It was a Sanders landslide in Nevada, with Bernie closing fast in S. Carolina, leading national polls by as much as 10% and ahead in most Super Tuesday states. Is it time to embrace the inevitable instead of undermining it?
Actions & Events. For information on coming actions & events, including Retake’s Roundhouse De-Brief & Election Campaign Launch, as well as XR events, events for Public Banking in NM and tonight’s Los Alamos event with Sen. Gerry Ortiz y Pino focused on healthcare equity, click here.
Look Who’s Electable Now
As the Roundhouse session fades into the distance, the NM primaries and the national Democratic primaries come into sharp relief. We will be reporting on what happened in the 2020 Legislative Session with a Report Card coming hopefully by the end of March. But we will also be focusing more on primaries as the weeks pass.
Bernie has won by increasing numbers in each primary to date and he is in a statistical tie in South Carolina. He is poised to build an insurmountable lead on Super Tuesday given that he is leading comfortably in California, Texas, North Carolina, Maine, Colorado, Vermont and Utah. Sanders is even now leading in Massachusetts, Warren’s home state, and is tied in Virginia. Maybe it is time for moderate Democrats to stop trying to halt this train and jump on.
If we are going to defeat Donald Trump, we need to be unified. Remember the party slogan: “Vote Blue, No Matter Who.” Well the most electable “who” is becoming abundantly clear. And we can start with Nevada.
In Nevada
Entrance polls show that he dominated. Those polls showed Mr. Sanders winning men and women; whites and Latinos; voters in all but the oldest age group (17-29, 30-44 and 45-64); those with college degrees and those without. He was carrying union households and nonunion households, self-identified liberal Democrats (by a wide margin) and moderate and conservative ones (narrowly).”
NY Times: “5 Takeaways from the Nevada Caucus (The Big One: Sanders Takes Control)”
The exit polls had it right. Bernie gathered more votes than the next four candidates combined, accumulating 47.1% of the vote with 88% of the votes counted. A critical difference between Bernie 2016 and Bernie 2020 is his ability to gain support from Hispanic voters. In Nevada, he won 66% of the Hispanic vote and has made strong gains with African Americans. The turnout was larger than anticipated, indeed, it was the largest in Nevada caucus history, due in large part by the enthusiasm for Sanders and the large numbers of “first-time” caucus participants.
As noted above, Bernie is poised to win big on Super Tuesday, building immense momentum and, no doubt, an enormous campaign bank account from his small donors. But skeptics have long pointed to the Rust Belt where the Dems are vulnerable. Well, a poll released this weekend revealed that the best shot the Dems have in these states is no one other than Sanders who bests Trump in the three key Rust Belt states included in the poll.
In the Rust Belt, New Polling Released Sunday
The Rust Belt is said to be critical to winning the nomination. These results were published yesterday:
Bernie Versus Trump In the Rust Belt?
From the same poll source, Election Research Center, results also show Bernie beating Trump in the same critical Rust Belt states, out-performing any Democrat in the poll. This despite the non-stop drum beat from DINO / DNC leadership palpitating at what Wall St, pharma, and gas & oil are thinking. It is time for the Democrat Party to turn its back on its corporate benefactors, embrace the small donor movement, return to the values of FDR, and fight for economic justice in America. Clearly, Sanders’ message is resonating in the very states Dems must win to unseat Trump.
Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe went on MSNBC to break down the race as it currently stands.
“If it’s March 3rd,” he said, “and we’re talking about Klobuchar, Buttigieg, Warren, Biden, Bloomberg, and Sanders, and everybody’s in, Bernie’s going to win almost all the delegates he needs to build an impenetrable delegate lead. That’s just math. It’s not my opinion, it’s just simple math.”
MSNBC
Other Factors To Consider
For those who fear a democratic socialist as the standard bearer for the Democratic Party, it may be time to shift your thinking and acknowledge the many virtues to Sanders being the nominee and the most electable. The reasons to stop fearing and start seriously considering the Sanders candidacy extends beyond the polls. Consider these Sanders assets:
- The best environmental plan of all Dems by a long shot, and the climate crisis will, no doubt, be a competing headline throughout the campaign;
- A huge grassroots army of inspired Americans who actually look like the face of America and who are organized, motivated, and committed;
- An almost unfathomable ability to raise money from small donors;
- A candidate not beholden to any large donors but deeply indebted to millions of average Americans like you and I;
- A candidate whose every word you can believe — you may not always agree with him, but he has not changed a note in 40 years, and this in stark contrast to the current White House inhabitant who lies or changes his tune almost every sentence;
- A progressive platform that responds to those that are struggling and calls out the elite and big business who oppress us, a platform ideally suited for coming debates with Trump, as Bernie can contrast his health plan, his tax plan, his climate plan with Trump’s plans to continue to cut taxes on the rich while scaling back on Social Security and Medicare;
- An unequaled ability to debate and stand down Trump.
We ask all of our readers who are skeptical of a Sanders presidency to think again. If the absolute goal is to dump Trump and the slogan is Vote Blue, No Matter Who, it may be time to get behind the nominee who is best able to do the job.
A Look Back
The last week of posts was more about alerting you to take action at the Roundhouse than analyzing issues, but we did have two posts that included important content. Our Thursday, post analyzed the Nevada primary and the debate that preceded it with a focus on Bloomberg, the candidate who finally had to come out from behind his $400M ad campaign and show America who he has been and is, as a candidate. We described our concerns with how the DNC, the media, and those corporate interests that pay the way, are echoing a Bloomberg mantra that is based on forgetfulness of his historic positions and actions. This is a man who a few years ago was a Republican and who has implemented heinous policies that oppressed communities of color. If you missed this post, it is worth your review.
Our Saturday post outlined the potential for a NM rural-urban alliance forged by opposition to the conspiring forces of Wall St and Big Ag. This is an area that Retake will be exploring deeply, as we feel the divide between our rural communities and our urban centers are fueled by industries that benefit from our being divided. If you missed it, please check out the Thursday post.
What a Difference a Day Makes: Roundhouse Rocks
Tuesday, Feb 18. This post provides a clear picture of how quickly things can change in the Roundhouse’s last week. Unfortunately, as the rest of the week played out, we simply ran out of time and too many of our bills fell just one vote short of getting to the Governor.
Click here to read the full post.
Roundhouse Finale & Democratic Debate Review
Thursday, Feb 20. We examine what was accomplished and what still might be achieved on the last day of the session. We also look at an analysis of the Democratic Presidential Primary and the inaugural debate for Mayor “Doomberg.” He endorsed Bush at the 2009 GOP Convention, locked up tens of thousands of men of color, gentrified NYC and devastated neighborhoods of color, and now he wants to be our Dem. nominee.
Click here to read the full post.
Rural Farmers Exploited by Trump, Big Ag & Wall St: Potential Opening for a Broad Coalition
Small farmers are bearing the brunt of the tariff war while being exploited by agribusiness consolidation & predatory lending rates from Wall St. bankers. They voted for Trump when he promised to take care them, but he has failed them. In NM, much is said about the rural-urban divide, but it just may be that there is common ground to be found here in NM and nationally, as this post explores.
Click here to read Saturday’s post.
In solidarity,
Paul & Roxanne
Categories: Uncategorized
Re: Sanders. I heartily recommend the podcast “The Rising”.
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/484330-rising-february-24-2020
They have several segments every few days. Almost all are informative and politically savvy. The guests are well-chosen. Krystal and Saagar are articulate as hell, and are cheerful and good-looking to boot. Warning: they have a significant pro-Bernie bias. . .
Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig
Strategy tip: When people who used to be anti-Bernie come around to Bernie, pretend you do not realize they used to be anti-Bernie and welcome them with dignity
I LOVE Bernie. I supported him and purchased his book for Christmas gifts in the last campaign. Bernie will have some major problems to overcome: 1) Appealing to independents 2) His history on supporting 2nd amendment rights, his votes in previous years on gun safety will work against him. 3) He was once a Republican. 4) The labels of “Socialist” (I am a Democratic Socialist, so this is not a criticism from me, but a reality of how America is today). 5) The cost of his health care plan and its affects on the deficit. Only with a true Revolution can Bernie overcome this. The young did not necessarily turn out, like they did last time, in Iowa or New Hampshire. He is leading in polls because the others have not coalesced around a less “radical” appearing approach. This will probably happen at Super Tuesday.
I have had to open my eyes to what other candidates have to offer, considering these realities. We HAVE IT ALL in Pete Buttigieg. He is a progressive, agrees with all of the issues but has a different tone and vocabulary that is appealing. According to The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Pete’s Medicare for all “who want it” covers every citizen, but reduces the federal deficit by $450 billion. VS: Sanders proposal adding more than $6 trillion to the federal deficit.
Pundits site Pete’s problems with a small segment of the black community in South Bend. However, the larger black community there is working hard to support him and he has taken this opportunity to talk a lot about the Douglas plan. We will see whether this will help him in South Carolina. His gay status helps us to bring to leadership another underrepresented segment of the population.
It is interesting to me how media and pundits tend to keep Pete as a footnote. This may be working for him at this time.
Pete can beat DT because he is attractive to war veterans, lgbtq, older reliable voters and his very inclusive message. As a non-christian and as one who does not support our military budget, he has been able to bring about these subjects in a most respectful way, whereas most Democrats avoid these subjects.
On the world stage, I can perfectly picture President Pete engaging with the other young leadership that is coming up with the view of the millennial front and foremost. Time to turn the page.
It surely would be nice to wake up one day and feel our blood pressure go down instead of up.
Thanks for this forum, Paul!
Thanks for both comments, Barbara, but I must point out that Pete has more trouble with a small segment of S. Bend voters. He attracts almost no support from AA/Latino voters nationally. The impact of this was felt in Nevada and will be even more so in S. Carolina. Unfortunately, his understanding of Medicare for All is misguided. Be sure to read tomorrow’s post as it will unravel Bernie’s healthcare plan based upon an independent study. Cheers
Full disclosure up front: I consider Mayo Pete a hyper-establishment automaton who has a VERY dubious background; McKinsey consultants and national security state ties to name two, (look ’em up). He has virtually no original policy ideas, and so resorts to inane platitudes much of the time. His arrogance occasionally surfaces–witness his attack on Klobuchar in the last debate. Buttigieg’s main job was to slow or stop Bernie. He failed.
OK, now that that’s out of the way, there are multiple “inaccuracies” in your description of Bernie Sanders. 1) He was NEVER a Republican. This is outright false. 2) His appeal to independents is proven by multiple recent polls. (Not to mention that he has run as an Independent in his state of Vermont). 3) In Nevada, as in the previous two states, Bernie absolutely swept the “youth vote”. This is not debatable; even his enemies would agree that no other candidate is close. The numbers are public information, please look at them. 4) The how-to-pay for improved Medicare For All is not a secret: a) cut out the middleman–the parasitical insurance companies; b) tell the drug companies that they cannot charge 3X-10X what other developed countries pay; c) finance hospitals through taxes, not user fees; d) the first three–a, b, and c–will reduce administrative costs by 15-20% alone. Oh, and ask the oligarchs and corporate socialists to pay their fair share. Americans are dying every single minute because of our barbaric sick care “system” which is an utter disgrace when compared to any other developed nation. If this were Bernie’s ONLY issue, it would be worthwhile to support him.
I would like to add that Pete is also electable because of how far he has come. His net worth is between $100k to $160k. All of the others have millions of dollars, minimum. NO name recognition 1 year ago. Look at how far he has come! And until we get the money out of politics, people like Pete have to take what they can. It is much easier to do the fundraising if you have had the election machine going for a few cycles. Most of Pete’s donors are also small donors. He doesn’t take oil company money. All of that information can be found on several sites. A good non-partisan site is votesmart.org. You will see the donors for any campaign, supporting organizations, writings of the candidates, and their voting record.
I can help feeling Bernie is bad news. He’s too old and not healthy enough.
I suspect he has surged because of Russian interference. Well, and endorsement by AOC.
Why did he not accomplish much of anything during all those years in Washington?
What are his strengths? When have they been evident?
Even Dems and Retake members I speak to don’t understand what Democratic Socialism is. They think Soviet-style communism and central control of the economy… It’ll defeat him in the general election.
I just can’t believe he’ll beat the cheating GOP and the cheating Mr Trump. Not to mention Wall Street and the 1%ers. Even Bill Gates won’t vote for Bernie from what he’s said.
–A Depressed-at-the-thought Dem
(1) Bernie is a person of impeccable integrity (2) His 2016 campaign revealed several “dangerous” truths which are affecting the present presidential campaign: (a) thousands of small campaign contributions can replace a few big ones from millionaires/billionaires who in effect buy the politician, (b) more diverse candidates can thus enter & win elections, (c) progressives are in fact not a tiny minority as corporate media & others would have us believe – we are in fact the majority, and (d) in fact we are way ahead of legislators.
Bernie learned a lot from his 2016 campaign & is thus improving his ground level campaign very wisely. He has years of multiple level legislative experience. His physical fitness stats are the envy of 20 year olds. He is not ruled by the false god of greed, but rather by caring, his committment to democracy. He is very bright, approaching issues wholestically, not dualistically.
Alvin Toffler, futurist & author, stated in his book, The Third Wave, that during a major paradigm shift the institutions & processes of the passing paradigm no longer work; it becomes necessary for the upcoming generations to create new institutions. We are seeing just such a reality now.
I believe that dualism & capitalism are products of the passing paradigm. Wholism & worker-owned & operated cooperatives are some of the emerging shifts. In such cooperatives workplace democracy can thrive, thus replacing centuries old hierarchy. Also, such workplaces provide environments for every employee to tap into her/his innate creativity & apply it along with that of others to solve problems.
Health care improvement discussions thus far have been shallow & incomplete. None has suggested including energy medicine, Ayurvedic, Tibetan, Chinese medicines for examples, none of which uses fossil-fuel based pharmaceuticals. They rely not on killing disease, but rather on restoring balance, harmonizing, partnering with Nature, rather than dominating.
New perspectives in science are emerging like biomimicry, green chemistry (creating toxin-free new products). Scientists are discovering “garbage” replacements for fossil fuel & heavy metal based products. Bast-fiber hemp (considered to be garbage) can replace non-biodegradeable, filthy dirty & very expensive graphene in electric circuitry in electric cars, thus reducing their cost, thus expediting a world-wide shift toward electric cars. In fact, hemp can replace fossil fuel plastics, fertilizesr, & pharmaceuticals. How much healthier we can be!
The most dangerous truth of all is that there is in fact a healthy, balanced path forward that includes partnering with Nature. Each of us can contribute to creating this balanced path!