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??

that=what

I agree with you about the broad statements Pitiless. But I think that much of that is fueled by US television, which presents a very skewed view of what Americans are like.

Speaking of gay marriage, I did get into a fairly acrimonious discussion on here a while back about marriage equality. In responding to some anti-American comments, I pointed out that same sex marriage was legal in some states in the US for some time before it was legal anywhere in the UK. And more to the point perhaps, it is now legal everywhere in the US, but not everywhere in the UK.

I think Bernie has done remarkably well, especially given HC has the backing of Wall Street. what Bernie has is millions of ordinary Americans who've sent small amounts of cash for his campaign. When If Bernie wins the Democratic nomination Wall Street and the mass media will rally behind Rubio whoever wins the Republican nomination. And they will lose.

Western Illinois University have correctly predicted every president since 1979; their prediction is for Sanders to win.

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.

Exactly this. If say, Gordon Ramsay was standing for the leadership of tory party against George Osborne and Theresa May, where do you think the interest from the US and the world's press would be?

I can't fucking stand Hilary Clinton.

I love a strong woman (see my borderline obsessive previous posts on other threads about Queen Latifah), but I find Hilary Clinton very off-putting. I am not sure why. Also, her politics are ho-hum. Sanders is much more dynamic, and his ideas are in-line with what I would like to see happen in the US. I think he will win.

I have had to change political parties in order to be able to vote for him in the primary election in my state* (had to change from Independent to Democrat), and I never thought I would do that. He is the only Democratic candidate for president that has inspired me to do that. I hate that there are only two major political parties in the US and I have resisted registering as a Democrat up until now because of that.

*in some US states, including mine, the presidential primary elections are "closed" and only members of a political party can cast a vote for their choice of presidential candidate for that party. In some states, independent, or non-party-affiliated voters can cast a vote in the Republican or Democratic primary.

Is Sanders the US equivalent of Jeremy?

I love Bernie! I am sad that Hilary beat him in the Iowa caucus. She is the bankers yes (wo)man.

Go Bernie!

I've been following Robert Reich's Facebook blog about the US election. He's very pro Saunders.

Hilliary Clinton just seems like Tony Blair to me. The status quo, leftish but little imagination or will for change.

Sanders will not win as along as he is willing to call himself a socialist. Unfortunately, the S-word is deadly in the US. That's just a political fact. Also, I don't support Hillary out of any sense of resignation. I have supported her for a long time. For one thing, she is farther to the left than her political persona, and certainly farther to the left than Bill. And she is a feminist, which is very important to me. I voted for her in my state's primary in 2008 and will do so again in 2016.

Bernie Sanders is plenty savvy, and is aware that socialism is a misunderstood concept in the US. We have "socialist" institutions galore here-public schools, fire departments, police departments, the military, are all supported by taxes for the common good. He has been able to explain, and will likely continue to explain, ways in which a more socialistic approach will benefit the US. I have talked to many conservatives here and they do understand that some institutions should be socialized-health care, for example.

I think people will get it, I really do. People here are more sophisticated than we know and this election will prove it.

My bottom line with Hilary Clinton is that she does not endorse a single payer health care system (or at least she does not admit that she endorses one) and that is something we desperately need here.

She seems competent, and experienced, but she does not go far enough.

Why on earth are British people interested in this? The news this morning devoted so much time to a pre-election pre-election for an election that we have no say in. It's like the US media spending half an hour on a Barnsley by-election. Can't see it happening.

Obviously if you're American I can see why you might be interested.

I must admit I am impressed by Sanders He has identified the sickness in American society where rich elite closely connected to politicians have disconnected from the people. In the old days Americans believed in the American Dream where everyone could make their own fortune by hard work. That is no longer true and I think that is why US voters have come to understand better that some socialism is good in some areas of life - healthcare, good schooling, community policing, national security to name a few.

Pitiless - I agree with you that Sanders is putting his finger on something very important and he is articulating that well. I also think Trump in a different way is tapping into that. I like both Sanders and Trump.

The other candidates on both sides seem insincere and purely there for the power and that is it. Non of them appeal. A real fight between Trump and Sanders will be interesting.

I personally think if Hilary wins the Democratic nomination and Trump wins the Republican one then Trump will wipe the floor with her in the Presidential race. If Sanders wins the Democratic nomination and say Rubio wins the Republican nomination I think Sanders will become President.

I do think that privately she supports a single payer system. But it's an idea whose time has not yet come in the US, and sometimes, to get elected, politicians have to "evolve' on an issue.

Pitiless I agree with you about much of socialism being misunderstood, but I don't share your confidence in the level of sophistication of much of the US electorate. Many hear "socialism" and they don't think of public education and the military. They think of the expansion of the welfare state, of greater government involvement in the lives of Americans, of taking away guns, all manner of concerns. The American vision of the social contract is based on individual rights and limited government, even among many on the left.

Why wouldn't we be interested Boris? This is not a Barnsley by-election, it's the first round in the race for the most powerful political office on earth.

Plus, the Republican race has been comedy gold .

To answer the OP, I quite like Bernie, but like Trump's, his supporter base is narrow (young, white, educated liberals versus Trump's older, white, uneducated conservatives). I can't honestly see him beating Hillary. His relative success in Iowa was quite well signalled by improving opinion poll results and he's going to do well in New Hampshire, but the people who know about these things seem to think that he will struggle in the larger states with a less white demographic.

It wasn't a "tremendous" showing last night, he did well but not as well as the last underdog to take on Hillary (Obama in 2008).

I'm hoping he wins the nomination. I think if Clinton one it would be the Democrats Corbyn moment; someone who appeals to those already committed but is anathema to floating voters. I think Sanders can win the presidency but don't have confidence Clinton can.

And although I consider myself right wing in British politics, I think the last thing the world needs is a hawkish Republican president to inflame things.

Sanders will not win as along as he is willing to call himself a socialist. Unfortunately, the S-word is deadly in the US. That's just a political fact

Tell that to Kshama Sawant, the first socialist to be elected in Seattle since 1916.

I think Bernie will win, because far too many Americans are sick of the status quo, and Bernie is the only candidate on either side who's consistently voted against corporate interests. The others have all consistently voted in favour of corporate interest.

OK I had a read. I think he's the closest to reasonable of the whole shebang. Doesn't go far enough on gun control but the ban on semi automatic weapons is a start. Don't know how him being a Jew will affect his dealings with Iran. Could be awful. Could be fabulous.
Reading the anti Bernie comments on PBS was very funny. They're enough to sway me :) Great Britain is a socialist country! And Marx (Karl rather than Groucho?) says Socialism is a path to Communism. That's right, the Tories have got us on a gateway path to Communism.

I've got off Hilary Clinton. I always thought it'd be exciting to have a female president, but she's not the one. She's bankrolled by big businesses, while the majority of Bernie's much smaller donations come from unions.

I like Bernie. I hope we hear more about him in the media over here. I'm so bored of Trump's outrageous shit.

Did you know Bernie's brother was a Green Party candidate in Oxford?

I knew that about Bernie's brother! I was just talking about it with one of my kids.

Bernie Sanders has raised nearly 60m dollars, as I understand it, through 3m individual donations, averaging 20 dollars apiece. That is so thrilling to consider, that his funding is really coming from people of average means, for the most part.

II love him! He's fab, I see a lot of his talks on Facebook through some pages I follow.