Posted on 09/20/2015 9:51:11 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The surging popularity of Sen. Bernie Sanders has done little to alleviate the chief concern that Democrats have about his presidential bid: Namely, that he's simply unelectable on a national stage.
The Vermont Independent has quickly closed the gap on frontrunner Hillary Clinton in national polls, while overtaking the former State secretary in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Supporters say his rising momentum and populist message will carry him to the White House.
But Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, has spent a career operating largely from the left-most fringes of the Democratic Party with which he caucuses, stirring worry that he simply couldn't compete against a Republican perceived as a more establishment figure. "No matter how well you think of Bernie — and all of us do — … when the politics of it all hits the road, I don't feel — and I feel most members don't feel — that he can be elected," said Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.).
The doubts have nothing to do with policy.
Indeed, Sanders' career-long advocacy for economic and social justice — a vision of wider safety nets, higher wages, universal healthcare and corporate policing — overlaps almost directly with the policy priorities of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her liberal-leaning Democratic Caucus on Capitol Hill.
It's a convergence the Democrats have been quick to hail.
"I'm proud of what Bernie is saying out there, and it's a reflection of what we fight for here," Pelosi said last week.
And yet there remains a lingering sense among many Democrats that a Sanders' nomination would spell doom for the party in 2016 — a sentiment highlighted by the fact that not a single Democrat in either chamber has endorsed the No. 2 primary contender.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
I think this is similar to the Hillary/Obama runoff...in reverse
An old, cranky, disheveled, Socialist, atheist Jew from New York originally.....why wouldn’t we ALL vote for Bernie??
Good grief! Don't tell me even the Dems see this! The really great bit of obvious news here is that an "unelectable" liberal is actually ahead of Clinton in some polls! How beautiful is that?
This is bugging me..since Sanders is NOT a democrat isn’t he really a 3rd party candidate? It would be good to have him in the race to split the dem vote correct?
Other than a few, just about all under thirties still in their knowing everything mode that in olden days should have been lost in their teens, enthusiastically support Sanders, though would turn on a dime cor fauxcahontis
Paging Fauxcahontas.
Clinton is a liar and a crook so I wouldn’t be so sure.
It’s like everything else. Media created reality. Fact and logic have no place in American discourse.
People asking such questions will soon be met at their doors by men in brown shirts and of folks don’t think it’s coming, they better brush up on history while they still can.
He is stronger than he looks, simply by being an outsider of sorts and apparently sincere in his (erroneous) beliefs. The under 30 people who realize they have been left with the check really like him. They are too young to remember socialist failures of the 20th century.
He could win a plurality if there is a significant third party or independent challenge and the Republicans field one of their empty suits again.
I'll go with Trump vs Sanders, any day, and let's have an honest clash of ideas, with the DC crowd and their paymasters out of it. Our ideas would prevail. The discussion is the best thing that could happen in US politics.
Geez, I hope so.
It is bad enough to have a crypto-Commie in the White House. But someone who actually openly ran on Communist principles?
Unfortunately, I am not nearly as confident of that as “Democrats” seem to be.
Sorry, but Bernie Sanders isn’t that far left of the modern Democrat Party.
“Feel the Bern”, Democrats! LOL!
“Clinton is a liar and a crook”
Tens of millions of voters are looking for a crook to steal other people’s money for them.
It tells you a lot about where we are, and about who is really in charge, that the two candidates who nobody wants are the two that are inevitable.
+1
Naturam expellas furca, tamen usquet recurret.
Therefore, the building groundswell for Joe to get in the race. There could be a national team ready for him in days after an announcement, if not in hours.
At this point it is virtually impossible for Herself, Madame Benghazi, the Cold & Joyless, to organize still another “relaunch”. Herself has run aground pretty decisively on each of the previous “relaunches”.
The Big Money supporting the Democrats is not totally without a sense of self-preservation.
This is bugging me..since Sanders is NOT a democrat isn’t he really a 3rd party candidate? It would be good to have him in the race to split the dem vote correct?
I agree we have to start pushing on the DU and huffpo that Biden entering shows disrespect for Sanders and he needs to run as a 3rd candidate.
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