BERNIE SANDERS: WHY DEMOCRATS CAN'T WIN MIDTERMS 2018 WITHOUT HIM

[Hassin Bin Sober]

Newsweek does their titles in all caps and I’m too lazy to transcribe.

BERNIE SANDERS: WHY DEMOCRATS CAN’T WIN MIDTERMS 2018 WITHOUT HIM


http://www.newsweek.com/2018/06/01/bernie-sanders-clinton-democrats-939875.html

...

By many measures, he’s right. In the two years since his insurgent campaign for the White House succumbed to the Clinton juggernaut, Sanders has gone from cult hero to mainstream dynamo. ­Larry David can mock him on Saturday Night Live as a cranky, quixotic septuagenarian, but when Sanders endorses an idea, many of his peers in the Senate listen without laughing. The American public has become increasingly receptive to his brand of democratic socialism; once-skeptical centrists have seen the polls and have followed accordingly.

This has resulted in a high-stakes ideological war to out-Bernie Bernie. In March, for example, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York endorsed a pro­posal that would ensure the government guarantees a job to every American. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey followed with modest legislation, before Sanders bested both lawmakers with a national plan (pay rate: $15 an hour, of course).


.......


Sanders, however, sees a necessary reckoning. On the day that we spoke, he was headed to Pennsylvania, where he would campaign for John Fetterman, the hulking, tattooed Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor who would go on to oust incumbent Mike Stack. “My role,” Sanders says, “is to do everything I can to support progressive candidates.”

According to The Washington Post’s calculations, Sanders is batting just below .500 in his endorsements, with 10 of the 21 candidates he has supported having emerged victorious. This is a better record than Our Revolution’s: Only one-third of its 134 candidates, 46 in all, have won. But losing doesn’t bother Sanders as much as it does the ordinary politician. He wants to win, no doubt, but the victories he is looking for are victories of permanence, the kind that are enshrined in history books, not tweets. In fact, Sanders would likely find this entire discussion frivolous. He wants economic justice, and you want to show him some trifling poll?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

1. Kick

[Hortensis]

22. Kick this dishonest title out or just call it out for what it is?

Reality is, Sanders' power has been weakening ever since 2016 and was never nearly as big as profit-chasing media puffed it up to be.

Btw, the MSM don't spend a lot of time on our side, now, of course, but I've been seeing signs that Sanders has lost his newbie advantage in rising negative coverage. The press have long-established practice of puffing up selected new people and dumping all over "old' names. The criticism has begun, although a new newbie to puff up hasn't been identified yet, but just a heads-up so you can understand what's happening.

[FarPoint]

27. Absolutely!

Wakeup..we actually need Democrats!

[sunRISEnow]

2. Democrats have been winning across the nation the last couple years, without Bernie.

Or in-spite of Bernie.

[QC]

3. MEANIE!!! POOPIEHEAD!!!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

4. I found the "batting average" to be interesting.

To hear it around here you would think it’s zero. “The kiss of death”

I know it’s not as high as others. But “others” won’t attach their names to long-shots either. It’s easy to “endorse” someone 30 points up polls.

[ehrnst]

25. I didn't help his stepdaughter. In Vermont. (nt)

[ehrnst]

31. You mean "long-shots" like Bill DiBlasio?

He was up by 10 points pretty much the whole primary. Can't hurt to attach one's name to him when one needs some cred for one's endorsements.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/nyregion/bernie-sanders-de-blasio-inauguration.html

Or "long shots" Randall Woodfin, who ran HRC's campaign in Alabama, and ran where HRC did well in 2016? It certainly couldn't hurt to try to get some of that victory.

Or "long shots" like Stacey Abrams, who was invited by HRC to speak at the Democratic Convention, and was booed by "revolutionaries" when she mentioned John Lewis? Endorsed by "establishment groups" like Planned Parenthood...But sure, Our Revolution's endorsement was the thing that put her over the top...

[sunonmars]

5. Someone has a very high opinion of himself and needs to get over himself.

[H2O Man]

6. Recommended.

[Gothmog]

7. Really?

Link to tweet

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. I get my news from actual news sources like Newsweek and Washington Post (quoted in the story)

Not from some rando on Twitter.

Or you can go to a credible original source

[Gothmog]

18. In my neck of the woods, the Our Revolution attacked a candidate for being Asian

I am supporting a candidate who was attacked by Our Revolution because he is an Asian http://www.indoamerican-news.com/local-democrats-infighting-attempts-to-smear-sri-kulkarni/

Like many other youngsters going through their tumultuous teen years, Kulkarni attributed the episode to youthful indiscretion, similar to what George W. Bush, Barak Obama and Bill Clinton experienced in their youths.

But Beaton, who is backing candidate Steve Brown in the primary, is throwing out all sorts of minor issues to sideline Kulkarni’s bid. He has challenged Kulkarni’s full name, his residency in the district, his voting record and even his registration application saying he wanted to run in Massachusetts.

Inspite of these diversions, the Indian American community as well as the rest of the South And East Asian communities are staunchly behind Kulkarni and they have shown it by the sheer numbers who have come to his events and are donating funds to his campaign, sensing a chance to have an Asian in Congress from the Metroplex. They came together last night, Tuesday, February 20, at Madras Pavlion to rally behind Kulkarni and push back against these charges.

Encouraged, Kulkarni is counting on their support. “We’re pushing back against this stigmatization and slander,” Kulkarni said. “The Asian communities need to come out and vote to get us over the top in the primary.”

From another article http://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/texas-congressional-candidate-sri-kulkarni-acknowledges-teen-drug-arrest-youthful/article_54a39be6-1e55-11e8-8db1-6f520552146f.html

Doug Beaton, the leader of the chapter, warned Fort Bend County Democratic officials on Kulkarni's previously undisclosed past in a letter posted on social media, it said.

The letter suggested that Kulkarni, whose full first name is Srinivas, is running under an assumed name and that he had previously registered with the Federal Election Commission to run for a congressional seat in Massachusetts.,,,,

Fort Bend County's past Democratic chair, Don Bankston, a member of the party's state executive committee, said the attack on Kulkarni is off base and potentially slanderous, according to the report.

That candidate won on Tuesday and will be headed to the general election despite the efforts of Our Revolution. According to the NYT and a professor, Sri has a chance

Link to tweet

From the NYT article

Richard Murray, a professor of political science at the University of Houston, told me to keep an eye as well on the 22nd District, a largely suburban swath of the Houston area that he described as a microcosm of demographic changes that are making the state ever more hospitable Democratic turf.

“The suburban counties that led Republicans to dominance here 25 years ago are getting significantly less Republican fast,” he said, adding that Fort Bend County, in the 22nd, is roughly 20 percent Asian-American now. The first-place finisher in the district’s Democratic primary, Sri Preston Kulkarni, is Indian-American. Murray said that if Kulkarni wins his runoff, that could be a significant boost to Democrats’ chances to nab this House seat.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

21. Your subject line doesn't even come close to matching the article

[Gothmog]

23. You are wrong again-the local Our Revolution attacked a candidate for being an Asian

The head of the Our Revolution told a meeting that this candidate is not "one of us" and that Our Revolution does not want "one of them" on the ballot. The candidate's first name, Srinivas, really offended this idiot. Luckily the candidate endorsed by Our Revolution lost and Sri won the primary run off by a large margin.

[Gothmog]

24. Here is the candidate who was attacked by Our Revolution for not being "one of us"

Link to tweet

[NCTraveler]

8. I believe his ego is that large.

Adding this is actually a larger word count.

Newsweek does their titles in all caps and I’m too lazy to transcribe.

[JustAnotherGen]

10. He would be ineffective in the NJ 7th

Obama Admin team member - eh? He needs Michelle, Joe, HRC etc. etc. Sanders message won't work in our district. True Facts - Lance won in 2016 - and so did HRC in this district. That indicates a strong leaning towards the middle.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. It's not about you Sanders

Help out or get out of the way

[Demsrule86]

12. I seriously wish he would go away. He is never helpful to Democrats outside of voting with us in the

Senate which is helpful of course. We will win the midterms in spite of him and of course Our Revolution. They have primaried long standing Democrats some in red states like West Virginia which makes no sense when we desperately need Manchin to win.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

14. I like that he is encouraging people to run in local and state elections.

We’ve ignored those for too long while the repigs have had their way.

[Demsrule86]

19. Democrats are coming out of the woodwork to run...which is because we have a chance in red areas

that despite the gerrymander Hillary won or came close to winning...also, the specials have been encouraging. But if he manages to help unify ...that works for me.

[ehrnst]

26. Perhaps you haven't heard of Emily's list?

Or other groups that actually assist local progressive candidates getting to candidacy, going way beyond "encouraging" or endorsing them after they have gotten support to run. And they don't waste their time encouraging and coddling the egos of celebrities who think that they should begin their political career at the Governor's mansion.

http://boldprogressives.org/

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/

https://emergeamerica.org/

http://www.sheshouldrun.org/

National Women’s Political Caucus
http://www.nwpc.org/

Women’s Campaign Fund
http://www.wcfonline.org/

Victory Institute
https://victoryinstitute.org/

Onward Together:
https://www.onwardtogether.org/

New Politics Leadership Academy
http://www.newpolitics.org/

But of course... Bernie is the first and only career politician to encourage people to run locally. And certainly it has nothing to do with staying in the spotlight for POTUS run in 2018.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/paul-wellstones-life-and-_b_1961277.html

[MuseRider]

40. It sure has seemed to help the party in Kansas.

THAT is something.

[heaven05]

34. ++ nt

[Sunlei]

13. United we stand.

[Kirk Lover]

15. Everybody needs each other and we need to support candidates who WILL WIN or we can

forget about progressing AT ALL on anything, DUH. The one that can win may not be the most progressive candidate...DUH.
This should be blatantly obvious to anyone with a freakin brain cell in their head.

[MyNameGoesHere]

16. Wait, this is Vermont Independent Senator Sanders and not a orange shitgibbon

Making such royal proclamations?

Stop the world I need to get the fuck off. People are bat shit crazy here.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. (Psssst. He didn't write the piece)

[MuseRider]

39. !

Jesus, you should not have to go there.

[dawg]

20. I'm not anti-Bernie. I actually voted for him in the primaries, but ...

he's just one dude.

He has some good ideas, but none of them are particularly original or unique to him.

Bernie can either help in the mid-terms or he can be an obstacle. And that's pretty much up to him at this point.

[aikoaiko]

28. Bernie is the reason I stayed a registered Democrat after 2016

I know it’s hard for some folks to understand but Bernie is helping to keep left leaning independents alighned with the party.

[SidDithers]

30. There's some irony in this line of thought...

given that Bernie himself could bother to remain a Democrat after losing the primary.

Sid

[aikoaiko]

32. No irony at all.

Democrats aligning with the party is nothing special.

But when you have an independent who is critical of the party still align with it that says somethjng good about the party.

[MuseRider]

38. Me too. n/t

[Chemisse]

29. So half the candidates he supported were victorious?

Is this because he supported them or because they were progressive and therefore appealed to the voters?

[heaven05]

33. bullshit about BS

Don't really need him. Our voters know what's at stake.

[heaven05]

35. NOT kicked

not recce'd. have a good one with an also-ran

[PubliusEnigma]

36. and Obama only won because of Ralph Nader. Right?

[MuseRider]

37. Haters gonna hate.

I don't think Bernie really cares about how many win right now. This is the first election that they have been endorsing in large numbers and there are problems in the organization as it learns who it really is and who is really working, or not, for them.

The main point, as stated in the article but ignored here, is that it is not always the person winning that is needed. Yes, it would be terrific if that happened, but every one of these people have been bringing up issues left out or minimalized by the party to be palatable to the worst people in our country in hopes they don't just "have to" give up. He knows what he is doing and the dialog has changed and will continue to change as long as he is out there and others are learning and moving in his direction. People have been lead to believe that big change, even in their favor, will somehow topple the entire country. I wonder how that happened? Why do people vote for teeny, tiny incremental changes when it is proven something much more helpful is certainly doable? They have been scared for so long that nothing big ever comes from this party. While the party creeps along, even after adopting so many of his issues into the platform, he believes as I do that there has to be someone standing at the top yelling, "Look here! Why not go here? Everyone who goes here is happier and able to live like a real human!" rather than "well maybe but we just can't do that now". I believe he would love to see these things now but he is not stupid and he knows they cannot happen all of them at once. He is setting the dialog, like it or not he is and thank god for vision rather than the usual "sensible" nothing much.

Oddly the part of the party that matters like Bernie just fine. Now if they would stop being afraid of their own shadows it would be nice.

****needed qualifier for those who cannot think of anything but "BERNIE SUCKS!" Not all D's are afraid, not all D's are incrementalists.....hmmm I am sure there is more but I gotta go

[LostOne4Ever]

41. Good to see the hide was over-ruled! K&R! nt