Bernie Sanders has no fight in him; he'd rather be admired than win

[tgards79]

If Bernie wants to win, he needs to take on Hillary. The "emails" comments are very telling. He does not appear to have it in him to go after Hillary the way he needs to if he really wants to win.
http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2015/11/the-second-democratic-debate-saturday.html

[daleanime]

1. Honesty....

who needs it?




Just in case

[tularetom]

2. He said from the start he wouldn't run a negative campaign

I don't see why anybody is surprised when he does exactly what he said he would do.

Maybe he will change his tactics as the campaign goes along, but so far he's as good as his word.

[pinebox]

3. Well this says otherwise

[Ino]

4. A ridiculous article...

Author cites the 9/11 remark as Hillary's "highlight" and a "pounce" on Sanders. And her biggest "slam" was noting all her female donors.

Her highlight for the evening came when Bernie implied that Hillary was hostage to Wall Street interests because she accepts their big-money campaign donations. Hillary pounced, pointing out that as the Senator from New York, she had worked extremely hard to help the financial sector recover from the impact of 9/11. Seeming to race to her side, the moderator turned the question back on Bernie and asked if he could cite evidence that Clinton had actually been influenced by Wall Street money, which drew no response. Finally, Hillary went on to score her biggest slam of the evening, noting that 65% of her campaign contributions were from women.

[artislife]

5. I thought the meme was that Bernie and Martin ganged up

on poor wittle hillawy.

[KittyWampus]

6. I disagree. The problem w/Bernie is he's an ideologue whose been doing the same schtick

for over 40 years now. He's not flexible enough to really adapt to a larger national stage that requires appealing/reaching out to a wider audience/demographic.

And to all his supporters for POTUS, what I just wrote isn't an insult. It's an assessment of a good man whose time and votes in Congress are much appreciated.

But the best evidence of what I say is found in his opening statement at the last debate that SHOULD have been about Paris.

The man takes any topic, gives a minimal answer and gets back to his canned economic response.

[mmonk]

9. Is regulating Wall Street and the economy the way we used to

to create a middle class an ideology or refusing to reregulate and tax them?

[KittyWampus]

13. I said "ideologue" which is someone with a rigid world view who has trouble

seeing outside their own mindset.

In that BS supporters mirror their chosen candidate.

Uncompromising and dogmatic… which is the definition of ideologue.

Again, this isn't an insult. It's the proper political terminology.

I am a far-left Democrat who is also pragmatic.

I prefer politicians who are also pragmatic and get things done even if only an incremental scale.

[mmonk]

15. I bear the "cost" of that "pragmatism".

I'm worth today what I was worth 30 years ago. But I was worth much more 10 years ago. It's going to be hard to convince voters like me to continue to screw my self. It doesn't have anything to do with Bernie.

[KittyWampus]

16. That pragmatism finally got me health and dental care

[mmonk]

17. I got it too. But it is temporary. It's already doubled.

[Armstead]

22. Bernies problem is that he IS pragmatic, but has avoiding showing it

If you look at his record as Mayor of Burlington -- smaller in scale but the same basic responsibilities -- he was very much a "can do" executive who governed in a pragmatic way without selling out his principles. He focused on improving city services and administrative efficiency. He built coalitions with businespeople and Republicans and got stuff done, and they came to respect him.

I wish he's open up more and let people see that side of him.

[Armstead]

23. I can deal with incremental -- But not going in the opposite direction

Moderate liberal Democrats are fine. We're pulling in the same direction.

But I have a real problem with "centrist" Dems who are trying to pull in the opposite direction.

[Cosmocat]

10. It is half that

and half that he just is running into an incredibly strong candidate ...

[INdemo]

20. Do you think Hillary's scream speech

Will be louder than Howard Dean's
after she loses Iowa?

[MaggieD]

24. Spot on

Thanks.

[polly7]

7. Umm ........ no fight?

He's running against all odds. He has no backing from Wall Street, Super Pacs, the 1%. He's campaigning on issues that terrify most of the rest so much they won't even talk about them (republicans, and one democrat who seems to bring them up only after he already has). He reminds me of Tommy Douglas up here, a lot. One man who stood alone and braved the scorn, ridicule and even hatred of so many - doctors included - who found his revolutionary health-care system obscene.

He may not have it in him to go for the jugular as others do, but he's getting his messages across without it. jmho.

[Blus4u]

21. Excellent rebuttal

Well said!


Peace

[tgards79]

27. He is no doubt getting his messages across...

...but he can't win by being polite. No way.

[BeyondGeography]

8. I don't blame him

I think he's handling this aspect of the campaign pretty admirably. He is not a conventional candidate; if he were, he would have written a campaigned-themed book a year ago, declared himself a Democrat, given that speech on democratic socialism a long time ago (taken straight from the book that he didn't write), hired image consultants to lighten him up a bit, etc.

Instead, he's doing it his way. If people get it and Hillary stumbles in the meantime, fine. If not, c'est la vie. What more do you want from a guy that age facing a challenge that steep who has been running at a pace that would wear people of all ages out?

Bernie, unlike many of his supporters who have not put their hearts on the line before against Hillary and the Clinton brand and really don't accept how tough it is to defeat her, understands the degree of difficulty here. He should remain true to his message. He did not become an error-free candidate overnight, and he's not going to get there. People only have so much bandwidth and he has spent his very wisely.

That said, the criticisms are valid, but only if you think Sanders has a legitimate shot at the nomination. I don't think he ever did without big external events (i.e. Hillary quits/as if) breaking his way. As the campaign goes on, it would be good if he became a better candidate, i.e. walk and chew gum at the same time when you're asked a question about Paris the day after one of the most horrific terror attacks in Western history. If he's to continue to be taken seriously, he does need to improve, but on his own terms, not as an anti-Hillary flamethrower.

[Cosmocat]

14. Great, great post

well spoken touching on points I have repeatedly made.

He is a DARN good man, and is what we really would want in a POTUS as a democrat in so many ways.

But, its Hillary's time - she has been running for a quarter century for this, and is just too strong for non-traditional candidate.

There is nothing he can do other than be himself - trying to force the action or "going after" Hillary more overtly would not help him.

She just has too much name, too many voters who are committed to her.

[deutsey]

11. No, we're not hearing about what it is he's fighting for

While the "damn emails" snippet got airplay everywhere, the rest of what Sanders said was largely ignored:

The middle class — Anderson, and let me say something about the media, as well. I go around the country, talk to a whole lot of people. Middle class in this country is collapsing. We have 27 million people living in poverty. We have massive wealth and income inequality. Our trade policies have cost us millions of decent jobs. The American people want to know whether we’re going to have a democracy or an oligarchy as a result of Citizens United.

[Cosmocat]

12. I like Bernie a LOT and am voting for him

but we are now where I thought it would be when he announced.

He's a GREAT democrat, more right on the issues than 99% of the other DC pols, TOUGH and speaks to what is right better than all but a handful of other democrats.

But, he is running into an incredibly strong opponent in Hillary.

There really is nothing he can do - her name recognition, her being a solid, albeit warmed over, democrat and the first woman thing ...

He got a lot of high energy, but Hill has always been too much.

[Agschmid]

28. She's kind of a big deal.

No but seriously...

They are both great people and politicians. We'd be lucky to get either.

[Attorney in Texas]

18. Equating campaigning on the issues rather than personal attacks with "no fight in him" is what ruins

GD: Politics as a forum.

We are better than that.

But you are right that the "'emails' comments are very telling." If Sanders were to win the nomination because of a phony email scandal manufactured by hate radio for no purpose other then to motivate no-information right wing voters to get to the polls to vote for the most Cretaceous barbarian nominated by the Republicans, this would do Sanders no good in the general election. Our nominee must win the primary because his platform is best and not because his opponents are weak or else our nominee will lose in the general election. If Sanders were to waste a moment on the phony email scandal, that would be a lost moment where Sanders could have used that precious time to explain why his candidacy is the legacy of FDR and his solutions to the issues we face are the best solutions.

Do you really think anyone is going to vote for Sanders in the general election because he showed better judgment than Clinton in his selection of email servers? No. They are going to vote for him because he can get the country back on the right track.

The "'emails' comments are very telling" because they tell us Sanders understands the crucial fact that our nominee cannot win a general election on the theme that "I have fewer flaws than my erstwhile primary opponents."

[tgards79]

25. Yes, but...

..this is an idealistic way of thinking about elections. If Bernie wants to win he has to attack Hillary on the issues with the most visibility...Benghazi, emails, integrity, etc. That is what drove her numbers down. Her recovery began when he let her off the hook on emails. This is NOT the way I WANT our system to work, but it IS the way it DOES work. If you want Bernie to be President, you have to get him to realize that. He is never going to win by being so polite. He's never going to win on the issues.

[Attorney in Texas]

26. It is not an idealistic view of elections. It is a view focused on winning a general election and

not narrowly focused on winning a primary election at the cost of any realistic chance at winning the general election.

For Sanders to win, he must educate America that he is the FDR of our time and his plan will get America back on the right track.

That is a BIG message to communicate. You can't effectively communicate that message if you get tangled in the weeds whining about Clinton's email server or O'Malley's record on policing, etc. For Sanders to win the general election, he has a lot of persuasion to accomplish. Let him do that job.

Stop and think for a moment -- how does Benghazi get Sanders elected? how does any perceived flaw (real or imagined) in Clinton's integrity help Sanders beat Rubio or Trump or Bush in the general election? how does Sanders' greater wisdom than Clinton as measured by choice of email server move the dial in Sanders' favor? NONE OF THIS HELPS SANDERS. Stop praying that Clinton loses and start working to help Sanders win.

[Tarc]

19. Adopting right-wing talking points it not a path to success for Sanders

I do not believe that he has much of a shot anyways, but taking up the Benghazi/e-mail non-issue as his standard is not going to carry the day. I do not support Sanders myself, but I admire his integrity. Doing this is the antithesis of his character.