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