Strange to say Sanders dominated. He might end up with half of the votes of the Democrats who voted, which was 20% or less of Nevada's Democrats.
The photo chosen is interesting. There is a young bearded man featured prominently and a guy behind him with his cap on backwards. I wonder what message that is sending? Why not choose a picture that is more representative of Sanders' supporters? Even while acknowledging that Bernie won you are still trying to undercut it. The people in the picture are his supporters but so are many others.
Bernie's supporters span the generations. He has more female supporters than male and a large plurality of minorities. I am early Gen X and female, and I am a Sanders' supporter.
1
Why is Sanders still in this race? When he learned a month ago, think about that, a month ago, Russia was helping him, he did not do the Patriotic thing and resign from the primary, he continued with a weak push back on the Russians. We do not need two cowardly parties/candidates accepting help from Russia. This is a proverbial "me too" moment that any candidate who is not corrupt should understand, if you are receiving help from outside our borders , you have to quit and back whomever the nominee is. Plain and simple. Is Sanders a real American as he is certainly not a Democrat,he should get out today.Now Sanders is as compromised as trump and should understand.
1
@Larry
All due respect, Larry, that's not what he should do.
That would be the weakest imaginable capitulation to the Russians. All they need to do to torpedo a candidate is direct their GRU bots to help him or her?
Bernie didn't solicit their help. Trump did.
No way should Bernie let them drive him out of the race. That would be a terrible precedent and an easy win for Putin. We're not going to let them manipulate our politics that easily, I sincerely hope. I'm sure Bernie won't.
13
Wow, shockingly bad idea. So now any foreign interest can remove one of our candidates by “meddling” to help that candidate and leaking that they’ve meddled for him or her? We’d have no candidates except those the foreign interests really wanted - who they wouldn’t meddle with. Again, shockingly poor logic.
8
@Larry
Question for ya Larry.
What exactly was this "help" the Russia provided?
Are you under the assumption that Putin's fake Bernie Bots who harassed people was a "help" to his campaign? Or do those actions hurt him?!
Everybody knew/knows Russia was meddling, that our intelligence would catch, see, find them once again. We know this, surely Putin/Russia would know and expect this too. Correct?
So...how is Russia being caught supposedly "helping" the Sanders campaign "helping"?! Can you please tell me the advantage of Sanders being beaten over the head with smears, implications and comment such as yours a "help"?!
It really makes zero sense.
It obviously hurts the Sanders campaign, so why damage them? Because Sanders has polled for over 5yrs. as beating Trump. He is easily the current Dem. frontrunner. You really think hurting the Sanders campaign is "helping" his campaign against Trump?
C'mon sir.
That doesn't even come close to panning out.
4
Russia has not made me support Bernie.
2
You will not convince me that Bernie won moderates and conservatives by a slim--or any--margin. Nope. Something's fishy, and it's imperative that it's ferreted out ASAP.
2
Everyone seems to be forgetting California -
1
" Pete Buttigieg finished in the top tier again"
Pete only got 13.7% of the Nevada vote while Sanders got 47.1% with 88% counted. How is that top-tier?
The way I see it Bernie Sanders stands alone in the top-tier. Everyone else is just a pretender.
8
FYI - The "feel the Bern" campaign slogan doesn't work.
2
To the Sanders boosters commenting here who accuse more moderate Democrats of disloyalty (with zero evidence) and claim that moderates will sit out the election if Bernie's the nominee (with zero evidence), I offer this advice: Don't go there.
According to a study by Brian Schaffner, the Newhouse Professor of Civic Studies at Tufts University and a faculty associate at Harvard University's Institute for Quantitative Social Science, 12% of Sanders supporters voted for Trump in 2016. He posted this online on August 23, 2017:
Sanders -> Trump voters…
WI: 51k
MI: 47k
PA: 116k
Trump win margin…
WI: 22k
MI: 10k
PA: 44k
If you're not clear on what that means, it means Sanders supporters who voted for Trump in key states very possibly cost Hillary Clinton the election.
Do you remember the Bernie delegates at the Democratic National Convention who walked out with duct tape over their mouths because Hillary was "stealing" the nomination?
This year, according to a recent poll published in this newspaper, 45% of self-identified Bernie supporters refused to commit to supporting the Democratic nominee if it's not Bernie.
I'll vote for Bernie if he's the nominee. I'll support the Democratic nominee no matter who. I've seen few comments from other Democrats who said they wouldn't do the same.
Therefore, the more strident Bernie fans bagging on other Democrats had best dial back on the accusations. We're not the cultists in this party.
5
The sixth takeaway?
There are forces in this nation that are working overtime to ensure that Bernie and all that he stands for--fair play, justice, economic justice and compassion--aren't on the ballot. And the efforts some are going to to undermine the person who has now won all three major events are so baffling that I think we deserve answers, starting here at the NYT.
I think the editors should peruse this morning's page and ask themselves this: When in the history of our country has a candidate dominated Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada and had virtually all of the punditry sniping about the win, questioning the win, implying that the win isn't really a win because (well...here even they can't quite explain themselves)? Imagine the headlines of any other candidate had swept all three and then ponder why we are seeing these ones instead.
Last night Brian Williams looked at a board that had, at that point, Bernie at 55% and uttered these immortal words, "I guess we'll have a lot to sort out and talk about to figure out who won." ?????!!!!
On the night the Iraq War began, I sat up all night and wrote a satire comparing it to Through the Looking Glass. Queen Rummy was off his head and the tea party raged. The only thing I got wrong was in not realizing Alice was never going home again.
This country is off its moral rocker and the press and the pundits are hugely responsible for the collapse of language, reason and meaning.
It's despair making.
15
@AhBrightWings
Williams likely meant: who among all the candidates would be able to call their performance a win, depending on how near the top they finished.
Long before the results came in, pundits and surrogates were opining that Biden needed to finish second to avoid defections going into South Carolina. Buttigieg had to show well in a more diverse state lest he lose credibility after his showings in overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire.
That doesn't fit your conspiratorial interpretation, I suppose, but it's the way the talking heads were discussing the situation even before any of the votes were tallied.
How is Williams even back on TV after his mishap in exaggeration?
3
The notion that Putin supports Bernie is ridiculous. Sounds like something concocted by Bannon.
7
@Doug Lowenthal
It's just as ridiculous as the notion that Putin supports Trump -- which by now we all know is true.
6
@Doug Lowenthal
So are the Bernie Bros gonna start sounding and acting like Trump's conspiracy obsessed Base? Everything is working against them and everyone is in on it and there is no Russia. It's all a Deep State plan.
Is that what we can expect now because Putin has coldly and detachedly observed that there is no way Bernie can win the general and thus having him run against Trump is November leaves his Siberian Candidate in place.
Great. Now 50% of the populace is coming apart at the seems.
3
What is frightening about Sanders are the costs of his proposals that result in voter reluctance due to a tax-hike fear for everyone except low income people. This fear is particularly acute for older people and retirees. Even in solid democratic areas, I have repeatedly seen that when voters were asked to approve bills that imply tax raises, such as school budgets, the voting queues were dominated by older voters, resulting in a guaranteed failure of the initiative. Sanders has not stated the cost of MFA, only saying "no one knows", yet some estimates range from 34-50 trillion over a decade. His Green New Deal is "modestly" tagged at 16 trillion per decade, with some estimates going into the 20 trillions . Student loan forgiveness would cost a one-hit 2 trillion, a number comparable to desperately needed infrastructure improvements. Another 2 trillion per decade would provide free education at public colleges and trade schools. And these items do not include many other social programs like universal pre-K education, expanded food programs, etc. Considering the present annual budget of nearly 5 trillion (the actual expenditures are a trillion more) Sanders' budget request would likely double the present expenditures. Cutting military budget and wastefulness may gain him 1-2 trillion. But from where will this additional money come from except from corporate and individual tax increases. The wealth tax is likely unconstitutional (16th amendment). Sanders needs to prioritize.
7
@Rudy Ludeke That’s right - corporations and rich people. The rich have managed to concentrate wealth to themselves over the past 40 years. The rest of the country needs to get it back. Don’t tell me that individuals paying $12k for insurance and medical costs can’t get a better deal. Can do it! And we don’t have to turn inyo Denmark either.
3
@Doug Lowenthal
What's wrong with turning into Denmark?
4
It's surprising to see the majority Hispanic support for Bernie in Nevada, given Bernie's history of anti-immigration protectionism, and his framing of all social issues through the lens of classism.
Also worth noting that in recent days, Bernie (through surrogates such as AOC, Ryan Grim, etc.) has publicly acknowledged M4A will at best be a public option due to lack of congressional support. Yet this has not stopped his supporters from believing in the M4A the pipe dream.
So maybe Bernie will become the Dem nominee, especially now he has the Young Turks and the Intercept as his propaganda machines and Putin's support. In fact, that might put him in equal footing with Trump who's also supported by Putin, and has Braitbert and Fox.
Four year of President Bernie, even without congressional majority, is still better than Trump. But Dem should be prepared to lose White House in 2024 as people will lose faith when none of Bernie's promises are realized.
3
I'm afraid that the Democratic National Committee is confused about what their job is. This prolonged period with multiple "debates" hasn't been enlightening. The Committee must motivate their potential voters to VOTE Voters must rise from their apathy and cynicism to care, to become knowledgeable, to act.
The last debate was a big money maker for NBC and MSNBC. The Committee approved a dogfight, a knifefignt, as ego-driven would-be's tried to ruin the other candidates' chances.That's the job of Republicans. What were you thinking of?
Michael Bloomberg, in his first appearance, chose to listen and learn rather than jump into the idiotic fray. He delayed entering because his friend. Joe Biden, earlier seemed comfortably ahead. What does the country want? Various candidates have specific strengths, but Bloomberg is far ahead: brains, compassionate progressive values, long experience heading a worldwide organization. Why criticize him for making more money than he needs? and shares?
Democrats must win. Bloomberg's willingness is a gift. The other candidates can contribute in many ways tp his administration. Think. Vote. Win with Bloomberg..
8
@MGL
Agreed.
@MGL Listen and learn? It looked more to me like Warren schooled him while eating his lunch for much of the evening.
The only good moment I thought Klobuchar had in that debate was pointing out Bloomberg's arrogance and sense of entitlement in stating that her and 2 others on the stage should immediately drop out of the race to help make it easier for him to win since he finally made it a priority to show up for a change.
Bloomberg a savior? The guy supported draft dodger Republican George W Bush for president. That doesn't sound like someone with far and away better judgement to me.
@Andy
I never said he was a holy savior.That was then. This is now. We have different problems to solve.
I would hope that many former Republicans have seen the current catastrophe and now support democratic progressives and real intelligence.
1
I hope the DNC, besides plotting how to stop Bernie, are also planning how to help him win the presidency, should he become the Democratic nominee.
If Bernie takes a big lead in delegates on Super Tuesday - such that he has an almost insurmountable lead - his opponents need to face reality. It will only hurt Sanders if they continue on.
It may be a difficult decision for everyone except Elizabeth Warren to unite behind Sanders. They should lick their wounds and meet with Sanders and announce their endorsement.
What the DNC and the moderate candidates have to understand is Bernie IS leading a movement, it will not destroy America, and together they can send Trump packing.
9
The Republican leaning DNC and their cushy jobs and underhanded ways since the 90s are over. The party elites refuse to believe it - till now. What happened to the party of Roosevelt? Taken over by Republicans. But, it’s over for them. Everyone is sick to death of their corruption and hypocrisy.
1
Go home Warren, you're done.
5
Like Iowa, the Nevada results are suspicious. We have to end all caucuses.
Let's wait and see what actual primary results are after Super Tuesday before we decide who is viable and who isn't.
The Russians and Trump backing Bernie as the nominee is another demented, twisted turn that we didn't need in this race. Why would anyone want to support Bernie knowing this?
Millions of Californians have already mailed in their ballots. The lines here are generally too long to wait until election day to vote.
2
Russia’s State TV Calls Trump Their ‘Agent’ [TheDailyBeast]
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russias-state-tv-calls-trump-their-agent
--Sometimes a picture doesn’t have to be worth a thousand words. Just a few will do. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov returned home from his visit with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office last week, Russian state media were gloating over the spectacle. TV channel Rossiya 1 aired a segment entitled “Puppet Master and ‘Agent’—How to Understand Lavrov’s Meeting With Trump.”
--Vesti Nedeli, a Sunday news show on the same network, pointed out that it was Trump, personally, who asked Lavrov to pose standing near as Trump sat at his desk. It’s almost the literal image of a power behind the throne.
4
I believe it's time for the so-called moderates like Buttigieg or late arrivals like Bloomberg to do what they've demanded from the progressive wing so strongly: pledge their support to the eventual nominee of the Democratic party, whoever that is, so he or she can defeat Trump. And, if that is Sanders, just ask yourself:
Is the choice between a social democrat (i.e. democratic socialist) and a constitution-violating admirer of autocrats and dictators really that hard?
11
GOP taking Russian Money
--Legal Experts Say Attorney General's Ties to Russia Are Troubling [newsweek]
--Barr’s public financial disclosure report, he admits to working for the law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he was counsel from March 2017 until he was confirmed as attorney general in February 2019, represented Russia’s Alfa Bank. (Barr earned more than $1 million at Kirkland) and for a company whose co-founders allegedly have long-standing business ties to Russia. What’s more, he received dividends [$5,001 to $15,000 in dividends] from Vector Group, a holding company with deep financial ties to Russia.
--Mitch McConnell reportedly linked to Putin, Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and Russian companies [DailyKos]
--Right now, the point being made is that Mitch McConnell is benefiting from his direct and indirect ties to Putin and Russian oligarchs, which most likely guided McConnell’s recent vote to lift Russian sanctions. And it would seem he clearly voted in the interest of himself, his king and his Russian ties, when McConnell should have been working in the best interest of the American people. Alas, his Senate seat and constituents are merely stepping stones to more corruption.
YouTube: Wife Of Lobbyist For Russian Plant In KY Got Boost From Mitch McConnell
--Lindsey Graham Received Campaign Donations From Firm Tied To Russian Oligarch [MavenRoundTable]
--GOP Sen. Graham rcvd $800,000 from a Ukrainian oligarch with ties to Putin's inner circle.
3
@Pray for Help
FYI.
Both McConnell and Graham are up for reelection this year.
VOTE BLUE.
4
Bernie's candidacy is, once again, shining a light on the stranglehold that moneyed interests have on our political system. For this, we owe him a debt of gratitude. You don't have to agree with all his positions to appreciate the fact that his opponents are not only those also running, but rather Democratic leadership, and a host of big dollar organizations. What it says about our system is sobering. Real reform is probably well out of reach. Any thoughts that we live in a democracy need to be reconsidered.
So far Bernie is the most electable candidate in human history!
8
Am I excited about a 78 year old socialist who just had a heart attack being the democrat nominee - no
Would I vote for any democrat over Trump - yes
Would moderates, independents, and rural voters vote for Bernie - No
Bernie or Bust got Trump elected in 2016 will do the same in 2020.
4
@Joseph B
No Trump got Trump elected by out campaigning Hillary which was very easy to do. She was too stuck up to campaign with those everyday people called voters.
9
@Reader In Wash, DC Clinton made exactly zero visits in my state after the primary despite pleas from state and local party officials concerned about the very real possibility of a post Obama enthusiasm gap.
The Clinton campaign rejected the overtures and still refuse to accept any responsibility for it's inexplicable neglect and lapse of sound judgement. That is 100% their own fault.
4
Uncle Joe has gotta go. Bernie for President.
3
The reason that the Russians are against any US politician on the left is that they do not want to see the US prosper. They know that poorly distributed income in an economy that runs on earned interest will deplete industrial growth and create a workforce poorly skilled and poorly educated. If Trump had to play Putin at chess, who would win?
5
How Putin’s oligarchs funneled millions into GOP campaigns [DallasMoriningNews]
--As Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team probes deeper into potential collusion between Trump officials and representatives of the Russian government, investigators are taking a closer look at political contributions made by U.S. citizens with close ties to Russia.
--Buried in the campaign finance reports available to the public are some troubling connections between a group of wealthy donors with ties to Russia and their political contributions to President Donald Trump and a number of top Republican leaders…In 2015-16 Blavatnik's political contributions soared and made a hard right turn as he pumped $6.35 million into GOP political action committees, with millions of dollars going to top Republican leaders including Sens. Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham.
--In 2017, donations continued, with $41,000 going to Republican candidates, along with $1 million to McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund..
5
FDR was faced with a much worse economic situation in 1932.
He fixed capitalism.
Bloomberg can fix capitalism.
Bernie wants to blow it up.
6
If FDR were alive, I believe he would disagree. FDR is far closer to Bernie in ideology.
8
This comment section sounds like 2015.
trump could never win ad nausim
Democratic: favoring or characterized by social equality.
Socialism: social organization which advocates for community as a whole.
2
@Homebase ...and one of FDR’s best legacies is SOCIAL Security. My grandfather always complained of it being a socialist program, until he went on it. Then it was great.
2
All this hysteria for someone who got 4,000 votes in a very sparsely populated state and somehow that propels him to front runner !?. The Nevada primary is a media created event which has somehow endowed importance on what amounts to four ten-thousandths of the likely voters in the country? Doesn’t anyone question this or do we blindly follow a self fulfilling prophecy. This is ridiculous!
Sorry to the many great people in Nevada, but that state’s vote should be one step above meaningless in determining the Democratic nominee.
4
Sanders has taken control? Because of 3 dinky states? It sounds like the media, here, the NYT, is creating a political narrative that may not exist. Don’t we have enough of this from Trump and Russia?
5
A true democracy in action.
I hope no one drops out till most of the primaries are done with.
After all, these folks have been running all their lives for this prize.
I can't understand why pundits, media and powers be want to shut the whole "dance of democracy" down before it has hardly begun.
This is not the musical chair game kids play - or may be come to think of it - it is.
But every primary should not eliminate a person contesting in them.
I would think Bernie would want some competition as it allows him to calibrate the message, test variations and even come back to the center of possible.
Plus, he will be campaign tested and ready for POTUS.
There is nothing like more campaigning – to get in the top form.
Candidates’ campaigns live or die by contributions not polls or caucuses or dinky-state primaries. Campaigns end when the money runs out. Sad but true. And in the U.S. of A. that’s what democracy looks like.
1
The pied piper from Burlington seems to be working his magic again. Sanders supporters are trying to take back the party from the Democratic Leadership Council types. Those who can't pass his litmus tests are branded corporate Democrats. I don't know if the party can overcome this internal warfare. Elizabeth Warren seems to trying to stay above the fray and appeal to both sides. I believe Obama has already made it clear that nominating Sanders would be a mistake. I started out supporting Jay Inslee and have moved on to Amy Klobuchar. if she drops out it will be back to finding another candidate to support. I hope it doesn't come down to Bloomberg versus Sanders.
3
"At Virginia rally, Buttigieg repeats claim that nominating Sanders is too risky."
Buttigieg thinks he deserves the nomination more than Bernie, because of his corny zingers on the debate stage.
You know what I think of Buttigieg?
He is like a can of processed cannellini beans -- white, smooth, fake, and unpronounceable.
4
Sanders incarnates a passion, sincerity, commitment that other candidates lack, particularly Biden, and he has been able to transmit that sense of duty to his ideas to his followers.They are with him in increasing numbers.We will know more once primaries in S.C. and on Super Tuesday are held but right now, barring a "mauvaise surprise "in the coming weeks, it looks as though Sanders will get the nomination, and avenge the "dirty tricks" of the party of which he was the victim in 2016.
6
At this point, there are too few delegates involved to declare anyone as a frontrunner. But there are too many people still running for one nomination, and they continue to beat up and denigrate each other. This can only lead to divisiveness and, by extrapolation, the re-election of Trump. Unity and cohesiveness among the Democrats gives them a decent chance in the election. A group of bloodied though unbowed candidates can only lead to disaster. Today Elizabeth Warren attacked Michael Bloomberg, making an issue of his height. Now she’s sounding like Trump. I guess that, in the end, they are all alike. But none are as vile and despicable as Trump, and he must be defeated. So, let’s unify and stop the attacks.
6
So, how and when are we going to find out how many Repubs switched for the day or two necessary to vote for Bernie in the Nevada Caucus?
Supposedly Brietbart was encouraging this for several weeks prior. People are on record as having done that. And it then makes sense that Trump requested there be no Repub Caucus thus enabling them to do that and he wouldn’t be hurt by that nor Dems doing it in reverse. I’m not saying that is what won it for Bernie but if a few thousand did that it gives the appearance of “landslide” and “inevitable” and “juggernaut”.
Will the NYT follow up on this well known rumor?
6
The best thing Democrat loyalist can do ...is to go Independent....this is Not a Vote for Sanders this is Voter rejection/ and the biggest Voter Rejection you will witness is if Old Bernie who just had a Heart Attack really does get the ticket...for Every Moderate Democrat with any common sense Will NOT VOTE for Socialist Sanders!
3
When word got out in 2016 that the Russians were aiding Trump's campaign and working against Clinton, the Democrats were outraged and called Trump's victory "illegitimate."
Now that word has gotten out in 2020 that Russia is working to propel Bernie Sanders to the nomination, it's just a collective shrug from the same pearl clutching Democrats of 2016.
Why don't we hear calls about Sanders's "illegitimacy" this time around?
5
@Jason W
Unlike trump, Sanders did not invite the interference and has spoke publicly admonishing Putin last Friday.
7
@Homebase
Makes no difference. If Sanders is rising in popularity because of Russian troll farms, he's just as illegitimate.
3
@Jason W
If Trump cared about the illegitimacy of foreign meddling in our elections, he’d have had the intelligence community start doing something about it. Or the Republican-controlled Senate, if they cared about our elections going forward, they would have convicted Trump for his obvious obstruction and abuses, not to mention doing nothing about securing our elections. At this rate, how can you be certain of the legitimacy of any election?
1
You don't have to be Einstein to understand why Putin would support Bernie Saunders and Donald Trump! Putin has a close, mutual affinity with Donald Trump . As evidenced by the Mueller Report, Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the release of the public request one day after Trump asked, benefited the Trump election. It really is not surprising, after the success in 2016, that Russia attempting to influence the 2020 election.
The surprise was the Russian efforts to support Saunders. As an objective observer, I believe Russia is supporting Saunders because Trump would have an easier time beating Saunders than any of the other democratic candidates!
Bernie Saunders and Donald Trump are polar opposites and neither has much support from the more moderate voters! If the moderates and disfranchised Republicans vote for independents, than Trumps chances are greatly increased!
Both of these candidates represent extremes and the already polarized public will vote in their respective corners! Where as a more moderate candidate like Bloomberg, Klobuchar, Biden or Butigeig(sp) are more likely to bring in the disenfranchised moderates!
I pray people will resist the interference from Russia and vote wisely, if they truly wish to rid the nation of Donald Trump.
Vote blue, no matter who!
5
@Deb sanders is not a Democrat.
4
Bernie is a real Democrat in the tradition of FDR. Bloomberg is a Republican.
3
His name is Sanders.
2
I think the only option for Elizabeth Warren at this point is to drop out of the race. I am 5’10 but I have a son who is 5’7”. Would he rather be taller? Of course? But he can’t help how tall he is, the same as people can’t help if they are born disabled nor the color of their skin. Elizabeth Warren just stooped really low and showed she is just as bad as Trump and what she wants is power. Bloomberg just proves himself much bigger than you, Ms Warren. I will NEVER vote for you now regardless of who you are running against.
6
Since so many people say Bernie Sanders is too liberal to beat Trump, who can? Elizabeth Warren can't, she's too liberal also. And she's GASP! a woman, so even though Amy Klobuchar is a solid candidate, both of them also have to deal with that dreaded issue of "likeability" that the guys don't have to worry about in politics. Pete Buttigieg can't; he doesn't have minority support. Joe Biden is too safe, too meek, and his best days are behind him. Michael Bloomberg? I highly doubt hard working Americans will pit one billionaire against another in a battle to represent their interests. Tulsi Gabbard isn't even a blip on the radar at this point. Tom Steyer? Another billionaire, and he has negligible support compared to the other candidates.
2
If Bernie wants national health care, then all private insurance must go away. For unions, for Congress, for everybody. Gone.
5
Will.not.get.past.the.Supreme.Court. So forget about it.
3
The only profiters from health insurance should be the beneficiaries. Insurance administrators should profit from good administration, unlike the Medicare insurers that manipulated claims coding to line their pockets, as was reported by government auditors several months back. Profiting from the risk of others is a poor incentive to quality.
1
Bernie/Warren ticket all the way! The only two with charisma.
3
To all those screaming COMMUNIST or SOCIALIST.
I had to get on Medicare recently. Went shopping for a Part D plan. One company wanted $120 for one of my prescriptions, another $ZERO. When I questioned why? I was told 'competition'. You know what, they can take that competition and do you know what with it.
I am sick of the private insurance companies. Yes, the government should set prices on prescription drugs and we shouldn't pay a dime more than Canada or EU pays for the same drug. If that's communism or socialism, I couldn't care less, that's what I want.
The system we have today is not capitalism but it's thievery. The greedy have destroyed the country.
13
@CacaMera Not only that, but many of these people that supposedly "love" their private insurance no longer love it when they actually need to rely on it and discover what they assumed it would cover suddenly doesn't and they have to spend countless hours fighting claims departments and navigating and/or submitting appeals that most often go nowhere.
Private health insurance is a loser for the patients. They too often forfeit wages and pay increases that keep pace with COLA and inflation up front, while the insurance company continually works on the other end to dilute the quality of coverage going forward.
No CEO of any private insurance company ever fixed a broken leg or cured anyone of cancer. Their contribution to the quality of care customers receive is nothing at best and an added impediment at worst.
2
Thanks to Obama, and many believe Trump, Americans as a group are feeling very positive about the economy, whether rightly or wrongly. These are not the conditions under which to introduce someone most believe, again rightly or wrongly, is going to tax them to high heaven and take their private health insurance away, etc. I can't believe Democrats are making this tragic blunder.
5
@Virginia
Trump passed a massive corporate tax cut. What they did with the extra cash is stock buybacks instead of investing it in fabs to bring American jobs back.
https://apnews.com/438fae12f9204b1fbd8e8b1985ae554f
2
@CacaMera Read my comment carefully.
Everyone worries about Sanders winning the presidency, and having "democratic socialism". What they do not think through, is that were Sanders President, he would only be able to implement the plans that are able to pass both houses of Congress. Any democrat who wins will be in the same situation. So make sure to vote for Bernie if he is candidate; his actions will be tempered by the legislative and judicial branch. Affordable care is likely to be bolstered, and perhaps more people will have plans, but the whole country would have to turn toward Medicare for all, in order for such a plan to work. So vote for Sanders, Warren, Biden, Buttigeg, Klobuchar, your choice. What matters is that whoever is chosen will choose good people and will be able to negotiate with other countries. Any of these candidates can do that, so take a deep breath, and if Sanders is the candidate, just vote for him.
4
@K.M
I will vote for Bernie if he’s the nom. Until then I’m voting for Bloomberg in my states primary
5
Please don't forget that the Sanders' campaign Is funded by US, not them . . . Donate!
6
Please don't put the ludicrous headline "Sanders takes control..." after 3 states. Especially with caucus states, candidates with the youngest, most energetic supporters will do better. You sound like Dr Strangelove....
6
It's ironic that the same people decrying the electoral college in 2016, saying Hillary Clinton Clinton really won since got the most popular votes (but not a majority) are now claiming that a Dem nominee who gets the most votes shouldn't necessarily win the nomination.
5
@JA It's actually Sanders who has flip-flopped on that, JA.
3
@Virginia .....WRONG!
1
@James Nope. Look it up. https://www.freespeechdaily.com/2020/02/20/bernie-sanders-delegate-flip-flop-escapes-medias-attention/
2
"Pete Buttigieg finished in the top tier again and embraced the urgency of knocking down a rising Mr. Sanders, though it is not clear where he wins next."
The Times may be the finest newspaper in the world, but this sentence epitomizes the state of ungrace political reporting has fallen in this primary season. There is only poll that matters, the one taken by voters on Election Day. Until then, no one knows who is going to win what and where.
1
Culinary will blow this in Nevada if they black ball Sanders over health care. Yes, they may have, at a huge present cost to the Union (with lots of pay-offs and kickbacks) a decent healthcare plan, but jobs in Vegas fluctuate. The "hospitality" (i.e. gambling) industry is not the cleanest of businesses, as they well know and choose to ignore as long as they are being paid - AS LONG AS.
Water and power issues for this DESERT town are critical and the future sustainability of Vegas is in question. What of jobs, and healthcare, then? They MUST thing long-term and not fall for Republican propaganda that is designed to help Trump win at ANY cost. Lies are their currency, a currency one should never bet on.
If a national health plan is enacted, they should help to develop it instead of fighting it. Help everyone get the care they deserve and reject the lies of those that profit from what now exists. Bernie is correct. I am an experienced Doctor and I agree with him because I see it as it is now and envision what it could be for all.
We need this, but everyone has to get on board to prevent the bribed Republicans from destroying it like they did the ACA. They lie - YOU deserve much better.
3
The Republicans, especially Trump, want to go back to the 1950s or, earlier, at least to see a good movie. But the establishment Dems seem to want to go back to somewhere in the ‘70s-‘90s, where politics was bipartisan and they not only sometimes held power but yielded it too.
What concerns me is that the fuel driving the engine in the Democratic Party is the progressives. The establishment has been holding them back for so long I am surprised they haven’t started their own party.
Often I wonder what it would have been like if the Republicans had squelched the Tea Party’s rise? Would Trump be President? Would any Republican be President? Would there be more bipartisanship? (Hard to picture less.)
Democratic progressives are the ones making it to the primary polls. That’s why Bernie’s winning at the moment. I’ll stay tuned to see if anyone else shows up at the other primaries.
2
Haven’t read comments, but my paranoid side asks how likely it is that idle Republicans, having already anointed their monarchical candidate, thought it might be good theater to crash Democrat primary opportunities and waylay the unsuspecting, get us to sheeple our way behind a 78-year-old who will most certainly lose votes over the “Socialist” label. Fact, honest descriptions of Sanders, common sense will lose to screeching propaganda. Thoughtful dialogue is passé.
2
Dems have to figure this out and get some other nominee than Bernie. He cannot beat Trump in the general election. Four more years of Trump will lead to at least one more spot on the supreme court for conservatives.
6
I see that Bernie is putting the fear of God into everyone. He can't beat Trump, you're all screaming. Well, since no Democrat can beat Bernie, then why vote this November since you have all given up?
Why is Amy Klobuchar still pretending she has a chance at anything? She can't even get a second place let alone win. I take her SNL character more seriously than her.
Unless your name is Bernie, Pete, Joe, or Elizabeth, time to drop out and get behind your party. Time to start thinking about Sanders/Buttigieg 2020.
4
@tom harrison
Agree completely!
@tom harrison
I daresay the reason why "Bernie is putting the fear of God into everyone" is because anyone with half a brain knows he doesn't stand a chance of getting any legislation passed with Mitch McConnell and Congressional Republicans -- and there's no way to work around them.
5
I'll vote for whichever Dem gets the nomination. Buttigieg, by FAR the best of the lot, won't be the nominee, alas, and I still think Bloomberg has the best chance of beating Trump in November, although whether or not he'll gain traction after his meltdown during last week's debate in Las Vegas is problematic. As for the others, I'm totally uninterested in their prospects. Klobuchar and Steyer aren't going anywhere and are just unwelcome distractions. Biden's ship sailed LONG AGO. Warren is the egomaniac of the group - she's so starved for attention and so ravenous for the nomination that she'll say or do anything to get it, but it's a fool's errand because she never will do anything other than wound the others in the race. As to Sanders, I think he has as much chance of being elected as Trump does of bowing out with dignity, in other words none at all. Add to all this these claims of Russian interference with NO DETAILS to substantiate the claims, and all the pundits falling over themselves for scoops as they distort the truth about the race, not to mention these RIDICULOUS caucuses and I'm entirely fed up with the Democrats. What on earth are these caucuses about? Can't count a few thousand votes in 24 hours? How about simple VOTING for all registered party members? How about doing away with Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and S. Carolina voting first and thus distorting the news cycle for weeks? It's a travesty all around and if the Dems lose they'll deserve it.
2
You reap what you sow.
The Democrats have moved radical corrupt left for decades now, and have enabled the Ancient Marxist to run in their party.
The Democrats are now run by Bernie, and the likes of the idiotic AOC.
Great job. Thanks for ensuring a Trump blowout.
5
If Bernie is the candidate, as it appears he may be, the junk yard dog named Trump will eat him for lunch in a debate and use his bones as a toothpick.
6
@JSS
It appears Mexican-Americans disagree.
3
What is America coming when a communist/socialist is leading the Democratic Party and this guy is t even a real democrat.
3
Its senses?
8
@nycdweller. It is a measure of how distorted our politics have become that common sense programs like Medicare for all, free public college tuition, and a living wage scare Americans whose lives would benefit from the enactment of these programs.
5
I deeply respect Bernie for his passion and wisdom. However, I fundament disagree with his Democratic Socialist philosophy. Previously I had vowed that under no circumstances would I ever vote for him. But now, faced with the possibility that he just might be the Democratic nominee, Bernie vs Trump!! Trump, the man that is supposedly steering us on the course of further financial prosperity.
I have made a decision. I have decided to put aside short-term, near-sighted financial greed and concern and think about the future of this earth, my grandchildren. Because Trump doesn’t believe global warming exists; because the rest of the Republican Party is just following along for all the WRONG reasons, I WILL vote for Bernie or ANY Democrat. Because, a Democratic President will lead us and the rest of the globe towards implementing needed action to slow this very real global threat.
Good luck to ANY Democrat.
5
Bernie has a snowball’s chance in Miami of taking Florida and most other swing states.
7
@R Stiegel - No Democrat can win Florida. Your point?
3
You’ll see. The people want Medicare for All. For profit “healthcare” is killing us.
5
You’re wrong. Bloomberg could win Florida. A vote for Bernie will be the same as a vote for Trump. And then all of you “do or die” Sanders supporters will have no one but yourselves to blame. I hope your high moral stance is worth it. I’ll vote for Sanders if he the nominee. He will lose to Trump. But I will not have actually supporting Sanders on my conscience. He is as much of a demagogue as Trump is.
6
Trump is a nationalist. Sanders is both a nationalist and a socialist. A nationalist socialist. Think about it.
1
Per your request I have thought about it and Bernie is not a nationalist.
3
Bernie Sanders will always perform well in the Intermountain West. I expect to him to sweep everything except possibly Idaho and Montana. He'll take most of the West Coast as well. We'll see how far he gets in Texas. I suspect Austin, Dallas, and Houston are all feeling the Bern.
You need to understand the West is weird. Bernie has that right blend of progressive libertarianism to match the culture here. We support helping other people even when it means larger government programs. At the same time though, we generally like being left alone. That's what it means to live in the Intermountain West. For anyone outside social conservatives, Bernie threads that needle.
Vermont and New Hampshire are the closest things I've found on the East Coast. Imagine Vermont but always 500 miles from anything and always an alpine desert. That's my geography in a nutshell. Bernie makes a lot of sense here. Communal living. Just not "too" communal...
That's also why I suspect Bernie is going to once again annihilate Tompkins County, New York. Ithacans get it. They know where left meets right. That's the sort of social libertarianism I'm talking about. We can happily enjoy Tibetan cultural performances and then talk about sustainable agricultural land use over a beer.
If Ithaca is 10 square miles surrounded by reality, the Intermountain West is 150,000 square miles surrounded by reality. Bernie Sanders makes perfect sense here.
6
It is a little too earlier to declare anybody taking control here. I know it is important to have younger voiced such as Mr. Goldmacher's reporting in events but those of us who seen the rush for reporters to make such predictions over the years can be more patient.
1
Welcome to the Democratic Party get clobbered in November. A non-Democrat socialist backed by Moscow. It is going to be a total bloodbath where not only Donald Trump the authoritarian nightmare in the White House gets re-elected, but also will likely kill off House and definitely make sure that the Democrats lose the Senate. You got ask the question, “how stupid are we?”
Not a chance that the suburban areas and independents we need vote for Bernie Sanders, and when Trump starts obliterating him in the polls this supposed young vote won’t show up either.
And don’t pat yourself on the back for knowing this Pete, Amy, Joe and Mike, because your individual desire to be President keeps you caring more about your own ambitions than our nation. Draw straws and at least two of you get out so we can stop this train wreak before it is too late!!!
17
@Jay Trump will be re-elected by a landslide if Sanders is the Democratic nominee. He (Sanders) is a horror and just too extreme for most Americans, most of whom are moderates. I'll vote for Trump or Bloomberg. That's it.
11
So you don’t have to worry about the cost of for profit health care or how you will afford college for your kids. I’ll bet you think most American families have no worries about how to pay for health care and college.
4
@Jay
Its funny to read all these comments from folks with their hair on fire.
Feel the Bern!
2
Democrats need to be more witty at neutralizing Trump's sadly effective schoolyard taunts. They should not stoop to his level other than to turn them on him. "Nervous Nancy" could have reverse branded Trump by repeating that "Nancy makes Trump nervous" making the Nervous adjective both truer and more positive.
Likewise "Crazy Sanders" should take ownership of this label by making it part of his campaign slogans to be "Crazy like a Fox Sanders" (with the subtle double meaning of also implying Fox news is crazy - both truer than Trump' intention of suggesting Bernie's policies are too far out there). A few times dropping that it's better to be Crazy like a Fox than "Dumb as a Stump Trump". It would reduce the taunts to only demonstrating that Democrats have better wit, rather than being powerless to respond to the Great Bully. Ignoring the taunts only makes the branding seem true and therefore effective.
1
Do the voice of the people matter? The DNC stole the voice in 2016. If they do it again, then it's nothing more than a conspiracy to reelected Trump and keep control of the government, and the future of America in the hands of a minuscule minority of political parties.
6
I’ll be voting for Mike Bloomberg in my state’s primary.
I want most if not all the things Bernie wants but if we can’t even get Mitch McConnell to have witnesses when obvious criminality was done by Trump - do you really think that Trump and Putin will allow Bernie to win inNovember?
Bloomberg can turn Trumps lights out. And when they go, most of Putin’s will go out too.
4
"Welcome to the revolution" said Waleed Shahid from Justice Democrats.. Democrats talk of European type social services but sound more like Hugo Chavez every day.
5
Really? Health care for all frightens you? But people rationing meds doesn’t. Free community college education or vocational school so that all our young people can have the opportunity to get a start in life frightens you. But our youth graduating college with onerous high interest debt that will take decades to discharge doesn’t bother you at all.
4
We Bernie supporters are ready to bring the Socialist Revolution to America. Bernie will soon join the great pantheon of Socialist Revolutionaries - Lenin, Castro, Pol Pot, Maduro - we are coming in November. America will soon feel the Bern!
1
This is definitely not written by a Bernie supporter.
12
@CJT
Not a good idea to throw Stalin and Pol Pot into the mix!
3
I see some impressive mental gymnastics being done to avoid hearing what tune the piano is playing.
8
Ms. Warren and Ms. Klobuchar were a "twofer" endorsement by NYT. They've been dismal in the first three contests.
What happened?
5
Heaven forbid we nominate a strategic- thinking, experienced Female Senator!!!
4
Am I reading this correctly? Bernie Sanders has taken control with a total of 3,527 votes. Are you kidding me?
Actually I like Bernie. I don't like that he is 78. I certainly don't like midwest favorite Mayor Pete and east coast elite favorite Bloomberg (I forget his first name).
Democrats need to win. They need a progressive candidate because the US needs to change as regards health care, foreign policy and taxation policy among others.
But this is a miserable system where a few states get to decide for the rest of us with such a small number of voters.
And Joe? He's going to win that Republican bastion known as South Carolina? Can he carry South Carolina or any other southern state in November? I doubt that. He is just a return to old ways.
And this there is Elizabeth. Need I say more?
2
I think the numbers you quote are not votes.
Sanders's win so far are far from impressive. We have a few more and more important states yet to come. And go. Is it just me or does anyone else thing the headline "Sanders takes Control" is a bit of a hype? Sanders can't control his hands when he speaks (but being Jewish I can understand it) and I wonder at his age if he can control all of his bodily functions (at 75 year of age I can understand that as well). His real problem is that a good portion of voters are happy with the country (Trump not even much of an issue- except perhaps readers of the NY Times and other of that like ((or, in the case of Trump it would be dislike).I can almost hear Trump's supporters asking themselves the question that got another incompetent elected (Reagan): "Are you better off now that you were four years ago?", maybe revised to "The devil you know vs the demons you fear"? Or "the dreams you know are just dreams"? IDK. Is it too early for a Scotch, or too late? Personally, i see Trump's biggest mistake being the tariff on single malt.
5
Okay, it’s 24 hours later and the Nevada results have been stuck on 60% all day. Buttigieg and Biden are both claiming second place. Nothing, nothing, being reported about this on NYT! Why are the full results not being reported, and who’s going to take second place? Why isn’t this a big deal?
5
Bernie will force many on the fence to vote for Trump, it’s that simple.
10
Because we can all easily afford expensive for profit health care , and we don’t mind spending down our savings, going bankrupt or starting a GoFundMe for help paying medical bills that our beloved insurance won’t pay.
It doesn’t bother anyone that our youth are yoked to high interest debt that will take decades to discharge. That’s only if they want to go to college.
2
@Midwest Josh
M4A= $450,000,000,000 savings per year. It will save 68,000 lives per year, half a million bankruptcies.
Feel the Bern!
New study by Yale scholars:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)33019-3/fulltext
1
I am so sad this is happening to our country. Sanders' proposals, and he wants them NOW, would eliminate many, many thousands of jobs in finance, health care and education. It's a sign of his base that whenever this is mentioned, you get only glee that the evil ones are finally made to suffer. That's Bernie Sanders, and that's his base.
5
@TMS Those poor, poor CEO's. They might have to only own 3 houses instead of 5.
There are already too many finance jobs. Healthcare professionals can always find a country that pays better, huh. We need more nurses, PAs, and nurse practitioners. Affordable healthcare for everyone can only increase demand.
So what’s my Nevada take away supposed to be. Ok, Sanders has a coalition of mostly minorities and young people. To summarize, everyone who wants free stuff and will not pay for it, which leaves most of us holding the bag. Hey Bernie, throw us some free stuff as well and guarantee us we will not have to pay for it. Progressives always give away others money.
7
Umm...have you seen the trillion-dollar deficit created by Trump? That’s the great giveaway taking place right before our eyes. But sure, it’s poor progressives who are asking for all the “free stuff.”
3
You have not been listening. We want OUR taxes to pay for OUR health care instead of trillions thrown at a bloated military industrial complex and endless wars for oil.
A marginal tax on Wall Street transactions will easily pay for community college or vocational school so that all our young people can have a start in life. Did you object when our taxes bailed out Wall Street?
3
Vocational school, Boces is already free and community college costs are minimal. Try working and going to college and earn it, it will give you an accomplishment.
Bernie Sanders voted against immigration reform in 2007. He gave the reason in a TV interview. It was not because of bad working conditions for temporary workers as he claims now. He voted it down because according to him temporary workers would bring wages down, in other words he considered h1s 'cheap labor' and was just as opposed as the xenophobic GOP to brown people entering and working the country.
1
Latin groups were also opposed to the act. They called it legalizing slave labor.
I do hope that if Bernie does string together a clear number of victories, that the party can get behind him and start preparing early for a slog of a general election. I fully believe that the other side does not want to face a unified Democratic party behind Bernie. I actually think that same premise applies to most of the Democratic candidates too. However, I DO think their one gamble in hoping for Bernie to win is that he gets to the convention with the most delegates, but without a majority, and the superdelegates flip to someone else. If that (unfortunately possible) situation happens, the Dems lose in November. I think we all need to hope that it doesn't come to that no matter the candidate with the most delegates by the convention.
1
I'm starting to like the idea. I wouldn't rule out Bernie beating Trump. The matchup is extremely hard to predict based on past results because it is basically unprecedented.
I do think it is more likely that Bernie loses in a McGovernesque landslide. And if that happens, that might save the Democratic Party from going the way of Labor in Britain.
3
A YouTube contributor recently put together a montage of dozens of videos from numerous pundits in several various media television and print outlets starting back in January of 2019 in which in their so-called "expert" opinions, outcomes AND predictions, in particular, the early demise of Bernie Sanders in these democratic primaries.
In every single case they were WRONG, yet, we STILL see and read the majority of these same pundits are still in front of the camera espousing or writing the usual misinformation today such as "Bernie can't beat Trump" when poll after poll confirms, he does, OR "he can't beat Trump in swing states" when recent polls confirm Sanders beats Trump by at least FIVE points in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, OR, "if the moderates banded together they would overwhelm Bernie"( a bogus argument put forth in 2016 about Trump), yet, a recent "YouGov" poll, confirmed that when going head to head with any of the remaining candidates left in the democratic primary, he would defeat each and every one of them anywhere from 3 to 15 percentage points.
It would seem, unlike the real world of business, in the MSM you can still keep your job even if your information is out of touch with what is really happening in the rest of the country(and the facts) ultimately resulting in a consistent poor level of judgement that seems to be continually rewarded.
6
@Deus Thank you, very well said!
For the sake of our country only one moderate needs to run against Bernie. Please.
5
@KLM
Look up the recent YouGov poll on this very issue. In a head to head race, Bernie would beat any one of them anywhere from 3 to 15 points.
3
Taking pot shots at other candidates over past indiscretions (Warren->Bloomberg) might make supporters of that candidate ask questions about their support. People don't like being told they were wrong, so it won't win the candidate taking the pot shots any new friends. But it will strengthen their base - as evidenced by Warren's increased donations.
I really have a problem with the headline “Sanders Takes Control”, which I find very premature. And you make that statement after Nevada?
4
The "polls showed Mr. Sanders winning men and women; whites and Latinos; (17-29, 30-44 and 45-64); those with college degrees and those without. He was carrying union households and nonunion households, self-identified liberal Democrats (by a wide margin) and moderate and conservative ones (narrowly)".
"Mr. Sanders has now won the most votes in each of the first three states". These are facts.
After Super Tuesday it will be over because we are going to see the same result on a much larger scale. People are energizing more and more because they see this is real. In addition to the need to kick out the Twitter-In-Chief we get someone who actually stands for something that makes sense. Not a philosophy of procrastination promising more of the same. The contrast couldn't be more obvious.
The entrenched corrupt establishment elite of the DNC dropped anchor a long time ago. Others are now hoisting that anchor, setting sail and its full steam ahead!
Feel the Bern!!
11
We shouldn't be surprised. In a country that gets lied to and gaslighted multiple times a day, Sanders is an obvious antidote. Even if you don't think his vision is practical, he speaks from years of public service with consistent consideration for the difficulties MOST Americans face every day. You can't question his integrity or his purpose (imagine that!).
17
@Jackson Sure! I used google and found a reliable source in under 20 seconds that explained his wealth (book sales). But you know, I could've looked at his tax returns and figured it out too. His plan raises his own taxes and he's cool with it as a matter of principle. I don't know who you support but your response reaks of a certain "news" organization and/or GOP talking point.
2
As a Real Democrat, I will not vote for Sanders if he is the nominee. I will, however, vote for Real Democrats. Sanders is dangerous ideologue and his supporters are self-righteous traitors who gave Trump the election in 2016. The man has not been vetted. Puff pieces abound in left wing media outlets like the NYTimes, which should instead be put under the same microscope as they have the other candidates. If Bernie were running against FDR, he and his supporters would have stood against him. We don't need more radical ideologues who can't compromise, or admit when they are wrong. If someone is going to burn everything down. let it be Trump.
6
Bernie is an FDR Democrat. And so am I.
12
@Mack
Sanders represents what the democratic party "used to be" yet, isn't now.
5
"If someone is going to burn everything down. let it be Trump." I dont believe for a second that ANY self-described 'real Democrat' would dare say this. Vote blue no matter who means just that, no matter who.
4
A Bernie presidential candidacy has a good chance of handing Trump four more years as president, and a near certainty of handing Republicans the House and Senate, as well as many state houses. In a best-case scenario, Bernie beats Trump, but the Republicans win the House, the Senate, and additional governorships and state houses. Bernie would then have zero chance of enacting any of his electoral promises, and Republicans would get to gerrymander the country to ensure their future domination of federal and state governments.
Electing one of the centrist candidates avoids that fiasco. He or she would probably have an equal to better chance of beating Trump, and down-ticket Democrats would have a significantly greater chance of not just avoiding electoral disaster, but actually increasing their majority in the House, possibly flipping the Senate, and winning control of additional governorships and state houses.
7
Bernie is an accurate representative of what the Democrats have become--which is why the DNC does not like him--the DNC does not like candidates who are honest.
15
I find it slightly fascinating that you haven’t led on this as your main story - it is potentially seismic - I am a realistic socialist living in the UK who has sadly lived through an excruciating three years watching my home country descend into right wing nationalist vitriol - and seen what happens when you have an aging socialist leading the vanguard for the hard left - it doesn’t work electorally - as much as I wanted it to, the UK and I suspect the USA just aren’t ready/can’t stomach a truly left wing administration and I’m not sure what the way forward is but maybe we need to ask everyone in the Democratic Party to do the collectively best thing for everyone; left wing and moderates unite stop fighting and bickering and think about the best thing for your country: organise a united front against a common and scary enemy Trump - the prospect of four more years of it is just too much for the entire planet to bear - democrats we are counting on you to do the right thing please!!!!
3
In 2016 it took a lot to finally get Sanders to release one tax return. The transparent candidate Hillary Clinton had returns released going back to the 1990s, which is maybe one small reason I voted for her and not Sanders. And where are Sanders medical records? His cult-like followers could care less but he needs to appeal beyond that base and many Democrats should care. And what is this talk of a revolution? Is he peddling nonsense or does he really believe he can produce a revolution? He was known as the pie-in-the-sky candidate in 2016 and nothing has changed except the Democrats do not have a Hillary Clinton to vote for. Given the relatively weak field Sanders now looks like a credible option. I am not crazy about any of the remaining candidates so I am going to vote based on geography. Who is most likely to deliver the upper Midwest and Pennsylvania. I have concluded it is the candidate from Minnesota.
4
@Bob The only thing I saw that could be considered transparent coming out of Clinton's campaign was it's utterly unbelievable phoniness. Her cheerleading for TPP all the way up to the point she finally came out against what she lobbied so hard for in a tweet, pretending former protege and then DNC crony Debbie Wasserman Schultz's blatant meddling in the process wasn't staining the party's image badly on a national scale and then having the unmitigated fall to appoint her as an "Honorary" chairperson to the Clinton campaign after having to resign in disgrace.
Declaring on the campaign trail how tough she was on bankers only to have transcripts of her highly paid closed door speeches reveal how she'd assure them their carried interest would always be protected under her watch.
The best thing that might have happened to galvanize more support for Sanders was Clinton showing up again recently in another transparent effort to blame her failed campaign on him. If the establishment wants to crack any codes on how to stop Sanders from gaining influence in the party, the best thing they could do is not pretend that attempts to put their thumbs on the scale for Hillary Clinton in 2016 did them any favors in 2020.
2
The Russians are helping Bernie! How do we know what is going on?
2
@Toni Oh, the Russians, Russians, Russians....paleese stop it!
1
Millions and millions are following US elections, crossing fingers that you get rid of ugly Trump.
In our climate chaos time it his Big History at stake.
Across the globe, big business and increasingly repressive conservatives fighting against the people in the streets.
In France we have a very old President in a young body, elected on a centre agenda and implementing a Thatcher style conservative policy attacking Labour laws, social security, pensions...
While we've had over 3000 wounded demonstrators and yellow jackets...
Go Bernie, Go
7
America isn't perfect, but I'll pick it over the former Soviet Union, China or Venezuela any day. Zero doubt. And for how great the left likes to talk about Scandinavia (which aren't even socialist as their corporate taxes are lower than the US and companies are held privately), I see very little emigration from the US to those countries. Why is that? Why isn't the left voting with their feet to Northern Europe? Could it be that the true cost of living in places like Sweden and Norway are significantly higher than it is in the US?
Being a tourist is a different experience than the day to day grind of a socialist utopia.
5
@Jonathan Sounds sort of like the same attack line Bloomberg trotted out at the last debate. I think the results out of Nevada is the attempted comparison failed to stop Sanders from winning.
7
@Jonathan Americans aren't "voting with their feet" because, rather than flee our problems, many of us would like to correct our problems and make better the country we love and call home.
10
@day owl. You will flee soon enough when Bernie implements his socialist utopia with predictable catastrophe, just like half of Latin America and Asia. Our ancestors in America fleed from another country, so don't be so sure that we won't do it again.
1
Only Bernie can break up America's rapacious domineering companies and impose strict regulations for all super profitable American companies. He would provide the impetus to curtail the excesses of brutal American capitalist pseudo-innovation.
Only the one activist Democrat can end the reign of the greedy rich, the vile Wall Streeters, and the malevolent billionaire class.
It’s should be obvious to all that a man who has no business experience (luckily not even a pathetic petty bourgeois lemonade stand) in his past and has been a devoted government employee for 30 years can reorder the entire business culture of the US with a thrilling, pin-pointed, benevolent, transformational socialism.*
What other candidate has been been so starkly honest throughout his career about his commitments to the working class?
“These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger. Who's the banana republic now?” (2011)
“For better or for worse, the Cuban revolution is a very profound and very deep revolution. Much deeper than I had understood. More interesting than their providing their people with free health care, free education, free housing ... is that they are in fact creating a very different value system than the one we are familiar with.....” (1989)
4
@Dave E
Your satirical piece is impressively life-like. Amazingly, you got four up votes. Bravo! Now, tell us if you can see Russia from the top floor of the Mark Hopkins.
I'd never claim Sanders to be the perfect candidate, but true to form, the establishment wing of the party and it's stable of "Moderate" or "Centrist" candidates are each just as flawed, or perhaps worse so, than He is.
Warren had a terrific debate, but stating that a transgender student would essentially have veto power on any Education Secretary hire would be far more extreme to vital Independents than anything proposed by the Vermont Senator.
Buttigieg peddling phony talking points straight from the GOP playbook of lies about how banks loaning money to minorities was the root cause of the financial crash won't help improve his almost nonexistent support among black voters.
Bloomberg sat on the sidelines running non stop commercials about how he had all the answers and then finally shows up on a debate stage with apparently few if any good answers.
Klobuchar trots out her work and support on an ancient immigration bill and claims unsuccessfully that Sanders doesn't care about the plight of Latinos because he wouldn't support it, which was the same regurgitated hash that Clinton tried twice to tar him with twice (the second time She was loudly booed in a televised town hall).
Does Sanders as a nominee pose legit risks? No doubt. But it's time the establishment wing of the party give up the charade that anybody up on that stage doesn't carry just as much risk. They've all had a year or more to show enough voters they are better. None of them have done so.
4
The pundits, including all the opinion writers at the NYT, have been consistently wrong about American politics and America’s so-called democracy, not. They serve corporate interests and the right. They were wrong about healthcare, they were wrong about the Iraq War, they were wrong about Clinton, they were wrong about Trump, they were wrong about the GOP, they’re wrong about Biden and they’re wrong about Sanders. The only thing they were right about is that the traitors in the GOP said having a criminal in the White House was just fine as along as he continued to implement all of their policies to destroy government. It’s best not to listen to them and do what your own innate intelligence tells you is the right thing to do.
7
@DSD Agree totally. But you forgot that they were not only wrong about Russiagate, they promoted it to the point of making the world a more dangerous place creating tensions with another nuclear power instead of promoting diplomacy.
If Bernie's healthcare plan is so good why is enrollment mandatory? And the left calls Trump a fascist.
Wait until people learn the details of his (or Warren's) college debt forgiveness plan. Responsible borrowers who repaid their debt will get nothing. People who did not even have the opportunity to attend college will get nothing. Irrepsonsible borrowers and irresponsible schools will get a windfall.
3
@Reader In Wash, DC You gotta be kidding! you don't want to be forced to have free health care! You want to spend hours of paperwork trying to figure out which profiteer gets what! Yeah! Make My Pocketbook Disappear!
M4A= $450,000,000,000 savings. 68,000 lives saved per year. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)33019-3/fulltext
Yes, Sanders now has more than twice the votes of Biden, in second place.
Perhaps even more interesting is that Sanders + Warren = 56% of the vote.
Trump won in 2016 because he was the change candidate.
Sanders is the change candidate this time, and apparently increasingly likely to be the only one who could beat Trump.
The proof is in the voting.
7
Big whoop. Trump will crush Sanders, and this has been the Russian plan. Why did Sanders wait to say something about Russian interference? Frankly vanity, and he lapped up the interference just like Trump. Not impressed. Also not enthused that he hasn’t figured out he is just a chess piece here, except it’s meant for him to lose and Trump to gain.
Support Bloomberg. He’s smart, has great ideas, a good businessman (Bernie where is your business?).
8
Buttigieg appears more and more the opportunist, repeating the questionable statement that he is the only candidate to have beaten Sanders (Sanders received more popular votes in IA, and Buttigieg declared victory there after only 62% of the vote had been counted), and asserting he came in second in Nevada, when it's clear that Biden has received a substantially higher percentage of the votes. He appointed a former executive of Goldman-Sachs as the policy director of his campaign, and his donors are mostly from FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate), which he was known to reward with contracts in exchange for donations as mayor of South Bend. See
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/02/17/buttigieg-wall-street-democrat-beholden-corporate-interests.
Buttigieg's platitudes and blandness on the campaign trail make it easy for voters to project onto him whatever they want to. I find him the most objectionable of all the candidates. Even Bloomberg is more up front about who he really is.
10
@N
Agreed, but don't worry, he'll be out soon. At this point he is perhaps running for VP under Bloomberg.
7
@N I never saw him as bland, at least compared to half the other candidates up on stage in the last debate. And I thought Klobuchar's knock on him not able to beat a guy in an Indiana statewide race was weak. Donnelly's win only occurred because Richard Mourdock imploded so badly the last week of the election that he blew a double digit lead.
The platitudes might not hurt him as much as the failed attempts to tar Sanders when face to face on stage. Trying to knock other candidates down belies his sort of upbeat disposition and it's tough to sell himself as inspirational when literally slinging mud. It's as if He's the only Democrat in the party that forgot he was all for the Medicare For All before suddenly insisting it can never be done, which makes his attacks on Sanders cone off even more craven and hollow.
2
For decades corporate centrists have told the left 'you're not electable,' 'you're not pragmatic,' we need 'incrementalism' we can't have 'purity tests,' - on and on.
The corporate status quo politics of 'pragmatism,' and 'incrementalism,' have produced decades of declines for most Americans. Declines in wages, and living standards. Declines in education and healthcare. Declines in housing and the environment. Why? Because it was always a con - a Trojan horse for corporate self-enrichment.
Politics is the domination of one group's interests over another. There is no pragmatism in that. There is no Aaron Sorkin moment of the person with the best argument winning over the others in the room - some high school musical coming together and holding hands. The left has the power - the center doesn't - we're electable. We have the broadest coalition. We have an army of grass roots volunteers. We have a politics that is relevant to the mass of America.
For over 20yrs corporate centrists have lost every presidential election and depressed turnout. The only exception to this was Obama who merely posed as a progressive 'agent of change.' It's time the center bend a knee, and fall in line with the left - lest they be accused of being 'spoilers,' or having 'purity tests' - that would truly be deplorable.
10
@Nick F. Right on, thank you!
Candidates duking it out for the centrist slot aren't going anywhere yet you say. No real reason they should until after Super Tues, if they have the money to get through it. Money's going to be the rub though, isn't it. Money was the killer for the likes of Harris an Gillibrand, candidates I had no love for, but exited the field with grace and class. As did Andrew Yang. Wonder which of the others can manage it.
Sanders thankfully isn't going anywhere, but I suspect we're going to have Bloomberg and maybe Steyer sticking around for a long time too. Which should make an, um, interesting brokered convention.
2
The likely nominee is Bloomberg.
It does not matter how poorly he performs on stage, even less if he gets better. He is still as rich as ever and as willing to spend ten times more than anyone else. He will saturate the media...
2
@novoad
Yes, Mike always thinks of others.
2
@novoad I’m not voting for anyone except Bloomberg after I saw what came out of those other candidates.
This is not a game show, not an acting contest. I don’t need hysteria. What I do need and what America needs is someone who can stay calm and keep the country running. (Sorry Bernie, it’s not you).
4
There was a good article in the Times last night about the Russia/Putin influence on this process and upcoming election and why Sanders and Trump are their favorites.
They are the polar opposites, far left and bat crazy far right. They are not good for America or the world.
The Sanders platform, while it sounds good, will never happen in real life - not in a 100 years. Be realistic, free tuition, universal health care which he can't explain how to pay for? Trump is mentally ill and is not fit to run a dog wash.
Americans need someone to bring the majority together not push them apart now more than ever. Pete, Joe, Amy or Mike.
November make Putin and Trump cry.
Give Bernie a cabinet post of some kind in the administration, he seems to be a kind man although maybe a little bit crazy and unrealistic.
2
Oh stop already with these headlines about Sanders taking control and somehow being declared the winner of the Democrats.
The primary and caucus’ to date have involved small population states with mostly homogeneous populations.
Let’s see how Sanders does in Super Tuesday.
2
Bernie Sanders is 78; Donald Trump 74
Bernie Sanders has had a heart attack; Donald Trump has coronary heart disease.
Bernie Sanders succeeds politically by knowing how, and which, political hot buttons to push on the left;
Donald Trump succeeds politically by knowing how, and which, political hot buttons to push on the right.
Bernie Sanders is from New York; Donald Trump is from New York.
Bernie Sanders is a "Populist"; Donald Trump is a "Populist".
When Bernie Sanders makes a point he doesn't speak to people, he yells at them; When Donald Trump makes a point he doesn't speak to people, he yells at them.
The only real difference between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump; Sanders has more hair.
4
Bernie is fighting for the working class
Trump is fighting for billionaires
That is the difference
8
@Nick. Lenin, Mao and Chavez fought for the working class too.
5
@Mike. Missing the obvious: Trump loves America and the American people. Bernie luxuriates in America but hates America.
1
When either extreme takes control of the government, Russia can take advantage of the infighting and discordant within the US to make Russia Great again elsewhere in the world. By aiding Sanders and Trump at the same time will put sinister Russia in a win-win situation.
2
What I'm not hearing or reading from anyone is this - most Democrats (and Independents) who regularly vote say they will vote for whoever wins the Democratic nomination - just to be rid of Trump. So, add them to the huge numbers that support Sanders (many of whom will not vote for anyone else and have never voted before) and you have commanding popular and Electoral College votes that will drive Trump from office. The big fear I have is that Democratic conservatives will get their noses out of joint and stay home rather than vote for Sanders. To them I say put your votes where your mouths are. I was registered as an Independent for the last three elections but I'm now registered as a Democrat. I voted for Obama twice but could not bring myself to vote for Trump or HRC so I threw my vote away by voting for an Independent. This election is too important to do that again. I beseech all Democrats and clear-thinking Independents and Republicans to vote for whoever the DNC nominee is. We need a landslide to rid ourselves of the current would-be dictator in the White House. And consider this also - Sanders has little chance of implementing his full agenda even if both the House and Senate are controlled by Democrats - they are scared of his full agenda. There will be considerable resistance to turning us into a completely Socialist State.
5
Sanders faces the entire army of the dark side. Key areas of focus he may be missing.
One of the largest concentrations of delegates come from Los Angeles County, which thanks to County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan and whoever is pulling his strings have put a voting system in LA that has no reliable method of verification and which hasn't even met California State Standards for voting machines. Google the Brad Blog and LA voting machines. Sanders better have a massive army of people at every exit poll and start bringing this up in the press every single day from here on in.
The other massive enemy of democracy he faces is the monstrous super PAC's born of the long push by the Gang of Plutocrats and their judicial lobbying branch on the Supreme Court, (the 5 men of the Federalist Society) and Robert's support of massive legalized, dark money political bribery through their support of "Citizens United". This mass trove of corruption born political capital ammunition supports not only McConnel and other servants of the Gang of Plutocrats but the nearly equally corrupt corporatist Democratic corruption machine that backed Hillary in 2016. They've still got her out there saying things like "nobody likes him."
Bernie needs to study the enemy. Microtargeting, Swift Boat attacks, lies everywhere, ruthlessness at every level.
Bernie needs to unite with Liz now in a defacto co-presidency. It doesn't matter who has the title if their agreement is honorable.
4
Mr. Buttigiege you've show your true. You eviscerated Amy Klobochar in the last debate, not to make a point, just to take her down. Now you accuse Bernie Sanders of not being a Democrat who “actually gives a damn.” If we want mean, Mayor Pete, we just keep Trump. Show some character, for God's sake.
7
People want Bernie.
6
@Pia Only some people want Bernie.
3
@Oh My
Many people.
@Pia
Sorry. But not all.
2
Remember when Bernie's 2016 campaign had issues with sexual harassment and sexism? Wasn't long ago - and why is that OK? Why could he apologize and his followers excuse this awful behavior?
- This whole thing wrecks of the Russians. We are in big trouble.
The only winners are Putin and Trump.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign-sexism.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/10/bernie-sanders-apologizes-for-sexual-harassment-in-2016-campaign.html
4
It's presently 5:00 on Sunday afternoon and we still have only 60% of the results in from Nevada. Does Pete Buttigieg make the 15% cutoff or not? He is even challenging whether or not he's been robbed of second place.
I find it strange that there are no reporters on the ground there giving us feedback as to what the delay is due to and why. With all this dysfunctionality taking place, do we really need to worry about the Russians? Or is it not, as Pogo so famously remarked back in the days of the McCarthy witch-hunts, "we have met the enemy and it is us"?
4
It’s time for the Democratic debate participants to focus their questions and attacks not on each other, but on Trump.
Every time a question is asked in a debate, turn it into a statement about why Trump’s policies and behavior on that issue are so dangerous and wrong, so mean-spirited, selfish and counterproductive.
6
Soon (if not already) it will be time for Warren to lthrow her support to Sanders and lobby hard to be his' VP. Sanders may choose a person of color, for the obvious reasons. But Sanders could help him so much on policy. And if Biden and the others would campaign for him among minority voters, Sanders will do okay.
2
I admire Senator Sanders' vision and now that he's taken seriously, I hope debate moderators, voters, and journalists will be able to get real answers from him about how he'll realize his vision as well as his "comprehensive" medical records. My understand is that, though his doctors' letters generally indicate he's doing well, some key info was omitted.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/blogs/skeptical-cardiologist/84436
If we're voting for him, we need to know he'll be physically able to do the job. We don’t need more weird trumpy doctors’ notes.
@Tedj
He provided three separate letters from his doctors.
That's two more than Hillary did when she collapsed in public, had an obvious back brace, concussions and many other health episodes.
That's also three more letters than Biden provided. He has a history of brain cancer and certainly behaves like he has neurological issues.
4
Bernie Sanders has never worked a day outside government in his life (but is nevertheless a multimillionaire with 3 homes). He didn't even have a job until he was in his 40s. That millions of young Americans put their faith on this grifter who thought the Soviet Union and Venezuela under Chavez were just swell places and worthy of our emulation is a testament to how bad our public schools have become in recent decades.
I'm a Democrat and I will never vote for Bernie.
9
You forgot his honeymoon in Russia and his support for the Sandinistas. And he supports the Palestinians and not Israel. Trump talks about getting out of the Middle East whereas Bernie would withdraw all US troops his first day in office.
2
@Lupito Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat.
6
@jonothan And Bernie wants to run a country? He’s never run a business. Bloomberg thank you.
1
I'd love to see a Sanders-Warren ticket facing Trump in November. Let's make this a choice for the ideological heart of America. It should be a matter of good vs. evil, the evil being our incumbent, incompetent, and corrupt President.
6
Joe, it is time to go home. You are no match for The Creep in the White House! You style of campaigning is old. This style is fine in 1980 style campaigns were based upon honesty and honor!
4
The media seems to have forgotten that almost half the Democratic party supported Bernie in 2016. It's not like his success is coming out of nowhere.
Warren must really be regretting her decision not to challenge Hillary in 2016, thus giving Bernie the chance to build the left-wing base of support that she is now struggling to win over.
5
Note to Headline Writers. Bernie Takes Control? He received a smaller percentage of the votes in the Nevada Primary in 2020 than he did in 2016. If he continues to win these very small pluralities, instead of winning majorities... he is leading the Democratic party into a contested convention. What part of that is about 'taking control' or winning?
2
Americans are profoundly divided just when we most need to work together. Conflict rules the day. Our only hope is to pull together. By maximizing conflict maybe we’ll learn the cost of polarization. So let’s bang heads and be stupid.
"Mr. Sanders has now won the most votes in each of the first three states and has more momentum than all his rivals and more money than everyone besides two self-funding billionaires."
I love this. America still ha sa soul.
10
Polls show Sanders beating Trump. However, I fear that may not be the case- especially in swing states- after Trump unleashes half a billion dollars of advertising against 'crazy Bernie' and about how he is going to raise taxes and turn America into a socialist country. He will play video of Bernie declaring he's a (Democratic) SOCIALIST. He will instill fear with every ad.
Can Sanders overcome this? Are voters smart enough to think critically?
2
I think Bernie will be able to ward of some of the needless fear of his candidacy and so-called unelectability by choosing a more centrist non-white male running mate with wide name recognition eg. Booker, Warren or even Klobucher.
@Don Spritzer
Why would he do that? Bernie is like black coffee, he ain't going to pander by putting in some cream and sugar. If people don't like their coffee black, go somewhere else.
@Fourteen14 Right. And it's exactly this attitude that is going to give us four more years or Trump. "My way or the highway" just ain't gonna win this election. Bernie does not need to give up a single bit of his vision for America by choosing a running mate that will draw in centrist voters. Do you think JFK had any real use for LBJ other than he knew he needed him to get elected?
1
Lifelong Democrat here, but if Sanders gets the nomination, Trump will not only have a field day with him, but he'll easily win a second term in office. Many will vehemently disagree this this assessment, so we'll just have to wait and see how things play out.
Sanders is too extreme for those outside of the base. He wont win over the middle, the undecided, those in the fly over states or those who voted for Trump originally and now have second thoughts.
Reality check. The majority of Americans don't want socialism even when you try and disguise it as "progressive", and you cant fund all the promises he's making by taxing the wealthy into oblivion. I know this sounds nice, but it's not realistic.
Want more proof. The Intel Committee just reported that Putin is up to his old tricks and is again trying to influence the election. He's promoting Sanders in the primaries for the nomination as he knows this will be his best chance at getting Trump reelected.
4
If the Democrats want Trump to be re-elected, Sanders should be their nominee.
While Trump has no health care plan and is actively trying to gut the ACA, Trump is an expert on running on fear.
And Trump will terrify millions of Americans who are insured through their employers.
4
So, in a sense, nothing happened and nothing changed except who has the money.
Sure. Fine. Whatever.
1
Well here's a takaway: My generation, the Boomers, must be all complaining but not caucusing or voting. It's the kids out there, trying to save their future. More power to them.
Sanders was my guy in 2016. I still admire him. He and the other candidates have taken the Democrats back to where they were in the 1960's, to a place where the race was still contested a long way into the primaries, 'til past Super Tuesday.
For the last 30 years until today, the Dems' convention was rigged by suppertime on the day of the New Hampshire Primary, or even earlier. What's not to like about a system run by the people, instead of Superdelegates?
McConnell's self administered cyanide is going to do its job whatever happens with the Democrats. I'm just thrilled that there are half a dozen decent candidates on the Dem side. Even Bloomberg isn't an idiot, much as I think he should be a Republican running against Trump.
But that's what the Democrats turned into, until Bernie showed them their mistake: Dems WERE Republicans running against Trump, or Bush or basically Reagan.
What makes everybody believe that the kids won't do what we adults have been to lazy to do, lately?
10
How is Elizabeth Warren different from Donald Trump? Glowing in her prepared eviscerating insults and now height jokes? How is she helping the Democratic Party exhibit an alternative message of courage and class under fire, and what will ultimately be the acceptance of loss (hers)...At first, I was disappointed in the way she full throttled Bernie Sanders in her claim he said a woman could not be elected president which may have been an off the cuff remark between so called friends, not a glaringly mean spirited comment, and then accused him of calling her a liar on national tv...I thought it looked awful of her, not him...and, I had originally supported her...upon seeing the debacle of the last debate performance for which she has taken so much pride, and which initiated and inspired and sparked a truly nasty infighting which made each one look bad, I am now disgusted...once again, the Democrats, on whom I depend, look worse than the republicans on whom I pin low expectations!
3
You're right, NYT. Bernie can't win. Except he is.
5
Bernie and hubris go well together...
1
The last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope.”
--- Vladimir Lenin? Joseph Stalin? Karl Marx?
There is a lot of controversy about who first came up with this quote.
But I watched Bernie last night, and I know for sure he's thinking about this.
3
@Lupito
Mr. Russell, of course, was himself a prominent Socialist who was often described as a fool and a fanatic and therefore someone to be worried about.
1
This is a simple warning from a humble doctor. If Medicare For All is implemented in the U.S. and physicians take a 40% pay-cut as would be necessary per Sanders, then you can forget seeing a doctor in the future. Many are on the verge of leaving clinical care as is, and a massive pay-cut when we face 6-figure debt, 80 hr work weeks, sleepless nights/holidays, all to care for an increasingly irreverent and unappreciative public, would be the final straw. Please understand that your future care would be provided by chat bots and NPs/PAs. I've already shifted from clinical care to research. Many doctors are already planning their out.
3
@James
For many people, care is already provided by NPs and PAs.
The salary of a first-year qualified oncologist is $330K/year in Toronto, Canada. Under a single payer system.
9
@James
Totally false maybe just a flat-out lie.
Under Bernie's plan, doctors get the exact same money they earn now, as do all other health care providers, Those who lose are the dividend class of healthcare corporations and their executives who amass huge amounts of salaries and bonuses when they can deny coverage to policy holders. Those are the only people who love, really love their health-car insurance...
8
@James, as long as the chat bot leaves me with the same prescription and lab referral as I know all I’ll end up from you with after I don’t know how many days wait and total rearrangement of my work schedule it took to get an appointment see you, I don’t care. Yes, I’m a Kaiser member so I’m already used to it too.
5
If the Nevada caucus was a sporting event, it would be an old-fashioned blow-out for Bernie Sanders. The longer all the other candidates stay in the race and split the vote, the more Bernie will increase his lead.
No one should underestimate Bernie Sanders. He's got the message, the passion, energy and widespread support. Bernie will be the nominee and 46th President of the United States. How's that for going out on the proverbial limb?
8
A couple of days ago, Bernie acknowledged that the Russians are aiding his campaign.
Question for Bernie supporters:
Why do you think they're doing that while simultaneously aiding the Trump campaign?
80
Because the Russians know that Trump will win in a landslide against Bernie Sanders.
28
@GFE Most likely out of all the D choices, he'd be the least likely to challenge Russia's ambitions. It's no secret that Sanders like Trump says he is isn't a fan of America's military adventurism.
12
Not sure what you’re implying, but maybe you mean that Russia thinks that Sanders would be an easy opponent for Trump. I think they, just like the Democratic establishments, are wrong.
Moderate Democrats have lost all presidential contests since Bill Clinton. Obama didn’t run as a moderate.
54
From Kristian Ramos, former spokesman for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in The Atlantic, 2/17/2020:
"President Donald Trump has done almost everything he can to anger Latino voters. And yet, his support among this crucial portion of the electorate remains surprisingly consistent. After the 2016 election, exit polls analyzed by the Pew Research Center showed that 28 percent of Latino voters supported Trump; today, 30 percent support him.
"This percentage may not seem high. But consider what the number means for the Democrats: Displeasure with the president over the past three years has not led to an increase in support for the opposing party.
"Democrats lost the 2016 election with about 66 percent of the Latino vote. Today 65 percent of registered Latino voters who are Democrats have a positive view of the party’s presidential candidates. Based on exit polling from the past three election cycles, I estimate that Democrats need about 70 percent of this vote to take back the White House."
What Democrats seem to consistently ignore is the influence of the Catholic Church in the Latino community and the Church's opposition to abortion.
Another thing ignored is the persistent influence of the Latin culture of machismo and how Trump's tough-guy act appeals to it.
Still another thing is the lingering "Apprentice" factor:
'...“The Apprentice” attracted an unusually high percentage of black and Latino viewers...' - Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker, 7/27/2017
4
It is truly sad that Sanders is leading our Party. He is equally as divisive as Trump and will bring nothing to the November election.
6
Saunders has big problems ...
Where are the Medical records ? He is 78 years old ! ...
He says he will institute Medicare for All - can we get some details on the actual plan and how he will pay for it ?
7
Bernie Sanders "dominated" the Nevada Caucus? Really? Sixty percent of the Democrats who voted in this activist-oriented style of a primary election voted for someone other than Bernie Sanders. Seventy five percent of the Democrats who voted in Iowa and New Hampshire voted for someone other than Bernie Sanders. These figures are hardly "dominating."
92
@vansaje Sorry, the current results at 60% reporting is 46% for him. So 54% against indeed a divided field. But you're counting Warren in there which is 10%. So I'd say his support is at around 55% for and 45% against. That's dominating enough.
Dominating also could mean among all the others he is the one standing out. If Warren had same 46% performance or Bloomberg did but wit the progressives together at 27% each then
it would still be dominating by the 46% person.
The whole point being made is that Sanders can win the nomination if the progressives don't unite against him.
16
@vansaje
Sour grapes. Admit it, Americans by and large want the kind of change Bernie represents.
32
@vansaje The key question raised but not answered in this piece is: Do the majority of Democrats want a revolution? Certainly, if you are a Bernie supporter the answer would be yes. But I remain unconvinced that he can win. The track record for progressives has been terrible. Almost every progressive candidate in whom Dems invested tremendous time, money, & energy in 2018—Beto O’Rourke in Texas, Andrew Gillum in Florida, Stacey Abrams in Georgia— lost. If Sanders is the nominee he will come under mind-boggling scrutiny that will make Democratic debates look like an Easter Egg hunt. Not just from the GOP & Fox News who will hit him with everything they have 24/7 but the MSM who will continually ask: will his proposals work? CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell confronted Sanders last month over the cost of his ambitious agenda. She was astonished when Sanders told her “nobody knows” what his programs will cost. What will be the reaction when Sanders travels to swing states with Michael Moore & he tells women’s underrepresentation in Congress a form of “gender apartheid.” Or when AOC, says in Texas, “I’m here because Senator Sanders has actually committed to breaking up ICE.” Sanders' codependents are already writing the GOP attack ads. Sanders may have 25% of the Democratic party on his side but the other 75% are adamantly against what he is proposing. A moderate gives us the best chance in 2020. But in act of self-sabotage, we will likely go in the opposite direction.
11
Please, NYT's and mainstream media, please keep attacking Bernie. You are only making him stronger as in "the Trump effect". It is great to feel the fear of the status quo.
11
Success on Super Tuesday could hinge on the black vote. The ambitious politician with the most just slavery reparations and restitution proposal, instead of snoozing with empty promises, stands to advance their ambitions. They might be well advised to show leadership on this fundamental issue, and strike while the iron is hot.
2
@J Caro
Black voter here.
Let's be clear about what you're saying, starting with "slavery reparations and restitution".
Most Black people don't see this as first and foremost in what they're looking for in a politician, let alone a president.
It's better to start off with things like equal business and education opportunities, fair housing practices, and civil and voting rights.
Anything else is extra.
And a good start.
10
@N. Smith
Thank you N. Smith for your insights. However, the concerns you express are not mutually exclusive with slavery reparations and restitution.
For instance, Warren, possibly the smartest candidate left, has a plan for universal child care, as well as an educational debt plan, as well as plans addressing other issues. These aren't either/or. So where is a clear plan for slavery reparations and restitution?
155 years after the end of the Civil War, what part of slavery needs further "study" to understand the inequity of delaying reparations and restitution?
2
@J Caro
Sorry. Unlike yourself, I'm not able to make the clear connection between reparations and Elizabeth Warren's stance on universal child care.
But I will say this, there are a lot more pressing issues on the front burner than restitutions after three years of Donald Trump... climate change and the environment is just one of them.
1
A funny Democratic analysis from the right side of the party, what most really would call the wrong side of the party?
"Those polls showed Mr. Sanders winning men and women; whites and Latinos; voters in all but the oldest age group (17-29, 30-44 and 45-64); those with college degrees and those without. He was carrying union households and nonunion households, self-identified liberal Democrats (by a wide margin) and moderate and conservative ones (narrowly)."
Yes indeed, winning it all, but not quite the black votes, which biden have a favor of 35-28% now! Sanders catching up to him though, and its mad not more black people are on board with Sanders, as he is their only and best hope! But , they are of course voting for Biden, because Obama tells them too! And those 35% are not really following politics at all, and knows how great Bernie will be for them! Just following Obama still, and his VP!
And yes, the longer all these center rights stays on, the bigger will be the Bernie Sanders victory! May they never step down!
Go Bernie! Introuduce that nordic social democratic tradition to the USA..Nonstop talks about Denmark being a role model. And yes we, in all and every aspect out there!
Americans in -90%, deserve to have it just as good as we do here in Denmark. Sadly you dont at present! Bernie will change that! Sad, in a nation that is actually richer than Denmark , if income on average calculated?
1
@Jackson
The current US national debt is $22.7 trillion.
What did you buy for that?
2
Wow. Great win for Bernie. And naturally lots of hand wringing and teeth gnashing and pearl clutching from Americans who are afraid of his signature policies of a national health insurance program, a living wage, free public higher education, and a serious green energy investment plan. Bernie is a real Democrat in the mold of FDR.
143
"Free" education, "free" healthcare, and "free" day care and all for only 70%of your hard earned dollars. Adds new meaning to the term...working for the man.
14
@George Tafelski
Bernie has never identified with the Democratic party enough to register as a Democrat at any time in his entire life.
"Real Democrat"?
9
@George Tafelski
If I hear that "pearl-clutching" comment one more time, he'll lose my vote for good.
Face it.
There are a lot of voters out there who aren't part of the corporate elite or anyone else who has been vilified for not supporting Sanders straight off who feel alienated from this kind of rhetoric.
You are doing yourselves no favors by attacking those who question some of Sanders or disagree with you.
That's why Democrats are so torn apart.
Don't you get it?
18
The problem all the other candidates is that the only thing they can really attack Sanders on is his positions and those are the very thing people like about him.
I doubt many of his supporters would desert him upon learning he has three homes or honeymooned in the USSR. The other candidates have far more baggage in their pasts that are far worse.
And as to Buttigieg's importance of nominating a Democrat who "actually gives a damn about down-ballot races" I guess he believes Hillary Clinton didn't in 2016 considering the results of the Congressional elections that year.
2
@Steve
The "honeymoon in the USSR" was actually a mayor thing he did with sister cities. There was a 10 person American delegation, and he went to three Russian cities.
How "controversial" that he would see Russians in Yaroslavl and St. Petersburg as real people doing their best under difficult circumstances, as everyone else does in America and all over the world. Vilifying and isolating North Korea for decades sure made the lives of regular people much better, right?
Sanders documented his trip on video, and the 3.5 hours of footage is in the Vermont government access channel archives. It's not some big secret. Even Politico reported on it.
1
To all those centrists who feel that if Bernie wins the nomination, Trump will win the election:
Yes, Bernie can't win. Neither could a Black community organizer with a Muslim name. Nor a pathological liar who confessed to sexually assaulting women.
The center doesn't hold anymore. Reagan started to kill it, Clinton went along, and Bush put the nail in the coffin. Obviously, some decent but very economically comfortable people think the same old same old is fine, without the rough, bigoted edges of Trump. But that is no longer where the American people are at.
Unfortunately, Bernie, clearly a social democrat, confuses things by calling himself a socialist, but Americans by and large are not intellectually picky. They just want out with the old, which isn't working.
14
time for Amy Klobuchar to exit the race
she said her Nevada results exceeded expectations
Amy , you got 5% of the vote
and at the last debate , when Mayor Pete asked her questions about her voting record , she was rude and insulting
I can believe the stories her staff has told her
Bye, Bye Amy
13
The Bernie Bros must be stopped, just think of the disgusting tweets they must have deployed to get all these black and brown and white and young and old people to all go out and enthusiastically support that shouty old man. Don’t they know that he makes pundits uncomfortable?
11
Hillary was the "safe" choice and we all know how that turned out Have you heard Bernie's Foreign Policy speech at Westminster College? (https://www.vox.com/world/2017/9/21/16345600/bernie-sanders-full-text-transcript-foreign-policy-speech-westminster).
It is pretty compelling and I would like this to get more coverage. Pete is a Rhodes Scholar as was President Clinton. Clinton the guy that delivered the Democratic Party into corporate hands; many of those folks are still controlling the party Bernie will be the change that Obama promised. It is important for a populist uprising to happen in order to overcome the corporate-controlled DNC nd mainstream media. Bernie on the first ballot. Donate today!
8
While that other party is trying desperately to dig up even the slightest bit of dirt from the past on the Democratic candidates,
perhaps it's time to play THE HOLLYWOOD ACCESS tape. It brought Billy Bush down, but did absolutely nothing to that crude, vulgar, self-serving narcissist, racist bully currently in the Oval Office.
3
Why haven't the figures been updated? The last update was posted nearly 7 hours ago. What is going on?
1
i wonder if mike helped elizabeth warren's fundraising to split left votes and nobble his delegate haul......
2
I’m #bluenomatterwho, but Sanders is closer to my last choice than my first (Warren).
That said, I’m feeling better about him today than I did yesterday. His theory of the case is that he can bring out youth and Latinx voters like nobody else. In Nevada, he was right. Do it again on Super Tuesday and it’s a trend.
If so, the others should drop so we can switch to the general campaign. Eyes on the prize, folks: SCOTUS, the planet, getting those kids out of cages. Steady messaging on all that, plus Trumps corruption, will bring the waverers home.
84
@Fred DiChavis
Too bad that Sanders, and almost every other candidate out there has, and continues to, take the Black vote for granted.
An especially dangerous thing to do when they represent a mainstay of the Democratic Party -- and they come out to vote!
Forget Super Tuesday. Look at South Carolina.
2
Blacks are the mainstay? 12% of the population. Hispanics, heading towards 30%.
4
@Fred DiChavis
Sanders has now won the first 3 primaries leading into super Tuesday. The corporate democratic establishment will not go peacefully. Expect fake outrage or scandal just prior to Tuesday and maybe even an attempt to steal the nomination through a brokered convention as all the other candidates admitted to supporting at last Thursday's debate.
A democratic corporate centrist has not won a presidential election in over 20yrs. Obama ran and won as a progressive 'agent of change,' with record turn out, before the reality of his subservience to Wall Street was revealed and his support diminished. 4.4 million registered democrats stayed home in 2016 vs 2012 according to WaPo. Corporate centrists depress turnout and for good reason - they have nothing to offer.
'Big structural change,' requires mass movements and being willing to make enemies of powerful interests - something you can't do nor be taken seriously on if you're willing to take corporate PAC money and subvert democracy by allowing super-delegates to steal a nomination away from the candidate with the most votes.
The corporately owned Democratic Party has, for decades, failed to improve the material realities of everyday Americans which produced the conditions that enabled the rise of Trump. The democratic party must be realigned to serve the interests of working Americans if it is to have a future in power. Those who cannot stomach this process happening and understand its necessity are free to leave.
5
"“Welcome to the revolution,” said Waleed Shahid, a spokesman for Justice Democrats, a progressive group. The Sanders victory was built upon three distinct and yet overlapping bases of support: young people (56 percent support among those 44 and under), very liberal voters (49 percent) and a majority of Hispanic voters."
This would be laughable if it weren't so serious. With 60% of the vote counted, Sanders has received a total of 22,000 votes, which means he stands to get about 35,000 votes--out of a Nevada population of over 3 million. That means Bernie's "revolution" was supported by exactly 1% of the population of that state. I guess Bernie doesn't really object to "the privileged" 1% deciding the fate of the other 99%, as long as it's his privileged 1%. All his talk was just talk.
4
You fail to mention that in all of the western countries with a single payer or socialized model of insurance, per capita spending on healthcare is a fraction of what Americans CURRENTLY pay per capita in our private oligopolistic model. Yet in the US millions remain uninsured or underinsured, and for all of the supposed rationing you claim occurs in these other countries, health insurance companies are already doing far worse right here: denying claims based entirely on short term costs, keeping reimbursement rates for procedures hidden from consumers, restrictive networks of providers, and having no transparent or rational standards for how claims are approved or demied. plus, on a variety of important health outcomes, including infant mortality and preventable deaths, the US is far behind these other western countries. Oh and we already have a single payer model in the US for those age 65 and up, it's called medicare and despite its minor shortfalls, it does a great job. there is literally no empirical basis for keeping private insurers in total control of our healthcare system: the only thing stopping m4all is the greed of the insurance industry and individuals who *think* they have great employer coverage because they either haven't tried using it on a major health procedure yet, or are lucky enough to have a good plan and probably have no idea what a high premium their employers are paying for it (money that could otherwise be spent on wages and salaries)
3
Sanders clearly has the favor of the voters. Democrats and republicans will try to knock him down, with their typical red herring, the evil red. This shows how our politics have shifted so far right. Senator Sanders is the only candidate that will bring in the 50% of our population who do not vote, because as i believe, they do not feel represented by the politicians. The Democratic establishment needs to decide what they want to be : republican light or an actual different voice. Choosing any other candidate would be opting for republican light and nobody likes a water downed version.
3
President Trump held a rally in Las Vegas and had a surprise visit from the 14 hockey players who won the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics playing against the Soviet Union. Most wore Make America Great hats and all were Trump supporters. This was quite an achievement because they were not favored to win. This was while the Soviet Union was under communism.
Bernie Sanders spent his honeymoon in the USSR in 1988 and loved the country. He wants to make America become like the Soviet Union while under communism. I visited Russia in the early 1970s and once was more than enough. The few people I met while on tour were lovely but sad. They had little to eat and it was not as grand as Bernie Sanders makes it out to be. The people’s lives were not their own and they were directed by the communists. While on tour, the tour guides only showed us places that they wanted us to see. They tried to feed us propaganda but many of us were not fooled. They lacked a very important feature and that was freedom. Bernie Sanders visited from a country where democracy reined. He could come home and have all the comforts of democracy. And he wants to take that away from us.
This is truly frightening and very upsetting. He is not showing us the pitfalls of the old Soviet Union. I saw first hand the real Russia and it was not pretty. You can disguise it as socialism but that is not what we will end up with a Sanders presidency. It will be horrendous and horrible. Trump 2020
4
It's pretty impressive that after three years of Democrats asserting they were the party of morality and goodness, purity and rectitude; it is remarkable to see them now devolving into pandemonium and tumult. Another four years of Donald Trump will be a welcome relief for the country.
4
Wait until Americans get a gander of what Sanders has said in the past about capitalism, taxes, socialism, etc. He'll have his "Mike Bloomberg" moment soon enough.
8
I would hardly use the word control. He has a lead. Control implies he has the ability to force people to vote for him. I would say Sanders has draw support for his policies. I guess everything comes down to control for people who think only in those terms, like the NYTs.
We have assumed control, resistance is useless. We have assumed control.
3
Thing is even if Sanders wins and gets both the House and Senate as democrats, he will still not get anything passed. He will be a lame duck president from the beginning, not only that but our adversaries will see us as weak. I personally think if Sanders is questioned on National Security he will fall short.
2
It seems like nonTrump Republicans and right wing Democrats are determined to tear the Party apart. THAT is what will lead to about her four or more years of Trump. Why don’t all of you get on the side of the People instead of insisting that unless it’s your way, it’s Trump. I am really disgusted that they are as corrupt as Trump and his minions.
3
@Justice4America Exactly. Over and over again I'm reading "Vote moderate or Trump gets another four years." It seems like another type of threat coming within the party. Scary stuff.
2
"a super PAC supporting Mr. Buttigieg announced it was buying TV ads on Super Tuesday states"
The panicking right-center ricocheting off the 3 B's ( (Biden to Bloomberg to Buttigieg) are hapless. Mayor Pete just shot himself in the foot with the anti-Sanders tirade and I would anticipate as swift downward slide as Warren had after her attack on Bernie early in her c campaign.
3
Here's all I can say--if you are supporting sanders you are saying:
1) America, as a country, is a terrible place
2) in order to make America a better place we need a revolution
3) this revolution is socialism and big govt control over people's rights
Is that what you really, truly believe? Because socialism has FAILED in every other country that has adopted it. Just look at Europe. Do a little research into economic conditions and austerity programs. Even in the UK. Who do you really think is going to pay for all the "free" stuff? The billionaires? They will be moving their tax domicile faster than you can say "IRS". It wont be the 1% paying. Just like across Europe it will be the middle class paying. Watch the news on BBC and Euronews for a few weeks. Think you're "woke" now? Are you in for an eye opener.
4
Sanders and A.O.C. the dream team
1
@clarity007
Trump’s dream...
4
I’m afraid we’re headed for another 1972.
11
Putin must be smiling today. It looks like he might get his wish and have his two favorite candidates go head to head in the general election. Maybe he can hit the trifecta when Bernie picks Tulsi Gabbard as his VP. Yeah, I know, 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 completes his takeover of Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia? Absolutely nothing. How do we know this? Only two senators voted against placing sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Crimea. Rand Paul and—you guessed it—Bernie Sanders. I guess Russian interference does work.
4
Its refreshing to have a balanced article, not the usual, OMG Sanders is ahead, piece.
Thank you,
Klobuchar in 2020!
1
I hope this paper and other media sources will give Bernie a fair shot this time around, unlike 2016. “Welcome to the revolution” is something many of us voting for Sanders are thinking. The primary need is to defeat Trump and Bernie can do that. He will bring honesty, morals and intelligence back to the office that has been soiled by lies, corruption and orange makeup.He has always and will always work for the rest of us, not just the rich.
2
If Mr. Sanders is the nominee, so be it. But what happens if he has another cardiac "episode" in October? Mr. Sanders has declined to release his medical health report (just two "assessments" from his doctors / cardiologists), but shouldn't voters know his health status before the convention?
59
@TheOtherSide Read those assessments. They are very detailed. More detailed than what anyone else has released (including Bloomberg, edit had the same procedure), and sufficient to judge his condition. They are nothing like,"he's good", that actually describe why he's good. I'm not sure of what more you want. His entire medical history? No one would release that, no one, not me, not you, and not any presidential candidate. Enough with the double standards.
11
Doesn't anyone else have medical information in their charts that might cause us to blush if known by the entire world, and yet has nothing to do whatsoever with our present state of health? Genital herpes, a dose of the clap... maybe a need for Viagra? How are the public's interests served by knowing all that?
C'mon friends; is empathy a thing of the past?
6
Agreed. I find it cultish and troubling that this was breezed over in a presidential candidate.
I thought it was very disappointing to hear Mayor Pete attacking Sanders and lecturing us all about electability after his pretty dismal showing and continued failure to get non-white support. Everyone attacks Sanders with self-proclaimed expertise about who's electable, but he's the one voters are turning out to support. Votes are real, punditry is not.
165
@David ....If 100,000 participated in the Nevada caucus, that is about 15% of the registered Democrats. If 50% supported Sanders, and Democrats are 40% of all registered voters in Nevada, then Sanders Caucus support represents about 3%. Passion often wins caucuses, but numbers win elections. Let's wait and see what happens in the elections in South Carolina and on super Tuesday.
16
@David
Pete Buttigieg was asked about his prior support of Bernie Sanders. Mayor Pete smiled and said "I was a Bernie Bro before it was cool."
Now if he believes attacking Bernie is going to get him the nomination, he's not as smart as we've been led to believe.
15
@David I see three likely scenarios. Scenario 1 Sanders wins the nomination outright & splits the party if he heads the ticket. Moderate suburban voters won't vote for Democratic Socialism. No matter how you slice & dice it this point can't be emphasized enough. Sanders will lose the overwhelming majority of these voters. His nomination would also compel independent swing voters to hold their nose & vote for Trump again. Sanders has demonstrated time & time again that he doesn't have the temperament to be POTUS. Last year he called for giving incarcerated felons the right to vote. The Boston Marathon Bomber kills three people & maims 280 more. Bernie’s concern? That he gets his absentee ballot. He's on the wrong side of too many issues for these voters. Scenario 2 Sanders arrives at the convention with a huge lead in both votes & delegates but not enough to secure the nomination. His supporters will blackmail the DNC. The Democrats conclude that they have no choice but to let Sanders go down in a McGovern style defeat. Result Trump wins. Scenario 3 Sanders loses the nomination outright to say, Bloomberg. Bernie Bros claim Russian interference & stay home. Result: Trump wins. If this election is about kitchen table issues: jobs & affordable education there's no way we lose. If it's about Medicare for All & more illegal immigration there's no way we win. We can win with or without progressives. We can't win without swing & centrists voters. Sanders loses in a landslide.
7
We just gave the 2020 election to Trump . I hope they have a spot on the ballot for Mr Biden or Bloomburg. Medicare for all and free education are as the military says it unsustainable . The young people will be given all the free stuff which we had to earn by working . Mr Biden would be the best to save our planet from the coal and fossil fuel abusers. He already had the experience to close 350 toxic coal powered plants down then our profoundly immoral Trump opened them back up. Always something but never in the right direction.
24
@D.j.j.k
I think it was Bloomberg, in a program he funded for the Sierra Club, who got the coal plants shut down. He's the best one to address climate change.
From this paper, June 6, 2019:
WASHINGTON — Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, said on Friday he would donate $500 million to a new campaign to close every coal-fired power plant in the United States and halt the growth of natural gas.
The new campaign, called Beyond Carbon, is designed to help eliminate coal by focusing on state and local governments. The effort will bypass Washington, where Mr. Bloomberg has said national action appears unlikely because of a divided Congress and a president who denies the established science of climate change.
“We’re in a race against time with climate change, and yet there is virtually no hope of bold federal action on this issue for at least another two years,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement before the announcement, which he made in a commencement address at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Mother Nature is not waiting on our political calendar, and neither can we.”
6
@D.j.j.k I thought we were past this discourse of blaming millennials for loving free stuff and avocados. Previous generations had a more responsible state that offered affordable education. Now that we're asking for the same thing that boomers and genx had, we're somehow freeloaders. This is just plain cruelty, which a younger generation is thankfully not standing for.
7
@D.j.j.k Sadly, Biden blew his chance when the Hunter Biden hogwash dropped and he couldn't even provide a response to it.
Soon it will be knives our for Magical Grandpa who has been handled gently be the media.
Bloomberg looked good until his macho contempt for women was revealed. Bernie is likely clean in that area but he has so many skeletons in his closet from hobnobbing with left-wing dictators, etc., that we will be treated so a slow drip of revelations for the rest of the campaign and this will dissuade independents from voting for him.
What goes around, comes around. The GOP will make sure this happens with Sanders.
25
@Observer
I agree that if there is anything negative that is not already public knowledge about Senator Sanders that it should come out sooner than in the general election.
Hillary Clinton threw the kitchen sink at Obama. His past associations with Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers were examined. Voters looked at it and said OK we can live with this. When McCain tried to use the same scandals voters pretty much said “Oh, not this again.
While it’s kind of hard to believe that the Clintons let anything slip by them with Sanders , a successful candidate for president has to be tough. So have at it. guys but in the end the voters will decide.
9
@Observer So many audios and videos of Bernie's support for various Communist leaders and societies.
4
@Observer
What are they going to do, convince Republicans not to vote for him?
Or do you think they'll dissuade his supporters from voting for him?
People vote for Bernie exactly because of that background. Attack ads from Trump or the Republicans will be wonderful advertisements for Bernie - we've already seen his polling go up after attacks.
Wish people would think a bit deeper before they parrot the mainstream media's small-minded talking points about OMG! socialism!, his background!, nobody likes him!, he can't win!, his hair is rumpled!, he shouts!
You nay-sayers should just vote for the status quo - we don't need your vote. Got too many already!
7
Sixth takeaway. It's time for Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Tom Steyer to end their campaigns IF they and others hope to slow Bernie Sanders in wrapping up the nomination.[Disclosure: I'm a progressive Democrat who loves Warren and can live with Bernie] Buttigieg has now entered the primaries where his inability to attract minority voters will end his campaign, and his inexperience and meanness is starting to grate. The others have never really garnered much support. If they stay, they end up (based on Nevada results) dividing 20 percent that presumably could go to Biden who may only eke out a win in South Carolina and thus enhancing Sanders as the runaway nominee come Super Tuesday.
3
Based on the results of two caucuses and one primary, concluding that Bernie is the clear front-runner is premature. I have been a Washington state resident since 1980. The Washington Democratic party relied upon caucuses for votes for presidential candidates from then until 2016. I attended every caucus save for years when an incumbent was unopposed (i.e. twice). Caucuses are always dominated by the most active and committed voters, who are usually at the most liberal end of the Democratic electorate. Hence, in 2016 Bernie also did best in caucus states. Let's wait until all the votes are counted after super Tuesday, which includes bigger states with primaries, to see if he is still at the forefront of the race, please, before concluding that Bernie is unstoppable.
3
Frankly it’s going to be a struggle for Bernie to implement any of his well intentioned plans, and if he wins, he’s doomed to fail. Medicare for all is unrealistic. It’s funny that comparisons are made with Denmark by Bernie. That is a country of just over 5 million people where over 80 percent of healthcare provision is in the public sector. For a country as large and diverse as the US with each state having its own health system, trying to implement this one size fits all plan with ballooning budgets is set to fail. Other countries that Bernie and John Oliver in his recent episode alluded to such as the UK have significant challenges with the current state of the NHS, where despite good quality care and financial access, the waiting times are really long and have gotten worse along with rising, unsustainable budgets. There’s growing private insurance in the UK with the set up of Schoen Clinic, Germany and Cleveland Clinic setting up a new hospital.
Australia, another eg of Medicare for all, now has 54 percent of the population with private insurance over and above social insurance to mitigate long waiting times and to ensure patient choice of physician. Netherlands & Germany use an insurance based model i.e. managed competition, which is more effective. In all honesty Joe Biden has the best plan and best chance of success to enhance Obamacare and address the challenges in healthcare in a manner that’s realistic and palatable.
4
He finally wins a single primary definitively and for the first time is ahead in the delegate count and he is anointed the front runner? Feels undemocratic to me to jump to that conclusion - it's just Nevada, not the nation.
A lot could change, so, please, everyone (Bernie Bros included) let's be fair to the process and see what the people decide and not the media or the candidates. These results are a whole lot different from what everyone was saying about who won the last debate.
7
Honestly, I think this is almost all Bloomberg's fault.
I always liked listening to Bernie, and reading about his proposals. But many of them seemed as sensible as what Trump promised.
Problem is now that he is on the way to become the POTUS.
Unless we can take the Senate, I doubt that there is much he an accomplish. Even if the Democrats control ALL of the Legislative Branch, it will take years of negotiations and adjustments and amendments to get the 535 to agree with his plans.
Since a whole lot of those 535 need to keep their specific voter bases happy.
And hundreds of thousands of pages of details. Bernie just can't snap his fingers and say it's "Medicare for All".
And THEN the GOP will toss everything they can into court hearings.
And no particular offense, but his approach and methods don't reassure me of his recognition strength with other "world leaders".
3
If Bernie is the nominee, we will have four more years of Republican rule. The Republican/Russian propaganda machine are holding any criticism of Bernie. In fact Trump says Bernie is getting cheated. They have a lot of opposition research to work with, in addition to playing up the fact that Bernie's healthcare proposal would take away the health insurance of 150 million Americans. Many of those Americans have given away increased compensation to get healthcare coverage. Bernie promises to not sign any bill that lessens their coverage, but there is little likelihood their employers and going to magically raise their wages or salaries, and they will have to pay the very considerable taxes that will pay for Bernie's plan. Seniors and those approaching 65 who have paid into real Medicare for decades will get some expanded benefits, but they will also have to pay the additional taxes, which means they get nothing for the decades of Medicare taxes they paid.
How would Bernie get the votes necessary to pass his healthcare plan? Most Senate Democrats have not signed on for it, and none of the Republicans will ever vote for it. At least Warren was honest and showed how she would pay for her plan, although I don't think her numbers quite add up. It cost her a lot of support. Bernie admits he doesn't even know how much his plan will cost, much less how he is going to pay for it. Are we all to just take his ability to pass it and pay for it as a matter of faith?
6
@jas2200
Get off your sofa and get people registered to vote and take them to the polls. Go to town hall meetings and educate your communities.
Stop pretending that you are powerless, think and take action.
1
@Tony: Thank you for your condescending advice. I live in California. I've voted in every election since the 1960's. I'll vote in the primary for someone other than Bernie. It really doesn't matter how or if I vote for President in the general election. You live in New York. Try to convince Bernie cult members he will help elect Trump again if you want. It won't matter how you vote in the general election either. Good luck.
1
Excited for voters to start falling in line behind the frontrunner (Bernie Sanders). And also glad that Warren seemingly will stay in until the convention. Can't let the billionaires buy up all the delegates.
113
@Jon
Actually, Warren staying in helps the candidates more than Bernie, if one assumes that a majority of Warren's supporters go to Bernie if she drops out.
2
@Jon I want a President whose heart is filled with love, not rage. We already have one of those. Perhaps the country is so deep into the pit of anger that there is no constituency for anything else anymore, but I hope it is not too late. The Sanders campaign has long made it plain to me that I would be no more welcome in Bernie's America than I feel in Trump's.
23
@Jon
It's a little too early for that. Three states with hardly diverse populations with one highly questionable caucus isn't exactly the best way to judge the outcome of this race.
Let's see what happens in South Carolina and on Big Tuesday -- or better yet, on Election Day.
5
In 2016, virtually every "expert" and pundit was positive Donald Trump couldn't win the Presidency - and so were members and delegates in his own party. Experts kept referring to his small and insignificant "base" that didn't represent the "real" voting block. Well, how'd that work out? In this now asymmetrical world of 2020 politics, all bets are off. Maybe Bernie has a much more expansive 'base' than he's being credited for? Maybe the country isn't as paranoid about a Democratic Socialist as talking heads keep spouting off? Maybe more voters than not are so sick to death of a passive aggressive criminal sitting in the White House, they'd actually give Sanders a shot? Would anyone really want to bet the farm against these being reasonable possibilities?
224
@Ronsword : Agreed. And maybe those of us without employer-sponsored healthcare are also sick to death of the obscene bills we face every single year. Bills that prevent us from saving buying a house, saving for retirement, sending our kids to college, taking a vacation.
Here is our the medical costs for our family of 3 -- too young for Medicare, just above the cutoff for subsidies, no employer-sponsored healthcare (we're workers in the gig economy):
$24K/year (premiums)
$6500 deductible (we meet it every single year)
$1200/year dental care
$3K to $4K/year in uncovered medical expenses (like a $1500 root canal), vision care (which can't be had on the open market), 50% dental copays, dental costs above a fairly low threshhold (benefits are very strictly limited.
11
@Ronsword
Maybe most of the public have children who have college debt, several jobs ,parents with medical conditions and no pensions because the coal companies went belly up.
Maybe the public has finally woke up and remembered what FDR promised their grandparents . Maybe we are tired of the constant Russian loving destructive GOP party that is in charge of this country.
13
@Rose
I hear you, Rose. And your experience is repeated a million (or, certainly, more) across this great country. But, you keep hearing the same questions from the "objective" media pundits at every debate and the same warnings from the corporate shills on these opinion boards:
"Horror of horrors, will you raise TAXES on the middle class to fund your health solution!?"
The fact that all of those expenses you enumerated would be eliminated and replaced by a tax amounting to thousands of dollars less per year seems to get lost in the rhetoric. "Taxation" like "Socialism" seem to be buzz words that eat peoples brains, like
zombies.
4
"Those polls showed Mr. Sanders winning men and women; whites and Latinos; voters in all but the oldest age group (17-29, 30-44 and 45-64); those with college degrees and those without. He was carrying union households and nonunion households, self-identified liberal Democrats (by a wide margin) and moderate and conservative ones (narrowly)."
So much for "Sanders can't draw enough support to win".
I'd say it's clear proof that he is the ONLY one who can draw this kind of broad support and beat Trump.
The DNC and those worried about beating Trump need to drop their bias and their dishonest memes against Bernie and accept what he can do for them, instead of denying the reality. All those other candidates (well, most of them), are fine people, but if they were able to excite and mobilize voters the way Bernie can they'd be leading, not fading.
Sanders represents the Big Change that most Americans have been hungering for for decades. If you keep trying to deny him, these voters are going to deny you.
416
Bernie Sanders has been in Congress for 30 years and has nothing— no legislation— to show for it. More to the point, he has no allies who cd theoretically help him move his proposals forward. How wd it be possible for him to deliver on “Medicare for all”?
36
@Kingfish52: Agreed, time for Klobuchar to hang it up and get behind someone else - Warren, perhaps - since they seem to have the female sympatico thing going. Pete is too much like the same old, same old corporate Dem type and his ridiculous statement about Bernie "leaving out what most Dems...and Americans want" is downright obtuse. I don't see a path forward for him. Bloomberg isn't going to get anywhere because no one wants another smug self-satisfied, egotistical, master of the universe telling the middle and wilting classes what we need is more of the same economic inequality.
16
Sanders is doing well because no one has focused on his attitudes and his policies. Biden and Bloomberg and to a degree Warren have been the targets. let's hope it's not too late to start showing the weaknesses of a Sanders candidacy. not the least of which is a core of really rude male supporters who are a huge turnoff to independents like me. they are almost as bad as the Trump supporters.
28
The big takeaway is that Trump is control of the Democratic nominating process. Consider: 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
That is Interesting, it's also the lure of "Free" everything that has excited students and others. In Nevada, pitches were made to Hispanics to "bring family and friends up from home", South of the Border. This is a troubling come-on. The lure of "Free" might just bring all the amigos. Berny has never communicated the financial responsibilities necessary for such huge giveaways.
One thing Seniors know, we are not compromising on our Medicare, Bro.
Your promise of no co-pays or deductibles beats out the Medicare we have been paying into all our lives. If your cult thinks it will all be paid for by other people's taxes, it is doubtful that they are all employed in the vast underground tax free network, so, they will pay for all the college debt and "Medicaid" everyone else incurs. If the Bern overturns enough programs he could bankrupt us all, between the layoffs, the welfare and the open borders. This is all a hype to secure the nomination using radical discontent when a public option and an increase in the wealthy and corporate taxes would do. We can't pay everyone's bills because we all already broke.
Bro, you are going to bankrupt us all!
5
@BlueMoose
You want to present any evidence whatsoever for what you say.
It's hard to believe that many Republicans would take the time to go to caucus just to have Sanders win.
1
@BlueMoose
Trump cant even put a sentence together, he doesn't even know what a policy is and the administration is full of simple minded white people who lie with ease.
so vote for a traitor if you want but who ever the nominee is the democrats are going to support them and get people out to vote.
1
In aggregate, the moderates are greater than Bernie. That group is splintered. Some will drop out after super Tuesday. Bernie, winning or not, will go to the bitter end. Advantage Trump.
6
@Julie
Actually, if you look at the vote count, Bernie + Warren > Biden + Klob + Buttig.
Anyways, as we should all know by now, most American voters don't have clear or consistent ideologies - many Biden voters put Bernie as their #2, Warren voters put Klob or Buttig as #2, etc. So in the absence of actual ranked choice voting this exercise is kind of meaningless.
Bernie will have an enormous lead in delegates heading into the convention. He may not have majority. Therefore the DNC, Bloomberg, some of the candidates, and the superdelegates may well try to give the nomination to someone else. Bernie supporters will not quietly accept this. If the powers that be seek to take the nomination from Bernie despite him having by far the most delegates heading into the convention, 2020 will make 1968 look like a spring picnic. Bernie or bust.
2
I am retired in Florida on Social Security and Medicare and I want an expanded Medicare For All for my children and grandchildren -- and for myself.
I see Senator Bernie Sanders as a once in a lifetime candidate, who has been fighting against Corporate-Takeover for 30 years. Corporations back in the 1970's used to contribute about 50% of our federal tax revenue. We had a thriving middle class that was the envy of Europe. Fast forward to 2020: The mainstream media is owned by corporations and there is little discussion about the fact that almost 100 of the top Fortune 500 corporations (global/based in the USA) pay ZERO TAXES. Corporations now account for only about 5% of our federal tax revenue, and the ladder from working class to middle class is GONE. The middle class continues to be erased, and often it's an unexpected illness or injury or the need to try to save the life of a child that takes a whole family into bankruptcy -- even though the majority of these families had "insurance" at the start.
#M4A is what we must focus on. All other top 20 nations have a nationally administered network that negotiates prices, blocks profiteering, and guarantees health care for everyone at half the cost that we are already paying as a nation. Even the members of the Las Vegas Culinary Union decided they would prefer Medicare For All: They want it for their friends and family!
27
@mjpezzi ...I see Senator Bernie Sanders as a once in a lifetime candidate, who has been fighting against Corporate-Takeover for 30 years."......30 years; 16 in the House and 14 in the Senate, and what has he accomplished in those 30 years. Not much. Apparently he doesn't play well with others. Not the best harbinger.
3
Great. In Bernie Sanders, we’re nominating Michael Dukakis all over again. Remember how excited everyone was for him to beat Reagan? Right up until it turned into one of the largest electoral college defeats in modern presidential history.
8
@Rich r
I voted for George McGovern in 1972 with great enthusiasm and McGovern suffered a resounding defeat. I had difficulty understanding how he lost so badly. He opposed an unpopular war that the U.S. was clearly losing. Every young person I knew voted for McGovern. Now, whenever anyone mentions McGovern as a cautionary tale, someone else immediately says, "this isn't 1972". Maybe so, but one thing that this election and that one have in common and that is a huge gulf among generations. Idealism and a sense of destiny to shape the world is the province of youth. Realism and recognition of the need to compromise come with age.
2
@Rich r Mr. Rich, I knew Michael Dukakis. Bernie Sanders is no Michael Dukakis
@Rich r Dukakis ran against George H. W. Bush, not President Reagan. You may have him confused with Walter Mondale, who also went down to "one of the largest electoral college defeats" in 1984.
3
My question for Bernie supporters is this:
How will he actually achieve what he promises? Do you assume his nomination will flip the Senate to blue and keep the House blue?
Because there are no indications this will happen.
So how will he actually get this done?
This is a sincere question—I am not name-calling or denigrating. Please explain how he will achieve his promises given the down-ballot realities.
20
@Joanne
He'll win by increasing turnout by offering voters something to vote for, not just against. Because his base is made up of voters who often do not vote, this will make turning the Senate more likely than other candidates.
He'll get his agenda done by leveraging a mass social movement - similar to how we won Civil Rights and the New Deal and the various wins (suffrage, labor rights, etc) of the Progressive era. That's the only way big change has ever happened.
Now I have some sincere questions for those supporting the centrists:
Please tell me how an establishment centrist will turn out young and occasional voters?
Please think for a minute about the last 6 years of Obama and then tell me how well you think the reasonable bipartisanship and compromise promised by the centrists is going to yield any results at all.
7
@Joanne
Even if he gets nothing through Congress, Bernie is a much finer human being to have for President than our current charlatan.
It’s a win for the country to have a mensch for President instead of having a Snake Oil Sommelier.
4
@Joanne I think if he does what he has been doing—go to the people—you will see a change in politics. Politicians will be on notice: Follow Bernie and his popular policies or be called out in public and voted out of office
4
It appears that Bernie has the momentum after 3 wins. Looking forward to see how his Texas campaign rally does today in Austin. Lots of enthusiasm here in Austin. Super Tuesday is so close.
3
The strength of Sanders is such that he may not even need to enter the convention with the requisite number of delegates to clinch the nomination. All he needs is more delegates than anyone else. The party leadership will recognize on such an event another eventual winner would enrage Sanders loyalists to the point of disenfranchisement. That would portend a Trump victory. Other presidential hopefuls may have a steeper road to climb than they think.
1
Listening to the "pundits" on today's talk shows and reading the critiques of the political analysts, I reminded of the song "The Bum Won" from the musical Fiorello in particular the line "who would expect that the people would go out and elect a fanatic?/people can do what they want to but I've got a feeling it ain't democratic." The contempt and dismissiveness of the political establishment for Sanders is palatable. Much as it was in 2016 for Trump who was initially ignored while HJC coasted to the nomination with assistance from the DNC, "super-delegates," premature endorsements (from, among others, the NYT), etc.
Sanders has clearly touch a nerve in the American electorate. And while it has yet to be demonstrated that he will win the nomination and the election, it gives me some satisfaction to think that McConnell & Co. in all of their political machinations may have given a President Sanders the powers and tools he needs for his revolution."
5
I wish that Steyer and Bloomberg would do what they do best: make money and fund the Democratic Party. That will go farther to promote the agenda they wish to achieve: health care reform, tax reform, education debt reform, environmental policies that will save the planet, innovative energy development, gun reform, civil rights. Then, get out of the way!
5
The moderates are so estranged from the far left that it is almost a different party. If Bernie doesnt win the nomination (or Warren which is very doubtful in my opinion) his followers will be disenfranchised to some large degree. Notice I say "HIS followers" and not followers of the Democratic party as defined by Bloomberg or Biden. If he does win the nomination than the moderates will have a very hard time enthusiastically supporting policies many do not agree with. Enthusiasm gets people to the polls and wins elections. It needs to happen. I do not see it. Except at Trump rallys.
3
@NYer I think those “moderates” actually do like Bernie’s policies. They are just think that Bernie can’t beat Trump because of the mythology that only a “centrist” can win
@NYer
Kind of ironic that all the "moderates" who are declaring outright that they won't support Sanders are in terror that his supporters won't support the moderates.
2
@Duke Exactly the point Duke. The party resembles quite opposite poles which are becoming a bit too antagonistic towards each other too regroup under one banner, I think.
Good for the US to have a chance of having a reasonable person in the marble palace. If Bernie wins this whole thing, there would be no better person than Yang as VP. Put things on the right track.
2
Well this is unfortunate.
I really do not want to vote for the orange pumpkin. I might have to if the dems nominate a demagogue.
Sanders is worse than trump on climate change(yes his opposition to nuclear energy makes him mathematically worse than trump on climate change). It is also a disturbing sign of magically thinking and an inability to do basic math.
Sanders wants to nationalize all industries. A wealth tax will result in a government takeover of most large companies(since most wealth is based on ownership of said companies).
Sanders opposes charities(yes he does look it up).
Sanders wants to ban private health insurance(countries such as France have both single payer and private health insurance).
In 2016 sanders stayed in the race for months after it was mathematically over. Then he spent the next 6 months discrediting Hillary's victory(even though see won the most votes). It was enough to put trump over the top in swing states. Hillary supporters and moderates will have a hard time forgiving sanders for that.
Honestly I see a landslide victory for trump like Nixon vs McGovern in 1972 if sanders wins the nomination.
9
@Adrian you simply have no idea what you are talking about...You can’t vote for a demagogue...but you can vote for Trump? This is why the US electorate consistently shoots itself in the foot
4
@Adrian
If you are right, then the landslide of voters will get what they deserved, just like they did in 1972. You can't stop stupid.
1
Mayor Pete keeps talking about how successful his campaign is, and how unifying it is, but Sanders has more voters and a broader coalition.
Hectoring the voters into voting for you based on the dubious assertion that your campaign is something that facts don’t support is not going to get it done.
This is a new era in campaigning and the old party operatives have yet to realize that person-to-person politics is making a comeback. Big media buys with corporate and 1% cash are no longer very effective, especially in the Trump/Sanders era.
The argument for the moderates is just a lot of hot air until they can engage their voters in a meaningful way. They are being beaten on the ground by Bernie’s army and his message.
5
Maybe now instead of having article and op-ed after article and op-ed on the Forgotten Man Trump voter and how we must have empathy and understand where they are coming from, we can now at long last have the same amount of attention paid, the same empathy and understanding directed toward the masses of Democratic and independent voters, covering three generations across race, religion and gender, who support Sanders' movement. That would be a real public service: genuine profiles rather than dismissive manufactured "Bernie Bro" smears.
8
@Pamela
Why do I need empathy for socialism? One of the most anti-American concepts around.
2
I can't stand Bernie Sanders or his policies. But I will vote for him in November is he is the Dem candidate. I hope his supporters will do the same if he isn't the candidate.
7
@Jessica
Please go back and read what you wrote. Do you hear yourself? How well off are you right now? Do you want to throw that all away? Because that's what you'll be voting for.
2
@bored critic
we are not better off. we have been sold down the river by Trump and his cronies:
where is the "better, bigger" health plan Trump promised? Where is the program to mitigate the impact of climate change? where is the infrastructure project? where is the easing of student debt and opening access to college to all? where are protections for workers and families? I will gladly throw away everything Trump and his henchmen have done in the last 3 years. They have stolen my children's futures and made the world more dangerous for my son who is in the military by his support for homegrown and foreign brutes and torturers. Trump hates American innovation (like telling car manufacturers they can't build better, more fuel efficient cars) and distrusts anyone smarter than him...which is everyone. Why did he defund CDC and NIH when those are our bulwarks against viruses turning into pandemics? instead of hiring the "best" people he hires the worst and can't even keep them around. he is a chaotic, petulant liar verging on idiocy.
so, yeah. I want to throw it all away and that's exactly what I'll be voting for.
Democrats, please nominate Sanders, Please. His loss in November will be historic and will have the additional salutatory effect of losing the Democrats the House as well as hundreds of down-ballot races.
To date, Trump (well, actually the Federalist Society) has nominated, and the Republican Senate has confirmed two Supreme Court justices and 188 young, ultra-conservative judges to the federal bench. With your help, Democrats, we can double that number during Trump's second term, resulting in a overwhelmingly conservative judiciary that will last a generation or more. Thanks!
5
Health care and education should be free for all—paid for by the government and taxation. These policies, Bernie’s policies, are the clear way forward to defeat Trump.
5
I would vote for anything or anyone not called Trump in the general election but would not vote for Sanders in the primary.
3
All the Democrats are going in the same direction, health care for all at lower cost, minimizing the effects of Climate change , a fair tax code , creating better jobs , improving education at all levels and reducing costs , rebuilding a crumbling infrastructure . What none of them is doing is outlining how we manage the effects of an aging population.
The difference is in establishing the most viable way to achieve these mutual aims.
The essential step to even start our journey is to get to the starting line by winning the Presidency, House and Senate in November . To my mind the American people will reject wholesale revolution , embrace evolution .
Trump et al will tar all Democrats as radical Socialists if Sanders is the nominee , this will impact negatively House and Senate races , it is already happening here in Orange County where every seat is marginal.
Sanders will not only fail to get us across the starting line he will set us back generations as Trump will control all, consolidate power, destroy our World, our values our future .
3
@Carsafrica
Moderates, who make up more people on both party sides than the extremists, will not accept a sanders political revolution. No one wants extremists policies forced down their throats. Change needs to evolve over time. I fear a Bernie revolution will lead to secession and a true civil war once again.
3
If there is one democratic candidate that Trump would love to run against its Sanders. Every time Sanders wins a primary Trump smiles.
6
Time for the Democratic party to embrace its true radical ultra-left-wing identity. Clearly that's what voters are telling "the establishment", who is still in a fantasy-land of "we're the party of sane people." Voters, I couldn't agree with you more.
1
“Welcome to the revolution.”
When Bernie supporters talk about revolution, it is not the politically violent kind.
What they mean is that the democratic party now revolves around Bernie.
Bernie is reshaping the democratic party by placing power back where it belongs -- we, the people.
4
A little too much enthusiasm from the Times about Sanders today. It feels less like news reporting than it does a celebration. There remain various unknowns. Suggest reporters contain the impulses for celebratory stories and wait until the possibility of a brokered convention has been ruled out.
3
While the MSM, including The Times, continue to describe a horse race in terms of fundraising and campaign dollar spent, Bernie is winning with an extensive ground organization built over the past 6+ years. While the MSM continues to bellow about the terror of a "socialist" front runner, Bernie continues to win with popular ideas that are place in the countries with the highest wealth per capita and the best showings of national happiness: free college, guaranteed healthcare, adequate national retirement funding, a liveable minimum wage, support and respect for workers unions, the interlocking of job protection and environmental protection in a New Green Deal, and one nuanced idea that is growing in popularity with Republicans from farm states -- legalized cannabis production and consumption.
Today's "moderate" Democrats are yesterday's socially moderate, fiscally conservative Republicans. True liberals and progressives are revolting against the rightward drift of the Democratic party and its submission to the corporate welfare ideals and influence of Wall Street. Seen from that perspective, Bernie Sanders's revolution is not radical at all. He and his vast array of followers are simply returning to their roots, which were abandoned during the so-called Reagan revolution. More than ever, we need a party to the left of the GOP that actually represents the left. The only people who should find that frightening are those who abandoned Democratic values for corporate donations.
2
I hate to put a damper on all the assertions being made about Bernie's broad appeal based on his NV caucus win. Take a closer look at the numbers and you will realize turnout was below 18% of registered democrats and independents. That's hardly a blowout assertion number. And if you add up all the other voters: Buttigieg, Biden, Klobuchar, and add a few poached Warren voters, the moderates beat out Bernie in delegates and the popular vote. Hillary beat Trump by 2.4% points to carry NV in 2016. We have manged to turn the state more Blue, but I wouldn't necessarily make the assumption that Bernie would beat Trump in NV in 2020. The Republicans are chomping at the bit to run against Bernie, and he has yet to come under real fire from his current opponents but also from the Trumpian Republicans. They are already using ads about Bernie to target Senate candidates like Kelly in AZ and McGrath in KY.
6
Sorry. I'm not calling it for Sanders because the race is far from over and to do so is simply too premature.
At this point, I'm more interested in seeing how he performs in states that are far more diverse than Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada (read: the Black vote), because with a solidly Democratic base like the one they represent, that's where the rubber will ultimately meet the road.
And just like in 2016, it will also all come down to Super Delegates and the Electoral College.
In short. It's not over yet.
2
Bernie Sanders won with less than 50% of the vote in Nevada. And he has never won with more than 50% of the vote in any state this election cycle. Unless he starts doing so, and often, it is a clear indication that the majority of Democrats oppose him and don't want him to be the nominee. Some Not-Bernie candidates need to drop out or Bernie will end up being the nominee with more than 50% of Democrats opposing him. I think it is foolish for Democrats to assume that it is a definitive that Not-Bernie Democrats will coalesce in support of him over Trump come November 2020. I am hearing from numerous Democrats in private that they would rather Trump win than have the Democratic party completely redefined in the manner that Trump has redefined the Republican party. Some people see Bernie as a bigger threat than Trump. Many Democrats will not say this in public because they are afraid of the social backlash, but many Democrats will not vote for Bernie in the general election.
5
This is the first time in U.S. history where an actual democratic movement is trying to fixed our flawed democracy. While Sanders is a "radical" by U.S. standards, he actually a "Centrist" by European or Canadian standards. From universal healthcare to dismantling the military industrial complex, Sanders is up against the Establishment. For too long the 1% has given us a choice of the "lesser of two evils" presenting us only with candidates who have either caved in to corporate allegiance or else the candidate had pledged allegiance to the corporate State from the get go. Trump was the just the latest example of the public trying to upset the Establishment (and failing miserably!), but as usual the President has shown that he will throw the 99% under the bus to enrich himself further. Sanders on the other hand... cannot be bought!
1
My 7 takeaways from the the Nevada democratic caucuses.
1) Money alone cannot buy the white house.
2) Democratic party is divided equally between Bernie and the rest.
3) Bernie with his recently inserted stents in his heart arteries is strong again.
4) Biden, Stryer and Klobuchar are not helping the establishment centrists.
5) None of the democrats running for the nomination are likely to get a majority required before the convention.
6) Democratic party is divided and dysfunctional and is ensuring Trump victory in November.
7) Democrats are living in LA LA land if they think that Trump will be easy to beat.
6
@Girish Kotwal
I have not heard or read of anyone either Democrat or Republican that thinks or has said Trump will be "easy to beat" which makes me question the rest of your analysis.
1
@Charles from Mew York. Do you not read NY Times comments? What percent of them are likely to vote for Trump as against anyone but Trump?
1
Some of Sanders’ program is as conservative as it gets: far from being revolutionary, or crazy, it’s more than 2,000 years old, and very wise. We need to put limits on the power of individuals, it’s a matter of survival of the Republic. Res-publica, the public thing is not Res-plutokratia, the plutocratic thing. To keep it that way, plutocracy has to be kept in check.
Sanders’ program is around a few crucial ideas, such as health as a human right.
The Roman Republic lasted five centuries in full… only because it had an absolute limit on wealth. It only makes sense: the more wealth a family has, the easier it is for this family to gather more wealth, power and influence. The Roman absolute wealth limit had a 100% tax above an amount of wealth which I computed to be around 30 million of present day dollars. One has actually observed in the USA very wealthy individuals spending fortunes of their own money to become president.
Closer to us, in the Middle Ages, the Republic of Florence failed, after several centuries, because of the overwhelming power of one family, the Medicis. After several tries, they destroyed the Republic.
There is a fine line between plutocracy and the tyranny of one autocrat: the former is an oligarchic variant, a preliminary, of the latter. The wealthiest men in Rome, around a table, with emperor Domitian, said so. Actually in the first two centuries of fascist imperial tyrannical Rome, the Principate, a few families shared the power. Let's not repeat
1
Here’s a sixth takeaway: The media (this article included) report few quantitative, hard, numbers, but instead make descriptive statements. This makes it hard for readers to make judgments for themselves.
3
I was for Bernie then switched to Warren and then to Yang. Since Yang dropped out I have drifted between the sanders and Warren camps. I'd be just as happy with either one but will vote blue no matter who.
I think the chattering class and the elites of the DNC must be having a rough weekend.
1
Some simple arithmetic.
The total net worth of all the billionaires in the United States is approximately $3.1 trillion
The latest federal budget proposal is $4.7 trillion in spending for one year.
If you confiscate 100% of the wealth of all of the billionaires in the United States, it wouldn't run the U.S. federal government for a year.
And this is before free college, medicare for all, and all of the other freebies that Sanders proposes. Where is the rest of the money going to come from?
Think carefully when casting your vote.
4
@Lupito . Socialists live in lala land.
Bernie Sanders will be our next President. I hope he picks a good VP.
2
What ails the country is deep and the medicine needed for course correction has to be as strong. So Bernie is the right man.
2
Nice to see basically all my misgivings about Buttiegeig were correct. He's an empty suit parroting someone else's interests. How can you say a guy with massive net favoribility among dems, and who just got ~45% in the latest primary, "leaves out most democrats?" Time to go, Mayor Pete. You aren't cut out for this.
3
Why aren’t the bottom tier stepping aside so we can quickly narrow down our options.
Any of the democratic candidates will beat Trump. So get the right guy who is not there to perpetuate the status quo constructed since Reagan for the benefit of super rich.
Berenie is the right guy.
2
Warren will bury the hatchet (pun intended) and will partner with Bernie as a Vice Presidential candidate. Trump will have a field day with that ticket.
1
I was deciding between Bernie and Buttigieg and I finally decided on Bernie, whom I tried to support in 2016 caucuses and wasnt able to because I'd only been a Democrat for 6 weeks instead of 8 weeks.
Bernie is not only someone I've believed in for years, he has finally worked to bringing his beliefs into the political mainstream. Trump completely remade the Republican party, in a bad way. I believe Bernie could do the same for the Democratic party except have a positive effect. Why? Because he isnt in it for himself. He is in it for the working class, a constituency that the Dems supported until recently.
He came remake the Democratic party and guide it away from stupid fights over identity politics that only end up benefiting the elites and over to class politics, where policies actually help the poor and middle class.
And he is the only one that can beat Bloomberga billions in the Dem nomination. If Bloomberg wins the nomination he will have completed the Democratic transition to a corporatist party, and I couldnt stand that. I'll vote for anyone other than Bloomberg, and I think at this point that Bernie is the only guy that can stand up to the onslaught of Bloomberg advertising as well as the current corporatist Democratic forces trying to keep the status quo.
1
I'm still #Warren2020 all of the way, but if she can't make the delegate count, then I'd love to see Sanders/Warren 2020. The oligarchs will absolutely lose their minds, lol.
Earth to starry eyed Democrats: Bernie Sanders and his socialist policies are the single biggest threat to country and our way of life as we know it. He represents the sacking of the middle classes to help a favored few. He represents economic ruin and poverty for all. Socialism as wrought ruin wherever it has been tried and it has no place in America. Nobody wants government controlling our every move and to be its behest for everything and with no way up or out. There is no romance to be found in this notion.
America is far from perfect, but this is not the answer. It as, as the old saying goes giving the lunatics the keys to the asylum.
3
Two caucuses and a small state. And it’s just about over?
3
For heaven's sake, NYT, get a grip--"Sanders Takes Control"; "Is Bernie Unstoppable?"
Only 3 relatively low population states have voted in the primaries/caucuses so far:
Iowa: pop. 3.1 million (ranked #31 in pop.)
Nevada: pop. 3.2 million (ranked #32 in pop.)
New Hampshire: pop. 1.4 million (ranked #42 in pop.)
3 states have voted Sanders; 47 more state primaries/caucuses to go.
Every election cycle we criticize the media horserace emphasis on winners and losers, who is up and who is down, who is winning in the opinion polls.
Turns out, it hardly matters! Hillary won the opinion polls in 2016 against Trump and the popular vote, but she lost the presidential election to Donald J. Trump in the Electoral College, although Trump lost the popular vote by 3 million votes.
As president, Trump has yet to receive a majority approval in Gallup's bi-monthly polls, and his disapproval ratings have been consistently higher than his approval ratings. He got a slight bump up after being impeached, but still not over 50% approval.
Incidentally, in a February poll matchup between Trump and each of the top Democratic candidates, every Democratic candidate beats Trump. Trump got 42% while Bloomberg and Sanders each got 46%; Biden got 45%; Warren and Buttigieg each got 44%.
It is far from over; it has hardly started.
3
Bernie is too far left to be elected. I’m a Democrat and he is way too left for me and most of my friends. With his crackpot ideas, he will get slaughtered by Trump in the election. Come on people, face reality. No wonder the Russians support Bernie - he makes Trump’s re-election a sure thing!
6
How much can Bernie accomplish if the
Democrats do not win the Senate ?
5
@John Brown
He won’t be able to accomplish much no matter who wins the senate... Saner heads will prevail...
2
@Marcus Aurelius
So the Poor will remain Poor.
God help you if you have to go the
the Hospital for a week and your Insurance
will not cover all your medical bills.
1
Can we wait until Super Tuesday when voters will show us what they think of Bloomberg?
Why Tulsi Gabbard and Tom Steyer are still running is a mystery. Steyer espouses the same programs that most of the other candidates are calling for. Why doesn't he just support Bernie or Warren? Gabbard is the sole "Democratic" candidate to be endorsed by Fox News and its right wing propagandists … which makes her really suspect. Is Gabbard a Manchurian Candidate, like Donald Trump is?
1
Is everyone so blinded by their hatred of Trump they’ll literally vote anyone in no matter their policies? Is that what this election has come to?
2
@Hjb
Apparently. It seems that the TDS crowd is running the Party... “Hatred before Country” is the new mantra...
1
@Hjb Yes.
1
"And Senator Elizabeth Warren is awash in cash after her debate dismantling of Michael R. Bloomberg — $9 million in three days — but the performance did not nudge her up in the standings in Nevada."
"Awash in cash"?? She was running low on money, so 9 megabucks is hardly enough to get through Super Tuesday. She did poorly (4th place) in NV. If she does no better in SC, I think she is toast.
Time to Feel The Bern, America.
Stop thinking that phony, fake, fraudulent Donald Trump will lead to anywhere good just because he happened to step on the Obama Economic Recovery Escalator and passed his GOP 0.1% Welfare Queen program and charged it to a credit card while stacking the courts with religious regressives and Corporate Shariah lawyers while trashing the environment and dividing the country into warring factions.
Trump has planted enormous seeds of destruction that are hurting this country.
Trump and the GOP refuse to invest in anything except billionaires and Whites R Us divisiveness.
Bernie Sanders will restore FDR-style decency to the country and the Oval Office.
The Democrats will repeal and replace the Trump-GOP 0.1% Welfare Program with actual taxation of the rich and large corporations.
Mitch McConnell and his corrupt Senate need a good flush.
Feel The Bern and vote blue.
Trump and his aiding-abetting GOPers are an international disgrace.
1
Bernie's impossibly naive fans are like the kids in the GEICO ad:
"Let's hide behind the chain saws!"
Bloomberg, with his billions and his first-rate media operation, is the running car.
I am ideologically aligned with Bernie but always had a hard time believing he was a pragmatic choice to win the general. I made that same assumption in 2008, that America would never elect a black man; and in 2016, that America would never elect a lying buffoon. So maybe I - and the strategists and pundits - don't know America as well as we think. Maybe Bernie can, and will, absolutely defeat Donald Trump.
3
End of the Democratic Party as we knew it.
4
Stop trying to call the race! If the Dems pick a man who has spent his career not being a Democrat, look out George McGovern!
2
@Dennis
It does seem strange, to say the least, that the Democratic Party may be unable to find a Democrat to nominate...
2
Vlad is getting his money’s worth.
2
If Trump wins then it is absolutely critical that the Democrats gain control of the Senate. If they don't there will be no stopping Trump in moving toward authoritarian rule. The Democrats will have no way of stopping his right wing appointments to the courts and no way to impeach and convict him. The rule of law will be over. Sanders looks like the riskiest candidate for carrying the Senate. He also seems to be the riskiest candidate for maintaining control of the House. Therefore, i hope some other candidate wins the Democratic nomination. Going into the general election with Sanders at the top of the ticket would be really scary. To me the strongest ticket for would be Amy Klobuchar and Sherrod Brown. That ticket would give the Democrats the best chance in Midwest swing states and even put Ohio in play. If the Democrats can win either Florida or Ohio the path for Trump to win would be extremely difficult to navigate.
3
Bernie should just tell his supporters the truth: While he appeals to them with beautiful dreams, he actually knows from 20 years’ experience in Congress that the items on his agenda are opposed by the majority of voters in the states that have the weighted influence in the electoral college.
60
Frankly it’s going to be a struggle for Bernie to implement any of his well intentioned plans, and if he wins, he’s doomed to fail. Medicare for all is unrealistic. It’s funny that comparisons are made with Denmark by Bernie. That is a country of just over 5 million people where over 80 percent of healthcare provision is in the public sector. For a country as larger and diverse as the US with each state having its own health system, trying to implement this one size fits all plan with ballooning budgets is set to fail. Other countries that Bernie and John Oliver in his recent episode alluded to such as the UK have significant challenges with the current state of the NHS, where despite good quality care and financial access, the waiting times are really long and have gotten worse along with rising, unsustainable budgets. There’s growing private insurance in the UK with the set up of Schoen Clinic, Germany and Cleveland Clinic setting up a new hospital.
Australia, another eg of Medicare for all, now has 54 percent of the population with private insurance over and above social insurance to mitigate long waiting times and to ensure patient choice of physician. Netherlands & Germany use an insurance based model i.e. managed competition, which is more effective. In all honesty Joe Biden has the best plan and best chance of success to enhance Obamacare and address the challenges in healthcare in a manner that’s realistic and palatable.
22
@Alan this sort of comment always feels to me like the equivalent of saying "it's too hard to work for better things so we should look for someone who's looking to keep it the same".
Pragmatically, are you right? Maybe. But to say we should settle when we have plans for a better world for all, even if it's going to be difficult, feels like giving up way too early for things we all deserve.
42
@Alan And, the taxes needed to make any of what he is saying viable. The middle class will be heavily taxed. Now let's add in a declining economy spurred by fears of socialism--or just the natural cycle after years of progress. His ideology will not solve a recession. The debates are raising the real issues and showing the differences. The moderate candidates need to do this now.
3
Can we wait 2 weeks for Super Tuesday before falling down in a faint?
29
How does less than 4000 voters determine the nominee? What a crazy system.
40
@Mike
the nominee is not yet determined.
You have a better system?
1
My advice to Bernie.
It's a euphoric time for you.
Naturally.
You would have beaten Trump 4 years ago.
The time was right for a shake up and you were the better man.
Now, you feel your oats.
Of course you do.
And, the faithful like the oats too.
I am coming to like them as well.
As well as I did when I was young before all the oat haters and schemers knocked me and millions off course.
But, back to advice-
1) your base believes you and is propelling you. Now, with the spotlight on your every word, is the moment to look beyond the infatuated and speak to the ones who'll need convincing.
2) so, look in the camera and slow down a bit when speaking. Also tone down. Say hello to the skeptics and remind them that you especially hold the American ideals we love dear.
More than a phony called Trump.
Lean on those ideals and tout them patriotically. Show your connection to the gut of Americans who are being fed a false line about you.
3) make yourself folksy, friendly, safe.
You are more in line with the American core than the Republicans who now believe Russia is their way to hold power. (Our founders spin in their graves!)
Use humor as you often do.
4) let Americans know you support free enterprise. You do. Because freedom in our economic lives is part of human freedom.
5) your "trump" card- economic freedom is ENHANCED by better, free education and access to health care allowing a sense of financial safety that let's one dare to be creative. To dream big!
138
@Paul King
Yeah, Bernie. And while you're at it. Pull back some of your more vehement supporters (i.e. "Bros.") in a bit.
The uncalled for vitriolic attacks they unleash on people who either don't support you, or who are still undecided (such as I am) won't help you in the long run.
You need us too.
Just saying.
5
@Paul King Bernie is killing it and his campaign staff is clearly excellent. But (surprise) I agree with your advice.
1
@Paul King
Well said. I will vote for whoever the nominee is, but I am not at all sold on Sanders:
1. He says the same few lines over and over again.
2. He is easily painted as a left wing socialist (read communist), which will be a disaster.
He needs to keep his core principles, but broaden out and show his fluency on a range of matters. There is a good deal of the population that is tired of angry, old white men. This is how Sanders comes across in a debate. He needs to show us he's more than this.
11
Looking at the published data so far, here is the analysis:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/election-results/2020-live-results-nevada-democratic-caucuses/?itid=hp_hp-top-table-main_html-nv-table%3Ageneric%2Fcustom-html
First alignment: Sanders won 20,694 of 60.951 votes, or 33.9%
Second alignment: Sander got 24,122 out of 59.607 votes or 40.4% (which says that about 1000 voters just bailed when their first choice was not "viable")
In straight PRIMARIES, people do not get asked to vote for their #2 choice, so the argument that Bernie is a "winner" and is in "control" is getting out over one's skis at this point.
Only 5% of the delegates for the national convention will be apportioned after NV.
Who call a football game after 5% (3 minutes) or a baseball game after 5% (2 outs in the top of the first, assuming 27 outs per team)?
REALLY?
Oh, wait, .... I guess all the primaries in the next 47 states, DC and 7 territories and dependencies should be called off now. Save the time. Coronate somebody already, right?
11
@Joe From Boston If each state's elections had nothing to do with the others, it would indeed make no sense to call Bernie the winner now. But reality is not like that. Election results are highly correlated. The candidate who gets the most votes in the first three primaries almost always sweeps the rest. Besides, it isn't just the primaries. Bernie is also ahead by a lot in polling. Sports is just not a good analogy here. The results in so far are much more predictive than the score at the end of the first 3 minutes of football or first 2 outs.
12
@Joe From Boston
I really want to agree with you, but the math is very hard for the alternatives to Bernie even at this early stage of the process---Basically Bernie shows up and gets 35 percent and the other five--Amy, Elizabeth, Joe, Mike and Pete are fighting over the balance. Getting 20 percent is tough. Joe was saying all kinds of crazy stuff about getting his campaign back on track yesterday, but he finished a distant second.
If candidates start dropping out, the question is to which candidate their supporter go to? If Bernie gets one half, little ground is picked up.
Bloomberg is the only candidate that really hasn't been tested at the polls. We will see if he can gain. The thing is that Bloomberg doesn't reduce Bernie's totals, but those off the other candidates.
Bernie is in a great spot.
8
@Joe From Boston
The football game analogy is ridiculous. In ball games, there is no limit on the amount of points that can be scored. Some games end with over a hundred points.
In primaries, there are a defined number of delegates available. Once they are committed, there can be no thirty-point fourth quarters to change the outcome.
Much to my dismay if Sanders is the nominee the party must pull together and campaign as a team and unite the factions.
Sanders/Warren on top
Bloomberg - Secy of Treasury or something finance
Buttigieg- Defense or Security
Klobuchar- Agriculture or Housing
Biden - Secy of State or something with national prestige
Steyer - Secy of Job Creation or something about the economy. Why not?
There is a cancer in the White House and Dems have to give this all the radiation they’ve got to excise the disease.
25
@Eileen A. Your choices are not going to overcome the conception among too many voters that Bernie Sanders is a Progressive. Therefore, I think now is the perfect time to get together on vice-presidential choices. In that this election's outcome means more than probably any other since FDR, the choice of Vice President must be spot on. Remember, we will be up against the notion that Bernie as a progressive doesn't speak to the entire electorate - the majority of whom we need. Therefore, we need not consider going further left by choosing a women, a first in the political history of this country. This idea is still in the 'social experiment' stage and will need more time to play out. We need a man, 50 - 60, able to support and confirm the idea of unity blended with moderation. A compromise, if you will, shifting the political platform back towards the center and balancing the ticket. My choice would be a Bernie/Bullock ticket as Bullock can appeal to moderate democrats and republicans alike. He seems best positioned to carry on Bernie's ideas down the line. As far as I can gather, he carries respect and is personable and popular within his sphere of influence. If not Bullock, then someone of equal stature and political influence.
3
@Eileen A.
The only position Biden deserves is Secretary of South Carolina.
Biden is completely out to lunch.
3
@Eileen A. Just because someone ran in the primary, does not mean they would/should be in the administration.
Do you think President Sanders is going to appoint two billionaires?
1
Assuming that Elizabeth Warren is fully committed to the defeat of Donald Trump's re-election she should now enter negotiations with the Sanders wing to throw her support behind Sanders as the party 2020 nominee. Sanders should reciprocate by announcing that Warren would be his choice as a Vice-Presidential running mate. It's time to get this show on the road and concentrate on expanding dominance in the House and taking both the Senate and the White House.
Could Bloomberg emerge as a third-party spoiler? Mollify him with prospects of playing a major role in curbing gun violence and climate change in a Sanders' administration - those are his stated core interests. Biden, Bootigieg, and Klobuchar would then fold. Best way to prevent further Trump-authored homicides? End the fratricide. Now.
It's time to out-Trump Trump. That's what Trump's up to between now and November... except that he's playing with a tawdry, empty hand. To the people who wanted a change agent and voted for Trump - not all of them are xenophobes and fools. Many must be deeply disappointed. The problem, however, is that Trump is the incumbent and has shown every intention - legal or otherwise - to bend the levers of power to his advantage. The structure of the GOP has proven so cowardly that his access to resources, polluted as they may be, has improved immeasurably.
Only the repeat foolishness of the Democrats in ignoring the desire of millions for serious change can guarantee their defeat.
10
@Rex
And what about my desire ? You Ok with ignoring mine ?
@Buddydog
My apologies but I can't really provide an intelligent answer to your question about your desire unless you provide a description of what that might be. Either way, I wouldn't ignore them. I could possibly agree or disagree but I wouldn't ignore your desire.
I definitely believe that some fundamental changes are in order and all of them have to do with improving the lot of the working men and women in this country and even more broadly throughout the world. I you disagree with that I guess we have a basic difference of opinion.
For example, I don't ignore Trump and his ilk. I think that they are self-serving and reactionary people that I strongly disagree with. And I also strongly believe that Sanders is the only candidate that comes anywhere close to making progress on the project of removing these parasites from office.
I hope that gives you at least a partial answer.
I am confident that Bernie Sanders will be the democrat candidate to beat the Don, I just hope that he doesn't messed up by selecting a poor choice of running mate. The names to consider are:
Kamela Harris, Pete Buttiege, Mike Bloomberg, Cory Booker, and Mitt Romney.
Do not consider anybody else currently running. Go Bernie Go!!
4
How do you figure that? Out of those who are running or did run, I think Warren, Steyer, Yang, and Castro (who now supports Warren) have platforms close to that of Sanders, to some extent. Everyone else is too moderate for him, especially Biden and Buttigieg.
I will vote for Sanders if he is the nominee. But I believe that our country is in the terrible state it is, largely because of his efforts in 2016. Some ten percent of his voters didn't "get in line" with Hillary Clinton, and actually voted for Trump. https://www.npr.org/2017/08/24/545812242/1-in-10-sanders-primary-voters-ended-up-supporting-trump-survey-finds Thousands of others either stayed home or voted third party. And their collective temper tantrum now has this nation careening into a dictatorship.
Oh, but with less than 2% of the delegates awarded, we are all supposed to be good sheep and get behind Bernie?
Just four short years ago, Bernie Bros were telling us that they just couldn't find it in their "conscience" to vote for Hillary. Many of these "purists" where white and male. They knew their lives would be little changed under a Trump presidency. And their "conscience" didn't seem to include considering the harm to women and minorities that was sure to take place under a Trump presidency.
Oh, but now, the rest of us are told that our "conscience" isn't as important as Bernie Bros', and we should just shut up and vote for him. The hubris and the hypocrisy of Bernie and his voters is staggering.
Yes, I will vote for him, because the alternative is a disaster, and I will not have the tantrum many of his voters did in 2016. But Bernie has done nothing to win the moral high ground here.
21
@Orion Clemens
More Bernie primary voters voted for Hillary in the general in 2016, than Hillary primary voters voted for Obama in 2008.
But you keep touting this false narrative if you'd like.
3
Orion, that was four years ago, it is time to move past it, get over Hillary's defeat, and move on. The people who didn't vote for her were all independents and other non-democrats in any event, so you can't just expect or demand their loyalty, you can only attempt to persuade and win them over. That's how elections work, and viewing those who choose to vote for a different candidate as "having a temper tantrum" is an entitled attitude.
Holding a grudge for four years is not helpful for your purposes, and blaming a small portion of independents who voted for Bernie in the primary for Hillary's loss to Trump is completely counterproductive.
2
@Orion Clemens
"..Thousands of others either stayed home or voted third party. And their collective temper tantrum now has this nation careening into a dictatorship."
I voted for a write-in candidate not due to any temper tantrums but because I didn't want either of the media appointed options. I wish people would stop blaming those of us who, as is our right, vote for people we want as opposed to the lessor of two evils. It is the sheeple of America who are electing these bad candidates.
As a woman, I was chastised for not support HRC simply because she was a woman as if no other qualification was needed. As a republican, I was chastised for not supporting the party pick as if that little (R) after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on the ballot was qualification enough. I look for more than that! I have not ever been a single issue voter.
I'm looking for someone to vote for and right now, it's looking pretty sad although there is still a long way to go and a lot of primaries to be won. Let's hope a better candidate comes to the fore.
3
Buckle up pundits: Bernie is going to win the nomination by a landslide, and then crush Trump in November. And Trump knows it.
26
@Aaron
Given Bernie's age and his recent Heart Problems
and the stress of campaigning and most importantly
the pressurization and de-pressurization of all the
Airplane flights he will be taking, Bernie may well
have a major medical emergency before the Convention.
I rather Bernie be the nominee, but nature does not
always cooperate at his age.
2
Funny that Trump finds Bernie to be his ideal adversary. I would not count on a Bernie victory much less a landslide, unless he takes major strides towards appealing to a majority of voters, rather than just his Bernie boys.
4
Bernie takes control. He stands for something unlike Buttigieg who is running as the anti-Bernie or Biden who says his campaign is winning and conquering in 2nd place. Klobuchar said she exceeded expectations in Nevada? with a "D"? And if blacks are concerned about the "socialist" tag--Sanders is a Social Democrat--what Nelson Mandela stood for as well.
11
@That's What She Said Sanders is a "democratic socialist" which in the world of pink academe means someone who considers "social democrats" as squishes. A democratic socialist is not content with establishing a social safety net but wants a public takeover of most private enterprise as rapidly as it can be accomplished without violent revolution.
2
I think the biggest takeaway is that you cannot win without enthusiasm and no one is more enthusiastic than the youth of America. Bernie ignites.
32
This is all noise and filler. Super Tuesday should weed out all but the top 2 or 3. Warren should be Sanders running mate so she should join his team instead of pulling votes away from him. That leaves Biden - yawn - Bloomberg and Buttigieg. How the Killer B's place on Super Tuesday will determine how progressive or moderate the platform will be. Klobuchar and Steyer are delusional. Please withdraw now. The SC debate will be a bloody cage match, knives out, go for the jugular event. I thought it would be impossible to have two nominees worse than 2016 in Trump and Clinton. I was wrong. God help us!
2
@Lambros Balatsias
Warren won't bring any voters that aren't already with Bernie.
My takeaway is that it apparently requires little effort for people to become punch-drunk on their own moonshine.
Bernie's nomination is being foisted as somehow all but inevitable -- an absurdity, given the complicated dynamics of 2020. Even if it were true, it's a one-way golden ticket to nowhere. The GOP -- and Putin -- are both salivating at the very prospect of it.
Get off the train. Stop acting like a lemming. Smart, intelligent people who actually want to win can do so much better than this old, hand-waggling irrelevance.
14
@raven55
"Smart, intelligent people who actually want to win can do so much better than this old, hand-waggling irrelevance."
So far they are not winning. though. If Sanders wins the nomination, I wonder if the US will break its record of the number of people who will cut off their nose to spite their face.
1
I don't like seeing political False Idols seducing God's people in Churches. Now Biden and definitely Bloomberg are off my list of choices. The Republicans always were for deceiving the faithful led by the cultivated leaders of the Churches who led the lambs astray and to political false Idols. God was very clear in his Commandment.
1
I am a 69 year old white coastal elite.
in 2015 I went to a rally for bernie in northern california out in the boondocks ( cloverdale airport).
I was overwhelmed and amazed by the group who showed up...
old, super old, young, super young, brown, black, asian, mixed race, men & women.
it was so dang beautiful because.... ready ready for this?..... IT LOOKED LIKE AMERICA
when you see that the republican party is 90% white you know their policies just don’t work for real americans.
bernie is scary only to those folks who actually think the policies of healthcare, banking, education ,the environment, and justice are actually working for them...
look around because it may be working for a few ûber wealthy families..
it ain’t working for the majority . not for you. not for your kids. and certainly not for your grandkids.
read about bernie’s platform and look around.
we need a big shift in thinking.
don’t be afraid. centrism is going to take too long. now is the time to move forward and open up a beautiful future.
57
Beto O'Rourke's rallies were like that too and Beto didn't have to demonize people to gain support.
1
@pamela Look again. There are more than a few people out there for whom the system is working. our system of government is based on compromise, balancing one interest against another. Democracy is by its nature a slow messy business.
1
Bernie Sanders will be the deciding factor in the election come November. Whether he is the nominee or not, Bernie Sanders will retain a huge amount of influence on the left, especially with non-voters and young voters. That influence, and whether or not he will use it to mobilize the left to support the nominee will be the difference between a Democratic wave or a Republican firewall.
No other candidate in the race has that significant of a level of influence on the party. Someone else may win the nomination, surely only by a brokered convention at this point, but Bernie will retain his support. I believe that Bernie will use his influence to support the nominee, no matter who it is, but, I cannot see the rest of the candidates following suit if Bernie is the nominee. Pete Buttigieg will return to South Bend or maybe a consulting job in Washington, Biden will go off into retirement, Bloomberg will go off to his company, and Elizabeth Warren will return to the Senate. Bernie is the only candidate that has pledged to support the nominee, no matter who it is, and that speaks volumes.
Because of this simple fact, it is clear to see that Bernie is the epitome of the Democratic Party and it is obvious why he is seen more favorably than any other Democrat.
6
Love all the comments from people here who are in a stage of denial. Bernie Sanders didn't just win in Nevada, he won big and he even won a small majority of "moderate and conservative" voters. He has the momentum and the organizational skills to now go ahead and win the nomination. Stop all the pearl clutching. Look at the photos of the people voting for Bernie, read their reasons for voting for him, some even having changed their minds after listening to their children or friends. We've been led to believe, after 40 years of rightward drift and corporate takeover of our politics on both Democratic and Republican sides of the aisle that we have to "settle" for whatever crumbs the oligarchy and plutocrats are willing to give us. Enough is enough. Stand up and ask for what you deserve. Vote for Bernie Sanders. He can and will beat Donald Trump in November because he has lit a flame of hope and started a movement.
312
@lzolatrov I doubt he will. His none telegenic and aging visage will not persuade Trump supporters who are oblivious to Trump lawlessness n ineptness.
7
@lzolatrov
So far only 5% (101 out of 1991) of the pledged delegates needed to win the nomination on the first ballot have been apportioned.
For example, the number of people who caucused in Iowa was 176,569. In 2016, the number of people who voted in the presidential election was about 1.5 million, so only about 11.5% of the voters showed up for the caucus.
Would anybody call a football game after 5% (3 minutes) is played?
Would anybody call a baseball game after 5% of 54 possible outs (one out in the bottom of the first inning) is played? (Yeah, maybe if the visitors scored 14 runs in the top of the first.)
There is an old adage: Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
There is a very long way to go before anyone gets the nomination.
10
@nf: No Dem candidate is vying for the Cult45 vote. They are a lost cause.
4
Many polls now show Sanders best posed to beat Trump. The problem is many don’t want to believe that because of the structure of their feelings.
111
@Jonathan M Feldman
Polls at a point 9 months before an election mean NOTHING.
Many things that you and I would not expect may well happen yet. Just as an example, Trump is 74 and Sanders is 78. Even if the life expectancy of people that age is about 10 years more (I am over 70 myself), you never know. Accidents and diseases may intervene; Coronavirus, for example, is dangerous for people (males in particular) over 60, who have health issues (like cardio or diabetes), and are overweight. (I believe that covers both Trump and Sanders.)
Who knows how those events might change the situation, let alone people's feelings about possible candidates.
4
@Jonathan M Feldman
Polls don't show Bernie winning the electoral college. - Those are the only ones that matters.
3
Using the word "momentum" in discussing voting in the primaries is unfortunate. There should be no such thing as "momentum" from one primary to another. Who voters have selected in one state should have no effect on who voters select in another state (other than a candidate dropping out or joining the race). Anyone casting his/her vote on who has "momentum" is wasting that vote.
8
Momentum exists because people don’t like to vote for losers. Your reasoning would work very well in a vacuum.
1
@Jay Orchard said "Anyone casting his/her vote on who has "momentum" is wasting that vote."
Maybe not "wasting" their vote, but certainly voting on a basis that is pure speculation.
1
To Mr. Buttigieg, Ms. Warren, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Biden - We have to stand together - no matter who the nominee is. Focus your negativity on the incumbent, not the front runner. Nevada is proof, again, Mr. Sanders is not outside of the mainstream. The majority of democrats approve of his honest, consistent messages: as the richest country in the history of mankind, the U.S. can afford: 1. universal health care at a cost that does not bankrupt anyone; 2. free access to higher education so everyone's child has the opportunity to reach their full potential, and finally, 3. lasting reductions in carbon and methane pollution to preserve the earth for generations to come. Whats not to like?
252
@Mark Burnette
Now Sanders should answer how to achieve all his platforms financially and systematically other than taxing the wealthiest.
Google List of countries by tax rates. and List of Countries with Universal Healthcare
People of the countries with better social benefit such as Medicare, free tuition etc, do pay more tax and sales tax than United States. You must know higher tax is the trade off for the better social benefit.
You can't say rich guys will pay for us, not me.
If Sanders would be the candidate, you must have
unprecedented turn out by younger generations. After all, revolutions in the history were all carried out by younger generations.
8
it's not about not liking the goals. it's that nothing in the record of this 78 year old indicates he has the legislative skill to get anything passed. plus as much as I hate trump spewing hateful comments on 60 percent of Americans every day I hate Sanders even more for doing the same.
7
@Mark Burnette: Relax, it's the primary season, they need to distinguish themselves from each other before consolidating to promote whomever wins the primary season.
2
If Bernie gets the nomination we are domed to a catastrophic defeat in the General Election. He will carry the Deep Blue states, but he will not win anywhere else. It will be like 1988- 40 states for trump. Ten for Bernie.
However, in addition, Bernie will wreck our chances down-ballot. The Rs will keep the Senate. They might take back the House. Remember- not a single Bernie backed Congressional candidate won in 2018. There is the "...Squad..." of 4 progressives who got elected but the other 30 or so new reps are all in the middle.
This feels a lot like 1972 to me. The only difference is that some states are now Deep Blue. That is the only thing that will prevent a 49 state loss if Bernie gets the nod.
31
@Lefthalfbach Sanders cannot win against Trump. He's too extreme and Warren is even worse. Only Bloomberg has a chance to beat Trump. I will vote for Trump or Bloomberg. I prefer a businessman/woman rather than a career politician. Democrats would be very foolish to nominate Sanders.
3
@Lupito The majority of Americans do not want Bernie and dislike his ideas. Most Americans are moderates and Sanders is just too extreme. The thought of socialism is scary. Bloomberg is the only democrat that has a chance of beating Trump.
3
@Lefthalfbach Stop it Pete
1
You can't design a more unrepresentative primary process. The first three states are small and statistical outliers. Yet the media shines a spotlight with such intensity that it blinds voters. Candidates that might appeal to the broad middle are declared not viable. Many will stay home on March 3 because their candidate 'has lost'. Similarly with donors. The beneficiary of all this, I fear, will be Trump.
18
The best social program is a powerful, growing economy. But we can expect the supreme beings in social engineering to command the economy and fail again. Sanders is relying on MMT to provide the funding for his social engineering. But central banking is completely politicized; regulation a revolving door, as Ms. Admati chronicles; and bank lending a Sodom and Gomorrah standard-less free-for-all. Funny money has never brought lasting prosperity. But the status quo is high risk too. Bernie and Stephanie have much 'splainin' to do.
Are you referring to the supreme beings who almost commanded the economy into oblivion in 2008?
2
One state and a small sample of voters is hardly taking control. Are we really going down this route again? Handing a win to Trump.
15
@Scott: I have also come to think that a Bloomberg-Warren ticket could be the magic bullet -- four years of centrist stability, while building up the progressive policies of Warren, then Warren as president.
Unfortunately, Warren has been doing everything she can for the last five days to make that scenario impossible.
10
Love Bernie and the progressive movement. We need to bring the power back to the working class!
91
Note To Senator Sanders:
As a lifelong Dem I would suggest that you quickly reign in your Bernie Bros, or whatever your followers are calling themselves today. They are fast gaining a reputation for angry intolerance with any Democrat/Independent who raises concern or questions about his nationalization of American healthcare, his physical health post-heart attack or, heaven forbid, how he plans to pay for his numerous programs that appear on the surface like straight-up giveaways.
He might want to think past his allocates to those of us who do not want four more years of Trump, but have deep, serious doubts about "President Sanders".
13
@Lupito
I'll be sure to tell them that the next time they tell me down when I try to speak in public.
1
@Stephanie Wood ‘Bernie Bro’s’ are a myth. As with everyone on social media, people are free to voice their opinions. News outlets hyperventilating about ‘Bernie Bro’s’ are spreading misinformation to voters and some apparently are believing it.
1
Stephanie wood... you are sooo right. I consider the Sanders supporters as intolerant rude and irrational as the Trump supporters. I also hate listening to Bernie spew hatred against a big chunk of America as much as I hate Trump doing it.
A cold chill washed over me on reading Putin is working for Sanders, along with Trump. I can understand why Putin wants to run Sanders against Trump, but why would Democrats choose Sanders as the most electable? He's a lot to swallow.
I will continue to work for Warren; she and Sanders have the same goals, but it's Warren who has the plans, the legislative skills and the ability to negotiate to get us to our goals of a government that works for all of us. And she sees no need to call such a government socialist of any kind. The problem with America isn't capitalism; it is corruption of a democratic government by moneyed interests. The answer to a plutocracy is not revolution but a return to democratic rule.
9
Warren and Klobuchar are not going to make it. Liz raises $9 million after ripping into Bloomberg. Bloomberg spends that in less than a day. The voters and the polls know all about her, so she's not going anywhere but down. As for Klobuchar, exceeding expectations only gets you a participant trophy. She'll get crushed on Super Tuesday and should withdraw for the sake of the party.
4
@Dave After watching Warren in the last debate, out-of-breath, hoarse, screeching, constantly raising her hand, pandering to black and brown people...she will continue going downhill. She is desperate. She and Klobuchar should drop out. Klobuchar might be a good choice as V.P. with Bloomberg as the presidential candidate. And Bloomberg should stop apologizing for the past. It makes him appear spineless/wimpy/pandering. He has to stand up for himself.
3
The Democratic candidates A.do not know how to say what they mean and shut up 2. The many putdowns of other candidates does not impress me as a forward thinker and leader. These people are NOT thinking in terms of TEAM, unfortunately and they are NOT focusing on the many needs of the American people ... forget Trump.
Bernie, for me, surely puts a consistent message out with passion and addresses the needs/desires of "the people" independent of whether he can implement his ideas ... tell people what they want to hear. However, Bernie for me is not a Leader and too wild headed. DJM
1
Democratic voters who are scared of Sanders' agenda and "socialist" label or his prospects in the general election need to stop playing around with Bloomberg and Buttigieg and wasting votes on Biden. They need to get behind Elizabeth Warren starting right now.
She has basically the same populist "for working people" agenda as Sanders which is appealing to the younger and diverse Sanders' base. She has also shown that she can puncture some billionaire egos. She has a strong record of facing down corrupt banksters and "telling it like it is" about the plutocrats. She is determined to root out corruption in government and combat Republican voter suppression and gerrymandering.
The tide in this electoral cycle is with all the "Enough is enough" forces, not the "back to normal," incrementalist candidates. If Sanders is not your first choice, Warren should be.
7
@abigail49 True. Warren is Sanders with a plan to make it happen.
1
@abigail49
I'd be happy with either one.
1
@abigail49
The tide ought to be”Get rid of Trump”, period, nothing more.
"5 Takeaways From the Nevada Caucuses (The Big One: Sanders Takes Control)"
Control?? After 5% of the pledged delegates have been apportioned? REALLY?
Look at the FACTS:
So far, the delegates that will have been chosen amount to 101 (41 in IA, 24 in NH, 36 in NV).
Even if only one candidate were to have won all of them, that candidate will have gained 5% of the delegates needed for the nomination.
But so far, the delegate division before the NV delegates are apportioned is Buttigeig 23, Sanders 22, Warren 8, Klobuchar 7, Biden 6.
At this point NOBODY has an insurmountable lead, and even if Sanders got all 36 NV delegates, he would only be at 58 total. (It looks like he will get about 13 of the 36.)
South Carolina will apportion 54 delegates.
Super Tuesday will apportion 1356 delegates. That means after Super Tuesday 1511 delegates will have been apportioned.
Then there are are another 2467 delegates that will be apportioned for a total of 3978 (which means 50%+1 is 1991 delegates).
It is way to early to declare any "winners" in the race to the nomination.
Control? Of what? (The pundits, who have to write SOMETHING, whether it means anything or not.)
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@Lupito
There are many incorrect assumptions in your comments. I subscribe to and read a few conservative publications, including the Wall Street Journal and National Review. I am a moderate Democrat who keeps up with conservative publications because I want to know the positions of those I disagree with on politics.
You ask whether “corporate democrats,” whatever that means, are too ignorant to see what Democrats want. It seems you don’t understand that the Democratic Party encompasses a broad range of views. Even given that, self described moderates are greater in number than the left of center progressives. So far, moderate candidates are splitting the vote.
As for “corporate democrats” being “dead wrong” about Sanders’ policies repelling conservatives, please take time to actually read conservative publications. You will find that you are dead wrong about what conservatives think of Sanders.
The question I have is for Bloomberg. He said he will financially support any Democrat. At the debate in Nevada he called Sanders a communist. If Sanders become the nominee will Bloomberg financially support Sanders as he promised?
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@BWCA
I suspect Bloomberg's efforts if Bernie is the nominee will be focused on supporting Democrats in Senate and House races. As for direct support of a Sanders candidacy, it may be as much dependent on whether Bernie accepts financial support from Bloomberg as on whether Bloomberg goes all in no matter who is the nominee
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@BWCA Bernie won't take a dime from Bloomberg. Where do people get these ideas?
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@Penn
Wanna bet ?
Nevada is an important symbolic win for Sanders, but it is a caucus state. If 100,000 voters participated in the caucus that represents about 15% of the registered Democrats. If Sanders won 50% of those votes and we assume Democrats make up 40% of Nevada's registered voters, that means Sanders caucus supporters make up just 3% of all registered Nevada voters. It is better to win then to come in second, but 3% is not necessarily a harbinger of what would happen in a general election.
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I'd be careful about any takeaways from the Nevada caucuses, especially as they may apply to the general election. The people who showed up for these caucuses do not fit the usual political distribution nationally or even within the Democratic Party. Using the numbers available now and totalling up votes for "progressive" and moderate wings of the party:
Progressives (Sanders, Warren, Steyer): 60%
Moderates (Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar): 38%
This is the kind of political distribution I would expect to see in San Francisco and Berkeley. It's not the country in general, nor even Nevada!
Nevada is a swing state recently tilting blue. It's not even liberal. So where are the moderate voters? I speculate many may still be registered Republican, although they may be now disillusioned with Trump and (one hopes) they show up to vote against him in November.
My big takeaway is that moderate voters failed to show up for the Nevada caucuses although they were a majority in the NH primary (do the same split between moderate and progressive voters there).
The Democratic Party better activate its moderate voters to vote in the primaries or we can end up with Sanders, who is too far left for the general election.
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@DJY Actually the exit polls say otherwise. Sanders drew support from across the ideological and demographical spectrum.
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Sanders also got the majority of the moderate vote according to entrance and exit polls.
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@Kingfish52 @Max I'm questioning who showed up at these caucuses. They do not appear to be representative of the country as a whole or the state of Nevada. Every candidate probably draws a few votes across the ideological and demographic spectrum. I'm looking at how this vote was weighted to the far left. No general electorate in any state shows a political profile like this.
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Just like Trump, Sanders has harnessed the anger and frustration of those who feel their concerns are not being heard. That is easy to do right now because we have allowed the system to become rigged.(Citizens United, the decline of unions, unbalanced tax policy, gross income inequality and flagrant ignoring of majority interests by Trump and the republicans.) But our democracy works by balancing one interest against another through compromise. Compromise does not inspire passion and the republicans have made compromise a dirty word. Because of republican recalcitrance, we can only govern now by taking control of the Senate and maintaining control of the House. It is highly unlikely that Sanders would be able to garner more Senate seats and we could also lose control of the House. Right wing republicans will mobilize against the Democratic party if Sanders is the candidate. While howling along with Sanders might feel good, Sanders is not being honest with his supporters. He has been in the Senate long enough to know how things get done, and he cannot actually deliver a revolution without support from more moderate factions of the electorate.
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@OUTRAGED " It is highly unlikely that Sanders would be able to garner more Senate seats and we could also lose control of the House."
Why do you make this claim? What proof do you have that supports this? In fact, his drawing a more diverse coalition out clearly proves otherwise.
This "He can't win because he won't draw enough support" meme is completely unfounded, and more likely the work of the DNC and Establishment MSM than anything else.
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I'm so confused about comments like this. Did you not witness the last 8 years of Obama? Republicans will work against whoever the Democrats pick. They will call the candidate a socialist no matter what. Let's stop letting them control the conversation and stop giving in to their demands. Let's move this country forward and they'll come along kicking and screaming, as always
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@Kingfish52
Nobody is going to willingly give up what they have in the face of an angry mob. Mob rule is not a good idea whether the mob is right or left and it is not what the founders intended. Also this is and always has been a business centered society. Monetary success and innovation are revered here. Any meaningful change has to include more moderate factions AND those with money. Scapegoating of any kind may get you a few cheers but it won't solve any problems, it is just a shiny object of distraction . Like it or not, the discussion about how the Democratic party (yes we are still a 2 party system), can get control of the Senate and maintain the House is necessary. Pretending otherwise is dishonest.
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Yes, Sanders came in first — but a majority went with a candidate other than Sanders.
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@Polaris Bernie won 46% in a crowded field where votes were split between 10 candidates. It was a resounding victory. Besides, achieving a plurality of votes - rather than a majority - is a win in many democratic systems, including the UK, India (the world's largest democracy), and more than 30 countries.
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@Polaris That was also true for Trump in the Feb. and March primaries. He didn't get above 50% of the vote until the New York primary in April.
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@Polaris Name that "candidate". Oh, right, you can't because no ONE candidate came anywhere near garnering the votes Sanders did.
This is a fallacious argument. It assumes all the people who voted for other candidates would not vote for Sanders, but based on polling, Sanders is the one who gains the most second choice votes, meaning that if those other candidates weren't running, it would be Bernie getting those votes, which is the exact opposite of your assumption.
But your comment hints at a troubling inference: that if Sanders gets the nomination, all these so-called Dem "modertates" won't vote for him. Hmmmm. Ironic that many of these same folks are quick to accuse Sanders supporters of not supporting Hilary - which they never have a shred of proof for.
It's fine if you don't like Bernie, but ion the end, if he gets the nod, I sure hope you vote for him.
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I live in an extremely liberal city. When I ask the most liberal people I know what they would do in a scenario where if Trump gets re-elected the economy continues to grow but if Sanders wins, we enter a recession...who would they vote for -- its a 50/50 response.
THAT is the danger of Sanders. People are inherently selfish and think about their own needs above others.
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@Alex I don’t disagree with about what drives most people -- that explains the current President’s election and, in my opinion, explains Sanders’ support -- both operate from a sense of entitlement. But, your question is based on false premises and obvious bias. The economy is not doing well for the majority of people who make under 200k . Too many people have to work two jobs or put in lots of overtime to make ends meet-- and for this same group, real taxes have gone up. The Stock Market and even the unemployment rate hide this. I am blessed to not have to worry about making ends meet but that doesn’t mean I close my mind to those who continue to have difficulty despite being hardworking and responsible.
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@Maureen Mcknight I don't disagree with you Maureen on the economy, except part of the problem is money is still a really big part of politics (like it or not). And many of the people whom Alex is describing, people who care about the stock market doing well and are also very liberal, are liberals with money and whose money the Democrats will need to defeat Trump in 2020. Trump has already raised more money for his reelection efforts than any candidate or President in the history of the USA. And those liberals with money for whom the economy is working are not going to want to give money to fund the campaign of someone they think will tank the economy (an economy that works for them); they are not going to give money to lose money in the long run. I am not making an argument about this being right or fair, but I think it is a simple reality that Democrats must contend with now before it is too late. I have had a very similar experience to Alex with many extremely liberal people in my liberal city telling me there is no way they are going to vote for Bernie in the general as they see him as an even bigger threat than Trump. It's not just about the economy; they also don't want the Democratic Party to be so radically redefined in the way Trump redefined the Republican Party.
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@Alex: Are you proposing the selfish ones are the Trump voters or the Sanders voters?
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Little new here, most of the Democratic field will draw its own voters. To win the white house we will need someone who can secure swing and middle America voters. My view is Biden had it but is not truly an option any longer. I would argue heavily Bloomberg-Buttigieg, or Bloomberg-Warren is the magic ticket. Lofty place amongst peers will not win majority American voters, no matter what criminal we are up against.
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@Scott Except that Sanders is drawing across all ideological and demographical lines. In fact, he's the one who has the best chance of drawing a unifying coalition based on the polls and voting so far. What facts support your (and the Establishment) claims otherwise?
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I would wager that you may be underestimating the impact of latino voters in this race.
Bloomberg will never pick Warren as a running. He is against any real systemic change to the wealth flowing upwards.
Uhhhh...
Actually it would appear that Vladimir Putin has taken control of yet another American election.
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Bernie defied all of the pundits and naysayers in terms of his ability to draw from a diverse coalition of voters. No other candidate has this ability or the wear with all to beat Trump in November. His momentum will only build from here and if the DNC and the right leaning moderates of the party haven’t learned from 2016 and recent primaries then we are destined for another four years of the despot and god help us! Vote blue no matter who!
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@Neil Your description of Sander's ability to draw from a diverse crowd is unfounded. Caucus are quaint but anachronistic and primaries draw the dedicated and the fanatic -- neither reflect ability to win general elections. That’s a symptom of a lot of broken pieces in our democracy. National polls show that 46% of Americans say they will never vote for someone self-described as a “social democrat.” To beat the current occupant of Pennsylvania Ave., a candidate will have to win crossover voters. With almost half already ruling Sander’s out as a choice, he has no chance of winning a general election. Yes, I know...that’s what was said about Trump. We’ve elected clowns before but a socialist -- not foundation for that.
@Maureen Mcknight "To beat the current occupant of Pennsylvania Ave., a candidate will have to win crossover voters."
No. Bernie certainly will win some crossover voters, but he is also mobilizing former nonvoters and creating a coherent grassroots campaign. He is transforming apathy into activism.
Democrats have tilted to the right for a generation, seeking 'crossover' and 'moderate' voters. That hasn't helped the working class, it has allowed the nation to shift to the far right.
Anybody that actually opposes what Trump represents will vote for Sanders in the general.
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@Neil Disclaimer: I am a pundit and a semi-naysayer. BS has a great progressive program but also poses a great risk. 1) his ideological inflexibility 2) his socialist self-description 3) his age and health 4) his unappeal to the middle 5) his danger to the down ticket. 6) his strong support from the “youth vote” (they don’t on election day in significant numbers). I’ll Vote Blue etc. but there are less risky candidates with virtually the same (eventual) programs.
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If the Russians are meddling in our political process again and working both sides of the street by backing both Sanders and Trump, it's because they think Sanders is the best candidate to insure that Trump will be reelected. The Nevada numbers tell a different story. The Latino vote is powerful not only in Nevada, but across the entire country, and this is only the beginning. What Trump has done to people of color and to their families will not be forgotten.
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@dutchiris OMG --they aren’t looking to have either elected. Russian support for Trump and for Sanders is Russian support for Trump because they know what the naive Sander’s supporters refuse to accept -- a social democrat will not win the crossover votes to beat Trump. That is why the Russians are supporting him. They are not hedging their bets. They are all in for Trump.
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@dutchiris ....."The Nevada numbers tell a different story."....Nevada hardly tells a story at all. About 15% of registered Democrats participated in the caucus. If 50% voted for Sanders and registered Democrats make up 40% of all registered Nevada voters, than the supporters of Sanders equal a whopping 3%. Better than finishing second, but a very long way from being able to win the state in a national election.
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Tom Perez has got to have a come to reality moment with the lesser candidates -- Tom Steyer, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg. this means you. The moderates have got to stop dividing the vote and have absolutely got to stop attacking each other with tiny, irrelevant details, or details from years ago. Each candidate should spend time only on putting forth his or her own ideas for the future. I lose respect for a moderate candidate who spends precious debate time in attacking other moderates, esp. when those attacks demonstrate a lack of knowledge of what had really happened -- Pete, this especially means you. Sanders still has not won a majority of the 3 states' votes -- contrast your views and point out how Sanders' policies are a pipe dream, unrealistic and not achievable. And those who can't win many votes -- get out of the race now.
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@Mary Carmela, PA I agree that attacking other candidates rather than putting out a positive message is not helpful to swaying people to their point of view. However, it may be that Perez should have a come to reality moment with these lesser candidates - Biden, Steyer, Bloomberg. Sanders is going to get his share of the far left base. But the new generation of candidates - Pete, Amy, - may have a broader appeal than Sanders in a general election. And Pete's attacks will look like patty-cake when Trump's minion go on the offensive against Sanders.
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@Mary Carmela, PA "Sanders still has not won a majority of the 3 states' votes"
False. In fact he HAS won the majority of votes in all three states. And the only state - Iowa - where he didn't get the most delegates, is still being contested and the results have not yet been certified.
And it's not the attacks on each other that are holding these "moderates" back, it's their own lack of appeal to the voters. The voters want REAL change, not a continuation of the slipping backward policies offered by the Establishment.
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@Mary Carmela, PA In all fairness Mary, Pete is the ONLY candidate who really hit Bernie hard over and over again in the last debate. Warren was the one who completely let Bernie off the hook. Pete had to go after Amy because she stole votes from him in New Hampshire. Prior to the New Hampshire debate, Pete was actually slated to win and beat Bernie in that primary. Amy was vicious to Pete in the New Hampshire debate, and she twisted the meaning of his words. Why should he not be allowed to defend himself and fight back? We want a fighter! Also, Amy fabricated this fantasy of forgetting the Mexican President's name and all of his policies to save face, but if you watch the interview, it is clear she did not know. Fine. But what bothers me is this was not a random American media outlet interview. Amy knew she was going to be interviewed by Telemundo, and she knew it would be televised. Knowing the name of the Mexican President and his basic policies is 101 preparation for an interview with Telemundo. She will need to know a lot of leaders' names if she is President. Her lack of preparation is what frightens me and what portends poorly for any future presidential duties she may have. Pete was absolutely correct to point this out. What made the exchange seem so contentious was Amy's response and constant interrupting. She is known to be vicious to staff even throwing things at them. There have been many articles written on the topic.
I feel as though I can see the future...
Bernie as the Democratic candidate for President would culminate in a disaster! Bernie Sanders is the perfect foil for Trump’s lies and raving insults. Bernie is no pushover, however, the very word Socialism brings fear to the hearts of many voters. Instead of voting blue no matter who, many would not vote at all.
And a no vote is a vote for Trump. We will lose the Senate, again, and probably watch moderate Democrats face defeat in the House.
And the worse thing by far would be a Trump win in November. Then we might finally become united - in mourning over our American Democracy.
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@Andrea
Andrea, couldn't agree more...now I know how Republicans felt in the early primaries of 2016!
Think it can't happen here?
Think again.
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@Andrea "Instead of voting blue no matter who, many would not vote at all."
Except those darn polls and primaries/caucuses seem to prove otherwise.
How about not worrying about what other people might do and vote your conscience? I'm pretty sure that won't mean voting for Sanders, but it will cause you less worry.
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This defeatism and insecurity is exactly what Trump and the GOP propagandandists want. Keep it up and self-actualize your worst fears or join the rest of us, in unity, and let’s bring about the change that must happen.
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I keep wondering if the GOP is not secretly funding Bernie as a sure bet for Trump's reelection.
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@Mark Shyres I keep wondering why so many people like you think they have the magic ability to foretell who can beat Trump... prognostications that also fly in the face of every poll (not that I give much weight to the polls)
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@Mark Shyres What did Bernie's campaign say when you asked them?
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@Mark Shyres
well...that type of conspiratorial thinking isn't going to sew unnecessary division amongst the democratic party
*sarcasm*
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"Senator Bernie Sanders won big on Saturday and is now the clear front-runner."
With the broadest base of support, one more reflective of America's diverse citizenry than can be commanded by any other candidate.
No Billionaires -- either candidates or string-pullers for "moderate" candidates -- can overcome this advantage. The Sanders campaign accomplishments are such that, given continued results, even the DNC had-wringers will be forced to support, no matter how grudgingly.
Anything else splits the Party and gives Trump a clear path to reelection.
One can hope even DNC stalwarts are no longer that myopic.
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@Barry C This kind of fantasy-based analysis will get Trump elected. Caucus in Iowa and Nevada represent about 3% of the vote there; primary didn’t go so well for Bernie. Crossover voters will NOT support Trump. You people are going to get him reelected.
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I think a Sanders/Warren ticket would be a winning team. They would complement each other nicely, Warren providing a certain gravitas to Bernie's main talking points (especially Medicare for All]. They overlap on the major points, healthcare, education, climate), They could appeal to various demographics. Biden is deluded if he thinks he can win at this point (only as Vice President again) . Super Tuesday will be a defining day. Sanders seems like a unifier. Let's see if this pattern keeps playing out. It also shows how fed up people in all demographic sectors are with the status quo on health and education and inequality. They are responding to Sander's program.
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The media opining on the significance of Sen. Sanders' victory in Nevada on upcoming primaries influences the votes in those upcoming primaries. So perhaps the media will exercise self-restraint and instead of making self-fulfilling predictions about the ramifications of what happened in Nevada, simply report on what happened, how it happened and why it happened, and let the voters in South Carolina and those who will be voting on Super Tuesday cast their ballots without undue influence.
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@Jay Orchard Just curious: would you have this same concern if Biden, Buttigieg, or Klobuchar were winning?
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@Jay Orchard Exactly! So well said, Jay. What the TV media, especially cabe 24-hour News does for profit is absolutely immoral.
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According to another article in the Times, in the first round of voting, with 60% reported, Sanders got 33% of the vote. Nevada, unlike Iowa, has preferential voting, so voters ranked candidates. Sanders picked up another 6% of the vote as second choice, seemingly from Steyer (some of whose voters went to Mayor Pete) and Warren, in the districts where they failed to hit the magic 15%. Sanders' 33% of the popular vote translated into 46% of the district delegates, which is the percentage we keep seeing. Sanders has probably won the popular vote in all three states, but his peak percentage in the first round remains relatively low for a front runner. [Trump proved you can win building on such numbers, but it remains to be seen if it can happen again.] Surely one big takeaway from this caucus is that Sanders can indeed pick up support from other candidates' voters: he got a significantly higher boost (6 percentage points) than the next best (Pete, 2.5), based on the partial returns reported in the Times.
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