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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#183951: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:45:21 AM

[up] Yeah good luck with that. He's literally the most popular Senator among his constituents in the entire country. Polonium in his tea is he only way the democrats can expect to rid yourselves of him, and fortunately the US politics aren't nearly as fucked up as Russia just yet.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:53:12 AM by CaptainCapsase

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#183952: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:46:25 AM

[up][up]At this point I'd be prepared to try it.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#183953: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:47:27 AM

[up][up][up] As annoying as he can be sometimes, he still votes rather often with the Democratic Senators.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:47:35 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#183954: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:47:57 AM

Because the amount of effort to get rid of Sanders would be far greater than what the Democrats can reasonably do with the resources they have.

The only reason he got away with his bullshit in the primary was because he was an Independent not a lifelong Democrat.

New Survey coming this weekend!
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#183955: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:52:41 AM

[up][up] About 95% of the time; he's a reliable vote in the senate for progressive causes, and while his contrarian tendencies are oftentimes unhelpful, ideally it will keep the party honest.

KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#183956: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:55:06 AM

I'll confess, the Bernie complaints annoy me to, as what I really want to happen right now is us joining together to oppose Trump.

Mind you, Sanders has made this difficult as well, as that article illustrates. Why endorse this Mello guy over Ossoff? What does the former have that the latter doesn't? Hell, what's so bad about the latter that isn't true about the former?

That being said...look, I fail to see how kicking him out of his Senate seat would make him any less vocal - if anything, it'd make him moreso. It would not be hard at all for such an act to be spun as the Democrats trying to kick progressives to the curb. And despite everything, he does vote on our side.

And honestly, I think that Sanders might have his finger on the pulse of what younger, left-wing voters want more than some Democrats do.

Oh God! Natural light!
SophiaLonesoul Since: Apr, 2012
#183957: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:56:28 AM

[up]x6 If he is so loved then running an actual Democratic candidate won't hurt him but it might dispel some of the aura of perfection that seems to constructed for himself. If he isn't we could get a senator who will still vote with the Democrats but isn't being a giant ass about other Democrats not being his kind of progressive.

edited 20th Apr '17 9:57:20 AM by SophiaLonesoul

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#183958: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:56:42 AM

[up][up] The recent Bernie complaints only seem excessive because this Ossof and Mello thing came up not too long after that one article tweeted by Sanders which referenced Spencer and the interview in which he outright said "I'm an Independent". Sanders barely gave us time to cool off.

edited 20th Apr '17 10:02:30 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#183959: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:57:44 AM

And it's funny. Were it not for the NRA, Obama, and the Clintons, he would've never EVER won his Senate seat.

New Survey coming this weekend!
Mio Since: Jan, 2001
#183960: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:59:02 AM

@Morning Star: That's a truly awful idea that would almost certainly doom the left here as it did in the UK.

Like it or not Sander's is probably one of the most popular figures on the left now, and you can't expect just ignore/ get rid of him without consequences.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#183961: Apr 20th 2017 at 9:59:39 AM

@Karkat: Sanders was personally campaigning for Mello, which is something the party actually wants him to be out there doing since he did quite well in the rural midweatern States like Nebraska. Meanwhile in the relatively red Georgian suburbs Ossoff is running in, he's not considered nearly as valuable, in fact he might very well be a liability. It would be helpful though if he just kept quiet about races like that.

edited 20th Apr '17 10:01:47 AM by CaptainCapsase

Wryte Since: Jul, 2010
#183962: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:03:02 AM

The problem isn't that he's not campaigning for Ossoff, it's that he's being actively detrimental by denouncing Ossoff for no apparent reason.

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#183963: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:03:41 AM

@Karkat

I would love to stop complaining about him. But for that to happen he would need to actually start helping the Democrats. Or at least stop actively sabotaging as he did in the case of Ossof. If he cannot or will not stop that though—and I'm not seeing any evidence that he's going to stop—something needs to be done about him. What that would be, I don't know.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#183964: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:05:32 AM

[up][up] In an off-hand comment during an interview which seems to have gotten heavily publicized by right wing sources; he needs learn when to simply bite his tongue rather than speaking his mind now that he's a major political figure, but I don't think he's trying to sabatoge Ossof's campaign.

edited 20th Apr '17 10:06:25 AM by CaptainCapsase

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#183965: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:07:13 AM

Because the Washington Post, which also reported on it, is such a right-wing source.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#183966: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:08:43 AM

[up] It was originated by the WSJ, which is definitely right wing, and important enough that when they report on something most other news organizations have to run their own story on it.

edited 20th Apr '17 10:09:01 AM by CaptainCapsase

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#183967: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:10:42 AM

That's nice. Has he denied the quote? Clarified his position? Taken it back? Altered his stance? No. In fact he's repeated the quote and went from "I don't know if he's progressive" in The Wall Street Journal to "he's not progressive" in The Washington Post. He has, in short, doubled down on his stance.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#183968: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:13:24 AM

[up] Which is something he really shouldn't be doing now that he has a national audience, but I definitely think there's an element of media looking for drama (and that's the norm across the political spectrum as seen with Trump's non-stop coverage) in this story becoming as significant as it has rather than a deliberate effort to undermine the party.

edited 20th Apr '17 10:20:01 AM by CaptainCapsase

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#183969: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:15:41 AM

Bottom line: Sanders said something he really shouldn't have said. Hopefully this won't endanger Ossof's chances of winning or further divide the Democratic Party.

And hopefully he'll avoid doing or saying or tweeting something else stupid for at least a week or two.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#183970: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:23:14 AM

@ the 100-day report card article

As Donald Trump nears the 100-day mark in the White House, voters are grading his performance on a partisan curve.

Republicans are inclined to give him good grades on his performance in office so far — mostly A’s and B’s. Democrats are tougher in their assessments — mostly D’s and F’s, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.

That's quite the difference, even accounting for tribalism in the electorate.
Republicans and Trump voters view Trump’s presidency more positively, but he isn’t earning straight “A”s from his base.

“There’s a persistent media narrative that President Trump can do no wrong among his base of supporters,” said Kyle Dropp, Morning Consult’s chief research officer and co-founder. “But this polling suggests that, at the very least, many of his voters see room for improvement. Forty-two percent of Trump voters grade his first 100 days a ‘B,’ and another 23 percent give him a ‘C’ or worse.”

voters are similarly divided on the future trajectory of his presidency. While 44 percent expect Trump’s performance to get better, just as many say it will get worse (30 percent) or stay about the same (16 percent).

There’s more optimism about his ability to mature in office among Republicans: More than 3 in 4, 76 percent, think Trump will get better. A majority of Democratic voters, 53 percent, expect Trump’s performance to get worse.

Those numbers don't lend themselves to a conclusion that the GOP is wavering on Trump. They can just as easily be read as GOP sticking by their man (76% think he'll get better), or unpleasable but loyal fanbase. (Though there was an article some time ago that featured how some in the GOP were attacking Trump as "the establishment" before he'd even gotten comfortable in the Oval Office).

I would look at this one.
Voters also split evenly on an early read on the 2018 midterm elections: Forty percent would vote for the Democratic candidate in their district, and 40 percent would vote for the Republican. One in 5 voters is undecided.
This is potentially the action that follows, though tis very telling that it is split 50-50 with some odd undecideds (probably chronic nonvoters/ apolitical types). What this result does say, is that it may be easier to debunk the both sides are the same narrative this time around and turn out more of the base to the polls.

edited 20th Apr '17 10:24:40 AM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#183971: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:25:09 AM

[up] I just hope that whatever mistakes Trump makes that might push more people to vote Democratic ticket aren't the kind of mistakes that get lots of people killed. Or tossed out into the streets after losing jobs and homes.

edited 20th Apr '17 10:27:04 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#183972: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:27:07 AM

@M84: Hopefully not; Sanders is pretty much a non-factor in Georgia, particularly in the district Ossoff is running in, but when you're a nationally notable politician you can't just be tactful when you feel like it. My hope is that Sanders simply isn't used to being nationally relevant and these sorts of comments will become less common after a while.

edited 20th Apr '17 10:29:41 AM by CaptainCapsase

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#183973: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:28:29 AM

[up] Eh, he's over 70. I doubt he'll be able to change easily. At that age people are pretty set in their ways.

edited 20th Apr '17 10:30:29 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#183974: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:33:27 AM

Sanders has been nationally relevant since he chose to run for President. If he hasn't learned in that year, he's not going to learn now.

MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#183975: Apr 20th 2017 at 10:33:44 AM

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

edited 20th Apr '17 10:34:01 AM by MorningStar1337


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