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Excellent post

If Bernie gets elected, I’ll just chalk it up to The fact that our nation is getting what it asked for, what its been fighting to get for years, and it isn’t good. We are slowly being turned over to reprobacy

I can only hope that the ultra left eventually shows what they are sooner than later by imploding before they destroy our nation

Bernie leads nationally with 32% with Bloomberg 19% and Biden 18% coming 2nd and 3rd.

Candidates face pressure to exit presidential race

Pressure is mounting on some candidates to drop out of the Democratic presidential primary race as moderates scramble to unite their faction around a single contender and prevent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) from gaining an insurmountable lead in the nominating contest.

The pressure is most acute for Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and billionaire activist Tom Steyer, both of whom posted lackluster showings in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday and face increasingly difficult paths to the nomination.

But other candidates, including former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, also are facing heat.

Even former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who notched top finishes in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary but has struggled to gain traction among minority voters, is facing questions about his prospects as the contest turns to more diverse states, like South Carolina and those that hold their primaries on Super Tuesday.

“I think sooner rather than later, a bunch of these candidates are going to have to understand that they don’t have a viable path to the nomination and need to get behind someone,” said Rufus Gifford, the finance director for former President Obama’s 2012 campaign who is backing Biden.

Biden himself will hear calls to exit the race if he does not win South Carolina’s primary on Saturday.

The onetime front-runner in the race, Biden finished second in Nevada but saw his campaign land in the dumpster with disastrous results in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“For months, Biden’s people have been saying that South Carolina is their firewall,” Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist, said. “If he doesn’t deliver on Saturday, he’s going to be under tremendous pressure to drop out whether he wants to or not.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has placed third, fourth and fourth in the first three contests, but believes she is building momentum after a solid debate performance last week. She will need to build more momentum at Tuesday’s debate and then see that turn into votes if she is not to face calls for her to bow out of the race.

There is growing concern among Democrats opposed to Sanders as their party’s nominee that he could amass a lead so great on Super Tuesday, when roughly a third of pledged delegates are up for grabs, that it would become nearly impossible for any other candidate to catch up to him, let alone surpass him.

The field is also poised to get larger on Super Tuesday, when Bloomberg will appear on primary ballots across the country, raising the possibility of an even-more fractured moderate vote.

None of the candidates are likely to drop out before the South Carolina primary on Saturday, frustrating some Democrats.

“They’re all clogging the drain and no one is accepting any responsibility for it,” one Democratic strategist who has worked on recent presidential campaigns said.

There aren’t any signs that the candidates are facing pressure to drop out from congressional leaders, who have so far been reluctant to inject themselves into the Democratic primary race, given the large number of current lawmakers seeking the party’s nomination.

Klobuchar’s best showing in the nominating contest so far was a third-place finish in New Hampshire. But her sixth-place finish in the Nevada caucuses over the weekend underscored her ongoing struggle to build a diverse coalition of voters, and recent polls suggest that she’s not positioned any better in South Carolina, where a majority of the Democratic electorate is black.

A CBS News–YouGov survey released on Sunday showed her running in a distant sixth place in the Palmetto State with 4 percent support. Among black voters, she notched only 2 percent support.

“Her rationale for staying in the race is pretty shaky,” Bannon said. “She hasn’t really won anything yet to show that she’s competitive.”

Speaking to supporters in Minneapolis on Saturday after the Nevada caucuses, Klobuchar said that she had “exceeded expectations” in the Silver State and would continue on to South Carolina and Super Tuesday, when her home state of Minnesota holds its primary.

Asked by a reporter on Sunday about her rationale for staying in the race, Klobuchar said,“Why would I get out? That’s not even a close call for me.”

Steyer is banking on a top finish in South Carolina’s primary on Saturday to salvage his presidential prospects after finishing near the bottom of the pack in the first three nominating contests. He has spent heavily in the state and is among the top-polling candidates in the lead-up to the primary.

But Steyer, who has yet to win a delegate, faces long odds to win the nomination. Critics say he is effectively siphoning off votes from Biden or Buttigieg.

“Tom Steyer should absolutely be looking for an exit sign,” Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist, said. “His money would be far better spent protecting down-ballot candidates and down-ballot incumbents. He’s not going to win. He’s not going to be president.”

Advisers to Bloomberg’s presidential campaign warned in a memo issued last week that Sanders would be “all but impossible to stop” if three candidates — Biden, Buttigieg and Klobuchar — continued to splinter the moderate vote.

“If Biden, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar remain in the race despite having no path to appreciably collecting delegates on Super Tuesday (and beyond), they will propel Sanders to a seemingly insurmountable delegate lead by siphoning votes away from [Bloomberg],” wrote the advisers, Dan Kanninen and Mitch Stewart.

Another memo from Buttigieg’s campaign sent to reporters days later made an identical argument about Bloomberg’s presence in the race.

“If Bloomberg remains in the race despite showing he can not offer a viable alternative to Bernie Sanders, he will propel Sanders to a seemingly insurmountable delegate lead siphoning votes away from Pete, the current leader in delegates,” Buttigieg’s campaign wrote.

Buttigieg now has 24 delegates to Sanders’s 35. Biden has 10 delegates, while Warren has 8 and Klobuchar has 7.

One major Democratic donor said that there’s little incentive for any of the candidates to end their campaigns right now, arguing that they each have arguments for remaining in contention.

“Why would Pete drop out now?” the donor said. “He basically won the first two states and came in third in Nevada. Why would Amy drop out? She can also make the case that her fundraising is good and she’s exceeded expectations. And Bloomberg and Steyer won’t feel any pressure to drop out. Certainly if Biden wins South Carolina, he’ll stay in.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/484443-candidates-face-pressure-to-exit-presidential-race

They want them all out.

If Steyer and Warren drop out, the majority of their supporters will support Bernie. I think about half of Pete's will too.

GOP casts Sanders as 2020 boogeyman

Republicans are eagerly watching Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) surge toward the Democratic presidential nomination.

GOP lawmakers and strategists believe Sanders, who identifies as a democratic socialist, is not only beatable in November but could have a disastrous down-ballot impact for Democrats in key congressional races.

“I would think that in a lot of those swing states it’s a very complicated factor to have him at the top of the ticket if you’re a down-ballot Democrat running for House or Senate, I would be really concerned,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican.

Asked if he thought Sanders’s surge was a “blessing,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is up for reelection, called it “a little scary that there would be that much support for an avowed socialist.”

“It splits the Democratic voters, the people who don’t like President Trump very much but when presented with that option might say, ‘Well I’m not going to vote for a socialist. I’ll vote for President Trump rather than do that,’ ” Cornyn said.

The predictions that a Sanders nomination would be a headache for Democrats comes as he holds a lead in the hunt for delegates while moderates remain torn among several potential alternatives.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), in a video taken while he appeared to be driving down a road, said “unless the Democratic establishment steals it from him,” Sanders would be the nominee.

“It’s a big deal for America, and I hope people start waking up to that reality,” Rubio added.

Sanders, who has diversified his base since his failed 2016 White House run, is showing up as a boogeyman for Republicans looking to defeat Democrats up and down the ballot.

Steve Guest, the Republican National Committee’s rapid response director, argued on Monday that Sanders’s ideas are a “danger to America and to our way of life.”

“Good luck Democrats who may try and distance themselves from Sanders’s praise of communist dictators,” he added.

Sanders caused a headache for Florida Democrats on Monday when the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) seized on remarks about Cuba he made the night before on “60 Minutes,” saying that “it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad” just because it is associated with Fidel Castro.

In two separate email blasts by the NRCC, the group questioned if Florida Reps. Donna Shalala (D) and Stephanie Murphy (D) would support a “Castro fanboy.” Both have disavowed Sanders’s comments.

“Does this mean Stephanie Murphy will refuse to support Sanders when he is the nominee? Or will she upset her socialist base instead?” asked Camille Gallo, a spokeswoman for the NRCC.

A GOP strategist pledged that Republicans would use Sanders as an anchor to pull down Democratic Senate hopefuls.

“Right now, Bernie is their front-runner, and socialism doesn’t sell in the Atlanta suburbs, in their Charlotte suburbs and in the Phoenix suburbs,” the GOP strategist said, referring to the Senate races in Georgia, North Carolina and Arizona.

Sanders, who supports free college education and “Medicare for All,” is already being name-dropped in key Senate races as Republicans try to activate their base. While most of the 24 Senate seats the GOP is defending are in safe Republican states, a handful of key toss-up races are expected to make or break the GOP efforts to hold onto the majority.

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), appearing with Trump at a Colorado rally last week, pledged that Republicans would fight “socialism.”

“There was a dangerous thing that happened in 2016. It was the normalization of socialism by Bernie Sanders,” he said.

Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) recently called former astronaut Mark Kelly, who is likely to be her Democratic opponent, the “the 51st vote for all of Bernie’s wildest Soviet-style fantasies.”

McSally is running for the final two years of the late Sen. John McCain’s (R) term. Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), has distanced himself from the tag, noting that he’s a “capitalist.”

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is trying to reclaim his old Senate seat in Alabama, sent out a fundraising blast earlier this month after Sanders won New Hampshire, warning about the spread of “socialism.”

“I know Bernie Sanders well. I confronted his extreme ideas and spending policies for years on the Senate Budget committee where we both served. I went toe to toe many times with him. I was the leading opponent of these extreme ideas on the committee,” he said in the email to supporters.

Republicans have worked for months to make the 2020 election a referendum on “socialism.” It’s a narrative they think is a good fit for Sanders.

An ABC News-Washington Post poll found that 31 percent of adults say they would be less likely to support Sanders if he was labeled as a democratic socialist and 38 percent said so when labeled as a socialist.

Even as Republicans have worked overtime to make Sanders the face of the Democratic Party, there are a slew of warning signs against underestimating the 78-year-old’s potential strength as a general election candidate.

An ABC News-Washington Post poll found Sanders leading Trump in a potential head-to-head match-up, similar to several of the Democratic candidates.

It also found that 30 percent of Democrats or Democratic-leaning voters believe Sanders is the best choice to beat Trump — the highest percentage for anyone in the still-crowded 2020 primary field.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) warned during an interview with “CBS This Morning” that he thought Sanders is Trump’s most difficult potential opponent.

“I would say that the biggest threat to President Trump is President Trump. ... If there is a second choice other than himself it would be Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders brings that outside game in a similar fashion that President Trump did in 2016,” Scott said Monday.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/484438-gop-casts-sanders-as-2020-boogeyman

The GOP is attacking him hard because they don't want him to run against Trump. They wouldn't come at him like this now if they were giddy about him getting the nomination. All that hype about Trump wants to run against Bernie was BS. Trump was happy Clinton didn't put Bernie on the ticket in 2016 admitting on tape that it would have been a game changer.

If someone like Sanders gets elected I want to be there when every single one of his supporters from the middle class find out they have to pay out the ass in taxes.

That won't happen though because nobody but economically illiterate lunatics support Sanders. His own party doesn't even support him right now. Personally I think the Democrat party is dead.

Nope. And you will be paying more taxes. Especially you, because we are going to create a new densa members tax. Yep, you and Trump and most of his supporters are going to have to pay more for the right to be so willfully ignorant about pretty much everything.

Former Vice President Joe Biden notched another gaffe Monday night in South Carolina when he discussed his experience negotiating the Paris Climate Agreement -- with a Chinese leader who has been dead for decades.

"I'm the guy that came back after meeting with Deng Xiaoping and making the case that I believe China would join if we put pressure on them," Biden said.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-s...r-deng-xiaoping

Go gettem Joe!

Sad, he was told to bring his hamma to Nevada but brought his hammock instead.

It didn't help that he had no idea what all of his programs were going to cost either.

Yea, he better be prepared to answer some tough questions for tonight’s debate.

Bloomberg caught him with a few jabs last time. Will this time be haymakers?

I don't know. And while I can't say how much it divides the Democratic party as a whole, I can say how much it divides my house.

My wife and I would vote for Bernie if he gets the nomination. My actual reasoning for that is first, I'm an anyone but trump voter. But secondly it's because I know Bernie will never get his agenda passed into law. For all of the rah, rah, pro Bernie rants we hear, medicare for all is never going to happen at this point in time. Neither is free college. Nor free day care.

It's all a hypothetical impossibility.

We have four voters in my household. I know two of us would vote for Bernie. One is on the fence about him and one would most certainly not vote for him. All four of us voted for Obama.

What this will do is tear the Democratic party apart only to insure that moving forward the party will be so fractured it will lose its ability to elect anyone. Bernie is the answer to Republicans prayers.

I actually can’t wait for tonight ... lots of interesting angles starting with Mikey and how prepared he is ... then how many are going to attack Bernie ... then will Warren go after the burn or keep herself alive as a potential VP for the bern ... many more interesting “side battles” after that ...

Should be an interesting/fun few hours ...

I'm waiting for the name calling to begin. Like "Little Mikey" and "Lying Bernie". You know, those in depth comments that tend to sway voters.

For sure it’s going to be a tough sell.

My wife reminds me that in Europe, Bernie is a moderate. But I have to explain to her that the majority of the country is center-right, even with those who vote Dem. so when somebody like Bernie comes along, it really is a culture shock and a lot of people will naturally push back on that.

But then I have to ALSO remind myself of this: none of bernie’s ideas are anything new or shocking really. We’ve been hearing this from our leadership since Atleast the 1940’s. How much of bernie’s ideas be relevant today if FDR didn’t pass away?

What if Kennedy didn’t get assassinated?

Lots of factors when considering Bernie Sanders.

Just read YOUR PRESIDENTS tweets and u shouldn’t have to wait long ....

Its “no boxes” now ... try and keep up ...

The real question is will Bloomy lick the blood off Bernie's neck? I agree, Bloomberg's best moments were going toe-to-toe with Bernie. I expect a lot more of the same.

Yea. I also think this could be the final death blow to Biden. He’s starting to be a bit incoherent on stage and I have to wonder about his health. had a wave and lost it, and has struggled to close the gap.

Bloomberg can definitely have sanders on the ropes, but the audio that just dropped on Bloomberg is gonna have warren roaming at the mouth. Bloomberg is just what the doctored order as far as her campaign goes. So I can see warren indirectly providing cover for Bernie.

However, this is where Pete and Klobuchar come into play, as they WONT be distracted by Bloomberg. They’re attention will be on each other and attacking Bernie.

Welcome to front runner status, Bernie. It gets ice cold reaaaal quick.

Bernie really took a massive L with the Latino community in Florida. Florida could have very well been in play this election for him, with healthcare and such. But instead he found a way to piss off the Cuban community in the area.

Good job.

There are. And it's not like a lot of the things he says he wants to accomplish aren't goals I think are good. It's the fact that I understand that our nation as a whole will not embrace all of these wholesale changes at one time. It's just never going to happen.

Saying you have a plan to pay for things that you have no idea what they will cost is a crazy notion to try and sell.

What I do find amazing is how all of those European nations pay for the same things Bernie is endorsing while those who oppose him keep coming up with some end of the world scenarios why it will ruin our country.

I don't think that's true, while at the same time I realize the American people will never support those wholesale changes overnight.

I agree with that, but isn’t that also the frustrating part that got trump elected to begin with?

People got tired of the can getting kicked down the road. Regardless of whether I think their policies and ideas are good or not, from that perspective, people are tired of waiting around.

Yea, nobody wants wholesale changes overnight, but we’ve put surgery off for so long in this country that other organs are starting to be effected. At some point the stitching has to get ripped out so we can get to work.

People are now earning less than those 20 years ago, yet we keep hearing that we need more time. A lot of people are sick of it.

And it’s tough to support that kind of perspective when government certainly hasn’t had an issue snapping their fingers and making wholsesale changes for the wealthy. So why is it all of a sudden a problem for the middle and lower class? We always have to wait, while they get whatever they want, when they want.

It’s why Bernie Sanders is the front runner. It’s also why trump ended up the front runner in 2016.

But Bernie does

Such

A

Horrible

Job explaining to American people why such changes are necessary. I mean he gets the academia kids who don’t know [censored], but for the rest of us....it comes across like he’s trying to put a cap on people’s success. As if somehow my dreams Or anyone else’s need to have a limit.

And I hate that because that’s not his intentions with the policies, but then can’t Articulate that to the masses. Warren can, but for whatever reason, she isn’t left enough.

Honestly I feel like trump supporters. Making a better argument for policies than the freaking leader can.

Actually the changes that have been made to benefit the wealthy have been done through a very long process. Beginning with Nixon and being followed up with every GOP president since. Maybe it went back even further but I've only been alive for so long.

And while I do understand what you're saying, much as you have described, I don't think Bernie is a man who can who can sell those wholesale changes. And the numbers strongly dictate that you can't win the presidency without garnering a lot of the independent vote. At this time it's simply not a winning message.

If you look at Trump's message which helped get him elected, a lot of it was directed the fact that people simply did not and do not trust the government. They see the inefficiency with which it is ran. Bernie's message is to trust the government by a much greater margin than ever.

I just don't think that's going to sell.

Poor Sleepy Joe.

Jc

One of the questions I hope gets ask is why is the trump administration not on the same page with the CDC?

Conflicting statements and offering nothing but confusion.

SMFH, Trump fired the people that should be handling the corona virus issue and never replaced them.

J\C
Now their blaming Trump for the CORONA Virus LMAO.

Warren with the respectful diss on sanders.

Lol ok Pete that was clever.

Warren is back on the attack on Bloomberg. She’s shooting for the VP slot. Sanders leads everything and she’s attacking Bloomberg who’s not even been on a ballot yet.

What is wrong with this picture?

Because Bloomberg is trying to buy his way in.

I love warren roasting Bloomberg over his funding of republicans. The fact that Bloomberg’s response was “I’ve been training for this job since 9/11” is beyond scary.

I find this post to be reasonable and passionate. I like that combination.

Bro, I don't follow this stuff like you do.............why did Warren fall of the map? I don't know much, but she is my favorite.

And again........I will NOT vote for Bernie.

Sanders is ridiculous. Medicare for all will lower costs. LOL

The Pocahontas issue is still dragging her down a bit.

There some other issues but....we can’t be about identity politics then support someone who ran with a Native American heritage. So liberals are hesitant.

Short term, no.

Longer term, probably.

Pete coming in strong.

Long term we’ll be Venezuela.

Or Denmark.

Can someone please retire Joe already? He is such an embarrassment.