Bernie Sanders Says Warren Catching Up to Him Because People 'Would Like To See A Woman Elected'

[highplainsdem]

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/bernie-sanders-says-elizabeth-warren-catching-up-to-him-because-people-would-like-to-see-a-woman-elected/

On Wednesday night’s edition of CNN’s Cuomo PrimeTime, anchor Chris Cuomo described recent polling showing Warren catching — and even surpassing, in some cases — Sanders in the polls, and asked him “What do you think the reason is that Elizabeth Warren is catching up to you in polls? Do you believe that people see her as the more electable version of Bernie Sanders?”

“Well, I think we are running against a lot of problems,” Sanders said, and then described two of those “problems.”

“I think that there are certain number of people who would like to see a woman elected, and I understand that,” Sanders said. “There are people who would like to see somebody who was younger, and I understand that also. There are a lot of factors out there.”

-snip-

“Elizabeth is a friend of mine, I think she’s running a good campaign,” Sanders continued, “but at the end of the day, Chris, whether it’s Biden or Warren, Elizabeth Warren, or anybody else, what I believe is that in fact I am the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump, and I think some of the polling shows that.”

-snip-

Video at the link.


Interesting that Sanders uses those excuses.

And of course he's completely wrong about the polling showing he's the strongest candidate to defeat Trump.

The polling shows Biden is the strongest.

Nate Silver tweeted today about Sanders making a mistake emphasizing polling, because that isn't hurting his intended target rival, Warren, as much as it is helping Biden by emphasizing electability.

Link to tweet

Continue to think the Sanders campaign often citing its polling v. Trump is not smart. Raising the salience of "electability" probably helps Biden more (who polls better against Trump than Bernie anyway). Meanwhile, Warren gets to be the policy-focused, not-poll-driven candidate.

[qazplm135]

1. seems like a "trivial thing"

compared to Trump, doesn't it?

I find this posting of yours interesting given your recent post to me.

Having said that, the two old white male candidates who are currently first and second, certainly seem to be making comments that are in no way helping them keep that status.

[SouthernProgressive]

2. He is lying about polls, attacking the party, and stumbling repeatedly on issues of gender.

Meanwhile Warren is consistent, more intelligent, building a stronger and lasing coalition, and actually understands legislation.

I really didn't expect Sanders to be this desperate this soon.

[Eliot Rosewater]

26. Yep, all of that

[Tarheel_Dem]

30. He must not think much of his supporters if he's willing to mislead them about polling data.

I suppose if he can convince them to ignore the polling data, there's a chance the money won't dry up.

[Cha]

31. Ha!

[Tarheel_Dem]

33. Lying about polls. Does that remind you of anyone?

[ehrnst]

43. Indeed. (nt)

[MrsCoffee]

57. +1

[Skidmore]

3. He's quite

a whiner.

[Eliot Rosewater]

27. Not new for anyone who has paid attention for many years

[Gothmog]

5. Sanders wants Democrats to think that Warren's gains are a function of moderates. They aren't

I am amused that sanders is so upset but sanders claim that moderate Democrats are the reason for Warren's rise is false. sanders is losing liberal members of the party https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/19/sanders-wants-democrats-think-that-warrens-gains-are-function-moderates-they-arent/?utm_term=.d25c4a40d7a0

Shortly before that poll came out, Sanders’s campaign lifted up a report from Politico that seemed as though it might help explain Warren’s improved position: She was gaining support from what Sanders called “the corporate wing” of the Democratic Party. Which is to say the party’s more moderate, less progressive arm, the segment of the party that, in Sanders’s framing, will pull out all the stops to curtail his economic revolution.....

It doesn’t take much reading between the lines here to understand Sanders’s argument: Centrists are circling around Warren (per Politico) because they are afraid of legitimate progressive positions like his own.

Setting aside the question of how robustly Sanders’s big-ticket policies differ from Warren’s, there’s another, bigger problem with that argument: It’s not what polls show is happening.

Link to tweet

?
And so it does. In Monmouth’s polls over the past few months, Warren’s surge has been a function of voters who identify as liberals. In April, she earned 8 percent of the vote among those who identify as liberal. In the new poll, she moved into a tie with former vice president Joe Biden.

Biden’s in the overall lead in national primary polling because he fares much better than Warren, Sanders or anyone else among more moderate Democrats. In the most recent poll, Biden gets 40 percent of the moderate vote to Sanders’s 10 percent and Warren’s 6.

[mcar]

47. That's the one that made me

[mcar]

6. Stop digging, Bernie

[HerbChestnut]

7. Wow, talk about an inflammatory headline.

Given the context of what he actually said, this article is just trying to sow division. Mission accomplished, I guess?

[TwilightZone]

10. Not really.

He essentially said that Warren is gaining support because some people want to elect a woman. That's pretty dismissive, though perhaps not intentionally so.

It doesn't really get much better in context. The headline is pretty representative of what he said.

[HerbChestnut]

13. Remember

In 2016 Hillary Clinton went out of her way to remind everyone that she was a woman running for the Presidency in almost every speech she gave. On election night, her rally was held in a building with a glass ceiling. It's no secret there is a segment of the democratic electorate that wants to see a female president. I'm one of them. But that headline makes it seem like Bernie is shrugging of Warren's gains as related to nothing but her gender, which makes him come off as sexist and tone deaf. It's the presentation of the article that bothers me because the narrative it's trying to create is a false one. He also said during that interview that she's running a good campaign, which is objectively true. I get that this is politics and supporters of every candidate are trying to find ways to present other candidates in a negative light, but this is just ridiculous and does nothing but sow division.

[TwilightZone]

15. lol, no

"that headline makes it seem like Bernie is shrugging of Warren's gains as related to nothing but her gender"

All he mentioned was her gender after saying he was facing "problems". The headline is appropriate.

"Hillary Clinton went out of her way to remind everyone that she was a woman running for the Presidency "

And...we're done here. Have a nice day.

[HerbChestnut]

19. He also mentioned age and the fact she's running a good campaign.

Sorry, your narrative doesn't hold up.

[MrsCoffee]

53. No, it's your excuses that don't hold up.

Bernie has a history of sexism in his campaigns. This is a well documented fact. It’s been covered by all the media outlets.

So now we are just supposed to roll with it?

I don’t think so.

[Cha]

32. Exactly.. Your "narative" is dead on.

[LibFarmer]

39. Why is it always because of someone's gender or race?

Why not because Sanders' rhetoric is old and tired, he has no detailed plans, his slogans and platitudes don't add up and voters are realizing it while leaving him in droves?

[lunamagica]

54. " Hillary Clinton went out of her way to remind everyone that she was a woman running for the

in almost every speech she gave."

This is a lie

[George II]

12. He said he ("we") are running against a lot of problems, but he only saw fit to single out two:

“Well, I think we are running against a lot of problems,” Sanders said, and then described two of those “problems.”

“I think that there are certain number of people who would like to see a woman elected, and I understand that,” Sanders said. “There are people who would like to see somebody who was younger, and I understand that also. There are a lot of factors out there.”

Why didn't he bother to touch on any of the other "lot of factors out there", like maybe people don't agree with his positions, maybe they don't think he can accomplish what he proposes? Why did he totally ignore policy positions and zero in on only two having to do with gender and age?

BTW, Biden is only 14 months younger, so that eliminates the age "problem", and he's a man, so that eliminates the "woman" problem.

So why he he behind by double digits to Biden?

[HerbChestnut]

14. Thanks, George.

Maybe next time he'll read from an itemized list just to make sure he hits everything.

[George II]

18. Better yet, maybe he'll touch on the important factors in the minds of the voters....

....instead of two relatively trivial factors in the grand scheme of things, age and gender.

[HerbChestnut]

20. Great, maybe you'll watch his campaign video that focuses on rural poverty in the South.

I posted it earlier today. Should still be on the front page.

[George II]

21. I did, and one of my first thoughts was why he didn't focus on urban poverty in his home city....

....when he was Mayor. At that time the poverty rate of Burlington was more than double (~25%) that of the rest of Vermont (~11%). It was virtually unchanged during the entire eight years he was Mayor.

[HerbChestnut]

22. Thanks for the strawman argument, George.

But I'll feed your appetite. Here's an article from the 80s that talks about his first term as mayor, the types of policies he was able to pass, and the insane amount of resistance he got from the city council (largely Democrats, btw) that stifled much of what he really wanted to do. It's long, but very informative. Enjoy.

[link:http://inthesetimes.com/article/18806/this-1983-profile-of-bernie-sanders-shows-how-his-success-in-burlington-mir|

[MrsCoffee]

56. Would that be the same Democrats that held his seat open for him all these years?

The same Democrats who supported an Independent’s campaigns over actual Democrats?

One of the reasons I always chuckle when Bernie starts his “establishment” routine. It doesn’t get much more establishment than that.

[LibFarmer]

40. There won't be a next time

When he reaches single digits in polls, no one will pay attention to him.

[TwilightZone]

8. Dismissive.

As he often is. Whether it's intentional or that he just doesn't understand how what he says will be interpreted is the question.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

9. That's not why I picked Warren, Bernie, but

I think his comment was more thoughtful than it seems when you read the whole thing.

[ehrnst]

37. Saying that very thing was tone deaf to say the least.

He has said that women candidates who were opponents were prone to say 'vote for me because I'm a woman.'

As if he would EVER say about Cory Booker or Obama in 2008, "“I think that there are certain number of people who would like to see a Black man elected, and I understand that." He would call any opponent who said that "Republican Lite."

As his supporters are fond of saying, "Bernie doesn't change."

[50 Shades Of Blue]

38. I think he was just repeating the obvious. He also said he understood it, and he praised Warren.

[ehrnst]

42. Would he EVER say about Cory Booker...

“I think that there are certain number of people who would like to see a Black candidate elected, and I understand that," and be given a pass?

Especially if he referred to that support as a "problem?"

[50 Shades Of Blue]

44. Again - stating the obvious.

[ehrnst]

45. And that it's "a problem?"

Considering his past dismissive statements about female candidates that run against him or don't seek his endorsement?

"It is not good enough...to say I'm a Latina, vote for me...I have to know whether that Latina is going to stand up for the working class..."

[50 Shades Of Blue]

48. Not talking about past dismissive statements. Talking about this one.

I've already said what I thought about it. Not gonna keep responding to "what if's."

[ehrnst]

50. This fits into a long, long pattern.

And yes, others are calling him out on this, even allies like Waleed Shahid...

[50 Shades Of Blue]

58. IMO it's making a mountain out of a molehill.

[George II]

11. It couldn't possibly be that they just don't want him, eh? So how does he explain the fact...

....that Biden has just about double his support?

[LanternWaste]

16. Another Sanders-gaff. He seems prone to them.

Goodness... with as many gaffs as he makes, I can understand why many in his his flock project that same indictment onto 1st-tier candidates.




(tongue firmly in cheek... yet it does accurately exemplify that we often hold our own sacred cows to much lower standards than we hold our opponents to, and criticize in one what we ignore in the other)

[robbedvoter]

17. Those poor, poor men! never getting a break! And now another girl gets to beat up Burnie!

[crazytown]

24. Think you mean 'gurl'

These gurls have such an unfair advantage over white men.

[ehrnst]

46. I Warren had said, "I think that there are certain number of people who would like to see a

white man elected,and I understand that,” she would be accused of "reverse sexism."

[Progressive dog]

23. If Bernie is correct,

then he should just drop out now. After all, the Democratic electorate has picked one woman one time in the primaries. That's not what most people would call a trend.

[R B Garr]

25. Look out Warren! You're about to get Hillaried.

What a shame we have to go through this again.

[marylandblue]

34. I think she can handle it.

[R B Garr]

49. Good for you. nt

[Voltaire2]

28. I'm fine with Warren or Sanders.

[MaryMagdaline]

29. Couldn't possibly her intelligence, good campaigning and solid command of the issues

[ehrnst]

36. Of COURSE not...

[ehrnst]

35. Same ole, same ole...Couldn't POSSIBLY be that people think she's more qualified...

Like his fans say, he doesn't change.

SMH...

[NYMinute]

41. Why doesn't Sanders analyze what is lacking in his campaign?

There are reasons why people are walking away from him that have more to do with age, race or gender.

Perhaps David Sirota could spend time on organizing focus groups instead of trying to smear other campaigns.

The focus groups will tell Sanders how to polish and package his message for better reception -- instead -- the whole campaign is geared towards maligning Democrats and pulling them down.

It won't work this time Bernie.

[honest.abe]

51. Bernie's biggest problem is that he speaks as if the Democratic party is the enemy.

He is divisive and disruptive and hurts the party more than he helps. In fact I believe that is precisely what he wants... to destroy the party and rebuild it from the ashes. A very dangerous game and many voters are now realizing it.

[Honeycombe8]

52. The $64,000 question: So what about Harris, Gillibrand, Gabbard,Klobuchar, Williamson?

Methinks Bernie's unhappy.

[lunamagica]

55. No Sanders. Your problem is that E Warren is a superior candidate. Deal with it

[robbedvoter]

60. Damn girls, first the VT governor, then Hillary, now Warren - all beating him

Hard to be a white man in America!