Now that Bernie Sanders has been informed that the Kremlin is trying to support him (whether he likes it or not) he has officially become a viable candidate who may actually desire to make real systemic change. In a way the Russia connection accusation can now be worn as a badge of honour by Gabbard and Trump due to them truly being a limited threat to the status quo. Sanders got a gentler version of this form of Deep State virtue signaling by just being told that Russians are pushing for him on their own, meaning that there “may be hope for him yet” to turn around and jump right back on the Beltway bandwagon. Ultimately, the #Russiagate tactic did not disway voters from electing Trump but it did eat up a massive amount of his precious time/resources as US President and put an invisible Iron Curtain between any possible positive cooperation between America and Russia. This “collusion” revelation of dubious validity for Sanders will probably have a similar impact on his campaign and possible time in the Oval Office as it did with Trump, but regardless he is the only chance the Democrats have of winning in 2020.
Democratic and Republican voters are obviously different in their beliefs falling onto one of two different sides of every wedge issue, but one thing unites all American voters – no one actually cares about Russia or really any foreign power. Over the last 6 months, less than 0.5% of Americans said their primary concern was “Situation with Russia” based on polling by Gallup. (Gallop lists all concerns with a tiny response at 0.5% meaning that literally one person could have listed this as their big issue and it would be rounded up to half a percent). If we then take a look at the biggest concerns that Americans do have, then not surprisingly it is things like the economy, healthcare, government/poor leadership, immigration, poverty and surprisingly unifying the country.
This has been a consistent fact for decades, the American voter is vastly more concerned about things that affect them personally than some greater threat or ideological goal. America is a society of individualists so naturally most people’s demands from power are based their own individual needs. There is nothing surprising here, except for the desire to “unify the country” which has not been a priority in previous years.
Photo: Bernie speaks to youth better than men half his age
Perhaps some people in the Beltway are concerned with Russia, but the voting masses are not and the narrative that “Bernie is getting help from Moscow, but then again he didn’t ask for it and is not involved” is very weak sauce. This will not dissuade any real large number of people away from voting for him as the Democratic Candidate.
What Sanders offered in 2016 that got crushed by inner Democratic Party moves and Hillary Clinton is still fresh and relevant today – “Free” Stuff and cutesy poo Socialism. Just like last time the only hope the Dems have is the man from Vermont with the thick New York accent as all the other candidates are dismal offerings to the public. Sanders’ position is what a large portion of the population wants. Is it viable and can Sanders actually do it? These questions do not matter as the average voter does not think about them, they want their college debt annulled and medical care guaranteed and who cares how it gets done. Sanders promises this clearly and bluntly while the others are too busy looking at percentages from focus group reactions to shift their image from day-to-day. Bernie is really the only choice for the Democrats to compete with Trump.
Graphic: A simple message that is deeply relevant to Americans is what gets votes
Biden managed to throw away all the years of positive brand recognition that he had attained thanks to standing next to Barack Obama by allowing #Russiagate to meltdown into #Ukrainegate expositing his corrupt dealings in America’s newest colony. Additionally there are lots of videos of Biden inappropriately touching children, which is far more important from an electoral standpoint. Biden had it and lost it.
Tulsi Gabbard as a female veteran (who doesn’t look White) should have gotten the Left excited, but instead they trounced her as she seemed unwilling to play ball. Yang has one idea (Universal Basic Income) and the complete lack of personality needed to push it. Elizabeth Warren has all the problems of Hillary Clinton while still managing to have less humanity on camera. Stuffy anti-gun nut Buttigieg will probably give the Republicans the largest amount of minority votes seen during our lifetimes. Bloomberg is a boring version of Trump who seems to be obviously trying to buy his way into the election, which will ultimately backfire. Who is this Amy Klobuchar woman and how did she actually get a tiny amount of delegates? Bernie’s competition is a joke.
Sanders, despite being the old rich bald White guy the Left claims to loath, is head and shoulders above anyone else in terms of his ability to deliver a message and get a positive reaction out of people. Basically, he has the showmanship and the ability to relate to people well enough to get the youth and minority vote. Most of all, he promises free stuff that he is going to tax us for which is the naive instant gratification solution that the masses want. The entire country has brutal college debt and the fear of life-crushing medical debt. Even though Sanders has almost zero chance of actually getting Scandinavian Style Socialized Medicine or a Student Loan Amnesty accomplished, just the promise alone is very tempting. When faced with the option of possibly getting tens of thousand of dollars of debt cancelled vs. a 0% chance of that happening with Trump, well you can see whom debt ridden Americans will be casting their ballots for.
Yang’s Universal Basic Income also speaks to the millions of voices fighting to get from paycheck to paycheck but he was unable to deliver it. Sanders has the charisma and the big pleasant sounding simple solutions that the common man will buy into. If the Democrats again somehow try to sabotage Bernie, then they will be the ones feeling the “Bern” as they will be utterly crushed by Trump, allowing the Republican party to continue its transformation from the perception of a pro-business party to one of a multi-racial pro-Constitutional populist party. The DNC can either back someone they don’t like or shoot themselves in the foot, but judging by their overall irrational political views and emotion driven logic they are probably already trying to put the “magazine” in the revolver as we speak.
