Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign megathread

[DrScholl]

Running for President at 77 is completely ridiculous.

[DrScholl]

The NRA got him elected to the House, so he does have a history of political opportunism.

[DrScholl]

No amount of excuses will change the fact that Bernie Sanders in not a Democrat and should not get the Democratic Party's nomination.

Can you just imagine if the Republicans nominated an right wing independent who didn't consider themselves to be a Republican for President? That would be ridiculous and we would laugh a them.

However, just because Bernie is a "progressive champion" (show me his record though), this is supposedly OK with some Democrats.

Anyways, Bernie might not be able to run in the Democratic primary because the DNC changed the rules last year and said that you have to be an actual Democrat to run in the primary. Imagine that.

You really are a spiteful human being aren't you?

If you take that attitude that he's forbidden from entering a primary, then that's a lot of people that are gonna stay home if Harri, Biden or Booker get nominated.

A lot of the fanatical Sanders supporters are going to stay home anyway if he's not the nominee, except this time they can't claim that super delegates stole the nomination from him.

[DrScholl]

No amount of excuses will change the fact that Bernie Sanders in not a Democrat and should not get the Democratic Party's nomination.

Can you just imagine if the Republicans nominated an right wing independent who didn't consider themselves to be a Republican for President? That would be ridiculous and we would laugh a them.

However, just because Bernie is a "progressive champion" (show me his record though), this is supposedly OK with some Democrats.

Anyways, Bernie might not be able to run in the Democratic primary because the DNC changed the rules last year and said that you have to be an actual Democrat to run in the primary. Imagine that.

You really are a spiteful human being aren't you?

If you take that attitude that he's forbidden from entering a primary, then that's a lot of people that are gonna stay home if Harri, Biden or Booker get nominated.

A lot of the fanatical Sanders supporters are going to stay home anyway if he's not the nominee, except this time they can't claim that super delegates stole the nomination from him.

Which undercuts the argument if he's allowed to run.

He's actually been sitting in the Democratic caucuses in both houses longer than the Anointed Ones (Harris, Booker and O'Rourke) have. He's been running in the Democratic primaries in Vermont for a long time and he is currently a member of the Democratic Senate leadership.

For all intents and purposes, he is a Democrat.

He says he's not a Democrat, so how can you contradict his own words? He's an independent who aligns with Democrats to get committee assignments and that is it.

If Kamala Harris or Beto O'Rourke or Amy Klobuchar win the nomination, will Bernie supporters vote for them in the general election?

Daily reminder that more Clinton '08 supporters voted McCain than Bernie supporters voted Trump.

That makes no sense. You know the difference between a primary and general election. Also, my disapproval (not hate) of Bernie isn't just because he's not a Democrat.

If we're going to be undemocratic in the primaries and stop independents from running and voting why not keep that energy during the general election?

A lot of states have closed primaries and there really isn't anything undemocratic about parties being selective about who can vote in their primaries. Just imagine if Republicans and conservatives decided to manipulate the open primary system to give a conservative the Democratic nomination. There is an upside to closed primaries.

[DrScholl]

Can Bernie supporters explain these for me? Especially those who don't like Kamala Harris.


Also, why hasn't Bernie released his most of his tax returns? Why did he vote against Russian sanctions (Magnitsky Act)? Why did he hire someone with connections to Paul Manafort? (Tad Devine)

Part of his voting base last time was people who feel uncomfortable voting for black candidates. The problem for him is that a lot of those people are not going to pull a Democratic ballot this time and will only vote in the general for Trump.

[DrScholl]

Hillary voters were significantly more likely to be anti Muslim than Bernie supporters, and so were probably also more likely to be racist.

I'm not talking about polling, I'm talking about actual votes. Some of his best counties in states that he lost were the more conservative ones. That suggest he was more of a protest vote than anything else in a lot of places.

[DrScholl]

Marching once or twice 50 years ago doesn't negate current tone deafness. Saying that white people don't know what it's like to live in poverty is pretty stupid.

[DrScholl]

He's pushing 80 and that is a ridiculously old age to be seeking the presidency at. There are multiple candidates in this race unlike 2016, so he doesn't have the luxury of getting votes just because he's not Clinton. He won't make it until Super Tuesday.

[DrScholl]

Here we f**king go again.

Why couldn't Bernie do the world a favor and leave us alone?

Trump would demolish this fool in the general.

Yes, Trump would demolish the most popular politician in the country, but surely a Clintonite like Harris or Gillibrand would do better 🙄

I know I'm not the first person to say this, but I'm starting to see 2020 as 1980, and I think Sanders is a direct parallel to Ronald Reagan - people say he's "too old", "too radical", etc, but in the end he ends up being just what the electorate wants after 4 years of a failed President.

There is no comparison. Like Reagan or not he was far more personable than Sanders is (being an actor helped) and that made up for an overall lack of substance. Ronald Reagan was a character.

[DrScholl]

There is a difference between donating to a first time presidential candidate and a retread that really didn't do all that great last time when you actually look at the numbers. He pays family for working for his campaign and bought a lake house after the last election. He rails against materialism, yet lives seemingly comfortable.

[DrScholl]

He went from polling around 1-2% to taking 45% of the vote and almost half the states from the near presumptive nominee, — that’s ‘not doing so well’? Lmao.

Bernie’s got my vote so far, with Tulsi and Warren close behind. I want one of them as VP though.
 

More like 43%. He didn't get anywhere close to winning the nomination, but some people act like the race was was tied or something. Plus much of his vote came from

[DrScholl]

Oklahoma? No one in their right mind would even entertain that. Iowa and Ohio are reasonable targets, but the rest of that list is just absurd.

[DrScholl]

Bernie may have just lost the last remaining Bros on Atlas Forum with this inaccurate map depicting a 51st state of Upper Peninsula:


https://twitter.com/berniesanders/status/1097835585232879621?s=21

Not to mention that Alaska and Hawaii aren't even pictured.

[DrScholl]

The quote from an article said he is going to try to make a play for those states and says nothing about a 50 state strategy.

[DrScholl]

It’s a waste of time and resources. I saw nothing about competing in states with high black and brown working class populations that would flip decades before these other states. Bernie is a megalomaniac who has learned nothing in the past three years. He still thinks he is the poor white Republican whisperer.

Yes, Sanders's pollster is a complete idiot and utterly delusional

Anyway, here's a quote from Barack Obama's 2008 Campaign Manager, David Plouffe:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/obamas_50_state_strategy.html

Note that this article was written prior to the Financial Crisis.

Member when the Clinton camp sent monies and resources to Utah of all places:

Clinton campaign eyes ‘expansion states’ of Utah, Arizona and Georgia
By Anne Gearan October 12, 2016

That was with a Mormon third party spoiler on the ballot so there was some actual logic behind the move.

[DrScholl]

The quote from an article said he is going to try to make a play for those states and says nothing about a 50 state strategy.

How is this any different from a 50-state strategy?

The point is that the article mentioning nothing about a 50 state strategy and only stated that they were making a play for a specific set of Republican states.

[DrScholl]

Do you realize how disingenuous the argument you’re trying to make is? Or do you actually believe it yourself? When they say we should compete in more places due to Bernie’s unique appeal, do you actually expect Bernie to spend the last week of the campaign in Oklahoma or something?

It wouldn't at all surprise me if he did that. For Oklahoma to even be on a list of targets is delusional itself.

It just says "some in the Sanders camp." And mostly referring to Iowa and Ohio.

Its a big stretch to go from that to believing that Sanders will be in Oklahoma in October 2020.

So they said what they said but didn't really mean what they said? Glad you are clairvoyant enough to see the backstage three dimensional chess. For such Republican states to even be mentioned as targets is ridiculous.

[DrScholl]

Rep. Kendra Horn is from the sort of place that Sanders doesn't want to compete in, which is a suburban area. The conjecture and speculation is getting even more ridiculous. Now the article supposedly said Bernie is targeting Oklahoma because of Rep. Kendra Horn. If that's what you saw in the article, then that is what you saw. Some people's minds see differently.

[DrScholl]

Sanders isn't necessarily all that different on the issues than a lot of Democrats, it's just his delivery that appeals to his supporters. He makes guarantees and that is what people want to hear.

[DrScholl]

Hope other candidates bring up the age issue directly and don't dance around it. Would you trust a 79 year old surgeon to perform on you? Like the President they also make life and death decisions.

If age is such a big deal then why is nobody calling for Ginsburg and Breyer to resign?

The most obvious reason is that Trump appointing the replacements would be terrible. The second one is that being on the Supreme Court is a lot less stressful than being President. You hear arguments, write opinions and rule on cases. It's basically a part time job.

And from rumors that I've read, Jane Sanders was controlling much of the campaign last time around because Bernie isn't exactly up to doing everything. That's just a rumor though.

[DrScholl]

Malaysia and Tunisia are not exactly paragons of modern thinking and democracy. The presidency is high pressure and is not a monarchy. There is no throne and Bernie's job wouldn't be to come out and wave to people every few weeks. I'm assuming that some of his supporters expect other people to do the heavy lifting while Bernie acts like Queen Elizabeth.

[DrScholl]

Wow, neoliberals attacking Sanders over his age and concern trolling he could die in office? Why do I never here this about Biden?

Biden gets plenty of criticism, but to be honest he's too old to be President as well. Age is a valid concern and not because of the prospect of dying, but the issue of being able to keep up with the job. Like I already stated, this is not a monarchy and shouldn't be treated like one. Being President requires real work.

[DrScholl]

Bernie raised 1 million dollars in 3.5 hours......

Its up to $3.3 million now and theres still 6 hours

https://mobile.twitter.com/scottdetrow/status/1097999436389773313

But Atlas told me Harris was more electable than Bernie

Money doesn't mean a candidate is electable because plenty of well funded candidates have lost races.

[DrScholl]

I'm tempted to say that all the other candidates should drop out and let Sanders have the nomination just so his supporters will shut up. That way if he did lose it would put to rest the argument that he is invincible. Of course knowing him, Sanders 2032 is probably already in the works...

[DrScholl]

ITT: maroon avatar middle class white guys who can’t accept equally good nonwhite and/or female candidates for President.

ITT: Technocracy Timmy thinking that being nonwhite or female somehow qualifies you for anything

It certainly doesn't disqualify anyone from anything. Of course, some people think that white people know nothing about being poor so there is all sorts of weird logic out there.