Wow. The Bernie fanatics are getting ahead of themselves now. I mean HA Goodman thinks that Bernie is literally going to win every state in the primary and basically every state in the country as well.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/bernie-sanders-will-win-the-democratic-nomination-and-presidency-in-a-landslide_b_8968048.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/bernie-sanders-is-now-the-inevitable-democratic-nominee-and-presidential-winner_b_8987488.html
His role at the Huff Post seems to be to tell Bernie Maniacs exactly not just what they want to hear but beyond their wildest dreams.
I guess it shouldn't be shocking that the Bernie Maniacs electoral expectations are as unrealistic as his tax plan and healthcare plan. Sure, it will be a cinch to come up with $15 trillion dollars of extra tax revenue every year. So what if that's more than the federal government collects now in total?
Who cares about facts-it's about feel good aspirations!
Meanwhile that new NH poll that claims Bernie has a 27 point lead getting wide play on Morning Joe this morning. He seems as certain as the Bernie folks that this is accurate though all the political scientists like Nate Silver agree that it's a total outlier.
I guess you can't accuse them as being underconfident. The irony is that this makes is seem as if Bernie is now the inevitable candidate. In a way this is maybe the best thing for Hillary. If expectations are now that Bernie is going to beat her by 30 points in every state I guess anything she does that outperforms this will be a shock.
If it's about managing the expectations game she is winning. Because now if she doesn't totally bomb people will be shocked. Bernie fans just want to avoid reading Nate Silver who still has him with a 5 percent chance of winning.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-the-bernie-sanders-surge-real/
A very good piece yesterday on the absolutely obnoxious tactics of the Bernie Maniacs by Melissa McEwan.
"Dear Sanders Stans:
"Hi. I think we all know to whom I'm speaking, but, just to be abundantly clear: I'm addressing you—the Bernie Sanders supporters who go below and beyond the typical enthusiasm shown by supporters of any candidate running for president, even the most obnoxiously fervent ones."
"The Sanders supporters who pepper comments threads with patronizing lectures and condescending pronouncements about Sanders being the best candidate for any progressive. Who accuse anyone who criticizes Sanders in even the most gentle way, even if that critic explicitly states they make criticisms because they want Sanders to be a better candidate, of being a paid Clinton shill. Who tell anyone who flatly dislikes Sanders that they aren't "real" progressives."
"The Sanders supporters who disrespect boundaries drawn by people who want to discuss politics without a flamewar. Who harass Planned Parenthood and the US Black Chamber of Commerce and the Human Rights Commission for endorsing Hillary Clinton. Who dox and harass individual people who don't support Sanders. Who tell people of color, especially women of color, that they are stupid and ignorant if they don't support Sanders, if they don't reflexively agree that he is the best candidate for them. Who harass marginalized people, in particular, on social media for criticizing Sanders' lack of intersectional analysis."
"The Sanders supporters who send shitty, rude, and sometimes outright threatening emails and tweets to people, especially people who are not straight white men, who have the unmitigated temerity to criticize Sanders. As if this is some kind of democracy or something."
http://www.shakesville.com/2016/01/i-write-letters.html
She then makes a great point about the relevance of Bernie's 'stans.' When Bernie is asked how he's going to get this huge wish list of ideas passed, he says that his stans will make the difference. You know, suddenly the stans are going to call up red state congressman and make them vote for all those things they wouldn't think of doing when Obama was President.
So in other words, the Bernie Maniacs are going to be literally directing legislative policy themselves. We will be living under their snarky leadership-and after all, HA Goodman says Bernie will win all 50 states in both the primary and the general.
"So, here's the thing, Sanders Stans: You're not doing your candidate any favors."
"To the contrary, you're turning off a number of people who were open to Sanders, even if they didn't find him a perfect candidate, with your aggressive—and oppressive—attacks on anyone who fails to fall in line behind him."
"Now, typically, we shouldn't judge candidates by their supporters. But, in Sanders' case, there are legitimate questions about how an independent Socialist running on the Democratic ticket, if elected to the presidency, is going to work with a potentially Republican-controlled Congress, or even a less than super progressive Democratic-controlled Congress, in order to enact the progressive agenda on which he's running."
"And the answer I get every time I ask that question—the answer anyone gets any time they ask that question—is that Sanders will bring with him a movement of millions engaged supporters."
"And this comes straight from the candidate's own mouth: "I don't have any illusion that I'm going to walk in—and I certainly hope it is not the case, but if there is a Republican House and a Republican Senate—that I'm going to walk in there and say, 'Hey guys, listen. I'd like you to work with me on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.' It ain't gonna happen, I have no illusion about that. The only way that I believe that change takes place…is that tens of millions of people are going to have to stand up and be involved in the political process the day after the election."
"Sanders' supporters are key to his plan for executive success."
"His stated reliance on the his supporters' continued engagement in the political process warrants an assessment of his supporters, and their tactics, in a way that most candidacies never would."
So, yes, those of us disposed to vote for a Democratic candidate are looking at Sanders and his supporters. And I, for one, don't like what I see.
"Even if I were fully on board with this vague concept that relies on an increasingly outdated notion about how much influence average people (without endless amounts of cash and access) have over Congressional legislators, and I'm not, I would be cringing at the very thought of a conglomeration of didactic bullies whose electoral strategy has been anything but progressive being tasked with the responsibility of enacting a progressive agenda."
"I, and others, have valid questions about how Bernie Sanders is going to overcome the entrenched divisiveness in Washington and deliver on his radical promises. When the answer, offered even by Sanders himself, is that he will rely on the enthusiastic engagement of his supporters, many of whom are themselves using divisive, illiberal tactics against fellow progressives, I not only don't hold out a lot of hope for his success, but actively don't want to lend my support to that dynamic."
"Much of the criticism some progressives have of Sanders is that he doesn't do enough listening. That he continues to retain a laser-like focus on economic inequality without enough in-depth intersectional analysis—that is, speaking directly to how economic issues interact with issues arising from identity. It matters that raising the minimum wage to $15 and breaking up the banks doesn't actually solve the problem of a poor woman not having access to abortion, and/or other means of controlling her reproduction, when reproductive choice is one of the most important financial concerns for women. And it matters that Sanders doesn't talk about giving women access to abortion and contraception nearly as much as he does the minimum wage or breaking up the banks, despite the fact that we're more than half the population and our financial security is deeply tied to our reproductive options."
"Sanders doesn't listen to critics who make points like this one. And neither do you, the Sanders Stans. And if you're not listening now, what reason do I have to believe that you'll listen if Sanders is elected?"
"If I wanted to vote for a group of people who didn't have the slightest interest in meaningfully engaging with me or listening to anything I have to say, I could vote Republican."
Yes, she's right, Bernie never listens, never changes his views and that's worrisome. I mean it used to be just a GOP thing to 'never evolve' but now it's allegedly a virtue with Bernie.
Nor does he really answer questions. When they asked him at the debate Sunday night why single payer failed in Vermont, his answer was that you'd have to ask Peter Shumlin. OK, so what did Shumlin do wrong in a very small, progressive state that Bernie will do right in a huge diverse country?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/bernie-sanders-will-win-the-democratic-nomination-and-presidency-in-a-landslide_b_8968048.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/bernie-sanders-is-now-the-inevitable-democratic-nominee-and-presidential-winner_b_8987488.html
His role at the Huff Post seems to be to tell Bernie Maniacs exactly not just what they want to hear but beyond their wildest dreams.
I guess it shouldn't be shocking that the Bernie Maniacs electoral expectations are as unrealistic as his tax plan and healthcare plan. Sure, it will be a cinch to come up with $15 trillion dollars of extra tax revenue every year. So what if that's more than the federal government collects now in total?
Who cares about facts-it's about feel good aspirations!
Meanwhile that new NH poll that claims Bernie has a 27 point lead getting wide play on Morning Joe this morning. He seems as certain as the Bernie folks that this is accurate though all the political scientists like Nate Silver agree that it's a total outlier.
I guess you can't accuse them as being underconfident. The irony is that this makes is seem as if Bernie is now the inevitable candidate. In a way this is maybe the best thing for Hillary. If expectations are now that Bernie is going to beat her by 30 points in every state I guess anything she does that outperforms this will be a shock.
If it's about managing the expectations game she is winning. Because now if she doesn't totally bomb people will be shocked. Bernie fans just want to avoid reading Nate Silver who still has him with a 5 percent chance of winning.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-the-bernie-sanders-surge-real/
A very good piece yesterday on the absolutely obnoxious tactics of the Bernie Maniacs by Melissa McEwan.
"Dear Sanders Stans:
"Hi. I think we all know to whom I'm speaking, but, just to be abundantly clear: I'm addressing you—the Bernie Sanders supporters who go below and beyond the typical enthusiasm shown by supporters of any candidate running for president, even the most obnoxiously fervent ones."
"The Sanders supporters who pepper comments threads with patronizing lectures and condescending pronouncements about Sanders being the best candidate for any progressive. Who accuse anyone who criticizes Sanders in even the most gentle way, even if that critic explicitly states they make criticisms because they want Sanders to be a better candidate, of being a paid Clinton shill. Who tell anyone who flatly dislikes Sanders that they aren't "real" progressives."
"The Sanders supporters who disrespect boundaries drawn by people who want to discuss politics without a flamewar. Who harass Planned Parenthood and the US Black Chamber of Commerce and the Human Rights Commission for endorsing Hillary Clinton. Who dox and harass individual people who don't support Sanders. Who tell people of color, especially women of color, that they are stupid and ignorant if they don't support Sanders, if they don't reflexively agree that he is the best candidate for them. Who harass marginalized people, in particular, on social media for criticizing Sanders' lack of intersectional analysis."
"The Sanders supporters who send shitty, rude, and sometimes outright threatening emails and tweets to people, especially people who are not straight white men, who have the unmitigated temerity to criticize Sanders. As if this is some kind of democracy or something."
http://www.shakesville.com/2016/01/i-write-letters.html
She then makes a great point about the relevance of Bernie's 'stans.' When Bernie is asked how he's going to get this huge wish list of ideas passed, he says that his stans will make the difference. You know, suddenly the stans are going to call up red state congressman and make them vote for all those things they wouldn't think of doing when Obama was President.
So in other words, the Bernie Maniacs are going to be literally directing legislative policy themselves. We will be living under their snarky leadership-and after all, HA Goodman says Bernie will win all 50 states in both the primary and the general.
"So, here's the thing, Sanders Stans: You're not doing your candidate any favors."
"To the contrary, you're turning off a number of people who were open to Sanders, even if they didn't find him a perfect candidate, with your aggressive—and oppressive—attacks on anyone who fails to fall in line behind him."
"Now, typically, we shouldn't judge candidates by their supporters. But, in Sanders' case, there are legitimate questions about how an independent Socialist running on the Democratic ticket, if elected to the presidency, is going to work with a potentially Republican-controlled Congress, or even a less than super progressive Democratic-controlled Congress, in order to enact the progressive agenda on which he's running."
"And the answer I get every time I ask that question—the answer anyone gets any time they ask that question—is that Sanders will bring with him a movement of millions engaged supporters."
"And this comes straight from the candidate's own mouth: "I don't have any illusion that I'm going to walk in—and I certainly hope it is not the case, but if there is a Republican House and a Republican Senate—that I'm going to walk in there and say, 'Hey guys, listen. I'd like you to work with me on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.' It ain't gonna happen, I have no illusion about that. The only way that I believe that change takes place…is that tens of millions of people are going to have to stand up and be involved in the political process the day after the election."
"Sanders' supporters are key to his plan for executive success."
"His stated reliance on the his supporters' continued engagement in the political process warrants an assessment of his supporters, and their tactics, in a way that most candidacies never would."
So, yes, those of us disposed to vote for a Democratic candidate are looking at Sanders and his supporters. And I, for one, don't like what I see.
"Even if I were fully on board with this vague concept that relies on an increasingly outdated notion about how much influence average people (without endless amounts of cash and access) have over Congressional legislators, and I'm not, I would be cringing at the very thought of a conglomeration of didactic bullies whose electoral strategy has been anything but progressive being tasked with the responsibility of enacting a progressive agenda."
"I, and others, have valid questions about how Bernie Sanders is going to overcome the entrenched divisiveness in Washington and deliver on his radical promises. When the answer, offered even by Sanders himself, is that he will rely on the enthusiastic engagement of his supporters, many of whom are themselves using divisive, illiberal tactics against fellow progressives, I not only don't hold out a lot of hope for his success, but actively don't want to lend my support to that dynamic."
"Much of the criticism some progressives have of Sanders is that he doesn't do enough listening. That he continues to retain a laser-like focus on economic inequality without enough in-depth intersectional analysis—that is, speaking directly to how economic issues interact with issues arising from identity. It matters that raising the minimum wage to $15 and breaking up the banks doesn't actually solve the problem of a poor woman not having access to abortion, and/or other means of controlling her reproduction, when reproductive choice is one of the most important financial concerns for women. And it matters that Sanders doesn't talk about giving women access to abortion and contraception nearly as much as he does the minimum wage or breaking up the banks, despite the fact that we're more than half the population and our financial security is deeply tied to our reproductive options."
"Sanders doesn't listen to critics who make points like this one. And neither do you, the Sanders Stans. And if you're not listening now, what reason do I have to believe that you'll listen if Sanders is elected?"
"If I wanted to vote for a group of people who didn't have the slightest interest in meaningfully engaging with me or listening to anything I have to say, I could vote Republican."
Yes, she's right, Bernie never listens, never changes his views and that's worrisome. I mean it used to be just a GOP thing to 'never evolve' but now it's allegedly a virtue with Bernie.
Nor does he really answer questions. When they asked him at the debate Sunday night why single payer failed in Vermont, his answer was that you'd have to ask Peter Shumlin. OK, so what did Shumlin do wrong in a very small, progressive state that Bernie will do right in a huge diverse country?
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