General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Jane Sanders Lawyers Up [View all]VOX
(22,976 posts)If Sanders had been the candidate, there is no telling what the Republican hate machine (with significant input and assistance from the Kremlin, we now know) would have thrown at Bernie.
No doubt part of such a coordinated attack against Bernie would include such outrageous chestnuts as "Northeastern socialist senator is out of touch with real Americans," "Sanders is the poster boy for even bigger government," "Socialist Dems want to raise your taxes," "Jane Sanders fleeced Burlington College," "How would hard-working Americans fare under socialism?" "Socialism, socialism, socialism," "How some countries have failed under socialist regimes," "Socialism will destroy America," etc., etc., and that's not even 1/4 of what the GOP hate machine would sound off with every day, via hate radio, Fox, Breitbart, Hannity, the Trump campaign itself, and so on. All of which plays great in the depressed, looking-for-someone-to-blame, disaffected white men who reside in the Rust Belt.
The demographics of the region indicate the highest concentration of white males in the United States; it's in this specific demographic that Trump was most successful. Sadly, his xenophobic messaging resonated most in non-urban areas where there is a constant setting of anger and fear.
While it's ultimately a fruitless exercise, nevertheless Bernie's "path to the presidency" would NOT have been some cakewalk. The last time a Northeastern senator/Democratic presidential candidate won was in 1960. And that was the charismatic JFK.