Sanders did not “almost beat” Clinton in 2016. That was a media horse race story that was flogged despite Clinton always having more delegates, wire-to-wire. If journalists refuse to understand the flow of primaries, caucuses, etc, and instead insist the whole system is a vast mystery and “Anything Can Happen!!1!” then journalists aren’t worth respecting.
Hillary Clinton was always going to win the nomination. It wasn’t ever close.
I’m not a Bernie fan and I don’t think he should run, but I don’t think these allegations are by themselves disqualifying for him. He’s not the guy who did those acts. Ultimately, I think there’s a limit as to the amount of blame or responsibility one can ascribe to a boss for the actions of the subordinates. The issue with Bernie is an overall culture of misogyny in his 2016 campaign which may have enabled some to commit sexual harassment. I think his campaign’s encouragement of misogynistic rhetoric to attack HRC is more problematic. People are imperfect and even at the best run organizations there will be incidents of sexual harassment. The issue is whether leadership has taken appropriate actions to deal with it. The #metoo era is about transparency, scrutiny and letting the public determine the degree of opprobrium to level at organizations and people involved.
Bernie is facing the heat for his campaign’s excesses in 2016. He has still not faced any real scrutiny for hiring a campaign manager who was buddy buddy with two Russian agents, one of whom has been convicted, the other indicted, and both conspired to break US laws to hurt HRC’s campaign. It would be good for the country if he continued to face that heat. If Bernie himself is wilting under some rather mild scrutiny (which appears to be the concern of cultist supporters like De Moro), then perhaps he is not cut out for the job.
Completely agree. Not sure where Steve Peoples is getting the idea that Bernie “almost beat” Hillary, but it’s quite disappointing to read on TPM.
GOOD
We have actual Democrats running
We don’t need you Bernie
Did we mention you’re not a Democrat?
He’s the guy who chose the campaign officials who blew the complaints off.
Stop, Bernie. Just stop. The only, only thing you could accomplish is giving us another 4 years of Trump. Just go away. Today. Now.
Yes. That is something that people can weigh as a factor in determining his judgment. For me, that he hired Tad Devine and seemed oblivious to the Russian interference campaign is more disqualifying than this. Both are a product of a similar problem of judgment and management.
Forget it, Jake. It’s (AP).
“If he doesn’t run, there’s a massive void in this country,” said
RoseAnn DeMoro, an activist and former executive director of the
National Nurses United union, who reiterated her support for Sanders.
“The passion in that base goes away. That base evaporates. It doesn’t go
to someone else. There would be a void so deep it would go to
(President Donald) Trump, I suspect.”
Filthy BernieOrBust trash threatening Democrats to vote for that saboteur
We learned from 2016 unlike them
They NEED our votes.
Bernie will have to EARN it
Fake allies.
We haven’t forgotten.
No DWS, no superdelegates and no Clinton yet Bernie still won’t win the nomination IF he chooses to run. I wonder if they’ll still can it “rigged” after being rejected yet again.
AnyoneButBernie2020
As to DeMoro’s comment, after Bernie decided to make his own statement post-Trump address, I started to take more credibly the notion that he might run 3rd party. If he were to run 3rd party, I think he’d hurt Trump as much or a bit more than he’d hurt Democrats. The soft Bernie supporter will vote for the Democratic nominee. We saw all through 2018 where people who voted for Berner candidates in the primaries voted for the ultimate winner in the general. The hard core Bernie supporters are generally disaffected whites. Trump’s primary appeal is to disaffected whites.
I generally agree, with one pretty big exception.
Correct.
And also correct.
But those two things are not unrelated. In fact, they are deeply intertwined. Its kind of like saying, Trump wasn’t actually in the July Trump Towers meeting with the Russians, but there was a culture of colluding with Russians…but we can’t really hold Donald responsible because he wasn’t in that one meeting.
I definitely agree with this, and is one of the chief criticisms I have of Bernie. He has a pretty lengthy track record of just brushing aside any and all criticisms of his behavior, past and present. And he largely got away with it in 2016,. because the Clinton campaign refused to drop oppo research on him or push to make him be held accountable.
Bernie doesn’t like being criticized, and unfortunately for him, that’s a big part of this particular job.
I don’t disagree with your point. I personally find his hiring of Tad Devine and his seeming obliviousness to Russian interference more disqualifying than this stuff. I think he was further removed from these incidents than he was from Russian interference and I think the latter has a lot more bearing on the actual job.
I have been concerned about him running 3rd party for quite some time. And I think there is a very good chance he will, simply because a crowded field hurts his chances severely…not only because others will be espousing the same or similar political philosophy, but because there will be plenty of people to drop oppo research on him. It will be a signficantly harder fight, and at this point in his life, he isn’t going to want to deal with the consequences (no more adulation) of being washed out early in the campaign.
A 3rd party run avoids all of that, and allows him to continue to keep his spot light on him and him alone.
I think he’d be ignored more if he ran 3rd party. Real power exists through the institutions of the Democratic Party. He knows that. He also knows how to be a team player when he wants to be. I’ve seen him do it many times in the Senate. This is about ego and grift. If he runs 3rd party, it will be because he wants to write a book, get on the lecture circuit, and milk his popularity a bit more. If he wants to be a real leader he will either run a respectful campaign that improves the opinion of mainline Democrats of him or he’ll not run and be a solid party supporter and one who lends leadership in areas where he can.
That’s my bet out of the choices offered. He is at that point where legacy is starting to matter a lot more to him. And I can definitely see how a legacy as being the “founder” of a new 3rd party movement is much more appealing than going down as a two time loser in Presidential primaries.
Bah. This is nothing but a mountain-out-of-a-molehill smear piece. And the comments regarding Sanders’ treatment of the Russian interference thing are just ludicrous.
If his wife is making the decision, I agree. She seems to be an aggrieved, self-absorbed figure. If left to Bernie alone, I think he’ll stay working with the party in his Bernie sort of way.
That’s whistling past the graveyard thinking.
Gillibrand is heading to Iowa, so its a pretty safe bet she will be tossing her hat into the ring. You don’t think she would let an situation like what is developing around Bernie to just go quietly by, do you? I certainly don’t. Its a core part of her basic branding now.
Nor is she going to be the only woman running. Warren is already running, Harris isn’t too far behind. Klobuchar is very likely to join them. The “Bernie bro” culture that Sanders surrounded himself with in 2016 will be a HUGE anchor on any campaign in 2020.
Factor in that Bernie will be facing a crowded field, where people have many more choices of who to support, and it combines into a very serious issue for him.