# Bernie Sanders makes it official. How far will he go in 2020? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 19, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821 "2019-02-19T13:11:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/81 "2019-02-20T20:11:14Z")
Did you say you want some more? Well, here’s some more. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-packs-schedule-with-campaign-stops-for-hillary-clinton-1475928002](https://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-packs-schedule-with-campaign-stops-for-hillary-clinton-1475928002) The headline says it all, but you’ll need a WSJ subscription to actually read the story (damn capitalists). ABC News:[Bernie Sanders goes “all in” for Hillary Clinton.](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-eye-post-election-goals/story?id=43300037) And here’s one from [USA Today.](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/09/30/bernie-sanders-step-up-campaign-schedule-hillary-clinton/91342564/) Anyone who was paying attention knows that Sanders spent the fall of 2016 campaigning his ass off for Clinton. I’m not sure why you think people will be fooled by an assertion that’s so easy to fact check. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/82 "2019-02-20T20:14:20Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > An opinion piece? Really? Maybe you should have been following the news in 2016 instead. > > When Sanders signs the letter, affirming that he considers himself a member of and supports the party whose adulation he demands, and its policies and candidates, do please let us know. You do know why that rule was enacted, don’t you? I have no idea why that rule was adopted. Every news story I have ever seen about it is careful to clarify in the first few paragraphs that the DNC claims it _wasn’t_ directed at Bernie, which leaves me mystified as to what the reason for it might be. But now that he has declared his candidacy officially, I’m sure the DNC will now step in to demand that he sign such a letter. Do please let us know when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/83 "2019-02-20T21:00:42Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > You want a cite for him \*not \*doing something? Maybe you could do your own damn homework and show where he _has_. Your assertion is he continued to damage her. Thats doing something, not “Not doing something” You also implied its common knowledge. But the first refuge of the biased is “Do your own damn homework”, so I’m not surprised. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/84 "2019-02-20T21:03:02Z")
:rolleyes: Did he or did he not continue to campaign, continuing to attack the party’s (not his party’s) nominee well after the issue was decided? Yes, he did. Did that damage her chances in November? Of fucking course. Water is wet, too. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/85 "2019-02-20T21:13:56Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#): > > Bernie is being way under-estimated in this thread. 538’s take on him is ‘high floor, low ceiling.’ So it’s a question of whether getting 15-20% in most primaries through Super Tuesday leaves him among the contenders, or effectively weeds him out. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/86 "2019-02-20T21:38:30Z")
Don’t you think the whole shebang will be decided that day? Hint: California. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/87 "2019-02-20T21:38:42Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > 538’s take on him is ‘high floor, low ceiling.’ So it’s a question of whether getting 15-20% in most primaries through Super Tuesday leaves him among the contenders, or effectively weeds him out. This seems right to me. I suspect his most plausible route to the nomination would look something like Trump’s in 2016, where he has only a minority of the vote but his supporters are unshakable, and thus he wins or finishes second repeatedly over a divided field that collectively gets more votes than him but never coalesces around a single opponent. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/88 "2019-02-20T22:02:57Z")
> [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](#): > > This seems right to me. I suspect his most plausible route to the nomination would look something like Trump’s in 2016, where he has only a minority of the vote but his supporters are unshakable, and thus he wins or finishes second repeatedly over a divided field that collectively gets more votes than him but never coalesces around a single opponent. You can’t compare the Dem v Rep primaries’ pathways to victory. The Dems are all proportional and the bulk of Reps are winner take all. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/89 "2019-02-20T22:05:15Z")
> [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](#): > > This seems right to me. I suspect his most plausible route to the nomination would look something like Trump’s in 2016, where he has only a minority of the vote but his supporters are unshakable, and thus he wins or finishes second repeatedly over a divided field that collectively gets more votes than him but never coalesces around a single opponent. Fortunately, though, the Democratic primaries are run differently and more, well, democratically, than the Republican ones. Delegates are allotted proportionally rather than winner-take-all, so if you get 30% of the votes, even if you come in first in every State, you’re not going to get more than about 30% of the delegates. If nobody wins a majority, it will have to be hashed out at the convention. ETA: or, what CarnalK said. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/90 "2019-02-20T22:12:48Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > Fortunately, though, the Democratic primaries are run differently and more, well, democratically, than the Republican ones. Delegates are allotted proportionally rather than winner-take-all, so if you get 30% of the votes, even if you come in first in every State, you’re not going to get more than about 30% of the delegates. If nobody wins a majority, it will have to be hashed out at the convention. > > ETA: or, what CarnalK said. I get that, but if he finishes first in every state then he’s gonna be the nominee even without a pure delegate majority walking into the convention. There are clearly major differences between the Democratic and Republican primary approaches, but I don’t really think that party unity could survive disregarding consistent victories like that. Whether Bernie can accomplish that sort of feat at the end of the day, I have my doubts, but it could happen I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/91 "2019-02-20T22:28:23Z")
Sanders is anti-GMO and anti-nuclear power, which means he is anti-science. He needs to go away. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/92 "2019-02-20T22:58:57Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Sanders is anti-GMO and anti-nuclear power, which means he is anti-science. He needs to go away. The Sanders vitriol in these quarters is Ben Shapiro level. Except more hateful ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/93 "2019-02-20T23:12:50Z")
Well, I’d vote for Bernie. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/94 "2019-02-20T23:25:47Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > With all due respect, the Democratic Party is or at least ought not be in the business of nominating candidates with a view towards who can appeal towards lifelong Republicans the most. Who do you intend on voting for in a Sanders vs. Trump scenario?. Trump–and I’ll work to see him elected through volunteer work and donations if that can in any way hurt Bernie’s campaign. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/95 "2019-02-20T23:30:56Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Trump–and I’ll work to see him elected through volunteer work and donations if that can in any way hurt Bernie’s campaign. It’s very sad that you feel this way. Bernie’s northern-European/Canadian-style socialism is a much, much lesser threat to America than the promotion of hate and white supremacism that Trump represents. The latter has always been, and still is, by far the greatest threat to America and Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/96 "2019-02-21T00:01:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I will continue to lay at Bernie’s feet the whole conspiracy narrative that he decided to borrow from Trump to say that things were rigged against him. To this day, people keep repeating that nonsense as truth. He deliberately created a division that made it more difficult for his followers to turn around and vote for Clinton should she win, when he knew he was a long shot the entire time. > > He also didn’t drop out when he had no mathematical chance of winning, making sure to hold onto that divide up until time. These are specific criticisms of Sanders: that he supported the idea that the election had been rigged by the DNC against him, and that he stayed in the race after it was clear he had no mathematical chance of winning. On the “rigged” accusation: though he later did make appearances and tweet in support of Clinton, it’s also true that when the topic of the DNC rigging things against him came up (in connection with accusations by Donna Brazile that it was rigged), he did NOT say it wasn’t true: > [@](#): > > ANDERSON COOPER, CNN:… the agreement the DNC had with the Clinton campaign. Senator Warren said it was proof the primary process was rigged. Donna Brazile, who was the source of this story now says it wasn’t rigged. Let me ask you, was – in your opinion, was it rigged? > > SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Look, Donna Brazile showed an enormous amount of courage in describing the truth as she saw it when she came into the leadership of the DNC. I don’t think there’s any sane human being who doesn’t believe that my campaign was taking on the entire establishment including the DNC. > > But, Anderson, to be very honest with you – my job, our job is to go forward, is do everything we can to defeat this right wing agenda of the Republican Party in the Trump administration, not to look backwards. [https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/11/08/sanders\_on\_brazile\_\_dnc\_its\_time\_to\_go\_forward\_not\_to\_look\_backwards.html](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/11/08/sanders_on_brazile__dnc_its_time_to_go_forward_not_to_look_backwards.html) So despite whatever else he may have said or done later, Sanders had a clear opportunity to say ‘no, the election was not rigged against me’----and he chose not to take it. It’s fair to criticize him for that choice. > [@Deeg](#): > > Sanders is anti-GMO and anti-nuclear power, which means he is anti-science. He needs to go away. Two more specific charges against Sanders. Note that these are not personal insults—they are observations about positions Sanders holds. > [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > The Sanders vitriol in these quarters is Ben Shapiro level. Except more hateful And those specific observations are here labeled “vitriol.” That’s unjustified. It violates the definition of “vitriol.” …For the next twenty-one months, feelings are going to run high. I hope we can all remember that forces hoping to keep Trump and Trumpism in power will be doing everything possible to get us to do things such as label specific observations about policy positions as “vitriol” and worse. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we thwarted those efforts? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/97 "2019-02-21T00:24:48Z")
My 19yo son contributed $27 within minutes of Bernie’s announcement, and agreed to automatically contribute $6.60 a month (suggested by the site—presumably an A/B tested ask based on his being a teenage college student?). I have several FB friends who gave a lot more. They held back from Warren, and her money has come in at a relative trickle. I think Bernie has some juice. I want almost anyone else as nominee, but I have to acknowledge him as a formidable contender. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/98 "2019-02-21T00:38:04Z")
People who actively want Bernie Sanders to be the Democratic nominee- Do you think he can beat Trump when it’s all on the table? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/99 "2019-02-21T00:46:32Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > People who actively want Bernie Sanders to be the Democratic nominee- > Do you think he can beat Trump when it’s all on the table? Yes, he has the best chance of beating Trump among the major Democratic candidates along with Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821/100 "2019-02-21T00:48:03Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > :rolleyes: Did he or did he not continue to campaign, continuing to attack the party’s (not his party’s) nominee well after the issue was decided? Yes, he did. Did that damage her chances in November? Of fucking course. So just like Hillary Clinton in 2008. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-makes-it-official-how-far-will-he-go-in-2020/829821.md?page=6)