It's going to be Bernie vs Trump.
Cleanliness vs filth
Honesty vs pathological lies
Compassion vs cruelty and psychosis
Care for the planet vs planetary rape and murder
Civil rights vs a reemergence of the Klan
Peace vs never-ending war
A gift to working people vs a playground for wealthy criminals
A world once more bursting with life vs a contaminated marscape
Let the voting begin.
6
The question for Bernie is can he win in November with less than half the Democratic vote. Will most Democrats vote for him in November? What will the Independents do. Democrats are less than 40% of Nevada's voters with only 20% of these participating in the caucuses. What does this tell us about how Independents and tepid Democrats will vote in November, if they vote at all.
Dear Americans
Bernie is Bad news.
I live in one of the societies often lauded by Bernie Sanders as an aspirational example.
We have universal healthcare and welfare benefits beyond your dreams - free schools and universities, subsidised kindergartens, up to one year of guaranteed parental leave, universal student grants. The list goes on.
I love living in Denmark with our high degree of social stability, transparency and social mobility. I understand and sympathise with Americans who want fundamental and structural change to social, legal and economic inequalities in the US.
But Bernie Sanders is not the right candidate. He will not be able to bring about the change you yearn for.
Here is why:
1) He is a socialist with a documented history of hailing the Soviet Union. This should disqualify any candidate. If you are apologetic about any oppressive dictatorship how do you regard the democratic processes and institutions of the US?
2) He is isolated and cannot build the support among independents and centre moderates during the presidential campaign and will rely only on the band of born again believers. In the unlikely event he gets elected president, structural change requires compromises and bipartisan collaboration. Not one sided relentlessness.
Most importantly:
3) The Kremlin wants him as a Democratic candidate
Please remember that you elected one populist candidate in 2016. Do not go for another one.
49
@Roger Christensen
Thanks for your interesting perspective. In the meantime we'll try to keep him from buying Greenland.
28
Bernie tells the dark, swirling lies of Marxism as if he's trying to help people. I actually like him as a person, but that is not what this should be about. He has harmful Marxist ideas that are proven to destroy societies. Millions have already died from Marxist mismanagement. Words like "shortage," "famine" and "sacrifice" befall even the simple grocery shopper in Marxist cultures. That would describe our homes too, if we submit to collective home ownership, or our medical care, if we submit to collective ownership of the medical system. These are seductive sounding ideas, but in general, a panel of wisemen in Washington don't know what you need or how best to provide it. So the famines and the deaths would begin. It would start quietly.
10
@Human GPS
Watching the comment section of the NYTimes having a meltdown because of a Bernie win is great!
Either there's a lot of DNC/Conservative astroturfing or people coming to grips that they don't want higher taxes(And no premiums) to pay for healthcare to people they deem their lessers.
4
Headed straight for the Hubert Humphrey / Eugene McCarthy mummery of 1968. The principal actors are chosen, get your tickets for Milwaukee.
10
Trump's kryptonite is a woman candidate.
8
What an incredibly horrible take. Sanders is the unity, he’s coalition is like no other’s of the moderates running.
Why? Because the Democrat party doesn’t stand for anything but a broke status quo. Sanders is literally breathing life into the party by energizing the country and giving them a purpose and a promise to show up and vote.
And to compare him with Trump is outright wrong. He isn’t running on hate and xenophobia. He isn’t exploiting the economic frustrations to target minorities and build nationalism. But he’s focusing them at the establishment and people who are responsible for them.
Cower like the closeted republicans you all are. Racial and economic justice doesn’t mean a thing for the liberal democrat. It only serves him to posture and pander.
15
The Democratic Party is now veering to the extreme left, and that is not so good!
12
What hypocrites we democrats are! We rail against a president who will not release his tax returns; who doctors his medical records; who hides all his business dealings. And yet we heartily endorse a candidate that refuses to release his own tax returns and medical records and ignores calls to explain the sources of his wealth.
12
To all democrats,
Rally around Senator Sanders if you want see President Trump defeated in November!
If you are worried about down ballot Dems losing, then get off your bum and start fundraising, phone banking and canvassing for them!
Sanders has secured many independents, the Latino bloc, plus, oh yeah, almost all young people of this nation. He is well ahead in TX, CA, WI, MI, MN and even holding a slight lead in Liz Warren's own MA!
Sure, there are some rabble rousers over here (as there are in *all* campaigns---politics brings out the worst in us)!
But now's our chance to come together. If Liz or Pete were in this position, I would've been behind them by now (even though, I confess, I don't like either of them). Join us!
6
I'm so happy my husband and I retired to Portugal 2 years ago!We live in a democratic socialist country, along with the rest of Western Europe. What don't you Americans get??? Bernie isn't asking anything more than what the rest of Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia have. What makes this socialist??? We live in a peaceful county not worrying that every one is carrying a gun and we're not locking children up in cages!
22
So why are the Russians helping Trump by helping Bernie? Because Trump will eat Bernie’s lunch in a New York minute. Hillary ate Bernie’s lunch and Trump ate Hillary’s.
But Bloomberg v. Trump? They’re Both from New York. This will be no gentleman’s game. This will be a dirty, nasty, crooked, name-calling election. Bloomberg is a REAL businessman, a REAL billionaire and a REAL Mayor. Bloomberg is already returning the name calling and insults and will eat Trump’s lunch and make him like it.
12
Ross seems obsessed with stopping an FDR-style Democratic presidential candidate.... Why? The billionaires and capitalists of this new gilded age must be held accountable. The fall into kleptocracy must be stopped. That won’t and can’t happen with a dictator and his cronies holding our government hostage.
Ross, I’ll remind you that FDR is the reason our nation had been a stable beacon of light for both average citizens and innovator immigrants (like Albert Einstein!) for decades. FDR is the reason you enjoy the privilege of your American life, your confidence in your personal freedoms (like freedom of direct), and your comfortable future retirement. Safe food and water, breathable air and national parks, personal freedoms and liberty — these pillars of our republic are precisely possible because of the great and lasting policies and works of FDR, because of his focus on working and middle class citizens. Bernie and Warren are FDR candidates. The only way Republicans and company will keep a stranglehold on America is if they cheat and use foreign help (again) in 2020. How do you not see this... or do you see and not care?
6
Our Primaries are coming in another couple weeks. I won't put my support behind Sanders. He screams at his supporters just as bad as trump does. The plain and simple reality is none of these candidates are going to go through on their promises. If Americans want to see some serious change, they need to change Congress. They have capitulated to the king. If we want our republic to have a solid democracy again Americans need to get rid of the swamp that Congress has become. McConnell needs to go. Until the Kentucky citizens don't get past their prejudices and realize that they are responsible for the mess that is McConnell, we will never recover from what they have done since President Obama's tenure. I actually donated to Amy McGrath's campaign and I am a Washingtonian. I hope all those that are voting Democratic will do the same. I will vote for Sanders if he gets the Dem nod. I will hold my nose and pull the lever simply because if the choice is Trump and the local dog catcher, I will vote for the canine policeman. Yep. I am a "anyone but the traitor" voter.
9
trump will say and do anything to get elected and so will fox to help him.
Sanders won't, and neither will the NY Times or NPR.
Will enough swing state voters recognize that this matters?
5
Yes, Sanders is a decent man, yes, he appears to have the interests of the working man and woman as a lodestar. The problem is that his signature issue is a looser... even many liberals don't want their health care replaced by a federal system. Witness the massive trouble to get something as basic as the affordable health care law passed (which is constantly challenged and nibbled away at by the Republicans). A total overhaul of our health system however laudatory an idea is unrealistic and will likely scare off legions of voters who would support a more incremental approach getting health care policy for those who are uninsured or under-insured, or who work in the gig economy. I have to conclude that medicare for all is dead on arrival and that Sanders would be consigned to constant battle with McConnell's minions resulting in gridlock and even more disillusionment with government. SO muchis at stake here... supreme court nominees, salvaging the universal health care that currently exists, making bold moves on climate change, restoring trust in our government, in rule of law, in US leadership in the world. My conclusion is that a Sander's bid for the Presidency would fail big-time and our nation cannot endure four more years of a brazen, emboldened, destructive ignoramus like Trump.
2
Let's hope so. If not, Trump will be there for four more years. If Bernie Sanders becomes the Democratic nominee there is a good chance of Donald Trump being reelected. That is why Russia is supporting his nomination. Let that sink in as you consider whether to vote for Sanders. This country was not built on socialism, but it could be severely damaged by socialism. It is Controlled Capitalism that made the United States the envy of much of the world's population. Controlled Capitalism is what made America great and that is where we must return if we as a nation want to once again return to greatness. ... If Bernie Sanders becomes the Democratic nominee there is a good chance of Donald Trump being reelected. ... https://lstrn.us/Bloombergstrategy
2
Avast! What the democratic establishment says to Bernie Sanders.
I think all white people who call themselves Democrats should sit out this primary season, as well as the primary seasons for the next eight or ten elections to come, to make up for the decades of systemic discrimination of which white Democrats were a part, and to let the long-marginalized voices of POC speak loudly and choose the Democratic party's candidate. If those POC choose Sanders, let it be Sanders. Biden, let it be Biden. White Democrats should just be allies who support the POC choice.
It is so simple.
Bloomberg can win.
The rest cannot.
3
I agree with the center of gravity of the NYT picks on this. So here’s one old guy and Eisenhower Republican who’s about to go vote for Bernie, trusting that he’ll happily work with the likes of younger more moderate Democratic members of Congress like Conor Lamb, Katie Porter, and Mikey Sherrill to do what’s best for both their constituents and the country as a whole.
6
The reason Bernie Sanders is popular and winning votes is that Medicare for All is ethically the right thing to do in a very rich successful country. It will finally bring social and racial justice to a country that was birthed with the words, “All (Men) are Created Equal”.
8
Bernie Sanders is unstoppable, and is only hope for all of manknd!
The sad thing remains that unless he win a wooping 50% plus of all delegates- highly unlikely still- and even if he wins the popular vote, as he is destined too, the Democratic super delegates sits undemocratically on his future, in the USA anti-democratic system!
It really makes no sense, that some few plutocratic center-right democrats sits on his future, no matter if he wins all the elections here?
This system must stop, and be removed! And the USA needs to move into a Nordic style real democratic system, with proportional Representation , and even more a mulity party system, so real democracy can come to the USA! Regards from Denmark!
6
Who is this candidate?
He is truly special. He never held a job until he was finally elected mayor at age 53.
He lived off of welfare and four different women, had a child out-of-wedlock with one and the three marriages did not work out.
In all his years in the Senate, he has introduced 364 bills. 3 passed. Two of those were to name post offices.
Ladies and gentleman I give you Bernie Sanders. He gave you Trump in 2016 and he will lose the House for the Democrats in 2020.
8
Of course in Nevada you don't have to declare a party to it's impossible to say how many Republicans voted for Bernie.
2
How can anybody take any election results (Nevada, SC or November 2020) seriously if we're, supposedly, being hacked by Russia, China, Iran, etc?
Does the US Gov't have any real way of stopping these hackers?
I don’t understand why everyone is so worried about Sanders being the nominee. After all, it’s only those selfish BernieBros who would even think of not voting for whoever is the Democratic nominee - right? Of course the same people who have been talking about Hillary’s 3-million vote margin of victory in the popular vote for the last three years would never dream of denying the nomination to the candidates who gets the most votes - right? Of course all of you who have been outraged over Trump’s behavior and calling him the worst president ever and a disaster for the country would support his opponent even if you didn’t agree with all of the candidates’ positions - right?
Remember all those names you used for those Bernie-or-Bust types? How their purity tests are ruining the party and how their lack of enthusiasm for Hillary is directly responsible for Trump’s election? How you managed to blame Sanders supporters for kids locked up in cages, the Muslim ban, rolling back decades of environmental protections, bringing us to the brink of war with Iran, selling out the country to Russia and having a president who is immune to the rule of law - all because they dared to criticize Hillary?
Aren’t you moderates the adults in the room who recognize that nothing Sanders could do would be nearly as destructive as what Trump is doing? Why should we be worried about whether you’ll vote for him if he’s the nominee? You do believe in democracy, don’t you?
Do you?
3
Putin will be pleased as punch to see his two favorite candidates go head to head in the 2020 general election. Maybe he can hit the trifecta when Bernie chooses Tulsi Gabbard to be his VP. Sure, Bernie had some tough talk (eventually) about Putin staying out of our elections. But actions speak louder than words. What will Bernie actually do when Putin attempts to complete his takeover of Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia? We have a pretty good idea—absolutely nothing. How do I know that? Only two senators voted against placing sanctions on Russia when they invaded Ukraine. Rand Paul and—you guessed it—Bernie Sanders.
Democrats fall in love; Republicans fall in line. We need to think more like that if we want to win, people. I hate Trump and will vote for any Democrat, but if it is Bernie, I will be holding my nose while doing so. I fear for my country and for the whole world if Trump wins again. This is not going to end well.
3
We spent two trillion on war with Iraq for—what was that for again?
Let's fight climate change and build a decent quality of life, stop allowing profits from illness, imprisonment and death. Stop corporations from privatizing profits and socializing losses.
In other words. Bernie's right. And has been for decades.
Even so. Nothing will change much unless we defeat two men— Donald J. Trump and Mitch McConnell. Let's ask Steyer and Bloomberg to help with that.
18
If Sanders is the candidate, his choice of a VP may make a huge difference in corralling the Democratic vote. If he can
show by his choice that he is willing to compromise to achieve his goals and that he can share the spotlight with another strong personality and qualified leader, he is more likely to engage a wider swath of the electorate .
9
For us older Dems, we can remember the McGovern days. (I still have my campaign pin!) Perhaps things have changed, but this looks like something of a re-run, though the baggage Bernie carries is even heavier. Yes, he honeymooned in the Soviet Union--bad enough, but not a big deal, except that he also criticiized the United States while on Soviet soil, during the cold war, while the Soviets were stockpiling nuclear weapons to use against us, and while the Russian people were suffering under genuinely totalitarian communism. Add to this his still pretty much unremarked support for Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution (and other Latin American dictators), and you have a pretty good image of someone who is unelectable in a general election. In my maturity, although I have a great brotherly affection for Bernie, I also have come to believe that socialism has a necessary logic of giving more and more power to government and less and less liberty to individuals. And it drags economies way down--and not just cyclically like market economies. I myself could tolerate a Bloomberg/Klobuchar ticket. At this point, I'd strongly support Do No Harm candidates. Aside from social media and other forms of psychic digital danger, life in American society is, overall, and on average, as good as it has ever been.
4
Bernie Sanders is the Donald Trump of the Left. Nobody expected him to do what he has done, including, probably, himself. He reallybjust wanted to pull the party more to the left.
If he wins the nomination, it will validate to the world that the Democrats cannot field or even find a candidate who can speak to the disenfranchised voters in the USA.
If he wins the election, it will be good to remember that he is neither a Democrat nor a Republican and that he has, indeed, made enemies on both sides of the aisle.
Yes, he is a whole lot better human being and a better politician than the current president, but because of the bridges he has burned, getting anything passed will be next to impossible.
7
Actually, the lesson here is to not emulate the DNC in 2016. If Senator Sander should become the nominee then his running mate should appeal to the centrist element of the Party, and vice versa. HRT and Tim Kaine were just more of the same. Things might have turned out differently had the DNC reached out to the progressive wing of the Party in 2016.
6
A Sanders-Trump face off infinitely more entertaining than Bloomberg. Sanders not a policy vacuum, right on the environment, ahead of his time on healthcare, wind at this back on tax reform and a decent human being. Good news for the hard working folks at Justice, the FBI, State Department and intelligence community. Judges around the country can sleep a little easier. The news focused on policy and events of the day locally and internationally rather than tweets. Sanders may become the new bane of Trump's existence.
12
@texsun
Yeah, most of that sounds like Mike, except for there is no gun control push with Sanders as there obviously is with Mike. I mean, just this little thing that's been effective called Every Town For Gun Safety.
I like Mike. He has the resources to turn the Trump/Putin Lie Machine off permanently.
4
I hope no one considers a presidential debate to be “entertaining”...
3
Your analysis is right on. it feels so much like 2016 it's scary. it would be great if the Democrats follow what you have outlined, but it's highly unlikely. Unfortunately they all have their own agendas and I'm not sure they really care what happens in the election. let's just hope that Sanders fizzles and somebody in the middle like Bloomberg can take the baton forward and get the nomination. If Sanders gets the nomination we will certainly have another 4 years of trump!
9
How about a strategy with some unity for the front runner instead of the pack jockeying for position? The Nevada debate earlier this week was another democratic circular firing squad. The observation made by Mayor Bloomberg, to the effect that 'what is happening on this stage tonight drives voters to Trump' has merit.
Senator Sanders should have been the candidate running against Trump in 2016. Democrats need to shut down their peanut gallery politics, stop trying to appease every far-left social fantasy, take one for the nation, and beat the beast.
12
@solar farmer. Thank You! The voters are expressing their will by voting for Bernie. Last time I checked the voters were the ones who put people in office, not other politicians or pundits in the media. Do not let those pols and pundits subvert our will.
13
There are a number of possible outcomes with a Sanders victory, and none of them are good.
1 - He will become the Democratic candidate for president.
2 - He will lose the general election (most likely) guaranteeing 4 more years of Trump.
3 - He will win the general election, guaranteeing a repeat of the Obama years where the Democrats lost both houses in the first midterm elections. We all know how that turned out for the Obama presidency and the Supreme Court.
4 - Sanders as the Democratic candidate will effect all down ballot elections. Moderates and some Republicans may be willing to vote for Sanders over Trump, but will vote Republican on all senate and congressional races to keep a check on Sanders' ultra progressive agenda.
The one thing that Republicans do far better than Democrats is play the long game. They plan ahead. They are willing to make sacrifices in order to advance their agenda. That is the main reason Trump is able to do get away with the things that he does. The Republican party listens to their leadership and understands that the placement of conservative judges in the federal courts and Supreme Court are key to the future of the right wing movement.
We Democrats need to put aside our ideals and start using our heads instead of our hearts. If Trump gets another term, he will have the opportunity to make least two more SCOTUS appointments. That will doom the progressive dream for decades.
A Sanders candidacy will be a disaster for us loyal Dems.
17
@Larry
So your solution to a repeat of the Obama presidency (who won both terms, btw) is to nominate somebody the Republicans would like to work with, i.e. a Republican.
If this is how you define "loyalty", wow.
2
Do you really think the Republicans won't attempt to block everything the dems prose to congress,no matter who gets in?
Bernie is an old hand in the senate and has had more success as a senator getting bills through then anyone running. He will try to get his agenda through as is but knows there is wiggleroom and will use it.
Its the direction we need to go so we can undo as much of Trumps damage as posssible asap and Bernie will do first what he can as president and then move on to the hard stuff.
2
@Larry
A Sanders candidacy will be a disaster for 90 percent of Americans.
There is a big psychological problem with voting in the primaries. Voters believe they are voting for the next president of the United States, but they are not. They are voting for the person who will run against Donald Trump. Looking at it that way, their votes must be thought of as votes for the Democrat who will defeat Putin's pick, Trump. They are instead voting for whom they think is the best person to lead the country, but that's not it. Who is best positioned to defeat Trump, that's what these primaries are about.
7
@Mike
What you describe isn't "...a big psychological problem..." it is a massive failure of our education system and an epidemic of willful ignorance.
1
Moderates are going to be unhappy and very angry if Sanders gets the nomination. They will have to choose between a candidate who believes that the rule of law is a joke and a fraud, and a candidate who threatens to change the workings of our present economy with its full employment and continued rise in the stock market. The moderate choice of trying once again to make our system work by coming together, as Obama wanted to do, will not be on the table.
The moderate choice, sold by Obama, was successfully torpedoed by Mitch McConnell and the Republicans. And Republicans will still refuse to moderate; they want to follow Trump as he divides the country and leads their side to a long-lasting victory that will destroy or sideline the parts of our government structures that press for consensus-building and cooperation.
Moderates refuse to accept that moderation is out until the side that refuses to be moderate is forced to be so anyway. And forcing this side to adopt moderation cannot be done in a moderate way. So the moderates have chosen to condemn both sides as immoderate and hope that their incantations will produce some sort of miracle, a simultaneous change in heart on both sides that would make them welcome or at least put up with someone like John Kasich or Joe Biden or Mayor Pete.
Recognizing that one side does not want to be moderate (and has stopped pretending it does) is not moderate.
6
Nevada has 1.8 million registered voters, 698 thousand of whom are registered as Democrats. In 2016, some 84,000 voters took part in the Democratic caucuses. In 2020, that number rose to more than 120,000. At Trump's behest, the Nevada Republican Party cancelled their primary. Trump urged his followers to vote for Sanders in the Democratic caucuses. Although Nevada has closed caucuses, a person can register or change party on the day they vote. It seems clear that Bernie "won" Nevada because Republicans see him as the candidate Trump beat most easily.
10
Evenxcellent observations. The time is near for Warren and the moderate candidates to tame their egos, subordinate their interests to those of the nation and secondarily to the party, and get behind the moderate who can most likely beat Trump. Bloomberg will have to do a lot better in the next debate to show that Trump won't make him into chopped liver in a debate. If he doesn't do much better, he should quit and help a potential winner win. Warren can't out Bernie Bernie , and Bernie is a sure loser in a general election anyhow. Warren might be a good agency head. Super Tuesday may say more about how to proceed. They could start by not squabbling among themselves at the next debate. The last one did no one but Sanders any good.
1
@Al S
"...the moderate who can most likely beat Trump..." you say?
That would be Warren or Klobuchar.
It’s pretty ironic that the Bernie Bros are telling everyone to just forget about the primaries and start supporting Bernie now. It’s as though they have completely forgotten about 2016. Many of those of us who supported Clinton have not. The resentment they have towards other Democrats (even Warren, my favorite, who they trashed relentlessly as a Republican fake, despite the fact that her policies are similar to Bernie’s but much better thought out) is going to come back to bite them hard. They don’t realize how much resentment they have created towards Bernie. They will soon enough!
9
He will lose the national election and Trump will be President for another 4 years. The fact that Bernie will be the nominee shows just how rudder-less this party is. I mean honestly - If you had told me 3 years ago that the Democrats couldn't lock in a win in 2020 with a solid and unifying candidate I would have laughed. This is so not funny.
17
@Haluk from SF who protests that Bernie is no socialist.
Not that being a socialist is a bad thing but he is bona fide social democrat. Scandinavian style.
The population in this country are not enlightened. Please don’t confuse literacy and even college education in the USA as enlightenment. The average undergraduate at Harvard would be hard pressed to talk about socialism versus communism for more than one minute. Honestly I met people there who thought Karl Marx was related to Groucho and Harpo. It sounds like joke but it is not.
The American rhetoric creates a bogeyman of socialism especially after the Great Depression produces the likes of Eugene Debs. FDR was a compromise. He, like Bernie was a social democrat. The Cold War produces the red scare and third class human beings like Joseph McCarthy were worthy of the Senate of the USA!
Bless Bernie and may he live a healthy and long life as our president and ex-president after 2028.
13
I'm a millennial. Our company made record profits last year. The owner is never here anymore. He plays golf almost daily. For us? We have longer work hours, our 401K was scaled back, and our healthcare is under attack, along with everything that looks like a positive for workers. Yes, it is time for a MASSIVE CHANGE. We shouldn't be treated this way. And now our social security, medicare, Medicaid, everything is under the gun by the Republicans.
20
Enough with the false equivalencies between Trump and Sanders.
13
Agree. There’s too many scary, real comparisons between them. No need to exaggerate.
7
Ross "Doubt That", you're part of the problem. I like President Trump and Bernie Sanders because they stir up know-it-alls like you.
4
I'm all in for Mike Bloomberg. You may say,"but the things he's said, the policies of NYC when he was Mayor, the NDA's!! My God!!!"
And I'll say,
"Billions to Climate Change mitigation, hundreds of millions to Gun Control that has worked, billion or so more to amazing causes that have gotten things done. He was the mayor of one of America's most Liberal cities for 3, that's right 3 terms -how'd that happen?!. And he's got the resources to turn Trump and Putin's lights out."
So when we've each said these things to each other I want you to think of these unsaid realities that are for certain should certain realities occur:
A Trump and Putin fully focused Lie Machine on Vermont Socialist Sanders from June or July to November that hasn't even barely started yet.
They can't pull one of those Lie Machines out and use it on Mike. He'll buy it out from underneath Trump and Putin and refocus it to tell the truth 24-7 on every media form around the planet until November 3rd Midnite. And, on top of it, I think he'll make a great president.
7
Bernie and Elizabeth . Four years of two people pointing a fingers at us and yelling. Not for me. Please Dems, pick Amy.
5
I don't often agree with Douthat but I think that this analysis is spot on.
7
Why do you feel compelled at the NYT to do everything in your power to stop the FDR for our time?
9
FDR was only possible because of the Great Depression. “FDR for our time” makes no sense. If we were in the middle of a huge economic recession with mass unemployment right now, Bernie as FDR could happen. But we aren’t.
5
Scary reflection on the spread of the socialist thought- New York Times can thank itself for the demise of the democrat party. Handing it over to Prsdient Trump, thank you very much, but I am very concerned for the next generations
2
Ross Douthat, the King of False Equivalencies.
7
Ummm, PLEASE Sanders!
2
There hasn't been this much widespread panic since, well, Widespread Panic.
Hillarious.
You go dude.
1
Let’s see. Bernie vs the immoral, greedy, lazy, corrupt, devoid of humanity or integrity, conmanTrump and his evil benefactor Vladimir Putin. I’ll take Bernie.
8
Well, the point is - you’ll probably get both. Bernie in the Primaries. Trump in the White House
@Cynthia Abra
you'll take Bernie and get four more years of Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump.
Derelict pirate? Me? Lol. Not. Just a regular working American.
1
Bernie Sanders/Michelle Obama 2020.
2
@poodlefree
Michelle wouldn't want to lose to the Trump/Putin Lie machine and ruin her legacy.
1
in 2045 whites will become a minority in america. then the minorities will extract their revenge against the GOP for enabling racism, xenophobia, homophobia, islamophobia. horrible corruption and crime in high places, and destroying democracy and the planet. there will only be one party in america-the democratic party.
1
If only we lived in a divided limited different power constitutional republic of united states where the people wielded the ultimate sovereign power their elected and selected hired help?
Bernie Sanders can win the Democratic Party nomination and then lose the general election to Donald Trump if that is what smiling,smirking, hacking, interfering and meddling Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin want in 2020. It worked in 2016.
Aided and abetted by Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, Amazon, Fox News, Republicans, the white European American voting majority etc.
Netanyahu and Putin don't care who wins and loses. Because they and their nations are made great again by manipulating mayhem along with their power and privilege in the world diplomatic, military, political and socioeconomic superpower.
Calling into question facts, reality and truth by mass and social media targeted propaganda. On a scale worthy of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
5
The Democratic Party is now the party of Bernie Sanders, AOC, Ileana Omar and Rashida Tlaib.
Good luck with that!
4
Wow!
No mention of Elizabeth Warren?
That smels fishy.
Why is that?
3
@Nelson Bueno
Trump fears Warren more than any other candidate.
2
The stock market will begin the end of its bull run, McConnell will still be the leader of the senate and we will be that much more of a divided country. Bernie Sanders got married in Moscow and hung out with the Sandinistas. He is an old socialist with heart problems. It means four more of the trump debacle. So take off your party hats now and get your feet back on the ground. We will not be flying into the easy chair.
2
The key difference between Trump's reaction to this 'under the radar’ Russian voting corruption and Bernie's reaction of strongly and immediately as he was briefed telling Putin "hands off American elections", is that Emperor Trump is undeniably acting like a corrupt, insane, lying, cheating, and obviously an EMPEROR, and Bernie is acting like a multi-generational, multi-racial. multi-religious, multi-national, and global democracy leader who will fire a; loud, public, sustained, 'in-the-streets', but totally Non-violent "SHOUT (not shot) heard round the world" to ignite an essential world leading Second American people's peaceful and complete "Political/economic & social Revolution Against Empire" --- while Emperor Trump and the massively corrupted Disguised Global Crony Capitalist EMPIRE that installed this faux-Emperor 'puppet' of the UHNWI, "Ruling-Elite", < 0.01% ers, and self-appointed and uber-selfish "Master of the Universe”, will collapse like a cheap suit-case ---- as I wrote in the NY “Times” on Maureen Dowd’s column “America Parasite” (certainly what Emperor Trump is):
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/22/opinion/sunday/trump-parasite-oscars-dowd.html#commentsContainer&permid=105381025:105381025
5
Will wonders never cease. Douthat wrote something decent for a change...
2
Ross - Seriously, I'm moderate, so I would rather see someone moderate. But to steal/edit a phrase from Bill Clinton: "It's the Planet, Stupid!"
The Planet doesn't have a prayer with Trump and that should be reason enough to send him packing. I'll vote wholeheartedly for any Democratic candidate the party offers - whether I would rather see someone else or not. It's all about the Future.
6
The Democratic Party is now the party of Bernie Sanders, AOC, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.
Good luck with that!
1
Again, zero talk about Warren, she's not even mentioned in this article even thought the NYT endorsed her. The "only an old white man can save us" argument is so full of misogyny it's pathetic.
4% of people voted at the Nevada Caucus. As Yang says, "Math"
2
The image of Bernie "romping" is hilarious!
1
How is Elizabeth Warren not even mentioned in this article??
3
Warren is yesterday’s news. Shoved aside, and all but forgotten
I think the only real "problem" with Bernie is, would he lose us the election? i.e. would enough other Americans be terrorized by that word "socialist," thus guaranteeing Trump another 4 years in which to finish tearing our democracy down?
The thing is, we don't know who COULD beat Trump -- other than possibly Joe Biden, if we could travel through a time warp and bring back a younger Biden, say from 2008 or even 2012.
Bernie is not my first choice -- but the energy and enthusiasm he engenders are greater than what I see for any other candidate. And that's important in winning elections.
4
Bernie all the way!!
Go Trump!!
2
You said it all in this sentence , sir:
"The Democratic Party, no less than the Republican Party, looks like a derelict ship awaiting capture by a band of pirates. The center-left establishment, no less than its G.O.P. counterpart, seems old, exhausted, promising to mildly reform a status quo"
The rich get richer, the poor get poorer; over 30 million with out health care insurance or living paycheck to paycheck. The military industrial complex sucks up massive sums and threatens world peace. The climate disaster continues and worsens; suicide rates creep up mid-age people see a drop in life span.
The country disintegrates and the political parties do nothing. Enter an honest, authentic person in Bernie Sanders who knows these problems and the misery of many people.
9
Most commenters seem to be missing the point of the article. The audience is the PleaseNoteBernie democrats, regarding strategies they can use to defeat Bernie with a moderate standard bearer. The article is not aimed at convincing Bernie supporters that moderates would be better. Bernie supporters are Bernie supporters, and that's not the focus of this piece.
So far, in most states, moderates (e.g. Biden, Klobuchar, Buttigieg, et al...) have outperformed the left wing candidates (Bernie and Warren), but despite that the top candidate is the left wing Bernie. From a strategic point of view, that means that the moderates have a possibility of prevailing over Bernie if all but one fall on their swords to leave one moderate standard bearer.
Similarly, by the way, in the UK, when a socialist lost badly to the right wing Johnson, which is what I fear will be history repeating itself come November versus Trump, what's interesting is that the aggregate votes remain were actually higher than leave, but b/c of the way things split, the pro-Brexit Johnson none-the-less won in a landslide.
For PleaseNotBernie people like myself the biggest problem I have with Bernie is that he'll lose to Trump. I'm actually not worried about his policies, b/c if he unexpectedly won he wouldn't be able to pass the most extreme bills through congress either way. But it's a moot point if he loses. Also he could cause us to lose the House, which would be catastrophic.
5
Bernie's not my first choice or even second or third, mainly because of worries re electability and health. But if he's the choice of a majority (by which I don't mean just a plurality) of my fellow Democratic primary voters, he will have my enthusiastic support. He's got the character, experience and knowledge to be the president and it while I don't agree with every detail of every policy position he wants to move the country in the right direction. The general election contrast will be stark.
If someone else ultimately proves to be the majority choice of Democratic voters, which should become clear one way or the other fairly soon, then that person should be the nominee, in which event Bernie has already made clear that person will have his full support. If, as may be the case, some of those who strongly support him now express their disappointment by not enthusiastically supporting the nominee, and if their petulance contributes to Trump's reelection, that national tragedy will be on them.
4
The Democratic establishment knows it’s far too late now. They launch an anti-Sanders campaign and they lose the Sanders supporter in November. They can’t ask any of the other democrats to stand down because that will just divide the party more. And none of them want to attack Sanders because it just brings attention to his ideas, and not their terrible ones. At this point it’s over, Sanders is going to be our next president and the only question is if Klobuchar and Buttigieg are going to be smart enough to get on the winning train early enough to make their future candidacy viable or not.
The so called front runners remind me of --Konstantin Chernenko.
3
The land of the free and home of the brave with opportunity for all is today an oligarchy with tax breaks for the ultra wealthy. Citizen Trump was a political donor who pulled strings for favors and has put his puppets in power in the Executive and Supreme Court. Trump had wall to wall press coverage in 2016. Bernie came to my street in Philadelphia to descry the loss of Hahnemann Hospital To fiscal mismanagement and corporate greed. Bernie stood with us when we lost the Level 1 trauma Hospital that served our neediest residents. He knows us. Trump fleeces us. This election is about everyday Americans. Full stop.
5
I really wanted Elizabeth Warren for president, but I think it's time to get behind Bernie. He is very inline with most of the things that I think are important. I would really like to see Elizabeth Warren drop a bomb by announcing that she is supporting Bernie. She has a huge team working to spread democratic principles and it would be awesome to see them combine forces. There is a lot of work to do to help people understand that their ideas are not crazy, they can be paid for, and will make a better life for millions of people.
5
Again and Again and Again all this nonsense against Sanders...What does that tell you...the press wants NO CHANGE....Just keep Earth on a path like Australia,..How to deal with Climate Change PRAY.
Well I pray one day I will wake up and Bernie Sanders will be President of the United States, because all else leaves the burners on HI with no one watching!!!
5
It's over for the Establishment. It doesn't really matter what NYT or its dedicated readers think - which is one and the same. They are America's bourgeousie. Most American's don't know what this means... and that doesn't bother them a bit.
8
What hogwash. Socialist? Sanders is where Republicans were during the Eisenhower administration. We have moved so far to the right since Reagan, the Republican chant has focused on getting rid of anything that seems to benefit workers and the poor or middle class. Yes! Sanders wants universal healthcare, universal education, and unions once again and a few things like that which would benefit us all.
I am/was actually for Bloomberg, but if Sanders wins the nomination, I am all in for Bernie. There is so much propaganda and disinformation out there with its share in the NY Times and Washington Post, it's no wonder people are confused. As for money for these items such as universal healthcare or medicare for all, we just have to stop playing war killing thousands of people in places we are not wanted. What was the last figure the GAO mentioned they could not find in the defense industry this past year ..ten trillion? God save us from the Republicans!
6
Eisenhower-era Republicans were in favor of universal healthcare and universal higher education? I don’t think so, or else we would already have those things.
1
@Ben
It actually was started by Harry Truman in 1949. Many presidents afterwards, including Nixon were also in favor, as well as Eisenhower.
1
@David Michael
Eisenhower never supported universal healthcare or higher education.
Did the author watch the Nevada debate? If he did, and I'm presuming that he did, why on earth is he even including Bloomberg in the discussion? Bloomberg is toast, the same way that Nixon was toast after the 1960 debate against JFK, the same way Muskie was toast in 1972 after he bawled in New Hampshire, the same way that Dean was toast after the Iowa howl.
Some things are so seminal, so irrefutable, that no amount of money or time can over come them, and Bloomberg's debate performance qualifies. All Trump would have to do come November is run a screen shot of Bloomberg-cum-
Bambi-in-headlights with "Any questions?" on the scroll.
Money helps, sure, but you can't buy a presidency. Bloomberg is proof. He'll be roadkill by St. Patrick's Day.
4
Trump quite happy with the Bernie nomination, as illustrated by his congratulatory text. Dems better hope that the coronavirus kills the economy, or it's four more years.
2
I smell the fumes of the 1972 election when I was 17 years old which I well remember. The Democrats are delusional if they think Sanders has a chance against Trump in the electoral college. As a Trump supporter I think the rise of the McGovern on steroids candidate named Sanders is a great idea
4
The "mainstream" hysteria about Bernie--voted on by, oh gee, actual voters, Democrats even, is getting downright unseemly.
3
Right. Sanders is exactly like Trump. Like a platypus is exactly like a dolphin. They're both mammals.
2
LOL the times on the same front page is literally writing opposition research pieces (Lisa Lerer's piece) and a playbook for how to defeat Bernie Sanders (this article). Why not try to just let go, stop trying to be a mouthpiece for the centrist (20th Century) Democratic Party, and report on the actual news. Your clear bias against Bernie is tedious, obvious, and pointless.
3
what this country needs is a unifier not a divider, We need a candidate who will inspire and lead Americans toward a common goal. Sanders and Pres Trump are both demonizers, who will just amplify the polarization that is an existential threat to our success going forward. Sanders would increase that polorization. I would vote for any Dem but for Sanders and Warren, tearing up the system is tearing up the country.
2
Defeating Trump is paramount. Policies are a distant second.
In 2018 we won the House by 11%. We did so by running moderates in swing districts. This should not instruct us that our best path to defeat Trump is to nominate a socialist who wants to take away health insurance from millions. Many of his other policies are gifts to Trump. Mostly they are gifts to McConnell and to House Republicans.
Which of the newly elected swing state Dems- the ones that delivered the gavel to Pelosi- will be asking Bernie to campaign with them in their districts?
Of course I'll vote for Sanders if he is the nominee. But the election will no longer be a referendum on Trump. Any Dem would win that- other than possibly Sanders or Warren. Remember the goal: Winning.
2020 will be cast as a referendum on socialism with Trump as the heroic protector of the American way. Who ele could create that choice? Republicans will be able to rally the vote for their senators and congressmen to put a check on a "possible socialist takeover" and have a chance, where none existed, to win the House.
Imagine the senate, house and presidency run by Republicans. This will not occur with any candidate, but it might with Bernie.
Please don't bet the country on this.
Please don't help Trump & McConnell by electing their preferred candidate.
3
Bernie Sanders is not unstoppable !
Nevada for generations was aware of Mr. Sanders to be a household name among Latinos.
Even then Mr. Biden received lage number of Black votes.
Yes, trump and Sanders supporters are way more similar. Bernie supporters are always sticking by him no matter what just like trump supporters.
Saying that a little we know Mr. Sanders is a decent human being, although is not a Democrat , but the question is could he beat trump ?
I am counting on Joe Biden, personally I like Mayor Pete .
But as I am not a Bernie Bro if Sanders win the nomination I will certainly vote for him.
Could we expect that from bernie Bros in case He is not the nominee.
Are they going to sit out or vote for the nominee ?
2
Sanders, after his Nevada victory: “When I look out at an audience like this and I see the diversity and beauty in this audience ... I have absolute confidence we can create a government based on compassion, based on love and based on truth, not what we have now of greed, corruption and lies.”
Why so negative, Mr. Douthat? Why use the word "socialist" as if it were evil?
6
@Michael
That's the whole point.
"Socialist" is not evil. Doesn't matter how wonderful anybody thinks Bernie is. He changes the election to a question of the merits of socialism instead of the merits of Trump, who is demonstrably destroying America and will be beaten if we keep the election as a referendum on him. Do not make it a socialis vs capitalism.
That's what Trump wants. It is especially what McConnell wants
2
You are absolutely right. In the end there will have to be a deal between the three B's if Democrats want to have a chance against Trump and if they want to have a chance to keep the House and to win the Senate. As you, I say "fat chance" of that happening. Sanders will win the nomination, loose to Trump badly, sink the House, and increase his Senate majority. Then he will write a second book and add five to six millions to his democratic socialist fortune. It is the American way. And I don't expect Trump to leave the White House in 2024. He can just stay - who can kick him out?
1
Sanders comes with AOC.
Klobuchar is the only candidate that can beat Trump.
1
Dolores, which part of Queens are you from? Unless there is a Queens in Mars, I don’t know what to say!!
1
Bernie is an angry man who can't speak without jabbing his finger in the air. His ideas are terrible! And, he doesn't listen to others' opinions, only attacks others, quite similar to DJT. It would be a sad day if our country swings from one crazy, extreme leader to another, angry, extreme leader.
Mike Bloomberg is buying visibility, not the election. So far, we believe he's the only one who can beat DJT. He believes in health care for all, keeping what you like and insurance for everyone. He's a diligent worker and believes in the Rule of Law. While most Americans probably don't even know what that phrase means, they certainly support the concept.
2
I hope I am a typical Democrat who will vote for Bernie if that’s all I got. His platform is absolutely impossible to enact even if he weren’t an instant lame duck by virtue of his age. But he MUST be supported just to stop Trump’s re-election. The fact that none of his ideas will pass Congress and we will get a reasonable person on the SCOTUS is worth every vote cast, if not FOR Bernie but to stop T-Rex.
7
When the primary calendar was drawn up, it was specifically designed to prevent an insurgent from catching up. They felt that someone like Biden would be the front runner with momentum and the time would be too short for Bernie or anyone else to catch up.
However, there is the problem of “unintended consequences”.
Team Bernie saw the writings on the wall and worked really hard to get that “early momentum”. Time is too too short (one month) for someone else to catch up. Biden? Buttigieg? Bloomberg? Team Bernie is giving up SC (just be respectable second place) to let Biden win to have a counter momentum against Bloomberg.
Team Bernie has the brightest kids efficient in digital campaigning [How many text messages or emails have you received supporting Berlie ?]. Far far more effective than a 20th century TV. Support for Bernie in the <35yr age group is 53% and rising. In that group, his support cuts across all racial barriers.
Give up!
Has anyone figured out why the Russians are reported helping Bernie? Because they want to spread chaos in the Democratic primaries therefore helping Trump. Simple as that. Take a deep breathe. Do not fall for another collusion between the two. Long way to go. Let the process works its will. Also ask yourself why have Trump and the Russians spent so much money trying to tear down the VP? Yet in the head to head and key battleground state the VP leads Trump by 6 to 8 points! By far better than any of the other candidates.
2
If 3 sparsely populated states are all that takes to determine the Democratic nominee, then you might as well give them all the electoral votes in November and let the citizens in the other 47 stay home.
4
In 2016, we were told to vote blue, and most of us Bernie supporters did that, as this was best for the country. Now, Bernie Sanders is showing how he is bringing new voters into the election process. It was reported in Nevada that 51% of those voting were NEW voters. Isn't that what we need to defeat Trump? Party unity will defeat trump. The massive anti Bernie sentiments on MSM, and Democrats like HRC, James Carville, the View, etc. are promoting Trump. Please stop this! Do you really want to get rid of Trump?
3
Well, it seems increasingly likely that Trump and Russia will have the perfect foil for the upcoming election. In the event of a Sanders' win, we are very lucky that the US government is set up to make it very hard to enact sweeping legislation. If Sanders is elected about the only thing he will be able to do legislatively, I suspect, will be to grant some sort of relief to debt burdened college grads. This is of course primarily a giveaway to the offspring of the middle and upper middle classes, which is ironically very un-progressive. His other signature proposals have no hope of being enacted.
1
I wish that folks who enthusiastically support the M4A concept would pause for a moment and think about what M4A healthcare would mean for women and gay men (among others) under a future Pence-like administration.
If M4A becomes our reality, social conservatives would not magically disappear. They'd still be out there in large numbers, and will - now and then - get elected to the Presidency etc. Just think about what a socially conservative Republican administration could - and absolutely would - do to women's healthcare.
Socialized medicine works well in small, generally secular and homogenous societies like the Scandinavian countries. It would be a horror show here, where a big segment of our population holds very religious-minded, misogynistic, and anti-LGBT beliefs.
3
What is it with the NY Times and their persistence in labeling progressives as "insurgents"? Bernie Sanders is not a rebel. AOC is not a rebel. Elizabeth Warren is not a rebel. It just goes to show how Clintonian centrism has polluted the Democratic party to such a degree, that policy platforms which hearken more to FDR than Obama are seen as somehow "too left".
On the contrary, these candidates are tapping into a long-overdue reckoning of what the Democratic party actually stands for. We should be the party of MLK and JFK, not of Wall Street friendly Joe Biden or Republican Mike Bloomberg.
So, can we please stop? Labeling progressives as insurgent only solidifies the idea they are not representative. But if you add up Sander's and Warren's primary votes to date, you'll get numbers that far outweigh those gained by centrist candidates.
I'd say these views are pretty mainstream, despite what the media and DNC would like us to believe.
15
@Sabrina You are probably too young to realize JFK's position on most of the issues of his day... from support for Joe McCarthy and the Vietnam War to cutting taxes to being ready to start WWIII. That's not to mention that he had a me-too problem that would make Bill Clinton seem like a saint
2
@Dennis Byron JFK was a product of his time, but I'd say he was far more idealistic than what passes for Democratic values today.
3
@Sabrina
Well said. I would not worry too much about what the NYT op-eds say. Americans who will go to the polls do not care whole a lot about NYT, which has been more concerned about serving special interests than being tuned to the American people. If the opposite were true, we would not have had Trump for president.
Labeling Sanders as an insurgent is insanity. Both Sanders and Warren would be considered mainstream in Europe. There is no way a Democratic candidate can win the presidency without standing up for the values democrats stand for. Sanders cannot be stopped anymore. Other states will follow Nevada.
4
Millennials and young people support Bernie because his progressive values and democratic socialism offers up hope for our futures. If things keep on the present trajectory, it seems pretty clear to many young people that the benefits their parents enjoyed will not be available to them. Socialism is not a dirty word for young people who didn't grow up in the Cold War, and we don't need to fear it.
11
Millennials and young people like Sanders because he promises them everything for free.
Trump did not win in 2016, Clinton lost. He ran against the only candidate at the time he could have beaten. Sanders may have won in 2016 but I fear he win be destroyed in 2020 and take down many Democrats with him. Trump will be far worse in his second term and he has been the worst president in history during his first.
I wish I knew which moderate could emerge and save us.
Democrats need to make a choice: Vote for Bernie and you vote for the renewal of the Democratic Party into one that's vibrant and relevant. Vote for Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Bloomberg, and you've voted for the continued big money corruption infesting the Democratic Party, with its neglect for the poor and working class.
Bernie represents the chance for positive change of the Democratic Party from within. If the Democratic establishment blocks Bernie, then serious progressives know that the Democratic Party has no serious interest in helping the poor and working class, in again being the party of FDR's New Deal and LBJ's Great Society. The whole left wing of the Democratic Party will realize it needs to leave the Democratic Party to truly help the poor and the working class.
Bernie wants democratic socialism for the poor and working class to replace the current corporate socialism. For the sake of its survival, the Democratic Party should want that, too.
6
Here we go. People are trying to make Bernie look like a bad guy. Ask yourself this: Why is Bernie in politics? Why is Trump in politics? The answers seem clear to me. Bernie honestly wants to help people to be treated fairly. Trump is in it for himself and his rich friends. As an outsider (Canadian), it's dumbfounding to watch millions of Americans getting conned by Donald Trump.Wake up America!
10
Ever notice how Trump couldn’t find a more abusive appellation for Bernie in 2016 than ‘crazy Bernie’?
For me, that was always proof enough that Trump knows they are both vying for the same populist ressentiment pool. Trump did not want to incite the wrath of the Bernie bros because they dislike the establishment as much as their rural counterparts.
The call for overturning the system is the only issue for a large swath of the voting population. As unsophisticated an approach as this might be, it is apparently the most effective slogan.
1
Both Sanders and Trump represent those who believe they are the marginalized and disaffected. Trump was able to assume this mantel because he believes he has been slighted over his life by the the New York elite who never accepted him and with whom he has a grudge.. This fits in with those in the 'fly over' country disaffected from the coastal 'elites'.
Sanders claims to represent those disaffected form the capitalist system and is typical of the Jewish liberal. I believe he is truly sincere and accurate in his portrayals, but has not clearly understood how to curb the capitalist out of control monster.
So we have become the country controlled by the
disaffected and disgruntled and those wanting moderation are lost in the middle. But why is this so? Income Inequality which leaves the disaffected with no pathe to a better life is at the root, something that Sanders is closer to in his belief than Trump, but whether he can truly bring us together remains to be seen as so much of our society is still mesmerized by the illusion of great wealth and the capitalist system.
2
To Bernie Sanders supporters. If you want to get from the top of one building to the top of another building across the street. The only way you are going to get there is if you take the elevator to the ground floor, walk across the street, and take the elevator back up to the top of the other building. It may take a little longer, but only superman can leap tall buildings in a single bound. If you try that, you are going to end up smashed on the sidewalk. Take a moment and reflect a little before you insist on taking the country with you.
1
@W.A. Spitzer
We’re tired of waiting.
3
@W.A. Spitzer
That is pedestrian thinking.
Democrats are still looking in the mirror to see whether they like what they see. The result is a collection of candidates who see their chance to exploit Trump’s incompetence to achieve radical changes which they have not tried to sell to the rest of the country. Nobody can seem to convince them that all the improvements to democracy and increased equality have been incremental or politically popular when they were adopted.
They ignore how popular politicians have undone very necessary and fair policies by exploiting flaws in public attitudes. Reconstruction led to Jim Crow because the majority of the public were racists. Reagan’s reactions to economic malaise proved to lead to plutocracy and theocracy, undoing a hundred years of social progress because the majority of the public wanted easy solutions to very tough problems.
Beginning to see the importance of the Russian hoax. Putin has nominated Bernie Sanders. Now it is time for the DNC to bring Democracy back to the USA: we nominate Bloomberg for President. All is well here.
3
The issue for Sanders and/or the Dem party and those Dem candidates running for House and Senate seats is their messaging. It will always be the the Dems Achilles heels.
Dems stink at having solid, coherent Campaign messaging. They are so worried about either avoiding notice of the Dem gadflys or gathering in the outer-fringe Libs, they wobble and vacillate and get caught flat-footed by aggressive Repub counter advertising.
Eg; Arizona Repub attack on Dem candidate (ret. Astronaut) Kelly is classic. They are already connecting him to Sanders like the men are joined at the hip. Will the Kelly campaign manage to put forth a sound and logical rebuttal? (namely Kelly is new, and isn't in any way a socialist, and make it stick, and that you can disagree within the ranks) or will they waffle and splutter, and sound weak and unprepared? Bets anyone?
Sanders can win, Sanders can beat Trump, especially if the Trump campaign allows a debate. (they are dropping hints there will be no debate involvement) BUT Sanders can also lose, and he can also prevent Dem wins in the House and Senate, if those campaigns cant muster an effective rebuttal to the Repub "everyone's a Socialist!" attacks. That one guy (Sanders) is the whole of the party.
Are Dems in another bubble? Distracted by what they want the nation to hear, versus what its willing to hear, and consider?
I dont often give Millennials credit for being right, but they get this right. Systemic change is crucial.
2
Brilliantly written so that even a child can understand it. But the problem with the other dems in the race is that they lack the humility of a child...or the wisdom to say, "I quit." The better part of wisdom is knowing when to hang on, and when to let go. Sigh...
2
The columnist draws a false equivalence between Trump and Bernie. But one treats everyone with dignity, and the other attacks almost everyone’s humanity; one has decades of political experience, the other was a political parvenu when he ran for president; one wants to turn the country into Denmark, the other wants to turn the country into Modi’s India; one runs on agape, the other leaves us agape.
Mr. Douthat, give the man his due: Bernie acts, and speaks, from love. The president, from fear and hate. Perhaps this is the crux of the false equivalence: moral forces on either side are equally counterbalanced; selfless vision on one side, and a proportionate dose of vileness on the other. But if one arrives at this contest convinced that one has already seen, and seized, the ultimate sources of truth and justice, then one is blind to the moral contrast. Then, one can only see, and conflate, dueling passion. That, I suspect, is what Mr. Douthat has done.
2
If the Democrats don't stop him, the Republicans will. Consider Bloomberg if he takes the appropriate action....
"If Bernie Sanders becomes the Democratic nominee there is a good chance of Donald Trump being reelected. That is why Russia is supporting his nomination. Let that sink in as you consider whether to vote for Sanders. This country was not built on socialism, but it could be severely damaged by socialism. It is Controlled Capitalism that made the United States the envy of much of the world's population. Controlled Capitalism is what made America great and that is where we must return if we as a nation want to once again return to greatness.: ... https://lstrn.us/Bloombergstrategy
2
@sbanicki Sanders has no chance of beating Trump. He would destroy the economy. Only Bloomberg can beat Trump. The Democrats are fools if they nominate Sanders.
5
Interesting that you equate Bernie Sanders to Don Trump. You don't perceive that they are total opposites in the ways that count? Odd.
3
How many Americas are for making illegal aliens eligible for Medicare? How many Americans are for forcing voters with private insurance to change it? How many Pennsylvanians are for banning fracking? How many Americans want to see the complete medical records of a candidate who just suffered a heart attack before voting for him? How many down-ballot Democrats want to endorse Sanders, an avowed socialist, who took the side of Castro over Kennedy? How many Americans want a president who is weak in combating Russian aggression? I declare, not enough to win the presidency with Sanders as the nominee.
3
I want to take a moment to make a statement broken up in parts. I am writing this especially for idealist younger voters who need to think about what is realistic and what is smoke.
1. Most of what Sanders is promising has no hope of making it through Congress. Voters need to take that into account.
2. The next President will spend his first year at least undoing Trump which means hiring experts again for government jobs, ambassadors which benefit our country and can repair relationships gone bad and undoing bad policy accomplished by executive order.
3. When you go to the polls, you need to really think about who can get that job done, particularly part II, as part I is a waste of time and beating a dead horse.
4. A Bernie Sanders administration means the divided country will continue and only get worse.
3
Bernie Sanders is as ‘unstoppable’ as George McGovern was in 1972. It is going to ensure a second term for President Trump. What we have learned is that a significant portion of our Latino immigrant community favors a socialist system...not too surprising, given how many times it has been tried in Latin America.
5
I Remember, a couple months into his presidency, I concluded that the only person who would destroy Trump was Trump, himself. He's been doing his best to do so.
When one considers his huge compensatory ego construct and asks themselves, "What is it compensating for?", one begins to see the picture come into focus; hidden grades, hidden taxes, too many law suits to count, his immorality, unethical behavior, lying, demeaning others, name calling etc etc etc.
This all points to a very flawed individual that is hiding somewhere beneath and behind its huge compensatory ego structure. This is the real DJT, a conniving, not very bright, very defensive and vengeful person.
He's like The Wizard of Oz behind the curtain in The Emerald City, busy spinning dials pulling levers and manipulating his voice and image, trying to maintain his con in the Emerald City until little Toto, walks over and bites down on a corner of the curtain his mouth, draws it open and reveal the 'liddle' man behind the curtain.
It seems like the NYT and the media, in general, are vested in trying to stop Bernie. This piece is a nice roadmap but who asked you? It's as if the media thinks the democratic elite is more important than the voters lining up for Bernie.
3
I am voting for democrats across the board. Trump is criminal in chief. He is racist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic and islamophobic, horribly corrupt, a dictator, a tax fraud and cheat who has cheated new york and new jersey out of hundreds of millions in taxes-and he has not disclosed his taxes, a con man and scammer. Anybody else in his place would be in prison for a very long time. Trump should have been impeached but a kangaroo court that the GOP dominated senate is, let him off scot free to commit even more horrific crimes. He has destroyed american democracy and it's institutions, worsened the economy with his tariffs, put babies in cages, and banned muslims and immigrants-and denied them food stamps out of sheer racist spite. Republicans are trump's accomplices in crime. Republicans are hypocrites. They have worsened the deficit to 23 trillion dollars, giving their billionaire donors. trump and multi-millionaries like themselves a huge tax break while trying to take away affordable health care from 100 million people. Republicans don't care about california. Trump insults california routinely. Why won't he house the homeless in his tower or golf courses ? He was thrashed in california and the 2016 election and it will be the same in 2020. Trump and the republicans increased taxes in california by many thousands for everybody by imposing the salt limit-california republicans voted for it. The GOP is an existential threat to california.
1
trump and the GOP represent an existential threat to democracy, and to health care, jobs, and security of our nation. This is not an extreme view. it is a fact. They tried to take away affordable health care from 100 million in 2017. Trumps tariffs have directly hurt jobs. 50 year olds are unable to find a job after losing one. Trump said unemployment was 40 percent in 2016. It is the same or worse now. Coronavirus and tariffs are about to cause a recession. many companies have laid off people. the global economy has slowed down. growth is 1.7 percent, even worse than the 2 percent before. infrastructure is worse since trump and the gop did nothing about it. prescription drug prices are up, medical premiums are up, everything has gone up under trump. he almost caused world war 3 in iran and will cause one soon. trump is mentally ill, low in iq and insane-racist, homophobic, xenophobic, islamophobic, a horrible criminal, and a dictator. he is much worse than anyone imagined in 2015.
2
1972
Nixon- 49 states
McGovern- Massachusetts and DC.
2
So what?
2020 is not 1933, 1972, 1492, 1917 or any random year.
History does not repeat itself. It moves like the proverbial river that the Greeks talked about. A few millennia back :-)
1
@Lupito Bernie Will carry CA. MA, VT, RI, NJ,HI and maybe NY. He will lose every other state.
The Republicans will hold the Senate and re-take the House.
It will be a catastrophic defeat.
2
What’s happening is simple. People are sick of both the Republican Party and Democrat party. Neither party really serves the bulk of Americans.
Stop blaming the Russians, both parties need to take a hard look in the mirror.
3
Even more important than the Presidency, is the Senate. Control the Senate and you block Presidential lunacy in the form of appointments. So... who best helps get there?
2
Democrats suffer from congenital amnesia.
See 2000 election—Ralph Nader.
1
You are comparing Bernie to Nader? How about comparing Trump to Larouche? Both cuckoo :-)
2
@Blunt
I'm referring to what Nader's candidacy wrought—8 years of Cheney/Bush and what Sanders' candidacy will wrought—4 more years of Trump.
Unless you have a lot of stocks in corporate america, big pharma and the banking system Bernie is a clear choice. He has said what he means and stuck by it for his whole political career. With Bernie you know exactly what you are getting. Corporate, old school democrats (i.e. Clinton and the part of the left that is beholding to their paycheck from the Goldman-Sachs) are clearly nervous because regulations on their greed and corruption will be forthcoming. Even the main stream media and tech companies are nervous because their earnings will be taxed and they will only make 10 billion a year as opposed to 50 billion. That is why Bernie can and should win. Another reason for me is I will be supporting the party that doesn't give support and credence to white supremacists and Neo-Nazis. Clearly the democratic party and the candidates they represent.
5
Bernie's medical plan bothers me. It's not that it could work just as he proposes. I've researched it, it would work. But the political reality is that it will never get past the Senate or the Courts in anything like the form he proposes. In fact a dangerous macabre apparition of a healthcare law could emerge instead from Washington's corrupt sausage-making.
Bernie and the rest of the Democrats need to get their priorities in order:
First, Win the Presidency
Second, Win the Senate
Third, Get a majority on the Supreme Court
Fourth, Get a nonpartisan supermajority in the Senate
Fifth, Begin to reform healthcare
3
@Charles Tiege Political realities change. Take a look at what Sanders did when he was first elected mayor of Burlington VT. His agenda and appointments were blocked by the board of alderman. He used his political apparatus to build an alternate government to craft and implement some of his ideas. He went directly to the people and kept hammering the obstructionist publicly. Grass roots bases can make the difference. A year later he promoted new candidates and successfully replaced several of those alderman. The rest fell in line. It should be easier today with social media.
2
I have no idea as to why people want to expand and expand government and have them take care of everything in our lives - please stay out of my life! Let me live the way I’d like to live as long as I’m not bothering anybody. I like my doctor and want to keep him and my current health insurance. Can you imagine Medicare for All and our US government completely running healthcare? Government does everything badly take a look at the USPS for example. Everyone’s care will suffer as bureaucratic incompetence takes over and good doctors run for the hills because they aren’t being compensated as they used to. Nobody talented will want to become a doctor if after all that studying and residency and specialization you’re at the mercy of a government salary. Our economy and medical care is strong because of free markets and competition - this encourages innovations and breakthroughs in the medical field and many others - when there’s no incentive because you’re being run by the government everything stagnates and everyone suffers because of it. Beware of socialist ideologies and policies that promise fee this and free that - nothing is free - someone will pay and we probably will go into many many more trillions in debt. Our economic power will be destroyed The stock market will crash and all the everyday things we take for granted in this great country will dwindle away. China and Russia will fill the vacuum and become more powerful than ever before and they are not our friends.
2
@Michael Edmunds Medicare is government funded, not government run. There is no evidence to support your concerns. Countries all around the globe with government financed health care achieve much better outcomes for less than half the cost.
2
@Episto Unum
Medicare is government run and funded.
Those Russians are doing a great job. If Sanders is at the top of the ticket we will lose the White House, the House of Representatives and probably some seats in the Senate. It will be 1972 all over again.
6
@Texas Democrat. Don’t blame Russia for sanders or trumps success. Maybe people are fed up with a system that’s not working for the majority of Americans. Let’s start blaming the DNC and RNC
3
With most of the delegates yet to be chosen, why does the press make it seem like three unimportant states have a lock on the nominee. It is conceivable that when the rest of us get to vote in the primaries, that it will be Bernie Who. I certainly hope that someone other than a millionaire socialist will be the nominee. It is not his money that I object to, but his socialist ideas. He has a lot in common with the current resident of the WH. He is always angry and uses his right hand to signal his displeasure. There is no way he could win the election.
1
@S.L. Yes we know, he's un-electable. Except he keeps winning elections. PS - Everyone should be really angry.
1
Bernie, for all his arm-waving and shouting, has charisma. I am among those who worry about his electability and his effect on down-ballot candidates in swing districts/states, but there is no denying his Pied Piper quality.
Assuming he gets the majority, it is the next stage that will matter. He has to shift his message to speak to those of us who have concerns, not just to his base. Same with his rabid supporters: they have to stop with the conspiracy theories and attacks on anyone who disagrees with them. And, once it's clear that he's the candidate, the whole party has to get vocally and enthusiastically behind him, both by reassuring the broad population that he will serve them well and making clear the utter danger of keeping Trump in office.
@LR1 The conspiracy theories are coming from the establishment (the Russians again, really?). They're going to smear Sanders as a Putin puppet. I hope Hillary chimes in again - she gave Tulsi such a boost.
Why is everybody so afraid of Bernie. I've read that among voters under 35, 53% favor Bernie and only 3% favor f.e. Joe Biden. Bernie might be old, but he attracts the future and not the past of America. And while present USA ist tilting towards autocracy, which may well change the country for years and transform it to the likes of Brazil, Turkey or the Philipines, where you can end up in jail just for uttering critique, Bernie offers a real clear alternative to this undemocratic present state.
I am living in Germany, and what in the States is being painted as "Socialism", it's what we are governed by successfully since many years. It's called "Social Democracy". Meaning that we have a single payer health care with nobody having to be afraid of getting sick, because health cannot be private. Basic, affordable health care is a fundamental right, as well as housing and education. "Socialism" means, that some ruling party is privatizing every industrial sector. Thats not, what Bernie Sanders wants, as I understand it. Bernie wants the USA to catch up to modern day equal rights, as we have them in Europe for decades. His role model isn't Venzuela. It's Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria etc.; the Democratic party in the US should think twice, if they - again like in 2016 - want to try to avoid Bernie as Presidential Nominee by all means. Stop demonizing Bernie. Listen to your youth. Bernie Sanders would have beaten Trump ind 2016, and he will beat him in 2020.
9
Say what you want but Sanders keeps winning. He was much stronger than Clinton and the “center-left” establishment (including this paper) thought he would be in 2016, particularly places like Michigan.
The establishment keeps complaining that the “moderate” wing is splitting its vote and that’s why Bernie is winning, but that ignores that Warren and Sanders are splitting the more liberal vote as well - and taken together the Warren/Sanders vote in NV was easily over 50%.
I’m a Warren supporter but it seems to me that Bernie has consistently over-performed the center-left’s fantasy of where democratic voters and the country actually is in actual voting despite the warnings of so called "smart guys" like Ross here. Maybe the problem is that the pundits in their glass towers and rural diners talking to 50-year old Republicans don’t actually have a clue and Bernie is speaking to what voters actually want.
9
It seems less like left v. right and far more like Have-Nots v. Haves.
1
One thing Mr. Douthat should acknowledge , as person Sanders and Trump cannot be in the same category.
Political perspective, Sanders is well experienced Washington politician, I can say he is insider of establishment.
But Sanders campaign pose similar destruction to DP as Trump inflicted on GOP , Yes I agree on that.
America's biparty establishment is clearly came to an end , we need more parties and we should be accommodate coalition ideas which frequently happens in Europe.
Dictating 2 party with 320 million and in the era of 21st century looks very 20th century centric.
This is what it is. why Sanders cannot run independent but instead he has to run on the Democratic ticket , because old generation of US voters are still voting, but in next 2-3 election they will be diminished significantly. This is how transformations look like.
Trump couldn't win if he wasn't running on GOP ticket, consequence it destroy the soul of party, Sanders could inflict same damage to DP , yes he may well be. but this is the direct consequence of 2 party system.
Normal adaptation centrist parties weaken but they keep their numbers some certain territory and make coalitions with other parties. That is healthy democracy.
Or like todays GOP and DP , party can be hijacked very easily, because neither party has 50% vs 50% solid constituency, they can max out 30% to 30% at best.
2
We've been here before. There's no doubt that America's been far too good, for far too few. Highest earner income tax rose to 75% under FDR; the rich were given the opportunity to save this country. One hopes they seize the chance to save it again, that they understand what's at stake here beyond self-interest. Let's show the rest of the world who we are at our best. Again.
2
Only 55,300 people showed up to caucus. Only 21,869 voted for Sanders.
The other candidates do not have the baggage, past and present, that Sanders has. I voted for him twice in 2016 (we had a caucus and a non-counting primary back then), but for this time I'm going with Warren, whom I find more genuine, intelligent, articulate, and energetic than any of the others. Her major weakness is her health care plan. She should shift to improving the ACA.
Sanders is too easy for Trump and the right wing to label as a communist, Marxist, or socialist. Americans are too easily lead by fear and too shallow to learn what a democratic socialist is.
If Sanders is the nominee, Trump will probably be the president again.
5
The more I look at it, from my Canadian perspective, the more I think that Democrats don't really want to beat Trump. That would explain why a candidate that will be easily defeated by Trump is leading the nomination race.
All the GOP propaganda machine will have to say is that Sanders is a socialist. That's it: game, set and match Trump.
Can the world take another four years with a president that won't even seek reelection this time?
6
@Michel Forest, maybe for many Democrats Trump not losing to a Democrat not winning is a way for them to have their cake and eat it too. They get all the material benefits of Trump without having to compromise their righteous liberal zeal that Bernie represents. As they reluctantly reinvest their IRA dividends they than say with a straight face how much they really did want to pay it all out in taxes instead, but darned that Trump.
Sanders is academically a near mirror image of every Social Democratic party platform around the world. That does equate to Democratic Socialist.
Bernie Sanders is a "socialist" in the same way the Danish government restored the leftist social democrats who in turn are restoring all the safety net programs, It's quite humane.
4
Ross Douthat, you nailed it this time.
I’m not a big Bernie fan myself — I’d prefer someone younger and less ideologically inflexible who doesn’t yell so much. And I’m seriously disappointed that functional misogeny still seems stubbornly embedded in the US political system across the board.
But the pattern you describe is real. As Fareed Zakaria noted on CNN this morning, the trend towards outside insurgents grabbing the leadership banner from mainstream party loyalists (neither Sanders nor Trump fully identify with the parties they now popularly dominate) is playing out in democracies around the world right now.
And maybe that’s just how change works. Insurgent leaders plant a seed of passion in the soil of dissatisfaction and — voila! — a movement grows.
At least Bernie is honest enough to call his campaign a “revolution”, even though that sounds scarier to many than it would likely be in reality should he become president. And in a match-up between these two yelly old men, Bernie is the better choice by a thousand miles.
But the most important thing he may ever do — this 78-year-old heart attack survivor — will be his selection of his VP running mate, who must be poised to lead the nation. May I suggest a strong woman please?
5
Bernie is unfortunately very stoppable. It'll take until November however for it to happen.
5
Could have used a bit more proactive and persuasive messaging from the NeverTrump set in 2016. And TED CRUZ as the better, more mainstream alternative to Trump? Really? Ted Cruz used to be the crazy guy on the fringe before the Republican Party decided it wanted somebody who had the same terrible ideas and lack of shame as Ted Cruz, but without any relevant experience.
Please excuse us if we ignore you completely, Mr. Douthat.
"As with Donald Trump in 2016, so with Sanders so far in 2020. The characters are different, but the same dynamics are in play."
Yes. Yes, they are very different people. And THAT is the point. The person we are electing would be very different from Trump, with different values. With a different vision for what is important when you hold office. Bernie wants to work to improve the lives of people. Always has. Trump and all the other Republicans want to work for corporate profits at the expense of people.
You keep missing the point, Mr. Douthat. It's not about winning. It's about what needs to be done.
6
Why is the leading opinion piece a strategy discussion on how Democrats should work to defeat the most honest politician we've had, and the human with the most decency and care for average Americans that an overwhelming of young voters want to bring economic, social and environmental justice to our nation? Why are giant corporate amalgamations on Wall Street and the media institutions they wield so much influence over so afraid of an honest public servant who cares more about a balanced capitalism that comes with social justice, economic jusice, and environmental justice as pillars of a nation and civilization that will last far longer and be much better for all people? Oh, I've answered my own question.
The people and institutions who are afraid of an Eleanor Roosevelt style of democracy and business in America have become so accustomed to the vast over-concentration of wealth that they live in fear that if their kleptocracy is exposed and truth brought forward that their cowardice and treachery to the ideals of this nation will be exposed.
Next time, put up on opinion piece on how Bernie can avoid an absolutely corrupt Democratic party machine in the DCCC and DNC and Tom Perez and how they are driven by the same dark money forces as that Mitch McConnel uses.
Keeping We The People down is not ok and any organization devoted to real journalism should not only know that but act on it vigorously every single day.
9
@Tom Paine
"...an Eleanor Roosevelt style of democracy and business in America..."
as modeled by Senators Warren and Klobuchar.
2
Bernie promises progressive idealism. Electoral realities make that a non-starter. You cant campaign on banning fracking in places like Pennsylvania. 600k people will lose great paying jobs. People in that industry may hate Trump but that policy will force them to vote for him. Without Pennsylvania, Bernie is toast. The establishment has done a great deal since 2016 to try to mend the party, making fundamental changes to how things are done in conjunction with Bernie world. Predictably though, a lot of die hard Bernie folks won't be satisfied until it's burned to the ground. It's a shame since his "revolution" will need those same party institutions advance change.
2
@Mary Elizabeth Lease
I've contributed to Liz as well. Liz and Bernie need to unite or the heavily corrupted Democratic political machine will use the same dirty tricks (but worse) they did in 2016 against Bernie. Perez and the dark money backers from Wall Street don't want anything resembling actual democracy, actual social, economic and environmental justice in our government. Bernie understands what it means to "go big or go home." We are living these times. This is political warfare and losing is not an option for those who still believe American can the leader of the free world.
3
I remember “wasting” my votes on and Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern with all the fervor of today’s kids and millennials. My idealism gave us Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. These days I wish I had voted for Humphrey, despite fact that he was Lyndon Johnson’s Vice President and therefore associated with the Vietnam War. Humphrey would have been both more effective in ending the war and certainly more honest and ethical than Nixon. And I think we would be in a different place today.
We need a decent moderate candidate who will attract every never Trumper of whatever political philosophy. We can’t risk losing this election to the people who stay home as we did in 2016.
9
@EAK
Look at the bright side. McGovern only managed to win one state. Bernie might get four or five...
3
While the Democratic party fights within itself for control between progressives and moderates, there are many Republicans and Independents waiting and watching for an alternative to Trump. I personally know many. While I admire the conviction and passion of progressives, Bernie will not get one of these votes. This election could easily be won by Democrats with a moderate candidate but it looks like you are going to give the election away on moral indignation. Building bridges between ideologies takes time, look at the long game. You are giving Trump a guaranteed a win and many moderate Republicans will have no choice but to vote for him come election time.
4
Bernie got just over 4,000 votes. A plurality at that. Everyone take a deep breath. There are a lot of twists and turns yet to come.
1
The differences between Sanders and Trump are dramatic.
One is congenital liar, who belittles those who were not born with his advantages, criticizes the weak, and looks out only for himself. Sanders on the other hand stands up for the average person, cares about the poor, the less fortunate, and equality.
Mr Douthat, in your Christian upbringing, who would Jesus urge you to support?
What is distressing is all of the evangelical Christians out there that go to their worship services and still support Trump.
While Sanders is not my first choice, if he wins fair and square, we must do everything to support him and the party.
6
Bernie is only electable if you discard the conventional idea that the Dems win with turnout from the base plus independents plus liberal Republicans who are sick of Trump. This model is supported by the 2016 House results where moderate Dem candidates were successful. Bernie needs a supercharged base plus centrist Dems who are willing to take the risk to oust Trump. There is no evidence to support this idea, particularly without overwhelming minority and youth turnout. The Dems are in serious trouble at this point.
2
I certainly hope that the Democrats do not take advice from a conservative who wants the Democrats to save the Republican party.
7
Great job Democrats!
How will Bernie do in key swing states
with moderate voters?
I'm sure it will work out well for you.
Your whole I'm liberal and I hate Trump attitude
is really a winning play.
Keep up the good work!
3
@Jon Thanks for the well wishes! Actually, since most moderate and traditional Dems understand that 4 more years of unqualified hacks being appointed to the judiciary would be a disaster for an entire generation they will show up in November and vote blue, no matter who.
3
My hope is that Sanders will latch onto the emotional fervor of some Trump supporters and steer it toward not against their own interests. Use Fox news to show they've been following a false god.
1
"The center-left establishment, no less than its G.O.P. counterpart, seems old, exhausted, promising to mildly reform a status quo that an intense and motivated portion of its base regards as too decadent to be worth preserving."
This is what all the centrists on their fainting couches flatly refuse to countenance. Voters have been practically screaming since at least '08 that the center-left/center-right politics no longer work -they're leaving way too many people behind, and centrism is increasingly concerned primarily with the concerns of its donors, and of the upper middle class. The media establishment also has a huge blind spot in this regard, and their outright hostility toward Sanders is clear evidence of this.
Buttegieg, Biden, Klobuchar aren't going to be the nominees. They're promising more of the same with a few upgrades around the edges. Voters aren't stupid, they can see right through them. Bloomberg may yet buy the nomination, but my guess is that once again, voters are going to reject business-as-usual. Until the Democratic establishment gets this they will continue their slide to irrelevance.
3
The centrist that can woo Abrams to be their running mate can beat Sanders and Trump.
1
@Jfpieters
so much willful ignorance...I despair for our future.
a running mate is chosen AFTER a candidate wins the nomination.
The panic at the thought of a Bernie candidacy is quite amusing especially coming from the so called liberal NYT. After all a vulgarian was elected in 2016 with a lot of help from the media and the sky did not fall in. At least, as Mr Krugman said in his op ed, Bernie is a decent human being.
It seems that the ‘liberal’ establishment is horrified at the thought of a socialist candidate. The truth is that Bernie is only a socialist in the American context because in most democratic and even in some undemocratic countries governments try to provide a lot of the things he is talking about: access to an affordable, and where possible free, reasonable standard of healthcare, of education and of housing. A centre right government in this country introduced free GP care for under fives (and proposed extending it to under sevens) and free GP care for over 80s. They are not means tested. People below a certain income get free GP care and health care anyway. A mildly right of centre government introduced free 3rd level education (primary and secondary education were already free) - well relatively free! Nobody here or in other Western European countries is going to leave College with tens of thousands worth of debt. Nobody is going to go bankrupt to pay medical bills.
In short there is nothing unusually socialist about many of Bernie’s proposals. They are the norm in many countries.
4
@Isolde M Doyle
and how is that Sinn Féin victory working out for you all?
The purpose of the primary is to select from a group of individuals who want to be President, the best one to run from each political party. The democratic party created rules for the primary which are stupid and seem destined to confound the wishes of the majority of democrats. Nevertheless, the candidates should have understood the rules and designed a strategy to win the nomination. Now Mr. Douthat is suggesting that the individuals who do not have a winning position, should adopt a different strategy -- preventing the potential winner from winning. He seems to be suggesting this action because he is in favor of the ideas of those who have a less advantageous position in the primary than Senator Sanders. In making his case to those he wants to leave the race, he describes Senator Sanders in an inaccurate fashion. The truth is that Senator Sanders has sensible ideas that have a chance to correct what is currently very wrong with our country. Whether Mr. Douthat agrees with Senator Sanders, he should not be inaccurate. Whether the "mainstream, moderate" democrats agree, they should respect the work and ideas of Senator Sanders and the will of the voters. They should support him wholeheartedly if he wins the nomination. There is absolutely nothing about Senator Sanders which is like President Trump. Senator Sanders is an ethical, honest man.
2
Both trump and putin are ecstatic with Bernie's rise. What could possibly go wrong?
1
@Roger
The way the polls are going(not what the establishment is claiming) is the polls in REAL America confirm, Trump and Putin will lose.
1
@Deus
just wondering.
when did Toronto become part of "REAL America?"
2
I am a staunch Democrat. And, I cannot stand Bernie. His supporters think he’s the end all and be all. Let’s be realistic. He is not a candidate who can beat Trump and that’s the one and only goal. He will not draw former Trumpers nor the South nor middle America. Personally Bernie makes me cringe. He’s bombastic, bull headed, uncompromising, egocentric and frightening. Will I vote for him IF he’s the nominee? Yes, I will but I won’t be voting for him: I will be voting against Trump. I will vote for anyone who’s opposing Trump. Anyway, based on US campaign history Bernie is not at this point a shoe in. We still have big steps to take starting with a smaller pool of candidates.
4
There were many notable socialist presidents before.
FDR will not be matched in scope by Mr.Sanders, even if he tries hard will not even reach the hems of the great man’s pants. Lyndon Johnson is more akin a figure to compare to the man from Brooklyn. All this of course, granted that he survives the clash with the man from Queens. Interesting that the NYT in an unprecedented move will endorse the one that will dismantle the newspaper’s beloved wall street establishment.
EGO is the problem, these career politicians and their fat-wallet , special-interest backers have caused the problem. Not counting the ones who have dropped out of the 20 plus, there are still a number that shouldn't and are not capable of the office. But they still clamor for that elusive club membership because of their EGO!!
We all know how the Sanders attacks will go, it will be constant accusations of Communism and such nonsense.
Why Warren isn't getting the vote is mind boggling.
1
Here just north of the Vermont border we have just been given a notice on have far too many of our southern neighbour has digressed.We are militantly secular humanist and our values are human values.
Our economy is booming there is no shortage of jobs and a huge shortage of workers.
Our local provider of health and human services had a job fair looking for service providers for people like myself who can't do some of the things we could do for ourselves before our dotage and all the others out here who need an ear, a plumber or a warm embrace.
The jobs were filled in hours. We of course have had our Bernies in control. We are what America was supposed to be before your "conservatives" convinced you that what your heart tells you is wrong is right.
For those interested here n is the story you might even appreciate how well computers are able to translate French to English
https://www.latribune.ca/actualites/sherbrooke/grand-repechage-du-ciusss-de-lestrie-chus-ca-depasse-nos-attentes-7bd54813ac9744ddea01ecb799d4dab5
2
Simple fact of the matter—more Democrats have NOT voted for Sanders than have.
2
Sanders is like Reagan, a great celebrity but not so good as a national leader due to personal flaws. Reagan was not a rational agent and his failure to consider problems reasonably has resulted in four decades of stupid policies Republicans insist upon promoting which have greatly harmed our country. He liked some big ideas and promoted them fervently and regardless of the obstacles which reality presented as he attempted to implement them. He would not accept evidence which disproved his ideas. The shifting of wealth into a investor class just produced enormous inequities of wealth and social power not a return to the growth of the post WWII boom years.
Sanders is attracted to big ideas and promotes them fervently and persistently. He is undaunted by the evidence that they might not be achievable in a timely manner. Like Reagan his charismatic leadership inspires a loyal following which takes his ideas without examining them reasonably.
Trump thinks that he can use a negative campaign strategy to defeat Sanders because he will harp on Sanders being a totalitarian command state socialist. But Sanders will evade that label by anyone who listens to him and will hammer at how Trump has served the one percent and otherwise has helped nobody with his policies, and he will succeed in portraying Trump as a fraud. But Sanders will motivate Republicans who dislike Trump to vote for Trump anyways. The outcome will be a toss up election.
Had Hillary and the DNC not blocked Bernie in 2016, he would be president now. Everyone needs to back off and give the man his due. We don’t need Clinton op-eds trying their same old tricks and Nevada clearly showed how much “nobody likes him”. The DNC and mainstream media both need to be neutral enough to allow democracy to work and the American people to vote their choice.
2
Maybe it’s time to impeach Trump again to change the subject.
I protest: Bernie is not a socialist!
1
Not that being a socialist is a bad thing but he is bona fide social democrat. Scandinavian style.
The population in this country are not enlightened. Please don’t confuse literacy and even college education in the USA as enlightenment. The average undergraduate at Harvard would be hard pressed to talk about socialism versus communism for more than one minute. Honestly I met people there who thought Karl Marx was related to Groucho and Harpo. It sounds like joke but it is not.
The American rhetoric creates a bogeyman of socialism especially after the Great Depression produces the likes of Eugene Debs. FDR was a compromise. He, like Bernie was a social democrat. The Cold War produces the red scare and third class human beings like Joseph McCarthy were worthy of the Senate of the USA!
Bless Bernie and may he live a healthy and long life as our president and ex-president after 2028.
1
A Biden-Buttegig ticket funded by Bloomberg's billions? Is this really the best we can do?
1
The polar opposite of Trump, which can only be a good thing.
The bad? Well, Reps and their propaganda machine faux has convinced a large number of American's that socialism is bad.
The rub? Trump's pal Putin is a communist. So, if he's not so bad...
.
Bernie is McGovern 2.0. A disaster.
5
Sanders' supporters hold up the Scandinavian nations as examples of Democratic Socialist paradise.
And yet they slander Senators Warren and Klobuchar—the two candidates who can move us towards that paradise—with epithets decrying them as corporate tools.
Senators Klobuchar and Warren have already done more legislatively than Sander ever has or ever will. Voting records don't matter—legislation enacted into law is what matters.
3
Democrats never learn, and never forget.
1
Bernie will lose to trump. I sadly voted for loser mcgovern in 1972. I'll sadly vote for loser bernie 2020. what a waste each time: these ideologues gave us nixon, and now they'll give us trump. muskie could have won, and I think biden could win. why do I have to suffer for the virtue signaling of others?
3
Sanders is a product of the Marxist hard left, and the chickens have come home to roost. He’s not even a democrat. He lived with his parents until he was 40 because he didn’t want to get a job. I know you hate Trump but Bernies policy ideas & plans would be extremely detrimental to this country. I went Canada a while back on vacation and while grocery shopping found out what leftist policies look like. Gathered up a few things, not much at all, that would be $ 40-$50 in the USA. Almost $ 200 in Canada. The cashier said it’s do to extreme taxes to pay for their socialized medicine and healthcare. Exuberant prices & taxes to pay for rationed medical. She said don’t fall for it and don’t vote to do it. When you go to places like Cuba, Moscow, or any socialist place they don’t wear socialist propaganda T shirts, they wear an American Flag shirt or have a flag patch on their jeans, only white leftists here in this country wear it. 67% of all voters in the USA oppose socialism. Bernie May be doing good in the Democrat Primary, but he won’t in the presidential election. It will be historically low Democrat turnout and historically high Republican turn out. 4 more years of Trump.
3
Bernie Sanders is Ralph Nader.
That would be Ralph Nader who gave us 8 years of Cheney/Bush and all that ensued.
Senators Warren and Klobuchar are Barack Obama.
Barack Obama who gave us ACA.
Paris Climate Agreement.
The multinational Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
Brought the economy back from this "... first three months of 2009, 2 million jobs were lost, and 5.1 million jobs lost in 2008."
3
History's pendulum tends to swing in strongly opposing directions -- but that doesn't mean those opposites are in any way the same. Only that correction is necessary, sometimes extreme correction.
There may be abstract historical similarities between Trump and Sanders on the surface. But otherwise the comparisons and contrasts are false, misleading, and superficial "on the ground."
Please, enough with the overwrought political generalities. We need to see Trump for the frightening autocrat he is, both in practice and historically -- and Sanders for the democratic socialist who offers a totally different kind of leadership, practicable now or not, like it or him or not. But dissect him for what he is -- not who he isn't.
2
Fire in the belly. Bernie has it and is convincingly passionate in the way he delivers his message. He stays on point and seldom wavers from his personal convictions.
People are beginning to recognize his strengths and appreciate his integrity. I'm with him all the way to November. We need his revolution.
2
My hesitancy with Bernie comes down to whether he can get the younger generation to vote in large numbers - this is critical in us getting the swing states and taking back the Senate. I still hesitate; the "youth vote" is fickle and could lead us to ruin if they don't deliver. I'm voting for Liz Warren in the primary, but if Bernie wins the nomination, I'm all in.
If Bernie wins, it will be thanks to the young. And the fact that he fires them up is fantastic.
But the reverse is also true.
Not everyone is in their 20s with crushing student debt and no health insurance. If Bernie loses, an entire generation may give up on voting since every day Trump is in office, he will remind them their votes did not matter.
1
Barack Obama, a first term moderate Senator from Illinois did more to correct income inequality, provide healthcare to those without, stop the degradation of the environment and take us off us the path of endless war Republicans have us on than Sanders' forty years as a politician.
6
Yes, but he could not gain the cooperation of Republicans no matter what he tried. That kept him from doing enough good to prevent the emergence of Trump as a viable candidate.
@Casual Observer
"Yes, but he could not gain the cooperation of Republicans..."
and Sanders will!!??
1
@Saints Fan
and an economy flat lining thanks to 8 years of GOP governance.
It's shocking that voters in NH, IA and NV are not doing with the NYT wanted. I guess voters (so far at least) are making up their own minds. It's also quite a surprise that women, who compose more than 50% of the electorate, are not all voting for women. I think this bodes well for democracy.
2
I think we need the next article to be on a much more readable level, explaining why Sanders will not be the dream come true many people want to believe him to be.
3
What did America expect? Out of control inequality has led us precisely here. If you want equilibrium, the role of government is to take care of people- and it doesn’t and hasn’t. This will get very, very interesting now. Will we err on the side of our better angels and do the hard work of building a society that works better for most of us or continue to choose the non sustainable approach
The snake has eaten his tail, can it devour itself entirely?
5
I heard Bernie Sanders yesterday in a speech talking about Love. His message was so positive, like a life raft in a sea of negativity. All people want is some hope! Is that too much to ask for?
11
Here’s a sobering thought. If Democrats can’t get solidly behind whichever candidate comes out first then Trump is going to win. Bernie Sanders might seem like a wild eyed radical to some of you but in the context of politicians outside your borders he’s quite normal. No Canadian leader of any party would ever even consider changing our health care system for the one you currently have. Does that make them socialists? No. So decide, four more years of Trump or....? It’s your country.
10
I am not a fan of Bernie's and I hope he doesn't get the nomination. But, if he does, I will vote for him because of two words: Supreme Court.
8
Douthat had the best line in recent memory about Sanders, uttered on a recent "The Argument" podcast (which is great and everyone should subscribe): "The only people who like Bernie are... voters."
8
@DF Paul
Yes, and the only people who like Moderates are the status quo.
4
@DF Paul
and yet more Democrats have NOT voted for Sanders than have.
1
It concerns me that the media continuously dismisses Mayor Pete when he is the only candidate that comes closest to the average American in terms of income and every day experience. His message is actually the only one that makes space for the conversation that we need to have after the current president is defeated. What's truly disappointing is that we ignore the only digital native candidate in favor a pack of digital dinosaurs, the first openly gay candidate in favor of two HRC retreads and the only disciplined candidate who has organized a serious campaign out of nothing in favor of a plutocrat, a shape-shifter and a loser socialist who is unlikely to support any nominee but himself.
3
I like Peter but too many people buy into the idea that a small town in middle America is somehow the “average” - it isn’t, not by a long shot.
I am confused by all of these blatently false attacks on Sanders. He won't support any other candidate? He was the only democratic on the debate stage who promised to support the candidate with the most votes. Everyone else refused to acknowledge the winner and fight a contested convention. Sanders isn't a perfect candidate but you guys make him look like one by just making up falsehoods instead of attacking him on substance.
1
Why is bringing the US up to the same standards as all of the other high-income democracies in the world radical? That the US wastes massive amounts of money on a military that is more powerful than the next 4-7 most powerful militaries combined, when nobody is really threatening us, all while failing to care for its own citizens is radical.
Cutting our over-budgeted military and enhancing diplomacy, eliminating tax breaks for the rich and significantly increasing taxes on the super-wealthy to balance the budget, and providing national healthcare while reducing healthcare costs bloated by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries is NOT radical. It is a rational entry into the 21st Century.
8
It really would be helpful if the single digit persons running would drop out. And we can then focus on what is doable. Getting Trump out of office is imperative for our country, the rule of law and the Constitution. If Bernie is the nominee then the Democratic party needs to coalesce behind him and focus on winning the Senate and House and get this country back on track. The party really needs to unite and stop this nitpicking.
2
Yes, but unite behind whom? That is the whole point of the primaries, and the fact that we are being told to unite after a few percent of the population has voted is bizarre.
1
He's got the passion. The voice of NOW!
So does Warren but she's too wonky.
They should run together although she'd probably not be interested in #2.
Either way, Bernie's going all the way.
4
So far, the Democrats have had only one primary and two caucuses. Two contests were in all white frozen states, and the other in a more diverse caucus state. (I’d like to hear opinions from political scientists on which method is better.) Now we head to the Deep South to my red-meat, Trump-loving state, for the South Carolina primary. The results probably won’t be any more enlightening than the other three states because we have an open primary. Anyone can vote, and the GOP won’t sit around twiddling their thumbs. If Bernie comes out on top or even close to Biden in SC, then we’ll know who Trumpites - like the Russians - want Donald to face in November.
2
The key to the election is the Battleground States. Biden is strong in the Battleground States vs. Trump. Sanders is not.
We cannot afford another four years of Trump's authoritarian rule. Our Republic and, yes, the health of our planet, depends on defeating Trump and his supporters in Congress.
We are facing an existential crisis and, at this time, it appears Biden is the answer.
5
@treabeton By using criminal tactics, Trump has already beaten Biden. If Biden is nominated, Trump would eat him for lunch. The notion that Biden could beat Trump is a delusion. Time to move on to Bernie. If Biden really wants to stop Trump, he would drop out before Super Tuesday, help Bernie get the African-American vote, help unify the party platform, and serve as a senior facilitator for unity in the party.
1
I believe that here in little deep-blue Massachusetts Bernie will probably win here as well, and ultimately the nomination. This morning I saw members of Bernie's team starting to set up a registration desk, complete with a Bernie life-sized cardboard cut-out on the outside of a supermarket. And people started to congregate around it. No evidence in my town of others setting up similar stations, nor did I see any lawn signs except for candidates for local and state offices. I would have expected to see Warren posters, especially since her mediocre showing in New Hampshire Perhaps she is relying too much on her favorite daughter status and name recognition. With Warren's fading and Bernie's unparalleled organizational infrastructure throughout the country, I see no obstacle to his nomination. I certainly will vote for him in November and pray for a win. But a Bernie presidency will be an extreme challenge, as I view him as having the shortest coattails among the candidates, a big handicap in an attempt to regain the Senate and hold on to the House. And if miraculously they do succeed in regaining control over the whole Congress there will not be the votes for most of Bernie's extreme progressive policies, nor for some of the ways of funding them. But he will be able to stop Trump's judicial stuffing with biased conservatives, restore decency to the presidency, reverse Trump's war on immigrants and repair much of the international chaos of the Trump administration.
6
Yes, Sanders looks unstoppable, barring an excellent performance of Bloomberg in the next debate.
Is Sanders what the country needs? I would say no.
It's not just Trump that is the problem. It is excessive partisanship. We need to actually discuss the important issues.
Take climate change for example. Yes, we want to phase out oil and gas. But what part does nuclear energy play in the transition? Japan doesn't want to replace the nuclear plants destroyed at Fukujima with coal-powered plants. Isn't that a step backwards?
Answering questions like this requires the give and take of discussion which respects the positions of others, rather than calling them racists and bigots. And legislators need to actually negotiate to find compromises, rather than treat their jobs as a serious of photo-ops in which they take extreme positions for the benefits of the poorly informed.
It is not a victory to achieve complete destruction of the Republican Party? Under such a regime would we be any different from the Communist regimes who had elections with only one name on the ballot?
Democracy is not just about winning elections, but about dialog.
What worries me about Bernie is the extremeness of his positions. He might be an OK president if he moves toward the center as he governs.
I suspect I'll vote Bloomberg in the coming primary, and hope that he can improve his message to provide a more convincing articulation of moderate views.
7
I'm not at all afraid of a Bernie Sanders presidency. Not at all. After what we have now, I would welcome it as a breath of fresh, wonderful air. And I know his most controversial ideas will never, ever make it through the United States Senate.
What I do fear is a Bernie Sanders candidacy. It is almost doomed to fail and take down a half dozen Senate seats and 20-30 House seats with it.
7
@Will. ....It would seem to me that one of the major problems in the country today is that it is deeply divided. Of all the Democratic candidates Sanders is the most divisive. With Sanders at the head of the ticket we will lose the House seat that we managed to flip in 2018.
5
What the 2016 Republican primaries and the 2020 primaries show is that we really need to consider moving toward rank balloting.
Let voters pick their first, second, and third choices. When there is a large field this is a much better reflection of the will of the voters. Right now Klobuchar, Buttigieg, and Biden are splitting the moderate votes and now so will Bloomberg leaving an opening for Sanders which he wouldn't otherwise have in a smaller field.
You wouldn't know by the transformation of the Republican party to the Trump party today, but he didn't win a majority of the votes in the primaries. He only won 33%. The rest were split among the more moderate candidates who were similar to each other. Ranked balloting would have prevented Trump.
7
The only "edit" I would do this otherwise well written opinion piece is that instead of "PleaseNoBernie" it should be "HellNOBernie". Moderates who gave the Democrats the 2018 mid term win are being competely disenfranchised by a Socialist who is not even Democrat. So if we don't want
a. massive tax increases b. abolition of private insurance
c. invitation of massive illegals immigration by giving them free healthcare and d. paying for other kid's college eduction, WE, the majority (moderates and conservatives of any part affiliation or independents) need to just hold our noses and vote Trump since the alternative (Socialism) would be FAR worse.
5
@Robert
I'm probably considered a moderate Democrat, but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES would I ever vote for Donald Trump.
@Robert
If an illegal immigrant has the Coronavirus (or other infectious disease of your choice) are you really going to sit there and argue that refusing them healthcare is the smart thing to do?
Illegal immigrants and the poor are already getting "free" healthcare by refusing to disclose their real identities to hospitals. Your healthcare premiums are already paying for it - just as you are paying more at BestBuy when people steal too many electronics.
Every single "socialist" country with healthcare has a private insurance market. Your precious private insurance will not be eliminated.
You will have just as much choice in your coverage/doctors as you do under the current Obamacare regime.
Insurance companies are free to leave a market they deem unprofitable, leaving people the "choice" between one insurance provider or none. Insurance companies are also free to change your policy coverage, and there's not a thing you can do about it.
This is already happening in the majority of states.
Your neighors in Wyoming have a choice of 1 providers on the Obamacare exchange. Technically, even many of your fellow Coloradoans only have 1 insurance provider on the Obamacare exchange.
@Cali... — Why Trump? It’s easy: considering that ocean water levels have been increasing since 20,000 years and increasing far less since 8,000 years, the climate-change mantra falls more than a little bit short when we consider that plants need a minimum of 150 ppm atmospheric carbon dioxide to survive. Indeed, far from being the enemy of the earth, it was man that gave plants a more secure existence on this planet; since CO2 levels were getting dangerously low until we came around.
Senator Sanders offers “political climate-change” of which we all know we desperately need moving forward—his method, however, to trigger the new politics, is to vilify carbon dioxide which is far less than noble as it turns out. Reducing CO2 now would make the planet less green—not more green!
Is he a better man than President Trump? That’s a silly question, because of course he is, but on this key environmental issue he is every bit as evil—wether he knows it or not!
Our output of pollution, be it social or physical, is a major problem where Senator Sanders is highly qualified! ...but carbon dioxide, since many thousands of years, has never been pollution and never will be pollution. That’s the job of carbon monoxide!
Nominating Sanders will make defeating Trump twice as difficult or worse.
While I also believe that universal healthcare should be a right of all citizens, enthusiasm and hope should not be the sole bedrock on which we select the nominee for the democrat party. It will mean nothing if we do not defeat Trump.
Which brings us to the Electoral College and the hard reality of the math.
It's already a given that most States will lean heavily either Republican or Democrat so it will be the so called "Swing States" that tip the Electoral College one way or another. It doesn't matter how many more votes we pile on in an already heavily leaning democrat leaning State, the Electoral vote count for that State does not magically grow exponentially.
So voters in States such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and others who previously voted for Obama but then voted for Trump in 2016, based on the expectation that Trump would improve the economy, will tip the balance of the Electoral votes in 2020 just as it did in 2016. It's just hard to believe that those particular voters have been waiting for a revolution in government led by a self proclaimed Socialist.
Not saying Mr. Sanders could not win but I believe his nomination places all of our hopes of removing Trump on a wing and a prayer.
4
Just to reiterate many of the commenters here, should we try to be clear about democratic socialism? Isn't that what Medicare and Social Security are?
Did you hear him speak from Texas yesterday? Much of what he said was about inclusivity. If he is the top candidate at the convention, let's support him. He is a uniter, not a divider. There are quite a few states to go...so let's wait. It could very well be Sen. Warren at the top as the states voice their choices. Mr. Bloomberg could choose to put his money toward the best candidate. Let's see.
6
So much fear of a Sanders candidacy. But if Trump is re-elected and pulls a Thelma and Louise and drives the car off of the cliff then it is what was voted for.
5
It's amazing how Bernie haters/fear-mongers (including the arrogant Buttigieg) are issuing warning after warning on nominating Sanders.
First, don't these presidential candidates trust in democracy? How about listening to the voters? Hillary was the moderate candidate "everyone" (the establishment) wanted in 2016. How did she fare?
Second, the main argument is moderate voters won't support Bernie. Yet Sanders' supporters are already being accused of/attacked for/blamed for refusing to support a moderate nominee. So the liberal left is expected to bend to the wishes of the establishment, elite moderate wing, but moderate Dems are not expected (apparently rightfully so) to support a liberal nominee. The kettle is calling the pot black.
Finally, with the media's help, moderate candidates are using Medicare for All as a scare tactic, paired with the cry of "socialism", when it is by far the number one issue after climate change. Why should we be afraid? Every American over 65 has Medicare for All, plus another 2M on social security disability, as well as millions on Medicaid. No cries against this socialism? What's good enough for elderly/most susceptible citizens is not good enough for the rest of us? And the fake fear of losing "choice" of one's doctor, when in fact private insurance limits choice to their networks, while Medicare offers unlimited choice (as long as your doctor accepts Medicare - which will be a given!).
Bernie stands for real, not fake, change.
9
@Winemaker ..."It's amazing how Bernie haters/fear-mongers (including the arrogant Buttigieg) are issuing warning after warning on nominating Sanders.".....We worked very hard in 2018 to flip a traditionally Republican House district. If Sanders heads the ticket I guarantee conservative Republicans will come to the polls in droves and we will lose that House seat. The bottom line is that the only way we can pursue universal healthcare coverage going forward is if the ticket is headed by a moderate, because moderates by definition are closer to both liberals and independents and can draw support from both. The question is, what is wrong with your math? Why don't you listen? So what if you like Bernie? Just because you like Bernie doesn't stop you from thinking. Why are you so determined to run the country off the cliff?
Looks like Sanders will end up with about 40K votes. Hillary won Nevada in 2016 with about 540K. Anyone who thinks Sanders will match that total is delusional.
3
Polling has been fairly indicative of how each of the candidates have done in the first three states. If that holds true, then Klobuchar, Buttigieg, and Steyer are all essentially running vanity campaigns at this point. Bloomberg is dreaming if he thinks that the DNC is going to hand a contested convention to a former Republican and risk Sanders' supporters burning Milwaukee to the ground. All they're doing is taking support away from Biden, who has been the strongest-nationally polling moderate since day one. If they want to beat Bernie, they need to all drop out.
Personally, I can't think of a better way to make sure the establishment GOP turns out for Trump then by running him against their least favorite Democrat in the country. And what people are missing is that Trump isn't just going to go around screaming "socialism!" (although he will do that too). Trump is great at hitting emotions. He's going to tell everyone that Bernie will take their hard-earned money and give it to illegal immigrants, that Bernie will take their healthcare, that Bernie will kill the fracking and coal and insurance industries and put them out of work. He's going to constantly mention the Squad, who conservatives (and many moderates and even some liberals) hate. He's going to recycle the clip of Bernie supporters saying that conservatives belong in gulags. And that, combined with a strong economy and failed impeachment, will seal our fate.
3
@Autumn
One could say this election is between the People and the scaredy cats programmed by the mainstream media otherwise know as Moderates. The People will laugh at whatever Trump says, but the pearl-clutching Moderates are easily led by the nose. This election will show us what we are made of.
3
@Autumn
And when Trump says all of this he will be speaking the truth as this is indeed what Bernie and/or his supporters say and want.
2
@Fourteen14 ... "Moderates are easily led by the nose."...Really? I would have said that people on fringes, both liberals and conservatives, are much more dogmatic in their beliefs. Much less reflective and thoughtful, and very definitely have less ability to unite a divided country.
1
If you call Sanders a socialist then you have to be honest with yourself and call Trump a fascist. 2020 pegs an empathetic socialist versus a narcissist fascist, I am confident that the socialist will win. However, I believe this election pits the baby boomer generation who brought us the Reagan revolution, versus newer under 45 voters who suffers the most because of it.
This is a generational political war between the over 55 old people versus the under 45 who are multicultural, global, educated and the future of this country. Folks don't be afraid of the future because the past belongs to the Reagan revolution of trickle-down economics, corporate give away, where the top 10% owns 85% of the country, the worst income inequity of developed economics, a corrupt political system where those with billions has the keys to our government,and brought us Trump. When the past gives you our current failed plutocracy, it is time to go back to our Jeffersonian democracy.
8
@beachboy ...."If you call Sanders a socialist then you have to be honest with yourself and call Trump a fascist.".....Trump is a fascist; And a clear and present danger to the country. When you have cancer, the first, last, and most important thing is be rid of it. In any other circumstance chemotherapy is not something you would happily chose to do; but if a moderate is chemotherapy that is what you do, and have laser like focus on it until the cancer is removed.
There are two signature issues of the Sanders campaign - Medicare for All and no corporate PAC money - all the hubbub and flustered feathers of the establishment Dems stem from these. Most Americans support both issues along with almost all of Bernie’s positions. Americans are fed up with the cynical corruption of money in both parties. Many voted for Trump thinking he would “drain the swamp” - obviously he hasn’t. Bernie will wipe the floor with Trump at the debates. Americans want a person of integrity not another compromised mealy mouthed insincere politician.
The only argument against Bernie is that he is too adamant and should be nicer.
If the Dems want someone else - have that person embrace Bernie’s platform - if Hillary had done that she would have won in a landslide.
3
The young people of this country know two things. Bernie is their only hope and their last hope. Minorities and Moderates are coming to the same conclusion. If the DNC robs them of their candidate the way that the DNC did in 2016 and in Iowa, the DNC has to know that they will never ever see those voters again. Since those voters are the future, the DNC will wither as all the old white men die off. Well they should if they can't do it right.
3
@Ken Sayers ....Then you had better kiss the country off because the only way you can beat Trump and and get enough down ballot wins to forward the Sanders' agenda is if a moderate is at the head of the ticket.
@Saints Fan, AT 77, I DON'T THINK SO :D :D :D
BUT, I would rather live with mine, rather than yours.
I love Biden, Kamala, Warren, and Booker and listened wholeheartedly to Bennett, Yang, Buttigieg and even Williamson. I would vote for Bernie in a heartbeat if that is what it comes to. I think the Democratic leadership respects his tenure, his heart, gusto, intelligence and earnest will to do good. He hath no alternative agenda in my book. It is all good, Democrats! Let's make sure we bring out the people to vote!!!
2
@Steve from NY who doesn’t like ex-hippies and does not seem to understand much of what is out there.
First, there is nothing wrong with being an ex-hippie. They refused to serve in idiotic wars, remember?
Second, Bernie explained how he would pay for healthcare for all. Even in 2016. Gerald Friedman, economics professor at U Mass Amherst (Harvard PhD) wrote a white paper which I am sure you may find and read.
Third, it is not trivial to explain the healthcare plan without people understanding the concept of expected cost (and of course expected benefit). Probabilistic concepts are hard for people to use in decision making. The reason is our terrible education system that only favors the one percenters in terms of teaching them how to think.
PS. three comments I sent over 20 hours ago got printed just now. Let’s see if this will have better luck.
3
Bernie Sanders is not the Democratic equivalent of Donald Trump and the press should stop portraying him as such. Donald Trump is fundamentally a dishonest person. He made his way onto the scene by lying about Barack Obama's birth certificate, and since taking office, has made more than 16,000 false statements (based on the Washington Post analysis) Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, is fundamentally honest and earned his votes on the merit of his ideas. With Trump, each day it's a new lie to keep his base from wandering away. Trump is a hollow man with a hollow philosophy.
4
A critical question is: Why does NYT and the rest of main stream media (including Fox) avoid the issues?
Just who's ahead, who's favored, just football sports writing, who scored a point in a debate.
Issues please? E.g., it seems so obvious how Sanders and Warren would pay for health care (from the $3.6 T/year we now spend.)
Guess it doesn't matter to you if people are dying from lack of health care. No more important than who won last years super bowl.
Just who urban black, suburban white women, etc etc etc favor for the moment, who cares.
2
hmm, you didn't even mention Warren. why?
1
It’s still a democracy last I checked. Get over your irrational, neurotic fear.
If the majority vote for a government dedicated to social democracy, then this columnist and this demographic needs to deal with it—not blame it on the fact that it’s the result of the moderate vote being divied up!
Constituents like myself have been waiting 40 years for this moment—ever since Reagan’s ascendency and the birth of this unjust corportocracy.
By the way, that’s how long Sanders has been promoting his principals.
If he was not legitimate, his ideas would not resonating with so many voters today.
5
A question to all the readers declaring emphatically that "Sanders can't win": Is your crystal ball the same one that assured you in 2016 that Trump couldn't win?
3
I really shouldn’t have bothered reading beyond the reference to the “Vermont socialist” (one wonders which failing is more significant to cosmopolitan Ross?!). It is forgivable that so many of the great unwashed out here are unaware of the long and deep penetration of socialist-seeming policy and programs in America, but for a NY Times columnist to fall back on such simple-minded epithets is dismaying! However I did read through to the end and hope that the majority of Democratic supporters who read this will see it for what it is: a diatribe from a staunch true believer in the status quo and, by implication, all the inequities that go with it.
1
“Something is happening here, but you don’t know what it is, do you, Mr Jones?”
—Bob Dylan, Ballad of a Thin Man.
3
Good one.
Did you know that Thin Man was most likely some pesky Music Journalist Dylan didn’t like btw?
1
I despise Trump and his brainwashed enablers as much as anyone. The excitement for Sanders's message among his followers is understandable - a tectonic shift away from the harshness of this country's institutions.
But I cannot help remembering 1972. The nation was sick of nearly 10 years of war. Youths were being killed overseas. During the same 10-year period, angry whites clung mightlly to racist culture and institutions in both the South and North. Civil rights and anti-war demonstrations exemplified the times.
Although then, it seemed to me, these actions were breathing fresh air into what was a moribund nation in the thrall of out-of-touch old guys. Along came McGovern. He was going to end the war! He cared about the working class.
In the little Northern California burg where I then lived, I did not know anyone who didn't support McGovern. And I gleaned from newspapers and TV that my youthful peers across the nation did too. And McGovern was for working people; Nixon supported and was supported by the 'pig capitalists.'
We all know what happened. It is hard now to ignore the similarities of the situation.
2
“Romps”?
There was no need to read the article after that.
A good, even-handed synopsis. Mr. Douthat.
To borrow a phrase, "The times they are a-changin'".
To what is still to be determined...
Mr. Douthat sounds similar to Tucker Carlson tonight - and both are seconding Bernie's analysis:
"Russia isn’t attacking our democratic system – our own ruling class is."
Well, right on!
The NYT needs to get it in gear, or FOX! will steal a march on them again. Do they want to be on the wrong side of history again?
Tonight is the start of the People awaking from their second-class status and taking their country back from the status quo. We zombies are waking up.
As Bernie gets traction he also makes Trump look a little better, like Trump's been on to something bigger than himself. Now that's a wild thought.
Even Sarah Palin's "lame-stream media" is lookin' perspicacious. Could Trumpsters be idiot savants?
Maybe the Moderate so-called adults have been wrong all along. Maybe time's up for their comfy status quo choke hold on power. Heck, maybe Putin isn't as bad as the mainstream media always says.
There's a lot of rethinkin' going on tonight. Is this a tipping point?
Seems like something changed and the People started thinking different with an entirely new set of possibilities; a ray of hope in the Trumpian storm.
Like Sydney Ember wrote: "Many people are probably hearing this Sanders stump speech for the first time. It feels so much different now, even though it’s what he always says."
That's right. Time for the NYT columnists to rise up against their status quo masters.
My gosh, Bernie could be the Second Coming! And if so, what was Trump?
1
Just what we Democrats need. Advice from that rare species, Republicanus Nontrumpusaurus. Of course you'd like Klobuchar and Biden and Buttigieg to drop out to improve the odds of Republicanus Pseudodemocratus (well-known by the common name "Mayor Mike").
4
If Bernie Gets In
Pack up your troubles, your valuables too -
If Bernie get in, your wealth won't accrue,
No help for stakeholders, savings Kaput,
Strip your belongings from head to your foot,
Cash-money, yum-yum, for socialist glory
Cast out, evicted, sans inventory.
Remember when the dems had Kerry Edwards as a ticket?
Remember when we learned Edwards was a vile creep with a $400 haircut?
He was a fraud.
Sanders is authentic. That's why people like him.
5
I agree with Krugman: "Bernie isn't the left's Trump."
1
Is there an editor at the NYT who can teach columnists the difference between “Socialist” and “Social Democrat”?
If you don’t get this right you are stooping to name calling. My favorite paper, please be better than Fox News!
Once we have established that Bernie Sanders is not trying to change our economic system then maybe it is a good idea to discuss issues.
I have a suspicion that many people who find the core messages of the Sanders campaign extreme are so well off that they don’t relate to issues like providing health care, income inequality, money in politics, subsidized education.....
4
Happy to see some of the popular pundit commentators that trashed Sanders during the HRC campaign are absent or buried. Guess they need time to think about how to again alter their narrative so that they have a voice on the NYT.
What is this constant stream of criticism for Sanders from every NYT columnist? Throwing doubt, shade and uncertainty upon the leading Democratic candidate. It is unconscionable.
2
Huff and puff all you want but nobody outside the ruling class believes or cares what you say anymore.
2
Psst...Ross...psst!
Stop giving good advice. I know it's what you do. I know you do it out of a sense of duty to the truth, but can you please zip it, at least until it's too late?
1
Trump: corrupt oligarch and fake populist
Bernie: authentic, real populist
Not rocket science, Ross.
2
Always Trumpers Douhat, Brooks, and Stephens are feeling the bern. How many times are these proto fascists who brought you all things Trump and the Russian Republican Party going to be allowed to recycle this same lament? Yawn. Boys, just vote for your boy trump again.
Bernie 2020
I know the editors like to stay on task, but your opinions page and news page are overlooking that If Michelle Obama steps into the race as candidate for VP or president, it is over.
Trump would be over
1
@John Tollefson, seriously? Totally just a popularity contest? I feel like I’ll be asked then to vote for prom king and queen all over again.
Who does not want Sanders or Warren as our DEM nominee? People who fear that the corporateers will not have the ear of the President. Warren and Sanders are the two candidates who look like saviors to the poor and struggling middle classes, bent over the barrel of corporate greed, lo these many years since Reagan. Bernie? Bring it! Warren? Bring it? Better yet, bring both as P and VP!
2
Equating Bernie with Trump disgusts me. You are comparing a minority (Jewish) man with a proven plan (viz.Denmark, Canada, Germany et al.) with a sycophant of Putin and Erdogan.
Looking at our country globally, Bernie represents the international norm. Trump is the Berlusconi who dances with naked teenage girls and dictates mores. He represents the white male my-way-or-the-highway post-Reagan crowd.
Please travel some. please use worldpress’s global news site from time to time. Join the world! We US burgers are just a bit under 5% of humans on our little planet.
3
I am beginning to think it really doesn't matter anymore whom we nominate. I am not certain anyone can save our Republic. The unholy trio of Trump, McConnell, and Barr have all but destroyed our democracy, which is hanging by a fraying thread. How will we even be able to trust election results when McConnell will not protect our elections, and we know the Russians are interfering with them, and intelligence agencies are being derided by Trump for daring to share such intelligence information with appropriate members of Congress? I am beginning to realize that this must be how it felt to be in Germany when Hitler came to power.
It is beginning to look as though 2016 spelled the twilight of our Republic. We have no power, save what little we have in the House of Representatives. McConnell has the Senate locked up, and has stuffed the courts with conservative judges. Even if a Democrat were to become President, exactly how would that person be able to get anything accomplished without the Senate? How would a SCOTUS vacancy be filled? How would any proposals that person as President made get pushed through Congress? These are all rhetorical questions.
So let Sanders prevail. Maybe, like Trump, he will win despite all the odds against him, and the deck certainly being stacked against him by Trump, McConnell, Barr, and all the Trump toadies. Lest we forget, however, the joker in the deck is Putin.
I want to believe we can rid the country of Trump, but hope is fading...
2
WIth Sanders romping in Nevada, and a huge movement behind him, perhaps it's time for the NYT to consider hiring some progressivzes on it op-ed staff. I think there were four frontp age articles today about Sanders and they were all by pearl-clutching centrists or rightwing scolds.
Come on now NYT, you'rr not the GOPs media outlet -- that's FOX. You not the Wall Street rag -- that WSJ. Get with it. Something's happening here. Obviously you don't know what it is, but you could at least make an effort.
4
Vote blue no matter who, and get to know how government really works. Even if Sanders is the nominee and wins, he won’t be able to do anything radical without congress, and even if both chambers were in the hands of democrats, the chances of a wholesale change in any policy area are slim. My state is firmly in the hands of democrats, and they haven’t been able to achieve a radical change. There are many tactics the minority party can employ to stop change, just ask Mitch McConnell during Obama’s first term. So the question is: would you rather have a nominal head of state who declares new-Nazis are fine people, or a guy who at least would declare Nazis despicable?
Why hasn't the New York Times and other media investigated Bernie Sanders' achievements as a legislator since he was elected to Congress in 1991? Trust me, if you don't know you will be gaulled by its insignificance. See https://www.congress.gov/member/bernard-sanders/S000033?s=6&r=1&q={%22search%22:[%22bernie+sanders%22],%22type%22:%22resolutions%22,%22sponsorship%22:%22sponsored%22}&searchResultViewType=expanded&KWICView=false&fbclid=IwAR15CwXoJPv4vPsECR4Z7bTsre8HFGUU13yUf40vEiVSib1aU7YcpwlAP8o
Sanders has passed legislation to rename two post office buildings in Vermont for people deserving recognition. He sponsored the Veterans Cost of Living Adjustment Act of 2013. I'm not being trite, I am being factual.
So you Sanders people like your boy? He is almost eighty.
1
Does the NYTimes not have a single op-ed contributor who can give some actual context to this win instead of doing this weird pearl-clutching? Ya'll are missing the story of what's going on with electoral politics in this country again, in a big way. Clearly you don't understand why Bernie has such mass appeal because everyone at your publication is stuck in an upper-middle-class NYC bubble. How could you not have a single writer that can actually speak to Bernie's appeal? There's a huge movement happening in this country and the NYTimes is going to spend its energy publishing anti-Sanders strategy pieces like this and "news" articles questioning how anyone could ever support someone who once supported the Sandinistas. Get your act together, or miss the boat.
4
@Easton
"...speak to Bernie's appeal..."
even Trump wants him.
1
Because something is happening here but you don't know what it is Do you, Mr. Douthat?
1
The NYT is so predictable! Bernie wins a primary, and the headlines are about his opponents or his corporate critics. Hardly a word about the popular enthusiasm for his programs.
NYT did the same thing repeatedly in 2015/6. "Is Hillary Clinton Really in Danger of Losing the Primary?" If you can't do better than this, you are no more a new organization than Fox News is!
1
"Those who cast the votes decide nothing.
Those who count the votes decide everything." Uncle Joe Stalin
Trump is the worst president ever, and we can only hope he will be the worst president this country will ever see. Nonetheless, he is going to beat the tar out of Bernie. It's going to be a ridiculous landslide which Trump will win. No one but the Bernie Bros will turn out for Bernie. Trump will win by at least 5 percentage points.
Bernie or Donald, Vladimir wins!
2
I am all in on David Brooks piece this week on the power of the myth to drive this election cycle---the swamp myth vs. the capitalists myth. Trump on a daily basis is hammering cracks into his swamp myth---actually blowing big holes in the myth. Bernie on the other hand is a straight shooter----although I doubt he would be able to get much "socialists" legislation passed, there is no doubt in anyone's minds---even Trump's base--- that he would pardon any person associated with wall street double dealing. In fact, I predict, if Bernie goes all the way, each campaign stop will feature multiple pictures of wall street criminals walking free in the back of his lectern...I can't wait.
It is the people like the writer of this column who will be handing the victory to Donald Trump. It is precisely this sort of pandering to the elite that caused Clinton's defeat. Sanders is popular - popularity is at the center of true democracy, the kind of democracy that the current US democratic-in-name-only-system has very little. But then, it is the people like the writer of this column, entitled white men, who will thrive under Trump as well - so, the question to be asked here is: what's the real motive for writing a column like this? Is he in fact for Trump?
4
I have a question for those supporting Bernie because he says he will get Medicare For All done:
How will he actually do this? I don’t mean his four-year rollout plan; I mean actually getting it passed.
Do you believe if he is nominated he will then flip the down ballot elections blue? Because he has to have the votes in the House and Senate to get his plan enacted.
There are no indications that this will happen. So I sincerely want to know:
How do you think Bernie will achieve what he has promised?
4
Bernie has been "speaking the truth" in exactly the same way, for 40 years, and where has it gotten him or us? He's a broken record with very little demonstrated ability to compromise or to enlist the cooperation of smart, capable colleagues.
4
Bernie is like Trump in that he is promising a 'revolution' that he almost surely can't carry out, much like Trump's empty promises to drain the swamp, to get Mexico to pay for a wall, to spend generously on infrastructure etc. To my mind, the best ticket would be Buttigieg and Stacy Abrams. I deeply fear that Bernie will be a sitting duck for the Republicans, what with his support for the Sandinistas and his honeymoon in the Soviet Union, and the Democrats will end up not only losing the presidency but also losing the House. And Bernie may make our country more, not less divided.
3
The funny thing about conspiracy theories is that people seem to love them...until they are proven to be true. Then, for some reason, people lose interest (cue: Ukraine conspiracy). In 2016 those of us who supported Sanders knew there was something wonky going on. Then it was proven due, in part, to Wikileaks where we could all see for ourselves that our suspicions had been correct. The ugly result? We all got stuck with a President Trump as HRC was just slightly more unlikable than Trump was/is. Lest we learn no actual lesson and do this again (cue: Biden) we are going to be stuck again with a President Trump, which no one can stomach.
You mean the Wikileaks that deliberately conspired with Russia to damage Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016? That Wikileaks?
1
Sanders isn't my first choice, but if he gets the nomination, it's time for the DNC to fall in line and start educating people about what "democratic socialism" actually means. When the party of Trump smears it, the DNC should embrace it and say "why" it's an approach to government that will actually improve the lives of most of our population.
Let us not forget that the party of Trump embraces it's own form of socialism and it's called "corporate socialism."
4
@Aluetian That's the least of it...hard to believe but Sanders has barely been vetted at a national level of awareness and competition yet. He has even more skeletons in his closet than Bloomberg or Hunter Biden.
@Cowboy Marine
Please... stop pretending that skeletons actually matter unless you are actually going to include Trump in that list.
While any one is better than Trump, Bernie will not win the general election and we will have four more years of Trump. Is he doing better because the Russians are rigging the results for Democrats. It is a sad day for the country if Bernie is the chosen one - Trump will beat him - what do voters who support him have in common with Trump supporters - may be a similar idea in voting - not policy but personal choices which may be irrational
4
Bernie scares me because I don't think he can win in red states. The end result being a Trump re-election.
4
Don’t worry. Our people are not that idiotic. Bernie is a people’s choice. Without any support from bots and one percent stooges called Times pundits.
Go and vote. Bernie is a mensch. Only good comes out of people like him. I am a wealthy and highly educated ex-banker. Me and my whole family love him and pray that he stays healthy and blesses us as our President starting in November.
1
Nevada is a caucus state. Only about 15% of registered Democrats participated in the process. While it is an important symbolic win, Sanders caucus supporters represents less than 4% of all Nevada registered voters. It is not necessarily a harbinger of things to come.
4
And it's most certainly not a harbinger of house the electoral college members in the swing states are going to vote. When it comes to them voting for Sanders, it seems most unlikely.
I suspect that the advice offered by Douthat is not because of the fear that Sander's can't beat Trump, but because of the fear that he can. Please write columns addressed to Republicans instructing them how to fix their own party.
3
I'm a reasonably intelligent woman who is semi retired, with time to deconstruct my medical bills. I'm also married to a doctor. Even with his assistance (he understands insurance coding), I find the whole system a baffling nightmare. As I catch errors and track down dubious charges, I wonder about those working two and three jobs who may not have the time to question their bills. Let alone pay for them.
I recently got hit with a $600 bill for going 'out of network' for a mammogram. I went to the facility which my nurse directed me to, and neither her office, nor the imaging facility, bothered to tell me I wouldn't be covered. Having been with an HMO for years, I didn't think to ask. Explanatory letters to my insurance company, the imaging company, the nurse practitioner all went ignored. So I refused to pay! Then came collection letters. I've never, in my life, ignored a bill. But I wrote to the collection agency and said 'I'm 62, and I'm never going to buy another house, I pay cash for my cars, which last about twenty years. So I couldn't care less about my FICO score, and I'm not paying, until somebody cares to discuss the matter with me.' I never heard from them again.
What a racket. And why Bernie has my vote.
8
@Saints Fan My husband prefers Klobuchar but will vote for Bernie, as needed. Like many and likely most physicians, he cares more about his patients' welfare than his private offshore accounts. We are the richest nation in the world, with a higher incidence of infant mortality and a lower life expectancy compared with most OECD countries. Something is not working. Further, doctors in socialized medicine France, e.g., report a much higher happiness index than U.S. docs. And what price happiness?
2
Bernie may be unstoppable as the Democratic nominee, but, if that happens, I believe Trump will stop him from winning the presidency. Too many people vehemently oppose Bernie's socialist leanings (add up the moderate votes to see) and the electorate map isn't in his favor. Just because Trump defied the odds to the bitter end, doesn't mean Bernie will.
5
Ross,
People have voted in three contests so far, and have chosen Bernie in each one. Bernie isn't "armored against normal political forces" - his movement is driven by such normal forces - people voting in their collective interest. This is considered an "insurgency" only because there is an entrenched establishment that has had its way for decades. But in an actual democracy, people get to throw out political establishments when they cease to function for the common good. In a healthy democracy, this is the most important function of elections.
2
From organization to decency to connection to reality the Democratic Party is nothing like the Republican Party. That said, it would be helpful if the real leaders of the Democratic Party, Pelosi, Obama and the Clintons encourage candidates going nowhere get out.
Bernie shines in a caucus setting.....He did in 2016 too. Private voting primaries are quite a different story. He won in New Hampshire but by a razor thin margin......
So, let's not crown him until after Super Tuesday. A caucus is great for younger voters to shine, but also bully, as did happen in Nevada in 2016. I am glad this one was handled better and will accept his win.
However, I find the inflammatory language of some of his own paid staff downright nasty, unprofessional and dangerous. That Russia's fault too?
This voter wants to see professionalism from any candidate who wants to lead our nation. Rallies may impress some voters, but serious issues require thoughtful and careful study in both word and deed. And both our friends and enemies pay attention to the language used by him and his people. As a voter, I know I pay attention to demeanor and behavior.......
Consider that a hint from a voter.
5
M4A is magical thinking. We may longingly look to nations with national healthcare, but not realistically understanding how stacked the deck is orchestrating such a strategy on our shores. I agree M4A makes the most sense but also understand that is has 0 chance of happening.
As another NYT article points out today, by 2029 47% of Medicare enrollees will be in insurance run Medicare programs, i.e., Medicare Advantage plans.
Further, and most importantly, if dems don't win the senate, very little to no change will be possible. That's why I think we need the democratic candidate who brings super power to state senate races. I don't think that's Bernie.
1
The difference between Sanders and Trump is that one has integrity and ethics while the other does not.
This is a distinction that some never-Trump Republicans know. But they couldn’t find a Republican candidate with that integrity, and in the aftermath all Republicans in Washington except for Romney have abandoned any sense of morals or propriety.
Maybe Sanders being a basically decent human being, however shouty, is a distinction with a difference.
3
@Edward Brennan
Their are many differences. One big one is that Bernie truly cares about the People, Trump does not.
Another is that Bernie tells the truth, Trump does not.
1
I'm 63 and pretty much a lifelong Democrat. Over my lifetime the Democratic Party has moved farther and farther to the right, becoming "Republican Lite" IMO; I stay registered only to work for candidates at the local level, where somehow my values are still represented.
This election isn't solely about getting Trump out of office with "Any Blue" candidate. It's equally a referendum on whether or not the Democratic Party is willing to represent the interests of working people in this country by letting voters actually choose the nominee in an honest and democratic primary process, or whether our leadership is as self-serving as many of us believe them to be and will stack the deck against progressives and make that decision themselves at the convention. The way the rules have been bent to allow Bloomberg to cut in line suggests that the latter may be the case. But the DNC will lose either way, they just need to choose which way it will be: ether ride a massive turnout (of millennials and Independents who can defeat Trump) and regain the White House but potentially require the yielding of power to more Progressive leadership in the party, or preserve their status quo and watch the party die, because that's already happening, take your pick.
8
I'm preparing to vote in the California primary and still have no idea which candidate will get my vote (except not Saunders). My priority is to beat Trump and I believe that commonly-held message to the Democratic party is falling on deaf ears.
Give me the one leading moderate to counter Saunders and I will vote for that person in the primary.
I don't have anything against Saunders but for 2020 we need a person to re-establish the rule of law, adherence to the Constitution, and heal this country. Someone to get the ship righted. Then in four years roll out sensible progressive programs.
6
@Linda W it’s Sanders, Linda. Sanders.
I hope you’re going to vote blue no matter who just as I will. I’ve held my nose and voted for every centrist third way DLC Democrat that’s been nominated for president (Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Clinton) and every national down ballet candidate. Time for the centrists to deal with it and vote for not their first choice.
Bernie Sanders is a good man who genuinely cares about other people. In this election that should be enough.
3
As much as I hate to say it, I think this is largely an irrelevant question. There are enough people who, though unhappy with Trump's behavior, are personally profiting in today's economy. That, coupled with the far-right base, should be enough to carry the day for the president. If the inevitable economic catastrophe brewing with this monstrous deficit can be postponed until after the election, then there is no way that Trump will lose. If, however, the economy takes a big downturn before the election then the president will be a gone. Unfortunately, in either case, the Republic in for an historically painful period
3
Sanders isn't much of a socialist. He just proposes what most people want: a sensible and fair use of the nation's wealth, instead of allowing it to be hijacked by oligarchs. In other words, he proposes that America become a 21st century country.
12
That was an interesting academic exercise. Now try writing a piece on how to help Bernie defeat Trump. That would be a more helpful contribution to our country. Another four years of Trump will destroy us.
17
@Daniel Oliver
The status quo Democrats are Republicans. They only care about stopping Bernie, not helping him beat Trump - because they are Republicans.
1
Bernie has the charisma and mental capacity to head a movement. That is what counts. He can mobilize tens of millions of new voters. Bernie can lead a Progressive movement to revitalize the United States. Bernie can lead a wave election to take the House and the Senate. The old democratic party hacks have been captured by Wall Street. They are done. They are a derelict party that needs to be taken over and remade.
10
@Federalist "Bernie has the charisma and mental capacity to head a movement." Great credentials for a religious leader, maybe, not for the chief administrator of a large, diverse, and complex country.
As for the charisma of a loud, aggressive, self-righteous old guy, I can only say, chacun à son gout.
Bernie represents hope.
Go Sanders.
10
Bernie is an old hippie who can't even explain how is Medicare for all will be paid for. All Bernie does is whine and antagonize. He never explains how he is going to pay for all the give-ways. Bloomberg is a way better choice because he has the experience and is logical. Has Bernie ever had a job other than career politician?
12
@Steve
Actually, you might want to take a look at the quite detailed explanation of how Senator Sanders proposes to fund Medicare for All on his Senate website, at: https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/medicare-for-all-2019-financing?id=860FD1B9-3E8A-4ADD-8C1F-0DEDC8D45BC1&download=1&inline=file
3
@ Sandy
Your are overestimating Steve. He does not really read.
3
First, there is nothing wrong with being an ex-hippie. They refused to serve in idiotic wars, remember?
Second, Bernie explained how he would pay for healthcare for all. Even in 2016. Gerald Friedman, economics professor at U Mass Amherst (Harvard PhD) wrote a white paper which I am sure you may find and read.
Third, it is not trivial to explain the healthcare plan without people understanding the concept of expected cost (and of course expected benefit). Probabilistic concepts are hard for people to use in decision making. The reason is our terrible education system that only favors the one percenters in terms of teaching them how to think.
1
If I were Governor, Tony Evers, I would be calling up the National Guard and preparing for absolute mayhem at the Democratic Convention in Milwaukee in July. It has the potential of making Chicago 1968 look like a garden party in comparison. Good luck comrades!
You made the bed now sleep in it.
2
@P&L You may be right, but even Milwaukee and Chicago '68 will seem like picnics compared to the protests/riots that will occur across the country if Trump wins and continues his attempts to turn the U.S. into a right-wing dictatorship. Not to mention the riots and mayhem that will happen when Putin sees he has a free hand to march into and take over a few of the former USSR Republics like Ukraine, Georgia and the Baltics.
Now, does this mean the NYT will support Trump in the general election over Sanders or will they not support anyone for President this year?
6
@P&L Do you understand the math of the electoral college? Do you understand that many independents and moderate Dems and moderate Republicans living in crucial battleground states are not going to vote for Sanders in a general election, or simply stay home, thus guaranteeing Trump's reelection?
It is completely consistent to support Sanders if he is the Democrat Party candidate as the superior alternative to Trump, while also believing that he will be slaughtered in the Electoral College/general election in November.
3
@Dan88
I get it, Trump is good for the NYT.
Sanders is good for Trump.
All is well.
Many thanks, for your clear thinking.
@Dan88
You don't seem to realize that Bernie right now, today, beats Trump nationally and in the six states. And that's without a VP pick or with the votes of the Moderates.
Bernie easily beats Trump - no one else does. And Bernie's voters actually will get out and vote, unlike the others.
Don't buy the status quo programing you find in the lame-stream media. Trump is their guy - he's been a gold mine for them!
1
So which for you, R. Douthat, the never-previoulsy-elected-even-to-dogcatcher DJT or Bernie Sanders Nov 2020?
And Why?
4
>
The GOP will never allow Bernie in the WH, full stop. So there are two very probable ways Bernie doesn't become POTUS.
Two good things shall happen with the coming catastrophe:
1] We'll not have to put up with the Bernie's one-note nonsense again, at least in my lifetime, once DJT wipes the floor with him in the general election.
2] For their stupidity and doctrinaire ways, Bernie's people will suffer more than most in the coming years.
Stupidity is like overeating, they both come with their own punishment.
"Experience is a good school, but the fees are high."
Heinrich Heine
4
@Prometheus
Never listen to anyone who states "full stop."
Is Vegas taking odds yet on who will die of a heart attack or stroke or get Alzheimer's first...Sanders or Trump? Actually, too late for Trump re dementia.
1
The very idea that you equate Sanders with Trump is absurd. Sanders actually supports the policies he advocates. Trump says (and said in 2016) anything that enters his head. Not only does he not support the policies he advocates, he does not understand them. Sanders’ support for universal health care, for example, is well understood by Sanders and supported by a majority of Americans. It is not a radical position to understand that a profit based health care system has never, and will never, provide care for everyone. Universal health care is real “national defense” In contrast, Trump is ignorant of just about everything and he is a confessed sexual predator, a swindler, a liar, and a bigot. There is no similarity.
4
The democrats messed up when preventing candidates from pledging their delegates prior to the convention. This means that they can’t generate coalitions and momentum to counter someone like Bernie. Was this done with intent? Or with typical Democratic stupidity where they can’t help but shoot themselves in the foot.
2
Bernie won big with Latino voters who are the “sleeping giant” of the Democrat electorate. Hopefully more and more will come out to vote if he makes it to November. Please keep remembering what he said about Mexicans coming down that elevator and register and vote.
2
Oh, the humanity! We are doomed to a future that looks like those socialist nightmares in Canada and Denmark, with their starving citizens in constant fear of the secret police shipping them off to gulags.
3
@crankyoldman
Not with the immigration proposals of the Dems, we dont.
Trump and Sanders
are as similar as.....
Putin and Gandhi.
5
"So my bet is that history will repeat itself: A world where Sanders is on track to get a clear delegate plurality in late March is probably a world where he gets a majority by May."
=======
Which means that you naysayers should give up your fear and loathing of Bernie Sanders, stop working against him with your writings and get on board the train.
Dem voters need to coalesce around whatever candidate the people choose, the proverbial potted plant if you will, in order to unseat Trump before he actually does declare himself King of the United States!
6
What is it about economic justice, Mr. Douthat, that sounds so terrible to you?
2
I’m having trouble getting the image of Sanders “romping” out if my head...
Ross never met a decent politician he liked.
2
Two Putin handpicked candidates are heading for American fall classic.
3
Politicians, from wannabe POTUS to wannabe PTA presidents, cling to impossible-to-win races for one reason: MONEY. They get to put their campaigns on "Ghost Mode" and use whatever cash they can horde into their accounts for "campaign business": like private jet rides, luxury vacations, paying their mistresses for secretarial "work" - official stuff like that.
You omit the key adjective “Democratic” when you describe Sanders as a socialist. This is as misleading as omitting “born again” , when describing someone as a Christian.
5
Bernie now. Bernie forever.
1
May the Lord Grant him a happy and long life. We love him like a brother. We will love him as our President.
2
Donald Trump said the best is yet to come. Many Americans believed him; religious and other.
For most Americans it has not come
Only with Bernie Sanders and his form of Scandinavian Social Democracy (not Marxism) will enable it come.
I am a second generation Swede with many years of travels to the Scandinavian countries:
My message to all Americans is this:
The Scandinavian/Canadian/French/German form of Social Democracy is the new world reality.
Kid’s Education. Medical Care. Opportunity. Retirement.
Wake up America!
Vote for Bernie Sanders.
www.InquiryAbraham.com.
4
Ross - I’m sure you won’t be surprised if actual Democrats don’t see a reason to listen to you.
5
He will never beat Trump
6
@John Wilson Really!
1
Lol. Single mom here. I offer to buy every billionaire in this country a diaper to wear for the night when Bernie gets elected president. Every dog has his day, and it’s about to be the working man’s guy who wins. About time. About time. Let’s hope Bernie locks up the billionaire leeches and taxes them full throttle.
5
@Temp attorney sounds like "Lock her up! (because I made bad life choices and now I am mad and resentful)," which is why Bernie supporters are often confused with trump supporters.
1
I grow more and more amazes by the press, and have, less and less respect for their intelligence. this is the third contest, Mayor, Pete got more delegates in the first, he was ).7% behind Bernie, in the second, and her one this, there are 50 odd more contests. this "conclusion" is just like saying after 3 games in the baseball season where a team bearly loses the first, wind the second by a run and then wins one game, projecting that team win the World Serice, Stupidity!
1
You are about to be deluged with the old cannard "Socialism vs. Capitalism" Sanders' smear. The correct contrast is "Socialism vs. Fascism." As long as we all get that part right we'll be just fine. With the rise of the American Financial Oligarchs we can all see which road we are now on. The courts and Senate are packed with the extreme right wing and the Koch brothers plan to re write the Constitution is on track. Without saying so out loud, everyone knows Fascism is on the rise with a capital "F." So be clear when you discuss this campaign. A centrist will allow the right to consolidate their recent power grabs. If we end up with a Warren/Sanders ticket, that may be unbeatable. Every time you hear the word "communist" balance it with the word "fascist." Our goal as citizens is to bring our governance back to the center. A swing to the left is warranted, and REQUIRED, unless you want the far right to rewrite the Constitution. Complacency won't cut it, and neither will accepting the status quo. If you know that Trump would never agree to debate Warren,and why, you know how to vote. Vote for transparency, accountability and restoring the checks and balances of our co equal branches of government. This might be the last chance to send that message. There are NOT two Americas there is one, and we believe in the common purpose. That isn't socialism, it is America. Borrowing money from the next three generations to claim prosperity for Wall Street isn't capitalism, by the way.
3
The main question Democrats should ask themselves - can Bernie a Sanders win the upcoming election? Relatively few Democrats actually vote in primaries. Is Bernie Sanders electable? Probably not.
3
@Maureen
Independents - who don't like either party enough to register with them - now comprise 43% of the electorate and THEY are the group that decides our national elections now. Many of them registered as D's last year to be able to work for Senator Sanders in the primaries, and a Reuters/IPSOS poll last week showed that 46% of Independents also support him.
With Trump’s continued popularity with his base, we Democrats should instead ask ourselves which candidate can deliver the strongest turnout? because the entire outcome of this election rides on that. With the huge numbers of highly energized young voters and Independents who support him, Senator Sanders would seem to be that candidate.
3
@Maureen
Foolish to think you can discern electability. Was Trump or Obama electable? Was Hillary a shoe-in?
Academics, pundits, pollsters, and experts always get it wrong. Better to just vote for your best person and leave it at that. Then you can't lose even if your candidate loses, because you played it straight.
1
Serious question: in a Bernie world, who or what authority decides how much a person can make or charge for a product or service? Would there be a Congressional Committee to handle such issues or what it be at the Cabinet level? In other words, how is the income disparity actually addressed?
Please forgive a little skepticism from this old man in the electability of Mr. Sanders. As a Democrat, I would love to believe that what Bernie is trying to sell is feasible. But almost eighty years of living tell me otherwise.
He won’t be able to tax the1% to do all the things he wants to do. He may be able to mandate it by law, but practically they will not pay those taxes. They have too many lawyers and accountants to ensure that they won’t. He won’t tax the poor because they have nothing to give. So he’ll do what every president since the dawn of this republic have done: he will tax the middle tax, and particularly the upper middle class. Why? Because it’s the only group that he can tax. Making 75 to 100 thousand dollars a year will be again the definition of being rich. Having your home paid off, and a few stocks because one is unable to make a living otherwise with interest on 10 year treasuries at 1% will be called being rich. Being on Medicare will mean having money to spare to pay additional taxes so that everyone can be on Medicare, regardless of the fact they have not paid for it, as I have over fifty years.
Sorry. Unless I can be assured that those that must be taxed are taxed and will pay their fair share, namely the one percent, count me out of the Bernie revolution. I am also sick and tired, but sick and tired of paying for everyone.
5
Is there a Sanders supporter out there who can describe how they see a way forward on Sanders' candidacy preserving out majority in the House, gaining seats in the Senate and them moving legislation?
Anyone?
7
@Mary Elizabeth Lease The Democratic Party risks losing the House with a Sanders candidacy and a couple of Senate seats as well. Down ballot candidates in swing states are already distancing themselves from Sanders. Count on that trend to get stronger as Sanders picks up delegates. Take a hard look at how Trump is behaving post-impeachment, and imagine him in a second term if he has the House and the Senate. That's my worst nightmare, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that this could be where we are headed.
3
@Mary Elizabeth Lease
Well, Bernie beats Trump right now in the six states and also nationally.
And that's not counting the Democrat Moderates who will vote for him in the national election. They won't vote for Trump who is no Moderate.
Nor does it count the 12% of Bernie supporters who voted Trump in 2016 - that's about 7.000.000 votes but it's really 15,000,000 since they are doubled because they get subtracted from Trump. They are all in the bag.
Then there are the 110,000,000 potential votes from the 47% of those eligible to vote but do not because the Moderates have made them apathetic. The see no difference between a moderate Democrat and a Republican, because there is no difference. You see that now with all the Democrats frantically asking how to "stop" Bernie rather than helping him beat Trump.
Plus all those voters who are energized as we saw in Nevada.
There will be many more onboard after he chooses a running mate. Imagine Stacy Adams, for example. Heck if he choose Tulsi, she'd bring 1,500,000 Trumpster votes she already has and would subtract more from Trump, so double that number.
All that adds up to a landslide. Trump does not have a chance.
A Moderate would not get any of these millions of votes, instead many of us would vote for Trump as he is anti-status quo. No one wants to vote for a status quo candidate except the status quo.
This is an election just like in 2016 where it's the status quo against the People. Which side are you on?
1
@Mary Elizabeth Lease Yes! ALL Democrat's and anti-Trump voters support the nominee. If it's Sanders, they vote for him, just like Sanders' supporters are expected to vote for a more moderate nominee. If you blame Sanders' supporters for not voting for HRC, you can blame moderate Dems for not supporting Bernie.
1
Someone clearly sent out a FOX style memo that said: Do NOT talk in terms of who got the most votes. Instead, use the word "plurality" and be sure to emphasize lack of majority when possible, even though that is basically nonsense when talking about an election with more than two candidates.
2
What's happening is scary; Bernie is likely to win the Democratic nomination. He's promising everyone something for nothing, so they love him.
A few months ago, the editorial board and many columnists for this newspaper thought the greatest threat to American democracy was Russian meddling in our elections.
Bernie Sanders didn't spend his honeymoon in Stockholm or Copenhagen. He spent it in Moscow. Why? Because he liked the government there. Just as more recently he supported Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
9
While it is true that "it’s awfully hard to stop a candidate if you can’t agree on the alternative" it is even more true that you can't stop him if you do not understand why he is winning. Hillary gave a good example. Instead of going to the swing states and talking issues, as Trump did, she stayed in her safe states and bashed Trump and his supporters, oblivious to what Trump was saying. Likewise with Sanders. People are not voting for him for his looks or his age or his money or because he calls himself a socialist; they are voting for his ideas. Can't the Democratic Leadership understand that? Let's hope the Bernie momentum continues.
11
I am still confounded by the thinking of Sanders supporters. Unless a victorious Sanders becomes King instead of President, he is going to have a tough time convincing 150 million Americans to give-up private health coverage. Some semblance of Medicare for All is the ideal and can ultimately happen, but it's going to take awhile. Start with the public option to Obamacare as the moderate Dem candidates are promoting. By the way...for those young Sanders supporters who don't know...Medicare is not free, and is a public-private insurance partnership. I pay combined $350 premiums per month to the government and private health insurance companies for Part B (doctors) and Part D (drugs). Not to mention that even with that, Medicare does not cover dental, glasses or hearing aids...or eldercare, assisted living, etc....things that almost all older folks eventually need. Medicare for All will require huge changes in so many ways that it's going to take a long time to get there even if the political winds and momentum are in that direction. And how many doctors do you know who will want to take a 50% or greater cut in income? That is definitely a requirement for Medicare for All to happen. The whole economic concept and other motivations of the medical professions will have to change too. Why become a doctor if being an airline pilot or lawyer is easier and pays better?
10
According to your paper, Sanders got 46% of the vote and Warren got 10%. By my calculation that's a clear majority of voters in a state that reflects the diversity of the American electorate. It would seem that voters actually are interested/want the policies these two promote. So maybe all the folks who are touting "democracy" but object to it's results and want to thwart the will of the majority by jumping on a "stop Bernie" bandwagon should give what they are doing some serious thought. The only way Trump gets re-elected is if a large faction refuses to vote for the Democrat nominee. If that's what happens, those folks will go down in history with the Republican senators other than Romney.
5
@Herbert Gaskill 99% of Americans don't read the NYTimes so don't worry about its influence. But so far, more Democrats in the two caucuses and one primary chose someone other than Bernie. Shouldn't their opinions/feelings be considered too?
Just a note to Sanders supporters. I was a young progressive once, living off a minimum wage job in an apartment and not being able to put any money away for the future. I had no health insurance or retirement plan.
However, I didn't consider the wealthy as some lying, cheating, older segment of the population as the reason why I lived the way I did.
It seems to me that many young progressives want right now what it takes to earn. That a "living wage" means you could do this for the rest of your life. That everything should be provided for EVEN if you choose not to work.
I'm sorry, but now that I am in my late 50's and have put together enough assets to retire on, though by no means a one-percenter, I have to say to progressives, be careful what you wish for. You may get your free lunch after all but you may find that you are sitting at a communal bench being served a ham and cheese sandwich while never getting the opportunity to know what its like to have a fine dining experience at a table for two.
9
@Douglas Patronizing comments like this are why the younger generations are so exasperated by our generation of boomers. Give your head a shake ( or rather get reading some economics articles). The world today is nothing like it was in the 70's 80's or even 90's. And no, Sanders supporters are not looking for "something for nothing"...(the classic dismissal of all those who question inequality of opportunity anywhere.) The vast majority of Bernie supports probably work a lot harder than you do for vastly less in return.
2
I’m almost 40 with a good job and health insurance, and I support Sanders. I believe access to healthcare is a human right. It doesn’t bother me if there isn’t a detailed plan on exactly how it will be paid for. Every other similar country has managed to pull it off in some form, so why can’t the U.S.? I also think voters are smart enough to understand that universal healthcare isn’t “taking away” your healthcare or choices (doesn’t the current system limit choice because which doctors you see depends on the insurance company you have, which in turn is often selected by your employer?). I also think people can do the math and understand that paying nominally more in taxes while paying less in premiums, deductibles, out of pocket costs, isn’t the same as “raising taxes” without an offset. Perhaps there would be more money for domestic spending if there was a reduction in the military budget from ending the endless wars and placing more stock in diplomacy and international institutions.
I also have student loans, and I guarantee you if that debt was wiped out, it would absolutely go back into the economy. Think of all the people in their 30s/40s who without student debt would be able to become homeowners. Instant stimulus.
Sanders’s policies wouldn’t mean you can’t have nice things, or nobody could be wealthy. It’s about raising the floor of what we find acceptable in a country where we have the ability to ensure that people don’t have to live in poverty.
1
@Douglas
The world is very, very different for my 21 year old daughter and her friends than it was for you or me, and I assure you these kids are not layabouts who want something for nothing. College debt is crippling their prospects no matter how hard or long they work.
A friend of mine works at a non-profit and teaches a class for first-time home buyers. She reports that there is NEVER a class in which some young couple doesn't leave in tears when they realize they will never in their lifetimes be able to own a home due to the college debt they carry.
You and I may have managed to "get ours", let's make it possible for those who are younger or less fortunate than ourselves to have a chance, too.
1
I dislike Trump and his gang intensely. As a former Wall Street senior executive (10+ years), partner of a Private Equity firm (7 years), Internet entrepreneur (7 years)and then MBA professor (14 years) with some of these jobs overlapping, I have seen an awful lot of markets from different perspectives. I never thought that I would see America divided in so many ways with so few obvious solutions and so many myths about systemic wellness (both financial and other) abounding through the media and elsewhere.
We are dangerously vulnerable to outside influence but moreover to dangerous influences from within, and have become both complacent and caught up in battles that are no more than diversions from the underlying problems... and solutions that are promises very unlikely to be realized.
The economy has wonderful optics but could turn on us in a nano-second with consequences far beyond anything we have experienced since the 1930's. The role of government has dramatically changed, and I fear for our national well-being and safety at this point.
So the ugly choice may be a militant Sanders or Trump. Neither give me any comfort. I think many of us have a good idea of where Trump is headed, and know that the Sanders "romp" may turn into a "McGovern failure". Enlisting the support of young people and minorities may help Sanders in the these early contests but not in a national election. Are we doomed to another four years of Trump? Probably yes as the Centrists will stay home.
9
@Swamp Fox I am interested to know, given your career, how exactly the market for Labor is viewed by Wall street? Given that there will never be a short supply of laboring people, will the efficient market price for people's labor now always be near slave wages (as it has been for most of human history (but for the post war blip)? How much of private equity's success has been to cheapen and outsource middle class jobs grabbing that income for itself? And what will happen to investments as pensions disappear, wages crash, jobs are outsourced? Do you see why the younger generation might be fed up if not terrified? Moreover, we have the culmination of 200 years of technological innovation now increasingly captured and owned by the 1%? What "rights" to survival will anyone have under the laws of capitalist ownership? The situation is dire indeed. No wonder Bernie resonates with your young people.
@Swamp Fox
Strange that you've not learned from your various experiences that no one deserves to win who will not risk failure.
Or that voters love risk-takers and vote against every entitled so-called "safe" candidate.
Or that nay-sayers never win.
Or that no one will get out of bed and stand in line for a boring Moderate or buy a candidate that does not differentiate themselves from the opposition.
Or that the universe loves courage and will invariably lift you up (entrepreneurs know this fact).
Or that Vision has a mysterious internal momentum that cannot be easily side-tracked.
Or that fear-based thinking is speculative and worst-case and never survives contact with the future since options change dynamically.
You've been programmed by the mainstream media to believe this election is between Republicans and Democrats. No it's not. It's the status quo versus the People, just like in 2016 and the Centrist Moderates are the status quo.
Nor are you data-based. Bernie beats Trump nationally right now as well as in the six states - and that's without the Centrist Moderates.
1
@Roberta You and I share many of the same serious concerns. The wage division and compression toward the bottom is cruel/inhuman and will probably get worse. What were salaried jobs have become temp jobs: it's a complete restructuring of what "job" means and is disastrous for the employee. Private equity firms have ravaged companies: I got out of that business 20 years ago because I saw this coming and did not want to be a part of it. Our firm put money into firms for growth not harvesting, and we added employees. That approach is very rare today. I am very worried about the pension and Social Security systems: when pension law changed in the 1970's, it got employers off the hook and put the burden back on the individual employee: it was a scam. People retire with far too little money and rely on SocSec, which is in serious jeopardy for many reasons, including massive investment risk. We will have whole generations who can never retire and won't have healthcare if they do.
My issue with Bernie is not that I disagree on the problems... but his solutions don't work because they have almost no chance of ever being successfully implemented. The paper from Yale via The Lancet that endorsed Medicaid for All was horribly deficient, and Yale may retract it. "Tax the rich" is a wonderful idea and would last for maybe 2-3 years.
You and I probably agree on almost everything. The six children I am responsible to, mostly in their 30's, have a dark road ahead of them. I am terrified.
Sanders is not a socialist yet the article identifies Sanders as such. Socialism defined is a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. It would take a huge revolution and years of evolution in our economy to enact Socialism in the US. So, stop your misidentifying Sanders as anything other than a progressive politician.
6
The advice about moderate candidates dropping out only makes sense if you believe Bloomberg is better for the country than Bernie. Bloomberg came off as vile at his only debate. There's a lot of anger at him for buying his way into the election. Warren was right that NDA scandals are going to keep dripping out. His answers were also amateurish. We haven't seen how he can do in a primary. But Ross seems to think it's the other moderates who should drop out.
By votes, Mayor Pete should take the moderate lane, but he's painfully underqualified to go up against an incumbent President. By experience, Biden should take it; by newspaper endorsements, Klobuchar. But neither of them are getting traction.
Klobuchar could drop out and campaign for Warren, calming moderates who are concerned about her. So can the PleaseNotBernies live with Warren?
1
Yes there are some similarities between Trump in 2016 and Sanders in 2020. But there are bigger differences.
Everyone knew Trump was a bad human being, a congenital liar who only looks out for himself, completely unqualified to be president, and dangerous. Sanders is an honest, decent man, he is absolutely capable of being president, and he will actually try to help the average American.
Rather than try to stop him, if Sanders becomes the likely nominee, the DNC should support him wholeheartedly.
1398
@Eric
Totally agree.
But even as I type this, the DNC is plotting to sabotage his campaign.
Fortunately, Bernie is savvy and tough.
81
@Eric Douthat's comparison is purely on the grounds of what non-supporters in the party perceived about electability. The Republicans didn't care that Trump is "a bad human being, a congenital liar who only looks out for himself, completely unqualified to be president, and dangerous" - they only cared about whether he would win. Douthat's analysis is purely under the assumption that Sanders non-supporters do not think he can win. I have similar reservations. If Sanders is nominated and elected, the Democrats win a majority in the Senate and enlarge their majority in the House, I will be delighted. Medicare-for-All will still not become law - too many Democratic Senators will be opposed (for many reasons, and not just money) but the country will make progress on healthcare-for-all and it will make progress on climate change - not enough, but some. But if Sanders is nominated but not elected, and Trump remains President, I predict we will not have anything resembling fair elections for at least as long as Trump is alive. That is an existential risk.
76
@Eric Douthat's comparison is purely on the grounds of what non-supporters in the party perceived about electability. The Republicans didn't care that Trump is "a bad human being, a congenital liar who only looks out for himself, completely unqualified to be president, and dangerous" - they only cared about whether he would win. Douthat's analysis is purely under the assumption that Sanders non-supporters do not think he can win. I have similar reservations. If Sanders is nominated and elected, the Democrats win a majority in the Senate and enlarge their majority in the House, I will be delighted. Medicare-for-All will still not become law - too many Democratic Senators will be opposed (for many reasons, and not just money) but the country will make progress on healthcare-for-all and it will make progress on climate change - not enough, but some. But if Sanders is nominated but not elected, and Trump remains President, I predict we will not have anything resembling fair elections for at least as long as Trump is alive. That is an existential risk.
10
I am 70, work full time as a senior Professor at a liberal arts college. I know my skills as an educator are still intact but I also know my age does impact my energy, vitality and may ultimately diminish my role to the point that I will leave academia. I strive to be realistic about age and workplace contribution. It so happens I am Democrat and I am generally open minded BUT to me Bernie Sanders is suffering from some form of geriatric ego compensation syndrome. By that I mean he seems to have talked himself into truly believing his rhetoric and can not distinguish a realistic platform from his righteous pie in the sky positions which we know will be shot down ASAP should he land in Washington. We are seeing many people in their mid and late 70’s who selfishly protect their egocentric ambitions and shield their emotions from the weight of age-realistic vulnerability in a way most of us can not get away with. They make a last-stand push to cap off their life’s work with a grand gesture that cements their name in history (DT is a member of this club.) If Mr Sanders has a selfless bone in his body he will immediately identify a much younger VP candidate and do everything to create a scenario that supports a more active VP role and one that faces the statistical reality that he will likely be a one term President. Mr Sanders should work to unify the party and create a selfless persona that invites discourse.
15
The wall in front of the Sanders nomination is the the party that won't let him become the nominee. It's so clear that the party is playing a corrupt game, as they did in 2016. Why? Because he stands no chance of being elected.
6
@RamSter
At this point, the Democratic Party can only play a fixed game. Their very existence depends on it.
2
@P&L Watch.... you’ll see....fixed game is right; as in “ the game is fixed”.
What can a Democratic President do without taking his party controlling the senate? The question here is can the liberals win the senate back? If not, then what’s the point?
2
Regulations, executive orders, administration- LOTS of things a president can do even without the senate.
VOTE Democrat please.
2
Jennifer Rubin over at the WaPo and Ross Douthat got Bernie bashing duty this weekend it seems.
Let’s hope the liberal media will finally stop dividing Democrats after Super Tuesday but I’m not holding my breath.
They will probably double down on alienating progressives and fully back the uninspiring centrist who didn’t drop out.
3
He is stoppable. By Trump and the GOP. I will be repaying Sanders, if he is nominee, by voting for No One for President I will only vote for Democrats and for a candidate that has been vetted.
2
Do you see the pattern here?
The GOP win the Presidential election in 1968 after Nixon and Kissinger sabotaged LBJ's peace talks with North Viet Nam.
The GOP win the Presidential election in 1980 after Reagan's soon to be CIA director and his VP cut a deal with Iran's revolutionary guards to hold the hostages until after the election.
The GOP "win" the Presidential election in 2000 after sabotaging Florida's vote count with the aid of Florida's Governor—brother of the GOP's Presidential candidate.
The GOP win the Presidential election in 2004 after "gliches" found in computer voting machines sold by companies with deep and continuing ties to the Republican Party.
I'm certain more than half of Sanders' supporters weren't born yet when these events occurred and a good number of them voted for Nader in 2000 giving us 8 years of Cheney/Bush.
4
Sanders is not unstoppable. The DNC, with media assistance from MSNBC talking heads Chris Matthews and Chuck Todd, have already started the campaign to deny Bernie the nomination.
1
kamala harris is no longer running. it is a serious disappoinment and none of the candidates-and that includes trump who is the worst, is a good choice.
WHY is the emphasis on "stopping" him?
3
The most important thing to me is getting rid of Trump. Whoever can do that has my vote. Bernie acts like an angry old man. That is off putting to me but I respect him. I do not respect Trump.
3
Maybe Bernie is a truth teller compared with everybody else who just goes an old party line, or worse, lies.
5
Geez, can't we wait until all the votes are counted before we declare winners? All of the other candidates combined out-polled Bernie. He hasn't broken through 50%. It's the 3rd primary of 50. Why is the NY Times so eager to declare a winner when there isn't one?
3
Desperation. The one percent’s last man standing is Bloomberg. It shows how pathetic the whole thing is.
Read Robert Reich’s piece in The Guardian today about the scare tactics around the “cost” of the Bernie presidency. Usual suspects like Larry Summers (misogynist and Bob Rubin stooge) providing fake numbers.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/22/bernie-sanders-green-new-deal-medicare-for-all-expensive-inaction?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
2
@Blunt
Thanks, brother.
1
it is inevitable this nation will split into at least 6 smaller ones.
1
After 3+ years of Trump and this far in the campaign, before any of the NY Times pundits can be taken seriously in their opinions of the Democratic race, it is time they came out on whether they would support Trump over any of them. If they are that far out of whack, it is only fair that their readers should know up front.
Of course, I suspect the Times has a policy forbidding them to announce a choice as I have never read any of them do so.
3
Bernie Sanders is incapable of beating Trump. He has significant coronary disease which should have eliminate him from the race. He should drop out and help more moderate candidates if he really loves this country. The fear of Trump extends to many Republicans who are trying to help the Democrats beat Trump. Trump is destroying America.
8
@WR
Pretty desperate when they start using percentages of fibrous versus fatty plaques to hold back a candidate....
1
Romp? Really. There are millions of votes in Nevada and the total cucaus vote was around 100,00. Hysterical headlines are just as bad as fake news.
1
It's a pity there weren't online comment sections when George McGovern ran for the nomination. I'd enjoy comparing the opinions of his bright-eyed supporters then with those reincarnated in the same folly now.
After the election debacle, a McGovern rerun for sure, will the excuses will be the same? Probably. Perhaps the NYT could research letters-to-the-editor from newspapers across the nation in November 1972 and publish a comparison with the pro-Sanders comments now plus those to be published this November.
4
@Max Davies Here's another history lesson for you: a year or two after McGovern lost, it was almost impossible to find anyone who would admit to having voted for Nixon! So remember that on Nov. 3.
2
@Chris Rasmussen Losers always have their "I really won because (fill in the blank). But Nixon was president and McGovern was demolished.
@Max Davies That was not exactly my point. I did not suggest that McGovern "really won," but that American voter rejected a candidate seen by many as too liberal, and then regretted the result. I suspect that something similar may occur over the next couple years.
How strange that in your consolidation model of the 3 B’s, you don’t bother to include Klobuchar, an entirely valid, strong, moderate candidate. Sexist much?
2
Unstoppable?
Nah!
I’m pretty sure the DNC will find some way to stop him and in doing so...hand Rumpt another term
3
@Paul Torcello
Trump loves Bernie, warmly congratulated him on his "victory" and can't wait to face off with him—"don't let 'em take it away from you!"
4%. voted
1
Why should we want to stop him?
4
For a guy who can't win, Sanders is making a heck of an impressive impersonation of one.
7
I’m terrified of the whole process.
As much as I loathe Trump, I cannot find any program or issue that I agree on with Sanders.
In 2016, I enthusiastically supported Hillary Clinton, and assumed Trump couldn’t win because he was an ignoramus.
And now I’m seriously considering voting for that same ignoramus. The devil you know, and all that.
6
How about PleaseNoPlutocrats? How compromised are the Democrats anyway? Willing to throw ideals out the window to win an election?
2
@Phil
so you are saying you voted for Ralph Nader in 2000—how did that work out?
The New York Times (and its editorialists) should by now have learned that bashing Sanders and openly conspiring against him is a losing strategy. It only strengthens Sanders's bona fides as the anti-establishment candidate, and furthers discredits the Times.
2
NYT and Ross Douthat should introspect on why they hate Bernard Sanders so much. Three elections won in a row and you're actively discussing how his competitors should gang up and compromise to take him down ? How come we never hear from you about persuading Sanders to adjust some of his policies like perfectly porous borders ? Unlimited consideration shown to other candidates but very little to Bernard Sanders. At this rate, more and more readers will think the ideas in these columns are pure Republican strategizing .
1
Bernie Sanders is not a socialist. If you can't even get your labels correct, you shouldn't be writing opinion pieces!
5
I love reading the comments in the New York Times. However, I have noticed a change of late and it is evident on this comment thread. Trump supporters that don't sound like the typical Trump supporters that have been commenting here for the past three years.
How do we know where these comments are coming from. Bots? The Russian troll farm? Suddenly there are all these articulate Trump supporters citing statistics and sewing division - where did they come from? We need to create defenses against interference, learn to spot it and reject it. On all social media. They are not going away so if we are to survive and have elections not influenced by Russia or disinformation, we need the tools to protect ourselves from Russian interference and bots.
Read these comments critically, the syntax, the verbiage, the educational level, the content and ask yourself, do they sound like the Trump supporters you know?
2
Long time commenter here.
I resent newbies suggesting we that were once GOP stalwarts due to more than a century of connection since Lincoln are infiltrators pushing a trump agenda and win.
We are not.
We are the college educated middle class women and community leaders and activists that wanted Kasich or Bush. We are the GOP women that believe in a woman’s self determination.
We are anti theocratic and anti fascist.
We were in a party our great grands were in. We didn’t think deeply about the paradigm shifts Reagan ushered in . We voted against Goldwater.
We abhorred Dixie Dems. We respected Kennedy.
We may have relatives in civil service and military.
We are not Russian bots or plants.
So let’s not deteriorate to a “ Wonkette” blog comment section or a twitter sqweed that prevents critical thinking.
Although I do troll sometime. We are now converts to the Democrats. In writing. Legal and all. Here in my state. Support us. Please !and vote for the women . We abhor trump.
1
Let us face it, the corrupt establishment people of the Democratic Party like the corrupt one of the Republican are at the service of Big Business. Therefore if they have to choose between Sanders and Trump, well, they will hold their noses and choose Trump. Trump is racist, unpredictable, incompetent but, after all he is working for Big Business.
1
Writer Ross inspired the making of a merger and to put two ideas together here first.
So here are two names falling in line, so to say, first drafts and all.
Thank you NYT team for the mostly very good comments moderating.
For the Russia-concerned, use of Ru is not an abbreviation for the developing Eurasian democracy.
I am an educated white woman who will never vote for Bernie
5
@Kathleen I am an educated white woman who will vote for Bernie.
3
@Kathleen You could just say "I am...who is a trump supporter." It is the same thing. The exact same thing.
1
@Kathleen That's too bad. Many people who really couldn't stand Hillary Clinton voted for her anyway because they saw what was at stake for the country. If Senator Sanders is the nominee, I surely hope you'll change your mind by the time November rolls around. Signed, another well-educated white woman.
2
Here’s s little friendly advice to NYT pundits on a nice Sunday morning:
Get yourselves a half dozen bagels from Brooklyn, toast them lightly, spread some wonderful cream cheese, take a bite, and Feel the Unstoppable Bern!
Forget about Wall Street. Their bagels are all bundled and mushy.
1
The real difference between Trump and Bernie?
The NYT and the Democrats cry crocodile tears over Trump.
If Bernie gets in, America will be crying real tears.
The Democrats have every right to lose this election.
Four long years and the best you can do is Bernie Sanders?
6
Four more years of trump is going to be a bitter pill to swallow.
1
Is the light bulb finally turning on in the minds of the 99%??
1
The erasure of Elizabeth Warren continues.
...Just wish he was 20 years younger...
1
@GV
Then he'd be Che Guevara.
Better Q: is EBS,or ABC, (EVERYBODY but Sanders) political suicide for Dems?
Let's skip the brouhaha and cut to the chase- yes, period
Bernie need do nothing about Bloomberg, his dream opponent (aside from Trump). "Why a vote at all. Wastes time. Let's just have an auction, let the Moghul who spends the most take it. Southeby's will be happy to handle it." End of story.
He needs to bury Butigiege. By tagging him as the master of baby steps. Start with "you can opt in to med4all if you want..."
Not a post it, but only a spinmeister's bumpersticker. How do the opt ins get paid for? By taking money out of current Medicare budget? Or will Medicare tax have to rise? Happy words are easy...
(& a quick smack down on filibuster- if it didn't exist ACA would already be gone...)
Finally, a strength beyond the usual binary politics, promoting medicade 3rd class folk to first, and only, class can put much in play in the red sates... What do Gops have to say agin that? That won't hurt them.
Have you heard Bernie’s speech in San Antonio after he won big in Nevada?
If you have a grey cell in your brain and a few red cells in your heart, you are done.
Bernie 2020 and beyond. He will win big and deliver our nation out of the abyss it has fallen into since the death of FDR.
Bless him and may the Lord bless us by extending him a long and healthy life as our president.
I am going to bed happy tonight.
6
Printed a day later!! Why???
If a little socialism is required to promote the general welfare, so be it.
6
First thing in the morning, I'm taking my Warren sticker off my car. She's not being fair to Bloomberg. But his sticker's never going on my car. I'm back to Bernie again. With Bernie, what you see is what you get, and his time win fairly and squarely has come. Bring on the revolution! Health care is a right; people of color need full equality, and taxes on the ultra wealthy need to go up so we don't destroy the middle class.
6
Sanders's current run right now mirrors Trump's election run back in 2016 in that both candidates have had the media hound them going "There's no way they can pull off ____." It'll be a constant shifting of the goalposts from "He can't win in ____ state," to "He can't win the Primaries" to "He can't win the election."
In both cases though, both candidates have largely capitalized on a fast-growing dissent of the "established" political scene that has not done much to help with the population who have felt their cries for help largely ignored.
The thing is, it seems a lot of the mass media doesn't seem to acknowledge that point, whether because of ignorance or out of just voluntary denial. A lot of Americans, I feel want something different in Congress, and 2016 was a sign of that (as Trump was seen as the proverbial "middle finger" to the establishment).
If the Democratic party makes the same mistake it did with being tone-deaf to the concerns of the aggrieved, and fussing more on Sanders's electability, they may once again find themselves coming up short as once because, again, they have failed to properly identify what people are demanding in favor of trying to search for some kind of 'moderate' solution.
While I'm not exactly confident that Sanders will get anything done as president (as it'll likely be Obama v2 where a split Congress/President leads to deadlock), that's a whole different can of worms.
2
This Bernie-is-just-like-Trump business really makes me angry. Trump is popular because of racism. Bernie is popular because of socialism. Yes! That's why! In a society with our level of wealth and income inequality, socialism is the only thing that makes sense. (Hint: It doesn't mean Stalinist murders. It means using the government as an agency to transfer some wealth from the rich to the poor, whether through tax policy, financial regulation, or, dare I say it, socialized medicine.) One other slight difference: Trump is popular because he lies; Bernie is popular because he tells the truth.
One more thing. Any Democratic candidate -- or op-ed columnist (yeah I know Douthat isn't a Democrat) -- who says "X can't beat Trump" about any other candidate should be tarred and feathered. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy!!! Don't they get that? I've even stopped saying it about Biden, just in case.
1
I am concerned that Bernie and Trump are two sides of the same coin. Both self promoting loud angry white guys (And they aren't going to take it anymore!!).
Especially now that it's clear that the Russian government is supporting Bernie for the nomination. What's with that?
And then Bernie was MAD at the Washington Post for bringing this out....all he said was the Russian's wouldn't be allowed to do this if he were president. He is a Senator! Bring this out for investigation in the Senate!! Oh that's right-he's running for President. Good grief....Talk about a Vanity Project.
I don't feel comfortable with voting for him.
And I believe anyone who trolls me about this and slings insults is probably a Russian, paid to instigate anger and division in the USA.
I prefer Warren or Biden.
You may recall that in the Senate Democrats are a minority and do not control investigations AT ALL.
You may also recall the leader of the Senate, dear Mitch, had to be dragged into supporting election protection.
Don’t blame Bernie for that.
1
Las Vegas, Nevada, attracts the gold diggers. They live for free stuff. Not a typical state, me thinks. Let's see the results from serious states that carry their own load. Super Tuesday will tell all. I bet not even Vermont will vote for their own senator.
Too funny!
The NYT posts about one in ten of my polite poking fun of all democrats and media ( especially the NYT).
However Bernie as the democrat and NYT candidate to oppose President Trump is just so delicious, so satisfying and so predictable I’m having trouble hiding my glee!
Once again the sheer genius of the NYT and progressive democrats is on stage for all to cheer.
You guys are the best
I’ve never laughed this hard
Never!
Thank you.
Biden, Bootigeg, and Bloomberg--the Democrats' B team!
1
Bernie is Trump's handpicked, secretly funded spoiler Out here in the hick-ridden reactionary Midwest of rural backwardness, Sanders has no chance. Socialist. Jewish, even if non-practicing. He'll never prevail in the contest. Instead one should concentrate on learning the Cyrillic alphabet and some basic Russian, since Putin has already won in 2016 and will keep his handpicked asset Trump on the throne indefinitely. Despite our shambolic electoral farce.
2
You were right about one thing "The party system you were defending is obviously dead " how introspective !
1
Go ahead Ross. Start slamming all of Trump’s opponents like David Brooks. Help re-elect Trump. Then complain about the candidate you helped elect.
Arrogance is possibly the most unpleasant human characteristic.
2
Bernie knows one thing: how to get nothing done. Nothing.
After over 29 years in the House and Senate, Bernie got 7 bills passed for which he was primary sponsor. 7 Bills Passed.
On the following groundbreaking topics:
1) renaming a post office in Vermont;
2) renaming another post office in Vermont;
3) OK’ng a Vermont-New Hampshire Water Supply deal;
4) a cost of living increase for vets;
5) changes to a VFW charter;
6) a bill helping the Taconic Mountains; and
7) designating “Vermont Bicentennial Day”.
That's what voters want? Sheesh.
Contrast that with Klobuchar. In only 12 years in the Senate, Klobuchar has over 100 bills that she primarily sponsored became final law, more than any other Senator. Examples:
1) America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018
2) Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015
3) Innovate America Act
4) Veterans to Paramedics Act,
5) Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act
6) Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 Reform Act
7) Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2016.
Senator Klobuchar can be trusted to get things done.
Bernie, Unstoppable? Give me a break. So far, Sanders got 138,821 total votes so far, in three unrepresentative states. That's it.
This thing isn't over. Let's see where we are in four weeks.
Til then, Wake Up Democrats.
3
Just think if Bernie picks AOC as his VP
1
I almost can’t imagine that he wouldn’t. She seems like the perfect fit for his ticket.
We shall see !!
Unfortunately she is too young! She should replace Pelosi in the interim though.
Once Bernie is the nominee, the blitz will start. Commercial after commercial will show footage and quotes of his praise for communism and totalitarian socialist states. Commercials will feature cancer patients in the UK who died because the NHS refused to pay for medications readily available in the US and Canadians on 8 month long wait lists for hip replacements. We will hear all about the loss of jobs from the destruction of the insurance industry.
And that is before they even get to issues like immigration, boys in girls sports, and political correctness.
Bernie won't just lose the midwest; he will lose not-as-liberal-as-you-think states like Connecticut.
Does anyone really think all those casually liberal white women in Glastonbury and Simsbury hate Trump so much that they are going to vote to put their own husbands' employers out of business?
This election is going to be a disaster for the Democrats, and the biggest loser will be America.
6
There are too many supposedly intelligent people talking as if a President Sanders would be the end of capitalism or beginning of anything resembling a true socialist nation. These are false equivalencies, they aide the incumbent, and Putin knows it. Trump hasn't turned is into the 4th Reich and Sanders isn't going to turn us into some American Soviet Socialist Republic.
3
Comfortable white people don't want to share their benefits so they oppose Bernie. Other Western countries have universal health care, way can't Americans? Land grant colleges used to be affordable. Why can't they be affordable again? Just like in 2016, the so-called liberal white folks vote to support their status quo and don't care about the beloved community. Most comfortable white liberal white folks mock religion, mock patriotism, and the only civil rights they support is the right for gay white men to get married; they don't support civil rights for our black and brown brothers and sisters. It's the liberal comfortable white folks who oppose Bernie and will vote for Mayo Petey. Nah, Bernie has been fighting for the beloved community his entire life. Never once has Bernie sold his soul like Mayo Petey to vulture capitalism and Bernie fights for EVERYONE'S civil rights, not just white gay guys rights. The people are speaking--Bernie is their choice. Comfortable white liberals need to listen because if they don't they are giving America another 4 years of Putin's puppet.
1
A very insightful piece by Russ Douthat, though as a long-time constituent of Joe Biden, I take strong issue with his assumption that he is electable. Biden served a suburb of Philadelphia for 36 years, and with unswerving fealty, served the interests of the big banks and credit cards located there. He was their useful idiot. And when he wasn't sticking up for big financial interests, he lounged in the back rooms of the Senate, chumming around with segregationists, Confederacy-sympathizers, and gold standard advocates, all the while thinking he was a great uniter. His campaign so far keeps showing that of the two VP candidates in 2008, Obama picked the dumber one.
1
This is all very good for the primaries, and it played out something like this last time. But only in caucus states where the leaders and die-hards can bully the rank and file (and did last time in my state), and turnout is low.
But you can forget about the general election. If dem IQ's drop enough between now and the convention from unmedicated hysteria, and you folks actually fool yourselves into thinking that a pie-in-the-sky "commie" with some scandals in his past can sweep the rest of the electorate to the Left, you deserve what you get because you will just hand Donald yet another victory wrapped in a bow.
And then there's congress. Bernie will never get his agenda passed in congress.
Do you guys like losing that much?
1
All those Bernies from college days in the 60s and 70s, closed-minded compulsive complainers who hopped the train of total coolness with few solutions and endless bromides about a drugged-up better world-- funded of course on somebody else's dime, and arguing their points by screaming in your face.
Are Americans at “Better socialism than Trump?” It seems so.
Dear Ross Douthat,
These are some of the pirates dreams —
1. Healthcare they can both afford and afford to use that will lengthen their lives
2. Wages that might allow them to work just one job, pay for decent child or elder care, take a day off when they’re sick, save for their kids’ college, save for retirement...eat regularly.
3. Fairly funded police and fire departments, teachers and schools
4. Roads and bridges that are safe
5. Continued mail delivery
6. Regulations that protect public lands, air and water, Native religious lands, food, and the climate
7. Reasonable, even ethical and kind treatment of immigrants and refugees.
Not a complete list. What about it is outrageous? Unethical? Unjust? Undeserved? A “normal political force”?
Ay, matey — nothing.
2
Aren't there a single columnist in the NYT that would say Bernie is okay? Why am I only reading opinions that tell me that Sanders = Trump and must be defeated at all costs? Is that just me?
3
To equate that a Bernie presidency would be a similar travesty that is Trump is absurd and frankly stupid. And to further the myth that Bernie is a socialist is irresponsible. The man has been in the senate for 50 years, socialist, democratic socialist, fairy godmother? I don’t care what he calls himself, he’s been working within a democratic systems his entire career, as a journalist you should spill the facts not publish labels to inflame a base. Many might prefer another candidate, but this kind of journalism tries to invalidate Bernie as a viable, electable, responsible candidate. Spend your time talking about why a pro Bush republican is worthy of The Democratic nomination. That might be useful journalism.
2
There is no room in the big tent for small ideas.
1
It looks to be official. The Millennials are coming of age.
The aging Boomers, like myself, are fading away. This is a good thing. Because this means that Republicans are loosing their hold to power. The core of Trump’s Base are old, angry, stupid, fearful, white people. Glad to see it go. I’ve been waiting my whole life.
Millennials, vote Bernie in. It’s your chance to rule. Time to give yourselves everything that has been denied, from healthcare to jobs, to bringing all of America’s troops home.
By ending foreign entanglements we can pay for Medicare for All. And this is just the beginning.
Elizabeth supporters, we tried. Elizabeth, it may be time to go back to the Senate. Either way, Bernie, you can call on Elizabeth for help. She has much to give.
Anyhow, on to Trump. Let’s send him back to the Stone Age from whence he came.
Let’s demolish the Republican narrative! Let’s take the power away from the Billionaires!
And let’s make this a better Planet for everyone!
5
Mr. Douthat, you of all people should realize that Bernie Sanders is not a “socialist.” While calling oneself a social democrat may be a marketing faux pas in this age of intentional stupidity, reinforcing misinformation is a disservice to your readers.
4
No, there is no lesson in Sanders' win in Nevada. Yes, it is a jackpot -- for Trump. Now, he can fortify and complete his dictator's design to shred the remaining individual rights and freedoms embedded in the U.S. Constitution, the document which he described in his own words as, "archaic" and it's "really a bad thing for the country."
Population control is key to the totalitarian state that the Chosen One has established over the once-viable Republican Party. They morphed into the sad, submissive retinue of drones and supplicants, all too intimidated by the stable genius's omnipotence, paralyzed by their queen ant's pheromones.
Regardless of how many times or which party the House majority may change over the next several years, the U.S. Senate has become the most powerful branch of government.
It is now the permanent domain of the Mitch McConnell-led Apartheid Republican Party. By a mere 51% majority McConnell can ensconce judges in the mold of the rigid, lying-under-oath sexual assaulter Brett "What goes around comes around" Kavanaugh.
Bernie Sanders' populism is not only the gift that assures Trump of another 4 years in the White House. It is the death knell of representative government.
But, it is also the destiny sought after by deity-stamped Grand Inquisitors who have been yearning to establish their twisted views of biblical scripture and certitude that the Chosen One is the modern day King Saul of the Old Testament ordained by God to reign supreme.
1
I might dispute labeling Sanders a “populist” but if I give you a pass on the label you cannot, then, suggest he would be the end of representative government. His election would be, more accurately, the beginning.
2
@Jim Mamer Let me explain better. I believe if Sanders is nominated he will be defeated by Trump, especially given the strong economy and Sanders'$30 trillion+ unicorn health care for all plan.
A totally unchecked, fear-mongering Trump, not Sanders who I see as a populist, will be the demise of representative government.
Trump is perfectly O.K. being the president of half of the country and he has no concern for the other half as long as he has a complicit Supreme Court to do his bidding.
Trump has proven that fact in his end-around the House legislation that he disagrees with.
1
Is my choice for President of the United States really going to be between an (1) ego-maniacal, despotic, unintelligent, six-time bankrupt, racist insult comic and (2) almost 80-year old socialist hippie from Vermont?
Is this a Netflix comedy series and everyone but the American people are in on the joke?
2
What a disaster. Goodbye, Senate. Goodbye, House. Goodbye, SCOTUS. Goodbye, America.
3
After all these goodbyes maybe we could imagine a democracy.
Our system of elections is going to ruin us. Those on the far right and far left have accrued power and influence way beyond the vast moderate middle who seem to be shut out of the process. How many Americans would like a choice between a lying, ignorant narcissist and a soon-to-be octogenarian with heart problems and a Socialist policy agenda? We are in trouble.
You've got to stop trying to draw comparisons between Trump and Sanders: the latter believes in the rule of law, in wealth redistribution, in universal healthcare, in education, in climate change, and the need to confront gun violence. The other is a racist lunatic, a liar and cheater, a grossly incompetent 'leader' who should have been removed from office had the Republican Senators done their constitutional job.
As for the other Democratic candidates, if they are not in the lead, it is because they have failed to convince majorities of voters over and over. Truth is in numbers.
2
Caucuses are faux voting indicators. Beauty contests with fixed structures and unrepresentative results. The Dem leadership should be ashamed and resign from letting these archaic structures continue. Caucuses don't bring out independents and low motivation voters (likely more than half of America's eligible voters) who see these caucuses as just plain stupid. If you act stupid, that's what people will think of you. Perez should resign now. Let real primaries be the basis for selecting candidates. And a brokered convention is a good idea. JMO
YES! Bernie is unstoppable.
2
Clearly, Most Americans want Bernie. Many Trump-firsters ALSO want Bernie. Who is afraid of what? The rich elites, Red and Blue, are afraid they will have to share their wealth. Wake up DNC. You have a big winner on your hands. Bigger than Obama. Bernie's Town Hall on Fox TV proves it. The audience roared with approval at everything Bernie said. They even booed the female host when her questions got too nasty.
1
I find it nearly impossible to read the constant drumbeat of drivel against a very popular candidate that has been the hallmark of Times reporting and opinion on the presidential campaigns in 2016 and now again in 2020.
The Times is an excellent newspaper. Excellent when it comes in its ability to do investigative reporting and in-depth articles, but its opinion and reporting pieces on the presidential campaign show its elitist (read lots and lots of wealth and influence) makeup. Please, a little independent journalism here!
3
A vote for Sanders is a vote for Trump. He will never take Trump down. And as a result the Democrats won’t take the Senate back.
5
yes, and may lose a House majority too.
1
As the great baseball announcer , Jack Buck said about Kirk Gibson’s Ninth Inning Home Run in the 1988 World Series: “ I cannot believe what I just saw”. God Bless America. There really is hope .It’s almost scary good .
4
Bernie is espousing policy that has worked in all the Nordic states for over 50 years. These governments are all true democracy's (unlike ours) and they are all capitalist market economies. They are also the most educated,healthiest, and happiest people in the world. That could be us if you just don't buy in to the red baiting propaganda...most people don't anymore that's why Bernie's winning ....
4
@plamb
unfortunately our body politic is not informed by the history of Nordic states nor do we have the same electoral system.
1
Bernie proved in Nevada that he can build a diverse coalition of voters from Latino, to young voter 18-29, to Union members who are die hard loyal Democrats. Most importantly plus his favorability among all Democratic voters is near 76% nationwide, which is much higher than Trump's was during the 2016 GOP Primary.
I think all this talk about #PleasenotBernie is just the death rattle of a failed DNC that refuses to change to reflect the electorate. More importantly a Democratic leadership that waffles from one bad neo-liberal idea to the next.
I agree if the Democrats want to see if Bernie has the goods then the others who doe not get more than 15% of votes after Super Tuesday should drop out, and that includes Mayor Bloomberg.
This is a ground swell that will not be stopped. If Trump can do then most certainly the Democrats can do it and Sanders is just the tip of the spear for the next generation of new inspired, and much younger, leaders who actually want to do something about America's future...not just talk about it in worn out cliches.
4
The question is:: Is Trump Unstoppable?...unfortunately the answer may be Yes. At least the Russians think so with a Sanders Democratic nomination.
Democracy is about chaos and multi view policies. Pulling out is against the grain and un American. When it is over the parties will go to their corners and come out fighting. The race will be decided by the center and which way they will go.
2
@bzg1
Kerry, Gore would have easily beaten Trump. But that was when the Democratic Party was led by the Tip O'Neills. When it went to Wasserman-Shulz, and gal pals, it is now possible for a non-Democrat to hog tie the Democratic Primary. Just think of the monstrosity that's on show here.
1
@Kip Leitner
Hear the Bern.
Bernie will win the democratic candidacy. Once again, we have seen the American media serves special interest groups and lost its touch with the American people.
The race for the presidency between Trump and Bernie will be a close call. If the Bern ideology does not win this election, it will get even stronger during the next election. The corporations and the ultra-rich do not pay their share of the taxes. There is nothing wrong with democrats behaving like democrats.
5
@Dulcinea
So we were told by Ralph Nader's raiders in 2000.
How did that turn out?
Isn't it time for the Democrats to embrace what looks to me to be a movement towards Bernie instead of bashing him? Isn't it time for those writing articles about how horrible it is that Bernie is the possible nominee to see the forrest for the trees? If people turn out and vote for him, that is how America works. Sometimes we don't like the results, like Trump, but we must embrace the process. Bernie, if your listening, you have my vote if you are the chosen candidate.
5
I'm not certain if Bernie can be elected, and I like Elizabeth Warren, but consider this: Of all the Democratic candidates, Bernie's the one with the most passionate connection to his supporters. Democrats always want to nominate a candidate that appeals to the head; Sanders appeals to the heart, too. The question is whether his passionate supporters can generate enough enthusiasm to get those on the fence to vote for Bernie in the Presidential election. FWIW, we have a primary coming up in March in Michigan, and I haven't seen a single Bernie in my admittedly purple neighborhood - one that the Democrats need to help carry the state in November.
4
I would no more vote for Sanders Thani would stop taking an antibiotic earlier than advised. Why? Because the disease will come back stronger than before.
This is no time for experiments. Sanders the candidate is a big bet gamble and Sanders the President an experiment likely to fail due to a variety of factors. He’s old. His ideas lack support in Congress. If passed, his ideas will take our country too far left. Plus, he’s the real life illustration of all the legit reasons conservatives have for being against de,s.
And he’s soft on guns!
I’m hoping got a wild centrist push like Romney/Harris beached by Bloomberg and Conway. Here’s dreaming anyway.
1
@ GWE-
The Republicans were saying that it was no time for experiments four years ago, and that experiment was an unmitigated disaster. Bernie Sanders could hardly be worse.
1
@GWE
Antibiotics are your first mistake....
2
Even AOC is concerned about Bernie’s uncompromising position on getting a Medicare bill to pass Congress. He said the four year transition was enough of a compromise...
Two of three primary states so far went for Clinton 2016. Iowa was purple.
Let’s wait for the Super Tuesday results for the Democrats in red states. Read the 538 site polls til then; Virginia was a blue state, but Sanders is not cleaning any clocks there. He might win by a point, but a resounding mass of voters will not want Warren or him.
Whatever the primary results, Sanders must agree he needs 50 pct plus one delegate at the convention to win the nomination. He was the only candidate to disagree with that in the latest debate.
2
Realistically, for Democrats to beat Trump they’ll need Republicans and independents to vote Democrat.
4
Among those 18 to 24 years of age, 59 percent support Sanders.
None of them were alive when their parents voted for Ralph Nader and gave us eight years of Cheney/Bush/Rumsfeld.
6
@Mary Elizabeth Lease Yes, if the Nader voters had voted for Gore, Bush would have lost. But something like 300,000 Florida Democrats voted for Bush in 2000. Yet, when the centrist Democrat loses, who gets blamed? The Democrats who voted for Bush? No. Blame the progressives, of course! If Al Gore had merely won his home state of Tennessee, Florida would have been irrelevant. So I say, place the blame where it belongs: on mediocre centrists who flail about and fail to inspire Democrats to turn out on Election Day.
1
@Mary Elizabeth Lease And young people typically don't vote. Old people do.
2
Please tell me, once again: why is it so important to stop Bernie? Can't the please no Bernie folks step out of their privileged vantage point for one second and look at the issues that resonate with a majority of Americans? According to MOST polls I have ever seen, MOST Americans want free health care like most other civilized countries; MOST Americans want to tax the 1% and corporations and end the obscene income disparity; MOST Americans want to end injustice in all its manifold forms, etc., etc. In other words, MOST Americans believe in Bernies's position on the real issues that affect them, not whether this position is Socialist, Democratic- Socialist, or just plain reasonable.
2
@Richard
Ralph Nader 2000 yielded eight years of Cheney/Bush.
1
@jaco
That seems to be one of the big "please not Bernie" talking points, but it is simply wrong. Here's a conservative MSM article on the topic:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2020-polls-national-health-care-plan-favored-by-most-americans-cbs-news-poll-finds/
@Mary Elizabeth Lease
And Clinton yielded at least four years of Trumpism. Ya think maybe it's time for a more systematic change ?
Nearly 40 percent of Americans would struggle to cover an unexpected $400 expense, according to a May 2019 report by the Federal Reserve.
What would the corresponding number of half of Americans be? $1,000, tops?
It means half of Americans can't afford the co-pay of a relatively minor health setback of one person in their family.
People desperately want Medicare for all. Advanced societies take care of each other. Are we an advanced society? Or is even the most basic public service too much solidarity to ask?
2
@Audrey
To correct the problem you mention requires Congressional action to resolve.
Sanders cannot deliver that Congressional action.
2
I think it's WAY too early to call the race for Bernie. Yes, a small slice of Nevada voters chose him. And yes, demographically, Nevada is more diverse than Iowa and New Hampshire.
But Nevada is also a western desert state with a looming water crisis that's 4.4 times more dependent on tourism than the average state. In other words, it has very little in common with the swing states who will actually decide this election.
I think the bigger story out of Nevada is Pete Buttigieg, who despite being constantly hounded for having a "problem with people of color," somehow won nearly as many popular votes as Joe Biden, the guy who was supposed to be the top choice among POC. And this is in a diverse state.
2
If Bernie were to win the Presidency, he will inherit a nation profoundly broken by 4 years of Trump's mismanagement and outright attacks on our institutions and society. He is also very likely to face a badly divided Congress. So several questions:
Is Bernie flexible enough to deal with what he will find before trying to institute radical reforms?
If he submits his package of bills and finds them DOA, can Bernie work across the aisle on compromise?
Is there more to Bernie than the angry man on a pulpit that we seem to see so often?
Is Bernie flexible enough if he wins the Democratic nomination to appeal to the middle of the road voter he will need to win the election?
If the answer to one or more of these questions is "No," then I would think long and hard about making him our nominee.
4
Bernie Sanders has been mayor of Burlington and a Senator representing Vermont. He has extensive experience in government. He is not a pernicious human being without regard for the truth. He is not an adulterer. He has not paid hush money to women with whom he has had affairs. He has not stiffed contractors who worked on his buildings. He believes in the rule of law. He has ideas; some may not be palatable to a lot of people, but they are ideas nonetheless. He is knowledgeable. He understands that, if elected, he will be president, not emperor. He understands that our government has three coequal branches, not one executive with unlimited power. He is a thoughtful, conscientious human being. He has undoubtedly read--and likely understands--our Constitution, which puts him miles ahead of the current president. I don't always agree with him. But even on his worst day, he would be a supremely more competent, informed leader than the person currently occupying the White House.
13
All true. But Trump is not the standard by which we judge the readiness of a candidate to be president. If it were, then most of humanity we be qualified. But they are not.
3
@S. Bush
Well, if you it this way. Ok.
if i am generally healthy, i have satisfactory health coverage from my employer, my wait at the doctors office is not too long, my taxes have already gone higher in 2017 because of the salt limit and it is not in my self-interest for my taxes to go any higher, why should i vote for bernie versus amy, biden, and buttigieg? i am a moderate bernie supporters and their calling people who don't agree with their extremist views names will ensure that bernie loses in november.
3
@observer unfortunately the question US is facing today is much more serious. It is about the rule of the law against the rule of chaos.
Sanders, like it or not is the one who has larger (by far) following and who by all polls beats Trump. Voting for him mean victory for the Dems in November. It mean back to the rule of the constitution. Back to decency.
As for the fear of losing your insurance,
Private insurance will be continue being an option as it is in Europe and Canada. But as an alternative to fully tax covered health care. But you will have the choice.
If you are a Democrat and not a member of the ultra-rich, ask yourself, “Why am I opposed to Bernie?” Young people are flocking to him because unless they are the children of the ultra-rich, they know that the world we are currently leaving them is broken. Universal healthcare, what all the other industrialized countries provide, is evil and unpatriotic? Only if you have a stake in the fortunes of the for-profit pharmaceutical, health insurance, or private health care companies. What is patriotic is ensuring that no one dies a premature death or lives a painful life to ensure a wealthy few get luxurious lifestyles. What is patriotic is ensuring that all our children are educated to enrich their lives and contribute to their communities without living in debt for years. I am a senior citizen who is voting for Bernie to say YES to a new form of patriotism....leaving a world that is not broken for the next generation. Reading editorials such as this miss the point....we should not be saying NO to a better future by sticking with the status quo. Voting out Trump is not enough to say YES to a brighter future that is consistent with our nation’s values.
8
I was raised that accepting charity was shameful. We no longer experience shame in this country. I manage a dozen accounts for a firm that supplies security guards and warehouse workers to offices and factories. The turnover is astronomical due to the level of entitlement that we have built into American society. People who work for me and mage substantially more than I do have the temerity to complain about their pay then quit for another job without concern for the damage to the client, the cost of turnover or the impact on profits.
@Julie McCargar
Sure, the aim is universally desirable. The methodology to get there is not. Nationalizing the pharmaceutical industry as a state run enterprise working on the five year plan, does not work. Unless Sanders figures out a way to capitalize the nationalized pharmaceutical industry and research, it will not work. Others have tried, and failed, with far smarter, more empowered, and more driven resources.
Look at the photo. Very young people who can afford to be pure ideologues and are ignited by idealism. They also feel more than any other group, since they have no/few assets, the dynamic of so-called "income inequality."
A similar group of idealists also wanted Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern. Look where that got them.
Political suicide again, Dems.
9
@calleefornia
Young people who want somebody to pay their college loans. And those hospitality workers who want a free college education so they can advance to management of other hospitality workers. Not leading Oracle engineers.
Get stuff free crowd.
1
If Sanders becomes President, its will be the end of Capitalism as we know it, and we will join the 3rd world.We will become a welfare state.
Manufacturing will go overseas, the wealthy will hide their money
in Sweden, and other places in the world. Our Military will be greatly reduced, which will create aggressive China & Russia.
Without the support of America , Israel will become very vulnable, and disappear.
The only good thing that will come from this, is Sanders would be a one term Ptrsident.
At least we would be rid of Trump.
1
Bernie may not be stoppable ad the Democrat Party Presidential candidate, but he is not electable.
Congratulation to Trump and the Russians for Bernie's win.
3
Two party political system entrenched in the system that promoted political dynasties and influence of money in electoral politics . It only got worse ever since.
Since 2007-08 financial meltdown, a significant number of American voters became very suspicious while many became very frustrated and angry on political system that, they think, sacrificed national interest and common people to promote interest of big corporations, political parties and political dynasties.
Rise of a total outsider Trump to defeat all mainstream Republican politicians and even a couple of members of powerful political dynasties like Jeb Bush, was a very clear indication. Now seemingly unstoppable rise of Bernie Sanders in Democratic primary is another indication.
It's now a well fact that trust on politicians and Congress is all time low and declining. I hope both the political parties accept the reality and undertake structural change to address the issues. I hope Democratic party machinery would support Sanders's campaign than tactically sabotaging it.
One The Time article said, "Americans trust police officers, military leaders and local public officials more than members of Congress, tech leaders and journalists, according to a study published by the Pew Research Center"on Thursday" (22nd Sep. 2019)
2
Since you folks asked, here's why Bernie should be stopped. His leftist Democratic party will only bring us a Ping to battle with the Republican Pong and leave no-one in the middle. A center-left Democratic party has, on the other hand, the historic opportunity to assemble a new governing majority that could actually move us forward by something other than executive orders and legislative subterfuge. Check actual history -- FDR was a center-left candidate who forged coalitions, not a socialist or even close.
4
Sanders is a ‘savior’ candidate. It always makes me a little nervous when people get into ‘savior’ mode. Revolution has always been a particularly popular stance with young people. They have not yet seen ( or read about) how Revolutions usually fail.
I’m not sure Sanders followers realize the formidable power they are up against in the next election - and beyond. The now totally corrupt right wing Republican Party and it’s corporate benefactors will pull out all the stops to win, and if they lose the election - to obstruct any change to the status quo that benefits them alone. National Health Care will not happen for decades as too many people ( even ordinary people) are employed in this massive corrupt for profit industry.
I am still in wait and see mode. 6 months to the election. Plenty of time for fruit basket upset. Keeping my eye on Bloomberg, who may be more savvy and cunning in dealing with the ‘billionaire’ class, and have a more realistic assessment of what we are up against in challenging the formidable power of the corporate rich. And I think he realizes that this is an international problem, not just a national problem.
7
In these comments I've seen the word "relief" and I share that feeling. I've been a Warren supporter, but anticipate this will continue, and that it is now time to consider the challenges and promise of a Sanders candidacy.
I'm looking to the bright, Bernie side now. If David Brooks is right about candidates selling a myth over policy in personae, then Bernie has a lot of advantages over Trump. It will be far more endearing to have him out scolding the worst of his Bernie bro element than have a candidate issue phrases like "rough him up." He has more to gain, less to lose.
I want to see his campaign and the candidate conspicuously do a lot of things to calm the centrists; acknowledge the slow wheels and compromises built into representative democracy, crisply define what democratic socialism is and is not, and start assembling people around him who have experience in public service. Also, Stacey Abrams will make a fine VP on the ticket and she's reportedly open to it.
Time to calm down.
5
both putin and trump want sanders to win.these are warning signs. sanders is not even a democrat.he is an independant.he is too far to the right on guns and too far to the left on the rest of the issues. republicans in georgia who voted for obama in 2008 did not support bernie in 2016. they will not support him now.
5
Bernie may be unstoppable and he may win the Democratic nomination. However, no matter who wins the Democratic nomination there are those of us who will vote for anyone but Trump in order to stop the chaos. So, am I for Bernie now? No, but will I vote for him in November? You can bet on it. If some way the Dems prevail in November, the winner must not take that as an endorsement of Medicare for All or Soak the Rich taxes or anything else he or she ran on. We just don't want Trump.
10
The most thoughtful, level-headed and reasonable approach to the primaries yet. Well done.
3
I agree with many of the previous comments. Bernie is a sane, patriotic person. (Especially) if he has a solid, reasonable VP candidate he would be a fantastic candidate. Look at the coalition that he's assembled. Can we agree that if he brings in young folks in large numbers, in addition to minorities and unions, he will win. For me, anyone blue will do.
6
What really upset me was Elizabeth Warren’s concession speech last night. All she did was bash Bloomberg again and praise Bernie. She never mentioned Trump. I am convinced Sanders and Warren have a pact to run defense against anyone else running for the nomination. I can’t imagine any mainstream Democrat being on the ticket with Sanders. I bet he he asks Warren to be his running mate. As if he not already unelectable enough.
6
Is Bernie unstoppable? Yes. And all those who love America and the American people should be glad for that. Those who for the last 40 years have been asking not what they can do for their country or their people but what their country can do for their bottom line? Not so much.
2
@KenC Bernie is stoppable...in November. The Republican onslaught will be relentless. All Bernie's comments from the past will be aired. His programs will be attacked as socialism, every day on TV and in scary adds. His health records will be questioned and Trump will be talking about his heart attack. The campaign against Bernie will be an epic new low in American politics. I just do not have confidence at all that the Democratic party can handle it in its current state of weakness. With a clear lack of unity that will come whether Bernie wins or loses the nomination, this fight is Trump's to lose.
3
@The Hawk
A succinct, if not frightening account of all the things we have to look forward to, because no doubt, the Republican-attack machine is already gearing up for what will be an incredibly ugly chapter in this country's history.
1
Over 65s wouldn't support Sanders in Nevada. Why? The old are more conservative? No. The elderly know a decrepit president is not good for America (or heading a corporation for that matter). Average age of death for American men? 78. Probability of a second heart attack shortly after the first? Very high. Probability of a near 80 year old man surviving that second heart attack? Low. Quite apart from Sanders' anemic record of achievement and divisive policy agenda he's just too old and frail to serve as president (like Biden). But then: does it matter? If the wheels stay on the economy and that other geriatric, opponent Trump, doesn't die or become patently demented, Trump will sail back into office whomsoever ends up running against him. Already Trump's popularity is rising. Sanders, as in 2016, is symptomatic of just how irrelevant and useless the Democratic party has become.
5
Call me a skeptic. If Sanders wins this thing and ends up going toe to toe with Trump I will predict he will immediately be on the defensive by Republican attack dogs and Trump himself. Outright lies, mistruths and slander will be thrown Sanders’ way. He’ll be accused of trying to nationalize health care and throwing the entire private health care industry out of work. He’ll be accused of outdoing Sweden and Norway in taxing high wealth individuals. He’ll be accused of being an old fashioned Communist because he showed sympathy in his youth and because he honeymooned there. He’ll be asked why he calls himself a socialist, a word that is anathema to most Americans. He’ll be accused of being pie in the sky with his free for all education. He’ll be accused of attempting to rein in Wall Street. Not that any of this is totally true, but it means that Sanders will be forced to defend himself instead of attacking Trump. Not a recipe for winning.
2
There is a more electable (IMO) progressive running. How can you write this op ed piece and discuss every leading candidate except Elizabeth Warren? Does she not exist?
7
Douthat is spot-on. The problem is that hope springs eternal with the sure losers and, more importantly, they are more interested in their own perceived self-interest than defeating Trump. Sanders has vanquished his opponent in the Progressive lane ( Warren) and she is a non-factor. The Moderate lane has enough people who will stay in until the money dries up and that is too late to stop Sanders. Sanders will win the young people, the Ivy League vote and those who believe in the Tooth Fairy but the overwhelming majority who will see through the nonsense of free everything, a new Medicare which will lose the insurance of millions and inevitably end Medicare as we know it (isn't that what we always charged Republicans with?). We will get four more years of Trump. Politicians are selfish and don't quit when their time is up for the greater good. It's in their DNA.
2
No one could accuse Mr. Trump of being competent, fair, a person of integrity and stability, presidential or a president of all Americans.
Nor is there any evidence that the Republican Party cares a whit about the middle class, children, science, health care, climate change, diplomacy in foreign relations, the rising economic inequality and the consequences of their tax cut for the rich that skyrocketed the federal deficit.
So by comparison, nothing makes "socialism" (actually "democratic socialism," as in the Scandinavian countries) and Bernie look far more attractive to informed American voters than this dictatorial, chaotic, unethical administration run by Trump, the Trump-Republican Party, and Fox state news, where the Constitution, law and human decency no longer matter.
Actually, back in the 1960s, Bernie's politics would be considered moderate in the Democratic party.
Remember the top tax bracket was 90% in the Eisenhower administration, and there was massive federal spending on infrastructure, schools, and science (thanks to Sputnik).
Now we have socialism for big corporations and the rich, but dog-eat-dog, Charles Dickens' capitalism for the rest of us.
If it is Bernie as the Democratic presidential nominee, so be it. Any intelligent, thoughtful, politically experienced person but Trump and the GOP!
9
@PB
Nevermind that the Scandinavian countries have practically closed immigration systems compared to ours or that their middle and working classes pay higher taxes than our rich.
More to the point are you willing to severely restrict immigration and pay a 25% sales tax in order to have "free" healthcare? Because that's how it works in the Nordic countries.
2
@I want another option
We in Germany have freue health care and free education die everyone despite a lot of immigration in recent years. Economy ist strong and starr debts are low. The crime rates are very low as well.
Yes the taxes are higher, but the average people are gar better off than in the US
1
@Christian
I've been to Germany multiple times. Great country, people, and culture, but I prefer living here. From what I've observed the top 50% live more comfortably in America than Europe, while the bottom 50% are more comfortable in Europe than America. And as you admitted Europeans across all incomes pay a lot more in taxes the services they receive. Meanwhile Bernie (and the rest of the Democrats) are campaigning on the idea that America can have a European style welfare state without European style taxation.
2016 it was the social media which was allegedly rigged to favour Trump. 2020, opinions and news items are doing the job better
2
Exactly what happened in 2016 is happening again, and for exactly the same reasons. The destruction of the labor movement in the 1980s with the full cooperation of the Democratic Party, combined with increasingly predatory capitalism and extreme wealth concentration.
Trump of course was a false prophet, but anything’s better than four more years of Bill-n-Hill. The Trump administration has served the useful purpose of catalyzing the breakdown of utterly unaccountable government.
I’m bewildered by the media’s negative reaction to all this, as the dynamics in play are highly accretive to circulation and as revenue.
1
Sanders has a soft, warm grandfatherly appearance, sound, and demeanor. But beneath that facade there is a meanness. His ideology, too, appears warm and caring on the outside. But beneath is meanness there as well.
Sanders preaches a warm, fuzzy socialism. But he is incapable of simply standing for a warm, caring economic structure. Sanders is compelled to find an evil bogeyman to blame for all our current ills. Sanders' names his evil bogeyman "billionaires" but he means more that just the small number of people who have a billion....he means all who have more money than Sanders does.
Sanders personal meanness revealed itself when he was Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and had oversight of the VA medical care system (the giant, truly socialist medical care system operated by the US government). He was so protective of his socialist health care VA system, that he ignored all the many reports of the VA intentionally severely delaying treatment to many patients. Those severe delays caused unnecessary long periods of patient suffering from their medical conditions. It resulted in some patients dying from their conditions before ever being provided treatment. Clearly, protecting his socialist medical system was his first priority, and he was perfectly willing and content to make patients suffer and die in order to protect his government medical care system.
Sanders personal meanness is also revealed by his embrace of Israel haters like Ilhan Omar.
3
I enjoy Ross Douthat's columns but one has to always keep in mind that he is a staunch Republicans. His columns about the Democratic Party and the Democratic Candidates is always levened shti a strong dose of Republican Conservatism.
So it is prudent to take his pronouncements with a grain of salt as it is hard to determine whether his political analysis is unbiased or an attempt to skew things toward a Republican win.
3
I've been looking for the headline that accurately reports the outcome in Nevada that isn't about a horse race.
Fully half of the voters in Nevada said NO!! to Sanders' candidacy.
3
@Mary Elizabeth Lease Those voters said they preferred another candiate. By your logic, more than 80% of voters said NO!! to Biden's candidacy.
Neoliberalism has been absolutely fantastic at creating wealth, but it has been abysmal at distributing that wealth, and the American public has woken up to that truth. For this reason, a Hilary 2.0 candidate would be an electoral disaster.
2
Mr Sanders is incapable of winning a general election against Trump in Pa, Oh, IA, Mich, Wisc or Fl. All the other states are already decided. If Democratic voters don't wake up its over. Liberal democrats, on the whole, are quite arrogant. They think they know better. Nominating a socialist will play directly into the hands of the GOP and their standard playbook. One fear commercial after another. How misguided can a party be?
I hope they enjoy their four (or more) more years of Trump.
6
Not so fast! Sanders narrowly beat Clinton in the Michigan primary in 2016. Statewide political analysts back then believed he would've beat Trump.
@Midd American
Sorry to disagree. But in 2016 , Sanders not only tanked in South Carolina, but in getting the Black Democratic vote in general.
Without it, both then and NOW -- he's toast.
Unlike the other candidates, Bernie has a message and off-beat personality that creates excitement. There is no enthusiasm for Biden and he's been shaky. Bloomberg should drop out after his wooden, awful (yet revealing) performance on stage. He has all the charisma of a patched rocking chair, and Trump would destroy him in the Presidential debates.
2
sanders is too far to the left. it is early in the primaries.biden and buttigieg are better choices. nevada does not represent pennyslvania, michigan and wisconsin which are mostly white and have few latinos.
3
Ross offers us three nice tips for undermining the democratic will of primary/caucus voters.
2
No matter who the Democratic nominee is, this country needs to rally behind him or her.
It's a matter of life or death.
3
Sky has already fallen.
GOP has already shattered American values and treasury.
It's time for Dem to take back the control and really make America great for real.(not just in tweets)
1
Oh a right wing conservative doesn’t like a liberal. Color me shocked.
And remind me why democratic primary voters should care what the conservative intelligentsia thinks about their candidate?
1
Just vote people, the objective is to get rid of trump. Let's stop bickering....remember 2016??
5
I have seen it so often in the panicking Mainstream Media that I am starting to think that Senator Sander's first name is not 'Bernie' but 'Can-We-Stop'!
1
Either America supports the common man or we throw away 244 years and become Russia. Bernie is the American in the race.
4
Puzzled about the headline , I looked into the background of this columnist.
Douthat great-grandfather was Governor Charles Wilbert Snow of Connecticut. His father, Charles Douthat, is a partner in a New Haven law firm . Ross Douthat attended Hamden Hall, a private high school in Hamden, Connecticut before attending Harvard.
All laudable and very impressive but it also explains his inability why Sanders does well with those who do not well as he did.
As someone who started his working life working in a car parts factory I do.
2
For Republicans, Sanders is perfect. This election is shaping up to be 1984 all over again when Mondale lost 49 states. Republicans will be even more motivated to stop a socialist curmudgeon.
4
@Keith Colonna
Don't forget Nixon v. McGovern in 1972 and Regan v. Carter in 1980.
I’m not a “mainstream media is doing X and Y” person but what NYT and WaPo always seem to be skeptical and doubtful Bernie, why? He’s decent man that wants to help the average American. What’s so bad about his platform? I don’t see it.
3
I believe there are great doubts about the financial numbers adding up. Mr. Sanders needs to provide the numbers to explain to the doubters how his platform proposals will work in the real world.
@Louis B
Bernie refuses to discuss how much it will cost or how it will be paid for. Plus aside from the occasional hand up, the average American wants a good paying job not the government handouts Bernie is promising.
It's not just America's political class that is in a state of panic. Pivot between Douthat's and Bruni's columns in the NY Times, and you get the sense that in the eyes of elite journalists the Barbarians have crossed the Danube and are moving south. Little has changed over the millennia. Of course, by the time that Barbarians did sack Rome they had long since begun the process of domesticating themselves and altering Roman practice as they slowly encroached on Roman lands. Mr. Douthat and Mr. Bruni should simply enjoy the slow-motion process of being sacked.
What is wrong with a country that has Donald Trump as its President, if the best that country come up with to replace him is Bernie Sanders? At that point, the counties people are obviously being manipulated by some demonic external force, like Russia, they have been cursed, or they should take “ in God we trust” off of their money because God doesn’t like them anymore.
I wonder how many of Bernie contributers (besides myself) and Trump supporters?
2
@Reader In Wash, DC
Bad typing:
I wonder how many of Bernie contributers (besides myself) ARE Trump supporters?
1
If Sanders gets the nomination, I will vote for him even though I do not support his ethos for president. The choice of Trump is not an option. I have had enough of this fool for the last four years.
7
I’m a swing voter. Trump is terrible, but if the choice is that socialist loonie Bernie, I’ll hold my nose and vote for Trump.
I’d be more than happy to vote for Bloomberg, who is obviously smart and competent.
Are you Democrats listening?
Trump beat Hilary. Hilary beat Bernie. Therefore Trump will beat Bernie. Isn’t this obvious?
4
The more fear-mongering about Sanders I read in the NYT (Lisa Lerer’s piece today is really outrageous, but no comments section there to say why) the more I feel inclined to donate for the very first time to a political candidate-the one from VT.
1
I think Sanders could be a good president - except for his No Choice stand on Medicare - but my problem is he just isn't likable. He's an angry shouter. I don't like angry shouters in any walk of life and certainly not in the White House. Also, and this may seem trivial, he lacks elegance. He's a bumpkin. I have some bumpkin buddies at my gym I like just fine, but they are not running for president, and if they were I doubt I would vote for them. Buttigieg please. The man is a class act.
6
@Independent Voter
you lost me when you wrote, "I have some bumpkin buddies at my gym..."
and it wasn't the "bumpkin" it was the "my gym".
Trump was an outsider because he was/is a deranged criminal bent on destroying our government for his personal benefit.
Sanders is an outsider because he has integrity. Not the same thing. And he can beat Trump. All we need to do is let it happen.
2
The “moderate Republicans” on the NY Times, Brooks and Douhat, would have you believe that Trump and Sanders are equivalent - one radical on the right, one on the left. This is a Republican talking point. Sanders is an authentic progressive populist, Trump is corrupt, criminal oligarch. They are in no way equal. Does no one talk of character or integrity? These pundits are nauseating, and will no longer be read by me.
2
I typically don't necessarily agree with Douthat much. He is right this time! I hope all 3 B's understand this.
Why should the Dems be worried about repeating the GOP's patterns from 2016? The GOP won that election!
I get the fact that the political dynamics seem similar. However, the personal dynamics are very different.
Bernie Sanders has egalitarian policies that could help anyone. Donald Trump has policies that favor Donald Trump.
Bernie Sanders isn’t afraid of the truth. Donald Trump is pathological liar.
Bernie Sanders wants to make the world a better place. Donald Trump is on the wrong side of history.
2
Stop comparing Bernie to Trump. Trump is the trashiest of trash and an insult to the institution of the American Presidency. Bernie is an honest solid rock that has been fighting all his political life (over 40 years) for the benefit of the American people, making wise decisions in terms of how he votes in Congress and which bills he proposes. He is the epitome of experience, constancy and decency. You should be ashamed to compare him to Trump. The actual problem here is the establishment. People of all political persuasions are fed up. Stop trying to preserve a system that does not work merely because you are comfortable within it.
4
To all of those moderate Democrats who are bemoaning everything, here's a thought. Many of us have held our noses and voted for corporate Democrats - for years. How about you hold your nose and vote for someone a bit out of your comfort zone. How about NOT first considering your own comfortable middle-class life, your private healthcare, and your privilege?
3
Trump 2020 doesn't look less unlikely....
1
Again, rearranging the deck chairs on the Democrat Titanic is futile.
In the end, Iceberg Trump will sink them all.
5
I am a Democrat. If Bernie is the candidate, I will vote for him. If the poodle who won at Westminster is the candidate, the pooch gets my vote. I will pull the lever for Bernie and then return home to cocoon under my covers until Trump declares victory and then I will be physically ill. And terrified. But not surprised as I was in 2016 when the Don was just a bad joke.
Bernie is unelectable. The majority of Democrats, including myself, do not want a socialist candidate. People hear socialism and imagine five year waits to see a doctor for a hangnail. They associate socialism with communism, as Bloomberg made clear at the debate. When the average person thinks of communism, he or she envisions herself waiting on line for three days for a roll of toilet paper.
After Trump wins, there will be 200 books written about why the Dems lost. Again. Open borders. Socialism. Free heathcare for illegal immigrants. My friend, a Trumpist, suggested the Dems could win by having Tom Hanks as a candidate. Tom, are you out there?
3
Not one mention of Elizabeth Warren. Shameful.
Bernie won’t beat Trump. The man went to the Soviet Union for his honeymoon, for God’s sake (Romantic, Bern!). Trump’s attack ads will write themselves...
America is largely a center-right country. Trump won’t repeat “Socialist” a million times. He’ll skip straight to “Communist”, and will ask Americans how they like the thought of their country becoming North Korea. A Bernie candidacy is 4 more years of Trump.
Bernie must be stopped! Otherwise: Trump ‘20. Wake up Democrats. Wake up. Slap yourselves in the face. Hard! This is the person you date, not the person you marry. It’s altar time now.
Oy vey.
3
Why do Democrats believe that all of the voters supporting moderate candidates are just going to fall in line and vote for Bernie if he wins the nomination?
There are millions of moderates who firmly believe that a self avowed socialist is far more dangerous to this country than 4 more years of a boorish buffoon like Trump.
I may be wrong here, but I think a large percentage of Biden voters are just as likely to cross over to Trump as they are to Bernie.
4
@Jason
sad and true
Who would have thought when the wall came down and the Soviet’s seemed to have lost the Cold War that they would have the last laugh with the possibility of a committed Socialist in the White House.
1
A democratic socialist is still a socialist.
1
"...So if you are, say, Amy Klobuchar, the fact that you have a solid case for your own electability is not a reason to stick around for Super Tuesday...
Ross – at this point, Amy’d be hard-pressed to give a reason why she should stick around till the casinos start serving free breakfast buffets tomorrow AM…
Now, if Liz’s Super PAC can provide her enough denaro to continue to harangue Mike about releasing more people from their NDA’s – that won’t become fatally tiresome till about noon Tuesday (EST)…
As of the last debate, Dems have 5 ½ dogs in the hunt…
Out of deference to Joe’s half-century of service, we can pretend he’s not embarrassing himself for another week or so…
As far as the DNC, all they’d have had to do is to limit the number of participants to at 5 1/2 as of the last debate, and insist on 1 ½ less participants for each successive debate…
And change the rules so candidates can offer their staffs buy-outs – and then don’t stand in front of the exit door…
PS
Lemme scare the Big Guy into further upping his game – because two can play at hardball-Illinois politics…
I keep lookin’ at who could run as Bernie’s veep – and not deliver 400 electoral votes and both the House and the Senate…
To Trump…
And Rahm Emmanuel’s name just keeps emerging from that murk inside the 8-ball…
I just have this fatal soft spot for people who can actually run a big city…
PPS
Imagine two such people on the Dem ticket…
Enough to flash the covfefe-signal into the sky at 3 AM…
if these people are Patriots, Warren/Bloomberg.
Bernie will be the first Jewish and openly Democratic Socialist President of the United States.
Bless him and may the Lord grant him a long and healthy life.
I love him dearly.
3
This was sent yesterday!
Don't fret. Get onboard the Love Train!
3
Just watched Inside Job, a documentary about the 2008 financial crisis. Check it out, it's pretty good. Why would anyone want to overthrow the status quo? It's been working so well....
Four more years! Dow 35K!
3
When are people going to get it....Reality will win over Ideology all the time...Exhorting your supporters with empassioned arm flailing speeches and unfulfillable promises is not reality..
2
Some loose thoughts:
1) If we go into a brokered convention and that looks very likely at this point. One faction or the other is going to come out of it feeling they got robbed. And more likely than not a proportion of their followers will stay home. Not good, But in a party with no real leadership....inevitable.
2) Could Sanders win the election? Possible not a strong bet but possible. Could he get a bill renaming an outhouse in the Bitterroot national Forest much less the policies he's advocating through Congress? Nope! Which makes him rather a bad choice.
3) Biden gives the impression he's half awake at the best of times. And combines that with giving the impression he thinks the voters are stupid or just doesn't care about the fact that a plurality of the voters believe his son is corrupt and he probably is. Not a good bet either.
4) Mr. Buttgieg it won't make me popular but I don't think the country is ready for an openly gay President. And even if our country is a big chunk of the countries a President MUST deal with are not. Another bad bet.
5) Bloomberg ? A rich Republican to defeat a rich Republican! There is a choice that will inspire the voters...to stay home!
6) Warren? No Charisma but at least studies things. Unlike so many of her fellows doesn't come off has needing a hunting dog to find her ????. Good but not inspirational choice.
Hopefully these views from outside the echo chamber help.
1
Stop Sanders. Stop Trump. Stop billionaires. Stop moderates. Stop minorities. Stop immigrants. Stop abortions. Stop gun control. Stop middle America. Stop coastal liberals. Stop McConnell. Stop congressional investigations. Stop the greatest deliberative body of 100 senators from hearing evidence. Stop the Supreme Court slide to right wing decisions. Stop the intelligence community. Stop the FBI. Stop career prosecutors in Justice Department.
I detect a pattern.
What are we willing to go for? Can we believe anyone who can tell us?
1
Thank heaven we have good conservatives to help keep us proles in line.
3
Though officially an "Independent," Bernie Sanders is not a pirate taking over the Democratic Party, he's the swashbuckling Democratic hero throwing the actual pirates off the ship that hijacked it some 30 years ago. The corporate, Republican-Lite "Democrats" who have held sway in the party since Bill Clinton betrayed not just the party's economic philosophy and working class base, but also its true progressive legacy. Even Barack Obama wore the eye patch, flying the black sails of "moderation" and "incrementalism" into a decimation of the Democratic Party nationwide like never seen before (losing the House, the Senate, 13 Governorships, 816 state legislative seats... oh yes, and a Supreme Court seat). Obama, Biden and Bloomberg are not the ideological grandsons of Franklin Roosevelt... Bernie is! Remember, Republicans pejoratively called FDR a "Socialist" also. He embraced it... and the hatred of the financial elite. The comparison to Trump's takeover of the Republicans is simplistic, and actually scurrilous. Whereas the Republicans threw themselves prostate to a vainglorious charlatan, liar, lout and dangerous would-be traitor, at long last a true Democratic champion is here, not to capture the party but to liberate it. I've been waiting since Bobby Kennedy to see this again. Those who oppose Bernie oppose the very best of true American ideals! You can call it "democratic socialism.' Or you can call it Liberty. Equality. Justice. Pursuit of Happiness. For All.
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The only thing the Bern has going is the consistency of refusing to tell us how he is going to pay for (1) health care, (2) student loans, (3) illegal immigrant benefits as they poor into the US, etc... I bet the Bern will not offer up his homes or his money to do so!
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Yes, Sanders is unstoppable. Come on, Ross: You can't beat 'em, so you might as well join 'em. Enough of your hand-wringing. Let yourself feel the Bern!
Warren should have been the person to beat Sanders. I have hopes she still can. In the last debate, she showed that she is willing to fight for the presidency. Bloomberg should just be a warm-up. He's not the biggest obstacle to her winning the nomination. Sanders is. Her fight with Bloomberg arguably helped Sanders more than her.
She has always played softball with Sanders. She needs to go after him just like she did Bloomberg, maybe not quite the evisceration, but certainly a number of body slams. If she's not willing to do that, it signals that she doesn't want to be president. Waiting for moderates to bring to light the many problems with him won't work. They aren't running as a pair.
This likely will antagonize Sander's more vicious supporters, like last time. If that happens, let's see screen shots of all their messages. Sanders suggesting they're Russian trolls is sophistry. If the Russians are trying to get him nominated, that's the last thing they'd do: It makes him less electable, not more.
Some of us donated to her campaign in response to the snakes. $nakes. Chances are she will gain his civil supporters and lose the vicious ones. In their place will be a lot of others.
Like me. Warren is my top candidate. Bernie is at the bottom. Most friends feel the same way. Why would that be? Mainly his chances of losing in November. Warren has a good shot at winning. She has to take it.
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Why are the two liberal newspapers, WAPO and NYT as well as CNN working so hard to undermine Bernie Sanders? Could their owners be threatened by Sander's progressive ideology?
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Seems that for the tone of your report that you are missing the old good days of old Democratic establishment, at least ,try to dissimulate.
Bernie Sanders = Jeremy Corbyn.
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The Democratic Party is being driven off the cliff by a egotistical group of about six people. And quite frankly, a lot of Dems are angry, exhausted and dispirited. Democratic candidates, please spare us your narcissism....we have more than enough of that already in the White House. It is past time to for a reality check on your pride, and for you to act in the best interest of our country by stepping out of this race.
Imagine referring to voters as "a band of pirates".
Yes... He is unstoppable, because people are fed up with the establishment... People need a break... And Bernie is the only one who can deliver it... So NY Times get used to it. And there is no reason to stop him. And never compare him to Trump... I know you can do better.
Bernie Sanders IS "unstoppable!"
At least, until the DNC decides to pull another 2016.
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So come Nov 2020 which is it for you, R. Douthat, the never-before-been-elected-even-dogcacher DJT, or Bernie Sanders?
Why?
It is an illusion to think there will be a "transformation" of our country under Sanders. Even a Democratic-controlled Senate would block most of his ideas. But I will hope he gets into office just to ensure Trump doesn't get his hands on the Supreme Court again.
It is incredible the number of Op-Eds etc., in the last few days, dedicated to beating Sanders or the consequences of his nomination. Yesterday, it was that super delegates might stop him. Today Mr. Douthat suggest getting some to drop out might do the trick. Other Op-Eds proclaim the Democrats are in trouble or worse, headed for a disaster. All of this because of Sanders. There is little or no discussion as to why Sanders is able to uproot the Democrat's leadership. Is it his message of socialism or that people are tired of "Where's the Beef" politics. The main hope is they can, with the help of Supper Delegates, overwhelm Sanders' plurality. Super Delegates played a big part of 2016. Most were pledged to Clinton before the first vote was cast in the primaries. The email leaks exposed the DNC's efforts to stop Sanders. His followers were outraged. How much more will they be if he goes into the convention with plurality but the party leaders find a way to dump him? I suspect a lot. Regardless of who is nominated, They will face Trump whose messages are simple. "Promises Kept" and "I returned power to you but they spent three years trying to take back. Don't Let Them." Or maybe, "They didn't just try to impeach me. They wanted to impeach you as well. Remember that when you vote." It will be a harsh road to the election. for whoever is nominated.
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I just read an analysis of Sanders' healthcare plan in Lancet, a respected medical journal on a par with JAMA. I'll give you the bottom line: His plan works. Way better than what we have now.
While the Lancet article addressed the economics of Bernie's plan, it did not address softer barriers that could defeat it. Hundreds of billions of dollars now flow out of our current multi-level healthcare delivery system to millions of employees, tens of thousands of shareholders and thousands of executives of all kinds of organizations, for-profit and nonprofit. They will not surrender easily. The pharmaceutical lobby, for instance, is one of the biggest in Washington where corruption and wealth extraction rule.
And then there is our well-founded, shared distrust and cynicism about our government's ability to do anything right for ordinary citizens. Corruption always seems to pervert good intentions. We should fix government before we let government fix healthcare.
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Even though it's not readily visible enough to clearly impact all of us as individuals daily, climate change - survival of our only planet - is the only real issue that matters. And in order to have any chance to slowing, stopping and reversing climate change, our very system, our current way of life, our core economic systems need to change in a very big way. It's the big ideas, the long shots, the absolutely go-forbroke chances that create true change. The only one who can and will lead that charge is Bernie.
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I'm a life long liberal and having a hard time making myself support Bernie, although I will if he gets the nomination. He's an angry old man carrying socialist baggage and his "my way or no way" attitude means that he won't accomplish much of what he proposes. It's obvious that there were/are too many moderate Dems in the race for one to emerge as the clear leader, so the progressive in the room who shouted the loudest will probably prevail. Let's just hope that all the "Bernie Bros" won't have something more important to do on election day than vote.
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I am in total agreement. And, it will take a democratically controlled senate for any of Sander’s programs to be enacted...even then it will be a stretch. I’m thinking that too many stars will have to aligned for Sander’s programs to get through Congress, even one controlled by Democrats...now, if there were a candidate offering Sanders light...
Liberals are only halfway there. A foot on the shore and a foot in the boat.They won't get us far enough-as we all should have learned by the Obama presidency. Obama was a very gracious and intelligent person who couldn't stick to his principles and compromised too quickly. Hence the lack of accomplishment. Halfway to a good medical system and a push towards environmental and climate change policy which is all been rolled back by the next administration. We need somebody who will not bend so quickly and will accomplish things for the greater good for all the people. Middle-aged white liberals feel threatened by Bernie's passion and the title of socialism even though both Trump and Bernie agree that Denmark is a very good model. Don't be frightened. We need big change because people are being ground up by the prison system and the environment is in severe crisis. principles. Go Bernie!! A foot on the shore and a foot in the boat.
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Bernie’s overwhelming victory in Nevada has regenerated my passion for voting again! My heart Soars like the Eagle! This is what I’ve been waiting for, all 65 years of my life. A man who sees the problems, and calls them out. A man who knows what flag to pledge allegiance to, and views his fellow citizens as equals, not a threat to his power. It will not be an easy journey and it will take large amounts of money, but doable. LET’S MAKE AMERICA A DEMOCRACY AGAIN.
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Pundits and the media need a Sanders candidacy nearly as much as does Trump.
Sanders v. Trump makes punditry easy—no in depth analysis or original thought required—and the headlines that will drive eyeballs to web sites will write themselves.
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We have to recognise that the majority of Americans are not doing too badly under Trump. The majority care little for abstract issues like the rule of law or the treatment of minorities in the abstract, the majority have acceptable healthcare provided by their employers, the majority have small IRAs that are getting bigger. The challenge for Democrats is to persuade a sizeable chunk of this majority to vote essentially out of a sense of empathy with the minority which is being harmed by the Trump administration- you do not do this by offering them a candidate whose policies they perceive as damaging their own self interest.
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@John Stroughair
I agree that Bernie has to make it more clear as to how his platform will work for the common good.
One example: We'd pay $2,000 in increased taxes and save $5,000 in copays, deductibles, etc. People come out ahead and everyone gains health coverage.
Second: Streamline all insurance companies etc into a more efficient Medicare for All and give the new jobs to the workers from the former.
End the unbelievable profit being made by the health industry. (Looks like the Culinary Union workers in Nevada-not their bosses in the office upstairs- like this a lot and so voted for Bernie overwhelmingly.)
Add to that the "lovely intangibles" such as addressing climate change, working for the common good, and let's throw in world peace because Bernie is not about starting wars when pressured by the military/industrial faction.
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@John Stroughair - The rosy scenario you're portraying is written through the lens of the status quo. This is the lane that Trump exploits and dominates painting a stark contrast between racial divides. Sanders, on the other hand, has clear cut, genuine policies that will lift up the majority of workers lives. It is not based on division but rather on improving what the majority view as an unequal and unjust system where the very wealthy pay little or no taxes while the working stiff is expected to carry the load. Trump is only pretending to represent the "forgotten" men and women while Sanders is the real deal. He doesn't plan on passing tax cuts for corporations or billionaires but rather increase the minimum wage, provide healthcare for all, seek to transform the old ossified system which is rigged to favor the uber wealthy and return our country to a working democracy that functioned prior to the Reagan corporate takeover in the 1980s. People who voted for Eisenhower weren't threatened by his, by today's standard, radical policies that resulted in a more equal and democratic society and warned of the dangers of a military industrial complex that would gobble up the federal budget. No one complained after FDR enacted sweeping changes to the government resulting in improving the economy as well as the majority of Americans lives. People need to remove the veil of fear that freezes them in place & embrace positive change from a proven political leader not a charlatan.
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@John Stroughair
what??? "the majority have health care that is acceptable" is only true in the sense that something is better than nothing. It is expensive, confusing and many will have their sense of security pulled out from under them if they actually get sick and need to be hospitalized. Also, if you are a woman, forget it. If you can find a health care provider in rural areas, good for you. otherwise prepare to travel, to pay out of pocket for birth control or other women's services that aren't covered. we are half the population but not included in the yardstick to measure access to health care.
want clean water? or, in the West, do you simply want water? a plan to mitigate the effects of climate change--for anyone other than the rich? cities that aren't becoming unbearable heat islands? education that doesn't require the average person to take on crushing debt? do you have a son or daughter in the military ready to be sacrificed for a rich chicken-hawk's macho adventure? the Republicans made the world more dangerous for our soldiers by promoting and celebrating torture. do you want a CDC and NIH that can help stop viruses from turning into a pandemic? these are all programs Trump and his cronies have undermined and defunded.
if you have a laser focus on your bank account by all means don't look away and see everything else crashing down around you. we have been sold a bill of goods for the short term and I am disgusted by those who don't care.
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Another possibility might be that Sanders could be encouraged to soften his message somewhat as he nears the general election. That’s not likely to work, but probably as likely as the other candidates joining forces.
I'm kind of mystified at the PleaseNotBernie movement. I get it that you find his policies too extreme.
But overall, he's for things most Democrats are in favor of - improving access to health care and college.
The electibility concern is rubbish. The thing a candidate needs for electibility is a clear message that inspires people. Obama had it. Trump had it and will have it again in 2020. Hillary did not. Bernie certainly, 100% does. I don't believe he'll accomplish the revolution he's talking about, but I do believe that he'll attempt to move the country towards more progressive policies. For example, a huge tax increase on the wealthy seems like an obvious play. And that's good!
It'll be ok guys.
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@Kevin
I'm mystified by people who pick Bernie over Warren. Warren supports most of the same policies, has a record of *actual* accomplishment, but without the baggage of being a self-identified socialist. She is also nearly a decade younger with no heart problems so isn't a 10%-chance-of-dying-on-the-campaign-trail risk.
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Free stuff isn’t free and unfortunately he definitely WILL lose to trump.
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@Kevin
Sanders is unelectable.
He won't be able to deliver a single program or policy he is running on.
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If he wins the primary, I hope that Bernie will choose a moderate as vice-president. That will give him a better chance and it will help with down ticket races, giving a better shot at healthcare reform. I know that's unlikely. Barring that, I'd like to see Warren. I think she will help with suburban women voters. After that someone who has been more effective than he has in Congress. Sherrod Brown, Julian Castro come to mind. They may help regionally.
I think a Warren nomination would have been better and I'm still voting for her in the primary. It's a long shot. She'd have a better chance with the down ticket races, and has more detailed plans. Also, she is a progressive Democrat. If anyone looks up the definition of Social Democracy, they will see a problem when Trump starts the propaganda machine. It's not like Denmark.
Even though I like Warren best, I'm very worried about Sander's chances. There are actually more Republicans who don't vote than Democrats. This is research-based. I really hope Sanders can appeal to disaffected Republicans. He will have the moderate Dems in the general, so his supporters need to lay off them and start going after Trump. Very worried.
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Every time Sanders has a victory I have to brace myself for the onslaught of negativity I know is coming from the mainstream liberal media. Sanders has won all 3 primaries at this point, the most recent being a landslide victory. I wish the media would accept that the people want Sanders, rather than try to undermine him at every turn. We need unity and what we’re getting instead is baseless comparisons and more division.
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No well meaning Democrat who wants to make the country better should follow any advice given by Mr. Douthat. He is a Trump supporter who simply wishes the President was less crass. He agrees with him ideologically and would roll the country back to the 1950s if he could. No sane person who wants to improve the country should heed any of his advice.
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