Bernie Sanders Is a Loud, Stubborn Socialist. Republicans Like Him Anyway.

[arcane1]

Sanders is constantly ribbing Republicans in his trademark condescending Brooklyn-accented tone. He offers up legislation that's so far to the left that it couldn't get a vote even under Majority Leader Harry Reid. He's the curmudgeon in the Senate Democratic conference, rarely satisfied with how far his leadership will go to pursue progressive policies, and not afraid to vote 'nay' when his leaders come up short. And none of his Senate colleagues, on either side of the aisle, think he could ever be elected president of the United States; most of them even believe he shouldn't be.

But rather than earning the frustration and ire of his peers in the vein of other Senate hard-liners such as Sen. Ted Cruz, Sanders has managed to be respected—even liked—by much of the chamber, according to members on both sides of the aisle. The Vermont independent actually has much more in common with Sen. Tom Coburn, the now-retired "Dr. No," whose hard-line opposition killed many bills in the Senate but also earned him the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

Sanders also has been able to work well with his colleagues. He's passed bipartisan legislation and forged strong relationships with members of both parties in nearly 25 years on Capitol Hill. But most of all, members say, even when Sanders is ideologically an outlier, he lets others know where he stands. He's not the type to suddenly stab a colleague in the back. And that's earned him respect both on and off the Hill.

"A lot of people here talk about what they believe in, but they don't act on it," Sen. Mark Warner said. "He always acts on what he believes. … We can agree or disagree, but you know where he stands."

-snip-


http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016-elections/bernie-sanders-is-a-loud-stubborn-socialist-republicans-like-him-anyway-20150727


Perhaps he can get more done with Congress than we think!

[sabrina 1]

1. Very nice compliments, even from Republicans for Bernie. 'He's not the type to suddenly

stab a colleague in the back.'

What that says is that he can be trusted. Including Republicans.

I think you are right, he probably could get a lot done with Congress, I can see him twisting arms the way LBJ reportedly did.

Great article, thanks for posting it.

[arcane1]

7. If he says "This is my position" you know damn well that's his position. It's a shame that's so rare

Compare that to his colleague Ted Cruz!

[sabrina 1]

9. That's what most people see in him, you can trust what he says which he

will say whether people agree with him or not. He doesn't pander for political purposes.

Cruz? Lol, if the Kochs weren't buying elections for these Repubs, they would never have been heard of.

Which is why Bernie is right that the most important issue before ANYTHING else can be done, is to get the money out of politics.

[tblue37]

28. One reason the Rs tried it on so much with Obama is that he bent over backward

at first trying to find common ground. During one of his less "flexible" negotiations we ended up much closer to the brink of a shutdown than we should have because, as one Republican told a reporter, they knew Obama would cave. As it happened, that time he didn't and the Republicans were left center stage with their destructive behavior fully exposed.

I think part of Obama's excessive flexibility when negotiating at first was that he couldn't believe that the Rs would willingly destroy the country for political gain, but also because even the R leaders didn't realize that they had no leverage or control over the bomb-throwing, tantrum-throwing infants in their own party. Obama thought at first that the R leaders could deliver on promises made during negotiations, but they couldn't at all.

Another reason was to preemptively defuse the inevitable accusations of being an "angry" black man.

And probably he also wanted there to be absolutely NO doubt in the public's perception about his willingness to find common ground and the Rs' complete, destructive, irrational, and unreasonable intransigence.
______________________
Oh, and K&R.

[arcane1]

30. Very well said!

[tex-wyo-dem]

16. Exactly!

Bernie is like the old software acronym, WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). There's no trying to read between the lines of what he says or trying to figure out is true motivations...what he speaks is what he believes and how he will act.

For me, there's a tremendous amount of comfort in that and is one reason I fully support him!

[JDPriestly]

2. Interesting. Thanks.

[TM99]

3. Well this seems to go against another one of the memes

making the rounds that Sanders could get nothing accomplished with this congress.

It sounds like he could and would much more so than Clinton. Yet another reason to vote for him over her.

[passiveporcupine]

5. I suspect a lot of people will bend over backwards to work with him,

because they respect him.

[arcane1]

8. Reviving Glass-Steagall, for example, has bipartisan support. Sanders agrees, Clinton does not.

Which one could get it done?

(Rhetorical question )

[passiveporcupine]

4. It's kinda hard not to like someone who is smart and honest

and just tells it like it is!

[99th_Monkey]

6. Wow! Some actual political news for a change. Thank you National Journal

and thank you so much arcane1 for posting this.

The Bern is alive and well. Woot.

[COLGATE4]

10. Another possibility is that the Repub's new-found love for Bernie

might also be because they are trying to create mischief in our ranks, hoping that support for Bernie in the primaries will mean damage to Hillary in the general election. Cruz as much as agreed that was the case on TV yesterday.

[arcane1]

12. If that turns out to be true, they will end up slapped in the face with their own ass.

Cruz is not a reliable source for anything.

[appalachiablue]

13. That is true for some like Cruz and a couple pundits who think he is easier

to beat than HRC, sorry to say.

[merrily]

19. What they say and what they think are two different things.

They've seen the same match up polls we've seen posted on DU and much more, the ones showing Bernie beating them in purple states. Additionally, the RNC is getting polling done that we will never see and so is each candidate.

The strategy from both sides has clearly been to paint him as inconsequential, a sure loser, who doesn't warrant any time or effort. And media has been reinforcing that very consistently. Take none of that at face value. Everything that you have seen that has given you reason to believe Bernie is viable, they have also seen and more.

[appalachiablue]

23. I've no doubt they're thinking about this kind of thing, not inconsequential-

[merrily]

24. I'm impressed.

[EEO]

11. Of course. Idiots bitch about "socialism," but don't know what it is and actually love it.

[BeanMusical]

14. Kick and R

[libodem]

15. Figured they would

That's why Fox barely acknowledges him.

[merrily]

20. Please see Reply 19.

[libodem]

17. Yep

Cuz their guy sucks.

[img][/img]

[merrily]

18. About Sanders' effectiveness, despite the way media covers the "curmudgeon socialist."

Last edited Sat Sep 12, 2015, 06:11 PM - Edit history (1)

:barf:

As candidate for re-election for Mayor, with no money to speak of and no party backing, he got re-elected as many times as he ran. That is a sign that he was effective for his constituents. Republicans and Democrats grew so frustrated that they joined to back one candidate between them. He won anyway.

He also won when he ran for the House, despite no money to speak of and no party backing.

During his very first year in the House, he founded the Progressive Caucus and chaired it for 8 years. It is the largest Caucus in either house of Congress, including the New Democrat Coalition, except for the general Republican Caucus and Democratic Caucus. (The New Democrat Coalition was formed well after the Progressive Caucus. He is still a member, though he has not been chair since his election to the Senate.

How creative! And how better for an indie to be effective in the massive House? (At its largest, the Caucus had 100 members.)

In the House, he got amendments passed. That is more than some Democrats and Republicans do and the best way to impact legislation as an Indie.

As a Senator, he continued to influence the House by continuing his participation in the Progressive Caucus--its only Senate member. (The Senate has no progressive caucus, only New Democrat). Additionally as the above article indicates, he has built relationship in both the Democratic Caucus, with which he caucuses, and the Republican Caucus. The DSCC will not support any Democrat who runs against him. Schumer, slated to be Democratic Leader has praised him, calling him an asset, as did Howard Dean, when Dean headed the DNC. Even though he did not join the Vermont Democratic Party, it gave him its nomination, which he declined. With relation to his run for POTUS, it has recognized him as a member, as has the DNC.

A deal he negotiated with John McCain about care of veterans is one of the case studies in effective negotiation taught at the Brookings Institute. John McCain praised his ability to get things done on Morning Joe within the last couple of weeks.

Don't be fooled by sucky media coverage. He is no lightweight curmudgeon with his glory days long behind him.

[merrily]

21. socialist curmudgeon, my ass. National Journal is NOT to be trusted, esp. about a politician

whose every other utterance is about disempowering billionaires. Even when the NJ offers us something that appears somewhat positive on the surface.

Once, the National Journal leaned left and was relatively above board. No more on either count.

The National Journal receives substantial financial support from the Gates Foundation ($240,000+) to provide coverage of education-related issues that are of interest to the Gates Foundation and its frequent partner in education policy initiatives, the Lumina Foundation.[6][7] Critics have suggested that this funding may lead to biased coverage and have noted the Lumina Foundation's connections to the private student loan company Sallie Mae.[8][9][10] Gates-funding of the National Journal is not always disclosed in articles or editorials about the Gates Foundation or Bill Gates, or in coverage of white papers by other Lumina or Gates Foundation grantees, such as the New America Foundation.[11]

.........

Some of its best known current and former contributors have been:

Marc Ambinder
Richard E. Cohen
Charlie Cook
Ron Fournier*


........

As of 2006, National Journal has an agreement with Washington Week which ensures that at least one National Journal reporter is on the show.[20]

In 2010, buyouts were offered to the entire magazine's staff. The magazine was relaunched in October, along with a new, free website.[21]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Journal


* The AP Has a Ron Fournier Problem.

http://mediamatters.org/research/2008/07/22/the-ap-has-a-ron-fournier-problem/144113

[grahamhgreen]

22. Kick!

[azmom]

25. I've talked to few republicans who despise

Hillary. They don't think that any of the republican candidates have a chance so they are willing to vote Sanders. Anyone but Hillary is what I'm hearing.

[Cosmic Kitten]

26. K n R

[tblue37]

27. K&R for visibility. nt

[SoapBox]

29. Bumped up!

And this of course confirms what we all feel and have learned about Bernie.

Honest, authentic, real...almost a man alone in the Congress.