Bernie Sanders and me here pictured together in New York City, October 2016
Is he really the "new" frontrunner, or are they just finally acknowledging that the results have born out what the polls consistently suggested before. He was winning New Hampshire, and has had a lead nationally for a while now. The results last night were hardly a surprise, but the mainstream media is now only grudgingly acknowledging that he is indeed leading, as they have always dragged their feet in their coverage of him as a serious candidate.
The Democrats are, once again, showing some desperation in trying to prevent Bernie Sanders from being their nominee for 2020. He leads in the races of state primaries to this point, having received a majority in both Iowa and New Hampshire, and as of right now, he is leading for the next primary in Nevada, as well. Polls show that he is leading in national polls, and polls project him beating Trump by a wider margin than any other Democrat in the general election, to boot.
So what do the mainstream Democrats do?
Predictably, they go to extraordinary lengths to make sure that anyone but Sanders receives the nomination.
Frankly, it sounds counterintuitive, and very self-destructive. Like they are shooting themselves in the foot. But remember, it was a similar story back in the 2016 election, as well. Bernie Sanders was surging, he was the most liked and trusted of major politicians in the country, and polls showed him beating Trump more soundly than Hillary Clinton, who was struggling, particularly with likability and trustworthiness. There were some suspicious things that compromised her trustworthiness, as well. The fact that she asked leaders in the Democratic party leaders like Debbie Wasserman-Shultz to help her, and then receiving that help, even though they are supposed to remain impartial. There were questions about how much money Hillary’s campaign was receiving from major corporations and Wall Street banks, and the enormous speaker’s fees she received for personal appearrances. Then, while Hillary Clinton was being investigated, Bill Clinton – her husband and, obviously, the former President of the United States, meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac of an airport in Phoenix, an action which effectively temporarily shut the airport down briefly, inconveniencing everyone there, as Clinton met with Lynch. They denied that the investigation into Hillary was discussed, yet such a meeting is still illegal, and all charges against Hillary Clinton were dropped within a few days of the meeting. Then, Hillary Clinton received a question from Donna Brazile prior to a debate against Trump later that year. All of that would compromise her legitimacy and trustworthiness, and reinforce the notion that the election was rigged in favor of the powers that be, who clearly wanted Hillary to win.
Sanders is doing extremely well now, and in fact, he is doing so well, that it is difficult even for mainstream Democrats and major media sources to deny that he is, in fact, the frontrunner for the party. Again, the plls suggest that he has a lead in national polls, and he has opened up a huge lead in California, the biggest state in the country, while recently taking a lead in Texas, the second largest state.
Indeed, things are going well for Sanders. And, if they want it, this could bode well for the Democrats, who could ride the Sanders train to victory in November, and reclaim the White House, if they wanted it.
It is sad that we have to ask if they want it, though. Because right now, it seems unclear. Some Democrats are flirting so much with so-called moderates within their ranks, even though one after the other, these mainstreams seem to fall by the wayside. First it was Biden. Buttigieg was also one of the favorites, but his campaign has hardly taken off in a big way. To some extent, some people have looked at Klobuchar, even though her campaign also has largely stalled. And now, it seems that Bloomberg is all the rage, even though he was a Republican until very recently, which seems revealing, as it exposes the hypocrisy of mainstream Democrats who claim to base their opposition of Sanders on this notion that he is not “really” a Democrat.
Major news media sources also have launched numerous attacks, something that I have covered here over the past couple of weeks, and which just seems to keep going.
Clearly, there are plenty of powerful people who simply do not like Bernie Sanders.
My guess is that this is because he is not for sale, and that this is not just words. Trump claims the same thing, but there maybe nobody in this world who worships money and the power and influence that it brings quite to the extent that Trump does. The mainstream Democrats and Republicans in recent decades are well-known to bow down to private special interests, courting their money and support.
Bernie actively rejects these billionaires, and he has held steadfast with his values, never wavering on his commitment towards trying to make the country a legitimately better, fairer, and more hopeful place for all Americans, even if, yes, that means that the wealthiest Americans will have to pay more in taxes.
Clearly, this is a message that does not resonate positively among mainstreamers for both Democrats and Republicans, who then go to extraordinary lengths to try and discredit Sanders, to attack him. They relentlessly insisted that he was not a serious candidate, and labeled him as a “fringe” candidate back in 2016. As the frontrunner right now, they likely cannot get away with that (apparently, their hypocrisy might still have boundaries that they do not cross, at least for now), but that does not mean that they are pulling any punches. And the thing is: they cannot attack Bernie based on inconsistencies or some perceived
They keep throwing whatever throwing whatever they can at him, hoping to create as many obstacles in his way as possible.
Yet, if the mainstream Democrats would simply do what they should have done back in 2016, Bernie Sanders will likely not only capture the Democratic nomination, but get people excited with his grassroots campaign. They could ride his train to victory in November, if they would just get out of the way, and stop trying to interfere.
It makes you wonder if they are more scared of him receiving the nomination over the other Democrats, or if they are actually more fearful of him actually winning in November, and then ending the Clinton and Obama style of Democrats winning elections. Because if he makes half the changes that he proposes, those kinds of Democrats will seem like political dinosaurs indeed.
Here are the articles that I used in writing this particular blog entry:
Why some Democrats are worried Bernie Sanders could be unstoppable for the 2020 nomination Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY, February 17, 2020:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/02/17/bernie-sanders-success-2020-primary-worrying-some-democrats/4752572002/?fbclid=IwAR33FyBx_UcqhurcvsUKiRwnsZtctc4qr8cREYtcIe37GFnfWe6qjeFo9vY
Bernie Sanders Jumps to Commanding 32% Lead in California Poll by Jeffrey Taylor, February 18, 2020:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-19/bernie-sanders-jumps-to-commanding-32-lead-in-california-poll?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid=socialflow-facebook-business&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=business&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0LO8ajXfitiJjJ-wM-oADhSBxqNxSCmqXoRolLu6XSLhf5iI6qRFpPcbk
Bernie Sanders Faces a Media Rigged Against Him by Jeff Cohen / truthdig.com / Feb 15, 2020
https://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/bernie-sanders-faces-a-media-rigged-against-him/?fbclid=IwAR3StE-4eya-94wu5cnixal8Cq3p0jPAI6PVk1hrccbrusbGpqP1hYzY6c8
Bernie Sanders, Front-Runner Also: The Justice Department’s new era. David Leonhardt By David Leonhardt Opinion Columnist Feb. 12, 2020:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/opinion/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire.html
No comments:
Post a Comment