The revolution that wasn’t: Bernie Sanders' second presidential bid falls to earth

[webfact]

The revolution that wasn’t: Bernie Sanders' second presidential bid falls to earth

By Simon Lewis and Michael Martina

 

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders announces that he will be continuing his campaign for U.S. president at least through his March 15 debate with former Vice President Joe Biden as he holds a news conference in Burlington, Vermont, U.S. March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

 

DETROIT (Reuters) - Michigan voter Monique Dooley believed in Bernie Sanders’ forceful message of support for America’s working class.

 

So she cast a ballot Tuesday in Detroit for the Democratic candidate she believes can win back the White House: Joe Biden.

 

“If we are going to be unified, I think we should go with him,” said Dooley, an African-American fifth-grade teacher.

 

Millions of Democrats across the country agreed with Dooley during Tuesday's nominating contests, adding to the momentum and delegate count that has resurrected the former vice president's campaign. Biden won at least four of the six states that voted, including the biggest prize of Michigan, dealing another blow to the "political revolution" promised by 78-year-old Sanders.

 

Many voters said they admired the Vermont senator's authenticity and consistent message, and like his policies, but had cast ballots strategically for Biden, the candidate they think can beat President Donald Trump in the November general election.

 

“This isn’t the time for extreme,” said Kurt Nortin, a 55-year-old substitute teacher who saw Biden speak in St. Louis on Saturday.

 

Sanders fell short of his primary performances against Hillary Clinton in 2016, when he pulled off an upset in Michigan and lost by a whisker in Missouri. On Tuesday he lost handily in both those states, places where he hoped to demonstrate his strength among Midwestern voters.

 

Sanders only pulled off a win in North Dakota, a small state with few delegates. In Washington state, Biden and Sanders were in a virtual tie with more than two-thirds of the votes counted.

 

"Last night obviously was not a good night for our campaign," Sanders told reporters in his hometown of Burlington on Wednesday. He insisted he was staying in the race and would draw a sharp distinction with Biden in a televised debate scheduled for Sunday in Arizona.

 

Sanders said he was winning "the ideological debate" on issues such as universal healthcare that are popular with many Americans, as well as the "generational debate" with his appeal to younger voters. Yet he acknowledged many Democrats were still choosing Biden because they believe the former vice president is the best candidate to defeat Trump.

 

"Needless to say, I strongly disagree with that assertion," Sanders said. "But that is what millions of Democrats and independents today believe."

 

Sanders had promised his platform of ambitious social programs and raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy would expand the electorate. Instead Americans of all stripes turned out for Biden: women and men, white and black voters, those with or without college degrees, and self-described liberals and moderates. Sanders only dominated among young voters and Latinos.

 

State after state, voters by roughly 2 to 1 said they would rather pick a candidate who can beat Trump than one they agree with on major issues, according to Edison Research exit polls in the states that voted on Tuesday as well as last week's Super Tuesday contests.

 

The overwhelming majority of these voters who cited beating Trump as the top priority - 61% in Michigan, 67% in Missouri, and 82% in Mississippi - voted for Biden, the polls show.

 

It was a stinging setback for Sanders, who just two weeks ago was riding high with back-to-back strong showings in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

 

Wall Street investors fearful of a government takeover of healthcare dumped shares in health insurers, while Democratic Party insiders sounded the alarm that the self-described democratic socialist would not only lose to Trump in November but would also hurt the party's chances down ballot.

 

Biden, the moderate former vice president under Barack Obama, was helped in part by a wave of endorsements from moderate Democrats and former rivals, including Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar who ended their own presidential bids and rallied behind him. On the eve of the pivotal Michigan primary, former rivals Kamala Harris and Cory Booker stumped for Biden at a Detroit rally.

 

But progressives, whose loyalties had been split between Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who dropped out of the race on Thursday, have yet to close ranks around Sanders.

 

While nearly all of Biden's moderate rivals endorsed Biden after ending their own presidential bids, Warren has yet to throw her support behind her longtime progressive ally.

 

Some Warren supporters said they were unable to overcome concerns about Sanders’ electability or the perceived divisiveness of his supporters, despite agreeing with much of his policy platform.

 

Dooley, the Michigan teacher who voted for Biden, said she liked the platforms of both Sanders and Warren. But when Warren dropped out, Dooley said her personal admiration for Sanders could not bring her to vote for him. She said she was thinking about November.

 

“For the general population, I feel that (Sanders) might be a little too liberal, Dooley said.

 

On Tuesday, even voters describing themselves as liberal broke for Biden in Missouri and Mississippi, and were evenly split between Biden and Sanders in Michigan, according to exit polls.

 

At the same time, many of the ideas Sanders has been taking around the country for the better part of the last five years appear popular among voters. Even in Mississippi, where Sanders was routed by a 66-point margin, 60% of voters said they favoured the idea behind Sanders' Medicare for All bill, replacing private healthcare with a single government plan for everyone.

 

“Democrats right now aren’t necessarily voting on policies,” said Andrew Feldman, a Democratic political consultant in Washington.

 

“The reality is they're prioritising electability because of the unique threat of Trump, and they're saying that Biden is across the board more electable," he said.

 

TAKING ON THE ESTABLISHMENT

After losing the Democratic nomination to Clinton in 2016, Sanders built a formidable campaign apparatus for his 2020 run, bolstered by an army of devoted supporters who contributed small donations to his campaign in unprecedented numbers.

 

It all seemed to be paying off when he emerged out of Nevada's Feb. 22 caucuses as the clear delegate leader after three states had voted.

 

But exuberant crowds of 10,000 people or more at Sanders' rallies masked his narrow coalition of voters. His mostly young supporters did not turn out to the polls in large numbers, while Biden dominated among the older voters who did show up.

 

In Michigan, even as turnout surged from 1.2 million in 2016 to an estimated 1.7 million in 2020, Sanders' core base - voters between the ages of 18 and 29 - made up just 15% of the Democratic primary electorate, down at least 4 percentage points from four years ago.

 

Sanders showed little interest in reaching out to the Democratic Party's moderate wing, fuelling criticism that he, and his fiercest supporters are sowing intra-party division ahead of a bruising general election battle against Trump.

 

When Sanders’ campaign on Monday held a call with former Warren supporters to get their input on how to court those who have yet to back him, “it did not go well,” according to a person familiar with the call. 

 

The Warren supporters suggested adopting some of her policies and addressing abusive language of some Sanders backers online, but found the campaign unwilling to take responsibility for the behaviour, the person said. 

 

The Sanders campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the call.

 

When Sanders emerged as a front-runner, Republicans began casting November's vote as "America vs. Socialism." Sanders' Democratic rivals warned that his history of positive comments about left-wing governments like Cuba and Venezuela would damage the party and play into some Americans' fears of a socialist takeover.

 

Gary Williams, a 64-year-old physical therapy assistant from Detroit, said he did not see Sanders as a socialist, but that he had a "message for the people."

 

Still, Williams said he feared that with what he called the “establishment” of the Democratic Party against Sanders, Biden was a better bet to beat Trump.

 

“If you were to ask what Biden’s message is, I don’t even know,” said Williams. He said he voted for Biden anyway.

 

That kind of singular focus among Democratic voters was on display at Biden's St. Louis rally.

 

Nortin, the substitute teacher, showed up wearing an t-shirt emblazoned with AOC, the acronym for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive lightning rod who has challenged the party’s Old Guard and supports Sanders.

 

But 55-year-old Nortin said he's casting his lot with Biden with one thing in mind: “We gotta get (Trump) out."

 

(Michael Martina reported from Detroit; Simon Lewis reported from Washington; Additional reporting by Amanda Becker and Joseph Ax and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Marla Dickerson)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-19

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[Kelsall]

The DNC's Operation Screw Bernie is now complete.

 

Mission Accomplished!

Edited March 18, 2020 by Kelsall

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Sanders had promised his platform of ambitious social programs

I wonder when Americans will realize that social programs would be great for all those people who will now lose their jobs, have no money, insurance, etc. 

[Boon Mee]

Sanders never stood a chance to begin with. America is certainly not ready for his brand of Communism. 

[lannarebirth]

I'm not sure if he was the best choice from this cycle's group of candidates but he was certainly the best of the three that remained.

[Tug]

22 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Sanders never stood a chance to begin with. America is certainly not ready for his brand of Communism. 

Well we are certainly ready for a healthcare system that doesent make you bankrupt if you use it!and Bernie love ya dude but I suspect he’s dead just doesent know it yet

[Lacessit]

Americans won't buy socialism, it's too close to Communism, against which they are conditioned like any Pavlov dog.

[Chomper Higgot]

Sanders has done a great job pushing the political discussion to the left.

 

He was too easy a target for Illiberals, refer comments in this forum for examples, and therefore was never going to be the person to deliver the social justice he champions, but make no mistake, he got the message out.

 

Disease and economic crash will drive those messages home.

 

My condolences to our illiberal brethren here on TVF, you are not getting the Democrat candidate you hoped for.

[Chomper Higgot]

The smart move is for Biden to give Sanders a cabinet post.

 

Build a broad coalition to oust Trump. 

[Nyezhov]

7 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Americans won't buy socialism, it's too close to Communism, against which they are conditioned like any Pavlov dog.

Must be all those pics of Katyn and the Holodomor we get shown.

[AussieBob18]

Why did Bernie even try again?  And why is he even continuing?

 

The answer is very very clear - like all left-wing people, he thinks money grows on trees - and it is not any of his that he has wasted, and will waste going forward. 

 

Socialism sounds great, but as Maggie said: "eventually they always run out of other people's money".

 

Thomas Powell summed it up perfectly:

"“Socialism is a wonderful idea. It is only as a reality that it has been disastrous. Among people of every race, color, and creed, all around the world, socialism has led to hunger in countries that used to have surplus food to export. Nevertheless, for many of those who deal primarily in ideas, socialism remains an attractive idea -- in fact, seductive. Its every failure is explained away as due to the inadequacies of particular leaders.”

 

[Chomper Higgot]

8 minutes ago, AussieBob18 said:

Why did Bernie even try again?  And why is he even continuing?

 

The answer is very very clear - like all left-wing people, he thinks money grows on trees - and it is not any of his that he has wasted, and will waste going forward. 

 

Socialism sounds great, but as Maggie said: "eventually they always run out of other people's money".

 

Thomas Powell summed it up perfectly:

"“Socialism is a wonderful idea. It is only as a reality that it has been disastrous. Among people of every race, color, and creed, all around the world, socialism has led to hunger in countries that used to have surplus food to export. Nevertheless, for many of those who deal primarily in ideas, socialism remains an attractive idea -- in fact, seductive. Its every failure is explained away as due to the inadequacies of particular leaders.”

 

The most out of touch post I’ve read on here for a long time.

 

Some background reading for you:

 

Trump’s tax give away to the hyper wealthy and corporates, at cost to the national deficit. Nice share buy back opportunity.

 

Corporate America coming cap in hand begging for cash handouts because business is tough right now.

 

Trump ‘wants’ to give all Americans a $1000.

 

Trump dolls out subsidies to American farmers to ease the impact of his own trade wars.

 

The list goes on.

[ezzra]

he would have been remembered more fondly had he used all those hundreds of million he squandered on his feeble attempt to be elected and give it instead to the very same people he was trying to preach his socialism paradise...

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, Nyezhov said:

Must be all those pics of Katyn and the Holodomor we get shown.

Yeah, the Molly Maguires and Ford hunger marchers never did get to love capitalism.

Perhaps we Aussies are a bit more sensible, we let the socialists and capitalists have their turn, then toss them out when they get too full of themselves.

[Nyezhov]

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Yeah, the Molly Maguires and Ford hunger marchers never did get to love capitalism.

Perhaps we Aussies are a bit more sensible, we let the socialists and capitalists have their turn, then toss them out when they get too full of themselves.

Dude, ya got less people than a suburb of Topeka. No one cares what your government thinks or does as long as you do what you are told. 

 

Which your .gov is good at, no matter what silly you have for a PM.

[tomazbodner]

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Sanders never stood a chance to begin with. America is certainly not ready for his brand of Communism. 

Would you please learn the difference between socialism and communism

[Lacessit]

12 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Dude, ya got less people than a suburb of Topeka. No one cares what your government thinks or does as long as you do what you are told. 

 

Which your .gov is good at, no matter what silly you have for a PM.

It's like your cuisine (sic), you confuse quantity with quality.

[Nyezhov]

6 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

It's like your cuisine (sic), you confuse quantity with quality.

Speaking of confusion (please dont adress me as your ex wife in our PMs by the way, I know you are confused but it confuses me too) I wonder how confused the writer of the news article is by calling Biden a "moderate".

 

Well maybe not confusion, maybe just Democratic propaganda from the media allies. Im just confused.

Edited March 19, 2020 by Nyezhov

[Cryingdick]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Americans won't buy socialism, it's too close to Communism, against which they are conditioned like any Pavlov dog.

 

You might as well elect Bernie, we have bread shortages, lockdowns, and nobody flies. The virus is a very nice preview into how things would be.

 

Where I live there are no restrictions. The coasts are infested and under lockdown. Still not sure what the homeless do in SF?

Edited March 19, 2020 by Cryingdick

[Lacessit]

10 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Speaking of confusion (please dont adress me as your ex wife in our PMs by the way, I know you are confused but it confuses me too) I wonder how confused the writer of the news article is by calling Biden a "moderate".

 

Well maybe not confusion, maybe just Democratic propaganda from the media allies. Im just confused.

Everything's relative, you'd probably regard yourself as one of Trump's moderates ( good oxymoron BTW ). I'll have to check back on the PM's, I'm confused too.

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Sanders never stood a chance to begin with. America is certainly not ready for his brand of Communism. 

I find it almost funny when some people like to show off their ignorance regarding socialism and communism.

Did you watch too much right wing propaganda? Or are you in general uneducated and ignorant?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism

 

[Chomper Higgot]

13 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

You might as well elect Bernie, we have bread shortages, lockdowns, and nobody flies. The virus is a very nice preview into how things would be.

 

Where I live there are no restrictions. The coasts are infested and under lockdown. Still not sure what the homeless do in SF?

I think the mess right now is a very good preview of what re-electing Trump would be like.

[Sir Swagman]

Unfortunately Biden has little resonance with younger voters, Bernie does. Without the support of younger voters it is unlikely Biden will win and the dimwit and his cronies now in power will be re-elected by the gullible, the unthinking, the selfish and similarly dim witted part of the electorate that put such a conman in place to begin with.

[rosst]

2 hours ago, AussieBob18 said:

Why did Bernie even try again?  And why is he even continuing?

 

The answer is very very clear - like all left-wing people, he thinks money grows on trees - and it is not any of his that he has wasted, and will waste going forward. 

 

Socialism sounds great, but as Maggie said: "eventually they always run out of other people's money".

 

Thomas Powell summed it up perfectly:

"“Socialism is a wonderful idea. It is only as a reality that it has been disastrous. Among people of every race, color, and creed, all around the world, socialism has led to hunger in countries that used to have surplus food to export. Nevertheless, for many of those who deal primarily in ideas, socialism remains an attractive idea -- in fact, seductive. Its every failure is explained away as due to the inadequacies of particular leaders.”

 

Always the attacks on socialism characterize it as Communism.  Socialist policy can and does sit within the capitalist democratic framework in many countries.  Universal healthcare and fair financial support for the unemployed are achievable goals for any democratic capitalist government that is not being bought by the globalist elite.  It is not an either or debate.  But then again, can it happen in the US ??? 

[bristolboy]

34 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Where I live there are no restrictions. 

And that's a good thing? Apparently people in your part of the country are still heeding the advice of February Trump.

[Enoon]

2 hours ago, AussieBob18 said:

 

Socialism sounds great, but as Maggie said: "eventually they always run out of other people's money".

 

 

 

 

An absurd statement.

 

There is no such thing as "other peoples money" in a Socialist State.

 

What she was talking about was the attempt to apply Socialist policies in a non-socialist/substantially anti-socialist society.

 

That society being the UK.

 

 

 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Enoon

[Mick501]

Grim choice for the Dems.   Who to pick to lead the charge towards economic and social disaster?   Fortunately, it will all be averted when they are put squarely back in their box at election time.

[bristolboy]

23 minutes ago, Sir Swagman said:

Unfortunately Biden has little resonance with younger voters, Bernie does. Without the support of younger voters it is unlikely Biden will win and the dimwit and his cronies now in power will be re-elected by the gullible, the unthinking, the selfish and similarly dim witted part of the electorate that put such a conman in place to begin with.

Actually, before the corona virus hit, there was a huge upsurge in Democratic voters. Oddly enough, it wasn't young people responsible for it.

[TopDeadSenter]

I for one prefer reading about these socialist revolutions like Venezuela and Cuba in history books rather than watching the greatest nation on earth getting ruined by it also. That people wanted to vote Bernie(and Corbyn) after they both heaped praise on the Cuban and Venezuelan system and leadership should result in an overhaul of who is eligible to vote. A test is clearly needed asking some basic questions in economics before a ballot paper is given.

[bristolboy]

15 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

I for one prefer reading about these socialist revolutions like Venezuela and Cuba in history books rather than watching the greatest nation on earth getting ruined by it also. That people wanted to vote Bernie(and Corbyn) after they both heaped praise on the Cuban and Venezuelan system and leadership should result in an overhaul of who is eligible to vote. A test is clearly needed asking some basic questions in economics before a ballot paper is given.

Maybe a test should also be given to determine if someone has a Pavlovian reaction towards the word "socialism". Clearly Sanders made clear that the kind of socialism he favors is the one practiced in the Nordic nations. You know, where there's universal health care, young people can get a free or nearly free higher education, and where there's far greater social mobility.