2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumIt’s simply that the majority of young adults get their news online
Raise your hand if knew that Bernie walked with Martin Luther King in the civil right movement. Raise your hand if youve seen the picture of him getting arrested at the age of 22 for protesting segregation. Keep your hands in the air if you get your news online.
Thats why we like him. Thats why millennials flock to Bernie because in many ways, he was the original hipster, he was fighting the fight before it was cool. We respect that. We trust him.
Bernie is authentic. He doesnt have to change who he is to make himself more likeable. We know that he was fighting for gay rights in the 80s before anyone else was. We know he voted against the Iraq war. We know over 200 leading economists have endorsed his policies. We know he has the highest approval rating of any senator or member of Congress.
We know he has over 30 years of experience in elected office, if that isnt experience, I dont know what is. We know that in August, 28,000 people showed up in Portland to see him speak at a rally and there was no media coverage of the event what-so-ever from mainstream media.
We know that in matchup polls, Bernie beats all the top republicans in a landslide while Hillary loses to all of them except for Donald Drumpf who only wins by a small margin. That should scare you!
So, people tell me that she is more qualified and can get things done.
I personally believe there is a difference between getting things done and making progress.
Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate for the political system we currently have but Bernie Sanders is the most qualified candidate to build the system that we should have. Because right now politicians have more loyalty to the people who fund their campaigns than the people they are supposed to represent.
And that is the issue at the heart of this campaign. It is not the single issue. But it is the foundational issue that is necessary to achieving all other progressive goals, including Hillary Clinton's.
Because we are never going enact radical climate change legislation as long as the fossil fuel industry is spending $1.8 billion a year to convince politicians that climate change isn't real. I'm sorry, I don't believe Hillary Clinton is going to reign in Wall Street as long as 4 out of 5 of her top campaign donors are banks. In business, this is called a conflict of interest.
Most countries would call this corruption. We call it lobbying and it is completely legal. When I look at Bernie Sanders, I don't see a 73 year old politician, I see a 22 year old activist, not unlike myself, who knows that leadership is about purpose, not position.
And that activism has given me a reason to believe int he impossible because he's already doing it. It was supposed to be impossible to overtake a 56 point lead but we're doing it. It was supposed to be impossible to run a campaign without a super PAC but we're doing it.
You have a choice to make. You have a choice. Don't tell me it's impossible to put the power back into the hands of the people. It's not impossible.
KeepItReal
(7,769 posts)JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)KeepItReal
(7,769 posts)However, she lost every Super Tuesday race in the voters under 30 group as a whole.
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)GreatGazoo
(3,937 posts)and this young woman's point stands: TV news viewing is a good predictor of how much people don't know about Bernie Sanders or that this race is dead even, or at the very least, way too close for comfort or fatalism.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Don't shoot!!
What little bit I see on TV about this election are lies. No wonder most in this country don't get it!
brooklynite
(94,571 posts)Add to which, why isn't social media getting the word out sufficiently to get Sanders more votes?
GreatGazoo
(3,937 posts)But interest and fundraising by Sanders is projected to continue to be equal with Clinton's (or better).
You can see, if so inclined, a progression from Howard Dean to Obama to Sanders. The internet has been key to all 3.
Howard Dean may have been the last victim of the MSM.
hill2016
(1,772 posts)though?
GreatGazoo
(3,937 posts)so that is millions.
Turn out for Sanders in MA was essentially equal to Clinton's. With less time and background there. Equal and still moving up as the primary arrived.
And then there was Colorado...