A meme we need to press, imo.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

Bernie really does have GOP populist/veteran crossover appeal and there is emerging data on this. These are people who would never vote for Hillary and would be energized to vote for the Republican nominee if she is the Dem nominee. But these people are actually doing grassroots work for Bernie, on FB and elsewhere.

The meme that all this enthusiasm with moderates and conservatives is just GOP strategy to deny Hillary the nomination is not true. It’s not GOP operatives, it’s real people. This isn’t my first rodeo and I know the difference. Here is just a sample of the many quoted individuals in the linked article:

So who are these Republicans who want a very left independent for President? Take Darren Remington, age 49, from Memphis, Tennessee. He is a college graduate and ex-military, registered Republican in 1994 when he left the Air Force, and describes himself this way:

“I am an Eisenhower Conservative. My personal outlook is most closely aligned with that of three presidents (two Republican, one Democrat): Teddy Roosevelt (“Square Deal”), Truman (“the buck stops here”), and Eisenhower (five balanced budgets out of eight, understood that we must have adequate infrastructure to support a thriving economy).”

And why is Remington for Bernie Sanders?

“He’s an independent who has spoken up for veterans’ issues, rebuilding a strong middle class, and re-introducing the “common sense” that Thomas Paine wrote about into our modern government. Bernie Sanders seems to me to be to the 21st Century what Teddy Roosevelt was to the 20th Century.”

https://www.laprogressive.com/republicans-for-sanders/

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

1. I'm lovin it. Go Bernie Go!!!

[roguevalley]

13. given that the 1% tax rate was about 97% it would be easy to balance

budgets. GIven that, my dad worked like a slave and made 3 grand a year on a good year then. Not all tea cakes and roses.

[emsimon33]

25. LOL-Great point

[Snotcicles]

2. Not all of them are crackpots. They sense Bernie's integrity, and trust is

probably 75% what helps them choose a candidate, ideology 25% just like most others.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

6. Amen. If Hillary were elected,

the nation would be seriously polarized because of her high negatives. Bernie is demonstrating a broader spectrum of support and the ability to build a bigger coalition for his program.

Bernie has the potential to lead, Hillary would maintain the gridlock.

[daleanime]

10. +1

[JDPriestly]

12. I spoke to a liberal, yes, liberal woman the other day who shocked me totally by saying

that she didn't like Hillary because the Clintons were tied to murders. That is total nonsense. A total lie. The Clintons tied to murders thing is complete fiction. There is nothing behind it. One of the most despicable lies in political history. But surprisingly many people believe it. And I don't know how in the world Hillary can fight that horrible slander against her. But it could and probably would cause just enough voters to stay home or worse vote against her if she were the candidate.

I could hardly believe my ears because the person I was speaking to is well educated. I just would never have expected to hear such a falsehood from her mouth. Gossip is strangely persuasive. People think they have information that is true just because it is not widely "known." I don't see how, in the end, Hillary will be able to overcome the terrible hate campaign that has been waged against her.

It would be nearly impossible, on the other hand, to wage a successful campaign of that sort against Bernie. First, he responds to everything thrown at him. He is very sincere and everyone senses that fact when they hear him speak.

This calumny campaign against Hillary is so vicious that it amazes me that she is even running. She is, through no fault of her own, a potential set-up for a last-minute, false, week-before-election scandal of some sort. The inattentive voters have been set up to believe the worst at a very emotional level. It's not fair, but that is the way it is.

I'm for Bernie because he is a great candidate, but even if he were not running, this aspect of Hillary's candidacy (the slander campaign that has victimized her for years) seems to me to be such a difficult hurdle to overocme that I would not support her in the primaries even if Bernie weren't running. To be honest, I have serious problems with aspects of her personality and character too, but they aren't the aspects that Republicans have lied about to harm her or thrown verbal rotten eggs at her to harm her.

This is a serious problem for Hillary. How do you prove to idiots that you haven't killed anyone? It's just an enormous problem.

[Snotcicles]

15. You are correct there is a lot of really dishonest crap out there about the Clintons and it's sad.

The stuff that is true about her is what makes her my third choice, Bernie all the way.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

18. The Hillary negatives aren't just high

they are hard because of the decades of crazytown attacks against her. She is despised by so many, as you point out, mainly because of RW lies. I don't dislike her personally, I just object to a great deal of her record. Sure she has her good points and she's ramping up the populist rhetoric and positions, but her history indicates she would be Business As Usual, if elected. How is that working out for us so far?

Also, she's stiff. I think that's because she is afraid of a gaffe when talking to the press or unscripted real people. Bernie is not stiff.

His surprising charisma, still largely unheralded, is akin to Ross Perot (yuk), who was leading in the polls big time in 1992, before he melted down about lesbian weddings. That's the key to Bernie's increasing charisma vs. Ross Perot's disappearing charisma: Perot was afraid of lesbians, while Bernie fights for our sisters' rights!

[Snotcicles]

20. I think, and I'm happy about it, people are starting to fine tune their receivers their getting

tired of the bullshit. Even the hardened right-wingers can only take being lied to then proven wrong for so long until
they start listening to truths that are irrefutable. All they have for Bernie is name calling.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

21. +1 n/t

[roguevalley]

14. he fact that bernie never enriched himself in office is a BIG DEAL for me and I think iit will be a

great meme to push for others. Yes, you can be a politician and have integrity.

[Snotcicles]

16. 1+

[roguevalley]

17. BARNEY FIFE! YEA! :D:D:D

[brewens]

3. One time I had a friend online make a meme for me. Used a paragraph from I think

the 1954 Republican platform and put a smiling Obama pic on it as if it was a quote from him. I posted it on FB and sat back and waited for some of my conservative friends to take the cheese! I got quite a few responses slamming Obama for it before I sprung the trap and told them it was the Eisenhower Republican platform. I should go dig that up and post it again.

[cantbeserious]

4. I Will No Longer Settle For The Lesser Of Two Corporate Evils - Go Bernie Go

eom

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

5. The benefit there in terms of electability is obvious.

Every Republican we 'turn' is worth two votes. It's a vote taken away from the Republican, plus the one for the Democrat. That was the whole point of 'triangulation' - going far enough to the right to steal voters, while not going so far as to cause too many Democrats to sit out. But the public is angry at politicians who've lied to them for decades, gotten into office, then abandoned them. Classic triangulation isn't going to work any more. The people want honesty, not weaseling.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

7. +1 n/t

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. Well said. n/t

[BrotherIvan]

8. There will be crossover, but he has to win the primary first

Unless a Republican is willing to switch affiliation, the point is moot. Bernie will get the majority of independents in the general. But to be honest, courting Republicans is a losing strategy and a slippery slope. The fact that a person is willing to vote Republican in the last 40 years is a very bad sign (and yes, I know about E. Warren). They should have switched long ago or at least become an independent.

Hillary Clinton is the most formidable person in the race. He has to beat her first and with all the power and money and the campaign structure she is building, that is going to be a near impossible task. People will have to vote for him by a wide margin to win. It can't be close because they are going to work the caucuses hard like Obama did last time.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

9. I agree.

I only offered it as a meme to counter the wrong-headed idea that Hillary is more electable. The only advantage she would have over Bernie in the general is money. The HRC people do not get her weakness in the general due to high negatives and that she would actually energize the GOP base to vote the wrong way, if she were nominated!

But you are spot on. We have to stay focused on the nomination. We are still the under dogs, but at least we are now backing a serious contender. If we all step up and work, we have better than a good chance! His name recognition is probably approaching 60% now and we have made big strides in LGBT and Latino national support. AA support is slowly increasing but we need a lot of outreach. I am encouraged that grassroots activism appears to be accelerating in that regard. I know Bernie's inner circle is well aware of this and perhaps they will get back to South Carolina now that the massacre in Charleston is more distant in time, in the sense that the martyrs have been buried and that damn flag has been taken down. I know Bernie felt it the decent thing to cancel his appearance at the time, but I feel it is time to get back.

Time for me to get back to working in my community and region. Thanks for the reminder, Brother!

[SheilaT]

19. One meme about Hillary

that I think is utterly wrong is that women will cross over to vote for her in huge numbers because there is such a vast yearning for a female President. Any Democratic woman who honestly believes that needs to think long and hard. Would she cross over to vote for Sarah Palin or Michele Bachman were either of them at the Republican ticket? Anyone who would answer yes, the gender would absolutely trump political party or anything about the candidates personal qualities, isn't putting the kind of thought into her vote that she should be putting.

There is a lot of very strong dislike for Hillary out there. Some of it is totally stupid, but it's out there. If she becomes the nominee the election will be far closer than we'd like, although if someone like Trump decides to mount a third party campaign, then she (or whoever the Democratic nominee is) would win quite easily.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

22. +1 n/t

[MisterP]

23. of course the Birchers that were handed the GOP by its buyers say Ike was a Commie

and Reagan was a Commie
and the Contras are Commies

[Tashca]

24. Been noticing this lately

I think you might possibly be on to something here.
I am not a veteran. So I can not comment in depth on the issue. I have although noticed some very vocal veterans who are speaking out for their brothers and sisters who are not getting the care they need. Many have noticed Bernie's concern also. This is an issue near and dear to many veterans.

I'm not thinking so much votes as I am passionate volunteers.

[Scuba]

26. Bernie will garner votes from many who don't usually vote Democratic. A few will be Republicans ...

... but many, many more will be from the ranks of the disaffected who usually don't vote at all because they don't see that it makes a difference.

In Bernie, the difference is unmistakable.