[dark_crystal]

Since the debates i feel i could do a 180 from my position last year and declare that we do need to split the party into liberals vs. progressives.

Today I really felt like the progressives should not have been at these debates. I do not feel like progressives are dragging centrists to the left, and i do feel like sharing the stage with centrists is forcing progressives to leave a lot unsaid.

They just should not be competing for the same base of voters, and i feel like the real differences between the two wings are obscured when they try to share any platform.

Put Gabbard, Yang, Williamson, and Bernie (etc?) on one stage and the rest of them(?) on another stage and let the winners debate each other.

Centrists gonna centrist. Let the centrists debate themselves and let the progressives debate themselves. Let the real values of each wing crystallize around their very best person and let them confront each other directly.

Let people compare apples to oranges instead of having ideologically polarized candidates try to pretend they're all apples.

Right now the two wings are trying to put on different sleeves of the same jacket. Voters need to see two separate jackets.

I have been listening to the audiobook of The Chapo Guide to Revolution and i just feel like progressives hate the democratic party too much to continue trying to do a makeover on it in good faith.

Progressives should be their own party. And 2020 might be a perfect storm year for that.

Trump IS very weak. Bernie is very strong. Progressives may not get anyone as strong as Bernie for decades-- someone that could peel off enough support from centrism-- given the opportunity to run directly against it-- to outnumber what remains of Trump's base. There may be no other candidate for awhile who has enough grassroots support to be able to viably turn their back on a major party.