4/4 News Roundup & Open Thread – Bernie Sanders Is The Frontrunner, Warren Unveils Bill to Punish Criminal CEOs & More
Bernie Sanders Is the Frontrunner. Obviously.
The race for the Democratic nomination began in earnest over the past couple of weeks, or at least it feels that way. After flirting with a run for months, Beto O’Rourke finally made his move by jumping on a bunch of countertops. Pete Buttigieg became a Cinderella story, rocketing up the polls to fifth—ahead of Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker—in what David Brooks, to a chorus of groans across America, referred to as “the biggest star-is-born moment since Lady Gaga started singing ‘Shallow.’” Joe Biden, who leads in the polls despite not having declared his candidacy, was accused by two women of unwanted touching, prompting a reevaluation of his entire, handsy history with women. And now the first-quarter fundraising numbers are trickling in: $7 million for Buttigieg. $12 million for Kamala Harris. O’Rourke, rather than reveal his three-month total, announced that he raised nearly $10 million in just 18 days since announcing his candidacy.
That about sums up the Democratic field right now—or so you might think, based on the political conversation of late. But a certain someone is missing from this picture: the candidate who consistently polls first among declared candidates, and who, in the first quarter, raised $18 million from an astounding 900,000 donors. He is the frontrunner for the nomination until someone proves otherwise.
And yet, Bernie Sanders is being treated as something of an afterthought, as the national press and Beltway pundits hop from one shiny object to the next.
As MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt argued earlier this week on Twitter, “Anyone who doesn’t treat [Sanders] becoming the Democratic nominee as a realistic and even likely possibility is making a big mistake (and failed to learn from mistakes made in 2016).”
..
Reports of a decline in enthusiasm among Sanders’s supporters also appear to have been greatly exaggerated. His fundraising and poll numbers disprove the idea that he’s an also-ran. But there are other signs of his continued vitality. Despite his near-universal name recognition, and the media’s overwhelming attention lately to O’Rourke, Biden, and Buttigieg, Sanders has consistently been among the top three Democratic candidates in Google searches, suggesting continued interest in his campaign. Finally, he appears to be broadly liked throughout the party. A Morning Consult poll in February found that he was the second choice for voters who supported the campaigns of Biden, Warren, and O’Rourke, suggesting that support could coalesce around his candidacy as other Democrats drop out.
Sanders may be a victim of his own success in a different way than the Times hypothesized: His popularity is now taken for granted. O’Rourke and Buttigieg, two young and dynamic candidates, have received an enormous amount of coverage over the past several weeks in part because they are fresh faces on the national scene. Sanders, as both the 2016 runner-up and a 77-year-old politician who has served in Congress since the early 1990s, is old news—and so is the resurgence of socialism in American politics, for which he’s largely responsible.
The caucuses and primaries don’t begin until next February. Many candidates will drop out well before then, due to poor polling and fundraising—both of which Sanders has in spades. He almost certainly will be one of the last candidates standing. The coverage of his campaign will only grow, especially as the remaining candidates seek to distinguish themselves from the Man Who Remade the Democratic Party.
..
All of the available evidence right now suggests that Sanders is the frontrunner. The pundits ignore this at their own peril.
More news/videos/tweets/etc. in the comments.
Tips, Comments, Complaints, Etc!
Donate to Bernie!
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/tpw
Could you put Bernie’s donation link on the right nav after donate to TPW?
Sure can/will. Its been on my todo list for the last little while but just havent quite made it yet. It will be the first thing I do when I get home this afternoon
‘Cheat Working Americans, You’ll Go to Jail’: Warren Unveils Bill to Punish Criminal CEOs
another politician with straight talk
the establishment has less room to hide
Lets include that they would serve time in a “normal” prison. Not some country club one . Maybe send them to Rikers island for a stay. Or maybe a Russian gulag -some type of inmate swap?
As We Gape at Trump’s Sideshow, Corporations Are Picking Our Pockets byJim Hightower
Bernie Sanders’ fundraising is just the latest sign of his top-tier status
worth saying over and over again
Bernie said his main criticism of Obama was that after he won in 2008, he didn’t follow through with his supporters and create a community of activists
not only the money, but the followers will put Bernie over the top
even if he is ignored, he is getting much, much, much more coverage than 2016
and since his issues have changed the terms of political debate, when ideas are brought up like $15 an hour, his name is in the issue because he was the champion back when it was far out
Obama not only didn’t follow through, he threw us under the bus. We were, like Trump’s followers, useful idiots.
The conversation with the traditional media would be different if Bernie weren’t leading in fundraising with all of the small donations. The narrative would be he’s in second place in polls, can’t seem to get above that, yadda yadda yadda.
Biden is the darling of the Establishment. The corporatist center, just like Shillary was. And they are already accusing Bernie of being responsible for the “smears” on Biden. Of course, the videos are out there, and the expressions on the women’s faces are priceless.
‘Tax the Rich. It’s Just That Simple’: US Campaign Aims to Make Wealthy Pay Their Fair Share
This is an important point for me. So far only Bernie and Liz have moved decisively in this direction.
Good for Wyden though I don’t think Harris should be included with Bernie and Warren. Her plans are better than the other candidates but not as far reaching as this plan (or Bernie’s and Warren’s)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/opinion/ron-wyden-tax-inequality.html
re: KH, plus I don’t trust her for a minute to follow through.
Her wealthy backers would never allow this.
I don’t know enough about it, but I like to see extreme wealth taxed firstst. This seems like it could be hard on people who are just starting to invest in assets that could provide income.
Even in my super red state, the common people are grousing about the rich not paying. Anyone who thinks red-staters are not looking at their wallets is poking their head in the sand. Trump got elected because he said he was an outsider who would help the working people. Hill was just SOS. Yes, he appealed to people’s lower instincts, but the only way to counter him is with a progressive populist – not a center-right policy wonk.
Despite the machinations of corporations and the CoC here in Arkansas, the people can be counted on to vote yes on ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage. It IS the economy. Every time.
As GOP Deploys ‘Nuclear Option’, New Reports Detail Damage Done By Trump’s Far-Right Takeover of Judiciary
this should have been a MAJOR issue of the democratic party for years and years
politics about personalities, horse races and polls and how much money they raise
Chuckles D. Clown Schumer is responsible for this failure to act in any meaningful way.
It is aggravating though that, when there is an actual judicial election (like the one Tuesday in Wisconsin), enough Dem voters don’t bother to come out to vote, allowing extreme right wingers to win. In Wisconsin, it was particularly awful because now Republicans are sure to keep their majority on the WI S Ct for redistricting in the fight to get rid of the awful gerrymander there.
Milw county had piss poor turnout compared to the 3 WOW counties it needs to offset with turnout. R turnout in N. central Wi was high which went Dallets way in the last WSSC race. Now it a 5-2 R majority and a chance to cut it to 4-3 in 2020 Dems do turnout for Presidential’s (2020) but the damage is done. With Evers as gov he gets to veto any mays the R’s would put forward and the R’s don’t have enough votes in the state senate to override a veto. They do in the assembly due to the gerrymandering. It could go to an outside neutral firm for drawing new districts. The forth coming gerrymandering cases at the USSC will have a bearing what happens.
deleted.
Baloney! FRighties have been stealthy in packing the lower courts for years. The only reason why this is getting more exposure is cos orange FRightie Fruitloop and fellow crooks/stupes in the Senate are making a big production out of it. T and R to the usual excellent BNR/TPW suspects!! A warm welcome to the new commenters on here, too.
Why Thousands of Colombians Are Blocking the Pan-American Highway
Thank god and the protesters. May they win.
and even used that word, SOCIALISM
the republicans and many democrats are betting that that label will be the death knell for Bernie and the other democratic socialists
well, ….
stay tuned
DNC: We’re Fine With Bernie Sanders Going on Fox News
so, if Bernie believes that all have a right (note: that is a legal term) to health care because they are human beings
then those against health care for all are against human beings
food stamps, eliminate
Medicaid, eliminate
and on and on
Bernie’s role as an educator!
Good for the DNC—candidates appearing on Fox is quite different from letting Fox hold a Dem debate.
Bernie is smart. As much as voters like me hate POX, plenty of voting eyeballs watch it.
Remember, a lot of businesses have Fox on in waiting rooms, break rooms, etc. It is the choice of the Boss, not the workers or customers. Not everyone who sees Fox is a rightie, even. Even so, if a leftie is weak when attacked, it doesn’t make for a good showing. A lot of them get creamed on Fox. But Bernie is so focused, nothing they throw at him deters him. He will make it work.
They probably have their voodoo dolls ready.
I don’t care what Media Matters thinks about anything, especially anything related to Bernie. It’s a David Brock propaganda and smear factory funded by the Dem party establishment.
The Poisonous Politics of David Brock
And now that it’s primary season (again) they will undoubtedly split some of their weaponry between Trump and Sanders.
Bernie’s ready for Faux, But is Faux ready for him?
2020 DEMOCRATS’ FUNDRAISING: WHERE BETO O’ROURKE, BERNIE SANDERS AND OTHER CANDIDATES STAND AFTER Q1 TOTALS
Beltway math: where $9M is > than $18M.
That was a head scratcher. ?. The period is over. He didn’t top Bernie. At least in the last paragraph, the article talks sense.
But the headlines in all caps! Doesnt that make it true?
!!!!
Since do we use “daily” as a metric? Is that common?
DNC, “We will use any metric that adds to the general confusion. Just so long as we position and sell that Bernie Sanders is NOT the winner.”
Wait until they start breaking things down by countertops stood on..
Really. It’s that bad of a joke!
https://twitter.com/davidsirota/status/1113628139094020096
the attempt to squash Sirota crashed and burned
what slander will come up next?
Bernie 2020~Powered By The People
and the author of the hit piece was upset at the responses
you can feel sorry for him, he deserved it
since he is mad, he might be figuring out how to construct another hit piece
it is getting harder after the democrats pulled no punches to defeat him last time
including election fraud
Is that the Dana Milbank hit piece?
Funny how Milbank doesn’t disclose that his wife is a political operative working for John Hickenlooper.
This article is a little dated (Dec. 5, 2018) but:
Actually the WaPo did disclose it at the bottom of the article when I read it. Don’t know if it was added after the article appeared. In any case, Milbank is a centrist hack on his own (lack of) merits without needing any influence from his wife.
Good. Yesterday it had not been disclosed, but there was a minor uproar about that.
Yes, Milbank is a freakin’ Yale Skull and Bones man. S&B not known for its progressivism.
Well, they are both populists. Trump is a rightwing authoritarian populist, and Bernie is a leftwing social democratic populist, kind of like FDR was. As I see it, ONLY a populist can beat Trump. Only someone who can fill an arena with people chanting “Bern-ie, Bern-ie” can hope to defeat someone who can fill an arena with people shouting “Trump, Trump, Trump”. You can’t beat Trump with a milquetoast policy wonk, no matter how good their ideas may be.
I’d sign up, but no one would come. I’m hoping someone within 50 miles of me does one.
Saudi Arabia’s first nuclear reactor nearly finished, sparking fears over safeguards
did not realize it was under construction
mostly my wife, but me along for the ride, reading about nuclear disasters at power plants
management and safety failures rampant
and no way to dispose of waste
not to say that another nuclear power in the mid east
unacceptable that they don’t allow inspections
Iran been forced to be inspected and passed with flying colors
this proves US not concerned with nuclear weapons when in our sphere of influence
given that Saudi Arabia may be responsible for starvation of millions of people, a slow death, cannot trust them with WMD
and Israel has had weapons for decades and never inspected
we can protect rogue states for only so long, especially as our empire is collapsing