Good morning, Eric Levitz joins the Majority Report to discuss his essay in New York, “The Bernie vs. Warren Debate We Need,” and provide some clarity to the intra-left “Bernie or Warren” discourse. Sam and Levitz begin their conversation exploring the idea that “the American left’s bark is louder than its bite.” The left has helped shift the country’s political discussion in the past several years and has gotten the ear of mainstream political elites and media, but it does not have the institutional power held by centrist Democrats like Schumer, Manchin, and Tester. Levitz argues that there’s a gulf between the elite media discourse (which is young and left) and institutional power (which is old and rural) in terms of their desired goals and deliverable actions. Shifting gears, Sam and Levitz discuss the apparent differences between Sanders and Warren. For Levitz, it’s not apparent that Sanders would stretch executive power more than Warren. The distinction worth making is that the two progressive frontrunners will push progressive policies through executive action more so than the leading centrist candidate Joe Biden. Sam also explains the political stakes of a Bernie Sanders presidency, and its commitment to a principled policy like Medicare for All. Calling for a vote on real progressive policy will draw more apparent distinctions within the Democratic party. Sam and Levitz conclude their conversation considering what constitutes the Democratic party now and what it would take to build a broader coalition of Democratic voters moving beyond 2020.
And in the Fun Half: we have the president of Finland ask him a question, Trump would investigate the Bidens if he were Zelensky, Trump has decided his foreign policy actions in the Ukraine are now perfectly lawful, Corey Lewandowski is drunk on Fox Business News, the Blaze’s Dave Rubin defends Jordan Peterson’s enforced monogamy, the courtroom scenes from the Amber Guyger sentencing, the Ghost of Retroactively Classified documents calls from San Antonio, Ken Langone thinks Bernie Sanders wants to shoot him, Beto goes after Mayor Pete, but Yang is now the premier skater in the Democratic field, plus your calls and IMs!
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