Bernie Sanders is the Mainstream Candidate Most Americans Agree With

[Nice Squirrel]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/10/opinions/sanders-views-are-mainstream-zelizer/index.html

Part of what has given Sanders his strength is how mainstream many of his standard political arguments are. If one listens to what he has been saying, it is possible to see that Sanders is not that radical at all. In many respects, his campaign directly addresses fundamental concerns that a wide range of Americans have about their future.

Corrupt political system
The best known issue in Sanders' arsenal is the claim that there is too much money in politics. The government is constantly unable to respond to the concerns of many Americans, not because the parties don't like each other or because the mainstream media creates a destructive environment, but because big interest groups and lobbyists have disproportionate power in Washington as a result of their donations.

Middle class striving for security
Sanders also speaks to many middle-class Americans who don't feel that their future is secure and who are struggling every day to make sure that they don't fall on the wrong side of the growing economic divide.

For many years now, social scientists have demonstrated how middle-class Americans have become much less secure as a result of cuts to the social safety net and the exodus of good, secure jobs overseas while the separation between the rich and poor becomes more extreme.

A liberal, not a radical...
For too long, the conventional wisdom has argued mistakenly that Americans reject government. We are children of Ronald Reagan, they say, seeing government as a problem not the solution. Many Democrats have agreed and have worked hard to push the party to the center. Bill Clinton famously said in 1996 that the era of big government was over. But the Sanders campaign is on to something. Polls have consistently shown that Americans like government much more than the pundits suspect.

The long tail of Iraq
Even on foreign policy, Sanders makes arguments that really resonate in the Democratic Party. Most important there is Iraq. Nothing looms larger in recent years that the decision to go into Iraq....

Sanders decided at the most difficult moment to vote against the war. This decision will have considerable appeal when discussions turn to foreign policy, an area Hillary Clinton has believed to be one of her strengths. This is not just the left, but a large portion of the electorate who see this as a fundamental turning point, and mistake, after 9/11.

So what do you, the internet commentator-tots say? Is Bernie mainstream? Out of touch? Or worse than three Obamas, two Hilters, sixty-seven Al Sharptons times fifty-four?

 

[untermensche]

Those, like Reagan and GW that talked about the size of government, made it bigger and in the case of GW much more intrusive in the lives of citizens. And Obama has done nothing to reverse these intrusions begun under Bush the lesser.

When politicians talk about the size of government they are spewing empty rhetoric to attract flies.

 

[PyramidHead]

He's an old-school FDR liberal. Obama is an old-school Nixon conservative. Somehow, both are today regarded as far-left Bolshevik radicals.

On the issues he's got pretty broad support, and unlike Clinton he seems to practice what he preaches. It's mainly identity politics that could sink him in the end, as most minorities and religious Democrats appear to be flocking to Clinton.

 

[ZiprHead]

To the younger half of the country, it appears to be yes. To the older half, no.

 

[ZiprHead]

He's an old-school FDR liberal. Obama is an old-school Nixon conservative. Somehow, both are today regarded as far-left Bolshevik radicals.

On the issues he's got pretty broad support, and unlike Clinton he seems to practice what he preaches. It's mainly identity politics that could sink him in the end, as most minorities and religious Democrats appear to be flocking to Clinton.

I understand the Congressional Black Caucus intends to endorse Hillary today.

 

[untermensche]

He's an old-school FDR liberal. Obama is an old-school Nixon conservative. Somehow, both are today regarded as far-left Bolshevik radicals.

On the issues he's got pretty broad support, and unlike Clinton he seems to practice what he preaches. It's mainly identity politics that could sink him in the end, as most minorities and religious Democrats appear to be flocking to Clinton.

I don't see this flocking.

Clinton has huge personal negatives.

I will wait to see what people say with their votes, not what they say to pollsters.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

He's an old-school FDR liberal. Obama is an old-school Nixon conservative. Somehow, both are today regarded as far-left Bolshevik radicals.

On the issues he's got pretty broad support, and unlike Clinton he seems to practice what he preaches. It's mainly identity politics that could sink him in the end, as most minorities and religious Democrats appear to be flocking to Clinton.

I don't see this flocking.

Clinton has huge personal negatives.

I will wait to see what people say with their votes, not what they say to pollsters.

Why, the polls have been pretty good so far.

 

[untermensche]

He's an old-school FDR liberal. Obama is an old-school Nixon conservative. Somehow, both are today regarded as far-left Bolshevik radicals.

On the issues he's got pretty broad support, and unlike Clinton he seems to practice what he preaches. It's mainly identity politics that could sink him in the end, as most minorities and religious Democrats appear to be flocking to Clinton.

I understand the Congressional Black Caucus intends to endorse Hillary today.

And who can say what went into that calculation? But it is a political calculation not an expression of the will of the people.

And of course the Black Caucus would stand behind Bernie if he wins the nomination.

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I don't see this flocking.

Clinton has huge personal negatives.

I will wait to see what people say with their votes, not what they say to pollsters.

Why, the polls have been pretty good so far.

The polls are good except when they are not.

What did the polls say about trump in Iowa?

 

[ZiprHead]

The polls are good except when they are not.

What did the polls say about trump in Iowa?

I agree. I wouldn't place a bet on anyone at this point.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I understand the Congressional Black Caucus intends to endorse Hillary today.

And who can say what went into that calculation? But it is a political calculation not an expression of the will of the people.

And of course the Black Caucus would stand behind Bernie if he wins the nomination.

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I don't see this flocking.

Clinton has huge personal negatives.

I will wait to see what people say with their votes, not what they say to pollsters.

Why, the polls have been pretty good so far.

The polls are good except when they are not.

What did the polls say about trump in Iowa?

Trump is a special case. And caucuses are a bit harder to gauge. In general, the polls have been good enough. Cruz hardly beat Trump by a large margin. We knew it would be close. We knew Sanders would easily beat Clinton in New Hampshire. I'm curious on someone actually running a poll in Nevada to get a feel for how tall of a mountain Sanders needs to climb.

Right now, he is about level (actually probably ahead) on 'earned' delegates. Can he continue so in Nevada.

 

[ksen]

I don't see this flocking.

Clinton has huge personal negatives.

I will wait to see what people say with their votes, not what they say to pollsters.

Why, the polls have been pretty good so far.

They were pretty good in Iowa and NH for her too . . .

As for the other polls, there's been no polling for Nevada and South Carolina for almost a month now. A lot has happened in that month.

 

[ideologyhunter]

McGovern.
McGovern.
McGovern.
I was there in '72....

 

[ksen]

I'm curious on someone actually running a poll in Nevada to get a feel for how tall of a mountain Sanders needs to climb.

Given the Clinton campaign already starting to manage expectations in Nevada I suspect the mountain Bernie has to climb isn't as tall as Hillary hoped it would be.

 

[untermensche]

Trump is a special case. And caucuses are a bit harder to gauge. In general, the polls have been good enough. Cruz hardly beat Trump by a large margin. We knew it would be close. We knew Sanders would easily beat Clinton in New Hampshire. I'm curious on someone actually running a poll in Nevada to get a feel for how tall of a mountain Sanders needs to climb.

Right now, he is about level (actually probably ahead) on 'earned' delegates. Can he continue so in Nevada.

Bernie is a special case.

It is hard to believe he has gone this far. A guy who calls himself a socialist.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Trump is a special case. And caucuses are a bit harder to gauge. In general, the polls have been good enough. Cruz hardly beat Trump by a large margin. We knew it would be close. We knew Sanders would easily beat Clinton in New Hampshire. I'm curious on someone actually running a poll in Nevada to get a feel for how tall of a mountain Sanders needs to climb.

Right now, he is about level (actually probably ahead) on 'earned' delegates. Can he continue so in Nevada.

Bernie is a special case.

It is hard to believe he has gone this far. A guy who calls himself a socialist.

But "socialist" doesn't have the harsh negative connotations it would have 30 years ago.

 

[PyramidHead]

Bernie is a special case.

It is hard to believe he has gone this far. A guy who calls himself a socialist.

But "socialist" doesn't have the harsh negative connotations it would have 30 years ago.

Or even 8 years ago.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

But "socialist" doesn't have the harsh negative connotations it would have 30 years ago.

Or even 8 years ago.

True. Obama wears it as a badge of honor.

 

[untermensche]

Bernie is a special case.

It is hard to believe he has gone this far. A guy who calls himself a socialist.

But "socialist" doesn't have the harsh negative connotations it would have 30 years ago.

What good have either party said about socialism in 30 years?

What has Hillary said about things like universal health insurance?

When Bill won the presidency she was put in charge of coming up with a plan for healthcare. It was a useless monstrosity, not simply Medicare for all, and it set back health insurance reform for a long time.

She seems to do more harm than good with everything she touches.

The most important decision she had in the Senate was the vote on the invasion of Iraq. She got it wrong.

 

[Derec]

McGovern.
McGovern.
McGovern.
I was there in '72....

You mean McDoesn'tGovern?

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But "socialist" doesn't have the harsh negative connotations it would have 30 years ago.

Especially if you redefine the term to not mean socialist at all, but rather "capitalist who favors high levels of social spending", i.e. a social democrat.

 

[untermensche]

Especially if you redefine the term to not mean socialist at all, but rather "capitalist who favors high levels of social spending", i.e. a social democrat.

Universal health insurance would lower the costs of health insurance. Allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug manufacturers would lower drug costs. Having everybody insured would lower the costs of hospital stays per person.

He favors lowering social spending.

Doing the right thing and saving money in the process.