Watching elements of the Democratic Party establishment respond to insurgencies is fascinating.

After Senator Bernie Sanders won several early contests in the 2020 presidential nominating process, the establishment panicked. In 2016, Sanders had almost beaten their favourite, Hillary Clinton, before they put their thumb on the scale, providing the Clinton campaign with a questionable infusion of cash and mobilising hundreds of "superdelegates" to give Clinton the appearance of a lead in the primaries.

Despite beating back the Sanders insurgency in 2016, here he was again in 2020, winning against their favoured candidate, former Vice President Joseph Biden. After Sanders' early wins, an anti-Sanders television advertising campaign was launched, making arguments that "Sanders was too old", that "Sanders' socialist views were too radical", and that "with Sanders at the top of the Democratic ticket, Democrats would lose down-ballot races".

These ads represented the party's talking points. On television talk shows and in newspaper commentaries, these themes—Sanders is too old, too radical, and will cost Democrats elections—were repeated over and........

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