This is the final weekend before the first real points are up for grabs: the Iowa caucus, which will be held on Monday. Tomorrow.
This will be quickly followed by the New Hampshire primaries the following week.
And as expected, many detractors of Bernie Sanders focus on how unrealistic it is to expect that he will ever be elected president, and that even if he somehow defeats Hillary, he will cost the Democrats the election, and then, even if he somehow manages to defeat Hillary and then wins the presidency, he will fail as president because, this line of thinking goes, he will not be able to reach across the aisle and work with either party, let alone the official opposition party.
This is the criticism of Sanders, who perhaps seems kind of unpolished to them, not what most people have come to think of as a typical politician at all. When he speaks, he seems to be shouting, and this turns people off. Also, he does something that seems kind of strange: he actually states things as he sees them, and then voices his opinions on them. You either like his message, or you do not.
And this, in turn, is perhaps the reason why people compare him to Donald Trump, because they both, at least on the surface, express their opinion, and generate considerable publicity in so doing. Bernie Sanders, according to detractors, is on the fringe of the Democratic party, what some people like to call a liberal extremist, even a (gasp) socialist! And Donald Trump, according to this same criticism (at least when he is compared to Sanders) is on the fringe of the Republican party, what some people like to call a conservative extremist. Some people suggest that he is out of his mind, that he is a fascist.
Of course, when they are lumped together, it is to suggest that they are both extremists, and that the success of these two men is cause for alarm, and that the political climate in the United States now gravitates towards extremes. Again, this is designed to discredit Sanders in particular.
On some level, comparisons can be made. After all, both men are relative outsiders within the two major parties, and both men have shaken the political establishment of the two parties to the core. Both have done so by saying things that many people have wanted to hear from a politician for a long time, and there is a sense by supporters of both men that their guy is unlike other politicians in that he cannot be sold. That much is true of both candidates, and most likely accounts for their success thus far in the campaign.
That is where any real comparisons end. Yes, they have both shaken the political establishment, and both say things that are unpopular with the accepted political establishment. But what they are saying cannot be different. What they are saying - and how they are saying it - is, in fact, the polar opposite of one another.
Donald Trump echoes the conservative talk radio element. He says what many conservative pundits have been saying for a long time, even if many of them seem to want to distance themselves from him - mostly for the same reason that main stream Democrats want to distance themselves from Sanders - because according to conventional thinking, he cannot win. He will cost them the election, or so they say.
Trump is loud and crass, and absolutely sure of himself. He at least seems to say what is on his mind, and this is apparently what is on the mind of many self-described conservatives, who feel that he is a refreshing change precisely because he says what many conservative people are thinking. That immigrants are to blame, and cannot be trusted. That Mexicans are dangerous to our economy and to our society at large, and should be expelled and most certainly not welcomed into our borders. That Muslims are dangerous to our society and should not be welcomed into our borders. Other people, those who criticize him, are losers. When he gets into office (never if, because this man knows no humility), America will be great again. Details as to how he intends to accomplish this are scarce, because he has not needed to get more specific, yet. But, he says, rest assured that once (again, not if) he is in office, America will start winning again. He will be the greatest producers of jobs in American history. The country will not only start winning again, but will get so used to winning, that Americans will actually get sick of winning.
It is implied that Trump cannot be bought, because he is a billionaire, and what need does he have of money? This is the thinking of many of his admirers, although this man has been about nothing more than money all of his life. He is, in fact, the product of the sick economy that so many of them are fed up with. He is one of the elites, one of the billionaires who holds tremendous sway over how the economy works. This is the reality of things. He has only known privilege, has only known powerful positions from posh executive offices overlooking the financial district of Manhattan. He places his name high atop buildings, so that there are seemingly Trump Towers all across the globe, and somehow, they remain Trump Towers, even when he is no longer in control of them. We get to see his name up in the sky when we look at our downtown financial districts, way up in the sky, atop the glass and steel towers, as if he were some kind of God.
In the past, Trump's political positions have been widely inconsistent. There was a time when he felt that a single payer health care system would work, and was even really the best solution for the country. Now, he despises it. There was a time when he criticized George W. Bush for lying about the reasons for getting into a war with Iraq, although now, he promises to outdo George W. Bush in terms of the destruction that he, as president (again if, not when) would render.
By way of comparison, Bernie Sanders is from a small town in Vermont. He has been remarkable consistent with his political views, and has a proven history of advocating for the poor and middle class and criticizing the billionaires and corporate elites who dominated the economy, long before this became the popular thing to do. In so doing, he stood alone. When he speaks during this campaign, he talks about what has gone wrong with the country, and why things are not working. He gives concrete reasons, not mere abstractions, or vague promises that he will fix them. He states the reasons very clearly: things have gone down ever since the tax rates for the ultra-elites were relaxed. Ever since they stopped paying their fair share, leaving an increased burden on the rest of us. Really want to know why the middle class is disappearing? Sanders makes clear that the reason for this is that the ultra-rich stash and hide their money away in offshore accounts, and that the poor, obviously, cannot afford to pay for the money that previously came from the rich. And so guess who makes up the difference? That's right, the rest of us. The disappearing middle class.
If we have the courage to change this, to stand up to the billionaire class, then we can begin to right the ship, and to get this country heading back in a desirable direction again. Until we do that, he warns, things will simply continue to get worse. He is very specific, and he knows what he is talking about. This is a man who has told it as he sees it, and gives very, very specific examples as evidence of why he is correct. he does not sugar coat, explaining that mainstream politicians cannot, or will not, change things, because they are sponsored by those same corporate elites who have, for far too long, controlled out economy and made things worse by only pining for their own interests at the expense of what is best for the country, bankrupting the nation in the process.
This is a message that people began to listen to, and it seems to make enough sense to people that they are listening. Yes, people are paying attention to Sanders, and he seems to be the man of the moment, because he says it as he sees it, and explains it in a way where other people can see it, as well. Again, he is very specific, and his arguments do not center around him. No magic wand, no promises that everything will be fixed by his hand. Some of his detractors, typically, suggest that his plans will not work, that they will bankrupt the economy, even though some leading economists have suggested that his policies, if passed, would actually work exactly as he predicts that they would if and when implemented. They would ease the burden on the poor and the middle class by making the richest among us pay their share. He is not suggesting these things will be free at all, but arguing that we need to stand up to elite interests and, once and for all, force them to pay the money that they have withheld from the country, and which has hurt our economy. This has hurt everyday people like you and me, and Sanders always has, and always will fight to right this wrong.
Do you want to know why I do not support Hillary, despite what her supports claim is a proven track record? Because she advocates changes that are so incremental, as to hardly matter. They are so watered down, that any chance of really improving people's lives will not happen. I do not trust her because deep down, she is a typical politician, despite her being a woman with a real chance of becoming the first female president. Because she seems willing to say or do anything to get herself elected. She is willing to take millions of dollars from some of the same, destructing corporate interests that have been hurting the American economy, and hurting average people like you and me, for so long. Oh, sure, she acts angry when Sanders directly accuses her for taking these large sums of money, and suggests that she made friends with them in their hour of need following the September 11th attacks.
But do you know what else she did after the September 11th attacks? She voted for the so-called PATRIOT Act. Not once, but twice, in both 2001 and 2006. She also voted for George Bush's war on Iraq. While she had once seemed like a crusader against corporate interests in the healthcare industry, she now advocates a much more incremental approach and - surprise, surprise - she takes money from them. Not small amounts, but vast sums to add to her war chest.
She entered the race as the clear favorite, but then Sanders began to gain on her, despite supposedly being representative of an extremist fringe. After being declared the unofficial winner of debates by all the major news media (despite the popular sentiment on the internet with a buzz suggesting that she had actually not won the debate at all), she took a page from George W. Bush after the 2000 election, and began to act the part of the winner, looking beyond Sanders. The major news media declared the race to be over, and her supporters stopped attacking Sanders, having unofficially dug dirt on his campaign's grave.
Only, as it turns out, this was far from the case. Sanders hung in there, and drew closer in national polls, as well as those in Iowa, which were suddenly very close. In New Hampshire, he took a lead of 60% to 33%, almost doubling Hillary's support.
Suddenly, the race was not over at all, she was not the clear winner at all and, in fact, once again looked like she was in trouble. Much like she had been earlier in the election, and much like she had been in 2008, when she lost the election to now President Barack Obama.
Suddenly, her campaign began to mount desperate attacks, and have suggested that Bernie Sanders is a communist sympathizer, something that Republicans tended to do towards her and her husband throughout the Clinton presidency and beyond.
Suddenly, Hillary and her supporters seem willing to say and do anything to discredit a surging opponent who attacks her at her weakest point: that of credibility. She cannot be trusted, he says. People are listening, and the polls suggest that he is right.
Still, many of the so-called experts warn that Sanders cannot possibly win, when they will allow discussion of what they claim to be the remote possibility of a Sanders win, they suggest it will be a disaster. That he cannot work with Congress, that he has no ability to reach across the aisle and get things done.
But you know what? Hillary and her supporters are wrong, and have been wrong now for a long, long time. She is wrong to believe, as she did before, that she is the presumptive candidate for the Democratic party. She is wrong to now label the very real threat of her opponent, Bernie Sanders, as some kind of communist. She is wrong to take millions from corporate special interests. She was wrong to support the PATRIOT Act, and she was wrong to support the Iraq war. Indeed, she seems to be making a point of proving Sanders right, that she is the consummate politician, willing to say and do anything and everything to get elected.
Do I think Sanders can really win?
Yes, actually, I do. And here's how: Iowa is close. If he can win Iowa, and follow that up with a win in New Hampshire (where, again, he has a solid lead over Hillary), then he will have proven to be a viable candidate to defeat Hillary. More people will pay attention, and the margins in national polls that show Sanders closing in on Hillary will narrow still more. Perhaps they will narrow to the point where he takes the lead, as he has in New Hampshire. Not because she is evil, or because she is somehow not electable, that something is wrong with her. But because she represents an old political establishment, a grim reality in this country right now. Because she advocates a tired message that no longer rings true and hollows empty for most people. Because she seems to advocate her own interests and ambitions, at the expense of what is best for the country, mirroring exactly the corporate special interests that sponsor her, and more and more people are seeing through the veil, and seeing her, and others like her (such as Jeb Bush for the Republican party) for what they are.
Yes, Sanders can win those two early primaries, and then take the momentum gained from that, and defeat Hillary. He can beat her to take the Democratic nomination, and then, he can win the general election, especially if his opponent is also considered a political outsider, such as the two leading Republican candidates, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, are considered to be. Remember, they are largely opposed by establishment Republicans, because there are fears that they cannot win a general election.
Indeed, I do think that Sanders actually can win the election to become the future president.
Yes, I can.
As to the critics who suggest that a Sanders presidency will not work, and cannot work?
Well, they have been wrong about a lot of things before. Many of them supported the PATRIOT Act, like Hillary. Many of them supported the invasion of Iraq, which turned out to be a disaster. Many of them advocate incremental change, even though an increasing number of Americans recognize that the grim reality of this responsible sounding (on the surface) talk of incremental change is that, in reality, nothing changes.
I would rather have a proven advocate of the American people, of the average American family, than a politician with a proven record of being untrustworthy. Yes, Hillary has reached across the aisle, learned to compromise, and thus can claim superior experience in this regard. She reached across the aisle, so to speak, to change from a fierce advocate for serious healthcare reform to an advocate of some vague, incremental reform, while taking money from those same private healthcare interests. She reached across the aisle to help President Bush make the PATRIOT Act a reality, and then helped him make the Iraq war a reality.
So, if you want more of the same, politics as usual, than indeed, the choice is clear. Vote for Hillary if you are a Democrat, or for Jeb, if you are a Republican.
But if you want the possibility of real change, and a tireless advocate for what would be best for the country as a whole, someone with a proven and consistent track record, than there is no one more qualified for the job than Bernie Sanders.
It really is that simple, and I am guessing, in your heart of hearts, you know that, too. An increasing number of Americans are beginning to realize that, and this is what will make a President Bernie Sanders not only a possibility, but a reality.
We can see this country move forward again, with a leader that we can trust. Yes, we can. You might even wonder why it should ever have been otherwise.
Please join us in helping to elect Bernie Sanders as our next president.
I support Bernie Sanders, and I’m not stupid or unrealistic Posted on 01/27/2016 by Cody Gough:
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