22nd October 2019, 11:23 PM
So, the NY Times clarified -- Hillary said that she thinks Tulsi is being supported by the Russians, not that she thinks Tulsi is working for them; she was talking about what is apparent, their clear support for her campaign from afar and her pro-Russia/Assad foreign policy positions. The 'her running as a third party' thing, though, was actually about Republicans, not Russians. That makes sense.
Anyway, Russia DID back Bernie in '16. It's pretty clear why, too -- as a spoiler to hurt Clinton, a candidate who was clearly going to win; because Clinton was stronger on foreign policy while he is more isolationist; etc. They are similar reasons to why they helped Jill Stein, though she has more Russian ties of course.
Is Russia backing Bernie again? Probably less so, I haven't heard as much about that his year as I have about them backing Trump and Tulsi, but some of that's just because he's having a much less successful campaign this year I imagine...
As for the word "socialist", while I would like to think that we've gotten past that being a big negative, no, I don't think we have.
As for who has the best chance to win, though, maybe it's Biden, but he has lots of negatives too. We don't have a clear 'really good candidate' like Bill Clinton or Obama (not that I wanted Obama to win that primary, I supported Hillary... but anyway.), so the people we've got will have to do...
As for Bernie this year, he'll fail at the same place he failed last time -- once the primaries start in the south. Bernie still does quite poorly there. That's also what will probably doom Butigieg, he's got minimal minority appeal and you don't win Democratic primaries anymore without it. Biden and Warren both definitely can win though, any maybe someone else will gain strength like she did, so it'll be interesting to follow over the next few months.
Anyway, Russia DID back Bernie in '16. It's pretty clear why, too -- as a spoiler to hurt Clinton, a candidate who was clearly going to win; because Clinton was stronger on foreign policy while he is more isolationist; etc. They are similar reasons to why they helped Jill Stein, though she has more Russian ties of course.
Is Russia backing Bernie again? Probably less so, I haven't heard as much about that his year as I have about them backing Trump and Tulsi, but some of that's just because he's having a much less successful campaign this year I imagine...
As for the word "socialist", while I would like to think that we've gotten past that being a big negative, no, I don't think we have.
Quote:Yet, I've said again and again that you are drastically overestimating the "middle ground". It's shrank down to almost nothing. The only group worth appealing to is the must wider band of progressives, and that's where candidates like Bernie come in. Biden's not going to inspite anyone. He's failing to inspire right now, in public, repeatedly. We don't need moderate democrats any more. They should all just go away. We're trying to DO something here.While it may be possible that Trump is so deeply unpopular that any Democrat can win, appealing to the left parts of the base isn't how you win elections in this country, not on our side. Most all that does is run up your margin in urban areas we're already winning, in states we're sure to win (and Hillary won). That SHOULD be enough, be thanks to our horrendous electoral college system it isn't.
As for who has the best chance to win, though, maybe it's Biden, but he has lots of negatives too. We don't have a clear 'really good candidate' like Bill Clinton or Obama (not that I wanted Obama to win that primary, I supported Hillary... but anyway.), so the people we've got will have to do...
As for Bernie this year, he'll fail at the same place he failed last time -- once the primaries start in the south. Bernie still does quite poorly there. That's also what will probably doom Butigieg, he's got minimal minority appeal and you don't win Democratic primaries anymore without it. Biden and Warren both definitely can win though, any maybe someone else will gain strength like she did, so it'll be interesting to follow over the next few months.