Kyle Kondik: Why Swing-District Democrats Don't Want Bernie Sanders as the Nominee

[brooklynite]

New York Times

Swing-district House Democrats don’t agree on which candidate they want to lead them on the ticket this year, but they do seem to agree on which candidate they don’t: Bernie Sanders.

Of the 46 Democratic representatives who hold districts classified by Sabato’s Crystal Ball House ratings as at least marginally competitive, not one has endorsed Mr. Sanders, the Vermont senator who won a decisive victory in the Nevada caucus over the weekend.

Some have actually gone further, actively distancing themselves from Mr. Sanders. Anthony Brindisi of upstate New York said he would not support him. Joe Cunningham of Charleston, S.C., said of the senator, “South Carolinians don’t want socialism.” Mr. Brindisi and Mr. Cunningham both won in 2018 in districts that backed Donald Trump by double digits in 2016.

A recent report in The New York Times summed up these fears: Mr. Sanders’s “rise is generating fears among centrist Democrats that the apparent leftward shift of their party could cost them not only a chance to retake the White House, but also their hold on the majority in the House of Representatives.”

[empedocles]

1. BS haunted by the ghosts of 2018

[jimfields33]

2. If they are doing their job, there should be no problem

Elections are local. Keep having town halls and get out of Washington from time to time.

[evertonfc]

3. moderates win in middle America and southeast

House members, Governirships. Fact. 18 andb19 belonged to the moderates.

[Vogon_Glory]

4. A Bernie Sanders nomination is like an Ike jacket

No political coat tails.

If you liked Republican Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House, vote for Bernie in your state’s primary.

If you enjoy having Republican Mitch McConnell as majority leader in the US Senate, vote for Bernie in your state’s primary.

If you want down-ballot Trump-ism to remain alive and festering, vote for Bernie in your state’s primary.