NYT OpEd: "Don't Think Sanders Can Win? You Don't Understand His Campaign"

[corbettkroehler]

Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor earned her PhD in African American Studies from Northwestern University. In her recent NY Times OpEd, she affirmed...

Don’t Think Sanders Can Win? You Don’t Understand His Campaign
There was a time in America when being called a socialist could end a political career. Not anymore.

By Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

• Dr. Taylor is the author of “From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation.”

Dec. 10, 2019

[full OpEd here]

As the Democratic primary elections get closer, the party leadership has begun to fret in public about universal health care and other ambitious proposals. Even former President Barack Obama tried to assuage donors’ fears in November when he said that the “average American” doesn’t think we need to “tear down the system and remake it.” His comment captured the essence of tensions that have roiled the party for months. Party elites believe focusing squarely on President Trump’s record will end his presidency, while others counter that the Democrats also have to champion bold policies.

The surprising resilience of the campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont vindicates the latter approach. Mr. Sanders’s improbable rise to Democratic front-runner began in 2015 when he organized his campaign for president around a redistributive agenda of universal health care and free college, along with a number of other progressive reforms. Party insiders dismissed this as fanciful and out of touch, but Mr. Sanders aggressively challenged Hillary Clinton for the nomination while picking up 13 million votes.

Mr. Sanders has not diluted his message since then, but has instead recommitted to his promises of “big government” socialist reforms — all the while pulling other candidates to his side. Although Mr. Sanders grows in popularity, neither the Democratic Party establishment nor the mainstream media really understand his campaign. That’s because it disregards conventional wisdom in politics today — tax cuts for the elite and corporations and public-private partnerships to finance health care, education, housing and other public services.

After months of predictions of its premature end, Bernie Sanders’s improbable run continues its forward movement. In October, pundits and other election experts suggested that perhaps Mr. Sanders should leave the race and throw his support to Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, in the wake of her rising poll numbers and his heart attack. But doubts quickly gave way to excitement when Mr. Sanders captured the coveted endorsement of Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. She was soon joined by Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

[full OpEd here]

[guillaumeb]

1. Sorry President Obama.

We do need to tear down the stranglehold that profiteers have on the current, massively dysfunctional, system.

[corbettkroehler]

5. Ditto!

Well put, guillaumeb!

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread corbettkroehler.

[TidalWave46]

3. The author is literally a campaign surrogate for Sanders.

That should have been stated before the first word of the opinion piece.

[corbettkroehler]

4. Documentation, Please

Although it is clear that Dr. Taylor thinks quite highly of Sanders and has endorsed him for POTUS, the New York Times did not find the need to state that she's a campaign surrogate, nor could I find anything official to that effect.

[TidalWave46]

6. She gives speeches in support of Sanders.

All of a couple of seconds on google lets you know that she is a surrogate.

She holds personal events promoting the Sanders campaign.

She has been giving speeches or including Sanders in her talks for Sanders for over four years. In 16 she railed against Clinton while praising Sanders.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-could-a-bernie-sanders-presidency-mean-for-racial-justice-in-america-tickets-70777504421#

Here is the promotion of an event. Briahna Joy Gray, who threw Trump an assist, was the other speaker.

[TidalWave46]

7. Need more?

Listen to the childish language she uses to trash Clinton and praise Sanders at an organized event she was asked to speak at.

[corbettkroehler]

14. I Concur With The New York Times

For purposes of the essay, she wrote in her own capacity as a professor and voter. The NYT didn't deem it necessary to classify her as a surrogate. The Sanders campaign doesn't call her a surrogate. I relayed what the NYT printed without omitting anything from the NYT besides my choice of 4 paragraphs per DU limit. I stand by my post as I'm sure the NYT does.

[TidalWave46]

15. Not the biggest deal to me.

Just another example of the deception the media uses when trying to generate a horse race in order to benefit their bottom line. Putting out a fluff piece by a surrogate without labeling it as such.

[Demsrule86]

8. Here you go...she is a surrogate. 10/22

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an assistant professor at Princeton University, has just published a book about the racial wealth gap and falling rate of homeownership by African Americans. Her book is titled “Race For Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Home Ownership.” Taylor speaks with us about the 2020 presidential candidates’ platforms, including Senator Bernie Sanders’s proposed wealth tax. She says Sanders’s policies bring “to light the connection between the systemic forces that drive inequality and the impact that they have in people’s lives.”

https://www.facebook.com/democracynow/posts/10157675591838279

Not unbiased...and this is not new for her.

[TidalWave46]

9. I posted a video link above where she trashes Clinton using very childish language...

While praising Sanders. This was done at an organized event. I also posted a link to an event in support of Sanders where she was one of the two headline speakers. The other person speaking threw Trump an assist in the last election. That person is currently a Sanders top campaign official.

[Demsrule86]

10. Yup...more muddying the waters only I honestly don't think it will work this time.

[TidalWave46]

11. The bigger story to me...

Is the NYT, like many outlets, using their clout to try to make this a horse race. This person should have been defined as a Sanders surrogate.

[Cha]

13. Yuck.. that's all i need to know.

[comradebillyboy]

12. His top campaign staff consists of Jill Stein voters so actual Democrats

naturally don't understand his campaign.