Bernie's False Victimization. The Rise of Bloomberg Hurts Biden More Than Bernie

[TomCADem]

It is weird that Bernie is trying to paint the appearance of Bloomberg as the primary system being rigged against him. I just don't see many voters who might be partial to Bernie versus Biden switching to Bloomberg. On the other hand, I can definitely see some primary voters who are slightly leaning to Biden giving Bloomberg a close look.

Indeed, as a person who is polling in fourth place, Bloomberg would have the better argument that the Democratic primary is rigged if he is excluded from debates because Bloomberg does not rely on individual donors. I understand that the idea of the donor requirement is to make sure a candidate has the resources to compete in the general election, but Bloomberg obviously hits this metric.

Still, I am sure that Bernie understands that Bloomberg is probably taking more votes from Biden than he is from Bernie, yet like Trump, Bernie never misses a chance to claim that the system is rigged against him.

https://politicalwire.com/2019/11/18/bloombergs-entry-mostly-hurts-biden/

A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 4% support for Michael Bloomberg in the Democratic presidential race.

“Without Bloomberg in the race, 30% of Democrats said that they would vote for Biden. With Bloomberg added to the list of contenders, 26% of Democrats say that they plan to vote for Biden. In other words, the minimal support that Bloomberg does have appears to come at Biden’s expense.”

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Bernie seems to like playing the victim even when he isn't.

[TomCADem]

4. This Is Why I Think Bernie's "Rigged System" Complaint Is Deeply Dishonest

I am sure his campaign staff can read the same polls that show that Biden is hurt the most by Bloomberg's rise, which helps Bernie. Yet, with the admission of Bloomberg into the debate, Bernie's campaign attacks the whole process as rigged by the establishment in Trump like fashion. Remember when Trump attacked Hillary Clinton with conspiring with the Russians to hurt her own campaign?

Well, in 2020, we have Bernie attacking Joe Biden (the ostensible establishment candidate) with conspiring with Democratic establishment to admit Bloomberg into the debate, to hurt Biden's campaign:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/31/definition-rigged-system-says-sanders-campaign-after-dnc-changes-debate-rules

'Definition of a Rigged System,' Says Sanders Campaign After DNC Changes Debate Rules for Billionaire Latecomer Mike Bloomberg

After debate rules were changed in favor of allowing billionaire Mike Bloomberg to join the candidates onstage vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign hit back, calling the decision emblematic of the corrupt political system the Vermont senator has centered his run for the White House on defeating.

"To now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong," Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver told Politico. "That's the definition of a rigged system."

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1223333196592558082&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2020%2F01%2F31%2Fdefinition-rigged-system-says-sanders-campaign-after-dnc-changes-debate-rules

[JudyM]

5. It couldn't be that he is opposed in principle, not because it hurts him.

Asking for a friend

If it hurt him, would you complain that he only opposes rigging when it impacts him?

[TomCADem]

7. Bernie Has Repeatedly Complained That The Primaries Are Rigged Against Him

While Bernie motivates his core supporters by pushing a narrative of victimization, these attacks on the Democratic party hurts Democrats by depressing Democratic turnout. Put another way, you know that Bernie's attacks and complaints about a rigged system find an ally in Donald Trump who has defended Bernie arguing that the Democratic primary is being rigged against Bernie. So, what does Bernie do, he doubles down once again on the whole talking point that the Democratic primary is rigged, thus once again echoing Donald Trump.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-01-25/trump-defends-sanders-stoking-democratic-divisions

WASHINGTON — As tensions between Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren rose earlier this month, Sanders found himself with an unusual ally: Donald Trump.

During a raucous campaign rally earlier this month in which the president critiqued some of his Democratic challengers, Trump launched into an unprompted defense of Sanders. Warren had accused Sanders of telling her that a woman couldn’t win the White House in November, but Sanders insisted he would never say such a thing. Trump concurred. “I don’t believe that Bernie said that. I really don’t,” Trump told his supporters. “It’s not the kind of thing he would say.”

As the Democratic primary campaign intensifies before the first contests to decide the nominee, Trump and his allies have issued a series of curiously favorable comments about Sanders. They’ve played up the Vermont senator’s electoral strength and fundraising prowess. And they’ve suggested that if Sanders doesn’t secure the nomination, it will be because the party rigged the primary against him. It’s a sentiment that resonates with some Sanders backers who believe the Democratic National Committee worked against him in 2016, when Hillary Clinton won the nomination.

In offering occasional support for Sanders, Trump is taking a page out of his own playbook from the election four years ago and betting that the Democratic divisions that helped him win the White House are even deeper now.

[lapucelle]

2. I could be wrong, but I think BS is worried about Bloomberg pulling in independents. N/T

[TomCADem]

6. This Conflicts With the Polling Data Showing Biden Being Hurt the Most

Indeed, the presence of Bloomberg not only hurts Biden, but it also helps both Bernie and Warren since they have and can use the presence of Bloomberg to sharpen their attacks on millionaires and billionaires.

So, like Trump, who had no problem arguing that Hillary was conspiring with Russia to hurt her own campaign against him, you have Bernie playing the victim of a rigged system. If anything, the system is being rigged in Bernie's favor, because Bloomberg is undercutting Biden who was the clear front runner until Bloomberg started buying all the ads pushing Biden-like left of center messages.

[MH1]

10. Seems like they'd be different "independents"

I can't see a lot of overlap between the type of person who supports BS and the type who supports MB. (As first choice, that is. Almost all of us here will support either one if they are the nominee.)

[Cha]

19. You could be right!

[LisaM]

3. So a Republican mayor and an Independent Senator get to

drive a narrative that a primary for a party neither ostensibly belongs to is rigged against them.

This is so upside down I don't even know where to begin.

[Lancero]

8. Wait, wasn't he a Independent mayor for a while?

Bloomberg jumped to Republican to beat out a Democrat. Then jumped to being a Independent to try and distance himself from the party when he realized how crazy they are. But wait, he still ran under their ticket for a time.

Sanders, at least, is consistent in remaining a Independent who runs with Democrats. As nice as it would be for him to officially join the party, at least he hasn't been playing musical chairs with his party affiliation.

[TwilightZone]

9. He does play musical chairs with his party affiliation.

He runs as a Democrat in presidential races and has run for Congress several times as an Independent.

He also ran for the Democratic nomination for Senate in 2018 as a Democrat, then turned down the nomination and switched to I again. He did the same thing in 2006 and 2012.

"The famously independent senator, who briefly joined the Democratic Party to run in the 2016 New Hampshire presidential primary only to un-enroll later, officially announced Monday that he would seek a third term in the Senate this fall. He also said that he’ll pull the same maneuver that he did in his 2006 and 2012 Senate races: Running as a Democrat, declining the nomination when he wins and then running as an independent." - Source below.

Better than running as a Republican, of course, but he's about as adept at musical party chairs as Bloomberg is.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/21/bernie-sanders-democrat-independent-vermont-601844

[Lancero]

13. Consistent in who he runs with.

He's insistent on remaining a Independent, but he goes to Democrats for support.

Bloomberg though was a Democrat for a number of years... Before jumping ship and courting Republicans to beat out a Democrat in 01. Then he jumped to Independent, but still courted Republicans. Then he was a Independent, courting Democrats. Now he's back to being a Democrat and courting Democrats.

I suppose though that consistent wouldn't be the best word to use. It'd fit, but having thought about it I think it'd be more accurate to say that Sanders would be the more predictable.

[TomCADem]

15. Part of It Is That His Brand Is Driven By Running Against Democrats

It is totally hypocritical because while he claims he is an independent, he caucuses with Democrats and he runs for Democratic party nominations even as he elevates himself by repeatedly suggesting that there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats. Indeed, his supporters have argued that the biggest obstacle is the Democratic establishment notwithstanding that Republicans control the Senate, the Courts and the Presidency.

My take is that Bernie bears a lot of blame for the success of Republicans, because he adopts and validates their talking points against Democrats in order to promote his own brand. Bernie's efforts to attack the entry of Bloomberg as another sign that the Democratic "establishment" is rigged makes no sense, since Biden is most directly impacted. Yet, that does not Bernie from claiming yet another grievance against the Democratic Party.

[democrattotheend]

17. I don't think it's the same thing

I seem to recall either the DSCC or the Vermont Democratic Party orchestrating the primary thing in 2006 to make sure he and a Democrat didn't split the vote and enable a Republican to win. That's not the same thing as running for mayor as a Republican and supporting Bush in 2004, not to mention being Guiliani's handpicked successor.

[emmaverybo]

11. Fits the Mr.Smith Goes to Washington, Man vs. "The Man," High Noon narrative Bernie stars in.

Also, it’s neat when the very system you portray yourself as dogged by makes it all about you.

Except that the change in the rule isn’t about Bernie.

[Blue_true]

14. The point may be to shed doubt on the nomination process if things

don't go well for Bernie. I find it distressing. Senator Sanders' campaign analysts should realize that Bloomberg hurts Joe a lot more than Bernie, so the Sanders campaign should welcome Bloomberg getting into debates. I believe the issue is there is little assurance that Senator Sanders can win the nomination through voters, so the intent may be to muddy the waters in case there is a contested convention or someone like Biden just gets over the threshold and wins the nomination outright.

[wyldwolf]

16. fringe groups use imagined persecution to fuel their movements.

[Gothmog]

18. Bloomberg is going after the same base as Joe Biden

sanders’ whining about Bloomberg is amusing