Bernie Sanders Is Performing Stronger Than The Media Is Letting On.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

Per Firebrand Left:

http://firebrandleft.com/bernie-sanders-performing-stronger-media-lets/

~snip~

Bernie Sanders Isn’t As Far Behind As You Think He Is

206. That’s the difference between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in delegates. Clinton’s lead is anything but “insurmountable,” and with most Southern States behind us, it’s a lead that any quasi-competent analyst will tell you is expected to shrink in the next few weeks… if it isn’t overrun entirely, of course.

If you ask anyone in the media, however, they’ll present you with a completely different number: 655, a much bigger chunk of the 2,382 delegates needed to win. That’s a far greater gap between Sanders and Clinton, and when you hear that number, your faith in Sanders’ ability to win fades away faster than your faith in humanity while seeing what’s happening at Trump rallies.

There’s just one problem with that second number: It’s total bulls–t.

~snip~

The Media Has Picked Their Favorite Horses

Some of you might be wondering why the media is painting a totally different picture from reality. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are in a virtual dead-heat, with Clinton’s lead being minuscule at best. The primary has only barely just begun, too. So why are so many media outlets reporting otherwise?


There are many theories circulating the web, but I like to think mine makes the most sense: those media outlets have spent the past several years telling us Clinton was a shoe-in for 2016, and they don’t want to be proven wrong. Clinton is also a controversy-magnet; a Hillary Clinton presidency would surely generate some great breaking news headlines over the next four to eight years, as she leapfrogs from one scandal (invented by the right-wing or otherwise) to the next, as she always has.

CNN has been the worst of the lot. Their coverage of the 2016 democratic primary has been anything but objective: they clearly have a bias for Clinton, to the point where some have taken up calling them the Clinton News Network. Time Warner, the corporation that owns CNN, has gone so far as to make sizable contributions to Clinton’s campaign, so they aren’t even trying to hide their affections, either.

The whole article at the link.

[merrily]

1. Thank you for an encouraging thread, CP.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. A friend of mine posted it on Facebook, and I knew what I wanted to do.

There's been so much negative talk about how badly Bernie is doing that I knew this really mattered.

[merrily]

13. Thanks, CP. We can't rise and fall with every victory or setback. The American

Revolution took 8 years--and they were using live ammo. If they had fallen apart with every denial from King George, with every lost battle, we'd still be singing God Save the Queen instead of our own impossible to sing anthem. Well, okay, maybe we didn't win the musical battle.

Point is, steady as she goes.

A couple of reminders:

Sanders has already won: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12778005

Sea changes in US politics, thanks to Senator Sanders and his supporters
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1280109865

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Indeed, steady as she goes, for sure. And thanks for the links! I'll read 'em later. n/t

[Baobab]

21. Voting machines insecure in many states -

Voting is not enough sometimes, because with no paper record, proprietary software based touch screen voting machines make it impossible to audit elections.

Illary is hiding a lot. Neoliberalism is kind of like a global cult, whose goals is to turn back the changes in the latter part of the 20th century. They have a 20 year lead on democracy.

Its a really scary thing, its trying to tear out moral values and human rights and replace them with corporate rights, when Hilllary speaks about ending discrimination, she means discrimination against foreign corporations, not people.

[Stevepol]

29. Yep! I said this at the very beginning, when Bernie's campaign just began:

Bernie in a general election would beat anybody by a good margin, but that victory would be difficult to translate into reality because he would first of all have to win the nomination, which would be very difficult. The unknown factor would be the voter suppression and the voting machines, which in a battle between Repubs and Dems, are systematically, routinely defaulted toward the Repubs by a certain percentage, which varies depending on the particular race. The exit polls are even tilted now because of this constant built-in Repub tilt in the general elections. Huge numbers distrust the machines but NOBODY is able to do anything about it. Here in Wichita Kansas e.g., an outlier in national politics, once Beth Clarkson, a statistician at Wichita State began her crusade to verify the vote or double-check it (which should be a right of the voter anywhere), large numbers showed up at Bernie meetings to hear her and cheer her on. Of course the judicial system in KS is stacked with Republicans but even Repubs have brains and are on occasion capable of using them. Many people are aware of this. MANY.

And the second big obstacle is the media and the neo-libs and the moneyed class, which have stacked the deck and made it almost impossible for change to take place. They will not give up control easily, and the hardest stage I felt would be the primary process leading to the nomination of the Dem candidate.

[Ferd Berfel]

51. and the DNC knows it, won't talk about it and has done nothing to change it

don't you wonder why?

[marions ghost]

2. Literally for YEARS we have been beaten over the head

with Hillary the "front runner." The inevitability of her candidacy. The Chosen One.

I think people got sick of all that pre-selection and promotion by the Corporate media.

When Sanders entered, so many of us were more than ready to jump ship for a much more attractive alternative.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. I so agree! n/t

[Baobab]

22. Bait and switch.. how wrong they are..

I am sure they are counting on lesser evilism to save the day for Hillary.

Sanders would make the better President, but they know that and don't care. She has to win to prevent the secrets of how the country's been taken for a fool - too soon. From coming out too soon.

Sanders is being way too nice to Hillary. He's not asking the questions on what exactly was her goal and the medias goal in hiding GATS and hiding TiSA from the nation? What does it accomplish to force Americans into a race to the bottom with foreign firms on wages?

[Baobab]

24. Hillary lost my vote forever when she gave up so easily in 2008 to Obama

I was such an idiot to support her even as I started realizing the whole health care situation was a sham.

No more Lesser evilism.

[anotherproletariat]

66. She was being a loyal party member, and knew that a contentious primary would harm

the Dems chances in the general election. Any good member of a political party would do the same.

[Baobab]

67. There is another major issue which didnt seem like the big issue it turned out to be later..

sometime in 2008 Public Citizen published a paper about the three main candidates positions on healthcare and climate were doomed by WTO trade deals and for them to do anything along the lines of what they were proposing would require WTO modifications in advance which would become more and more costly due to invisible locking mechanism, a so called 'ratchet' standstill and rollback..

When i read it I just had a feeling that it described a much bigger problem than what one would think from the absence of media coverage on the issues. I think that time has proved that that theory was correct.

[Kip Humphrey]

5. Thank you, CP. Shades of 2008, the Grand Correction continues. I sure wished Hillary had

changed up her game plan since 2008 (at least switched up the timing or order or something), so its getting a bit boring. At least Bernie livens it up!

http://giphy.com/gifs/3o7abkti7UphSopcl2

[disillusioned73]

34. lol...

- lovin that gif

[mucifer]

6. Luckily at least for TODAY that is NOT the feeling here in Chicago.

The news has lots of Bernie on it lately and they are stating from a polling perspective it is a tie. They are also saying they think between the demonstration at the trump rally and the rahm endorsement, Bernie is picking up steam!



Also, his adds are all over the place on tv and radio in Chicago. Something I would have never thought would happen when months ago I heard he was running.

[agracie]

17. Oh dog, YES !!! And MSNBC is even worse.!!!

[lob1]

18. MSNBC is blatant about their Hillary support.

Now they just shove it in your face.

[Enthusiast]

30. MSNBC imagines we will forgive their blatant bias. It won't happen.

[Land of Enchantment]

8. Great read, thank you

-snip-

'If Bernie Sanders does win this primary, he’ll have overcome more obstacles than any other primary victor in living memory. That he’s held his own and continues to challenge Clinton at every turn, despite having the full might of the Democratic Party and the mainstream media throwing down every roadblock they can muster, has already assured his 2016 campaign a place in election history, for sure. And if he loses, his own campaign will be the last place anyone will look for a source of blame.'

I have watched a lot of football games, even got to see Joe Willie Namath play at the U of A as a kid. My father used to say it is virtually impossible to beat both the other team and the referees and from this article it seems Bernie not only has beat both of them but also play on an uphill grade of about 40 degrees.

Keep the Faith.

[marions ghost]

9. Not up on football

but I do get the analogy

Does seem like Bernie's done a fast break of some kind. With a little assist from friends.

[WillyT]

10. Thank You My Dear Peggy...

[SoapBox]

11. K & R!

Thank you for posting this Peggy!

[Major Hogwash]

12. The CU Supreme Court decision is what led us to this point.

The news corporations are giving Hillary free time, and MSNBC has told all of their late night hosts, "Choose: Hillary or your job"!!

It's just too obvious.

[Baobab]

23. Nobody watches cable any more..

If I were them I would start their own site..

[Segami]

14. Kick!

Thanks for posting this CaliforniaPeggy............

[agracie]

16. K&R

[Uncle Joe]

19. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, CaliforniaPeggy.

[2banon]

20. Kickin' & a Recken'

[Spitfire of ATJ]

25. Also anyone on the far Right is considered "viable" but the Left? Forget it.

[Else You Are Mad]

58. Sanders...

Has finally blown the lid off this obvious lie. For the last 25 years or so, we were bombarded with the lie that anyone left of moderate is unelectable. Sanders has helped to show that is blatantly wrong -- to the point where Clinton has been forced to campaign left rather than stay in her moderate comfort zone.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

60. Especially since "moderate" is now to the right of Reagan.

[Betty Karlson]

26. Thanks for all you contribute to this site, Peggy.

Love, Betty.

[AtomicKitten]

27. k/r

[Garrett78]

28. A "virtual dead-heat"

Oh my.

[Enthusiast]

31. K&R! This post should have hundreds of recommendations!

[kgnu_fan]

32. K&R

[Vinca]

33. Bernie has indicated he's in it for the long haul and that tells me

he has some interesting internal polling. Whether Clinton people want to admit it or not, he's already had a massive impact on this race. The SNL skit the other night illustrated it perfectly. Hillary has gone left and not just a little left. The big question is whether she'll remain there or, if the nominee, nose dive back to the right for Republican votes.

[arikara]

53. If she wins she'll pivot right again

so fast your head will spin. And if that happens I see her being a one term president just as she was a one term senator and a one term SOS.

[Jenny_92808]

62. She'll Etch-A-Sketch

what she said and move to the right

[Octafish]

35. Corporate Owned News = CON = Corporate McPravda

Candidates that help the bottom line through tax breaks, deregulation and too-big-to-prosecute policing are going to be rewarded through advocacy and inside information.

Those who say that corporations and the rich will be made accountable get no attention other than to say they are not viable, communistic, or unhinged.

Thank you for the heads up on Firebrand Left. Thanks also for your kindness since you joined DU.

[Harriety]

36. They were just shocked

when Barack Obama was elected President over the obvious front runner in the last presidential election. Even Carl Rove had a hissy over the fact that the media a made Romney a shoe in. He sure had a WTF moment then. Well, the MSM can have a WTF moment in this election as well when Bernie become President.

[tabasco]

37. The American mass media is owned by the plutocracy

and is nothing more than a right-wing propaganda machine. So, of course, they will do everything they can to destroy Sanders as a presidential candidate.

[Avalux]

38. This article is fantastic! Exactly what I've been thinking too.

Today should be very interesting!!!

[geardaddy]

39. Thank you for posting this Peggy!

[dorkzilla]

40. Good post, thanks Peggy!

Funny, I just checked in at Facebook and some of my least (read: completely not interested) political friends are posting pro-Bernie stuff, which is really fascinating to me. If he can get through to these people, something *IS* happening!

[jcgoldie]

42. 206 delegates

Is a greater lead than Obama had over Hillary Clinton at any point in the 2008 primaries.

[Raster]

43. My Dear Peggy, THANK YOU for posting!

Beware, Hillary Clinton. Beware the Ides of March!

[Dont call me Shirley]

44. The media is a reflection of it's owners, narcissists who skew everything in their favor.

[me b zola]

45. K&R

[warrprayer]

46. Thanks California Peggy!

Great post!

[Moostache]

47. It ain't over 'til it's over...Yogi Berra

Thanks for the upbeat outlooks...its tough at times when all you hear is the negative like some sort of weird tribal rain dance night after night!

I proudly cast my vote for Bernie this morning in Missouri. I was somewhat shocked that the Democratic primary ballot had something like 9 candidates in Missouri and the presidential primary was the lone issue on the ballot, something that is odd because I cannot recall another primary election that was totally devoid of local issues or judges or candidates or anything else!

I am hoping to watch the returns tonight and see some Michigan-style "upsets" that run counter to the conventional wisdom and the media expectations of a Clinton coronation. My hope is that Bernie stays alive all the way through the primaries and puts a serious dent in the DLC/Third Way slant of the party to the "center-right" ground the Clinton and their lackeys are so comfortable in.

Onward to victory!
Feel the Bern!!!!!

[Fast Walker 52]

48. the mainstream media really just does not like Bernie and won't take him seriously

fuck them

[RufusTFirefly]

49. I think the PTB saw Drumpf as either Jeb! or Hillary insurance

Nothing like the prospect of a raving lunatic in the White House to convince people to embrace an unabashed corporatist instead.

But they miscalculated badly.

The corporate media is geared up and ready to make the case against Drumpf, but they never imagined that Bernie would be the alternative.

[Zorra]

50. Recommend!

[suffragette]

52. K&R

[retrowire]

54. knr Peggy! we love you! nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

55. And the feeling is mutual, my dear retrowire! mwaaaaaaaa! n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

56. Bookmark this chart...

It's the results minus the superdelegates.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gTkqsr5OIOTRNM_vd_chGoN00SPX1PEWN-p6UdpWJ6k/edit?pref=2&pli=1#gid=0

BTW: Some of those superdelegates signed on to her before Bernie even announced. They should NOT be considered to be a lock for her.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

57. Thank you for that chart, my dear Spitfire! Very interesting. n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

61. See what you find when you follow links to links to links to links?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

63. For sure! It's how I found DU! n/t

[MerryBlooms]

59. Never heard of Firebrand Left, but I hope they're right.

[Flying Shoe]

64. Trump is the real ratings magnet

Although the bias towards Hillary is certainly real, I think that Trump is the real ratings and headline magnet. He gets all the coverage because of this, but the powers don't like backing a wild card. Hillary is there safe bet, and thus she gets the positive media coverage.

[George II]

65. Sorry. Not true.