Matt Yglesias: Bernie Sanders is the real 2020 Democratic frontrunner

[Yank2133]

Please no, I don't see people's desire to have a bunch of geriatrics running the party.

Rather have a 80 year with new ideas than a 49 year old running on the same ol' s**t.

The funny thing about this is Bernie is co-opting a lot stuff Clinton ran on in 2016.

[Mister Mets]

Please no, I don't see people's desire to have a bunch of geriatrics running the party.

The article isn't about the author's desire, but about what he is observing (a guy who came close to the nomination doing the things necessary for a stronger showing the next time around.)

The lies. This demagogue is never going to happen.

What is demagogic about saying that we need to take better care of each other as a society, and that the rich should start paying their fair share in taxes?  If he's a demagogue, then so is pretty much every European social democrat.

Making promises of breaking up big banks and giving away degrees for free when you know damn well that stuff won't get passed is demagoguery.

There was also the problem that he didn't know how to break up banks.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/05/politics/bernie-sanders-interview-new-york-daily-news/index.html

[Shadows]

The lies. This demagogue is never going to happen.

What is demagogic about saying that we need to take better care of each other as a society, and that the rich should start paying their fair share in taxes?  If he's a demagogue, then so is pretty much every European social democrat.

Making promises of breaking up big banks and giving away degrees for free when you know damn well that stuff won't get passed is demagoguery.

Pretty stupid argument. Banks were broken up by FDR, Teddy Roosevelt was the trust-buster & Tuition is free in many countries & in UK, the Labour party adopted the same, got massive support from young people put up a tremendous performance.

Tuition free is going to the 2nd most easy bill to pass after the minimum wage. Single Payer is a tough sell but tuition free is a cheap bill without any tax increase & has massive upside - Every red, blue purple state Congressman gets huge vote % & turnout from young voters!

This is what the Democratic party was, the banks & free education/healthcare - FDR's 2nd Bill of rights & the New Deal ! It is a matter of shame that Democrats have abandoned their own principles !

[Rookie Yinzer]

The lies. This demagogue is never going to happen.

What is demagogic about saying that we need to take better care of each other as a society, and that the rich should start paying their fair share in taxes?  If he's a demagogue, then so is pretty much every European social democrat.

Making promises of breaking up big banks and giving away degrees for free when you know damn well that stuff won't get passed is demagoguery.

Pretty stupid argument. Banks were broken up by FDR, Teddy Roosevelt was the trust-buster & Tuition is free in many countries & in UK, the Labour party adopted the same, got massive support from young people put up a tremendous performance.

Tuition free is going to the 2nd most easy bill to pass after the minimum wage. Single Payer is a tough sell but tuition free is a cheap bill without any tax increase & has massive upside - Every red, blue purple state Congressman gets huge vote % & turnout from young voters!

This is what the Democratic party was, the banks & free education/healthcare - FDR's 2nd Bill of rights & the New Deal ! It is a matter of shame that Democrats have abandoned their own principles !

He couldn't even explain how he would break up the banks.... and LOL at free college for all being one of the easiest bills to pass. Are you serious? If it was that easy and bipartisan Hillary would have ran on it too.

He also let lies/falsehoods about the primary process fester so he could like a victim. He was intellectually dishonest in many of the policies he was proposing. I stand by what I said. Bernie Sanders is a demagogue and he will never be the Democratic nominee let alone President.

[Mr. Morden]

Is Sanders being underestimated due to his age? Or would he pretty likely to get rushed when people other than Hillary Clinton is running for the nomination?

I think you’re framing the question the wrong way around.  If Sanders does run, then I think he’s the frontrunner.  (That is, assuming no health issues between now and the start of the campaign in 2019.  And I’m assuming that if there are any such health issues, he wouldn’t run anyway, so the point would be moot.)  And if you were to go purely by the conventional metrics of tea leaf reading, then yes, he would rate as one of the more likely candidates to run.

However, despite that, I don’t actually think he’s the frontrunner.  And that’s because, due to his age, when I take a look at the signals he’s giving and try to convert that into a probability of him running, I include a discount on those odds because of his age.  I’m assuming that being nearly 80 years old makes him less likely to want to run for president in the first place.  Exactly how big of a discount to apply is a very subjective judgment, but for me it’s enough to dock his odds of being the nominee to below those of Elizabeth Warren (who I’d rate as the nominal frontrunner).

So I don’t look at it as his age causing me to dock his chances of winning the nomination should he run.  Rather, his age leads me to dock the chances of him running for president in the first place.  And same with Biden, for that matter.  If either of them were just five years younger, they’d be the frontrunner, IMHO.  But pushing 80 is getting old enough that I’ve got to start applying some kind of discount to these signals of presidential interest.

[Bull Moose Base]

btw

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/07/trump-supporter-lawyer-who-accused-jane-sanders-of-bank-fraud-admits-allegations-were-hearsay-from-a-gop-lawmaker/#.WV7Qw53MQRM.twitter

[Shadows]

The lies. This demagogue is never going to happen.

What is demagogic about saying that we need to take better care of each other as a society, and that the rich should start paying their fair share in taxes?  If he's a demagogue, then so is pretty much every European social democrat.

Making promises of breaking up big banks and giving away degrees for free when you know damn well that stuff won't get passed is demagoguery.

Pretty stupid argument. Banks were broken up by FDR, Teddy Roosevelt was the trust-buster & Tuition is free in many countries & in UK, the Labour party adopted the same, got massive support from young people put up a tremendous performance.

Tuition free is going to the 2nd most easy bill to pass after the minimum wage. Single Payer is a tough sell but tuition free is a cheap bill without any tax increase & has massive upside - Every red, blue purple state Congressman gets huge vote % & turnout from young voters!

This is what the Democratic party was, the banks & free education/healthcare - FDR's 2nd Bill of rights & the New Deal ! It is a matter of shame that Democrats have abandoned their own principles !

He couldn't even explain how he would break up the banks.... and LOL at free college for all being one of the easiest bills to pass. Are you serious? If it was that easy and bipartisan Hillary would have ran on it too.

He also let lies/falsehoods about the primary process fester so he could like a victim. He was intellectually dishonest in many of the policies he was proposing. I stand by what I said. Bernie Sanders is a demagogue and he will never be the Democratic nominee let alone President.

You make ridiculous posts so I don't why I should even reply to that. For one, Hillary Clinton ran on free college & spoke about that in every University campus. That was one of her key strategies to get the youth vote where she was bleeding badly to Jill Stein & Gary Johnson (which she recovered) & that was the only demographic she won. She is still out there inaugurating with Gov. Cuomo a free college proposal.

You have tried easy & bi-partisan stuff & got 0 GOP votes of Bob Dole's right wing Healthcare plan, so good luck ! Most of your other comments is essentially political hackery, so no use correcting all that !

[Vega]

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Quote from the article - does anyone have any idea what this is actually referring to?

[Medal506]

With an FBI investigation against his wife and allegations that she threw disabled persons into the street, I don't think that's a sound prediction.

The only people who know or care about that investigation either love him or hate him, and we all know which one of those two camps is larger.

Probably the people that hate him since he lost the democratic nomination to the most unpopular politican in the United States who then went on to lose the general election to a guy that at one point had a 70 percent disapproval rating

[Virginiá]

Probably the people that hate him since he lost the democratic nomination to the most unpopular politican in the United States who then went on to lose the general election to a guy that at one point had a 70 percent disapproval rating

Trump almost always had lower unfavorables than Hillary. It was really only after he was elected that his favorables went up enough to best Hillary's average. And at least people liked Clinton quite a bit before the election, because for Donald, it seems like he was never well-liked.

[GGover]

With an FBI investigation against his wife and allegations that she threw disabled persons into the street, I don't think that's a sound prediction.

The only people who know or care about that investigation either love him or hate him, and we all know which one of those two camps is larger.

Probably the people that hate him since he lost the democratic nomination to the most unpopular politican in the United States who then went on to lose the general election to a guy that at one point had a 70 percent disapproval rating

I don't know about that.

[Chief Justice Keef]

btw

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/07/trump-supporter-lawyer-who-accused-jane-sanders-of-bank-fraud-admits-allegations-were-hearsay-from-a-gop-lawmaker/#.WV7Qw53MQRM.twitter

lmao, who would've thought the 8-percenters would be wrong again?

[Medal506]

Probably the people that hate him since he lost the democratic nomination to the most unpopular politican in the United States who then went on to lose the general election to a guy that at one point had a 70 percent disapproval rating

Trump almost always had lower unfavorables than Hillary. It was really only after he was elected that his favorables went up enough to best Hillary's average. And at least people liked Clinton quite a bit before the election, because for Donald, it seems like he was never well-liked.

Yeah so Sanders lost to a woman who then went on to lose to a guy who at one point had a 70 percent unfavorable rating. That doesn't say anything good about Bernie Sanders

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Ignoring all of the anti-Bernie nonsense in here, hiring two policy staffers is not "staffing up for a run."

Nor is narrowing down his platform to talk about pushing through either medicare for all or a public option next time Congress has Dem majorities "moderating for a broader audience."

He knows that he's too old to be President. The only way I see him running is if *no one* takes the Populist mantle up again. Medicare for all might be the last fight he's in politics to win. It makes sense that he's gonna focus on that.

[Lord Admirale]

Yeah, sure. Vox is like the most reliable source for anything *sarcasm*

Seriously though, Berniecrats live in a bubble where Bernie Sanders is the reincarnation of Abe Lincoln and everyone ever loves paying more taxes and being offended by everything! He lost to the least popular politician in the country, and will lose to Kamala Harris or Cory Booker or Amy Klobuchar or whoever runs in 2020.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Not likely. He is, however, quite likely to be the kingmaker as the party rapidly veers to the left.