Bernie Sanders makes it clear: He’s playing this game to win

[Attorney in Texas]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by geardaddy (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Washington Post

MANCHESTER, N.H — As about 1,400 Democratic activists cozied up next to one another in a New Hampshire ballroom for the party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Sunday night, it was clear that despite the relative calm of the Democratic primary contest, the electorate in New Hampshire is still very much divided — primarily between former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.).... “Today, with your help we can pull off one of the great political upsets in the history of our country,” Sanders said.
... On Sunday night, after weeks of holding forth with his usual focus on income inequality, Sanders expanded on his foreign policy views for a lengthy portion of his speech.... “As president, I will defend this country, but I will do it responsibly,” he added, while calling for “rich and powerful” Arab countries to contribute their fair share to the effort to fight terrorism. “We do not need a “tough foreign policy, we need a smart foreign policy.”

“We cannot and should not be trapped in perpetual warfare in the Middle East year after year after year,” he added....As he often does, Sanders noted that Americans are clamoring for “real change."

And he is offering his version of change that he thinks would bring younger and more enthusiastic voters to the polls.

“Republicans win when voter turnout is low,” Sanders said. “I see a future not just for my candidacy but for the Democratic Party.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/11/30/bernie-sanders-makes-it-clear-hes-playing-this-game-to-win/

[humbled_opinion]

1. Isn't it smarter to

promote the candidate that has a massive amount of momentum and enthusiasm behind them? (see 2007 Barack Obama) or is my logic flawed?

[jeff47]

2. Well, he doesn't have the "correct", third-way and neoliberal policies.

So we back the candidate already filling stadiums. He might raise taxes on the poor, downtrodden people making $118k/year.

[hack89]

3. Obama also had a lot of money and a large experienced campaign organization.

In addition to a lot of support from Dem power brokers

[humbled_opinion]

4. My broader point

was that as a collective, we all agree that any Democratic candidate is much better for America then anyone of the rightwingers. Therefore why would the collective not follow the path of least resistance and gather behind the candidate that shows momentum, pulls massive enthusiasm and support at their rallies, and speaks out in a generational way against the system which is rigged in favor of the very rich. The end result is that in order to promote a flawed candidate that blows in the wind of political polling and is beholden to the same interests that we all agree are the problem in this country flies in the face of logic and really only results in tamping down enthusiasm and support, how can we possible win? Are the power masters actually betting that we all are eventually just going to throw out our convictions and support who they say we must?

[hack89]

5. Because he is not showing momentum?

Last edited Mon Nov 30, 2015, 02:55 PM - Edit history (1)

He has at best leveled out. Every long shot populist candidate hangs his hat on enthusiastic crowds and mythical first time voters like Bernie. And they always come up short.

[beltanefauve]

34. You mean

like Obama did in 2008?

Nice try.

[hack89]

35. No

Obama had money, a large experienced organization and support within the party. He also had an opponent that never polled over 50%.

[wordpix]

6. I'm for Bernie for reasons you state ---he has proven himself time & again while Hilary

as senator voted for the Iraq War, was for Keystone before she was against it, and will never gain repub votes. Bernie's voting record is nearly flawless (not crazy about his gun stances but VT is a hunting state) and he may actually get repub votes for his commonsense foreign policy and anti-Wall St. sentiment. He was well-received at Liberty U, too.

I'll vote for Hilary if she's the nom but I'm for Bernie now.

[2pooped2pop]

7. we dont want republican lite either

and Hillary means more of the same shit that got us here.

[cantbeserious]

10. Some Citizens Will Never Support HRC

eom

[closeupready]

27. Because there's a lot of crooks out there who don't care.

I watched "Traffic" this past weekend, the Michael Douglas film - it was REALLY good, but more saliently, there was a scene where a character giving a soundbite to the media says (to paraphrase), "in DC, if you can't be bought, your career will come to a quick, nasty end."

In other words, if you won't play ball with the crooks in DC, you won't get anywhere, or at least, you will find it VERY hard to get things done, because those who ARE crooks will treat you and your bills as parasitic diseases.

[Matariki]

25. And third-way backers we knew nothing about

or choose to ignore.

[JDPriestly]

21. Not when she represents the corruption and betrayal of the middle class that allows Republicans

to win at the local level in so many states.

We need a candidate who has the courage to stand up for Democratic principles like equal rights, equal opportunity for ALL, Social Security.

Tell me. How is Hillary going to sustain and support Social Security without raising the cap on payroll taxes so that those who earn less than $250,000 but more than $114,000 pay payroll taxes on the amounts they now take home without paying payroll taxes on them?

I am wondering what her plan is for funding Social Security for the next generation?

That is one of the key reasons that I support Bernie. He is willing to raise the cap on the payroll taxes. In my view, raising that cap might lower the rate on the tax on people who are earning less today.

[daleanime]

9. And that's a good thing?

[daleanime]

24. Well, I was hoping that if you didn't.....

you might have suggestions on how to change that. Or is that expecting too much? And I'm feeling as good as can be expected, thanks for the thought.

[frylock]

11. The superdelegates will sink the party.

[jwirr]

19. Apparently you do not believe that an election should be

won by they people. What form of government do you believe in? Certainly not a Democracy.

[jwirr]

23. The DNC is begging for money and not getting it - this time

the election is between those who are sick and tired of the establishment (DNC, DWS. DLCC, DSCC, DCCC and other Centrist leaders) thinking they run the show. And a lot of the things they are trying to do are not working - only making people angrier.

As to saying it is not a good thing. You have been arguing that those groups are all powerful as if the election has already been held.

[JDPriestly]

28. If Bernie wins or even comes close, and the superdelegates "sink him," it will weaken if not

divide the party for a long, long time. That is what happened in 1968. I hope the party leadership learned from that.

The party leadership needs to respond and welcome the dissent that Bernie's candidacy represents. It is not going to go away.

Bernie's campaign is not about Bernie. It is about the issues Bernie is talking about, issues that mainstream Democrats have shied away from and are weak on.

So the fissure in the Democratic Party is not just about Bernie, great as he is. It runs much deeper than that, and those who support Hillary need to recognize that there is a deep problem in the Democratic Party. Many Democrats feel that Hillary and the powers that be in the Third Way of the Democratic Party do not represent the interests of grassroots Democrats. We barely vote for the more conservative among them. Why bother to vote at all if neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have your interests in mind or will represent you.

Democrats have stood by while corporations have written trade agreements that have resulted in jobs moving overseas and products moving into the US. Lost jobs mean disillusioned, impoverished, unhappy Democrats. The Democratic Party has yet to really face and deal with that fact.

2016 is ours, Democrats', to win. But we will only win it if we are united. And Hillary's candidacy while broadly supported within the Democratic Party, is a divider because Hillary cannot be a Third Way, corporate and wealth supported candidate and still win the votes of the disillusioned, disenchanted wing of the Democratic Party. That wing has grown since 2000 and continues to grow. Most of all, Hillary will not win our enthusiasm.

Hillary is not dealing with a lot of issues very wisely. Social Security is one of them. The cap has to go up. It has been where it is far too long. She is, like Obama, asking for far too little in terms of the increase in minimum wages and other things that working people desperately need. She sets the starting offer of the Democratic Party on economic issues too low. That is not right and as a negotiating tactic is precisely the same mistake Obama has made.

And in foreign policy, she is a sure step to unwinnable wars. We have to be smarter in our foreign policy. Yes. ISIS has to be stopped. But Bernie is right. We have to figure out precisely which countries are supporting ISIS and get them to see that terrorism in the Middle East that ISIS represents is not in their interest. Someone, some country or countries, are channeling funds and helping ISIS, and that country or those countries are the route to stopping ISIS. Direct strikes will help some but will not root out the real cause of the ISIS phenomenon. We have to persuade ISIS supporters in the world that terrorism and religious dictatorship are not the way to a good future for their countries.

We will either have a schism in the Democratic Party that will lead to a lot of Democrats staying home or the superdelegates will have to be inclusive and supportive of the Bernie branch of the Democratic Party. We do not want a repeat of 1968 where it was my way or the highway by the conservatives in the Party.

And if Bernie wins, the same holds true for Bernie supporters. We have to be an inclusive party. I can see Bernie supporters being inclusive, but I see Hillary supporters as very exclusive.

[George II]

12. Another opinion piece posted as "Latest Breaking News" - this belongs elsewhere on DU.

[George II]

17. It's not "suppress", there are several appropriate forums on this site where this could have...

...been posted. The "Latest Breaking News" forum is reserved for NEWS, not opinion.

[LanternWaste]

26. I'd rationalize observations than editorials are in fact, not late breaking news as "whining" too...

I'd rationalize observations than editorials are in fact, not late breaking news as "whining" too... much easier to validate our biases that way. If so, a win-win!!!!

[Attorney in Texas]

14. The Hill's report on different parts of Sanders' speech, Sanders: 'People are crying out for change'

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) late Sunday sought to draw a distinction between himself and Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton while speaking in New Hampshire.

“From coast to coast, the American people are crying out for change, for real change,” Sanders said at the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, according to reports.

“They are tired of the same old, same old establishment politics, establishment economics and establishment foreign policy. They want this county to move in a new direction," Sanders added.

Sanders also suggested in his prepared remarks that with the continued support of Democrats, he is poised to pull off one of the greatest political upsets in U.S. history.


Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/261458-sanders-people-are-crying-out-for-change

[JDPriestly]

33. Finally, an analysis and proposed plan for ISIS and the Middle East that makes sense.

ISIS is the negative response to our involvement which is perceived as interference by the ISIS supporters in the Middle East.

Because our involvement there, our role there, is the raison d'etre of the movement, we cannot be the central force opposing it. Our presence may increase the support for ISIS rather than diminish it. Bernie seems to be the only person who understands this obvious fact.

That does not mean that we should not be involved in and supportive of the efforts to stop ISIS, but it means that we have to step back from the most prominent role and take a more supportive but less aggressive role in fighting it. We need to organize the leaders of the Muslim communities and countries that rely on us as trading partners and for military equipment and support to take the lead in defeating ISIS and other such violent and extremist groups.

This is not a war about religion in my opinion. It is a war about culture and self-government. As long as we are seen as outsiders who try to interfere in the culture of the Middle East, our very attempts to stop ISIS will be the impetus for its continuation.

So I think Bernie is right in his analysis. The challenge to ISIS has to come from within the leadership of the nations of the Middle East. We just make the situation worse by interfering directly. Our work is to organize and challenge the leaders of the Middle East to understand that their own interests and those of their countries require them to stop ISIS.

[BeanMusical]

15. Kick and R

[SoapBox]

29. K & R

Go Bernie!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

30. Let's NOT vote for the one that the young people are enthusiastic about....

What do THEY know about making money?

All they do is SPEND it.

[Crystalite]

31. Among Dems who know who Sanders is, I'm confident he has the highest support.

For him it will all be about getting out there.

And he needs to be everywhere at once, even as he serves the state of Vermont.

Key: get people out and win the Iowa and New Hampshire, and that gives Nevada 11 days and South Carolina 18 days to change their minds.

If he can do OK in those states it sends the same message to the rest of the states.

[Duckfan]

32. I believe Jeff Weaver (his campaign Manager) knows what he is doing.

And that's a good thing. Wanted to try to get in touch with Hartmann to ask him about Bernie's staff since he knows best.

But it is refreshing to see Bernie say he is in this to win it. That is encouraging to me. Thanks for posting this Attorney. This story reinforces what many of us have said from the beginning: people are not interested in Hillary because she offers nothing. Bernie excites people and will significantly motivate the dem. base.

If this hold true that voters really do not like Hillary, many of them-including "R's"-will support Bernie. Many "R's" already are. Also nice to see Wa-Po do a story on Bernie.

As one poster here clearly states, "I will not vote the lesser of 2 corporate evils." Amen to that.

[geardaddy]

36. Locking.

Please consider reposting this in GD-P.