CNN Politics asks, why is Bernie stuck in neutral?: Why is Bernie Sanders stuck in neutral? | CNN Politics
One reason is Sanders “Medicare for all” plan which has not relation at all to what a real medicare for all plan would look like, and is some fucking expensive that it has poisoned the well for real healthcare reform.
I’m not a socialist.
Looking at the 09/23/2019 update, Warren now noses out Sanders 28-26 among Biden supporters. But “Pretty close” becomes an understatement. Among those supporting each of the three front-runners, the second-choice percents are: 28-26, 24-24, 29-28. (Among Harris and Buttigieg supporters, Warren is the strong 2nd-choice, 31-18 and 30-19 respectively, with Biden 3rd choice.)
Crossposting from the Warren thread:
Interesting numbers that illustrate Bernie’s ceiling, which has descended considerably since March. His unfavorables are the worst and the “willing to consider” the lowest.
IOW: he’s toast. Unlike other candidates, he can’t grow his numbers. He is a known quantity, and Democratic primary voters have finally grown weary of him. His time has passed.
Bernie plans to escalate campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire as top aides question strategy, sez CNN: Bernie Sanders plans to escalate campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire as top aides question strategy | CNN Politics
I know Bernie can’t directly control his supporters, but there’s just a sheer nastiness from many of them on social media that goes back to 2016. Many of us are just tired of it especially after getting the same thing from Trump over the years.
I went to see Chasten Buttigieg on Tuesday. There were some Warren supporters outside the venue and we all got along perfectly, vowing to support the other candidate should our preferred candidate not get the nomination.
Good point. And they make it clear that they don’t really like other Democrats—or really, don’t like Democrats at all, since Bernie is only nominally a Democrat to take advantage of the party machinery, and his fans like that about him. How can they be surprised that rank and file Democrats like me feel insulted by that contemptuousness? Not infrequently, you will even see it laid out explicitly as a game of chicken: “We won’t vote for the Democratic nominee unless it’s Bernie, so you better just nominate him if you want to win.” We are supposed to take kindly to that kind of extortion? I don’t think so.
Quite so.
Quite right. I remember Bernie’s 2016 campaign
Bernie: ‘The Democratic Party…’
Crowd: ‘Boo!!!’
I know the candidate can’t pick their supporters. But, one reason I really like Buttigieg is that his rules of the road are posted or painted in every campaign office across the country. And both his campaign twitter and the unofficial twitter pages frequently reference them.
He many not be able to directly control it, but I don’t even see any effort from him to dissuade it. He and Trump *both *are candidates of a cult of personality, and both used the same target for the Two Minutes Hate.
Yeah, Bernie could at least try.
I have never in my life met a Bernie supporter who didn’t plan on unconditionally supporting the Democratic candidate in the general election.
It’s sad to see the lies and slander being flung around in this thread. Obviously many of you would rather see Trump re-elected than have a Democrat you dislike win the nomination, despite your constant whining about “helping the Kremlin” whenever anyone says anything slightly negative about any other Democrat. I wish you would have enough respect for yourself and the board to keep this kind of stuff in the Pit, if you really feel like you must post it at all.
I was under the impression that we had agreed a few months back to keep these threads positive and not troll them by bashing the candidates or their supporters. It’s unfortunate that so many of you can’t resist the urge to form a circular firing squad.
I don’t mean to accuse anyone of deliberately lying. I’m sure there are some toxic Bernie supporters out there, and maybe you all just have the misfortune of being connected to them. But I know a whole lot of Bernie supporters both in real life and online, and I just don’t see the kind of behavior you’re describing. I would suggest not assuming that your personal social media feed presents an entirely accurate view of the world.
Also, now that I think about it, I do recall one or two friends of FB friends who said in 2016 that they wouldn’t vote for Hillary if she won the nomination (and got appropriately flamed for it). So I should have said “ALMOST never in my life…”
On to issues:
Peace Action, a respected activist group which hasn’t yet endorsed a candidate, has just released a report summarizing the foreign policy positions of the candidates. Well worth a read.
To summarize the Bernie report:
Even back when he was the Mayor of Burlington in the 1980s, he spoke out against US intervention in Central America.
OTOH, he did support the NATO intervention in Kosovo and voted for the Iraq War.
Where his 2016 campaign focused largely on domestic issues, Sanders in this campaign has talked more about foreign policy than any other major candidate, calling for international cooperation and opposing military intervention.
Sanders was one of the leaders of the successful effort to pass SJR 7, opposing American involvement in the Yemen war. Although Trump vetoed it, this was the first time Congress had ever passed a bill invoking the War Powers Act, a large stop toward Congress reasserting its Constitutional role of decision-making about war and peace.
He has consistently and strongly opposed any moves toward war with Iran.
He has consistently called for deep cuts in the military budget. On this issue his voting record is far superior to any other candidate who has served in Congress; he has voted for only 3 of 19 military spending bills since 2013. However, it has been pointed out that he seems more willing to support military spending if the spending will take place in Vermont.
Although he calls himself a “defender of Israel” and has forcefully opposed the BDS movement (while opposing unconstitutional efforts to criminalize their speech), he has also condemned Israeli human rights violations and said that the US needs to take a more even-handed approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
TLDR: If you like peace, you’ll love Bernie.
Thing Fish, my dude: the title of the thread is literally asking those of us who don’t support Bernie why we don’t. I know I am being completely honest in my ongoing series of answers to that question, and I believe other Bernie detractors are doing the same. You don’t like the answers you are getting, but that does not mean they aren’t legitimate and honest answers to the question.
I have said repeatedly that Sanders can’t pick his supporters, so it’s not been an attack on Sanders himself. But many of us have noted both in 2020 and 2016 threads on the SDMB the sheer nastiness of some of Sanders’ supporters. Rewatch the 2016 convention with speakers getting booed. Remember the delegate who pledged to be unfaithful should Hillary win.
I lost my first Chicago friend over Bernie Sanders. ‘I will NEVER vote for that corporate whore’ was the nicest thing he said about Hillary.
And, yes, I Dalej42 will vote and work for the 2020 Democratic nominee regardless of who it is.
Interesting - hadn’t heard of those before: https://go.peteforamerica.com/rules-of-the-road/
Fair point. I’d been trying to transition this to being the general Bernie thread, but that’s not really up to me. I guess I’ll have to start the “Positive Bernie Sanders News” thread.
But that animosity you’re seeing is exactly what I was talking about earlier when you opined about it being possible for Bernie to win a brokered convention. You don’t really get that with the other candidates. Too many loyal Dems think of Sanders as a carpetbagger who cost them the last election.