Bernie in South Carolina...

[Armymedic88]

I have yet to hear anyone talk about Bernie Sanders advantage with veterans in South Carolina. As a veteran myself I deeply appreciate his work in the Senate for our benefits and I think he has an ability to pick off quite a few moderate republican veterans in South Carolina.

[litlbilly]

1. Bernie does usually get 25% republican votes in VT for many years. there would be yard

signs with bush/cheney and a Bernie sign right next to them. He has crossover appeal. We'll see how it plays out

[thereismore]

2. Good point. Hillary will probably do a full Rove on him

by saying that the VA problem happened on his watch. No, it became public on his watch and it became a problem because of her disastrous IWR vote in the very first place.

[noretreatnosurrender]

3. Good point

I'm looking forward to watching the South Carolina primary. I hope that many, many issues that are normally ignored by the corporate media are discussed in the campaigns.

[MrMickeysMom]

4. I'm calling SC prior to primaries for phone banks, and I notice this...

It's close, and of the persons talking with me, they prefer to vote for him.

I'll keep watching this. I'm calling both Nevada and SC this week, which I think is an excellent way to avoid arguments on DU, don't cha think?

[napi21]

9. It's also a great way o get a feel for how most voters are leaning.

I don't know how many people you talk to, or if you get a chance to talk with other phone bankers to compare notes, but I think your gut feel about how the vote will go would be every bit as good or better than all he darn polling we hear about every day.

Thanks you for your help to Bernie's campaign.

[MrMickeysMom]

16. I think you're right...

I've take these self- polls often enough to agree that it runs true. I have to call more to be sure, which I will.

Feels good to do so.

[jwirr]

10. Very productive use of your time. Thank you.

[JudyM]

18. I'm calling, too... It'd be good if all of us on du, callers and canvassers, had a "place" to hang

out and share tips and triumphs. I get excited about some of the interactions, when I am able to change someone's mind while offering facts, and there's nowhere on DU to share that.... It's not worth starting a thread about it, after all....

[MrMickeysMom]

19. Why don't we occasionally start something in BSGroup?

I love the idea, JudyM!

[Le Taz Hot]

5. He's got more offices in South Carolina that Hillary does.

The MSM has largely ignored the campaign's efforts in SC but they've been there for months. Sanders volunteers have been phone banking into South Carolina since November. All of this HAS to have made some impact there.

[merrily]

6. Thank you. He's generally anti war and very pro taking care of vets.

If I were in the military, my Democratic primary vote would definitely go to Bernie.

[Armymedic88]

7. There's a lot of silent Democrats in the military...

I was always the one to start political conversations and I found it quite eye opening the amount of democrats.

[merrily]

8. That's great! My theory is that the government prefers and encourages right wing military.

All part of the so called Cold War, which has eaten up more people and money since the Russian Revolution than someone like me can even imagine.

Uprisings by Russians peasants failed--until the military joined them. Therefore, encouraging a military that is more right wing was probably thought a safety measure for the plutocrats. It is not until relatively recently that this country perceived a threat to plutocrats from the right. Or so my 'gut" theory goes. I have not researched it.

[glinda]

11. Gave you a heart for your thoughts and concerns and Service.

[Armymedic88]

13. Thank you very much!!

[Armymedic88]

14. Thanks

[Live and Learn]

15. K&R nt

[zentrum]

17. Excellent Point.

[Peace Patriot]

20. The Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld assault on the U.S. military appalled me!

And it is simply not possible for me to forgive Hillary Clinton for her vote in support of the godawful war on Iraq, and its impacts on young soldiers in particular, its impacts on all soldiers subjected to 3, 4, 5+ tours of duty in that hell hole, subjected to "stop-loss" (forced return duty), and put in a position of having to kill tens of thousands of people in self-defense--mostly innocent people, or people defending themselves from invasion; the impacts on soldiers of poor equipment (lost limbs, injured brains, death) and dreadfully ill thought out plans and purposes; the impacts on members of the military with a conscience and understanding of the Geneva Conventions (such as the Jag lawyers who risked their lives and careers to oppose torturing prisoners); the impacts on those of us at home of their use of our National Guards in an unjust war that had nothing to do with our country's safety; the impacts on those of us at home so demoralized that we couldn't stop it, and having to see the bodies come home, and being forced to pay for these horrors--trillions of dollars amidst vastly corrupt use of our money (for instance, Cheney giving fat military contracts to his own company, Halliburton); the ugliness of Blackwater and other private militias getting paid fat salaries (our money!) while our soldiers got (and get) so little for their service.

And then, and THEN, these soldiers come home--if they were lucky--so many broken in so many ways, and Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld and their political hacks couldn't give a crap for their welfare.

So appalling--what they did to our military! And there have been other impacts as well--such as the militarization of our police forces at home.

Bernie Sanders not only stood against these terrible things, with most of our political establishment gung-ho or bending over for it, he also saw--and stated publicly--what it would result in: the destabilization of Iraq and then of the Middle East, with a much worse situation there than ever before. And HE did not forget our veterans! He does not view them as "cannon fodder," the way Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld did, and the way that most of our Democratic leaders let them do. He fought tooth and nail for money for veterans and for VA reform.

He also has stated--and I believe him--that war MUST be a last resort, something that virtually all soldiers believe. Who wants to die for a matter that can be settled peacefully? Who wants to endure the horrors of war for oil corporation profits or private military contractor profits? War is Hell! And it should never be initiated--and we should never let it be initiated--for ill purposes and for profit.

I am SO GLAD that Bernie exists, that he did what he did, and that he is now running for president!

I was not in the military, but I have family members who were (pre-Iraq War). I am also a PATRIOT and a democrat with both a large and a small "d." I love our country. I revere its highest values and ideals. If we are going to have a military, we must be fair to all those who join the services and who risk their lives on orders from the President, and we, the people, MUST be part of war decisions--the most important part of war decisions. THAT is democracy; and if we are not democratic, WHAT are we fighting for?

We must never again let it happen that we are tricked, and lied to, and traumatized into war by an event like 9/11, or by anything else.

I felt wounded by this war myself. It was such an assault on everything I have ever held dear--an assault on honorable service of every kind, an assault on our country's morals and ethics, an assault on young peoples' minds and souls, young soldiers and others--an assault that we will not recover from in my lifetime.

Armymedic88, thank you for your service! Thank you for your thoughts! And welcome to DU!!!

Peace

[Armymedic88]

21. Very strong and true words!!!

Thank you

[Samantha]

22. This is a such a beautiful, eloquent post

I said at the time I could not support any politician that signed the petition giving Bush the authority to wage a preeminent war on Iraq. I did not believe either him or Cheney on this subject, and I felt if I, a nobody, could see the truth of the whole matter -- it was all about the oil and Bush* wanting to eliminate Saddam for trying to kill George H.W. Bush -- certainly elected politicians should be able to see the hoax as well.

I had never cried at work, but the day our military crossed the desert and I watched those tanks racing across the sand, I watched a large screen in a large conference room display our soldiers heading toward Iraq to invade. I couldn't move, I just stood there with tears coming down my face. Finally, in sadness I walked away thinking that as an American, I too would be seen as responsible for the war, and I just could not handle that. I have always been a Pacifist, and like Bernie, I think war should be waged only as a last resort -- for instance when we were attacked during World War II.

Apologizing for a vote does not erase the horror of what we did to the Iraqi people. There is simply no way to ever make right what we did to that Country and to its people. God forgive us, because we have no right to ask the Iraqi people for forgiveness.

Sam