Sanders plans to run in 2020

[Starlight]

Staffers have confirmed that Bernie Sanders is looking very seriously at running again for President in 2020. The Sanders team by their actions seem to be gearing up for another run: Releasing a book, visiting Iowa, fundraising for the DNC etc.

Polling has always shown that Sanders would beat Trump, with Sanders 12 points ahead of Trump in polling on election day and recent polls showing Sanders would win by 13 points against Trump if the election were held today. Sanders has repeatedly polled as the most popular politician nationally, and also has the highest favorability rating of any US senator within their own state.

It seems like a given that the nation's most popular politician ought to run for President.

Last time many democrats accused him of having never done much to help their party and fund-raise for it. This year Sanders has attended more party rallies than any other democrat. Clearly he is working to get the DNC establishment on side with him this time, instead of having them work against him like in 2016.

The only snag is his age. He'll be 79. And thus would beat Trump's record as the oldest president elected in US history. Of course, people are living longer these days than they used to, so naturally that record should reasonably get repeatedly broken. FDR and Reagan both suffered from deteriorating health while in office, and as long as the VP is liked and competent (e.g. an Elizabeth Warren and not a Sarah Palin) then the president dying in office isn't overly a problem. Ironically, a lot of the corporatist democrats who dislike Sanders' more left-wing policies are using his age as a argument for why he couldn't run, while at the same time supporting Joe Biden who's policies they prefer, who is only one year younger than Sanders. As video footage in 2016 showed, Sanders is still perfectly capable of running to catch a train and sinking basketball shots. Assuming he is still alive and reasonably mobile in 2020, I don't see why he couldn't do the job well.

[Mountain Man]

Polling has always shown that Sanders would beat Trump, with Sanders 12 points ahead of Trump in polling on election day and recent polls showing Sanders would win by 13 points against Trump if the election were held today.

Polling also showed Hillary beating Trump by a landslide, but we know how that worked out.

[Starlight]

Polling also showed Hillary beating Trump by a landslide

No it didn't. It always showed it was very close between Trump and Clinton. That was a major reason I was against Clinton being the democratic nominee, because it was clear from all the polling that her chances of losing were high.

but we know how that worked out.

Yes, the polling was correct and Hillary won the national vote by the amount the polling predicted.

[Mountain Man]

Revisionist history at its finest.

Here's a little trip down memory lane:

Business Insider: New poll shows we're 'starting to hear the faint rumblings of a Hillary Clinton landslide', "A poll from Quinnipiac University released on Thursday gave Hillary Clinton a massive advantage over her Republican counterpart, Donald Trump, just 75 days before November's election."

Huffington Post: How Hillary Clinton Could Win In A Landslide, "Hillary Clinton leads another round of battleground polls."

MSNBC: Could Hillary Clinton win in a landslide?

Vanity Fair: Hillary Clinton Could Be Headed for a Landslide, "A slate of new polls shows Clinton on pace to decimate Trump."

RedState: Another New National Poll Shows Trump Losing in a Landslide

Daily Kos: Hillary Clinton will win in a landslide, "Recent polls have shown the Secretary leading by large margins."

The Washington Post: Is Clinton headed for a landslide win? Here’s one reason it could happen. "The other day, New York Times polling analyst Nate Cohn laid down a useful marker for gauging whether the conditions are taking shape for Hillary Clinton to crush Donald Trump in a landslide."

The Wire: Renowned Polling Analyst Predicts Landslide Victory for Hillary Clinton, "Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has an 80.3% chance of winning the US presidential election, prominent polling analyst Nate Silver has said."

And on and on it goes. I could post another dozen articles at least, but I think you get the idea.

To pretend that polls didn't predict a huge win for Hillary is almost delusional.

[Sparko]

Yeah not even the democrats in general like Bernie, just the socialists. And I think his age is a huge factor. He even looks really old. Trump at least seems younger than he is and is pretty vital. Bernie looks like he needs to walk with a cane and will collapse at any moment.

[Leonhard]

Has Bernie Sanders personally confirmed this, or is this by word of mouth of an associate?

[Bill the Cat]

79? Hell, I would have pegged him for 90 easy...

[psstein]

It was pretty common knowledge among both political parties that Sanders' popularity was largely a result of him being ignored and the GOP focusing its attacks on Hillary.

Sanders for President would be George McGovern all over again. Do you really think the Wall Street people who supported Hillary are going to support a socialist who wants to break up large banks?

[One Bad Pig]

Revisionist history at its finest.

Here's a little trip down memory lane:

Business Insider: New poll shows we're 'starting to hear the faint rumblings of a Hillary Clinton landslide', "A poll from Quinnipiac University released on Thursday gave Hillary Clinton a massive advantage over her Republican counterpart, Donald Trump, just 75 days before November's election."

Huffington Post: How Hillary Clinton Could Win In A Landslide, "Hillary Clinton leads another round of battleground polls."

MSNBC: Could Hillary Clinton win in a landslide?

Vanity Fair: Hillary Clinton Could Be Headed for a Landslide, "A slate of new polls shows Clinton on pace to decimate Trump."

RedState: Another New National Poll Shows Trump Losing in a Landslide

Daily Kos: Hillary Clinton will win in a landslide, "Recent polls have shown the Secretary leading by large margins."

The Washington Post: Is Clinton headed for a landslide win? Here’s one reason it could happen. "The other day, New York Times polling analyst Nate Cohn laid down a useful marker for gauging whether the conditions are taking shape for Hillary Clinton to crush Donald Trump in a landslide."

The Wire: Renowned Polling Analyst Predicts Landslide Victory for Hillary Clinton, "Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has an 80.3% chance of winning the US presidential election, prominent polling analyst Nate Silver has said."

And on and on it goes. I could post another dozen articles at least, but I think you get the idea.

To pretend that polls didn't predict a huge win for Hillary is almost delusional.

You should have paid a little closer attention to Starlight's assertions, which explicitly referenced election day polls. Yes, at some points (particularly after the audio tape surprise) Hillary looked to be winning handily, but that's not what's being referenced.

Of course, as far as I can tell, candidates who aren't running get a bit of a bounce because there's no skin in it.

[KingsGambit]

The liberal base should be plenty energized. That role was Bernie's for the taking as Hillary clearly wasn't doing it, but that shouldn't be necessary come 2020.

[Bill the Cat]

Yes, the polling was correct and Hillary won the national vote by the amount the polling predicted.

[rogue06]

It was pretty common knowledge among both political parties that Sanders' popularity was largely a result of him being ignored and the GOP focusing its attacks on Hillary.

Sanders for President would be George McGovern all over again. Do you really think the Wall Street people who supported Hillary are going to support a socialist who wants to break up large banks?

Sanders was also liked because of his reputation for being honest and a straight shooter. This has taken a serious hit with the scandal he and his wife are now mired in.

[rogue06]

Yes, the polling was correct and Hillary won the national vote by the amount the polling predicted.

Which is why anybody with at least two working brain cells utterly ignore polls like that since they're entirely irrelevant.

[Jin-roh]

Staffers have confirmed that Bernie Sanders is looking very seriously at running again for President in 2020. The Sanders team by their actions seem to be gearing up for another run: Releasing a book, visiting Iowa, fundraising for the DNC etc.

Polling has always shown that Sanders would beat Trump, with Sanders 12 points ahead of Trump in polling on election day and recent polls showing Sanders would win by 13 points against Trump if the election were held today. Sanders has repeatedly polled as the most popular politician nationally, and also has the highest favorability rating of any US senator within their own state.

It seems like a given that the nation's most popular politician ought to run for President.

Last time many democrats accused him of having never done much to help their party and fund-raise for it. This year Sanders has attended more party rallies than any other democrat. Clearly he is working to get the DNC establishment on side with him this time, instead of having them work against him like in 2016.

The only snag is his age. He'll be 79. And thus would beat Trump's record as the oldest president elected in US history. Of course, people are living longer these days than they used to, so naturally that record should reasonably get repeatedly broken. FDR and Reagan both suffered from deteriorating health while in office, and as long as the VP is liked and competent (e.g. an Elizabeth Warren and not a Sarah Palin) then the president dying in office isn't overly a problem. Ironically, a lot of the corporatist democrats who dislike Sanders' more left-wing policies are using his age as a argument for why he couldn't run, while at the same time supporting Joe Biden who's policies they prefer, who is only one year younger than Sanders. As video footage in 2016 showed, Sanders is still perfectly capable of running to catch a train and sinking basketball shots. Assuming he is still alive and reasonably mobile in 2020, I don't see why he couldn't do the job well.

I don't know if Sanders will or should run again. The only argument I heard against him that seemed persuasive is that Sanders is weak on international policy. It has never seemed his passion and thus not his area of focus. This didn't bother me so much in 2016, because I also care much more about domestic policy and don't think that one administration could do much different than continue the empire we're all kind of stuck with.

I do agree that he would need a strong VP. A Sanders/Warren ticket would probably be pretty popular within anyone not conservative.

[Sparko]

I don't know if Sanders will or should run again. The only argument I heard against him that seemed persuasive is that Sanders is weak on international policy. It has never seemed his passion and thus not his area of focus. This didn't bother me so much in 2016, because I also care much more about domestic policy and don't think that one administration could do much different than continue the empire we're all kind of stuck with.

I do agree that he would need a strong VP. A Sanders/Warren ticket would probably be pretty popular within anyone not conservative.

The democrats could run an actual donkey and get a lot of the liberal "out with Trump" vote. They need to run someone who can get votes from the middle of the road democrats and some of the republicans. I don't think any ticket with Sanders and Warren would do that.