Bernie Sanders Support with Black Voters Cratered by More Than Half in a Week

[Gothmog]

Link to tweet

Independent Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders saw his support among black voters crater by more than half in a national poll amid a roiling controversy over his decision to brag about an endorsement by comic Joe Rogan, and stand by it after the comic’s history of bigoted remarks emerged.

Sanders was enjoying a bit of a surge with black voters in the weekly Economist/YouGov poll, going from 12 percent three weeks ago to 17 percent the following week in a poll that was taken two days after Sanders tweeted a video of Rogan praising the candidate’s consistency and saying he would “probably” vote for Sanders.

But in the most recent poll, taken Sunday through Tuesday of this week, Sanders’ support among black voters has plunged to eight percent.

There’s no way of telling exactly what caused the swing, but the Rogan controversy began to erupt just before last week’s poll was taken, as past comments by Rogan — including a clip in which he compared a black neighborhood to the fictional Planet of the Apes — began circulating, and the Sanders campaign responded by standing by their embrace of the endorsement in spite of those comments.....

Elsewhere in the same poll, former Vice President Joe Biden maintained a massive lead among black voters, but his support did slip slightly, from 46 to 43 percent, while former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg — who has spent over a quarter of a billion dollars on ads so far — surged from three to 11 percent, and Mayor Pete ticked up three points with black voters — from one percent to four. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren was the only other candidate in double digits with black voters, maintaining 14 percent in both polls.

[empedocles]

1. BS will decline more, with more exposue due.

[TomCADem]

25. HuffPo: Bernie Sanders Says Not All Voters Who Feel 'Uncomfortable' With Black Candidates Are Racist

Well, perhaps because as you look at Bernie's history with respect to social justice, he keeps on saying stuff like this:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-andrew-gillum-stacey-abrams_n_5be48626e4b0769d24cadd68?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAF7trZFRtfWsdaHLaP6FVfhLpooS9Pqv2HiQMPofJMEEO2nmeVAwIPCkarknSi9MlKL7_KacB-OV2l7IoXF-2Ey7FNAL3CZfDwOmn0kNc2RRtu2Uo6n8pnwxUi8oTL0zMCkdS4eWddtrcFZmSXBx4UTHnq5EHsgXh46kS_D4UQHR

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) drew criticism Thursday after saying many white voters in the South who felt “uncomfortable” voting for black candidates for the first time were “not necessarily racist.”

* * *

“I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American,” Sanders told the outlet. “I think next time around, by the way, it will be a lot easier for them to do that.”

A number of writers and activists of color called Sanders out for implying it wasn’t racist to reject a candidate based on race.

“Many would define not supporting someone based solely on race as racist,” PBS correspondent Yamiche Alcindor noted.

[UniteFightBack]

2. I'm supporting who I think can win in swing states and whom black folks are supporting. nt

[Perseus]

3. And I win again, I was betting this news came from a Biden supporter.

This negative "news" must stop, we must stay united, instead tell us about the good and great things about Joe Biden please.

[Gothmog]

10. Vetting is part of the process

sanders was not vetted earlier and it is time for him to be vetted. There is a ton of oppo and if sanders is the nominee, turmp will win 45+ states.

[HarlanPepper]

17. Yes

Because no Sanders supporter has done that to other candidates.

[Cha]

20. Ikr.

[Cha]

19. This is "reality" news.

[MH1]

33. If we nominate a candidate who doesn't have strong African American support

WE LOSE.

There are a lot of uncertainties in the "electability" discussion, but that one is not uncertain at all.

[bluewater]

4. What's the margin of error for that poll? 4-5% usually, no?

So Sanders support has been bouncing up and down from 12% to 17% to 8%.

Hard to see a trend in that poll yet, especially with a 4 or 5% margin of error.

Maybe his true number in that poll is 12%, that's what the results seem to be bouncing around.

[HarlanPepper]

12. The numbers are what the numbers are.

Even when we don’t like the outcome.

[bluewater]

13. And the number seems to be 12% +/- 5% margin of error. lol

12% then 17% than 8%... +/- 4-5% seems to center on 12% as expected.

The numbers are what the numbers are.

Even when people misinterpret or, gasp, misrepresent them.

[Cha]

34. Exactly.. and I'm going to kick this thread.

[emmaverybo]

5. Here's a brilliant young AA activist's upfront and personal reaction to the Joe Rogan

endorsement.

The picture of proud Joe with his kill could be triggering—as if he weren’t cruel enough to people, he has to take out his superiority complex and anger on animals too. Scroll through the article for some very sharp responses to Rogan apologists and skip the photo if you want to opt out of more suffering.

Article on Rogan reaction #2 “Joe Rogan’s Super Stans” follows “#1 Bernie’s Dixiecrats” in a blog by Bianca titled “Here Are The Top 10 Most Racist Things About The Bernie Sanders Clown Show”

Full disclosure, Bianca supported Kamala Harris and vigorously defends Hillary Clinton.

—————————————————————————————Snip:

I’ve been told time and time again that Rogan has Black friends and they have no problem with his “jokes” so I am too Politically Correct. I am also told that my sensibilities are the downfall of the Democratic Party and that rejecting the idea of allowing my own dehumanization into the “Big Tent” I am ensuring an epic loss, and letting the “Real Racists” of the GOP win. Go figure. In the Age of Bernie, Black people are the ones with the problem if we don’t like being equated to sentient simians.

——————————————————————————————

https://bravenewsblog.com/2020/01/31/here-are-the-top-10-most-racist-things-about-the-bernie-sanders-2020-clown-show-off-the-top-of-my-head-also-fck-context/

[aikoaiko]

29. To her credit, more than anyone else, I find her hatred of Bernie instructive.

Still Flagged for Review for almost 3 years now. 1 month to the anniversary.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=300456

[emmaverybo]

30. Whatever about Bernie and the account you have identified as hers, my post focused on Rogan.

He said what he said, did what he did, is what he is with or without her say so. But I think she beautifully expressed a shared viewpoint Bernie’s white supporters should hear on the Rogan endorsement. I am not trying to make a more global statement about Bernie’s candidacy.

[Cha]

36. Mahalo!

[CousinIT]

6. I love Bernie Sanders and Warren and Buttigieg...

...but this worries me about their support. A Dem can't win without the significant support of our black voters.

This, and the "socialism" epithet - no matter how ignorant it is, people will buy into the scaremongering.

I have nothing against them or their policies and I WILL vote for them if they're nominated - with full support! But if the morons scared by "socialism" and black voters won't, it'll be Trump again.

[brooklynite]

8. But don't they know they'll be getting free Health Care and College Tuition?

[Skya Rhen]

9. We've heard about all the freebies but we know that nothing in life is free...

[oasis]

16. They're not gonna buy "pie in the sky".

Trust me on that.

[Scurrilous]

18. Bernie's numbers with 65+ are 4%. Why? They've seen it all and don't buy his crap.

[musicman65]

11. There is

nothing free,false ideas by b.s.will cause more harm in this election process

[Gothmog]

24. Bernie's polling with Black voters is still terrible.

Link to tweet

[TomCADem]

26. Daily Beast - Vermont's Black Leaders: We Were 'Invisible' to Bernie Sanders

Well, Bernie has a long history of ignoring African American constituents per this Daily Beast article.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/vermonts-black-leaders-we-were-invisible-to-bernie-sanders

Back in 2006, the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, a Brattleboro-area civil rights organization, hosted a Candidate Night. The race for the open U.S. Senate seat between Bernie Sanders and Richard Tarrant, a Republican and one of the wealthiest people in the state, had grown increasingly acrimonious.

The audience of African-American activists and other Vermonters of color should have been a friendly one for the socialist congressman.

Instead, remembers Curtiss Reed Jr., the executive director of the group, it became something of a showdown. Sanders “was just really dismissive of anything that had to do with race and racism, saying that they didn’t have anything to do with the issues of income inequality,” Reed told The Daily Beast.

“He just always kept coming back to income inequality as a response, as if talking about income inequality would somehow make issues of racism go away.”

[Cha]

35. +1

[BlueIdaho]

14. Any numbers mentioned here...

Guarantee we lose if Bernie is our candidate. 8%? 10%? 12%? Even 17%? That’s a disaster.

[NurseJackie]

15. Good.

[Cha]

21. KICK

[Gothmog]

22. There is no way for sanders to be the nominee wihout African American voter support

Link to tweet

[TomCADem]

27. 'We Find Ourselves Excluded': Racial Justice Leaders Ask Bernie Sanders 'To Get With The Program'

Simply having Nina Turner or Cornell West as a surrogate does not erase Bernie Sander's long history of ignoring African American constituents:

https://www.vpr.org/term/vpr-series-and-specials

In an open letter to Sanders and an institute that now bears his name, more than a dozen racial and social justice advocates from across the state write that they’ve been “excluded” from the “national progressive movement that Senator Bernie Sanders is trying to foster.”

The flashpoint for this latest conflict between Sanders and prominent Vermonters of color came last week, when the Sanders Institute hosted a three-day “gathering” in Burlington that convened progressive luminaries from around the world.

Notably absent from the event, according to signatories of the open letter to Sanders, were the racial justice leaders from Vermont who have been working for decades on the civil rights issues the event sought to address.

“How do you say that you are a person of the people, how can you be ‘awoken’, in the words of Victor Lee Lewis, when you come home to Vermont to talk about justice and institutional oppression and don’t invite the very people your (sic) represent?” read the letter, which began circulating Saturday.

[NurseJackie]

40. Fifty times!

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/12/1484405/-Bernie-Sanders-I-said-black-50-times-That-s-the-51st-time

[Gothmog]

23. Sanders has dropped from 17% support among Black voters to just 8%.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Cha]

28. Thank you!

[musicman65]

31. On point

as usual

[Tiggeroshii]

32. If he is an average of only 2.9 points behind Biden

He is clearly doing much better than Pete in that regard and getting the support of a lot of POC.

[Quixote1818]

37. So it went from Sanders and Biden to Stop and Frisk Bloomberg?

Sorry, this was not about Rogan but Bloomberg advertising and it sounds like many haven't looked into Bloomberg enough yet. Stop and frisk will crush Bloomberg's numbers with black once that info gets out to more of them and Sanders and Biden's numbers will be right back where they were.

See here: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/mike-bloomberg-democratic-primary-black-voters-911665/

[maximusveritas]

38. Not a Sanders fan, but this is obviously normal fluctuation within MOE; sick of dividing us by race

You can't compare numbers among a small subset and pretend it is statistically meaningful.
To try and tie this to the Rogan endorsement is just wild speculation.
The Biden campaign is so desperate right now, the only thing it has is African American support, but that will vanish quickly when it is clear he is no longer the likely nominee.

[Quixote1818]

39. That is spot on. Just like I am a Warren supporter but since she isn't doing that well

I am looking at other candidates. Since Biden isn't exciting for voters I am looking at Sanders and Klobuchar now.

[Tarheel_Dem]

41. K&R

[Gothmog]

42. African Americans trust and support Joe Biden -- and Bernie Sanders' dirty tactics won't change that

Link to tweet

For more than 30 years I have worked around the clock organizing and activating voters in South Carolina with my renowned “Reckoning Crew.”

We have hit the ground for local races, presidential races and everything in between — knocking on doors in rural communities and making phone calls into urban neighborhoods. We have had big wins and suffered some tough losses, but we are lucky to speak with so many voters in our communities.

It is safe to say that I know what South Carolina voters are looking for in 2020.....

Sanders’ divisive and baseless attacks won’t get him anywhere in the Palmetto State. And Sanders is proving to us —once again — that he just does not know or understand South Carolina voters.
By contrast former Vice President Joe Biden knows us like the back of his hand. And we know him.

Joe has more relationships in our communities than anyone else in this race.
He has more history with our communities than anyone else in this race.
And Joe is more comfortable in our communities than anyone else in this race.

Read more here: https://www.thestate.com/opinion/article239256523.html#storylink=cpy

[Gothmog]

43. African American Vote Preference released today by MSNBC

Link to tweet

[Scurrilous]

44. He's gonna miss tiny and white.