Bernie Sanders: Lefty Would Lose Election For Ds
BY SAM FIELDS
On the morning of November 7, 1972 I walked into a District of Columbia polling precinct and proudly cast my vote for the next President of the United States–George McGovern.
Notwithstanding every poll in the country, I was sure McGovern would win. After all, everyone I knew was voting for him.
I was only slightly off…if you consider loosing everywhere except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia “only slightly off”.
The hardcore, New Left, anti-war wing of the Democratic Party had taken control with their candidate Senator McGovern of South Dakota.
McGovern’s forces couldn’t even run the Democratic Convention. On nomination night they allowed so many rambling seconding speeches that McGovern couldn’t give his acceptance speech until almost 3:00 in the morning! I was sleeping in front of my TV.
The man McGovern nominated for Veep forgot to mention that he repeatedly had been in mental hospitals and subject to electroshock therapy. Within weeks he withdrew from the ticket.
The result of all of this – along with President Richard Nixon’s “dirty tricks” – was a foregone conclusion.
I have been thinking about all of this when I look at what is going on in the current atmosphere of the Hillary Clinton/Bernie Sanders election.
Bernie Sanders: Lefty Loser
For the last 25 years the Clintons have represented the Center/Left of the Democratic Party and never lost a race to the GOP.
For the last twenty-five years the GOP has be investigating them for everything from Whitewater to computer servers. They even investigated them for removing the “W” keys off of the White House computer keyboards.
If you were to calculate government work time and hiring outside lawyers–think Kenneth Starr—they have probably spent a $100,000,000 of taxpayer money. And the only wrongdoing they proved was that Bill Clinton lied about a sexual infidelity.
But none of that matters to them. The only thing they are interested in is keeping the Clintons on the defensive and damaging her brand to the point that she is unelectable.
It all reminds me of the JFK crack: “Where there’s smoke…there’s a smoke machine”.
In this case the smoke machine has wounded her chances and allowed a seventy three year old Jewish socialist to become a serious contender for the Democratic nomination.
He looks and sounds like Norman Thomas the six-time candidate of the Socialist Party. He also has about the same chance of winning November 2016…and that takes into account that Thomas has been dead since 1968!
The late Arizona Congressman Mo Udall often observed: “It takes two things to be a great President. You gotta be ‘great’ and you gotta be ‘President’”.
Bernie Sanders may be “great” but he will never, no way, no how ever be President of the United States of America.
The danger is that he could be the Democratic nominee if Hillary’s demise comes too late for a Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren to get into the race.
Is it possible that come November 8, 2016 the American people could have a choice of Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump?!
While we would all like to see that two-person debate it will not likely happen. I suspect that if by April/May it looks like Sanders/Trump is an inexorable path I have two words for you: “Mike Bloomberg”. He has the money and the credibility to become a third party candidate who could win against Trump and Sanders. I would bet dollars to donuts he’s already polling his options.
If by Christmas Hillary has not figured how to get off the ropes she needs to get out of the race and let viable candidates in to avoid that scenario.
As long as the GOP insists on pushing their crazies like Trump and Ben Carson to the front of the line, the only way we lose is to nominate a left wing version in the person of Bernie Sanders.
Let’s not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
One George McGovern is enough!
September 14th, 2015 at 10:04 am
Yes, Sam, one McGovern is too much. And two Clintons and three Bushes are overkill. Elizabeth, the Indian, and Uncle Joe don’t look too good either.
September 14th, 2015 at 10:36 am
Keep pushing the idea of a left wing third party candidate. That is a winning strategy for sure.
September 14th, 2015 at 12:50 pm
The American people voted for “Change you can believe in” eight years ago. They’re still waiting. Sam, it isn’t a question of the votes not being there – it’s a question of the CHANGE not being there. Sanders (and fellow Senator Elizabeth Warren) are bringing the change. Sanders is drawing record crowds all over the country. This is voter mobilization at its finest! #FeelTheBern https://berniesanders.com/
FROM BUDDY:
If you are talking about change, how about the two Supreme Court justices that Obama appointed? How about Obamacare? How about relations with Cuba and our first discussions with Iran in a generation? There are many more. Maybe it is just that Obama is a realist who knows how much he can accomplish in a highly partisan climate.
How will Sanders, who has a far more radical agenda, do better with the same Congress? Although Sam didn’t mention that angle, it is a valid question.
September 14th, 2015 at 1:40 pm
@3 Buddy:
a) The Supreme Court is center-right (with Anthony Kennedy as the swing vote). Obama’s two appointees are both center-left, simply replacing other center-left people (Sotomayor replacing Souter, Kagan replacing Stevens). There is absolutely nobody on the Supreme Court today who resembles Thurgood Marshall (a progressive). The Supreme Court today is hardly an example of progressive change. And Obama’s nominees did not represent change either – just more of the same.
b) Obamacare is only marginal change, not progressive change. Single-payer would be progressive change.
c) Relations with Cuba & discussions with Iran – here Obama is just dumping the failed policies of prior administrations. It’s change, but these aren’t the central areas of concern to the American people.
As for how Sanders will do better, Congressmen only have two-year terms and the Republicans will lose seats in November 2016. They will lose many more seats in November 2018 when Sanders goes out and personally energizes Democratic voters in the districts of carefully selected Congressmen.
FROM BUDDY:
Its always good to have a goal, Ha Ha Ha.
September 14th, 2015 at 3:32 pm
“Feel the Bern” huh. First of all I think Sen. Sanders is hitting a nerve w/ the voters will this alone carry him to the White house ,I think not. Plus one could point out when do you go to the Senate bldg., and actually work on behalf of his constituents in Vermont. Bern, here is all over the place. Typical w/ some of them. I fell Hilary Clinton is being set up over the email drama. Donald Trump how you get rid of him is simple. Bring out the fact that he is being sued and could face criminal charges in regards to his Trump University(joke). Mr.Trump was selling his BS(wait) and say they charged you 1500 bucks etc ,once you got there his hench-men would muscle you to take other seminars etc . Some were dishing out 10, 15 20 grand for a cut out poster pic w/ you and him. Then the crap he was selling you could get the same advice(sic) from some infomercial w/ Tony Robbins for free. Don’t believe me look it up the Att>gen. in New York is suing Trump. Also the DOJ is looking into criminal charges(talk about Clinton he’ll be roomates w/ her-according to Trump she is going to jail(never will they nail her (huh Gowdy). “Case in point”(I love saying that in court-prevail every time-civil cases)Trump had a bldg. w/ his name on it in Ft>lau bch and went belly up(huh Devi). You know who is gonna get Trump Carly Firina(watch). Wed nite shall be interesting(please those that know Bush-tell him to dis the glasses, color his hair(looks older than George(either one),loosen up(he looks like a deer when you flash headlites on it. ). As far as McGovern they brought up the fact that he had shock treatments implying he was un fit to serve office(ruined him). On e thing they all better say Wed night Is that Al Assad must go(kill him if you have to -tell Putin back off(its tricky). will see, won’t we. Trump a lot of hot air. Reminds me of a slick snake oil salesman. We can do better. 1600 Penn. Ave is not for sale. Run Joe Biden run. Work will conquer grief-trust me….
September 14th, 2015 at 6:00 pm
What did Mr. Obama do for some of us, who were silly enough to catch cancer?
He took away the pre-existing condition clause.
He allowed some of us to get insurance for the first time in a long time. Forget the subsidy, etc. Some of us have access to the same health care as the rest.
September 14th, 2015 at 6:52 pm
Yes, we wanted change – we had been “bushed out”. Then, when our President was elected by the people,& not by the supreme court, it was the ahole from Ky., mitch McConnell ,who stood on his potty chair & made the statement – “our goal is to make sure that he is a one term president”. Didn’t work, did it? But they have surely tried – anything suggested by our President has gotten a resounding NO from “the other side”. They do not care about the American people, they care about their party. I think that history will show that Barack Obama was one the best presidents we have ever had.
September 15th, 2015 at 12:42 pm
Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose liberal call to action has propelled his long-shot presidential campaign, is proposing an array of new programs that would amount to the largest peacetime expansion of government in modern American history.In all, he backs at least $18 trillion in new spending over a decade, according to a tally by The Wall Street Journal, a sum that alarms conservatives and gives even many Democrats pause. Mr. Sanders sees the money as going to essential government services at a time of increasing strain on the middle class
September 15th, 2015 at 2:30 pm
Reading most of the above comments is proof that Broward is the liberal epicenter of Florida.
While I agree that lefties (who like to call themselves progressives) feel that Obama has not done enough to advance their Shangra-La dreams, many of us feel he has already changed the fabric of the country for the worse but we will have that debate again in 2016.
But @Carolina does not realize that McConnell and Boehner have failed miserably to do what the 2014 voters asked. The Republicans had one of the biggest victories of all time in sweeping state houses and Governorships, and with the additional seats in the US House and taking back the US Senate.
McConnell should have followed the lead of Harry Reid and lowered the majority count needed to pass important legislation to 51 from 60. If he had Reid’s guts, McConnell could give the Republicans the power to pass legislation and let Obama have to veto it for the American public to see his true colors(no pun intended). Including voting against the horrendous Iran “executive” agreement which is not even a binding treaty. And the Senate and House could finally pass a real immigration reform plan which again Obama would veto. And revised tax codes. And on and on which will not happen because Harry Reid continues to outmaneuver McConnell.
And then there is Boehner. What a wuss. He is the perfect example of what Donald Trump is talking about when he mentions the blood sucker lobbyists that control Congress.
While I am not personally a Trump supporter, it is becoming apparent his anti-DC strategy is bringing a lot of new enthusiasm from Republicans and Independent voters that Romney failed to generate and thus lost his election. If only more Republicans had voted in 2012, Romney would have won.
September 15th, 2015 at 4:12 pm
Bernie Sanders disputes WSJ claim of $18 trillion in new spending
By Daniel Strauss, Politico.com
09/15/15, 01:20 PM EDT
Bernie Sanders is pushing back against a Wall Street Journal report that calculated the total cost of his proposed polices as $18 trillion over 10 years.
“That is not the reality, and we will be responding to the Wall Street Journal on that. I think most of the expense that they put in there, the expenditures, have to do with a single-payer health care system,” the independent Vermont senator said in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday.
Sanders said the WSJ had “significantly exaggerated” those costs, and hadn’t accounted for the benefits of “eliminating the cost that you incur with private health insurance.”
According to the WSJ, Sanders’ program would include $15 trillion in additional costs “for a government-run health-care program that covers every American, plus large sums to rebuild roads and bridges, expand Social Security and make tuition free at public colleges.”
Sanders, in the MSNBC interview, argued that a single-payer system was preferable to the status quo, in which many Americans’ health care is tied to their jobs.
“The truth of the matter right now is that as a nation, we spend far far more on health care per person than the people of any other nation. And yet we continue to have about 30 million people who have no health insurance, many more who are underinsured and we pay, again, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” Sanders said. “No question to my mind that moving toward a Medicare-for-all, single-payer program is the most cost-effective way to provide health care to all of our people.”
The Journal report also noted that to pay for Sanders’ new proposals, he would increase taxes that would bring in $6.5 trillion over 10 years, leaving a $12.5 trillion gap.
Sanders countered that the Journal didn’t really delve too deeply into his proposals to tax the wealthiest Americans.
“Second point, which they really didn’t get into, is: We are going to demand that the wealthiest people and the largest corporations in this country do start paying their fair share of taxes,” Sanders said. “When we have massive income and wealth inequality — when 58 percent of all income is going to the top 1 percent, when you have major corporations in a given year paying zero in federal income taxes, yes we need real tax reform to bring in substantially more revenue.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/bernie-sanders-18-trillion-new-spending-wall-street-journal-213639
Bernie Sanders’ Speech At Liberty University, 9/14/15
…In my view, it would be hard for anyone in this room today to make the case that the United States of America, our great country, a great country which all of us love, it would be hard to make the case that we are a just society or anything resembling a just society today. In the united states of America today there is massive injustice in terms of income and wealth inequality. Injustice is rampant.
We live, and I hope all of you know this, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. But most Americans don’t know that. Because almost all of that wealth and income is going to the top one percent. Now that’s the truth. We are living in a time … where a handful of people have wealth beyond comprehension. And I’m talking about tens of billions of dollars. Enough to support their families for thousands of years with huge yachts and jet planes and tens of billions. More money than they would ever know what to do with. But at that very same moment, there are millions of people in our country let alone the rest of the world who are struggling to feed their families, they are struggling to put a roof over their heads, and some of them are sleeping out on the streets. They are struggling to find money to go to a doctor when they are sick. Now when we talk about morality and when we talk about justice we have to in my view understand that there is no justice when so few have so much and so many have so little.
There is no justice, and I want you to hear this clearly, when the top one tenth of one percent, not one percent, the top one tenth of one percent, today in America owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. And in your hearts you will have to determine the morality of that and the justice of that.
In my view there is no justice when here in Virginia and Vermont and all over this country. Millions of people are working long hours for abysmally low wages of $7.25 an hour. Of 8 dollars an hour. 9 dollars an hour. Working hard but unable to bring in enough money to adequately feed their kids and yet at the same time 58 percent of all new income generated is going to the top one percent. You have got to think about the morality of that the justice of that and whether or not that’s what we want to see in our country.
In my view there is no justice when in recent years we have seen a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires while at the same time the United States of America has the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on earth. How can we, I want you to go into your hearts, how can we talk about morality about justice when we turn our backs on the children of our country?
Now you’ve got to think about it. You’ve got think about it and you’ve got to feel it in your guts. Are you content, do you think it’s moral that 20 percent of children in this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, are living in poverty? Do you think it’s acceptable that 40 percent of African American children are living in poverty?
In my view there is no justice and morality suffers when in our wealthy country millions of children go to bed hungry. That is not morality. And that in my view is not what America should be about.
In my view, there is no justice when the fifteen, fifteen wealthiest people in this country in the last two years, two years, saw their wealth increased by 170 billion dollars. Two years. Wealthiest fifteen people in this country saw their wealth increase by 170 billion dollars. My friends, that is more wealth acquired in a two year period than is owned by the bottom 130 million Americans. And while the very very rich become much richer, millions of families have no savings at all. Nothing in the bank. And they worry every single day that if their car breaks down they can’t get to work and if they can’t get to work they lose their jobs and if they lose their jobs they don’t feed their families. In the last two years, fifteen people saw 170 billion dollar increase in their wealth, 45 million Americans live in poverty. That in my view is not justice. That is a rigged economy designed by the wealthiest people in this country to benefit the wealthiest people in this country at the expense of everybody else. …
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/09/14/1421244/-Bernie-Sanders-Transcript-Of-His-Speech-At-Liberty-University
September 15th, 2015 at 6:04 pm
Carolina: only if that history is written by someone with access to a lot of peyote. Otherwise, it will accurately reflect a metastasizing of the debt and of people on food stamps, a shrinking of the middle class, lukewarm indecisiveness and an abject betrayal of our best friends and embarrassing pursuit of our foes.
September 15th, 2015 at 9:00 pm
How about a candidate that is pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, tough on crime, tough on legal immigration, religion neutral, and stays the fukk out of my bedroom. I don’t care what party they are, I will vote for that person. Clinton’s and Obama are hypocrites, liars, and criminals. They rig the elections instead of having the Supremes call it. They disgust me. They are only in this for the money and power. None of them give a shyte about our Constitution or US.
September 16th, 2015 at 1:08 am
The top economy has changed as machines in the digital age have been developed to do the work of craftsmen middle management n both skilled technical people or unskilled labor. Heinz Ketchup at Peter Pan comes from Mexico as does Bricks Halloween corn candy. The college ruled notebooks at Target come from Viet Nam Starfish tuna or fish comes from Poland. How many textile factories went from New England in the 1950s as the shoe companies in the 1970s to
The un-unionized South and now the successor firms are in China India South America or Pakistan? Nothing Sanders or Trump Clinton or Bush has proposed would undo the Digital Age e-mail computers etc. You could increase some lower class incomes with more education and scientical development but large outlays are always opposed as wasteful by the right and the left undercuts education by politically influenced low cultural work educational standards without which real scientific progress let alone economic upward mobility is doomed. Rich people finance campaigns poor people just complain n won’t vote won’t volunteer or go to meetings and are too stupid n cheap to contribute to contribute people like Sanders who would at least pressure a Clinton to think of all Americans not just the rich ones she surrounds herself with in New York DC Southampton and Miami.
September 18th, 2015 at 8:01 pm
Richard Corcoran, Incoming Speaker of the Florida House – A Bernie Sanders Fan? From Corcoran’s 1st speech as Speaker:
… In 1952, the voters of Panama City elected to the Florida House of Representatives a lab tech with a chemical company. His name was Jack Mashburn. He was just 22 years old. After his election, Jack’s father gave him one piece of advice: He told his son, “always do what is right, regardless of the consequences. I will always be proud of you no matter the outcome – but you, you just choose to do right.”
Jack was young and talented. He was from the right part of the state. He was a Blue Dog Democrat with a huge political future. All he had to do was play by the rules of the system, and the world, this world, would be his oyster.
But, during his first session, while working on preserving St. Andrews State Park, Jack learned something that surprised him. He discovered that for the most part from Brownsville, Texas, all along the Gulf of Mexico – Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and, yes, all around the great State of Florida….there was hardly a single grain of beach sand that an African American was allowed to walk on without being arrested.
And, then 22-year old freshman, Jack Mashburn, did something extraordinary – he decided to change that.
Immediately, he was threatened. He was told by his local businessmen he’d only serve one term. He was told he was jeopardizing his future. He was told to stand down or else.
But, Jack couldn’t be intimidated and he couldn’t be bought. He stood his ground and he changed that law.
And, true to their word, his opponents back home took him out in the next election. He served one single term in office.
Jack’s story is important because it is a test of character. Not Jack’s character, but our character. Because, either you hear that story as a cautionary tale, or you hear it how I hear it – as a story of a person who put principle over politics. Who understood that what is wrong must be put right, AND that change can’t wait for a more convenient time.
Do you know how many of us have served in this chamber – members who were Rules Chairs or Budget Chairs or, yes, even Speakers with their portraits on the wall – who during their entire legislative careers never did anything as brave or meaningful as that 22-year-old kid who served one term and never chaired a single committee?
Members, I am happy to tell you that not only is Jack Mashburn still with us, but that he’s actually with us here today. Please join me in welcoming back to the Florida House after 62 years, Representative Jack Mashburn. Sir, we are so honored to have you with us today.
Members, the crux of everything I’ve said today has been said before far more eloquently. Our founding fathers wrestled with how to create a long-lasting democracy when the reality is that those in charge of leading it, all of us, are flawed – and left to our own devices, all too often, we will seek self-interest. So, they designed a government that would protect against that – we call them Checks and Balances and the Separation of Powers. And, because they owned that one reality, that one truth, because they identified the enemy and were willing to fight it – they built what we know is the greatest governmental experiment in the history of the world. …
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/richard-corcorans-speech-we-are-the-enemy/2245817