Bernie presents himself in a negative way, just like McGovern.

[Stuart G]

Bernie will destroy us. He is the same as McGovern. I worked for McGovern. I believed in his correctness on "not killing" during the Viet Nam War was enough to get him elected. I was totally wrong. While killing is wrong, McGovern presented himself totally wrong.

...Bernie does exactly the same thing. He presents himself in a way that is offensive. He doesn't know, and his followers do not know, but those of us who have experienced enough, we know. His ideas may be totally correct, but he presents them in an offensive way.

..Bernie supporters don't like the above idea. But it is the truth. George McGovern was destroyed by Nixon, and Trump will do the exact same thing to Bernie. You don't like it?..Ok, You don't like it, but it is the truth.

[DanTex]

1. McGovern was trailing in the polls by huge margins the whole time.

Bernie has been leading Trump the whole time.

And McGovern was 48 years ago. The electorate is entirely different this time.

[jimfields33]

2. +1

The ones complaining are just jealous their candidate is tanking.

[Stuart G]

3. You may think that the "electorate is entirely different", but

I do not believe it is. If Bernie is "offensive" as I say, a lot of people who would not normally vote, will come out to vote against him and for Trump.

[DanTex]

12. If he's so "offensive", how do you explain his poll numbers?

[Yavin4]

16. You should not rely on poll numbers for a theoretical matchup. n/t

[DanTex]

19. OK, so what indication is there that Bernie is "offensive" other than one person's opinion?

[LanternWaste]

17. Apply that same question to the current adminsitration.

And entire host of valid possibilities then arise as obvious as a church in daylight.

Or you can pretend one, and only one potential answer exists to the exclusion of all others. Seems a very comforting sentiment these days...

[radius777]

36. Nobody has laid a glove on Sanders

and seem to be trying to be his friend most of the time, for fear of angering his base.

The GOP/Trump would have no such fears, and would 'strip the bark off the bastard', to quote Lee Atwater who went to work on candidates like Dukakis who had +17 lead over Poppy in hypothetical general election matchups.

[LiberalFighter]

38. His poll numbers were higher in 2016. nt

[Peregrine Took]

10. Absolutely. No comparison. While a nice guy he was a terrible speaker and campaigner.

Not to mention the Eagleton disaster.

[PubliusEnigma]

4. Old Man Yells At Cloud

[Laura PourMeADrink]

28. Glad you said that. That's my honest impression

Of BS ..always yelling voice. Warren too jittery. Both need to show a calm demeanor. No voter wants a prez who is stuck on 10. Need to show they can act on a 3 sometimes.

[bluedye33139]

5. I'm put off by his staff. The thing about Bloomberg's heart attacks, for instance,

made me shake my head.

And I don't like Bloomberg!

[Stuart G]

7. Bernie's staff and supporters have made major mistakes, but

Bernie has done little to control them. He doesn't even try to control them. So, they will continue to make mistakes, and those will hurt the Democratic Party in ways that are very hard to know.
...The fact that Bernie does not control his staff, is proof enough that he will lose if he is our nominee. The staff is like a "loose cannon" that will destroy Bernie's chances to win a national election..

[skh500]

21. Maybe they have been paid to disrupt. Pretty easy trick to pull off!!

I have heard Bernie Sanders speak out about not supporting such behavior. He even hired and fired a very talented video producer who made an excellent video of Bernie and his "top 5 accomplishments". But because the producer had also said uncomplimentary things about another politician, Sanders didn't keep him on staff.

You have proof this is truly his supporters? I think not. This could easily be something Bloomberg or other candidates have paid people to do. Simply to disrupt his campaign!!

[mr_lebowski]

26. I do. I went to see the Jimmy Dore Show 2 weeks ago ... in the flesh ...

I guarantee 'this' is truly his supporters.

Not saying there's NO Russian's, esp. online.

But mostly ... yeah.

[uponit7771]

30. +1

[tiredtoo]

31. And Bloomberg calling him a communist didn't bother you? NT

[handmade34]

6. truth

he is "off-putting"

[redstatebluegirl]

8. My family supported McGovern as well, everyone except my Dad.

He was a lifelong Democrat who said he could not vote for McGovern. He said he was going to destroy our party, well that didn't happen but it sure didn't help us much. This election will be much worse if we let BS take over. The down ballot bleeding will be monumental. We will lose a ton of states, not all but over 40. If the republic survives after that, it will take 20 years for us to recover.

[Turin_C3PO]

14. We won't lose 40 states.

If people would all get a few non voters to vote then we can win with any candidate. Change starts with us. If we keep insisting he’ll lose, then yes, he will because it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. We’re over here slinging arrows at each other while Trump is laughing and destroying the party. I just wish would have a clear nominee as soon as possible so we can go after the fascist 100%.

[nobuddy]

9. I think we should do away with delegates

and replace them with anecdotes.

[Stuart G]

11. Let me say it again. McGovern's position on "stop the killing in Viet Nam War" was totally correct.

He wanted to get out of the war "immediately" and more people would not be "killed."

He lost. Nixon was a better campaigner than McGovern. With Trump's support from the very wealthy end, and that part of society being totally against Bernie, the result will be the same. Yes, killing in war is wrong, McGovern was right on that .............but Nixon won 49 states, and McGovern won 1 state

You don't like it, then look it up. Bernie is the same, and that is my opinion and that opinion will not change.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. I don't recall that McGovern had a negative vibe like Bernie.

His problem was that he made the Vietnam War his single issue, and he didn't give those voters who were still not strongly opposed to the war any other reason to vote for him. As a result, Nixon was easily able to associate him with dope-smoking hippies and violent demonstrators (and there were plenty of those). The "silent majority," as he called the nice middle-class white voters who hated the hippies and still thought the purpose of the war was to defeat the evils of Communism, wanted nothing to do with any aspect of the antiwar movement.

Bernie is negative, though, in the sense that he seems angry and he's always yelling. He's exciting his audiences by making them angry instead of by making them hopeful, like Obama did. He's making them angry about the billionaires (millionaires are apparently OK now since he became one) who are preventing them from getting free health care and free college - which he alone will be able to deliver, magically, with a stroke of his jabbing finger. He's playing on people's sense of outraged victimhood. Sound familiar?

[skh500]

24. Bernie seems angry

"He is exciting his audiences by making them angry....." No, his audiences are ALREADY angry. And people in Washington or the elites don't even relate to their suffering.

If Europe,UK and Canada has free health care, why don't we? Why do we have to die (30,000 a yr) or lose our homes because of a health crisis? Why are we #36 on the World Heath Org list?? Or...why do have to die because we can't afford our insulin??

The ultimate billionaire Jeff Bezos of Amazon didn't pay one penny of income tax for 2017 and 2018. (And there are hundreds/thousands more not paying their fair share.) But every time they get another tax break we seem to have to cut medicare, medicaid and social security??

This isn't contrived victimhood......this is real! Hello???

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

25. Obama and B. Clinton were successful in getting the votes of people

who were suffering in various ways without frothing with anger all the time. Obama ran for president during the collapse of the national economy which caused more damage to more people than almost anything in recent memory apart from actual wars, but he didn't yell or appeal to anger. He offered hope, which is what people wanted and responded to. Bill Clinton attracted people with a vibe of warmth and kindness; he was able to reach out to people on a personal level. Even Reagan, awful as he was, got votes because he spoke in positive terms and seemed to have a sense of humor. His projected persona was the kindly grandpa, not the cranky old guy who chases kids off his lawn. Anger gets the adrenaline going and that feels good; that's why Trump attracts (some) angry people - he excites them with anger. I'd rather see a candidate excite people with hope.

[emmaverybo]

29. His manner has been described as joyless. Seldom a smile. Narrow personality range. And

appeals to anger rather than hope.

He might not play well outside his adoring followers in a primary where, with so many moderates and Bloomberg’s influence, it is easy to be the 30 percent guy and win early on.

Some feel Bernie’s ideas will kill him in the GE. I think it’s his personality, appealing to connoisseurs, but not to average tastes, that will put him at a disadvantage. His personality marches to a different drummer, exciting to some, but to others, outside the true believers, could be off-putting.

On the other hand, so far, his ability to draw a wider electorate remains untested.

[KPN]

15. This again? What is this, a weekly post?

[UniteFightBack]

22. When the country is about to be burned down you damn skippy - it should be a daily post. nt

[PubliusEnigma]

33. Defend your candidate, if he be worthy. Or you could just yell, I guess.

[KPN]

34. Blah, blah, blah. You defend yours. I've done that

plenty enough here. And that involves multiple candidates, now down to two (Warren and Sanders).

[nobuddy]

18. I know McGovern is the buzzword

but he was always getting destroyed in polling for the entirety of 1972.

1972 United States presidential election

are the current poll averages showing anyone losing by 20 points?

[Stuart G]

20. I must make this clear, if Bernie is our nominee, I will vote for him, and I will send money.

We need to win, and no matter what I say here, I will do the most I can do, if Bernie is the nominee of our party. I just don't think Bernie can win. This is an opinion, but the election is 9 months away. No one knows the future. Anything can happen and often does.

[UniteFightBack]

23. So will I...my deplorable co workers actually feel sorry for me about this Bernie bullshit. nt

[mr_lebowski]

27. +1 I will in fact vote for the man quite happily (nt)

[Gothmog]

32. sanders could be worse than McGovern

sanders would turn out trump's base

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[denem]

35. The McGovern comparison is odious

and a slur on everyone who worked on his campaign.

I could spend my time saying VP Biden is another Mondale, but I have better things to do.

[corbettkroehler]

37. Obama Knows What You Mean, For Sure

There's YUGE chink in the armor of the logic of this post.

Sanders is not the last prominent Democrat on his way to securing the nomination to be compared to McGovern. Let's all remember the result of THAT general election. HINT: It was a landslide for the Democrat.



[Full text of original column available here]

[LiberalFighter]

39. Way too negative.

He reminds me too much of kids being chased away from someone's grandpa's house. Worse than a Crankshaft.

[maximusveritas]

41. Exactly. Worse than McGovern. Struggling to think of a politician who was more ill-tempered

Just can't think of anyone.
This article really explains it well too from someone who knew him well from Vermont:
https://www.lansingcitypulse.com/stories/the-trouble-with-bernie,4622

[LiberalFighter]

42. Yes. His style is off-putting.

[maximusveritas]

43. Yes and style is important. The adage about someone you'd like to have a beer with

is very much true in politics.
All of our most recent Presidents had that likability factor: Obama, Bush, Clinton.
Even though Trump comes across negatively most of the time when he's engaged in petty squabbles, but he also knows how to joke around and make himself personable when needed.
I've never seen Bernie do that.

[Stuart G]

47. The above post number 41, needs to be read by all..please look at 41, and hit that link..

Thank You for reading this.

[Gothmog]

40. James Clyburn thinks that sanders is like McGovern

Link to tweet

[Blue_true]

44. You are a grizzled olster crying at to moon to Bernie supporters.

They have a "but" for everything, like McGovern picking a bad VP, or McGovern not really being a true progressive (yes, that claim has been made here). I was too young to vote for McGovern, but I remember that electoral disaster.

I am sure that some oldster will come out to "counter" your observation. There are people here that believe that life is an unfair game and there is no way to get ahead but by remaking everything that is the "establishment". The horrible thing is that a lot of what they see as wrong truly is wrong, but their "solutions" are so ass-backwards that applying them will set us back decades.

[Laelth]

45. I appreciate that you care about the American People and the Democratic Party.

But I think you need to trade in your crystal ball. It's faulty. You need a new one.

This is not 1972, and all the polls say Bernie can beat Trump. I just don't see the disaster that you predict.

-Laelth

[zackymilly]

46. He does seem angry most of the time.n/t