Surprise For NYT: BERNIE IS ELECTABLE!

[ConservativeDemocrat]

135. In truth, the main issue in 1992 was that no one thought Bush would go down...

...he'd just prosecuted a successful war, after all. Everyone was absolutely sure that he would sweep back in that many of the actual "adults" in the room stayed out. Brown wasn't seriously considered. At the time he was still dragging around the "Governor Moonbeam" moniker, hung like an albatross around his throat. Kerrey was seen as a wordy northeastern politician, and Tsongas - who was Clinton's most natural rival - didn't have a powerbase within the party. Finally, you talk a lot about Clinton's "charm", but again don't seem to want to recognize the most basic foundation of that charm - he stayed almost completely positive all the time.

In terms of 2010, you're still not getting the basics. Harry Reid hung on by the skin of his teeth in Nevada, but only because Angle was the exact kind of "take no prisoners" screamer that Bernie is for the left. Sure, she got huge numbers in the Republican base to come to her rallies, but the more she exited her base, the more she turned off everyone else that she needed to break for her. This was especially true right at the end, where Reid was down 3% right up until the election, but then won by 5.5%, showing that all the late deciders just didn't like her. That race was the Republicans to lose, and they lost it.

Or look at Christine O'Donnell in Delaware. That seat was an absolutely 100% guaranteed GOP pickup if they'd chosen Michael Castle, the moderate Republican, well liked even in a very Democratic state.


I won't dispute that Republicans primary voters are motivated by negative campaigning. Republicanism seems to be a largely negative mindset. But if you fight fire with fire, people think you're all arsonists.

The opposite of racism isn't reverse racism, it's no racism. The opposite of denigrating the poor, isn't denigrating the rich (1%), it's saying everyone should have opportunity. Democrats are not a radical left wing party, they're a moderate party, a "lets all get along" party. That's their brand. You try to campaign like an angry extremist, you lose as a Democrat - at least at the Presidential level. Why do you think Republicans have been pushing the "angry black man" meme at Obama for the past decade? It would only work for them if that ever became the perception.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community