'Hard to comprehend': Sanders' loss in Michigan crushes staff and supporters

[brooklynite]

The Guardian

The crushing reality of defeat hit the Michigan Sanders campaign staff at a downtown Detroit watch party by 9pm. News outlets called the race for Joe Biden, all but sealing the former vice-president’s nomination and Sanders’ now likely defeat in the race overall. Several staffers shed tears. Others left the party early.

Sanders supporter Kevin Neems called the results “depressing”.

“It’s just hard to understand. Hard to comprehend. Hard to wrap your head around,” he said.

While the loss crushed Sanders’ staff and supporters, many maintained an optimistic tone, choosing to view the candidate’s progressive campaign as part of a longer game that went beyond any single election season.

“He got millions of votes and his message resonates with young voters, but there were things that couldn’t necessarily be controlled,” Neems added. “It’s clear that the progressive movement is growing even if this is a setback.”

[RandySF]

1. We all saw this coming a week ago.

[TwilightZone]

2. "It's clear that the progressive movement is growing"

I'm not sure there's evidence of that. I think there's evidence that growth has tapered off considerably.

In 2018, members of the Squad seem to have been the exception, not the rule.

If we account for anti-Hillary sentiment in 2016, Sanders numbers were probably about on par in 2020 with what they were four years ago.

[Blue_true]

6. So this is the issue.

Mr. Neems is right, though not in the way he thinks. Joe Biden pulled in big numbers of voters, Joe Biden IS A PROGRESSIVE, and has been all his political career. So Mr. Neems is right in a way, progressives are a growing number, that has been the case for decades now.

[efhmc]

3. But, but, every poll had this results.

[dweller]

4. if i had to put a finger on it ?

"but there were things that couldn’t necessarily be controlled,"

🤔

✌🏼

[MrsCoffee]

5. Seems pretty simple to me.

[NYMinute]

7. Sanders had 4 rallies and a town hall in MI -- all for naught

[Skittles]

8. allow me to explain

most voters do not want Trump, and they do not want Bernie either

[showblue22]

14. +1

[comradebillyboy]

18. Indeed. But had things worked out differently

I would have voted for Sanders over Trump. Every election is a choice between who is better and who is worse. Bernie is better than Trump. Biden is better than Sanders. Biden wasn't my first or second choice, but here we are. We can't always get what we want but we must always choose better over worse.

[Skittles]

19. I know

I find it very disconcerting, who had to drop out and who is left

[BidenBacker]

9. Earth calling Kevin Neems

Earth: "Do you read us, Neems?"

Neems: "Yes, I can hear you."

Earth: "Good. Second question...when was the last time you looked at any polls?"

[Todd79]

10. Bottom line is

That among exit polls pretty much across the board, 65% of the party wants to return to Obama era or more to the right. About 30-35% want to go further to the left of Obama era.

[CanonRay]

12. I want to go to the left

I just don't want to lose to Trump to do it.

[BidenBacker]

13. I could live with that

Revised campaign slogan for Joe...

"Vote Biden. Beat Trump. Eff the right. Then hang a left."

Need to work on that some...a little too long for a bumper sticker.

[uponit7771]

25. +1

[uponit7771]

17. Biden can be left of Obama on issues, its not all or nothing.

[Amishman]

24. This, ask me that question and I'd ask on which policy

Go down the list I'd be to the left of the Obama admin on three I can think of, generally in line, and even to the right on one.

[Cha]

11. Yeah.. the Voters Want Biden.. he got Millions more Votes

[samir.g]

15. Voters didn't want any malarkey

[Baclava]

16. Same old story, young people showed up to party at rallies, but not to vote

[brush]

20. It's not complicated. Socialism is toxic to most Americans.

[BidenBacker]

21. Actually

A majority of Americans like socialism itself. They just hate the word.

[brush]

22. They like social safety net programs. As I said, "socialism" is toxic to many voters.

Any candidate naive enough to run as a socialist or democratic socialist and having to explain that will lose when there is a binary choice—see tonight's results, Super Tuesday's and South Carolina's.

[BidenBacker]

23. Agreed

Republicans like the military, aid to struggling farmers, propping up Wall Street when needed and emergency assistance to Red States in the event of natural disasters.

Democrats like social safety nets, aid to struggling auto workers, propping up Main Street when needed and helping Blue States when they're slammed by Mother Nature.

All "socialist" endeavors...whether either side calls it that out loud or not. Maybe one of these days we'll all stop kidding ourselves, call a spade a spade and come to a mutual agreement that a mixed economy is the best economy. Then we can finally get serious about figuring out what sectors of our economy need heavy doses of socialism or just a little sprinkling of it and where we should let capitalism run wild.

[beachbumbob]

26. they were full of themselves and did not think we true democrats would turn this around

we will not allow a repeat of 1972

NOT ONE OUR WATCH

[FreepFryer]

27. Should have built bridges to the Democratic establishment instead of attacking.

Something tells me that they have learned the opposite lesson.

[OnDoutside]

28. Are these people in their own media echo chamber ?

[Vogon_Glory]

29. Memo to Bernistas: For now, the youth vote will disappoint

I hate to say it, but it appears that candidates depending on the youth vote to bulk up their numbers and beat reactionaries are courting defeat.

While I admire the youthful energy and enthusiasm Bernie’s young campaign workers put into his presidential race, the sad fact is that so, so many of their contemporaries are either uninformed, apathetic, or don’t feel motivated to go to the polls.

I’m not saying this because this was a 2016 one-time event: I’m saying this because so many young voters have chosen to be no-shows in general election after general election after general election since at least the mid-1990’s. While I’d dearly love to be proven wrong, it seems like the phantom youth vote has done again to Bernie what it’s done to other Democrats since Al Gore and before.

[Jose Garcia]

30. A lot of Sanders' 2016 votes were just anti-Hillary votes

[honest.abe]

31. Exactly.

[SharonClark]

32. Agree 100%

Sanders benefited from the sexism of some rural white voters in 2016.

[NoPasaran]

33. If you haven't had your heart crushed like a dixie cup you've never really experienced politics

I was a McGovernite in 1972 so I got it over with early.

[Tarheel_Dem]

34. They keep saying the movement is "growing", but the data so far hasn't shown that. In fact....

it's shown the opposite.