Bernie Too Communistic For Most Voters.

[TheMastersNemesis]

Even though Bernie Sanders is right now most issues he will be portrayed as even too communistic by the media. If Obama is a socialist per the MSM then Bernie is a radical Marxist in their eyes. Too many Americans buy the worker as a free agent in a free market. Their life and their work skills are a commodity to by used and exploited. And now so many workers view themselves essentially as "independent contractors" selling their wares. And many are vehemently anti union and anti labor.

[stone space]

1. The Commies are comming! The Commies are comming! (nt)

[PowerToThePeople]

2. where is link to data? fail.

[CountAllVotes]

3. So, anyone that speaks the truth is ...

A communist pinko.

Tell the late Senator Joseph McCarthy about his -- maybe he'll listen!

[brooklynite]

23. Well, anyone who CALLS THEMSELVES a Socialist is probably in for a hard campaign...

[GeorgeGist]

4. Social Democracy is quite the rage ...

in happy countries.

[ananda]

33. Works for me!

..

[smokey nj]

5. The 1950s called, they want their boogeyman back.

[romanic]

55. Yup.

Communists haven't been relevant for decades.

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Wow,only took 36 Hours for the Commie Crap to appear on the net.

Check the true definition please and you will find a Religious Group here in the US mirrors the true meaning. Think Mitt.

[jwirr]

12. Very good point.

[F4lconF16]

32. True definition of communism?

What religious group here is communistic?

[Generic Other]

39. Jesus was a communist

Loaves and fishes for all.

[F4lconF16]

41. Yeah, but he said think Mitt.

AKA the Mormons, who most assuredly are not communistic.

[Generic Other]

42. They kind of are to each other

I mean if you join them what's yours is theirs.

[F4lconF16]

43. Not in the slightest

I grew up with many of my friends Mormon. I've been to church with them a number of times. Their philosophy is nothing like communism. Utterly nothing. Not economically, absolutely not socially, etc.

[Generic Other]

45. All churches share their parishioners' wealth

Communists.

[F4lconF16]

46. Go read literally anything by any communist ever

And then get back to me, kay? M'kay. Bye.

[Generic Other]

47. Acts 2:37, 44-45

32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

44 And all that believed were together, and had all things in common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

On edit: If you aint a communist you aint much of a Christian.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Yep. He's being funded by Castro and can recite The Little Red Book from memory.

Oh, wait. Maybe that was McGovern.

Same shit, different election.

[Pooka Fey]

8. Damn. Just mention "Economic Justice" and the Commie word starts flying around everywhere

The Oligarchs have done their work well.

[RDANGELO]

9. In the classic sense he is not socialist.

He is not for nationalizing the whole economy. He still believes int private enterprise. He beleives in more government involvement which is probably where most of the public is right now, especially as it concerns income inequality.

[Recursion]

10. Right? The Means of Production are still in private hands in Vermont last time I checked.

Again, I'm not Team Sanders at this point (I need to know more about his administrative abilities first), but I imagine this is something of a paper obstacle.

A majority of eligible voters today were born after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

[BainsBane]

19. You seem like you've actually read Marx

which on DU makes you a DLCer.

[Recursion]

22. Crazy world, yeah?

I'll be in Sri Lanka for the next week, though...

[jwirr]

14. "believes in more government involvement" used to be a solid belief in the Democratic platform.

[AgingAmerican]

11. So mainstream Democratic policies are Communist?

You gotta be kidding me...

[polichick]

13. DLC/New Dems think so.

[AgingAmerican]

15. Yes, the powers that be within the party definately do

...as do their ardent supporters.

"Bernie Sanders might run. I like Bernie. Bernie's an interesting guy. Apparently some folks want to see a pot-smoking socialist in the White House," Obama said, referring to the Vermont senator's interest in a campaign for the White House in 2016.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/25/obama-pot-smoking-socialist_n_7144856.html

[polichick]

16. I call that Presidential Assholery - he's gotten good at it lately!

[CANDO]

60. That quote...

Is from the Prez's stand up routine at the WH Correspondents dinner. It was a joke.

[Cleita]

17. The problem is that they are feeding talking points to the RNC.

They will try to make him look silly and ineffectual. However, Bernie has the same chops to stare them down like Hillary does, but I wish our side would just STFU, including the President, so he, and Hillary as well, can concentrate on the enemy.

[BainsBane]

21. As this site has been doing for many months now about Clinton

I love the smell of irony in the morning.

[Tarheel_Dem]

30. Well, the "enemy" would be Bernie, right? He's challenging her for the nomination. Did u miss that?

[Cleita]

35. That's pure nonsense. I'm talking about the Cruz/Rubio/Bush supporters. n/t

[BainsBane]

18. If he really is a Marxist

then he will definitely get my vote.

The Cold War is over, dude. Move on.

[FlatBaroque]

20. A for effort

[L0oniX]

24. Do we have a Joseph McCarthy group yet?

[Zorra]

25. Could he maybe even be a closet Leninist?

[Starry Messenger]

26. Take it as a good opportunity to explain socialist ideas.

It will get play in the media, so why not? Hillary will be painted as a Commie too, the right-wing doesn't see any shades of gray on the spectrum.

[DonViejo]

27. You do know there's a difference between Democratic Socialism and Communism, right?

[arcane1]

28. I have a feeling "socialist" won't be as bad a word after this.

Once people actually start to think about it.

[guillaumeb]

29. Socialism ends in "ism" so it MUST be BAD!!

Except when you actually ask people about it:
When Gallup asked the question,
PRINCETON, NJ -- More than one-third of Americans (36%) have a positive image of "socialism," while 58% have a negative image. Views differ by party and ideology, with a majority of Democrats and liberals saying they have a positive view of socialism, compared to a minority of Republicans and conservatives.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/125645/socialism-viewed-positively-americans.aspx

And when Tea Partiers were asked:
Fifty-five percent of Americans tell Reason-Rupe they have a favorable opinion of capitalism. Meanwhile, 36 percent of those surveyed, including 33 percent of independents and 26 percent of self-described Tea Party supporters, have a favorable opinion of socialism. Half of Democrats, 50 percent, have a favorable opinion of socialism, nearly identical to the 53 percent who have a favorable opinion of capitalism.
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/08/14/poll-25-of-tea-partiers-are-okay-with-socialism/

If, a big word, Sanders can get his message out, the message will resonate. But the media will obsess about trivialities and paint socialism as the twin of communism.

[m-lekktor]

31. they will say that about ANY DEM who is the candidate. nt

[Cali_Democrat]

34. Funny how a lot of folks in this thread totally missed the point of the OP

The OP is simply saying that Bernie Sanders is right on most issues, but he will be PORTRAYED as a communist by the media and uninformed Americans will buy into it.

This is true.

The media will do everything they can to make him and his policies frightening to good 'ol fashioned 'Murkans.

Why are so many folks misinterpreting the OP?

[Cleita]

36. True communism is not evil. Kibbutz and monasteries both Christian

and Buddhist are communist. It's really an economic system. We were brainwashed to hate totalitarian, dictatorial regimes that also had a communist economic base conflating the two because it made a nice buzz word. It's time to make the word respectable. However Bernie is a social democrat by his own self-definition, not a communist. If you must argue the issue with someone, make sure they know the difference.

[TheMastersNemesis]

38. Got My Point. Bernie Sanders Essentially Similar To FDR Ideas.

Bernie parallels many of FDR's Economic Bill Of Rights put forth in 1947. Teddy originally put out many of the same ideas in 1912. Today virtually any policy that benefits working Americans is labeled socialistic, communistic or Marxist Leninist. And workers just run the other way because of the bad connotations propagandized for decades. And unions are also tied to the same ideas which was how they were combatted in the 1930's.

The main theme for workers is feudalistic where the producers bear all the burden of production and taxes. The new aristocracy today made up of the super rich push the same ideas that feudal kings pushed. That is the divine right of entitlement and the right to rule the masses.

So any mention of social or economic justice is blasted with the communist meme. Bernie will be vilified in the media.

[steve2470]

53. he will be slandered 24/7 as a true communist like Marx or Lenin or Stalin etc

Last edited Fri May 1, 2015, 03:24 AM - Edit history (1)

Way too many will believe that BS. SOCIALISM IS COMMUNISM, um no it is NOT.

[Cheese Sandwich]

59. When OP says Bernie has a problem because some voters don't like socialists, to me that's about like

...about like if someone said Obama has a problem because some voters don't like black people, or Hillary has a problem because some voters don't trust women to lead.

I'm not basing my vote on trying to satisfy other people's prejudices or ignorance, especially not in a primary when it's supposed to be the time to choose a nominee to represent me (us).

It seems like sometimes people don't want to take credit for their own opinions so they say some other group of people has a problem with it, mainstream people won't like it, or something like that.

I'm not claiming OP is being insincere but it's a common technique to say something is unpopular as a way of dismissing it.

But I think Bernie's policy views are very popular. And that's more important than a label like "socialist".

[kelliekat44]

37. He'll be just fine so long as he doesn't mention anything having to do with helping blacks or

other minorities.

[fadedrose]

49. But the majority is the folks you don't want mentioned

The rich can pay billions for a candidate, but elections are won by numbers of voters, not how rich they are....

[winter is coming]

40. Yeah, and that "Obama is a socialist" cost us the election in 2012.

[lumberjack_jeff]

44. I think it will be refreshing...

... that when Republicans accuse the Democratic candidate of being a Socialist, to hear him say; "Yes, and what's it to ya?"

[fadedrose]

48. Socialism is not Communism

Our neighbors to the North are socialists as well as most of Europe and Asia, some of Africa. I think the United States is the only country that is strictly capitalistic and see how bad that's working....

Not sure of which countries are or are not socialistic, and it would be helpful to find out so that Americans become more familiar with the Non-Communist version of socialism...

[TheMastersNemesis]

50. True But Many Voters See The Two As The Same

[fadedrose]

51. It appears that we need to educate them

Americans learn fast, and should be told that the socialist label has been made undesirable because of the 1% who are scared shxxless that somebody might want change laws so they pay more taxes.

You could help. Inform your friends of the facts.

[liberal_at_heart]

57. The conservatives have already cried wolf with this. They claimed Obama was socialist and

communistic. It didn't hurt Obama's ratings with the public. In fact, the conservatives have normalized the term because of the fact that they claimed Obama was one.

[fadedrose]

64. That the guardian angel's doing

the one that has Obama landing on his feet after his 1-mile falls...I'm waiting for his TPP parachute to open. Happens every time. The angel has his work cut out for him this time...

[treestar]

62. I so agree, but talk to a right winger on this

everyone to the left of McCain is a communist to them.

[steve2470]

52. please put "too communistic" in quote marks.....

It would make me feel better. Thank you kindly, sir.

[Cheese Sandwich]

54. I voted for Obama because I thought he was a secret communist. Very disappointed. nt

[liberal_at_heart]

56. seriously? I've seen people on here who claim that he is too socialist, but to actually claim he is

communistic? Boy, you people really can't handle a real populist running can you? You really are showing just how threatened by him you are, and those of us who support him are eating it up. So go ahead and call him a commie. His populist views will resonate with the American people, and you are going on my ignore list.

[NYC_SKP]

58. Disagree. Most voters never heard the work or don't care.

If they're familiar with the term they're either smart or they listen to Fox News.

Bernie will get the smart ones and the second group won't vote for a Dem anyway.

We'll be fine.

[treestar]

61. Has he ever associated with Saul Alinsky or Ayers?

LOL. President Obama is a communist by association with those individuals. Has Bernie ever met them??



Bernie's no communist. He cannot even compete with President Obama on this!!!!!

[get the red out]

63. They have screamed commie so much

That at this point it's like the boy who cried wolf.

[HappyMe]

65. Run! The Communists are coming!

The 50s called....they want their boogeyman back.