Why I Could Support Bernie Were It Not For His Reckless Legions
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He’s Baaaack, and I’m happy about that, which surprises me. There he was, storming past questions about his health and vowing that he’s “more ready than ever” to fight a political revolution—with a little help from new friends—at a rally Saturday that drew an estimated 25,000 to a New York City park.
The spirited rally offered a pointed reminder to skeptics that this 78-year-old is still very much a force in the 2020 race, and I admire that tenacity. For the first time I see star power in this tough old man.
Sanders opened by apologizing that he secured a permit for only 20,000 people. He declared, sparking chants of “Bernie is back” from the massive crowd:
“To put it bluntly, I am back. I am happy to report to you that I am more than ready—more ready than ever—to carry on with you on the epic struggle that we face today.”
The event marked Bernie’s formal return to the trail less than three weeks after a heart attack threatened both his life and political future . Even before, he was in danger of falling out of the top-tier in the 2020 Democratic field, with polls suggesting he’s lagging behind Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden.
Bernie, a fiery Brooklyn native, backed by a slate of new endorsements and two new stents, appeared to be expanding his coalition on Saturday, and by doing so puts him square in the frame of electability. A position I hadn’t heretofore considered, primarily because of his supporters.
Among those speaking, filmmaker Michael Moore told the cheering crowd that he was endorsing Sanders, shortly before Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [I’m not a fan] introduced the Vermont senator. “Bernie Sanders fought for me,” Ocasio-Cortez said, heaping praise on Sanders, though she did not explicitly endorse him, the Sanders campaign announced earlier in the week that she would.
Almost all the speakers during Saturday’s event played down health concerns. Michael Moore said:
“The only heart attack we should be talking about is the one Wall Street is going to have when Bernie Sanders is president.”
Nina Turner, one of Sanders’ national co-chairs, said it “boggles my mind” that Sanders’ critics have embraced “ageism,” and said the following:
“Memo to the haters: hashtag Bernie Is Back. We never went anywhere, we just pushed pause for a minute.”
I’m still casting about for a candidate to support in the presidential election, and, were it not for the fanatics that follow him, I would be inclined to support Bernie, but his reckless legions, about 12%, are partly responsible for a Donald Trump presidency, and that makes it difficult, but not impossible, for me to join their team. Perhaps I’ll get over that.
Democrats have no Barack Obama. They have no star, no inspiration campaigning for president. No doubt, excepting Tulsi Gabbard, they are all good people, they are not inspiring. My heart doesn’t swell with joy when I hear them proclaim their often confusing positions. At least with Bernie you know what you’re getting.
In case you missed it: Bernie Bangs on Bezos Over Worker Rights
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[…] MadMikesAmerica Michael John Scott likes Bernie Sanders. Might even support him. One drawback: Bernie’s reckless minions who helped serve up Trump. Michael didn’t exactly say Bernie Bros are jerks, so I suppose […]
You don’t get to change the rules of the game in the middle. She lost the election plain and simple…no if and’s or buts…she lost to Donald Trump…lol…how pathetic…I guess you are just to clever for me…but, you do defend the biggest loser…soooo…..it is laughable, that you try to spin the whole, I would vote for the best candidate with the proposals to help this country live up to it’s supposed ideals…but his supporters hurt my feelings…sorry Mikey, you’re bias was showing from the beginning of this little post….but it’s neo liberals like you that elected Dipshit Donnie, you didn’t need our votes anyway…you told us over and over…..
lol…yep..it was those Bernie supporters that kept the queen from campaigning in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. It was the Bernie supporters who told the media to elevate Trump to pied piper status. It was the Bernie supporters who made her say $15 an hour was never going to happen and then try to jump on the bandwagon when it happened. The Bernie supporters of course made her lie about landing under sniper fire. Bernie Supporters obviously made her into a war hawk and wall street favorite. You know they made her say single payer healthcare is never going to happen. And those bastards made her use her power and authority to go after the women that her loving husband Willie banged, i mean she is such a champion of female empowerment of course she had to go after the woman instead of cutting Bill’s nuts off and making him accountable. They made her flip flop and pander over and over, those devious bastards. She rigged the party, tried to rig the election and still lost to the most pathetic person to ever run for office in our lifetime, but by all means keep telling your self that your elitist, entitled, pathetic deplorable queen lost because of Bernie’s supporters. Because the actual facts say you are wrong, a significantly higher percentage Bernie supporters voted for Clinton in 2016 than Clinton supporters voted for Obama in 2008.
Indeed, Bernie supporters showed up to vote for Clinton at a higher rate than any other demographic with the exception of senior citizens — who always top the voting demographics for both Republicans and Democrats.
Absolutely, Americans should show up to vote far more than they do, though you can’t underestimate voter suppression as a force.
But the whole “Bernie supporters lost 2016” is just as numerically false to the fact as “Stein lost 2016”. If you took all the Stein voters and assigned them to Hillary, she would still have lost. If you took all the Sanders supporters who didn’t vote Democrat and gave them to Hillary, she still
If you took all the Sanders supporters who didn’t vote Democrat and gave them to Hillary, she still lost.
I think you just made my point about Bernie supporters Jacob 🙂 In reality Clinton garnered over 66 million votes in the election, over 3 million more than Trump. So, in effect, she won the election. Unfortunately for America, the antiquated Electoral College had other ideas.
I agree, but to me Bernie isn’t out to stop corruption in banking and investment, but to stop the institutions that support free markets which make a free country possible. Corruption in banking is not an argument for closing the banks any more than corruption in the White House is for anarchy. Wealth inequality is not an argument for the guillotine and the Jacobin mentality.
Yes, I mistrust the misfits who adore him more than anything else. Of course I say that about Trump too.
Mike, I like Bernie but I don’t think Americans are going to elect someone who is a self-proclaimed socialist.