I think you mean "East Lansing'--home of Michigan State University (MSU)--not "Lansing," the capital city.
Bernie or Biden don’t matter unless the Dems win back the Senate. Focus on that!
5
I don’t like Biden or Bernie. (Sadly, my preferred candidate dropped out after I voted on Super Tuesday.) BUT, I will vote for whoever becomes the nominee. Better B or B than the incumbent. At least with B or B in the White House, both progressive and moderate Dems together can then —AND ONLY THEN—effectively begin to make the existentially needed major course correction to save our democracy, especially to ensure a brighter, more equitable future for our young folks. First things first: we must put out the fire in the (white) house BEFORE we can even think about new floor plans for the rebuild. That is the only reason all B and B supporters must vote for whoever becomes the nominee. Because if we can’t take back the WH, you being a progressive or moderate, DOES. NOT. MATTER. .....we may as well toss all our ideological floor plans into that bonfire. I will support whoever is the Dem nominee.... flaws, warts, creepiness, old tickers, past insults and slaps-in-the-face, pig-headed wrong votes, and all. The alternative is unacceptable. The alternative is essentially game-over.... for decency, respectability, global leadership, climate, health care, and families everywhere. My vote will be for saving our democracy for We The People. I hope y’all believe and do the same, and come November, will come out and VOTE. (Avoid the lines and sign up for your Vote-By-Mail ballot NOW, if your state allows.) Thank you for reading.
4
I hope that it is clear that we can no longer be extorted, blackmailed, or held hostage by the vocal minority of Bernie fanatics.
7
Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe.
Has anyone spoken to the 2016 Bernie voters??
Look, we don't need a revolution. We just need to return to normalcy. OK? Now, what is normalcy in Michigan?
Lead atoms accumulating in the developing brains of children.
Unequal pay for equal work.
A planet warming by the minute.
An emerging gig economy without health insurance.
A piecemeal manufacturing sector that crumps every time China gets the snuffles. Where are my darn widgets??!!
A price for insulin that is 10 times higher than on the other side of the Ambassador Bridge.
No tax on Amazon and Apple; plenty of tax on the rest of us. (For what? A couple more stupid sitting duck wars?)
So, yeah, can we just get back to all that?
2
It's not at all "hard to say" why Sanders seems to be faltering in some states--irresponsible hack-jobs by journalists such as those writing for this newspaper have contributed greatly. Also, check out the embarrassing piece linked in this one, "As Bernie Sanders pushed for closer ties. . . ," if you want to be appalled by another author's apparently total lack of historical awareness.
2
We're not electing a moving company. We're electing someone who's going to run the country through January 19, 2025. It matters who's in charge.
I am not voting for someone with visible cognitive impairment. I don't know why anyone would. All kinds of accommodations for physical limitations can be made for a president, but the job of commander in chief requires a fully functioning intellect. After Trump, I cannot see why we would shortchange ourselves in that department. I understand the context, but the much-ballyhooed "decency" is a reactive and inadequate standard for qualification.
Someone who doesn't know his wife from his sister or what office he's running for or can't remember key words of the Declaration of Independence is not equal to the task of sitting down with heads of state and engaging in extended, complex, nuanced negotiations. The DNC's chosen is not up to snuff, and it's folly borne of desperation to pretend otherwise.
3
When I look at NYT's new "Delegate Count" bar chart it indicates that 101 delegates are still undecided in three states, CO, UT and CA, all strong Bernie states! Are they trying to wait until the next primaries before they figure in these, when only then it will probably become clear that Bernie is actually now LEADING in the delegate count. We know from 2016 (and with Dean and Nader) that these are the kind of tricks that they do.
2
For over 4yrs now, US Media has glossed over Bernie Sanders numerous flaws & hyped his self-styled ‘Progressive’ claim. This was & is a huge disservice to the American people. Bernie Sanders Coercive Medicare for All is a non-Starter & merely casts a Shadow of distrust on Obamacare.
3
The DNC has left us with two poor choices. Joe Biden isn’t Obama and Obama didn’t help the average American worker. Bernie Sanders is so far detached from reality most Democrats won’t support him.
Tom Perez and his team have done a great job getting Trump re-elected!
1
People have to start thinking rather than listen to sound bites, Burns record on labor issues is as abysmal as his record on supporting continual wars for special interests . He was part of the NAFTA duo along with Clinton that initiated Americas Middle Class long slide into penury. Bernie has supported working men and women for decades, there should be no contest.
1
Primary is over, and Joe Biden is our nominee. Time to defeat Donald Trump and restore the soul of our nation.
4
If college kids were forced to vote where they really are from instead of where they temporarily live Bern wouldn’t have any support. When I was in the Army and stationed in Alabama I still had to vote in the state I had enlisted from.
I would like to see a Venn diagram of Bernie supporters and Harry Potter fans. I think it would be instructive.
1
Sanders lack of mooring to the Democratic Party and his dogmatic approach to issues is the reason he will not get the Democratic nomination. Hillary Clinton said it best. No one like Sanders. He is an angry loner who accomplished nothing in the Senate. Goodbye Bernie!
6
The "Bernie Bro" trope has been addressed and disproven, but still gets dragged out in comment sections. Here are just two of many articles that speak to it:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/10/selective-feminism-and-the-myth.html
http://uchicagogate.com/articles/2019/11/24/burying-bernie-bro-narrative/
I was an undecided voter heading into the primaries, having narrowed down to four prospects, all with pros and cons. Now that we are down to comparing Biden and Sanders, I'm really not clear on what Biden stands for. How did he win so many primaries with such half-hearted effort? Does he actually *want* the presidency, or is it just the next obvious step to him? The prospect of returning to pre-Trump society might appeal to some, but just going back to "the good old days" is not going to address the problems that existed before Trump and likely helped propel him into office in the first place. Whoever the winning nominee is should bear that in mind.
1
"It is hard to say why Mr. Sanders has faltered among these voters"
Gee, could any of it be due to the relentless Bernie-bashing in this publication and other allegedly left-leaning media outlets?
1
The media is once again pushing the establishment candidate at every turn. In the midst of this piece, hilariously, is a link to a yet another fear-mongering article about Sanders. If only Americans would do a teensy tiny itty bitty little bit of reading and research, they'd blush to be making it public that they support Joe Biden and his deeply problematic record. They are voting for the status quo, which is the territory of the drone. Meanwhile, the country is going down the tubes--even a Biden supporter should be mentally capable of seeing that--and Trump is going to eat this bumbling incoherent semi-right-wing candidate for breakfast.
1
With Joe Biden practically assured as nominee, we will have four more years of Trump.
1
It is interesting when commentators commend Biden for "assembling a coalition" when he didn't do much but get the other moderates to drop out. Ultimately, black, working class voters will suffer most under Biden's agenda.
1
This article is biased against Bernie Sanders. So, the reason why he lost in southern states was because ... "he came under scrutiny" after his big win in Nevada? This would imply that the more politically astute voters in those southern states didn't like Bernie's ideas or vision for America. Uhh, try again. He lost because too many southern voters who supported Biden and others were not educated enough and open-minded enough to support Bernie. People voted for Biden mainly because his name has higher name recognition than other candidate and because they link Biden with Obama. That's not a really good reason to vote for a candidate. Much of Biden's support is soft and in fact reluctant where as Bernie's support is strong and energized. I can't see Bernie not winning Michigan or Arizona or Wisconsin, and these states are important because Trump won with those states in 2016.
7
It may turn out to be as simple as "Biden is just more 'likable', (whatever that means to each individual voter) than Hillary was". Combined with "Bernie is exactly the same [not so personally likable] character he was last time." Oh, and Biden - even with all his real and perceived faults - essentially actually HAS "been there, done that". We'll see!
7
Every writer, every news anchor, moderator and "guest", every current and former politician in the spotlight can prop up Joe Biden. But sooner or later he'll have to speak for himself at some length - and people will ask themselves, "what did we get ourselves pulled into?"
8
I voted for Sanders, but I am really sick of this Biden bashing from people who think they are progressive but are really regressive.
Biden will rejoin the climate accords.
Biden will end the tariff wars.
Biden will renew ties with our allies.
Biden will put autocratic Saudi, Turkey, North Korea and Syria back in their pariah place.
Biden will renew the Iran nuclear deal.
Biden will work toward adding a public option to the ACA.
Biden will work toward making community colleges and public universities affordable.
Biden will create a path to citizenship for the undocumented.
Biden will institute a sane immigration policy that doesn't tear families apart.
Biden will nominate good justices to the Supreme Court.
Anything beyond that we should think of as gravy.
29
The reality of Trumps victory has fully set in. Bernie continues to bash democrats. The Democrats took back the house by winning moderate center, left and right districts. There was no Bernie Sanders in the race calling moderate democrats establishment tools.
He's extremely divisive and doesn't care one bit if its democrats or republicans he's kicking to the curb if we are not pure enough for his social democratic positions.
Democrats have woken up to the fact that Bernie Sanders is a liability to victory.
We have had a revolution in the last 3 years. Democrats don't like it.
21
"...perhaps Mr. Biden will come under scrutiny and lose momentum"
One would hope so. Remember, Biden is a man who basically said vote for me, nothing will change. He's only trying to fool progressives into supporting for him. He's always been on the right of the political spectrum, an esteemed friend of corporate big wigs, who repeatedly touted his ability to work with unsavory politicians like Strom Thurmond. He actively worked against busing and pushed the tough-on-crime legislation in the 1980s and 1990s that proved disastrous for communities of color. And then, there's the Anita Hill thing and his confirmations of right wing judges to the SCOTUS. His claim that he's been a civil rights leader is laughable. Sanders is the one who marched with MLK, not Biden.
Sanders is the right candidate for minorities. He's proven it over and over. Latinos are right to overwhelmingly support him. Black folks are wrong not to. This is bizarre and difficult to understand for people like me, but it's a feature of political life in America. The mainstream media propaganda is very effective in getting ordinary folks to vote against their own interests
4
I still think Bernie can pull it off. Please don’t underestimate him. We need truth and integrity more than anything right now. Without an honest re-appraisal the rot will continue.
3
To give credit where it's due, Sanders/Warren have moved the party to the left. But Sanders has done very little to accomplish his agenda in Congress, even during the years when Democrats held both houses. It always seemed unrealistic that he would get anything done as president, given this.
His main argument for getting things done has been that there would be a groundswell of revolutionary support that would rally around him once he became president. Initially it was easy to mistake anger as motivation, loudness for turnout. That hasn't proven to be the case. In 2020 his momentum was based on barely winning the first two primaries, and even in Nevada the total moderate vote prevailed.
Claiming that corporate donations beat him on super Tuesday doesn't hold up. Joe did that with barely any money, corporate or otherwise. Clearly, "the people" have spoken. And it's not a revolution they wanted.
All the Warren supporters I know in Michigan are voting for Biden. For one thing, we want a strong, not a divided, party. Attacks by his vocal supporters on large swaths of the party were misguided. We wanted change, yes. But we wanted a united party to make it happen.
When the moderates worked to unite the party, it was a beautiful thing. Even afterwards there were attacks against Warren and the moderates by his surrogates and supporters. A united party is wanted and needed. And it is a more progressive party. It's possible more youth will support that.
10
I will never understand how those that supported Senator Sanders, a democratic socialist, decided to support a far-right candidate like the current president. Sanders wants to use the government to help the less fortunate, including supporters of the president, while the president is mainly interested in helping wealthy businessmen, destroying the environment, and undoing all the good that President Obama did during his two terms.
I am not saying who Democrats should support, but if we do not nominate a candidate who has overwhelming support from African-Americans, we will get hammered in the election.
I love the enthusiasm that Sanders’s supporters bring, but the question remains: What is more important; a “revolution” or defeating the grifter in chief?
15
More Bernie bros offering no analysis, only vitriol. There is no evidence Bernie would be capable of defeating Trump. The best chance for the Democrats is a massive turnout among minority voters and women. Primary contests so far show that Bernie is failing to create the enthusiasm of 2016. The moderate coalescence around Biden is real and it is logical. America needs a uniter, not another divider.
Biden’s VP pick can be particularly powerful given his one term pledge. That’s not to be underestimated in making his candidacy more inspiring, eg Abrams or Booker.
If coronavirus continues to drive down markets and the economy Trump will be very vulnerable. To suggest Biden can’t defeat him is viewing the world through Sanders-tinted glass.
19
Mr Cohn, I appreciate the analysis based on statistics of similar groups. But I think it makes sense to combine it with some account of the strength of his state operation, local champions, and current concerns of people in Michigan. Perhaps combine your efforts with someone who has a different data set and methodology?
4
@me Sanders strong state operations in other states and he has still underperformed.
2
Sanders is good at making sweeping promises, espousing lofty goals, making people feel like he is the answer to their problems of economic inequity, access to affordable health care, student debt. Stepping back, those promises are really pretty empty, easy to make, near impossible to get through Congress. In many ways, it’s a mirror image of the incumbent.
Denigrating the progressive credibility of Biden is an understandable campaign strategy, but sells Biden short. Perhaps Biden needs some push to strengthen his proposals, while retaining some realistic potential for getting enacted.
The danger is that Sanders and supporters seriously misjudge the extent of his support and would lead to a general election disaster similar to McGovern in 1972.
Ensuring defeat of the incumbent remains the most important objective. Accept money from Bloomberg and anyone else that can help make that happen.
18
@CK Exactly.
My personal theory is that African - American voters can smell an empty promise from a politician a million miles away and aren’t buying what Sanders selling.
3
A LOT of predictions being made in this forum - a LOT of soothsayers. Let's ask these clairvoyants if they anticipated Bernie's and Trump's successes in 2016? How about the successes of Brexit and Boris Johnson? How about Bernie's and Trump's successes even now? How about Hillary's lack of success, or Mueller for that matter, or what the Ukraine thing amounted to, or Stormy Daniels/Avenatti or Cohens's charges, the list goes on and on. If they didn't foresee the outcomes of THESE major events (or even most of them) then they should spend more time listening, reading and observing and less time predicting. It's not minor stuff - many of them probably bought into WMDs and most of our recent wars!
10
@carl bumba Please , your're sounding like the grumpy sister at the family reunion that brings out the you did this and that nitpicking that spoils the reunion and elicits eye rolls . There were many things that played into everything you quoted ; I won't go into them because I not only listened , saw , knew what a long game the Republicans played . Starting with Reagan ; they also cheated in many many ways starting with extreme gerrymandering . Many of us did not buy into the WMDs and were furious at the useless recent wars but then , if you go further back American policy has been undesirable and homicidal to others . You can even take it back to manifest destiny and the disgraceful treatment and genocide wars against the tribes.
1
My extended family mostly live in Michigan and I (very occasionally) talk politics with them. My gut impression from a visit in October is that Sanders won Michigan in 2016 by being male. Every female candidate I mentioned--Warren, Harris, Klobuchar, Gabbard--had "just something about her" that they didn't like, regardless of policies or positions. Nothing about being female, of course, they would *love* to have a woman president, just...not any of those.
35
@Adina
Fret not - Michigan Governor Whitmer will be the VP running mate, and she will be the 1st woman President in 2024.
@Adina
women are a gender majority of voters both registered and in turn-out. in 2016 hillary was the candidate best qualified and this time warren was. millions of women voted for trump in 2016. will they this time?
Here again, we have the tried-and-true "electability" issue. (It's not even a real word.) The political and media establishment would have us believe that Joe Biden, last week, reached back for a little something something and delivered a knockout punch on Super Tuesday. The corollary being Bernie and/or his campaign imploded over this time.
What we DO know actually happened was that the other established candidates dropped out and/or endorsed Biden right before the election (except the one candidate who is significantly drawing from Bernie's constituency.) This may be a historical first in American politics.
The real question that should be asked is whether this collusion involving Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Beto, etc. endorsements INCLUDED keeping Warren in the race and/or from endorsing Bernie. (After all, Castro had endorsed her earlier this year only AFTER she tumbled in the polls.) Furthermore, it would be more than just a conspiracy theory to suggest that the last minute, 9-13 million dollar boost Warren got for Super Tuesday from a "dark money" super pac was also part of this clearly concerted effort by the democratic establishment - and it's also pretty clear that NYT and mainstream media have AT LEAST a supporting role in this ongoing strategy.
16
@carl bumba The endless Sanders paranoid conspiracy theories. Everyone is conspiring against him. I guess it's impossible to conceive of the fact that the candidates who endorsed Biden actually think he might be the nominee with the best chance of winning the general election. But whatever...As far as Warren is concerned, she was not significantly drawing from Bernie's constituency. I doubt the majority of her well-educated female voters will turn to Sanders. And you display a striking misogyny in suggesting that Warren was manipulated into staying in the race or being told whom to endorse; she is an extremely intelligent woman who was more than capable of deciding when and if she would withdraw when she felt the time was right. And likewise she will decide who, if anyone, to endorse.
35
@carl bumba
Conspiracy theories abound - not just in the "Trumposphere". Maybe, Buttigieg & Klobuchar decided to get out when they saw that Biden had the most support in the moderate lane after S.C. and decided to endorse Biden because he IS moderate with positions closest to theirs. Maybe Warren stayed in until after Super Tuesday because she believed she was still viable at that time and then got out once the results were in. Progressives make up a minority of Dems even though they are the more vocal elements on Twitter; the 2018 mid-term elections would support this contention. You may be correct that the "establishment" democrats (whoever they are) do not like Bernie, but given his criticisms of the Dem candidates in 2008, 2012, 2016 and his failure to mobilize his supporters to vote for HRC in 2016, maybe they have good reason. Our/your job is to vote to remove Trump from office. I'll vote for whomever is the Dem nominee, will you?
1
Bernie is a savior and any struggles he is having in winning certain demographics are a result of the billionaire class conspiring against him, rather than actual flaws in his messaging, campaigning, ect. Anyone who criticizes Bernie is a tool of the establishment, brainwashed by the media.
10
Bernie Sanders won’t win in Michigan because he’s Bernie Sanders. In between the Progressive left and The Limbaugh Right the nation is tired of anger and divisiveness. Voters older than Millenials are wary of a candidate who believes Fidel Castro’s education policies outweighed everything else he did to the Cuban people. And many voters are skeptical of a man worth millions of dollars, who owns three homes, who rails against “the rich”. He is, simply, a flawed candidate who does not represent the majority of Americans. Moderates vote too, and have decided to go to vote in the primaries this time.
36
@Robert
Bernie would have won in Michigan in 2016, and he can still win now. It is up to us. It is up to people voting.
4
@Robert Joe Biden gets along great with Republicans like Mitch McConnell, so we won't have to worry about any divisiveness from him. But that assumes he will be lucid enough to know in fact that he is running for President and not the Senate, or if he can will be able to tell between his wife and sister. A serial plagiarist is not a flawed candidate. That's good old Joe. He was just kidding when he falsely claimed to have been arrested trying when trying to see Nelson Mandela or that he had three college degrees when he has only one. He says he marched with Martin Luther King too, except he didn't. Good old Joe. We should just trust him and the Democratic mainstream to tell us who is electable and who is not. After all, they brought us great presidents like Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Walter Mondale, Al Gore, Michael Dukakis, and Hubert Humphrey. We are in good hands.
1
@greenie Sweet dreams in fantasy land. I fully concur with @Robert. The poles of this nation have torn us asunder. Now, we the sane, the sensible, the true middle, and genuinely progressive in that we see all human beings as individuals and not as movements or entities to be otherized will reject Bernie like we've rejected Trump - always have, always will. And on Tuesday, in the MO primary I will cast my vote to restore and heal the nation. I will vote for Joe Biden because he is the most sensible choice this election cycle.
2
What is Biden promising? Nothing much. Just a one way ticket back to the Obama years. I need a lot more than "I'm not Trump" and "me and Barack".
I'll take the guy who is running with the ball with an eye on the goal over the guy who is standing still and keeps dropping the ball.
I'll be voting Bernie. But I'm also a Lions fan, so I'm used to being loyal to a losing team.
21
@J.C. -- I took advantage of Obamacare for several years to go out on my own in business. Twenty million people who hadn't had access to insurance then got it through that program.
Yet the Republicans have fought it (with little skill and no real replacement in mind) led by Mitch McConnell despite the fact that his state and its KYNect program (aka Obamacare) benefited more than most states from the program.
So you have fanatical opposition to an incremental increase in access to healthcare. You have very slow chinks appearing in Republican opposition (three Red states voted to expand Medicaid in 2018). There are fixable gaps in Obamacare that a skilled politician might be able to get Republicans to accept.
But you are supporting someone who thinks the entire country is willing to scrap existing health plans for 160 million people in order to raise taxes for a nationalized plan.
I don't see that as "eye on the goal" I see that as a guy with a whacko vision problem. Running on a platform of no-compromise and massive federal expansion in the current national political picture is not rational.
47
@b fagan Obamacare will likely be undone by the Supreme court soon. But President Joe Biden will no doubt take care of you (if he can remember that he's running for President and not the Senate), and Jill will be a great first lady if Joe cannot keep her straight from his sister. He confused the two at a recent campaign event. Joe Biden may be the nominee but he will never be president. He is a thousand times worse candidate than Hillary was and Trump will eat him alive.
Incremental fixes to ensure that the existing bureaucratic system with its for-profit insurances stays in place. Sounds expensive and inefficient. How about taking a system already in place that covers a limited segment of the population well without for-profit entities, and expanding it to cover everyone. Sounds efficient and costs less. I see that as a no-brainer, not whacko! The only people I can see who don’t see this as a no-brainer are those who view the change as a threat: investors, insurance companies, etc.
1
On paper it seems like a shoe in for Bernie. He went to Flint ad advocated for that city. He was involved in the civil rights movement, Biden was not. He has protested against the trade agreements, Biden advocated for them. Bernie is the most pro-union member of the senate. Biden has at various times advocated cuts for SSI, Bernie has advocated for expanding SSI. I was taught about the Battle of the Overpass and the UAW when I was in school, because they used to teach labor history. The people there have the fight in them, it's just whether they'll show up.
13
@Mark What we saw on Tuesday though, was you're not going to convince people to vote for Bernie based on policy. The main reason people voted for Biden on Tuesday was that people such as myself don't view him as toxic down ballot/unable to win swing states like Florida (No President has become President without Florida since the 1960's, except Bill who made up for it by winning elsewhere in the South/midwest. Bernie can't do that).
19
@Mark , the points are a bit embellished. For Flint, he pretty much suggested that the governor should lose his job; he offered nothing constructive. Very few Black people are sold on his civil rights record. He may have protested against trade agreements, but Michigan was losing jobs well before NAFTA was a thing (Roger and Me, by Sanders surrogate, Michael Moore). Biden helped bail out the automotive industry, (the bill Sanders voted against), and he didn't support the governor's primary opponent, as Sanders did. Biden also has a record of accomplishment and cache in the party that Sanders doesn't have (as evidenced by his legislative record and his successful advocacy of candidates for Congress and other positions). So even if Sanders had better policies, Biden would have better success implementing them than Sanders would. It is not a prediction, but Biden has reasons to do well here.
18
Mike Bloomberg couldn’t buy the election so he bought candidate Biden. The more that Billionaire Mike spends to support Biden, the greater the anger will grow in the Anti-Millionare and Billionaire Sanders camp. The more that the Democratic establishment falls inline with good ole Uncle Joe, the greater the danger is that the anger will burst into flames. And when Bernie is finally done in for the second time by the party power brokers, the rage of his supporters will explode. What this power hungry alliance has done to each of the female and minority candidates, they will surely do to Bernie. There is no happy escape from this tangled web.
8
What you forget in your argument is that all those young passionate Bernie supporters don’t really bother to come out and vote when it counts.
28
@Irving Schwartz I hear a lot of sour grapes soon to be followed I'll stay home on election day threat here. Look, Bernie wants to run for the Democratic nomination and knew the rules of the party up front before he started. If Biden wins the nomination Bernie needs to be a good loser just as Biden will need to be if Bernie wins and support the democratic candidate. At least that's what Bernie promised to do when this all started.
By the way Bernie's supporters' anger should not grow against millionaires otherwise they will need to cast out Bernie who is a multi millionaire ($2,5 million net worth) with 3 homes.
@Irving Schwartz Bloomberg is spending to defeat Trump.
1
Bernie Sanders has a Bernie Sanders problem. And when he doesn't win the nomination, we're all going to have a Bernie Sanders problem if he doesn't deal with his problem first.
70
@Jolton
Sure, Bernie Sanders has a Bernie Sanders problem according to people with a Bernie Sanders problem. Can't the same be said for Joe Biden... and every other person on the planet? There's no reasoning here. I think the point is just to make the association:
Bernie = problem.
3
@carl bumba Bernie does have a problem . Do you really think ? He will be unable to pass anything without a Democratic House and Senate ; keep your eye on the ball because he will stumble without those two . At least Bloomberg has diverted his vast pockets to help the Democrats win in down ballot elections rather than promises promises. You're right , there is no reasoning here and there and around his surrogates .
7
@Jolton
Joe Biden has a Joe Biden problem. He is his own worst enemy. He'll stumble and falter and go incoherent all the way to the convention. He's like an old boxer who is way past his prime who thinks he can still step into the ring and win, until it becomes pathetically obvious he has no business being there.
People are all in for Biden now, but there's going to be a lot of buyer's remorse later.
The reason Bernie won 2016 MI primary was because a lot white angry voters voted against Hillary and other republicans. Both Trump and Bernie got benefited out of it. In general election, those angry votes all went to Trump. Now Bernie is left with some college kids. The results will be Biden-Bernie 60-30 if not worse. But again some Trumps voters may have some fun again as it is an open primary.
19
@TOWHAS
Ex-actly! Some Bernie supporters, faced with the choice of Hillary v. Trump, went for Trump, because he made them all sorts of promises. We see how much he did for those working class folks. I am hoping they will vote for Bernie just as they were set to do in 2016, before Hillary and the Democratic Party took away their chance to do so.
Biden will cut Social Security, as he has talked about many times. He voted for war, when we all knew it was based on false premises, which only makes it worse. His corruption with Hunter is out there for all to see. As is his abuse of Anita Hill. He needs dark money to fund his campaign because no one wants to give up their lunch money to fund him. No, Biden is not the comforting answer to anyone’s problems, especially since Biden actively helped create them.
21
@Layla the question is not whether Biden is more comforting than Sanders. It’s still the primary, so campaign for Sanders if you like. If Sanders wins the primary, I will enthusiastically support him in the general. The same goes for Biden. The question is will you vote for Biden in the general if he wins the primary. If you don’t, your vote or non-vote will help Trump.
46
@Layla We all have pasts don't we , youthful indiscretions , wrong decisions , I abhorred his treatment of Anita Hill , but disagree about "his corruption with Hunter Biden " if there is corruption there prove it , don't make allegations , also about the dark money statement ; maybe you should give your lunch money to Trump , there is where the real corruption lies along with dark money . So the smell of corruption you smell is coming from the man who sits in the white house .
@Layla - "His corruption with Hunter is out there" for Trumpkins to see.
Warren is not going to damage her brand by bailing out Sanders. She made it pretty clear last night that the angry mob mentality is not what this nation needs and Bernie has basically decided not to deal with it. And it wouldn't matter if she did support Bernie. Her supporters were with her for a reason.
38
@JKN
Her brand is already damaged. Her support was minimal. She didn't win over either moderates or progressives because she kept trying to inhabit some middle lane between them. And she should have stayed away from identity politics. That's not who she is, and it hurt her more than helped her.
She'd be smart to not endorse anybody. She let down progressives by endorsing Hillary Clinton in 2016. If she endorses Biden, her credibility is gone and that part of the party will be done with her.
18
@J.C. no her brand is not damaged. We have a big what if with her ending her bid for the Presidency. Oh my goodness, someone who actually has the experience and a brilliant mind to work for the betterment of all Americans? Gasp!
@JKN
It’s possible that in a Biden administration Warren rises to the position of majority leader. The party will not be done with her - in fact she will have much more influence on the inside. Bernie has gotten exactly nothing done in decades from the outside. It’s all well and good to be principled but you’ve actually got to win as well.
Here’s a plan:
1) WIN - and win big - both House & Senate
2) Establish permanent demographic advantage
3) Enact your policy agenda and remake society
You can’t start with Step 3 (unless you want an actually revolution vs a “political revolution”)
1
Besides Bloomberg, Biden is literally the least deserving candidate of the entire field to win the Democratic nomination in 2020. It boggles the mind. Older Democrats don't have any guts or altruism, and the younger ones don't seem to care enough about their long and bleak future to vote to change the status quo. His bankrupt establishment program was DOA until Klobuchar and Buttigieg breathed life into it during the debates--they deserve a lot of blame IMHO.
18
@Perry Klees And yet older democrats are turning out to vote this primary season. For all the bellyaching Bernie Bros have been doing they only represented about 11% of the turnout in North Carolina for instance. I’m specifically referring to voters under 30yo. Are us Gen-X supposed to do all the work yet again while millennials sleep all day?
29
@Perry Klees So, does the least deserving democratic candidate deserve support over Trump in the general election, if they become the democratic nominee?
If I were a Sanders follower, I’d be a lot happier if I saw my side offering a lot more reason and a lot more numbers and a lot more turnout, and a lot fewer adjectives and a lot less accusation of everybody who disagreed with me in the slightest.
I’d also prefer a lot less repeating of Donald Trump’s screaming about rigged systems, every time my guy had a bad couple days.
43
@Robert
But you're not a Sanders follower. If you were, you wouldn't be bothered by those things. In fact, you'd be happy that someone on the national stage is finally saying what you've been thinking.
I could make a long list that begins with "If I were a Trump supporter..." But I'm not, so what would be the point of such an exercise?
11
@Robert That is why I'm sorry that Bernie is still in and Warren is out. She is a lot more logical and pragmatic than Bernie and also is willing to take responsibility both for her supporters and the results of her policies: stepping back from Medicare for All made sense when she realized how hard union members had fought for their health care and they needed to be heard in whatever plan went forward, but there was a lot of hand wringing about fit flopping instead of recognizing reality (before it whacks us in the head).
8
I have always told Bernie supporters—I kind of like Bernie. Always have. I recognize his baggage and limitations honestly, but I basically like his message. Does he need to be president? I’ve never been convinced. Would I vote for him over Trump? Absolutely. But I absolutely despise conspiracy theories with every bone in my body. I also make it a rule never to trust a cult of personality. That rules out the methods of Bernie and his campaign and his supporters for me. (It also applies to Trump, although I have never liked Trump and basically hate his message.)
22
I respect your opinions, but there’s another take: millions of Americans are standing at the bottom of a well. They see a red rope and a blue rope thrown down again. Both ropes stop less than half-way down. Forty years ago corporations used to reinvest almost half of profits back into workers. Now, it all goes to shareholders. Americans are afraid to let go of the stone dragging them down further, in case this stone soup is their last meal. Fear is what Biden is running on. Sanders is what Democrats used to be. Nothing more or less. Fighting for basic cornerstones of civilization. Nothing more or less. And, Sanders beats Trump. Millennials, Independents and Progressives aren’t going to be blackmailed into jumping for that blue rope that no one can reach again.
22
@Leah - I'm an Independent. I'd vote for Sanders if it was him vs. Trump. That's as far as my endorsement of him goes. I know former Republicans who are repulsed by Trump, and several of them are completely uncertain who they'd vote for if it came down to Sanders vs. Trump.
One way I look at it is - if Sanders wins the nomination, I expect Biden to immediately pledge his wholehearted support, and come through. I can't say I'd be as sure if it goes the other way, and that worries me.
29
@Leah
The democrats were never about giving away the store. The FDR/Depression years were an outlier. Bernie is a nice enough man but his ideas are bizarre in the right wing era we find ourselves in. Bernie promises Christmas every day and of course...someone else will pay for it. His plans work only for the math challenged.
19
@b fagan That's partly why I trust Elizabeth Warren, she is building up the party (yes, she pays her dues), and other candidates as well. I liked the way she included Klobachar in her remarks, and defended her too-- it was just decent. She sees the party as a team-- and wants it (all) to win, though she'll push if she thinks they are doing the wrong thing!
8
Detroit, Michigan - home of the blues and the American automobile industry.
It is, however, an industry that is no longer what it was when Motown Records were pushing out hit after hit in the 60s. And in 2008, it was on the point of collapse. Enter Obama, Biden and Steve Ratner as its saviours.
People in Michigan haven't forgotten Biden's input. And even if they may find some of Bernie's proposals attractive, they know he has no chance of implementing them. Better to go with a candidate who has a proven record of helping the state.
29
@Mike Edwards
Biden's "input"?
Biden is part of the Democratic machine that brought NAFTA and other disastrous policies to Detroit. And part of the machine that voted to go to war with Iraq and spend those billions of dollars that could have been spent at home.
Bernie proposes a plan for health care that is welcomed by lots of people in Michigan and a plan to transform the economy to focus on renewable energy and create millions of jobs in the process. That is what we need now.
4
@Mike Edwards
You've got to be kidding. Biden was and is a big supporter of the trade deals that hurt so many people in Michigan and other industrial states. "Democrats" like him are a big part of the reason the auto industry isn't what it once was.
Don't tell me what people have and haven't forgotten. I live here. You don't.
And we're not the home of the blues. You're thinking of Chicago. Or Mississippi.
1
@Mike Edwards Even the most diehard Republicans admit Cash for Clunkers was a winner.
If Michigan blue collar workers want what's best for them, they will support the candidate that the billlionaire Michael Bloomberg has now endorsed: Joe Biden. Certainly he will be the one who is looking out for their best interests.
14
@Dana I was born in Detroit in 1944, studied and worked in Manhattan, and now live in Ann Arbor in retirement. Except for died in the wool Trumpists, decreasing in number in this state, Michiganders follow politics and we keep ourselves informed. Suffering bad economic times does that to a people. Across the board its obvious to each and every one of us that things MUST change. Our roads are some of the very worst in the nation. But decade after decade our Republican legislature adamantly refuses to make them even minimally significantly better. Our current governor is bright and heartfelt but can't get this done. It is clear as day that our state needs a universal health, mental health, and drug treatment program. And much better public schools (we trail far behind nationally and internationally), and certainly student load debt relief. But the roads remain deplorable. Bernie is very much appreciated here. But the implications of his presidency are also apparent, and disheartening. The roads will not get fixed. He will not have coat-tails. So Biden will win this state. And I predict by a very large margin.
6
It isn't about what you can promise. Donald Trump promised all kinds of nonsense.
It's about what you can reasonably deliver.
There is not U.S. Senate on any horizon that will go for Senator Sanders' platform.
Talk is cheap. Most voters figured that out and voted accordingly on Tuesday.
25
The only good thing to come from a Biden win as presidential candidate, is the resounding loss to Trump he would have to endure. Because if he actually would become president, his actions would never get the US back on track nor solve things for the disenfranchised masses. Which in turn would result in a Republican victory for decades, as the Dems would be crucified for all US failings. So losing to Trump would be better, giving the 'left' some room to survive and become a viable option for all those left behind after eight years of train wreck Trump.
6
@Ibero70
I've often thought the same thing. Short term pain, long term gain is the game we should be playing.
Instead, too many cowardly Democrats can't see past tomorrow. They'll vote for Joe "Hairy Legs" Biden because they fear change more than they fear the consequences of not changing. They have it backwards.
Registered Democrats make up just 1/4 of the voting public and only about 1/8 of voting-eligible Americans. Bernie is the most trusted, respected and popular politician in America since 2015. Non-Democrats will bring him a general election victory and bring us all the major reforms that our country needs. Establishment Democrats who FEAR these changes just want to talk about their nomination process and how Bernie is "un-electable".
10
@carl bumba - your numbers are weird. According to Gallup, who has been tracking this for years, the split in the voting public has been fairly steady like so:
30% Democrat, same Republican, and 40% Independent
Right now, the poll shows Dems = 29%, but the flickering up and down a few points between the subsets doesn't change the overall fact.
Neither party outnumbers Independents. And Independents are not noted for being far left (or far right, for that matter).
https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx
12
@b fagan
Your definition of weird is weird, imo. The last poll I checked Democrats moved UP to 29% , Republicans move up to to 27% and Independent and non-affiliated were at 41 or 43%, I forget. (I think it was from Pew Research; the standard errors were at 3 or 4%.) At most, my statement of 1/4 (or 25%) of the voting public was off by a couple percentage points. This would not affect the argument in the least. I said "about" 1/8 of voting-eligible Americans to adjust for the small number of felons, mentally-ill and others (depending on each state) who are of voting age, but not eligible to vote. I stand by this one, too. Take a look at the historical graph below to see the VERY important historical trends. (It stops at 2014, but the trends continue into this election cycle.) So, why are you really challenging this ?
https://www.people-press.org/interactives/party-id-trend/
@carl bumba
Curious about how you determined that Sanders is the most trusted, respected and popular politician since 2015.
Don't want a revolution. Don't want to stick it to the millionaires and billionaires. I just want Trump and his crew out of the White House. I'd be happy to drive the moving van next January.
If he's not gone, in another four years we won't have a country to worry and argue about.
Go Joe.
54
@Cold Liberal
So you want nothing. You're in luck. That's exactly what you'll get with Biden.
What Sanders has, more than anything, is a trust problem. He promised to release his health records after his heart attack, and guess what? He hasn't done so. This is the kind of lie we've seen over and over and over again with Trump, the king of lying. Like Trump, too, he fails to denounce his bullying followers, and waves his hands when asked for details on just about any of his proposals. We don't need another angry old guy who won't be honest and up-front with us.
36
It is the case that Sanders has been compelled to be more “woke” this time than last, not so popular in the Rust Belt. It is also true that Trump —at least in talking the talk— adopted some of the pro-worker rhetoric missing from Clinton. It is even more true that from the perspective of the Dem Party and its media Sanders was a novelty item meant to hone Clinton’s debating capacity last time but a real threat to win this time. That called for the relentless media hostility we see daily and the “rallying” around the uninspiring Biden. Wall St’s “Wallets for Biden” and defeatist African Americans in the Confederate states (though Sanders did and does win majorities of Black folks under 30) just sealed teh deal—maybe.
4
@David Defeatest African Americans? Really? How about suggesting to Bernie that he use that phrase in his campaign. My guess is he would spit in your eye (figuratively speaking, of course).
1
Did I miss it? I do not see where the popular Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, endorsed Joe Biden. I would think that could be consequential. No mention?
6
@Ernest Lamonica
She doesn't have much influence here. None of our governors ever have. We don't really care who they endorse. It doesn't change any votes.
@Ernest Lamonica I was confused by that too. I couldn’t tell what the reference to Gretchen Whitmer was implying. I did look on Politico under presidential endorsements - - they list Gretchen Whitmer as endorsing Biden for President.
@Ernest Lamonica
Sorry you missed it
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-picks-up-endorsement-from-michigans-governor-ahead-of-its-primary-next-week/2020/03/05/12ab8312-5ee9-11ea-b29b-9db42f7803a7_story.html%3foutputType=amp
It's a telling mistake to view African-American voters as a monolith. The author has failed to note that there are huge differences between Michigan and South Carolina. The former is in the industrial Midwest that has been savaged by plant closures and corporate America. South Carolina? Less so.
I would have to say that Michigan is also a more secular environment in which church leadership plays a smaller role in dictating community response from the pulpit.
No, Michigan and South Carolina have significant differences that Nate Cohn seems oblivious to. Again, African-Americans are not a monolith and it's insulting, borderline racism to imply (as many pundits do) otherwise.
11
@Rex I think yours is an important reminder. I haven’t seen polls from Michigan, and I think I just heard Nate Silver on 538 wish he had more polling information from that state. I think you may be borne out on this. That said, I think a real Sanders turnaround in Michigan would come from young people turning out in much larger numbers than we’ve seen so far. Not only would that help him in Michigan, it would show the next round of primary voters that Young people would strengthen Sanders position in the general.
4
I don't support Bernie Sanders in the Primary, but I will vote for him if he's the nominee.
I think he has had a very positive impact on the Democratic Party.
11
@Barbara T
Please Barbara, reconsider! If you think Bernie has had a positive impact, vote for him! He is the best man for the job--and for the planet.
New York Times endorsed Klobuchar and Warren. This decision speaks volumes about the editorial board. They are totally disconnected with the real problems that face millions of Americans. It’s difficult to realize this (inequality, the cost of health insurance and college debs) from a high floor in 8 Avenue.
10
@Claude You seem to be underestimating Warren. She is a progressive, very pragmatic, and very good at getting things done. She understands very well what people face and how it fits together with the other problems we face.
Close reading of that endorsement revealed a weird underlying split: their hearts were with Klobachar but they felt they couldn't ignore Warren-- so they praised K. to the skies and praised Warren in knife-edged phrases that said they fundamentally didn't like her. I think that she was smarter than them and it made them uncomfortable. The Boston Globe endorsement made sense and had integrity-- they knew what they believed and said so. Night and day difference.
2
Millions of Americans who don’t vote or subscribe to newspapers. There is a reason they get ignored.
May I know why sometimes the articles don't have comments? Like the recent one about Bernie, "Bernie's personality test"?
When Bernie is the front-runner, he is slandered. Where is similar coverage of Biden, what he is like now, and what he has done? Please talk about his record, his gaffes, and his creepy attitude towards girls.
13
I think we are ready to move on to Trump now. It isn’t a personal attack to bring up Bernie’s struggles in getting votes and that he might not win in Michigan. It is a personal attack to talk about Biden’s personal problems. Why unnecessarily weaken the likely front runner at this point in the race?
1
@Anna
"he is slandered."
Okay, what has the NYT written that is demonstrably untrue? In other words, what facts can you show us? What is your documentation?
When you make a serious accusation, you need to able to show your work.
That’s because Sanders promises things that he can’t deliver either without huge middle-class tax increases and These ideas would never be passed by Congress. People are catching on to his false promises. Also, we already have a nasty, curmudgeon in the White House. We don’t need another one.
19
When Sanders was running against a woman he could count on the mysognyist vote, a reliable block of votes he couldn't lose no matter what pie in the sky he was selling. This time around, different story.
20
I'm sick and tired of the DINO/Republican-lite/Elites telling always telling us that we're the ones who need to compromise. That we need to support DINOs like Biden or Bloomberg, not that they need to support progressives like Bernie or Warren. Always, always, always, they're demanding that we capitulate. That we're in the wrong. That they know what's best for everyone.
Yet these rich, white DINOs haven't the faintest idea what reality is like for 95% of us. Ensconced in their ivory castles with not a care or worry in the world they're absolutely flummoxed why anyone would want to buck the tide and destroy the status quo that works so very well for them. Why we will not support the Hillarys and Bidens of the world anymore. That we should be happy in choosing the lesser of two evils. Well not me, cousin. Not anymore. I'd rather see Trump fiddle while 'Rome' burns than ever again vote for some Elite who doesn't care about me and my kind one whit more than the other side does. At least with the GOP you know what you get. The disingenuousness of Biden and those like him is galling, infuriating, and nauseating all at the same time.
So no, you capitulate. You come over to our side, because we're done with coming over to yours!
9
@Sparky I am seriously considering not voting if Biden gets the nomination. I'm tired of participating in a system that gives the left no political representation and I suspect a lot of people feel this way.
9
@MK I think that would make you a Sanders/Trump voter, since a Sanders voter not voting is a vote for Trump. And, by the way, on a different note, I think the support Sanders has gotten has given a lot of Biden supporters hope that things like M4A might be achievable before too many more election cycles go by. Meanwhile, work on turning out young voters. If Sanders can pull a comeback and become the nominee, I think you will see a lot of support coming from the Biden camp and even Biden himself.
7
The problem with your observation is that while trump might be fiddling, McConnell is not.
Also, the idea of capitulating to someone who won’t capitulate reminds me of the Groucho Marx line about not wanting to be a member of a club that would have me as a member.
Petulant, me thinks so.
1
I blamed Sanders for some of what happened in 2016. His followers, a lot of them, did'nt go out to vote. He is an independent he is not a democrat and he is not winnable.
His rethoric may inspire the young, naive but is it reachable?
Besides, the US embracing socialism? please .......
12
I will be casting my vote for Biden. I'm so sick and tired of Sanders attacking the Democratic establishment. He's not a Democrat and when he attacks the establishment I feel like he's attacking me being that i'm a Democrat. I don't know why he's running to lead a party that he hates.
32
Might? Outside of Vermont, Sanders lost New England. With late deciders, Sanders got crushed. And, he has a caucus problem going forward mainly North Dakota and Wyoming, two small states.
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/486056-michigan-or-bust-for-sanders-and-its-going-to-be-bust
6
I said it in 2016 and I’ll say it again now: a Biden/Warren ticket is a winner.
9
Isn't it ironic that Trump was elected because people couldn't stomach yet another corporate Democrat. Yes, Hillary won the popular vote by 3 million - out of 130 million cast, against a complete ignoramus; that says something. So what's the answer? Obviously, more of the same. Oh what a relief, to have another corporate Democrat in the White House. Let the healing begin!
9
@stan continople So let's accept the King of the 1% and leader of the corporate GOP, Trump?
Wrong. Bernie needs to change the fundamental trajectory of pubic relations SPIN over the coming 12 days. These "electability" attacks are shameless. This article just compliments its predecessor "Can Bernie Sanders still Win?" What a preposterous question.
The fact that this question can even be posed (directly or, here, implicitly) at THIS state in the race shows how hoodwinked we are. Nate Cohn is supposedly the 'empirical guy'. But you sure won't see the actual, pledged delegate NUMBERS here or elsewhere in this paper! So, here they are: the delegate point spread between Biden and Bernie is about 68 delegates (out of about 1,122) - with 2,857 yet to go! (There are around 4,000 pledged delegates to be decided.)
How can anyone honestly pose this question of Bernie's electability (that flies in the face of a huge amount of polling data) from a handful of closed and semi-closed primaries/caucuses of the Democratic party, which represents only 1/4 of the voting public and nearly 1/8 of voting eligible Americans? It's pretty clear they can't.
12
@carl bumba Not sure about everything you’re saying, but here’s a list of Super Tuesday open primaries: Colorado,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.
South Carolina and New Hampshire we’re also open primaries.
Bernie lost the swing states on Tuesday (VA, NC) and won a state that doesn't matter (CA - any Democrat will win there in November). Biden is up on him by 50 points in Florida - 50 points! (Turns out "Castro really isn't so bad" doesn't play well in the Sunshine State). If he loses MI on Tuesday and then gets creamed in Florida a week later, it's time for Bernie to pack it in. No more of this "taking it all the way to the convention" garbage from 2016. Just disappear so we can focus on Trump.
Nobody cares anymore, Bernie. You're a has-been. Actually, a never-was.
21
@Mike
Bernie would have beat Trump in the swing states had he been the candidate in 2016. Bernie can still win. People just need to vote for him. He is our best chance to save the planet and to lift up the working class.
2
One 78 year old or another.
2
One of the mistakes Hillary Clinton made in 2016 was to treat Sanders and his supporters like the vanquished.
I hope Biden won't make the same mistake. The left is at least 35% or 40% of the party.
Find a way to include Sanders/Warren and their supporters.
There are 3000 jobs in the executive branch that will need to be filled. Share the wealth and include the left and the next generation of Democrats.
5
@William Jefferson I agree, and I would hope that young people stay active in the political world. But do remember that Warren was a part of the Obama administration.
6
I'm so disappointed Elizabeth Warren never caught fire. Her policies would not have been great for my own family financially, at least at the moment, but I like the idea of my daughters having a safety net that doesn't currently exist in the U.S. in the future. I think she had the most intelligence and integrity out of all of the candidates and, if she had been elected, could have pushed through good-for-the-middle class and the environment policies that none of the other candidates could have. She is the only one I felt was probably keeping track of all of the bad changes that Trump has made so that she could go through and reverse them all within the first 100 days in office. I wonder what would happen with a Biden/Warren team up? Maybe that would unite the democrats and help us beat Trump. Even if that doesn't happen, I hope that she remains in elected office until death. We need her.
6
@Average MI mom Why not vote for Bernie in the primaries? He and Liz overlap rather extensively in their policy proposals...
I am a Berner but Liz was my second choice...
5
I will be voting on Tuesday in Michigan. I was a (albeit lukewarm) Warren supporter. Now my choice is between two old white geezers, so that one of them can take on an old orange geezer. I'm not thrilled with my options, so I will use the beer test - which candidate would you rather sit down and have a beer with? Oh heck, I'm just going to go with youth!
6
@Pat Tourney you know what I would like? To sit down and have a beer with both of them at the same time, but after the election - - politics does not bring out the best in beer drinkers.
just ONCE i would like to see the NYTs write an article about Bernie Sanders that isn’t negative, pessimistic or throwing shade.
29
@Vladimir Kerchenko
They're not his publicists, Vladimir.
There is no obligation to be positive, optimistic and admiring. They're journalists, not PR consultants.
17
@Laurence Bachmann right, but there is a bias against him, every chance they get its "bernie is bad" meanwhile they favor biden hilary etc. its actually true. its like fox news for moderates.
1
No-nonsense Michiganders are not going for Bernie.
16
@Stephanie Lauren
They would have done so in 2016 and they still can again. Lifting up the working class is about as no-nonsense as you can get.
Funny. Everywhere I look, people are feeling the bern.
15
@John D.
You really need to get out more. Bernie's "math" only works for the math challenged.
2
Until Biden trips. It's a matter of time.
12
Sorry, Bernie - there just aren't enough Democratic primary voters foolish enough to believe you can defeat Donald Trump.
This race is over.
17
Biden has 596 delegates
Sanders has 531 delegates
The nominee is yet to be determined despite the “ news”
15
@Cynthia McKinnon 538 gives Biden a 7 in 8 chance of winning the nomination. They give no majority a 1 in 10 chance and Sanders a 1 in 50 chance. I would argue that no majority would work in Sanders favor because it would entail a very strong performance between now and the convention. And as Nate Silver says, 1 in 8 is not terrible odds. Bernie could do it. Personally, I believe that getting that new voter turnout will have to be a factor. If he can do that, he will help himself and the Democratic Party tremendously.
1
As a voter from Michigan, who watched this toxic narrative unfold on this papers’ pages in 2016, big surprise that the “center right times” is running these kinds of articles now. Where are the stories of Biden’s many weaknesses?
18
Biden will win Michigan handily. Circumstances are different and most black voters will participate this year. Unlike the 2016 election when Russian disinformation slowed the black vote.
Biden will again trounce Sanders and Bernie can go back to haranguing his Senate colleagues. His ship has sailed.
More interesting is Biden's running mate. Elizabeth (possible) Kamala or Amy? What about Michelle? Now that would be something to see.
5
@Almighty Dollar Shucks, let’s throw Oprah into the mix. It’s also interesting to me that the first really qualified candidates that come to mind are all women.
@Almighty Dollar
"What about Michelle? Now that would be something to see."
Righto! Cuz former first ladies do so well in national elections. Not.
@Almighty Dollar
Biden's running mate will be Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Boy, a lot of arrogant Biden supporters...I sure hope you're happy during the first debate with Trump when Biden can't remember what state he's in or a moderator's name, or even who's onstage next to him. I really think most Biden supporters have not actually paid attention to this man's coherence and mental acuity the past couple of years. Train wreck's a comin'.
Time for this wing of anti-universal healthcare, anti free education, anti livable minimum wage to show their true colors and form a GOP-lite party. I get it, Trump has taken the former GOP into the nuthouse, now the remaining conservatives need a place to go. Stop pretending you're liberal when you refuse to support the one candidate left who's fighting for your supposed goals.
17
There aren’t going to be any debates with Trump. If by some miracle there are, Trump will rant about toilets and “hamberders” the whole time.
3
@Hmmm3
"and form a GOP-lite party."
Why don't you form the Purity Progressive Party? Why would you want the mantle of "Democrat," anyway?
2
As opposed to the Burns constant anger, I’ll take senility any day.
1
The promised medical reports, please, Senator.
8
@Lawrence And tax returns. He didn’t release those in 2016, either.
5
The DNC through its misinformation outlet NYtimes published a Bernie dossier yesterday suggesting collusion with Russia. How come it was removed so quickly. Did his supporters, that are also those that response best to click advertisement get upset. Anyways, it is predictable the DNC would try to undermine Bernie. He needs to run as a third party candidate to avoid this nonsense otherwise we are stuck with the closet republican Biden. This is Bernie's last chance, and he should not let anything get in the way. Vote Bernie!!!!
10
@sh Oh c’mon. You know Bernie would rather have Biden than Trump and won’t run as a 3rd party candidate. The question is would you rather have Trump than Biden? Or, here’s another suggestion: help get those new voters to turn out for the remaining primaries. The race has turned around once, it could do it again.
One - time Democratic Party Presidential primary loser Bernie Sanders is destined to become a two- time Democratic Party primary loser like Joe Biden.
Bombastic bloviating Brooklyn Bernie Sanders and bombastic bloviating Queens Donald Trump represent the same New York City styles. Sanders isn't a Democrat. Trump isn't a Republican. They are two angry old white men.
8
@Lupito—Calling Biden an incoherent old man, Bro? Pot, meet kettle.
7
Wow, NYT is really gunning for Sanders. Three negative articles just in the last 12 hours:
"Bernie Sanders Might Have a Michigan Problem"
"Why Warren Supporters Aren't a Lock to Get Behind Sanders."
"As Bernie Sanders Pushed for Closer Ties, Soviet Union Spotted Opportunity"
So what do we have about Biden?
"Joe Biden is quickly moving to hire aides from the campaigns of candidates who have left the race."
Depicting Biden on the offense.
This just stinks.
23
@Ulrik I am starting to see what Trump sees. And I despise Trump as the worst president in American history.
I sadly can only conclude The New York Times and MSNBC are clearly biased in favor of the establishment candidate Joe Biden.
I personally think Joe Biden will go down to defeat just as Al Gore, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton did.
Why? Because Biden's nice guy "let's all get along" persona will get destroyed in every debate with Trump and his bombastic lies. Biden's voting record in the Senate is deplorable and clearly shows Joe has no real principles. Joe will go along to get along.
All Trump can do with Bernie is attack him with the socialist/communist label. Bernie has been consistent for 30 years. Bernie will go right for Trump's jugular. And draw blood.
As they say, if you are going to try to depose the emperor, you better not miss.
If Biden gets contrite and admits his prior votes were wrong and says he took a fresh new look at the studies and the numbers and that is now convinced M4A is practical and affordable. In other words, walk back all his pro=corporate positions.
And to prove his commitment is sincere, Biden names Elizabeth Warren as his running mate and says she will be spearheading the campaign to get Congress to pass the legislation.
That will excite and unify the party and go a long way toward the change most Americans want.
5
@Ulrik I read all three. The first two reflect what I’ve seen elsewhere. The third was stupid. The “ trove” of information uncovered didn’t have anything in it.
What, no Sydney Ember? Pease stop the attacks on Sanders.
You are destroying your credibility, just as bad as the WMD coverage did.
8
Looking at how many people voted for Biden, just shows the IQ level of American people. They only like the smooth talkers and legacy politicians. If they a shot to anyone of these intelligent smart and different people like Bernie, Warren, Buttegeig, Wong .....that wouldve had a good shot at really bringing a good change.
8
@Dean Welcome to democracy. Worst system in the world except for all the others.
I really don't get all of this numbers-crunching and hand-wringing. Uncle Joe will be the nominee, and the sooner that he and a consolidated party can focus on getting that big diapered baby out of the White House and putting together a muscular plan to make the spectacular Elizabeth Warren the next Leader of the U.S. Senate, the better.
9
Good luck with that, Bernie
1
Bernie, a Michigan problem? Not as bad as Biden has an early-onset Alzheimer's problem.
10
Read the nytimes “recently unearthed” analysis of Soviet archives from the Sister City program. The USSR had a term for people like Bernie....”useful idiots”. Bernie was used to advance Soviet Propaganda when he was mayor of Burlington. Either he was a willing propagandist or not clever enough to understand he was being used. Neither option is flattering and Michigan voters will have questions.
@James Come now, Bernie in the USSR and Hunter Biden on the Burisma board are pretty much in the same category. They can be used to make you look bad, but there no real substance to the shade being thrown.
Clearly you did not read the article. Cross cultural "Sister cities" were promoted on a human scale vs. the propaganda nuclear war military machine.
People. Biden is gone. The man is infirm. Forget politics, if he was your dad, you would take away his car keys. Can you (and the NYT) just admit it. Goner. Done. Dopey. Get over it.
12
Michael Moore, We need you to help get out the vote for Bernie in Michigan on Tuesday.
Sanders 2020
13
@Zareen I don’t love Sanders, but I would love to see those new voters he wants to bring out, just make sure he brings them out in November too!
His problem in any state is the media—- NYT, WP...
9
This race has been uncertain all along.. .People up people down. We will all jut have to wait and see
2
Bernie needs to drop out. But instead this useful idiot will wreak havoc all the way to November and do what he can to get trump reelected.
9
@The Paperboy Drop out? Not when he is the only person with any substantive proposals. Biden's only platform is that he is not Trump and not Sanders. And as long as he keeps his mouth shut and smiles, everything is OK.
2
Another “this might happen” Nate Cohn article. Will we never learn?
3
Biden/Whitmer 2020!
A blue tsunami from sea to shining sea!!
1
@Kevin Roth
Whitmer is hated in her own state. That ticket guarantees a red landslide
Must the New York Times always present Bernie Sanders in a negative light?
13
It's completely clear now that the NYT wants Biden to win the nomination, from the anti-Sanders stories today (this one by Cohn, and the one on Soviet Russia supposedly welcoming Sanders' so-called support) to the disregard for honest and thorough reporting on Biden's litany of foibles, i.e., enrichment via influence peddling by Biden's brother and son, and his obvious, daily signs of early dementia, which to the NYT's writers would be disqualifying for the position of President if he were a Republican.
Meanwhile, the paper is allowing Warren supporters to vent progressive outrage at the defeat of a strident, female candidate, who like Hillary Clinton, had a host of negatives -- so many that even her own feminist, left-liberal state of Massachusetts couldn't stand her anymore, granting her a distant third in the primary behind two men, Biden and Sanders.
10
Bernie Sanders has a Black problem. Not getting that core element means he's done. If he is a good politician and is adaptable he would come up with a plan. Just a hint, climate change ain't it. Reparations for the Africans descendants of the enslaved in this country would be it. Trace your ancestors back to a slave in this country and be a self identified Black, Negro or African American for 10 years prior to now and that the qualifier. That wrong need to be made right. Look we gave the families of 9/11 $7.1 billion dollars without blinking, with an average payment of over $1.6 million and our government didn't cause that. If Bernie doesn't have a plan like reparations or something specific for Black folks, he's toast. Politics is suppose to be an exchange not a gift. Biden's gotten the gift already.
1
@RollTide As if Biden supports reparations? Give me a break!
4
@RollTide Bernie has the overwhelming support of young blacks
6
Yes and they vote just like young white’s, as in , not at all.
1
do the journos of the New York times think they can possibly do a better job of covering the democratic primaries in an unbiased fashion? just the constant barrage of critical _opinions_ of Bernie while offering really no similar analyses of Biden is making this media outlet look suspiciously contaminated.
7
I'm pretty sure that my last three comments here would have been posted under a different name than mine.
4
I think Biden has the best chance of defeating t-rump. Though he is not my first pick, I will vote for him if for no other reason than to get that current piece of XXX out of the white house before he totally destroys this country!!
6
you almost did it NYT. One more week and you may get your complete reward
4
Still no reporting of the fact that a literal Nazi displayed a swastika flag at a rally of the Jewish presidential candidate. Quick, a rando was rude to Joe on Twitter! Call the Bernie bro police!
5
@Christian Haesemeyer https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/03/06/world/ap-religion-sanders-swastika.html
Please stop the gaslighting. Everybody knows Bernie hasn't got the chance of a snowball in Hell. How long are you going to pretend that the choice will be between Mr second half of the 20th century and an idiot savant whose expertise is purveying snake oil?
I know from my discussions that every knew it would be the two people least capable of dealing with the realities of the 21st century.
I live in Quebec and I look lovingly at what can be the greatest golden age in human history.
I cannot vote in your elections and think the only positive vote for a better future is None of the above.
Meanwhile this atheist will pray that Biden can keep it together long enough until power can be transferred to a competent Vice President who realizes like King Canute that time and tides stop for no man.
3
@Montreal Moe
Call me a cockeyed optimist but my greatest hope is that by the time we get to Milwaukee Governor Inslee is the only choice out of necessity.
Historians tell us we cannot know the importance od Solon in the the development of Western Civilization only that we had no option but put him charge. Sometimes businessmen and politicians only know how to make the situation worse and we need poet philosophers in charge.
All that really matters is happening in Washington state.
1
Does anyone else think it significant that the candidates initials are BS? As in big schmo...
4
Sanders has never been a favored candidate for me but his policies are wonderful ideals. Who wouldn’t want to have free medical care and education ?
But this is not the year for a revolution. Our government is in tatters. Its agencies are run by people who are trying to tear them down; experts are leaving in droves. Our foreign relations are a joke. Our image even worse. The people are suffering from collective depression over the embarrassment of the catastrophe in the Oval Office. Having a revolution now would be tantamount to trying to do heart and lung transplants on a patient who’s just had both legs amputated. The patient has to be healthier before drastic changes can be made.
Biden represents a safe harbor — someone who won’t tear down our institutions any further but will try to rebuild them because he believes in them. Would I like a younger, more intellectually vibrant candidate? Sure! But it’s personality, not policy dictating voters’ choices this time.
Anyway, the Democratic party’s platform will likely have some progressive planks thanks to Sanders and Warren. Sometimes those who don’t put forth the ideals are better able to come close to realizing them.
12
@BWTNY
If you think it's been Donald Trump who has made our country so 'sick' and can't see how bad it's been for most Americans, well before Trump entered, then you are probably in the "haves" minority of America.
I think Sanders supporters have different priorities than the rest of us. We just want Trump out no matter what. The Sanders supporters want to draw a line in the sand between “moderates” and “progressives” so that they can have an ideological battle for the soul of the Democratic Party. A battle which they used to presume they could win, giving them control. To Sanders supporters, a Trump win over a moderate Democrat is a victory of sorts because it plays into their narrative that populism always triumphs over “the Establishment.” That’s why they have spent the entire election cycle attacking moderates instead of trying to unify the party. And it’s why they have no path to a national victory now.
27
The March primaries will be a disaster for Sanders. Even if he does well in the debate next week, the red/purple leaning states post debate are Biden territory.
The revolution ends for now with a whimper. Not because it is superfluous. But because of our dire political circumstances in times of economic well being. The messenger is also a problem.
We will get a leader of the masses soon enough unless Biden, his VP and a Democratic Congress move decisively to fix healthcare, minimum wage, and immigration issues.
I hope they do the right thing.
10
Although it is sort of buried in the article, a fair portion of Sanders voters in 2016, myself included, were extremely tired of the Clintons. Joe Biden absolutely has some problematic positions through the decades, but does not inspire nearly the same level of annoyance. FWIW, I supported Warren this time around.
8
@Fred Me too. On all counts.
Above all, when Michigan votes it should remember that Joe Biden was instrumental in saving the auto industry. Bernie Sanders would have let those “greedy corporations” go under. When discussions demonize big business it should be remembered that these businesses employ thousands of working men and women, a point not lost on Joe Biden.
25
@Dale
Sanders voted against TARP along with most Republicans.
When Sanders looses in Michigan, who will he or his rabid supporters blame next?
I find no small amount of irony in the hand wringing over the fact the last viable two men left standing in the Democratic Party Primary are white. (Apologies to Ms. Gabbard, but she's got less of a chance than I would as a write in candidate.)
It's not as if the others who withdrew didn't have a fair shot. Or that the voters (with the exception of Ms. Williamson) weren't taken seriously.
They, like Sanders gave it a good shot. Small dollar donations are great; but regardless of what some believe, money aint votes. They simply did not convince enough voters to support them where it counted: in the voting booth.
Sanders, and his "Bernie Bros" should remember that the only person who lost this nomination was, in fact, Sanders himself. Last time they defected to the GOP...and gave us trump.
Sanders simply has not convinced enough Americans that he is electable; or that if and when elected, that he would move them forward on a path that is where we, as a party, believe we can go.
33
This is just .... ugggh. So depressing this line of thinking. More 2016 sour grapes.
1
I believe that the person who gave us Trump is called Hillary Clinton and all the Democrats who voted for her in the primaries.
3
There was a major shift toward Biden in the last two days before the the super Tuesday primary. California had some heavy early voting and many had already voted before the big shift. This may well have been the reason why Bernie is winning California.
14
@Morris Johnson As a Californian I can assure you it is. 40% of us mailed in ballots - I can't tell you how many people told me "I wish we had waited", wishing to switch their votes to Biden.
This is the first time we actually mattered, as we used to be so far behind in the primary schedule. It actually was a shock to see candidates coming to our state, and see their commercials on tv this year.
10
@Joe Why did all these Californians change their minds at the last minute? Did Sanders do something offensive (that I missed)? Or do people just want to be part of a "momentum" event? I don't understand. Seriously.
1
@Morris Johnson
Biden and Bernie effectively split the electoral votes in California, 135 to 186.
1
These are the sorts of complex analyses that keep consultants and pundits employed, but failed to predict voter behavior in 2016, or even these year regarding Biden. Sometimes parsimony is the answer - people simply like Biden, and the more they see of Sanders, the less they like him.
26
@LTJ Speak for yourself. I know many people who love Bernie and think Biden may be in the early stages of dementia.
9
In '16, Sanders came to the nation's attention as a champion of the disaffected (and economically anxious) working class. But this year, everyone else is on that bandwagon as well.
Also, when Sanders attracted and accepted support from young progressives, he became identified with some of them in the eyes of that same working class. LBGT issues, identity politics, AOC and The Squad, etc., don't resonate well with the laid-off steelworkers & auto workers who were torn between Sanders and Trump a few years ago. The culture war matters, unfortunately.
17
@Joe
Really?
Yet the UAW Local 2322, representing 5,000 (VT, NH, MA) endorsed him.
As did:
IBT – International Brotherhood of Teamsters: Pennsylvania Federation Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division
UURWAW – United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers: Local 36
ILWU – International Longshore and Warehouse Union: Inland boatman's Union of the Pacific (WA, AK, CA, OR, WA, HI), representing 3,500
AFGE – American Federation of Gov. Employees: Local 704 (EPA Workers in IL, IN, MI, MN, OH & WI), representing 1,000
AFSCME – American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees: Local 148 (Los Angeles County Public Defender Union), Local 3299, representing 27,000
AFM – American Federation of Musicians: Local 47, representing 7,000
AFT – American Federation of Teachers: Vermont, representing 5,000, Washington, representing 6,500, Washington Teacher's Union, representing 5,000
BIDG – The Boston Independent Drivers Guild
CCEA – Clark County Educational Association, representing 19,000
CWA – Communications Workers of America: Local 9119, representing 17,000
IBEW – International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers: Local 1634
SEIU – Service Employees International Union: Local 1984, representing 10,000
UFCW – United Food and Commercial Workers International Union: Local 230 and Local 21, representing 46,000
UNITE HERE: Local 11, Local 23, Local 2, Local 30, Local 49, Local and Local 2850, Local 8
UTLA – United Teachers Los Angeles,
8
@Dobbys sock And yet Joe is still the front runner. Belonging to a union and getting the endorsement of a union, does not guarantee the vote of its members.
2
Michigan's popular Governor Whitmer just endorsed Biden. She led the slate that won in 2018. The grass roots here also passed a citizen redistricting proposal.
It's not so much that the local party is on a roll as the fact they've learned the bitter lesson of 2016 that they're really on their own, and it's up to them to get things done, instead of counting on the national party for direction.
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/michigan-hillary-clinton-trump-232547
16
Bernie Sanders wants to be captain of a team he never played on. He's not a Democrat. He's never been a Democrat. In 2012 he wanted to primary Obama. He publicly called Obama "weak." He stabbed Obama in the back. Sanders isn't a team player. He's just using the Democrat party to accomplish his own personal agenda while disrespecting the party leaders. I'm supporting Biden 100% and will never vote for Sanders.
65
Sanders is the only Democrat. Biden is a corporate Republican who helped destroy millions of lives. 63 million votes for Trump. Without the Independents, Progressives or Millennials, Biden, already senile, is going to be destroyed.
11
@TD The Democrats haven't been Democrats for 40 years Ted--for 40 years they have aided and abetted deregulation, sending jobs overseas, locking up millions of brown and black folks, cutting welfare and SS, bailing out banks, supporting disastrous wars in the Middle East. And here we are. Bernie was the first candidate in 40 years to challenge the Democrat Party's total capitulation to neoliberalism after 1980.
9
@TDT There are some obvious mistruths (or should we call them disinformation or, better yet, lies) in your statement. I have flagged it.
4
Kind of doesn't matter really. We will have Trump or Biden, neither of which has any ability to govern, because they just mouth pieces for corporate America. The virus will send us low and we will remain their possibly indefinitely. So, Michigan, vote for whoever, you are not important, and it doesn't matter, because the last thing we will do is elect someone who isn't first concerned with the stock market and the wealthy donors.
27
@Chris Good Lord, man. Get some perspective.
5
@Chris You need to travel outside the US a bit. The cynicism is not warranted.
4
@Chris Your comments make total sense, just as long as you ignore every bit of factual, logical and rational information. You will have Trump who has removed science from the EPA? Who cheats on his taxes, was convicted of stealing 2 million ostensibly in his charitable veteran foundation but instead used it for his election campaigning? Who is so classless and childish that he attacks publicly people with disabilities and anyone and everyone else that don't profess their undying loyalty.. You will have Trump that is a continual proven liar and now a proven criminal? You will have Trump who has stuffed the Dept. of Education, HUD, Energy with brainless and corrupt individuals profiteering from their departments? You will have an avowed and demonstrable racist attacking entire ethnic groups as rapists?
Now perhaps you don't see the direct effect of all of these thousands of cuts to the American body. Perhaps you only see that Sanders promises you that if elected, all will suddenly become a utopia for the poor and underprivileged in America. That medical care will suddenly be free for everyone as will a college education. Sadly, none of that is or ever will be true. But if you wish for the slimmest chance that America can even survive the massive corruption, deceit and immorality of the current president, you will understand that the Donald Trump should only be put in jail where he belongs, and not in the oval office.
3
Pragmatism rules. Yes Biden is being carried aloft by the same coalition that carried Pelosi into the speaker's chair because Democratic voters are prioritizing the removal of Trump. Obviously any choice comes with risk but the perception is that Biden represents a return to normalcy and he is authentic middle America. The socialist from Vermont is not perceived as middle America. Furthermore he's not a team player. Immediately launching overt attacks on Biden, not to mention the awful bullying behavior of his supporters which he took ages to condemn, demonstrates it. He increasingly looks like an egomaniac.
31
@John
"Biden represents a return to normalcy..."
Biden is a return to "the good old days" when a man could grope a woman or massage her shoulders, and she would not protest because "she knew her place" and "boys will be boys".
The world has changed; Biden has not, and he belongs in a museum (in the basement, with all the archeological artifacts).
4
@John And an authoritarian no different than Trump.
"It is hard to say why Mr. Sanders has faltered among these voters, given the consistency..."
"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative."
O. Wilde
13
@Mark Shyres that's funny considering Bernie has the biggest and boldest ideas of any Dem of the last 40 years and that now almost every progressive candidate out there embraces in one way or another.
3
@Perry Klees
You wrong me, sir. Bernie may well have big bold ideas. But, If may point out, I do not recall that you referred to any of his ideas as "well thought out", "good" or "realistic". Of course I understand why.
1
Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer endorses Biden and joins his campaign. Michigan is it for Bernie. If he can't win it then where will he win? This is one of the states Trump won from Hilary that tipped the Electoral College and Bernie needs to show he can win it in November. It will be hard because the African American vote out of Detroit and Wayne Co will be strong. Add to that the suburbs of Oakland and McComb counties and Bernie might toast. He'll win Washtenaw where Ann Arbor is but that won't be enough. And Whitmer will be campaigning for Biden and she is a popular Democrat in a state whose statehouse went red. A lot against Bernie in Michigan.
20
@North Carolina
Forgive me for pointing this out: it is Macomb County, not McComb.
@Fran You'll have to forgive "North Carolina". He/she was an advisor for the Clinton campaign in 2016 and details about Michigan just aren't very important.
If Bernie Sanders get beaten in Michigan like he did in South Carolina, he should quite the race. Even if he wins but say it is by under 10 points he should do it any way.
As that would be is Waterloo and nothing else would be a waste of time.
13
Bernie’s problem is a lot bigger than Michigan. Just wait until he gets to Florida, where thousands of Cuban Americans who escaped the Castro regime will make sure he is soundly defeated.
Then there’s Georgia, another purplish state that is increasingly important for a Democratic victory. Do you think Georgia will be any different than NC, VA, TN, and AL? No way. Expect huge turnout for Biden in Georgia.
And I won’t even get into Ohio and Arizona. He should just admit that he’s lost his sparkle, that he should’ve passed the torch to Warren because she would be in a better position to challenge Biden thanks to her positivity and energy. That, plus Warren’s supporters were so much more rational and pleasant. Honestly I think it’s the ugly online behavior of the Bernie Bro’s that has made him less appealing than he was in 2016. People are sick of angry, rude people. We get enough of the table-pounding and finger-pointing from the current occupant of the White House.
54
@Corrie Being constantly smeared, called a Commie, a misogynist, an anti-Semite (!!), and a million other names, not to mention the MSM's disingenuous, bad faith attacks...yeah, we're angry. I'm sorry you value decorum over policy.
5
@Borstalboy Are you angry enough to give Trump another 4 years?
1
I grew up in the Midwest. We went to Michigan on summer vacations. Many of my high school classmates went to UMichigan in Ann Arbor. People vote, not just for policy but for who they like...and who they can relate to. Midwesterners like Nice. Joe Biden is Nice...he grew up in Pennsylvania, not too far away. Bernie Sanders appears like an angry New Yorker, always complaining and shouting. As simplistic as these views may be, this is how a lot of people think. After a disastrous three years with a maniac in office, people want to feel safe, like someone they can relate to and trust is in charge of the country. Someone like Joe Biden, not Bernie Sanders.
52
@Christa Joe did nothing but bellow like a madman barking at a cloud in the last debate, but go on...
6
@Christa I grew up in Michigan and completed my undergraduate degree at UM-Ann Arbor, where I was actually learned the lessons of our state's radical history. You're playing to an utterly false stereotype of mid-westerners.
Bernie is popular because he raises a fist against injustice but he could be president if he learned the power of an extended and open hand. Instead, Democrats get a pointed finger. Sanders, like Jeremy Corbyn, is not a leader fit for a party that desires power.
39
White working class voters looking for a demagogue have found the biggest one on planet earth in Donald Trump.
They don't Bernie Sanders for magical thinking anymore.
13
Will, I think your analysis is spot on.
From the perspective of a sanders supporter, this paper and community of commenter might as well be the WSJ opinion section.
22
@Providence Your comment proves the point.
3
@Providence
You sir have just encapsulated the Sanders problem. The NYT and its overwhelmingly liberal commenter are the WSJ opinion section (aka the enemy). You would have got on well with Robespierre or Lenin.
4
@Providence That's one of the things that is wrong with the Sanders campaign and his supporters. If you disagree with them, you are a degenerate, corrupt tool of the oligarchy.
Moderates just don't agree with you. We think we need to provide a public option for Obamacare and expand Medicaid to provide universal healthcare rather than doing away with private insurance. Sanders doesn't seem to know a lot about Scandinavia considering how often he mentions it. For example, in Norway they have M4A but they also have private insurance and employer-provided insurance for some. There is sometimes quite a wait for non-emergency appointments and procedures so they provide a means to circumvent those problems. Sanders wants to make private insurance illegal.
4
I live in SE MI and Nate is spot on. Sanders will do well in Ann Arbor and East Lansing and that’s it where a lot of his base live. He can forget Detroit and the those suburbs. He’s having a rally tonight in dowDetroit but I guarantee those attendees will be coming in from Ann Arbor and the hipsters that live in Detroit.
8
Sad to see that the Dems rather vote for a bland, non-descript and stumblin' old man then for an gutsy old man with substantial ideas and energy. Biden will bring nothing but mediocre politics and repetitive moves
26
@Ibero70 And yet Biden will probably be able to swing Congress around to his ideas much more than Sanders would. Nancy Pelosi says M4A does not have the votes in the House of Representatives.
8
@Ibero70 You are yet another example of how the disrespect of the candidate filters down to his supporters.
4
If Geert Wilders was running the Dutch government your first priority would be to get him out, too.
1
This is all nonsense. What Super Tuesday told us was pretty clear, Democrats see Biden as the strongest potential Trump Slayer, not Bernie. So across the major swath of the party, that decision's been made. Here are my unscientific predictions for next Tuesday:
1) Bernie will lose every state, including Washington and Michigan. In the South, he will lose by really big margins
2) Bernie will spin it to explain why all those losses mean he's in the best person to beat Trump.
27
@Larryman LA
Bernie's other spin will be it's all an "Establishment" conspiracy. They hypnotized all those black voters.
3
I predict that, a week from this Tuesday after Florida etc cast their votes, there will be only one question remaining: "BERNIE WHO?"
20
Deja Vu (2016 all over again): Bernie who is already frantic, will now become desperate, and do anything, say anything to tear down Joe Biden (as he did with Hillary Clinton when it became obvious that she would get the nomination). This will drag on long enough to embitter the diehard Bernie supporters (who are not, push come to shove, Democrats--or, even, reliable voters), turning them into Bernie-or-bust social media saboteurs. Then, when it is too late, Bernie will pivot and mildly endorse Biden in a "show of unity, knowing that his followers will understand the code.
Then Trump wins and Bernie et al will blame it on the outmoded establishment, on Biden's blandness, how the need for revolution has never been more dire...
35
The longer the attention stays on the Democratic primary the less time trump has to capture the headlines with Hunter Biden stuff.
And I do wish moderate dems would stop disrespecting the votes and needs of Bernie supporters.
Hugh
7
@Hugh Massengill
Er...Sanders is the one apologizing for the abusive behavior of his supporters not Biden.
1
@Hugh Massengill How in the world are "moderate dems disrespecting the votes and the needs of Bernie supporters"?
@Hugh Massengill I for one only disrespect those who earn my disrespect by their unwillingness to see that the issue is Trump, not an impossible revolution rejected by 70% to 80% of the country. And by their insistence on ideological purity.
All you other Sanders voters, we respect your ideas although we may not fully share them.
We just prioritize winning over losing this year.
1
Here's a thought. The Democrats must take the presidency back in 2020. Trump has already promised the Republicans that he will go after "entitlements" if re-elected. And make NO mistake -- he believes Social Security and Medicare are entitlements. I have paid in for 48 years. They are NOT an entitlement.
17
Sanders has proposed new federal programs to overhaul the nation's health care system, tackle climate change and wipe away student debt. But a budget estimate by a nonpartisan think tank provided to NBC News suggests that despite new proposals on how he would pay for them, his plans would still result in a $20 trillion budget shortfall over 10 years.
NBC News asked the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget to respond to an itemized list the campaign released last week explaining how the Sanders, I-Vt., intends to fund a range of his proposals, including "Medicare for All," the Green New Deal, free college and housing for all.
The $20 trillion estimate is similar to a study the CRFB did of Sanders' 2016 campaign, which estimated that his proposals then would result in a $19 trillion shortfall.
..........
So...... is this media bias? Nope, it's facts and reality. Will the BBro's listen? I don't think so.
13
@Tim
Did anybody you know calculate the cost of doing nothing?
3
@Tim
There's no shortfall. Medicare for All _saves_ money.
AND it provides real, full healthcare to all as a human right.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/02/20/lancet-medicare-for-all-study/
Will the Joe Bros listen? Will they even study it?
The truth is both Biden and Bernie can beat Trump. So, voters need to choose what the trajectory of this nation will be with their choice. With Biden things may get back to normal--Fox News railing against and demonizing Democrats every day with Nikki Hailey chomping at the bit for 2024. Or, if Bernie wins, we may re-set the entire system, a system that the cynical GOP relies on: keep the Base focused on wedge issues, while they get fleeced by the back room power brokers like McConnell, Nunez, McCarthy, et al. I think en ough people have had enough with Trump, even in places like Michigan, Arizona, and North Carolina
9
Part of Bernie’s challenge is that Joe is not Hillary. Bernie’s appeal in 2016 wasn’t just on his policies and positions, he was the only one willing to mount a serious campaign against the widely disliked vestige of the Clinton era whose presidency ended in shame, regret and lack of apology for moral failings in the White House. The thought of creating a Clinton family political dynasty really caused a lot of loyal democrats to gag in their throat, as they are today as she gets ready to release her book. Bernie sailed on that wind while he had the chance, there really isn’t a strong enough anti Biden feeling in the Democratic Party to push him over the top this time.
17
@doug mclaren
Actually the 90's, the Clinton years, were a golden age of massive job creation, rising real wages and balanced budgets. And he ended genocide in the Balkans.
1
Sad to say this, but Bernie is at the hail mary phase of his campaign. I think his hail Mary must be announcing his running mate. This is the only thing that can save him -- provided that mate generates enough enthusiasm.
5
@JJ I can't think of one "establishment" Democrat who would be associated with Bernie at this point. It would have to be one of those Justice Democrats. I can just imagine that a Bernie-AOC ticket would be the most disastrous flop of modern times.
2
Bernie's history with Cuba, Nicaragua, and now Russia do not sit-well with older voters.
16
@Alan Day
Dear God.....Cuba and Nicaragua?
Older voters are pragmatic, sir. Many of us shared the same views at the time; those same views have ameliorated over time.
To trot out such nonsense as an "issue" is to deny what happened last Tuesday: Bernie Lost Older Voters.
Sanders noted this on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show: “To his credit, and I wish we could do better, [Joe Biden] is doing very, very well with people 65 or older. We're not."
3
"It is hard to say why Mr. Sanders has faltered among these voters, given the consistency of his message and his improved name recognition."
Not hard to say at all. Based on an analysis of my gut and the results of Super Tuesday, Bernie Sanders is done. The number of states Biden won, his win margin, and the high voter turn-out all point to an overwhelming desire of Dem voters from nearly all demographics to defeat Trump.
Once SC went to Biden big, everyone pushed the panic button and followed suit. It's very, very clear the vast majority of dem voters want Trump and his enablers gone and they believe the best way to do it, is Biden and his coattails with room for moderates & liberals.
Bernie's my-way-or-the-highway approach to policy coupled with his surrogate's/campaign's relentless & unnecessarily harsh attacks on other candidates & their supporters (saving their most vicious offensives for Warren who had a similar platform!) alienates far too many Democrats for him to win.
Bernie & Co. have only themselves to blame, but I'm sure they will remain true to form and blame everyone else but themselves.
Joe was not my guy but now I can say my gut feels relief. As proved by the primary turnout, the Dems will unite to defeat Trump.
34
@bott
And my guts tell me that Joe Biden will never be president. So, we can wait and see, or we can have the Battle of the Guts.
Let's wait and see, OK? (I am too old to fight.)
2
So let's assume for a minute that Biden wins the nomination. I go back to 2016 Sanders when stayed in the race for 3 months after it became mathematically impossible to win the nomination. Will he do it again this time? During these 3 months he ran a divisive campaign in which he relentlessly vilified both Clinton and the Democratic "establishment" (i.e., party) as corrupt shills for corporate interests and started a conspiracy theory that the primary was rigged. (I could never understand how he thought he could win by running against the party of which he sought the nomination.) As a result he contributed to Clinton's unfavorability and weakened her in the general. Oh. And he waited a month after she won the required delegates to endorse her. My question is, will he do the same to Biden if it becomes mathematically impossible for him to win? The context is different now because we've had almost four years of a catastrophic presidency. If Sanders does the right thing this year and drops out as soon as Biden is the de facto winner, and then vigorously throws his weight behind Biden, my opinion of Bernie Sanders will finally improve.
23
I can’t help but laugh.
The guy and his supporters claimed that Bernie would increase turnout of Obama–Trump voters and a supposed untapped pool of disaffected, working class whites (not to mention the tsunami of youth votes).
So where are they? “Moderates” were splintered into multiple factions for the last year. As recently as last Sunday, Biden had to contend with Buttigieg, Klobuchar, and Bloomberg while Sanders only had Warren, whose base anyway didn’t overlap with Sanders’.
Well, this is what happens when you only appeal to the youth vote and depend on a hypothetical bloc.
11
I am beginning to get 'excited' about Joe Biden for this reason
He is well suited to preside over 4 years of post Trump healing, much like Ford after Watergate. Nothing significant has to happen during those 4 years. Just a calm restoration to normalcy.
The left right capitalism versus socialism debate can wait until 2024
18
@John Um, yeah, and work on the climate crisis can wait as well? The planet is on fire, haven't you heard?
3
@John
And if he has a dem majority in Congress and the senate, repair the damage to Obamacare and if he has a chance, re nominate Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, though my pick would be Barack Obama
2
America needs a return to normalcy, a return to decency and respect for people of all religious faiths, of all skin colors, and of all ethnic origins. We do not need a revolution by a far left candidate who has a reputation for refusing to compromise with members of his own party.
Our nation needs to heal. For the past few years our free press, our judiciary, our intelligence agencies, and our rule of law has been under attack by an evil man who delights and dividing us, pitting one group against each other.
Joe Biden is far from a perfect candidate but he is a kind, caring person who truly empathizes with those that are suffering.
We need to once again be a nation where I am my brother and sisters keeper becomes a reality and where our differences and diversity are celebrated rather than torn apart.
Trump has taken the wonderful mosaic that is America and ripped it to shreds. To save our country we must turn out in record numbers this coming November and clean out the virus of hate that emanates from the White House.
25
Hillary was a historically bad candidate in 2016. Not to say she would've been a bad president. She would've been fine if it was a traditional job with an interview process, but she was running for president with a bunch of baggage, whether true or untrue and built in unfavorable ratings by about half the country. That's not a way to win an election.
3
@Janet Snakehole I liked HIllary but this comment is simple and spot on!
Bernie supporters all seem to want things that other people will have to pay for: Healthcare, college, etc. ...and soaking the rich won't pay for all that.
4
I'm still reeling from the recent surge of fear-voting for Biden. A centrist democrat hasn't won a first term this century.
Gore - centrist - lost
Kerry - boring centrist - lost
Obama - campaigned as a progressive, won NC, FL, OH, IN, IA, MI, WI, and PA. Governed as a centrist, and House and Senate Dems suffered blowout defeats that clearly weren't inevitable. Won in 2012 because his opponent was a cartoon rich guy
Clinton - centrist - lost
Biden - centrist who can't string a thought together - you do the math
I think our only hope is if Biden is technically the 'change' candidate this year. There's still time to vote for Sanders
11
@Ted B Sanders is done and that’s a good thing. Time to unite and work on the next challenge, Trump.
I wonder if the voters in the remaining states want a re-play of 2016, when Trump beat Hillary by attacking her support for NAFTA & other trade deals that decimated jobs, her support for the Iraq War, and her Wall St. speaking fees.
Biden's record is even worse. In addition to NAFTA & the Iraq War, he's on video advocating cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. If you want to spend the next 8 months countering the GOP's attacks on Biden by explaining that Hunter Biden's $50,000 per month Burisma salary was LEGAL, then Biden's a great candidate.
And if Biden wins, plan on defending this legal corruption for four years, while Trump and the GOP use it to build their neo-fascist movement, ready for 2024 with a candidate that's smarter and more disciplined than Trump.
Sanders is an imperfect candidate. But his weaknesses pale compared to Biden's.
19
@Kraig did you look at the politifact assessment of those videos. They were rated false or mostly false. In fact, Politifact reports, the full videos show Biden vigorously defending Social Security and Medicare. Also, if Baden was guilty of four years of legal corruption, you can bet that the Trump administration would have had him tried for it.
The Coronavirus is Trump’s Katrina. People are finally realizing that WE need to get serious, and Elect a real leader, not a Reality TV Joke. And Biden is the very best choice to evict Trump.
Seriously.
8
DementiaJoe? Neoliberal Biden who helped bring this country to its knees, but uses his influence to give his son a position he has zero qualifications for to lift him into wealth? Like Chelsea Clinton... Sorry. Biden means more Trump. But you all already know that, right?
4
One thing we have learned is to expect the unexpected. I'm for Biden, but the race is not over.
And, if Bernie pulls a surprise and wins the nomination, he will get my vote in the general election.
Trump needs to go. Everything I hope for: action on climate, keeping kids out of cages, restoring respect for science, keeping the government out of women's wombs, etc. etc. etc. is contingent on that.
8
Although I haven't spoken to anyone who is supporting Sanders, I have to assume that the race in Michigan will be relatively close, whether he visits here or not.
That's why I don't understand the strategy of going to Michigan instead of Mississippi. An uncontested Mississippi will yield a bonanza of delegates for Biden, while a narrow victory in Michigan is maybe a few delegates better than a narrow loss.
3
I've been looking at the 538 polls, just like I did last week, and just like I did in 2016. Seems like the polls don't always tell the true story. According to the polls, BS was good to go on Super Tuesday-- TX, MA, MN, & the big loss in VA had to be disappointments. Too bad for Sanders that there isn't another debate until 3/15 to possibly give him a jolt. Perhaps naming a running mate would help? I'm still holding out hope, but will be BlueNoMatterWho.
4
@Hannah Hodson I think the Super Tuesday result tends to bear out the 538 polling averages and predictions. The problem was that the surge happened so fast. They had just begun to catch it by the time Tuesday came around. And the fact that early voting in a number of states had Sanders in the lead strongly suggests that the polls were more or less on target. The 538 model did predict a significant Biden win in South Carolina bud did not have time to account for the Clyburn endorsement. By Tuesday, they had Biden in the lead in Texas and Virginia. They did not expect Klobuchar’s endorsement to carry the weight that it clearly seemed to. On the other hand, Massachusetts and Maine were upsets that fell within the margin of error and are plausibly explained by his rapid national surge. As to another debate, Nate Silver himself said that there probably will not be enough time for it to really affect the primaries on the 17th, especially since early voting is likely to favor Biden this time and blunt a possible Sanders comeback. The people at 538 were speculating that there might be some move to change early voting rules next time around. Anyway, although Super Tuesday increased clarity in the race substantially, 538 has by no means pronounced the race over.
Bernie Sanders's numbers are actually much higher than 2016, he is the clear front runner.
Expectations were dismally low for Biden on Super Tuesday, which is why his wins seem so much bigger than they really are.
Trump is winning all Southern states making Biden's southern black support a moot point.
The Latino vote will decide the election and, Sanders owns that vote.
Bernie easily swept the Latino vote and blew out the West. California Nevada, Utah and Colorado went BIG for Sanders.
Why does Sanders's numbers seem lower?
Too many people were in the race, but now that it is down to Biden and Sanders, I believe we will see Sanders surge to the nomination.
25
@PeaceLove
The objective facts clearly state otherwise. Sanders numbers are down across the board, even in his home state. In 2016 Sanders won Vermont with 80% of the vote and in 2020 he only received 50% support there. If that isn't foreshadowing of his demise I don't know what is. By every statistical measure that matters - votes - Sanders underperformed significantly and his path to the nomination is slim at best. FiveThirtyEight puts his chances of wining a majority of delegates at 3% whereas Biden is above 80%.
86
@PeaceLove Your tone and content obviously reflect your wishful thinking. Time will quickly tell, but I think you're ignoring a lot of data that points to Sanders fading and Biden winning the nomination by default as the last candidate standing.
8
@PeaceLove i think this is really wrong. Look at Massachusetts. We shall see what comes next, but wouldn't surprise me to see Biden roll up Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Florida and maybe Arizona. I'm also concerned about Bernie supporters apparently writing off or minimizing the black vote. I think this is something the Bernie supporters will really have contend with.
6
I see many are convinced of Biden’s electability, someone mentioned magical thinking regarding Sanders supporters. What candidate are they seeing when they look at Biden? Will a chance to vote against the current president be enough because that’s all I see, people projecting their biases of what they think other people will vote for. I don’t see Biden motivating anyone who wasn’t going to vote against the current president and I foresee more than a few moments when his incoherence causes a lack of confidence in the candidate. If Biden is the Democratic nominee I hope I’m wrong but I see another four years of what we have now.
13
@FDRT Do you seriously believe that a Biden administration will in any way resemble Trump's assemblage of anti-science and anti-intellectual cronies?
2
@Bruce You are not responding to the comments in FDRT's post. FDRT is questioning Biden's electability, not comparing Biden to "45".
Bernie doesn't have Clinton to run against this time, and neither will Trump.
That's the difference maker. I voted for Bernie in my primary in 2016, but only because Hilary was the alternative. I don't think I'm alone in that.
17
I don't suppose anyone in a blue state can imagine that Bernie did better because Hillary was his foil. Democrats should have seen that if Bernie could compete with her, then she could not really compete. Voters voted to reject her. Democrats insisted on her, and blue bubble population centers went along, but the rest of voters embraced Trump to keep her out. Democrats elected Trump, not Russians. Without HRC as the standard of comparison, Bernie fades much more quickly.
12
@TD
The electoral college voted to reject her. The electorate voted by a large majority to elect her.
5
@TD
Russia was involved in helping Trump win - it has been proven over and over again.
I wouldn't vote for Trump I don't care who he runs against. He is a nightmare.
4
And yet Hilary Clinton who was the most experienced candidate ever was the victim of misogyny and the idiotic and undemocratic Electoral College won by more than 3,000,000 votes. In any sane democracy she would be our president. Those that voted against her are sexists. Period.
1
I'm filled with gratitude today.
Grateful to the voters in South Carolina who re-set the race.
Grateful to Amy Klobuchar, Peter Buttigieg and Mike Bloomberg for acting quickly to exit the race and endorse Biden.
Grateful to my beloved Elizabeth, for getting out gracefully and delaying any endorsement. (Take your time! Your power will only increase!)
The tumultuous month we've had has done what we've need it to do: we have a nominee. Biden is not my guy, but he's obviously a better choice that Bernie. The Sanders cabal will keep yelling about policy. but they're missing the point. We're in an existential crisis, and we need to beat Trump and take a breath as a nation.
158
@Cousy
Well said, especially the last few words: "we need to...take a breath as a nation." When we can breath and think clearly again we'll see where we are.
6
As if fumbling Biden can take on Trump. You are mistaken I fear.
6
@Cousy I was about to post just about exactly the same sentiments you did. Thanks for putting these thoughts so well.
6
"It is hard to say why Mr. Sanders has faltered among these voters, given the consistency of his message.."
It's easy to say. The world has changed.
36
All of my Sanders supporting friends have jumped ship to Biden. As have I. The poor turnout of his base on Super Tuesday has made everyone rethink his viability. I predict he will lose Michigan.
Let's hope Joe can hold it together long enough to win.
141
None of my friends are voting for Biden. You may want to get better friends. Biden is capable of beating Trump even less than Clinton did.
15
@Campbell They're still counting votes in California and there was massive voter suppression in Texas and California, in the districts Sanders was projected to win. How many Latinos and young people were prevented from voting in those districts will take a long time to find out but it won't be a small number. So it's too early to use the Super Tuesday vote totals as a basis for decisions on who to vote for in Michigan.
2
@Campbell I have a lot more faith that Joe can "hold it together" better and longer than either his opponent in the primaries or the incontinent, demented clown he will face in November.
4
Biden has much more appeal to white working class voters than Hillary Clinton does. He portrays himself as someone who grew up in the working class city of Scranton and claims that is a major part of his identity. If Sanders can't win the rural areas of states or pile up large margins there he is lost because he certainly is not going do well in Midwest metro areas or metro areas in the Northeast. And there aren't that many left wing younger voters to compensate and younger people often don't vote. Winning any state east of the Mississippi that hasn't yet voted is going to be very difficult for Sanders as it was when he ran against Clinton.
21
It depends largely on how effective the media narrative is in creating fear. People need healthcare. People need the Green New Deal. People need to be free from student debt. Nothing outrageous. Basic cornerstones of civilization, really. Sanders 2020
30
@Layla --
People need healthcare, yes. Medicare for all is not the only way to get it.
People need America's government to care about the environment again and to become an ally to slow and perhaps reverse climate change. The Green New Deal is not the only way to accomplish this.
People need access to affordable and effective education and skills training. Free college/technical education is not the only means of achieving this goal.
This is the problem I have with people who see Bernie as the only option. There's only one way to do anything -- and it's their way. We can do better than that.
31
@Layla
The people here without healthcare are far more likely to get it and at a higher quality under the expansion of ACA rather than under Bernie's concept of nationalized single-payer healthcare.
The latter solution will wreck the private/government dynamic here that has resulted in enormous advances in cancer, infectious disease, and genetic disease research. Don't expect that our gov't will be able to fund NIH if it also has to carry the health and hospitalization of more than 300M people.
In the end what we all want are cures. Which country worldwide has contributed the most to that effort?
6
@Sparky. New Hampshire was the first primary state after Iowa that Biden finished 5th without any single delegate because it was so bad that Biden couldn't even reach 15 percent minimum for viability. Let's not get caught up in the primary contests and forget about the ultimate price which is winning November 2020 general election. There's something really wrong that a former Vice President finished fourth in the first Contest in Iowa and fifth in the second contest in New Hampshire despite big endorsements including John Kerry. While a Mayor of a small village in Indiana tied as first in Iowa and finished as second in New Hampshire. The Earlier We Address The Elephant In The Room, The Better It Helps In November General Election.
13
@Ukosi
you have a point: New Hampshire and Iowa were anomalies.
2
@Ukosi Yes you are right. The elephant in the room is that NH and Iowa have no business even pretending to be able to predict our Presidential front-runners.
This year's primary will prove what most people have been saying for years -- the NH primary and Iowa caucuses are irrelevant and get way too much media attention and money thrown at them.
12
@Ukosi Nate Silver of 538 points out that Iowa’s influence on the race is many, many time its value in delegates. Perhaps this year the electorate figured that out.
1
It’s time for an agreement within the Democratic Party for a candidate to move forward and thereby provide some unifying influence.
It might resemble a coalition where some power and position is awarded to the person not chose along with some of the other candidates previously withdrawn.
Job 1 is defeating trump.
Every Democrat should work toward that objective with retaining the House and gaining the Senate as Jobs 2 and 3.
If a melding of policies can be reached to satisfy a meaningful majority of Americans, winning the election may be a little easier.
But please be honest with us. We’re tired of lies and name calling.
18
Why aren’t we as tired of the neoliberal policies that created the despair and desperation that got Trump elected. How is access to healthcare something that any good person can refuse? How is throwing our resources behind addressing climate change to attempt to have any kind of a future in a decade, objectionable to a sane public? No action to address climate change and the current mass extinction event happening. Biden can barely tell his wife from his sister or the day of the week and he was part of the administration that brought us to our knees by the hundreds of millions. No. We will not vote for more of the same.
6
@Layla, With you all the way. Biden is not capable or imaginative enough to be able to bring chances. And that is what politics need now, not more of the same... I llke your comments, and think alike
1
@Layla 91% of Americans have healthcare now and it would be close to 100% if the south would use the Medicaid expansion. Look at the government figures on this.
https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2019/demo/p60-267.html
Too often Sanders come across as trying too hard. He shouts. He waves his arms frantically. He gets red faced. There is nothing reassuring about him. He projects a sense of desperation. When Americans are going through a life altering health crisis a different kind of leadership is required. Experienced battle tested leadership is the order of the day. Michigan voters will be more comfortable with Biden than Sanders.
82
@Milton Lewis My mother-in-law also thinks Americans should continue to be bankrupted by medical bills because Sanders points too much.
4
@Milton Lewis
Have you seen Joe Biden in the last year?
He is basically doing a bad Bernie impression. He yells constantly. He gets aggressive and personal more than he has ever done before in public.
"Lying dog faced pony solider" I mean c'mon can you even imagine Bernie calling a supporter anything like this at one of his rallies?
3
@JT or when Biden angrily challenged an attendee at one of his Town halls to a push up contest. At least Bernie's anger is about policy and standing up for the American people.
Michigan could be one of the states that decide the november election. The primary is an opportunity for the democrats to display their strength in the state. Trump took the democrats there by surprise last time. This time they know that trump is an existential threat.
23
Democrats nationwide know that defeating Trump is priority number one, two, three and four and in the last week a majority of voters en masse have settled on Joe Biden as their best hope.
This race is over.
40
I live in Michigan and I have not seen one TV campaign ad for Biden but I have for Sanders. The one that intentionally misrepresents his relationship with Obama is most impressive. Voters learn simultaneously that Sanders will play dirty AND compromise his own principles to win. He leaves voters with the false impression that Obama endorsed him, while he embraces an establishment former 2 term president. Why his supporters aren't bothered by this is beyond me.
55
@Joan Johnson @Joan Johnson Bloomberg ran virtually the same ad and nobody said a word about it. Obviously people know Obama didn't endorse Sanders, some people are overanalyzing it.
3
His supporters are bothered by this. Take a look on Twitter and Reddit.
@Joan Johnson How is Sanders playing dirty using Obama's words and actions that support him? It's the same thing Biden is doing.
4
Bernie is becoming more "one-note" the longer these primaries play out. There is still no tangible set of numbers for his health care plan, which seems to be the only thing he's running on. It seems as if he's resigned to not having the Black vote, which is truly odd for a Democratic candidate; it looks like he's not even trying to make inroads there. And clinging to the belief that there will be a surge in the youth vote is a pipe dream. If you want to be our president, it's time for a serious adjustment in how you present yourself to the entire Democratic electorate.
25
@Mark
That isn't going to happen. He is just a demagogue by a different name, unable or unwilling to demonstrate collaborative, team player qualities. The electorate is more than exhausted by the one currently occupying the WH who has failed to deliver on any level, bringing the national morale to a low point. Onward.
4
Mr Sanders is going all in in Michigan, but I am starting to believe he will not find joy there. In fact, the state might just turn out in force for Biden, which added to the states Sanders will not visit in the south, might put Biden so far ahead that Sander will not be able to catch up.
I was wondering about these numbers, ‘Over all, Mr. Biden defeated Mr. Sanders by 10 points, 38 percent to 28 percent, in counties across Maine, Minnesota and Massachusetts’. How do those compare to the votes Warren received in those states?
You mentioned Warren’s people going to Sanders, but I doubt enough of them will flock to him. After all, this has been a divisive race, ran with hate and anger, and this got worse between both their camps when Warren accused Sanders of sexism. Ever since then those 2 groups are at odds with each other. Can the Warren people decide that’s cool and the gang now, and go to his camp? Or will they sit an pout, deciding he is a meanie and he does not deserve their precious support? Or will they just heed the cattle call and lock to Biden instead? Who knows, but one thing is for sure. Not enough of them will move over to make a difference now.
The time to unite was Sunday. They should have consolidated the Liberal vote when they saw the DNC consolidating theirs.
Today it no longer matters. And I think once he’s toast in MI, he might as well go home.
15
@AutumnLeaf Warren did not accuse Bernie of sexism. In a conversation they had in 2018, Bernie said something along the lines of he didn't think a woman could win this time around - something that millions of Americans considered a possibility after what Hillary went through in 2016.
A reporter, not Warren or her campaign, decided to tell the story a year after the reporter had heard about it. There was no benefit for Warren to bring up the comment as it would only cause further scrutiny on her "electability" as a woman. Bernie and his people appeared to be the only ones upset by the comment, and they reacted with gusto - donating over $1M to his campaign in a day and viciously going after Warren & her supporters online and posting all kinds of video of how supportive Bernie has been of women, etc - as if it's not possible to be supportive of women and think a woman might not be elected POTUS at this time! Of course, the irony is that is exactly what is happening.
Warren's supporters have never been all die-hard progressives, a slight majority had Bernie as their 2nd choice, the rest were split among the moderates. Given Bernie's disastrous results on Super Tuesday, I suspect more will now go to Biden, just like everyone else.
5
Thanks for motivating this Michigander to vote the primary Tuesday, for Bernie. I wan't going to waste my time because it's obvious the corporate class running the show makes all the decisions anyway and therefore it's going to be Biden vs Trump.
Good luck with your healthcare folks. The disaster continues....
41
@GBrown
Who told the persons in north and South Carolina and even Virginia to vote for Biden.....the establishment?
The turnout in Virginia was the highest in years for a primary.
Accept defeat and stop disrespecting your fellow voters because it did not go your way. That is what democracy is about. Before Tuesday no one thought Biden would have won.....
13
@GBrown wrote, "the corporate class running the show makes all the decisions"
Biden's fundraising was worse than almost any other candidate. Before Clyburn, he was having difficulty picking up endorsements. His Super Tuesday result was not driven by any corporation. It was a bandwagon effect, driven be voters.
I can only speak for myself, but I was always going to listen carefully to whom African American voters chose, because their turnout is key to our November outcome. All of the Democratic candidates are much better than Donald Trump, but the Democrat who gets the Black vote is the only one who can win. I would have voted for whoever won South Carolina.
8
@GBrown Will you stay home rather than vote for Biden if he wins the nomination? Do you honestly think tRump is better than Biden (flawed tho he is?). Biden is my absolute lease fav. candidate that was in the D primaries but I will vote for him if he is on the ballot. I would have voted for Sanders if he was there. Blue no matter WHO. Our democracy hangs in the blalance
2
It's hard to fathom the depth of hatred that many felt for Hillary in 2016. We can't know how much Bernie benefited from that. The right wing had spent years building a cottage industry of hatred toward her. Trump and the Republicans will try to stir up that kind of antipathy for Biden, but it won't be the same.
64
@Rick -- I think you're right.
And if people think Biden won't come out roaring to defend his son or that he won't point out the ridiculousness of the president complaining about Biden's son given what's happened with HIS own children while he's been president, they're wrong.
Clinton was in a hard spot: defend herself and be accused of being an angry, hysterical over-reacting woman, or try to rise above it and be accused of being out-of-touch and guilty. There was really no way for her to defend herself against him.
7
To those friends in England, and other countries effected by Trump: To those who believe Biden is better: I apologize on behalf of the USA for the utter catastrophe of 45 at every level of damage he’s wreaked. Replacing Trump with the administration that created the conditions that forced 63 million Americans to vote for The Amateur Dictator (PG Wodehouse reference), even after voting for Obama both times will hasten the breakdown of civilization. Am I serious, you may ask? Severe inaction on climate change in the face of increased extreme weather events, refusal to push for access to healthcare we hundreds of millions of Americans can only dream of that you take for granted, (and are about to lose to Richard Branson, if you left him ‘manage’, ie., extract millions, from your NHS. Here, our managerial layer that restricts our access to healthcare removes 100billion in profits for our troubles). No. We don’t need more of what brought our country to its knees to replace Trump. No way. They already made living here a living hell for millions. Hasn’t Biden, et al, done enough already? Thank you for your consideration of information that runs counter to the national narrative. There’s a reason Terry Pratchett called Narrativium (?) something so powerful, it has a place on the Ringworld Periodic table of the Elements...
3
@JM a
And the media and the FBI made so much out of nothing with those emails, and now Trump is calling Sunderland in a public place on an unprotected cell phone!
I wonder how Sanders is unable or unwilling to pivot ... and it may be too late now. I am bewildered how he could not tailor a message that is palatable to the mid middle class and up - he could do so without harm given his established progressive credentials.
19
@Roland
To me it wasn't that his message was unpalatable - it was that his message was relentlessly attacked and rarely defended in the public square. The more you have to try and push back against falsehoods the harder it becomes to get people on board.
1
@Roland : Because Bernie is leading his self-described "movement" and compromise is heresy. Its the reason Bernie has never accomplished anything in all his years in the Senate--and will never be able to enact any of his far-fetched "ideas" even if he were elected.
2
@Jersey Fresh
IMO, you do not have to force compromise as a senator. His vote against the Iraq war is a great distinction. To what extent he can lead as a president likely will remain unknown.
His ideas are not technically far fetched - medicare for all for instance may appear unrealistic in terms of resistance from industry and electorate, but it is sound policy.
1
The actual policies that the two leftmost candidates, Sanders and Warren, promote are popular. In Minnesota, Maine, Massachusetts, and Texas, Sanders and Warren together outnumbered Biden, and even in Oklahoma, their combined totals edged out Biden by 1/10 of a point. They split the votes of the people who want single-payer health care and other policies that seem radical in the U.S. but not in the rest of the Western industrialized countries.
In fact, the main split seems to be based on other factors, such as not liking the personality of one candidate or the other.
That the South went for Biden was no surprise. It's just a very conservative part of the country, and it's not going to go Democratic in the general election unless all the white people stay home.
24
@Pdxtran
Polls suggest many Warren voters prefer Biden to Bernie. Her departure may be a small boost to Bernie, but hardly a game changer. In contrast to ..
both Bloomberg and early voting diminished Biden's numbers. Early voting may help Sanders a little in a few Tuesday contests, but it will be a tiny factor compared to its effect in California, Utah and Colorado.
18
I support Joe Biden fully because I admire his character and I think his policies are practical and doable.
His policies, however, are far more Progressive than Barack Obama's ever were.
For that, I thank Bernie Sanders.
He may not be the nominee in 2020, but he has become the Democratic Party's North Star.
33
@Barbara T
His policies are not progressive at all. They're common sense/decency government actions that any democrat would take such as ended citizens united, 15 an hour minimum wage, marijuana decriminalization, etc.
Nothing about Biden is progressive in any way
6
@Barbara T You admire Joe Biden's character? Tell that to Anita Hill.
2
Bernie is done. I am happy that he brought much to the discussion, but soon it will be time to concede and battle Trump and the Republican party. I am eager to see Obama on the campaign trail and the reaction by Trump.
44
Anyone inclined to support Senator Sanders for the Democratic nomination must look at the Super Tuesday results with a realistic eye.
Mr. Sanders has told us all from the very beginning that he will change the electorate from anything we have ever seen before. He tells us only he can conjure up many millions of new voters to support this amazing "revolution" of his where the U.S. Senate will pass Medicare for All, cancel all student debt, give us all free medicine, give us all free college, you name it.
Well...he had FOUR years to create this magical new electorate for his Super Tuesday romp and it totally failed to materialize. His percentages actually FELL from 2016. He helped write the nominating rules for 2020. He had tens of million of dollars at his disposal and, I will repeat, FOUR YEARS to prepare.
And yet he failed.
Sorry. No more magical thinking. This election is too important.
207
@Will. The magical thinking that I am trying to grasp is how democrats think Joe Biden, who by all respects represents the exact same values Democrats lost on in 2016, is somehow going to magically pull Trump voters drawn out by his economic populism into old guard neo-liberalism that sold their manufacturing jobs out (NAFTA, PNTR, TPP,).
Not to mention Joe's inability to remember basic facts, construct coherent sentences, or remember what office he is running for. We can't possibly think Joe is the best person to take Trump in a debate, right? The Dem are digging their own grave with Joe...
9
exactly!
2
Your comment above outlines your thoughts on Bernie. Thank you for that.
How do you feel about Biden?
1
A fine analysis. Here are two other hard-to-quantify factors:
Joe does not have nearly the baggage of Clinton
People are terrified Trump can win again
Last time, some may have thought that a Republican either could not win or would not be wildly different from Clinton other than on abortion and guns - and both of these topics are mostly decided by courts anyway. No one thinks either of these things now.
Bernie's even bigger problem is that he can win everywhere he won last time and do better in the Southwest and it will not lead to a delegate plurality. He needs some big wins in some high-delegate contests just to offset the big losses coming up in the four remaining Southeast states.
What big states can Bernie win big? Maybe Washington state, Oregon and New Mexico. Maybe the author knows of some others and could do a state-of-the-contest article. Without a longer list of potential big wins in biggish states for Bernie, the race is already over.
If I were managing the Biden campaign, I would announce on Wednesday that Joe is skipping the upcoming debate. There is no longer any upside to participating.
30
@Alan I was with you all the way until the last paragraph. A future president should face the music. And if he does his answers should be around the theme 'I'm not your enemy Bernie. Trump is. And I'm the best one to beat him.'.'
14
The sad theme seems to be candidates bring out the knives as they get desperate. Harris and Warren sure did. There is only one remaining target, and Bernie is now desperate with nothing to lose.
Do I trust Joe to handle a two hour grilling well without playing the gun control card or otherwise hurting himself in November? No.
3
Bernie Sander's problem is that he is about to be defeated by Joe Biden for the Democratic Presidential Nomination.
The media is trying to create controversy as usual for viewer rating purposes, but the underlying reality is for Biden.
Democrats are making their choice.
The choice is Joe Biden.
95
I hope that Bernie and his supporters will not claim a conspiracy theory when millions of Democrats in Michigan, Florida, and elsewhere show their resounding support for Biden.
We are not shills for the DNC, we are patriots for the future of our nation.
3
Michigan will be the coin that breaks the tie and it will decide which of the two candidates will be The best Nominee of democratic party in November 2020. Sanders Needs That 2016 Michigan Miracle Again. My question concerning Joe Biden is "What Did The Voters In Those First 3 Early States Saw In Biden That Made Them Reject Him After Taking A Very Close Look At Him For About A Year? I believe the answer will help democrats in making a good decision before it's too late in November 2020. Historically, No Presidential Candidate Who Finished Below Third Place In The First Caucus In Iowa And Below Third In The First Primary In New Hampshire Had Ever Been Elected The President. If democrats' main goal is to win in November 2020, then it's better to have sincere holistic assessment of Biden now that we still have another option instead of judging from opinion polls on papers. May We Not Forget What Happened To Hillary In 2016 Contrary To The Opinion Polls Then.
20
@Ukosi Two of the first 3 states that didn't support Biden (Iowa and Nevada) are caucus states which play to Bernie's strengths. He was also competing with multiple qualified moderates.
18
@Sparky. New Hampshire was the first primary state after Iowa that Biden finished 5th without any single delegate because it was so bad that Biden couldn't even reach 15 percent minimum for viability. Let's not get caught up in the primary contests and forget about the ultimate price which is winning November 2020 general election. There's something really wrong that a former Vice President finished fourth in the first Contest in Iowa and fifth in the second contest in New Hampshire despite big endorsements including John Kerry; while a Mayor of a small village in Indiana tied as first in Iowa and finished as second in New Hampshire. The Earlier We Address The Elephant In The Room, The Better It Helps In November General Election. Based on my observations here in Pennsylvania in 2016, I predicted in that Summer 2016 that Trump would become the President whenever Bernie drop out, and that's what exactly happened. That's because a lot of people here in Pennsylvania are Independents who really distrust any Republican or Democratic Establishment Candidates. They mostly said in 2016 that Bernie was their first choice and Trump the second choice because they're both Independents. I can tell you to brace up for the night of November 2020 general election if Biden is the Nominee.
6
@Sparky. New Hampshire was the first primary state after Iowa that Biden finished 5th without any single delegate because it was so bad that Biden couldn't even reach 15 percent minimum for viability. Let's not get caught up in the primary contests and forget about the ultimate price which is winning November 2020 general election. There's something really wrong that a former Vice President finished fourth in the first Contest in Iowa and fifth in the second contest in New Hampshire despite big endorsements including John Kerry; while a Mayor of a small village in Indiana tied as first in Iowa and finished as second in New Hampshire. The Earlier We Address The Elephant In The Room, The Better It Helps In November General Election. Based on my observations here in Pennsylvania in 2016, I predicted in that Summer 2016 that Trump would become the President whenever Bernie drops out, and that's what exactly happened. That's because a lot of people here in Pennsylvania are Independents who really distrust any Republican or Democratic Establishment Candidates. They mostly said in 2016 that Bernie was their first choice and Trump the second choice because they're both Independents. I can tell you to brace up for the night of November 2020 general election if Biden is the Nominee.
2
When you say it's hard to know why Sanders has faltered among white working class voters, I think you miss the simplest explanation. It's not about Bernie; it's about his competition.
Biden has always fared well with white working class voters. Clinton did not. If Bernie is facing stiffer competition, naturally his margins will come down.
42
Add another factor and that is Clinton was running against Candidate Trump, as horridly as he had behaved, even the pessimistic among us would not have "nightmared" this reality. Biden will be running against this egregious version of the President of the United States which Trump has created. big difference.
5
unlike Bernie supporters, I know that his ideas appeal to only about 25% of Americans maximum. He’s certain to be defeated in a general election. That’s not to say that I don’t think we need a better healthcare system, a return to the philosophy of taxing those who can afford it such as large corporations, and getting money out of elections.
70
@Donna
Most of his proposals are *backed* by a *majority* of voters.
Contrary to many people's sweeping assertions (or fears), Sanders could well be *more* electable than Biden. Saying “he's certain to be defeated” is nonsense.
See Robert Reich's column.
“Calm down, establishment Democrats. Bernie Sanders might be the safest choice.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/02/26/calm-down-establishment-democrats-bernie-sanders-might-be-safest-choice/
Steve Phillips has also penned an insightful electoral analysis, with more detail on how Sanders can win.
“Bernie Sanders Can Beat Trump. Here’s the Math.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/opinion/bernie-sanders-polls.html
The Republican attach machine will make mincemeat out of Biden, even worse than they'll do to Sanders who has working class appeal. They'll do a number on Biden's corruption, nepotism, being beholden to corporate elites and the credit card companies, backer of the racist anti-crime bill, major supporter of the anti-labor NAFTA and the TPP, his militarism and joining Obama in expanding the war in Afghanistan, his mixed track record on women's rights, etc.
Sure, many of the attacks will be exaggerations or lies and moat will be hypocritical, but they are coming and, alas, many voters will fall for them, and Biden shows no ability to handle them.
4
@Cynthia Stewart
This.
I'll tell you another reason that Sanders might have a Michigan problem...I live in west MI and I can't tell you the number of liberal Democrats that voted for Kasich in the 2016 primary. It wasn't a protest vote against Hillary, it was a desperate attempt to stop Trump and have a sane Republican face off against her. I would have voted for Hillary in the general election regardless. I just wanted to see an exchange of ideas where two candidates could effectively state their beliefs and policies. So the Sanders win here, not sure it was as real as he might be hoping.
50
@Just Saying Here in A2, too. I did it myself.
1
The real question is whether Biden is going to unify the Democrat party by adopting genuinely progressive policies if he beats Sanders to the nomination.
Everyone knows that Biden will take us to the same fate as Clinton, Kerry and Gore: a despairing defeat for another bland right-wing democrat.
You need enthusiasm to win the presidency. Whether you like his policies or not, Sanders has enthusiasm and so any route to the White House for Democrats is ultimately going to go through him in some way.
55
@FromBrooklynWithLove The enthusiasm is alive and well, driven by the fervent need to oust Donald Trump. At this stage, this is the critical issue. Bernie cannot achieve this.
44
The enthusiasm is also driven by a desire to have the same things that boomers had: the ability to buy a house, save money, have a good job, a clean planet, and affordable college.
7
@FromBrooklynWithLove he already has the most progressive policy platform in history. Period. Besides bernie of course. Granted Biden should articulate some of it more but its a real platform
As far as Warren voters, the big question would seem to be how many of them were casting an "anti-Bernie" vote by backing her. So they generally support progressive values but have been turned off by Bernie's constant harangues (as opposed to Elizabeth's focus on detailed plans) and / or his abrasive online support. Her campaign gave those voters a super-comfortable protest vote (including mine) on Super Tuesday. I would be surprised if Bernie does much better than a 50-50 split of Warren voters, now that she's out.
68
@ Randal Warren supporter here, with many many Warren supporter friends. Most of us agree with many of the progressive ideas from both Bernie and Warren but the reason we went with Warren is because we don’t think Bernie has the ability to get things done or to appeal to a wider audience - and he will definitely lose against trump and possibly negatively affect turning the Senate blue. He’s too much like trump - rallies people around hate for “the other”, too populist, too angry - and his accomplishments as a Senator are few if any. Although not my first choice I’ll vote for Biden before I’d vote for Bernie - and continue to press the Democrats to push for some of the progressive policies presented by Warren and Bernie.
35
@Randal
I think you're right. Warren has already criticized Bernie's abysmal lack of control of his supporters.
5
Warren is diametrically opposite to Biden in every way. This line of thinking will land Trump in WH - again.
We can have the reasonable stuff (marijuana law reform, minimum wage increases, more progressive taxation rates, a public healthcare option for those who choose it, etc.) without voting for the unreasonable stuff, and Sanders proposes way too much unreasonable stuff: Nationalization (Sanders calls it "public ownership", but it's the same thing) of major sectors of our economy, everything from healthcare to the internet to energy. Mandatory 20% of stock owned by workers. A forced federal mandate on healthcare, even for those who like their private health insurance. Not to mention an open door to unions into basically every economic sector, and forced federal oversight of just about everything that happens in this country. This is the definition of "Not really a socialist"?
Needless to say, I was very pleased by what happened on Super Tuesday. Barack Obama's legacy deserves to be defended and continued, not attacked by a group of progressives who run as Democrats, but can barely hide their contempt for the Democratic party.
208
@Jordan
Sheesh!
There's a major difference between “nationalization” and a modest “worker ownership” plan. We need to strengthen worker participation not attack it.
Very few people like their insurance plans — even “good” ones are costly, have high premiums, money-draining copays, limited coverage, and drown you in bills, invoices, and paperwork.
The federal government is already involved in every sector; we need to make it work for the people not the corporations and the 1%.
All of what Sanders proposes is reasonable, and would help the country enormously.
Sadly, those touting Obama's legacy ignore
his militarism — he expanded the war into Afghanistan, engage in drone attacks
his domestic spying — he went farther than Bush did
his misguided education plans — national testing, charter schools, and Race to the Top were disasters (thought you were against federal involvement!
his health care plan —he promised a public option then adopted Romney's Heritage market Big Pharma plan — he promised public hearings on C-SPAN, then reneged
He also properly excoriated Hillary for her individual mandate as “un-American” then adopted it! (Thought you liked liberty!)
He left over 40 million people uninsured, millions more underinsured.
He let the Democratic Party fall apart and, inadvertently, helped pave the way for Trump
He ignored the racism and massive inequality crippling the society...and so on.
Some legacy.
9
@Jordan You ignore the fact that the democratic party has left many of us with nothing. People of color are just used as pawns and forced to vote for the lesser of two evils. Obama deported many immigrants and built the foundation that Trump has exploited to push his child separation policy. Obama has overseen the death of innocent people in the middle east with his expanding of drone warfare. This is not something we should be striving for. If the Obama years were so great, why were people willing to flock to Trump?
There are legitimate short comings in the years of Obama. People want a government that works for them, not give hand outs to banks. The democrats are a center right party in any other country. It's only here in America where Bernies ideas are controversial.
I work with people living with HIV and they need healthcare. They have to go through hoops just to get life saving medication. The private insurance is a mess and impossible to navigate without an expert understanding of all the rules. We should be pushing forward, not looking backwards to a time that voters reject. Obama ran on hope on change and many were disappointed when he failed, so they flocked to trump.
10
@Jordan sorry bud from a family struggling with private healthcare costs I can say that Florida is anything but perfect. Sure Bernie promises too much In regards to government policy but I feel most of his policies is to improve the well-being of people and strengthen and build social welfare systems. Unions are a powerful force in Europe and enable greater economic mobility for lower class workers. And greater worker investment in a company means greater equality and more productivity. If you work in a miserable job you are less productive it’s that simple. If you want to properly condemn Bernie try to at least look up his policies
12
I thought the Bernie and Obama pic in another piece was photoshopped bc it looked so unfamiliar. This article points out the difficult path Sanders has to claim the nomination. If it's right about Michigan, then Sanders should withdraw and nominate Biden to help America get rid of trump. It would be the patriotic thing to do.
78
@graham Hodges Don't expect selfless patriotism from Sanders. it's all about him.
6
@graham Hodges
I can't imagine that a very bitter Sanders would "withdraw and nominate Biden to help America get rid of Trump". Surely he's not THAT patriotic.
4
@graham Hodges If Bernie was to withdraw, Trump would win. Bernie's disadvantages: Most Americans are too ill-educated to know what a Democratic Socialist is, The Post and NYT etc. deeply biased against him. Biden's disadvantages: the man can't tell his wife from his sister, forgets whether he's running for the Senate or the White House, lies about getting arrested trying to meet Mandela, voted for NAFTA and the Iraq War, debates worse than either of my two long-haired dachshunds and has no base to rely on. I won't go into his touchy-feely bit with women because I'm much more concerned about his brain-cells. We Democrats made a grave miscalculation about Trump in 2016. Being a non-intellectual doesn't mean that he's stupid. He has brilliant political instincts. He'll skewer someone as limp and pathetic as Joe Biden in a single hour. There will be no coming back from that.
32
Glad Bernie’s campaign is suffering! I think he is one of the reasons why we’re here today and his dividing of the party (that he doesn’t even belong to) shouldn’t be rewarded with the presidency. He is a divisive character and that’s not what the country needs right now.
339
@Sandra Fairfield Connecticut (according to Money Magazine, the best place to live in Connecticut and the 44th best place to live in America) might not need Bernie right now. In fact, Fairfield Connecticut might not ever need Bernie. But the millions of Americans who are uninsured or underinsured needs him right now. And the millions of Americans deeply in debt because of medical bills need him right now. And those who are dying because of suicide and opioids and despair need him right now. Not me, us.
119
@Sandra Fairfield Connecticut is affluent. But the rest of America is not. There are many people uninsured or underinsured or in medical debt. There is an epidemic of deaths by opioids and suicide. There are half a million homeless. You might not need Bernie right now. But many people do.
76
@Benbulben
"need Sanders"
No, they need to remove Trump and take the Senate and keep the House.
Bernie claimed he could bring a massive turnout to the general election to do that. But this argument was soundly disproved... it was Biden who got the massive turnout.
If Sanders and his policies haven't even gotten the turnout of young people he did in 2016 in the primary, he is bound to lose to Trump, and hurt down-ballot races everywhere.
A real "mensch" would see the reality, withdraw, and support Biden. He could even have done that with Warren, back when he had the heart attack, to give the progressive agenda a better chance.
164
It might seem clear that Bernie Sanders needs to change the fundamental trajectory of the Democratic primary, but it's also doubtful that he knows how to do it.
The fact that he wasn't able to turn out the youth vote to the extent that he expected -- and the multi-cultural support he boasted of all but vanished is proof enough that something went terribly wrong.
But don't expect Bernie Sanders to admit that or to change.
After all, he's been saying the same thing for years now and even though his avid online supporters may come to his defense every time someone dares to criticize him, so far it's not really translating into massive votes at the polls.
But who knows? it's not over yet.
However it looks likely the Revolution will not be televised.
100
While one cannot predict the future the chances of Bernie now getting the nomination are about as equal to Trump turning over a new leaf and apologizing for being an ego maniac, pathological liar, bigot, rabble rouser demagogue.(and those are some of the nicer things I can say about him)
Like the old Charlie the tuna ad, Americans finally woke up, they want a tuna that tastes good, Joe Biden (safe, uniting, progressive, experienced) not a tuna with good tastes ie Bernie the burn em down, divider, us vs them revolutionary leader.
59
Bernies will fare poorly in Michigan. First, he has ceded the black vote to Biden. Second, like it or not Joe still resonates as a working class kinda guy. You can throw all the trade deal and donor stuff at him you want. It’s not a priority this cycle. Third, Warren voters aren’t likely to drift to Sanders. They’re policies ar very similar but people chose Warren over Sanders for a reason. Cause they don’t like him. Fourth, moderates have totally coalesced around Biden. And fifth and most importantly, the Democratic electorate has decided that the Republic is under siege and we can’t mess around this time. And Joes has the best chance. He’ll also be the best option for the healing that is going to be needed after.
Defeating Trump is the existential battle of our time. Right, are we a nation of laws and democratic institutions or will that perish from this earth?
275
@jb "Defeating Trump is the existential battle of our time."
From coronavirus to climate change to income inequality and expanding health insurance, nothing good can happen until we get Trump out of the White House.
Bernie has every right to compete, but if it becomes clear he can't win, he needs to put country and planet before ego and get out and get behind Biden.
34
@jb
Well said. I'll add one more:
Bernie is not generating turnout of young people or anyone else. It's everyone else, animated by #5 in your assessment, that is driving people to the polls.
My precinct had record turnout, but Bernie came in third. Doesn't bode well.
15
@jb
Enough with the "healing". What does that even mean? The same divisions that elected Trump will exist no matter who wins, so if "healing" implies sitting down to tea with Mitch McConnell and being rolled the way Obama was, give me Bernie any day. You win people over with policies that benefit them, not being a "nice guy". We don't need someone in the White House who serves as an toothless but beloved figurehead, like the Queen of England while the middle class continues to be robbed blind.
9
What are you talking about?
One look at the latest FiveThirtyEight polls in Michigan still have Bernie ten full points ahead of Biden.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-d/michigan/
27
@Joe The latest poll on that link you put up, the March 3rd poll, shows Biden up by 7 percent. And in that poll, Bloomberg, Warren, Klobuchar, and Mayor Pete are all included as nominees. Sanders might inherit most of Warren's votes, but Biden will take the rest.
And speaking as someone who has lived in Florida for 30 years, I can tell you with great certainty that Sanders is going to get trounced here. He has no chance.
110
@Joe I'll take that bet! The only recent poll (post South Carolina) has Biden +7.
20
@Joe the model also gives Biden an 80% chance to win. They simply haven't had enough polling data since the Biden consolidation occurred. Right now the best information is Tuesdays results, and the model is mostly going on that right now. Even that data may be overly pro Bernie though given the early vote.
5
Why do some Bernie supporters think 60% of the country is going to suddenly realize they've been wrong all this time and the revolution is the only way? The young got sacrificed by Republicans trying to damage Obama for 8 years. The way to reverse that is to mobilize Democrats, not alienate them.
164
@br or, why do biden supporters think that suddenly progressives are going to abandon their values and embrace moderates in the primary when moderates lost to trump in 2016 and won’t come get our votes ?? its the moderates that have alienated the Bernie supporters, not the other way around. All Hilary had to do to win in 2016 was to pick Sanders as VP, though moderates would rather lose to trump than win by embracing a progressive populism that would also appeal to disenfranchised blue collar workers who supported trump. You mobilize democrats by not alienating the progressives and instead giving them something to work with, not taking them for granted.
27
@Vladimir Kerchenko "why do Biden supporters think that suddenly progressives are going to abandon their values and embrace..." No one is expecting Bernie supporters to abandon their values or anything else. What is different this time is that everyone, Bernie supporters included, cannot assume that trump will lose as they did in 2016. They can also stop pretending that there is no difference between the Democrat and trump whether it's Clinton or Biden. Voting against Clinton, or sitting that election out was a luxury Sanders supporters thought they could afford. They all know better this time around.
17
@br lol, moderates. always condescending. always patronizing.
"not alienate them."
That's exactly what every single so called "unity, moderate" candidate or leader has been doing the entire race to the progressive wing. Constantly belittling and generalizing Sanders' supporters into a toxic mob. Literally, every single one of the moderate commenters and pundits. The DNC lets their actions do the talking.
Don't expect big turnout from progressives, but then again, you don't need us. You just need moderates and Republicans. Good luck.
4
I'm curious to know if Bernie will win the Democrats Abroad who vote this next week. My guess is that he will. After all, many of them live in places with universal healthcare, paid family leave, and much more affordable higher education. Many of them live in places that spend more on lifting up their citizens rather than funding the Military-Industrial Complex.
It's as if America is living in Plato's cave, watching shadows on the wall and thinking this is the way reality has to be while the rest of the advanced nations are outside basking in sunshine.
55
@Benbulben I saw where Sander healthcare plan would cost $4.9 trillion a year, almost $50 trillion over 10 years, Washington spends around $4.5 trillion per year, so Sanders’ plans would more than double total federal spending. He says that the rich would pay for it through taxes but there is not enough rich people in this country to pay for it so he would have to tax the middle class by a whole lot. This cost is just for his healthcare plan, i'm not even talking about all the other stuff he wants to do.
33
@Benbulben
Americans living abroad fall into 2 categories: 1. Expats on generous pay and benefit plans and 2. Retireees in nice warm climates with good enough pensions to live comfortably in their chosen destination. Some in the first group might be rich enough to not care burdening the rest of us with massive tax bills and the second group won't vote for Bernie.
12
Agreed. Add to that with a narrowly divided Senate (the best we could hope for) every single bit of Bernie’s plan would be DOA even if by some miracle he won the nomination and general election.
12
Political analysis models are built, probably correctly, around the concept that the electorate is close to a blank slate. This year, there is such an enormous bias in the hearts, minds and spleens of Democrats to find the best available solution to the Trump problem that the model is largely invalidated. Democrats acting like true Republicans (not the Trump kind) - agree on the best available candidate based on electability in the must-win states, push him to the front and follow. For once, Democrats are finding it more important to win than to be right.
73
Bernie Sanders has a very big Michigan problem. Bernie has run an admirable campaign, he has many passionate supporters, and he is addressing the most critical issues of our time.
However, Democrats seem to be exhibiting an inordinate amount of pragmatism as they move toward Joe Biden. This movement arguably started with Jim Clyburn's endorsement of Biden. South Carolina--led by American-Americans--voted overwhelming in favor of Biden.
Super Tuesday did not go well for Bernie, and his chances appear to be fading. Yesterday, there was a St. Pete Polls for Florida that speaks volumes:
Biden: 61%
Bloomberg: 14%
Sanders: 12%
I wish I could be more eloquent with my wording, but this poll--unless it's an incredible outlier--would indicate that Bernie's done.
Bernie could win Michigan, but I suspect Biden is gaining support from people who realize it's time to rally around a nominee, and pivot to the November elections.
Democrats need to hold the House, take back the Senate, and win the White House. The sooner those efforts can start, the better.
235
@Brian They will be within 30 delegates when everything is counted from Super Tuesday. That's within 3%. Bernie will most likely have won the two largest Democratic states (California and New York); it was close and will continue to be close.
5
@Zachary
It’s close now, but Bernie Is fading fast. Right now I’d say his chances of winning the nomination are about 10%. That’ll fall to about 2% if he loses Michigan.
6
@Brian How did Kerry, Hillary and Gore did?
3
Why is the public so in love with the billionaire class. I really don't understand it how can someone actively want the current state of affairs and believe their children will be ok in 20 or 50 years.
54
@M
I like the current state of affairs except for the two glaring problems, healthcare and education cost. In fact education cost more than healthcare as that affects the future of our country.
I don't believe that the problem is billionaires as much as it is Americans' unwillingness to pay higher taxes, especially the middle class. Taxing the billionaires alone won't work. If you like the system in Denmark, then you should know that people making 1.3x the average national income pay at a tax rate of 55.9%, that would mean people here making over 65000 would pay at that rate.
Source for this is Fareed Zakaria's take on Bernie Sanders, you can find it on youtube.
26
@M, One doesn't have to "love" the billionaire class to find Bernie's alternative less than appealing. Sanders offers a plethora of fantasyland solutions, some that have never been successfully implemented anywhere and thus strain credulity.
Others seem like overreaches. If "Medicare for All" is going to be a great for everyone as Bernie claims, why is enrollment mandatory? If folks were allowed to "vote with their feet," wouldn't they just sign up in droves on their own? Why hand the GOP a club to use against him in the general election?
Finally, Bernie's praise for the Cuban dictatorship was an unforced error. It was like saying "well, there was a good side to Mussolini because he made the trains run on time."
128
@ConsDemo Lot of folk are on board for mandating certain actions when minorities won't be persuaded to move toward a common good.
Mandatory vaccination is one example.
In order for Medicare for all to be great for everyone, everyone has to be on it.
Bernie is foolish enough to open his mouth in cases where he's bound to have pushback. Have we really been on the road to greatness with our many picturings of foreign leaders or ideologies as evil in entirety? Or is self righteousness a trap of its own.
6