Posted on 02/23/2016 2:00:16 PM PST by nickcarraway
Bernie Sanders has refused to curb his enthusiasm. Bernie Sanders is running on a campaign promising dramatically more left-wing domestic policies than Hillary Clinton. How will he get those policies passed when Republicans control Congress and would block even moderately liberal ones? That’s where the “political revolution†comes in. Sanders claims he can spark a massive upsurge in activism and political turnout, replacing the Republican-led Congress with one friendly to single-payer health insurance and other priorities that have historically lacked support.
So far, turnout in the Democratic primary has lagged far behind its 2008 pace, casting severe doubt upon this promise. Does Sanders actually believe it, or is it merely a thing he says to sidestep serious objections to his candidacy? Benjy Sarlin Alex Seitz-Wald reports that Sanders genuinely believes it. Sanders, reports Seitz-Wald, “wanted a win so badly in Nevada that he never wrote a concession speech, according to aides, and the night before the caucuses he said that historians would mark Nevada as the beginning of his promised political revolution.â€
Some Democrats want to know if Sanders has some realistic backup plan for what he would do as president if the political revolution doesn't come to pass. Looks like we have an answer.
I just want to see Trump v Sanders for the sheer battle of the direction of the country.
Couldn’t we use a little variety?
He's the logical go-to guy in that case. If he drops out, the party leadership hacks will just go with someone like Biden.
Yup. There’s no great Democratic surge for the revolution the Bern wants.
Democratic turnout is lagging well behind 2008 and 2012 levels while GOP turnout is shattering records.
If voter enthusiasm is measured by turnout, odds favor Trump in the fall.
Where and how are the Democrats going to bridge the enthusiasm gap?
Jonathan Chait wants to know.
He had better take off the gloves!
Exhibit A: Name anything the GOP majority has blocked that Obama really wants so far. Maybe they will stand firm on not giving hearings to a successor to Scalia. But I wouldn't bet the family farm on it. Not even the barn. Even the outhouse, I would have to think hard about . . .
Hillary has had years to build up her organization in NV.
The fact is that she was forced to spend valuable resources just to survive Sander's momentum.
She still hasn't won a primary yet and there is where enthusiasm will be gauged.
It is all on Sander's side.
He should have been smart enough to study the Sharon Angle story and realize that Harry Reid and the unions have that entire game rigged.
I don’t know which distresses me more, to think about president Hillary or president Bernie.
Look at NH.
Its a safe state for Democrats yet their turnout is well below 2008 and 2012.
In SC, we should watch to see if black voters turn out for Hillary at the pace set for Obama.
If they don’t she’s in big trouble.
The Blacks should protect her in SC, but they won't be able to do in most other States.
The situation we're in today is like something out of the Twilight Zone.
Probably pretty much how Sanders would govern if ever allowed to gain the oval office.
No - I mean will Hillary get anywhere near or exceed black voter support Obama obtained in two presidential runs?
Black voters are racist and there’s no telling if they’re as enthusiastic about an old white woman.
Rush today said something I have been saying for months now. Sanders and the Fake Indian no longer represent the extreme kook fringe. They ARE the mainstream of the modern Democrat Party.
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