Will Bernie Sanders' long-ago praise of Socialist regimes hurt Democrats in November?

[RandySF]

WASHINGTON — In October 1985, a few months after Bernie Sanders traveled to Nicaragua to celebrate the sixth anniversary of that country's socialist revolution, the Soviet-backed government suspended the civil liberties of its citizens, including the rights to free speech, free assembly and labor strikes.

A few days later, Sanders, then the socialist mayor of Burlington, Vermont, received a pointed letter from a constituent. How, the letter-writer wanted to know, could Sanders continue to embrace a "another in a long line of dictatorships, whose only true concern is its length of stay in power"?

In a written reply, Sanders — who had praised Nicaragua's leaders upon his return from the trip — made no apologies. The Nicaraguan government was fighting a "brutal war" funded by the United States, he wrote, which made the situation "complex." Didn't the U.S. government, Sanders wrote, intern Japanese Americans during World War II? Didn't Lincoln curtail basic rights during the Civil War?

Thirty-five years later, Sanders is leading in national polls to become President Donald Trump's Democratic opponent in the 2020 election. Sanders has staked out positions that are clearly to the left of the rest of the field on trade, troop deployments and military action.

Both Republicans and Democrats are already using the c-word to blunt his appeal. In Wednesday night's Democratic debate, Mike Bloomberg described Sanders stance on wealth as "communist." Trump, meanwhile, has already called Sanders a Communist.

If Sanders wins the nomination, some Democrats worry that Trump and the Republicans will hammer him on long-buried words in defense of repressive governments in Nicaragua, Cuba and the Soviet Union.




https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/will-sanders-long-ago-praise-socialist-regimes-hurt-democrats-november-n1139811

[still_one]

1. If he is the nominee you can count on the Republicans ready to jump all over it

[David__77]

2. I agree with Sanders' quoted responses.

The US should not have supported the “contra” insurgency.

[RandySF]

3. I actually agree about the Contras, but Ortega was a thug.

[David__77]

5. I don't see those views as opposed to one another.

...

[UniteFightBack]

4. Oh yes they are going to weave quite the narrative with receipts to back it all up. nt

[Callado119]

6. It going to destroy the Democratic Party...

...they’ll easily portray him as an anti-American communist, and it will stick very quickly because it’s all there in countless videos and writings in his own words...every democrat will be tarred by association..all of those suburban voters who hate trump will end up sticking with the devil they know and punish down ballot Dems for putting up such an awful candidate...it’ll be a bloodbath..

[VarryOn]

7. There's no way to put lipstick on that pig...

There isn't a good way to turn praising America's greatest enemy at that time as insignificant. Maybe some political operative can come up with something creative, and I'll be interest to see if it can be done. If James Carville wasnt anti-Sanders, maybe he could come closest. I've always considered him the best "political hack" (a term he likes, by the way).

But, yes, expect the Republicans to ride this like a dime store pony!

[Cha]

8. KR

[comradebillyboy]

9. Only if Sanders is the nominee.

[counting]

10. i dont care what they say to who our nominee is in november

ill still vote and support blue, even if they say he's an axe murderer...

[cerebrate2006]

11. i like Bernie - hate his baggage

I’ll be first in line to vote for Bernie if he’s the nominee, but I dread the billion dollars in attack ads starting the day after the convention showing him in his videos praising ruthless dictators. He’ll end up with even lower approval ratings than Hillary after the ad and MSM bashing she took in 2016. If we want Bernie’s solutions with a lot less risk of losing everything, go with Liz.

[Maru Kitteh]

12. I find the prospect of him as a nominee terrifying

But apparently, the Russian federation is pleased with his history.