During the frenetic post-Brexit years when Great Britain kept holding general elections in an attempt to oust a series of massively unpopular Tory prime ministers, I kept thinking “why is this so hard?” and “for the love of God, run someone GOOD against this incredibly unpopular Tory.” But Jeremy Corbyn kept running and Labour just didn’t know what to do, and so Labour kept losing. I just didn’t understand it. But now I do, as the American Democratic Party seems poised to hand the presidential nomination to our own Corbyn-like figure, Bernie Sanders.
Bernie Sanders sort of won the shambolic Iowa caucuses last week, and last night he eked out a narrow victory in the New Hampshire primary, winning 25.7% of the vote (as of early this morning). Pete Buttigieg came in second with 24.4%, and Amy Klobuchar came in third with 19.8%. Both Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden got single-digit percentage support (9.3% and 8.4% respectively). Biden’s path was always going to be through South Carolina and Super Tuesday, but it’s going to be tough for him to make any kind of case in those primaries considering how badly he’s done in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The situation with Warren is different – on the rare occasions when I am checking in on cable news, there seems to be a significant campaign to erase Warren from the electability narrative, and there is so much conversation about how “we just can’t nominate a woman.” I believe this narrative is being driven by… other Democrats. I also believe that there’s a concerted effort to drive out Warren, just as there was a successful effort to drive out Kamala Harris. This is also why Mike Bloomberg is doing things and making these massive ad buys, because there is a clear opening.
Anyway… this is all chaos and I’m trying not to stress, and I’m trying to be hopeful that by the Wednesday after Super Tuesday, some of this sh-t will be worked out.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I’m not surprised that Sanders won. I voted for Warren yesterday and it really disappointed that she’s not doing better.
I love Warren! And she is doing great, it’s just the media reports that keep esarsung her. The NTY the other day talking about First place Pete, second place Bernie, and forth place Joe. 🙄
How is Elizabeth doing great when two Midwesterners outdid her in NH, and she’s from a nearby state? Pretty sure I’m voting for her, but she is not doing well. And she is not leading in any of the upcoming races. Seems destined to come in around third or fourth place in the next races. She’s not going to be the nominee. I think some voters are turned off because she couldn’t really say how she’d pay for her health care plan. And as a woman of color, I also take issue with the Native American controversy. I feel like a vote for her is betraying the many indigenous people who have expressed concerns about her not just saying she was Native but actually mentioning this heritage for career gain. She was described as Harvard Law’s first woman of color hire. That still really bothers me. I know she’s apologized, and I still plan to vote for her, but it does say something about her character.
Wow😣, I’ve been her supporter for at least 5 years now, but I’m ok with Bernie…I wonder if they could work together if he ends up with the nomination.
@WTW “She was described as Harvard Law’s first woman of color hire.“
Oh my🤦🏽♀️, that controversy was/is a mess. I do understand being misinformed by family as I recently took a DNA test and the “Native American” turned out to be Caucasian and Asian. When I told my dad, he was like ohhhhh ok, and I’m like where in the hell did you guys get Native from? He had no idea, I felt foolish for claiming ancestry I didn’t have to many people, but never used it to gain entry or acceptance into any group. I think I’d be more careful if I was a politician, but I’m not sure, that’s why I feel bad for her, however, she made it much much worse when she took the DNA test an kept going when the percentage of Native in her blood was basically none.
Same. Sanders has extra help imo from dear old Putin and traitorous rethugs. Elizabeth has the credentials/experience and plans for everything. Even had a plan ready for pandemics. We need someone who can hit the ground running and no candidate is better qualified.
I’m really surprised this site has Warren love as do I…she is so steady & energetic, and not a democratic socialist, but a democratic capitalist who knows how to create oversight. I’m liking Mike Bloomberg now that the party has deserted her. Seriously tho, MB is an administrator who seems humble enough to ACTUALLY hire the best. YES he needs schooling on progressive woke-ness, but otherwise he’s solid?
trump was in NH Monday urging his slavering cultists to vote in the Dem primary for the weakest candidate. I wonder how many of them did so.
Disruption by fake dems is a game that’s been played before. The dirty tricks by rethugs has only grown monstrously. Sometimes I get aggravated thinking are we really this freakin naive? Only it takes truly fkd up people to lie and cheat and sell out our Democracy, thankfully none of my Dem colleagues would ever do those things.
Pete is seriously the weakest, thanks for being one of the rare sites to admit. Sorry, but didn’t Bernie JUST have an heart attack? For reals peeps? These two are just sacrificial lambs, sorry to be so blunt. Must be some stinky putin manipulation in Iowa, come on.
Except Bernie didn’t win. He gets the same number of delegates as Pete. And since Pete won the delegate race in Iowa, he is currently two delegates ahead of Bernie and in first place.
Mac, Thank you for the reminder.
They just want a white man. that’s it. It’s that simple.
What if it’s a woman?
ABSOLUTELY NOT A WOMAN CANT BEAT TRUMP
Fukc this country
A woman DID beat Trump in the popular vote, the only way we should be deciding elections. But I’ll let that go. Pelosi might have been able to beat him but she’s too smart to want that thankless job.
Great. So, what, an 80 year old non-democrat is going to be the nominee to beat Trump? I don’t like how this is panning out at all. I’m going to pull for Pete from now on. Warren seems sunk, and I’m kind of perplexed how that happened. People must just not like her, unfortunately.
Unfortunately, with the current state of politics, and the divisiveness in the Democratic party over the nominee (BERNIE SANDERS IS NOT A FREAKING DEMOCRAT), the only person who can beat Trump is… Trump. It’s horrifying and I’m sad for the state of my country.
Ok I can’t w/ Sanders or his disciples. He is simply an empty suit w/no idea how to accomplish any of the things he is promising. Bernie is a loudmouth, narcissistic cult leader bully with delusions of grandeur and a misogynistic streak who rejects Mueller’s conclusion that Putin backed his campaign, makes unrealistic promises, and demonizes the DNC for allegedly rigging elections. He is a one trick pony whose whole purpose is to make young people feel angry and aggrieved & then he promises them things he can’t fulfill. That’s it. That’s all he is.
He is the Corbyn is this election. He is even with Pete in Iowa (deep red state at end of the day) & lily white N.H. Let’s wait until everyone has a say before the coronation of King Bernie who is just the other side of the same Trump coin. Sanders will hand a 2nd term to Trump which is a horrifying thought. People who always vote, every time no matter what will not vote for Sanders. Usually the reason given is his end of private insurance stance. Or the fact he has the following little issues:
-Incomplete medical records
-Incomplete tax returns
-639 pages of FEC violations
-Refusing to submit final 2016 FEC filing
-Old Towne Media
-Sanders Institute
-Unexplained $10 million campaign contribution from single DC zip code
-voted against Amber Alert Bill
-dodgy on guns
People spent so much time in 2016 tearing HRC to shreds to properly vet Sanders who, if they did, who become a mere footnote. & I’m sorry for the rant.
I will support whoever isn’t Trump even if it is Satan sailing in on his catamaran. However Satan has a better chance than Bernie.
Thank you, Snappyfish, for saying everything I think about ‘Bernie’ His cult will give Trump another 4 years. Love what Hillary said about him recently:
” Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It’s all just baloney, and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.”
He is an empty suit with a lot of disingenuous rhetoric and a big mouth, and that ‘non-threatening favorite uncle in a sweater look’ Just NO.
Nope. Bloomberg can beat Trump. He’s everything a Trump wishes he was, but only plays at on TV. Trump is terrified/ jealous of Mike in a way that could be his unraveling.
Let the real billionaire destroy the fake one. At least we know Mike did some good for the people NYC (despite some huge mistakes) – Trump is utterly toxic.
The only guy who has a chance to beat Trump is Bloomberg.. Any other election, I would say it’s crazy, and I’d be backing Amy Klobechar or Pete but we live in crazy times, and I’m backing Bloomberg.
BLOOMBERG/KLOBECHAR 2020
Totally agree with the above. My Father went to his grave thinking Ralph Nader got paid off, and I think the same about Bernie. I too like a Bloomberg ticket but would prefer Kamala Harris as the running mate.
No. It’s very clear what happened with Warren if you look at the timeline. She challenged the messiah, Bernie Sanders. She showed him up for a liar, he did say a woman can’t beat trump, and that was obvious post-debate when she approached him on a hot mic and said “i believe you just called me a liar on tv”. And he said “we can talk about that later” and ran off. See, someone telling the truth doesn’t behave that way. They say “Yeah i did! you are lying! I never said that!”.
But he said it. But that don’t matter. He has a peen, she doesn’t. She challenged him. She was done.
It’s the sexism people.
@Janet Every time I think about this my blood boil. Why did the most of the media assume she was lying? What does she have to gain? She knows the misogyny in our society. That’s why I don’t think her people leaked the story. he did call her a liar. And ran like the little chicken sh1t he is. My primary is so late process most of the time there only two candidates left. So I have a feeling it’s going to be Bernie & Pete and that breaks my heart.
@originaltessa I don’t know if you are solid on Mayor Pete but here are some articles about the type of person he really is and what he does when he’s in power
https://www.theroot.com/mayor-pete-s-invisible-black-police-1840727624
https://www.theroot.com/pete-buttigieg-is-a-lying-mf-1840038708
I know Swift is not liked around here, but I have been playing her “The Man” A LOT. “when everyone believes you…what’s that like”
It’s about Warren. And Hillary. And Kamala. We are truly second class citizens. We have been fooling ourselves a long time, or at least, I have. No more. My eyes are wide open.
Prettykrazee, The Root has repeatedly published disinformation about Mayor Pete. I’m black, I work in media, and I have met Pete personally and discussed the allegations against him. He is not a racist, and I have looked into his record pretty extensively. A lot of half-truths have been told about him, from him supposedly telling a black protester he didn’t want her vote to firing the first black police chief. A lot of this has been taken out of context. For one, he didn’t just tell the woman he didn’t want her vote. He went on to essentially say that he would work to hold the police accountable for Eric Logan’s murder. Also, he didn’t fire the police chief, he demoted him. He outright fired a white woman, however, who was part of the same wiretapping controversy. Wiretapping is illegal, which is why he had to fire the white communications worker and demote the police chief. Also, why is a mayor directly being held accountable for a police shooting? Pete had actually instituted the policy requiring police officers to wear body cameras, but somehow it is his fault that the police officer who killed Eric Logan had his turned off during the shooting. I could go on and on about the disinformation campaign that Bernie Bros. have leveled at Mayor Pete. But he is my second choice to Warren. I can tell you that he is a kind and empathetic man. His team is almost half people of color, and he is not a racist. As mayor, he even took action to examine institutional racism in his city and come up with solutions. How his reputation has been marred is truly tragic. He doesn’t deserve it. I would say the South Bend Tribune is, by far, the most accurate about his record. I think Buzzfeed has had some pretty fair reporting about him concerning the homes he demolished in South Bend.
Thank you WTW. That’s reassuring to hear about Buttigieg. Similarly, I wanted to suss out the truth behind the rumors that Klobuchar is unkind to her staff. I wanted to believe that it might be due to people’s unintended higher expectations for female bosses, but unfortunately, this one is sticking. It is beyond anecdotal, there are receipts — actual emails that no boss, regardless of gender, should be sending their staff. Even the NYT, who will generally try to find ‘both sides’ of the story, as their best possible spin said how much the staff reflect with fondness how much they bonded having to work in such stressful conditions. I feel at the very least, the president should be a decent human being, so glad to hear Buttigieg is.
Thanks for sharing that WTW. I recently saw a twitter thread that set out all of Pete’s endorsements and support from black voices. It’s a long list (posted by @1971genx on feb 20th) and an interesting read.
Pete has been the victim of a great deal of disinformation & it’s sickening. He is a good guy
I can’t reply to @Snappyfish, but I can reply to you, and everything you both post…I want print it on t-shirts and post it on all the billboards. Bernie and some of his supporters are absolutely promising the moon because they are riding on popularity among mainly white, young, male majorities, sucking in the most progressive who aren’t white and male, who want to believe, but don’t see the forest of Bernie’s record for the trees of promised change. But nothing will change. The very women who first championed and have actual plans to enact some of real progressive policies are being sidelined by the media, and that is about sexism, but also extreme racism. What they are really promising is to deliver what is essentially the status quo to white voters.
It’s not that Mayor Pete is a a racist, he’s just not as accomplished as some candidates- yet. HE’s brilliant & will become iconic as he ages, but Warren & Bloomberg are far more energetic & could take the votes from the trump thing.
People like Liz Warren. Media corporations and Wall Street hate Liz Warren. The media are actively trying to end her campaign by erasing her. Add the misogyny of both the Bernie Bro left and the Mayor Pete center and she’s screwed from all angles.
This ^^^^^
But why is the media trying to end her campaign, and not Bernie’s??? I agree, she’s being erased. But why her and not the old man heart attack victim who lost about 50lbs and looks like the walking dead? He’s even farther left than she is, and even more of a threat to corporations and wall street.
Nothing explains this but one thing: The Peen.
It may be old. It may be wrinkly. It may be dusty.
But it’s a Peen.
Janiet, when it comes to big corporations they’re far more threatened by Warren than Sanders because regulating the markets is literally her life’s work and she has proven very good at it. She’s a more talented bureaucrat than he is and really isn’t to the right of him- Sanders likes to call himself a socialist because he’s a bit of an edgelord but he’s more of a New Deal style Democrat
Exactly this, Bex! Analyst reports from the likes of Goldman Sachs put VERY low odds on any negative repercussions for corporate actors under a Bernie presidency, so they’re not threatened by him. He’s been in Congress for how long and he’s gotten how much done? Warren is better informed, she’s an anti-trust capitalist, and she knows which levers to pull that will actually have an impact on the business community.
Please don’t give up on Warren yet.
This. I’m voting Warren, although my state is the week after Super Tuesday.
Warren seems sunk because of people who are suddenly pulling for Buttigieg. Seriously. Look at what you just said. If you like Warren, get loud and proud and don’t back down.
– voted for her already and I keep giving money to her, too
Love her, always have. I keep opening my wallet too.
Bernie Bros in 2016: We don’t hate Hillary because she’s a woman. We’d vote for someone like Elizabeth Warren.
Bernie Bros in 2020: We don’t hate Elizabeth Warren because she’s a woman. We’d vote for someone like…
I voted for Bernie in the primary in 2016, and this time I’m voting for Warren. Then again, I’m not a bro, I’m a sis. 😉
I am not surprised that Sanders won. I don’t get why people are acting like it was this huge upset. I thought it was pretty well known he was going to win New Hampshire. Its worth pointing out though that about 3/4 of Democrats/voters in NH voted for someone besides him. And Buttigieg was right there.
South Carolina is going to be interesting. Joy Reid mentioned last night that one county in South Carolina (I forget the name, sorry) has more black democratic voters than all democratic voters in NH.
So I think we still have a long way to go. I don’t think Warren or Biden can be counted out.
Yeah – Bernie’s campaign is out there like this was some huge achievement but it’s his neighboring state and he was favored to win by A LOT more than he actually did. If I were them I’d be pissing myself at how close two moderates are behind him.
I was a volunteer for the Warren campaign in NH and you could see the enthusiasm for her slowing turning to Bernie over the past 2-3 months. He had entrenched support from the start from his last national race, and people moved to consolidate behind him in an effort to insure one of the more progressive candidates secured the win. As someone who was out canvasing every weekend, the organizations for Warren, Bernie, and Pete were the strongest and had the most regular activity. I think the biggest story coming out of Tuesday was Amy’s surge forward. It will be interesting to see how her NH results boost her going forward. There is a big divide in the part between those that want huge structural change and those that want the prior Obama status-quo. That’s why the vote has been so divided. My big hope is that everyone who volunteered during the primaries ultimately volunteers and works just as hard for the eventual nominee, whoever that is. We need to learn from the Clinton\Bernie rift in 2016 and not recreate it again.
@bakes – Thanks for the insider info and all your hard work. I wish your team had seen a better result. It is scary. I have seen a lot of people on twitter claiming they are going to write in Andrew Yang or Kamala Harris. They refuse to compromise and helped the democratic party. It’s awful.
It’s the putin machine that will sow dem division just the way it encourage the craptastic protest “write IN” votes during 2016.
Im Australian and we have our own shit show going on here so I’m hesitant to cast stones but wtf is going on? I try to follow twitter to understand. Bernie seems to be so divisive so why does he poll well? And I read he’s possibly going to have Tulsi as his vice? So if he dies in the first 4 years which is extremely possible she’ll be president?
I’m really scared this is going pear shaped and we’ll have chaos and lawlessness for the next 4 years. The republicans might love this now but a lawless chaotic socialist may take over one day and then see how they like what they made.
Tulsi isn’t a socialist she’s a putin/assad stooge. I’ve no idea what would happen if she became president. I don’t think she’d be on the ticket but what do I know, I thought Kamala and Beto were the best ticket and they were run out of town on a rail.
As for what’s happening, the leftist vote coalesced to bernie, those guys (and girls) were never going to support a woman, so Warren’s done. And the center left vote is being split between between three candidates right now. Also, no one other than Biden, who is cratering, currently has black support. Where this ends is anyone’s guess, but i see a debacle in the offing.
I hope you are alright there, I think about Australia a lot.
It’s terrifying to me that Biden is the only one with support from people of color. I don’t think he’s a viable candidate. I don’t think Bernie is either. I wish there was a moderate with a decent history on racial/justice issues. I’m kind of panicked.
I think it’s horrifying that as women we are so quick to call Tulsi Gabbard a spy or a Russian asset. She’s a moderate Democrat who served her country and is running for president just like the others. You don’t have to agree with her or like her or vote for her but do diminish her worth and count her out over what other nominees are saying is terrible and sets us back.
@Dani- “served her country” LOL what does that even mean?
I think people are correct to be horrified by Gabbard’s statements on Syria and Assad. She’s defended a war criminal and murderer of civilians. Repeatedly. This is so mind boggling, that she’d defend the defenseless, that the only thing that makes sense is that she has been corrupted by Putin/Assad. Maybe that’s not the case, maybe she just has a really bad take on mass murder.
Chipdip – she served 12 months deployment in Iraq and is part of the Hawaii National Guard. That’s what it means, served her country. Please try to not be so condescending when google is readily available.
She also refused to vote to impeach Trump which is, in my eyes, unforgiveable.
I’m in America and I don’t understand it either. I genuinely don’t think Sanders can beat Trump and that is a really terrifying thought. We have got to do better.
We had a great moderate who could speak with sensitivity to racial issues in Michael Bennet. When he said that your could draw a line from slavery to Jim Crow to redlining to the school to prison pipeline…. When he lambasted schools for equal not being equal… We lost a fantastic candidate w strong bipartisan work n Michael Bennet. No wonder James Carvillle was hopping mad. Biden sucked all the oxygen out of the moderate lane . He should have never run.
I really like Bennet and was so hopeful that he would attract more attention.
Sherrod Brown was going to run but pulled back when Biden announced. Which made me sad & he could kick the Fraud in the Oval’s butt & show Bernie for the fake he is. Bernie is a career politician w/v v little accomplishment to show for it.
This fixation with moderates… it kills me. A moderate (who campaigns as such) literally has not won the presidency once this century.
Moderates who lost:
Clinton
Kerry
McCain
Gore
Every winning president did so by mobilizing new voters and bringing them into a coalition with their existing base. Bush did this by mobilizing religious homophobes with his compassionate conservatism. Obama did it by running as an exciting progressive and mobilizing an army of young voters.
Trump is the exception. He didn’t really mobilize new voters. Unfortunately, Hillary didn’t either. Democratic turn out was down, especially in the rust belt. Hillary’s campaign strategy was literally to appeal to moderate republican voters, folks that her campaign hoped would be turned off by Trump’s grossness.
I believe the now infamous quote from Schumer RE Hillary’s campaign was, “for every blue collar vote we loose in western penn we’ll pick up two republican moms in the philly suburbs” something like that. Data about the 2016 election clearly shows that strategy failed completely. In Penn, the suburban moms voted for Trump and the blue collar voters in the west stayed home or did the same (google it, start with Michigan and turnout around Detroit…the people who failed to show up for Hillary weren’t angry Bernie bros, they’re working class people who couldn’t justify a day off work or hours in line to vote for someone who was offering them nothing and seemed guaranteed to win.) Hillary failed to get close to Obama’s 2012 voter turnout levels because the only people she was trying to bring into her coalition were already registered republicans!
Anyway, voters don’t want moderate candidates, that era of politics is over. That’s why the moderate dem candidates dropped like flies (except for Mr. Winecave) and the progressive candidates and the leftish weirdos like Yang, & Tulsi have outlasted the many many moderates who’ve now dropped out.
I loved Bennet. He was definitely who I would have voted for. He had everything I wanted in a candidate. Everything now is such a giant cluster ^&ck that most people never even knew who he was.
No, that’s not true. There’s actually talk he might pick Senator Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin as his running mate.
I will support and vote for any Democratic nominee. I’m a registered independent in CA, (NPP), and had the choice this year of which party to vote for, Democratic. We have an early primary, March 3rd, yay! Favorites at this time are, Buttigieg, Bloomberg and Kobuchar. I can see all of the candidates continuing to serve or finding a way to serve again.
Thank you, your first sentence is what I wish everyone here was saying. All of us Dem voters may have slightly different beliefs; I for one would consider myself a democratic socialist. The status quo moderates of the Party are not the future. Some of you are more moderate. That’s great. If the nominee is a moderate, I will FOR SURE vote for that moderate.
I know a lot of you don’t like Bernie. But you guys, I implore you. Please, please, please vote for him if he’s the nominee. You say there’s no way he could beat Trump AND that you couldn’t vote for him? Well if you and others like you don’t vote for him, Trump WILL win. Then you’ll say “see, I said this would happen” but you helped make it happen. How many people could be thinking this??? I mean, the logic here is scary to me.
I actually think Bernie could beat Trump. A lot of people like him. And he’s an asshole but IMO an asshole for the good side.
Vote for whomever has that D next to their name.
“Vote for whomever has that D next to their name.”
This!!!!!!!! Did we learn nothing in 4 years??????
I get it. The candidates that the Dems are looking at are very different and the party is very divided. But once the nominee is picked, we need to unite and VOTE or this is ZERO chance that we will not see another 4 years of Trump. He has dome SO much damage, let’s not allow it to be doubled.
trump(and all the cheating and dirty tricks)will eat Bernie and Buttigieg alive. If either of them is the nominee, forget it. I’ll vote for Warren on Super Tuesday. I would have loved a chance to vote for Castro, Booker or Harris.
Same on all counts
Ditto.
Agree. You know who Trump won’t eat alive? Bloomberg.
He’s not perfect. But damn, he is perfect for this specific election.
The Democrats really need to get their shit together. Bernie won’t win against Trump and may bring the House down with him. I don’t understand why he even gets to be in the Democratic primary when he admittedly is NOT a Democrat. Ugh. This is so stressful.
Watching from the UK I’m really sad to see Andrew Yang drop out of the race – the media really didn’t help by not giving him time to show what he could give. Not to mention the actual debates and his speaking time vs. all the other candidates. I thought he was refreshing and actually someone who could pull Trump supporters over to the Democrats.
Bernie is so divisive – swing voters and moderate Republicans won’t ever vote for him, same as Corbyn (rip) here. I don’t think he even tries to appeal beyond his core support, I could be wrong. But I really hope that whoever the Democrat candidate is that ALL Democrats get behind them, because the alternative is a right-wing intolerant awful government for many more years like we’ve given ourselves here -_-
@Mei – If the stupid primaries started in California not Iowa, Yang might have won and be in the lead with momentum. He is much more popular in the more ethnically diverse states. Warren is too.
I would think that they should start in a state like California you’re right, because people are more likely to vote for someone they think can win. If he had put some delegates behind him there he would have had more coverage and more support.
I can’t stand Bernie – I disagree with his policies and I think he is personally a jerk. I’m going to wait until Super Tuesday to freak out, but I’m very uncomfortable right now.
He was on one of the Sunday morning shows, doing his grumpy grandpa bit, refusing to give a straight answer to questions. Can’t go into details because I hit the off button on my remote.
Bernie is 78 and recently had a heart attack. How is this not a bigger deal?!?!
If he’s the nominee, I’ll vote for him. MAYBE*. Because considering how his supporters treat him like a God with a massive following, he should easily win without my vote, right?
(*I’ll vote for Bernie regardless. I’m just pissed at how he’s treated vs. Warren)
THIS. Imagine if Hillary or Elizabeth Warren had a HEART ATTACK while campaigning. The media is going soooo easy on Bernie. Why?
There have been reports that voters have said they are now nervous about Biden, because if he’s the nominee, they know Trump and the media will treat Hunter Biden like Hillary’s e-mails.
But I guess these people forgot how the Trump campaign and the media treated Hillary when she had the f**king flu???
Hillary had the flu and the media was planning her funeral. Gee, what is the difference between Bernie and Hillary? 🤔🤔🤔
Well I’m all for democratic socialism, so I do like Bernie. But it’s not my hill to die on at this point, what we need right now is a candidate who can win.
But can you imagine if all the trump supporters screaming “but my declining economic situation!!” were suddenly inundated with the services Bernie wishes to give them? Healthcare, higher education, living wages, free daycare etc etc? These idiots vote against their own interests (because racism is just too appealing to ignore). Then they freak out that someone who wants to give their ignorant asses much-needed social services is somehow a threat to their freedom, they make me cry for humanity. Ugh.
What does a Bernie GDP look like in 2024? Where has he built a strong economy? What are his financial accomplishments?
Of course, any one blue is better than Trump, and that is the way I’ll vote, but how is Sanders going to appeal to anyone who has actually paid off their own student loans, or runs a small business, or has a hard fought for health insurance plan? What will Sanders do to grow the economy, face down China for all of its government”s trespasses, build infrastructure (bc the last new airport is Denver, from 30 YEARS ago, etc)
What has Bernie done, and what will he do to this economy. It’s beyond going after the rich, bc who does Bernie define as rich?! And we are talking about huge overhaul programs that- for crying out loud- do we really think our government can do this without creating a mess??!
The problem is individuals, groups, governments, and entire systems measure their success with dollars.
A country that can adequately provide for the basic needs of all its inhabitants (with services like accessible healthcare, quality education, and sustainable energy) is far more developed and successful than one with many millionaires and way more poor folks.
“The economy” is going to do its economic thing regardless- inflation and unemployment are natural consequences of global capitalism. But if there is someone out there who wants to divert exorbitant military funding towards these services to improve the lives of everyone, I want that person. And that person is Bernie Sanders. He is not perfect, but no one will pass this purity test Democratic voters (for some reason) insist on imposing. Talk about people voting against their own interests??? Why *wouldn’t* anyone on this page vote for someone who has literally made a career of avoiding perpetual warfare and securing social and economic justice for the most vulnerable??
I know people on Wall Street. TPTB are terrified of Elizabeth Warren. Far more so than Sanders. The only reason Bloomberg is running is to stop her.
She’s the best shot America has of regaining a functioning democracy, so of course she cannot be allowed to win.
Bernie should’ve endorsed her when he had that heart attack. They share a lot of the same policies, there’s no reason it *has* to be him and only him. He lied about releasing his medical records. No woman would’ve got away with that.
I think there is a definite fear of Elizabeth Warren winning for a number of reasons, all basically related to the same thing: she has vowed to restructure some institutions that have so far existed for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful. She’s not joking about that billionaire’s tax in order to pay for childcare, early childhood education for all and a host of similar things. Why do you think Bloomberg jumped in when she was absolutely ascendant?
Further, she’s going to break up monopolistic like Facebook that has a disproportionate amount of influence (and if you think they don’t, try to have a fact based conversation with a Trumpster. Can’t do! Their brains have been broken in part by lies fed to them by Facebook’s curation).
And finally she wants to hold Trump and his cronies guilty for their crimes of the last few years.
Bernie is all hat, no cattle. Elizabeth is whole damn herd.
Yeah I said this upthread but the big money is far more scared of Elizabeth than Bernie. She’s both ruthlessly efficient and totally non corrupt. Her CFPB returned a hell of a lot of money to consumers under Obama’s admin. She should be winning this by miles.
You totally did! I’ve been trying to comment without reading the comments or I get waylaid. 😬
Warren is absolutely the most powerful candidate. I have seen African American women – let’s be honest, they’re the most vital part of the Democratic Party – online as both very much for against her. That’s really the only downside is that while she has very passionate support among the African American vote, it seems like a smaller group. But then the vote so far has been pretty darn white.
I think name recognition is a big part of it. Bernie’s essentially been running for 5 years and has been able to make inroads with minority communities. Everyone else except Biden is starting from zero. I wonder if Warren now regrets not running for 2016 as many wanted her to.
Sanders will be older than the average life expectancy in the United States by the time the elections comes in November. That’s crazy!
Buttigieg and Klobuchar will be eaten alive in any debate against Trump ; Warren is a woman and that’s always an uphill battle in politics and Bidden is starting to show his old age.
It isn’t looking good and another four years of Trump would be catastrophic. What will he do if he doesn’t even to worry about reelection?
I think Barr is going to fix the election either way, so for me it comes down to a strong candidate on top of the ticket. We MUST hold the House, and we need to take the Senate. Without the Senate and the House, trump is crippled so that’s where I’m directing all my energies.
I don’t agree re: Klobuchar. I think she did the best out of all candidates in the last debate. For the first time , I saw someone up there who actually LOOKED presidential.
I wish Klobuchar would gain some traction. She has my vote, but can’t seem to gain a foothold.
Bernie can suck rocks, and if he and Tulsi are on the ticket that’s the only possible way I won’t vote Democrat.
Yes!!! Amy Klobuchar is an excellent and I can’t understand why more people aren’t getting with the program on this. She is a moderate Democratic and would appeal to a huge scope of voters.
Amy is not excellent. She’s physically abusive to her staff and has voted to confirm a majority of Trump’s judges.
I’ve been an Independent since 2007, but went back to Democrat this year so I can vote in the primary. My choice for the last 6 months prior to Iowa was Biden. I thought he had the only shot to beat Trump. However, he’s been off lately. Old age, his heart not being in it, etc. I’m not sure, but I gave money to Warren and Mayor Pete. To me, both have their issues, but I like what they are saying.
I despise Sanders. Despise. I have younger relatives who worship the ground he walks on and are almost like Trumpkins in that respect. I don’t want extremism on either side. Yet, if Sanders is the nominee, I’ll vote for him. One caveat, if Tulsi is his running mate? I’ll stay home. No way I am voting for that woman as VP. She’s a Putin plant.
I don’t think you’re supposed to say this, but I believe the young bernie cultists love him because he’s like “here’s some free stuff, we’ll send the bill to Jeff Bezos. I mean, people like free sh*t. And young people have no clue that nothing, and I mean nothing in life is free. They really believe bernie can have Bezos pay for it all.
Bernie-Tulsi is my worst nightmare and I’m not even American. They are Russian instruments, people!
There is a comment above about moderates losing, I’ll counter by saying BORING moderates (boring Dems) don’t get elected. The Dems always need someone hyper hyper charismatic and intelligent to clinch
5 years of national name recognition and he’s tied with a small town mayor with no name recognition. Sanders won’t make it to Super Tuesday. The South hasn’t voted. The base of the Democratic Party hasn’t voted in mass and we’re not voting for either Sanders or Pete. We’re voting for who can fight Trump best. The race will come down to Biden and Bloomberg.
I’m starting to think Bloomberg might be the only one who can beat trump because trump is insanely jealous of him. He could make trump implode. MB is the self made billionaire that trump pretends to be. And Bloomberg has enough money to buy the vote. His ads are very effective. But if he’s not the candidate he’s pledged to spend beaucoups of money to back whoever is.
I think Bloomberg can beat Trump as well, and he won’t back down, or be intimidated. His early ads said little about Trump, he focused on his experience as a city manager. The most recent ads have called Trump out for licensing his name, not the real estate developer Trump claims he is. Trump hates anyone who dosen’t side with him and be a loyal yes man.
Bloomberg is also openly racist & happy to say “the quiet part out loud” (can’t wait to see how many more recent recordings of him being nonchalantly racist are unearthed during this campaign), which might appeal to Trump voters.
Of course, Bloomberg being a Republican who has endorsed & financially supported multiple Republican candidates against their Democratic opponents might also appeal to Republican voters & make them feel more comfortable voting for him.
If Bloomberg the nominee, Democrats are in no position to attack Trump for his racism or for his history of sexual harassment & misogyny.
Then again, if Bloomberg is the Dem nominee, that will mean that many Dem voters just aren’t quite as bothered by those things as they claim, nor do they really care about the issue of money being a corrupting force in politics.
Bloomberg cannot win. I will repeat that Bloomberg will not win. He may get some moderates but nothing will demotivate the base more than him. Everyone gets on Bernie’s case for not being a democrat but Bloomberg is a former republican who endorsed Bush and spoke at the republican national convention. He supported racist policies, has a ton of me too allegations, and was terrible for teachers and other working people in NY. I will make phone calls, canvass, and donate my money to anyone who wins the nomination except him.
Out of the original 500 or so Democrats who ran, I liked 5 or 6. Warren is the only one still standing. I personally think she’s the best bet against trump, but I will be campaigning for and voting for whoever ends up as the nominee. As I stated before, I’ll have to hold my nose for some of them, but we cannot take another term of this thugocracy. We also need to take the Senate and hold the House and reverse every foul thing trump has done.
The entire primary process has been infuriating.
Kamala was run out of the race before any vote was even cast, because #kamalaisacop, but I guess, the other former prosecutor is fine, even if she verbally, and sometimes physically abused, her own staff.
HRC’s health was debated endlessly in 2016 because she fainted at a 9/11 memorial and had pneumonia and was old, but Bernie is older and had a whole ass HEART ATTACK his campaign initially lied about and that’s fiiine??!!
C. Booker does not have enough experience to become president, but Mayo Pete, the mayor of the 4th largest city of Indiana, a man who is currently polling below 1% with AA voters and whose relationship woth the AA comunity in South Bend is fraught, is somehow better?
WTF is that? When the Democratic nominee loses in Nov.2020, I don’t want to hear ANYTHING about Black voter turnout! Not a single f****ing world!
Amen. The party should have removed Iowa and NH’s Kingmaker status long ago. Our all-white chickens are coming home to roost and just in time to help prop up a dictator in the WH.
It makes me so angry that this tiny percentage of all-white citizens has so much power. I saw a woman in Iowa being interviewed, and she had met all the major candidates, some 5 or 6 times! I’ll never have the opportunity to meet one, and resent these small state’s importance in this process.
Kamala was the best. I would have loved to see her debate trump. She would have absolutely crushed him. I’m so sad she is out.
Oh good, another crusty old White man with sexist beliefs who doesn’t think he has a problem with women. I was worried there might be change for a second.
Add to that his performance with AA voters, the true Democratic base, in 2016, and it’s frankly insulting to see him being considered a front-runner.
A Monmouth poll released yesterday has Bernie with the highest support among minorities of any candidate. I think they combined African Americans, Latinos, and Asians. He wants economic justice across the board and that message hits.
I am going to vote for the nominee regardless of who it is, but I think so far this has been a disaster. Georgia’s primary is on March 24 and Biden is polling extremely well here. Even Bloomberg is polling ahead of Warren and Buttigieg.
Biden will win Georgia. I don’t know one black person over the age of 25 voting for Bernie. Last time he came here to campaign, he went to Morehouse and brought a bunch of white college students. It was embarrassing, but very telling as to how the election played out. Hillary beat the brakes off him.
Bernie will milk this NH win for more money from his base, but in the end it’ll be Biden or Bloomberg on top.
Biden is a joke regarding Black voters and Mayo Pete is even worst.
Here to say that I absolutely hate and despise Trump. I am nervous Trump will win because moderates won’t vote Bernie. I identify as a left leaning moderate and won’t vote Bernie (and I’d rather die than vote Trump. I’ll be a Minnesotan writing in Amy K.).
This means you’re just as bad as the Bernie people who refused to vote for Clinton. A vote for anyone other than the eventual Dem. nominee is a vote for Trump. I despise Bloomberg, I really do, but I will vote for him (but not campaign for him) if he gets the nomination.
Yup. The current Bernie wave makes me cringe. And want to barf a little. But if he’s the nominee, I will suck it up and vote for him. Nose held, but he’d still be better than Trump. My niece who is five would be better than Trump. My cat would be better than Trump. I would be better than Trump.
How is writing in Amy going to help rid us of Trump?
Seriously, put on your big girl/boy panties and get with the program. There are only 2 choices this year: Trump or the Democrat. Wasting your vote on a write in is the height of hubris. There are real consequences here. The fact that you think you can opt out speaks to your extreme privilege.
Yeah, it sucks, but if it’s Bernie, we’re all going to have to go with it and that means getting out there and go with it, don’t f#$king stay home.
I remember when no one thought Trump could win. Bloomberg and his billions are sitting in a very similar situation.
I caucused for Amy in Iowa. I think she is awesome. She’s smart and very popular in her state. I don’t understand why she hasn’t gotten more attention. Every moderate I know whether Democrats or Republicans likes her. Maybe she’s not far left, but she’s certainly a solid Democrat. I think she would beat Trump. I would encourage you to check her out.
YES!!! +1000000000
Amy’s star is still rising. She’ll be more appealing after Biden runs his course and stops taking all the air in the moderate lane. Bloomberg is probably the one to look at. This country is too racist and sexist to care if he is either.
My husband has liked Amy from the get-go, from very early on, I’ve been on the Pete band-wagon. I really take a more moderate stance on things myself, I don’t think it’s realistic for everything to be FREE, but we need health care for people that don’t have it, we need reasonable college (or free IF people cannot afford it), we need student loan forgiveness for some people who are just trying to make ends meet. There are several candidates who I would be fine with, just not freaking Bernie. ugh.
Same here, I’ve liked Amy from the start. She gave the best speech last night.
I’m not a Bernie fan never was and never will be. His die hard followers are similar to trump’s.
Honestly I don’t want to vote for any of these people. My candidate dropped out and I find none of the people running people I want to vote for. So I will in all likelihood be voting down ticket in November. 🤷🏽♀️
It’s a binary choice: the Democrat or Trump. Do not abandon any part of the ballot.
Southern Democrats and African Americans (myself included) have NOT voted yet. Please believe the tide will turn once South Carolina rolls around. Biden still has a lot support among AA voters. Personally I’m Team Warren, but I feel confident in saying many of us do not care for Sanders or Buttigieg.
Exactly
I like Klobuchar. She is the only one who stood up on the last debate and said she is against socialism. The only one who had the balls to do it! Sanders is awful, he is a socialist who will destroy our economy. What has happened to our party where an old white socialist guy might win the primary??? When did the democrat party start embracing socialism as a solution? There is no such thing as free stuff, someone pays and it is usually the middle class who gets screwed.
If Sanders gets the nomination I will stay home this election. At least Trump is good to my middle-class pocketbook. Otherwise I will be paying for all the “free” college and medical care for people not willing to work hard like I do. I pray that in 4 years my party will find that socialism is not the way forward and get someone excellent in office. Sanders will sink this country in a hole like Venezuela…
Klobuchar was great in the last debate. I first really noticed her during the Kavanaugh hearings, and was so impressed. The idea of Bernie or Buttigieg getting the nomination over her gives me the sweats. But I think those two will have some rude surprises after they move on from the white bread states. Counting on you South Carolina!
Nice to know you don’t give a shit about the destruction of the environment or the disappearance of endangered species or children in cages or the untold numbers of people suffering from little or no health care or the shifting of our government into a dictatorship because trump is good for your middle-class pocketbook. This is a real WTF, revealing comment.
I, too, am middle-class and haven’t been harmed financially or personally by trumpism, but I care about all that I mentioned above and so much more. If I had to pay a bit more in taxes for the privilege of living in a decent, civilized, caring society, so be it. Enjoy your dog eat dog world. I’ll fight against it.
No kidding. I’m also unsure how Bernie will turn us all socialist when Congress will not be full of socialists. The sky will not fall if Bernie is in charge. Yes, he sucks. But I’ll still vote for him before Trump for all the reasons you listed above. (Although I would hope if he’s going to turn us full socialist that the grossly rich will be hit the hardest.)
This is such a nonsense take. Either you’ve been part of a socialist party that will gleefully pass Sander’s stuff that you believe will sink this country all along or you’ve been a part of a moderate coalition that hasn’t had the appetite to do what Sanders wanted and won’t if he wins.
I don’t like Bernie either, but I’m not staying home, that is not an option people, not a freaking option!!!!!! Schmootc is right, our congress isn’t going to let Bernie go insane and turns our country into a Socialist state. It will be ok.
The American economic system is not capitalist, it’s socio-capitalist. Amazing to me how many people happily watch billions of their taxpayer dollars subsidize oil and gas, bloated and wasteful agriculture, and the economic welfare of massive corporations that underpay their employees, but god forbid we spend any of that on healthcare, housing, or improved family care and education. You know, stuff with an actual scientific track record of improving social welfare across the board and can sometimes even decrease expenses in some areas.
Bloomberg CANNOT be allowed to win. He’s literally buying endorsements from politicians! It would be the end of American democracy because no side would have the moral high ground for resistance.
He’s Trump, but smarter. He has poured millions upon millions in the last decade into getting the worst possible Republicans elected- like the man responsible for Flint, and the guy who took the last GOP Senate seat in 2018 meaning Kavanaugh was confirmed. He’s tried to knock Warren out of her seat too.
If he gets to the convention the super delegates have to stop it. I would hope Obama, the Clintons etc would order them to pledge for literally anyone else. Miss Piggy for all I care.
You know what, I think this whole primaries business seriously hurts any candidate who will end up going against Trump. For months now, voters have had to listen to the potential Democrat candidates trash talk each other. No matter who wins, this will hurt them and their image in the election. I think that is why so many presidents, especially someone as obviously unfit at Trump, have managed to get reelected.
Anyone, but Sanders. He will not beat Trump. This is very scary!
People crack me up. Vote blue no matter who! (Unless it’s Bernie, then lets throw the election to Trump!) Bernie will be the nominee, hopefully with Warren as his VP.
I could not agree more with Kaiser’s political assessment here. I found it very well informed and eloquent.
I am watching the polls and chaos does indeed seem to be creeping in. IF Bernie is the nominee, can he win against Trump? I have no idea. With massive corruption, sabotage rampant and a frightened electorate, who knows? Democrats must be United and fight very very hard to flood the election with their votes or the Country is finished. Trump’s Authoritarian Putin government will be firmly ensconced.
I’ll vote for a f#cking hamster if it’s on the ticket against the orange fascist
KKAT, I agree with you 10000000%
I am a Warren fan. My state votes on Super Tuesday and TBH I am now not 100% sure who I will vote for. I realllllllly do not care for Buttigieg, if he is looking more competitive I might have to vote for fucking Bernie Sanders after all, as I would rather him than Buttigieg. I wish we had ranked choice voting!!
No! We have no nominee yet! It looks like you should be voting for Warren because that’s who you’ve chosen to stand by. Stand by your vote and your opinion.
Yeah, I am probably going to stay the course and vote for her, and fingers crossed lots of others do the same. I still wish we had ranked choice voting!
Frankly. I think we are f’ed. Big time. Sanders and his fans are the Trump cult of the left. If he doesn’t get the nomination we will have another round of them sitting out, voting 3rd party, or voting Trump.
And if he does get the nomination look out. I can only imagine the craptastically thick file of crazy they have on him that hasn’t seen the light of day. HE HAS NEVER BEEN VETTED! In 2016 Hillary was afraid to go after him too hard and this time around the media was afraid to touch him for fear of being attacked for targeting him. Elizabeth was hounded about how she was going to pay for everything. How is Bernie going to pay for it???
Not to mention he is *78* and just had a heart attack!!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?!?
The mind well and truly boggles.
This. I feel the same way. It’s just depressing as hell.
If anything, I have less clarity after this primary. Don’t want Bernie or Buttigieg, and never interested in Biden. That leaves Warren and Klobuchar, who were endorsed by NY Times. I liked Klobuchar in Kavanaugh hearings, but she made some terrible decisions as a prosecutor. Warren seems to have the most integrity but the Native American thing was a stupid misstep that will haunt her. I absolutely will not vote for Bloomberg, like Bernie, not a real Democrat and stop and frisk. This will go to the convention.
Wow, all of this nitpicking for the perfect candidate. Fun fact: every single democratic candidate is a human being and your candidate, any of them, will be flawed.
But believe that someone running is better than what we have now and pick a candidate and get behind him/her. Decide what is most important to you, find the person that best represents that, hold your nose on the rest and be a grown up. Your country needs you.
L4frimaire you broke down a lot of how my household sees the primaries. It all just seems like a joke at this point. We don’t want Bernie, Buttigieg or Sanders. My husband believes Klobuchar doesn’t have a strong enough presence or charisma and Warren should get it but she won’t.
I’ll vote for my first choice Super Tuesday and settle for whoever gets the nomination in the general, unless it’s Bloomberg. The thing is to get people to the polls and challenge voter restrictions. No one in this field is talking enough about that or giving it the attention it deserves. Are they talking to Stacy Abrahms? Still early days.
Did your husband see the last debate? To me, Klobuchar seemed the most presidential by a mile!
I like Pete but I do not believe has the experience yet. I have a really hard time with Bernie because of the last election. I just do. I would vote for him and I like some of his ideas. I just blame his supporters for Trump.
I would love to see Amy in a debate with Trump. She’s sharp as hell and can call out bs better than anyone – along with a record of actually getting things done. Give her things to throw at him, too.
I’m ready for Pete’s campaign to come crashing down as soon as we get to more diverse states. I honestly can’t believe that white voters, in IA/NH, have been taken by a 38-yr old well-spoken Mayor with a threadbare resume. It’s just baffling. I highly doubt that he’s going to win against Trump, because I don’t trust the WWC voters that people can’t stop humping will give him the time of day. One planned international crisis and they’ll go running for experience. That’s before you get to his problems with PoC voters. We’ve all encountered people as vastly unqualified for a higher position and while I’ll vote for him against Trump, I’m not so sure that many of my fellow voters would be eager to do the same.
It’s like they want Trump to win again.
So the last time a significant minority of those that voted for Sanders against Hillary subsequently either didn’t vote or voted for trump. Their numbers in the three states that trump won by around a total of seventy thousand votes exceeded trump’s margin of victory. So the choice is either Bernie or a non-Bernie that the bros will either not vote for or vote against. Not a great choice.
I will almost certainly vote blue no matter who…..but if it is Sanders, we have already lost. Independent voters will NOT go for him and they are the ones that decide elections.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released yesterday has independents going for Bernie over trump by 18% points.
Wait until the campaign focuses on what Bernie like policies are doing in countries in Latin America and see how many of those independent or moderates risk it with Sanders.
The only independents who aren’t voting blue in 2020 were always going to vote Trump or are privileged morons who want to pretend their faux moral superiority complex is more important than a globally significant election. I’m independent, and I’ve shown up for every election and voted blue or liberal independent. I know when not to f*ck around.
I love Lizzy Woo, but I’m concerned that the GOP hate women above all else and we can’t win with a woman.
Ugh…this is just bad. Bernie would never win. He’s far too liberal. Even for me and I’m quite liberal. I will vote for whoever runs against Trump, but Bernie ain’t it.