Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign megathread v2 (pg 77 - declares victory in Iowa)

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Bernie hit 1 million donors.

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And yes, he clearly doesn't understand that net worth is not cash. Some people have great net worth, but don't have much cash flow.

LOL at the idea that you know more about this than Bernie. Net worth can be turned into cash. Yes, if Jeff Bezos sells all his shares at once, he'll lose some from the declining stock value, but he can easily convert it to $80+ billion in cold hard cash.

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https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1176574138129010688

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Boy oh boy, I sure would like to live in a country with no billionaires!



Hmm... Somalia, the Congo, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Iran... so many choices!

I hear everyone in Luxembourg is starving to death.

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Why do we care about randos’ dumb hot takes on cable news/ Twitter/ what have you? I can find randos’ dumb hot takes of any persuasion without looking too hard. They’re kind of a dime a dozen.

Random intern-tier contributor with 5000 Twitter followers = representative of the entire media complex and Democratic establishment.

Speech+tweet writer (Sirota) and national press secretary (Brie) for the Sanders campaign = not representative of Sanders or his views at all!

It's not just some random contributor. MSNBC has been trying to push this Bernie is sexist thing for a while now.

https://twitter.com/sunraysunray/status/1178279300010786816

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For the question of what Bernie needs to do, here is my opinion as someone who had a very high opinion of him until 2015-16, but became disenchanted:

1. He needs to figure out if he is actually a socialist who supports socialist policies, or if he is just a social democrat who is using socialism to find a niche in the political debate. If he wants to say he's going to build a Scandanavian-style state, use the vocabulary people associate with that (i.e. robust welfare state, multi-level collective bargaining, mixed economy, free market). Otherwise, everyone outside of his fan base will just be picturing East Germany or Cuba. If he truly is a socialist, he needs to own it and not try to make it sound like it's basically just Europe with more rose decals.

He's obviously a social democrat.

2. He needs to be more visible on issues that aren't squarely in his wheelhouse. We all know he will show up to support striking workers. That's kind of his thing. Maybe he could take an overseas trip to show how he would function as a diplomat. Maybe he could tour a lab in silicon valley to show he is able to follow the latest technological developments. Maybe he can take a trip to an oil rig to show how he sees those workers fitting in to his vision of America. One thing he did to recently that I'll commend him on in this regard was to visit the Comanche Nation.

Touring an oil rig? Seriously? That would be pointless.

3. The only image I have of Bernie is of him hunched over a podium with looking angry and deshevled. It's very on-brand, but it can be off-putting for an undecided voter watching a debate. I don't think he needs to stop being a firebrand or comb his hair - far from it. I think we need to see what makes him laugh, though, and maybe see him not in a suit a couple of times. Maybe he can do some kind of Vermont campfire townhall where he wears flannel and tells a bunch of stories about his misadventures over the years and talks about his family.

He's got a dry New England humor.

4. I think he can hit back on the narrative that his supporters are a bunch of Bernie Bros who won't accept anybody but him and are basicall holding the primary hostage as a result. I think one really easy way he could do this is by having a high-publicity meeting with some of the other candidates where they all talk friendly and as a united front. It might enrage a couple of his supporters who do see everyone else in the primary as a dirty enemy of the revolution. I can say firsthand, though, it made a big difference in 2008 as a Clinton supporter to see Hillary enthusiastically give the roll call vote for New York for Obama. If people who might like Biden or Warren as their first choice but are still considering Sander see them getting along with Bernie, I guarantee it will raise their opinion of him while also doing the good work of bringing the Democrats together to defeat Trump.

If you don't see that the Democratic establishment needs huge change, you're not on our side.

5. Why is he running this year with 18 other candidates still in the race? What does he think he has that no other candidate has? I know his supporters will say it's something like "he's had these views for 50 years!" But what Democrats want is someone who, unlike Obama, is able to deliver on these big ideals. I don't think Bernie has separated himself from the pack in this regard. Surely Bernie has something in his heart that is what is driving him to run for president, but even through his passion and energy, I still don't see what he sees in himself that he doesn't see in the rest of the field.

How many of those other candidates supported single payer before Hillary lost? How many are members of congress who never voted to increase the military budget under Trump? How many have a solid progressive record going back 30 years? How many would really fight for change? The idea that Bernie is just like the other 18 candidates is nonsense.

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For the question of what Bernie needs to do, here is my opinion as someone who had a very high opinion of him until 2015-16, but became disenchanted:

1. He needs to figure out if he is actually a socialist who supports socialist policies, or if he is just a social democrat who is using socialism to find a niche in the political debate. If he wants to say he's going to build a Scandanavian-style state, use the vocabulary people associate with that (i.e. robust welfare state, multi-level collective bargaining, mixed economy, free market). Otherwise, everyone outside of his fan base will just be picturing East Germany or Cuba. If he truly is a socialist, he needs to own it and not try to make it sound like it's basically just Europe with more rose decals.

He's obviously a social democrat.

2. He needs to be more visible on issues that aren't squarely in his wheelhouse. We all know he will show up to support striking workers. That's kind of his thing. Maybe he could take an overseas trip to show how he would function as a diplomat. Maybe he could tour a lab in silicon valley to show he is able to follow the latest technological developments. Maybe he can take a trip to an oil rig to show how he sees those workers fitting in to his vision of America. One thing he did to recently that I'll commend him on in this regard was to visit the Comanche Nation.

Touring an oil rig? Seriously? That would be pointless.

3. The only image I have of Bernie is of him hunched over a podium with looking angry and deshevled. It's very on-brand, but it can be off-putting for an undecided voter watching a debate. I don't think he needs to stop being a firebrand or comb his hair - far from it. I think we need to see what makes him laugh, though, and maybe see him not in a suit a couple of times. Maybe he can do some kind of Vermont campfire townhall where he wears flannel and tells a bunch of stories about his misadventures over the years and talks about his family.

He's got a dry New England humor.

4. I think he can hit back on the narrative that his supporters are a bunch of Bernie Bros who won't accept anybody but him and are basicall holding the primary hostage as a result. I think one really easy way he could do this is by having a high-publicity meeting with some of the other candidates where they all talk friendly and as a united front. It might enrage a couple of his supporters who do see everyone else in the primary as a dirty enemy of the revolution. I can say firsthand, though, it made a big difference in 2008 as a Clinton supporter to see Hillary enthusiastically give the roll call vote for New York for Obama. If people who might like Biden or Warren as their first choice but are still considering Sander see them getting along with Bernie, I guarantee it will raise their opinion of him while also doing the good work of bringing the Democrats together to defeat Trump.

If you don't see that the Democratic establishment needs huge change, you're not on our side.

5. Why is he running this year with 18 other candidates still in the race? What does he think he has that no other candidate has? I know his supporters will say it's something like "he's had these views for 50 years!" But what Democrats want is someone who, unlike Obama, is able to deliver on these big ideals. I don't think Bernie has separated himself from the pack in this regard. Surely Bernie has something in his heart that is what is driving him to run for president, but even through his passion and energy, I still don't see what he sees in himself that he doesn't see in the rest of the field.

How many of those other candidates supported single payer before Hillary lost? How many are members of congress who never voted to increase the military budget under Trump? How many have a solid progressive record going back 30 years? How many would really fight for change? The idea that Bernie is just like the other 18 candidates is nonsense.

Regarding number three. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Bernie has a notoriously difficult time talking about his personal life. Part of that is because even in private conversations with friends his discussions reportedly sound a lot like his stump speech. His primary topics a private conversation among friends are economic and equality, Etc. Good on him, but it doesn't make him very relatable. This maybe a dog that just won't hunt. Either voters are going to accept Sanders notwithstanding the whole who I'd most like to have a beer with test.

Regarding number four, the J ferns of the world need to understand that Bernie and the show called Democratic establishment agree on about 85 to 90 + percent of those are platform. The differences are only that large because the Democratic establishment is it fully on board for Medicaid for all yet, but will be the minute Sanders wins the primary. Resolve that issue and we're talkin 95 to 99%, the primary difference being whether or not to unilaterally disarm from corporate donations even if Sanders runs on a Social Democratic platform of his own crafting.

Bottom line, while I'm not saying no reform is needed, Bernie desperately needs, emphasis needs, the Democratic establishment ultimately to back him coming out of the convention in order to be Trump. And furthermore there's no reason that they shouldn't or wouldn't do so.

I don't know if I agree with even Bernie 90% of the time, and I doubt even 50% for the Democratic establishment. For one thing, the establishment foreign policy of the US is completely awful. Bernie is much better there, but not perfect.

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https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1179936567919554560

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Sanders to scale back his campaign activity:

https://twitter.com/ryanobles/status/1181689439690604545

So he'll campaign the same amount as everyone else rather than have 5 events a day?

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Sanders to scale back his campaign activity:

https://twitter.com/ryanobles/status/1181689439690604545

It may just be the angle, but Bernie looks purple lol

Give him a break. His daughter-in-law just died.

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Some Bernie fans are really getting desperate. Sad to see.

Bernie has the worst supporters on the internet, even slightly edging out the Trumpists (though that should change over the course of the election, especially if it looks like Trump is going to lose).

Right, no one else has very obnoxious supporters.

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The I would support Bernie except for his supporters bullsh**t argument got old 4 years ago.

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https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1184310135289798656

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The media was attacking Bernie for having too many white supporters 4 years ago.

Also, their erasure of Bernie is beyond ridiculous.

https://twitter.com/CANCEL_SAM/status/1184843838919184389

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The largest rally this year of any candidate by a decent margin.

https://twitter.com/cascamike/status/1185638969419149313

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This is disqualifying.

https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1186405744146554882

Beto, Yang, and Williamson also defended Gabbard. It's disqualifying to be one of the hacks who thinks Hillary's comments were fine.

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Disgusting language. I'll believe the former Secretary of State who called the shenanigans in 2016 over some rando on the internet.

It's still a batsh**t crazy conspiracy theory no matter how powerful of a person pushes the lie. I've had quite enough of "moderates" who have completely insane views.

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I don't think anyone is disqualified for "standing up" for Tulsi.  Hillary already took one for the team by calling her out.  Nobody else has anything to gain from joining the pile-on.  It's already now going to be really awkward if+when Tulsi runs third-party, and she'll be getting extra scrutiny every time she has yet another shady pro-Russian-imperialism moment.

The difference between Pete/Beto and Bernie is that Pete isn't currently paying Tulsi Gabbard to be a "fellow" in the "Buttigieg Institute", Beto's campaign chair hasn't advocated for Tulsi to be his VP nominee, and when Pete loses he probably will not tolerate Tulsi scurrying all over Fox/Breitbart/RT to use his loss as prime evidence of DNC corruption.  Or at least, if she does do that, he won't then allow her to speak for him at the convention.

You make a lot of assumptions.

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All of this is meaningless, since the NYT had some shoddy reporting and if you listen to her actual remarks, she said that the right was pushing Tulsi Gabbard as a third-party foil to the Democratic nominee.

Huh? Hillary did in fact call Gabbard a Russian asset.

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All of this is meaningless, since the NYT had some shoddy reporting and if you listen to her actual remarks, she said that the right was pushing Tulsi Gabbard as a third-party foil to the Democratic nominee.

Huh? Hillary did in fact call Gabbard a Russian asset.

I listened to the actual interview. She said the GOP was propping her up to be a third party.

I listened to it too, and she mentioned Russia supporting Gabbard, and then went on to say that Stein is *also* a Russian asset.

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So do we have any substantive rebuttals to this manufactured controversy, or are the usual suspects going to exploit this to attack Bernie?

You mean, are the posters who keep saying "Bernie is a divisive jerk" going to post about it whenever he's a divisive jerk?

What would a substantial rebuttal even look like?  David Sirota insisting "it's not an attack, it's comparing records"?

Morning Consult has the "divisive jerk" as having the highest favorable rating among Democrats.

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https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/468278-manchin-says-he-wouldnt-back-sanders-against-trump-in-presidential-race

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he would not back Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in a 2020 presidential match-up against President Trump.

Manchin told Fox News he would “absolutely not” support Sanders’ agenda, calling it “not practical where I come from.”

When Fox News’s Neil Cavuto asked whom Manchin would vote for if the Vermont progressive ended up becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Manchin responded, "Well, it wouldn’t be Bernie.”

Oh yes, Joe Manchin, you are such a genius at picking good Presidential nominees that you endorsed Hillary in the primary last time who got fewer votes in WV than any Democratic nominee since women got the right to vote.

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Bernie was stronger than any other Democrat in the general election in NV, MI, and TX polls today.

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https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1192478435693780992



He literally just literally has no idea how wealth is calculated.

It's a hypothetical.

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I think Bernie is the only candidate to mention the coup in Bolivia. He also might have been the only one to mention the situation with Lula.