History tells us Never say Never.
It was conventional wisdom Ronald Reagan, because of his far-right views, could never become President.
Before him, Jimmy Carter was considered an aberration in the 1976 Democratic Presidential contest before shocking the political world by capturing the Iowa Caucuses that catapulted him to overnight credibility.
People were writing what Thomas Dewey or Hillary Clinton would do as President before they suffered shocking defeats to Harry Truman in 1948 and Donald Trump in 2016.
Bernie Sanders has some assets in his second quest for the Presidency that should not be underestimated in this polarized environment.
- He has consistent viewpoints that appeal to the masses (including people that voted for Trump) that have not changed over his decades of public service.
- He has a base of devoted supporters that will fight until their last breath for him.
- He fights and does not take fecal matter from anyone.
Does that mean Sanders is the best Democratic candidate in the Presidential field this year?
No.
Like in the Reagan and Carter primaries, there were better candidates (Howard Baker in 1980, Scoop Jackson in 1976 for example) that would have made better Presidents.
A case can be made that many Democrats currently and no longer in the 2020 field (like Klobachur, Bennet, Bullock, and Inslee) may be better Chief Executives with a greater chance of electability having longer coattails and more attainable legislative agendas.
James Carville, a backer of Bennet (and possibly Klobachur) and the architect of Bill Clinton’s 1992 victory has sounded the alarm of Democrats steering too much towards the left. He worries that a Sanders candidacy could lead to an electoral debacle whereas a more left of center candidate could win more easily and bring Democratic control of the Senate with him or her.
That said, no one should underestimate the power of Sander’s message and the strength of the base he has created.
Remember Reagan was as fringe right-wing as Sanders is fringe left and he won a landslide victory in 1980 over an unpopular President and helped end Democratic 25 year control of the Senate.
Bernie Sanders, if he gets the nomination, would face an impeached President who lost the 2016 Popular Vote, has (to date) never had a 50 percent approval rating, is an unindicted co-conspirator (Individual One), has been caught lying over 16,000 times, has broken promise after promise (where is the check from Mexico or the big infrastructure plan or the better and cheaper health care) and was the poster child for the Ku Klux Klan.
Never say Never.
You too.
That Sanders is considered fringe left shows how far right the Dems have gone.
Bernie’s ideas go back to FDR. They are not fringe.
Calling him fringe is the DNC and corporate media’s fear showing.
I’ve been surprised to see James Carville making the rounds. He’s scum, he trashed talked the victims of Bill Clinton’s sexual predation, including his famous line about dragging a dollar through a trailer park.
That’s Rush Limbaugh-Sandra Fluke level disgusting, maybe even worse.
I keep hearing Dems need to fight just as dirty as Republicans, but we need to draw the line somewhere.
There are plenty of people with election strategy experience, Carville can slither back under his rock and stay there.
For the general public,”FDR Democrat” is much less frightening than the term “Democratic Socialist.” I wish Bernie used it more. I wish we all did. The Democratic Party has been “Republican Light” for decades. Some democrats would consider Eisenhower’s platform radical. Hillary Clinton’s recent comments about Bernie are downright despicable and will be used by Trumpsters if Bernie does get the nomination.
I don’t go out of my way to pay attention to Hillary Clinton, but I’ve got to say that her comments about Bernie Sanders e are unconscionable. She’ll spend the rest of her life lashing out at whomever and whatever she believes cost her the presidency when, in fact,it was a combination of many things none of which can be measured.
But what is so wrong is for her to attack Bernie, a credible Democratic candidate, in these times when Democratic unity means everything.
Hi Liza
The only problem with your comment is he has not officially become a Democrat.
Yeah, true, but I’m okay with that. I know that many die hard Democrats have a problem with it. But better Bernie, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist than M.Bloomberg, a Republican billionaire who registered as a Democrat and is now having some success buying his way in to the election.
Four years ago, they said Trump could never win. That’s why Hillary sat on her butt. Six months ago, they said Trump was toast. After running through a gauntlet of negative press, Trump is in a good re-election position and the Dems are stuck with a socialist or a NYC pro-stop question and frisk, billionaire, ex-Republican mayor. NEVER SAY NEVER.
Ouch! You have burned us liberals to a crisp!
But I can’t feel the pain, I’m on heavy meds for my windmill cancer caused by smocking.
Did you see the SOTU speech where the nude model wife of a reality TV game show host gave our nations highest civilian honor to an AM radio shock jock?
You stay classy, State Senator Doctor Policeman John, you stay classy.
You stay in denial.
What did I deny? I pointed out that the First Lady was a nude model, Trump was a reality TV game show host, and that Rush is an AM radio shock jock.
And it was Trump who released the nude photos of his wife for the publicity.
If you cannot see that your party has become a cartoon then you are the one in denail.
I certainly didn’t think Trump could “win” and neither did Nate Silver.
But I did say that, if nothing else, the election would give us a head count of the number of racist a$$holes willing to sacrifice all of the progress of the 20th century and the Obama Administration so they could act out their anger for the rest of us having elected a black president.
Who knew there would be 63 million? I sure as hell didn’t.
But I will say this. Unless he drops dead from a stroke or something, it appears that the bloated, treasonous buffoon will run again. And we’ll see how it shakes out, assuming that voter suppression (perpetrated by his party) isn’t rampant enough to determine the outcome.
Yes John but remember the Democratic Nominee is in the enviable position, as the article stated, of running against an Impeached President who was the 2016 Popular Vote Loser, is an unindicted Coconspirator (Individual One,) has been caught with at least 16,000 lies and broken promises (where is the check from Mexico, the four percent growth, the infrastructure plan, the better and cheaper health care, and Medicare/Social Security will not be touched) and was endorsed by the KKK. Let us not forget all the unpaid campaign rally bills across the country and the fact that the economy he boasts about is Barack Obama’s. Are you really comfortable with Mr. Trump as your standard-bearer? It was cool meeting you at the capitol today. Take care and have a great evening.