I mean, to be specific about the Chomsky references in the thread, the media class manufactured consent to the idea that Sanders literally had to be stopped. Did we all forget how every major news network was hoping Bloomberg being in the race was to stop Sanders? Then came the mountain of endorsements, including from people who put on fake accents and actually described Joe Biden as part of the problem of American politics.
It's probably a layered response.
- Media narrative that Sanders is an obstacle to be taken down (if you don't believe this is happening you haven't been following the brown shirt and literal Nazi battle victory comparisons being made to Sanders' victories)
- Poor campaigning on Sanders behalf with the south specifically
- The sea of endorsements that led to Biden winning states he literally didn't campaign in
- The unprecedented effort regarding the above at sudden drop outs helping make the push
It's a bit naive to say it's loljustvoters. What they consume and see plays a role. How many people jumped in for Joe "you know the thing" Biden after they saw reports of an Obama-ish approach to circle the wagons on Biden that probably wasn't even true? How do you think the youth should feel in this country, a society that has never worked in their behalf for one fucking day of their lives? We're lucky to see them come out at all with the frequent suffering and misery this country normalizes upon them. Enervation at a realistically hopeless future could lead to many people not caring when they're the ones that should the most.
Right now the country is clearly picking a candidate out of fear, not out of reason. Collectively, we welcome the misery of the early to middle 2010s where our concerns were about which of our children and friends would die due to rationing diabetes medicine or getting shot in schools instead of worrying about that and having a dictator in the White House. That's the honest push here, considering the candidate getting the momentum has promised literally nothing than a throwback clock to 2015 specifically, before Donald Trump won the nomination.