Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign megathread

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Bernie really had a amazing day. Owning Fox News on single payer, leading in the Emerson poll, and showing that his taxes were pretty boring.

Wise words, jfern.  Truly a spectacular day in political history.  The anti-Bernie people surely cried themselves to sleep last night.

[John Dule]

Also, to be against nuclear power is extremely stupid. It's safe, extremely reliable, cheap and environmentally friendly. Why hate science?

Nuclear power may be the least likely to have a failure, but it's the only power source where a failure can and will kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, create massive exclusion zones, and cause environmental catastrophes that take tens of thousands of years for the radiation to go away.

It's also not cheap. Nuclear power plants are incredibly expensive, and also very slow to build.

Only two nuclear accidents have ever actually killed people. The first was Chernobyl, and I have confidence that we can build a power plant better than the Soviets did. The second was hit by an earthquake and then a tsunami.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

The problem with nuclear power is that it's far too expensive to build new plants and their construction takes decades anyway. See: the massive Hinkley Point boondoggle.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Also, to be against nuclear power is extremely stupid. It's safe, extremely reliable, cheap and environmentally friendly. Why hate science?

Nuclear power may be the least likely to have a failure, but it's the only power source where a failure can and will kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, create massive exclusion zones, and cause environmental catastrophes that take tens of thousands of years for the radiation to go away.

It's also not cheap. Nuclear power plants are incredibly expensive, and also very slow to build.

It's like airplane, expansive and something happens everyone dies.

Still, they are very reliable and safe as well as quite cheap and environment friendly (much more so than solar energy for example), but yes, they are slow to build. They would even better if they wasn't demonised by many which together with slow building time makes investments/R&D less likely.

Investment payback https://homepages.uc.edu/~becktl/shaka-eroi.pdf
Greenhouse emissions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life-cycle_greenhouse-gas_emissions_of_energy_sources

But it's off-topic.
I think that town hall, positive reviews/good news-cycle and viral video will lead in Fox-Town-Hall bump in the polls. Especially, if Biden delays his (still very likely) announcement.

[Sestak]

The « show of hands » moment was absolutely amazing.

[Beet]

- The highest polls by far other than Biden
- The most grassroots donors by far
- The most money raised by far
- The most Google searches by far

As far as I can see, no one else is in his category. I am no Bernie bro by any means but these are the facts.

[Mr. Morden]

A year ago, weren't you saying that Harris and Gabbard were the only candidates with a chance of winning?

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

He has a descent chance, yes. 30% I'd say right now.


Also, don't disregard the force of the unstoppable Russian trolls who love the guy

[Xing]

He very well could be, though I honestly have no idea at this point. I don't think he's inevitable or DOA, despite what about half of this forum seems to think. I think people are predicting the primaries with way too much confidence, overall.

[JG]

Unfortunately, I feel he is the likeliest to win.

[Heebie Jeebie]

You can't win the nomination with the support of progressives alone.  What makes you think he'll be able to get the support of enough moderates and/or minorities to win?

[Stranger in a strange land]

He's not inevitable, but I feel he's most likely to win (he has probably about a 50% chance), and if it's him vs Trump in the general, he's favored (though not overwhelmingly).

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Bernie is gonna win some states, like last time, but primary flips to Super Tuesday, more diverse states, thats when Harris and Beto will make enroads with Latino and Blacks with SC, NV, TX and Cali

[Beet]

A year ago, weren't you saying that Harris and Gabbard were the only candidates with a chance of winning?

Part of me still feels like Harris is inevitable, but yeah Gabbard had totally deflated. I underestimated how much of Bernie's support was actually in his favor and not just an anti-Hillary circumstance. However I am very confident that it will be Bernie now.

[TWTown]

Commenting a bit late on the topic but that Fox News Town Hall was fantastic.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Buttigieg attaches himself to the very anti Bernie establishment.

The matter of What To Do About Bernie and the larger imperative of party unity has, for example, hovered over a series of previously undisclosed Democratic dinners in New York and Washington organized by the longtime party financier Bernard Schwartz. The gatherings have included scores from the moderate or center-left wing of the party, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader; former Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia; Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., himself a presidential candidate; and the president of the Center for American Progress, Neera Tanden

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/16/us/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-party.html

[Sorenroy]

Also, I don't understand the criticism against Fox. They were pretty fair and friendly. Sure, some "unfair" questions, but overall quite descent and good - really nothing to whine about. The town hall was good for democracy and transparency.

When they have a big name on and know that their viewership is not going to be standard, sure. But flip over to their regular broadcasting and you'll see the issue. Liberal guests are treated like trash and all of their news has an intentional, well documented slant.

The argument I've seen over Fox News doing debates or town halls seems to center around either the fact that they will be biased or the fact that it will give them more legitimacy. As we have seen, when they are in the spotlight they can keep their biases under control and, as many others have pointed out, they are still the single largest television news network in the country. All that being said, why give them the spotlight at all when other news outlets can do just as good a job?

The one reason I can see going on Fox being a good idea is for when, by doing so, you reach an audience you wouldn't otherwise. Less known people who aren't going to be hosted elsewhere as well as interviewees continue to (and should) go on Fox. However, as the viewership of events grows, it becomes less important that it be on any specific news station. Town halls with major figures are in a bit of a middle ground. There are definitely people you pick up that would not have ordinarily seen such a program if played on another channel. Debates are another story. How many people are you really going to lose by being on any specific broadcaster? Primary debates can get over 10 million live viewers and general election debates get several times that number. Why give that to Fox when being on Fox adds nothing of value?

[Shadows]

This was probably one of Bernie's best segments & he gave an incredible performance. There were many gotcha questions including is Biden a progressive, the show off hands questions & so on.

Many of the questions were loaded unfairly or with a wrong premise. That was the best thing Sanders did. He didn't take the bait to ridiculous questions & challenged the premise when asked absurd questions.

Bret & Martha were totally out of their depth & didn't have the subject matter knowledge that Bernie had. Sanders' talk about Insurance stability, him changing Insurance while as a Mayor or people losing Insurance if they quit or are fired & not being able to see a doctor etc was great.

FOX has the largest audience of the major networks & many of them live in a bubble. Sanders put an alternative view with strong logic to these folks.

[Adam Griffin]

Bernie Hosts SC Education and Criminal Justice Town Hall

[Thunder98]

Sanders receives endorsements from 7 African American state legislatures in South Carolina.

https://wtop.com/government/2019/04/sanders-gets-endorsements-from-7-black-s-carolina-lawmakers/

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

How many endorsements will Bernie get from Black super delegates in MI, PA, OH and CA.  Those are the super Tuesday states.

Beto and Harris are recruiting the superdelegates in those states.

[GoTfan]

How many endorsements will Bernie get from Black super delegates in MI, PA, OH and CA.  Those are the super Tuesday states.

Beto and Harris are recruiting the superdelegates in those states.

Ah, so it's not that he didn't get minority endorsements now. It's the fact that he hasn't been endorsed by the right minority figures.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Sanders is on track to win nomination and IA is his best state

[Adam Griffin]

Sanders receives endorsements from 7 African American state legislatures in South Carolina.

https://wtop.com/government/2019/04/sanders-gets-endorsements-from-7-black-s-carolina-lawmakers/

That's one-sixth of the entire SC House Democratic caucus: not shabby at all. It probably doesn't hurt that Sanders is putting in a lot of work in SC (to be fair, he also did in 2016 - it was just too late in the game to make a difference by the time he started).

[Canis]

Sanders receives endorsements from 7 African American state legislatures in South Carolina.

https://wtop.com/government/2019/04/sanders-gets-endorsements-from-7-black-s-carolina-lawmakers/

That's one-sixth of the entire SC House Democratic caucus: not shabby at all. It probably doesn't hurt that Sanders is putting in a lot of work in SC (to be fair, he also did in 2016 - it was just too late in the game to make a difference by the time he started).

What do you think is the best case scenario for him % wise in Carolina-South?

prob like 27-30% ish