To wonder why no one is mentioning Bernie Sanders' great showing in Iowa?

[PitilessYank]

I have seen some threads recently about the US presidential election, in particular expressing horror at the popularity of Donald Trump, whom many Americans in fact loathe. It makes me wonder if MN users only enjoy posting negative things about US politics, and prefer to ignore the positive, like the tremendous showing of Bernie Sanders yesterday in Iowa.

Do MN users enjoy a bit of Schadenfreude when it comes to US politics? Where is the praise for the good judgement of Iowans in rejecting Trump (relatively speaking) and showing support for the best presidential candidate in many years, Bernie Sanders??

Most folks haven't heard much about him, he's not getting a lot of play time in the media over here, compared to Trump. I only know about him from American political websites and my rebel-colonist friends.

But I agree, the first avowed socialist (as far as I'm aware) to rate so highly in an American election is undoubtedly big news. In a world that seems increasingly choked by right wing moral austerity I'm hoping he's the beginning of a sea change.

I like Bernie! I would vote for Bernie (if I hadn't renounced by US citizenship, that is) which is very odd given that I'm as Republican as they get. I've obviously been influenced by living in the UK.

I have quite a few fb friends who support him. I'm still trying to work out exactly who is supporting Trump given that I have friends across the spectrum and not a single Trump supporter.

Do you think he is not getting a lot of publicity over there because the UK has a decidedly dim view of Americans? Sanders is huge news in the US, and has been very since he announced his candidacy. He is extremely popular. I guess I see it as a sign of the dislike that people in the UK feel for America and Americans.

(I may be being a bit oversensitive because it seems like I am reading more and more disdainful posts about the US on Mumsnet. It bugs me because I really like this site and there is nothing else like it.)

I don't know too much about him but it sounds like he could be very interesting. I do think the Democrats would be taking a risk going with Hillary because she's a woman :( and because she has the Clinton baggage.
It's a shame that the Trump circus is taking up the whole stage.

Noofly!! My husband is a Republican, I am much more left-wing, and Sanders is the first presidential candidate that we have both supported in 20 years of marriage! His full-spectrum appeal is very interesting.

I've only become aware of him in the last couple of weeks and I'm excited and hopeful.

It is huge news. On another thread I was sharing that many voters here have serious concerns about HC and I wasn't sure how electable she is. I have said for a long time that HC isn't a slam dunk for the Democrats. She has a lot of obstacles to overcome.

Sanders is cleaning up the votes for the under 40s and with independents, just as Obama did. Rubio is getting the votes for the under 30s too. 35 seems to be cut off for when voters start to switch to being HC/Trump supporters.

This is a huge election for America. Last election we had our first black president (which isn't technically right because he is half white and raised in a wealthy white family). This time we have a Republican front runner (for now at least) who isn't anti-abortion and a Democrat who is a proper socialist. I think this is a shift in America that represents the change from being a 'new' country to one that is more established.

But Giddy, the Trump circus is actually taking up very little of the stage here. That's what surprises me, that on MN it is as if Trump is the only candidate who matters!

We're being fed a distinctly tainted view of the US election by the majority of the media. The remarkable showing of Sanders in a country where 'socialist' is a dirty word has been played down, while Trump's defeat in Iowa has been reported as a trouncing, despite it actually being by a very small margin in a seat he was never going to win.

This is more complicated than just left and right, as our heavily right-wing dominated press is consistently anti-Trump (the Daily Heil and the Torygraph most conspicuously so). I can only think they're either terrified of him being selected as he'd be unelectable amongst most of the US electorate; or that he represents an anti-establishment force that genuinely terrifies their press-baron owners.

Anyway, interesting times! Whoever wins in the end, the huge support for the anti-politics Trump or Sanders is going to have to be recognised by the new President-elect.

Over here it is Trump Trump Trump on the media and because Claig is so entertaining in her pronouncements of glory it gets people commenting. I suppose the UK don't have any angle on this yet because we're not far into the process. As people drop out of the race and the serious contenders emerge then our media and MN will pay attention more.

Noofly Trump supporters, demographically, are apparently over 35 with an income below $50k a year and no college degree. That is according to CNN.

There was a demographer on CNN this morning who went through the voting profiles and who they were voting for. Then he put up the numbers of the population. It was very very interesting and this shift really is a function of changing demographics in this country. I recall living here as a child in the 80s and there were Hispanics but not the number you see now. Spanish was not the second language. Now my DC go to school and everything in their class is labelled in English and Spanish. The television has just as much spanish language as english. The Hispanic population is HUGE in this country now over such a short period of time. The demographer was saying that a higher percentage of young people are voting for Democrats. Interestingly the demographer then looked at votes per area. From what he was saying the GOP only do so well because young people are concentrated on the coasts in cities. If they were more spread out the GOP wouldn't stand a chance.

I think its a little unfair to say that British people hate americans. I certainly dont and neither does anyone i know (that i'm aware of!). I think its partly down to apathy towards anything regarding politics and only hearing about Trump via the main stream media as to why its only him being discussed more than any hatred towards America.

in my book, if the red hot chili peppers are supporting Sanders, its good enough for me!

I think Trump mainly gets coverage over here because of his high media profile in the UK - The Apprentice and Scottish golf clubs.

I only know about Bernie Sanders because I spend a lot of time on Reddit. He seems to me much farther to the Left than I would ever have expected mainstream voters to go for. Speaks lots of sense from everything I've read.

PitilessYank I am actually relieved to find that I am not the only Republican Bernie supporter.

I think the media here focuses on the big names to begin with. There has been so much focus on Trump as well. I bet not many people here know much about the rest of the GOP candidates (and that's not a criticism). I know loads about Ben Carson, for example, but that's because I have a ton of SDA fb friends who have been debating him for months, but I haven't seen much, if any UK press about him.

Noofly; well, I'm a socialist, and always had a sneaking admiration for Ron Paul!

Left/right labels aren't always sufficient for describing our allegiences!

'That's what surprises me, that on MN it is as if Trump is the only candidate who matters'

You must be aware that the news channels here are mainly focused on Trump at the moment? He's a 'celeb', he gives good soundbite and people find him (in the main) ridiculous. Even people who have no interest whatsoever in American politics will have an opinion on Trump.

Iowa was only yesterday so at the moment it's only really filtered through here to proper news junkies. Up to now Bernie Sanders has only been mentioned in passing in the British news but I'm sure Channel 4 news will be all over it this evening.

I do think you're being a tad oversensitive. But 'yay' for Bernie, I do like the look of him!

I'm a Bernie supporter but have noticed a lot of media outlets like Rabid Feminist steering away from him.

He MUST be shaking things up then! Good good!

I like the cut of Bernies jib! I hope we do hear more about him in the press here, the only things I've read about him are on Reddit or imgur.

Can he actually win?

Sanders hasn't made a good showing (unless of course by that you mean 'gets any votes at all'). To be on course for the nomination he needed to sweep Iowa - it's one of the states that is electorally most favourable to him. This makes it more likely than not that Hillary will win the nomination, because she will take the states with large numbers of African American and Hispanic Democrats, and take almost all the superdelegates. She only needs to break even among white voters - which is exactly what she has done in Iowa.

I have been on MN for years I think you are right PitilessYank, this place can be very anti-American sometimes. I'm not from the USA btw but I have noticed it, and cringed about it many times.

With reference to the election, most of what I have seen has been about Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Over the weekend that Hillary Clinton was struggling to come across as trustworthy over the whole emails at home thing.

Trump is a gift to the popular press. From his flapping hair to his outrageous comments, and there was the whole saga about should be be banned from the UK.

Not seen much about Bernie. Hopefully that will change now though.

I was a big fan of the series The West Wing which explained how the US Presidential nominations and elections worked, but I think some Brits are a bit confused by the process at times.

I've read obsessively about this election cycle and the caucuses, but I don't know why you should expect the average Brit to know much about it. It is seismic, it is important, but the election is still very far away.

SO far away. A lot of Americans must suffer election fatigue long before it finally rolls around.

I think some Brits are a bit confused by the process at times.

So are a lot of Americans.

I'm a lefty Democrat, and I like Bernie a lot, but he has no chance of winning the general election. So I am firmly in Hillary's camp. I do think that his success so far has been very good for the country.

As to MN being anti-American, I think there is some of that on here, but for the most part, I don't think it's widespread and it's not personal against American MNetters. And if you hide Baby Names, you can avoid most of it.

Paulapantsdown-I do think that Sanders could win! People are predicting doom for him in the southern states, but the same folks predicted a big loss for him in Iowa. He is extremely likable and has solid ideas about single-payer healthcare, doubling the minimum wage, making higher education free, all ideas whose time has come in the US, and then some.

Mitzy-IABABitSensitive, I just care that Mumsnetters think about me and my American ilk! Also, I do think, like Poulet, that MN can be harsh about the US. Sometimes we deserve it, but when I hear people making broad statements about the US I think it is borne of ignorance. This country is amazingly heterogenous, and I live in Pennsylvania, and what happens in South Carolina or California is very foreign to me, in a way. It is like 50 small countries who have the misfortune to have their politics messily intertwined, and thus, change can be slow and ponderous. I was so thrilled when gay marriage was made legal on a national basis, but of course it happened state by state first, over several years. I predict the same process for the development of Single-payer healthcare, and we are seeing the same incremental movements toward increases in the minimum wage.

I must admit to having some grudging respect for Trump, even though his politics are abhorrent, because he is so contrarian in so many ways. He is a pompous ass and a sexist creep but he does speak his mind-no political correctness from him! And his Tweets are hilarious. Also, if he helps divide the Republican vote and get a Democrat elected, I will send him a little thank you card and maybe even hand-knit him a little hat to cover up his ridiculous comb-over.