Actions of Bernie Sanders supporters thread

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

I do think Bernie had a good debate overall, but it wasn't equally good throughout. I thought it was weaker earlier on, particularly around the race/gender questions (which I thought he didn't answer well). Later on though, I thought he came into his own a bit more, in particular when he got into the health care argument regarding paying for single payer/taxes with Biden. The key point there is that this is an obvious line of attack that Sanders would have to defend in a General Election, and he seemed to make a defense that could be effective to a general election audience of voters (which was a problem Warren obviously had earlier). Sanders is just better than Warren has been in defending his further-reaching progressive ideas in a way that they are not as likely to be a liability, and can potentially be strong positive assets in winning over some types of voters (voters do not all vote based on ideology). That is important because it allays fears about one of the biggest possible weak points for him.

I think Klobuchar was the most solid throughout (she didn't have the sub-par not-quite-answering-in-the-right-way issue that many of the male candidates had in particular regarding gender and also race), and was strong in the exchanges against Pete, and made the case for herself well, in particularly with regards to electability/the importance of having some experience/track record of getting something accomplished. And that is particularly important because Klobuchar was the candidate (of the actual candidates, i.e. not counting Yang/Steyer) who needed a good debate, and who can potentially make a play to shake up the race with a strong debate performance and strong follow-up over the next few weeks or so leading into Iowa.

I would also say Biden also had an overall solid debate IMO, but I would definitely not say better than Klobuchar and Sanders, and definitely not in a way to move the needle towards him. But solid (with some defects), more or less what one would expect from Biden.

So IMO Klobuchar and Sanders were the ones who had good debates in the sense that they accomplished what they needed to in a way that can help them.

Buttigieg and Warren didn't have good debates in that sense of accomplishing what they needed to, not necessarily because they were especially bad per se, but because they needed strong performances to avoid losing momentum and to keep up their chances of not flatlining/losing support at exactly the wrong time, right before the voting starts. Both did have at least some positive moments, but neither of them really came out well/unscathed in the Warren-Buttigieg cage match. The Warren-Buttigieg fight reminds me of i.e. candidates like Howard Dean/Dick Gephardt getting into fights with each other in 2004, damaging each other mutually, and then letting other candidates (i.e. Kerry and Edwards) bypass them as they are stuck in a mutually self-destructing death-lock. The 'other candidates,' i.e. the Kerry and Edwards, looked to me like probably Sanders/Klobuchar (for Iowa in particular) and possibly Biden also to some extent (but it seems doubtful at this point that he will pick up much additional support beyond what he already has locked down).

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

The other thing about Klobuchar.  Her whole argument seems to be morphing into "I'm from the midwest so therefore I have the best chance of winning in the midwest" but she's not even polling in the top 4 or 5 in Iowa.  If she doesn't do really well there I don't see what her schtick will be going forward.

Eh, she has been gradually picking up a bit more support in Iowa, and (at least if anyone in Iowa watched the debate, which seems quite open to question), it is not hard to see her picking up some more support in the wake of this debate. The important thing is that Klobuchar's support has been going up in Iowa at the right time, where if it keeps going up a bit more, it will appear that she has momentum.

But yes, of course if she doesn't do well in Iowa her campaign is over. She knows this, which is why she has been campaigning (apparently) in Iowa in particular and why she focused in the debate on Buttigieg in particular; she needed to take him down to clear a path for herself (moderate lane in Iowa), and she seemed to do a pretty good job of that.

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

Honestly with multiple Bernie Bro threads on the first page, it's probably time for a mergathread on this. Anyone got a good idea for a title?

The Zombie Re-Animates: With Sanders Climbing in the Polls Again, the Bernie Bro Menace Returns

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

New evidence arose today that Sen. Bernie Sanders is a RAGING ANTI-SEMITE.

https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Thousands-march-in-New-York-against-antisemitism-watch-live-613189

In New York, Bernie Sanders' birth-state, 25,000 people, including numerous prominent politicians such as  Congressman Gregory Meeks, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Mayor Bill DeBlasio, US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; and New York State Attorney General Letitia James marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to protest and demonstrate against anti-semitism.

But where was noted anti-semite Bernie Sanders? He was certainly not present. Instead, he apparently thought it more important to travel to Boone, Iowa, where he did NOT condemn anti-semitism:

https://twitter.com/BNeidhardt/status/1213881607708401664

And so the question naturally arises: why should Americans tolerate the risk of an anti-semitic President who cannot even be bothered to stand up and join the march against anti-semitism, when given the chance? In addition, the question must also be posed: why did so many Bernie Sanders supporters choose to attend Bernie's campaign event rather than participating in the march over the Brooklyn Bridge as well? And so it is only natural that Americans have begun to raise the question - when will an investigation be launched into Bernie Sanders' history of anti-semitism, and his refusal to root out anti-semitism from his supporters?

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

Reminder that Nancy Pelosi and the House Dems passed a public option plan in 2009.  If we'd had like 2-3 more senators we would have universal health care today.  But Kentucky Democrats couldn't be bothered to come out and vote for a "milquetoast centrist Democrat" in 2008, so Mitch McConnell won by 6% and we got what we got.

No, the reason why we don't have a public option/universal health care/whatever/etc is not that Dems lost an election in Kentucky.

It is that the American electoral system and particularly the U.S. Senate is unrepresentative and broken institutionally, so that the public option/whatever couldn't be passed even when there were Senators elected representing an overwhelming share of the population supporting it.

You are unlikely to fix that or many other problems until you fix that underlying failure of the system of government - see this thread - https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=354038.0



And btw, LMAO at the idea of Dems winning in KY, you are delusional beyond parody.