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2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)Do we really want Donald Trump to be president.... of the United States?????? [View all]
Democrats would be insane to nominate Bernie Sanders (or why NOT to offer a lamb to the GOP)In his article, Dana Milbank addresses the unpleasant fact of how good the GOP is at demonizing and dispatching opponents. We have seen them hounding Hillary Clinton for a couple of decades. We all need to remember that with many people if you repeat a lie often enough they will begin to think it's a reality. This works with, sorry to say it, many people (most are known as "the GOP base" but they are not limited to that group).
Nobody knows this better than the GOP. They count on people being programmable to win elections - well along with voter suppression (and, in a pinch, the Supremes to abort an election and choose who the 'winner' is). It seems many people are blythely oblivious to this fiendish facility of the GOP at McCarthyist politics, in their enthusiasm for their candidate who nobody doubts (in Democratic circles) is a good man. The Dana Milbank article could serve as a good medicament for those enthralled by reveries of Sir Good-at-Heart being victorious over the monstrous malevolence of the GOP - if they are open to his knowledgeable advice (and entreaty?).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/democrats-would-be-insane-to-nominate-bernie-sanders/2016/01/26/0590e624-c472-11e5-a4aa-f25866ba0dc6_story.html
~~
Sanders and his supporters boast of polls showing him, on average, matching up slightly better against Trump than Clinton does. But those matchups are misleading: [font size="+1"]Opponents ("Opponents"?? ...how 'nice' of Dana to not put in print: "the GOP" have been attacking and defining Clinton for a quarter- century, but nobody has really gone to work yet on demonizing Sanders.[/font]
Watching Sanders at Monday nights Democratic presidential forum in Des Moines, I imagined how Trump or another Republican nominee would disembowel the relatively unknown Vermonter.
The first questioner from the audience asked Sanders to explain why he embraces the socialist label and requested that Sanders define it so that it doesnt concern the rest of us citizens.
Sanders, explaining that much of what he proposes is happening in Scandinavia and Germany (a concept that itself alarms Americans who dont want to be like socialized Europe), answered vaguely: Creating a government that works for all of us, not just a handful of people on the top thats my definition of democratic socialism.
But thats not how Republicans will define socialism and theyll have the dictionary on their side. [font size="+1"]Theyll portray Sanders as one who wants the government to own and control major industries and the means of production and distribution of goods. Theyll say he wants to take away private property. That wouldnt be fair, but it would be easy (this is just what the GOP is so masterful at_Bill USA).[/font] Socialists dont win national elections in the United States.
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Sanders and his supporters boast of polls showing him, on average, matching up slightly better against Trump than Clinton does. But those matchups are misleading: [font size="+1"]Opponents ("Opponents"?? ...how 'nice' of Dana to not put in print: "the GOP" have been attacking and defining Clinton for a quarter- century, but nobody has really gone to work yet on demonizing Sanders.[/font]
Watching Sanders at Monday nights Democratic presidential forum in Des Moines, I imagined how Trump or another Republican nominee would disembowel the relatively unknown Vermonter.
The first questioner from the audience asked Sanders to explain why he embraces the socialist label and requested that Sanders define it so that it doesnt concern the rest of us citizens.
Sanders, explaining that much of what he proposes is happening in Scandinavia and Germany (a concept that itself alarms Americans who dont want to be like socialized Europe), answered vaguely: Creating a government that works for all of us, not just a handful of people on the top thats my definition of democratic socialism.
But thats not how Republicans will define socialism and theyll have the dictionary on their side. [font size="+1"]Theyll portray Sanders as one who wants the government to own and control major industries and the means of production and distribution of goods. Theyll say he wants to take away private property. That wouldnt be fair, but it would be easy (this is just what the GOP is so masterful at_Bill USA).[/font] Socialists dont win national elections in the United States.
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Do we really want Donald Trump to be president.... of the United States?????? [View all]
Bill USA
Jan 2016
OP
"Sound like you are carrying the 'he's a Commie Socialist!!!!' water for the RW" ... this is not an
Bill USA
Jan 2016
#15
Oh, come on - any criticism of Hillary has been labeled as "using RW talking points" for quite a
djean111
Jan 2016
#16
oh come now, you're off topic. This thread is about whether the GOP will apply their considerable
Bill USA
Jan 2016
#25
does this kind of talk make you feel better, less small, less intimidated? This is how GOPers talk
Bill USA
Jan 2016
#23
"Bwah"?? a continuation of yr cmnt 10. If you can't talk issues, can't refrain from Punk Talk
Bill USA
Jan 2016
#34
And if that's the case, the nation deserves everything that happens to it after that.
VulgarPoet
Jan 2016
#20
I take it you're voting for Bernie then since he's more electable than Hillary.
Broward
Jan 2016
#24
Nope and neither do I want Hillary. Bernie crushes Trump in polling, Hillary not so much.
AtomicKitten
Jan 2016
#27
If the GOP has been "hounding Hillary Clinton for a couple of decades," it should be noted
Vinca
Jan 2016
#33
We have seen people trying to demonize Sanders from the day he entered the race
Bjorn Against
Jan 2016
#35
Yes, lets talk about the Milbank piece, & some of the adjectives he uses about the Clinton campaign.
Warren DeMontague
Jan 2016
#42