Oh darn - #feeltheBern...well, not so much

[Sheepshank]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Politics-Voices/2015/0730/feelthebern-Yes-there-is-something-about-Bernie.-He-s-losing

the media loves them a horserace, and they are not above fabricating one, if necessary, to attract readership. This is particularly true when the clear front-runner is yesterday’s news – as is the case with Hillary Clinton. In newsrooms across the nation, nothing provokes more concern than the specter of writing stories month-after-month about how Clinton is crushing the competition. To forestall this, we’ve seen two narratives take root in the popular press this past week. The first is that Clinton’s support is softening. As evidence, journalists are citing the rise in her unfavorability ratings, as captured in this Gallup poll.
...snip...
“In the biggest surprise of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, this thoroughly implausible man, Bernie Sanders, is a sensation.” Yes, midway through the article Ball includes the usual hedges – Clinton is still leading in the polls, Bernie’s a longshot – but then there’s this: “Every Sanders crowd is full of die-hards like Bailey [a Bernie-supporter Ball interviewed], passionately committed to their unlikely hero. Every Clinton crowd, on the other hand, is full of lukewarm rank-and-file Democrats who will not hesitate to tell you they have some qualms about supporting her.” Ouch! To those on the Left, particularly those disappointed in what they see as Obama’s lukewarm embrace of progressive ideas, Bernie is a man whose time has come. As my colleague Bert Johnson points out, if you look at Bernie’s stump speeches from the early 1990’s you will find them interchangeable with what he is saying now about corporate power and economic inequality. What has changed is that Bernie’s message has now found a willing audience. Or so the prevailing media narrative would have one believe.
...snip...
Bernie is raising important issues – including concerns about the intersection of race and income inequality – that need to be discussed at the national level. But it is also the case that his “surge” in the polls is much more about pollsters dropping Elizabeth Warren’s name from their list of potential candidates as it is any discernible shift in support away from Clinton. It fits the media horserace narrative to speculate about the possibility, however improbable, that Clinton will stumble and Sanders will step in to steal the nomination. As of today, however, the facts say that is not going to happen. Bernie trails Clinton in all the important indicators: national polls, early state polls, fundraising and party endorsements.

Is there something about Bernie? Yes. Right now, he’s losing.

Sometimes it appears that the narrative in the article has reflected impassioned statements made right here on DU.. Weird and yet confirming at the same time

[LWolf]

1. At least 100K were feeling it nationwide just the other night.

And most of those committed to local campaigning.

It's not "improbable" that Clinton will stumble; she did it the last time she ran for office.

[Adrahil]

12. Even if she stumbles, 35-40 points is a LOT to make up.

Anything is possible, I guess, but as things trundle on, it's going to be harder and harder.

[LWolf]

18. True.

It's really up to Democrats.

Sander's, and the rest of the Democratic candidates', real challenge is to beat the Clinton machine. Nobody thinks it will be easy.

We're working hard on that challenge

[Adrahil]

21. One thing Bernie could do is EMBRACE the Democratic party.

I admit that one thing I have against him that he seems so reluctant to embrace my party, yet he wants its nomination.

By EMBRACING the party, I think those of us who have put in time and effort to get Democrats elected would feel more like he isn't deigning to accept our misguided, not quite progressive enough votes. I'm sure that's not what he intends, but I do feel a bit snubbed by his reluctance to say "I am a Democrat."

[LWolf]

25. I get that.

I think one of his greatest strengths can also be an obstacle.

He'll listen to people and include their concerns in his agenda, but he's not going to change who he is.

So some, like you, may be worried about partisan loyalty. I don't worry about that, but I get that some do. For me, the only purpose of a political party is to work hard to achieve positive progress on issues. I register with the Party that has the best chance of doing so. When that party stands a line, refuses to give ground, and pushes to move forward, I support it. When it doesn't, I don't. I'm all about issues. I know that many of us have felt betrayed, repeatedly, by our own party. The fact that Sanders has caucused with the Democratic Party, and that he's shown willingness to work with anyone to accomplish progress on issues, is all I need. I think he'll make it mean something to those of us who have been marginalized in our own party to be a Democrat again.

For the record, though, I don't think he can say, "I am a Democrat." Not if you mean registering with the party, which is what it means to me. There is no party registration in his state.

To others, his insistence on hammering economic justice is a problem, even when he works for social justice, as well. Some want social justice to come first. I really, really get that. Sanders says they are parallel. I agree; they are equal in importance.

Still, I think he offers more hope for significant progress for both economic and social justice than any other candidate, which is why he's got my support. It's not about him, but about taking back this country for the 99%.

[Adrahil]

26. Well put. You are a great spokesperson for your candidate!

I'm still an HRC supporter, but you represent him well.

[Sheepshank]

36. well, it not quite true that there are no party affiliations for Vermont

it's a little more accurate to state that registration is not required.

Just a short while ago there was a discussion here on DU, where someone had posted 2004 and 2000 ballots and party affiliation clearly followed each candidates name.

the poster you were responding to has a valid concern in that Bernie is choosing NOT to register. Here is my concern with that....Hillary and O'Malley recently spoke clearly and forcefully about Dem party building. Bernie cannot speak to that. He can't build a party he doesn't belong to. What does this foretell if Bernie does win the GE and he fails to build up the party? What happens when the full force of the Republican voters come out in 2020 and the Dems are floundering with a party that hasn't had focus and prideful leadership and party building and direction for the previous 4 years? With the Republican gerrymandering about to come to an end, and the Dems cannot pull their shit together because Bernie, the POTUS has not not committed to any party building, we may lose the most amazing opportunity of a majority in both houses and also a Dem in the Whitehouse.

[LWolf]

45. Would you like to acknowledge

the increase in people registering with the Democratic Party because of Bernie?

And then there's this:

Chris Matthews: Will Sanders speak at the Democrat convention, win or lose? Do you want to have him up there as a Socialist representing the Democratic Party?… You want him up there? You want him on the floor of the convention?

Debbie Wasserman Schulz: Bernie Sanders has been a good Democrat. He caucuses with the Democrats.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/07/wow-dnc-chair-freezes-cant-answer-whats-the-difference-between-democrat-party-and-socialist/

[Sheepshank]

49. more people are registering as Dems than in previous elections?

and this in part because of Bernie, not just because unregistered Dems see the clown car and are freaking out over a Rep POTUS??

Where can I find this information? Your link does speak to increases in registration.

[moobu2]

37. Yes!

[cascadiance]

51. I think he has and should do more EMBRACING icons from the past!

Icons like FDR, Truman, etc. who took on the big money in their days, before the party got so corrupted like it is now. It will demonstrate why he has been resistant about being a member of it now, but shows how he is more a represenative of the traditional Democrats that were great in their day and members that old Americans remember very fondly and long for today.

That way he can continue being an independent as a statement for a need to change the party from within, but at the same time be very vocal on how the party has represented his views of the past, and those views that so many Americans miss now too!

[RufusTFirefly]

29. I forget. When is the first primary? Next week? Or the week after?

[stevenleser]

14. 126 Million voted in the last national election. 100,000 is what? 7 hundredths of one percent?

The tea party had more show up in their sillyness back in 2009 and they certainly didnt represent a large swath of America

[LWolf]

17. Apparently you missed the part

about those being, not a total # of voters, but those showing up to organize and campaign locally.

[stevenleser]

19. Nope, didn't miss it. Like the tea party, however, it likely is the total # of voters he would get.

[LWolf]

20. Nope.

Sander's supporters are not "like the tea party," and campaign volunteers are not the same thing as total votes.

[cascadiance]

54. The tea party was funded and started by the like of the Koch Brothers...

NOT really a grass roots organization, but an organization that tried to USE that party's grass roots to get attention by leading them down a path of well funded and protected gatherings.

Movements like Occupy and what now is gathering for Bernie are REAL grass roots efforts of people getting together to say they are fed up and want something more, and not being spoonfed a lot of money to make it appear that their representation of people is larger than it really is like the Tea Party was in its history.

That is why when people find a way to organize their communications so that they aren't too dependent on infrastructure like the media and other controlled forms of it by the corporate oligarchy, there will be a bigger voice mobilizing for Bernie when the time comes later. Not to say there won't be challenges, but ultimately people will win in the end.

Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg both spent a lot of money in Oregon to help the Democrats take a stronger majority in the State Senate, and bigger margins in the legislature, unlike most other parts of the country, but Bloomberg LOST a lot of money trying to push Oregonians to pass a top two primary that would put more power in to campaign spending money in elections over what political parties want to have represent them as nominees, etc. in a general election.

Oregonians rejected that measure more than any other one in last election from all parties there, because they saw through the efforts of big money trying to buy our election process here, and the grass roots of all parties smartly rejected it.

I think once the grass roots of America sees how the corporate oligarchy have been controlling both parties as this election progresses, more people are going to gravitate towards Bernie, much as we gravitated to rejecting that measure, even though many of us talked about other reforms that might make things better like instant runoff voting, or lowering the threshold for a political party to have a primary ballot in the primary election that currently only the Democratic and Republican Party can quailfy to get now.

Waking up the grass roots isn't going to happen overnight, but I thin as time goes on, people will get on this train when they see that it really has to be someone like Bernie to fix this corrupt as hell system that we live in now.

[LWolf]

61. Yes.

I just read (FB) that Bernie is going to be in Portland on August 9th. I'm really disappointed that I can't be there, but I'm already driving in with my grandson on the 4th - 6th, and can't afford another trip so soon.

I hope Portland welcomes him with a big crowd of grassroots support.

[cascadiance]

62. I've been so swamped with working the last few months amongst other things...

In a way its fortunate that this will happen right after my contract ends, so I hopefully can have the time to attend this event when I couldn't go out to the organizing event the 29th this week.

Hoping that those planning the event have him in a motorcade going down *Sandy Boulevard* from the airport in to the downtown area. Given that the north east part of Portland is where they film most of Portlandia, that would be a perfect event for them to get in one of their shows. Hopefully they will do so and help give him more attention he deserves, especially to the millenials!

[LWolf]

71. Please report back when it's over! nt

[JaneyVee]

47. Howard Dean had 4000+ in one night in 2003...

Still no President Dean.

[lunamagica]

52. Right. Sanders supporters like to compare him to Obama. He is more like Dean

[arcane1]

28. Those teabagger events were funded by Fox and advertised continually there

Big difference. This is real, actual grass-roots.

I'm so old, I remember when that was considered a good thing

[Cleita]

2. He can't be losing when there is no there there, yet.

The whole article would indicate Bernie is doing fine and then at the end he draws a goofy conclusion.

[peacebird]

3. Tell me which other candidate can get over 100,000 people to a webcast on a Wednesday night?

Tell me what othr candidate can get 15million in donations averaging just $33 each?

Oh, and your "concern" is duly noted....

[PoliticAverse]

10. Tell me which candidate will be getting the most actual Democratic convention delegates,

because that's what really matters.

[peacebird]

13. Bernie will! He will decimate the competition in the debates.

[artislife]

39. Not if we enact operation caucus

Remember the PUMAS crying last time? We aim to do it again.

[misterhighwasted]

27. Hillary did it too. $47 mill raised by donations under $100 each.

Her house partyvia skype were a huge success.
Her facebook & social media #'s are greater than bern's .

Those are good #'s for a newcomer l8ke bern, but he's hardly the pioneer you make him out to be.
Reality.

[peacebird]

35. Her skyparty had 1/10the the groups logging in and far fewer total viewers.....

She can ger big bucks tho, props for that



Them bank$ters know who butters their bread for sure!

[misterhighwasted]

38. As do Vermont's military contractors.

They all play the same game..bernie too.

[peacebird]

60. He must play it badly, as he hasn't become a millionaire at it after over 40 years... Unlike, well..

some other Dem pols running for President....

[99th_Monkey]

4. This explains everything.

actually, not so much ..

Exhibit A: Bernie's phenomenal grass-roots campaign with record crowds -- while other candidates's 'crowds'
are sparsely attended, hand-picked or rented -- have been largely ignored or poo-pooed by M$M.

[Iliyah]

5. Well on the DU there is no lack of how terrible HRC is as well as

she's losing . . . everyone in the entire country hates her . . and HRC is very afraid . . . et al . .threads

Positive HRC threads are constantly trashed, even HRC safe haven threads are attacked as well. Therefore my conclusion at this point in time is:

HRC is on her way to the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States of America.

[misterhighwasted]

31. I've said that here before..i think it was unsuccessfully alerted on...figures.

Agree with all you say, my friend.
Teaparty playbook.
Someone compared their style of attack also as Greens, Libertarians..anything but Dems.
Thats why many of their OMG hit pieces are easily debunked in a days time.

Oh well, They're still going to lose in the end, whomever fringe group they stump for.
HRC 2016

[Tommy2Tone]

50. They are killing the party

Hillary numbers are falling and it is not helping Bernie. It is however helping Jeb Bush. So in their delusion they are helping to elect another Bush.

[misterhighwasted]

56. Doing to the Dems what the TeaParty did to Republicans.

And we got a Teabaggin Legislature out of that.
Cruz, Walker, ....
Sadly yes.

[Armstead]

58. Oh my God. First Sanders suppoeters mean nothing. Now they're KILLING the party?

And they're KILLING the party by doing -- OH MY GOD -- grassroots organizing to support a candidate?

What evil monsters those Sanders supporters must be.

[Tommy2Tone]

65. More than that..

Trying their best to vilify Hillary.

[Armstead]

66. Well her, ahem, supporters seem to be trying to do that to them

[Comrade Grumpy]

40. If you can't see the difference between Bernie fans and the Tea Party...

...you need to make an appointment with an eye doctor.

[misterhighwasted]

42. Soon there won't be a burn to even feel.

It'll be over.
I do look forward to him supporting Dems in the Senate tho.
He is a righteous fighter! And that's where his flame burns the brightest.

[Avalux]

6. The author of this article should have talked with the young people at my Sanders watch party.

It would behoove the 'experts' parroting this tired meme to actually speak with real people.

[villager]

7. How odd to go so far out of your way to attack a candidate, and supporters, who present no threat

...whatsoever, eh?

[Sheepshank]

8. you would do well to talk to a half dozen or so of your compatriots then.

...and ask what their motivation for attacking Hillary at a rate of 10:1 on negative articles?

[villager]

11. So, posting articles for discussion is an "attack?"

Therefore, your OP is also an "attack" then, right?

[Sheepshank]

41. ahh so Bernistas discuss and I attack?

don't know what to say at that type of interpretation of the events and threads here on DU?

we must not be reading the same threads

[villager]

64. I see -- so you exempt yourself.

Or you freely interpret OPs you don't like as "an attack" but your OPs are... well, there for discussion? Unlike other people's?

[Armstead]

67. Because they think she is part of the problem

It's less personal than a long building frustration at a political/economic crisies that has been building for a long time. And rather than being part of the solution, she is part of the crowd yhat is part of the problem.

She represents the entitled revolving-door-in-the-penthouse elites in both parties that have been enabling an oligarchy to form by pushing polices -- and ignoring problems -- that have been decimating the economy, undermining democracy, and siphoning wealth and power upward to an alarming degree over the past 30 years or so.

Better than Republicans in many ways. But when it comes to core issues, just as much in the the bubble. Just a slightly more enlightened form of the Corporate/Investor State.

And frustration at seeing every election cycle the same thing happening with the same crowd. The same script played out over and over. The same faces from K Street/Wall Street being brought back to repeat the same mistakes.

[Aerows]

15. I have a sincere question

What is this investment in what "everybody" says? My father does this - everything is framed in terms of "what did they say about it"? "What did somebody say about that"?

Maybe I'm missing something, but I really don't give two shits what "somebody" said about anything. I care what people are actually doing, and if they "say" something about me, then I'm giving "somebody" a rest.

[seaglass]

16. I thought this part was funny...

Before my Twitter and blog feed are inundated with negative comments from the #feelthebern crowd...

[LWolf]

22. Interesting article. I found this part significant:

As the graph shows, Hillary’s favorable ratings have plummeted from the high 60% to the low 40%, while her unfavorable ratings have inched back up to where they were before she became secretary of State. Of course, no one expected Clinton to maintain those high ratings as she transitioned from secretary of State to presidential candidate, but still.... Similar stories are told in Iowa and New Hampshire, where Clinton’s favorables/unfavorables are also underwater. Why is this bad news? Because, as Chris Cillizza reminds us, “Presidential politics tends to be dominated by personality and how people perceive their candidate choices.” The plain fact is that Clinton is not very likable.

It's fine to continuously point out the numbers in her favor; some integrity would also mean acknowledging her negative trend.

[Motown_Johnny]

23. He has been running 3 months, HRC ~10 years.

Give him a few months.

Yes, losing right now if you go by people who still answer their land line for pollsters.

Lets see what happens after a couple debates.

[misterhighwasted]

30. He's been all over the news & talk shows since he announced.

Hardly an unknown at this point.
That old meme is obsolete.

[Motown_Johnny]

32. polls that ask if you need to know more about him

seem to prove you wrong.

[misterhighwasted]

34. Maybe they just don't want to know more about him.

Maybe he's just not what they're looking for in the race to keep the GOP out of the White House.
I don't have the answer to why.

[Motown_Johnny]

63. because he has only been running 3 months

You have the answer, you just refuse to accept it.

[misterhighwasted]

68. Lol. My answer is that he has hit the saturation point.

Peaked. Maybe some are just not all that interested in learning more about Sanders.
That's the answer I know.

[Motown_Johnny]

69. The debates will be very telling.

No way anyone has hit the saturation point this early. Most people are not really paying attention yet.

[misterhighwasted]

70. LOL. He's been more visible than Hillary. Talk shows, social media. Anyone who hasn't heard of him

...isn't interested.
The debates? I expect it will be courteous and depends what the pre-selected questions will be. Bernie has a few things to answer for also. Just sayin.
My guess is that it will be a well balanced "wash". With each side claiming the big smackdown win. Just like here on DU.

[Cha]

24. Good article.. thanks Sheepshank

[Sheepshank]

44. You're welcome.

I find it interesting that a poster above complained that it was a hit piece.....it may not have been concluding what they wanted to hear, but there was a lot of positives in there about Bernie. Perhaps they didn't actually read it?

[Cha]

46. Anything is a "hit piece" on Bernie where Hillary is shining and he is 2nd place.

[misterhighwasted]

33. Spot On! Best analysis I've read yet.

Great post!

[Sheepshank]

43. thanks...the whole thing is a great read

and gives appropriate kudos to Bernie, but reality is not in his favor for the Whitehouse.

[misterhighwasted]

48. He is meant for the Senate where his message & vote is honored.

I'd rather not see the RW destroy him. And they will.
They are liars & thieves.

[Armstead]

53. Um, not to burst your bubble but most supporters KNOW he's a longshot

I don't think anyone harbors illusions, and I don;t think you'll find a lot of people who assume Bernie is going to be the nominee, or that the odds are not very long.

So if you're trying to make people feel shitty by posting that.....enh, I don't think it'll work.

Yes there is a lot of bravado, and "We might be able to pull it off." But isn't that what politics -- and much of life is about?

Sometimes longshots win. Or, just as important, sometimes they make a difference in other ways. And sometimes they just feel better because they TRIED.

But I guess you'd prefer that everyone just yawn and say "Okay Hillary;s the nominee because the status quo has decided that;s how it will be. And nothing will ever change. So we'll just go with the program."

Nah that aint gonna happen.

[Sheepshank]

55. no...not to worry you are not bursting a "bubble"

but perhaps I did have a preconceived notion that reality isn't really in play just yet.

[Armstead]

59. Reality is never in play. It's constanly shifting, It's a Zen thing ya know.

What is reality anyway?

[arcane1]

57. +100