Bernie Sanders is Still Standing--How & Why He Managed to Defy the Odds
So, how and why has he managed to defy the odds?
One big reason, undoubtedly, is that Clinton is a weak candidate, damaged by her insider status, history of scandal (the email controversy is only the latest in a long line) and the public’s grave doubts about her honesty.
Her unfavorability ratings—along with those of Donald Trump, her front-running GOP counterpart—sit at historic highs. But Clinton’s deficits are only part of the overall picture.
Another reason Sanders remains in the fight is that the Red-baiting tactics directed against him largely have failed. Those tactics—which have been deployed in both overt, traditional forms and in coded, latter-day garb—have been continuous and unrelenting. They have come from Democrats and Republicans as well as from the mainstream media.
The vintage variety began in earnest with Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill’s breathless tirade against him during a June 25 interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show. “I think the media is giving Bernie a pass right now,” the longtime Clinton backer told co-host Mika Brzezinski. “I very rarely read in any coverage of Bernie that he’s a socialist.” Declaring that Clinton was destined to win the nomination—at the time, she was ahead of Sanders in national polls by as much as 60 points--McCaskill struck a theme that would soon be echoed by others: that Sanders was “too liberal” to be elected. McCaskill urged the media to get on board, and they soon fell in line.
As if on cue, CNN’s Anderson Cooper grilled Sanders about his socialist beliefs during the Oct. 13 Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas.
Cooper:
“How can any kind of socialist win a general election in the United States?” Cooper asked, adding: “The Republican attack ad in the general election—it writes itself. You supported the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. You honeymooned in the Soviet Union. And just this weekend, you said you were not a capitalist.”
Sanders responded with a class analysis rarely heard on primetime television but that has, nonetheless, become the now-familiar cornerstone of his campaign.
“We’re going to win,” he said, “because we’re going to explain what democratic socialism is. And what democratic socialism is about is that it is immoral and wrong that the top one-tenth of 1 percent in this country own … almost as much as the bottom 90 percent. That it is wrong, today, in a rigged economy, that 57 percent of all new income is going to the top 1 percent.”
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/05/31/why-bernie-sanders-still-standing
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11 reasons why Bernie Sanders lost this thing fair and square
Bernie Sanders exceeded all primary season expectations and was en route to building something of a real movement. But rather than locking in those gains and settling in for a long-haul effort, he’s opted for a legacy-busting temper tantrum instead, heading out the (primary) door in a cloud of whining, conspiracy mongering, and blame casting. It’s a bizarre finale to what was undoubtedly an incredible run. So here are some observations, not because it matters—he’s lost—but because his claims of victimhood are absolute bullshit and need to be corrected.
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VALLEJO, CA - MAY 18: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally at Waterfront Park on May 18, 2016 in Vallejo, California. A day after winning the Oregon primary, Bernie Sanders is campaigning in California ahead of the state's presidential primary on June 7. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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2. He may want to disenfranchise them, but communities of color voted against Sanders
Take another moment to savor what that would mean—a party establishment ignoring the choice of the communities of color, who have heavily chosen a woman, to undemocratically hand the nomination to yet another white guy. That, my friends, is the essence of white privilege. It’s EXHIBIT A, and in case you are wondering, yes it fucking pisses me off.
3. No, Sanders won’t do better than Clinton against Trump.
Current polling has Clinton’s negatives baked in. They are her floor. Current polling doesn’t have Sanders’ negatives baked in. They are his ceiling. And dear god, there is plenty in Sanders’ background to feed the Republican Noise Machine for the general election. And by the end of the cycle, his negatives would match those of Clinton’s.
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5. But what about the media blackout?
Who gives a shit if ABC Nightly News covered Sanders or not? This is 2016, not 1966. Every night, about 22 million Americans tune in to the three big nightly newscasts on ABC, CBS, and NBC. Meanwhile, every day, 4.75 BILLION pieces of content are shared on Facebook, and about 400,000 tweets are posted on Twitter … per minute. So while less than 10 percent of Americans watch TV network news (and to those guys … why?), 62 percent of all Americans are on Facebook every day.
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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/5/23/1529938/-11-reasons-why-Bernie-Sanders-lost-this-thing-
