*New* Sanders is in a first-place tie in Iowa, has a narrow edge in NH

[Sloumeau]

22. Would you prefer that I call them "liberals" or "progressives", or...

would you just prefer that I call them "mainstream candidates"?

I could call them that, but it would not be accurate. Support for the policies of Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders, and for Elizabeth Warren, whose polices are very close to Bernie Sanders, on average seem to line up with about 51% of the Democrats, and Democrats have the largest share of Lefty/Liberal/Progressives in the country of the three major political groups: Democrats, Independents, and Conservatives. However, when you look at the country as a whole, you can see a different picture from the picture within the Democratic Party. If you go to the following link...

https://news.gallup.com/poll/245813/leans-conservative-liberals-keep-recent-gains.aspx

you will see a Gallup poll for how people identified themselves among three groups: Liberals, Moderates or Conservatives. Now, while you will see the total percentage of self-identified Liberals go up from about 17% in 1992 to about 26% in 2018, you will notice that the percentage of self-described Moderates and Conservatives in 2018 is about 35 each. In other words, there are more self-described Moderates in this country than Liberals and there are more self-described Conservatives in this country than there are Liberals. To call the Liberal policies of either Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Sanders mainstream would seem to be inaccurate because about 70% of the country does not consider themselves to be Liberals.

Now, you might present polls about certain issues to say that certain issues are popular, but a lot of that has to do with how an issue is presented to people. If you poll people with a question like, "Do you want everyone to have healthcare?" that might come out pretty popular, so you might say, "Hey, this is a mainstream proposal because a majority of people support it". However, there is a difference between a poll question and reality. Let's look at the ACA for example. Polls done before it was passed seemed to indicate that a majority of people supported it. However, after it passed, and Republicans really began to emphasize how people would have to pay more in taxes if they did not get insurance, and how certain doctors no longer took patients who had the updated insurance policies, support for the ACA dropped. This is one of the reasons why the Democrats got their butts kicked in 2010. Sometimes the way poll questions are presented can affect how popular things seem to be. Now, the individual mandate no longer exists, and lots more people support the ACA than before. So, the ACA seemed popular with the majority before it was implemented, then seemed unpopular with the majority shortly after it was implemented, then eventually became more popular.

So, was the ACA popular with the mainstream? The answer is yes, then no, then yes. The policies supported by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren would dramatically move this country to the left. They would argue that these changes are needed, and that may be true. However, whether or not someone considers their ideas "mainstream" would depend on who you ask and their political leanings. Sanders and Warren definitely represent the more left/liberal/progressive side of the Democratic party and the most left/progressive/liberal candidates of all of the 2020 Democratic Presidential Nomination Contenders. They have said over and over again that they are liberal, that they are progressive, and that their proposals represent radical change which they think is needed.

You think Bernie Sanders represents the mainstream. I do not. I believe that he represents the most liberal part of the Democratic Party, which is the most Liberal major party in the country. Every person is entitled to his or her opinion. However, if you are bothered when someone calls either Sanders or Warren a Lefty when they themselves both recognize that they represent the more Progressive and Liberal part of the Democratic Party, it seems to me that you are being a tad bit oversensitive. They would both tell you that they are Liberal, and they would both tell you that they are Progressive. That is exactly what being on the Left means.

Heck, the whole Democratic Party is on the Left when compared to the Independents and the Conservatives. Blue States mean Democratic, and they tend to be more Progressive, Liberal, and on the Left. Red States mean Republican, and they tend to be more Conservative and on the Right. People often use the terms "The Left" "Democratic" "Liberal" and "Progressive" interchangeably, as they do "Conservative" "Republican" and "The Right". I am not going to think that I did anything wrong calling someone a "Lefty" if he or she regularly calls himself a "Liberal" or a "Progressive". I am not really sure why you think that that is a problem.