He’s the latest flavour of the month…
And he’s back firmly in second place in the race like in 2016….
But like back then?….
Establishment Democrats, Sanders isn’t one, do NOT want the independent Senator from Vermont…
Sanders has run against Barack Obama’s policies and is now running against his Vice President Joe Biden….
Ah?… The guy sure CAN raise money….
“He’s never going to run out of money,” one former top Obama adviser acknowledged when asked by The Daily Beast about the chances Sanders could secure the nomination. But it’s not enough of a concern to plan a big strategy around, the source said. “He’s going to be a zombie candidate. You can go anywhere and still be dead.”
Multiple allies believe the self-avowed democratic socialist posed a bigger threat in 2016, when he mounted a challenge to Hillary Clinton and ultimately captured over 40 percent of the primary vote. This time, those sources believe, he has greater problems complicating his path to the nomination: namely the presence of more top-tier contenders in the field, including a progressive in his own lane in Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). On top of that, while he’s consistently polling nationally in second place, he hasn’t achieved the same degree of overwhelming support among African-American voters as former Vice President Joe Biden, who has dominated with that key Democratic constituency. Others simply believe his past legislative history with the 44th president is too complex to cast as rosy.
“If you read between the lines of what the Sanders folks are saying about the rationale of his candidacy, it is based on their belief that Barack Obama was not progressive,” one former senior Obama campaign staffer told The Daily Beast. “There is a fundamental flaw in the Sanders candidacy relative to the Obama coalition and it’s because they’ve continually undermined President Obama.”
Privately, Obama has reportedly acknowledged problems with Sanders’ vision for the country. In November, Politico reported that the former president once said that if it looked like the senator were close to winning the nomination, he would speak up in some capacity to help stop that from happening. A spokesperson later muddied the waters when asked about the comment by the outlet, saying that Obama would support the nominee. Still, Obama’s rare public statements give a glimpse into his thinking about Sanders 2020.
Speaking to Washington donors in in November, Obama cautioned against placing too much stock into “certain left-leaning Twitter feeds or the activist wing of our party.”…
image…trofire.com
I remember when people like me were thinking that Trump would just be the “flavor of the month” and then it started being every month.
Can Sanders win a general election? That should indicate the importance of nipping his candidacy in the bud as soon as possible. Then again, I was saying Trump could not win either.
Nonetheless, these are very different circumstances.
Of course Sanders can win a general election. Whether he would win is a different question with an uncertain answer – just as it is unclear regarding the other Democratic candidates.
More so than the other Democratic candidates, Sanders has a populist message and a purpose of his candidacy that can be easily articulated. Don’t underestimate the appeal of a clear campaign message Obama had one (healthcare for all Americans). Hillary did not really have a message that would define her candidacy. So it is not too surprising that Obama won, but Hillary struggled.
I don’t see it with Sanders being able to win. Age is part of it but even beyond that.
With Trump, whom I thought people would just regard as a buffoon, he had a message that resonated.
I think if people were truly left to consider the possibility of Sanders as President, it would turn to fear. Perhaps this might be somewhat different if we were in a recession or something where people feel they might have nothing to lose, but this is not that time.
Sanders has his base to be sure, but the idea of a general election in all 50 states is not something he has come close to getting into. The opposition info against him is huge and has not even begun to be used.
I also do NOT see Sanders able to win a general election….
Remember?
He’s NOT the leader right now….
Biden is ahead by a good sized margin…
This is AGAIN…
Flavor of the month media hype…
I disagree on the age angle…
NOBODY talks about Sanders or Trump’s age….
Just Biden’s
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told New York Magazine that “in any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party.”
Why it matters: Her statement is reflective of the widening split between moderates and progressives in the Democratic Party as the 2020 presidential campaign begins to heat up. “Democrats can be too big of a tent,” she said.
The big picture: AOC endorsed progressive stalwart Bernie Sanders for president, and her work on his behalf has triggered speculation that she might inherit his mantle for the 2024 presidential election….
More…
I think that Sanders message does resonate – especially with white low education voters, including Republicans. Poor white voters are still struggling and they feel that they are not getting their fair share. Some of these people voted for both Obama and Trump.
There is no question that the Republican establishment hates Sanders, but let The right go crazy I’m attacking him!
I do not expect to vote for Sanders in the primary, but everyone already knows that Sanders is a Socialist. Attacking him for that will probably only help Sanders.
“Democrats can be too big of a tent,”
Wow! What a winning message.
James, you said that Sanders has run against Obama’s policies, but I can’t think of any such policy that he ran against.
Obama supported healthcare for all, but Biden has opposed that. Obama’s opposition to Sanders healthcare proposals is that it is not achievable – and Obama is correct in that regard at least for the time being. But Obama had also stated that if he was starting a healthcare system from scratch, a universal healthcare system would be the way to go.
Yo Z?….
Last year, only four other Democratic senators opposed Obama’s legislative positions more often than the Vermont independent, according to a recent CQ Weekly vote study….
More….