Sandernistas Use the Trump Playbook to Paint Biden as Senile

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

With little time to reverse the course of the Democratic primary, leftist and independent-minded critics of Joe Biden have ramped up insinuations about the former vice president’s mental state, going so far as to insist that the matter will doom the party in the general election.

The attacks are remarkable not just for the degree they copy the current Republican playbook against Biden but for how they take a topic that was taboo in past cycles and—without any verification—make it a centerpiece of efforts to blunt his momentum. Coming after the former VP wrested the lead from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) following the primaries on Super Tuesday, it suggests that the closing chapter of the Democratic primary could turn into a deeply personal and politically nasty affair.

Indeed, some Sanders supporters have been blunt about their desire to gin up chatter about Biden’s mental state to derail him. In an episode of the popular leftist podcast Chapo Traphouse released Thursday, the hosts openly discussed how best to use the “senility” attack against the former vice president.

“I’m sorry, he’s senile... his brain is not all there,” Chapo co-host Will Menaker said.

https://news.yahoo.com/biden-leftist-critics-trump-y-000021616.html

My mother went senile. Joe isn't even close to that.

[2naSalit]

1. To be expected for the duration....nt

[frazzled]

2. From the guy who walked onto the wrong jet

the other day. And, for lack of ability to formulate new ideas, gives the same stump speech no matter what the context, or what novel question is asked at a debate. Also thinks he is living in 1934 and 1971, simultaneously.

[betsuni]

9. +1

[Turin_C3PO]

14. Biden isn't senile

and neither is Bernie. But Trump probably is.

[TwilightZone]

3. A long-time DUer posted a video entitled "17 minutes of Biden's brain melting" this morning.

Last edited Tue Mar 10, 2020, 09:52 AM - Edit history (1)

We're going to see some people intentionally flaming out, and DU will get the blame, just like last time. Some are doing so already. It's childish and unproductive, but that's just the nature of some people.

That's why "unity" will never be 100% successful. We have to work with the vast majority and probably just ignore the worst of it to win in November.

[C_U_L8R]

5. Like Trump, they've blown their credibility.

[onetexan]

6. This is why after tomorrow if there is another Biden rout Bernie needs to pack it in

so his rabid team won't create any more fodder for the GOP going into the GE. This is exactly what Bernie Bros did to Hillary. It's gotta stop.

[TwilightZone]

7. Might take another week.

If he can't make up any ground on the 10th and 17th, I think he'll bow out. Another week won't matter, plus the more convincing Biden's win is, the better off we'll be for the convention and onward.

[jmowreader]

8. I disagree

Sanders' intent is to steal the nomination. I believe he will show up in Milwaukee with a message for the DNC: take the nomination away from Joe Biden and give it to me, or I will have all my followers vote for Trump specifically to destroy your party.

If he does, I want him expelled from the Senate Democratic Caucus.

[aikoaiko]

11. I doubt it because he has already said he will support Joe Biden if he wins.

[Turin_C3PO]

13. He's not going to do that.

He’s stated several times he’ll support Biden if he gets the nomination. No reason to doubt him, I think.

[TwilightZone]

15. No reason for him to do that.

If current projections hold, Biden will have a solid majority, and that's the end of it. Sanders can't (and isn't going to) demand the nomination, because once the first ballot is done, it's over. His only chance was to go in with a plurality.

He's certainly not going to say his supporters are going to vote for Trump. He may be frustrated and disappointed, but there's still a line. That line stops with Trump.

[jmowreader]

18. Think back to 2016

He went to the convention to attempt to flip superdelegates. This year’s theme is “the front runner is too damn old and sick to be president so give it to me” (leaving out the part where Sanders is older than Biden and has more health problems).

[TwilightZone]

19. The math doesn't work.

Based on current projections, there aren't enough superdelegates to give him the nomination, even if they all voted for him. He's projected to lose by about 1,000 delegates. There are only 775 SDs. First-ballot, end of story. SDs won't even come into play.

He's also spent the entire campaign saying that the person with the most delegates should win the nomination, doubling-down on it after Nevada, so it's unlikely anyone is going to take him seriously if he throws a fit.

I get what you're saying, but the situation is very different from 2016. Biden is likely going to have an even larger majority than Clinton did, anti-Hillary sentiment isn't a factor, everyone outside of a few Sanders supporters see Trump as the common enemy, and there's going to be little or no tolerance for the same kind of nonsense we saw in 2016. I just don't see it happening.

[LizBeth]

10. I am supporting Biden but far from first choice. I am seeing no signs of senility. What we see with

Biden is not senility and there have been professionals stating such. I totally get the glitches Biden has. I am comfortable with him as President. So, this is disgusting that sanders is going with this. Hey, lets go after his heart attack, that is at least real.

[aikoaiko]

12. This not coming from Sander's campaign.

I noticed you substituted Sandernistas for leftists in the title of the article and made it your title.

[apnu]

21. I saw this idea floated in the FB US Democratic Socialists group a few days ago

Its pretty active group, its hard to find anything after a few hours with them, I can't say if they took it down or not, but I saw it go by. Many Sanders people were seriously discussing this thought in terms of "better do it now before Trump does it" It was really gross to observe.

Most of the Sanders people in my personal circle are appalled that anybody who believes in Sander's message would go in this direction, but I witnessed it first hand.

I've often wondered how much of Sanders supporters are actually right-wing (or Russian) pot stirring and how much of it is legit.

What I do see, however, when such obviously wrong things appear, few in the Sanders world pushing back and policing their own. I don't get that.

[Tom Rinaldo]

16. This will be debunked by the next debate

When Bernie and Joe go one on one for 90 minutes. This is an important debate for that reason alone. No one will be able to make such claims after watching Joe take on Bernie.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

17. So are saying you think Joe is Senile?

Where did you go to med school?

[TwilightZone]

20. The opposite, I think.

He's asserting that the next debate will debunk the nonsense about Joe's "senility". I agree.

[Tom Rinaldo]

22. Correct

I think it is nonsense, and that type of nonsense won't hold up to scrutiny when people can see for themselves how Joe performs in that setting. Joe may or may not supposedly "win" the debate, but to debunk this line of attack on him, Biden simply has to "keep it together" on stage, which he way more than will.