Is Bernie a tough enough fighter to overcome the insane right?

[Kablooie]

I like what Bernie says and I respect his integrity and commitment to his views.
But is he a warrior?

Any Democrat who becomes president is entering an insanely unreasonable battlefield and they must be able and willing to fight with force and vigor to overcome the manic right wing.

Hillary has proven over the years that she can hold her own against intense adversity.
I find her a little too entrenched in the views of the wall street status quo compared to Bernie but of course she would be much better for the country than any of the Republican mouthpieces.

She also comes with a history of controversy, manufactured or not, that will be dragged out of the archives to use against her while Bernie, as far as I know, has no such history with right wing maniacs.

This is something I haven't heard discussed much but I think it is worth considering before making a decision as to who will be our champion in the war against the insane.

Will Bernie be a relentless warrior against the intransigent right as I expect Hillary would be?

[Motown_Johnny]

1. He has been running as a Democratic Socialist for decades.

What has Hillary done that even begins to compare with that?

[madokie]

31. Notta

Bernie can hold his own with the best of them as he's shown since he announced his bid for the Presidency. Every interview the interviewer tries like hell to control his message and Bernie doesn't have any of it. He stands his ground better than anyone in politics today, in fact better than anyone I remember ever in my 67 years. So the answer to the question is he tough enough is a resounding YOU FUCKING A, he is

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. He'll be more relentless.

Because he doesn't share their views on economic policy, and won't hire on Republicans from Wall Street for his economics team.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. What makes you think he wouldn't?

[Snotcicles]

4. Bernies relentless, he's like the Honey Badger

[link:http://

|

[TexasBushwhacker]

5. Well, consider Bernie's coattails

At least a third of the Senate and all of the House is upvfor reelection in 2016. If Bernie wins, I'm thinking there will be some losses, maybe significant losses, in the RWNJ faction.

[CanadaexPat]

23. Turnout = down ticket wins. Clinton = low turnout.

Bernie appears to get people excited.

[TexasBushwhacker]

40. I agree. I think he has the potential to get more

people to the polls, from the disenfranchised "they're all a bunch of crooks" who haven't voted in decades, to the young voters who want to vote for someone with an agenda that addresses their future.

[LiberalArkie]

32. We will find out in Louisiana October 24. A Democrat may win the governors race.

Under Louisiana's jungle primary system, all candidates will appear on the same ballot, regardless of party and voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote during the primary election, a runoff election will be held on November 21, 2015 between the top two candidates in the primary. Louisiana is the only state that has a jungle primary system (California and Washington have a similar "top two primary" system).

Four major candidates are running for Governor: Republican Scott Angelle, a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission and a former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana; Democrat John Bel Edwards, the Minority Leader of the Louisiana House of Representatives; Republican Jay Dardenne, the incumbent Lieutenant Governor; and Republican David Vitter, a United States Senator from Louisiana.

David Vitter 28.4%
John Bel Edwards 27.0%
Scott Angelle 16.1%
Jay Dardenne 12.0%
John Georges 0.0%
John Kennedy 0.0%
Mitch Landrieu 0.0%

[pangaia]

6. Are you kidding me?

[Ron Green]

7. This time it's a test for Americans: for regular voters and for

those who don't vote so frequently. We may yet fail this test, but the right thing to do is to support the candidate with integrity and the right ideas, and not fall into the old money/polls/pundits/bullshit trap.

"Liking" a candidate, to the exclusion of thinking and working, is the wrong way to go about it.

[gwheezie]

8. I'm going to respond anyway

I think when the GOP figures Bernie will be the nominee they will unleash a firestorm on him. No matter how hurt his supporters are over the mild insults directed by the HRC supporters they ain't seen nothing yet. His life is not an open book, he has not been exposed like HRC to a decades long onslaught of scrutiny. Just sayin'
I have no idea if he is up for it. If he is the nominee we will find out. I think it's as fair a question as asking if any of the attacks on Clinton would doom her in a GE.
I make no secret of being an HRC supporter. I think both Hillary and Bernie would be far better as president than anyone the GOP puts up. It is a fair question to ask who can win the WH.
I expect a long list of why voting for one or the other is idiotic but I'm not going to bash Bernie. He seems like a decent fella. I am going to vote for HRC in my primary.

[riversedge]

30. Nicely said. Thank you

[cui bono]

33. What makes you think Bernie supporters are hurt by criticism?

[uponit7771]

48. GDP?

[cui bono]

55. ???

[frylock]

42. This is the same thing people said about Obama..

hoo boy, you think Hillary's attacks from the right are bad? Just you wait till the wingers lay into Obama.

[gwheezie]

43. The attacks on Obama from the right were worse

The left hasn't been that great to him either. Bernie is going to get a shitload piled on him. I have no idea how he will handle it.

[frylock]

47. Stop being so damned afraid of the right.

Obama survived the attacks from the right, just as Sanders will.

[uponit7771]

50. The poster mentioned the left too... the second Sanders compromises on one of the 23423424 thousand

... tenets of the left the far left with throw him under the bus


too

[gwheezie]

52. John Kerry?

Attacked from the right and weak response from the campaign on the swift boating. The left wasn't very helpful either.

[frylock]

58. Yeah, remember how electable we were told that guy was?

Sanders is going to roll over like milquetoast Kerry did.

[gwheezie]

59. I have no idea

I don't know how many times I can say this. Bernie has not had the level of attacks and scrutiny he will have as the nominee. I hope his campaign is up to it if he is the nominee. If Hillary is the nominee, I hope her campaign is up to it. I give her an edge on this issue because the right has been after her for decades. Her risk is also how Obama ends his term since she did work in his administration. So far Obama seems to be pretty impressive in the last quarter.
The battle in 16 is going to be very tough, odds are against dems keeping the WH.

[uponit7771]

49. +1 on the left

[jeff47]

53. Because the Republicans are well known for their gentle treatment of Clinton.

I mean, look at how she completely stopped anyone from talking about the bullshit that is Benghazi.

[gwheezie]

57. Yes anyone who is nominated

Will have to deal with 24/7 derailment of this issues.

[BlueWaveDem]

9. Only if he has a Democratic majority backing him.

Even then, Presidency is often required to compromise in order to make any progress. I'm not really worried about the fighting with republicans as any Dem president will face the same obstruction, I am worried about Bernie's ability to build a coalition within the Democratic party in order to advance any significant policy. He doesn't seem to have many backers in his own party.

[gwheezie]

12. Probably due to not being a dem

That's not snark, he voted with the dems on almost everything but he was/is not part of the party internal workings over the years.
I support HRC but if Bernie is the nominee the party is going to have to get behind him if we want to keep the WH. It is so naive to think Bernie could win the WH on the dem ticket ya know because he's Bernie without the dem party apparatus behind him 100%. He will need the democratic party to win the GE. I'll vote for him, I'm sure a lot of HRC supporters would vote for him in the GE. I'm not talking about individual dem voters. I'm talking about the nuts and bolts of representing the democratic party in what is going to be a brutal battle.

[BlueWaveDem]

13. Oh I'll definitely vote for him. I was referring to congress and senate.

He may have a hard time building a coalition within his own party to pass legislation. Otherwise it will be 4 years of obstruction and stagnation, which definitely doesn't help the American people.

[gwheezie]

14. I agree with you on that

I don't see him pulling in a wave of down ticket votes.

[cui bono]

36. Disagree with that. He has generated a lot of excitement, you can see by his crowds,

and the translates into voter turnout. I honestly do not think Hillary can get much new voter turnout where as Bernie is getting the youth vote fired up as well as other ages. If Hillary is the nominee I fear we will not get the voter turnout necessary to win the general. And with voter turnout for the presidential race, we will get more votes for the down ticket votes.

[gwheezie]

54. That might happen

I do see enthusiasm from both my nephews although after blm they went from 100% the man can do no wrong to thinking of him as the least appalling of the bunch. There is always a learning curve with pols.
My nephews were GOP until they did 4 combat tours each, I sincerely doubt they will vote for down ticket dems. Although I see either Bernie or Hillary being able to pull some of their voters to the other person for the GE.
Both of them like Ron Paul rather than Hillary due to Iraq. Neither of them think Carson or Fiorina are acceptable. They despise the clown who leads the polls. So I can't say its a given they would vote for HRC or any democrat down ticket.
Look y'all know I support HRC but I don't think it would be a disaster if Bernie was the nominee. He would either rise to the occasion or not but he has never played at this level before. And he will need the dem party structure to run in the GE. The outsider attractiveness of Sanders may also cost him otoh because he hasn't been a member of the party power base. There are pros and cons to that. Also he really is not an outsider pol, he's been holding elected office for decades. If the GOP allows a real outsider as their nominee that also will be an issue. And they will be able to pick a part every vote ir speech he's made after a long political career
I think everyone knows what hrc weakness would be against the GOP however the GOP hasnt even gotten started yet on Bernie. He has not had the scrutiny HRC has. His supporters may think he's pure but who knew Kerry being a combat vet would be turned against him against a slacker.

[99th_Monkey]

10. Bernie is a rare bird. A fighter, yes, but a uniquely effectual kind of fighter.

Like going into the Lion's Den at Liberty U, and still getting applause, and actually winning-over some
Evangelicals. He fights hard, and perhaps more importantly he fights clean, in a way that
tends to disarm people who you'd expect to be his enemies; because he inspires respect, because
he fights respectfully of the "other side".

This is why he runs just as strong, among Republicans in his own state, against all GOP front-runners.

This doesn't mean he "isn't a fighter", it means he fights with integrity, detached from his ego, with an
eye towards the long-game, in a way that tends to win people over in unexpected ways.

I think we'll see this in the debates, which is why the DNC is having as few as possible, on weekends &
near major holidays.

[bvf]

20. Right on all points. Great post. n/t

[Armstead]

11. Absolutely

Whther you agree or disagree with him, three things you can say about Bernie: 1)He's tough. 2) He's a fighter 3)He knows how to win.

[99Forever]

15. WTF?

I want a refund of the time I wasted reading tjat crap.


What bizaar planet are these people from?

[Android3.14]

16. Of course

Silly question.

[MannyGoldstein]

17. As opposed to who - Hillary?

What, in your estimation, were Hillary's three greatest wins against the Right?

I can't think of even one.

[Maedhros]

37. You're looking at this all wrong, Manny.

Hillary is extremely effective at knocking down the straw men erected by the right wing (e.g. Benghazi). That's why they are erected - to distract us from the real fights that need to be undertaken, while given Hillary some manufactured credibility as a 'fighter.'

When it comes to meaningful fights, such as the fight to stop Bush from invading Iraq, Hillary not only caved in, she helped.

[DanTex]

18. No. He doesn't know how to get things done in the big leagues. Even in the minors, he had a chance

to throw his weight around in favor of Vermont's single payer plan, and that failed. He's not ready for primetime.

[leftofcool]

19. No, not even his peers in Congress want to work with him.

[bvf]

22. So, you just plan to let

that turd sit there and steam, or were you planning on explaining yourself?

Details, man.

[leftofcool]

29. I think the lack of endorsements speak for themselves don't you?

[bvf]

34. There's a major disconnect between your response

just now and your previous.

Come on, show a little effort to back up your original statement. Can you do that for me?

If not, you're just making noise.

[in_cog_ni_to]

21. Let's just say there won't be any playing nice with the insane Teabaggers.

He's not one to take knife to a gun fight. Have you seen the CLASSIC video of Greenspan getting his ass handed to him by Bernie? THAT, my friend, is what Bernie will do to every nut job who gets in his way.

Go, Bernie!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

24. Bernie is a warrior

just you wait!

[liberal_at_heart]

25. I think he is extremely passionate when it comes to fighting for the poor and the middle class.

It is that passion for helping the poor that makes him strong, strong enough to take on Wall Street, strong enough to take on the 1%, and strong enough to take on the Republicans. He is the people's warrior. Yes, he is absolutely strong enough.

[HooptieWagon]

26. If he can beat the insane DLClintonistas...

...then the remainder of the far right shouldn't be a problem.

[daleanime]

27. Why? Is Hillary going to take a dive for some reason?

If Hillary is such a tough fighter and Bernie beats her, what does that say about him?

[demwing]

28. FFS have you listened to the man?

Go to this thread and play the video:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251626270

you'll see a compilation of video clips of Bernie being a "relentless warrior" spanning 30 years!!!

Where is Hillary's record of being the relentless warrior you "expect"? WHERE?

Tripe. Just tripe...

[hootinholler]

35. These drive by threads are pretty offal n/t

[Maedhros]

38. They're becoming very hard to stomach. [n/t]

[hootinholler]

41. Go on, kidney some more! n/t

[demwing]

45. If the OP would spleen how Hillary has enough guts

then maybe we would liver alone?

[hootinholler]

46. Haggis they're just casing the joint.

They bladder be ready it's gonna be a scrapple.

[TBF]

39. Anyone willing to take on Hillary Clinton

is a warrior by definition. When you look at Bush/Kasich/Rubio/Trump - those guys - you are looking at people who are defending cut-throat capitalism and the status quo. Hillary Clinton may as well be listed right along with them with her net assets of M$20+ and her willingness to "obliterate Iran"*.

What I'd like to see - a world in which capitalism and war are not nearly so prevalent. A world in which we take climate change seriously and figure out the systemic changes we need to make to save not only the planet, but the people on it. We may not all be living in communes anytime soon, but we could get closer to that world with a kinder, more thoughtful candidate. I don't think that candidate is Hillary given her statements and relationships.**


* War-mongering:

On the day of a crucial vote in her nomination battle against fellow Democrat Barack Obama, the New York senator said she wanted to make clear to Tehran what she was prepared to do as president in hopes that this warning would deter any Iranian nuclear attack against the Jewish state.
"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran (if it attacks Israel)," Clinton said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."
"In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them," she said.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/04/22/us-usa-politics-iran-idUSN2224332720080422

** Relationships:

CAREER PROFILE (SINCE 1989)
Top Contributors
Senator Hillary Clinton

Campaign Finance Cycle:
Citigroup Inc $824,402 $816,402 $8,000
Goldman Sachs $760,740 $750,740 $10,000
DLA Piper $700,530 $673,530 $27,000
JPMorgan Chase & Co $696,456 $693,456 $3,000
Morgan Stanley $636,564 $631,564 $5,000
EMILY's List $609,684 $605,764 $3,920
Time Warner $501,831 $476,831 $25,000
Skadden, Arps et al $469,290 $464,790 $4,500
University of California $417,327 $417,327 $0
Sullivan & Cromwell $369,150 $369,150 $0

Top 10 and more: https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=Career&cid=n00000019

[hifiguy]

44. Without question.

He has no fears, politically speaking, least of all the troglodyte right.

[cantbeserious]

51. He Has Been In Congress For Decades - He Has Seen It All

eom

[LWolf]

56. Yes. nt