Bernie Sanders' most ardent supporters believe 2020 could be 'stolen' by the DNC

[brooklynite]

US News & World Report

While polling has shown Warren performing worse against Trump than Sanders, more recent data has shown her climbing into closer contention against the president.

At the same time, Sanders has begun regularly inserting his electability argument into his standard pitch, describing himself as "the strongest campaign to defeat the worst president in this country's history," a case he didn't attempt to make until much later in 2016.

But out in his crowds, doubts swirl among his supporters. Conversations with attendees of Sanders rallies revealed close to conspiratorial notions about the Democratic National Committee purposely sabotaging their candidate's chances – stark evidence of a broken trust that still hasn't been repaired.

"If he doesn't get cheated by the DNC, we're good. What they're doing now, putting Biden forward and stuff like that, is definitely purposeful," says Ernest Montenegro, an arts professor from Concord. "I think they did it once, they're going to do it again. If Hillary hadn't been pushy and pushed him out of the way and did everything they could to keep him with a lower profile than he really had at the time, he probably would've won."

[BannonsLiver]

1. Things are going south quickly for Bernie

He’s been tanking for a couple months now. The magic is gone. As evidenced in the piece, It’s clear at least some of his supporters are unwilling or unable to place the blame for that where it belongs. Ah well, it won’t work this time. When it’s all said and done Bernie is more likely to finish 4th or 5th in the delegate count than he is to get anywhere near winning the nomination. Warren and Mayor Pete will eventually overtake him.

[Tiggeroshii]

29. Not according to Nate Silver

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/bernie-sanders-has-the-highest-floor-and-its-pretty-damn-low/

He is actually the most consistent with the highest floor of all candidates. The one losing the most ground at this point is Biden, who has the weakest base of support.

[BannonsLiver]

32. He'll be overtaken by Warren by the end of the summer

Not looking good for Bernie, I’m afraid. And Silver has been wrong on more than one occasion.

Nobody’s talking about Bernie. He’s been sort of lost in the shuffle. Probably a good thing after the She the People debacle and his own weird answers on abortion and other topics. Levi is lashing out at Hillary on social media. Some of his supporters are already creating imaginary DNC conspiracies in the media. It’s kind of a mess.

[Tiggeroshii]

33. Bold prediction consideringthere have been no debates

Another bold prediction baased on as much evidence as yours: Biden voters will go to warren and biden will sink to 3rd or 4rth place in no time once people are exposed to other candidates. Bernie will probably win.

[BannonsLiver]

36. By the way

In the interest of civility I would like to mention this. While I don’t agree with you on Bernie I do agree with you on the idea that there’s still a lot to be determined in this race. And the debates will have a huge role in that. You are absolutely correct on that count.

This time of the campaign is not unlike the beginning of a sports season when every team is 0-0-0 in the win/loss column. It’s a time for all of us to hope and dream. So to you I say, assuming you haven’t put me on ignore for being an asshole, good luck and have a fulfilling primary campaign.

[Tiggeroshii]

66. Cheers!

[NYMinute]

43. Bernie is a poor debater

Debates will make him sink even further.

Bernie's talking points are tired and worn out. Bernie comes across as angry and belligerent at a time when the electorate is looking for an alternative to the angry and belligerent POTUS. A lot of candidates will be gunning for Bernie because that is very poachable supporters will be.

It's over for Bernie.

[trueblue2007]

69. over for him ??? Good !!

i have been in a depression since trump stole the election and i just can't get over it.

[Cha]

84. I hope so.

[calguy]

58. Do you know any other good jokes?

That one was pretty good.

[TwilightZone]

74. Silver's not even wrong.

The poster is misrepresenting that article. What it actually says it that Bernie's floor is only slightly higher than Biden's and that it's still "pretty damn low", to quote Silver, in the general scheme of things.

The claim that Biden's floor is the lowest is also false, as shown by the poster's own article.

[TwilightZone]

71. You and others keep posting that article. I don't think you've actually read it.

From the article:

"So while Sanders might have a slightly higher floor than other candidates — about half of the voters who currently prefer Sanders are only considering Sanders — it’s still pretty low in the broader scheme of things"

Then, you assert: "The one losing the most ground at this point is Biden, who has the weakest base of support. "

This is clearly false, as shown in your article. Their "floors" are almost identical and higher than everyone else:

Bernie Sanders or bust 8

Joe Biden or bust 8

[Gothmog]

2. This is going to be a mess

Sanders has lost a great deal of his base and Warren and Mayor Pete will likely have more support than sanders by the time of the primary

[Turin_C3PO]

3. Oh for the love of God!

Let’s just hope there aren’t as many of these idiots this cycle as there was in 2016. They’re a part of the reason Trump got elected.

[Hortensis]

68. The "most ardent" seem to be the same people, roughly same numbers.

And Sanders' deluded "most ardent" bear a strong resemblance to Trump's deluded "most ardent," no surprise given that roughly half of his eventually voted for Trump and the other third party. As for their effect on 2020, let's just hope the blue surge so overwhelms that few wonder enough to look it up. The way it should be.

You know, if it weren't for the danger they could pose with electoral margins so close, I'd feel sorry for them. Those prone to extremism and conspiracism are never exactly strongly anchored to reality by truth. I believe Sanders did those vulnerable a great disservice in the 2016 primaries when he told them at almost every turn that the DNC was their enemy and accused the parties in many states of stealing their elections. For them it's more than just pulling on a team jersey that can later be removed, and I suspect many will never recover to their level before that election. An internet that connects the rabbit holes is certainly not their friend.

[betsuni]

80. I always think of this:

"Bernie was given the privilege of shaping the political worldview of millions of bright, young, open-minded first-time voters. He chose to use his powers to convince them of a simplistic, poisonous worldview. It goes like this: the vast majority of Americans actually agree with Bernie's radical policies, but millionaires and billionaires have bribed our entire government, as well as the DNC, into doing everything they can to stop true progressive ideas. So many young progressives, once inspired by Bernie, were convinced by him to see corruption and conspiracy behind every corner, to wallow in apathy and anti-establishment helplessness." Roy Delfino

Very sad, what a waste.

[Hortensis]

81. Yes. Less sad a waste, tho, than sad not totally wasted?

I don't know. There're theories that even serial killers and sociopaths serve useful societal/evolutionary functions. Maybe. But I suspect provoking disaster might have been far more useful when humans tended to live the same as their ancestors 100,000 years before, rather than in an age of WMD. But, then, maybe that'd also be hypothesized as an opportunity for speeding up the natural selection/evolutionary process.

[mcar]

4. Maybe, just maybe Bernie is actually losing again

Everything is not a conspiracy.

[Hortensis]

70. Just maybe! :)

Or, only they are capable of understanding that DNC corruption kept a great leader supported by most of the nation from almost inevitably being elected in 2016. He's doing poorly this time in spite of still standing head and shoulders above all others, and the only possible explanation is that the uber-, almost mystically powerful DNC is derailing the election again.

Of course they're desperately angry and probably feeling sick at watching helplessly as evil wins again.

We all know that feeling...

[George II]

5. If the DNC doesn't demand that every Democrat vote for Sanders....

....they'll think the DNC stole the nomination from him.

[msongs]

6. bernie cant sell himself effectively so blame...liz warren lol nt

[GemDigger]

7. The problem he has is too much competition this time around.

That he thought there may be only 3 of them again this year was wishful thinking.

[uawchild]

8. Sanders is not going to win the nomination

I appreciate the effort that Sanders and the Sanders' supporters have put in on the issues, but it's time for them to face a hard reality.

Bernie Sanders is not going to be the 2020 nominee.

The problem is that there is actual animosity between many Democrats who do and do not support Sanders. That is not a good thing.
In fact, the last thing we need is to have Sanders' supporters feeling alienated from our party. And yeah, people, as in this thread, blame Bernie for a lot of that, but it certainly seems like it has been a two way street to a depressing degree.

If Sanders withdraws, I feel it would give the party the opportunity to really come together behind a consensus candidate.

In a perfect world, I wished that Sanders drops out before the first of the primaries, freeing up his supporters to back a candidate like Elizabeth Warren. That 15% rule is going to give the lion share of delegates to the top 2-3 candidates in each primary. If progressives fracture their votes thru too many primaries, well, they would be handing delegates to Joe Biden, in droves.

It's hard to give up on a dream, especially when there are many detractors sniping at you, but Sanders and his supporters need to do the right thing and clear the field.

Just my opinion, your mileage might vary.

[LibFarmer]

12. +1000 nt

[crazytown]

16. +Yes nt

[Turin_C3PO]

20. Good post.

And he should tell his supporters, in no uncertain terms, that the DNC did NOT cheat him out of the nomination. Maybe his supporters would cool off if he did that.

[GulfCoast66]

22. Don't hold your breath waiting.

[lunamagica]

27. Knowing his history do you picture him doing that? He has shown us he is a sore, sore loser

[yardwork]

50. If Bernie cares about our democracy, he needs to do that.

I hope he does. Because, otherwise, a lot of Democrats in some key states are going to stay home or vote third party again, and Trump will be re-elected.

I know for a fact that some of these people WANT Trump to be re-elected. Like Susan Sarandon, they believe that this "will bring the revolution."

I've heard this rhetoric all my life. So far, the Republicans are winning.

[SouthernProgressive]

9. Why shouldn't they believe it? The message comes from the top. Sanders himself. NT

[NurseJackie]

10. ...

[LibFarmer]

11. lol

I pity them and pray that they will open their eyes to reality one day.

[Starry Messenger]

13. The word "ardent" is doing a lot of work there

If Hillary hadn't been pushy and pushed him out of the way and did everything they could to keep him with a lower profile than he really had at the time, he probably would've won."

Gasp, she dared campaign against him and this led to her winning, denying him a victory!!11

[yardwork]

48. How dare the woman push herself forward.

Hi, Starry! Good to see you!

[Cha]

14. I have two words for them

Face Reality.

I've seen some of their tweets.. not good.

[Go Vols]

15. Wonder why

PHILADELPHIA —Democrats arrived at their nominating convention on Sunday under a cloud of discord as Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, abruptly said she was resigning after a trove of leaked emails showed party officials conspiring to sabotage the campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/us/politics/debbie-wasserman-schultz-dnc-wikileaks-emails.html

[Scurrilous]

25. "Thank God for WikiLeaks," said Dan O'Neal...

...a delegate from Arizona who was wearing a “Bernie for President” T-shirt."

"The breach of the Democratic committee’s emails, made public on Friday by WikiLeaks..."


"The messages showed members of the committee’s communications team musing about pushing the narrative that the Sanders campaign was inept and trying to raise questions publicly about whether he was an atheist."

[JI7]

38. that was part of the russian attack on the election which was propping up Sanders

[yardwork]

47. Not exactly objective reporting. Hysteria, as I mention downthread.

[R B Garr]

17. Ah, this BS again.

[MarcA]

18. Yet another reason why I wish Sanders wasn't running this time.

Would like to see him serve out his term(s) in the Senate and then retire
to be an advisor/talk show host/author.

[cwydro]

19. Or he could write steamy romance novels.

Last edited Sat Jun 8, 2019, 08:31 AM - Edit history (1)

I hear he has some experience in that field.

[Turin_C3PO]

21. Lol good one.

I was a Sanders supporter in 2016 but the Bernie bros have gotten on my last nerve.

[Fresh_Start]

72. or give medical advice

like have more sex to combat cancer

[cwydro]

77. Lol, I hadn't heard that one!

[GulfCoast66]

23. At least I don't have to hear the whole Millionaires and Billionaires thingie...

Now it’s just Billionaires.

[Scurrilous]

26. ....

[peggysue2]

24. Good Grief!

This again???

[CentralMass]

28. Well Brooklynite i put nearly every responder to your post on full ignore. It makes reading much

more enjoyable.

[Thekaspervote]

30. Rose colored glasses

[BannonsLiver]

35. Reality is hard.

[cwydro]

41. Lol, I picture hands on ears and lalala I can't hear you!

[tymorial]

40. Enjoy the echo chamber

[yardwork]

45. That's one way to run a campaign.

[Cha]

49. HaHa.. Thanks for telling us!

Good to know! lol

[MrsCoffee]

56. He can't hear you.

Bernie could stop this shit. But he will just let it fester and fester like last time. So over that dude. I hope nobody buys his next book. As if that mattered. I’m sure his campaign would pick up the slack.

[yardwork]

59. He just did! I literally just got an email from Bernie offering to send me his book!

He offered to send me his new book in return for a contribution to his campaign of any amount.

[MrsCoffee]

61. Oh my.

Well of course he did.

I’m glad I somehow never made it onto his email list.

[yardwork]

62. Interesting that you bring that up.

I began receiving emails from Bernie's campaign and from Our Revolution shortly after the DNC was hacked. I never asked to be on either group's email list. I've never contributed to or written to either group. It could be a coincidence. There are lots of ways political campaigns gather email lists.

[MrsCoffee]

63. I've heard similar from other people.

Which is why I’ve always been a little grateful they missed me. Then again, I never go through my spam mail so I could be wrong, lol.

[Cha]

75. I thought I'd give him a

shout out just in case he was kidding.

Because this thread is good to know

[Cha]

31. "Ardent"? Is that what they're

calling it these days?

[Mike Nelson]

37. I wish Bernie could...

… put this stuff behind him... maybe he's tried, but the supporters aren't responding? This story sets him back... Hillary was "pushy" and beat him last time? Sanders is going to need more votes to win the Democratic Primaries, including many who backed "Pushy Hillary".

[yardwork]

44. Where has Sanders ever spoken publicly against this nonsense?

Point me to a speech he's ever given where he told his supporters to stop believing lies about Hillary Clinton and the DNC.

John McCain has the decency to publicly call out a birther at one of his rallies.

[Mike Nelson]

60. I can't point to any...

… although he must have while campaigning for her against Crooked Donald. At the first debate, I would suggest Bernie say something real nice about Obama and Hillary.

[betsuni]

39. "If Hillary hadn't been pushy and pushed him out of the way ... ."

[Cha]

46. lol

[cwydro]

51. Those "pushy women" ya know.

Why do they always persist?

[yardwork]

42. The chickens are coming home to roost.

In the weeks leading up to the 2016 election, Sanders did nothing to dispel the false impression among many of his followers that the nomination had been "stolen" from him. This false belief reached hysterical levels in college towns throughout the nation.

One of the reasons we (not just Hillary, we the PEOPLE) apparently lost Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin to Trump is the poor voter turnout in the many college and university towns in those states.

I'm looking at you, professors in Ann Arbor, Madison, Philadelphia. Liberal strongholds with wimpy Democratic votes in 2016 because you allowed yourself to believe internet lies about Hillary. And Bernie Sanders did nothing to correct the record.

Sanders has appointed people who urged a vote for Jill Stein to lead his 2020 campaign.

[lapucelle]

52. US News and World Report: "How the Revolution Ends"

From the cited article:

WARNER, N.H. — As Bernie Sanders plodded up a steep hill in the backyard of a Main Street bookstore in this tiny New Hampshire town, he was in no mood for selfies.

"Not right this second," he told the first iPhone-wielding petitioner.

"Not now," he barked, rebuffing another. "We've got a lot to get to."

But before the Vermont senator and 2020 presidential candidate could get to his revolution-inspired repertoire, he had to move the people still standing in line on the street into the green space on this picturesque blue-sky late spring afternoon.

[Kurt V.]

53. bullshit article. like when parachute reporters go to fly over country and

Interview trump ppl and declare this is the monolith opinion.

[MrsCoffee]

57. Pictures of John Lewis getting booed get replayed in my head every time someone goes into denial

about the damage some of his supporters seem to be planning again.

Bernie is going to lose and the tantrums will be thrown.

[Cha]

83. Actually it's not.

[onetexan]

54. BS

[Me.]

64. Wasn't That Scenario Run Once Already?

[MineralMan]

65. You've Got to Blame Somebody

You need somebody to blame today...

Didn't we hear this before?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

73. Well we can't blame Susan Sarandon for EVERYTHING.

[Politicub]

67. For good or for ill, Bernie is a phenomenon

In the event of him losing in the primaries, it's going to be hard for his strongest supporters to accept that others don't get as excited about his message as them. He has a flock, so to speak.

And the flock will blame everyone but themselves because it's too difficult to take responsibility for a loss. Therefore, it must be the big, bad DNC or something else that excluded him on purpose or conspired to coordinate forces to stand in his way. There doesn't need to be hard evidence; the quote you provided at the end of your post is from someone who almost ascribes a mystic power of mind control to the DNC. To him, the DNC and other candidates direct the behavior of voters.

And Bernie could wipe the table. I think that's pretty unlikely, but anything is possible.

I am eager to see who California nominates. Whoever picks up the state's many delegates will be in a strong position to win.

[NYMinute]

76. It is the "my way or highway" flock

No the brightest and most rational people.

[NastyRiffraff]

78. Here we go again

Some of them are STILL insisting that Bernie was robbed in 2016, including an acquaintance of mine, who should know better. It's inconceivable to them that a lot of people just aren't into Bernie.

[Cha]

85. Exactly, Riff.

[Kahuna7]

79. What else is new?

[Cha]

82. ..