Good & healthy conversation happening in here. I like that Bernie is bringing this out in people vs the mud slinging you get with Hil-rod or really any other repub.
That's Mr. Sanders job at this point and one reason he sounds like a sound bite machine. The money and owned media will cast his ideas as socialist and radical but when people hear what he is saying about working together to share in the national wealth they like it. So he has to keep his concepts simple and repeat them over and over. When people see that this society is based on the contributions of teachers, soldiers, policemen, sanitation workers, truckers and longshoremen and that are they unable to have economic security for their labor, and we are actually protected by the EPA, CDC, SEC and other agencies of our government, that is us securing our welfare, they are going to see that some segments of our society are climbing on their backs. Superficially, it is tougher for people to accept it from a older, Jewish Northeaster but his sincerity and steadfastness of message are compensating for that. Also he seems to have boundless energy for campaigning, I suppose driven by his desire more than his physical ability. Somebody has to counter the FAUXtards.
I don't think his policies are what will keep him from winning the primary, but from a lack of education. He doesn't do well among blacks (which are much more important in the south), despite the fact that he has worked much harder for them than Hillary ever has. I think there is a tendency to see an old white guy from a rural almost entirely white state, and assume he isn't concerned about blacks. Hillary meanwhile gets a huge boost because of how extremely popular Bill was with black people.
I believe this to be true. But Bernie is really starting to appeal to THIS southern black. So who knows?
Bernie says that Obama is a nice guy with apleasant personality whose biggest mistake was thinking he could make compromises with the rabid right wingers in Congress i.e he could propose something they might not agree with and they would make counter proposals and eventually split the difference. Bernie says you can't do this with them on many important issues. Bernie gives the example of free tuition at four year colleges. He will tell the right wingers that they are not just negotiating with him. He might for instance invite the nation's college students to come to DC to lobby their Reprsentatives when he makes the proposal.
At that point without a Democratic supermajority in Congress how does he hope to have any of his programs passed? Or for that matter even with a Dem supermajority how does he marginalize the Dem senators who are to the right of him? Is he planning on doing everything by executive order?
Did Jesus tell you this? Explain how the US economy did fine in the 1950's with this top MARGINAL (let's assume you understand that) rate.
We can only hope for an Elizabeth Warren endorsement which would imho put Bernie over the top and she can be the winning VP also. It is time for a Teddy Roosevelt/Franklin Roosevelt style big American change and not just the 5th and 6th term of Bill Clinton-Obama-Hillary status quo.
Bernie emphasizes this very question over and over. It is not just him in office. He tell his own story in Burlington Vermont. He won his first term by three votes or something and they kept organizing and next term they swept the city council and started the change which made Burlington an award winning small city. His concrete helpful proposals like good health care without all the deductibles, $15/hr and free college are the type of policies which will lead the non-voting--generally young, poor or lower middle class-- to participate and they will sweep away the Congress held hostage to the rich and the corporations. These non voters do not follow the news, and feel that there is no point in voting. That is the reason why staus quo corporate types liek Obama and Hillary will usually have a Congress opposed to the type of policies that make changes for the vast majority impossible.
Because almost nobody paid it? Despite much lower marginal rates, our effective tax rates have remained relatively flat since the 40s. Free college for everyone is a terrible idea. Continuing to de-value college education is a mistake. Improving education and having students better prepared for life after high school is far more important.
I've heard that story and I would say that Burlington, VT isn't the whole US nor is it typical of much of the US. I don't disagree with his policies but I do have some very large questions about passage and implementation. Frankly this sounds like wishful thinking that there really is a vast silent majority that will take that sort of action yet if anything we've seen the opposite. I think you, and probably Sanders himself, are greatly discounting the amount of support that GOP and others who are dead set against Sander's politics support. It's no accident that the GOP have been able to control Congress and even with the massive wave that of Democrats that came in with Obama in 2008 there was still barely a supermajority of Dems in the Senate. While Sanders has been doing remarkably well so far and that is a testament to the power of his ideas but at the moment it doesn't seem like that will also translate into a massive wave of Congressional turnover. I'm not even sure what you're saying here. As noted Obama had a supermajority and control of both houses. He still had massive difficulty passing a health care bill that was originally a GOP brainchild. Are you saying that Sanders with a far far more liberal agenda will somehow win over GOP and Dem to the right of Sanders because he is unwilling to compromise? Keep in mind that many on the right also believe that the failure of the substantial change rightward is that GOP leaders like Boehnor compromised too much.
Iv been watching some debates, rally's, interviews by the candidates lately and Sanders seems like the only candidate who isn't a total jackass. I like him a lot, he's not perfectly polished but hot damn does he seem miles ahead of anybody I would ever vote for. I haven't voted yet, as I just turned of age recently, I also haven't invisioned my self voting either, I disagree with too much of what basically all candidates, they all seem like terrible people to be elected presidents. On top of that my view of the impact of my vote with the electoral college is questionable to me. I wouldn't vote for a candidate who I dislike the least. That being said Sanders really has me contemplating going out and voting for him. He seems like he could make a lot of impactful changes, or at least try. But just like with my support for Ron Paul, he seems perhaps too good to be true, doubt he will be elected but would be awesome.
Oh absolutely - specific policies generally don't define races that much unless a candidate is way out there or has a signature policy or whatever. But perceptions do, and NE Liberal has a naturally negative perception in the deep south. The Clinton's positive vibes in the South make it that much more of a problem.
That's exactly what Obama did. His campaign organization morphed into an historically large organizing entity. This whole campaign was "Yes WE can - I can't do it without you". That was the entire theme of his election - that everyone has actively participate. The reality that he ran into is that people have better things to do with their lives. It's even more true with the demographic base Sanders and Obama rely on (younger, less politically inclined, etc). You can rally them up for a 1 day election, but that's very different than keeping them engaged for 4 or 8 years. It's similarly true with Ron Paul who had a rabid base and committed supporters. That type of stuff doesn't translate. Whatever you campaign on, voters elect representatives to go fix things so they don't have to.
Since Bernie is destroying Republicans in national polls... shouldn't those of you who voted for Obama on the basis of "I don't like Obama but it's better than Republicans winning it" now be voting for Bernie? Bernie is polling much much better than Hillary in almost all national polls against all Republican candidates. He is the safest bet. That's why he's catching up so fast. He is proposing something you guys have not tried. Maybe it's time to try the only side of the political spectrum you haven't tried yet. You've done centrist (Obama), slightly right (the Clinton family), right (Bush), and have always had well funded candidates represented even further to the right of Bush. Not much has changed. In fact, it's blatantly obvious that the further right you go, the more you will see people and money bleeding out towards the end of the tenure. The furthest left you've gone in a long time (Obama) is not even LEFT but still he was able to stop the bleeding caused by Bush and get you guys close to being back on your feet. Look, if Bernie was a dove on foreign policy then you could say that non-Americans are ultra pro-Bernie because of that. But he's not. In fact, what he's proposing for the Middle East is really really dark for Middle Easterners. Still, you deserve this. You guys deserve to be happy. You deserve to have enough money after working hard for something other than overpriced anti-depressants. Plus, you have a responsibility. You have the largest and most powerful army and surveillance state in history, and that nazi Trump is actually still doing well in polls. You have a responsibility to yourself, but also to everyone else in the world. Remember, xenophobia and racism and fascism evolve. Every generation has looked at its "Hitler" and thought "yeah but he's not exactly like that guy from 50 years ago." Fascism evolves. Racism evolves. They always put on a better appearance, they always learn how to avoid legal trouble and how to tread the line better. The potential damage, though, is much greater today. This guy is seriously dangerous. If you want to keep pushing forward, and avoid giving Republicans a chance, Bernie is the choice. He won't achieve half of what he's proposing, but that's still better than almost all of what anyone else is offering you.
