Op-Ed: Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign will face the scrutiny Clinton got in 2016

[brooklynite]

NBC News

The ultimate problem that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., faces right now, after announcing his intention to again seek the Democratic Party's nomination for president, is that Democratic voters aren’t fully aware of his record — yet.

That may seem counterintuitive after the rough 2016 primary and his supporters' blanketing of social media. But, in truth, the 2016 Clinton campaign never named him in a single negative television or digital ad. And the media never truly educated the primary voting public with the intensity reserved for candidates seen as viable: His underdog status protected him then, but he won’t have that this time around.

There were, of course, numerous news stories that covered Sanders’ positions throughout the campaign, in between the obsessive coverage detailing the gritty ins and outs of the latest in the Clinton email scandal. A study from Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy suggests as much: Only seven percent of his coverage was about his policies, but 83 percent of that was positive, whereas 28 percent of Clinton's coverage was policy-based and 84 percent of that was negative.

"Journalists," the study said "made more references to her past history than they did to those of other candidates and focused on the negative."

[OnDoutside]

1. I can't wait to see his 2016 tax returns !

[Hassin Bin Sober]

2. Lol. We've never heard ANY of that!

They didn’t need to push it. David Brock (former rat fucking partner of Ann Coulter) was all over media with their other surrogates pushing that bull shit.



For instance, the “he didn’t support marriage equality because he said states should be deciding” is absolute bull shit. This was a time when states were granting marriage rights and the feds were trying to put a stop to it. He was correct. DOMA was unconstitutional and states granting equality along with reciprocal rights should have ruled the day.

[betsuni]

17. DAVID BROCK!!!!1111

[Cha]

18. David Brock!!!!

lol

[Polybius]

4. Bernie didn't exactly give a warm endorsement though

I'm not bitter at Bernie, but he could have addressed his followers more.

[lunamagica]

14. Noo he did not

[Cha]

20. Wrong Again.

[brooklynite]

10. That's not the point of the story...

The claim is that Sanders never went through the rigorous vetting that he's likely to if he becomes a frontrunner.

[Garrett78]

11. That's not what the OP is about. Not even close.

[Cha]

19. No, you don't know what you're talking about.

[ehrnst]

22. She didn't lose.

She won the popular vote.

Do you not know this?

[radius777]

23. Obama being a black man

and Hillary being a woman caused a white populist backlash that gave us Trump and (to a lesser extent) the Sanders movement as well.

It is clear that IRL and online, that there is significant ideological crossover between the alt-right and alt-left (note I don't include regular Dems who supported Sanders but then voted for Hillary in the GE in this description, but the hardcore Bernie and Sarandon types who hate the Dem party and are sympathetic to Trump).

[Yosemito]

5. Wrong. The media hate Biden, not Bernie

They won't be nice to any real Democrat.

[QC]

6. "By Zac Petkanas...former senior aide to Hillary Clinton" n/t

[Cha]

21. So?

[Adrahil]

8. I wanna see the tax returns. 10 years of them.

And I want him to explain his dismissive attitude towards women and people of color.

I'm sure we'll just hear more about the "establishment" and "corporate Democrats." It's his only speech.

[lapucelle]

9. ...

[Garrett78]

12. That's much more reality-based than the claims that the media helped Clinton and hurt Sanders.

Anyway, he still won't face the same level of scrutiny because he hasn't had a target on his back for 25 years the way Clinton had.

And I don't think Sanders will be around past Super Tuesday.

[dsc]

13. No he won't

He will get more scrutiny than he got, it would be fairly hard not to, but no way no how will he get treated like she did. No one will get treated like she did (except maybe Warren).

[lunamagica]

15. Unfortunately you are right

[lunamagica]

16. Unfortunately you are right

[Cha]

24. You're right, of course.