Discussion for article #238109
And in New Hampshire heās almost even with Clintonā¦and last night he had 10,000 people show up for his latest rally- they had to move it to a stadiumā¦which was filled to the rafters with people.
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Is Hillary going to get āObama-edā again?
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No. They learned their lesson with their (insanely unstrategic) response to Obama in '08āe.g., ātell Bill to shut the f&ck up about any primary challengersā. What HRCās people have been doing is treating Bernie as a ārespected voice in the public discourseā and thus avoiding alienating voters for the general. If they continue to do thatāto strategically take the high roadāBernie can only help HRC by providing useful (and heartfelt) cover to her left.
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The people most excited about Bernmentum seem to be the GOP and the horse-race punditocracy. Hopefully the Democratic base will have its feel good moment with Bernie and then come to their senses.
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The media just wants something to talk about. Most of us like what Bernie talks about. Most of us also know that Bernie is unelectable in a general. Heāll be good for the debates in articulating parts of the Democratic Partyās platform that makes the activist base very happy and sheāll adopt a good bit of it for the general.
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This
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Well said.
Sanders has much to add to the debate. He is not a viable presidential candidateā¦ partly because he has little focus on minority issues so critical to the modern Democratic coalition. But that is also why he is likely to peak in the very white Iowa and NH contests.
I frankly doubt that Sanders has any real expectation of winning the nomination. I donāt think thatās why heās in. He wants to build a grass-roots organization for the issues he cares about. He keeps saying itās not about him or Hillaryā¦ and I think he largely means that. Itās about getting the issues into the dialogue and keeping them there.
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And look at all the minorities that were in the stadiumā¦oh, wait, never mind.
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If Bernie could gain a tractor in Iowa heād be on to something.
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Yeah, Madison is such an ethnic townā¦
No
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Wholeheartedly agree. Iāll vote for Bernie in the primary and (assuming things go as I anticipate) HRC in the general, and feel very solid about both votes.
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Madison, Wisconsin is not exactly a town known for having a lot of diversity.
You mean like Poverty; the never-ending cycle of police militarization, police violence and the targeting of minorities by the police; the death penalty, which has been disproportionately used against racial minorities; expansion of worker visa programs so that workers in many industries donāt have to come here illegally? You mean those issues? Because Sanders has been pushing to end poverty; has opposed the militarization of the police, the increase in police violence and the police targeting of minorities and has been working to expand the worker visa programs with Senator Leahy.
Iām not sure what minority issues you think heās lacking just because he doesnāt do photo ops with Beyonce. So far, I think heās been pretty clear about wanting to address poverty- which hits minorities far more than it hits white Americans, reign in the racism in the police forces, etc. Not to mention the fact that he was the first Presidential candidate to condemn the terrorist attack in Charleston using that term. I believe he may have been the only one to do so.
I know that Sanders wants to address the systemic problems in our country and those donāt tend to show up as the major issues according to the media, but they really are.
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I just wish there were enough people who self identify as āvery liberalā in Madison to have delivered on that Scott Walker recall.
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You seem to forget that Sanders is pulling down huge crowds- bigger than any of the other candidates. So I wouldnāt be so certain about this. In fact, the media and the GOP have been largely ignoring Sanders while they focus on Clinton.
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I suspect that had more to do with other issues than just not enough people identifying as āvery liberalā such as voter fatigue.
Photo-ops with Beyonce? Do you actually think thatās how anyone who fails to see Bernie as the sole savior judges racial issues? Try to accept that people can fail to worship Bernie like you do and still not be complete idiots. Sanders rarely discusses issues of race. Thatās reality. His tone deafness on gun control after Charleston didnāt impress me, even as he called it terrorism. (So did Hillary, incidentally.)
I get that you adore Sanders, and that you think he can and should be the nominee. Frankly, all I really care about is that you and others who agree with you donāt get into an āif it isnāt Bernie I wonāt voteā thing if ā as remains extremely likely ā he isnāt the nominee.
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In retrospect it was probably a mistake to have attempted the recall at all. Scott Walker puts surviving that recall at the top of his resume as an example of how he can win against liberals.
Unless Vermont changes from no party registration to party registration, Bernie canāt be on the primary ballot in NH----which requires party registration in order to be listed on the ballot.
Since Bernie isnāt a registered Democrat, heās got a big problem in NH.
And itās good to remember that in both parties, the committed primary voters are either to the right or to the left of the main cadre of party voters.
So while itās great that Bernie has support, itās not translatable to general election victory.
Same holds true for the majority of the current poll leaders in the GOP.
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