Smear of Bernie appears to have backfired

About a week ago Liz Warren and CNN conspired in a rather obvious and amateurish way to smear Bernie Sanders. So what did the public think of that?

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Law and Crime reporter Colin Kalchember also took aim at CNN for not declaring Sanders in the lead.

"CNN still cannot fathom stating the obvious here: Sanders is leading in their own national poll," said Kalchember. "Self parody."

The polling revealed other interesting data points, including that Sanders leads fellow progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) over liberal Democrats by 33% to 19% and leads Biden with voters of color by 30% to 27%.

"Gotta love those Bernie bros!" tweeted The Hill journalist Krystal Ball

Oh, that's embarrassing.
You have to ask yourself, who has the credibility here?
Hey CNN, the next time you smear Bernie don't make it so obvious. Put in the effort.

The thing is, this wasn't the only good poll for Bernie today.

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That was not the only poll that showed Bernie winning California.
In fact, counting this poll, Bernie has the lead in 3 out of the last 4 polls of the state.

YouGov also came out and showed Bernie in 3rd behind Warren nationally, but YouGov is one of only two polls that show this.
Morning Consult, a better poll, also came out and showed Biden still up by 5. But the weekly trend (going backwards) showed: +5, +6, +8, +11. And most of this change is from Biden sinking.

Finally, there is the question of electability.

SurveyUSA asked 4,069 registered voters nationwide how they would vote in an election today if Trump was pitted against each of the 2020 candidates in the Democratic race. The progressive Vermont independent came out on top.

The poll found that 52 percent of voters would choose Sanders and 43 percent Trump, giving the veteran senator a nine-point lead. Next was former vice president Joe Biden at 50 percent to Trump's 43 percent, a seven-point lead.

Question answered.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
Bernie has all the hip and cool people

The Iowa caucuses are in less than two weeks and the leading Democratic candidates are gearing up for a very competitive primary. In an effort to bring together his millennial base, Bernie Sanders has announced that Bon Iver and Vampire Weekend will be performing at a pair of rallies he’s putting on in the lead-up to the caucus.

Biden has “Game of Thrones” creator George R. R. Martin and Rob Reiner
Bloomberg has Judge Judy
Mayor Pete has Mandy Moore and Gwyneth Paltrow, Seth MacFarlane and actor George Takei.

Bernie has John Cusack and Mark Ruffalo and Michael Moore, Cardi B and Ariana Grande, among others

keeping in the same theme

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Pricknick's picture

@gjohnsit
Thanks gjohn.

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Pricknick

I wish Bernie had the former members of Talking Heads. Would give them a reason to come out of retirement, something many have been wishing for forever.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@gjohnsit Man, he was such a big Bernie supporter in 2016. And now he supports Mayor Pete???

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@gjohnsit

WTF are they thinking?

Oh, wait. I guess they could be thinking that Pete's gay and ain't that great.

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12 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

haven't heard this one for a while

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@irishking

Great to see you, irishking.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

with his band in 1984. Sounded just like this!
glad you liked it.

RIP

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@irishking

You lucky dog.

90s and early oughts were pretty cool too, but apparently what happened to San Francisco happened in a smaller way to Austin and the geek elites took over and drove all the rents up.

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4 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Hawkfish's picture

Tulsi has sued HER for defamation to the tune of $50M. Maybe someone should tell HER to put down the chardonnay...

Everything is backfiring on them.

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We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

@Hawkfish good for Tulsi! Hope Jill Stein has lawyered up as well!

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@Le Frog Frankly, Jill Stein probably has a better case than Tulsi, given she was specifically mentioned by name ("She's a Russian asset") whereas Tulsi was not, plus I think the statement was that "she was being groomed." But, FWIW, probably harder to win a case if you weren't mentioned by name.

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Bob In Portland's picture

@JCWeb @JCWeb Apparently, after the libel her team identified 420 news sites that repeated the libel,naming her. Plus, if I recall one of Hillary's talking people confirmed it.

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The Liberal Moonbat's picture

@Hawkfish That is VERY useful information. What are the criteria?

From what I gather, defamation has been a big, BIG problem over the last 6 years (look at what they did to poor Garrison Keillor, to name only one - and Neil DeGrasse Tyson narrowly avoided the same fate).

There have been times and places in history when/where gossip was a crime. I now understand why.

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In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@The Liberal Moonbat

As I recall, he simply said, "That's not how I remember it," and "I'm too old to argue about it." Then he went back to Denmark or wherever it is he lives (somewhere Scandinavian).

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Wally's picture

. . . Medicaid, and Medicare.

In Common Dreams: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/22/hobnobbing-billionaires-dav...

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Cassiodorus's picture

@Wally @Wally especially for Biden, who has been pledging cuts in Social Security for forty years now. Time to take the campaign to the manufactured homes where a fair number of senior citizens live. It might have to be something other than the Sanders campaign, since Sanders wants to keep it positive.

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25 users have voted.

"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

Wally's picture

@Cassiodorus

. . . against Biden re Social Security that's just being unleashed now for the early primary states? It's been posted a few times around here today in the comments of different essays. It's killa. Bernie knows the rope-a-dope.

And this just in re Biden's frantic reaction to reporter:

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The Liberal Moonbat's picture

@Wally Maybe it's because I read something years ago about "rope-a-dope" being boxing fan Harry Reid's technique of choice, but it's something I feel disenchanted with - just look at what it ultimately did to Muhammad Ali.

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5 users have voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

@Wally
to low info voters.
He'll immediately lose the Rust Belt if people know this.
Bernie will have to go on Fox because no one else will talk about it.

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edg's picture

@Wally

but he didn't say what that article claims he said. At the end of the transcript, he was (maybe) going to say something about Medicare but the transcript ends before he can answer. And entitlements include Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Unemployment and Welfare Programs, so it's feasible he was talking about the old Republican bugaboo of welfare.

I know there are a lot of Republicans that TALK about cutting Medicare and Social Security, but they'd be dead as a political party if they ever did. Also, remember that it was Democrats that screwed around with Social Security in 1986 as part of their budget "fix".

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Pricknick's picture

@edg
regarless of his comment, he seams a little agitated. Then cools off. Controlled bi-polar. Senile. Nuts.
He resembles many charactors of old horror movies. Bulging veins and dead eyes..
He, of all candidates, should retire first.

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9 users have voted.

Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

edg's picture

@Pricknick

He definitely has more than one screw loose. It's a shame Democrats ran Hillary in 2016. Bernie could have beat Trump.

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snoopydawg's picture

@edg

But there are at least 4 more videos floating that show he said exactly that. He appointed Alan Simpson to Obama's cat food commission who had long been on record of cutting SS and M-M.

Another thing that isn't being talked about is that Bill Clinton was going to offer up changes to social security. Fortunately the Monica scandal derailed that.

Obama was more than happy to cut it, but McConnell did not want to let the democrats get the cred for it.

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5 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg
we owe our uncut checks to the Tea Party.

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earthling1's picture

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Hawkfish's picture

@earthling1

all the more for us. And not a sheep to worry us.

— Wallace

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We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

@earthling1
I like whites to be sweeter and less like vinegar.
Auslese and Spatlese are good too, but more for after dinner.
Which reminds me, I have resolved to drink a glass of Italian red every day for the rest of my life.
I have a bottle of Roscato to open now. Bye!

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6 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Lily O Lady's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

trokenbeerenauslese (I hope I spelled them correctly)? Really sweet but good!

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

@Lily O Lady
But never drank any. I think!

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1 user has voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Wally's picture

. . . . with Warren below the 15% threshold for getting awarded delegates.

Gosh, golly, gee whiz, I wonder why?

Sure looks like TPTB really out thought and stuck a fork in themselves this time around:

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@Wally
I will love so much for lying Liz Pocahontas to get taken out for lack of viability in the early states.

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12 users have voted.

@Wally

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Lily O Lady's picture

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5 users have voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Wally

Been burned by one too many billionaires. I mean, I used to think Soros was a good guy.

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6 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Lily O Lady's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

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1 user has voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Bollox Ref's picture

According to Hellary, every nobody likes him?

What gives?

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24 users have voted.

Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

@Bollox Ref
Nobody IN THE CLUB likes Bernie.

Only nobodies (i.e. the working class) like Bernie.

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26 users have voted.
Lily O Lady's picture

@gjohnsit

She alienated so many people.

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9 users have voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Shahryar's picture

joined...as in tied, you see, but also...

Sanders has also pulled about even with Biden among voters of color (30% for Sanders, 27% for Biden).

pulled about even, just a little behind I guess but close to tied with Biden. Wait, what's this? Ahead???

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23 users have voted.
wendy davis's picture

Abby Phillips:

Mr. Sanders, have you stopped beating your wife yet?

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Lily O Lady's picture

@wendy davis

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

ggersh's picture

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15 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Wally's picture

I just got word that Pete B. has now sent out a fundraising letter claiming that there's a dark money PAC that's purportedly supporting Bernie that has just poured $500,000+ into attack ads directed against the South Bend mayor in Iowa and New Hampshire. The PAC is not named in the letter. Nor are any ads specified. Or anything about what's in the purported attack ads detailed in any way.

Has anybody heard about these ads or seen them? Any links?

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snoopydawg's picture

@Wally

But the tweet I read said that Bernie's dark money was going after Biden. Not Pete. Lots of lies flying around Twitter today. Look at the doozy Virginia wrote that I posted in the EBs. I have no idea what she is saying.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Wally's picture

@snoopydawg

According to right wing publication The Daily Caller,

A dark money group with ties to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced Tuesday it will spend over $500,000 on digital ads attacking former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
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@Wally
It's why I'm skeptical of her and her meteoric rise.
Same thing that started ringing alarm bells about Warren.

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3 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Wally's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

Before jumping to conclusions, remember this claim was based on a report from the Daily Caller and spread by Pete Buttigieg who reportedly was a Navy Intelligence officer in Afghanistan after working at McKinsey & Co., a fellow at the Truman National Security Project, and was endorsed by more than 200 national security and intelligence figures.

Release the Brocken!

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@Wally
Mayor Pete has been sinking in the polls.
Why would anyone bother to drop half a million dollars attacking him? Especially Bernie, since Pete's base isn't Bernie-friendly?

If I was to guess, one of Pete's big donors gave him a call and said "I gave you a lot of money. Work harder! Do whatever you've got to do to make yourself relevant."

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Wally's picture

@gjohnsit

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Wally

smear Bernie before Iowa?

"OK, Liz, you're gonna start us off. If he weathers that, Hillary will step up to the plate. Of course, any attack from Hillary will be taken very seriously and have great impact with the ordinary folk, so that'll probably take care of Bernie. However, if he isn't ground to paste by that point, we'll stick in the knife by sending Pete to take care of it."

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13 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Wally's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

We'll no doubt soon enuff see what happens when Obama shows up:

[video:https://youtu.be/UmtuRRhtGQw]

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Wally

Just finished writing a response to you about how this was like a batting order--Obama's the slugger in fourth place who's supposed to come and clean up, bat all the runs in. However, unfortunately for them, they have one person on base and two outs.

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10 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

TheOtherMaven's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

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2 users have voted.

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@TheOtherMaven

I wonder what that would be, politically? What would constitute a political bunt?

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal The way Hillary ran her 2016 race. Her selection of Tim Kaine. If Dems should select Biden for 2020.

Well, that last one may be more like when the batter stands at the plate, bat on shoulder, and takes three called strikes.

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0 users have voted.

I see that Bernie is surging but also that Biden is sliding. I don't think it was because of the debates. Many more people have heard of Biden strong-arming the Ukraine government to stop the investigation of Hunter than have watched the "debates". In choosing impeachment to protect Biden, the Democrats have further exposed Biden to the public.

I don't know about elsewhere but Dems I know, including Hillary dead-enders are cold to "using his office for personal gain" as that's standard practice in Illinois. And "seeking dirt on a political opponent" ROTFLMAO. What else does one do with political opponents?
Politics is a blood sport here.

Question: The Feds are pulling down a lot of dirty Dems here for bribery and corruption. Gee, why didn't this happen when (ex-Illinois senator from Chicago) Obama was President?

Addendum: This is not recent corruption (well yes it is) but a pattern of corruption running back at least eight years and sometimes decades, but continuing as there is probably a statute of limitations here. Powerful Chicago Alderman Burke (wife is Cheif Justice of Ill Supreme Court) was caught on a wire shaking down a Burger King for $2,500 for a permit. Burke is a one percenter and something like 86 years old. He should have long ago retired to a extradition proof country instead of shaking down small business for chump change.

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15 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Pricknick's picture

Majority hates DC.

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14 users have voted.

Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

smiley7's picture

contributed $250,000 to Dems running for office thus far from one of her pacs and just recently reported raising $150,000 for her new pac.

otherwise, this story reals of political shenanigans.

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9 users have voted.

Sanders has had a couple weeks of the right people saying wrong things about him. Mainly the NYT and Clinton. The public eats that stuff up. Gives lots of cred to Sanders. The timing is good too.

I still think it's kind of sad a guy who should be kicking back has to run for president. There should be five or so others with similar message and pizzaz, but there aren't.

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13 users have voted.

The more the establishment media lies the less they are believed. And in this election cycle they are telling some whoppers.

@ban nock

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9 users have voted.

such as cell phones versus land lines became hot topics for establishment mouthpieces to emphasize at every possible mention of these polls favoring Bernie.

I love Krystal and The Hill Rising, and I am glad they treat their guests with the utmost respect. But they had an ex-Kerry campaign official as a guest, and he was tripping over his words trying to downplay the importance of Bernie having the higher number. Suddenly a few percentage points aren't really a significant indicator.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@entrepreneur @entrepreneur

Makes me sad. I hate to see really good qualities broken down by various forms of corruption. Kerry had some excellent qualities, enough so that Nixon apparently recruited a journalist to follow everything he did and attempt to smear him at every turn. (That's really where the politics of defamation started to become the only politics we have. Fucking Nixon.)

Kerry was the last Presidential candidate I trusted. Well, the last establishment Presidential candidate I trusted. Bernie, Tulsi and Mike Gravel were not produced nor served up to me by the establishment. They only "let" Bernie run because they assumed he would get no traction and would end up more or less like Martin O'Malley. Jon Stewart even did a piece on it, where he mocked Bernie for his lack of name recognition.

Bernie and Tulsi are not candidates of the establishment.

EDITED because I inadvertently posted this incomplete while rocking out to "Judas," a very pertinent song, for Warren especially:

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9 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
When he conceded to Bush after 4 minutes without putting up any fight I started to wonder if whatever it was that caused Al Gore not to fight was the same thing that caused Kerry not to fight. And considering that the Bush team, both times, included both Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, anything is plausible including bribery, blackmail, and murder threats.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@entrepreneur

Remember how Edwards came out at 11 p.m. and said they were going to fight it? Then, around 3 a.m., they said they weren't?

What happened between 11 and 3? A phone call, perhaps?

I won't speculate on what they were using to threaten him, but the limits to what is plausible are frighteningly broad.

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5 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Lily O Lady's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

may have had more than one skeleton in his closet.

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1 user has voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Lily O Lady

but I don't believe Kerry would have thrown the election for Edwards. I think it had to be a threat to either Kerry himself or something or someone he held dear. I have some ideas about that, but I hope they're wrong and it doesn't matter anyway, so I'd just as soon not give them oxygen. We can all imagine what the threats might be for ourselves...

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2 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal me at all he didn't contest the election. Infuriating, but not surprising after we all saw how he sat on his hands for weeks during the campaign while the R's SwiftBoated him to near oblivion.

I might have thought he would have taken note, maybe remembered the still-fresh Dukakis Disaster by his fellow Bay Stater, and said, I've got to get out there with gloves off, right now. It's about my reputation after all. And the war hero thing is like half the basis for my candidacy.

We might have thought he would show a more fighting spirit but then, checking the scorecard, we remember he's a Dem -- and Dems are Too Nice and Civil to Fight.

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0 users have voted.

N.H. appears over

Between a WBUR poll taken in Dec. 2019 and one taken this month, Sanders nearly doubled his support in the early primary state from 15 percent to 29 percent. And while he was previously behind both former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden, Sanders now has a solid lead over their 17 and 14 percent, respectively.

New Hampshire was also a stronghold in the 2016 campaign for Sanders, where he ended up with 15 delegates to Hillary Clinton's 9. Still, more candidates this time likely will translate into a more split vote.

It's important to note this poll isn't approved by the DNC, so its results don't count toward qualifying for the next Democratic debate.

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