The Rise and Fall of Bernie Sanders: A Theory

[Zorro]

Ari Rabin-Havt, a burly, bearded political operative, had been doing events with his boss for three years, since his boss was just 75 years old. But Bernie Sanders had never before asked for a chair. Sanders was as tired as Rabin-Havt had ever seen him, sitting in front of a banner bearing his name at a private fundraiser in a Middle Eastern restaurant in Las Vegas. Rabin-Havt cut the event short. He was a little alarmed, but political campaigns are exhausting, and it had been a long day, beginning early in Eastern Standard Time.

Jesse Cornett, the body man, was with them — his first day on the job. A body man is literally someone who takes care of the needs of the corpus of an important and busy person. It was his job to know how the candidate’s body was faring, but it was not his job to push.

In the car, Rabin-Havt asked if Sanders was okay. Sure, Sanders said. He’d just go to the hotel and lie down. He had a big day tomorrow. Then Rabin-Havt asked about dinner. Sanders said he was not hungry. He hadn’t eaten for hours and hours. Sanders should have been hungry. It could have been nothing, but two alarm bells had just rung for Rabin-Havt, and here came the third: Sanders said he was feeling a tightness in his chest.

Sometimes in high-pressure jobs, at the risk of irritating someone who is paying your salary, you have to substitute your judgment for theirs. Cornett and Rabin-Havt said it at the same time: They should go to an urgent-care clinic. And they did.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/03/23/demise-bernie-sanders-wasnt-only-about-ideology-or-policy-it-was-also-about-candidate-himself/

[zonkers]

1. pay to view firewall. Can't. Won't.

[Demsrule86]

21. I paid because we need our journalist...we need newspapers...pretty cheap.

[MineralMan]

2. Well, I'd love to read that, but I don't read paywall sites.

Too bad, too. Right now, those paywalls should be down.

[George II]

5. If you're using Chrome, open the link in an incognito window.

[MineralMan]

8. It's a matter of principle for me, really.

I know how to get past WaPo's paywall. I just don't do it, in protest.

[Politicub]

3. Here's my abbreviated take

1. He tried
2. He failed
3. Hasn’t entered acceptance phase

[Cha]

17. And, never will.. thanks, Politicub

StaySafe

[The Magistrate]

4. Sanders' Great Mistake, Sir

Was to view his voting strength in 2016 as endorsement of him and his policies. It was not.

He drew many votes from 'working class whites' who have a set against 'uppity broads', and who had been deluged with a right wing campaign of hate for Mrs. Clinton of a quarter-century's duration. 'Bernie' reaped some of the fruits of this aggravated misogyny, and took it for a demonstration 'working class whites' would support 'revolutionary' action in a left direction, if only they were properly approached, by a charismatic leader such as 'Bernie' himself. This has been his life-long dream, and while it is possible to sympathize on that account with his self-deception, it was a titanic error that did real harm to the people and our country. This year, these people are nowhere for 'Bernie', because by and large they voted against his opponent, not for him.

'Bernie' did indeed catch the fancy of youth in 2016. He says exactly the sort of things a dorm-room bullshitter, or any angry young man might say, and since these noises emerge from a lined face beneath a head of grey hair, 'Bernie' lets such young people believe their views are the distilled wisdom of age, which is very flattering for an angry young fellow. This year, 'Bernie' has lost his novelty. He is no longer the current cool thing, not a tune of the day, but something out of a 'golden oldies' segment. Young people are not turning out for him. The numbers of young people voting in the primary has declined, while the number of older voters has increased markedly. These people more ofte that not actively detest 'Bernie'.

By going once too often to the well, 'Bernie' has revealed himself as having failed in his object of promoting a 'revolutionary' turn to the left. Results of the campaign 'Bernie' has pressed this year reveal that even in 2016, what actually was going on was very different from what 'Bernie' imagined it was. One suspects the last person on the continent to realize this will be 'Bernie' Sanders....





"From Bernie’s perspective, dropping out of a race once you have no chance of winning is peculiar behavior that can only be explained by the work of a hidden hand. For most politicians, though, it is actually standard operating procedure. Only Sanders seems to think the normal thing to do once voters have made clear they don’t want to nominate you is to continue campaigning anyway."





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[George II]

6. From what we've seen since February, his "support" now is about half that of 2016.

[StarfishSaver]

7. Yes.

You are so eloquent.

Thank you!

[Indykatie]

10. Bernie Knew He'd Have Less Support in 2020 but He Planned to Win in a Crowded Field and Would Have

had Amy and Pete not dropped out so soon. He had a 30% strategy to get him to the convention with more delegates than the other 4 or so candidates. He'd then dare the Dems to give the nomination to anyone but the person with the most delegates who he thought would be him. Lucky for us unplanned sh*t happens in politics just like in life.

[msongs]

11. bernie is pushing ideas I had 40 yrs ago lol nt

[The Magistrate]

13. When People Praise Him For Consistecy, Ma'am, And Sticking To His Principles

What they really mean is that he hasn't learned a thing in half a century, and is perfectly happy about it.





"From Bernie’s perspective, dropping out of a race once you have no chance of winning is peculiar behavior that can only be explained by the work of a hidden hand. For most politicians, though, it is actually standard operating procedure. Only Sanders seems to think the normal thing to do once voters have made clear they don’t want to nominate you is to continue campaigning anyway."





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[FM123]

9. Sometimes you can go through the paywall.

Click on link then immediately press esc key. Takes a few tries, but sometimes works.

[yaesu]

12. There is no fall, he is a rising star. nt

[Happy Hoosier]

14. O RLY?

To where? Dude is old. This was it. He's done. And he ends his career throwing a tantrum rather than as statesman. Kinda sad.

[Cha]

18. BS overwhelmingly Lost & he Spent 4x the $$$ to do it

than Joe Biden did to WIN.

[Happy Hoosier]

15. The long and short of it is...

He had a pretty hard ceiling in the party of somewhere in the 30's, and he never seriously tried to expand his base. His policy intransigence, coupled with his lack of people skills killed him. He appealed to a few "true believers." The rest of us saw through him.

[LizBeth]

16. Since his own people admit he has failed, why won't he get out of race, behind Biden, except for ego

[BlueIdaho]

19. Money?

Running for President can be a real cash cow.

[LizBeth]

20. Looking to get that fourth or fifth house. Look at his history with money, he never did well

in his personal financial life.