Bernie Sanders Running for US President

[dust1n]

Do do doot, do do doot..

Folks we got somethings coming on the Sanders wire:

On Thursday, Sanders acknowledged, as he has in the past, that Clinton is a “heavy favorite,” but argued that he’s making ground and that name recognition plays a big role in polling.

“I think the secretary may well be one of the best-known people in the United States of America. I am not,” Sanders said.

Sanders grabbed attention this week for scoring over the weekend a surprising 41 percent in an official Wisconsin Democratic Party straw poll at the state convention, losing to Clinton by just eight points.

The Vermont senator has also been creeping up in the national polls. He’s climbed to 15 percent in the Democratic field, up from single digits before his kickoff rally in Vermont on May 26. And the most recent Iowa and New Hampshire polls showed him at 16 and 18 percent, respectively — also a jump from earlier polling.

Sanders, the longest-serving independent in congressional history, has also been drawing pretty impressive crowds. More than 3,000 supporters showed up to a fiery Sanders rally on a Sunday in Minneapolis. Last week, an estimated 1,000 people showed up in Keene, New Hampshire, and most events in his recent trips to Iowa were standing-room only, including 700 people who showed up in Davenport, the largest Iowa rally for a candidate in either race.

Bernie Sanders insists his momentum is no fluke - Jonathan Topaz - POLITICO

What does Bernie Sanders think of the media’s performance so far this campaign? Barely adequate. The huge speaking fees Bill and Hillary Clinton have accepted? Wrong question, he says; you should be asking why anyone pays them. How about primary debates? Sanders says the entire system should be redesigned to bring Republicans on stage with Democrats.

As Hillary Clinton stayed out of sight this week, fundraising and preparing what is sure to be a highly produced presidential campaign launch speech in New York on Saturday, Sanders, the senator from Vermont who also is seeking the Democratic nomination, was mixing it up with the media.

The contrast was notable. Clinton has yet to put herself in the situation that Sanders eagerly embraced Thursday morning, as he engaged in a frank give-and-take with reporters over breakfast. He delivered some lines it would be hard to imagine Clinton ever uttering — not because they reflected his socialist outlook, but because they were so blunt.

“Campaigns are not baseball games,” Sanders scolded. “What did I read in the paper today? Gov. Bush is getting a new campaign manager. You know who cares about that? About eight people in the world. Nobody cares about that.”

“It is not a radical agenda,” he said. “In virtually every instance, what I am saying is supported by a significant majority of the American people. Yes, it is not supported by the Business Roundtable or the Chamber of Commerce or Wall Street. I maybe old-fashioned enough to believe that Congress might want to be representing a vast majority of our people … and not just the Koch brothers and other campaign contributors.”

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders: Media are inept and GOP agenda is hidden - LA Times

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate and Sen. Bernie Sanders is joining the growing list of White House hopefuls coming to a Las Vegas conference next week.

Sanders is scheduled to speak June 19 at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference at the Aria Resort and Casino. More than 1,200 Latino leaders are expected to attend.

Sanders has represented Vermont in the U.S. Senate since 2006 and served for 16 years as the state's congressman before that.

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Dr. Ben Carson have already announced plans to address the group.

Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders coming to Las Vegas | KSL.com

After Hillary Clinton kicks her campaign into high gear Saturday with an official launch rally in New York City, she will travel to Iowa and run up against a challenger who has become an unexpected lightning-rod on the left: presidential long-shot and self-described socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

"I freely admit what everybody here knows: that Secretary Clinton goes into this campaign as the heavy favorite. The polls today show her way out in front,” Sanders told reporters Thursday during a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "But I will tell you: If you look at these very same polls, we have momentum. And our numbers are growing."

In the six weeks since Sanders announced his presidential campaign, the Vermont independent has emerged as the leading and unlikely rival for the hearts of progressives in the Democratic Party — bolstered by angst on the left and concerns over Clinton's populist bona fides. Enthusiastic supporters have created a special Twitter hashtag -- #FeelTheBern -- to push his candidacy.

In part, Sanders' rise fills a void left by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), whose decision not to make a White House run left her supporters yearning for an alternative to the former secretary of state, whom they see as too moderate.

“We are drawing very large crowds. I am surprised by the size of the crowds…which as I understand it, I may be wrong, are the largest crowds of any candidate,” Sanders said, sounding incredulous at the thought. “If I were here six weeks ago and we were discussing my presidential ambitions, I would not have known whether I was running for office or not.”

Attendance at Sanders' free-wheeling rallies in early voting states have reached into the thousands. The contrast is striking: So far, Clinton has only held small "roundtables" focused on policy issues, all carefully coordinated by her team in advance.

Hillary Clinton to #FeelTheBern – that’s Bernie Sanders – in Iowa - The Washington Post

 

[dust1n]

I recently caught a Bernie Sanders' interview where he proposed providing free college education to any American that wanted it, funded by a small fee on stock market transactions. Those that know me might think I'd be opposed to this idea based on my libertarian-leaning and fiscally conservative nature. However, my own life experience and my observations of others have me siding with Senator Sanders on this one.

I grew up in what would probably be described as a lower middle class family. We had food, shelter and clothes, but not much more. I went to high school with kids from all income bracket levels. Most of my friends in the lower income bracket got jobs after high school and most from wealthier families went to college. Of course there were exceptions, but that was the most common outcome. At 19, I joined the military.

I saw first hand how the military took young adults, mostly from lower income families like mine, and provided them with a job, training and opportunities for education, advancement, mentorship and personal and professional development. I would argue that the military is one of the most respected organizations in our country because it invests in its young people early and often. Why can't we invest in all our young adults in the same manner?

There is this perception that providing a free college education to young adults is some kind of undeserved entitlement. I struggle to see the difference between a kid that is lucky enough to be born into a family that has the resources to pay for their child to go to college and a kid that benefits from a government program that equalizes that "birth" advantage. No one would ever accuse a family that pays for their child's college education as providing an "undeserved entitlement" and we shouldn't view someone that gets a little help from society in that way either. This is where my libertarian ideology (with a liberal lean) kicks in:

I believe that everyone should be given an equal opportunity in the marathon of life...

Bernie Sanders is spot on with his proposal, although I do disagree on one point. Wall Street shouldn't be the only ones investing in our young adults. All of us should invest! Charge me an extra 25 cents at Starbucks or when I eat a Big Mac. This doesn't go against my fiscally conservative belief system because I don't view helping young adults as wasteful spending. It's an investment that benefits us all. My own experience has taught me that if you invest in young people early, you will be rewarded long term with productive members of society. We all benefit from a young population that we invest in; I've seen it work first hand in the military.

Military Veteran's View of Bernie Sanders' Free College Proposal | Kevin Martin

 

[dust1n]

FOLKS, It's a Bern Notice:

In a trio of new polls in early primary states, Hillary Clinton leads Democratic rivals in Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire.

It’s in the Granite State, however, that the former secretary of state’s standing is the least rock-solid, according to new polls conducted by Morning Consult.

Among Democratic voters who say they will participate in the state’s primary next year, 44 percent back Clinton. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, the self-described democratic socialist from neighboring Vermont, grabs 32 percent. Vice President Joe Biden, who has shown little inclination to run, claims 8 percent of likely Democratic voters.

In Iowa, Clinton picked up 54 percent, with no other candidate over 20 percent. Sanders finished next, at 12 percent. In South Carolina, 56 percent of likely primary voters expressed support for Clinton.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee polled low in all three early states.

The survey polled 905 registered voters in Iowa, including 313 likely Democratic caucus-goers; 906 registered voters in South Carolina, including 309 likely Democratic primary voters; and 816 registered voters in New Hampshire, including 279 likely Democratic voters.

Bernie Sanders 2016: Hillary Clinton still leads new polls despite Sanders surge - POLITICO

Let me be the first commentator to state explicitly what many Democratic insiders fear and many of the most progressive activists in the party yearn for: There is a very real prospect that Senator Bernie Sanders wins an outright victory in the Iowa caucus and pulls off one of the most stunning upsets in modern political history.

At this moment I would put the odds that Mr. Sanders upsets Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucus at nearly 40 percent. As someone who can fairly be called a Democratic insider myself, I can report that some of the smartest Democratic strategists in national politics privately believe this but will not publicly state it. I just did.

To fully understand the powerful forces at work within the Democratic Party and national politics, and why Bernie Sanders has suddenly vaulted to a clear second place in the race for the Democratic nomination, lets briefly consider political events in the three days that began last Friday and ended on Sunday.

First, on Friday, President Obama was rebuked by Democrats in the House of Representatives over the fast track trade legislation which led—at least for now—to the bill being defeated in the House.

Then, on Saturday, Hillary Clinton made a major speech in New York in which she echoed many of the themes of progressive populist Democrats while appearing to wrap herself around the political mantle of President Obama with language so compelling it gave credence to the Republican charge that she is running for the third Obama term. I would emphasize—and this is important—that while Clinton was embracing Obama, progressives remember that not long ago Obama was personally and politically insulting prominent progressives such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), which I have previously written about in the Observer...

The reason that Bernie Sanders has a viable chance of defeating Clinton in the Iowa caucus is that caucus elections involve a far smaller pool of voters than primary elections. In the caucus variation of “one person, one vote,” the candidate who can best inspire fervent supporters to attend a caucus on a frigid Iowa evening is the candidate who will win. A student at an Iowa college has the same “one vote” as the chair of the Democratic Party of an Iowa county.

In Washington Elizabeth Warren has seized the mantle of being the progressive conscience of the United States Senate, while in Iowa and other states Bernie Sanders is seizing the mantle of being the progressive conscience of the campaign for the Democratic nomination for president at a time when the progressive movement is on the ascendancy in national politics.

Mr. Sanders is the ultimate conviction politician in American politics. He is the epitome of authenticity. You will never see Mr. Sanders give paid speeches to big banks or Wall Street firms. Nor do his supporters dream of making their financial fortunes as highly paid lobbyists for special interests in Washington.

When the evening of the Iowa caucus arrives it is very possible that political experts and insiders will be astonished and confounded by the sudden appearance of new caucus participants who have never attended party meetings or caucus votes, and trudge through frigid cold and piles of snow to cast their caucus vote for Bernie Sanders.

Politics is similar to the concept of alternative universes in theoretical physics. Most political reporting in major media comes out of the universe of political insiders, where insider reporters report what they hear from insider politicians.

There is an alternate universe to this, which I would call “The Real America,” which is often missed by political insiders, which is why pundits are so often wrong.

In this alternate universe of real Americans who are suspicious of political insiders, there are people with passions and principles who are occasionally inspired to participate in politics in ways that are missed by the mainstream media until a shocking event unfolds in real time.

It is very possible that such an event could occur in the Iowa caucus in 2016, when Mr. Sanders inspires a wave of participation from highly motivated and idealistic outsiders who suddenly descend on the caucuses and carry him to a victory that will shock and stun the political establishment and political media.

Bernie Sanders Can Win the Iowa Caucus | | Observer


In the New Hampshire primary, the nation's first, McCarthy wound up winning 42 percent of the vote against the sitting president. This triggered another challenge to Johnson from Robert F. Kennedy, then a New York senator.

Weeks after his Granite State humiliation, Johnson announced that he would not seek his party's nomination for a second full term. “Abdication was thus the last remaining way to restore control, to turn rout into dignity, collapse into order,” presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote in her biography of Johnson.

Could Sanders, running a similarly laser-focused campaign on economic inequality, turn out to be the Gene McCarthy of 2016? In a Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll published this month, Sanders was the first choice of 16 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers. In a recent Wisconsin straw poll, Sanders got 41 percent of the support of attendees at the state party convention—only 8 percentage points fewer than Hillary Rodham Clinton. (This surprised the candidate himself.) And in a poll published Sunday by Morning Consult, Sanders got the backing of 32 percent of likely Democratic primary-voters in New Hampshire.

In addition to overflowing crowds and coverage from media looking for an unexpected contender, Sanders has an additional advantage not available to McCarthy: stickiness on social media.

Matt Lindstrom, the Director of the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement at McCarthy’s alma mater, St. John's University, sees definite overlap. “Sanders elicits a grassroots populist appeal, particularly among idealists—whether they be movement Democrats or younger Democrats—similar to Senator McCarthy,” he said. “There’s a kind of feeling of, ‘We can fight the man if you will.’” (Or in this case, Lindstrom pointed out, the woman: Clinton.)

McCarthy and Sanders share unconventional political résumés. For one, McCarthy spent time as a member of a Benedictine monastic community; Sanders spent time on an Israeli kibbutz.

“Both McCarthy and Sanders have the advantage of, initially at least, being the long shot. And when you’re that long shot you can take bigger risks, you can be bold, you can be consistent with your conscience, versus taking positions to help you win a general election,” Lindstrom said. “I think that’s why these two candidates are so appealing to these ideological purists.”

Of course there are big differences between now and 1968. Clinton is not an unpopular incumbent, for all the brushstrokes Republican would-be opponents apply to paint her that way. And whatever the controversies surrounding her and her husband, public animosity toward Clinton doesn't begin to approach the anger that brought hundreds of thousands of Americans to protest in Washington against Johnson's policies in Vietnam. Sanders's issue has more to do with butter than with guns. In April, he told Bloomberg that he didn't think Clinton was “prepared to take on the billionaire class.” And he has criticized her for “fence-sitting” on the (now held-up) Trans-Pacific deal. So far, at least, income inequity , as a galvanizer of passionate activism, does not approach the anti-draft sentiment of the sixties.

What if Bernie Sanders Pulls A Eugene McCarthy? - Bloomberg Politics

 

[dust1n]

DES MOINES, Iowa -- As the Democratic presidential field descended on Iowa this weekend, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s visit generated more headlines -- but Democratic rival Bernie Sanders drew more people.

The independent senator from Vermont, who rails against greedy corporate interests ruining the country’s democracy, drew overflow audiences nearly everywhere he went here over the weekend.

That included Des Moines, where close to 800 people streamed to a university auditorium on Friday night, and Waterloo, where more than 500 people gathered in a theater on Sunday afternoon.

The Vermont senator had the support of 16 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers in a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg News Iowa poll earlier this month, to Clinton's 57 percent.

So who's coming to hear him speak?

Meet the people coming to see Bernie Sanders in Iowa - The Washington Post

President hopeful Bernie Sanders, a long shot presidential candidate who has fired up voters on the left, is scheduled to visit Denver in one week.

The Vermont senator plans to talk on how to get big money out of politics (good luck on that one), obscene wealth and income equality, climate change and making college affordable.

Sanders’ campaign website shows he will speak from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., Saturday, June 20, at the University of Denver’s Ritchie Center. The website also has a link to RSVP to the event.

President hopeful Bernie Sanders to visit Denver

Presidential hopeful Lindsey Graham took aim at Democratic rival Bernie Sanders during a skeet shoot Saturday at a Republican retreat hosted by Mitt Romney.

A Democratic official responded Monday by calling Graham's comments "offensive."

The Republican senator from South Carolina held the shoot for about 20 attendees at the Kamas Valley Lions Gun Club in Kamas, Utah, as part of Romney's annual E2 summit, according to a report from MSNBC. At one point, an attendee shot a clay pigeon and said: "That was a hard left, that was Elizabeth Warren right there."

Without missing a beat, Graham shouted: "All right, do a Bernie Sanders." Graham fired his shotgun and blew another clay bird to pieces, according to footage by MSNBC.

"Hey, sorry about that, Bernie," Graham quipped.

The popularity of the Vermont senator, a self-proclaimed socialist Democrat, appears to be soaring. Sanders told National Public Radio he has been stunned by the crowds that have turned out for him on the presidential campaign trail.

Graham's comments came less than two weeks after Graham launched his presidential campaign on a conciliatory note toward Democrats.

"I'll work with you to strengthen the country we both love," Graham said to Democrats, according to a transcript of his speech. "Our differences are real, and we'll debate them. But you're not my enemy. You're my fellow countrymen.

"I intend to be president not of a single party, but of a nation," Graham continued. "I want to do more than make big government smaller. I want to help make a great nation greater."

Sanders' campaign did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking a response to Graham's skeet-shooting comments.

Kaylie Hanson, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, said Graham's remark "was offensive and totally unacceptable."

Brittany Bramell of Graham's campaign said the Republican senator meant no harm by the comment.

"As Senator Sanders and many others in the Senate can attest, Senator Graham has a very good sense of humor, and this was clearly a joke," Bramell wrote in an email. "In fact, I am sure even I had a clay pigeon named after me."

Graham takes aim at Sanders

Most political observers assumed that if Hillary Clinton were to hit a stumbling block in the Democratic primaries, it would be in Iowa, where she placed third in 2008. But two new polls this week show her lead in New Hampshire shrinking rapidly as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders gains ground.

A Suffolk University poll released Tuesday morning found Clinton leading Sanders by 10 points, 41 percent to 31 percent, among likely voters. (They're followed by Vice President Joe Biden at 7 percent, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley at 3 percent, and both former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia at 1 percent.)

The Suffolk numbers come on the heels of a poll from the Morning Consult out Monday: That poll put Clinton at 44 percent and Sanders at 32 percent, with no other candidate reaching double digits.

It's a surge for a candidate who, when he entered the race, was trailing Clinton in New Hampshire polls by more than 30 points. A WMUR/UNH poll conducted following Sanders's campaign launch in late April put him at 13 percent and was well below Clinton's 51 percent. Another, from Bloomberg and St. Anselm College in early May, had Sanders at 18 percent and Clinton at 62 percent.

Bernie Sanders Is Gaining on Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire - NationalJournal.com

 

[Shadow Wolf]

: There is a very real prospect that Senator Bernie Sanders wins an outright victory in the Iowa caucus and pulls off one of the most stunning upsets in modern political history.

The problem with these early caucus ordeals is the are not worth a damn in predicting who will make it to the ballot. If anything, they tell you who probably won't make it.
If he does actually pull it off thought, it'll be the upset of the century. Not just political, but including all major upsets including sports.
And then of course there is the reality that even if he is the next president, it's him against the Red who are going to hate him worse than Obama because is a socialist, and he may very possibly see a good deal of democrat opposition because he'll be the furthest left-leaning president since the Roosevelt's.

 

[dust1n]

Neil Young on Tuesday continued a storied American tradition of recording artists asking Republican candidates to stop playing their music after Donald Trump used Young's 1989 song, Rockin' in the Free World, three times during his presidential campaign announcement.

"Donald Trump was not authorized to use Rockin' in the Free World in his presidential candidacy announcement," a representative of Young's Lookout Management said in a statement, according to Rolling Stone. "Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for president of the United States of America."

Neil Young: Sorry, Donald, But I Support Bernie Sanders - Bloomberg Politics

ATLANTA — At a burger bar near downtown Atlanta, tables were piled with “Bernie Y’all” buttons and “Who the Hell is Bernie Sanders?” pamphlets. Sign-in sheets were readied, and now, there was only the question of how this meeting of Bernie Sanders supporters would go.

Here came the people. Men with tiny gray pony tails. Women with tattoos. Unapologetic lefties such as Starr Wright, who said in a Southern drawl, “If the main negative anyone can throw out is that he’s a white male Jewish socialist, then bring it on!”

But here, too, came Dan Friedman, who is in technology sales. Signing in was Dale Stratford, a scientist who described herself as “a prototypical middle-class white woman.” Taking a seat was David McClatchey, a graduate student who said, “Honestly, my instinct is that when a Democratic socialist stands and talks, it makes me uncomfortable, but I don’t let that stop me from listening.”

Here they all were at a gathering for the democratic socialist senator from Vermont, whose mad-as-hell campaign for president has been drawing crowds that have surprised even Sanders. In New Hampshire, more than 700; in Minnesota, more than 3,000; in Des Moines this past Friday, a raucous crowd of 700 people turned out for a no-frills rally, about the same number that came to a Hillary Rodham Clinton event featuring a live band and burgers.

And now, on a Sunday afternoon, Atlanta.

More than 100 people streamed into a place called Manuel’s Tavern, one of more than a dozen “People for Bernie” events around the country on this weekend in which Sanders himself would not appear.

‘Who the Hell is Bernie Sanders?’ These Southerners want everyone to know. - The Washington Post

The Bernie Sanders presidential campaign has met its initial fundraising target. Campaign officials say it's now clear that Sanders can meet his overall goal of $40 million for the primary campaign by relying on small contributors.

In the three weeks since Sanders held his official campaign kickoff in Burlington, more than $6 million has flowed into his campaign treasury. The average contribution is less than $50.

Audio for this story will be posted at approximately 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 17.

Jeff Weaver headed up Sanders' congressional office for many years, and recently he was appointed as manager of the presidential run. He says fundraising is going very well, and shows the power of the Internet...

"He's enjoying himself. This is the best time of his life, you'd have to say, politically, and people do want an alternative. They're not sure Bernie is the alternative, but they do want an alternative to Hillary who they can vote for,” Nelson says.

Sanders is back on the campaign trail this weekend with stops in Nevada, Colorado, and South Carolina.

Sanders Campaign Raises Millions In Small Contributions | Vermont Public Radio

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Ben Carson and Bernie Sanders will visit Las Vegas from June 17-20 to address the nation’s Hispanic political leadership, a group that represents the growing and powerful Hispanic influence on election results. More than 1,200 Hispanic policymakers, leaders and elected officials are expected to attend the 32nd annual National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference (NALEO) Conference to hear the candidates’ views on the most pressing issues facing our communities across the nation. Candidates know the Hispanic vote has made a decisive impact on past presidential races in key states across the country, and in the 2016 election cycle, Hispanic voters are again projected to be a major factor in the outcome, especially in Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.

Polling of Hispanics makes our concerns clear. We place a high value on job creation and immigration policies, and we also feel strongly about the environment, particularly water — ensuring both sufficient water for drinking and agriculture, as well as water in our rivers for wildlife and healthy outdoor recreation. In fact, Hispanic voter concern in Arizona and New Mexico for low water levels in rivers is almost as high as unease about unemployment.

For Hispanics living in the Southwest, the Colorado River occupies a special place in their communities. The strong connection to the river goes to the heart of the culture. For Hispanics in the Colorado River basin, protecting the river is more than just smart water management; it is honoring part of our rich heritage of living in the Southwest.

Today, 1 out of every 3 people who live in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada is Hispanic — a substantial percentage of the 36 million people in the Southwest who rely on the Colorado River every day. Our farmers and ranchers rely on the Colorado River to irrigate their crops and water their animals. Our families use the Colorado River for recreation, entertainment and healthy outdoor living. Our faith communities still baptize people in the mighty “red” river. And as residents of the Colorado River Basin, we must protect it.

Presidential candidates should weigh in on water challenges at conference - Las Vegas Sun News

Democratic presidential hopeful and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ venue for his visit to Charleston on Sunday night has been changed from the longshoremen’s union hall downtown to the Burke High School gymnasium.

Sanders’ campaign said they expect a large crowd, so they opted for the switch from the International Longshoremen’s Hall, to Burke High, 244 President St., near Johnson Hagood Stadium.

Sanders is hosting a Sunday night town meeting.

“The response in South Carolina has been tremendous,” said Phil Fiermonte, the campaign’s field director. “The interest in Bernie and his message about rebuilding our middle class is resonating in South Carolina like it is in other states around the country.”

Bernie Sanders’ Charleston venue for Sunday switched to Burke High gym - Post and Courier

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

I'm surprised at the rapid rate Sanders is accumulating support.

 

[Paranoid Android]

I'm surprised at the rapid rate Sanders is accumulating support.

I won't for him. My politics are Left of Center, but I support the Counstitution and the Bill of Rights.

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

I won't for him. My politics are Left of Center, but I support the Counstitution and the Bill of Rights.

I don't follow.

 

[Paranoid Android]

I don't follow.

I;m not so far to the Left. My complaint about the Republicans AND the Democrats are they are too far Left and Right. I want a Centrist who will listen to each argument and choose the argument, Left or Right, that manages to achieve the goal they have set out for themselves.

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

I;m not so far to the Left. My complaint about the Republicans AND the Democrats are they are too far Left and Right. I want a Centrist who will listen to each argument and choose the argument, Left or Right, that manages to achieve the goal they have set out for themselves.

Then perhaps you should re-evaluate your perception of left and right. Both the Republicans and Democrats have shifted to the right in the past few decades. In fact, congressional Republicans now essentially represent extreme libertarian policies. Bernie Sanders' ideas are not new...nor are they extreme. They are quite centrist, and in fact, represent many Republican ideas of many decades ago. Beyond that, Sanders does not represent big money. His entire campaign is grassroots-funded. Meanwhile, all the front-runners are funded by super pacs, and I sincerely doubt their policies will significantly benefit the average American. Unless you're a million or billionaire, I suggest you give Sanders a second look. He's gaining ground quite rapidly, and he's pretty honest on camera.

 

[Laika]

I won't for him. My politics are Left of Center, but I support the Counstitution and the Bill of Rights.

I'm guessing here so forgive me if this is a leap, but...

The US uses a different concept of the political spectrum to the rest of the world. The concept of Left and Right developed out of the French Revolution; the National Assemblies 'right-wing' of the chamber were Monarchists and conservatives who supported inequality, whereas it's 'left-wing' was the Jacobins who supported equality. Therefore Right wing means supporting inequality (which is why fascism is considered right-wing) and left-wing support equality. This is the definition that most Europeans use as overall, Europe is to the left of the US [and still democratic].

In the US, the libertarian-conservative bias means that the notion of right and left have changed, quite dramatically from what it is in Europe to where the 'right-wing' is libertarianism, and the left-wing is anything that is not libertarian irrespective of whether any of these ideologies actually have anything in common beyond an increased role for the state. Fascism, whilst supporting social inequality is classified as 'left-wing' in this model. Importantly this version of the political spectrum therefore excludes the possibility than anything on the 'left' can be free because it is assumed the expansion of government always leads to less freedom and socialism is automatically totalitarian even when well-intentioned.
This is historically not accurate, but was very useful in the days of the Cold War as anti-communist propaganda. There were democratic forms of socialism through out the 19th century and which were introduced throughout western europe after world war II. In the US, the success of the New Deal meant FDR proposed a 'second' bill of rights in his state of the union address in 1944, namely economic and social rights. as he died in 1945, it was not implemented. (Democratic) Socialism was a direct product of liberalism, in that it recognised that equality of rights was not the same as equal oppurtunity, as those with more money had more oppurtunities. Sanders is a Democratic socialist in the Western European tradition, and therefore is not a threat to the US constitution or the Bill of Rights.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I;m not so far to the Left. My complaint about the Republicans AND the Democrats are they are too far Left and Right. I want a Centrist who will listen to each argument and choose the argument, Left or Right, that manages to achieve the goal they have set out for themselves.

Republicans are definitely further right than the democrats are to the left, but democrats are definitely closer to the center than they lean outwards towards the left.

Sanders is a Democratic socialist in the Western European tradition, and therefore is not a threat to the US constitution or the Bill of Rights.

And he's not backed by usual corporate and ultra-wealthy donors, which makes him even less of a threat.

 

[dust1n]

I'm surprised at the rapid rate Sanders is accumulating support.

Apparently, even he is too. I don't think anyone was expecting him to get within 10 percentage points in NH.

 

[dust1n]

"Six weeks ago, the Huffington Post’s lead article was “Why Hillary Can’t Lose.” But the S.S. Clinton campaign that steams into southern California on Friday increasingly looks like the arrogant crew of the Titanic that continued to run full-throttle after hitting an iceberg, because their ship was “Practically Unsinkable.”

Hillary Clinton will arrive in Los Angeles following President Obama’s arrival the day before for high-visibility speeches at a pair of Democratic National Committee fundraisers:a roundtable discussion hosted by producer Chuck Lorre in Pacific Palisades, and a dinner at the Beverly Hills home of filmmaker Tyler Perry.

Two months ago, with 70 percent of the public already following the election closely, Clinton’s poll numbers were over 50 percent and up at least 10 points against every Republican challenger, according to a survey by Rasmussen Reports. Hillary also commanded a 52-point lead over every conceivable Democrat contender.

But as Clinton launched her campaign on June 13, the media were already questioning her inevitability. Lead stories included the Washington Post‘s “Clinton the Inauthentic,” and the Washington Times’ “Unhappy with Hillary.” New York Times columnist Frank Bruni attacked Clinton on Twitter for being “chronically unethical” like Richard Nixon, and described her as “psychological torture” for the Democrat Party–“Hillary the Tormentor.”

This turmoil is burning brightest in the Democrats’ first primary state of New Hampshire. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an avowed Socialist, has quadrupled his support in state polls from just single digits two months ago to 31 percent, while Hillary Clinton plummeted by 20 points to only 41 percent. Clinton is still up in the Quinnipiac national poll by 57-15. But that is only because Sanders’s name ID is a fraction of Clinton’s. As this “bad news” goes viral, Sanders persona will explode onto the national scene.

The New York Observer just published, “Berniemania! Why Is Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders So Popular?“. The cover page illustration has Sanders in rolled-up sleeves with a bullhorn shouting down a thunderstruck Hillary Clinton in her signature pants suit. Wall Street’s bull, and little bankers in pin-striped-suits, are groaning desperately, trying to hold Hillary up. But an army of supporters are marching to Sanders, carrying signs saying, “Run Bernie Run!”; “Robin Hood was Right”; “Out with the Oligarchs”; and “Beat Wall Street.”

The Observer reports that Senator Sanders packed a recreation hall on Saturday in Keene, New Hampshire with 700 supporters, a big number in such a small state. His fans, wearing “homemade T-shirts Magic Markered” with “Bernie 2016,” listened attentively as Sanders lamented the plight of a young local teacher, whose “only crime” was to want a master’s degree: “She is now $200,000 in debt and paying interest rates between 6 and 9 percent….All of this stuff is crazy stuff.”

Sanders thundered about the need to reform environmental policies or suffer: “more drought, more famine, more rising sea levels, more floods, more ocean acidification, more extreme weather disturbances, more disease and more human suffering.”

When Clinton gets into trouble she seems to clam up and hope the misfortune will go away. David Martosko, US Political Editor for the Daily Mail–with the largest online audience of any English-language newspaper in the world–was dumped Tuesday as the Clinton camp’s “traveling pool” reporter, who serves as all the print reporters’ “eyes and ears at events where a room is too small to fit a crush of questions from a larger group.” The Internet exploded with viral rage that Martosko was being punished by Clinton goons for actually reporting about the competitive race in New Hampshire, rather than just regurgitating the Clintons’ talking points.

Hillary Clinton will try to stay below the radar in Los Angeles as she mines Hollywood cash on Friday. She will attend a $2,700-per-person event at the home of Spider-Man actor Toby Maguire and his wife, Jennifer Meyer. She then will head over to another $2,700-per-person event at the home of HBO programming president Michael Lombardo and his husband, Sonny Ward.

The S.S. Hillary Clinton campaign is not commenting about the underwater damage they have suffered. The Huffington Post claimed: “People who like Hillary will vote for her no matter what, and people who strongly dislike her will vote against her no matter what. And because more people now tend to like her than hate her, that small slice of people still wavering in the middle won’t decide this thing.”

Six weeks later and Clinton’s support wavering, the 2016 Presidential election is beginning to look wide open.

Hillary Clinton’s Titanic Campaign Steams into California, Leaking Badly - Breitbart

Lately, I've noticed in the social media pontifications and predictions that Bernie Sanders will eventually realize that he can't win, that he'll have to give up the ghost and allow Hilary Clinton to move forward without further challenge. Most of the sources promoting this view predict that Hilary will win by virtue of her overwhelming endorsements from governors, legislatures, and the vast pile of money backing her. I don't believe them.

When we read the news predicting the almost certain demise of Bernie's candidacy for presidency at the hands of the Democratic National Convention next year, it's important to remember that we may not necessarily be reading the news at all. If 6 parent corporations own 90% of the major media outlets available for news, you have to look for alternative sources that are not owned by one of those parent companies.

There was a time, for example when Huffington Post was considered an alternative media outlet. But they were acquired indirectly by one of those parent companies. Look at any major site that is owned or related to the legacy media conglomerates and you will see an irrepressible bias against Bernie and in favor of Hilary.

Nearly every article talks about Bernie only in the context of Hilary. Will Bernie push Hilary to the left? Will Bernie cost her this state or that state? Will Bernie consider being VP to Hilary. None ever offer the possibility that he could win for serious consideration by the mainstream voter. He is already being cast as a fringe candidate with socialist views that are not mainstream - when they are.

These predictions and pontifications that are paraded before us day in and day out, are intended to wear us down and condition us to believe that there is simply no way out. We must accept Hilary and let Bernie go. Either that, or we get in the clown car with the Republicans and do a protest vote for the fire rather than the frying pan.

Every time I see one of those articles telling me that Bernie has no chance, I check the source. If the source has any connection to major media, I recognize it for what it is. A tacit admission that the elites will use whatever force necessary to make sure that the people do not get their choice, that only the candidate with the backing from the relevant funders will reach the White House and no other.

Bernie is clued in on this tactic. He understands that countervailing forces will gather. But he also sees and has been stunned by enormous crowds showing up to hear him speak. He's a bigger draw than any Republican wherever he goes. He's starting to rise in the polls against Hilary and we can be fairly certain such a showing is very uncomfortable for her.

The Digital Firehose: How the establishment loves to dismiss Bernie


Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has been in the race for over a month, but to the casual media consumer you’d hardly notice. His candidacy has largely been dismissed by the mainstream media as a “protest” campaign or a means of “moving Clinton to the left” (whatever that means). It’s a stunted worldview that presumes it’s the media’s job to vet “serious” candidates before the voters get to have any say in the matter. And because fundraising precedes voting, it inevitably becomes a power-serving and harmful tautology: the media insists Sanders is not a “serious” challenger because Clinton has big money support; they then internalize this conventional wisdom, and before a single vote is cast, dismiss him. It’s a perverse feedback loop that puts undue influence in the hands of early power signifiers and bears little resemblance to a healthy democracy.

Here are four ways the media has embraced this toxic logic and how it manifests in their coverage of the Vermont senator.

1. Ignoring Sanders outright.

As liberal media watchdogs Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (disclosure: I occationally write for FAIR) and Media Matters have noticed on several occasions, Bernie Sanders is routinely ignored by the press despite drawing large crowds and ushering in impressive fundraising totals. Two recent examples are a May 26 5,000-strong rally that was barely covered by the mainstream media, and a nearly nine-month stint of not being mentioned by establishment Sunday morning gatekeeper Meet the Press. While the quantity of coverage of Sanders’ campaign has increased a bit, due largely to pushbackfrom the aforementioned organizations, the quality is still very much wanting.

2. Discussing his candidacy entirely in the context of Hillary Clinton.

One of the stranger tics our pundit classes and establishment journalists display is to think of Sanders only as bad cop to Clinton’s good cop; that his value matters only to the extent to which he can effect the Clinton machine. This was on full display in a New York Times piece two weeks ago that somehow interpreted Sanders’ large crowds as a manifestation of Hillary ambivalence, rather than support for Sanders: “Judging from Mr. Sanders’s trip here last week, there is real support for his message — though some Democrats also simply want to send a warning shot to Mrs. Clinton to get her to visit here more.”

In a piece ostensibly about Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s name was mentioned roughly as many times as Sanders’ was. Even his first major media appearance on ABC’s This Week after his announcement in May was framed by the host as “How will this affect Clinton?” After opening up with his case for being president, focusing on how the billionaire class owns our political process, the very first followup question by (former Clinton aide) George Stephanopoulos was, “Does this mean you think Clinton is part of the billionaire class?” Before he could even get out his reasons for why you should vote for Sanders, he’s already asked to explain why one shouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton. This also extends to the torrent of articles about whether Sanders will “hurt” or “help” Clinton, as if the Democratic primary has been foretold by scripture. None of these hot takes, however, posit whether Clinton is helping or hurting Sanders.


3. Six months before the first primary vote, insisting he can’t win despite rising poll numbers.

In one of the laziest sleights, the media has a terrible habit of asserting Sanders “can’t win” or is not a “realistic” candidate. Perhaps Sanders is a long shot, but the media shouldn’t play kingmaker and decide the veracity of candidates long before the public has had a chance to weigh in. The pollsconsistently show Sanders, at the least, gaining traction and eating into Clinton’s considerable lead. As FAIR noted last week, the New York Times has a strange fetish over the “is he electable” question, framing a Sanders rally as such:

[Clinton’s] mix of centrist and progressive Democratic views may yet prove more appealing to the broadest number of party voters as well, while some of Mr. Sanders’ policy prescriptions — including far higher taxes on the wealthy and deep military spending cuts — may eventually persuade Democrats that he is unelectable in a general election.

But as FAIR would point out, this is counter to everything we know:

It sounds like it’s the New York Times that’s hoping to persuade Democrats that Sanders is unelectable.

As we’ve noted (FAIR Blog, 4/20/15), the idea of raising the taxes of the rich is quite popular with the US public. Gallup has been askingfolks since 1992 how they feel about how much “upper-income people” pay in taxes, and 18 times in a row a solid majority has said the rich pay too little. For the past four years, either 61 or 62 percent have said the wealthy don’t pay enough; it’s hard to figure why Iowans would conclude that Sanders is “unelectable” because he takes the same position on tax hikes for the wealthy as three out of every five Americans.

This brings us to the last, and most frustrating entry.

4. Presenting Sander’s entirely mainstream views as fringe.

Despite years of corporate media arguing otherwise, Americans really aren’t conservative. They self-identify as “conservative,” but when asked about major progressive policy issues, from taxation to war to marriage equality, they are overwhelmingly in sync with Senator Sanders. Yet the media consistently claims Sanders is somehow to the left of mainstream opinion when he manifestly is not. Sanders is a sitting U.S. senator who has repeatedly won as a progressive independent with 60%+ of the vote in a state that, while generally liberal, had a Republican governor from 2003-2011. Even setting aside ideology, there’s little empirical evidence Sanders’ positions are in any way outside the mainstream. Vermont may lean slightly to the left, but it’s not any more liberal than the Illinois Obama represented in 2007.

 

[Paranoid Android]

Republicans are definitely further right than the democrats are to the left, but democrats are definitely closer to the center than they lean outwards towards the left.

That's true. However, no Centrist is running. I would like to find the MOST Centrist candidate, someone that respects the Counstitution and Bill of Rights, has a deep and affirming respect for universal politics. We have to be wise. Too far to EITHER side would hurt us. Yes, give the businessmen an out. But, at the same time you help them with there business, hold them RESPONSIBLE for the help you give them. Universal politics means you give them NO ADVANTAGES;THEY HAVE TO PAY TAXES, like everyone else. Why do you help them ? More business means more hiring, means more people working. That's good for the American people

And he's not backed by usual corporate and ultra-wealthy donors, which makes him even less of a threat.

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

"Six weeks ago, the Huffington Post’s lead article was “Why Hillary Can’t Lose.” But the S.S. Clinton campaign that steams into southern California on Friday increasingly looks like the arrogant crew of the Titanic that continued to run full-throttle after hitting an iceberg, because their ship was “Practically Unsinkable.”

Hillary Clinton will arrive in Los Angeles following President Obama’s arrival the day before for high-visibility speeches at a pair of Democratic National Committee fundraisers:a roundtable discussion hosted by producer Chuck Lorre in Pacific Palisades, and a dinner at the Beverly Hills home of filmmaker Tyler Perry.

Two months ago, with 70 percent of the public already following the election closely, Clinton’s poll numbers were over 50 percent and up at least 10 points against every Republican challenger, according to a survey by Rasmussen Reports. Hillary also commanded a 52-point lead over every conceivable Democrat contender.

But as Clinton launched her campaign on June 13, the media were already questioning her inevitability. Lead stories included the Washington Post‘s “Clinton the Inauthentic,” and the Washington Times’ “Unhappy with Hillary.” New York Times columnist Frank Bruni attacked Clinton on Twitter for being “chronically unethical” like Richard Nixon, and described her as “psychological torture” for the Democrat Party–“Hillary the Tormentor.”

This turmoil is burning brightest in the Democrats’ first primary state of New Hampshire. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an avowed Socialist, has quadrupled his support in state polls from just single digits two months ago to 31 percent, while Hillary Clinton plummeted by 20 points to only 41 percent. Clinton is still up in the Quinnipiac national poll by 57-15. But that is only because Sanders’s name ID is a fraction of Clinton’s. As this “bad news” goes viral, Sanders persona will explode onto the national scene.

The New York Observer just published, “Berniemania! Why Is Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders So Popular?“. The cover page illustration has Sanders in rolled-up sleeves with a bullhorn shouting down a thunderstruck Hillary Clinton in her signature pants suit. Wall Street’s bull, and little bankers in pin-striped-suits, are groaning desperately, trying to hold Hillary up. But an army of supporters are marching to Sanders, carrying signs saying, “Run Bernie Run!”; “Robin Hood was Right”; “Out with the Oligarchs”; and “Beat Wall Street.”

The Observer reports that Senator Sanders packed a recreation hall on Saturday in Keene, New Hampshire with 700 supporters, a big number in such a small state. His fans, wearing “homemade T-shirts Magic Markered” with “Bernie 2016,” listened attentively as Sanders lamented the plight of a young local teacher, whose “only crime” was to want a master’s degree: “She is now $200,000 in debt and paying interest rates between 6 and 9 percent….All of this stuff is crazy stuff.”

Sanders thundered about the need to reform environmental policies or suffer: “more drought, more famine, more rising sea levels, more floods, more ocean acidification, more extreme weather disturbances, more disease and more human suffering.”

When Clinton gets into trouble she seems to clam up and hope the misfortune will go away. David Martosko, US Political Editor for the Daily Mail–with the largest online audience of any English-language newspaper in the world–was dumped Tuesday as the Clinton camp’s “traveling pool” reporter, who serves as all the print reporters’ “eyes and ears at events where a room is too small to fit a crush of questions from a larger group.” The Internet exploded with viral rage that Martosko was being punished by Clinton goons for actually reporting about the competitive race in New Hampshire, rather than just regurgitating the Clintons’ talking points.

Hillary Clinton will try to stay below the radar in Los Angeles as she mines Hollywood cash on Friday. She will attend a $2,700-per-person event at the home of Spider-Man actor Toby Maguire and his wife, Jennifer Meyer. She then will head over to another $2,700-per-person event at the home of HBO programming president Michael Lombardo and his husband, Sonny Ward.

The S.S. Hillary Clinton campaign is not commenting about the underwater damage they have suffered. The Huffington Post claimed: “People who like Hillary will vote for her no matter what, and people who strongly dislike her will vote against her no matter what. And because more people now tend to like her than hate her, that small slice of people still wavering in the middle won’t decide this thing.”

Six weeks later and Clinton’s support wavering, the 2016 Presidential election is beginning to look wide open.

Hillary Clinton’s Titanic Campaign Steams into California, Leaking Badly - Breitbart

Lately, I've noticed in the social media pontifications and predictions that Bernie Sanders will eventually realize that he can't win, that he'll have to give up the ghost and allow Hilary Clinton to move forward without further challenge. Most of the sources promoting this view predict that Hilary will win by virtue of her overwhelming endorsements from governors, legislatures, and the vast pile of money backing her. I don't believe them.

When we read the news predicting the almost certain demise of Bernie's candidacy for presidency at the hands of the Democratic National Convention next year, it's important to remember that we may not necessarily be reading the news at all. If 6 parent corporations own 90% of the major media outlets available for news, you have to look for alternative sources that are not owned by one of those parent companies.

There was a time, for example when Huffington Post was considered an alternative media outlet. But they were acquired indirectly by one of those parent companies. Look at any major site that is owned or related to the legacy media conglomerates and you will see an irrepressible bias against Bernie and in favor of Hilary.

Nearly every article talks about Bernie only in the context of Hilary. Will Bernie push Hilary to the left? Will Bernie cost her this state or that state? Will Bernie consider being VP to Hilary. None ever offer the possibility that he could win for serious consideration by the mainstream voter. He is already being cast as a fringe candidate with socialist views that are not mainstream - when they are.

These predictions and pontifications that are paraded before us day in and day out, are intended to wear us down and condition us to believe that there is simply no way out. We must accept Hilary and let Bernie go. Either that, or we get in the clown car with the Republicans and do a protest vote for the fire rather than the frying pan.

Every time I see one of those articles telling me that Bernie has no chance, I check the source. If the source has any connection to major media, I recognize it for what it is. A tacit admission that the elites will use whatever force necessary to make sure that the people do not get their choice, that only the candidate with the backing from the relevant funders will reach the White House and no other.

Bernie is clued in on this tactic. He understands that countervailing forces will gather. But he also sees and has been stunned by enormous crowds showing up to hear him speak. He's a bigger draw than any Republican wherever he goes. He's starting to rise in the polls against Hilary and we can be fairly certain such a showing is very uncomfortable for her.

The Digital Firehose: How the establishment loves to dismiss Bernie


Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has been in the race for over a month, but to the casual media consumer you’d hardly notice. His candidacy has largely been dismissed by the mainstream media as a “protest” campaign or a means of “moving Clinton to the left” (whatever that means). It’s a stunted worldview that presumes it’s the media’s job to vet “serious” candidates before the voters get to have any say in the matter. And because fundraising precedes voting, it inevitably becomes a power-serving and harmful tautology: the media insists Sanders is not a “serious” challenger because Clinton has big money support; they then internalize this conventional wisdom, and before a single vote is cast, dismiss him. It’s a perverse feedback loop that puts undue influence in the hands of early power signifiers and bears little resemblance to a healthy democracy.

Here are four ways the media has embraced this toxic logic and how it manifests in their coverage of the Vermont senator.

1. Ignoring Sanders outright.

As liberal media watchdogs Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (disclosure: I occationally write for FAIR) and Media Matters have noticed on several occasions, Bernie Sanders is routinely ignored by the press despite drawing large crowds and ushering in impressive fundraising totals. Two recent examples are a May 26 5,000-strong rally that was barely covered by the mainstream media, and a nearly nine-month stint of not being mentioned by establishment Sunday morning gatekeeper Meet the Press. While the quantity of coverage of Sanders’ campaign has increased a bit, due largely to pushbackfrom the aforementioned organizations, the quality is still very much wanting.

2. Discussing his candidacy entirely in the context of Hillary Clinton.

One of the stranger tics our pundit classes and establishment journalists display is to think of Sanders only as bad cop to Clinton’s good cop; that his value matters only to the extent to which he can effect the Clinton machine. This was on full display in a New York Times piece two weeks ago that somehow interpreted Sanders’ large crowds as a manifestation of Hillary ambivalence, rather than support for Sanders: “Judging from Mr. Sanders’s trip here last week, there is real support for his message — though some Democrats also simply want to send a warning shot to Mrs. Clinton to get her to visit here more.”

In a piece ostensibly about Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s name was mentioned roughly as many times as Sanders’ was. Even his first major media appearance on ABC’s This Week after his announcement in May was framed by the host as “How will this affect Clinton?” After opening up with his case for being president, focusing on how the billionaire class owns our political process, the very first followup question by (former Clinton aide) George Stephanopoulos was, “Does this mean you think Clinton is part of the billionaire class?” Before he could even get out his reasons for why you should vote for Sanders, he’s already asked to explain why one shouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton. This also extends to the torrent of articles about whether Sanders will “hurt” or “help” Clinton, as if the Democratic primary has been foretold by scripture. None of these hot takes, however, posit whether Clinton is helping or hurting Sanders.


3. Six months before the first primary vote, insisting he can’t win despite rising poll numbers.

In one of the laziest sleights, the media has a terrible habit of asserting Sanders “can’t win” or is not a “realistic” candidate. Perhaps Sanders is a long shot, but the media shouldn’t play kingmaker and decide the veracity of candidates long before the public has had a chance to weigh in. The pollsconsistently show Sanders, at the least, gaining traction and eating into Clinton’s considerable lead. As FAIR noted last week, the New York Times has a strange fetish over the “is he electable” question, framing a Sanders rally as such:

[Clinton’s] mix of centrist and progressive Democratic views may yet prove more appealing to the broadest number of party voters as well, while some of Mr. Sanders’ policy prescriptions — including far higher taxes on the wealthy and deep military spending cuts — may eventually persuade Democrats that he is unelectable in a general election.

But as FAIR would point out, this is counter to everything we know:

It sounds like it’s the New York Times that’s hoping to persuade Democrats that Sanders is unelectable.

As we’ve noted (FAIR Blog, 4/20/15), the idea of raising the taxes of the rich is quite popular with the US public. Gallup has been askingfolks since 1992 how they feel about how much “upper-income people” pay in taxes, and 18 times in a row a solid majority has said the rich pay too little. For the past four years, either 61 or 62 percent have said the wealthy don’t pay enough; it’s hard to figure why Iowans would conclude that Sanders is “unelectable” because he takes the same position on tax hikes for the wealthy as three out of every five Americans.

This brings us to the last, and most frustrating entry.

4. Presenting Sander’s entirely mainstream views as fringe.

Despite years of corporate media arguing otherwise, Americans really aren’t conservative. They self-identify as “conservative,” but when asked about major progressive policy issues, from taxation to war to marriage equality, they are overwhelmingly in sync with Senator Sanders. Yet the media consistently claims Sanders is somehow to the left of mainstream opinion when he manifestly is not. Sanders is a sitting U.S. senator who has repeatedly won as a progressive independent with 60%+ of the vote in a state that, while generally liberal, had a Republican governor from 2003-2011. Even setting aside ideology, there’s little empirical evidence Sanders’ positions are in any way outside the mainstream. Vermont may lean slightly to the left, but it’s not any more liberal than the Illinois Obama represented in 2007.

We may have reached a point where the population simply refuses to swallow the pill, but time will tell. Everyone acknowledges that the political game is rigged, and in fact it has become one of the top issues in mainstream political discourse. The trouble for the front-runners is that it's hard to talk about the elephant in the room when you're the elephant in the room.

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

The Why Hillary Can't Lose article is the most awful example of journalism I have seen in a long long time.

 

[dust1n]

"Vermont Senator/Indie Rocker Bernie Sanders is an Independent on paper, which means that he's going to have a hard time getting his name on the Democratic presidential primary ballot in New York to compete with Taylor Swift fan Hillary Clinton next year.

Why? Meet Wilson-Pakula, a very obscure state law. The Wilson-Pakula act, which passed in New York State back in 1947, bars any candidate from running for the nomination of a political party that he or she is not officially affiliated with. Unless, that is, he or she manages to get permission from that party's committee leaders.

Sadly, Wilson-Pakula helped marginalize some of the political movements that Bernie supports. According to the Washington Post, pre-1947, "communist and socialist candidates had been able to become candidates... after winning support from voters." In other words, back then, average New Yorkers got to make candidacy appointments.

Under current law, permission to cross party lines is, apparently, very rarely granted. It doesn't help that the relevant committee in New York State has a lot of Hillary supporters: From Assembly Chair David Paterson, to Governor Cuomo himself who, as Capital put it, "controls most of the party apparatus."

Undeterred, as of this writing, 4,269 people have signed an online petition to "GET BERNIE SANDERS ON BALLOT IN NEW YORK." From the letter, addressed to Governor Cuomo and David Paterson:

We believe that selecting candidates to represent us is one of the core functions of the people. Thus, we stand in solidarity with Governor Cuomo's call to repeal the Wilson Pakula law. The Wilson Pakula law, which requires a candidate from one party obtain permission from party bosses to run as a candidate from another party, is antiquated and not Democratic.
Indeed, as recently as the spring of 2013, Cuomo proposed an end to Wilson-Pakula, following the arrest of then-Senate majority leader Malcolm Smith, a Democrat, after he tried to bribe Republican leaders to grant him permission to run for mayor on their ticket.

Another wrinkle for all of the New York Sanders groupies out there: While there are no party affiliation requirements in presidential elections, primaries in several states, New York included, require voting along party lines. As one Redditer put it yesterday, "I wonder if all the Bernie fans realize they have to register as democrats to vote for him?""

Democrats May Keep Bernie Sanders Off New York Primary Ballot: Gothamist

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is making a personal appeal to supporters in the wake of the massacre of nine people at the historically black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

In an official email release from his campaign on Thursday, Sanders asked for donations for the church and explicitly referenced the apparent racial nature of the killings.

“Nine of our fellow Americans were murdered while praying in a historic church because of the color of their skin. This senseless violence fills me with outrage, disgust, and a deep, deep sadness,” Sanders said in the email. “This hateful killing is a horrific reminder that, while we have made important progress in civil rights for all of our people, we are far from eradicating racism.”

Besides Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, most of Sanders’ 2016 rivals have shied away from linking race to the tragedy in Charleston. The prime suspect in the shooting, Dylann Storm Roof, a 21-year-old white man, is currently in police custody, but little is known about his alleged motives.

In his email, Sanders made highlighted the historic importance of Emanuel AME Church.

“The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church is one that has been attacked, burned, and rebuilt throughout its 200 year history. While their community mourns now, they will rebuild, and they will emerge stronger than before,” he wrote.

“Let us stand with them in their time of mourning,” he added.

Sanders had received some criticism for holding a rally about pensions on Thursday not far from the site of prayer vigil for victims of the shooting, but he has also been applauded for his direct appeal on the church’s behalf.

Bernie Sanders to supporters: Stand with the Emanuel AME Church | MSNBC

Let play some politics! In my previous Contributors piece, I suggested that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is walloping former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) in the pre-Democratic primary to determine which of the most liberal candidates would pose the ultimate challenge to Hillary Clinton. At this point on the Democratic side, it is possible that Sanders so dominates the most liberal lane in the highway that O'Malley is ultimately forced to drop out and former Virginia Democratic Sen. Jim Webb throws up his hands and decides not to run.

The same phenomenon could occur on the Republican side. There are three lanes in the GOP presidential sweepstakes highway. The first lane is the race for GOP front-runner. The second lane — which now includes Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — consists of candidates who lag behind the front-runners but have a shot to rise to the higher tier. I would call the third lane the "bye-bye" lane: Candidates who are going nowhere and doomed to drop out, such as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.
In this battle of the second lane of the Republican process, my bet is that The Donald drives the nail into the political coffin of Cruz, knocking Cruz down to the third lane and at which point Cruz drops out while he has money remaining in his political bank to use for whatever purpose he chooses.

Trump and Cruz are battling for the same turf: the emotive conservative turf. The last time Cruz received major national attention was when he signed up for ObamaCare! Trump has received more visibility in the last three days than Cruz has in the last three months. Trump is great copy, a political impresario and showman with enough money to self-finance a campaign, and I suspect he is destined to dominate Cruz and push him down to the bottom tier. To get any attention compared to Trump, Cruz will have to move even further to the far right, which is no way to win a presidential campaign; to get more attention than Cruz, Trump will just have to be Trump.

Trump swamps Cruz as Sanders swamps O'Malley | TheHill

The continuing events in Washington surrounding the fast-track legislation that will define the rules of foreign trade are a picture-perfect illustration of why so many Americans are disillusioned with Washington, why Bernie Sanders is surging in the campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, why Hillary Clinton has a problem with many voters who do not trust her, and why Republicans have won control of the House and Senate during the first six years of the Obama presidency.

What happened in Washington this week on trade? And what does it tell us about President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and why the Sanders surge has confounded Democratic political insiders and their fellow insiders in the mainstream media?

From the beginning of the trade debate until today, Mr. Sanders has taken clear and unequivocal positions in opposition to the fast-track trade legislation as currently written and in favor of powerful and dramatic plans to create large numbers of new American jobs.

After Democrats in Congress rose a week ago and at first derailed the fast-moving train for fast-track trade legislation, Mr. Obama had a golden opportunity to pursue a grand compromise that would tie trade legislation to a powerful and historic jobs programs to create millions of high-paying American jobs rebuilding our roads, ports, bridges and schools.

Did he do so? No. The president chose instead to make a callous, calculated—and what he thought was clever—deal with conservative Republicans to pass the fast-track trade legislation over the objection and opposition of a large majority of House Democrats.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton—who has spent the last few months talking about her support for American workers but refusing to take any position on the trade legislation pending before Congress—had a golden opportunity to publicly say the fast-track legislation should not have been passed by the House of Representatives until reasonable changes were made in the bill and a dramatic jobs bill was included in the plan to remedy the danger to workers whose jobs may be lost by future trade agreements.

Did she do so? No. Ms. Clinton continued to talk the liberal talk about fighting for workers but continued to refuse to fight the progressive fight to improve the bill and create the new jobs.

While Mr. Sanders was talking the progressive talk, and fighting the progressive fight, Mr. Obama was insulting liberals publicly about trade and making side-deals with conservative Republicans to pass his program, while Ms. Clinton was talking the progressive talk while walking a far different walk that was described as seeking the widest possible wiggle room to combine progressive rhetoric with refusing to take positions that would antagonize campaign donors.

Sanders shines, Obama insults, Clinton Wiggles on Trade | | Observer

 

[dust1n]

Great article from Alabama:

"As we gear up for another Presidential election, it appears that the field of candidates is chock full of recycled folks who've run so many times that they've worn out their last pair of sneakers and largely don't have anything new or inspiring to offer America.

Well, except for that Bernie Sanders guy.

Just the other day, he did the unthinkable when he asked the Department of Defense for an honest reckoning of fraud within their bloated, secretive bureaucracy. You know, the "Big Daddy" DOD, also known as the 618 billion-dollar behemoth that perennially defies financial audits ('cause it could be a bit complicated, the DOD claims...) and represents 37% of all military spending globally, outpacing the next seven countries combined military budgets.

Sanders is daring to ask for some accountability. What kind of commie blasphemy is this?

After the Great Recession, Wall Street has more than just recovered, it appears like it's chasing anabolic steroids with espresso shots as it continually boasts record growth and mountains of corporate profits. So, with great audacity, Bernie has proposed a small tax on speculative trading to help further eliminate the nation's deficit and debt.

Sanders is asking the rich to pay their fair share as they continue to amass excessive wealth. How crazy is that?

Although Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton have very similar voting records and policy stances, the things that separate the two candidates are remarkable. The Clinton campaign is financed mostly by big banks and financiers while the Sanders campaign is financed mostly by unions representing the working, middle class. While every day, a new pseudo-scandal seems to detract from Clinton's message, Sanders' message is growing and gaining popularity with young voters and mainstream America.

The Republicans have a figurative clown car of variegated dysfunctional candidates that seemingly produces new and more bizarre entries to the race almost hourly, yet they appear bereft of any galvanizing rallying cry or innovative policy solutions. Yeah, yeah, they all hate Obama, decry the moral destruction of 'Mericuh, and wish it was 1952 again, but we've heard all that rubbish for years now. They've all gone so far to the right, they're just about out the door.

Of course, collectively, the Democrats are somewhat tepidly throwing their support behind their lone, and arguably, inevitable successor, Hilary Clinton, but that was until upstart Bernie Sanders recently appeared and actually sparked some intelligent and passionate debate. They've secretly wished for a genuine, unencumbered liberal for a long time and, now, their wish may have finally come true until Elizabeth Warren decides it's time.

You see, as much as the Republicans really want to paint Clinton as a liberal, she's really more of a moderate. On the other hand, Sanders is an actual liberal who embraces the moniker and unapologetically fights for the working class and poor.

It's time to really listen to Bernie Sanders | AL.com

"Drawing unexpectedly large crowds, the campaign has moved a town meeting planned in Las Vegas on Friday into a more spacious venue. About 5,000 people are expected at a rally Saturday at the University of Denver."

Defying conventions, Sanders emerges as a Clinton challenger | Boston Herald