On his latest round of campaign rallies this weekend, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) drew three more huge crowds in support of his populist message. And while this has become a common occurrence these days for the senator, who is running for president in the 2016 election as a Democrat, the most recent turnouts are particularly significant because he is on a red-state swing.
Bernie asks of the Dems (there is no point in even mentioning the Repubs in this context) "...if you are the party of working people..."!
That's why we want to vote for you Bernie because they'd only be that kind of party if you were in the WH.
Go Bernie... for all of us.
In the United States, the dominating 2 political corporations, democrats and republicans, conspire between themselves to assure power remains in their hands. It's a death grip choking out progress and critical need for fundamental change in politics, economics and social processes. America's conniving political corporations have been using a kubuki theater scheme playing against each other to pass or defeat progress for the nation. No matter the policy, democrats always help conservative, austerity measures to become the rule. Their ignoble strategies are transparent from Obama's "taking single payer 'off the table'" to secret trade deals insuring Americans lose more jobs.
This small, anti-American cabal that destroyed democracy in 2000 has to go. The endless deceit by self-serving, old men and women, "representatives" of the people, no matter how attractive, must be defeated and vanquished by an over-whelming showing of "The People..." who own this crumbling republic.
Bernie appears to be color blind when it comes to voters. It is about time someone sees past the red/blue division and looks at the big picture. In other words the words of Bush "If you aren't with us you are against us" night work in identifying enemies but voters aren't enemies and it is time everyone started voting for their own best interests instead of voting for their party's agendas.
Typically only about 55% of eligible voters vote in US presidential elections. For instance in 2004 GW garnered 28% of the eligible voters' votes, Kerry 27%.
Clearly some 45% of the eligible voters are so disenchanted with the two party kabuki dance they don't even bother to vote.
Any candidate who could motivate even 2/3 of that 45% would crush the opposition.
And more importantly, as Sanders points out time and again, what is needed now is a movement, not just a candidate.
I agree, but the kabuki theatre will not allow Bernie the democratic nomination. The Presidential selections are nothing but a dog and pony show by the 1% for the 99%.
This is the conventional view coming from the Left: Bernie = no chance. But is there anything different this time? If the 47 percent Mountain Man mentions get into it, if the sense of disillusion and rage is higher now, if his momentum continues to build, and exposure of H. Clinton deepens, does he have a chance? No, no, no, says the Left. But we will see. Maybe there's something different this time? Or is it Edwards, Obama, all over again?
Right annabele. Many American potential voters have bought into the "party" hype and vote for the party, even though the parties are really very similar to each other, instead of assessing their own individual interests and needs and voting for the candidate that comes closest to meeting them. The tricky part is not listening to the media BS and finding out what your needs are and voting for them at the risk of "betraying the party" that they've voted for for years (when they vote) that hasn't made much change in helping them.
One of the unintended consequenes of Democratic Party reforms of the sixties and seventies is that when it shut down the smoke filled room political power went to the primary system. It also destroyed the idea of party, not a good. Fights over party platforms which often went into the wee hours of the night in order to satisfy different constituencies ended. We now have the hermit crab system. Like the hermit crab who scavenges beaches looking for a shell to occupy, the winner of the primary battle sets party policy, not the other way round. So the notion that the two parties have some intrinsic meaning is nonsense, they are empty, void, and have been filled by corporate candidates. Republicans never mention Lincoln, Democrats mention FDR as a man of the past with little contemporary interest. Even if Bernie can't grab the shell, the label is allowing him at least a modicum of national coverage to get his message out. Go Bernie.
If 6 months from now he is holding rallies in stadiums, that could portend something bigger than the DNC is bargaining for.
The headline to this article:
Red States 'Feel the Bern' as Populist Message Resonates
Cute, but when Sanders inevitably proceeds to herd his followers into the pen of his "good friend" Hillary, as he's promised to do, some of them might feel they've been berned.
I won't be led to the Hillary slaughter. Bernie is the one shot the Dems have at me. If it's not him, then I'm back to voting Green. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
The Big Money was on Hillary in 2008 too - what happened?
Despite the hype piles of money alone do not win elections as in the 2008 blowout
for Democrats despite all the Kochs and plutocrats money. All you need is enough to be competitive and that is how the Republicans won back Congress by the plutocrats giving enough $$$ in little-covered races to get them nominated with media time.
Media time is mostly what the money buys and Bernie has been very shrewd in getting lots of free media time. Obama actually had a choice after he won in 2008 since 1/3rd of his money came from grassroots and 1/3rd from the banksters. I well remember MLK Day in 2009 before Obama was sworn in just after his election when he called out his
grassroots base to show up to volunteer. Even in very conservative Republican Morris County MLK volunteer spots were FULL with Obama's grassroots.
Obama COULD have chosen to fire up the grassroots and light a fire for progressive causes and agains the banks and the Wars or go with the banksters and endless Wars.
But then came actual office, Obama named Larry Summers, Tim Geithner, the same gang of crooks from Clinton who handed us over to Wall Street. So much for going against the banksters with Obama's grassroots base. Then came Obama's sending ANOTHER 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. So much for ending the endless Wars...
But I remain convinced it could have turned out differently...
RU Sure he's not borrowing Hillary's pant suits, too? I can't wait to see what Bernie wears this late autumn. If he's wearing a camouflage trench coat over a hoodie we'll know we've all " been put together ", again. And, if Hillary's wearing a camouflage pantsuit; well, we'll know there won't be any elections.
Sanders reliably votes for wasteful military spending and for money to keep the Bush/Obama wars going, and has gone above and beyond to support the $400 billion and counting F-35 boondoggle on track. He supports the brutal apartied government of Israel.
In other words, just like Hillary, Obama, and whoever the Repubs nominate, he is controlled by the Pentagon.
And boys and girls, the Pentagon is a vast racket, which terrorizes the world, and loots poor and working Americans to the last penny.
What kind of socialist votes to take money from workers and give it to war-makers?
Sanders is simply this year's Obama, one in a long line of Trojan Horses from the Democratic Party.
You got it! All his plans maybe sincere plans, but they will go nowhere, Bernie is the clown for the kabuki, theater called presidential elections, whether he realizes it or not.
I agree, there is no way I will vote for corporate Hillary if Bernie doesn't make it. I value my right to vote and will write-in the name of Lawrence Lessig ( political activist working for campaign finance reform ). Not to vote sends the message I'm too lazy to go to the polls. Writing in a protest vote lets them know I see how corrupt our election process in it's current form.
" When childhood poverty in Texas is 27 percent, we've gotta take it on. When 34 percent of people living in Texas have no health insurance, we've gotta take it on.": Good for Bernie for acknowledging the population he was addressing. Too bad he missed the chance to address issues of Native Americans when he was in Arizona--they are the absolute bottom of the poor, casinos in certain places notwithstanding.
