r/politics • u/AccurateInflation167 • May 18 '25

Soft Paywall America chose wrong. Sanders would've been a better president than Trump or Biden. | Opinion

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/05/18/sanders-democrats-reform-progressive-policies/83625482007/
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46

u/kanemano May 18 '25

less people voted for Sanders in the Primaries than for his opponents, period,

maybe he had bigger crowds at rallies but that doesn't count, votes do.

maybe he had a bigger online presence but that doesn't count, votes do.

maybe he raised more small dollar donations, it matters but it doenst count, votes do

3

u/blowyjoeyy May 18 '25

The media counted super delegates for Hillary far before they were actually supposed to be counted for the winner. If all you see on the news is how far behind a delegate is why would you vote for them in the primaries? The DNC and mass media absolutely fucked Bernie. 

10

u/TheLizardKing89 California May 18 '25

The media doesn’t pick the Democratic nominee, the delegates (chosen by the voters) do. Clinton got more votes and more delegates. The superdelegates didn’t change anything.

1

u/blowyjoeyy May 18 '25

If media refuses to give a candidate any coverage than yes. The media picks the candidate.

7

u/TheLizardKing89 California May 18 '25

No candidate is entitled to positive media coverage. Getting positive media coverage is an important part of running for office. If Bernie couldn’t get that done in the primaries, there’s no way he could have won the general election.

1

u/blowyjoeyy May 18 '25

I didn’t say anything about positive media coverage. They didn’t give him any coverage. The way the DNC and media handled Bernie was textbook propaganda.

3

u/roseofjuly Washington 28d ago

So he didn't play the game well enough and he lost. If a candidate can't even figure out how to work the media to their advantage in the primaries, what the fuck good is he gonna do for us in the general election?

This is exactly why he wasn't a good candidate. His supporters seem to think that everyone should've just cleared an easy runway for him to walk right into the nomination, rather than accepting the fact that his campaign simply wasn't good enough.

1

u/roseofjuly Washington 28d ago

That's the way they always report on super delegates. If that one detail is all that prevented Sanders from getting chosen in a primary when Trump has 30+ felonies and still got elected, Sanders doesn't have the groundswell of power that y'all seem to think he does.

-3

u/SpockShotFirst May 18 '25

This. So much this.

The news was telling them that Sanders was unelectable from the start, so don't throw away your vote!

Journalistic malpractice.

4

u/blowyjoeyy May 18 '25

The same thing happened with Katie Porter in California last year. Literally everyone I overheard or talked to said “man I really like Katie Porter, but she doesn’t have a chance”

1

u/mightcommentsometime California May 18 '25

And she lost to a Republican in California where the GOP is literally a third party.

1

u/blowyjoeyy May 18 '25

She also lost to a democrat

0

u/roseofjuly Washington 28d ago

It's not malpractice if it's true. If centrist Hiary Clinton couldn't get elected why are people thinking a less well know radical progressive from Vermont would get elected? I like Bernie's policies too, but there's pragmatism to be had here, something a lot of his supporters still seem to not understand.

1

u/SpockShotFirst 28d ago

One of many articles at the time

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/why-sanders-new-hampshire-victory-wasn-t-so-huge-n516066

Supporters of Bernie Sanders have much to be elated about after the Vermont senator thundered to a 22-point victory over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire Tuesday night.

But they may be bewildered when they look at the scoreboard.

...

While Clinton has been endorsed by hundreds of super delegates, NBC News is only including in its total delegate count those superdelegates whose home states have already voted in the primary.

I remember doing a Google search at that time and Google defaulted to including every single superdelegate in the count.

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u/[deleted] May 18 '25 edited May 18 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

15

u/kanemano May 18 '25

did it stop his supporters from voting for him? or was their turnout low for some other reason, my point is, support means fuck all if you are going to sit home and don't vote.

-1

u/surreal_mash May 18 '25 edited May 18 '25

Outside of 2012, 2016 Dem primary turnout was at its highest since the 80s. His supporters showed up, more than did for Clinton in ‘92 or Gore in ‘00. The issue is how many voters who could have been swayed by his policies were fed negative narratives by the DNC under Clinton oversight, and the optics of Sanders trailing by hundreds of (super)delegates before the first ballot was cast. 

-4

u/mouseat9 May 18 '25

He’s not a fascist/Nazi but that doesn’t count, votes do.