Moving the party to the left - Fright Talk on MSNBC

[Baitball Blogger]

Paraphrasing: Gloom and Doom if Bernie runs again because he will push the party to the left and that will fracture the party...again.

Let's talk facts. What is it that the Centrist Democrats are afraid of from the Honorable Gentleman from Vermont? Name specifics. Because, I know that race relationships isn't on the top of this list, though he will champion the cause. But, I fear that whoever is against Bernie Sanders today, may also be afraid of strong race issues, later. In other words, I fear that we are going backwards when all signs indicate that the minority vote is crucial for Democratic victories.

So, educate me. What issues is Bernie Sanders pushing that doesn't pass the stink test?

(PS - Since this is being discussed today on MSNBC, it should be considered current news.)

[LexVegas]

1. Move the party to the left, like protecting firearm manufacturers?

[Baitball Blogger]

3. That's not a left-leaning issue.

They specifically feared being moved to the left.

As for Bernie, he pushes that cause and it will only make him weaker as a candidate.

[kcr]

19. No, but it is a Bernie Sanders issue.

And it's Bernie Sanders we're talking about.

[Baitball Blogger]

51. That's your bias. Don't give into it.

The media is associating Bernie as a candidate for the Left. That's how they're framing this.

My fear is that they are giving "The Left" a face. I say we get them to parse their words because there are some Left issues that I find imperative to winning elections.

[kcr]

58. How is my bias affecting anything? I have no input whatsoever with the media.

The fact that the media is choosing to make Bernie an avatar for the left does not, in fact, make him the left. I would argue that their branding of the left as Bernie is actually creating bias in a lot of people. I didn't become a lefty in 2016. I was always a lefty. To me, the left isn't Bernie. I don't understand why all of a sudden he is. I don't get why I'm the one with the bias because I'm not jumping on board the Bernie is the Left train. I'm still the lefty I always was. I contend it's the Bernie fans with the bias. Because it is absolutely true that gun nuttery is NOT the left. Sorry.

[Baitball Blogger]

60. Maybe the media should have someone like you on t.v., to help

get through the word salad. THAT's what is missing on MSNBC. Someone who can help put definition to very broad terms.

[kcr]

66. There are a lot of things missing from MSNBC

The problem is there just isn't a robust liberal media in the US. If you're only watching MSNBC, that might explain your impression that only centrists dislike Bernie Sanders. MSNBC is far from the only ones guilty, of course, but plenty of people on left actually do find Bernie Sanders lacking. We're out there. There just isn't a lot of wide, diverse liberal opinion in the media, and the mainstream media, like MSNBC, is mostly crap.

[LuvLoogie]

70. Count me as one...

I'm a Paul Simon, Hillary Clinton, Jerry Brown, Al Franken lefty.

[BainsBane]

26. Your acting like we havent already seen him

In a campaign and don’t know his positions on issues and what he chose to emphasize. Your portrayal departs significantly from that reality.

[Baitball Blogger]

53. Bernie comes in with the same shtick and I guarantee he won't make it to the primaries.

We are older and wiser and he has had time to address his weaknesses.

[BainsBane]

63. What people love about Bernie is his consistency

He has said the same thing for decades. I would be very surprised if he changes.

[BainsBane]

24. Exactly

[lagomorph777]

2. That "weak on racism meme" is total BS

http://www.trbimg.com/img-56c7bb9b/turbine/ct-willis-wagons-school-segregation-chicago-1963-photos-20160218/800/800x450

[BainsBane]

29. That worked so well last time

[greeny2323]

4. Could we get new candidates, please?

I want all new, fresh candidates. No Biden, Clinton or Sanders. It's time to move on to a new generation.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. For now, let's forget about Bernie. Instead, let's worry that the meme is about

the fear of moving the party to the left. Exactly what are we talking about? Is this a Centrist dog whistle to whittle back on social issues or raising taxes on the rich?

See, until someone defines exactly what the issue is, how can we judge what is happening here?

[lagomorph777]

33. Good question. If Centrists want to move us to the right, they need to be specific.

[BainsBane]

34. How about caring about something besides labels?

Like policy, values, and what is just for citizens?

You are the one who demanded people justify their views on Bernie. You chose to make the discussion about him, which has been about all that we’ve seen since last Nov.

[Baitball Blogger]

35. I am not going to fall for the framing that I'm hearing on MSNBC.

It's clear that the Centrists that they are interviewing are just as opposed to Bernie, as they are opposed to Left leaning policies. Yet, no on on the television and no one on this website can talk specifics.

Don't you think that's odd? Why are we allowing our own people to use labels as Fright Masks. Maybe we should be talking about specifics. Maybe then, we'll see just who we really agree with, or, who really is trying to do to us, exactly what is happening on the right-wing media. Manipulating the masses based on emotional impulses, rather than facts.

[BainsBane]

28. +1

And please, someone under the median mortality age.

[brush]

31. I'm with you. New candidates will emerge...Harris, Castro, Brown, Gillibrand, and those are just a..

few. There are others as well.

I'm not sure Sanders will even run again considering his age in 2020, plus he won't be the shiny new thing then.

[democratisphere]

32. Agreed. We need a dynamic Democrat that will appeal to a broad spectrum

of Democrats as well as moderate Republicans.

[Adrahil]

5. It's not the issues that bother me so much...

It's the fairy tale told about how these idea will be paid for. Bernie has a habit of making huge proposals, with only vague proposals about how to pay for it.

ANy large scale economic proposition MUST include a detailed, realistic funding plan. Otherwise, it's snake oil.

[tonyt53]

9. BINGO!!!!!

[Fresh_Start]

11. +1 nt

nt

[Baitball Blogger]

12. Any specifics?

I don't see anything in what you said that would separate left from right proposals.

[Adrahil]

17. Sure...

For example.... Bernie's Medicare for all.

Seems like a great idea, right? But his proposed bill doesn't include a funding mechanism. It doesn't discuss how recapture expenditures made by companies in group insurance plans, for example. And that will be CRUCIAL is keep overall costs for consumers low.

[Baitball Blogger]

36. Good response.

Thank you. That we can work with. I expect him to have a funding mechanism plan IF he runs again.

[Canoe52]

37. They said the same thing when Kennedy said

We are going to put a man on the moon.

How are we going to do that? We don’t have the technology, what’s the funding mechanism?

In others words, first you need a visionary to come up with the idea, then you figure out the how.
In the case of Medicare for all, it isn’t even that radical an idea, we have dozens of countries for examples of different ways to do it.

But wait a minute, pardon me, I just woke up and saw your post...and find myself defending Medicare for all...are you a bot trolling us?

[tallahasseedem]

74. Free College as well...

How would that be funded? What schools would the tax payers be paying for? Would we pay for Ivy League schools. The list goes on....

[HughBeaumont]

45. You know, like a large-scale, decade-long Middle East occupation.

Oh wait . . .

[Adrahil]

52. You think I support that? I do not. NT

[HughBeaumont]

68. No one on this board does. Theoretically.

The point is, war is ALWAYS funded and approved without discussion because no one wants to be labeled "Soft on Terrorism".

America wants politicians who keep for-profit Mercantile CullCare intact, all so suburbanites and rurals can hold their heads high in the air knowing that someone "unworthy" (read: non-white) will NOT receive what the rest of the world considers a human right.

"If you can find the money to kill people, you can find the money to help people." - Tony Benn.

It really is NOT beyond that "black and white". Sorry, it isn't.

[Kentonio]

46. What bothers me is that when these proposals are put up for discussion

The automatic reaction seems to be 'This proposal won't work, its a fairy tale!' instead of 'Doing it this way won't work, so how can we find a better solution?'.

The proposals themselves are not crazy. We're not talking about things that cannot be done and paid for, we're talking about things that other countries take for granted and that we COULD achieve with a little hard work and innovative thinking.

[Adrahil]

57. I do think....

That Bernie has spent most of his career proposing stuff he knows doesn't stand a snowballs chance in hell of getting passed, so he doesn't feel much obligation to propose truly executable plans.

I think transforming the health care system in this country is a HUGE task. We have a really weird, really screwed up system. The whole employer-provide health insurance idea is just bizarre. But people depend upon their health care. I'm in favor of such a transformation, and I can tell you that as someone who had a lot of medical expenses over the last year, the idea of just tossing my plan and getting something new scares the hell out of me.

I want to see a transformation plan that genuinely considers these things. I'll be honest and say I don't think Bernie has really considered that, or he's considered it and tossed it aside as mere details. Either approach is bothersome to me.

He's used to being a gadfly. If he wants my support, he, or his successors, need to become actual statespeople.

[Kentonio]

69. I see his role as getting people to understand the problem and that it's something we can discuss

I don't think any individual should be held up as having the magic solution to hugely complex problems, but sometimes it takes one person to start the ball rolling.

If we accept it's an objective we could and should and WILL one day have, then we've taken the first vital step to achieving it. Then it's on to the hard work of showing how we can get there.

[Adrahil]

89. Sure... that's what a gadfly does....

But such proposals cannot be taken as serious policy from a leader, which Sanders has presented it as. IMHO, of course.

[tallahasseedem]

73. OMG +1,000,000,000

And the fact that people buy into it and then they refuse to vote for other candidates that have the audacity to point out that it is a fairy tale.

We need voters who are realistic about what can and cannot be done at a given time.

[Me.]

79. Good POst/Point

However… the thing is that's it's not just about economics per se. WE need an outreach to our actual base, the people who bring us to the dance time after time....minorities, POC (especially women), all women ...One of the remarkable things about last night was that culture war candidates lost in amazing ways.

And...there also has to be a realization of that fact that women's reproductive rights go hand in hand with economics.

There was an op-ed in the Times last week entitled……..

“The Economy Can’t Grow Without Birth Control”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/opinion/economy-birth-control.html

[JCanete]

87. There is money that could pay for these things. ALL of these things.

We know who has it. The effort to keep this in the realm of fairy tale gets in the way of ever getting it. Selling it to the public is how you get the wonks to craft something that works. Because now they have people they have to respond to, and rather than being between a rock(the rich) and a soft cushion(the democratic voters), they now have to make hard decisions about which group they are going to alienate. And frankly, they will be better off for it. If being electorally viable means they have to respond to the will of the voters to get these vast improvements to our society, the money will not stay away for too long. Once the middle is redrawn to the left of where it is, the middle will be preferable for these rich interests to what is further left, so they will support it.

[Adrahil]

90. That's not the argument...

I agree with that point. But the funding must be part of the policy from the beginning, IMO.

Empty "promise the sky" policy proposals do not help, IMO. And major transformation, must include a transformation plan.

[seaglass]

6. You are making assumptions that those who do not support Bernie running in 2020 are

centrists.

We are still not at the point on DU where we can express the many reasons that a large number of voters do not support Bernie running for president in 2020 without getting hidden posts.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. What I said uppost:

For now, let's forget about Bernie. Instead, let's worry that the meme is about the fear of moving the party to the left. Exactly what are they talking about? Is this a Centrist dog whistle to whittle back on social issues or raising taxes on the rich?

See, until someone defines exactly what the issue is that they're concerned about, how can we judge what is happening here?

[seaglass]

15. OK, perhaps you could have posted without bringing Bernie into it then. I don't really

know who the centrists are that you are speaking of as I don't know anyone who wants to go backwards on social issues or who does not support raising taxes on the rich unless they are Republicans.

I do not listen/watch any pundit talking heads AT ALL - they don't really know more than your average person who pays attention to politics, they are unoriginal thinkers and they attempt to turn their crap talking points into conventional wisdom.

[tonyt53]

23. What an accurate description! Thank you.

[Baitball Blogger]

38. I'm not the one on t.v. that is framing this issue.

The message from the centrists in the media today is: No to Bernie because he will move the party to the left. So, break it down. Are they opposed to Bernie or are they opposed to the Left? If so, what programs bother them?

This is not a question that is going to go away, even if Bernie doesn't run. You do see the big picture here, don't you? Shouldn't this be broken down to issues, and not candidates? Yet, today, Bernie and a move to the Left seems to be an anxiety point for Centrists.

[SharonClark]

39. Excellent response.

[leftofcool]

71. Moving the Party to the left is not the problem

The problem is moving the Party to the left while bashing the good Party we already have and trying to do it all at once. We tried that with McGovern and lost all but one state. Things don't happen overnight in this country and being slow, methodical, thoughtful, sometimes pragmatic is what will get us there. Bernie's problem is that he spent most of his campaign telling everyone what was wrong with the Democratic Party and not enough time telling everyone how we could make it better over time. You will always have centrist Democrats who will have to be brought on board a bit at a time. Compromise is how it is done in this country. Centrist Democrats like myself, Obama, Hillary Howard Dean and so many others all want the same things Bernie does, it is just that we know it takes time and work and a slow pragmatic process to see it come to fruition. The more people like Nina Turner and some of the die hard Bernie fans tell us we are wrong, the more we balk at Bernie's ideas. I like Bernie, but what I don't like is the total and complete bashing of the Democratic Party and all this BS about purity.

[tonyt53]

10. So, from your post, it appears that you are wanting to push out the party moderates.

Yeah, that sure is a plan to win a national election.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. OH my God! How do I know that I don't agree with them if I don't even know

what the specific Left programs that bother them?

What I am concerned about is that they may be opposed to minority issues. How do we know if we don't force them out from behind that huge bulletin board they're hiding behind when they say, "left."

[tonyt53]

22. That's the thing about people such as yourself, you don't get it. We simply want equality for all.

People such as yourself, feel like you have to put one issue in front of others. You feel that if ALL Democrats aren't 100% in line with your thinking, then those not aligned with your thinking have to go. Purity tests will not work. Never have and never will. You think that things can be changed just because you want them to. Hell, it took right at 100 years to get civil rights legislation passed in this country from the time slavery ended. You question our thinking when a person says free healthcare or free college tuition, and we ask how it will be paid for. You won't accept the fact that neither will happen overnight. Things take time. But you won't accept the people that understand this fact; you want to push them out. It was easy for Sanders to get up on a stage and say those things. He had no specific plan how to achieve them though. None. Us that have been around for many years as active Democrats weren't taken in by those words - and that is all they were without a workable plan. We want a plan and a way to pay for it. Those purity tests you seem to be pushing will lead to continued failure and loses in national elections.

[Baitball Blogger]

40. So, what I get from your post is that you're afraid to talk issues because

you might lose my vote if I really knew where Centrists want to take us.

First of all, I'm not a hardcore Bernie supporter. I voted for Hillary in the General, but Bernie was the one that turned my Non-Party identity to Democrat.

I don't think a push to the right is the way to go, because, in the past, the strategy was to silence minority issues in order to protect the Southern Democratic vote. Obviously, I'm not for that strategy and I believe it will be a non-starter in this age where the minority vote can make a difference in winning.

Truly, any question regarding financial backing comes down to this truth: Audit the military budget and look for found money.

That said, I agree that a candidate should find a way to finance his programs. But I don't think that starving a social issue is the way to get rid of it.

[tonyt53]

80. Afraid??? Surely you jest. When you put forth the words you did, fear is the last thing I feel.

Democrat moderates ARE the majority. If a purity test is needed, then those purists wanting such need to find another tent to camp under. They aren't Democrats. Hell, I know Democrats that are pro-life, but will never try to prevent a woman from exercising her right to choose. I know Democrats that are gun nuts, but do not support the NRA. I know Democrats that are for single-payer healthcare for all, but they won't go for it until a funding mechanism is in place. I know Democrats that do not support same-sex marriage, but that doesn't stop them from voting for a Democrat candidate that is. MOST Democrats are moderates, and words such as yours do nothing to help elect Democrats.

[MineralMan]

14. Perhaps we can simply belay all that nonsense

and get back to work. That's what I suggest.

[Baitball Blogger]

41. Who is "we"?

MSNBC has been reviving the issue we're talking about in this thread, but offering less details.

[MineralMan]

43. On Democratic Underground, "we" are Democrats.

[Wounded Bear]

16. The change to the Democratic Party must be organic...

Forcing it to the left leaves some people behind.

We've elected more women and monority candidates to elective office this week. That's a good thing. I'm hopeful the momentum can be maintained. I see a lot of work being done, much of it below the radar at local levels. That is also a good thing.

I won't respond further to this thread (probably) because I consider it just another stealth "why doesn't anybody love Bernie" thread.

[Baitball Blogger]

42. No, I am not a guaranteed Bernie supporter.

He will have to prove himself all over again, if he runs. I'm in favor of new candidates. Or, more radically, I support giving Hillary the presidency if it is proven that votes defrauded her of the win.

[NCTraveler]

18. Concealing his tax returns and a lack of transparency should not be considered left.

Siding with Republicans to block a pathway to citizenship for over ten million people should not be considered left. Voting for one of the most egregious anti-regulation bills put out there should not be considered left.

Sanders is a mixed bag and he is simply a tool being used for ratfuckers to divide.

Sanders has shown he is more often than not worth a vote in the Senate. He has shown very little else of worth over his career. Must be nice supporting someone who really hasn't done shit but yell at walls.

[Baitball Blogger]

44. Thank you for providing details.

I don't agree with any of the things that Bernie did, that you mentioned. But this is why we need to get it down to details. Why is the media using Bernie as a symbol of the Left when he is clearly a mixed bag, as you point out?

[NCTraveler]

59. "Why is the media using Bernie as a symbol of the Left"

At every single point they are using Sanders as a tool to divide. Charged emotions equal viewers to them. That is not Sanders fault. I believe Sanders himself is trying hard to make things better. He is trying to use the clout he has amassed over the last couple of years, that he has not been in possession of in his whole career as a politician, and is finding out it's not that easy. Once you come into possession of political clout you start being used.

The media has done Sanders and the left, of which Sanders is clearly a part of, a serious disservice.

[Baitball Blogger]

62. Shame on MSNBC.

They need to do a better job with their interviews.

[NCTraveler]

64. Lots of shame to go around at MSNBC.

And most every other network.

[JustAnotherGen]

20. Sitting in NJ

I actually think Phil Murphy is farther to the left of Sanders.

Phil 'works' here - I'm not sure his message of prosperity and including EVERYONE in that is going to fly in places like Michigan, Central PA, and North Carolina.

Those states might need to be a little to the right of Sanders to win.

[BainsBane]

21. Black women arent afraid of strong positions on race issues

And they have emerged as key critics and targets of the pro-Sanders faction, as evident by the recent DNC meeting in which those targeted for removal by self-described progressives were three AA women.

There is nothing leftist about an obsession with one politician.

Bernie has specifically criticized the party’s focus on racial, gender, and lgbt equality as so-called identity politics. Many of his supporters have decried a focus on equal rights by insisting the party should abandon “wedge issues”—like reproductive rights— for economic issues that effect “everyone,” meaning white men, because without equal rights only they benefit.

I think evidence shows very clearly that it is not, in general, those who fail to prioritize Bernie who are afraid of or oppose strong positions on racial equality, unless you believe white people have more authority on the issue than non-whites. I point to election results as evidence for that.

Ideology is not defined by reverence for one man, and your reliance on labels lacks the very specifics you accuse others of. The fact is there are some issues on which Bernie is closer to the GOP than most Dems, guns and immigration, for example.

I don’t need to justify my views on Sanders anymore than I do any other elected official. It simply isn’t relevant to anything that matters because my conception of politics and social change is about citizen action, not one man’s career.

I make decisions about who to vote for at election time, and that depends on the choices in that race. I have no idea who I will vote for in the 2020 Dem primary, but it won’t be Bernie Sanders, IF he decides to run. It isn’t because he’s “too left,” because the fact is I don’t believe he is to the left of the party on key issues, racial and gender equality among them.

[tonyt53]

27. You are so right on so many levels. Thank you.

[Baitball Blogger]

47. I'm with you on the concerns about race issues.

That's why I'm concerned about the way the media is framing this issue as Bernie is a move to the left that will divide the party. They are pairing the two to put a face on Left-leaning policies. And that's a huge concern to me, because mixed in that very broad "Left" label, are race issues that are important to me.

If we can break it down to issues, it will be easier to judge candidates and also, ward off people who hope they can distract us with hot buttons.

[brer cat]

88. ita nt

[treestar]

25. You can't "push the party to the left"

0nly the party's voters can.

[Baitball Blogger]

49. Maybe our stellar media interviewers on MSNBC can find a way

Last edited Wed Nov 8, 2017, 12:54 PM - Edit history (1)

to get to the meat of the issues, rather than using cloud burst labels that mean different things to different people.

[BainsBane]

81. If you are looking for a discussion of issues

Last edited Wed Nov 8, 2017, 04:31 PM - Edit history (1)

Turn off the television set and go to a community organizing meeting, indivisible, for example. The media spent the entire 2016 election refusing to cover issues. They aren’t going to start now.

[Baitball Blogger]

82. Sadly, I find the media more structured and discipline than a community organized meeting.

I live in a red leaning community where a lot of anti-government types and just plain crooked people would hijack the meeting in no time.

[treestar]

85. This

The 24/7 M$M is a failure. Never taking any of it seriously. Creating drama and making it about personalities.

[forgotmylogin]

30. An "I" who caucuses with the Democrats will split the vote.

DT threatened to run independently had he not won the nomination, and that was the Rs worst nightmare. Since the country is almost evenly split down the middle with regard to people who vote, a candidate who takes votes from either side craters that campaign since the party with a "single" choice on their side will hold fast.

[Baitball Blogger]

50. We saw it with Nadar and, possibly, to some extent, Bernie.

But there was so much trolling going on in the last election that I still don't know who the Bernie Bros were, and who the Russian trolls were.

What I would like to believe is that Bernie pulled in some right-leaning Independents that never would have voted for a Dem in the General, no matter what. The rest was Russian trolling.

[GulfCoast66]

48. I have no problem with how far left he is...

My problem is that he is not a member of the Democratic Party and in his 30 years in Congress has not done one fucking thing to help the party.

Clear enough for you.

[stonecutter357]

54. Democratic party members only thanks...

[DanTex]

55. Didn't see the MSNBC segment, but here's an answer.

One of the concerns, obviously, is that if he runs again, people like Nina Turner, who conspicuously failed to endorse our nominee in 2016, will be part of his campaign, and as such be given prominent voices in the media. That might not happen, but it's certainly possible, after all she is currently president of Our Revolution. And if his campaign becomes a Nina Turner inspired Dem-bashing fest, that could hurt our chances in the 2016 general.

The other concern is that if he gets the nomination, his policies might be too far left for the general electorate. Single payer, for example, does poll well, but it's never really been debated at the national stage. Whether or not it would actually work, single payer would mean a big tax increase, and it would mean that people who currently like their health insurance (which is most voters) wouldn't get to keep it, and the GOP would hammer on these points. Also, people as far left as Bernie haven't had success outside of very blue states, so it's risky to say the least to nominate someone like that for president, where the stakes are so high.

[boston bean]

56. Bernie pushes the meme that dems are corrupt and establishment. It is his MO.

You asked. You got an answer.

[radical noodle]

61. We need candidates who

know how to get things done. Bernie and the Revolution crowd have lovely talking points but little in the way of accomplishments to prove they can get stuff done. When asked how he would break up the big banks, he seemed to have no clue. There is no doubt in my mind that once people find out they'll have to give way more of their income to support his agenda, no matter what they might get from it, they will run, not walk, away from him.

I won't go into personal reasons why I wouldn't vote for him, but as long as he and/or his followers continue to call Democrats names like DINO and say Trump is better than Hillary then he and the rest are off my dance card. If they don't know better than that, then I want nothing to do with them.

[oberliner]

65. Hillary Clinton was much stronger with black voters than Bernie Sanders

And black voters are the strongest Democratic Party voting bloc.

[brewens]

67. Single payer. Those that have it made and are on Medicare already. Rocking the boat scares them.

They have theirs. Medicare for all might not work out they are afraid, giving them less benefits.

[leftofcool]

72. You think people on Medicare have it made?

Do you understand that we have to pay for that Medicare out of our measly Social Security checks and that it doesn't pay for shit in return? Medicare, as crappy as it is, is all we Seniors have and you are damn right we are afraid of losing it.

[brewens]

84. If you managed to retire at all and have health coverage, yes, I'd say you have it made.

That's the goal for some of us. A national single payer system would make that a lot more likely for some of us.

[Hekate]

75. Since I'm not watching at 6 a.m., I'd need to know who was doing the crepe-hanging...

Because they don't seem to be speaking for this liberal.

[MFM008]

76. My new rule

For me is I don't vote for anyone for president over 70.
Period . Actually 65 is a good cut off.
And I'm gonna be 60. That rule applies to everyone running.

[samnsara]

77. i think after that it was said ppl like the message...

...just not the messenger..

[samnsara]

78. lets stick with the formula we just used to win all these seats..

...we don't have to eat the entire bag of cookies!

[jalan48]

83. I would think any "fright talk" from a billion dollar media company would probably be based

on financial concerns (increased taxes) and regulations.

[R B Garr]

86. It's a myth that people are afraid of Sanders'. Fox News is quite supportive

of him and a big fan. They love the divisiveness.

[George II]

91. The fact is that many of our candidates that lost last year lost to opponents who were....

....further right than them.

So, if a candidate on the "left" lost to a candidate on the "right", what good would be accomplished by our candidates moving even further left and further from the candidates that we're losing to?

[liquid diamond]

92. It has already been mentioned

that he lacks specifics to fund his pie in the sky proposals such as Medicare for all and free college. However, I did not notice anybody ask how the hell he would get republicans to vote for such legislation. And he would absolutely need their support as not even all democrats would be on board with his ideas.

There is also the race issue. Many blacks don’t know or like this man. That is an important consideration. Don’t believe me? Look at the percentage of black women who voted for Hillary in 2016 and the Virginia governor last night.