Ezra Klein: "Why Bernie Sanders's rise is more impressive than Donald Trump's"

[Attorney in Texas]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by TexasTowelie (a host of the General Discussion forum).

Excerpts from some excellent analysis:

New polls show Sanders leading Hillary Clinton in both Iowa and New Hampshire. His leads aren't Trump-size — at least not yet — but they were secured without the wall-to-wall media coverage that attends Trump, without the name recognition Trump brought to the race, and against a much stronger frontrunner than Trump faced.

And Sanders has built those leads while remaining, well, Sanders. He promised he wouldn't run a negative campaign, and he hasn't — a fact that Clinton allies privately mention with relief. He hasn't signed on with a Super PAC or begun taking money from the kinds of donors he campaigns against. His campaign has been free of stunts and provocations and dense with policy proposals and issue papers. He's attracting supporters the old-fashioned way — by convincing people he's the kind of politician they want to back.

There is nothing inevitable about any of this. It was not obvious six months ago that Sanders would pull ahead of Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire. Nor can his rise be explained away as simple "anyone but Hillary" sentiment: Sanders holds huge leads over Vice President Joe Biden, former Govs. Martin O'Malley and Lincoln Chafee, and ex-Sen. Jim Webb.

The full article is well worth a careful reading.

[RiverLover]

1. All true!

Great article. His ascent is truly remarkable. And it should be getting more press.

Da*n Trump, and the media that's enabling him.

[Javaman]

8. the media likes trump for his smoke and mirrors...

it gives them something to broadcast everyday.

"what crazy or offensive thing did trump say today?!"

he's the P.T. Barnum of presidential candidates.

[hifiguy]

14. With dashes of Harold Hill

and El Rushbo.

IOW, a flim-flam artist.

[Blus4u]

2. I always enjoyed Ezra Klein's

MSNBC's contributions. When he was on, he really had something to say and the facts to back it up. Unfortunately it looks like those days are long gone for msnbc.

Peace

[Attorney in Texas]

6. Me, too. I'm a huge Klein fan.

[daleanime]

3. Massive K&R.....

[phantom power]

4. Americans are hungry for what Sander has to offer.

[Attorney in Texas]

18. No doubt. Perfect on substance and -- so far -- perfect on form; he's doing everything right.

[mindwalker_i]

5. Wow, very interesting

It seems to me that Sanders and Trump are both appealing to their respective parties: Sanders appeals to those of us who want to see some economic justice, mainly, and Trump appeals to "non-political-correctness" which is really thinly-disguised racism (immigrants are rapists).

However, that Trump gets ass-loads of air time and started of being well-known is very true.

[Attorney in Texas]

12. Sanders makes Democrats proud whereas Trump humiliates half of the Republican party

[mindwalker_i]

15. I don't think the republican party feels humiliated

They are quite happy with the racist overtones of what Trump is saying. The other wankers running understand how it makes repubs look so they're not happy with Trump, but the regular repubs eat it up.

[Cal33]

19. That's right, the regular Repubs. don't really know the difference, and they are

too dense to understand.

[ladyVet]

7. Go, Bernie, go!

Who says you need to do what the others do to get ahead? All you need is the right message, the right messenger, and the will of the people.

[Faux pas]

9. Kicketty Kickin'

[Babel_17]

10. Ezra Klein, that byline will cause notice

And the subject matter is going to ensure lots of buzz. The Sanders campaign is starting to get the notice it needs to reach the eyes and ears of the 99%.

[malthaussen]

11. Well, that's easy.

Mr Sanders appeals to the core values of more Americans than does Mr Trump.

Now, if they could only be persuaded to vote.

-- Mal

[hifiguy]

13. Kickety rec.

tRUMP has the same appeal as a blowhard pro wrestler has to wrestling fans. Lots of macho bombast, no content, sound and fury signifying nothing. Bernie is offering depth and substance. People haven't had that choice for so long it's taking a while for people to catch on to the fact that he's real.

And he's doing it by word of mouth and content-filled speeches, not pure media events. Bernie himself would say that there's nothing particularly camera-friendly about him giving a policy speech in a gym. And tRUMP is all about himself. Bernie is all about the people. He's not in it for glory or celebrity, he's there because someone has to do what he is doing and nobody else is.

(Let me clarify that I completely respect Sen. Warren's reasons for declining to run. Though if she had, I doubt Bernie would have.)

[gollygee]

16. This is very interesting

and I'm focused on this part: "
Nor can his rise be explained away as simple 'anyone but Hillary' sentiment"

I find that interesting because I think it explains why some Sanders supporters have at times said they don't believe other Sanders supporters (such as me and Bravenak - though I am not sure if she is still a Sanders supporter?) are indeed Sanders supporters. I know there are a lot of very anti-Clinton Sanders supporters, but many of us like Clinton but just prefer Sanders. Maybe people see us responding positively to Clinton, or not negatively to her, and figure that means we don't really support Sanders. Not the case. I like Clinton but I am not voting for her. I like Sanders more.

I thought his popularity would rise. It needs to rise in places other than Iowa and New Hampshire, but there's time for that, and I think he'll do very well in the debates.

[Attorney in Texas]

17. I'm with you. I like Clinton and Sanders -- I just prefer Sanders. If Clinton gets the nomination,

I'll be happy to vote for her in the general election, but I hope it does not come to that because I'll be voting for Sanders in the primary.

I think the biggest threat to Sanders' campaign is all of this Biden speculation. The whole discussion about a potential Biden candidacy is based on two false assumptions:

(1) that the Clinton campaign is broken (she's had a bad month but she is still very strong by any objective measure; compare the Clinton campaign to the Bush campaign if you want some context);

(2) and we need someone to offer an alternative to Clinton (Sanders is an excellent alternative to Clinton, and we don't need some white knight to rescue us from having to choose between Clinton and Sanders and O'Malley and Chafee and Webb).

[Hortensis]

20. I hope most are like you. Some Bernie supporters seem so polarized

and so inflexible that I worry whether they would continue to work for what they believe should his chances fade.

[TexasTowelie]

21. Locking thread.

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The consensus of the forum hosts believe that the focus of the article is on Bernie Sanders and his upswing in polling numbers. Suggest reposting in the General Discussion: Primaries forum.