It is obvious now that if we pick Sanders as our nominee...

[scheming daemons]

....then we will be making Donald Trump happy.


Let's not pick the guy that our opponents want to face.

[redstatebluegirl]

1. Amen to that.

[PatSeg]

2. Simple, but true!

[Tiggeroshii]

3. Yeah he might endorse him and step down.

[scheming daemons]

5. No, but he wants Sanders as his opponent for a reason

And that reason is because it will be very easy to characterize Bernie as a crazy socialist and

- Democrats running in purple states will have to run AGAINST Bernie's platform

- Independents in all states will stay home or reluctantly vote for Trump.



Bernie would lose 40 states. It would be ugly.



Let's not make that mistake.

[Tiggeroshii]

12. Repugs have never had a hard time successfully characterizing their opponent as a crazy socialist

His owning it is an assett, not a liability.

[brush]

18. Yeah, sure.

[Tiggeroshii]

29. Trump's been feeling the bern for a while, I'm sure

But it could just be the chlamydia

[redstateblues]

102. Whistling past the graveyard. The Socialist moniker is a millstone around his neck

[handmade34]

108. true

no matter how well Bernie's ideas appeal to some people... there are a lot of voters for whom it will be a concern (unfortunately)… now is not the time to be an ideologue... the meme "think globally, act locally" fits here... we in Vermont like Bernie (well, to be fair, not necessarily in my neck of the woods... a fair amount of trump supporters here in the back woods) and I side with his ideas, but it is a big diverse Country...


recent study/poll...

The Pew Research Center published a poll in June that found that 42 percent of Americans have a positive view of socialism and 55 percent have a negative impression. 65 percent of respondents expressed a positive view of capitalism, while 33 percent were either somewhat or very negative.
This week, Pew published new data exploring the ideas that inform those views.
Of those who dislike socialism, 19 percent said it makes "people too reliant on the government for support" and "undercuts people's initiative and work ethic." As one 53-year-old man put it: "I believe in individual freedoms and choice. Socialism kills incentives for people to innovate and climb the ladder of success." A 38-year-old woman told the pollsters that capitalism "gives people freedom to profit from their own labor….It has risen more people out of poverty and gives people the opportunity to change their social standing with hard work and ingenuity."

Meanwhile, 18 percent said socialism has "failed historically," citing Venezuela and Russia as prime examples. A decent-sized portion of the respondents—17 percent—claimed "it is not consistent with democracy in the United States or is simply not right for the U.S."

[redstateblues]

129. Good post

[brooklynite]

19. We'd have a lock on Vermont...

...but we'd probably lose PA, OH, MI, WI, MN and CO.

My model run gives the Republicans 342 EVs.

[TexasTowelie]

79. I would also include Virginia in those projections. nt

[Doremus]

81. Just curious. Why choose Buttagieg over Biden?

Biden's the front runner in many polls but you favor someone who's not the top pick of a lot of voters.

I'd worry that the lack of experience and name recognition would give the election to Trump.

[DownriverDem]

33. Very true

We did this before and lost big. We can't blow this. Bernie supporters do not realize what would happen.

[Zolorp]

113. Since he sided with Iran during the hostage crisis it's an easy picture to paint.

His political party at the time used the arguments of Communist Russia to side with Iran. HE was even a designated elector for the guy who ran as president in that Marxist/Leninist party.

https://news.yahoo.com/iran-took-americans-hostage-bernie-100052053.html?soc_src=community&soc_trk=fb

[Wawannabe]

23. Are you high, man?

Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.

[Tiggeroshii]

24. I mean, he seems to be a fan so he might as well...

[Chemisse]

4. That may be true, but how do you know that?

Any particular comments by Trump? Or just your opinion?

[Tiggeroshii]

6. Trump's tweetinga bout how Democrats are treating Bernie unfairly, etc

[Chemisse]

88. Thanks. I was unaware of those.

I don't know why he thinks any Dem voter is going to take his opinion into consideration.

[scheming daemons]

7. Trump's comments today trying to help Bernie

[Chemisse]

87. Ahhh, thanks. I did not hear about that.

He's so transparent.

[Pachamama]

8. I am looking forward to the final nomination for the Democratic Party

And for people who are clearly not Democrats nor members of the Democratic Party and are in my opinion narcissistic whiners and disruptors, to go away.

[Thekaspervote]

16. Oh boy!! Thank you ...agree completely

[aikoaiko]

111. You want them to go away, but still vote for us?

You can’t have both.

[Pachamama]

132. Lol - i absolutely don't expect Sanders voters to vote for us Democrats

You mean like they supported Hillary after she was nominated?

Calling Susan Sarandon....



Funny how the conclusion was made from my original post that I would be expecting people who support someone who isn’t a Democrat to then support a Democrat. I don’t believe I stated that I expected them to support the Democratic nominee. In fact, I absolutely have the expectation that they won’t.

[aikoaiko]

133. You should expect most Bernie voters to vote for the Democratic nominee even if its not him.

Last edited Sun Jan 19, 2020, 04:31 PM - Edit history (1)

Because about 90% did in 2016.

[Cornus]

9. Perhaps it seems obvious to you...

...but not to me. BERNIE 2020 is our best choice.

[DownriverDem]

34. Respectfully

disagree. Who are the voters in November? They will decide. They aren't who you seem to think they are.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

122. Yes & if Joe's the nominee, he'll lose 40+ states in November! Why Bernie's the best bet vs Dolt45.

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

67. BY FAR!! THERE'S A REASON BERNIE IS THE MOST POPULAR SENATOR...

As Bernie is fond of saying, it's not that we're for HIM... it's that he's for US!!


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Demsrule86]

115. Yeah, he is not popular in the states we need to win...we have to have an EC win.

I thought at one time, he would take Wisconsin...I don't anymore. And it is likely we lose 30-35 states if he is the nominee.

[TCJ70]

10. So when Trump was tweeting daily about Joe Biden we shouldn't have nominated him, right?

Because that would have made him happy?

[scheming daemons]

15. There's a difference between tweeting "about" a candidate and tweeting TO BOOST a candidate

Trump is BOOSTING Sanders.

When he is tweeting about Biden or Warren, he tweets to tear them down.


The *CONTENT* of the tweet matters.

[TCJ70]

20. I think the best course of action is to not read anything into his tweets...

...since we know he's a liar.

[Demsrule86]

116. They wanted Sanders in 2016 and they want him now because they can beat him in a general.

Even the little bit of vetting I have seen here lately and the socialist tag spells defeat for him in a general especially in WI, MI and PA. Warren is my second choice now by the way. I like her guts.

[Moostache]

11. Look, 90% of the GOP campaign strategy is INDEPENDENT of our candidate.

"Socialist"
"Socialism"
"Liberal Agenda"

These phrases and variants of them are going to be the entire backbone of the campaign.

"Radical Left Agenda"
"Nancy Pelosi and the out of touch Democrat Party"
"Angry Democrats not accepting 2016"

Does anyone expect to NOT see those terms in ads and on TV incessantly, regardless of the candidate?

I am voting for and supporting WHOEVER wins our nomination, period.
The GOP is going attack and say mainly the SAME thing about whomever that is, also period.

[getagrip_already]

13. Putins choice also...

Bernie can stop this if wanted to, but I suspect he likes the way it is energizing the bro's.

[calguy]

14. Bernie Sanders in the general election would be Dukakis 4.0

GOP would have a hey day running against the "Socialist closet Communist". That's how they would label him and it would stick. They would win on a landslide by scaring the hell out of misinformed low information voters.

[Thekaspervote]

17. +1000

[Perseus]

48. Just in case you have not heard, but they call all Democrats "Socialists".

It is not exclusive to Sanders.

We need to stop this, trump is winning if we divide, if we against our own, that is exactly what he wants...hate to say it but, "Mission Accomplished"

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

66. Seriously...I'd rather have a DEMOCRATIC Socialist as President than a CORPORATE Socialist...

that's why BERNIE is the OBVIOUS choice for the Democratic nominee and is GUARAN-DAMN-TEED to clobber tRumpty Dumbty and his RethugliKKKon pals!!


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Demsrule86]

120. Sadly, there are not enough of 'you' in PA, MI WI or us to win a general.

They will never vote for a socialist...and Sanders will be attacked in that way. Sure any candidate could be attacked in that way, but because of Sander's history, it will stick.

[calguy]

72. Who's divided? Not me.

I'm just giving my opinion on what would happen to us if Bernie was the nominee. My opinion is based on my experience over the past fifty years when we've run candidates like Bernie in the general elece. We get our asses handed to us. Believe me, I worked on the McGovern campaign and saw it first hand. Being united as a party means giving honest opinions on our chances running certain candidates. Now if Bernie somehow wins the nomination, I will of course vote for him. But in the primaries I cannot support a candidate who I think would get absolutely pummeled running against any republican.

[redstateblues]

103. It doesn't stick to joe

Because he’s not a Socialist

[Kaiserguy]

21. Trumps idiot tweets

are just an attempt to drive a wedge in our party and make the Sanders supporters pissed off and hope that they will stay home or vote third party in Nov.

[Perseus]

46. Well put...a voice of reason, hallelujah

Anything trump says should be dismissed, he is a crook and liar, but he is good at dividing people.

[George II]

22. Not my most important reason, but certainly in there.

[FakeNoose]

26. Bernie joins the Democratic Party, and I might consider voting for him.

I know ... neither of these things will ever happen.

[DownriverDem]

36. Bernie's supporters

do not understand that. I totally agree with you. I only support true members of the Democratic Party.

[DaDeacon]

27. No no no ...

Trump is doing is singing the same song as the last election and you aren't listening. He isn't afraid of any of them! What he is illustrating is the same problem as last time and too many of you are falling right into the same trap. The American people don't want the party regulars. They hate the same old faces in different places. They don't want Obama part 2. They want Change damnit! They elected Trump to do something different to try a new direction. It didn't work out so good BUT they don't want the same old BS from before either. Mayor Pete is a top 5 contender because of this so is Amy, Elizabeth, and Bernie. Candidates that in previous years would have been WAY outside shots. Biden is the "old safe" pick just like Hillary was in 2016 and we lost places we needed to win! Fool yourself all you like about this or that. Trump is doing what he does telling the truth when it has nothing to do with himself.

[NJCher]

78. that's such a good post

and explanation that I'm saving it.

This is one reason trump won in the first place. There is a huge group of voters who are sick of being cut out of their piece of the pie. They are not going to go for the same old same old.

[BootinUp]

28. K&R not that I am concerned

That Bernie could actually prevail.

[Gothmog]

30. trump really really wants sanders to be the nominee

trump and McCarthy really really want sanders to be the nominee. If sanders is the nominee, trump will win 45+ states and many downballot candidates will lose https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-trump-mccarthy-seem-so-eager-side-bernie-sanders-n1116941

All of this may seem bizarre -- and to a very real extent, it is -- but it's not accidental. There's a GOP strategy unfolding, and it's based on a couple of assumptions.

First, Trump and McCarthy seem to believe Sanders' supporters can be manipulated -- a belief I suspect the Vermonter's backers will find insulting -- and intra-party divisions in Democratic politics can be stoked to ensure Trump's re-election. McCarthy's reference to superdelegates was especially notable: some Sanders supporters are under the mistaken belief that Democratic superdelegates derailed the senator's 2016 candidacy, which is not what happened.

Second, Republican attempts at mischief notwithstanding, the New York Times reports that Donald Trump's political advisers see Bernie Sanders as "their ideal" general-election opponent. To that end, the article added, members of the president's team "have been doing what they can to elevate [the independent senator's] profile and bolster his chances of winning the Iowa caucuses."

Which, naturally, helps explain why the president sided with Sanders last night, and why McCarthy seemed so focused on helping Sanders yesterday afternoon.

It's likely that many Democratic primary and caucus voters will look past these tactics, which is just as well. But as these efforts intensify, at least we'll know the motivation behind them.

Postscript: It's worth emphasizing, in case this isn't obvious, that Team Trump may see Sanders as their "ideal" 2020 foe, but Republicans may very well be wrong. Plenty of Democrats saw Donald Trump as the weakest GOP candidate four years ago, and we now know those assumptions didn't work out especially well.

[Perseus]

42. Steve Benen seems to be a Biden supporter, nothing wrong with that, but one has to take

comments from supporters with a grain of salt.

There are other people who may think that all this "panic act" about Biden from trump and republicans is just a game of "reverse psychology" to make people think they fear Biden when in fact they have so much information on Biden they can exploit.

What I really see is that Biden supporters may be in panic mode about the numbers Sanders is getting while watching Biden's numbers staying the same, or in some places going down.

We need to stop bickering about the Democratic candidates, we must support them all, and whoever wins the nomination we must make sure we put all our efforts to support him/her, but creating discourse between us is not the way to go.

I may not be a Sanders supporter at this time, but to read a post like the one on this blog is disappointing.

[Gothmog]

45. Biden supporters are NOT in panic

I have been following Benen and the Maddow blog for a long time. There has been no favoritism in the real world.

You do realize that sanders will not be the nominee. There are far too many real democrats who have good memories and who will not forget or forgive. There is so mush good oppo on sanders that is not being used because no one thinks that sanders has a chance.

[NJCher]

80. Re: You do realize that sanders will not be the nominee.

No, we don't realize that.

What we do realize is that you say this repeatedly to build your confidence that Biden can be elected.

It's OK--no comment back necessary. In fact why don't you repeat your mantra a few dozen more times. I'm sure it will make you feel better.

[Gothmog]

82. sanders has a hard ceiling and little support in the African American community

I will support the nominee of the party but that nominee will not be Donald trump's selected candidate. There are too many real Democrats who have good memories and who will not forgive or forget.

If sanders does get any real support from African American voters, it would be fun watching the ads on the stunt by the sanders delegates of booing John Lewis, Elijah Cummings, Stacy Abrams and others. The Texas delegation and the Georgia delegation shared a bus to the National Convention site and there were some really pissed off members of the Georgia delegation after this stunt. It would interesting to see of sanders breaks 15% in Georgia

[NJCher]

86. got any links for that?

Or are you just making stuff up to cast shade on the leading candidate?

I'm waiting for links.

[Gothmog]

90. LOL sanders is not the leading candidate in the real world

I am amused by this statement.

If sanders mover to be a contender, sanders will be buried by oppo. Most of the material in Marc Elias' edited oppo memo can still be used against sanders and there is a great deal more that will come out. Luckily no one in the real world considers sanders to have a chance of the being the nominee which is why sanders is not being vetted.

[NJCher]

92. I didn't ask for your opinion on Sanders' position and quite frankly don't care

about your boisterous posturing. Anybody can write a post like you did. Yawn. Can you back up your allegations? Where are the links I asked for?

[Gothmog]

95. Bernie Sanders' real problem isn't Elizabeth Warren. It's Donald Trump

thank you for the laughs. In the real world, trump would destroy a weak candidate like sanders. It would be really sad to see trump destroy sanders and I agree that sanders chance of being the nominee or being elected is nil

Link to tweet

Nonetheless, Sanders faces serious obstacles to obtaining the Democratic presidential nomination. The gentle treatment he received in 2016 from the media and the Hillary Clinton campaign (which ran few negative television or media ads against him) means that many Democratic voters haven’t yet learned about the distinctly non-progressive positions he has taken on certain issues throughout his senatorial career.....

The chances of Sanders actually becoming president, however, are also close to nil. I say this because in 2016 I got a glimpse of the Republican party’s opposition research book on Sanders, which was so massive it had to be transported on a cart. The Newsweek reporter Kurt Eichenwald, who got to see some of its contents, declared that “it was brutal. The Republicans would have torn [Sanders] apart.”

According to Eichenwald, the book includes damning material such as the fact that Sanders was on unemployment until his mid-30s, that he co-sponsored a bill to ship Vermont’s nuclear waste to Texas where it would be dumped in a poor Hispanic community, that he honeymooned in the Soviet Union, and that he appeared at a 1985 rally in Nicaragua at which Sandinista supporters chanted “Here, there / the Yankee will die.” And then there’s Sanders’ fictitious essay in which he described a woman enjoying being raped by three men…

After the Trump campaign and Fox News got through weaponizing this research, the usual conservative charges against Sanders – that his domestic program would cost nearly $100tn over the next decade, that he would ban individual health insurance, send taxes into the stratosphere, and sympathize with terrorists and leftwing regimes – would seem almost benign. The Republican campaign against any Democratic presidential candidate is guaranteed to be ugly, but against Sanders it would be gruesome. The result most likely would be a Democratic wipeout on the scale of Labour’s under Jeremy Corbyn.

That’s why Sanders is the preferred Democratic nominee of Trump and his aides. It explains otherwise puzzling stories such as Trump coming to Sanders’ defense against Warren’s no-female-president claim, saying sexism is “not his deal”. And while living in Washington has made me cynical in some ways, I would not be in the least surprised if conservative dollars are swelling the coffers of Our Revolution, Sanders’ dark-money Super Pac which doesn’t have to disclose its donors.

[Gothmog]

100. How is a weak candidate like sanders THE leading candidate in the real world?

Link to tweet

[NJCher]

112. good grief

re: "you're good." Do I have to explain everything to you? If you don't know what I'm talking about, then look at how polls tighten up as they did in Iowa.

You posted a bunch of stuff in response to my question about a link. You know full well what I am asking for. I am asking for the last time, and then I think it should be painfully aware that there is no truth in what you said. You said this:

The Texas delegation and the Georgia delegation shared a bus to the National Convention site and there were some really pissed off members of the Georgia delegation after this stunt. It would interesting to see of sanders breaks 15% in Georgia

Where is the proof? Where is an account of the proof? I want a link that this happened.

[Gothmog]

131. trump would easily destory and weak and flawed canidate like sanders

Trump had a two foot thick book of oppo research on Sanders http://www.newsweek.com/myths-cost-democrats-presidential-election-521044

They ignored the fact that Sanders had not yet faced a real campaign against him. Clinton was in the delicate position of dealing with a large portion of voters who treated Sanders more like the Messiah than just another candidate. She was playing the long game—attacking Sanders strongly enough to win, but gently enough to avoid alienating his supporters. Given her overwhelming support from communities of color—for example, about 70 percent of African-American voters cast their ballot for her—Clinton had a firewall that would be difficult for Sanders to breach....

So what would have happened when Sanders hit a real opponent, someone who did not care about alienating the young college voters in his base? I have seen the opposition book assembled by Republicans for Sanders, and it was brutal. The Republicans would have torn him apart. And while Sanders supporters might delude themselves into believing that they could have defended him against all of this, there is a name for politicians who play defense all the time: losers....

The Republicans had at least four other damning Sanders videos (I don’t know what they showed), and the opposition research folder was almost 2-feet thick. (The section calling him a communist with connections to Castro alone would have cost him Florida.) In other words, the belief that Sanders would have walked into the White House based on polls taken before anyone really attacked him is a delusion built on a scaffolding of political ignorance.

[handmade34]

109. ...

"sanders is not the leading candidate in the real world"

yup... not enough people (of all persuasions) look outside of their bubble to imagine the real world!

[Gothmog]

97. trump would have no problem defeating a very weak candidate like sanders in the real world

There is a ton of great oppo on sanders. None of the Democratic candidates are using this oppo because no one really thinks that sanders has a chance of being the nominee. There are tons of video of sanders praising Fidel Castro, the old Soviet Union, Central American socialists and other enemies of the United States that would make great attack ads. trump has the money to run these ads on a constant loop so that sanders would be lucky not to repeat the results of the 1972 election.

In addition, Russia targeted African American voters last cycle to depress or suppress their vote.

Link to tweet

Without strong African American voter turnout, no Democrat stands a chance. sanders has made Russia's efforts easy in that all Russia has to do is play videos of sanders delegates booing John Lewis, Elijah Cummings, Stacy Abrams and others. There is a ton of anger out there about this stunt by sanders delegates at the National Convention.

I am glad that we will not have to find out. I will support the nominee of the party but I really doubt that sanders will be the nominee. No Democrat has wasted their time going negative on sanders because no one thinks that sanders has a chance of being the nominee.

[Gothmog]

130. trump has a great oppo file on sanders and would destroy this very weak candidate in the general

Trump had a two foot thick book of oppo research on Sanders http://www.newsweek.com/myths-cost-democrats-presidential-election-521044

They ignored the fact that Sanders had not yet faced a real campaign against him. Clinton was in the delicate position of dealing with a large portion of voters who treated Sanders more like the Messiah than just another candidate. She was playing the long game—attacking Sanders strongly enough to win, but gently enough to avoid alienating his supporters. Given her overwhelming support from communities of color—for example, about 70 percent of African-American voters cast their ballot for her—Clinton had a firewall that would be difficult for Sanders to breach....

So what would have happened when Sanders hit a real opponent, someone who did not care about alienating the young college voters in his base? I have seen the opposition book assembled by Republicans for Sanders, and it was brutal. The Republicans would have torn him apart. And while Sanders supporters might delude themselves into believing that they could have defended him against all of this, there is a name for politicians who play defense all the time: losers....

The Republicans had at least four other damning Sanders videos (I don’t know what they showed), and the opposition research folder was almost 2-feet thick. (The section calling him a communist with connections to Castro alone would have cost him Florida.) In other words, the belief that Sanders would have walked into the White House based on polls taken before anyone really attacked him is a delusion built on a scaffolding of political ignorance.

[questionseverything]

93. what should we care how georgia votes since there is zero chance they will go dem in the general?

or sc or texas

[Gothmog]

96. In the real world, Texas will be a battleground if Biden is the nominee

After the 2010 elections we had 101 republicans in the state house compared to 49 Democratic. After 2018, we are nine seats away from flipping the Texas House. Beto was out block walking for one of these seats today

Link to tweet

We may flip this seat for Eliz

Link to tweet

I was at this fundraiser Thursday night with Eliz and Joe Biden

Link to tweet

[madville]

64. Trump wants anyone but Biden

Warren and Mayor Pete would lose worse than Bernie.

[Gothmog]

101. I was with Biden at a private fundraiser Thursday night

Joe explained why trump, Putin and North Korea do NOT want to run against Joe

[Perseus]

31. I don't believe this post...really???

What proof do you have of that?

By the way, I am a truly undecided, but I am not going to make my decision because of people spreading fear against any candidate, I am going to look at the candidates agendas, what they say, their history, the people they surround themselves with, what their supporters are saying, and more, then I will decide.

But posts like this, trying to spread fear without providing any facts should not happen. Open ended comments are not facts, they are just opinions.

I could say "Amy Klobuchar does not have what it takes to be a good president", and leave it at that...why do I say that, what are my reasons, how did I come up with that conclusion? If I read that I will first be disgusted, then I will assume it is just fear mongering on the poster.

If we are to make statements like that then we must try to provide reasons of why we came up with that conclusion.

I am convinced that trump fears Bernie Sanders the most....top that one!

[DownriverDem]

38. Maybe

if you google his name you would see what the repubs are waiting to expose.

[Perseus]

43. You can say the same about Biden, or any other Democratic candidate

Maybe if you understand that no matter who the nominee is republicans will come hard at him/her and they will make up stuff about them as well. I also read what they say about other candidates, you wnat to make it look like it is exclusive against Sanders.

[msongs]

32. bernie and trump agree, the world is out to get them nt

[JoeOtterbein]

35. Trump should be careful about what he...

...wishes for!

[JustAnotherGen]

37. No - 45 Is just USING Sanders

And 45 knows that the Sanders Supporter is as devoted to Sanders as the Magats are to that thing in the White House.


He also knows the 'rigging' language STARTED with the Sanders Campaign in 2016 - and that is a 'key word' for those who have never lost faith in Senator Sanders.


Notice 45 did NOT mention Warren, Klobuchar, or Bennett?

Rest assured - if you was not in the race - he would have put ANY one of those three Senator's names in those comments.

[NurseJackie]

39. Well I am certainly not going to vote for him.

[brutus smith]

54. Even if he's the nominee?

[NurseJackie]

56. He won't be.

[oasis]

119. Thread winner!

[Mike Nelson]

40. Of course...

... he wants to run against Socialism. We will have to work harder to defeat Crooked Don if we pick Bernie - but I will work hard no matter who is picked.

[NYMinute]

41. Exactly this!

[floppyboo]

44. Am I the only one who remembers when Trump chickened out of debating Sanders in '16?

There could be a very simple reason for Trump's strategy. He can't alienate the 'forgotten man'.

[SamKnause]

49. No, I remember and have mentioned it as well.

Bernie wanted to debate Trump.

Trump wanted no part of Bernie.

[tiredtoo]

47. of all the candidates running

Sanders and Warren are the two the republicans and MSM fear the most.

[scheming daemons]

50. They desperately *WANT* one of those two, especially Bernie, to be their opponent

They know that Bernie (and to a lesser extent Warren) would be the easiest to beat in a general election.


They also know that Bernie would hurt Democrats down ballot, because most Democrats in tight races would have to run from Bernie's platform in order to win.


If Warren is the Democratic nominee, Trump will win and the Dems might barely hold the House.


If Bernie is the Democratic nominee, Trump will win and the Dems will lose the House.



Parscale and his team would love nothing more than for the Democrats to nominate Bernie.

[tiredtoo]

51. Sorry but I disagree with you.

Vote Blue no matter who!

[scheming daemons]

53. Oh, I will definitely "vote blue no matter who"

But it isn't me, and people like me, that we need in order to win.


We need the independents. And independents would pick Trump over Bernie or Liz by overwhelming margins.




Personally, I'd vote for a Turnip with a (D) next to it in the general election against Trump.


But 60% of this country will *NEVER* vote for a Bernie Sanders. If you can't see that, then you haven't hung around "purple" areas very much.


The goal is to win. Bernie will not.

[tiredtoo]

55. Well for the record

I have liked Amy since i saw how she handled herself in the Kavanaugh hearings. But i currently favor Warren. And totally agree with you on voting in General.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

124. WITHOUT A DOUBT!! THE BERNIE/ELIZABETH TEAM IS UNSTOPPABLE!! WHY TAKE A CHANCE ON JOE?!

Especially when Joe has yet to be vetted by the corporate media. The LAST thing you want is for the RethugliKKKons to sink their nasty teeth into Joe and vet him during the general election.

Better to go with Bernie, who has FAR LESS baggage, which has already been debunked.


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[ehrnst]

125. Bernie has not been vetted nearly as much as Joe.

He doesn't have nearly the accomplishments, but yes, there is plenty of baggage that hasn't been fully unpacked...

Praising the Soviet Union's system back in 1988, when the regime was were brutally suppressing journalists and human rights activists, and Moscow's citizens were struggling to find food.

Google "Astounding! After a 1988 trip to the USSR, @BernieSanders & wife Jane praise the Soviet system" for video...

He has omitted any mention of his involvemen in the SWP in his biography. Care to know why?
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1107153505

Voting against the Brady Bill five times....

Although he voted against the bill, he voted for an amendment that created the so-called “Charleston loophole,” which allows people to purchase a weapon after three days even if their background check is incomplete. Later, Sanders, despite wanting to hold essentially every corporation accountable for something (such as fast food companies accountable for obesity), voted to protect gun manufacturers from legal liability. He also voted to strip millions from gun research, something the NRA has wanted to prevent
officials from learning about gun violence.

[ehrnst]

128. Actually, no. Biden is who the the GOP fears the most

President Trump’s advisers see Senator Bernie Sanders as their ideal Democratic opponent in November and have been doing what they can to elevate his profile and bolster his chances of winning the Iowa caucuses, according to Republicans familiar with the plans.

But their new focus on Mr. Sanders, independent of Vermont, comes at a time the president himself has been closely watching Michael R. Bloomberg, a late arrival to the Democratic primary race, unnerved by his campaign spending and his suggestion he might spend $1 billion of his own fortune on opposing Mr. Trump, even if he does not emerge as the nominee.

It has left the president and his campaign focused on two different candidates in the weeks before Democrats cast their first votes in Iowa — one, a populist running with a grass-roots movement behind him, and the other, a liberal billionaire who could refashion the general election because of his bottomless bank account.

Most of Mr. Trump’s advisers see his biggest looming threat as Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has maintained a steady level of support despite an onslaught of attacks from the president and his team. But there is often a divide between how Mr. Trump and his aides view opponents.

Over the past few weeks, aides to the president in a series of conversations have discussed how to keep the focus on Mr. Sanders, the self-described democratic socialist who favors a significant expansion of government health programs and who is currently at the top of some Iowa polls. They see attacking him as a way to excite his base and draw attention away from other Democrats.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/us/politics/trump-sanders-bloomberg-2020.html

Can you provide some sources for the claim about what the "MSM" fears?

[brutus smith]

52. Since when is trump calling the shots for our party?

Once again, people are letting trump set the narrative.

[TryLogic]

57. Let's not base our primary voting decisions on trying to read the mind of a con man or his henchmen.

Personally, I am not a strong supporter of either Bernie or Biden, although I would certainly vote for them in November. Crazy at it sounds, I am liking Steyer more and more. I wish we had more credible historical info. I'm not comfortable voting on the basis of campaign propaganda.

[peoli]

58. This is total utter bullshit

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

70. That's being kind, as I was thinkin it's more like... WINE CAVE BAT MALARKEY!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Bear Creek]

59. Baloney

Tired of the BS. This post is just decisive. Trump thinks any of the candidates can be won against. Let's focus on what is important. Trump needs removed. No security has been applied to the elections. Most important and hard to do Trump must not be used in any of the slogans advertisements. Negative or not ,people will just see trump and it will help him.

[eallen]

60. Democrats shouldn't worry about what Trump wants.

[LiberalLovinLug]

61. Or....his campaign managers tell him that defending Sanders will make some Dems heads explode

And somehow take Trump's word on it, and come to the conclusion that that automatically means Sanders would lose to him.

I think its more like this:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-privately-obsessed-with-bernie-sanders-popularity-and-socialisms-appeal

Trump Privately Obsessed With Bernie Sanders’ Popularity and Socialism’s Appeal

In public, President Donald Trump has fixated on mocking Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as “crazy” and has focused on assuring supporters of how badly he’d crush the left-wing senator in a general election and protect them from Sanders’ creeping socialism.

In private, Trump has often expressed different worries about the 2020 candidate.


In fact, Sanders would have won last time, and he will win this time against Trump. He is in fact, our best hope against Trump's second term. The GOP have all but used up the scare word "socialist" now. From the industry controlled "ACA" and Obama, to the Green New Deal, everything is big bad socialism. The boys who called "wolf" too often. The last thing Trump wants is to face another populist, who appeals to independents. I just hope Democratic delegates understand that soon enough.

[blakstoneranger]

62. STOP THE IN FIGHTING!!

It's bad enough the republicans have found a way to cheat using foreign influence, now we have to worry about voters not voting because their candidate didn't get the nomination. WHOMEVER WINS THE NOMINATION, RUN TO THE POLLS AND VOTE FOR THEM. We can tolerate that candidate for 4 years, DO YOU WANT TRUMP FOR ANOTHER 4 YEARS. DO YOU WANT TO RISK WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THIS COUNTRY UNDER 4 MORE YEARS OF TRUMP. THE MAN IS BEING ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AS WE SPEAK. 24 WOMEN HAVE ACCUSED TRUMP OF UNWANTED SEXUAL ADVANCES, 1 WAS UNDER AGED! And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There not enough room in a room to list all the things wrong with this nut job! SAVE AMERICA DUMP TRUMP 2020!! ANY CANDIDATE WILL DO.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

65. THIS 1,000,000 PERCENT!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[calguy]

74. This isn't infighting in my opinion

Most all of us will vote for whoever our nominee is. This discussion is about who that nominee should be. As long as we express our opinions and don't insult anyone personally while we're doing it, I think it is perfectly fine.

[cstanleytech]

83. It might not be infighting but it does potentially help Trump by weakening Democratic support

for Bernie should he be the winner of the nomination.

[calguy]

89. I strongly disagree

In the grand scheme of things our community here at DU is very small and not even visible to most of the voters who are undecided about who to vote for. This discussion does not even register on the radar.

[VarryOn]

126. Amen...

The purpose of a primary is for us to sort through the candidates and find the best one. It requires vetting the pros and cons of each. I don’t get the nervous Nellies who fret at the slightest pushback by one candidate against another.

[McKim]

63. So We are Letting Trump Choose Our Candidate?

So we are letting Trump choose our candidate? Why bother with a primary!

[mysteryowl]

68. I disagree.

Plus, we know how Trump is, he will find a way to talk shit about ANY of our dems. Let the people pick this and then we all "vote blue no matter who"!

[SCVDem]

69. Remember 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon?

Putin/Russia
Jill Stein
Her supporters working for,
Bernie Sanders.

Throw in Bernie Bros. (Not to be confused with mainstream support) and I don't like the looks of this.

[progressoid]

84. Huh?

Using that "logic" I'm two degrees away from Obama. That makes me super influential!!

[Cha]

105. Yes, I just wrote about that for

an entirely different reason..

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=430390

[cstanleytech]

71. How about we stop focusing on being negative towards our own people?

All of them including Bernie would be far better than Trump and most people in this country know that.
The only ones who refuse to accept that fact are the Trump Kool-Aid drinkers most of whom are either extreme bigots and or just ignorant assholes.

[jdl123]

73. primary

I guess crazy Tuesday is march 3rd in my state. I'll probably vote for Joe. As far as Bernie and the Warren lady, I guess I'm not as progressive as I thought? huh
I will vote whoever wins the democratic nomination. In my opinion, the democrats couldn't nominate a more corrupt person then the one in office, at this moment. Impossible.

[handmade34]

110. "the Warren lady"

thanks for the smile...

that Warren lady would make a good President but I am glad you will vote for Joe

[Still In Wisconsin]

75. I want NO part of Bernie as our nominee, but I don't care who Trump wants to face.

Let's not allow the other side to decide who we nominate.

[Bucky]

76. Trump wants Sanders. Yes, that explains why they're preparing so much to smear Hunter Biden

Oh lordy, I thank everyone who's working so hard to cure the problem of there not being enough intraparty bickering among the Democrats.

[demigoddess]

77. Of course, I want Biden and Booker

[myohmy2]

85. "It is obvious now that if we pick Sanders as our nominee..."

WE-WILL-WIN !!

...no need to thank me for the correction...

[CozyMystery]

91. The 5 people in my family are voting for Sanders in the primary.

One of us is old, the others are in their mid-twenties.

We had a discussion about this last night, led by me. I asked, what if Sanders is polling a distant third, shall any of us vote for Biden or Warren instead? We all independently decided to vote for Sanders, no matter what the polls show.

The next question was if Biden is the nominee, shall we vote for him despite the fact that none of us like him? We decided that we would vote for the Democratic candidate, no matter what. We also decided that we prefer Warren over Biden. The rest of the candidates are unlikely to be the nominee, and even if one is, we will vote for that person.

I asked if any of us wanted to write-in a vote for Sanders in the general election, and none of us did. Some of us may have felt differently, but we live in a swing state. Our responsibility must be to help defeat Trump.

We do think Sanders can defeat Trump, as long as the vast, vast majority of Sanders supporters actually vote. So that is where we will be putting our efforts - in getting people to actually vote in both the primary and the general elections.

[NCProgressive]

94. Sanders as our nominee will be a disaster

regardless of what the faithful think

[Gothmog]

98. If sanders is the nominee, trump would win 45+ states

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

99. tump and Putin would have an easy time crushing a weak candidate like sanders

There is a ton of great oppo on sanders. None of the Democratic candidates are using this oppo because no one really thinks that sanders has a chance of being the nominee. There are tons of video of sanders praising Fidel Castro, the old Soviet Union, Central American socialists and other enemies of the United States that would make great attack ads. trump has the money to run these ads on a constant loop so that sanders would be lucky not to repeat the results of the 1972 election.

In addition, Russia targeted African American voters last cycle to depress or suppress their vote.

Link to tweet

Without strong African American voter turnout, no Democrat stands a chance. sanders has made Russia's efforts easy in that all Russia has to do is play videos of sanders delegates booing John Lewis, Elijah Cummings, Stacy Abrams and others. There is a ton of anger out there about this stunt by sanders delegates at the National Convention.

I am glad that we will not have to find out. I will support the nominee of the party but I really doubt that sanders will be the nominee. No Democrat has wasted their time going negative on sanders because no one thinks that sanders has a chance of being the nominee.

[VarryOn]

104. He has Wall Street scared...

They wont sit back and do nothing. Rightly or wrongly, running against Wall Street will not work.

Got my 401k statement today. 27.3% return for 2019. Im small potatoes and can only imagine what the high rollers on Wall Street saw. No way they'll be on board for an anti-WS sentiment from a candidate. Warren isnt exactly their friend either.

[Demsrule86]

118. I don't Want Wall Street 'scared'. I want regulation but Wall street is not the enemy. We need them.

Pensions are mostly gone and it is the best way to save for retirement...companies often match a certain amount.

[enid602]

106. "....then we will be making Donald Trump happy. "

I think we will be making Putin even happier.

[DemocracyMouse]

107. Trump will eat Biden for Lunch.

Sanders or Warren have the guts and passion to flatten Trump.

I have no faith in Biden

[Demsrule86]

117. No he won't...and you have no faith because against all reason (Biden can win the states we need)

you want a certain candidate. And you dislike Biden. The orange POS has been coming after Biden for over a year and not one of his lies have had any impact...Biden is well known...the shit they try won't work...Teflon Joe ...Sanders on the other hand will lose a minimum of 35 states as new to voters vetting hits the airwaves...we have seen a taste of it here lately (we shouldn't do it either), and it is not good.

[DemocracyMouse]

123. Give me a real reason to vote for Biden.

My family has fallen apart due to my son's mother's health and the cost of higher education. Only Warren and Sanders are serious about addressing such issues head-on. Biden seems so out of touch with us common people. He's in the corporate clouds like the Clintons.

We need more than he has to offer. A familiar name? You can't even make a baloney sandwich with that.

[Demsrule86]

114. It will be a blowout like McGovern and Dukakis...

We will lose Virginia for sure.

[MontanaFarmer]

127. Bernie isn't going to be the nominee.

He's not going to win a single southern state. Biden will run up large margins of delegates in places like Florida, north Carolina, Georgia and all the small states. Meanwhile, any states that Bernie looks likely to win will have a split of a few delegates. Biden sews up the nomination super Tuesday or shortly after.