Democratic Primaries

Princetonian

(1,501 posts) Fri Aug 16, 2019, 05:49 PM Aug 2019

Can Bernie Sanders Avoid A Sophomore Slump In 2020?

Trouble in Socialist paradise? Some Sanders supporters are "worried."

Progressives who backed the Vermont senator in the 2016 presidential race have lots more options this time -- like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who's inching up in polls... Sanders is facing several well-funded opponents who are battling with him for front-runner status in the early nominating states ― some of whom are running for president for the first time. (Former Vice President Joe Biden is currently leading the polls.) The progressive firebrand no longer has the “it” factor of four years ago... his radical ideas on job security, health care and education don’t seem so radical anymore... the possibility of a sophomore slump has left some supporters worried.

“I think Americans have very short attention spans, so to speak,” said Jim Rouillard, a retiree from Wolfeboro. “Wanting the new flavor all the time, you know? Whereas Bernie has changed very little. I’m disappointed that he’s not the front-runner as I felt he was [in 2016].”

<snip>

Sanders’ campaign highlighted those points in a call with reporters on Monday, pushing back on the notion, fuelled by polling data, that his bid for the presidency had begun to flounder. A Monmouth University poll of likely Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa released last week, for example, showed Sanders slipping into fourth place in the Hawkeye State....But other supporters say they’ve become disillusioned by Sanders’ style and are turning to something fresh...

Carlotta Hayes, a yoga teacher who worked on Sanders’ last presidential bid... “I think this thing,” she added, mimicking the Vermont senator’s characteristic finger-pointing, “is good for so long."...The biggest threat to Sanders’ candidacy may be Warren, the other progressive star in the race... Neil Brody, a real estate company owner from Bethlehem, New Hampshire, said he preferred Warren to Sanders, whom he backed in the 2016 election, because she is “a little more energetic.”

“She comes off a little more younger. She’s better at explaining things. She tells a better story. Bernie just says it,” Brody explained after her event on Wednesday.

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5d548d44e4b0eb875f1efc10/amp

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

16 replies

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Can Bernie Sanders Avoid A Sophomore Slump In 2020? (Original Post) Princetonian Aug 2019 OP

Socialist? I dont like Bernie at all, I used to, but not anymore. Eliot Rosewater Aug 2019 #1

He's been referring to himself as a socialist for decades. TwilightZone Aug 2019 #4

He claims to be a democratic socialist and when some folks call him a socialist they Eliot Rosewater Aug 2019 #5

And KFC don't serve chicken crazytown Aug 2019 #10

Zing! Princetonian Aug 2019 #12

He has claimed to be a socialist... Drunken Irishman Aug 2019 #11

I don't care how you feel about Bernie, this was a GREAT answer BeyondGeography Aug 2019 #2

Only the uneducated believe they are "his ideas." SouthernProgressive Aug 2019 #13

He did Democrats a huge favor in 2016 by letting them see what the audience was for those ideas BeyondGeography Aug 2019 #14

He's responsible for mainstreaming these ideas in the Dem party. thesquanderer Aug 2019 #15

Another article that is music to my ears! nt Vegas Roller Aug 2019 #3

Yeah.. it's the media's "fault.." Cha Aug 2019 #9

Is Huffpo turning on Bernie? Along with Salon they were his comradebillyboy Aug 2019 #6

Oooops... more "..biased media.."? Cha Aug 2019 #7

Current consensus [talking heads MSNBC] is that Sanders has the $ to 'stay in empedocles Aug 2019 #8

Too late .... he has already slumped..... nt Persondem Aug 2019 #16

Eliot Rosewater

(31,112 posts)

1. Socialist? I dont like Bernie at all, I used to, but not anymore.

Reply to Princetonian (Original post)

Fri Aug 16, 2019, 05:55 PM

Aug 2019

But he is NOT a socialist.

When YOU call him a socialist you do NOT help the cause of the Democratic party.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

TwilightZone

(25,473 posts)

4. He's been referring to himself as a socialist for decades.

Reply to Eliot Rosewater (Reply #1)

Fri Aug 16, 2019, 06:38 PM

Aug 2019

Both with and without the "democratic" qualifier.

"Socialist" — the word is a loaded term and often a rhetorical weapon. But Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., seems to proudly claim it.

"Do they think I’m afraid of the word? I’m not afraid of the word," he said in an interview with The Nation published in July. "When I ran for the Senate the first time, I ran against the wealthiest guy in the state of Vermont. He spent a lot on advertising — very ugly stuff. He kept attacking me as a liberal. He didn’t use the word ‘socialist’ at all, because everybody in the state knows that I am that."

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/aug/26/bernie-sanders-socialist-or-democratic-socialist/

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

Eliot Rosewater

(31,112 posts)

5. He claims to be a democratic socialist and when some folks call him a socialist they

Reply to TwilightZone (Reply #4)

Fri Aug 16, 2019, 06:41 PM

Aug 2019

are doing it to cause harm not just to him but to the idea of universal healthcare, for example.

I cant stand Sanders, but I wont sit by while people change the meaning of things resulting in us losing healthcare and more.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

crazytown

(7,277 posts)

10. And KFC don't serve chicken

Reply to Eliot Rosewater (Reply #5)

Fri Aug 16, 2019, 08:37 PM

Aug 2019

it's fried chicken

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

Princetonian

(1,501 posts)

12. Zing!

Reply to crazytown (Reply #10)

Sat Aug 17, 2019, 07:29 AM

Aug 2019

🐓

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

Drunken Irishman

(34,857 posts)

11. He has claimed to be a socialist...

Reply to Eliot Rosewater (Reply #5)

Fri Aug 16, 2019, 08:44 PM

Aug 2019

Not just a 'democratic socialist'.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

BeyondGeography

(39,377 posts)

2. I don't care how you feel about Bernie, this was a GREAT answer

Reply to Princetonian (Original post)

Fri Aug 16, 2019, 06:23 PM

Aug 2019

BERLIN, N.H. ― After several fairly routine questions about health care and the environment at a town hall here in the northernmost city in New Hampshire, a frustrated Bernie Sanders supporter stood up and demanded to know why the Vermont senator had not yet taken a more aggressive posture toward his Democratic presidential rivals.

“Your opponents, to be blunt, have stolen all your ideas,” the man complained. “Why are you not calling them out for taking your ideas?”

Sanders declined to take the bait. The 2020 candidate, wrapping up a two-day swing through the northern part of the Granite State, a rugged, rural area that stretches up to Canada, relished the fact that several of his competitors have also backed populist proposals like “Medicare for All” and a $15 minimum wage.

“I’m not going to call them out. I’m proud of it!” Sanders responded, garnering applause. “People can decide for themselves, and what the primary process is about is what candidate do you trust the most? And that’s what you have to decide.”

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

SouthernProgressive

(1,810 posts)

13. Only the uneducated believe they are "his ideas."

Reply to BeyondGeography (Reply #2)

Sat Aug 17, 2019, 09:05 AM

Aug 2019

That is another mantra that has been holding BS down. People fully understand that mantra is based off of walking on the backs of others.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

BeyondGeography

(39,377 posts)

14. He did Democrats a huge favor in 2016 by letting them see what the audience was for those ideas

Reply to SouthernProgressive (Reply #13)

Sat Aug 17, 2019, 09:14 AM

Aug 2019

And even if you don’t see it that way a lot of politicians would have bit at that question and given a less generous answer.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

thesquanderer

(11,990 posts)

15. He's responsible for mainstreaming these ideas in the Dem party.

Reply to SouthernProgressive (Reply #13)

Sat Aug 17, 2019, 11:15 AM

Aug 2019

And everybody "walks on the backs of others" in one way or another.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

Vegas Roller

(704 posts)

3. Another article that is music to my ears! nt

Reply to Princetonian (Original post)

Fri Aug 16, 2019, 06:31 PM

Aug 2019

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

Cha

(297,418 posts)

9. Yeah.. it's the media's "fault.."

Reply to Vegas Roller (Reply #3)

Fri Aug 16, 2019, 08:33 PM

Aug 2019

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

comradebillyboy

(10,168 posts)

6. Is Huffpo turning on Bernie? Along with Salon they were his

Reply to Princetonian (Original post)

Fri Aug 16, 2019, 07:10 PM

Aug 2019

biggest boosters in 2016.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

Cha

(297,418 posts)

7. Oooops... more "..biased media.."?

Reply to comradebillyboy (Reply #6)

Fri Aug 16, 2019, 07:13 PM

Aug 2019

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

empedocles

(15,751 posts)

8. Current consensus [talking heads MSNBC] is that Sanders has the $ to 'stay in

Reply to Princetonian (Original post)

Fri Aug 16, 2019, 07:39 PM

Aug 2019

to the [bitter?] end.'

Given 2016, seems that he will.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

Persondem

(1,936 posts)

16. Too late .... he has already slumped..... nt

Reply to Princetonian (Original post)

Sat Aug 17, 2019, 12:31 PM

Aug 2019

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

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