Why Bernie and Donald are leading the polls according to scuttlebutt.

[Cleita]

Last edited Sun Aug 16, 2015, 02:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Since this is anecdotal you can take it with a grain of salt, but I thought Bernie supporters would find it interesting.

I work out Friday afternoons at the gym with a group of women, who while not the wives of billionaires are well off professional upper middle class and vote Republican. They have what is called white privilege and can't understand my POV very much even though I'm Latina and they know that I am. They actually don't talk politics much around me because I have a habit of goring their sacred cows and they don't want to lose their preconceived ideas about the world around them and I poke holes in those ideas. I'm sure you are asking yourself why I would hang out with these ladies, but I live in a conservative, pretty white bread area and frankly wouldn't have too many friends if I didn't. Also, most of them are nice in their own way just misinformed IMHO.

But somehow Trump came up in the regular conversation of mostly girl talk. Maybe they thought they could talk about Trump around me since he's kind of perceived as an outsider like myself. They like him because they see him as a straight shooter who doesn't take money from special interests because as he said he has his own money. Sure. They like the fact that he wants to build a wall to stop immigration and any number of the hair brained ideas that come out of his mouth. I was just about to ask them where their maids and gardeners, and lettuce pickers (all Latino) were going to come from if immigration were stopped when I decided to listen instead of gore the cows this time, just to see where they were coming from. Well, there it was. They can't stand any of the present Republican candidates and view Trump as an outsider whose going to fix the system and make it better.

It occurred to me that this is what we want from Bernie and why we can't go along with the establishment candidate shoved up our asses anymore. It's coming from both sides. I really think that those Trump backers can be woo'ed over to the Bernie side, if these conservatives view him as an outsider too. Too bad we don't have a media that educates instead of propagandizes stuff like if they were told the truth about of immigration instead of the sensationalist version of rapists, blah, blah.

Thanks for your forbearance and letting me vent this. I would've posted in primaries but was told yesterday that I have terrible communication skills by one of the Hillaristas.

[TexasProgresive]

1. I think you communicate very well, thank you.

It's a good post and it interesting to hear what these republican ladies think.

[TBF]

2. Living in Texas

I have become an isolationist mostly, but I do know the same kinds of folks. Many of them are secretly pro-choice as well, but vote on economics. Here they are supporting Bush - so far anyway. I don't think those are the folks we can swing (at least in this area) - but I do think Bernie can pull back the working class Reagan dems. And I don't think Hillary can pull in either group.

[Demeter]

3. I have felt that Progressives/Liberals and Tea Party (grassroots) have lots of common ground

and common grievances, which could be combined into an electoral revolution.

BUT the Teas are going to have to give up their delusions and that massive chip on their shoulders, if they want to be part of the solution. You can't pull your weight when you are loaded with BS from the psychos that prey upon you via Fox and Limbaugh and the rest.

If Bernie can win them over, either by example or by a direct reach-out, he's golden.

[cantbeserious]

4. Thank You For Sharing

eom

[retrowire]

5. Makes sense!

You know, I discovered that Trump seems to be the safe conversation piece that leads into politics.

Everyone brings him up because they just want to talk about the celebrity and not the politics. Everyone wants to be like, "Did you hear what that nutjob said last night?"

But one time, I was discussing it with one of my coworkers when our boss entered the lab. Our boss turned out to be kind of a right winger. The conversation was polite enough, even though our boss kept telling us reasons that free healthcare would never work and to become a socialist country would have America end up just like Greece.

I still love my boss! But from that moment on, I knew not to discuss anything connected with politics with him.

[SandersDem]

6. I think you have hit on something

I have a sister in law who posts a ton of right wing stuff on her facebook (I post back a bunch of Bernie and lefty stuff so its fair imho). One thing I see from her POV is a frustration with the way things have been going for the middle class. Sadly, the anger is being misplaced towards immigration policies as well as Obama and her way of thinking is that the government will take care of everybody else but her with her money via taxes that are too damn high.

It is a middle class anger, even though it is directly misplaced. She is frustrated within her party as well and that is why she is supporting the devil in sheep's clothing with really bad hair.

While, I do not expect to ever flip her vote, it is definitely interesting that people from both sides are looking to what they may perceive as outsiders.

[Cleita]

9. Their taxes are too high is a meme I run across too.

I think we need to understand that to be a member of the professional, upper middle class, their taxes in reality are too high compared to that of multi-millionaires, billionaires and international corporations who pay very little or usually nothing with tax dodges. I try to tell them that but it's just me saying things that they think I'm pulling out of my ass because I don't have the authority a Fox News or Rush Limbaugh has. Bernie has to communicate that to win them over.

[libdem4life]

7. Maybe you're not communicating what they like...anyway, I think this may be

the most interesting election cycle of my life.

Seems there is always a non-establishment run from the Ds or the Rs, but at least in my memory...and social media is rewriting the rules...this is the first time there has been a viable challenge to both sides at once.

Bernie and Donald are both powerful candidates...and typical representatives of the party they lean towards...the rich guy and the guy who's part of and champions the Middle Class/lower and upper.

It's amazing to see the remains of the Republican Party with Trump, already a household name, so far out in front, it's going to take a miracle to catch him.

And for the Democrats, just the opposite...the one so far out in front now facing real competition and real fears as Bernie's numbers go up every time he packs in a crowd and introduces himself and his values.

The American people are fed up with the Status Quo. Trump and Sanders offer them a glimpse and an opportunity to stand the two-party system on its head...and it's working.

[JDPriestly]

19. Yes.

[randr]

8. I tend to agree with you

Last edited Sun Aug 16, 2015, 07:55 PM - Edit history (1)

Trumps appeal, while having mostly to do with the fact that there is no Republican candidate worthy of the Presidency (and they know it) fills this void by displacing their anger about it.
Bernie's outsider appeal will also resonate with some of the few open minded teabaggers. The old main stream Republicans will probably not show up in normal presidential election year numbers.
I see the Democratic candidate, whom ever they may be, as inevitable winner.

[JDPriestly]

18. The word Republican is both a noun and and adjective.

In contrast, the word Democrat is a noun and the word Democratic is an adjective.

This is a touchy issue on DU because using the word Democrat as an adjective is suggests that the author is a Republican.

We are sensitive about that here. You might want to edit your post. Look in the lower right-hand corner below your post. You can probably edit it.

[virtualobserver]

10. Thank you for posting this. Bernie doesn't have to woo too many....

for it to have a huge impact.

Trump is alienating almost everyone in terms of the General Election, but he is also severely damaging his fellow Republicans.
The powers that be will find a way to take Trump down, but the cost will be the destruction of the Republican Party.

terrible communication skills

......in Hillaristaspeak that means that you speak directly rather than engage in spin or begin to focus on some trivial detail that is then blown out of proportion. Those skills are unnecessary for Bernie supporters.

I'm glad that you posted this here.

[Z_California]

11. I've always believed this

The tea party rolled into town on the backs of misinformed rednecks who, at heart, are mad at the same things I am: corrupt government, politicians not representing their constituents - owned by "special interests". A lot of them are capable of becoming de-programmed and, when informed, would be Bernie supporters.

I try to engage my Fox News addicted friends and family carefully, trying not to make them feel stupid. Engaging in a constructive way. It's hard. But I've turned a couple.

[canoeist52]

22. Kudos! Yep, that's the way to do it - no snark or condescension. Stay classy and keep to issues.

[SoapBox]

12. It scares the crap out of me...

That there are the low information types that think he's (T-Rump that is) great because he's an "outsider".

In California, we ended up with one of the worst Govenors ever...Schwarzenegger.

People thought he was different...cool, 'cause he was an actor (bad actor)...and I even heard some that thought it would be funny to vote for him.

I could see the same stoopid from those same people again.

[Cleita]

13. Fortunately for the electoral votes, in the last six Presidential elections they

went to Democrats. I don't see it any differently for 2016. So even if those people vote for Trump, it won't have the same effect as for Schwarzenegger. I do worry about our Senate seat now occupied by Barbara Boxer, that we could get a Tea Bagger in office.

[mother earth]

14. Cleita, your opinion is much valued, as this perspective is as well. I don't think you have to be

an outsider to understand what is clearly playing out. The majority, both right & left, are fed up to the max with gov't being hijacked by big money. It is as plain as day, and we understand that if we don't end this oligarchy, we will have heavy consequences which are only now coming into focus.

I no longer care about the party line, with all of my heart and being I am rebelling against this oligarchy. I will support & vote for Bernie, whether he is our nominee, he will have my undying support straight through. I will write him in if he is not the nominee. NO MORE shall I vote for the lesser of two evils, it is the same damn road, one is only a bit slower.

[Android3.14]

15. Curious and worthy of consideration

You just might be on to something.

[Beartracks]

16. I've thought so, too. Trump and Sanders appeal to Repubs and Dems in similar ways.

Republicans/conservatives appreciate Trump's directness and bold ideas that aren't vague, mealy-mouthed, poll-tested stuff.

Democrats/liberals appreciate Sanders' directness and bold ideas that aren't vague, mealy-mouthed, poll-tested stuff.

But the reason that Republicans/conservatives who are tired of politics-as-usual and who are (not surprisingly) un-enamored with the rest of the Republican Klown Kar are tending to go with Trump is because they have been told and taught by rightwing powers-that-be that they cannot, under any circumstances, ever vote for a Democrat, because that would be bad.

I agree, however, that if they could tear themselves away from Fox, et al., and be able to compare Trump's vision directly with Sanders' vision, they would probably conclude: "They are both direct and bold and offer ideas that aren't vague, mealy-mouthed, poll-tested stuff... but of the two, Bernie makes sense."

===================

[JDPriestly]

17. K&R. Your communication skills are excellent. The Hillarists are just jealous.

[emsimon33]

20. With a PhD in Rhetoric, I disagree: You are a great communicator

"Hillaristas"...I love it!

[merrily]

21. I think your communication skills are wonderful. Anyone who doesn't like them can put

you on ignore. Their loss.

[swilton]

23. Anecdotal stories are where it's at

Otherwise it would be 'same-old' , 'same-old' from the MSM.