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Topic Title: Some Democrats fear fallout from Sanders atop the ticket
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Created On: 02/12/2020 05:39 PM
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 02/12/2020 05:39 PM
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dingpatch

Posts: 19032
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Some Democrats fear fallout from Sanders atop the ticket
NICHOLAS RICCARDI and ALAN FRAM
Associated PressFebruary 12, 2020, 6:51 PM EST

DENVER (AP) - The resurgence of Sen. Bernie Sanders in the presidential nominating process is triggering alarm in the Democratic Party, with many warning that a ticket headed by the self-declared socialist could be devastating to the party's chances of winning the Senate and holding the House in November.

In anxious huddles, apprehensive Democrats are sharing their worries that Sanders' socialist label and unyielding embrace of controversial proposals like ""Medicare for All"" and the Green New Deal will repel voters in the affluent, moderate districts that flipped control of the House in 2018 and in closely divided states where Republican senators are vulnerable.

The Vermont independent narrowly won New Hampshire Tuesday on the heels of a strong showing in Iowa and is widely seen as a front-runner, along with former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

"I'm a proud capitalist," said freshman Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, in pointed contrast with Sanders. McAdams, who is supporting former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and whose Salt Lake City district will be among the toughest for Democrats to defend, said having a liberal like Sanders atop his party's ticket "would probably give me more opportunities to show my independence" from the party.

Another freshman from a competitive district, Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., said Democrats need a presidential nominee who "doesn't scare all those future former Republicans more than Trump scares them." And while acknowledging that Republicans plan to tar all Democrats with the socialist label, "There's one candidate for whom that would not be a lie."

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., who backs the candidacy of former Vice President Joe Biden, warned a group of Democratic voters this week in Carson City, Nevada, that with Sanders atop the ticket, "you're not going to take back the Senate. There's not any way, because everybody's going to be tarred with the same brush. We will probably lose seats in the House."

In private conversations, other Democrats are more succinct. One House Democrat said colleagues from swing districts are scared by the prospects of a Sanders nomination, while another said moderates are increasingly concerned that a Sanders candidacy would devastate their prospects for winning the White House and retaining the House. The lawmakers insisted on anonymity to describe private conversations.

Democrats' jitters have Republicans rubbing their hands in delight.

"It's every Republican's dream come true," Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a former leader of the House GOP's campaign committee, said of a possible Sanders nomination.

Republicans face an uphill fight in capturing control of the House, which Democrats lead 232-197, with one independent and five vacancies. The GOP controls the Senate 53-47 and is favored to retain its majority.

Biden supporters are happy to use apprehension about Sanders' impact on the party's strength in Congress as a tool for drumming up support.

Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., who's endorsed Biden, said if Sanders were nominated, Democrats from moderate districts "might actually have to run away from our nominee to get elected." And he added, "It's highly unlikely that Bernie Sanders will moderate his views, either."

Congressional Democrats have little to gain by openly disparaging the man who could well be their presidential nominee, and they say they're uncertain what they could do that would be effective. Any move to derail his candidacy that could be traced back to them would undoubtedly enrage Sanders and his impassioned supporters and risk the fury that split the party in 2016, when some Sanders backers never supported Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee.

Underscoring a reluctance to speak critically of Sanders, Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., chairwoman of House Democrats' campaign arm, sidestepped questions about how his nomination would affect her candidates' prospects. "We have a long way to go before we know who our nominee is," she said.

Asked how many nervous lawmakers have expressed their worries about Sanders to her, Bustos paused for four seconds before answering, "We have discussions about the nominee but, you know, it runs the gamut."

While many Democrats are reluctant to openly express dismay about Sanders, members of the House have spoken with their feet.

Sanders has endorsements from only seven House members, all members of the progressive caucus from safely Democratic districts. Biden, in contrast, has backing from 41 House members, and has made a point of touting support from seven lawmakers from swing districts. Bloomberg, who hopes to poach Biden's position as the moderate alternative to Sanders, has racked up recent nine endorsements from House members, five of whom occupy swing seats.

Progressives argue the fears are overblown. Republicans tried to tie Democrats to socialism and liberal causes like Medicare for All during the 2018 campaign, they note, yet Democrats won a resounding majority in the House. And they argue that nominating Sanders could change the electorate in ways that help the party.

"They don't want somebody that sells out," said Sanders backer Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a member of the "squad" of young liberal freshmen. She added, "Please don't talk about only persuading Trumpers and independents" to be open to an alternative candidate. "How about persuading the Democrats that haven't been engaged."

"The single most important thing for Democrats to take back the Senate is turnout," said Mike Lux, a liberal strategist who supports Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the presidential race. "We have to have a highly energized Democratic base turnout, a lot of young people coming out, voting not just in the presidential race but further down the ballot."

Yet Sanders' agenda is far from shared. Several top-tier Democratic Senate recruits, such as former astronaut Mark Kelly in Arizona, former state Sen. Cal Cunningham in North Carolina and former Gov. John Hickenlooper in Colorado, have explicitly distanced themselves from core Sanders positions like Medicare for All.

Hickenlooper, the likely Democratic nominee against Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, targeted Sanders during his own brief bid for the party's presidential nomination last year. At a Democratic debate last summer, Hickenlooper warned that Sanders' program would be "a disaster" at the ballot box.

"If you force Americans to make these radical changes," Hickenlooper said, "they're not going to go along."

Supporters of Gardner, widely considered the most endangered Republican senator, have been openly pining for Sanders to be the nominee, and Gardner castigates socialism whenever he can.

"In 2018, Cory said 'the most dangerous thing to happen in America in the 2016 presidential election was Bernie Sanders' normalization of socialism,'" Gardner campaign spokesman Jerrod Dobkin said. "Two years later, Cory's been proven right."

Democrats skeptical of Sanders stressed that the nominating process has just begun.

Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, who is considered the most endangered Democratic Senate incumbent this year, has endorsed Biden, a longtime friend. He said he wouldn't play "what-if games" about the top of the ticket and how it might affect his chances in deep-red Alabama.

"I still think that Biden is going to be the nominee," Jones said. "I still think that moderate voice that's out there is going to ultimately carry."

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Dora Hates You
 02/12/2020 06:35 PM
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nukeh2o

Posts: 8894
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Well that's a lovely, useless post by once rational chumpfdirt dorkporch.
I'm a never chumpf patriot. A bernie will hand them a guarantee of fascist totalitarian subversion of my beloved america for longer than necessary.
Fuck the tangerine traitor folks.
Nothing else matters. No matter the cost or compromise.

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It's a democratic hoax
 02/13/2020 03:59 AM
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Cole

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Bernie has the chance to bring far more people to the polls than his nomination might cost.

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I was right.
 02/13/2020 05:50 AM
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RustyTruck

Posts: 33299
Joined Forum: 08/02/2004

Red baiting seems to be making a bit comeback. Bernie's democratic socialism for healthcare is less radical than the UK NHS. The British are such commies.


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Capitalism is based on the ridiculous notion that you can enjoy limitless growth in a closed, finite system.

In biology, such behavior of cells is called "cancer".
 02/13/2020 06:45 AM
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tpapablo

Posts: 43826
Joined Forum: 07/25/2003

The idiots might not be having this problem if they hadn't torpedoed Biden to get at Trump. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a dumber political move in American political history. Take down the guy with the highest polling numbers against Trump in an effort that everyone knew would fail? Only progs' could this that was a good idea.

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 02/13/2020 07:47 AM
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Greensleeves

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Yeah the GOP isn't just along for the ride on the ss twitler? They planned to nominate and uneducated $hit head? It fell in their lap. It's the nomination process. Bernie hasn't won yet but if he does Cole's right, then it is up to the Democratic party to get people to the polls.
 02/13/2020 08:46 AM
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tpapablo

Posts: 43826
Joined Forum: 07/25/2003

Oh, you guys won't have to worry about getting people to the polls. People will fight each other to vote against a commie, one who wants to tank the economy, cause massive unemployment, cause their energy bills to sky rocket, let everyone who wants to into the country in, destroy the military and, for good measure, take away everyone's health insurance. They'll be showing up alright. Record turn out, I'd guess.

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I :heart; Q
 02/13/2020 08:52 AM
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Greensleeves

Posts: 20478
Joined Forum: 07/22/2003

They won't fight to vote against a commie. That's dumb. They go to vote against a woman's right to choose. or because they are racists and want Mexico to pay for that wall. The grizzled uneducated losers that represent the GOP are finite. Thankfully
 02/13/2020 10:01 AM
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SlimyBritches

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If this election is decided by number of votes per candidate, Trump loses. Like one man on vote means anything in this "democracy".
 02/13/2020 12:18 PM
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Cole

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Biden's lack of pretty much everything is his undoing, Trump has nothing to do with it. Joe was looking at his numbers from the last election and figured he could stroll into the White House on a carpet of rose pedals. Nope. The electorate is getting younger and they want a big change and that is directly related to Trump.

Trump has a better than good chance of winning via his massive disinformation campaign and the Senate's blocking of election security legislation, but considering he is a 73 year old fat man with early stages dementia, does it really matter? Will the Trump faithful stay as rabid with a life long pro politician like Pence? No, they won't and the field will be wide open to true Democratic change.

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I was right.

Edited: 02/13/2020 at 12:18 PM by Cole
 02/13/2020 12:20 PM
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Cole

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Obstructed change in 2021 or a total revamping in 2024?

We shall see.

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I was right.
 02/13/2020 02:52 PM
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cheaterfiveo

Posts: 5092
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Originally posted by: Cole

Bernie has the chance to bring far more people to the polls than his nomination might cost.


taking bets now, cash only
 02/13/2020 04:36 PM
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dingpatch

Posts: 19032
Joined Forum: 07/24/2003

Moderate Democrats Fear Bernie Sanders Could Cost Them the House
The New York Times
Sheryl Gay Stolberg
,The New York Times.February 13, 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/0...ar-bernie-sanders.html

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Dora Hates You
 02/13/2020 04:46 PM
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Cole

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..or win them the Senate.

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I was right.
 02/13/2020 10:32 PM
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Fish Killer

Posts: 71439
Joined Forum: 10/09/2005

Originally posted by: Cole

..or win them the Senate.


OR loose them the Senate.....MORE!!

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The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

Edited: 02/14/2020 at 05:06 AM by Fish Killer
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