22 votes

Bernie Sanders Raises $6 Million After Announcing Presidential Bid

11 comments

  1. [3]
    DonQuixote
    Link
    In 2016, it was my impression that the primary going to Clinton was not only a disappointment to young progressive voters, but a harsh dose of the reality of politics running this country. But...

    In 2016, it was my impression that the primary going to Clinton was not only a disappointment to young progressive voters, but a harsh dose of the reality of politics running this country. But now... all these enthusiasts seem to be coming back with a vengeance. The enthusiasm is if anything, greater.

    I'd love to see him debate Trump directly.

    7 votes
    1. [2]
      Amarok
      Link Parent
      The Dems misread the last election cycle. America was pissed (isn't it always, but more than usual) and wanted to elect an outsider candidate. Trump looked like an outsider, and so did Bernie....

      The Dems misread the last election cycle. America was pissed (isn't it always, but more than usual) and wanted to elect an outsider candidate. Trump looked like an outsider, and so did Bernie. Hillary, on the other hand, was the paragon of the democratic establishment, the anointed one, and also to her detriment the ghost of 90s politics. She'd been demonized relentlessly by republicans to other republicans for decades.

      The dem's first clue should have been that Bernie was filling stadiums while Hillary was having trouble filling gymnasiums. The corporate wing of the democratic party fought back, and won - but that also cost them the election. Hillary was establishment, Trump was not. That simple fact sealed the election. The dems had to piece their party back together and concede by adopting Sanders' entire platform. Even then, there's still a ton of bad blood out there - Bernie fans who hate the DNC for rigging the game on Bernie (which is a fact), and Hillary fans who are still upset that this old fart came along and in their minds, denied America it's first woman president.

      Add russian trolls and bots to pit them against each other and we have this election cycle. I'm honestly worried that the dems won't be able to play nice and will end up eating their own. So many are going to run, and the dems have to fall in love to unify. Let's hope someone out there can charm them all and pull it together.

      3 votes
      1. DonQuixote
        Link Parent
        Your comment about the trolls and bots is extremely insightful. At this point online, except perhaps for this forum where I believe every member is vetted, there are probably more bots than we can...

        Your comment about the trolls and bots is extremely insightful. At this point online, except perhaps for this forum where I believe every member is vetted, there are probably more bots than we can even imagine. I hope I'm wrong.

        When I see all the comments on Reddit on SandersForPresident, they seem like carbon copies of the posters last year. I'm totally suspicious of all of Reddit now.

        On my phone I have a news app. I'm convinced that algorithms are feeding my feed, so to speak, based on everything they know about me. And when Bezos owns the Washington Post and China owns Forbes, it's just a matter of time before the internet becomes total misinformation, as irrational and chaotic as the Stock Market.

        If this sounds like a rant, it's not meant to be. I'm really interested in the outcomes of the changes happening in our society now, from pickup grocery and fast food options to delivered everything and beyond. We're truly living in a time of accelerated and technological change.

        1 vote
  2. [6]
    alyaza
    Link
    this is a fairly impressive first day sum and might be a record of some sort. either way, it demonstrates the importance of infrastructure and networking--sanders far and away has the best inroads...

    this is a fairly impressive first day sum and might be a record of some sort. either way, it demonstrates the importance of infrastructure and networking--sanders far and away has the best inroads of the major candidates right now and that's going to be a pretty big benefit to him (and he's also going to need it) going forward because he's going to have a hard time making a path for himself without doing significantly better with certain groups than he did in 2016.

    4 votes
    1. [5]
      NaraVara
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      I suspect Sanders has a very high floor of support, but I'm worried he has a low ceiling as well. I'm not sure where he's going to pick up additional support to improve over his performance in...

      I suspect Sanders has a very high floor of support, but I'm worried he has a low ceiling as well. I'm not sure where he's going to pick up additional support to improve over his performance in 2016.

      Every place I think of I can only see scope to lose support and not much scope to make gains. I think the only place he will do better is with Latino and African American voters, but that's more due to starting from a very low baseline than anything. Will it be a big enough gain to take him over the top?

      He's got a lot more headwinds this time around. He's the front-runner instead of an insurgent, so the competition is actually going to be gunning for him in earnest unlike the kid gloves he was treated with in 2016. Other candidates, like Warren, have actual progressive bona fides as well unlike when he was up against Hillary Clinton, the avatar of entrenched establishmentarian thinking. This time, even the establishment candidates have picked up most of the easy differentiators of progressivism. $15 minimum wage is mainstream, Medicare for All is mainstream, and the new class of Democrats are all more pugnacious than the reflexively apologetic generation that Clinton came from. He's also old enough now where age isn't just a minus in his column, but actually worrying.

      And this time around he doesn't have the benefit of several decades of character assassination accrued onto his opponent to piggy-back off. He's polling even with Biden (correction) 10 points behind Biden, the only other candidate with similar name recognition. I think he still has a strong path to the nomination, enough to consider him the front-runner even. But I worry it'll be by squeaking through without decisively vanquishing opposition. If he squeezes by on what feels like a technicality, will he be able to unify the party on the other side of the primary? Hillary Clinton couldn't, and the only people gunning for her were the resentful hippie burnouts that comprise the Green Party. Is Sanders went up, he'd have people like Schultz and Bloomberg coming for him with billion dollar ad buys.

      9 votes
      1. [3]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. [2]
          alyaza
          Link Parent
          it probably is accurate to say sanders is one of the front-runners at this point. biden is a paper tiger of a candidate and is likely to collapse if he actually runs because he's well out of step...

          Biden still has a 10-point lead, which is significant. With this in mind, I don't think it's accurate to call Sanders the front-runner at all.

          it probably is accurate to say sanders is one of the front-runners at this point. biden is a paper tiger of a candidate and is likely to collapse if he actually runs because he's well out of step with the majority of the party and mostly bolstered by his name recognition.

          2 votes
          1. NaraVara
            Link Parent
            He's right that Sanders not polling even at the moment though. I saw polling results yesterday that seemed to show them within 3% of each other, but I can't find it again.

            He's right that Sanders not polling even at the moment though. I saw polling results yesterday that seemed to show them within 3% of each other, but I can't find it again.

      2. [2]
        AnthonyB
        Link Parent
        Another significant advantage he has this time around is improved name recognition and media coverage. In 2016 he was hardly mentioned on the major network and cable news programs, in large part...

        Another significant advantage he has this time around is improved name recognition and media coverage. In 2016 he was hardly mentioned on the major network and cable news programs, in large part due to the freakshow that was the republican party. Since then, I've seen him covered much more extensively and invited as a guest surprisingly often.

        2 votes
        1. NaraVara
          Link Parent
          The media coverage thing could be big. For some reason in 2016 the media thought showing Trump's empty podium was a higher priority than Sanders actually giving a stump speech. But Trump is still...

          The media coverage thing could be big. For some reason in 2016 the media thought showing Trump's empty podium was a higher priority than Sanders actually giving a stump speech.

          But Trump is still a factor, and once he's in campaign mode they might go back to the old habit of covering the freak show.

          Either way, I'm going to stop trying to metagame out where things will go. I'm actually inclined towards Warren, but I think Sanders might be more electable weirdly enough. But if he doesn't win, I'm really worried whoever does win is going to do a terrible job of making the people who felt like Sanders spoke to them feel heard and wind up pissing them off.

          2 votes
  3. [3]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. [2]
      Amarok
      Link Parent
      I seem to remember Ron Paul pulling off two big money bombs to the tune of $7m and $9m. Sanders is in that ballpark already.

      I seem to remember Ron Paul pulling off two big money bombs to the tune of $7m and $9m. Sanders is in that ballpark already.

      1 vote
      1. [2]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. Amarok
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Seems I'm mis-remembering a bit. I checked into it and Ron's biggest Moneybomb was $6m in one day. That record was just broken by Sanders by half a million. Sanders also did this in 2016, so this...

          Seems I'm mis-remembering a bit. I checked into it and Ron's biggest Moneybomb was $6m in one day. That record was just broken by Sanders by half a million. Sanders also did this in 2016, so this is nothing new for him... and it's curious he didn't raise more, you'd think that number would have gone up since then.

          1 vote