In 2016, the Republican party nominated Donald Trump because so many candidates split the “I’m not an overt racist” vote, allowing him to win all the electoral votes in the GOP winner-take-all system with well below 50% in each state. Then, because “Just because I’m not an overt racist, doesn’t mean I am not a racist” is part of the party platform, they GOP fell in line behind their candidate and voted him in even as they decried his statements.

Why people would think that the Democrats were going to fall for that is anyone’s guess, but someone is trying:

x WATCH: Bernie Sanders says his campaign would have won more states if the field was still crowded. #MTP #IfItsSunday@BernieSanders: Ã¢ÂÂThe establishment put a great deal of pressure on Pete Buttigieg, on Amy Klobuchar.Ã¢ÂÂ pic.twitter.com/jaioOLLNU8 — Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 8, 2020

“The establishment put a great deal of pressure on Pete Buttigieg, on Amy Klobuchar, who ran really agressive campaigns...If they had not withdrawn from the race before Super Tuesday, … I suspect we would have won in Minnesota, we would have won in Maine, we would have won in Massachusetts.” Why would Pete and Amy’s staying in have helped Bernie? Because he needed the rest of the field divided.

And don’t be fooled, this isn’t a new thing:

x When you haven't thought your cunning plan all the way through. pic.twitter.com/wtAWz3Z6Uo — jfpo (@jfpo214) March 6, 2020

He was hoping the rest of the field would be divided, and he could get to the convention not with an actual majority, but with the largest block. “Oh, but that’s how you can win.” Yes, it’s how you can win. But he was hoping to win by splitting core groups he hadn’t tried to win. That’s not how you’re going to win voters in the Democratic party. It’s definitely not how you’re going to win the African American vote.

And the phrase “the establishment”? It’s Sander’s version of “deep state.” And a whole lot of people, mainly African Americans, when they heard him deriding the establishment, they heard him attacking them, and heard him attacking those help them:

x All we have is the institutions, organizations and relationships we built. That's why politicians come to black churches in the south. That's why a lot of activists down here are also educators and religious leaders. It's why Dem. Party meetings take place in church basements. — michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) March 6, 2020

x Admittedly, that comes with cynicism.

Here is an example:



1 woman told me that Bernie is too "obsessed" with M4A. She believes he'll sell anything out to get it done. Then she shocked the f*ck out of me by explaining something I had never heard of. — michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) March 6, 2020

x She doesn't think pharmeceutical companies and insurance lobbyists would ever let it happen.



"I want to eat anything I want withoutt gaining weight. But it won't happen. The way he [Bernie] has it, it will never happen. Ever. I like the public option more." — michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) March 6, 2020

x And many of them have the same criticism of Bernie Sanders:



"He ain't no Democrat."



And they're right. He has not only criticized the party (God knows I have) but he has denigrated "the establishment" and distanced himself from people like Jim Clyburn and John Lewis. — michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) March 6, 2020

x They know Bernie's record. They know about his history. They also know about unfulfilled promises. It's not that they trust Biden more than they trust Bernie Ã¢ÂÂA lot of them will NEVER be convinced to trust one white man over another white man. — michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) March 6, 2020

x A lot of them don't even care about Biden's relationship with Obama, as some people claim. He has another 40-year relationship that is more important:



That D" beside his name.



To them, that's the "establishment" they trust.



They all they got — michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) March 6, 2020

“This is quite literally ‘the establishment’ for us.”

There are whole other threads that could be spent on these tweets, but the takeaway here is that for a lot of people the Democratic party is not the people in Congress, it’s the people down the street. It’s local, as we all keep pushing. And for the national party, it’s the foundation. And as they go, so does the country. And you’re not going to win if you think you can divide the party.