{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "Could you elaborate on the Bernie Sanders = Eugene McCarthy post?", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/123429017668/", "html": "<div class=\"question\"><strong>Anonymous</strong> asked: Could you elaborate on the Bernie Sanders = Eugene McCarthy post?</div>\n<p>Eugene McCarthy was a candidate in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary who drew a lot of youth support by challenging an &ldquo;inevitable&rdquo; establishment candidate from a boldly left position.</p><p>\n\nThe election of a relatively young and tbh naive Democratic \u201cculture hero\u201d candidate 8 years earlier had raised hopes and even though the party had racked up some significant accomplishments since then, expanding the welfare state and drawing energy from a grassroots civil rights movement, this had more radicalized than satisfied the young activist base and they were looking for a candidate offering a more full-throated leftism, particularly in rejecting war and entanglement with the business establishment.</p>\n\n<p>When it became clear that party insiders were actively trying, with ultimate success, to nominate anyone else for (ultimately futile) reasons of \u201celectability\u201d and interest-group logrolling clientelism, this caused significant disillusionment and further radicalization.</p>"}