Bernie Sanders Takes the Gloves Off, Goes After Biden: He's Got 'A Lot of Baggage,' Record is 'So We

[JoeOtterbein]

Mediaite

By Joe DePaolo Jan 2nd, 2020, 7:20 pm

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has, in recent weeks, been looking up only at former Vice President Joe Biden in most national presidential polls. So with just one month left before the first votes are cast, the Vermont senator has apparently decided it’s time to take the gloves off.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Sanders took some pointed shots at the former vice president — calling his record “so weak” and saying that he carries “baggage” into the race.

“It’s just a lot of baggage that Joe takes into a campaign, which isn’t going to create energy and excitement,” Sanders said. “He brings into this campaign a record which is so weak that it just cannot create the kind of excitement and energy that is going to be needed to defeat Donald Trump.”

Sanders went on to argue that Trump will go after Biden on the economy.

snip

more at link

[janterry]

1. Go Bernie!

n/t

[Lexee]

2. We saw him step away from the Democratic Party integrity with the clipped film that lied about Biden

He is showing his true self. Again. I think he did this after Christmas with HRC. Isn't that when his guys were caught stealing her data. Not something Democrats do. No no.

[ChubbyStar]

3. You are hilarious!

[pfeiffer]

16. So is Bernie...

...if he thinks for one second that he'll get anywhere with this!

Bawahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

[ChubbyStar]

40. Buzz kill my comment was for the poster

Bernie was where in my comment?

[TexasTowelie]

92. Like you were a buzz kill on one of my posts today?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

33. It IS a hoot seeing the denial of something that is so apparent!!

That's all part of the fear that Bernie inspires as he grows in popularity each and every day.


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[The Valley Below]

68. Anyone who is rational fears another 4 years of Trump.

Scorched earth sucks. Big time.

[TexasTowelie]

94. Do you mean that Bernie is stuck in second place and going nowhere?

Yes, that is very apparent. Thanks for the reminder.

[still_one]

5. +++

[PatSeg]

10. I am really disappointed

I thought he had more integrity than that. I never supported Sanders for president, but I have always had a high regard for him. Sadly, that is changing. This sort of thing serves no one, least of all Sanders. Trump might like it though.

[UniteFightBack]

11. So now we have campaign workers fabricating lies and now this. Do you really want to support him?

Asking for a friend.

[UniteFightBack]

35. I cut a lot of slack....but this is just beyond. This is the guy who wants Dems to vote for him????

This tactic that he is employing is shooting his own damn self in the foot.

Bernie Sanders is now officially at the bottom of my list.

[Lexee]

48. my son was telling me today the supports of Sanders were going after Castro. Castro people

are all like, hey, don't you want our vote. I told son, he also supports Cenk. I was all, don't you want Democratic women vote. I have to wonder who he is looking at as his demographic because it does not seem to be Democrats.

[Lexee]

75. Totally. Creepy pig and his side kick Ann told us women to suck it up. What men were made of.

[onetexan]

134. He was never on my list to befin with

No surprise he's stooping so low now that primaries are coming up.

[George II]

49. Desperation - obviously he doesn't have confidence in his OWN record so.....

....he has to go negative and bash Biden.

If Biden's record is "weak", what is Sanders? How soon before we see that "he's the amendment king" become front and center?

[msongs]

58. bernie is showing the real person he actually is. why r u surprised? nt

[Lexee]

62. He has been horribly negative regardless of the campaign when he had a rival.

You might want to check out how nasty he was when going after a woman candidate when running for congress.

[murielm99]

7. He needs to go after Republicans with the same vigor.

[pfeiffer]

19. Sometimes...

...I feel he goes after just about anybody who he doesn't agree with.

[George II]

51. Which is just about anybody.

[Fresh_Start]

55. he can't go after the republicans...

cause he thinks he is going to be heir to republican voters who are tired of trump

[SidDithers]

106. He sees Democrats and Republicans as different sides of the same coin...

It's why he's shown contempt for both parties and joined neither of them, though he's voted with both on certain issues.

Sid

[UniteFightBack]

8. Wasn't he supposed to release his health records by year end but instead we got a doctors note?

Now who the fuck does that remind me of????????

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. Lol. You want the long form medical records?

[UniteFightBack]

23. This is what he said he would do....NOT ME. He released a dr. note just like dump. Way to not

answer the question...you and your man ain't fooling ANYBODY.

[pfeiffer]

24. Ummm...

YES!!!! Since he just got out of the hospital after having a heart attack. Doy!!!!

[boomer_wv]

26. We'd expect

more than it takes to get out of gym class.

That's a Trump move.

[George II]

54. He promised records, not three short letters. That's pretty much what we got from trump...

Isn't he better than that?

[mcar]

67. He is not delivering what he promised

Seems to be a pattern.

[Lexee]

72. Heart attack at 80, end of story. A Trump like letter not good enough.

[mcar]

82. Yes.

Especially when he promised medical records, not a letter from a few doctors.

[sheshe2]

110. this

Link to tweet

[Lexee]

111. Doctor shop until he found one to give him a thumbs up, without any real info.

[sheshe2]

113. I just posted some of Joes results in this thread.

[Lexee]

114. Thank you. I have already read it and am comfortable with Biden at almost 80. Not Sanders.

[sheshe2]

115. With ya.

PS. I like Amy as well.

[Lexee]

117. Pss, I like Warren as well, too. Ah ha.

[sheshe2]

118. Thank you.

So many good candidates this go around.

[Lexee]

119. Yes. Democratic candidates. We always have a strong field of Democrats.

[George II]

77. Exactly, and to claim he did what the other candidates did is wrong. Not to mention that NO....

....other candidate has had serious medical issues in decades. He had a freaking heart attack just eight weeks ago.

[mcar]

84. You'd think he'd want to reassure voters that he is healthy

Instead, he just opened the door to more questions.

[sheshe2]

59. Biden did.nt

[Lexee]

63. Warren did.

[sheshe2]

69. Neither of them had a heart attack recently.

Neither hit a shower door.



We need transparency.

[Lexee]

73. Right.

[TexasTowelie]

96. The transparency was the issue.

That's why he hit his head on the shower head door.

[Blue_true]

85. Biden released just that type of record a couple months ago. nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

97. Here's Biden's.

Biden also released *gasp* a DOCTOR’S NOTE:


https://go.joebiden.com/page/-/CiU2iAa4Ig_%20j5EQzueoad.pdf

[Lexee]

98. A doctors note that told us exactly what was happening to him as opposed a note to a thumbs up, all

is well, like Trump. Not the same. Sanders just had a heart attack and we want to know how damaging it is, and we deserve to know. Asking for the presidency, he does not get to cry privacy.

[sheshe2]

99. Do you have a link to BSes note?

I have not seen the official report.

Biden's I posted.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

105. Biden also released a "Doctor's note"

[Lexee]

107. And more. And did not have a heart attack two months ago, at working on 80.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

108. Nope. A 3 page summary. That's it.

[Lexee]

109. That told specifics. We want info on Sanders heart attack, two months ago. That is what

he promised. That is not what we got.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

126. WHAT IS THAT?!?! YOU DON'T SAY!!!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

136. A DOCTOR'S NOTE!!1!

Omergod!!

[LanternWaste]

137. I'd pretend as much too...

Far more difficult to trivialize the actual, so we pretend it's something less than it is and allow our biases to deny the rational.

[sheshe2]

112. No it was far more detailed.

History of moles removed, BS's does not and he did. Joes weight, height body mass and exercise routine. His cholesterol and BP,. Colonoscopy results. Joes aneurism surgeries in 1988. It covered a lot. Bernies covered nothing including his recent fall in the shower.

Link to tweet

[Lexee]

116. Except the doctor gives a thumbs up to President run with no info. Like Trump.

[Blue_true]

100. Wrong. He released the full medical report along with a summation of it from his longtime Doctor.

That is much more than Sanders or Trump have done.

[Botany]

9. Go away Bernie

"Some people think that the people who voted for Trump are racists and sexists and homophobes and deplorable folks. I don't agree, because I've been there. Let me tell you something else some of you might not agree with, it wasn't that Donald Trump won the election, it was that the Democratic Party lost the election," Sanders said while speaking at an Our Revolution rally in Boston with fellow Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/326820-sanders-defends-trump-voters-i-dont-think-theyre-racists


BTW how come Bernie is always against reasonable gun laws and sanctions on Russia? Bernie is not
what he seems to be.

[Thekaspervote]

29. This!

[Kurt V.]

36. That is simply not happening. but when the time comes...vote anti orange

[UniteFightBack]

37. I get the gun thing because of his home state....but the Russian sanctions??? Whaaaa?????

There is NO VIABLE excuse for the sanctions. NONE.

[Fresh_Start]

12. perhaps the reason for the lower support for Bernie this time is

that russia isn't propping bernie up quite as much as it did in 2016.

Without all that Russian propaganda, bernie can't win the nomination but he can as is bernie's wont, destroy and give us another Trump term.

[Hav]

47. Maybe, but what I think plays a bigger role is

that he lost the support of those disgusted by his and his campaign's actions. It's his second attempt and he has half the support. It makes sense that Warren has picked up lots of that support as someone who isn't far away policy wise but without the toxic cloud that surrounds not mainly Bernie himself but his campaign.

[UniteFightBack]

13. I have defended Bernie right and left because I'm objective. I am now FUCKING DONE. Just

wait until the next survey I get Bernie and I get a lot. FUCK THIS.

[FloridaBlues]

66. Not surprised at all from his statements.

Was wondering what took him so long. The Presidential stars in his eyes not going to happen esp going negative too much like 2016.

[RandySF]

14. Peddling right wing talking points, is he?

[John Fante]

17. The man whose biggest claim to fame is naming a post office

-- calling Biden's record weak? That's laughable.

[helpisontheway]

18. Where is your FULL medical record Bernie? What are you hiding?nt

[UniteFightBack]

25. THIS. He's too busy releasing doctor notes just like dotard dump. nt

[Lexee]

46. It is just like Trump and if Trump doesn't get a pass, neither does Sanders. Especially with a heart

attack.

[TomCADem]

20. All Bernie Is Good At Is Angry, Negative Campaigning...

...sort of like the current WH occupant. The question will be whether Bernie himself will have record scrutinized. In addition to policies like gun control or immigration where he has drawn RW admirers, there is own acts in forming a foundation and putting various family members on the payroll.

[UniteFightBack]

39. Laid all out like this the similarities to dotard dump is DISGUSTING. nt

[Fresh_Start]

56. you can't forget that Bernie and Trump both believe they are gods gift to

america..... they both believe that only they can 'fix it'

[UniteFightBack]

132. +1000

[highplainsdem]

21. That's the interview where Sanders suggests that the only reason Dems wouldn't want to vote for

for him is because they don't like the way he combs his hair?

Sanders said in the interview, “I will support someone if they’re more conservative than me because I think it’s imperative that we beat Trump.” But he also made clear that, even if he stumbles, he has no plans to drop out until the race is over, saying what he is “certainly prepared to do is contest every state in this country.”

When asked if he would make overtures to moderate Democrats should he win the nomination, Sanders said the party would have to adjust to his movement rather than the other way around.

“People in the Democratic Party are going to take a look at reality and in a millisecond, they’re going to make a decision: The choice is between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. They may say, ‘Oh, God, I don’t like Bernie Sanders. .?.?. He doesn’t comb his hair nicely enough. But you know what? There is no choice. We’re going to support Bernie Sanders.’?”

Not the most impressive reasoning.

And suggesting that he'll continue the primary race by contesting every state, even if it's clear he can't win, shows a problematic attitude toward the actual front-runner and whether he'll genuinely support him.

[UniteFightBack]

28. So Bernie wants to win the 'we have no choice vote' ...yeah OK. nt

[Thekaspervote]

34. Typical bernie!! Scorched earth

[betsuni]

71. Sounds like when he said, "In real terms, what the Democratic campaign program is about:

We're pretty bad, but they're worse, vote for us."

[peggysue2]

80. Interesting strategy

Trump told a group, the Israeli American Council, the same thing: You have to vote for me even if you don't like me. You have no choice.

Nice to see two, self-fashioned populists on the same track. Also good to know that Sanders will contest every state in the country because if he can't win it, he'll make sure he bloodies the Democratic nominee to a pulp.

This wasn't good look in 2016. In 2020, it's downright treacherous.

I've pretty much had it with Senator Sanders who, btw, is still sending me funding requests after I've unsubscribed nearly a half-dozen times.

[jalan48]

22. Joe is hoping his "Save the Soul of the Nation" campaign will distract voters from his record. It

sounds good but really says very little.

[Thekaspervote]

31. The more you and yours post negatives about Biden ... the better Biden does

Will be so happy when sanders goes home to VT!!

Sanders will NOT be the nominee

[UniteFightBack]

42. Oh how astute you are! True true the nation is not on fire - we are just doing swell here and

ABROAD.

At least Biden's campaign is not editing together Bernie's bullshit and creating LIES out of them.

[George II]

44. This is a thread about Sanders "taking the gloves off", how did it become a Biden thread?

[TwilightZone]

87. He's been the frontrunner since he announced.

Perhaps you can explain how his recent comments about saving the soul of the nation apply to the other eight months of his campaign.

[relayerbob]

30. I stand by my pledge to not support anyone in the primaries

who chooses to attack DEMOCRATIC ALLIES. If he has a positive case to present, present it. Making oneself look good by making others look bad is just a mark of weakness and desperation

[Thekaspervote]

32. This!!

[demgrrrll]

38. Bernie Sanders isn't going anywhere with 15% African American support and a 21% ceiling.

[Thekaspervote]

52. Right!! They see right through him..all talk

[JudyM]

123. Are you suggesting they'll stay home and let trump win rather than vote for Sanders?

[comradebillyboy]

141. Sanders can't win the nomination with 15% Black support.

[JudyM]

142. Ok.

Please link to data showing that’s the number.

[RandySF]

41. .

[TexasTowelie]

101. +1

[George II]

43. Relatively speaking when it comes to baggage, Biden has an overnight bag and Sanders a steamer trunk

[highplainsdem]

65. +1,000,000

[Thekaspervote]

121. Bazinnga!!

[Green Line]

45. I remember Bernie saying that Hillary was not qualified

to be President. Guess she didn’t name enough post offices or something. So tired of this guy.

[Blue_true]

89. Bernie puts out vague, blanket inuendo, then he lets the trolls take over.

Bernie 2.0 is running just like Bernie 1.0.

[TidalWave46]

50. Sanders only let the filter slip a little.

Those of us who pay attention know this is Sanders still filtering himself. How some don’t see it is beyond me.

[Lexee]

53. Right.

[betsuni]

61. You're right. This is him being nice.

[The Valley Below]

57. Sanders will lose this fight.

No one has more baggage than he.

So much for "pledges."

No surprises that his campaign is revealing its true nature.

[betsuni]

60. That's nothing. Practically complimentary compared to things he has said.

For one thing, no conspiracy theories.

[mcar]

64. Someone sounds desperate. nt

[Squinch]

70. Well gosh. That's wicked creepy of him.

[Joe941]

76. Bernie isnt wrong.

[Lexee]

78. Yes he is.

[BeyondGeography]

79. Fair points; Trump would re-run 2016 against Biden with Hunter taking the place of her emails

and whatever other smears he can assemble.

It’s a primary, folks. Biden should hit back at Bernie just as hard. At which point many of the people crying foul in this thread will roar with approval.

[JoeOtterbein]

86. Thanks for the reminder about our Primary. It should never, ever, become a...

...coronation.

[Lexee]

88. Are we going to start that again? Democrats in our primary went HRC while Sanders and his people

yelled, coronation. How about we not do this a second time. First I hear coronation this time around. Bring back unfond memories.

[JoeOtterbein]

90. No. This time we will win with...

...Bernie!

[Lexee]

93. Lol. That really made me laugh out loud. I mean, really. Cenk, took out the woman democratic base

Going after Castro today, though Sanders says, good voice for the working man, though Sanders is also running on Democrats not the voice of the working man. See the contradiction? Diss the Democratic party, the very base he is asking for a vote. Nah.

Heart attack at 80 and refuses to give us his medical record.

Not going to happen. So, can we dispense the coronation crap?

[LanternWaste]

139. Then let's stop pretending Bernie is the Chosen One.

[Blue_true]

81. Bernie is doing it again.

Making blanket statements and letting zealots and trolls fill in the blanks.

I honestly want to see Biden or someone else go after Bernie's abundant "weak" areas, while pointing out that Biden has a much more robust record of accomplishment in Congress than Senator Sanders has.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

83. When is he going to start going after Trump, the way Biden has been doing?

[liberal N proud]

91. Playing right into trumps game plan

Divide the Democratic party

[Lexee]

95. Or Russia. Since Sanders already knows about this, you would think he has a plan in place to address

this division.

[Joe941]

128. What divides are the unfounded attacks on bernie... he does not get a fair shake.

[LanternWaste]

140. Is that this week's bumper sticker?

[liberal N proud]

144. I can't ignore 2016

[TexasTowelie]

102. I love this post!

Not really, but I like nearly all of the replies. Thanks for the thread, Joe!

[Lexee]

103. Lol. You made me laugh.

[TexasTowelie]

104. I'm surprised that the OP wasn't self-deleted.

It's rare that a thread on DU is received with such near-unanimity.

[Me.]

120. So Many Post Offices Yet To Be Honored

[myohmy2]

122. "...it's time to take the gloves off."

...past time...

NBC News, 1-1-20

" U.S. sends hundreds of troops to Mideast after attack on embassy compound in Baghdad "

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-sending-hundreds-troops-mideast-after-attack-embassy-compound-n1109196
………………………………

…8 plus years, 2.4 trillion dollars and counting and we're still screwing around in Iraq...almost twenty years in the region at who knows how much real cost...

...2002, Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution...

...BIDEN VOTED FOR IT...

...BERNIE DID NOT...

...yet, some have the brazen gall to suggest we can't afford MFA after pissing away trillions of our tax dollars on useless endless wars...

...make up your mind folks, do you want a President that will bring you universal healthcare or a President that will bring you more useless endless wars?

...you can't have both...

[TexasTowelie]

127. I know that I don't want Bernie as president with a world crisis occurring.

If it comes down to Joe or Bernie, then I'm picking Joe.

[eShirl]

124. Bernie, you're turning me OFF

there's about as much chance of me voting for him as for Jill Stein, at this point

[Buzz cook]

125. So you'll vote for Trump?

If Bernie Sanders gets the nomination...

[The Valley Below]

129. A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream...

and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back.

The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?"

The scorpion says, "Because if I do, I will die too."

The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog.

The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp: "Why?"

Replies the scorpion: "It's my nature."

[Drunken Irishman]

130. Biden's record is so weak and yet, Bernie almost universally backed his legislation...

What does that make Bernie?

Here's just a rundown of Biden enacted legislation Bernie supported:

Criminal History Background Checks Pilot Extension Act of 2008
PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008
Libyan Claims Resolution Act
Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery Act of 2008
William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008
Procedural Fairness for September 11 Victims Act of 2007
Recidivism Reduction and Second Chance Act of 2007
Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004

That's just the final four years Biden was in the Senate. I won't muddle things with the time Biden was in the Senate and Bernie was in the House - there are some significant laws Bernie supported of Biden's, too, like, well, the 1994 Crime Bill.

The only bills Biden supported of Sanders, even going back to Sanders' time in the House, were:

To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1 Marble Street in Fair Haven, Vermont, as the “Matthew Lyon Post Office Building”. (2006)

Granting the consent of Congress to the Vermont-New Hampshire Interstate Public Water Supply Compact. (1995)

Entitled the “Taconic Mountains Protection Act of 1991”. (1991)

“Vermont Bicentennial Day”. (1991)

Of course, those are the only laws Bernie was able to introduce that were actually passed while Biden was in the Senate.

[Gothmog]

131. I love Joe's response

Last edited Fri Jan 3, 2020, 11:11 PM - Edit history (1)

Link to tweet

[betsuni]

133. Ha!

[Historic NY]

135. Let he who has no baggage don't complain when yours is dumped on the front steps.

[LanternWaste]

138. We shall know Bernie by the low-hanging fruit of his words.

And the consistent movement of goalposts by his flock.

[Gothmog]

143. Sanders Launches Harsh Attack On Biden That Proves The Former VP Is The Most Electable Democrat

Link to tweet

The independent lawmaker’s comments are his sharpest attacks on Biden to date, but they show that Sanders recognizes that his biggest weakness – electability – is the former VP’s greatest strength.

The only problem with Sanders’ assessment of Biden’s chances against Trump is that a mountain of national and statewide polling data contradicts it.

In fact, based on the current RealClearPolitics average of state-by-state polling, Biden is the only candidate among the Democratic frontrunners – including Sanders – who is leading Trump in enough states to win the Electoral College.

As of Dec. 31, Biden stands at 322 electoral votes compared to Trump’s 166, with 50 electoral votes falling into the toss-up category.

Sanders, on the other hand, leads in states totaling just 265 electoral votes to Trump’s 257 electoral votes. Only North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes fall into the toss-up category.

[Peacetrain]

145. Jeezes.. he and his campaign are missing a step.. they have been blowing it up the wrong way

all week.

[Uncle Joe]

146. Bernie is right.

Thanks for the thread JoeOtterbein.

[Gothmog]

147. I love this response to sanders by Joe Biden

Link to tweet

[JoeOtterbein]

148. Joe has jokes....

....okkkkkk.

[Gothmog]

149. Laughing at sanders' weak attacks is a very appropriate response

I read the OP and was amused by it

[JoeOtterbein]

150. Ok......

..........jokes.

[Gothmog]

153. I like Joe's response to sanders

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

155. I really like Joe Biden's response to sanders' attacks

Link to tweet

[EveHammond13]

151. such a gross turn off.

[Gothmog]

152. From the article cited in the OP

Link to tweet

Unlike Warren, Sanders has declined to specify how much it would cost to implement his Medicare-for-all plan.

“I don’t give a number and I’ll tell you why: It’s such a huge number and it’s so complicated that if I gave a number you and 50 other people would go through it and say, ‘Oh .?.?.” he said, his voice trailing off.

[NYMinute]

154. Utter desperation thy name is Bernie nt