In 1987, Sanders said JFK made him nauseous.

[RandySF]

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has launched a new ad praising John Fitzgerald Kennedy on Monday, despite in the past he had very harsh words about the former US president, to the point of saying that he "nauseated" him.

America chose to go to the moon not because it was easy, but because it was hard, Kennedy argued in footage included in the 30-second clip, where Sanders states that the slain leader knew that the US gives its best before significant challenges and not small ones.

However, Sanders did not always seem so impressed with the leader's record. In an interview with a university newspaper a little over 30 years ago, on the contrary, the Democratic Vermont Senator even said that Kennedy's position about the Cuban Revolution appalled him.

"President Kennedy was elected while I was at the University of Chicago, that was 1960. I remember being physically nauseated by his speech and that doesn't happen very often. He debated Nixon on Cuba. And their hatred for the Cuban revolution, both of them, was so strong," Sanders said in a 1987 interview to Gadfly, a student newspaper at the University of Vermont.

The interview is reproduced in a 2015 BuzzFeed article that includes an image of the original paper's relevant pages.

"Kennedy was young and appealing and ostensibly liberal, but I think at that point, seeing through Kennedy, and what liberalism was, was probably a significant step for me to understand that conventional politics or liberalism was not what was relevant," the Democratic hopeful added.



https://www.jpost.com/American-Politics/In-1987-Sanders-said-JFK-made-him-nauseous-now-he-praises-him-in-new-ad-614335

[mr_lebowski]

1. A particular JFK speech made him nauseous is actually what he said ...

It's not entirely clear but it sounds like said 'speech' actually happened during his debate with Nixon, as they both bashed the Cuban Revolution in harsh terms.

I guess that's just splitting hairs though.

[YOHABLO]

2. Another hit piece on Bernie. I'm getting tired of it.

[Gothmog]

6. You do know that these statements about sanders will be used by trump?

I can see trump using this info against sanders as an attack ad

[booley]

39. And what will trump say?

That Sanders didn't like how JFK handled the Cuban Nuke crisis? Thats the attack?

That will fly like a dead fish.

Most won't even remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. Probably because they weren't born yet. Maybe if they saw that X Men movie?

And those of us that do remember won't have a problem with what Sanders said since that almost destroyed us in a nuclear war over brinksmanship.

Seriously, Trump will get a lot more mileage over Biden's vote and later comments on Iraq.

[Gothmog]

41. trump would have a fun time painting sanders as the friend of our enemy and a hater of JFK

This is a very easy quote to turn into an attack ad. trump's base hates communism and socialism and so this ad would be very effective

[booley]

56. Maybe we should not base our strategy around what a liar may say?

Seriously, what would that attack look like?

Oh, Gods Sanders didn't want Nuclear war?! He was ahead of the curve on History?!! AGAIN?! The Monster!

How many think the Cuban Missile Crisis was a good thing? (Assuming they remember it at all)

. trump's base hates communism and socialism and so this ad would be very effective

Putting aside that most of Trumps base are unlikleyt obe big JFK fans, Trump's base doesn't know what communism nor socialism is. It is an attack used on every Democrat who has ever run since FDR. Remember when Obama was both a Communist and a Fascist at the same time? The socialism attack isn't based on reason so thinking reason would counter it is just.. silly

If however, we are worried about giving Trump an attack. Voters still remember the Iraq war. They still remember the bankruptcy bill. They still remember NAFTA. They still remember how Wal Street almost destroyed the economy. Those things are bit more relevant to peoples lives. They are probably thinking more about those things than an event that happened before many were born.


Seriously, it's not the 60s

[Gothmog]

57. In the real world these negative ads work

sanders has a ton of material in his history that will be easy to use in negative or attack ads. In the real world these ads work and work effectively. John Kerry got swift boated and lost to Bush.

sanders is a very weak general election candidate. trump would destroy sanders with ads on Fidel Castro, the old Soviet Union, Central American socialists who sanders supported and even now Maduro in Venezuela.

Russia was very successful in suppressing the African American vote last cycle with some really weak attacks on Clinton. Here Russia has a ton of great material to use to suppress the vote. sanders delegates booed John Lewis, Elijah Cummings, Stacy Abrams and other African American leaders. These stunts were planned in advance. I was at the National Convention I was warned about these stunts 20 to 30 minutes in advance by my whip. Russia would use the booing of these true civil rights leaders to suppress the vote of African American voters if sanders is the nominee

We cannot afford four more years of trump. If sanders is the nominee, trump will win 45+ states

[YOHABLO]

48. The Cuban Missile crisis could have been avoided. U.S.policy towards Cuba brought the missiles.

Castro, long before had tried to ensure some type of good relationship with the U.S., but the Republicans and some Dems weren't having it. Especially the ex Cubans who hated Castro, and wanted U.S. help to invade Cuba to oust him. I don't suppose Trump would know anything about U.S. Cuban relations before or after Castro. I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis quite well, I was young but very much aware of the danger and threat.

[Skittles]

7. LOL

Bernie is finally being vetted.

[Skittles]

11. actually, stating the facts *IS* vetting

if something true about you is SMEARING, *WELL* then

better to get this crap out now than later

[betsuni]

13. "It's obvious that the Warren campaign has a lot of ex-Clinton staffers on it"

LOL HILLARY CONSPIRACY

[Skittles]

15. that is some serious paranoia right there

yes indeed

[Cha]

22. lol@HillaryCT!

It was bound to happen

[RandySF]

18. This is kids stuff compred to what comes if he wins the momination.

That's why I never pay attention to remarks like "Candidate (X) would have won" because there's no harsher spotlight than a presidential general election.

[LexVegas]

19. ...

[BannonsLiver]

20. Yes, hitting him with these things called facts

[Hortensis]

29. Yohablo, if background articles on a candidate strike you

as so frequently unflattering that they start seeming like hit pieces, instead of attacking the messenger reporting documented facts, perhaps you should consider finding a candidate whose background doesn't distress so often. Otherwise, you're in for a pretty rough ride. We're not in 2015-16 any more.

Btw, when I seriously wondered if Sanders could replace Warren in my support, I did my homework up front by learning all I could about him. Same for others so that "revelations" about someone I'm supporting aren't able to surprise or distress me.

[YOHABLO]

49. Yes, we've all done our homework. Seems we are reading a different set of articles.

[Hortensis]

50. :) For SURE about that last. I've been constantly amazed, for

Last edited Sat Jan 18, 2020, 05:54 AM - Edit history (1)

literally years now, that many of those who passionately admire Sanders still do not know, or choose not to know, what HE believes, or even simple, well known details of his past.

We should be able to agree that doing our homework is informing ourselves of the truth about candidates. What every one of the trumpsters should have done but passionately refuse to. After all, we all spent one to two decades of our lives doing homework. We and they all know what that really is.

What's better, or at least longest documented than his lifelong, zealous commitment to communal ideology? It's not as if he kept it secret. He used to stand on street corners handing out his political screeds to all who would take them. And even after experience taught him to soft pedal his beliefs dramatically, he's still too passionate a believer not to proudly identify himself as a democratic socialist -- just waffles about what that is.

There's a peculiar refusal among many who admire him most to understand what he believes. That's actually intensely disrespectful of him, even if it is what he has learned to try for. Clarity and honesty don't move "the people," but obfuscation is working: socialism is really anything government provides that we want, we've been living socialism, it's schools and roads, as American as apple pie.

Not exactly. These misrepresentations are so absurd that they can only cause cool-eyed people to to focus on why. But the answer is the old one that some people find deliveries of charismatic political leaders transporting -- as long as nothing causes them to be alarmed about where. So those leaders tell them what they need to hear; and if information from others conflicts, those who are strongly drawn to them quickly learn to just not listen. We've all witnessed this in tens of millions on the right. But charismatic leaders and believers sure they alone have the answers, if not sure just what those are, are not just a conservative phenomenon.

[betsuni]

55. +1

[Cha]

44. Too bad.

[betsuni]

3. "conventional politics or liberalism was not what was relevant"

Last edited Thu Jan 16, 2020, 05:27 AM - Edit history (1)

He has not changed his opinion since then. Didn't vote until he voted for himself.

[mahina]

4. I don't know, it sounds like he was disgusted by what was said in the debate rather than

Saying JFK disgusted him While leaving out the same effect from Nixon overhypes and drama dances the 60 year old feeling.

[Gothmog]

5. Sanders' support of Cuba and Fidel Castro is something that trump would use

There is a ton of great oppo out there that trump would be able to use against sanders. It would be easy to make this quote into a very effective attack ad

If sanders is the nominee, trump will win 45+ states

[betsuni]

10. LOL

2016 didn't exist.

[ritapria]

14. It was an idiotic policy to try to assassinate Castro

around 30 Times …. Can anyone be supportive of such a policy ? … We worked with the Mafia to try to unseat Castro …. This anti- Castro obsession was the part of the bipartisan consensus of that era ….No one questioned this obsession without facing banishment from the so called political mainstream …...Today , no one ( except Bernard) questions the apparent US role in removing Bolivian President Evo Morales from power in a military coup … Morales lifted the poor from grinding poverty... He enfranchised the indigenous people …..But he was bad for Western business- and thusly had to go ……….As for Bernie. he is on the shit list of the Establishment . ….Digging up the contents of a 2015 Buzzfeed article quoting what Bernie said about US Policy towards Cuba 33 years ago is about par for the course … We knew this "Bernie is a Commie " stuff was coming ….He has won the battle of issues...So let the process of demonization begin .. Don't be distracted ….We need Universal Health care, and a dramatic reduction in the price we pay for pharmaceuticals ..We need to end The Endless Wars …..We need jobs that pay a living wage - at least 15 dollars an hour … We need to double the amount of workers joining unions …. They're going to try to demoralize us, so we, once again, vote for the status quo - and against our own economic self- interest … ...That's Good for Big Business

[BannonsLiver]

21. Uh huh

[The Valley Below]

24. Morales was in the process of stealing an election that was illegitimate in the first place.

Backing democratic socialist dictators like Morales, Chavez/Maduro, and the Castros is political suicide.

[guillaumeb]

27. Well said.

What was done to Cuba is what the US did to many other countries. Some can ignore history, but other countries will not do so.

[Uncle Joe]

36. +1

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

51. +1,000

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Sloumeau]

16. RandySF, thanks for posting this. :)

So, if I understand this correctly:

1. Kennedy's hatred for the Cuban revolution nauseated Sanders.
2. Sanders could "see through" Kennedy and what liberalism was.
3. Sanders decided that conventional politics or liberalism was not relevant.

Yeah, I am not sure how well this would play in a General Election campaign. Running a pro-Communist Revolution, anti-Democratic American Liberal Icon candidate might not be the wisest move that the Democratic Party would ever make. Also, putting Kennedy in a commercial when Kennedy nauseated Sanders might seem a bit hypocritical.

I've now seen Sanders and his fans compare Sanders to establishment Democrats like FDR and JFK, while other Sanders fans have said that Establishment Democrats are losers. It is all a bit confusing.

[betsuni]

23. K&R

[peggysue2]

25. This is merely the tip of the iceberg

Every wrong-headed, myopic, ideologically-driven stance the Senator from Vermont ever took will be exposed and exploited. Jack Kennedy made him nauseous. Castro, I guess, was just a great, misunderstood guy.

The opposition ads write themselves. And they will be brutal.

[guillaumeb]

26. From the article:

In an interview with a university newspaper a little over 30 years ago, on the contrary, the Democratic Vermont Senator even said that Kennedy's position about the Cuban Revolution appalled him.

What happened to Cuba was an invasion by the US to overthrow the Government. Similar to what happened in Chile, and many other countries in the Americas.

The predictably toxic result of the Monroe Doctrine.

[Eyeball_Kid]

28. Wow. 1987. About a speech in 1960.

Critics are going fishing with a very long pole.

[Cha]

45. Yeah, they "fish" for Biden, too.

[boomer_wv]

30. ironic.

Bernie Sanders would make JFK pretty nauseous too.

[ritapria]

31. A Shocking quote from Joe in 1977

From Business Insider " Biden worried in 1977 that Certain Desegregation Policies Would Cause his Children to Grow Up in a Racial Jungle "

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

52. Well, well, well .. looky here! Shocking is right rita! How is this not a reason to vote no on Joe?

If Joe is going to rely on the Corn Pop story from his past, then this is also highly relevant in deciding whether Joe should be our nominee!! We need a full vetting... what if this is just the "tip of the iceberg" as some have speculated?

Imagine how tRumpy will use this and other oppo research that's out there if Joe somehow does manage to become our nominee. Better to get all of Joe's past controversial views out in the open, now, BEFORE the votes are cast. Joe needs to be fully vetted, just as the corporate media has done to Bernie.


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Bradshaw3]

32. So is "dredging up" old comments and votes from candiates ok or not

Every time someone brings up a Biden vote from 20 or 30 years ago like on busing or his vote on the Iraq war or comments from 10 years ago or even more recent we are told by Biden supporters that it it isn't relevant because it was so long ago. Now this about Bernie, taken out of context. So which is it? Ok for Bernie, but not Joe?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

53. I'll put Bernie's past up against Joe's ANY DAY! Its WAY past time Joe is vetted, as Bernie has been

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[The Valley Below]

33. As disturbing as Sanders support for Fidel Castro--whose widespread abuses...

of human rights were well known at the time. And ignoring the slam on JFK. What's more disturbing (and relevant) is Sanders antipathy towards "liberalism" as an ideology that he "saw through" and deemed irrelevant.

His clear rejection of liberalism (and our party--"I am not now, nor have I ever been, a liberal Democrat) makes me cringe every time he's called a "liberal" or "most liberal" in the press.

This statement makes his rejection of liberalism quite plain, and does so in his own words.

Read them.

[NurseJackie]

37. Great post!

Thank you!

[kacekwl]

34. That's helpful.

[NYMinute]

35. Jealousy?

Even most republicans revere JFK. Democrats universally do.

[Polybius]

38. So?

It was 33 years ago.

[David__77]

40. This points to a reason I would vote for Sanders if the election was today.

The Cold War policies were terrible. Some progressive forces coming out of the New Deal coalition were opposed to that turn of affairs. Sanders means what he says and I like that.

[ehrnst]

42. So which do you think he believes? That JFK was an inspiriation or disgusted him?

What is it that he means, exactly, taking into consideration the two points of view?

Does a need to appeal to Democrats now a part of why he has done a reversal of his veiw of JFK?

Certainly JFK hasn't changed since the 2015 Buzzfeed article came out.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

54. ME TOO! Compare Bernie's mild statements to Joe's harsh words around the same time. OUCH!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Gothmog]

43. Bernie Sanders' real problem isn't Elizabeth Warren. It's Donald Trump

In the real world, trump would destroy a weak candidate like sanders. It would be really sad to see trump destroy sanders and I agree that sanders chance of being the nominee or being elected is nil

Link to tweet

Nonetheless, Sanders faces serious obstacles to obtaining the Democratic presidential nomination. The gentle treatment he received in 2016 from the media and the Hillary Clinton campaign (which ran few negative television or media ads against him) means that many Democratic voters haven’t yet learned about the distinctly non-progressive positions he has taken on certain issues throughout his senatorial career.....

The chances of Sanders actually becoming president, however, are also close to nil. I say this because in 2016 I got a glimpse of the Republican party’s opposition research book on Sanders, which was so massive it had to be transported on a cart. The Newsweek reporter Kurt Eichenwald, who got to see some of its contents, declared that “it was brutal. The Republicans would have torn [Sanders] apart.”

According to Eichenwald, the book includes damning material such as the fact that Sanders was on unemployment until his mid-30s, that he co-sponsored a bill to ship Vermont’s nuclear waste to Texas where it would be dumped in a poor Hispanic community, that he honeymooned in the Soviet Union, and that he appeared at a 1985 rally in Nicaragua at which Sandinista supporters chanted “Here, there / the Yankee will die.” And then there’s Sanders’ fictitious essay in which he described a woman enjoying being raped by three men…

After the Trump campaign and Fox News got through weaponizing this research, the usual conservative charges against Sanders – that his domestic program would cost nearly $100tn over the next decade, that he would ban individual health insurance, send taxes into the stratosphere, and sympathize with terrorists and leftwing regimes – would seem almost benign. The Republican campaign against any Democratic presidential candidate is guaranteed to be ugly, but against Sanders it would be gruesome. The result most likely would be a Democratic wipeout on the scale of Labour’s under Jeremy Corbyn.

That’s why Sanders is the preferred Democratic nominee of Trump and his aides. It explains otherwise puzzling stories such as Trump coming to Sanders’ defense against Warren’s no-female-president claim, saying sexism is “not his deal”. And while living in Washington has made me cynical in some ways, I would not be in the least surprised if conservative dollars are swelling the coffers of Our Revolution, Sanders’ dark-money Super Pac which doesn’t have to disclose its donors.

[Cha]

46. Thank you!

[Gothmog]

47. I have worked on real campaigns and I know how oppo is weaponized

[Gothmog]

58. trump has a great oppo file on sanders

Trump had a two foot thick book of oppo research on Sanders http://www.newsweek.com/myths-cost-democrats-presidential-election-521044

They ignored the fact that Sanders had not yet faced a real campaign against him. Clinton was in the delicate position of dealing with a large portion of voters who treated Sanders more like the Messiah than just another candidate. She was playing the long game—attacking Sanders strongly enough to win, but gently enough to avoid alienating his supporters. Given her overwhelming support from communities of color—for example, about 70 percent of African-American voters cast their ballot for her—Clinton had a firewall that would be difficult for Sanders to breach....

So what would have happened when Sanders hit a real opponent, someone who did not care about alienating the young college voters in his base? I have seen the opposition book assembled by Republicans for Sanders, and it was brutal. The Republicans would have torn him apart. And while Sanders supporters might delude themselves into believing that they could have defended him against all of this, there is a name for politicians who play defense all the time: losers....

The Republicans had at least four other damning Sanders videos (I don’t know what they showed), and the opposition research folder was almost 2-feet thick. (The section calling him a communist with connections to Castro alone would have cost him Florida.) In other words, the belief that Sanders would have walked into the White House based on polls taken before anyone really attacked him is a delusion built on a scaffolding of political ignorance.