Sanders May Have Learned Wrong Lessons From 2016

[RandySF]

However long Sanders remains in the race, Biden’s resurgence laid bare that, at his core, the senator is in some ways more of a cause than a candidate. And movement politics rarely lead to winning national elections.

Sanders’ team also appears to have underappreciated the shift in the nation’s suburbs away from Trump and toward centrist Democrats who were vital in sweeping the party back into control of the House in 2018.

Sanders’ embrace of democratic socialism is particularly scary to such educated moderates, who, above all, are looking for the most “electable” candidate to take on Trump this fall.

“Bernie is Captain 35%. That’s the magic number of the ultra-liberal, ultra-progressives that are standing with him bar none,” Democratic pollster Jeff Pollock said. “He failed to grow.”

As disappointing as that may be for Sanders, it’s also a warning sign for Trump, who has repeatedly tailored his appeal to his most fervent supporters. Both men found success in 2016 in part because they could benefit from the public’s harsh judgment of Hillary Clinton, who contended with both unwarranted sexism and self-inflicted wounds built up over more than three decades in the public eye.

Without Clinton as a foil in 2020, the appeal of Sanders didn’t seem to expand beyond his most loyal supporters. Trump could face the same challenge in the fall.




https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/03/12/sanders_may_have_learned_wrong_lessons_from_2016_142643.html

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. K&R

[oasis]

2. Right on. It may be necessary to kick this article well into next week.

[Cha]

6. lol.. Bookmarking.. Good article!

Sanders’ team also appears to have underappreciated the shift in the nation’s suburbs away from Trump and toward centrist Democrats who were vital in sweeping the party back into control of the House in 2018

oasis

[SunSeeker]

14. People are craving normalcy. I know I sure the fuck am. nt

[Cha]

16. I know right! And they tried to make

"normal"/"normalcy" a bad word. Didn't work, though.. I see too many testimonials from recent primary voters who are craving just what you say.

The complete evil idiocy of this impeached demon made it happen.

[Indykatie]

3. Capt 35% Planned to Ride Into the Convention With the Most Delegates in a Crowded Field

It would have worked too if it hadn't been for those meddling kids Amy and Pete. Their quick withdrawal from the race allowed Dems to do in 2020 what the GOP couldn't pull off in 2016; Coalesce around the strongest candidate. Bet Bernie and his camp didn't see that coming.

[LizBeth]

4. I agree. He learned being disruptive and causing chaos afford him attention and accomodation.

[comradebillyboy]

29. I do believe you are correct.

[Cha]

5. Ya think?

Sanders’ team also appears to have underappreciated the shift in the nation’s suburbs away from Trump and toward centrist Democrats who were vital in sweeping the party back into control of the House in 2018

Good article.. Thanks, RSF!

[PolarPop]

7. The real question is

What did the party learn? Biden is clearly going to be the nominee, but how to we court Bernie’s 35%?

A progressive VP? Adopt Medicare for all? What does it take to keep them from sitting out?

[Skittles]

9. hopefully, absolute DISGUST with Trump will be enough

it SHOULD be enough

[LizBeth]

10. They sit it out voting for him. We can't pull them over. Not voting for Sanders, they are not

voting for Biden.

[WePurrsevere]

17. Some of those 35% aren't going to switch to Joe...

Unless Bernie is his VP and that's probably not going to happen any more than Joe adopting a Medicare For All platform. While I'm even more left on socialized health/medical I also feel that realistically it's probably not happening at this time (although COVID-19 'might' change some hearts and minds) and would be quite happy just to get the ACA pulled back together, strengthened and improved on 'for now'.

Anyway, I think some more Bernie supporters might be won over if Joe goes with a minority and/or someone they perceive as more liberal. I think most Bernie supporters have already started to (in their minds at least) or will switch after the convention. Of course there will be those that sit out after that or switch to whichever 'left' spoiler runs. IME those types probably won't be won over (and we'd lose too many others if we were to try).

The thing is we can't realistically please everyone. What we 'can' and need to do is 'please' enough to get Trump out of power and put in someone who is not only sane and capable but is smart and yet humble enough to set aside their own ego and surround themselves with honest to goodness sane and highly capable and experienced people.

[oasis]

22. Bravo WePurrsevere, excellent points made in your post #17.

[WePurrsevere]

23. Thank you! nt

[dansolo]

18. How much of Bernie's support really needs to be "courted"?

I hope you aren't suggesting that none of Bernie's supporters would vote for Joe Biden against Trump.

[PolarPop]

24. No, not suggesting that

But I see a lot of them saying it’s Bernie or no one lately. In particular some some of the YouTube shows have been pumping that out.

[showblue22]

38. I think that was Hillary's mistake... Moving too far left.

She courted them, allowed Bernie's campaign to have a say in the platform and made many concessions. It might have hurt her with the more moderates. Not this time. Joe has black folks, suburban moms, never Trumpers and white working class. Bernie is only doing good with youth and West Coast Latinos. Those youtube people are obviously not voting so why risk losing moderates to court them?

[SidDithers]

25. Welcome to DU...

Sid

[Demsrule86]

30. I doubt anything will stop some from sitting out...we will have to move right as we did in 18 and

build a new coalition. And that is a real shame. I look at Sen Sanders and I see someone who hasn't helped our party or the progressive cause. I certainly would not agree to M4A as it is a loser in the general nor would I agree to any VP who could hurt the ticket to court voters who may not even vote for us no matter what we do. I look at 16 and think attempting to placate such voters does not help us. Sanders did not do enough to help Clinton win the general...and to put Stein voters in his campaign sent a message to those who's hearts are still broken with the election of Trump. We must do everything in out power to defeat Trump. Sanders needs to step aside. He is mathematically eliminated from winning the nomination.

[Turin_C3PO]

32. We don't need to move right.

Joe’s positions as they stand now are fine and sensible enough to win the general election.

[Demsrule86]

34. Moderates won the House...and will likely win Senate seats this year. We already have moved right.

Joe is a progressive...nothing to do with Joe. However, when Hillary lost and Trump was elected, we lurched right and the only way we can have power again is to appeal to voters in red and purple states...look at the Senate and look at the house. We need a 50 state solution to attain and retain power...and we need to try to get our progressive message out at the same time. But the reality is some of the things I support as a progressive aren't going to happen. It could have been different is our Green/left friends supported Hillary in the General.

[showblue22]

39. No way.

Bernie's base are not reliable voters. Biden needs to stay in the middle.

[Skittles]

8. he didn't learn ANY lesson

and 35% - isn't that the same for MAGAts?

[LizBeth]

11. I think 35% is generous.

[Skittles]

13. for who?

[LizBeth]

15. Lol, Sanders. I think it is more like 28-32%.

[TeamPooka]

12. Bernie's big strength is that he has been saying/campaigning the exact same way for 40 years

Bernie's big weakness is that he has been saying/campaigning the exact same way for 40 years

[Demsrule86]

31. Yes and after the Vermont result, I bet we can beat him by running a Democrat in the primary.

He isn't as popular as we thought. He got 51% in his home state.

[NurseJackie]

19. "He failed to grow."

“Bernie is Captain 35%."

He's a very divisive politician. His demeanor and temperament are not the sort that people find attractive or desirable in someone who wants to lead our party and our nation.

[betsuni]

20. His "embrace of democratic socialism" isn't "scary." It's pseudo.

That's why "educated" people don't like it. Duh.

[ehrnst]

21. That would require that he believe he made a mistake.

[romana]

26. I didn't realize

"self-inflicted wounds" meant 30 years of GOP smearing.

[TwilightZone]

27. Many underestimated what % of his 2016 support was anti-Hillary.

Based on his current level of support, it could have been as much as half.

[peggysue2]

36. It hurts me to admit this very thing, Twilight

I was a staunch supporter of HRC in 2008 & 2016. Can't tell you how much I've admired her efforts over the years, her tireless defense of the vulnerable, her dogged support of women and children. But the truth is the 30-year harangue from the GOP, the absurd Benghazi investigations and email scam, the raw sexism, not to mention the Russian interference in 2016 all dented Hillary's reputation, support and the nearly 70% approval rating she had leaving the State Department.

Then entered the Bernie or Bust supporters, the Jill Stein cheerleaders and the hateful misogyny coming from presumably Democratic quarters and the die was cast. It's a miracle Clinton walked off with nearly a 3 million popular vote advantage in 2016.

The recent vote in Michigan showed clearly that the white working class, those who threw their vote to Sanders in 2016, turned on a dime and voted for Joe Biden this time out. The very group that Sanders beat his chest about turned their backs on him. Without Hillary Clinton in the mix, those Democrats flocked to Biden, the pragmatic liberal, not the self-proclaimed socialist.

Bernie's movement was built on the flimsiest of foundations, sand. We're watching it wash away in realtime. If Bernie's supporters want to vote for Trump or not vote at all in a fit of spite? That's on them. Means the rest of us will need to work all the harder to ensure a Democratic victory. But another thing will happen:

We Won't Forget!

[TwilightZone]

40. Another poster a while back said that we've been looking at HRC all wrong.

The poster was framing it in the context of Warren's somewhat underwhelming showing in this cycle's primaries and the inability of the female candidates to make a significant run, even though Harris, Warren, and Klobuchar are all solid candidates. Other than a brief lead for Warren, they really didn't make a dent and yet Hillary, with everything you mentioned, dominated the primaries and was 70k votes in three states from the presidency. All the inherent bias, plus 30 years of attacks and a lot of apathy on the left.

It's a perspective I share. Trump had to have a million things (plus 70k) go right and there was a lot of external influence, foreign and domestic. Otherwise, Hillary is president and we're in an entirely different world. It really was a remarkable achievement, considering the context.

I agree on Bernie's supporters. Those who won't vote for Biden likely were never going to vote for anyone other than Bernie (if they even showed up at all), and our focus should be on those we can reach. The threat of another four years of Trump should be clear, but obviously not to all.

[peggysue2]

41. x1000, Twilight

[dalton99a]

28. The Democratic Party could learn from Sanders' repertoire

1. Revolutionary rhetoric
2. Honorific naming of U.S. post offices

[Gothmog]

33. sanders comments in Castro are hurting sanders

Link to tweet

?s=20

[BluesClues]

35. He never tried to get old black voters

I never heard him say I marched with MLK or anything like that

[showblue22]

37. That's because he didn't march with MLK

He attended a rally in DC called The March on Washington, the same one Mitch McConnell was at.