Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign megathread

[Landslide Lyndon]

If his supporters will stop doing what they are doing, I will wish him well. Democrats must act united.

No, that's literally the opposite of the purpose of a party primary. Might as well abolish primaries altogether if no criticism of fellow candidates is allowed for fear of "disunity".

Truly amazing how many people (presumably mostly the younger types) think 2016 or 2020 thus far has been "nasty" or "divisive"; they must not remember what 2008 was like.

I have to agree here. Its so weird how people are treating criticism of any candidate as some kind of attack that cannot be allowed(weird enough, its coming more from the anti-Bernie crowd than the Pro-Bernie crowd). The whole point of a primary is for divisiveness so you can air out grievances and pick a candidate that the party can largely agree on. If a candidate cannot be fact-checked or criticized, whats the point of a Democratic Primary?

But do all the democratic banter, the cause of conflict, of division in democracy justify outright acting against the rest of the party like most of progressives does? Most of progressives doesn't seem to care about these things, they just like to whine and bitch about "Bernie would have won" or "corrupt Clintons", "corrupt Democratic Party". The priest forgets that he was a clerk. 

You've spent way too much time on the internet, my friend.

You post 20 messages per day.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Young and fresh-faced Beto O'Rourke will steal his shine!

O'Rourke's a ex-three term Congressman who's only qualification is that he made a race against Ted Cruz.

And Obama was a first term senator whose only qualification was beating Alan Keyes.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Young and fresh-faced Beto O'Rourke will steal his shine!

O'Rourke's a ex-three term Congressman who's only qualification is that he made a race against Ted Cruz.

And Obama was a first term senator whose only qualification was beating Alan Keyes.

Yeah, if you can't spot the difference between O'Rourke and Obama, then I don't know what to do.

And no, I do not mean their skin colour before someone decides to call me racist.

Please inform us.

Looking forward to all the BernieBros refusing to vote for some equally progressive dem when Bernie loses the primary.

That's because most of them aren't Democrats. They are extreme leftists whose only goal was to hijack the party and now that they have failed there is no reason for them to support the eventual nominee.

[Landslide Lyndon]

https://twitter.com/JediofGallifrey/status/1089291084000346112

Who is this guy and why should we care about his conspiracy theories?

[Landslide Lyndon]

Looking forward to all the BernieBros refusing to vote for some equally progressive dem when Bernie loses the primary.

Looking forward to all the establishment hacks flocking to the Howard Schultz/Michael Bloomberg independence ticket when Bernie Sanders crushes all comers in the Democratic primary.

Is that why he is at 16% with universal name rec, behind creepy uncle joe?

I always believe polls one calendar year before the voters head to the Iowa caucus, they're literally the most accurate

So you believe that Sanders will in the next year increase his name recognition and subsequently his numbers.
I don't know but there might a problem with that strategy.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Samders never even tried to make a convincing case for Clinton. He constantly repeated that he endorsed her only because Trump was much worse.
Not to mention that a few hours before election day he essentially  signaled to his voters that it's OK to vote for Trump by saying he doesn't believe that whoever votes for him is a racist.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Samders never even tried to make a convincing case for Clinton. He constantly repeated that he endorsed her only because Trump was much worse.
Not to mention that a few hours before election day he essentially  signaled to his voters that it's OK to vote for Trump by saying he doesn't believe that whoever votes for him is a racist.

That statement made me sick, I suspect Bernie really does bond with the racists who stormed the Trump rallies. He could never understand the struggles of POC as living in a lilly white state for over 40 something years. This twitter comment will come back to haunt him when Kamala and others start to unleash attacks on his campaign.

Clearly an SNCC organizer who fought for desegregation in Chicago has no idea about the struggles of minorities.

And Charlton Heston marched alongside MLK.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Finally, a candidate white affluent hipsters can relate to.

[Landslide Lyndon]

https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1097881486588444673

One sucker dies, ten are born.

[Landslide Lyndon]

That feeling when Bernie is going to be President and there's nothing shitlibs and the alt-right can do about it.

Lol good luck with that. Sanders will drop out after losing NH.

[Landslide Lyndon]

https://twitter.com/robillard/status/1099708185223577601?s=21

https://twitter.com/tomwatson/status/1099714854384996354

[Landslide Lyndon]

"Just sent out an email for people to be respectful during the campaign"

"Oh yeah, well you got the endorsement from the NRA and have a Stein voter as a co-chair. Nothing has changed."

Sensing a huge disconnect.

Actions speak louder than words.

[Landslide Lyndon]

"Just sent out an email for people to be respectful during the campaign"

"Oh yeah, well you got the endorsement from the NRA and have a Stein voter as a co-chair. Nothing has changed."

Sensing a huge disconnect.

Actions speak louder than words.

The actions in question have literally nothing to do with each other.

Yes they have. You can't talk about party unity and put a Stein voter, who constantly goes on TV to trash the party, as a co-chair of your campaign.

[Landslide Lyndon]

"Just sent out an email for people to be respectful during the campaign"

"Oh yeah, well you got the endorsement from the NRA and have a Stein voter as a co-chair. Nothing has changed."

Sensing a huge disconnect.

Actions speak louder than words.

The actions in question have literally nothing to do with each other.

Yes they have. You can't talk about party unity and put a Stein voter, who constantly goes on TV to trash the party, as a co-chair of your campaign.

Thats the connection? Thats what you are mad about? Geez, I completely forgot that voting for someone other than the Democrat completely excludes you from doing anything with the Democrats. Should we expel Rouda from the HoR for being a Republican in 2014?

Sanders sent an email out for his surrogates to be respectful to other contenders, which is a pretty FF move on his part. To then go around and say that Sanders is disingenuous because one of his co-chairs voted for the Greens in 2016 is both rather trivial and, well, disingenuous.
 

Turner not only hasn't regretted voting for Stein but she went repeatedly on CNN after last year's election and trashed Democratic leadership because according to her the results weren't good enough.
She is a troublemaker who fosters division and should be nowhere near a serious presidential campaign.

How dare someone pro-gun endorse Bernie.

LOL, as if Obama wasn't criticized when Farrakhan endorsed him.

[Landslide Lyndon]

The tax return thing is not a great look for Sanders, just like we can say that the DNA thing was bad for Warren.  It's okay for Sanders supporters to admit that.

Still clearly the two best candidates, just like Hillary's email thing and wall street speeches were not great but she was obviously still a million billion times better than Trump.

Only Warren has released any tax returns this cycle, so it's absurd to attack Bernie for not having released them yet.

He should have released them four years ago. If Harris or Booker were this secretive, you'd be calling now for them to be tarred and feathered.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Yeah they’re departure makes me even more likely to support Bernie now. Tad Devine is the one most responsible for the anti-Hillary animosity back in the Dem primary.

I think Jeff Weaver was/is the worst. And he still seems to have Sanders's ear. 

[Landslide Lyndon]

I bet a lot of people won't mention the "given a clean bill of health" part.

At least that's what his campaign is saying, they also said they'd be releasing his tax returns 'soon' for the past two years. The whole way they describe it sounds bizarre, seems more likely he had an elderly fall in the shower which is more damaging to reveal.

Hillary Clinton collapses and it's unacceptable to wonder about her health, yet when Bernie gets a cut and attends a conference afterwards, it must have been a terrible, secret, elderly health failure.

Whataboutism is strong in that one.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Some people are taking this way too seriously. No one cares who Bernie hires for his campaign

So I guess it's cool if Beto hires Steve Bannon as his campaign manager.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Or, maybe he understands better than the DNC how “swing voters” think, and that refusing to appear on Fox is a terrible look for Democrats, and doesn’t limit the power of Fox or dissuade viewers in any way. In fact, it could easily backfire. The DNC seems to have learned nothing from 2016, and seem like they would rather lose playing by the old rules than win by trying to modify their strategy.

Fox News viewers are the antithesis of swing voters. I remember a presidential exit poll a few years ago showed that Fox News viewers were the most loyal Republican voting bloc, more than conservatives or registered Republicans.
But if Sanders thinks he can sway these voters by talking about Wall Street and big banks, bless his heart.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Or, maybe he understands better than the DNC how “swing voters” think, and that refusing to appear on Fox is a terrible look for Democrats, and doesn’t limit the power of Fox or dissuade viewers in any way. In fact, it could easily backfire. The DNC seems to have learned nothing from 2016, and seem like they would rather lose playing by the old rules than win by trying to modify their strategy.

Fox News viewers are the antithesis of swing voters. I remember a presidential exit poll a few years ago showed that Fox News viewers were the most loyal Republican voting bloc, more than conservatives or registered Republicans.
But if Sanders thinks he can sway these voters by talking about Wall Street and big banks, bless his heart.

You're missing my point. I didn't say Fox viewers were swing voters. When "swing voters" see Democrats refusing to go on Fox, they they "wow, I guess Trump/the conservatives were right. Democrats are weak PC SJW triggered snowflakes that can't handle a difference of opinion. Trump is strong, I'll vote for him." Whereas if Sanders show up on Fox (this is not "promoting" the channel, and he's not the only Democrat to do so), they'll think "Bernie is authentic, and he'll talk to anyone. I'll vote for him!" Is that a rational or intelligent way to decide how to vote for someone? No, but that's how a lot of swing voters think, and the sooner Democrats realize this, the better.

How many times has Trump gone to MSNBC?
To CNN?
Nobody thinks the way you say. Everyone who isn't a die-hard Republican partisan knows for years now that Fox isn't a legitimate news channel but the propaganda arm of the Republican party.  

[Landslide Lyndon]

How many times has Trump gone to MSNBC?
To CNN?
Nobody thinks the way you say.

LOL, that's literally from four years ago. It's telling that you had to go back then (when Trump still hadn't labeled the media as "enemy of the people") to find something.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Uhh, yeah (though not 4 years ago), when he was actually running for something?

Surely your argument [now] isn't that Trump doesn't do townhalls in the years in between elections, but somehow Sanders is a hypocrite for doing the same as a candidate.

Way to move the goalposts. It's obvious you just pulled your initial quip out of your ass without realizing what actually happened.

What goalposts did I move? Trump has given a zillion interviews to Fox as president but not a single one to CNN or MSNBC. And he is running for reelection, as far as I know.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Uhh, yeah (though not 4 years ago), when he was actually running for something?

Surely your argument [now] isn't that Trump doesn't do townhalls in the years in between elections, but somehow Sanders is a hypocrite for doing the same as a candidate.

Way to move the goalposts. It's obvious you just pulled your initial quip out of your ass without realizing what actually happened.

What goalposts did I move? Trump has given a zillion interviews to Fox as president but not a single one to CNN or MSNBC. And he is running for reelection, as far as I know.

I must have missed the part where Sanders simultaneously became President. I don't expect any Democratic President will be going on Fox to do townhalls 2 years after their election and 2 years before their re-election (because it's pointless). It's not pointless for candidates from either party to maximize their media exposure as a challenger or a non-incumbent.

Additionally, Trump isn't actively campaigning for re-election yet in the traditional sense. If/once he does, he will appear on these networks at minimum during the general election (there isn't going to be a serious primary for him this time, so of course he won't be going on these networks during that period). This election is different from 2016 because there's an incumbent/it's not a completely open race for both parties in both sets of elections.

Um, Obama actually gave a lot of interviews to Fox during his presidency. What Trump does (boycotting major news channels) is actually unprecedented.

And don't give me this crap that Trump isn't actually campaigning yet. The hell he does, like all his predecessors.   

[Landslide Lyndon]

Alright, so now you're arguing that Sanders should be behaving like Trump, when your original claim was that even Trump didn't behave this way?

There's a huge difference between being in active campaign mode and what presidents do on a 24/7 basis. The point is that Trump isn't in a position where he needs to be pitching to a wide audience, because he's the president. A challenger who doesn't hold the office is a completely different story.

No, the argument was that if Democrats don't go to Fox then voters will think they are weak. And I say that Trump also refuses to go to some channels and I don't see anyone fretting about him looking weak.

Also, I don't believe that even when he will be in full campaign mode he will relent and go to those channels. It has become personal to him, the guy has repeatedly tweeted that he stopped watching CNN ffs.     

[Landslide Lyndon]

Alright, so now you're arguing that Sanders should be behaving like Trump, when your original claim was that even Trump didn't behave this way?

There's a huge difference between being in active campaign mode and what presidents do on a 24/7 basis. The point is that Trump isn't in a position where he needs to be pitching to a wide audience, because he's the president. A challenger who doesn't hold the office is a completely different story.

No, the argument was that if Democrats don't go to Fox then voters will think they are weak. And I say that Trump also refuses to go to some channels and I don't see anyone fretting about him looking weak.

Also, I don't believe that even when he will be in full campaign mode he will relent and go to those channels. It has become personal to him, the guy has repeatedly tweeted that he stopped watching CNN ffs.     

Let me spell it out for you. Double standards exist. Trump (and the Republican Party in general) is not held to the same standard as Democrats. Not by other Republicans, not by the media, etc. We can complain about how unfair it is, or we can focus on winning by proving that we're not afraid of Fox and depriving conservatives of their precious talking points.

Yes, they do exist. But not on that matter. I heard the same arguments back in 2007 when DNC was considering letting Fox host a primary debate. The progressive activists and netroots revolted and eventually this never happened. There were back then some centrists and right-wingers arguing that if Democratic candidates couldn't handle Fox then how could they handle Osama and Al Qaeda.
Guess what, nobody cared and this incident never became an issue in the upcoming election.