A Lot of People Want Bernie Sanders to Run in 2020
Nov 25, 2018 6:00 AM ET
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE
Excerpts:
“He’s uniquely positioned to do better against Trump in the general because he appeals to white working-class and rural voters—much better than a conventional Democrat does,” said Ben Tulchin, who was Sanders’s 2016 pollster and remains in touch with his team. “He also is very popular and has done well in the Midwest, such as Michigan and Wisconsin, which are critical to winning.”
Sanders’s midterm campaign swing was, on the one hand, a success—no prospective presidential candidate drew crowds as big as his, and he drew them consistently, from South Carolina to Iowa to Colorado. Candidates as varied as Jacky Rosen, who won her Senate race, and Andrew Gillum, who narrowly lost his governor race in Florida, were eager to appear with him. On the way to the University of Reno rally, Sanders stopped by the Culinary Workers’ union hall and was greeted with chants of “2020! 2020!” There were a number of events like that off the public schedule during Sanders’s tour, as well as meetings with local politicians and other leaders who struck the senator and his team as being much more open to him than they were the last time around.
And he and the crowd were both clearly enjoying it in Reno when he directly took on the protesters holding a Trump flag off the side of a multistory parking lot. “Really?” he said. “Do you really want to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the 1 percent? Do you really want to throw 32 million Americans off the health care that they have?”
Ro Khanna, a California congressman who in 2016 knocked out an incumbent Democrat on his second try for the seat, said he thinks Sanders should run again—and he has told the senator directly.
The goal, Khanna said, is “not simply occupying the presidency, but shaping the policy direction for the nation and the policy direction of the progressive movement and the country … I don’t think you can do that behind the scenes being a kingmaker.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/11/can-bernie-sanders-beat-donald-trump-2020-race/576331/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Probably still true.
Some people seem to want a “dem” —and a young one — more than they want a solid win.
I think Bernie would be an incredibly effective president. He knows what has to be done to fix our democracy and he has for decades had the fire burning under him to achieve it. He’s also a fantastic crossover candidate that will significantly erode tRump’s pull in the polls.
Who are the purists?! 
