Hate to say it, but I'm pretty sure Bernie Sanders will be incapacitated or dead in 2029 years, and maybe even in 2025 (before first term is up) . Sure, it could happen to anyone, but seems most likely to be him or Biden. Don't think it's worth taking a risk on thyer old guy's health. I voted for him last primary, but will vote for nearly anyone except Bernie or Biden this time (aside from Tulsi) because of age. And I'm a gerontologist.
27
A female VP would be history-making, and exciting, but –DANG– I'm really hoping to see a woman in the White House at last. Even a moderate woman would be doing something revolutionary just by being there.
14
" … the Vermont Socialist. …"
Words have meaning. What is the point of reading any article where the author makes this idiotic claim. I don't have time for this.
Here, I spent the 5 seconds it takes to look up a word:
Socialism is a range of economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production and workers' self-management,[10] as well as the political theories and movements associated with them
This does describe Bernie, or any of the Dem candidates.
26
Sanders and Warren both take the climate crisis seriously. I'll at least consider any Democrat who does. Every other issue has to be placed in the context of saving the environment.
Trump actively supports the expanded use of fossil fuel and is working to destroy environmental safeguards. For that reason alone, no matter how one may love his other policies, supporting Trump or sitting the election out is aiding and abetting species suicide.
45
Don’t forget that Bernie won Michigan & Wisconsin in 2016. We have a broad coalition and even with most of the MSM either ignoring or bashing Sanders we are still growing.
#NotMeUs
76
What if we had Bernie for the last three years? I think the economy would be as good as the Trump (de-regulation, tax cuts for the rich, tax cuts for the corporations) economy. And that of course was due to the Obama efforts to save an economy that was in the basement when the GOP left the white house back in 2009. And yes Obama derailed Bernie back then............And we have enough people believing that the Democratic Party is to blame for all our ills despite the GOP having the Senate since 2015 and the house until last year since 2011. I digress and only want to express that Bernie would be doing fine right now and would do the same if elected next year. And I'm pretty sure things would be much more civil and more American Greatness than what we have now with our current liar, con-man and cheat. Run Bernie Run.
54
Brooks and Shield said it well on their PBS debate Friday night.
The electorate tends to vote for the opposite personality as POTUS.
After the free wheeling terms of Shrub that started two endless wars in the Middle East, after telling us to go shopping to help the war effort, after not paying attention to our intelligence officers that people with Passports from Saudi Arabia were learning to fly 747s at a flight school, after nearly sending us off a fiscal cliff...
We opted for an aloof, intelligent academic who brought us back from an abyss.
After Trump there is NO way that I’m voting for someone who screams all the time, who seems to not understand the word “compromise."
I basically want Obama again...but any quiet moderate will be great. I just don’t think that the citizens of the USA will actually vote for a woman or a gay man. Which is a shame as both Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg are the quiet intelligence we need right now.
29
the idea that Bernie screams all the time is not true... he has his moments for sure (bumper sticker mention "if you're not outraged, you're probably not paying enough attention") and the conviction to make people believe that he is solidly in the corner of the working and middle class population. but, at his core he is a kindhearted and generous person who has always stood up for the most discriminated and hated upon in the world. please reassess your take of him!
67
He is too old. And someone please tell him to stop yelling. That being said, if he is the nominee I will vote for him. I also don’t think he can win.
19
This is the best, most sensible article you have ever written, Mr.Douthat. Keep it up and we will have to start taking you seriously.
47
A real president would take down the cartels that have done so much damage to us. Bernie Sanders isn’t that kind of guy. Neither is Trump.
2
THIS time, do the right thing! VOTE Left for a change.
30
Douthat can’t be serious.
Yes Bernie attracts voters across a wide spectrum, particularly among those feeling alienated by the status quo.
But he’s anything but “a unifier”. How will a guy who refuses to even join the Democratic party unite it?
You think there’s any chance he’ll extend an olive branch to Biden and Pete’s supporters? Bernie doesn’t do olive branch - he simply keeps telling others they are wrong and he is right and often at increasing decibels.
The guy who lost the 2016 primaries by 3.7 million votes but after being mathematically eliminated stayed in the race for an additional 90 days to attack the policies of the duly chosen D nominee thereby greatly weakening her in the general election, that guy is now going to be a “unifier”?
Maybe Bernie could bring out new voters and beat trump, it’s certainly possible.
But the idea that the most inflexible and headstrong independent in the country who isn’t even a Democrat is now going to unite the various factions of the fractured D party he’s too good for is patently absurd.
The election would pit two elderly extremists against each other - an incumbent who is unstable, corrupt and wrong about everything against someone stable, with integrity and right on a lot but stubborn as a mule, completely inflexible, and recovering from a heart attack.
There is nothing in Bernie’s personality or legislative history with even a whiff or molecule of unifier.
35
The problem with Sanders as the nominee lies not so much in his appeal or his idealism, but with the feasibility of his platform. I'm a progressive democrat, but I'm concerned that both Sanders and Warren are over-promising to voters about what can actual be achieved during a Presidential term, given our divided nation. While I recognize and support the need for universal healthcare coverage, the dems haven't even been able to properly defend the Affordable Care Act. Consider the a scenario of the fight for Medicare for All when aggressive tax reform seeks to secure trillions of dollars and its revealed that the transition will involve the loss of significant jobs in the healthcare sector. This could make Medicare for All an untenable policy reform even for many democratic congressional members across the nation. So while I admire the passion and idealism of Sanders, I prefer those with more moderate platforms who aren't just promising bright and shiny objects, but are transparent about the challenges progressive reforms will face during our legislative process.
16
It was shameful for Bernie Sanders in 2016 to freeload off of the Democratic Party's generosity in allowing him to run on the Democratic ticket.
Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat, and no Democrat should vote for a non-Democrat for President in 2020. The stakes are far higher now than they were in 2016.
20
My father's first name was also Bernard and he was also born in Brooklyn. He always told me as a young boy, that a person of our Jewish faith will never be president in America. I followed Bernie's candidacy in 2016 and I knew he wouldn't be nominated. If the powers to be don't mess it up this time, perhaps with a well thought out campaign and running mate, we can remove the current administration and start healing the divide that plagues this current county we live in.
25
Mr Douthat has obviously not spoken to the Moderate voters that I know which includes myself. The two candidates that are spoken about negatively are Bernie and EW.
11
I do not really like Sanders or agree with his policies and values but I would prefer him over anyone else right now because he has authenticity... he promotes policies because he believes in them not because they are popular. That is the kind of leadership we need. If we nominate someone without authenticity we are lost.
48
Someday, maybe following the 2020 presidential election, a Times' reporter or opinion writer will finally address the Midwest states and their impact on the Electoral College. That reporter will come to the tardy conclusion that the only Democratic candidate who polled high among the constituents (people of color and white, working-class voters) needed to win the Midwest states in the 2020 presidential race was Joe Biden.
And maybe you'll say after the fact that he probably should have been the nominee.
You write about Bernie being a uniter. No, Bernie is a man without a party, except when it's used to run for president. Only a Democrat, with appeal to moderate independents, is going to unite the Democratic Party enough to win.
Suggestion: In your next editorial roundtable, bring up the Electoral College and which Democratic-Party presidential candidate can win Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Doing this will sharpen the discussion and the writing that follows.
18
Dems do not have a goldilocks candidate this cycle.
However, Sanders is likely the strongest general election candidate even as he runs behind Biden in the primary.
Trump represents a cultural phenomenon on the right with a gigantic cult of personality. Sanders is the only one on the Dem side who has a strong base centered around a cult of personality and a larger social movement.
Sanders can neutralize Trump's strengths with blue collar men and has the credibility to attack his main weakness which is corruption. Joe Biden cannot credibly attack Trump on anything.
Sanders is doing as well or better vs Trump in WI, MI, PA than Biden and has the highest support among Obama-Trump voters.
Job#1 for progressives now should be ensure that Sanders and Warren together get to 51% so that it prevents a Biden or Buttigeig nomination.
34
This entire piece contains excellent points, which will be ignored because they do not favor the narrative of the elites who are on the cusp of losing everything. I am sure Bernie will be frozen out of power once again in favor of propping up an imaginary center.
Look around the world fellow citizens. Everywhere division and strife. As long as there is money to be made in prolonging this strife, the elites will avoid any real difficult decision that requires abandoning our current failed paradigm.
That is fine. I can wait until Mother Nature erodes from the nation State what naked corruption and neglect do not consume; and when it all falls apart, I and my fellow like minded citizens who have been quietly taking stock and making our own alliances to prepare for the day of reckoning will do our part to salvage what we can and do our best to Transition to a newer, better way. Closer to the Heart.
14
My husband has a Bernie shirt for every day of the week and a Bernie cap and wherever he goes, people of all ages give him a thumbs up and a "like your shirt" high sign. I think more people than the polls suggest are for Bernie. And they all smile as if to say, yes we're all in this together--quietly. And my husband is no spring chicken. So maybe there are more Bernie folks out there than even Ross Douthat imagines. But I'm glad he can see Bernie as President. Hopefully a lot of us can.
62
So what, exactly, is Bernie's plan for health care? At least Warren stuck her neck out with statistics, however bad they turned out to be. Bernie is hopelessly vague about HOW to do any of the pie-in-the-sky extreme progressives are promising. He reminds THIS boomer of all the lefties in the streets in the 60s chanting about the "revolution" who had absolutely no pragmatic ideas. Most of them, when push came to shove, turned into yuppies. And his tone toward women, which I also remember, is the studied lack of interest, at best, which galvanized the women's movement, born more out of bad treatment by their leftist cohorts than by the conservatives. Still waiting for the pragmatist to surface. No sign of an electable one yet.
9
The Medicare For All Act (S.1129), which was filed April 10, 2019, was introduced by Bernie Sanders.
This attack is baseless and wholly without merit.
47
This is a joke, right?
15
If you chose to join the Revolution Ross, the tent flap is always open and you'll be welcomed. Thank you for a well reasoned Op-Ed in the Paper of Record that has chosen to ignore and blackout the Sanders campaign.
I'll happily donate another $5 in your name Ross to the next President of the US, Bernard friggen Sanders.
NotMeUs
37
Why aren’t Ross and David Brooks appealing to their Republican pals in congress to stop enabling Trump and grow some spine - instead of giving pundit advice to Democrats?
This is all their columns should be about - using their voices to stop the nightmare of Trump.
30
@Citizen, NYC Bret Stephens too.
7
Bernie is the only hope for America.
30
Steve Bullock for President.
3
The case for Douthat propagandizing for Bernie so he can crash the Democrats, ultimately.
13
The thought of Bernie as the Democratic candidate makes me recoil in despair. Nobody wants an angry Old Testament prophet hectoring them, flailing his arms and calling for a revolution that will never happen. Count me in the ABB crowd.
16
The 'exceptional' thing about American politics is the number of people who aren't motivated to vote, many of them young. The Democrats cannot win by squeezing out more votes from the same voting demographic by being Republican light. They have to give the people who dropped out of the political process a reason to get back in.
Trump ran on a faux populist platform, often to the left of Hillary Clinton, in his rhetoric at least. Sanders is essentially a New Dealer, an almost extinct breed. He may or may not win, but any other candidate almost guarantees defeat. People have rejected the neoliberal agenda of both parties.
17
If Bernie had been the nominee last time out, Trump would not have been elected. I disagree with Ross's assessment of Warren., she is an equally good candidate. But right now, any Democrat is better than Trump. We need to Dump Trump, no matter who the Democratic Candidate is.
21
The column is actually a conservative Republican "all in for Trump" trojan horse. Ross Douthat's intention is to present a fake proposition that Sanders could unify all the diverse factions of the Democratic party. Buy this columnist really believes that putting lipstick on this idea will further split the Democrats and render them disorganized when they reach their convention ... therefore, strengthening Trump's reelection chances. This commentary's premise would end with a cheering, standing ovation at a MAGA rally.
4
"Little Mike" has the best chance of beating DJT. He may be little but he has lots of money that he made himself and doesn't have to promise anyone anything to finance his campaign.
3
Sorry but if socialist Bernie is the nominee, I will swing Republican again as in 2016.
3
I am 63 yo, and I realized that older people are selfish in many ways and in different levels .They careless about others . They always say, I worked hard and I don’t want to pay for this people, they’re lazy..et .al . I think is terrible this kind of attitude from many Americans, and obviously, consequence of capitalist system that created individualism behavior . I only hope more young people register to Vote by October 2020 and beat the old folks. This time is Not about the 65 and older, is about the young generation wants a change.
14
"The front-runner seems too old for the job" Biden is one year younger than Bernie, who has by the way, had a recent heart attack. Selective ageism?
8
A sociopath beats a socialist any day in America, seven days a week. I think that Mr. Douthat has forgotten what country he lives in, the same country in which just a little over 50 years ago, a U.S. senator was rooting alleged commies out of Hollywood. No matter what else Sanders is, he is an avowed socialist. That alone will keep him from the presidency even if he wins the Democratic nomination. God knows we cannot afford another four years of Trump. I pray every day that Mr. Sanders will come to his senses and leave the campaign.
7
After reading many of the comments, I am greatly encouraged by the support for Bernie.
Four days ago the Boston Globe and Suffolk University reported out a poll of committed Democratic voters in NH showing they plan to vote for Bernie - 64%, Biden - 35%, Warren - 34%, Buttigieg - 30%.
The NYT should pay attention and rethink their support for the DNC's selection of candidates.
Let's make those figures national. We can do it. Ignore the noise and keep your eyes on the prize. Voting for Bernie is voting for a living planet and an equal chance for those left behind.
35
Bernie is about the furthest thing from a unifier in the democratic party.
15
I have always supported Bernie and will continue until one of us dies. He's a couple of years older than I am but his energy I swear comes from an other-worldly source. He is goodness incarnate and I'm convinced that his passion comes from a collective unconscious and limitless origin. As you can see, I am in awe of him. Although he maintains loving relationships with many who refrain from standing up for truth and generosity, who still take money from corporate sources who they then are in debt to, Bernie remains steadfast and sees what others refuse to see. How many other officials stand up to the gop for continuing to buy munitions from the Saudis that are then used to bomb Yemen? Bernie never turns a blind eye. How many others support Medicare for All, knowing they will be ridiculed as pie-in-the-sky liberals? But Bernie refuses to turn a blind eye to those who continue to suffer under the current health care system? How many others continue to state unequivocally that taxes must increase even for the middle class in order to provide the services we all need? Bernie is goodness and honesty to the core and his voice will echo through the ages long after he has breathed his last breath.
40
Perhaps Mr. Douthat’s Bernie hypothesis is in part fueled by the Vermont Senator’s reluctance to do away with the filibuster, if elected president. Mr. Douthat is well aware that Bernie’s policies would mostly fail to pass the senate in their current form, in any case, even if Democrats were to achieve a supermajority in the Senate. Perhaps a touch cynical from Mr. Douthat, yes, yet Bernie is admirably respectful of his senate colleagues, regardless of their political bent, and he also speaks in a general way over issues we can all agree need to be addressed. Unfortunately, a number of his supporters act as mouthpieces for his platform, and have proven to detract from the overall desirability of his candidacy (read; 2016). I think if you let Bernie do the messaging on his own it would do quite well for his campaign. On the flip-side some of his supporters could learn some ‘oratorical temperance’ as to not scare away potential voters.
4
"He struggles badly with his fellow Social Security recipients, the over-65."
What is the source of this statistical pessimism? I am deep into this particular demographic and I and my fellow old duffer friends love the stuffing out of Bernie Sanders and have done since 2016 (I personally have the well-faded t-shirt and long list of $27 ActBlue transactions to prove it).
21
My wife and I supported Bernie in the primary, were dismayed when Hillary got the nod. I told my wife the Abomination would win 8 months before he did.
I think Bernie could win, maybe paired with someone like Amy Klobuchar. But frankly, like so many people I know, including many Republicans, we will vote for any Democrat running against the Thing, and will be furious if some pouty third party candidate wins it for him. I’d almost be willing to help fund a fake third party conservative candidate to cause the opposite result, he is such a blight on our country, the human race, and the world.
19
Bernie lost me years ago when he backed asylum seekers who were obviously gaming the system. He lost me again when he decided it was more important to save the self-disabled then it was to save hard working Americans. We need a realist, not a messiah.
5
Bernie wants to help the underprivileged people by shrinking inequality and preventing big money from buying political favors.
He wants to end the endless wars and shrink the military complex, by doing so creates tens of billions of funds to help fund healthcare for everyone.
He wants to help the racial minorities by fixing the criminal justice system.
He can be trusted. He has the track record to prove it.
25
Should Senator Sanders become the Democratic nominee, I won't vote for him. I live in Maryland, so I have that luxury. In addition to being a socialist, Senator Sanders is not a member of the Democratic party, which makes me wonder why he's even allowed to pursue my party's presidential nomination. He's also too old, and he had a heart attack earlier this year. It's been over 50 years since a president died in office, so we're overdue for that to happen again. Given the extremely fragile nature of this republic, electing a 77 year old man with a history of heart trouble would be the equivalent of giving a 16 year old who's high on Oxy the keys to a Porsche.
14
I have great admiration for the Democratic Socialist (or Social Democrat), Bernie Sanders. He sincerely wishes the best for all the people of the U.S.: that they should have universal health care, free public university and all the public works that make an economy work: water, electricity and environmental concerns.
The government can pay for these needs as it now pays for Social Security and Medicare. There is more than enough left over for the private sector which creates too many billionaires already.
39
@JEHR If the Government is paying for my SS and Medicare why did I pay in all of these years while I was working to receive these benefits/
7
I have read laughable objections to Bernie's candidacy. He's a "socialist," he's not a "Democrat," he "worked" against Hillary's campaign and on and on. I have tried to explain why all of that is not accurate but the Democrats who complain or dismiss him out of hand are not that dissimilar to the Hardcore Trumpian fan. Once they grab hold of one belief they never let go.
In my opinion, he has been consistent with his message and there's no "moving left for the primary and moving back to center or center right" for the General election. We get one Bernie. Its oddly satisfying. I know that, if elected, he might not be able to get all his policies enacted into law but I can rest easy knowing he won't forget the middle and working classes. Warren is so close a second that I switch from one to another.
40
Warren can be a unifier and has not destroyed herself with MfA. As swing voters start paying attention, her hard line stance will be old news, and her new first step—the well-planned public option—will become known as the policy that proves she is realistic and is smart enough to figure out how to get immediate significant change with an achievable 50 Democratic senators. Is this what Bernie would end up with as a compromise? Probably, but Bernie has carved out the "originator" space and doesn't need to explain himself. He's also long established his persona as a lovable and angry old uncle.
Warren is still molding her persona. She has many genuinely engaging threads to weave together, and I think we'll see a much more defined public personality in a few months. She is much more than a nerdy policy wonk or "cool" professor. I'm sure she knows policy alone won't win a presidential election. She mentions her humble roots from time to time—she needs to figure out how to manifest them organically. She's a daughter, sister, mother, and is running her campaign like a well-oiled machine. Of course she is a unifier.
Sanders or Warren in 2020! Give the historic non-voters and young people reasons to engage.
16
@Yojimbo
Note, you're having to Spin for one, not the other.
5
Ross accepts the bargain of 'busy in taxing rich' while 'not waging cultural war'.
I think that is a hopeless bargain.
Americans do not see 'taxing rich' as the only solution for our economic issues. Obama was on 'money' when he said Americans are not looking for someone 'who rips apart' the existing system. That is not conservatism. Nor Americans want their TV screens and Internet saturated by Cultural War for years to come.
Why is it so hard for the Democratic Party to produce such a decent leader? Why Dems get engulfed in the Identity Politics? (Did you see Kamala Harris's over the top condensation of Americans while talking issues of black women? Come on, don't make your candidacy as the 'hectoring podium'; it was such a cheap exercise to market her candidacy all based on Identity Politics only.)
If Dems can not make the mind, make Nancy Pelosi the compromise candidate for one term until Dems sort out. She comes from the most liberal house seat, but still retains basic sanity of not going M4A Sanders style Ultra-Left policies.
Or until Stacy Abraham feels ready to take on the mantle of Dems...she is the only one who seems to be capable (at least for now) and focusing on right issues - mobilizing more Dem voters and run in the 'center' lane.
5
Yeah, "progressivism’s zest for culture war" is what we have to be wary of.
Not conservatism's culture war. You know the war against women, in the work place or over their own bodies. That war?
Or the war against the poor, those people who just can't seem to take care of themselves on minimum or less wage, maybe even working two bad jobs. And let's not forget the right's war against unions.
Or the insane income disparity caused by the right's love for tax cuts for the rich and rampant uncontrolled capitalism.
Or the GOP's war against off-white minorities. And the war against immigrants. You know, those people who came from southern places, who snuck in when sometimes when they were children? And those who are now being held in cages, separating children from parents. That war?
Or conservatism's war against sane gun laws?
Or the war against sound public health as in affordable health care and medicines for all the people.
Or the war against public housing so that millions of people won't sleep on our streets anymore?
I don't think most Americans, not captured by the GOP and its current president, need be wary of progressivism. They should be terrified at what the GOP will throw at us all next in the "culture wars".
24
I'll try again....
America is poised for major working class reform - and Bernie can do it. We just need to keep the DNC and mainstream media from derailing it.
In my opinion (at least up until now), progressive reform in our country has been undermined by a strategy of those in power (deliberate or unwitting) to divide up widespread support in America for economic justice. By UNIFYING those Democrats seeking, first and foremost, economic justice with those seeking social justice (i.e. identity politics) they PREVENT the far more significant unification of all those in America who want economic justice, especially those outside the democratic party (which only represents 25% of all voters!)
Identity politics is very unpopular among America's voting public. The tying of economic justice, which IS popular nationwide, to this is politically devastating... which may be the very point of those in positions of influence who benefit from the economic status quo, i.e. our political and media establishments. In short, by unifying progressives within the democratic party they divide those receptive to progressive politics across the whole country.
15
Why do Trump supporters like to pretend to support Bernie so much? That is an interesting topic.
1
Bernie Sanders relies on sketchy slogans. He's "All Hate And No Cattle." As to Warren, she has not botched health care. The two step approach she has floated is the right one. Single payer is the best eventual solution but we can't get there in one swell foop.
4
A surprising column from Ross Douthat. This phrase jumped out at me: "the resilient Socialist from Vermont, Bernie Sanders." Why is this derogatory term (in America) capitalized? Why is it used at all? Surely Mr. Douthat knows that Bernie is not a socialist in the classical sense. Using the term plays into the very strategy Trump would use to crucify him.
I supported Bernie in 2016. i actually thought he could defeat Trump. The election could have been framed as the true populist versus the self-dealing, narcissistic fraud. The public would easily discern that Bernie was entirely genuine.
But in 2020 i think he'd get clobbered. As long as the Obama economic recovery continues, as long as the stock market bubble fails to burst, a far left liberal has no chance whatsoever.
The Democrats need to focus on the swing states. Any of the candidates would defeat Trump in the blue states. None of them would win any of the red states. Right now, the prospects in the swing states don't look good, as a recent study by the NYT reported. I don't think the Democrats in the current field can win those states.
@hark Yes you are right. Unless at least one Dem candidate gets his/her act together; Donald Trump is sitting pretty well - all cruising to his second term. I hate to see it, but Democratic Party and its politics have simply failed to produce a decent leader who will take majority of Americans together. None of the current candidates inspire that confidence. (Amy Kloubacher...possibly, but she has to prove it in primaries.)
2
Ross, you are a Republican through and through. Of course, you'd want the Democrats to pick the weakest choice for president.
Sanders can't win in a general election, heck he couldn't win a two-way race in 2016 in the primary. He got beaten by a landslide.
Your help we don't need, nor will we heed.
14
Thanks for pointing out Ross' obvious ulterior motive.
4
"This is why, despite technically preferring a moderate like Biden or Amy Klobuchar, I keep coming back to the conservative’s case for Bernie — which rests on the perhaps-wrong but still attractive supposition that he’s the liberal most likely to spend all his time trying to tax the rich and leave cultural conservatives alone."
I knew you'd get there (waited for the closing paragraph) .
You would support any candidate rooted in the core values of The Bronze Age.
Well hold tight -Maybe trump will be eliminated and Pence will answer all your prayers for the dawning of anamerican theocracy.
3
Bernie as the Democrat's solution to defeating Trump. The mere thought of it is beyond hilarious!!!
Like any true Socialist Democrat his only means to fund his grandiose plans is to tax the us to oblivion.
The columnist skips over the fact that both Bernie and his wife are knee deep in the scandal surrounding the failure of a
small Vermont college. Trump is nearly guaranteed another 4 years.
105
@George
Do you really want to get into comparing scandals … about colleges? Sounds like you need to pay more taxes too.
158
@George actually that case was dismissed. If you still cannot understand why people like Bezos, Gates, and Bloomberg and all their fine companies need to pay higher taxes, or just generally why we need to tax capital at a higher rate than labor, the you’re either in that tax bracket or intellectually beyond repair. Have fun voting for Trump.
176
@George Don't fall into the same trap as Trump, in not understanding how the balance of Powers works, and so think Sanders would be some sort of king who can just waltz in and "tax us into oblivion". The elected members of Congress should act as a moderating influence to prevent wild extremes. We could certainly use the leadership and influence of such a president as Sanders to highlight income inequality.
106
Whoever the candidate is we better get behind them and work for their election.
This isn't rocket science. It's political science.
With any Democrat in office we have a hope to turn back inequality and prepare for and mitigate the oncoming climate disasters.
Without them in office we are headed downwards as a bitterly divided backing onto the sewer of Republican entrenchment.
I will love Bernie. I will love Biden. I would even love Bloomberg.
The rest is silence.
9
For those of us who reject patriarchy as illegitimate, after 230 years of male dominated government, regardless of Bernie's appeal, until an equal number of years of female dominated government, vote no on all men.
4
I don’t agree, but I do sympathize.
6
Anyone who thinks s/he knows who’s electable and expected Hillary to beat Trump in 2016 has no credibility weighing in now.
8
Dismissing Bloomberg because he's rich is shallow and knee jerk, ignoring his leadership on climate change and gun safety, his record as a successful administrator, and his ability to debate Trump successfully. Climate change is now the most serious problem humanity has; Bloomberg can lead on that right at the start; Bernie can't.
2
Bernie has been out front on climate change for quite some time, he is friends with and supported by Bill McKibben and is a major backer of the Green New Deal. JSYK.
9
Well, this one is definitely interesting. The customary Douthat "snake in the grass" approach is here in great abundance; Douthat does not make his intention known until the last four words of the piece.
This is a sly attempt to drive a wedge between classic liberals and the newly-political progressive left.
Douthat understand the main liberal beef with progressives; in addition to a huge racial blind spot, they are willing to use women's rights as a bargaining chip to achieve their economic agenda.
This is unacceptable to liberals for obvious reasons; female autonomy is one of the foundational principles of the American sociological left. No true liberal would ever dream of giving away the reproductive rights of half the population to punish some bank. This thinking is purely a product of the tunnel vision left -- one which refuses to see that women and people of color are at a tremendous natural disadvantage in our society.
So, Douthat sides with wild-eyed reformers. He does so because they will lose the White House if they continue to push their extreme agenda, which will benefit Douthat and the rest of his antichoice cohort, because if Trump is re-elected, Roe v. Wade will certainly be dead.
You height fool some of the people, Douthat. But I see through you every time.
5
"progressivism's zest for culture war"???
This is the kind of phrase that makes me unable to listen to Douthat for long. Why is wanting basic human rights for gay folks or allowing a woman sovereign control of her body signs of culture war?
10
The wonderful comments here show me that, yes, people can live in a bubble and have no idea they are living in a bubble.
1
Indeed, Sanders is not very interested in the culture wars, although he regularly speaks about bringing together all the oppressed and marginalized groups for mutual support and unified action against the prevailing economic and political powers. That each person has equal worth and equal rights is just a fundamental tenet of his politics, formed in his youth. What he boldly proclaims that other Democratic candidates (besides Warren) don't is that we have a system that empowers and entitles some but holds down and punishes others. In short, "the system is rigged." Most working people agree because they have experienced or witnessed its inequities. We should remember that candidate Trump said the same thing and promised to take on the system. He didn't. Bernie will.
13
And now Bernie. Remember Buttigieg? Thanks but no thanks!
1
The only thing about Bernie that Democrats need to be scared about is that his supporters may well sit this out because they aren't going to get what they want. Are they a base for Democrats? Not really because their candidate tells us he is not a member of the Party but without them it's easy to lose. So the Bernie Party has leverage and that's just how it goes. Losing to Trump means losing America entirely and while Bernie gets that, I doubt his supporters do.
8
I love Bernie's passion that some see as crankiness. My 20 something children all love him because his age is a plus! It's comforting to see someone who's wiser, older, moral, and astute in a leadership position. He's also the most "revolutionary" of all the bunch despite his age, another reason the young love him. He has gravitas (when have we last seen that) and would tear Trump up with his sincere and long held positions. I admire Warren's mind, but I love Bernie's mind and passionate spirit more.
17
Why did the media attack Warren for Medicare-for-All when it was Bernie’s bill? Either there’s a glaring flaw to the author’s opinion or there’s a double-standard going on.
5
It all boils down to two simple concepts. Compassion and integrity. No one else can hold a candle to Bernie on those two scores, and that's what's sorely needed in these times. When he speaks, he's not trying to calculate the bump in the polls or what demographic advantage his position might bring him, he has (gasp!) a moral compass. And this is what has resulted in the fact that over more than 40 years in public life, he has done and said so little he has to apologize for, and has uncannily been on the right side of history. Because that's what he cares about.
27
@Bob Claster No it all boils down to one simple concept. Trump must not win at all costs.
If the flame of his megalomania and vengeful nature gets fanned by the mandate of re-election, all that most NYTimes readers hold deal will be obliterated by a political scorched earth policy that most decent people cannot fathom. Compassion and integrity is extremely important, but if you do not think that describes someone like Any Klobuchar and others then you have blinders on.
Bernie cannot win. I know many people in swing states who voted for Bush then Obama and then couldn't pull a lever for Trump or Hilary, so sat out 2016. Trump makes their skin crawl, but Bernie's policies are seen as cynical and irresponsible populist cash giveaways that will burden future generations with immoral levels of debt.
To borrow money from the Chinese to pay off 150k in student loans for someone from wealth who studied philosophy at NYU, for example, is seen as a progressive bribe and reward for recklessly irresponsible fiscal behavior. A hard, cold slap to the face of so many who went to community college, or the local public and worked to pay for their schooling. These types of "aspirational" political platforms WILL NOT PLAY in places that decide Presidential elections. Medicare for all is a revolution unto itself that I believe the electorate might be willing to accept. A vote for a candidate advocating the rest of the free money giveaways is a cloaked vote for Trump.
6
As someone who lives in Vermont, after living in many different states, I do not think that the Bernie evangelists understand the state of the middle class and the levels of financial insecurity in Vermont. Bernie has been representing Vermont for decades and progressives hold more seats of power in Vermont than anywhere else in America. The cost of living, the negative business climate and the astronomical taxes are driving most of the middle class out of the state and putting many seniors in dire financial predicaments.
A report released by UMass Boston this month, analyzed federal data on the costs of housing, health care, transportation, food, and other goods in all 50 states and found Vermont ranks first in the nation for the highest rate of economic insecurity for older couples, and third for singles.
Jan Mutchler, a professor of gerontology at UMass Boston and the author of the report, said the high costs of health care and housing in Vermont are part of what makes it difficult for seniors to afford living in the state.
“The costs are definitely driving a lot of what you see in Vermont,” Mutchler said. “The people in Vermont probably have more retirement income on average than Mississippi or Alabama. But because their cost of living is so high, it just doesn’t go as far.”
Mutchler’s analysis found health care expenses in Vermont are the highest in the country for seniors. Bernie is VERY vulnerable in the general election regarding the current state of Vermont.
3
@J KC the one thing everyone notices when travelling the northeast is the line between New Hampshire and Vermont..Vermont is green , verdant, the environment protected and pristine..New Hampshire is where you buy liquor before travelling n orth, and the dirty grey woodlands and damaged landscapes tell the tale of the 'live free or die' ethos.. I will take Vermont for my future and that of my childrens children, any day.
16
@grace thorsen Then I hope your children have well-funded trust funds because in order to live there they will need them. Vermont is quickly becoming a rich trust-funder progressive playground, with welfare recipients on one side of the tracks and large second-home vacation compounds on the other, surrounded by state forests. This is utopia if you can afford the compound on the lake bought with money earned in Boston or NYC. Everyone else is moving out, if they can afford to.
2
@J KC my friends bought ten acres for 200 thou, and live there year-round. Anyone I work with in Ca. could afford that, but it does not exist here, where a 200 thousand house is - nowhere..just desn't exist.... I don't see any trust fund babies in vermont - just hardworking people who pay their taxes because in Vermont you get back what we want - clean land and clean water..
5
Cory Booker would bring the party together more thoroughly than Bernie and he won't turn 80 during his first term.
7
@Ivan Goldman
Booker is a tryhard. He doesn’t have the wisdom of other candidates. Clearly, he doesn’t have the respect of the networks, since his time allowed to talk during the debates is minimal.
@Ivan Goldman
Too early for Cory.
1
@Ivan Goldman
He is Spartacus now. No one will vote him after that nonsense.
2
Nice thought, but a moot point. The Democratic establishment will never let him get the nomination.
5
@JRC The Democratic establishment is not the only entity NOT on board. Make that a solid NO for me as well.
4
Would you please stop calling Bernie a Socialist. He is a Social Democrat. "Socialist" is a scare word used by Republicans and we have to stop aiding Republicans by using the word Socialist. People need to read the definitions and stop sabotaging Democrats with this word.
19
Thank you for this, Russ. It’s refreshing to see a sober, rational analysis of Senator Sanders as a Democratic candidate.
The plain fact is, Bernie has always been a socialist, in the best sense of the word. His positions on the remedy for the economic malaise affecting the working and middle class has been the same since the 1980s. It’s the country that has caught up to him and begun to seriously embrace his platform of a real, effective social safety net as a route to the broad economic prosperity that is the best of the American Dream.
It’s like another Conservative, the great Winston Churchill once said, “Americans will alway do the right thing, once they have exhausted all of the alternatives.”
13
Ross, what makes Bernie's Medicare for All plan acceptable and Elizabeth Warren's unacceptable? Bernie out and out says he'll raise taxes on the middle class to fund his.
I voted for Bernie in the 2016 primary, and will happily vote for him if he is the nominee, but don't see their platforms as significantly different.
I believe Warren's recent negative publicity is pushback from a frightened moneyed class and the media's need for a horse race. And that other thing, code word "likability."
10
@GardenTherese There are massive differences between the two candidates' current plans. (I must say "current," since only one of the candidate's plans is not subject to constant change.) Warren's plan sets up a financially unsupportable "public option" for two years, and then, in her third year in office, just after the traditional bloodbath of the midterm elections, she'll propose Medicare For All, dependent for funding on two impossibilities: complete immigration reform and drastic defense cuts. Her program, as currently constituted, should more accurately be called "Medicare When Pigs Fly." She wanted to steal voters from Bernie by seeming to support Medicare For All, but doesn't think voters are bright enough to understand that an $8K tax hike, when coupled with $35K in health insurance savings is a net gain for the taxpayer. The only taxpayers who'll see a net loss are those who can easily afford it, and the benefits to all of us of living in a society devoid of the crippling fear of catastrophic medical bills that grips so many of us, would be well worth it.
9
@GardenTherese For me the large difference between their Medicare for All Plans is that Warren has stated that she would first pursue a public option in her first year and then try to pass Medicare for all in her third year. By trying to pass an even more comprehensive, expensive, and complicated legislation in the year after a midterm election when you are most likely to lose legislative seats seems to me and many others that it is not a priority but is more along the lines of "we'll get to it if we get to it" that led to many being disaffected with the Obama administration. Sanders on the other hand has promised to work to get Medicare for All passed as soon as he enters office. I personally think this is a valid, substantive reason among other legitimate criticisms.
In terms of Warren's recent negative publicity she overall has received not only more coverage across media outlets across the race thus far (despite often being behind or at the same polling level as Sanders for much of the race) the percentage of positive coverage she has received compared to Sanders is a very large gap. Is it likely that both are the subject of unwarranted biases yes, but Warren is nowhere near receiving the same amount of malicious scrutiny as Sanders or even Yang.
6
Ross, how does polling that shows Sanders "matching Buttigieg in New Hampshire" a sign of Sanders' "strength"? Shouldn't he be far ahead in the state next door?
1
Socialism never worked and I'm not a progressive democrat.Bernie is however a pragmatic descent person He has integrity and honesty and ability to compromise.He was a great mayor, good senator and treats his opponents like HRC and Warren with respect.
I would have voted for him in 2016.I don't trust HRC.Warren is also a lying, dishonest person.She endorsed HRC and might have helped her enough in 2016 to make a difference in 2016 Massachusetts primary.Warren lied about her race, where her children went to school, the poverty she was brought up in her loosing a job because she was pregnant.
11
Just NO WAY. Nominating Sanders (Senator Santa Claus) in this environment would be electoral suicide. Have the Dems learned nothing from the right's powerful reaction to Obamacare?
7
Bernie is the opposite of Trump in every way, and would make an excellent president. Who knows what Ross is up to.
Heaven help us from Republican NY Times pundits giving advice to the Democrats!
8
No cardiologist on Earth can tell us what Bernie's health will be like next fall. Do we really want to stake our democracy on his heart holding out?
Doesn't his unfathomable narcissism make him too Trumpian to support?
6
@Sparky
Please name one time Sanders put his personal interest ahead of the people of Vermont. Waiting.
11
Are you all aware that statistically speaking, Bernie Sanders will probably not be alive much longer?
7
The DNC, the HealthInsurances corporations, Wall Street and Profiters don’t like Bernie’s revolution. Bernie was the only one could change the House in 2018. Now the DNC, don’t know what to do. This is reality! Young people will not vote for Biden.
12
@Linz
Yea and that's how Bernie helped Trump beat Clinton in 2016. Bernie could never admit that he got beat fair and square by 3 m votes (many of his delegates were in caucus states, that if votes were held, Clinton would have even won bigger.) And that she was not some kind of crook; Trump capitalized on that... And Bernie "dems" like you, went in the corner and pouted and helped elect Trump. This is why many life-long dems, like me will never support the charlatan Sanders. He has sold snake oil to the young... everything can be FREE!
6
There is none. Having just gone to a Warren town hall (same type of candidate), these people have a zero chance of beating Trump. It's all a massive waste of time. Why?
6
Mr. Doubthat is being disingenuous as usual.
The Republicans desperately want to run against Bernie.
They have their "anti-communism" ads written and ready to go.
8
@Brrabbit And those ads are likely to be very effective with the handful of people still alive from the McCarthy (Joe, not Gene) era. "Socialism" polls quite well among the younger set who may have actually visited Europe. Believe me, all that stuff was undoubtedly tested and found ineffective by Hillary's hatchet men (David Brock, et. al.) whose scruples have still gone undetected. If that would have worked, she'd have used it.
6
I think we have a sleeper star--Pete Buttigieg. He is cool under fire like Obama and Kennedy. He's humble but makes strong points. He gets--even sought to embody and feel--the concerns of not-rich Republicans. He reminds me of a young JFK. Don't think of him as too young or inexperienced--he's been studying and preparing for public service most of his life. Listen to his interviews about how he manages his approach to campaigning. This is my guy.
2
@Joanne Unfortunately, he's still looking for his first African-American supporter.
12
Let’s face it, we have to vote for the Democrat candidate, even if it’s a vaguely human shaped sack full of chipmunks.
So, Go Bernie! Go Liz! Go Mayor Pete! Go Sack Full of Chipmunks!
10
He's 77 and two months since a heart attack, Ross! His health must be mentioned - because Sanders will be hammered on it if he's the Dems' nominee, on top of his left side of the grid iron proposals.
9
If Obama actually comes out swinging to warn against Bernie, he will make him so much more electable in the eyes of those to whom Hillary wasn't but Trump still might be. It's really on par with Jeb Bush hammering on Trump at this point. It's not going to be relevant to the revolution anymore. An Obygone.
I nevertheless hope that Obama will remember how selflessly and tirelessly Bernie has been campaigning for his establishment's choice Hillary after she became the nominee, and will be likewise supportive should Bernie clinch the nomination. As a refresher, Times columnist Roger Cohen wrote this in 2016:
"I thought about what to say in this last pre-election column, I kept being reminded of Sanders’s honorable campaign and (...) I think we all owe Sanders a doff of the hat."
See: nytimes.com/2016/11/05/opinion/still-feeling-the-bern.html
If push comes to shovel, at some point it would be wise if the party establishment including its most respected and Baracked elder and Team Bernie and everyone in between would meet and have a talk. A President Sanders will have to work with Congress too. The Senator knows this. The Senator knows all about deals. He is the Amendment Deal King. Yes he is a dealmaker. No dealmaker has a broader and more generous and open arm reach. Look at the broadness of his Vermont support. Look at his popularity among Independents.
12
Sure. A 78-year-old socialist who just had a heart attack and went to the USSR on his honeymoon is the answer to America's prayers.
11
Bernie. Pete. Elizabeth.
Blue Tsunami.
5
Ha! Let’s hope no Democrats accept advice from the likes of RD.
6
Bernie would have won in 2016
HRC lost and MI and WI states BS won in the primaries
it is hard to imagine he would not have done better than the greedy out of touch HRC in MI - she barely lost it - he would have won it
and I think he would have carried all of her other states too
he would be POTUS if it weren't for the DNC and Debbie W
they fought like hell to make sure he would not get the nomination
HRC would like to blame Jill Stein - Ha!
Bernie 2020 (with Stacey A as his Veep)!
13
Amen!
7
@j
Agreed. But isn't "Stacey A" a product of the same national party of Debbie W and Donna Brazile and that Tulsi Gabbard quit, citing corruption? Tulsi Gabbard (or Nina Turner) should be his VP, in my opinion. I don't think it's right for our political parties to select candidate they want - at the national level - and try to influence local election "stepping stones" for these figures. THIS is not bottom-up democracy. Bernie Sanders represents true grass roots democracy - the way it's meant to be. "Stacy A" needs to get elected as a local representative, mayor, comptroller, whatever - without the national level support. With her fame (sans votes), it's probably too late for this now
Hillary established her faux-residence and used NY as stepping stone. If the people of NY didn't sell out for political clout that she could bring, unfairly, to NY (at the expense the other states), we wouldn't have had to deal with her later as president, her obvious ambition. And this was at the whole country's great expense, witness Donald Trump.
The people of NY as well as Obama should reflect on what they put our country through, imo. Obama surely had a quid-pro-quo arrangement with the Clintons, i.e. Sec of State for her constituency (and probably protection against Bill's political powers, that he somehow had even though he wasn't a politician.) We need to call out corruption at home even BEFORE we call it out on the other side. Most of the country is disgusted by partisan politics.
7
The only thing Bernie is capable of is, as in 2016, providing a significant boost in the current White House occupant's chances for an electoral college victory.
9
This will be Trump's winning line. He'll use it everywhere.
Trump: "Hey folks, let me read you what Sanders wrote about Venezuela. It is in the public record, a newspaper column he wrote:"
"These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger. Who's the banana republic now?"
A LOUD CHEER WILL GO UP.
Then Trump will say: "Vote for Sanders if you think the USA is a banana republic. Vote for Sanders if you want our country turned into a Venezuela."
13
Bernie's blather reminds me of what a lefty colleague said, while I was on a project in Egypt, when I observed that even the lowest level bureaucrat had a personal servant paid a couple of dollars a week. "Well at least everyone here has a job, unlike the US."
5
That may be Trump’s strategy, it is of no consequence. All across the country, we who understand Trump is an amoral lair narcissist disaster are not persuaded by his lies and will not be deterred from building a just, sustainable and civil society with a survivable future. We have 11 years, and must start now. This is our last chance. No time to lose on oligarchy or corruption. Bernie is the only one to trust with our lives to unite us all, even internationally.
7
@Lilly It is of "no consequence?"
Sanders would get no votes from anyone right of center and very few from the center (where most people are). Many long-time Democrats will not vote for him.
He will lose. Bigly.Are you so young that you don't remember George McGovern?
And who will suffer when he loses? It will be the vulnerable who we Democrats are supposed to be protecting.
Trump's strategy is of "no consequence" to you, perhaps, but it will be a winning one, with consequences for all of us.
You seem to believe that feeling "right" is enough to win. It isn't. It is the real world. Trump knows how to deal with it better than Sanders, and he will annihilate him in an election. Then you can feel "right" while the country and world goes to ruin.
7
Being missed in this discussion is that Bernie is attractive to Trump voters who are willing to consider another candidate. That could be a huge advantage. He talks to those feeling they've been marginalized the the Establishment, they've been ignored, forgotten. Trump talks to the same group. No other Democrat candidate talks as clearly and invitingly to that group. He talks with passion. So does Trump. In Bernie's case, the passion is honest, genuine. In Trump's case, it's a ruse. He talks to those with average education, as does Trump, not the most educated elites, as do some other Democratic candidates. Like Trump, Bernie's base is durable, it doesn't change much, unlike the other Democrats. His voters trust him, are committed to him. They are not easily distracted by the new flavor of the month. Loyalty may be the difference between victory and defeat in a general election.
Bottom line is that Bernie has potential to attract voters otherwise attracted to Trump. Democrats need those voters.
16
Bernie's nomination would be a gift to Trump. Nothing in his agenda adds up and would (and should) be mercilessly exploited by the Republican Party. Not only would he give Trump a clear path to victory, he would also seriously endanger the House of Represenatives and there is no way the Democratic Party would take back the Senate. The only person who would be more thrilled than Trump by a Bernie nomination would be Putin.
Your instincts for Biden and Klobuchar are good, Ross. You should stick with them instead of courting disaster.
5
Bernie Sanders is no more "left" than FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ or Jimmy Carter. In fact, Bernie's platform is amazingly like EISENHOWER'S. Ike wanted Universal Healthcare, championed Union-membership, treated Social Security as a Right and not to be tampered with, enforced Brown v Board of Education ruling by SCOTUS, respected the independence of the DoJ and the duty of Congress to exercise Oversight of the Executive and Judicial branches. Under him, most State colleges and universities were nearly tuition-free. He backed the GI Bill of Rights and protected the FDIC against the Right Wing of the GOP. He backed Minimum Wage increases, teachers' right to collective bargaining and his last message to America was a warning against the growing cost, power and influence of the "Military-Industrial Complex". Oh, and he taxed Corporations up to 91% on their Profits. If that sounds "leftist" to you, it's because the GOP has moved so FAR RIGHT that Ike wouldn't recognize it as "his Party".
Ike and Bernie would have agreed on most issues including getting CORPORATE MONEY OUT OF POLITICS altogether.
Ross gets points for honesty in this column and for his advice to Bernie. And I would add one more: Bernie is a SOCIAL DEMOCRAT. He uses Dem Socialist is out of respect for Eugene Debs and other early campaigners for workers' rights and economic justice but Bernie's Platform is classic Social Democrat. He should say so.
27
America is poised for major working class reform - and Bernie can do it. We just need to keep the DNC and mainstream media from derailing it.
In my opinion (at least up until now), progressive reform in our country has been undermined by a strategy of those in power (deliberate or unwitting) to divide up widespread support in America for economic justice. By UNIFYING those Democrats seeking, first and foremost, economic justice with those seeking social justice (i.e. identity politics) they PREVENT the far more significant unification of all those in America who want economic justice, especially those outside the democratic party (which only represents 25% of all voters!)
Identity politics is very unpopular among America's voting public. The tying of economic justice, which IS popular nationwide, to this is politically devastating... which may be the very point of those in positions of influence who benefit from the economic status quo, i.e. our political and media establishments. In short, by unifying progressives within the democratic party they divide those receptive to progressive politics across the whole country.
This article and a couple recent others that represent views from the Trump side in fair light give me reason to hope that the propaganda machinery at NYT are being retooled in a good way.
11
I would support bed bug if the Democrats nominated one. However, (at age 74) I think it's a sad state of affairs that the two front runners are septuagenarians and Sanders at 77 has a heart condition to boot.
I can't imagine any candidate, given social media, cable TV, 24 hour news cycles, disinformation, and all the hoops that politicians have to jump through to be electable, get elected and survive, could pass the taste test of the the multiple factions of the Democratic party circa 2020.
These are extraordinary times. Democrat, independent and moderate Republican voters who can't check all their boxes with any one candidate and, as a result, stay home, vote for an independent or vote to re-elect Trump are, IMHO, making a catastrophic mistake.
3
Sander's communications after his recent heart attack were absolutely Trumpian. A true leader would have immediately let his supporters know about his condition. He demonstrated his skill at withholding information from the public---not exactly a desirable quality in a leader----
But right in line with his very delayed public release of old tax returns (after failure to release them in 2016). The similarities between Bernie and Trump are scary.
4
@ANNE IN MAINE You undoubtedly have never had any sort of heart adventure, but if you had, you'd have known that the information you believe to have been withheld is not immediately available, even to the patient, the patient's family, and the medical team. It takes time and testing to see how the heart responds after such an event. What was known was shared.
9
I am for health care for all, increase in the minimum wage, decrease in income inequality and action on climate change to name a few of the issues on which I agree with Bernie Sanders. And that is exactly why I oppose Bernie Sanders with all my might. Like an adolescent, he fancies himself as standing up to power without any understanding OF power. If Sanders is the nominee Trump will win with a landslide and we will be back to where we were in the early twentieth century fighting for labor rights, women's rights, clean water and public health. Where was Bernie Sanders between elections? He surely was not about changing people's minds or educating them about the issues.
3
@reju lavtok Seriously? Where was he? He kept up a grueling schedule of town halls, rallies, and public events, many of which were in what you'd call "Trump country." He knows, far better than any of the other candidates, that if the Democratic party can't win back the working class it has treated so shabbily in the last few decades, it's dead in the water. His wife says he took his last vacation in the mid-'80s.
9
You dismiss Biden because of age and yet this doesn't seem to be a factor when you talk about Bernie. It is a factor. Both men are too old - Trump included - to be president. Unlike Trump, both are decent men with core values. I think a deciding factor will be the nations trust in government - which is at an all time low. Bernie's whole platform is about Government taking care of it's people - from Health care to education. And how many people are thinking, "yeah, right - because the V.A. is run so well?" This will be the factor in the long run, and why Biden has the edge.
2
One thing Sanders has is integrity. Vermonters are not all as Left as Sanders but they know he doesn't take positions based on polls. I think Americans are less concerned with ideology than integrity right now. The unified front against Sanders by the mainstream media is an endorsement in the eyes of many Americans. REpublicans often pretend to give Democrats advice which is designed to fail. I think Mr Douthat is actually laying out a path for a Democratic victory. Funny it takes a conservative traditionalist Catholic to point out Sanders strengths.
18
Bernie as a unifier?! Are you actually talking about Bernie Sanders, the man who never wanted to be a Democrat, who used the Party for his own purposes but called the last nomination process rigged? The abrasive 'outsider' who has been in Congress for 25 years but never brought anyone together?
The man who never gave money to the Democratic Victory Fund in 2016 even though he promised to support other Democrats, the man who never seems to actually talk to people just in rallies, the man who can only talk about money and demonizes anyone who has it? The man who wants the government to do everything for us?
That Bernie?!
3
I wish the acolytes of St. Bernie would at lest try to get it through their skulls that there’s a big honking diff between what we’d like to be true and what is in fact actually true here on the planet.
Oh, and this just in: you ain’t getting that pony for St. Swithin’s Day, neither.
5
You can spread the lies of Trump and Clinton that change is pie in the sky, or you can join those of us actually doing what must be done to survive.
10
Sorry, Ross. Bernie is the divider not unifier. He gave us Trump in 2016 and now he is on a mission to do the same in 2020. Bernie is a professional pol and never had a real job in his life. Despite his 30 years in Congress, his accomplishments are bleak. He is not even a democrat and jumps to election cycle as democrat when needed. It is beyond comprehension how the democratic party allows that. But that is a different story. What was the role of the self proclaimed socialist during occupy wall street movement? Bernie is well known for pipe dreams and as a professional pol, he doesn’t have any clue how to accomplish them. As a shrewd crafty politician, he has successfully pushed some of the primary candidates to run on “free for all” platform. Of course, he knows that none of his pipe dreams will come into fruition during 4 years of Presidency. But, it is a great tool to win the primary since few participates in voting in the primary. His pipe dreams will be a great campaign fodder for Trump propaganda machine to alienate voters on taxes. Wish people saw the true color of Bernie. Alas, another 4 years of Trump will destroy everything we have.
7
I hope to heck we don’t nominate Bernie, but this is just nonsense.
2
Didn't you stop to consider that Hillary lost due to not driving up black votes in MI, WI and PA because she was a bland, dull old rich white lady replacing a charismatic young black man?
Bernie outperforms all candidates except Biden with black voters, and leads them all among latinxs. He is the one who is going to drive up minorities to vote. Choosing someone bland like Biden or Buttigieg is getting us 4 more years of Trump.
6
After the first few debates, I felt discouraged by the lack of a candidate who embodied everything the Democrats supposedly need to win. After the last debate, though, I felt, to the contrary, like there were a lot of good candidates, Bernie included. He's passionate and sincere. Warren is wonkish and has a lot of well-thought out ideas. Biden is a mess, but people seem to like him and he would undoubtedly appoint a good group of advisers to help him govern, sort of like a benign George W. Bush. Buttigieg is smart and thoughtful, and knows enough to seek out more experienced people to help him govern. Klobuchar is smart and steady and experienced. Booker is smart and sincere and I only wish he'd gone further. Harris, who hasn't run a good campaign, is still tough and smart. And Yang adds some quirkiness and brevity to the mix. The only one on the stage who I wished would go away is Tulsi Gabbard, who doesn't seem to be a Democrat anyway. I'll vote for whoever wins this primary, but unlike in 2016, I won't be holding my nose while doing it.
7
@Elsie H
What has Tulsi done to make you want her to go away? She is someone who has served our Country, in a war zone no less and has earned your respect. Why doesn't she have it? And do be specific.
9
@GregP I appreciate her service to the country, but that doesn't make her a good Presidential candidate. She seems intent on just attacking others on the stage in a way that is not constructive, and her positions on the issues make her seem more like a Republican than a Democrat. If she plays the spoiler with a third-party run and Russian support, as Jill Stein did in 2016, it will confirm what my instinct is telling me now.
7
I think centrism has a lot of good points, but this is really not the time. The next election is too important. We have to defeat Donald Trump. So, we have to set aside what we may really want for what is practical and achievable. We are living in populist times. Dems have to accept that and back a left-populist to beat Trump in 2020.
Centrists need to accept that they are not going to get their perfect candidate. They have to be mature and face the fact that if the Dem party nominates an establishment politician who takes Wall Street money (like Pete Buttigieg) the people who voted for Obama in 2012, but stayed home in 2016, will not turn out to vote against Trump in 2020.
But moderates hate Trump like poison and have no where else to go. They will turn out to vote against the GOP in November 2020 even if the Dem nominee is a ham sandwich. So Dem voters need to be realistic and mature and nominate someone who will appeal to the swing voters who voted for Obama in 2012 but Trump in 2016, and – more importantly – those voters who stayed home in November 2016. Centrists need to hold their noses and vote for Bernie Sanders in the primary.
Establishment Dems can hope that down the road the zeitgeist will change and the country can go back to business-as-usual and tinkering around the edges. But for now, if they're being honest with themselves, moderate Dems will admit nominating a leftist to take on Trump is the realistic, pragmatic thing to do.
9
Nominating St. Bernie to take in Trump is, in point of fact, about as illogical as it gets.
In the first place, you’re kidding yourself if you think a Giant Blue Wave of youngsters and minorities is ginna turn out for Bernie in the numbers you’d need. In the second, you’re writing off all the independents and disgruntled Trump voters.
Look at the darn numbers, okay? And at least consider that this refrain was endless before the 2018 elections, and endless before Nancy Pelosi became Speaker, and who ended up winning?
Your loathed moderates.
5
Independents, Millennials and Progressives want Bernie. We are the largest voting block in the country. Join us.
12
@Rob
Ah...Eeyore has a sad and brays his condescension to any that bother to listen.
Crickets...
3
It is disturbing to read so many people holding false beliefs about Bernie Sanders.
One thing he has done is to remain a consistent advocate for working stiffs in America, when Democrats turned their backs on labor and went cozy with Wall Street (see the Clintons.)
He is closer to an FDR Democrat than any other seeking the Democratic nod, and has voted with Democrats longer in Congress than anyone but Joe Biden.
People afraid of his progressive programs need not worry. Congress is still bought by oligarchs, they'll still legislate to enrich themselves, any Democratic president notwithstanding.
14
@howard
He used to be against unfettered immigration, now he is all in on it. That is the definition of turning your back on the working stiff in America. He cares more about The Other, than he does about The American Worker.
2
60+ year old employed white female voter in purple State will vote for Bernie in the primaries, hopefully also in the general election.
20
i didn't think trump could win so maybe bernie who seems to me to be more of a longshot has a chance.in my gut i still envison hin cutting a deal and supporting warren. i think bloomberg will cut in mayor pete and biden's support enough to prevent them from winning. warren would a present i believe have a better chance of beating trump then bernie. she is the poison many in wall st big ins and big pharma could live with over trump. not so if bernie is the nominee
Bernie is a True Believer. How else to account for him sticking to his democratic socialist guns throughout his years in the Senate and even the last four of his runs for President.
15
If Bernie were a unifier he'd be the only candidate running in the Dem primary pool. Sanders loves the crowds and doesn't want to be irrelevant so so once again he is sopping up the limelight in someone else’s political party. He's a loud guest at the Thanksgiving table but he isn't a family member. Biden doesn't think he's a threat to his success.
3
What the corporatist oligarchy thinks of Bernie is irrelevant. Bernie beats Trump. Join us.
6
Why is age such a big minus for the septuagenarian Biden and not for the more vulnerable octogenarian Sanders who would be the oldest president in U.S. history? Baffling.
6
That Bernie actually stands for something new isntead of the same old neoliberal, patriarchal, racist and classist status quo that Biden and Buttigieg defend
10
They need a reasonable responsible policy platform they all agree on and thats what they stick with. They need a candidate that best delivers this and is a "normal"so the voters can feel comfortable,We are way to overexposed to chaos and fighting,
#1- Health care- Purpose to develop a plan that allows complete efficient coverage to all at a reasonable price, Assure this will be promoted and all ideas will be considered. No reason to create controversy with specifics,
#2- Taxes- We will go back for the future.Tax plans of the 1980 where fair and progressive taxes paid for all services and lowered debt, Stop inflammatory statements such as "wealth tax" stay with fair progressive'
#3- Discuss individual freedoms and stay away from specifics a such as gay or transgender- these are inflammatory and not necessary.
#4- Show how allowing education costs to decrease will increase our wealth, discuss it as a investment for the taxpayer.
#4- Remind voters about the evidence againstTrump.expose his economic failures but do not join him in a food fight
3
Mr. Douthat, there is huge difference between a Socialist and a socialist democrat. I strongly recommend you acknowledge the difference before you pontificate...
10
Will vote for Bernie if he's the nominee. But I worry. In my own circle of family and friends I can think of at least 20 wobbly Republicans and Indies who would vote for a moderate Democrat (Amy Klobuchar or Mayor Pete) but who would NOT vote for Warren or Bernie. Therefore Bernie-as-nominee would have to overcome this (think of the multiplier effect) by truly getting out the vote. If ya'll think he can do this, I'm in. But right now I'm leaning toward #Amy2020.
2
Bernie is anti-Israel (whatever his claims to the contrary), and most likely anti-India. He's the Trump of the left.
I would prefer Amy Klobuchar but common sense has gone out of the window.
3
@reader
Not anti-Israel but pro-human rights and American responsibility for what we fund. I know, that is just too radical -- at least beyond hollow rhetoric.
9
Amazing outpouring of *love* (as opposed to mere support) for Bernie here. I keep scrolling down looking for negative comments and there just aren't any. Democratic Party and national media take note: the times they have CHANGED.
10
I just want decency back.
9
Bernie was really popular in Alabama last go around, with a broader appeal than you might think. He does a great job explaining economic fairness in a way that values hard work and community mindedness.
I think he could win a lot of crossover voters. Plenty of ordinary hard working Americans haven’t benefited greatly from either party. Bernie is a fighter, and he cares.
17
Sanders has a fatal flaw--he can't stop labeling himself a "socialist" in a country where for a majority of voters that is anathema. Though I am impressed by how vital Bernie is physically and mentally at his advanced age compared to Biden.
3
@DB Don't focus on the terms. Look at the policies!
4
@DB
Republicans label all democrats "socialist," even Clinton. He has my vote.
6
@DB
That and refusing to join the party whose nomination he wants.
1
Another better-than-you-expect aspect of the Sanders campaign is that he is doing this well despite being consistently denigrated by the corporate press....this paper included.
Sanders would be an enormous win for the 99 percent; the proof of that lies in the fact that the financial industry is desperate for anyone else. The reason they are rightfully fearful is that they know he will not turn into another industry-pandering centrist once in office. He's got my vote and my dollars.
14
I opened this expecting to hate-read it, as one does when Douthat writes about "the left" (in which everyone from Bloomberg to portside becomes an associate professor of semiotics at Antioch). But it's... shockingly insightful. He absolutely nails the theoretical appeal of Harris.
There's an enormous problem with the conclusion, though. I'm pretty sure Bernie is unelectable, because of the oppo they'll be able to unload on him: they'll be able to make an argument that the guy spent the bulk of his early adulthood unemployed and kissing up to the Soviets.
Put aside whether this is true or fair, and the even more obvious counter that Trump spent the entirety of his pre-politics life as a bigot, liar, bully, serial sexual assaulter, and generally awful person. The press--owned by billionaires, and reflecting their preferences--will absolutely run with this. By Election Day, we would know far more about the drinking songs Bernie sang with Khruschev's grandkids than what Putin has on Trump.
If we weren't collectively so dumb, we'd just nominate Booker or Klobuchar and take the easy win. Bring back the smoke-filled room!
2
For starters, Bernie is older than Joe. You than go on to gloss over the fact that he is a full blown Bolshevik. You need to go back and really listen to his rants about capitalism and the “greedy rich”. Trying to tax the rich is a gross understatement. Bernie wants to transform the economy much like Maduro did in Venezuela. Heaven help us if this man becomes President.
4
Unfortunately, Bernie is totally unelectable. He really isn't a Democratic-Socialist; I've lived, worked, and travelled almost 20 years in countries with such a system; I consider it better than what we have today, which I call a Capitalist-Oligarchy.
The USA has been brainwashed for over a century to believe the words Socialism and Communism are evil. He, or Elizabeth Warren, would be labelled as such and would never be elected.
This election is the Democrats' to loose; I hope they don't screw it up again. Bernie's campaign in 2016 is one of the reasons we have Trump in the Ovasl Office today. Doug
8
@Dr. T. Douglas Reilly Nonsense. The young and educated aren't intimidated by fearmongering through the use of outdated Cold War 1980s terms. The 1970s neoliberal shift must be stunted now or never! No more middle of the road corporate friendly Dems. It's time to restore America back to a time where FREEDOM applies to a thriving middle class, not the use of interest sucking credit cards as a crutch, which only leads the economic slavery of debt. Let's go back to a thriving middle class via dignified living wages, stronger unions, independent shop entrepreneurship, and affordable education. Also add to that universal healthcare as a human right, so any gains do not get wiped out overnight. Bernie 2020!!
11
No, Obama backing a mediocre, I-have-the-presidency-coming-to-me candidate Clinton is why we have Trump in the White House. Oh, and the apparent inability of many voters to vote in their best interest.
11
Nope. He's a liar. Just like Trump.
2
Wow. I don't hate this.
8
"god forbid we have a socialist - ill vote for trump! get your gubmint hands off my social security and medicare!"
ok boomers, we get it. you hate trump but hate even more that someone under the age of 65 might get a fair shake in this country.
5
@Ashley
Easy on the "Boomer" stuff. The problem is class, not generation. This boomer and many others back Bernie
7
We don't always get the candidate we want, but what is exceptionally clear, is that Trump has to go. I have not made a decision yet and will wait until a couple of the primaries have narrowed the field before I make a decision, but irrespective of who comes out on top of the Democratic primary, that will be the person who will get my support.
For those who want to pick up their marbles and go home by either voting for someone who has zero chance of winning or just staying home, you are responsible for the Trump presidency, a President hellbent of the destruction of our democracy, partner of Putin, and scourge of the planet.
1
Remember folks, class interests inevitably outweigh everything else - if Bernie wins the nomination, expect the Obama's and the Ellen's and the rest of those wealthy liberals to turn on him.
13
Sigh.
In the first place, thanks for the vulgar Marxist blast from the past. That sort of “the economic base completely determines thought,” junk hasn’t been around much, since women and Franz Fanon and CLR James and many others got ahold of it. At least try getting up to the 1980s, and “determines in the last instance,” if the way Marx has had to be rewritten to take material reality—and guys like Obama—into account don’t float yer boat.
In the second and speaking of Obama, thanks for the communiqué from the Maccabee Suicide Squad. Wow, I’m tired of the, “more substance in our enmities/than in our loves,” brigade.
Especially because you just may be able to hand it all to Trump.
Again.
1
@Robert
Sigh, he's right.
3
I'll vote for Bernie, work for Bernie and contribute to him if he wins the nomination. I hope he doesn't. I think he is sincere and dedicated and wants to do right for America. But neither he nor Warren has a plan to pass anything beyond "We need a revolution." In red states? In a senate in which about 50% of the votes will be Republican?
Not sexy, but incremental change will revolutionize health care, social security and promote Dem control of congress so that laws can be passed and some hope of America salvaged.
There were 322 House Democrats vs. 103 Republicans in the 1935 House. 70 Democratic senators out of 96 seats.
I don't think anyone is more heartbroken by the damage to the world and to America's enlightenment aspirations Republicans cause with lies and broken oaths. I am aware climate change is well past a tipping point and we should do everything immediately to mitigate the harm to come. Nominating Warren or Sanders, Trump's preferred choices to run against, risks more loss.
Dems should be fact based & not bet on hopeful sentiment. Moderate candidates won in divided districts. Swing states are divided. This is a fact. Don't ignore it. The only imperative is to defeat Trump. Policy debates are academic. Repubs have $1 billion to cast Sanders as a big gov't socialist wanting to take away peoples' health insurance. Don't give anyone a reason to vote against Trump. Caged kids & racism should be enought to motivate Dems.
1
Yep. Not to mention that I read Douthat’s whole article as a fig leaf covering what he really means—that a) put Bernie up there, you’ll get creamed and I’ll get Roe thrown out, and b) and if Bernie wins, we’ll get Roe thrown out anyway.
3
Bernie is really our only hope at this point: If you really dig down and look at all the polling across a number of key states and the demographic makeup of his base, he is by far and wide the most likely to succeed in defeating Trump in a general. Hands down. The NYTs has a wonderful heatmap of Bernis's donors by geography which really crystallizes my statement above pretty clearly.
One note: Ross talks about his obvious popularity among younger voters population which is true. But he failed to also mention that Bernie's popularity among younger voters has a "halo effect" as well: Younger voters tend to be more passionate in their evangelism and will try to make the case for Bernie to their older friends and family when the media will not.
I do so hope Bernie wins the nomination and puts this country, and to a certain extent the Democratic party, back on track.
15
Just in the past week, Michael Moore reported something that I had not known.
Background: Flint, Michigan's poisoned water supply was well known to the Obama administration. He flew in faked imbibing a glass of water for the cameras and left. Never to return. Never to mobilze the resources of the government to correct a correctable infrastructure problem.
Hilary flew in got a heart rending photo-op shot and left for good.
2016: Among poorest precincts more than 8,000 2008 Obama voters stayed home for Hilary. That is very close to the margin of the Trump victory.
People there and around the country know that the DNC has become the party of sort-of liberals who put money ahead of people at every turn.
If a "moderate" is chosen, Trump will win again. If Sanders runs, he has the best chance of taking the disillusioned Trump voters and - most importantly - of bring the disaffected and young first time voters to the polls.
He has the strongest base of volunteers working for him. He has the stongest base of support as measured by unique small dollar donors - you know, voters.
Nominating a warmed over liberal or a billionaire will be a disaster.
22
Just in the past week, huh? That jazz is from “Fahrenheit 11/9,” which came out over a year ago.
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/09/fahrenheit-119-is-powerful-at-times-scattered-at-others/570565/
And beyond the film’s being a slapdash mess, apparently, this just in: no President can run around the country with a time machine, zooping back to fix every single thing that he disn’t even know about to start with.
Keep it up. Maybe you can get Trump elected.
Again.
3
Bernie doesn’t do as well with those of us 65 because we know how it feels to wake up every morning (if we slept at all the night before) and wonder whether we’ll make it through another day.
5
@Patricia Kurtzmiller. And yet that doesn't seem to have stopped people ages 65+ from voting for Trump, who seems far less healthy and mentally sharp than Sanders.
6
@Patricia Kurtzmiller So, how do you explain me, at age 67, recently logging my 5,000th call phonebanking for the only candidate with compassion and integrity to burn, Bernie Sanders? The reason he's not doing as well with the older people is that they haven't yet gotten the message that the narratives they're receiving through mainstream media aren't to be trusted, and the mainstream media, protecting their financial interests, is either boycotting or distorting Bernie.
6
Bernie is the best opponent for a Trump win in 2020.
Label him a socialist, advertise his plan to shut down the insurance companies and, voila, Trump gets the electoral college.
Need proof? Just look at who wrote the column.
9
Trump was a response to Obama who was a response to Bush who was a response to clinton. Let's vote Bernie.
14
Bernie might be able to win election I doubt it but I voted for Carter in 80 and I've been wrong many times since. But for all the talk of how wonderful he is how wonderful & how wonderful his policies are. He will be completely and utterly unable enact them. Even if the Dems take both houses in Congress (and that's a big if) He has neither the personal ties nor the IOU's the power players in congress to get his policies supported by big chunks of his own (purported) party. A big chunk of congressional Dems are NOT going to support someone who is a member of their party only when it's convenient. Congress people are NOT going to commit Political Suicide for someone who is a Democrat in name only. And supporting a number of Bernie's policies would be politically suicidal for more then a few congressman.
Next & probably someone will call for my head but 80 is to old for the job. The pressure would likely kill him within 18 months or so?
last, He has no allies & no experience at running an administration at even a state level. Which would lead to inevitable capture by special & vested interests. The same has Obama, Bush 2 or Clinton. None of them did a thing for Main Street, but Wall street did well out of their administrations. I won't tell you Bernie would do it deliberately, But he would be utterly dependent on advisors with their own axe to grind!
3
Other commentators here call Bernie “genuine”. I agree. He’s not my preferred candidate, but I’d have no trouble supporting his nomination and think he would prevail. Plus it would interesting to observe the hyper-hypocritical GOP -the clear beneficiaries of Russian election interference - try to paint Bernie as a communist.
10
Ross has written a very clever column. If you want the Republicans to win pump us the most left wing Democrat that exists. Bernie Sanders who supports Maduro in Venezuela, hates Israel and would create a nationwide health system that would be even worse than the VA or the National Health System in UK (yes it is cheaper but you lose choices, you will have long waits for elective health care like joint replacements and you will not have a choice of health care provider, that means your doctor will be a nurse or physicians assistant). I see his fans are cheering this piece but remember over one third of the voters are Independents. They do not like extremists of any stripe, right (aka Trump) or left (aka Bernie). I know that as much as I am sick and tired of Trump and his lies and corruption, I could never vote for Bernie Sanders.
5
@Forgotten Voter
Stop watching FOX, CNN and MSNBC and educate yourself.
Your have written in generalities and sound bites.
Sanders does not hate Israel (he is for coexistence which means supporting also the Palestinians). Let alone that Netanyahu is a carbon copy of Trump- indicted on corruption.
The US policy in Latin America (and the Near East- is shameful- so before you cast stones read about it.
The National Health System in the UK is falling apart in part because there is a push by conservatives to privatize it (so CEO's can make huge profits) and are depriving it of needed funding. (Just like what we do with our public transportation)
I live in a upper middle-class area. I have waited 3 months for an MD visit.
I would never go to the local hospital as the emergency room is poorly run.
When I worked in an emergency room, I met "traveling nurses", who have no commitment to their work place and helps the CEO by not having to pay for benefits (and can keep his $400,000 salary).
And no one writes about how we don't have to follow the healthcare models out there (UK, Canada, Thailand, Switzerland).We could take the best of the best and do our own.
9
Bernie's everything Trump voters thought Trump would be. Like Trump, he speaks from who is -- but not from the surface, but the depths. Like Trump, Bernie is authentic, but without being schismatic. Like Trump, Bernie inspires, but not by appealing to the least common denominator. It's quite clear that had Bernie been the democratic nominee in 2016, he would not have to run against Trump again in 2020.
Hey DNC! Nominate any other candidate at the party's -- and country's -- peril. Hey media! Continue to suppress Bernie's press coverage, and your resources will remain squandered on Trump tweet's and fact-checking for another four years...
Of course, you could always cross your fingers and hope that Trump is convicted by the Senate then run some recidivist or corpracrat now waiting in the wings...
This from a "Green Libertarian" from Oregon...
7
This rambling mess of a backhanded endorsement only collapsed at the foot of the stairs when Ross ran out of political labels to call out.
As a "cultural conservative" Republican fanatic posing as a Catholic, Ross wants you to believe that maybe, given his astute political sensibilities, Bernie Sanders might "spend all his time taxing the rich" and leave Douthat's ilk alone.
If Ross Douthat knew the first thing about Bernie Sanders and Democratic Socialism he'd be screaming from the rooftops that a Sanders presidency would mean the exposure of phony, hypocritical idealogues that have turned a blind eye to income inequality, a rigged economy, social and economic injustice as they continue to stare into the bright light of small government Reaganomics.
He's no better than Times pick "Tejano" who declares he's a moderate and would "stay on the sidelines and not vote" if Sanders were the nominee.
I strongly suspect that after one of them writes, and the other one reads and comments on this article, that the two of them will be desperately searching for a way to vote for Trump... twice.
2
Ross, I just love that you're doubling down on this guy, and are the kind of broadly-read, nuanced conservative intellectual of faith with whom the kinds of conversations that founded democracy remain possible.
Didn't there used to be more of your sort about? I want them back.
I know, the nerve.
Sanders vs. trump, this is the election we should have had in 2016. PS, I voted for Clinton.
7
The last thing the Democrats need to do is to take advise from a republican theocrat who is steeped in the bringing the Inquisitions back.
We Democrats are very fortunate to have patriotic, law abiding Constitutional abiding candidates who have many well thought out policy proposals that span a range of humane ideas. It will be difficult to choose the one best candidate, but that is what we will do at our nominating convention.
This fine group of candidates and their excellent policy ideas is far removed from the old white man drivel put out by the testosterone driven, war mongering republicans who only know how to give tax breaks to the rich, try to control women's bodies through legislation and the courts, and gerrymander districts so their minority party can control the serfs who vote for them.
2
I don’t know Ross, I always appreciate your sobering arguments though honestly I take you as more of a Warren fan. But, this could be just a further instance of a seemingly united attempt to draw support away from the leading progressive candidate.
1
"Cultural conservatives"? Does that mean conservatives who do not value women's bodies?
2
I had a very civilized chat with my dryer repair guy who voted for Trump. The only other candidate he likes? Bernie Sanders.
12
Ha! Of all the arguments *against* Sanders as the Democratic POTUS candidate, there is none better than Ross. While not often in agreement with him, on this opinion he is that shining neon light on the hill flashing, Do Not Vote For Bernie! I was there already but I must admit the neon message is the exclamation point. Well done, you!
1
Maybe Bernie will be the candidate of choice, maybe not. Not sure why this columnist wrote this piece, but polls change regularly. A lot of fighting still needs to be done. To put this columnist’s doubts at rest, I think most Democrats are looking for someone who will be a strong leader on a variety of fronts, from economic to environmental to foreign. While historically Senators and Congressmen aren’t elected to the Presidency, that could change. The main reason they are not elected is lack of administrative experience. Of course we’ve elected a real estate developer with no experience in anything outside his sexual dysfunctions and tendencies to lie at the drop of a hat. Anything’s possible.
Any of the current candidates would be strong, sane Presidents and would do the job admirably. The only thing I fault all of them for is being in the race. They all should have known better. It makes the Presidential candidacy a joke, a clown car if you will. In the past, if someone declared for that office, others bowed out, realizing confusion and weakening the party’s chances would be the result. And that is the result now. That’s partly to blame for Trump’s election. Instead of one strong Republican candidate in 2016, that commanded the party’s loyalty, there were many, and with them came the confusion that led to Trump.
Sanders was strong in 2016 and created the conversation we are having today. His vision of what our nation can be is very powerful.
3
For heaven's sake, Ross. You of all people should know better than to feed the Bernie monster. If you're not careful, we'll get Trump again. Just look at what you've awoken here with this single little editorial: wildly inflated expectations, false claims about polling data, conspiracy theories (e.g., media bias), etc. Literally hundreds of comments like that. For instance, you should have tempered things just a little by recounting the most recent credible polling which shows Biden, in the primaries, leading nationally against Sanders by a lot, and shows Biden, in the general election, leading Sanders against Trump in every swing state except Michigan.
4
You casually smear the candidate in noting Sanders has the support of young women "despite all the BernieBro business."
The term "Bernie Bro" was created by the media to make his support among young people appear frivolous. Look at the photos of his rally with AOC and see what his supporters really look like.
The Sanders campaign had some complaints from women workers about some male workers. There have never been any complaints about Sen. Sanders behavior.
Meanwhile, the machine candidate, Biden, has earned the nickname "Uncle Creepy" for his hands-on ways of showing women affection.
As a 66 year old woman, I am tired of being called a Bro!
10
I won't vote GOP. Period.
That ought not send a thrill up the leg of the Democratic Party, which I watched fall into disarray in 2008. Because, also I won't vote for anyone with dirty hands on the 2016 election, and Sanders does. I won't vote for anyone who plays up or to religion, as Biden and Buttigied do. I won't vote for anyone who increases the national debt and plunges the next generation into surefire poverty, as Warren and Sanders do. I won't vote for anyone who plays the race card, as Harris and Booker do.
1
Then who’s your choice? Klobuchar? Not much sizzle to her steak. And I don’t think she’d be forceful enough in the general election to convert the undecideds. I’m not thrilled about Biden, and actually like Buttigieg a lot (I consider his proclamations of faith to be genuine, and appealing to a great many Americans). Look, I would vote for a ham sandwich over Trump, but none of those currently in the race inspire a strong Get Out the Vote among all the elements we need to carry the swing states that went for Trump in 2016. Bloomberg’s apology tour is pure politics, and the minorities affected by stop-and-frisk won’t vote for him (though he would be an effective POTUS). Sanders and Warren will scare the independents and moderates into staying home because of the Medicare for All concerns (which are justified). The current form of Medicare doesn’t pay for everything, imposes too many limits to describe, and generally requires folks to carry a supplemental form of insurance to overcome those deficits. I worry for the health and safety of this planet more than anything else. We don’t have a buffer zone to wait out another presidency to take action on mitigating the forces of climate catastrophe, which won’t just be surprisingly bad weather. Humanitarian crises will surely unfold, including droughts and crop failure, that will lead to a mass migration of desperate people crossing every border seeking food and safety. I will vote for the Democratic nominee.
Bernie is old. Really, he's much too old to be president.
Bernie has had a heart attack. Now, he's asking to be hired for the most pressure-packed job in the world. With a damaged heart, he wants this.
Bernie wants MfA. Elizabeth already had to back down from this, because it's a non-starter among those who vote most reliably and regularly.
Bernie has never faced Republican opposition research. Once that gets ginned up, it will be very ugly.
So, of course Ross wants the Democrats to run Bernie.
Because Bernie will be the unifier Democrats need! (don'cha know)
6
Go Bernie! I want to see an end to the gaps in Medicare. However, if Medicare for All is to be paid thru taxes, I want my Medicare payroll deductions refunded. I think Bernie should give that some thought. It seems only fair.
3
The Dems need a candidate who can get the undecided vote. I suspect that this would be a moderate. Bernie ain't the guy.
5
As a trump supporter I shall avait at the prospect of trump running against Sanders. 1st thing I would run a commercial of him talking about how it's good to have food lines like they have in Cuba because it means you have a quality and everybody has to wait the line. Then we're gonna be of the run commercials explaining the trillions. dollars we're gonna have to spend on his medicare for all which takes away your freedom of choice to have private insurance. Then we're going to talk about if you're halfway successful you going to pay 50 to 70% tax rates and we'll see how that plays. When the commercial start running he will be by far the easiest candidate to defeat it's going to be like a Nixon McGovern contest
3
Ross, would you vote for Sanders or Trump?
2
From meeting Bernie several times and knowing that he cares and wants the best for everyone, regardless of how much money they have, I would guess Bernie is spiritually in line with Ross, who I believe is also a good person.
3
Nice try! Trying to persuade Democrats to choose a loser for the general election. Bernie hasn't even be able to persuade Vermont to go single-payer! He will lose the voters in a general.
7
Bernie has set the national agenda, has built a nation-wide following who understand that democracy isn’t something you wait for your neighbors to do for you, but that only works when all of us are involved. We need more democracy. Less oligarchy. Please join us in building a just, civil and sustainable society.
5
Sanders lost me at the last debate, when he went out of his way to bring up Gaza. He threw support to people who are terrorists, and ignored the facts that they indiscriminately send missiles into Israel and continue to build terror tunnels. He essentially lumped Saudi Arabia and Israel together, showing an ignorance about the Middle East that is astounding in its bias. He is a radical in domestic and foreign policy, and would lose to Trump.
6
Oh boy, the Left is deluding itself again. Even if Bernie could get the nomination, he can't carry the general election. None of the top three contenders can. If the dems want to insure they lose another election, they should put their eggs all in any of those three baskets.
Then there's the senate, which this cycle will not change. How does anybody persuade themselves that if elected, Bernie will be any more effective than Donald at changing anything? Bernie can sit there and scream and threaten all he wants, and not one single part of his policy will become law. He can take several pages out of Donald's book if he wants, but it still won't work.
Talk about a Peter Principle set of incompetents rising to the top! How is anybody else convinced of this? Did they all skip their meds or something?
4
@michael from the Bay Area who is wondering why Bernie is going so well with the electorate but not the press:
You know why, don’t you?
The media is owned by corporate interests and for them Sanders is anathema.
The Times fell as low as appointing Sydney Ember, the daughter-in-law of the current CEO of Bain Capital, the bastion of carried interest boondoggle to cover Bernie. Without any disclosure! Clear conflict of interest. Adding insult to injury, her husband also worked for Bain at some point.
Bernie will be elected as the first mensch President in 2020. See where the media will run then.
Read and support Jacobin in the interim.
5
Still can't believe anyone takes this old fraud seriously. If these grifters drove dollar-ninety-eight Burlington College into bankruptcy with fraud, nepotism and bad judgement, just imagine what they'll do to the federal government.
2
I have a number of Bernie problems:
He is too socialist
He is too old
He has a bad heart
He is a poor communicator
He does not appeal to the rust belt states
His policies sound good to millennials (free everything!!), but don't solved anything.
Boomers need to get out of the way
My ticket would be Newson/Abrams
4
The whole party is a mess. It really won’t matter who the throw up against Mr. Trump, he will cruise to reelection. Yes, I did say throw up.
3
I live in DC. I make $40,000 a year and do odd jobs to make extra money. I don’t own a car. The real elites in this country are Trump voters in rural areas who own a car and a truck, are credit card leveraged to a fair-the-well, and want to blame some bi-coastal cabal for their monetary troubles. Oh, and I would love to get a farm-style bailout myself.
7
That magic pill. 2 words and it's not Bernie Sanders.
It's Steve Bullock.
5
I said it before I will say it again, Bernie would have won! He would have / will best Trump! Wake up everyone!
10
Those of you who laud Bernie because he doesn't "bend with the wind" don't get that that is exactly what is wrong with him.
It's his steadfast refusal to compromise that has made him a vastly under-performing Senator. His "my way or the highway" stance is particularly unattractive and I hope he's not the nominee.
But if he is, I'll vote for him. Bernie-or-busters, please do the same, whoever the nominee is.
3
It always amazes me how the Times writers and its readership think that their views speak for the half of the country who could help get anyone other than Trump elected. You folks are overwhelmingly more liberal, more progressive and out of touch with reality when it comes to social justice worship, environmental hysteria, etc. than the vast majority of on the fence voters.
You realize what you are doing to the Dem party, right?
No Bernie will never get elected. There is no case for that if you are living in reality. The same goes for Elizabeth Warren... I know solidly left leaning Independents who would never vote for her. If you think you can support former Trump voters to switch you're wrong.
Let's be real folks.
3
Oh, Ross, just relax. Primaries are designed to test out broad candidates' visions and to give voters a voice in steering the party. It will work out. ABT.
But I object to the "mayor of a tiny city" slight for Pete Buttigieg. I understand that he lacks national experience, but do you really believe that being a first term senator is more qualifying than being the executive of a municipal government? When has a senator fixed a pothole?
2
This entire process is nuts. Ban private money. No campaigning til 6 months before election day. No 'social media'. So that you and I have as much chance as a Bloomberg. Til then, it's a joke.
5
Mr. Douthat,
Bernie ruined the 2016 election with his petulance after he lost the primary. His campaign "strategist" was Tad Devine, a cohort of Manafort in Ukraine. He cannot pull in the black woman vote, which is crucial. My prediction is his spiteful small minded followers will once again either stay home or vote for Trump again. Nothing more than an Independent , not a Democrat, trumpian rabble grouser.
8
Keep thinking all of those things that are demonstrably false, keep dismissing him. See what happens.
4
@Chud_whisperer
Once again , thanks for proving me correct, plus if you actually research my claims, then get back to me about how false they are.
1
@Larry More Hillary primary voters voted for McCain in the general than Bernie primary supporters in 2016 voted for Trump. The "bernie bro" hit job was the same as the "Obama boy" stuff the Hillary camp cooked up in 2008. Bernie has better minority and women support than any other candidate overall, trailing only Biden with black voters specifically. He endorsed Hillary and stumped for her 15+ times. Totally divisive myths you push, trying to erase the will of 20% of democrats.
It's a shame some democrats seem to still want to focusing on why Hillary didn't lose on the merits in 2016, that it was all some sort of conspiracy, so they don't have to confront the fact that they ran a bad candidate.
5
Gosh, it took how many weeks for the Times to do one (1) op-Ed piece on the momentum of Sanders, who has the most diverse voter base, the greatest number of individual donations, and the healthiest fundraising stock pile of any candidate? Meanwhile the Times’ editorial board, among the many in corporate media, dedicate several hundred column inches to the other candidates, for what purpose? Clearly, Sanders’ socialist populism does not rub well on the Sulzbergers, nor most of the corporate media elite, and they’d like to keep pushing for name brand nonstarters to justify their coverage of the 2020 election. The lessons of 2016 have not sunk in; and meanwhile we have voter-machine catastrophes popping up in all quadrants of the country. Why isn’t this front page, or at least editorial page, headline material? The grey old lady should be ashamed.
8
Bernie Sanders is sincere and genuine. He has been stating the same underlying principles for forty plus years. I would like to see a trump Bernie national debate. Let Trump present his ideas and Bernie his, it wouldn’t even be close.
8
Douhat promoting Sanders? Douhat is such a right-wing ideologue, this must be who the right thinks they have the bet chance of defeating.
3
I'm a 70 year old white, educated (MA), woman. I'm an Independent who the Republicans have lost - no more moderates running. Our country needs to change and look to the future, and that's more than Medicare for all (I support). Transportation, energy, climate, etc, etc. No more Biden, Bernie, or Bloomberg - move on!
7
It's been obvious to me since before the last election that what the country most needs - and what it most yearns for - is a new Franklin Roosevelt.
Roosevelt was from a very rich background and avidly pro-capitalist; Bernie is from a modest background and calls himself a socialist. Despite this seeming difference, though, Sanders seems to me to be the closest to Roosevelt, in terms of his aims, and his determination to hit the ground running on day one of his presidency.
Sanders could arrive in the oval office with a huge mandate, and use it to set right so very much that has been wrecked over the last four decades or so. His presidency would be the real way to "make America great again."
14
Of Bernie RD says this: "he isn’t in the culturally conservative/economic populist quadrant where so many unrepresented voters reside", This is the blind side of RD who is very bright and well spoken. This whole idea that the Trump base is unrepresented and that Trump was onto something, is utter nonsense. There is no upside to Trump. He is a liar. That is all he is. Of course you can look out onto the world and rant about how bad it is; anyone can do this, but it takes a leader who faces up to the problems as they are, who can and must lead us. Bernie could lead us in this way; But someone like Klobuchar is a much safer bet, as least as someone who could expose Trump for what he is; the beginning of the end of the Republican party that must change or end in disgrace.
2
Can an old guy teach the US new and beneficial tricks? Bernie certainly could, as opposed to that other old guy occupying Mar O Lago.
As far as Trump's age. Why isn't that an issue? Interesting. Everyone say it slowly.... Trump …. is …only ... a …. few … years... younger... than Bernie. He's … not … 40 … years.... old....
As far as train wreck, I guess it depends on your definition of exactly what that train wreck is.
3
@Jackson
Did you ever wonder why Trump got to run as a Republican, or why inheritance babies are considered successful for bankrupting casinos and other businesses? Jr. will have his turn for accomplishing nothing.
As far as the election, It's up to the party.
Last time Bernie ran, but didn't get the votes.
Trump ran, and got the Republican nomination.
It's really pretty simple.
Sounds like you are advocating another 4 years of the evil Trump in the White House. We see right through your charade. Bernie will not be the Democratic nominee.
5
Bernie beats Trump.
7
the polling numbers the guy cited aren't wrong. Bernie's support is wide and deep and will carry him far. I'm not really a fan of this particular columnist but the guy isn't wrong in making his case for Bernie..
4
Please, no more Bernie articles. These ultra left looney tunes want to tax and spend us into the poor house. My accounts are at their highest levels and my employees are reaping the benefits. These socialist kooks will do anything to turn us into a typical broke Euro style economy. Shake yourselves NYC, Trump has the economy pumping, ignore his antics and enjoy the fruits of this economy.
4
Is not wanting people to die from rationing insulin “loony tunes?” Is wanting a healthcare system that every other industrialized country on earth has “loony tunes?” You may want to inspect your motives and ask what you’re so afraid of.
5
Writer stretched to make a case for Bernie when he said Mayor Pete is presiding over a "tiny, not-obviously thriving city." Economic data and articles I have read show Mayor Pete has done a very good - albeit not perfect - of turning South Bend around.
1
Pete represents the status quo, which is not survivable.
6
Yes! As a Trump supporter, I wholeheartedly recommend that Sanders be your nomonee. A heart patient who honeymoons in Moscow during the cold war as your savior?Yes! As a Trump supporter, I wholeheartedly recommend that Sanders as your nominee. Your savior is a heart patient who honeymooned in Moscow during the cold war? Just wave the white flag now!
4
Bernie Sanders 2020. Better late than never!
10
A great idea, but why stop at Bernie?
Why not Macy's Santa Claus with the Easter Bunny VP?
Age, ethnicity, gender, sexuality...all matters of great significance to the editorial offices of the Old Gray Lady, but mere salad dressing in the real world.
Consider this: in 2016 your dream candidate with a C.V. that was missing only beatification, got trounced by what?
Yeah, yeah, she out-polled him but the corrupt electoral system beat her.
But he beat her!
The votes should have been hers by an order of magnitude, but, HE BEAT HER!!!
So, before it is too late, could we pause in our search for the second coming of Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson and concentrate on the finding a candidate who can beat DT.
Or spend the next four years lamenting the Electoral College and preparing for the inauguration of King Donny the First.
3
One Democratic shoo-in: Sherrod Brown.
1
@Chuck Psimer
Great guy, sincere and honest. But not tough enough. Sanders has the anger that motivates him to continue the fight.
4
@Tejano, @George you must not be as horrified about a president who is guilty of: tax fraud; stealing from his charitable foundation; siding with Putin over our own intelligence agencies; trying to bribe a president of an ally threatened by Russian invasion to help him win re-election; cheating on all three wives; charges of sexual molestation by nearly 2 dozen women; secretly trying to build a hotel in Moscow while lying to the public about it during the prez campaign; and lying and lying on and on - as the rest of us are. To use the words of the fraud living at 1600 ITO another candidate: what have you got to lose? Four more years of trumps indecency will destroy the country we know and love. NO MATTER WHO, VOTE BLUE! (don't stay home, don't vote 3rd party - those are votes for trump)
4
Knowing that the New York Times readership is an extremely biased sample, I am still shocked that there are so many Bernie supporters Hmong New York take a trip out of the bubble one day
1
@ron l
Yes it's a terrible thing to have so many NYT readers support honesty, morality and intelligence.
The worst - that NYT readers support the middle class. How dare they!
8
I have been outside of the bubble and looked back at our brutal and despair filled country from abroad. That is one reason I hope with all my life Bernie is our leader to a future we can survive. We can trust Bernie. Bernie beats Trump.
6
Like (I believe) most Democratic voters, I support the candidate in our primaries who I think will strive the hardest to make this a better nation, to restore our liberties and our sense of fairness and justice, and will reach for our ideals even if there will be compromises he or she will have to make along the way.
I am one of those Social Security recipients that Mr. Douthat believes do not support Bernie, but I support him just as I did in 2016, and in his Senate races and House races and races for mayor. I am an old New Dealer, one of the last of my species left to roam the earth, and so, I perceive, is he. And a new New Deal is what we need.
I am sick and tired of Democrats who regard our once-proud party's principles of egalitarianism, equality of rights, and basic fairness, justice and peace as matters to compromise away even before a campaign begins. This is why so many Democratic candidates seem weak and confused and endlessly compromise with themselves before they speak.
I understand this is because money has been permitted to have an increasing impact on our elections, as has been arranged by a series of court decisions starting with Buckley v, Valeo and running through Citizens United, McCutcheon and others. It prevents Democratic candidates from standing on principles that might not attract rich donors.
The rich want life to increasingly favor themselves even more than it already does. Only Bernie has shown the courage to stand up to it.
10
To undo Trump, a lukewarm Biden is not enough. There is another financial crisis looming, the republicans have done everything to make sure of this. And make no mistake, when the democrats win, they will inherit this crisis, and will own it. That is the cynical game of the republicans, loot the economy for their rich friends, and in the next term let the democrats boot the bill and take the blame.
So democrats need to put on an high stake. They have to turn Reaganomics back by at least 30 years, and probably will just have 4 years to do it.
9
@Mathias Weitz
You seem to forget that every time Republicans have played their financial ruin game with Democrats "inheriting" the crisis -- they have OWNED it, and then aced it.
1
Trump will win in 2020 which will set up a clear path for AOC to win the presidency in 2024. If by that time we are still a Democracy.
2
If Trump wins again, it will grind his corrupt DNA into our country. We have only 11 years. We must win this time and not wait.
2
I agree with many of Mr. Sander's policies but his faults as a candidate are overwhelming. He comes off as a cranky, old man, not a powerful leader. His health is in question, the title of socialist gives the Republicans an easy target to attack.
He does appeal to millennials who believe that they are entitled to the good life without any requirement to work hard for it. Yes, I am a boomer, who is living the good life. I have worked hard and long to provide such a life to my family and consider it to be a badge of honor.
The bottom line is that the Democrats could nominate a Labrador retriever and it would be better qualified than Trump, intellectually and morally, to be President.
5
@Jon Tolins
Your perspective is just that- your perspective. I don't see Sanders as a cranky old man because what I value as important in life is not how old you are, but your political, moral, overall educational intelligence, and most importantly your perseverance and courage.
3
Have you met Bernie? He’s a sweetheart.
5
Doing better than we expect among those making a hundred grand or more a year won't win the election if, when push comes to shove next fall, they all get cold feet, refuse to look past their wallets, and as covertly as they can, stick with Trump. Populism may be in, but what's even more in is feeling like you've finally made it and that you shouldn't have to share the fruits of your lifelong's work.
2
Typically weak takedown attempt from the cheap seats, one of many I assume we'll see in coming months as writers like Mr. Douthat try desperately to cut the baby in half. Your party is corrupt, Sir, as is your philosophy. Whether the nominee is Mr. Sanders or a ham sandwich will make little difference. This one's not about policy; it's about treason.
1
Ross supporting Bernie?
I must have gotten outa the wrong side of the bed. Let me climb back in and give this a do-over.
1
Bernie is a narcissist. That’s what I think every time I see him speak. Bernie cares about Bernie first.
Do we want another narcissist in the White House? No. Narcissists don’t care about what’s best for America. They are bigger than America (in their minds). Bad trait in a president.
6
How is Bernie a Narcissist? He is the most clear eyed candidate out there. He sees the oligarchy and calls it out for what it is. Anti-democratic and anti-social. Corrupt capitalism has proven to be a dead end for democracy.
6
Bernie is the only politician who isn’t a candidate for himself. You clearly haven’t met Bernie. I have.
4
Trump will beat all Democrats...because it's the economy, stupid. Wall street will not tank the economy because they love them the tax cuts. In 2023, the economy will tank and it will be again the Democrats' fault and requirement to save America again.
bah. Your fake democracy in the USA is so tiring.
The republicans are always the ones who tank our economy. This economy is the result of what Obama did
4
@Mogwai
There are a significant amount of Americans who know full well the economy Trump is always boasting about is the result of the Obama administration.
Another thing.
There is nothing "fake" about Democracy.
1
Anyone but trump
3
But who would YOU support Ross?
Finally the NYT is not ignoring Bernie any longer!
8
Wow! The New York Times decided to allow a favorable editorial about Bernie Sanders. That's progress. I'm amazed.
8
Why is this right wing republican writer even on your staff?
Anyhow I am 80 and probably according to my children & Douhat be hauled to Alaska and if their is any ice left be put on a float. If Biden is too old then what is Bernie a teen ager-I think not. Anyhow he is not a democrat just a caucuser and his policies make no sense especially re health care. Leave Obamacare alone but of course he and Liz and the repubs will not. Biden is the only candidate with any chance of beating Trump in Pa. forget about Mi and Wi they are all brain dead and will probably vote for the idiot in the WH!! I hope not but he has a chance at least in Michigan and with those two states we can win back the Oval Office.
4
Nonsense statement that over 65 boomers are not pro-Bernie. He is the candidate of true progress. Never mind the label of socialism, this has been fake-spun into some sort of anti-American notion that makes my head hurt. I was born in the 50s. The USA ideal I was led to believe has disappeared and we 99%ers are impoverished by slimy profiteers in every sector. Bernie’s common sense and genuine care for the betterment of us all has been his consistent compass. He is the antithesis of Trump and can coalesce citizens of every stripe. Dems and MSM please don’t screw it up again by going all anti-Bernie on us.
10
Bernie was my choice last time. When Hillary got pushed through I was disappointed but more than willing to give her my vote — it was clear that Trump was an absolutely horrible choice for President, and I wasn’t about to give a third party candidate my vote just to hand Trump the Presidency. Besides, I would have been, and was prepared to be, happy to know that my vote contributed to seeing our first female President.
This time around, for me, will be exactly the same. Bernie is again my choice. He has had my respect and admiration a long time, since my years in Vermont. But, if Democrats around the country believe there’s a better choice (and I don’t mean the DNC making the choice for us), and he or she gets the nod, I will happily vote for that person because I know that every single one of the candidates now vying for that position can run circles around the lying, corrupt, narcissistic fraud currently taking up space in the Oval Office. And I’ll be damned if I give a third party candidate a chance this time especially. Now’s not the time to “make a statement” against a problematic two party system. Now’s the time to rid ourselves of this cancer. The stakes are higher than they have ever been.
4
testing... 1,2,3... is this thing on?
So my piece was about Bernie... but not worthy? Obviously the editorial staff has the final say but I do wonder sometimes why if I take the time to offer a reader comment, why it's not posted?
Have a nice day.
"The Case for Bernie" is that Bernie needs a case of Red Bull to make his case.
Look elsewhere, Ross. The caffeine he consumed would be dangerous to his ticker and more dangerous to our US of A.
3
I'm happy to see a relatively favorable article on Senator Sanders in the NYT. The Sunday morning political shows on the other hand (e.g. NBC's Meet the Press, ABC's This Week, etc) continue to focus on Pete Buttigieg's "rise in the polls" while barely making any mention of Bernie. What polls exactly are they basing their reporting on? According to one of the most reliable polling sites (www.realclearpolitics.com), Bernie has has been steadily rising and as of this past weekend surged to 2nd place nationwide. Also, in Iowa he is tied for 1st place in several polls and in the lead in a Boston Globe, Emerson, UNH, and St. Anselm poll in New Hampshire by as many as 12 points!!
This biased reporting and support for corporate friendly candidates must end. It is an injustice on the political process and our democracy. Bernie 2020!!
9
I grew up in Canada with free healthcare, good public schools and $2000/yr university tuition at McGill, one of the best schools in the country, for which I received low interest government loans. I lived at home but would have been entitled to a government bursary for living expenses if my parents home was located too far away. We didn’t have much money - I was definitely the poorest amongst my high school friends, some of whom came from wealthy families yet still attended the same schools. I am now as financially successful as many of them, if not more.
Canada is the type of society Bernie is proposing, not Venezuela. Canada is consistently listed as one of the top five places to live, along with Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, all Social Democracies where one can still be well-tp do, just not to obscene extremes.
What is so crazy or radical about this?
18
Even knowing thatt he New York Times readership is such a biased sample of ultra liberals, I am still shocked that's so many think that Bernie can win a general election. Even putting aside that he just had a heart attack and that he is 77 years old and that he has little appeal to African-Americans, he is much too radical to get the independent vote, the never Trump Republican vote, or even some of the moderate Democrat vote. I have voted Democrat my whole life and contributed time and money to Democratic candidates, I will vote for Bernie against Trump if I have to , but I'm not working for him or giving him a penny. I don't know anyone my age who prefers Bernie to a more moderate candidate.
3
And what is your age?
1
I think the Democratic Party presents a number of good canidates. But voting this time around, no matter who is running against that person in the oval office, that Democrat has my vote. Removal of Trump must be first, then we heal the country.
3
The most compelling aspect of Bernie's candidacy, IMHO, is that he does not "bend with the wind" as one commenter here put it. He has deeply-held principles and beliefs to lift up the average citizen and has fought for them his whole 30-year plus political career. Who else can say that?
11
Bernie is a leader - something which doesn't get talked about a lot.
He walks the walk, works hard, and is looking out for the working man.
12
Probably the biggest obstacle to Bernie winning the nomination is the Democratic National Committee. The one thing the DNC really, really doesn't want to happen is any fundamental change in how money gets made and distributed in the U.S. Hence the DNC's emphasis on matters other than economic. This is, of course, how rich democratic party donors prefer it. To feel morally superior while not really having to actually kick in. Since Bernie's chief focus is an end to plutocracy, the very thing both the RNC and the DNC exist to perpetuate, Bernie's facing headwinds. Not with the voters. He would have handily beaten Trump in 2016. But with the plutocrats who control access to the political parties themselves. They're not doubt machinating again to prevent him from being the nominee. Economic populism is what voters in both parties crave. That's no secret. And it's what party elites don't want. That's no secret either.
13
The most succinct and accurate assessment I have read anywhere. Thank you.
6
@Chuck You're absolutely right, and there's also the massive amounts of money the health care industry is prepared to spend spreading lies about Bernie if he gets the election. These are very big mountains we're trying to move here. The strategy, both in the election and for afterwards, in the words of the campaign slogan, is to be "Not me, us." What Bernie needs to do, and is doing, is leading a mass, grassroots movement. If the people rise up and make it clear that these things are the will of the people and the shape of the future, they'll be hard to deny. You don't see even the most bigoted GOP politicians running against gay marriage, for instance, because they know they're on the wrong side of history and want to get reelected. The way for us to keep from being denied is to simply become undeniable.
2
Spare me conservative advice. Conservatives haven't earned the right, after all the needless misery they have imposed upon the country, from blocking health care reform to destroying the environment, all to gift the wealthy endless tax cuts.
3
Real people love him, and he’s the first candidate in a long time to have the working class people’s interest at heart.
11
I still wonder if a Jewish )albeit Democratic) Socialist with a strong Brooklyn accent (as my father had) can win a presidential election. I would like to believe it, but I fear it is not so. Certainly, should he win the nomination, I will work for him and vote for him --- but I am of the anyone-but trump variety. It would take some doing for me to quell my lingering resentment of the Bernie-or-bust and Jill Stein voters who helped to inflict trumpism on us, but I will work on that if necessary. Having just turned 80, and coming to grips with the reality of being an old man with an uncertain term left, I regret that I might not be around to see "how it comes out". And being lifelong atheist (with very Jewish roots) I can't really pray for the outcome that will determine the survival of our experiment in self-government. Thus I implore (just in case) all those who do believe to pray hard that the antichrist now defiling Abe Lincoln's chair gets the result he deserves.
1
It has not a thing to do with him being Jewish. It has to do with the fact that Bernie is too far left for most of the country. It has to do with the fact that his policies are, literally, socialist. It has to with the fact that he is a well-known follower, i.e. not a leader, of proposed legislation in Congress. It has to do with the fact that he is *old* (I’m 70, I know old) & has had a heart attack. Unless he has a stellar VP candidate , what idiot would vote for him? I wish religion were the issue—that’s a much easier smack down (& argument) than the fact that he is unqualified & can’t win.
3
By worrying about it so much you’re the one preventing it from happening.
1
@jprfrog
My mother has the same concern about Bernie's being Jewish, but I think that's really a generational thing and of little to no import to most voters. You might resent me for voting for 'the other woman' (Jill Stein) but let me assure you that it was a perfectly safe vote in a reliably Red state. (Also, Bill Clinton was not someone I could cast a vote to put back in the White House . . . . )
1
I'm a married Christian mom and I disagree with a lot of Bernie's proposals. But he is just so *authentic* and clearly guided by his moral beliefs. I have to believe that having an authentic person of integrity in the White House would do *something* good for the country.
10
@bess: seems to me that the center of Bernie’s philosophy —caring for the sick and the least among us — is exactly what Jesus spent most of his time preaching about.
5
Bernie is unelectable because he lives in an alternate, fact-free universe, in which he promises medicare for all for free, college at no cost, student loan forgiveness for all, among many other boondoggles.
The current US debt is a staggering $23 trillion dollars, and we are currently running an annual deficit of around a trillion dollars (despite the foolish promise that the Trump tax cuts would pay for themselves). This is unsustainable.
If Bernie's proposals were enacted (an unlikely proposition with divided gov't) we would add trillions in additional debt.
I would add that medicare for all is a solution in search of a problem. I like my private plan and don't want medicare. With all the problems the country faces (global warming, infrastructure, political divide, etc), it's insane to force over 150 million americans offer their private plan they like and pray medicare (with 150 million new accounts) doesn't mess things up. Medicare as an option- sure; but don't force me to take it.
At some point, we will have to pay the piper. The solution is to control spending to match revenues-- not make the problem catastrophically worse by adding trillions in additional debt for years to come.
Bernie's plans are a fantasy with no basis in fiscal reality. Trump would have a field day caricaturing him as a communist extremist.
4
Most of the debt you name is due to tax breaks for the wealthy, the endless wars put to us by a Republican administration, and the $716 billion we continue to allocate to the military industrial complex every year. Get rid of those, and you have a huge surplus to enact the kind of social/infrastructural/healthcare/educational reforms every American deserves.
7
I don't know why I don't read more about the difficulties associated with Sanders not actually being a Democrat. I guess after all the grief the DNC took in 2016 over their supposed poor treatment of Sanders, they aren't going to make a peep about him sailing under a false flag. I, for one, think it is a problem, and it will present more problems if he gets elected.
Nonetheless, if he's the Democratic nominee he will have my vote.
21
@Madeline Conant It's not sailing under a false flag. There are two parties in this country, whether we like it or not, and the political system has evolved to the extent that it is just about impossible to win at the national level as an independent. So he caucuses with the Democrats and is politically closer to them than the GOP, obviously. He has some difficulties with the DNC and the corporate, neo-liberal wings of the party, as a true Democrat would. And it was not "supposed" ill treatment he received from the DNC for having the nerve to challenge Hillary Clinton. It was real and it was documented in, among other things, Podesta's emails as Debbie Schultz's leaked communications.
27
@Harvey Green
He would have no base of support in Congress as an independent and could just as easily work with Republicans to pursue their agenda.
And he did not receive ill treatment from the DNC. Hillary was asked to raise money for a broke party and some of that money went to Bernie.
The emails were nothing more than political locker room talk.
5
@Madeline Conant
If the Democratic Party nominates a dog, he will have my vote!
1
Believing a vote for Warren or Bernie will be the winning vote will ultimately lead to another Trump term. Biden may have a chance against trump and bloomberg would win. Let’s get back to reality people.
19
@Gregory Dunn Who cares? Another Obama is 4/8 wasted years without legacy. Might as well let the next Republican tug to the right happen now.
I’ll take my chances.
6
Remember how “electable” Hillary was supposed to be? Kerry? You don’t, nor does anyone else using conventional wisdom, know anything about electability. Look who’s in the White House for gods sake
3
"I keep coming back to the conservative’s case for Bernie "
The case is: 6 million Sanders' supporters voted for Trump in 2016.
Trump should be thanking Sanders supporters, as well as, the Russians for his victory.
22
@Listening to Others Cite your sources.
7
@Listening to Others
Who can blame them? The DNC and its likeminded media decided for the rest of us and failed miserably with Clinton, a candidate who called rural America deplorables. It seems, they don’t learn.
I will stay home if it’s Buttigieg or Biden.
4
The Case Against Bernie Sanders centers around obvious facts conspicuously absent in this piece. Sanders would be such a gift to Trump that Trump would not even need to lie and cheat to defeat him.
Sanders is a self-proclaimed ‘Socialist,’ which hands Trump the gift of running against Socialism itself, with all its baggage. In a poll asking Americans to rank the traits they least want in a Presidential candidate, the top two were Socialism and ‘candidates over 70.’ Sanders is even older than Biden (whom Ross dismisses as too old) and is in worse health. Even a minor health incident on the grueling General Election campaign trail could upend the election. Why take such a chance in an election of this import?
And why choose a candidate whose former extreme stances on issues would provide Trump with a treasure trove of attack-ad material? Sanders (little known fact) ran three times for state office as a candidate for the Liberty Party which favored abolishing the US military and guarding the country with the Coast Guard. He claimed in an early essay that women fantasize about being raped. And much more.
Sanders centers his campaign around his extreme and unpopular healthcare plan- with Elizabeth Warren somehow taking the blame on that issue. Finally, many women deeply resent Sanders’ heavy hand in destroying Hillary from the left and his deeply divisive role among Democrats in 2016. Beware of Republicans offering advice. Sanders is not a Uniter but a Spoiler.
44
Actually, medicare for all is very popular. 70% of the country favors it, along with 52% of republicans.
45
@Ben Actually it's not. When the details are explained as in recent polling, support drops into the 30s. Even in the People's Republic of Vermont, a major push for this kind of plan failed once voters got the gist of it. The goal is worthy but Warren's more cautious approach to it is better than Bernie's.
4
@Ben You reminded me of seeing some really stupid signs saying "Keep Your Government hands off my Medicare," at a televised Republican rally back in the Obama Administration. I think that while 52%of Republicans might love their Medicare, they don't realize that they would not have it if not for Democrats. Ditto Social Security.
Medicare deserves to be popular, and I am happy to read the stats you have provided. Thanks!
7
Have the Democrats learned nothing from Bush II and Trump? A president without administrative skills is a disaster. Bernie does not have them -- he was the mayor of a small city and in his many years in Congress, has always been an outsider, not taking responsibility for legislation and building coalitions to gain support. He disdains many of his colleagues and has no base to serve him as President.
12
@SDG . Yet some, especially among the Wall Street set, think Pete Buttigieg, with a similar CV but many decades less experience, has a real good chance of becoming the nominee. How does that work out on a rational level?
5
@SDG You should do your research on Sanders before you make statements like this.
9
Bush II had been the governor of Texas. Why do you think he lacked administrative skills? Trump's "lack of administrative skills" isn't his main problem, anyway. It's his profound ignorance - not just of government and history, but really of everything except real estate transactions.
1
The more accurate title for this piece is "The Case For Losing to Trump Again". (The Democrats need a unifier. It won't be a Vermont Socialist.) We should remember the tepid support Sanders gave to Clinton in the 2016. We should also remember how some of his supporters refused to vote, voted for Jill Stein or cast their votes for Trump. Sanders wasn't a unifier in 2016 and won't be in 2020. Of course in the unlikely event that he wins the nomination you may see some Democrats who will not vote, vote for a 3rd party candidate or perhaps even vote for Trump.
7
The key to losing to Trump is nominating another milquetoast centrist
8
Sanders endorsed Clinton even despite being screwed by the DNC and its superdelegates. What more did you want?
5
@Horace Buckley, the Clinton sore losers have found time to deflect blame for their astonishing loss to one of the greatest imbeciles in American political history to the Russians, Comey, Sanders and the mythological Bernie Bros, the man in the moon, the Trilateral Commission, and, I believe, the kitchen sink.
What they have never done is question the wisdom of nominating Clinton (the most qualified candidate to ever run for president, or so I was told) in the first place.
Keep in mind, more Clinton voters defected to McCain/Palin in 2008 than Sander supporters defected to Trump/Pence.
If you are looking for party loyalty, don’t look for it among Clinton supporters.
1
Ross Douhat: “The state of the Democratic field reflects the weaknesses of the individual candidates,”
No it reflects the blindness of a lot of American voters, not to recognize the true leadership qualities of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to recommend doing away with for-profit health insurance in favor of a publicly funded healthcare system which would truly bring economic, societal, and racial equality to the United States for the very first time in our history.
58
@Time - Space Well put.
1
I will of course vote for Bernie if he wins the nomination, he will be infinitely better than Trump. However, I doubt that he will be a good President. He is inflexible, not likely to make necessary compromises to pass legislation, and will alienate a large percentage of the electorate, increasing the polarization. He probably will attract frustrated Trump voters who are not racist or religious zealots, which will help him defeat Trump, but given furious opposition from other sectors success is not certain.
3
Bernie should have been the nominee in 2016. Instead the party went with a centrist and lost, just as it did with other “safe” choices like Dukakis, Mondale & Kerry. We need a candidate that inspires us to not only vote, but to knock on doors, make phone calls, and get our families and friends to join us.
8
@Edie Clark - you forget that those who are "inspired" by Bernie are a small slice of the electoral pie. The rest of the voters are frightened by him.
1
Very pleased that Ross Douthat has seen the light, especially as the NYT columnists have given Bernie Sanders such short shrift throughout this campaign. It indicates that he has finally reconciled the overwhelming public support for the senator's agenda of democratic socialism and its promise of healthcare for all. It is evident that his expansion of Medicare to cover every person in the nation supersedes any "plan" that his fellow candidates have to offer. To the American people that promise is first and foremost in poll after poll. There is no other candidate with the political savvy that Sanders has garnered over his years as a congressman and senator. He will definitely be the one to beat for the Republicans next year.
6
Many people who are fed up with the training wreck that is the Trump Train have stated that they will vote for ANY candidate with a "D" next to their name. To them it doesn't matter who the nominee is or their policies. So let those of us concerned about the policie, many of whom sat out the 2016 election, push forward a candidate who addresses issues that are important to us and the country. Those issues include student loan debt (I have none, as if that matters), health care access for all at no cost at the point of care (this is a national defense issue), income inequality (a social stability issue...beware the pitchforks), and climate change (the Green New Deal addresses climate, employment, income, and health issues). Based on those issues, Senator Sanders leads the pack of Democrats; however, some other candidates might work well in his administration.
2
Isn’t anyone, including you Ross, concerned about his health? Or the fact that we didn’t learn that he had a heart attack on top of two stents being put in until three days later? I’m sure his political team were trying to figure out how to spin what is now a major illness-especially for a 77 year old man! And, sorry, but Bernie only becomes a Democrat when it suits his purposes. And please will folks stop listening to conservatives like Ross who tell us who to vote for?
6
@Pragmatic One wonders what you include or exclude in your understanding of "democrat." FDR brought the democratic party into the light with his social programs to keep this country from sinking into the mire brought about republican policies. Bernie is reviving the democratic party from what it used to stand for.
1
If the next election were about ideas and character, Elizabeth Warren would win (with Bernie supporters fully on board) and Trump and his GOP would be resoundingly rejected. If so, many of the national problems that the political class (mainly the Republican half) have created or ignored for decades could be addressed and the lives of 90% of all Americans could be improved. Unfortunately this election, as in 2016, is likely to be about fear, resentment and disinformation spewed by the GOP and its proponents, both foreign and domestic. Even if a majority of voters recognize the depth and breadth of GOP corruption, there is no assurance that their collective will would be reflected in the election outcome. That is the grim state of things.
2
No matter how good the 2020 election is for Dems, we will likely not take the Senate. Without the Senate, how in the world would Sanders (or Warren or any Progressive) get even a quarter of his platform done? Whomever is elected will face the same obstructionism Obama faced. Presidents aren't kings and they can't just declare things law.
5
Thank you Ross for breaking down the complexities of the Democratic primary in a relatable manner. I know I can’t wait for the next cocktail party to drop the 19th century Hapsburg reference.
2
If ever I needed a proof that socialism and theocracy are the same thing, here it is. Mr. Douthat endorsing a socialist because he is not pro-abortion! Neither was Stalin, incidentally. If the recent anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall did not remind historically illiterate Americans what socialism is like, they can take a look at the slow-moving catastrophe in Venezuela that is unfolding right now. Bernie supported Chávez. He supported the USSR. Socialism is like any religion, in that no amount of contrary evidence ever convinces the believer that they are wrong. But if Democrats nominate Bernie, chances are we will end up with four more years of Trump and more conservative judges promotion a theocratic agenda, is is what I suspect Mr. Douthat really wants.
6
@Mor There is a difference between socialism and democratic socialism and I suspect that you know that. Your choices of USSR and Venezuela as evidence rather than most of Europe and Australia is telling.
So what evidence would convince a free market obsessive that our health care delivery system isn't the best. Higher costs with poorer outcomes? Unpredictable annual increases?
@ Mor:
There are still many people out there who confuse Socialism and Social Democracy. Here again:
Socialism: Means of production are owned collectively.
Social Democracy: A democratic system with a solid set of regulations and institutions in place that ensure equal opportunity and help the disadvantaged to progress.
Example: Germany
Advanced education is free.
Bafög: system that entitles each student to a ~1k $ per month stipend. Depending on parents income they pay part or fully for it.
Nothing extreme about Social Democracy.
Willy Brandt who enacted many of the Social democratic reforms in the 60s is widely regarded as one of the most successful Chancellors in Germany.
I remember watching Bernie on "The Tonight Show" 4 year sago and him telling Jimmy Fallon that he had the chops to defeat Trump. He was firm and impassioned. Jimmy said (essentially) "2 New Yorkers going at it, eh?" Bernie said, "I'd love that chance."
I have my issues with Bernie. But, at the end of the day, I believe in him. He has true passion. He has a wealth of experience. He wants what is best for the many, and not just the few. When I watch him speak in the debates, he inspires me. I really can't say that about any of the other candidates. And (as he said 4 years ago), I believe he is the only one of the Dem hopefuls that can beat Trump.
9
This is a well thought out argument for Bernie"s chances. I would add, however, a few more pluses and minuses. Regarding compromise, he demonstrated doing so after he lost to Hillary. But what he considered a positive platform negotation , alienated many of his youthful supporters. As AOC recently stated, Bernie's policies are a starting point in negotiations, and those expecting him to give them everything are not living in the real world. Another plus is that Bernie the socialist agrees to fund entrepreneurship in inner-cities. If the Dems, give him a chance, I doubt whether Trump will debate him. If there is a debate I predict Trump will refuse a second one. Another plus is his stating emphatically that he will need massive grassroots support. One of his weaknesses, however, will be the vast power of the Wall Street, Fox News propaganda machine. Bernie's fund-raising, though impressive, will be minuscule compared to his opponents. Also, what will his chances be in Purple states? As Ross Douthat asks, however, is there a stronger candidate to be found? I would happily support a Bernie, Stacy Abrams ticket.
3
From Douthat's perspective (that of a conservative Republican and neverTrumper), Bernie is the perfect candidate.
Bernie might beat Trump.
But, there's no way Bernie serves two terms (the guy is genuinely old, and his health isn't great), so that gives Republicans a chance to recover the presidency very rapidly, while treating Bernie as a lame-duck from Day 1.
And, Bernie doesn't like the Democratic Party and detests the party organization. He will go to war with the party's mainstream and loyalists from the moment of his nomination. The result will be chaos that will likely strengthen Republicans in the Senate and House.
The result should be precisely to Douthat's taste: a one-term Democratic president, with Republicans dominating the Senate and greatly strengthened in the House.
Not my choice, but I actually like the Democratic Party. If I were a senator, I'd be a Democrat rather than an Independent. Hey, if I wanted to be the Democratic nominee for president, I'd have joined the party and given it my all, supporting Democrats wherever possible. Which is why I can't imagine Bernie as the Democratic Party nominee.
3
Like the commenter, Michael, says, "Bernie is the tireless FDR democrat our country needs right now."
Obama was elected on the most progressive leftist change agenda in recent history. Obama was the worst political disappointment in history. What happened?
That Obama is so determined to make sure Sanders, the most popular politician in America since 2015, doesn't become president, speaks volumes about Obama, corporate capitalism, and lack of democracy in America.
4
@Lawrence Chanin
What happened is Mitch McConnell led the Republicans in 8 years of obstructing anything Obama tried. Dems can expect the same if they win the Presidency but can’t capture the Senate. Right now, I’m for holding the House and taking the Senate since I’m not comfortable today’s chances of a Democrat taking the WH.
1
@Charlene Barringer Charlene, if one old Republican holds all the power in America and can block everything the president and the clear majority of the people want, Americans have a more serious systemic problem than you think you do.
But is it just possible Obama and Biden gave up too easily because they were corporatized Wall Street Democrats?
@Lawrence Chanin
Hi! I don’t believe that’s the case, I think Obama was left by the Bush administration staring into the abyss when the economy collapsed and was forced to save Wall Street to restore the country to a semblance of sound footing. Faced with McConnell again obstructing in the second term, I believe Obama/Biden focused outside the country: TPP, Iran, Climate. Yes, one single Republican led the resistance against Obama/Biden, publicly but his entire party followed suit. McConnell has that kind of power; remember the Supreme Court fiasco? This is all about power and money and the Dems can’t play with only one branch of government. TRump has exposed the frailness of our Constitution. The Founders could imagine a despot like TRump, but never envisioned an entire party could besmirch their sacred oath and support such a traitor. Yes, our democracy is in peril, I would say mortal peril, if TRump and the Republicans win in 2020.
1
Sorry. I don't think so.
And I'm also not impressed by all those who feel they must come out and attack anyone who dares to disagree with Mr. Sanders.
My reasoning is simple.
First and foremost, Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat.
Not in 2016. Not now.
Like it or not, there are many voters who hold that against him and whatever message he might have.
And that alone disqualifies him from being the Democratic "unifier" you think he is.
I happen to have lived in a Socialist country in Europe, so I know the difference.
But most Americans have a knee-jerk reaction to the "socialist", and that's another reason why Sanders will never unify the Democratic party.
Then there's the fact that he still hasn't manage to resonate among all Black voters -- something that will matter in the end.
Mind you these are just observations and in no way an indication of who I may, or may not be voting for since I am still in observation mode.
But whoever walks off with the Democratic nomination will have to be someone who can miraculously be all things to all people.
And I don't think we've seen that yet.
7
@N.Smith, so what? Trump is not a Republican either. These classifications are all meaningless anyway.
1
I'm near 65 and I support Bernie Sanders. I don't agree with him on everything but find him to be honest and actually the one who has reached across the aisle and successfully passed legislation. He is consistent and reassuring and the only one of all the Democratic contestants who actually looks like he could get things done.
6
@Bill
I’m 73 and don’t support Sanders. He reached across the aisle to pass legislation all right: the 2005 bill to protect gun manufacturers from lawsuits.
1
At this point we should be focused on protesting the corruption of the DNC, as they are no longer interested in representing the people, only wealthy donors. Unfortunately Obama is not on our side. These are the realities we have to face, along with the broken electoral college system and corruptible voting machines.
4
Sorry, but Bernie, Warren and Biden are too old: This may be a surprise but judging at the feel of grassroot, it's really time for the younger ones, Buttigieg has been copying Yang and has no black support, Harris has no appeal: Andrew Yang manages to tap into the Grassroot level (even with the 'systemic racism/exclusion attack on him): you all should not shun/snub him but give him time to explain, so he does not always have to rush through matters to get his points quickly across- the fact that he's still managed to get his points, is in fact a miracle). Yang is the real deal, he has the charisma to take on Trump, and currently the best bet for the Democrats.
3
As I do agree with your article I must clarify one thing and that is your use of socialist to describe Bernie Sanders, to be more accurate Bernie is a Democratic Socialist which is definitely different than being a socialist, you need to learn that difference if you want to promote the facts.
8
There is no case for Bernie. He sees Maduro's policies as a blueprint for America.
3
@Kent Kraus - not quite true, but everybody thinks that's what he plans to it all comes out to the same thing. Bernie scares more people than he inspires.
1
You hinted at his age (a member of the social security set) but didn't state it. I will. He's 78, older than Biden, Warren, Bloomberg and the Toddler. He had a heart attack a few weeks ago. He doesn't seem to be particularly compassionate, although measured against Trump, he's Gandhi. He has the street cred to be prez, but the age thing worries me.
2
@MJ2G That's why we have a vice president.
1
I'm 74, and I'm Bernie or Bust. Once the media blackout and smears stop - if ever, seniors will find out what a good deal he is for them and their grandchildren. Compromise with the likes of centrist Democrats? Over my dead body. The Democratic Party is the Republican Party reincarnate. They all need to go back where they came from and clean up their own racist and crazy party, not soil and destroy the party of FDR.
Thiis misses the point too. We don't make programs universal because everyone struggles, we make programs universal so everyone is part of the struggle.
The marginal cost of including high earners is worth getting rid of gate-keeping & reducing intra-working class resentments. What kind of society do you want to live in? Not one created by neoliberals and neocons.
9
In the 2016 primaries, while Sanders' progressive positions appealed to my deeply liberal bias, my support went to Clinton. There were a number of factors that influenced my decision, primary among them her gender. I happen to be a man who has long believed that testosterone needs to be removed from influencing presidential decisions.
That said, I had many an argument with Sanders' supporters about his self-proclaimed socialism. In a theoretical match with any Republican, Sanders would be branded as a dangerous communist traitor whose policies lean far to the left of Joe Stalin. That was true then, and that would be true today.
As far as Douthat's opinion of the entire field of Democratic candidates, he is way off base. Each one of them is highly impressive.
Safe yourself the angst and vote for Bloomberg. He is more liberal than you think and he is the best leader.More importantly, he will trounce Trump.
3
@USNA73: Two New York billionaires running against each other? What if we want a president who isn't a New York billionaire.
3
All in all, Bloomberg did a great job in NYC. Some missteps, but the best rational leadership seen in America in decades.
1
For me it’s Warren and if not I go for Trump. I prefer extremes!
@Rajn Please don't say that! Warren & Trump - two different worlds, and the world of Trump is absolutely too frightening.
1
Never selected Douthat's column first before, but glad I have this morning. Thank you Ross.
Plus you made me laugh out loud;
"Bernie — which rests on the perhaps-wrong but still attractive supposition that he’s the liberal most likely to spend all his time trying to tax the rich and leave cultural conservatives alone."
But will the Times and the rest of the news business ever cover are politics honestly?
The culture war is killing us, come on people, let's come together over our shared values. This is no time for petty infighting. We have too many surging global challenges to be fighting over wedge issues.
To those Dems who mount arguments that will die fast if Trump wins, please regain your senses. This means you too, NYTs, who has given Warren such a hard time over non issues. — Sanders Warren is the ticket if we are to survive.
This is not the time to indulge in petty peevishness — we must come together over one candidate!
2
@The Iconoclast - "But will the Times and the rest of the news business ever cover are politics honestly?"
Just because you don't like the news on the front page doesn't mean it's wrong or inaccurate.
1
We could be talking about President Sanders election to a second term at this point. Instead were again talking about the corporate wing of the Dems ( Clinton and Obama ) intervening to keep Bernie out. Get ready for four more years of the Orange King and we deserve it.
4
@Patrick
I disagree strongly. I won’t vote for Sanders after watching what he did to damage Clinton. Stayed in the race too long, after she bested him in the primaries by nearly 4M votes. Whined continually about the super delegates even though they were pledged to Clinton from the start. Never raised a dime for down-ballot Dems. Stirred up his supporters against her candidacy so by the time of the convention, they were spoiling for a fight, which they got and Sanders couldn’t control. They booed him when he made a half-hearted attempt to endorse Clinton. And let’s not forget his “I told you so tour” just weeks after Clinton lost.
I’m against the dishonesty of both the Sanders and Warren campaigns. And just how hard is it anyway to get millions of impressionable voters to follow you when they are promised free everything?! I know we need big structural changes in funding government, but both candidates are wildly out of step with the silent majority of Americans who will soon be voting in the primaries.
1
If only everyone, including cultural conservatives, would leave cultural conservatives alone.
1
Finally the NYT gives Bernie coverage, though just a sliver of what he deserves, given that he is the most electable Democratic candidate, and the one with the most consistent record of integrity.
Obama: stay out of this. We have the right to a leader with the chutzpah to stand up for ordinary Americans, and the base to win.
4
@Miriam Osofsky - Just because your favorite candidate isn't on the front page every single day of the week for months at a stretch doesn't mean the times is doing a bad job. There are other candidates in the field, and they should get as much coverage as Bernie. It's only fair.
As for the rest, you made that all up.
1
As an independent radical capitalist, I have flirted with supporting Warren, and very briefly Pete. But I keep coming back to Bernie.
I’m primarily a believer in economic determinism, and Bernie is focused on fixing the economic problem. Yes, he calls himself socialist and wants to tax the rich. I’m with him on that, and believe we had a much better economy even for the wealthy when we did that.
Bernie also believes in citizens, rich and poor. That’s why he would give free college to children of billionaires or even billionaires themselves. No one is left out of public goods. The rich just have to pay more because they can afford to. It’s that simple.
The rich Democrats threatening to vote for Trump are disgusting and shortsighted. The path he has us on is a threat to everyone, even them and their precious wealth. Bernie would tax some away for a better society. Trump may well confiscate the wealth of those who oppose him and give it to his friends. That’s what faux populists usually do after they get enough power.
6
Like in 2016, the media and the NYT are ignoring Bernie Sanders, the most serious candidate and the most respected politician in America. I have read far more numerous puff pieces on Buttigieg, the pretty-faced mayor of a town smaller than the Upper East Side because no doubt he would be more easily manipulated by the deep state and big interests. The Democrats are desperate to continue the status quo and sell it with a fresh face, for any meaningful change that would benefit large swaths of Americans would cut the obscene profits of various interest groups that the Dems falsely claim to fight. I am an independent who used to vote D. and would have voted for Bernie in 2016 but since the establishment crowned HRC, I voted for Trump -- and I have no regrets.
2
Great idea. Bernie would certainly be the Republican's unifier. He would increase the Republican voter participation and sink the black Democrat voter participation. With Bernie as their candidate, Democrats will not only guarantee a Trump landslide, but Trump's victory will come with the added bonus of at least 2 and possibly 3 or 4 additional far-right Supreme Court Justices. In 2016, Hillary was the only person in the universe who Trump could beat. In 2020, Bernie will be the only person in the universe who Trump will beat.
4
@Ben Anders - yes, and almost nobody wants to hear it.
Great idea. Bernie would certainly be the Republican's unifier. He would increase the Republican voter participation and sink the black Democrat voter participation. With Bernie as their candidate, Democrats will not only guarantee a Trump landslide, but Trump's victory will come with the added bonus of at least 2 and possibly 3 or 4 additional far-right Supreme Court Justices. In 2016, Hillary was the only person in the universe who Trump could beat. In 2020, Bernie will be the only person in the universe who Trump will beat.
The Democratic establishment has spoken, they want a corporatist neo con to be their candidate. They just want to defeat Trump. Obama had a devil of time with the GOP and eschewed taking full charge of his administration with the Libya, Syria and Ukrainian neo con interventions. Obama care was just a step in the right direction away from the laisse faire chaos in the health care system. Now there are serious destabilizing issues with climate change and the obscene accumulation of the wealth by the richest and the loss of economic position of a vast majority of Americans. Sanders certainly addresses these problems directly. He will give the US a voice in turning the back the Israeli oppression of Palestinians. He is most assuredly not a neo con. Unfortunately Obama gave too much influence to the Brennan and the neo cons in the national security apparatus. Domestically health care reform has a long way to go. Every one needs access to the system. Small business needs to be relieved of the burden for paying for their employees health care. With all its technological and pharmacological wonders private health insurance in the US has produced abysmal results. Like with defense spending the US spends vastly more than any other country for health care and get depressingly bad results overall. The Democratic establishment thinks they can win an election by attacking Trump relentlessly on Russia and his repugnant policies. They need a positive alternative.
2
For me the number one reason to elect Bernie Sanders is the bully pulpit. We cannot reasonably expect any of his measures to pass, conservative Democrats would stop every single one but someone would be talking about progress.
Unlike the Obama administration with a president whining "Why can't we all learn to get along" and using that bully pulpit to convince Americans that the bully pulpit is dead, when Republicans are lining up at the national microphone to scream "socialist President," at least they will be fighting social reform instead of welfare for medical insurance companies.
1
Had the Democratic establishment listened to the American public and not to the super-delegates and to neoliberals like Obama, Bernie would be president right now.
And Amazon might already be paying taxes.
So let's not make the same mistake again, what do you say?
And that canard about Bernie not being a Democrat? Well, if the measure of a Democrat is FDR/HST/LBJ then neither Bill Clinton nor Barack Obama were Democrats either.
And the age thing? Check out Trump's habits or Biden's lapses. Sanders is energetic, sharp-witted, and coherent.
He's too angry? Well, so am I. So are millions of us ripped off, ignored, insurance-less Americans. Sixty percent of us want the rich to pay their fair share. Many more want a just health care system, a higher minimum wage, and meaningful regulation of predatory corporations like Amazon (see today's Times).
He's a "socialist"? No he's not. He has no plans to take over American industry, to nationalize banks, censor news outlets, or collectivize agriculture. We already have socialism: how much public money did Amazon get to move to Baltimore? What was the tab to the taxpayer to bail out the banks?
Sanders is an old-fashioned Democrat, the kind who used to believe in looking after working people. Larry Summers won't be in his cabinet.
Young voters won't turn out? Give them a reason to do so. Old folks are too conservative? Well maybe the Times could start giving Sanders's ideas a fair hearing, and then we'd see.
1
Hello from the Midwest: If you wish to guarantee a Trump victory, select Bernie Sanders to be the Democratic candidate. That will split the Democratic Party, I assure you. I believe the Democrats must elect a moderate candidate, such as Joseph Biden, paired with either Amy Kobachar or Pete Buttieg, to be assured of beating Donald Trump.
Otherwise, be prepared for another disastrous four years of Donald Trump--he has a locked in base
of 40-45% strong white nationalist followers, who will show up to vote.
3
@Ronald Ginson
I’m from Michigan, one of the swing states that appears to be in play again. Clinton lost here on immigration issues, not just jobs. It was the same across the Rust Belt states where you have aging white populations and hostility towards immigration, like it or not. If the Dems don’t get a clear message on immigration: no open borders, don’t decriminalize it, straighten out the message on health care vs. health insurance, you will lose again. Immigration is still a potent issue for Trump’s supporters and the Dems seem convinced that they need Hallmark-card type messages rather than any kind of sensible immigration reform. Children in cages is a repugnant issue but get beyond that and focus on sound policy that will fix the entirety of the border issues. Notice how Trump has kept his wall in the news lately? He knows that’s catnip to Dems and they will message all the wrong way. Please pay attention!
I’m over 60, but I’ve been with Bernie since 2016. He’s authentic and not corrupt. He’s been talking about health care, income inequality, workers’ rights, social justice, and climate change for many years. People are truly excited by his ideas, and he is well-informed and articulate. I have met him, living in VT, and he is personable and kind. The contrast between Sanders and Trump could not be more stark. He would’ve beaten Trump in 2016 and he would beat him in 2020. HRC and the DNC pulled some dirty tricks to keep him from the nomination in 2016. Now it looks like Obama and the Democratic establishment, with assists from Bloomberg and Wall Street, want to keep him from the nomination in 2020. I can see why Wall Street doesn’t like him, and since he’s never been a Democrat why the DNC types don’t like him, but if we want to beat Trump he is our best shot by far. I say put Cory Booker on the ticket with him (or even Stacy Abrams) and let’s blow this Trump trauma away for good!!!!
2
I like Bernie fine but a "unifier" he is not.
1
I heard a lot of people say in 2016 that they’d vote for Sanders or Trump—both candidates likely to upset the status quo. I myself supported Clinton because I thought, mistakenly, she’d have the best chance of winning. Now I’m with Bernie. I think he will go up against Trump most effectively. As a fellow New Yorker, he will, without hesitation, stand up in the debates and declare Trump a narcissistic, self-serving con artist. He will incentivize a broad spectrum of the electorate, many of whom don’t want to hear a lot of intellectual prattle but instead want a strong adversary who can
stand up to the bully and show the world what this man is while presenting a much more appealing option. Go Bernie!
2
You give yourself away, Russ when you say ‘if they leave conservatives alone’.
I am still reeling from your comment on a recent podcast that progressive policies have done ‘much more damage’ to catholic conservatives than you previously thought possible.
I’m still trying to figure out what ‘damage’ that is when I talk to my catholic friends. They, too, are mystified.
1
Like in 2016, the media and the NYT are ignoring Bernie Sanders, the most serious candidate and the most respected politician in America. I have read far more numerous puff pieces on Buttigieg, the pretty-faced mayor of a town smaller than the Upper East Side because no doubt he would be more easily manipulated by the deep state and big interest. The Dems are desperate to continue the status quo and sell it with a fresh face, for any meaningful change that would benefit large swaths of Americans would cut the obscene profits of various interest groups that the Dems falsely claim to fight. I am an independent who used to vote D and would have voted for Bernie in 2016 but since the establishment crowned HRV, I voted for Trump -- and I have no regrets.
Great idea! Bernie would certainly be the Republican's unifier. He would increase the Republican voter participation and sink the black Democrat voter participation. With Bernie as their candidate, Democrats will not only guarantee a Trump landslide, but Trump's victory will come with the added bonus of at least 2 and possibly 3 or 4 additional far-right Supreme Court Justices. In 2016, Hillary was the only person in the universe who Trump could beat. In 2020, Bernie will be the only person in the universe who Trump will beat.
Integrity. Compassion. Conscience. Fair. Loving. Peaceful. These are the words that must describe our next President. Only Bernie fills that void. Only Bernie. Don't get distracted by late-comer, ever-changing/dodging/weasel wording, shiny-penny candidates that distract from this essential truth. For four decades, unwaveringly committed to Big Us. Bernie for US.
Be real. Mr Sanders and the rest of the gerontologic fossils are toast. Look to presidential history- Mr W Wilson impaired by a stroke in his early 60s; FDR expired in office from a stroke in his early 60s and Mr D Eisenhower nearly dying of a massive heart attack in his early 60s and suffering small small strokes (TIAs) afterwards. Since the 1980s the writer has reviewed CT scans and xray images on a wide spectrum of adults; with almost certainty one can predict the formation of atherosclerosis involving cerebral vessels (stroke) and coronary arteries (heart attack). Then there is the ever present chance of cancer (lung, colon, pancreas, bladder, etc). Remember R Reagan in the 1980s. Be a realist. The position of the president iis too important to elect a man or woman who may be impaired by health issues or die in office. Yes, even the Bull Moose (TR) died in his early 60s. Be aware.
2
What I don't like about Bernie is his support to legalize weed smoking. It's no different than adding more cigarettes to the market, and is actually worse because people tend to smoke it much longer, like for hours at a time. My building formally banned smoking, but it's not always easy to enforce.
Did the weed growers made him a large donation and he became their supporter? The current political system is broken.
2
Best thing about Bernie--he's not Warren. At least he might stand a chance against Trump.
Because I want my tax dollars to benefit me and my fellow Americans and not just corporate America, I’m a “socialist”. Bernie has MY vote and I am 67.
1
I've been a Bernie guy since the speech he gave on the house floor opposing the war in Iraq. That speech is the ultimate litmus test for courage and rationality. Everything you need to know about his independent thinking processes are in that speech. He was right while the lazy and the cowards went along with the crowd like lemmings.
Biden was a lemming and he failed that test of character, courage and rationality.
2
Ross Douthat is a conservative Republican. If he's encouraging Democrats to nominate Bernie, it doesn't mean he actually likes Bernie. It means he believes Bernie is the candidate that Republicanns can most easily beat in the general election.
Like Bernie, I am a democratic socialist agnostic Jew. But I am also a pragmatist from Texas, and I cannot foresee Bernie ever winning a general election. No offense to him personally, but no liberal coastal Democrat has won the general since 1960.
I will, of course, support Bernie 100% if he is the nominee. 2020 is not a contest between different flavors of centrist, liberal and progressive. It's a replay of 1932 Weimar -- a contest between liberal democracy and racist aurhoritarian despotism.
VOTE BLUE, NO MATTER WHO.
3
I respect Bernie's passion and consistency, but nominating a 78-year-old with a history of cardiovascular problems is nuts.
4
Sanders would be a terrible choice. Democrats should nominate someone who is, obviously enough, a Democrat. Sanders is not. He would also almost certainly be defeated by a “Socialism!” scare campaign, which would be the most believable with Sanders as the foil.
1
Bernie’s a mensch.
He outshot Jimmy Fallon in hoops the other night.
He slow jammed the news.
He explained how Medicare for All would work: phase it in by lowering the qualifying age, step by step.
And he was warmly endearing, vulnerable and human when he talked about his heart attack: listen to your body, he said.
He seems quite sharp still, but wise too.
Running in 2016 increased his name recognition — losing to Hillary for the nomination then makes him a credible candidate now.
The rich can handle a wealth tax, and they know it.
3
A vote fore Bernie is a vote for Trump. The same way it was in 2016. Will we ever learn?
1
This suggestion calls to mind the German WWI scheme to insert Vladimir Lenin back into Russia to destabilize - and ultimately destroy - the czarist enemy. It worked. Ross wants to destroy the Democratic Party, using Bernie as the missile.
1
"he’s the liberal most likely to spend all his time trying to tax the rich and leave cultural conservatives alone"
There's evidence to support this conclusion. Bernie on gun control for instance. To put it mildly, he isn't keen to wade into a cultural war concerning guns and the 2nd Amendment. The category is conspicuously absent from the issues list on his official website.
When you come to cultural issues like abortion, Bernie might also surprise you. He's doesn't associate with organized religion. However, Bernie also says religion and spirituality deeply informed his life. I take this to mean Bernie is the Jewish equivalent of a "cultural Catholic." You're a Catholic even when you're not Catholic. That, except culturally Jewish. Bernie might prove more of an ally to the religious right than you might expect.
Now this part is hard to explain. He's also from Vermont. You need to spend a good amount of time in Burlington, VT or Ithaca, NY to truly understand. There are places in this country that are so far left, they're right. Colorado also comes to mind.
These are places where you can have a drink with a farmer just back from turkey shooting. On your other side, you're talking with a gay hairdresser paying their way through college. The politics certainly give off a lefty, hippie, granola vibe. However, culturally the place is almost libertarian. Live and let live. You do whatever you want so long as you're not bothering me.
Bernie is from one of those places.
1
The unfortunate thing about our American Presidential election system is the Electoral College. Herr Trump realized that and capitalized on it and became the most soundly beaten candidate (losing by 2.9 million votes) in American history to become President.
So, with a broken system such as we have, can a truly progressive Democratic candidate win in this system, let alone another women (many of those Trumpian states believe a women's place is in the home) or worse, a candidate on the ticket that is openly gay?
1
Warren spoke last night in Chicago to a packed auditorium and said: "You’re going to be shocked about this, but there are billionaires that have taken exception to this. I’m not on every billionaire’s favorite list right now. These billionaires are calling each other, Run for President.” The crowd roared. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, asked Bloomberg to run.
1
As a Trump supporter a Bernie nominee is my dream come true. He wants to raise taxes on the middle class and allow prisoners (like the Boston bomber) to vote. Oh please let this happen!
2
As opposed to Trump, who sets war criminals free.
2
I want to join a few other comments and say thank you to Douthat. It is a positive piece. If Sanders got even a fair shake from the media including this paper, that seem to hate him, he might well be President. It's starting to look like he has a real shot at the nomination. Just think about what a little positive press might do......
1
now if only we could get the hard-right lock-step church-is-the state ideologues like Douthat to stop calling bernie a 'socialist' - perhaps when they pick up their social security checks, drive on our roads, enjoy our national parks with people from all religions, and work together with the world against climate change, perhaps then they will loosen their ant-like marching and gaggle-like blaring for capitalism and filthy lucre to reign over all...
1
If you look at the polling on the big issues Bernie Sanders would fight for you will find that Bernie Sanders is what in reality would be a centrist candidate because the majority of the country is right there with him. Would he be able to use the bully pulpit to get the things he campaigns on accomplished? Likely not in the next congress because there will be many, many corrupted campaign cash accepting politicians on both sides of the aisle who manage to get themselves elected who will fight him tooth and nail to protect the donor class.
But think about it with his ideas as popular as they are across the political spectrum the following congress will likely be packed with like thinking progressives. Sanders is indeed well positioned to beat the con man Trump who campaigned as a populist but did whatever the far right Republicans told him to do when it came to tax cuts and judges.
Buttigieg is unelectable as a Democrat. Biden is Hillary 2.0, the billionaires like the corrupt system that buys tax policy, nobody wants them. Cory Booker is tied to New Jersey's big pharma and health insurance outfits. The others have no shot.
Bernie's problem is he can't get any even handed coverage in the mainstream media because they like the corruption as well. I'm surprised the NYTimes allowed even this to be published. They seem to like the idea of keeping the status quo as long as the blowhard president goes away.
Hah! Bernie is the ONLY Democratic candidate who, if he becomes the nominee, might (might?) get me to hold my nose and vote for Trump. His plans attract those who are too young to have lived through the horrors of communism during the Cold War and those who think every social good can be paid for with other people's money. He wants to replace capitalism with socialism, which has never worked and never will. But the institution of socialism historically has caused widespread misery and loss of freedom. Conversely, capitalism, properly moderated to eliminate its excesses, has been the greatest foe of poverty in the history of humanity. He makes George McGovern look like a landslide winner. Please, dear G-d, not Bernie. Please?
1
The problem with Bernie is that he’s not a democrat. Bernie is a true socialist, he wants to level the playing field so everyone is mediocre. Socialism destroys creativity and imagination and punishes excellence, and it only gains ground if the majority wants it. Bernie Sanders can’t sell his message even to his own party. The question we should be asking is do we really want to live in a mediocre and non imaginative world?
Please. Crony corporate casino capitalism has created a country of a few thousand winners and MILLIONS of losers, you included. Wake up. The capitalist status quo is the enemy of progress, not "socialism". If you want mediocrity keep voting Republican.
1
Bernie is a sure loser. I am a moderate Democrat and will vote for Pete, Amy , Joe or Mike but likely vote for Trump or abstain as in 2016 if the nominee is Warren or Sanders. It is the swing voter who will decide this election as it did the last. The idea that an old Socialist from Brooklyn who favors Medicare for all and just had a heart attack could win in the battleground states is absurd. So how to explain those who think the opposite: the wish is father to the thought.
1
This 63 year-old is solidly for Sanders!
3
The medicare for all is still going to be a problem for Bernie. Warren was honest enough to come up with a prize tag, and it is prohibitive in the version both Bernie and Warren support. I know that universal health care is inevitable but how we get there is the key. How Bernie is going to explain that in general?
Sanders (or any nominee for that matter) need not vocally fight the culture wars. That’s what judicial appointments are for.
2
Bernie Sanders is 78 yrs old. He will be 79 when he takes office if he were to be elected. He has had a heart attack. That means he has heart disease. Would you want to fly in an airplane piloted by a 79( - 83) yr old with heart disease? Give me a break. As an almost 70 yr old, healthy, female progressive, and a retired cardiac care nurse, I can say without a doubt that no matter how much I like Bernie, his age and his heart disease make him a horrible choice.
4
Just get a little tired of hearing the term "Socialism" thrown around in a negative way. Medicare & Social Security are Socialism. How many Americans would be willing to give these up?
The billions of dollars that were handed out to the farmers to offset the financial damage from Trump's tariffs is Socialism. The food stamps that people get who work at unlivable wages at places like Amazon & Walmart is Socialism.
Stop kidding yourselves. Social programs help to keep people afloat. They help to give everyone an equal opportunity which we certainly do not have in this country right now. In this country you could lose your house if you or a member of your family becomes seriously ill, and you cannot afford healthcare. If you can't afford education beyond high school you are out of luck.
I am well past retirement age. My husband and I have had a good life. I just want everyone else to have the chance to have a good life also. Vote for a moderate and nothing is going to change. We'll still be the county with the highest poverty rate, the highest high school drop out rate, and the
highest incarceration rate.
We need someone in charge who will try to change that.
10
Brokered convention not entirely unimaginable? It is a foregone conclusion it will be a brokered convention. The 'No Malarkey Tour'? Really? Think that wins the Nomination? Super Delegates will decide it and then it will be Civil War.
@GregP - Oh please. Of course the Supers will probably decide, because they usually cast the deciding votes.
But it's only going to be "civil war" in your mind. Bernie's ardent supporters are still a small slice of the electoral pie. If they couldn't bring about a schism in 16, they really won't be able to now.
It's kind of refreshing to read Douthat giving Bernie Sanders a nod (rather than either Joe Biden or Amy Klobuchar} as the Dem who should be most preferred by cultural conservatives.
Many voters in 2016 seemed to recognize that what Sanders was proposing was not at all radical, but rather solidly conservative in its thinking. I argued that with my Dem friends, but they rejected it as "not the safe way to go."
At the time, a number of polls hinted that Sanders was either just as likely or even more likely to beat Trump than Clinton. But because he wasn't a member of the Dem Club, he was defeated almost fairly and squarely.
What he did accomplish was to 1. remind Democrats about who they were and what they should try to accomplish, and 2. set much of agenda in the Democratic party for 2020.
I think Bernie is a little too old for the job now, not because his agenda is wrong but because old age catches up with you quickly as the years go by.
6
Trump should replace Pence with Sanders in a grand unity ticket.
Maybe I'm slow. But how can I claim membership in a party who's elite came to believe rural people on the way to poverty deserve it because they voted for Trump or don't belong to a union? When, in urban centers they believe it's a citizens right to live on the street in a tent with no hope of a decent life.
Bernie is the only candidate that talks about manufacturing jobs leaving the country but is adopting policies abandoned by the the Europeans going to change things? Weren't many of lost jobs union jobs? I'm afraid no one is providing the right answers or even asking the right questions. The status quo is not the right answer.
3
Re those "$100K-plus earners": Most of them would fall in the 100K-200K category, which is hardly a mark of prosperity. Many of these people, living in costly but hardly opulent areas, are struggling with debt.
A few years ago USA Today calculated the minimum income a household of four would need to lead a barebones middle-class life. The total came to $130,000. And, again, that was a few years ago. Given all the enormous price inflation that the official CPI fails to include, that figure would be considerably higher today -- let's say it's a round $150,000.
And THAT shocking number, I would suggest, is the floor that marks the bottom of the middle class -- even though median household income is less than half that amount. With this in mind, it's not surprising at all that "$100K-plus earners" would support Sanders, the only candidate who has
any credibility whatsoever when it comes to economic issues.
I'm not saying Bernie Sanders would be an absolute success if elected POTUS. At 80, he would be a transition president at best.
However, I think he's the last realistic chance the American people has to solve this geopolitical crisis we're in peacefully with the rest of the world.
I urge the American people to not overestimate their hand, calm down, and graciously accept a multipolar order. For your own good.
3
Are we in a geopolitical crisis? This would be news to most in the United States
As exhibited by his 2016 campaign (and Bernie hasn’t changed since then - he hasn’t changed in 40 years) Bernie is a divider, not a uniter. Bernie as nominee = a Trump win.
3
Any Democrat can beat trump as long as the Bernie minions dont have another 2016 tantrum when they voted for trump, Jill Stein, or stayed home. 4 million Obama Dems didn't vote in 2016. 100,000 MI, PA, and WI "progressives" gave trump the electoral college. Sanders could beat trump only because we much-derided liberals and moderates would vote for Sanders if necessary. Can "progressives" demonstrate the same dedication to America's future if Sanders doesnt get the nomination ?
3
I am not so sure that all moderate are so loyal as you. I often see the comments from moderate that they will not vote for Bernie or Warren. The tendency of moderate blame the Bernie supporters for the Hillary's loss, is hardly very uniting tactics, remember these Dems voted for Obama. Why did they vote for Obama but not for Hillary?
1
I’m a Warren supporter, and a woman. I can sadly say that misogyny is still a huge problem. Even among women-an acquaintance told me she found Warren whiny. I supported Bernie in 2016 and still would today, the two would be an amazing ticket.
6
@LFK, I don’t think women lead in the same way men do, and I’m not convinced this has to do with misogyny. Social hierarchies develop for a reason. I think there are fundamental differences in men and women which have undergone thousands of years of selection. We are now as a society examining these forces in greater detail. But to called it misogyny and/or the recent trend of “toxicity”? Those are crude, blunt weapons. A better way to describe what’s happening must be used.
3
It is difficult for us to judge because we never have a woman a chance to lead the country. The governing of women may different, but not necessary bad. Merkel in Germany seems like doing pretty good job, despite being woman.
Warren is too shrill just like Hillary. She should be a school teacher, maybe even a principal, but not a president of th United States.
1
Douthat's thinking about Bernie is sound. Democrats are in more trouble than most will admit. Train wrecks don't win elections. The usual provincialism among Democrats is apparent, knocking down Sanders to promote their own favorite while ignoring the big picture which looks very shaky and confused presently. Bernie deserves a good look. He's been a durable candidate and excites passions which the others do not. The psychology of his appeal resembles that of Trump; those who feel near the bottom, who feel neglected and ignored, see him as their champion. He also attracts voters from the educational level that Trump attracts. Similarities will draw away some who would vote for Trump. Bernie has been too taken for granted as a perennial candidate. His potential to attract those who might otherwise vote for Trump gives his candidacy special value.
8
Hmm. Warren loses on Medicare-for-All but Bernie wins on the same issue? And there's no double-standard here?
9
Warren is too detailed oriented. It is a great quality for the President, but bad for the campaign. More details draws more attentions and more criticism, while allowing the opponents to escape the scrutiny. For example, Buttigieg and Biden attacked Warren's plan as unrealistic, while themselves never defined their 'public option', and therefore, it is impossible for them to calculate the cost. And if instead of presenting detail plan, Warren pointed out this fact, she would have more success. She is too nice.
2
Sanders is doing quite well with the electorate but poorly with the media which has the greatest impact on his 'electability'. It seems the people don't elect presidents, the media does. Like in 2016 Sanders is getting fewer column inches and fewer minutes of airtime than other candidates and when he does, it's mostly negative commentary (NYT included). Perhaps if our media overlords were more democratic, we could have a truly progressive candidate.
8
You know why, don’t you?
The media is owned by corporate interests and for them Sanders is anathema.
The Times fell as low as appointing Sydney Ember, the daughter-in-law of the current CEO of Bain Capital, the bastion of carried interest boondoggle to cover Bernie. Without any disclosure! Clear conflict of interest. Adding insult to injury, her husband also worked for Bain at some point.
Bernie will be elected as the first mensch President in 2020. See where the media will run then.
Read and support Jacobin in the interim.
A strange “endorsement” but Mr Douthat, may it not come down to come down to the fact that Bernie is the most consistent and genuine of candidates? His message has at its core the ever increasing economic inequity that contradicts the American ethos. And he has never veered off of this message since his mayoral days.
9
I have tremendous confidence in Bernie for so many reasons: his well established FDR principles and policies, his effective and compassionate communication with "the other side" as seen in his televised visits with coal miner families, and his passionate and intelligent public speaking and debating. "Trumpism" will not play well against Bernie Sanders
My ideal is a Bernie/Stacy Abrams ticket.
12
This opinion piece is yet another reminder that democrats are going to lose the 2020 election. Sadly.
3
If you strip away some of the baggage around the word “conservative”, you start to realize that a return to many of the policies of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, such as infrastructure investment, sensible taxation, a safety net, are actually pretty conservative.
The 65 crowd has the most to gain from a Bernie presidency, so why do they back Trump? Racism is the only reason left. Bernie isn’t a racist.
5
Bernie can win! Why? He cannot be bought. He knew not to take money from interests that would curb his message. He would act purely in the interests of the vast majority of working and middle class people. He would wrest the federal government from the fossil fuel, pharmaceutical, and health care industry corporations. He may well not be even more popular simply because people can’t believe that it could be done. Look how quickly and virulently the right and the rich scream socialism trying to scare people with the old Soviet smear. The young want him because they are idealistic. They want him because they believe that he is believable. That he is for real and sincere. His entire career has been a struggle for the common man, for the middle and working classes. His, or another younger person like him, time has come. America has become a shameless plutocracy. Day by day the Bernie message wins because it is consistent and consistently about a government for the working class. A GOVERNMENT FOR THE WORKING CLASS!
9
He knuckles to the NRA, money or no.
2
One thing I've been wondering. Would the Russians try to undermine a Sanders candidacy? Would they actually support him? It seems a near certainty that Putin has something on Trump that if revealed would destroy him. Think strategically about the survival of this country's political system in 2021. There's a good chance that Trump and his Republican traitors in the Court and the Senate will not accept a narrow loss. Which Democratic candidate has the mental strength to make it through such a difficult time as we may be coming? The field lack a transcendent leader, an FDR type, or even a Fiona Hill. Sanders may be the closest we got.
6
If the great defender of a church beset by sexual abuse cases and misogyny supports Bernie Sanders, either I've stepped into the Twilight Zone or there is something not quite right about Bernie that I don't know about.
1
Here are Bernie's problems: -- He's too old, he's a socialist, and his policy plans are wacky. Other than that -- great candidate.
2
I agree he is old, but Trump is hardly a spring chicken. Other Bernie's flaws are what make him so attractive to many who support him enthusiastically.
Need a centrist to unit. Period
No more polarizing domestic extremists regardless of party
2
@Ed A centrist pleases no one but the centrists.
5
I'd be happy with a Bernie-Buttigieg ticket but I do wonder if women need/want a female on the ticket. I'd happily vote for Warren and Harris of Klobuchar--at this point anything, errr, any sane adult would work.
I'd be thrilled with Warren on the ticket too, but we cannot have three and Sanders and Warren are old enough that their age is a concern.
1
I’m in! Seriously convinced.
3
You hit the nail on the head. The Republicans want an election on the “culture war” to distract from their ruinous policy towards average Americans. The more a Democrat focuses on economic populism and ignores the “culture war”, the better the possible outcome.
Beto O’Rourke was effective when he was talking about blue collar workers, of whatever ethnicity, in Texas; and fizzled when focused on gun rights and immigration. You can believe in gun control and a humane immigration policy, but most young voters have bigger fish to fry. How can I afford health care? A home to raise a family in? Good schools for my kids? How will I ever pay off my useless college degree?
Bernie does emphasize this, but his age and personality will make him a difficult choice for many. Elizabeth Warren seemingly lacks any political savvy, and was completely blindsided by the distortions and outright lies about her policies that were feverishly being pushed when she was the front runner. The jury is still out whether Mayor Pete is a corporate/Wall Street elitist pretending to care about working people to gain votes or a true progressive who knows how to play the “culture war” game well enough to keep Boomers from freaking out.
Gosh it would be nice if there was someone out there who could get the job done.
5
Sir, do you live on MSNBC and NYT 24/7. What ruinous policy do you refer? Eight all time market highs in 30 days, or the lowest unemployment ever, or maybe its the highest consumer spendings/confidence ever that you refer. Trump is unhinged, but effective in the eyes of the economy, which is all most of us are concerned.
As in 2016, Bernie is the only candidate who can beat Trump. And this is true despite intentional blacking out of Bernie news by CNBC, the New York Times, CNN and other establishment outlets!
Imagine how his popularity will soar when they start covering his primary wins and the mainstream New Deal Democrat character of his positions!
5
A guaranteed Trump victory. If I were a rightie, I'd want Bernie, too!
4
Yeah, and Dems wanted Trump in 2016.
The Trump Phenomenon of 2016 has radically changed the Politics in the USA. Nobody is willing to admit it yet.....but its obvious.
Trump did, in fact, attack the Establishment. The so-called "bipartisan" era, New Deal Bureaucratic structures, the Status Quo....a system that had worked so successfully for 70plus years but is now a creaking, obsolete menace to the future.....a machine much like the Soviet Bureaucracy that led to disaster.
.....
Trump Destroyed the Republican Party. The GOP is dead. It is no more......its old-time membership caught in a choice between loyalty to the Bush Family Values of the Old Guard or franticly clinging to Trump's short coat-tails.
The Democrat Party, while in no danger of self-destruction, is exposed as a fraudulent promoter of "progressive values" when the reality is that the Dems are defending the Status Quo....they demand "change" while actively preventing "change"....and, of course, accomplishing "nothing"....and all the while blaming "republicans" for their own failures.
Bernie is very much the elder statesman, with integrity and toughness, as shown by his steady climb to Senator of Vermont, and his years in Congress. He is familiar with the shenanigans and what it takes to build a coalition.
If he has any serious weakness it is his intelligence because a high percentage of Americans don't know or read history which is how Fox News and MSNBC get away with stupid comments about socialism.
It's amazing how all the media pretty much stay away from Bernie, don't give him coverage, or when they do, it is grudgingly and mostly with bias- the same as the last election.
20-30,000 people, young and old go to his rallies and support him because they remember a time when someone told them honesty is important. We know he may not achieve every bit of legislation he is proposing- but we also know that if he compromises it will be the BEST compromise- and he will show us a way, continue to encourage us, to continue the fight- As opposed to Occupy Wallstreet, when Obama did nothing to support them - and his wife continued having designing dresses made.
If there is one thing about Republicans - they are not hypocrites. They have always stood for privatization, exploiting workers, their racism, and sexism are blatant. The Democratic establishment however, except for a few, are without courage, and want to keep money in politics. How do I know this? Just look at the mess we are in.
2
Republicans are the biggest hypocrites of all. They stand for all the evils you mention but they shamelessly sell themselves as the party of the working class. The very foundation of Reagan/Trump conservatism is that multi-generational hypocrisy. The Dems aren't hypocrites; they are just confused.
1
@ J Might be a good thing to not chose candidates based on race or gender. Just a thought.
2
I ask why would Mr. Douthat care how the Democrats find a contender.
If I remember Mr. Douhat (paraphrase) could live with
Donald simply for the tax decreases.
Am I remembering correctly?
5
Bernie without a Democratic House and Senate would be absolutely depressing. Every day he would have raised crooked fingers, don a frown and a grumble, but nothing would change. We need Pete and Staci to excite motivate and move the country.
1
In 2016 , Bernie Sanders had a clear lead over Trump in the last polls taken before he dropped out, not to a small part because his campaign was torpedoed by the DNC
Click here
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_sanders-5565.html
Indeed , the polls indicated that Sanders would far better against Trump than Ms. Clinton.
However, this did not sway the DNC - a Sanders election would have deprived the Democratic Party establishment of its major funding : Wall Street (#1 donor to Schumer) and Silicon Valley (#1 donor to Pelosi is facebook) Both see Sanders as a deadly threat to their business model
Until the Democratic party decides to free itself from these big donors the will it find difficult to mo towards a more equals society - the one Mr Sanders envisions
3
I am a 35 year old immigrant woman from Romania and I have supported Bernie since 2015. I see Trump as a symptom of an unequal and corrupt system, and in order to rid ourselves of Trump (and Trump's movement), we must have a counter movement that will decrease the level of inequality that currently exists -- a system which has given corporations and lobbyists unlimited power. Bernie's movement is how we take our democracy back.
Additionally, we only have 11 years left to cut carbon emissions in half. Time is running out and Bernie's movement, supported mostly by 18-40 year olds will help us pass the #GreenNewDeal.
I am convinced that Bernie has what it takes to bring out the best in America: a transition to sustainable energy, a more just society, a less corrupt political system, a just healthcare system where the sick are no longer a commodity -- a time where we come to terms with our military industrial complex and the death and destruction that it has caused abroad, and yes, even a time where Bernie, as the first Jewish president helps to bring peace to Israel-Palestine.
Bernie is proposing a vision for the next 50 years, and I am all in. #NotMeUs
8
Amen. And thank you for coming to the United States and believing that we all need to participate to fight to fulfill our potential.
3
I'll go all out for the nominee whoever it is, but I must admit it would be very sweet if the Republicans, Fox and the red-hats went so far overboard with the unqualified and divisive Trump that it produces their worst nightmare, a Sanders presidency.
3
Sleepy Joe has turned Creepy Joe.
Nibbling his wife's fingers at an Iowa campaign stop today, apparently unaware he is at a public event.
That leaves one choice -- a Hobson's choice -- for the democrats: Bernie.
Not that any of it matters. Either Trump beats Joe, or Trump beats Bernie. Same difference.
1
Bernie beats Trump. He would have in 2016. But he will for sure this time. Too many of us know too much now.
1
@Lilly
Sure.
That'll be the day ..
.. when Obama turns republican.
.. when Hillary turns over her emails.
.. when Trump stops tweeting.
.. when democrats put citizens over illegals.
.. when hell freezes over.
.. when @Lilly wakes up from her nightmare.
The Democrats are incapable of getting over their "Sanders isn't a real Democrat" bias. They would rather lose a second election on principle of never running an outsider, rather than face the fact that Sanders' policies and supporters represent the future of America. His young followers will be the voters of the coming decades and they support Sanders' vision of turning away from failed policies that have brought the US stagnant wages and stagnant education.
The Democrats failed shamefully last election when they denied a candidate who was rising in popularity (Sanders) in order to run their insider who was dropping in popularity even as she was being nominated. The poll data is still available for any who doubt. https://polling.reuters.com/#!
This is their last chance to get it right and prove to the American people that they actually are a sane alternative to the Republicans.
2
“The case for Bernie” = four more years of Trump. And why not? His supporters elected Trump last time around.
4
Clinton and the DNC elected Trump. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen again.
@Lilly Do you even know what the DNC does? Clinton and Bernie had an election and she creamed him. Get over it.
1
Why doesn't ANYONE notice that Biden is actually a very strong candidate? Why can't we Democrats get excited that we actually have one for a change?? The numbers don't lie: Biden has been the frontrunner nearly the entire time and he has the support of African Americans and seniors that are typically needed to win the Democratic party nominee. Yes, he's old and prone to verbal gaffes, but that's minor stuff to worry about. Trump is old and talks like a child but still managed to win -- thus I don't think we should weight age and gaffs as disqualifying as much we've been doing. Another article in the NYT includes in the headline "His Heart is in the Right Place". This is obvious to most voters. No candidate is perfect but Biden is very, very good. Yes, he's an "old white guy" but his running mate surely won't be and probably will be female. Which is something to be excited about!
3
I will support Bernie till the end. Age, heart attack, socialist , these are excuses used by media or others to bring his candidacy down. I hope DNC give him his fare share .
3
I like Bernie, but he's just as old as Biden. Not as out of touch, but...
Bernie is our FDR 2.0 from someone who is over 65...we need him.
4
Bernie is authentic.
Passionate.
Genuine.
Sincere.
Consistent.
And the 2016 runner-up!
Of course he should be the nominee!
And he will win because he is the angry outsider's populist, that voter who is disappointed by Trump's hypocrisy, because he started out as drain the swamp but became the swamp.
Bernie can and will beat Trump.
7
Bernie a unifier! You've got to be out of your mind. A Senate gadfly who would be out of his depth as President. That said although I will never vote for him in my Maryland Democratic Primary if he gets the nomination I will vote for him in a shot. I might even campaign for him. He is honest and means well and would be a substantial upgrade over Trump. But then, so would my cat.
3
So Ross Douthat wants to help Democrats choose their nominee? No thanks.
5
Ross wants a country that is worth living in for his children. Bernie beats Trump.
I was speaking with my 20 and 30-something kids over Thanksgiving on what they should do in the Primaries - and I said, vote your policy wishes. They all did the "who is your best candidate" screener tool (I think it's on NYT) and all came up with: Yang. So I told them, vote Yang in the Primaries, he is a long shot but the party will get the message on which platform is most important to the most people. These kids would never answer a poll and don't own land lines so this is their big chance (as well as supporting the campaign by donations). And my kids have no interest in Bernie for one simple reason - he is too old.
2
I always suspected that Mr. Douthat is a closet supporter of Trump and wish his re-election. Probably have to do with judges that advance his church dogma on social issue and in particular limiting abortions.
3
I will vote for Bernie if he wins the nomination, but he will always be a carpetbagger in my opinion, joining the big tent of the democrats only during the campaign. And yes, I know he’s signed a pledge to remain a democrat if he wins. And personally, I don’t think his trademark yelling, finger shaking and red face will play well against trump’s showman style in a debate. I have yet to hear him clearly define how he will fund all his free for all programs.
3
I’m with Ross.
Bernie’s 2016 primary victories over Clinton in Wisconsin and Michigan and his narrow loss in New Hampshire tell us that those voters are open to the candidate who will speak truth to power, and are not convinced by the candidate smooth talking our fears away. Bernie’s AOC endorsement shows the energy of new ideas, young voters, new voters, at this back. Bernie’s support among African American and Latino voters is strong because he has actually shown up for these communities. Bernie takes the punches his opponents throw and swats them away effectively. Case in point, call him a socialist, he’ll respond with a shrug and move right along.
It’s an insult to our working brothers and sisters, to our communities of color, to our young people, to promise moderate changes when that is not a panacea to what ails us, but rather a formula to leave the fundamental unfairness of our economy and politics in place for generations to come.
After serious consideration to several candidates, I have to agree with Ross, I’m with Bernie.
5
What Ross’ op-Ed is saying is that the Democrats do not have a candidate that can beat the president With a roaring economy and wages rising especially for the bottom 1/3 strata, and Black and Hispanic support rising it looks bleak Bernie could never be president of our country even if he could turn back Father Time and miraculously become 52 His praise of Castro, Chavez , Maduro, The USSR and bread lines in Nicaragua would have disqualified him in any era We will never elect a socialist/communist to be president
3
The oligarchy thank you for your contribution to their, not your, not our, success.
The whole situation is distressing. Pay no attention to Douthat. He attacks the Pope for being too modern and inclusive. He pens kind words for Bernie purely as a provocateur. Never believe a word he writes.
The thing that needs to be dealt with is the racism, sexism and every other awful tendency of many Americans that Trump has seized on for support. Whichever Democratic contender who wins will be attacked by Trump, directly or indirectly, in one fashion or another. All the women candidates will be assailed for being women, Buttigeig for being gay and various candidates for being too liberal or socialist.
I honestly don't know who the best candidate is. I just know that I hope one of them emerges because, if Trump is re-elected, the future of the entire planet is in peril. He is a wrecking ball with his lifelong ignorance and arrogance.
3
When Bernie speaks, we understand.
He’s honest and makes sense.
Experienced. He is an old hand.
And yet – I’m on the fence.
Why’s that? I fear Bernie’s too old.
Granted: his mind is young.
His vision clear. His message bold.
He knows to hold his tongue.
What else? He uses scary words.
“Social” and “revolution”.
For many, that is for the birds.
Worthy of prosecution.
When the word “social” only means
(to Bernie, anyway)
equality, less harsh extremes,
where more do have a say.
And “revolution”? He should use,
instead, the word “transition”.
A move towards much less abuse,
more fairness, less division.
The voters may agree with that.
What’s foreign, they don’t like.
If it sounds strange, they smell a rat.
Most voters go on strike.
Bernie should ratchet down his tone.
Use words that people know.
Use words that do not make us moan,
and then he’s good to go!
1
Is he a moderate, which will be the 2020 winner? Is he young? Is he healthy?
3
These are not times that can justify continued ‘moderation’, which is code for do nothing to help ourselves survive.
1
What fun the Republicans could have digging out all the old quotes in which Bernie praises Chavez, Maduro, Ortega et al.
7
How come the Republicans don't need a unifier? My recollection is they won the presidency with a divider.
3
With a twinkle in his eye, Douhat roils the Democratic base. It is highly unlikely that Sanders will be the nominee and he’ll get hammered by Trump if gifted to the Republicans. But it’s fun to see the reliably reviled Ross hailed by the Times’ Usual Suspects for his sudden and unexpected insight (which will no doubt disappear by his next column.)
4
We love Bernie Sanders. No matter what we will vote able does not matter who. So save your breath and if you are as conservative as you have claimed to be, stick to your lane don’t interfere but merge if you want to. Democratic Party welcomes one and all.
2
"tiny, not-obviously-thriving city.".....People who live on the coasts just don't get it. South Bend has a population of 102,000. In fly-over country that is a major metropolitan area. Sometimes I struggle to understand how people who think they are saw sophisticated and wise have no idea what the real world is like.
1
When Bernie had a heart attack earlier this year, I crossed him off my very short list of favorite candidates for president. I just don’t think we need someone with a known serious heart condition as president.
My top two issues of concern are climate change and corruption in Washington. If we effectively deal with the latter, say through public funding of elections, we will be more likely to be able to effectively address the former and other important concerns of the American people such as Medicare for all.
Because Medicare for all is not one of my top two issues, I’m reluctant to vigorously support Elizabeth Warren. Even so, I remain hopeful that she or some other candidate will emerge from the pack to lance the boil on America’s butt that is Donald Trump and emerge victorious next November.
Warren cannot be trusted. She proved she wasn’t part of this fight by remaining silent until it served her personally. We can trust Bernie to do what he says because he doesn’t say it just to serve himself to gain power. Bernie fights for US. Bernie is the only one who fights for us.
Except he's NOT a socialist. He is still a capitalist..a democratic socialist. Yes, he is the one that we can all get behind.
3
I wonder how many Hilary voters would vote for Bernie. So many Bernie Bros made a production about not voting for Clinton (Jill Stein anyone?) I voted for Hilary. I’d hold my nose and vote for Sanders, though I think he’s a first-class phony.
2
Not only is he the only genuine politician, and the only trustworthy politician, he is the only politician who has shifted the Overton window so we can even talk about how we can change this country to become a less brutal oligarchy.
1
There is no case for Bernie. He has a coronary condition. The Presidency, if not the campaign would kill him. It is time for his supporters to find reality.
4
People of all ages have a heart episode and then come back stronger than ever. I have stood beside Bernie and felt his vitality. You have nothing to worry about by backing him as if your life depends on it. It does.
1
No one will beat Trump for two reasons, the economy is terrific and white nationalism is here to stay.
Don’t despair. This moment is our chance to unite and push toward the tipping point that creates the future in which we can not only survive, but thrive.
Are you happy about both of those things?
Sanders is portrayed in our media, and the NYT as extreme, left wing radical. The media is itself afraid to be called left wing. The media conforms.
But Sanders simply wants to restore The New Deal of FDR, and The Great Society of LBJ. Their policies enabled our once strong middle class to grow. Too radical for many of today's propagandized voters.
As our economic inequality and insecurity has greatly increased, the role of our own elected govt to redress our grievances is put down as compromising our 'freedoms'.
Sanders and other real, not fake progressives, tell the truth about this great American Con.
4
The Democrats had no problem fixing it for Hillary last time. What makes you think they will not do it again. Instead of a autopsy of 2016 we got Russia Russia Russia.
1
This almost makes up for the constant stream of negativity about Bernie from the NYT. New respect for Ross Douthat.
Bernie won many of the states in the 2016 primaries that Hillary lost during the general election. His biggest donors are nurses, teachers and, employees at Amazon and Walmart: 4,000,000 contributions.
Talk about AMERICANS!
Average contribution $18 and, it's about time that the people (Democrats, Republicans and, Independents) owned their President.
2
The hectoring Bernie Sanders does not appeal to me.
4
You prefer smooth talking oligarchs? It’s your choice. Your life depends on it. Choose wisely.
Poor Ross Douthat calls the honest debate for the Democratic nominee a trainwreck, but fails to see the disastrous effect that his Republican Party is currently having on our nation. Could anyone possibly have less insight into Democratic nomination?
3
After listening to his integrity and intelligence in the podcast The Argument, I have respect for Ross. I think you underestimate his goodness if you don’t believe he has clear eyes when assessing the character of the current administration.
E Warren better get her game on course or she is going to be a VP to Bernie
As was the case in 2016, it seems extremely unlikely that an elderly Jewish Socialist from the northeast can win a national election.
1
Since when should Democrats take advice from one of the biggest apologists for the right-wing Republicans? Consider the source when you ponder the message.
2
Im voting for Bernie. He is for the working man. He is for the people.
3
So it looks as if it takes a conservative to acknowledge what many liberals refuse to see? Obama wants to block Bernie and HRC of course hates him so much that she got the DNC to cheat last time round. Yes Bernie is a bit old but as he says electing a president is also electing a team and a movement.
I bet "tax the poor Bloomberg" will spend a fortune to stop him and Hillary will see the Russians under his bed again. And maybe Weinstein will once again accuse him of...sexism (no joke, it's a fact). Summers will move from demonizing Warren to vilify him.
Bernie is what the US but also the world really need. Better health for all and no regime change wars, a fight against global warming. If the US took a socialist democratic turn millions of Americans would breathe and people around the world would rate the US as high as when Obama was elected. And Bernie can defeat Trump but also Trumpism.
2
I agree with Douthat that the Democrats' race has turned into a train wreck which, as it now stands, will allow Donald Trump to continue wrecking our country. I've never warmed to Bernie but would absolutely vote for him in a race against our current, treacherous president.
1
I beg your pardon. It IS the "Vermont Socialist." He is also the only one who can beat tRump, and does so in EVERY POLL. Nice of you to notice. We would welcome you onto our bandwagon, if you care to join.
3
I suspect all Democrats feel as I do..it does not matter who is nominated I'm voting for them....Most if not all D's feel the same.... that's why the gang got so big they know that too.
2
It’s just weird that the first column I can remember seeing, ever, in the NY Times that has anything positive to say about Sanders is this column, from one of the conservative columnists.
Yet Sanders won something like 40 percent of the delegates in the last Democratic primary season.
The liberal columnists seems to be a bit out of touch with their own party.
2
In polls that pit Dem contenders, Sanders always finishes second to Biden, and often the difference is a point or two less. In the key states, He is the only one, along with Biden, who has any chance. But, unlike Biden, he can get high turnout by young whites and non-whites, He also , next to Biden, gets more Obama-Trump voters tan any other Dem.
Buttigieg's being gay pretty much kills him among white non-college voters and he has zero popularity among blacks for that reason as well as his troubles in South Bend. Black voters won't be voting for Trump over Buttigieg, of course, but their turnout will be lower than needed in places like Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Detroit. As for Warren, her biggest weakness is not her health care plan, but something she can do nothing about: being female. This plagues all the other female candidates as well. It's rarely acknowledged, even to oneself, but rather conflated with "likeability."
Biden will be subject to a lot of false flag messages on FB , as Clinton was, designed to lower turnout among blacks, women, and the young. They will be based on his actual record, even more than Clinton's was.
Good idea Ross: Bernie 2020. Has a nice ring. But not gonna happen. Doubtful the rich elites, who run everything, will let this happen and agree to have their pockets picked.
Bloomberg be the Man, the adult who's come to settle the children down and take charge. He's the only one with a hope of replacing Trump.
1
Bernie has been on the right side of history on every major issue for the past thirty years. Don't fret to much about it Ross. The donors that own the Democrat Party will never let him win. They will keep enough Corporate Democrats in the race to split the vote so the super delegates will install your puppet as nominee on the second ballot.
It will work but they will get four more years of Trump from their crooked actions.I still feel sick for having to vote for Hillary.I will never forgive myself. I will never vote for corporatist again.I believe it will be the end of the Democrats as a major party if they tell us we must hold our nose again.
1
lol quite an endorsement: Bernie will leave social conservatives alone! but will it look good on a banner at Berkeley?
Of all the Dem candidates Sanders is the one I just cannot stand. No one on the Dem side is more divisive than Sanders. If it weren't for Sanders and the dirty, unfair tactics of his campaign in the run up to 2016 Hillary would probably be president right now. What a liar: "Free college!" Yeah, sure, and if you believe that here's a nice bridge I have to sell you. "Break up the big banks!" How? Oh -- no idea! "Medicare for all!" But where are the numbers? Oh, sorry, Sanders doesn't do math. Warren does it for him: trillions upon trillions of dollars, in tax increases. Insane. And how about gender equality, as opposed to aggressively preventing it as he did in 2016? Sanders and his supporters will only address it if you ask them to. Because when it comes to the equality of the sexes, well, Sanders just doesn't care. If Sanders' popularity grows and he threatens to become the Dem nominee, I will affirmatively oppose him.
1
Of course, a Republican op-ed writer wants a Socialist MFA candidate to win the nomination thus reassuring another 4 years of Trumpville. Bernie has 11% support among the black community. No Democratic candidate has ever won with that kind of lack of support in one of the two strongest voting blocks in the Democratic party. If white people in Iowa and New Hampshire are going to determine the outcome of the 2020 election God help us.
Is Bernie still messing around with New Math like he did in late spring 2016 to the detriment of Hillary Clinton?
Ab•so•lute•ly without Bernie, we lose. He can pack stadiums, he will not be side-tracked by Trumps nonsense, he is always on message. That said, I will vote for any Democratic nominee. Those commentators who say they won’t vote appall me. That’s how we got Trump. Vote! Even for Trump, but vote.
Bernie is NOT a unifying force for a lot of us Dems. He was as bad asTrump when he ran in ‘16 with respect to whining about how the system was rigged and everything was unfair. He demonized Hilary so much that a significant percentage of Bernie bots stayed home, handing Trump the election. And his idiotic insistence on labeling himself a Socialist is doing untold damage to the party’s brand going into this next election cycle. Frankly, I can’t stand the guy and wish he’d just go away. Coming from Mr Douthat, this column makes no sense at all, unless Ross is working for the GOP.
2
@Sherry In 2016 the Russians promoted Bernie in the primary.
1
Seriously? Sanders is just way too old. I like his policies but he’ll end up with dementia or a heart attack halfway through his term if elected. There’s no way he’d make it to a second.
And he’s a cantankerous jerk.
1
Wow. A conservative columnist who will support a self-proclaimed SOCIALIST over a woman. Misogyny rears its ugly head again.
1
Nice try, Ross, but it's too late.
I will give Bernie the props that he alone among the Democrat field seems to truly believe the vapor escaping from his mouth, even though as a blueprint for governing the nation his ideas are quintessence of policy onanism.
The other Dems are stereotypical politicians: empty suits, empty pantsuits.
But, hey fellow Americans, the tragedy is that we get exactly the leaders we want, Mr. T included. (Apologies to Lawrence Tureaud, the real Mr. T.)
Please, God, send us a moderate pro-life Democrat I can vote for. (I'm not saying make abortion a crime, I just can't stand progressives' gleeful celebration over all this tragic loss of life.)
1
I'm a woman over 65 and support Sanders. And I know a lot of others in my age group, male and female, who support Sanders. The author mentions social security recipients as not among Sanders' obvious supporters. Although I am still working and am not yet drawing social security, I cannot understand why those who depend, at least in part, on social security to survive economically (and I understand from what I read that that's most of us), would support Biden over Sanders. After all, Biden enthusiastically supported President Obama's efforts to put social security on the table through the Bowles-Simpson Commission (otherwise known as the Catfood Commission), and Biden was responsible for appointing Simpson to the Commission (the person who inimicably referred to social security recipients as wanting to "suck on the government's teat"). Biden supporters over 65 are either rich or badly misinformed. He is not our best bet to win the nomination and defeat Trump.
2
Ross, Please, not Bernie!
He has stubbornly never been a bona fide Democrat, though he expects to spend their money, and for Democrats to nominate him and unaffiliated voters to vote for him in a general election. He represents--in every sense of the word--a small, borderline, anti gun control predominately white state, and he is too old to campaign or govern effectively for the next 5 years, much less for a second term. He repeats the same rhetoric of 2016, and with his belated endorsement, bears much of the blame for blocking Hillary from the oval office, and giving it to Trump.
1
A vote for Bernie is a vote for trump. If mr douhat cannot comprehend that, then perhaps he should peddle his opinions to Russia today.
1
Bernie can unify the party. He has support from across diverse racial and ethnic groups, and will also bring out disaffected low and middle income voters of all races who sat out the last election. He can win in many states that Trump took last time because of that ability to bring out the vote. Bernie is clearly so honest and dedicated to the people and to reforming our system so that it will be more democratic and just, and his sincerity means many will not be cynical and will come out to vote — a key for Democratic chances in 2020.
2
Bernie has some real problems. First, he has spent most of his adult life paying his bills out of taxpayers' wallets. He is a professional politician who has has little to no workplace experience or worries such as the everyday worker faces. His check is printed by the business that also owns the printing press for the money he spends. As a senator, he hasn't promoted or passed a single significant piece of legislation, In the last election he listed a whole bunch of reasons Hillary was not qualified to be president. In the end he caved and endorsed her saying, "She must become our next president," Many of his supporters felt betrayed and held up signs saying "Never Hillary." Sanders was seen as a political empty barrel. A lot of noise but little or nothing inside. He has no chance of being the nominee or beating Trump.
3
Please stop writing about the "horse-race".
Is it too much to ask for one of the many NY Times columnists to write a column in which he or she makes the case that one candidate or another would make the best President of the United States? What are the major issues? Who has proposals best suited to meet those challenges and who is most likely to be effective when elected?
A year before the election and the press is obsessed with polling. Most citizens don't know the name of the Governor of their state, don't know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid and couldn't find Afghanistan on a map if their life depended on it. I don't really care what my fellow citizens are telling pollsters. I would like to read a thoughtful well-reasoned analysis by someone who knows the issues well and has something useful to add to the discussion.
1
@Doug Goodwini
Amen. The coverage of the election has been pitiful. It's completely driven by poll-chasing, which has a feedback loop with press coverage. Both the NYT & WP have been doing a terrible job helping us to get to know all the candidates.
I love Bernie but I don’t think he would be a good president and I wish Republicans and former Republicans (including David Brooks, Max Boot, George Will, Mike Bloomberg, and many others) would stop telling Democrats which nominee they prefer or think can win. Let them fix their own party first!
3
Bernie has been a U.S. Congressman/Senator in Washington for 36 years (since 1983). In that time Bernie has gotten a total of three of his bills passed into law - one bill to increase a specific VA program and the other two bills were to rename two Vermont U.S. Post Offices. That's it. In 36 years in Washington as a legislator Bernie Sanders has accomplished virtually nothing.
I love The Bern, I am progressive, myself, but what makes people think that as President Sanders he would get stuff passed into law when in 36 years as a legislator he has no record of being able to pass anything? Yes, we need to beat Trump, but we also need to elect someone who can get stuff into law.
5
Are you trying get a Republican re-elected, even if it’s the abhorrent Donald Trump? Bernie would lose in 2020.
Ross, take another look at Mike Bennet. He could win, especially if he got some attention from the media.
I love Bernie, I admire him and voted for him in the 2016 NY primary. He hasn’t changed but everything else has. It is too important to get a Democrat who can winIn 2020. It’s not Bernie. Besides accepting, proudly, the mantle of Socialist, AOC has endorsed him. That’s all Fox and the Republican machine will need. Who ever Bernie would pick as VP, they will have her as his running mate.
Bernie deserves a happy retirement.
4
Ah, to paraphrase Groucho, the "endorsed by Ross Douthat" club is not one into which a progressive might wish to be invited, but . .
The nation might well look to VT, where I have been, full or part time for 30 years. Bernie has the most remarkable coalition of support because he is genuine and consistent. Crusty old, conservative farmers love him. Folks of color (both of them) love him. Hipsters love him. Faux, back to the land, trust fund hipsters love him. Pretentious, Land Rover yuppies love him.
Honesty goes a long way. Bernie is a "tax the rich" progressive to be sure. But why not tax the rich, for goodness sake - dual meaning intended. He's not a stubborn ideologue. He will work for progress, not sacrifice good for perfect.
Bernie 2020!!
6
Who better than Bernie to lead the Democrats to where they really want to be? Socialists.
I am very suspicious when a Republican tells Democrats who they should nominate.
10
Could everyone at the Times please stop calling people who want to expand the social safety net socialists? Socialism is a completely different thing, and by using that term you're just giving ammunition to the right-wing scaremongers!
7
Despite Bernie's unabashed embrace of the dreaded S-word, he may be the Democrat with the broadest appeal to the general electorate for one simple reason: as Ross points out, Bernie doesn't much care for the culture wars. His message is strongly centered on class and economics.
For those commenters clutching their pearls at the thought of Bernie's "free stuff" policies: the reason such policies carry exponentially more purchase today than they did a generation ago is because so much of the country is struggling and being left behind. Affluent NYT readers stanning for Mayor Pete or Amy Klobuchar (the "better things aren't possible" brigade) or Joe Biden (the only man in all of US politics that comes across as more senile than Donald Trump) don't quite get that for literally tens of millions of people in the USA the game is rigged impossibly against them. We drastically need a rebalancing; he's the only offering such.
6
Ok... if not Warren or Biden — then Bernie and Pete —- the ticket for American ideals, values and sense.
Also a ticket less corrupt than any recent in memory.
2
I plan to vote for a registered Democrat.
6
America, here are your choices: Bernie or Trump. That's it. Biden or Buttigieg would 100% lose to Trump; Warren most likely will too.
Bernie will thrash Trump. He'll excite millions to turn out in the general who would have otherwise stayed at home. He'll easily win the midwest states the Democrats surrendered in 2016, and then some.
Trump is a buffoon, but a formidable force because of his genius of exposing his opponent's inconsistencies and hypocrisies. Against Biden's history and fumbling, Buttigieg's fealty to the donor class, Warren's half-truths about her policies and her heritage, Trump will triumph. Against the most consistent and honest candidate in living memory, Trump will have all the power of a wet lettuce.
Please: focus America. Do all in your power to elect Bernie as the Democrat candidate. The rest of the world is relying on you.
6
Bernie honeymooned in the USSR. His redistributionist policies would make us similar to that long gone oligarchy. Why have inequality when we can all be equally miserable?
2
“At the very least he’s no more radical on an issue like abortion than a studied moderate like Mayor Pete.”
This is ridiculous. It is the anti-abortion side that are the radicals, and moreover they are crazy fanatics. They oppose abortion even for women who were raped, which makes them the moral equivalent of rapists themselves.
7
The best way to give the corrupt, incompetent and unhinged man currently residing in the White House a chance at a second term?
Select a challenger waving the radioactive banner of "Socialism".
3
Ross's bubble must more impregnable than ever this weekend. Only someone who spends immense amounts of time in quiet rooms "thinking" could come up this.
3
Sorry, Bernie is a radical leftist-communist and he is very dangerous for the entire country plus his policies will ruin the country and our economic growth. Bernie and his supporters live with communist-socialist mentality and no understanding in how to run a country or business. He hasn't done nothing and he is disgraceful person by supporting Chavez, Morales, Ortega and all those dictatorships. As a Democrat my choices are Tulsi Gabbard or Pete Buttigieg because are the closest to the middle and they are very clear abou their agendas. Hope Bernie retires soon because he have done more harm to this country than good.
1
Please, please nominate George McGovern, I mean Bernie Sanders. Please.
3
I just wish he would finish even one sentence with words other than "corporate greed".
3
a very strong case for legalizing pot. Too much adulterated stuff
around NYC and NYT. Bernie is not electable for a whole variety of reasons.
2
"...but also from his fellow left-winger, Warren, who has fully embraced the culture-war breadth of the new progressivism..."
It's refreshing, at long last, to see someone dare to use the term "left-winger" in the NY Times. Regular readers might have assumed - justifiably - that there is no such thing as a left-winger. Now they must confront that reality.
1
This is a great example of Ross' brilliance when he's not trying to be holier than the Pope.
2
Every American is a member of some minority group or other: the Cornish have nothing in common with Cockneys, and that is only within England.
Why are some "minorities" special?
1
How could a Jewish 78 year old avowed Socialist from a tiny New England state who just suffered a heart attack on the campaign trail possibly lose? If this is the author's idea of the best candidate for the Dems, surely he must be a Republican (oh right, yes, he is). InTrump's dreams Bernie is his opponent, he would crush him in every swing state by double digits.
4
No mention of the heart attack?
1
For manufactured reality and perverse wishful thinking, you sure take the cake, bro' Ross. TG
Bernie is a tired old man. His entire didactic college professor routine is shop worn, carrying around a giant banner that has been RE-gressive since Russia 1905.
Vermont routinely elects Bernie to the Senate with the assumption that he will accomplish nothing...."just dont screw anything up".....and Bernie has largely accomplished that.
....
In 2016, Bernie did accomplish something.....his run for the presidency uncovered the Massive Corruption inside the DNC....the DNC being a small clique of Wealthy Powerful Politicians that manipulate the overall concept of the Democrat Party. The DNC is analogous to the Tammany Hall Ring that ran the Democrat Party for decades.
....
Even so....after the Massive election fraud in the California PRimary....during which the DNC stole the result from Bernie...and even bragged about it..............Bernie meekly took his payout.....retirement and a Vermont Vacation Home.......and his supporters appearantly just shrugged their shoulders and voted for the DNC candidate, Hillary,,,,,anyway.
...
Or did they?
2
I'm 71 and have supported Sanders since he declared for the 2016 election. My ditto-head brother supported him then too, but switched to trump when Clinton won the nomination. For me it's the platform, but for my brother it was just Sanders' genuineness. He's not a "finger in the wind" politician.
396
@Marilyn Burbank - How very astute of your brother to see in Trump any speck of genuineness. Genuinely disingenuous - he makes no secret that he is the epitome of a "finger in the wind" politician.
12
@Marilyn Burbank Absolutely. On top of his policies, which I believe need to at least be attempted, he is the one of the few consistently authentic politicians. I consider tRump like a doctor considers radioactive cesium in x-ray machines: useful for rooting out the old Confederates who have been under the surface of our political consciousness all this time. We now have them in the open and may properly convert or exorcise them from our national consciousness if we have the will to do so.
9
It would be a big, big surprise if Bernie wins the Democratic convention in a country where the best political platform should be a non-platform to please everyone.
I told my wife about my coworkers child that was sick . She asked if it was a go fund me level illness.
If that isn't enough to get you to vote for Bernie then lets just stop pretending we care about anything.
716
@gene
A “go fund me level illness”. Interesting. America’s answer to a real healthcare solution. I respect all who donate, and my wife and I have done so ourselves on occasion. But it’s a grassroots way to help people because government isn’t interested in helping.
I’m guessing all the billionaires aren’t diving in to help. After all, if they have problems they just write a check and besides you don’t get a tax write off. They’d rather donate to a PAC to help keep their money.
38
@gene The problem is that all Bernie does is talk. He hasn’t helped people in any meaningful way despite ample opportunities to do so. I like his rhetoric but can’t support this politician who makes millions off of his book deals.
6
@gene
It's enough to get me to vote for Warren.
12
I live in Vermont and have more experience with Bernie than most of your commenters. He has been consistent throughout his career, but what has made him effective is his ability, shown ever since he was elected mayor of Burlington, VT, to work with those who disagree with him, and achieve many of his goals.
In the Senate as an independent, he couldn't sponsor bills, but was able to work with both sides on amendments which furthered his aims. He listens to his constituents and answers questions (he answered mine at a meeting in my small town of approximately 2000 inhabitants).
We will need a president who can be effective, and Bernie has shown that he can be.
7
While weak on areas (who isn’t?), Bernie offers what most other candidates don’t — genuine advocacy for middle class and disenfranchised, noble ideas to readjust tax laws and health care reform, and an admirable I won’t put up with Trump and his legacy attitude. Despite his health setback, he still has a youthful vitality and energy absent from most other candidates. He’s likable, and I believe he is one of only two candidates who can debate Trump and win or break even, the other being Warren.
If he is the nominee, his VP will be a huge factor.
I’m rooting for him.
7
It will not encourage moderate people like me to vote in the 2020 election. If it’s Bernie v Trump I will stay on the sidelines or vote for an alternative candidate.
71
@Tejano
Seeing increased Federal spending and reduced wealth inequality as somehow on an equally bad standing as Trump doesn't make you a moderate, it makes you part of the problem in America.
184
@Tejano
Wrong. Staying home is the better option. Voting for an "alternative" candidate like Jill Stein (boo) only encourages these spoiler types.
16
@Tejano
This is unfortunate, but I’d be more upset if you lived in a swing state.
46
Old is old is old is old.
I know: I'M old(er). 72 in March.
The job, when done properly, requires energy. Heart. Spirit. Drive. Determination. And some sleepless nights. (Not to mention worldwide travel.)
I LIKE Bernie. But ... 79-83? And then, possibly ... 83-87?
2
The case for Bernie is absolutely terrible.
This column makes absolutely no sense to me.
5
If you believe R Douthet is not trying to trick Bernie supporters, you have not been reading his drivel for long enough. You are playing right into his hands and those of his GOP brethren and co-conspirators.
7
Ross Douthat must want President Trump to win a second term.
9
Sanderas is not even a Denmocrat, in good faith. In 2026 his people ran him as a write uin all over to deduct votes from Clinton and denied it. Unaware he wasn't an offical candidate of the Democratic party-millions of votes were cast for him in states where he was entered as either a minority Dem or a socilist or some other candiadate. In fact-sandewrs was rushing state to state trying to ensure a fully inflated Clinton balloon for ehr general election-b ut it was too late-his own self conception of him as a social savior and all others as phonies and thives-led many of his young voters to throw away thir votes on sanders-allowing every vote cast for Trump to have so much aded weight.
Thus: doiutht and other Repoublican and extreme conservative writers at the Times-who secretly admire and desire Trump to fill another four year term-will tell Times readers-the dumbest of intelligent folks extant- that Sanders-AFTER sinking the Clinton 2016 candidacy-is really the "right" coice for the Democrats of 2020.
Biden ought to have been our 16 candidate-and he ought to be this time around, too.
Just don't listen to REpublicans in Blue suits whose real agenda is four more Trump years and then, possibly a right wing, South American style dictatorship, sans Constitution, where Democrats will be unable to ever control more than a minority of miority of states in the Northeast
Vote Biden-he will even get numerous Reoublicans votes.
In 2016 the dems offered up a shaky candidate who was disliked by many and Villainized by the media for so long that some believed the absurd stories. The Final nail in the coffin was James Comey who single-handedly handed the Trump the presidency. But why cry over spilt milk? Because it’s happing all over again. Only this time in slow motion. The dems have a babbling know-it-all , a gay guy , a Obama want-a-be a socialist , two billionaires and a old guy with the Ukraine question ready to be used. Will the FBI suddenly do an last minute investigation? Stay tuned as we will soon find out. It’s bananas but it’s the primaries. So that’s the best the dems got? Get ready for four more years of dysfunction and God only knows what.
1
So, Ross. You've located the home for the disenfranchised Trump voter. This is your opinion, it's also YOUR vote. Right?
2
True Democrats hate Bernie with a passion. He is one reason Hillary lost the EC.
7
Translation: I think Bernie’s the likeliest to get creamed, and then I can a) still get my judges and repeals of Roe, b) still have unchecked capitalism, which is tough given the liberal Pope, and c) still maintain plaisible deniability.
5
This Democrat finds it ludicrous that Bernie wants me to vote for him as standard bearer of a party he will not bring himself to join. As a proud Democrat, I find his chutzpah takes my breath away!
5
Bernie alone has the persuasive ability to win over Republicans who are not part of The 45 Cult.
2
Dump Trump, anyone but Trump. Democrats must stick together. No sulking.
4
I find it fascinating that so many Republicans have long been urging us to nominate a Republican for them, since they’ve utterly failed our nation by rallying around an amoral, shameless grifter—and now they want us to nominate someone else who’s not even a Democrat.
I’m already tired of sifting through Russian trolls in various comment sections.
If Republicans are truly interested in alternatives instead us just trolling us, why don’t you start protesting the states who are cancelling your own primaries to shut out your own alternatives to the mobster you’ve put in the White House? Where are your columns supporting your own candidates?
If we get another four years of Trump, it is entirely the fault of the Republican Party who created and sustained him. We are not going to take the blame for your complicity in election rigging, unfettered greed, planet trashing, shameless propaganda, and white supremacy.
6
Ah the elite, white male. Bernie is an Independent and his viscous rhetoric was one reason that Trump is in the White House. His trade policies match Trumps and look where we are teetering on a global economic implosion. Wall Street is in a false boom to shore up Trump. Mayor Pete - don’t trash S Bend - and horror of horrors you might try learning a little about it.
1
Dear Dems, Please nominate Bernie Sanders. Thank you, A Trump Supporter.
4
Not Me
US
Such a refreshing thought compared to the world class narcissist now in the White House.
2
Bernie Sanders a unifier? Is this The Onion?
7
Trump would crush Bernie. Cold reality bath.
3
Not convinced!
1
Despite the resemblance to the racist Bret Rabbit metaphor, “don’t throw me in the briar patch” subtext, Bernie can beat Trump. Conservative Douthat wants Bernie because he thinks Bernie will lose. Conservatives dream of beating Bernie because every “establishment Democrat” agree with conservatives, Bernie will kill the insurance industry, alienate insurance customers who are inured to paying $15000 per person for insurance, union members who fought hard to get “good” expensive insurance and indeed, the propaganda says he is a nightmare. Democrats are so divided that voters are caught in a choice trap, given too many choices they just don’t buy any. But once nominated, the choice will be Bernie vs the candidate not indicted. A clear choice.
What Republicans rely on is racism, misogyny, greed, fear, and hatred. What Republicans have done is put their faith and trust in a degenerate liar, who routinely abandons his co-conspirators. What will Trump answer when Bernie points to the “Wall”, “the best healthcare and lowest drug prices”, the billions squandered on the trade war, North Korea, Syria, fine Nazis, racists taunts and incitement to violence, and all roads leading to Putin and NBS and Erdogan? Manufacturing jobs in Pa, OH, Mich, and Wis have not materialized, except in Trump’s lies. No other President has stolen millions from veterans and paid $2 million in restitution. No other President ever employed foreign help to smear an opponent. Good luck!
3
@HKGuy Real Clear Politic is a libertarian contact:
Prejudiced benign hip. Let’s get a real witness.
Wait a minute! Suddenly tough-on-Russia Democrats support someone who thought a totalitarian Russia was so great he honeymooned there?
3
Bernie?
Absolutely NOT!
3
And then there's the heart attack. Really?
2
Just make sure he has a good vice-president to take over when he dies or is incapacitated.
1
Says a lot about the state of the NYT in 2019 when a conservative columnist seems to have a better understanding of the Sanders movement than the more "Liberal" or "Moderate" voices on the NYT editorial staff.
1
Just wanted to double check and make sure Ross Douthat was the author of this column!
Seriously? Do you really think Bernie's the one?
3
Bernie is a compassionate man and passionate advocate gor America's suffering people. Berniee is a brilliant septuagenarian a man of historic admirable patriotism and honesty. Could Senator Bernie Sanders of New Hampshire be our first Jewish president from Brooklyn? Yea or Nay? Just askin'.
1
Sanders is an incompetent old fool with one foot in the grave. Ask him about his 1987 plan to fill his tax gap left by the retail mall scoff he handed uvm medical center a 2.5 million dollar property tax bill. That post office he renamed still says us post office over the door as far as I can the man is all hat and no cattle.
3
Bernie Sanders wants to bring shock troops from Mexico to start his revolution.
Nice try!
Please tell me how another angry, cranky, old white man will unite us. Benie was not vetted in 2016 because so much of the focus was on Hillary and you know who. He has baggage, plenty of it and it will be all on the table this time. If he is the nominee Dems will lose and lose bigtime.
4
I do not take political guidance from Republicans, especially not professional Christian Republicans. Take the log out of your own eye, Buster.
4
Uh oh. This column seems like a death knell for poor Bernie.
2
Can’t see Bernie “negotiating “ with President Xi or the Amazon machine...The 2 biggest problems this country has
I just can’t picture that.....his arm flailing is as bad as Trump’s fabrications and evil smirk
1
I'm a Independent Boomer business owner making $200K-plus a year. I will change to Democrat to be able to vote for Bernie in the Primary. Just because I make a decent living (I used to be a dishwasher!) doesn't mean I automatically worship the Golden Calf and the almighty buck. I'm tired of hearing my Trumper friends say "well yea you think Trump is nuts but how's your 401k doing?" Capitalism without morality is as evil as Communism. Bernie has consistently shown integrity his whole life and young people are right to recognize him as the real deal. Bernie is the tireless FDR democrat our country needs right now and if he was the nominee in 2016 we'd be watching (or not!) Trump on his stupid TV station instead of listening to his incoherent ramblings from the oval office.
806
@Michael thank you <3
37
@Michael
Thank you for being a patriot and not a me-me-me,
greedy GOPer. So there are a few of you out there!
27
@Michael
Independent means never having to say I decided.
3
Good column. I like Sanders. And Warren, and...Steyers. But for all your points for Sanders, all the supportive comments for him, it won’t matter who can ‘beat Trump’, who can win iffy conservatives, if we don’t come together to demand fair voting practices, machines.
This week’s article on the ...weird results from Pennsylvania’s new voting machines, the company’s campaign contributions to those selecting which machines to buy- are not reassuring.
The NYTimes has spent months covering the good, bad on each Democrat candidate. Now it’s time to do the same for all the companies making voting machines. Who owns them, which states have what kind, how many states still have no paper ballot trails. And why should the source code, a critical component for democracy, be in private hands, unseen, unexamined, unchallenged. Patents for basic math calculations?
All the candidates need to focus on that House passed legislation that addresses some of the fair voting needs. More on that, too from the media. Sen McConnell, why not let the Senate vote on, fair voting? This president is obsessed with his legitimacy in the past election. Refusing to address voting practices- is going to help that, how?
Maybe in the next debate, voting practices, not health care, should take the stage for hours. Is there a ‘plan for that’? Will others have different ones? I doubt Bernie will compromise on fair voting machines. Let’s hear from the rest of the pack.
4
@Jo Williams
Excellent suggestion. You listening NYT?
I'm a 70 something liberal's liberal. Bernie doesn't scare me. I'm drawn to many of his progressive ideas.
BUT as a self-identified "socialist," he'll scare off many middle-of-the-road voters we need to defeat tRump.
4
Since Trump’s election in 2016 I don’t think anyone can claim to know what will scare the electorate.
1
Sorry Ross. Not buying what you're selling. I would vote for Uncle Joe, Mayor Pete, or Senator Amy. If Bernie got the nomination, I'd simply not vote, period. And I'm a lifelong Republican.
2
His running mate will have to brim with vitality and good health.
3
Mayor Pete!
@Robert Because Trump is so young and healthy?
2
The only Democrat that can quite easily win the three key Midwestern swing states, which is the key to defeating Trump, is Bernie Sanders. Having come from Chicago, I think that I understand the dynamics in those places quite well.
Wisconsin is the key. It has a decent industrial base, but it has been decimated by globalization and anti-union drives in recent years. It has a low black population outside Milwaukee. It has a large student population, concentrated in Madison. However, the Northwoods rabid Trump supporters there today.
Sanders is the best choice to win Wisconsin because he does well with the students, has great support among working class people of all colors, and would peel enough of the Northwoods to easily beat Trump by 6-8 points here. Warren can’t win here because she doesn’t do well enough with working class people. Same thing for Buttigieg. On the other hand, Biden is OK with older working-class people, but the students won't go for him.
Biden and Sanders are the strongest in Pennsylvania, due to their strength with working class people. Warren and Buttigieg are more questionable.
Biden and Sanders both easily win Michigan. It’s more possible for Warren and Buttigieg than Pennsylvania, but no guarantees.
I don’t see Sanders losing any other major state that they had won last time. So, from a Electoral College standpoint, Sanders looks like the best candidate to me since he has the best shot of winning all three key Midwestern states.
9
Ross Douthat,
I never thought I would agree with you on anything.
Assuming you are being truthful, I thank you for supporting Bernie.
Bernie is a true mensch and he will be the best President this nation ever had including. FDR.
He is genuine and wants to improve all men and women’s lot as long doing that is fair and just.
A Rawlsian by birth, he will take care of the worse off first, maximizing the welfare of the rest only after that. You can go to bed at night without worrying who you would get up as. For the first time ever, this nation will move towards equality. Equality of the genders, sexes, ethnicities, religions, colors of skin, in opportunities and pursuit of happiness.
May God bless Bernie and let him save the nation from the abyss it has fallen into.
10
Call 911. I think Ross Douthat has been kidnapped, and this Op Ed is his way of telling us he is in distress.
5
Better call Saul. We could have our first Jewish President
Too irascible, too stubborn and too old. Is Bernie the best candidate to defeat this lunatic President?
2
Yes!!
1
He absolutely IS the best and the only candidate to wipe the floor with Trump.
1
Ludicrous premise.
2
Trump is a ludicrous premise. Relatively, Sanders is the only thing that is not ludicrous. Although he has not accomplished much legislatively, no one has been more consistent for longer than Sanders.
3
I suspect Mr. Douthat would be happiest if liberal flames would eternally be licking at his feet. At least journalistically.
1
The best candidate the dems have, is not Bernie, but Bernie 2.0. Aka Andrew Yang. #Yang Gang
2
Bernie Sanders is a horror show. He keeps peddling his pie-in-the-sky socialism, and he is incoherent, as are so many of his peers. Once again the Democrats have screwed up by trying to be all things to all people, and satisfying no one. He doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected, and the end result will be 4 more years of Trump if he is the nominee.
5
He is the opposite of what you suggest. Perhaps turn off MSNBC and watch some independent media on YouTube? Ir Bernie's social media directly?!
Bernie is a one-issue candidate, namely government run single-payer health insurance, which I support.
That said name one other Bernie issue. Tell us what Bernie's stance is on other issues
1
Maybe you should go to his website and look? The Green New Deal, wealth taxes, ending super pacs, ending student debt, free college tuition at public universities.
https://berniesanders.com/issues/
3
Climate change, massively increasing wealth inequality, crony capitalism...
@MIKEinNYC When a person makes a claim, it is their responsibility to support it. The obvious fact that you have not investigated your own claims before spreading them makes me hesitant to spend much time itemizing all the ways you are wrong. I only urge you, next time, before actively spreading nonsense, at least do a google search or something.
For anyone actually interested in facts, Bernie Sanders has taken a leadership position fighting for education funding, against mass incarceration, for transforming the economy through a green new deal, for ending the failed war on drugs, and for overturning citizens united, and his record in the Senate for introducing actual legislation for addressing these issues is second to none.
1
Douthat did a nice job dissecting the Democratic field. Sanders philosophy could not be further from my own, but he is much more authentic and honest than Warren (who shares the socialist lane with him). While his wife’s actions as a college president are troubling, Bernie has avoided the taint. He also does not get baited into Trump’s TV reality show presidency. In short, I have a respect for Sanders that does not extend to the other candidates, except Bloomberg, and I think he would run a substantive race in the general election.
3
Everyone talks about the "socialist" tag repiblicans (and, it appears, centrist dems) will use against Sanders. Are the Republicans EVER concerned about what dems say about them? In a generation, have they wrung their hands about seeming too far right?
6
@John Ryan Horse
For decades, Democrats and ‘progressives’ have called Republicans everything from fascists to Nazis to traitors.
We’ve learned to ignore the left’s self-validating nonsense.
Ross concentrates only on polls, completely ignoring the fact of Bernie’s heart attack. Didn’t we learn in the 2016 election not to rely on polls? Many contemporaneous polls reach conflicting results. You can literally pick and choose which poll to cite to support your argument.
Bernie became DOA when he had his heart attack. A decent man would have dropped out, but Bernie is an egotist who learned that he could get rich by running a no-win campaign. Whatever remains in his war chest when he drops out is his. How many socialists have three homes, the most luxurious of which he bought immediately after the 2016 election. His book sales made him richer, he was already rich as a result of his war chest. He won’t turn over his taxes.
1
@Bathsheba Robie
It’s okay if you are confused and prefer Trump to Bernie. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.
1
When former President Barack Obama states he will oppose a Sanders nomination - I just don't get it. Does he mean he would oppose the people's choice? Is the DNC national convention just smoke and mirrors? I shouldn't be surprised. After all, some court in Florida ruled that it was legal that the DNC rigged the primaries in favor of Clinton in 2016. And we wonder why we do not trust our system.
11
I may be wrong but I believe the number one priority among Democrats is defeating Trump in 2020. It more than a policy debate, it is about saving who we think we are as a country. Although I agree that many of Sander’s progressive economic proposals appeal to Obama turned to Trump voters, I just don’t see enough of them showing in poll numbers. Specifically, the polls that I’m aware of show Biden doing better than any other Democratic candidate, including Sander, against Trump. Democrats need to vote with their heads, not hearts and be more like Republicans.
4
I wasn't aware that Warren had "botched her health care strategy." But isn't it the plan rather than the strategy to enact it that matters?
2
I don't agree that Warren has "botched" her health care policy. She is sticking to her ideals, an admirable characteristic, and, unlike Sanders, she has made an attempt to describe a meaningful transition plan to Medicare for All. The Sanders plan of just dropping the age of Medicare eligibility four times strikes me as ridiculously unrealistic.
The press paints Warren's transition plan as if she is waffling on the issue by embracing ideas offered by other candidates. The difference is that Warren's plan is the service of her long term goal: Medicare for All. The other candidates, in contrast, lack long term vision. Sanders, in contrast, only provides the vision without any of the dirty details to get us there.
7
@Ukosi You make it sound as if it's not appropriate for a candidate to provide specifics on how his or her plans might be implemented. I disagree. A candidate with a beautiful, but unrealistic vision isn't doing us any favors.
I get that Warren's plans will need revision before they become real; I don't expect her to be able to get any of them passed in the form they have now. That is fine. The details can wait. But I do want to see that she has at least some ideas about how to make her plans work. I agree with (most of) Sanders's vision. I just worry that Sanders doesn't really know how to make that vision real.
Bernie has attractive ideas that appeal to many. In fact, his followers have some of the same characteristics of Trump's. Trump is neither left nor right, but Bernie is very left.
So, we appear to have two cult leaders vying for voters approval. Much of the country is now divided and, I suspect, will remain so if either of these two win in 2020.
Centrists though appear to be neither here nor there. What do they stand for, status quo? I am a lefty so I am in favor of tackling our problems, especially corruption and climate. No D candidate has a clear shot at success at this point. Warren has taken hard positions on health care at first and is now trying to recover with a more nuanced approach. She, however, is strong on Rule of Law, corruption, and climate.
The path to success is not a clear one to 2020 for D's. The D's have allowed Ed and his brother-in-law, along with my wife's second cousin Bernice, to run for Prez. An array of climbers and exhibitionists. We can't risk at this point the normal D's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Who can actually pull us together?
2
Bernie, of course.
Why are so many afraid of medical care for all at an affordable price. ? The changes in healthcare,education,income inequality,or a more responsible attitude towards the environment will need huge structural changes in how this country is managed. In the end ,if they are to be successful,the road to change will not be “moderate “ but quite progressive. They will need more government not less, many companies will have to change their business models.,a more socialist approach will have to be tolerated. For many Warren is too progressive yet all the areas she discusses need changing. The question is how much and how fast. Will moderation move us forward or just stall the process?
5
@vincent Because so many are selfish, and are afraid they might have to pay 1.98$ for someone else’s health care. Horrors! I watched those well-off people during the fight for ACA. Yes, I did end up paying more for my healthcare. I can afford it, and so can most of the people who formed the TEA Party. The same people don’t blink an eye when we spend trillions on wars or tax cuts for the wealthy. If we don’t pull together we’ll all perish together.
2
Be careful what you wish for Mr. Douthat. I know your political bent and most like you in Trump world really think Bernie and the socialist tag will doom him. But you are on to something. Bernie has his core and if nominated he will drag many of us boomers with him. True I am not a Bernie fan because I know all the socialist tags give me pause. That said, I think he is a decent authentic man, true to his beliefs and he scares me less than four more years of Trump.
7
Given the stakes, I, like many enlightened and honest people, will vote for whoever runs against the democracy demon Trump. This includes Bernie Sanders. The biggest problem Bernie has is that the GOP wants to position the Democrats as socialists, and that term is anathema to a large portion of the voting public. I think Bernie beats Trump, though - but not as easily as he would have in 2016. Warren would likely lose in a general election just as Hillary did. The rest of the field would win as well if the Dems get behind whoever is nominated.
4
It is beyond refreshing to see the first piece of any kind from a mainstream outlet that isn't some kind of shallow hit piece on Sanders. The distortions and smears of an ethical and honest man have been morally disgusting to me. With fair treatment from the mainstream media, Bernie could get 60% of the vote and lead a transformation of American politics. We could have a more humane, more secure, more healthy, and more generally prosperous country. As a philosophy teacher ( and student) I feel we have an ethical duty to create such a country.
18
Nope. Never. Women’s rights and minorities would suffer under Bernie Sanders. Further, if there is one other “unelectable” in the general election, besides Gabbard, it’s this guy. I’m a Left of Center Bobby Kennedy Democrat who is 77 years old. There is no way we will accept this man who has been whining about the same ol’ since 1968 including his resentment of women. Plus, Socialism is still a dirty word to Americans. Sanders delivered that word back in to the American psyche and there was no reason for it. It is not where we are headed and universal health care does not make us Socialists but now Republicans are saying it does and Millennials who “react”, have no clue. Remember, it’s Moderates who elect Democrats.
10
Things have changed dramatically from the world you describe. That world died.
Bernie marched with MLK and Sen Nina Turner and Dr. Cornel West campaign for Bernie because his whole life Bernie has fought against racism and sexism as well as homophobia.
2
Not to worry Mr. Douthat. Democrats will rally around whomever wins the most delegates. But it won’t be Bernie Sanders. Contrary to your opinion, he is not a unifier. He’s not even a Democrat. He did nothing to help Hillary Clinton after she won the nomination in 2016. He did not share his database of supporters with the DNC. To the contrary many of of his supporters voted for Trump. He can’t even unify the Democratic Party let alone the country. Exactly how many republicans do you seriously think will flock to an admitted socialist who wants to raise their taxes to pay for healthcare for undocumented people? He is one of the most unpopular senators in the US Senate. Democratic senators don’t even like him. The only senator more unpopular is Ted Cruz. I can only assume your column is just a Republican dirty trick. It won’t work. Bernie Sanders will never be the Democratic nominee.
9
Sanders campaigned hard for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/bernie-sanderss-hard-fight-for-hillary-clinton
3
The primary unifying effect of Bernie's nomination will be to unify the moderate wing of the Democratic party with the disgusting Republican candidate to an extent not seen since George McGovern's nomination in 1972 drove those same Democrats into arms of the equally disgusting Richard Nixon. As one Democratic pundit remarked after that nomination: wake me when its over.
1
Suppose that, like Obama, Bernie starts with health care. And he’s got 50 Dems in the Senate. And it comes down to Dems from Republican states who fear political suicide. So Bernie says do it for the country and the party. And they say maybe the country but you never even belonged to the party.
Bernie can begin to heal some of the damage from the trump fiasco.
First on the list is restoring environmental sanity followed by dealing with the horrific inequality in the US.
Go Bern!
5
The latest Quinnipiac poll reflects Bernie Sanders has now fallen significantly compared to the other candidates.
..he’s down to 11% and expectations are he’ll be below 10% as Americans realize he’s never going to win.
Never.
Your article falls on deaf ears - as you have little basis for supporting your subjective opinion.
The 78 yr old has worn out his welcome with the majority of Americans.
4
Are you serious, Mr. Douthat? You lost me when you bolted out of the gate bashing the other candidates. Biden, too old? Warren sliding in the polls? Pete from a tiny, not obviously thriving city? Think older/heart attack, from 2nd to 4th polling/medicare for all, and teeny Vermont. Remind you of someone? This is the kind of cluelessness that got HRC beat and put Trump, chaos, and 2 RW SCOTUS justices in power. I hear lots of people for the other candidates say they will vote for whomever is the nominee. Not getting so much of that sentiment from Bernie's followers. That's a problem.
10
Bernie lost my vote for good when he refused to condemn political violence. His supporters were throwing chairs at state conventions and making death threats against Democrat party officials, and he said they had legitimate grievances. It's no accident that it was a Sanders supporter who opened fire on congressional Republicans.
I also recall during a debate, when asked how he could persuade Republicans, Sanders said they would put thousands of protesters at Chuck Grassley's door. His plan was that since his supporters have the numbers in the Capitol, so they could intimidate opposing politicians. The politics of Caesar.
Sanders supports policies I like a lot more than the GOP's, but for my money he's every bit as dangerous to the rule of law as Trump.
7
@Seth D. He has a lot in common with Trump, and that includes his childlike behavior and temper tantrums. He's a whiner who knows nothing about governing.
Bernie has some solid ideas and could win in 2020.
5
The Democrats never should have admitted Bernie Sanders to its Senate caucus, nor should the senator have been allowed to run in Democratic primaries in 2016 and next year. That is because the Democrats are not a socialist party, or have I erred?
Of course I have!
2
@J.Jones Dems were suckered by him twice. They never should have let him in. He should have run as an independent.
If 4 years of Bernie will mean 4 years of Larry David on SNL (and it will), I’m sorely tempted to vote for him.
6
Bernie has the best argument of them all:End this plutocracy.
3
I don't see Bernie as a presidential personality. I think his strength is best used in the Senate. Not sure that he would be good at foreign relations. I can't imagine him speaking to the country in with eloquence when we need healing the way Pres. Obama always did. He's best pushing ideas and organizing in the trenches. That said, I will vote in the next election for anyone but Trump the Terrible.
3
A classic conservative column, like so many right now, claiming the Democrats are in disarray in the presidential race, since conservatives and their amen corner in the MSM cannot at present make that claim about their favorite target: Democrats in Congress who are in regimented lock step and order on impeachment and legislative agenda.
It goes like this: talk down the guy with the best chance of beating Trump because he is old and talk up the guy with one of the worst chances of beating Trump even though he is old and recently suffered a heart attack.
And let's not forget that whole socialist thing Trump is ready to pounce on like another buxom adult film star.
The MSM is truly spent on figuring out ways to knock Biden out of the race.
Started with his "hands" problem.
Then several weeks in advance of the first debate with Biden's "busing problem."
Then his "Obama problem."
Then came the gaffe problem
Followed by the Hunter problem
And in the background is always the "age problem."
5
@Paul - spot on Paul. Very accurate assessment
2
The Brooklynite will trounce the Queenser as he could have in ‘16 if not derailed by the establishment; he would have carried the discontents, as he had done in Michigan that Trump won, hands down. Now he is a MUST….
3
You couldn't pay me to vote for Sanders. As far as I'm concerned he cost the Democrats the last election by failing to get his supporters behind Hillary when he lost to her.
9
More Bernie supporters voted for her than hers did for Obama! He busted his behind campaigning for her but she was such an awful candidate even Bernie couldn't make people like her. Wisconsin!
Sanders will attack the income inequality paradigm with vigor. People see there is a better world for everyone, even the very wealthy.
2