50 years of trained helplessness. You’ve seen every attempt at bucking the Democratic establishment fail and at some point must have come to the conclusion that trying can only ever cause harm. It’s an understandable cynicism given the circumstances you’ve been living through, but you’ve forgotten that circumstances change.

The problem with people like Zohran Mamdani, Graham Platner, and Omar Fateh is that they’re unknown and untested. Few will ever vote for someone with no experience. Well, no one that isn’t a republican or thinks like one anyway.

You’re projecting. You would not vote for someone with no experience because you have a conservative-style risk aversion. When the choice is between a known and unknown quantity - and the known quantity is proven to be corrupt and/or impotent - the unknown quantity is preferable. Zohran Mamdani’s primary victory is exemplary of this.

The people have on multiple occasions propped up great candidates who were then ratfucked by the Democratic establishment. When the Democratic party sees a candidate who inspires a groundswell of grassroots support - like Zohran Mamdani, Graham Platner, and Omar Fateh - they do everything in their power to keep them from winning.

The reason the DNC is propping up Gavin Newsom right now is to get out ahead of any potential populist candidate. They’re cultivating an image of Newsom as a fighter because they finally understood that’s what people want (took them long enough), but it’s all just WWE style kayfabe. The redistricting is the only kind of real fighting they’re willing to do. Hell, they’re happy to do it. Establishment types love a rigged game; makes it so they can focus on the process without having to worry about bad poll numbers. For the DNC, fighting means competing over how effectively they can rig the system in their favor, a race to the bottom. Once we reach it, no material difference will remain between the two parties.

Keep trying the same losing strategy, I’m sure it will work next time. But just barely, like when we elected a sundowning neocon disguised as a liberal without dementia.