HILLARY VS BERNIE: THE REASON BERNIE IS DOING SO WELL

…The “Rumpled” Bernie Sanders

 

The American public is holding the US Congress in contempt.

 

Bernie Sanders, is a long-time independent Vermont Senator, and a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist.  But no one was more amazed by the current success of his presidential candidacy than Bernie himself.

At this time, Bernie is only 6 points behind Hillary Clinton in the local polls in New Hampshire. However, in the national polls, Bernie is still behind Hillary in large double-digits. 

 

Obviously, with Vermont being next door, the New Hampshire locals are very aware of the Senator.  But most of the country still isn’t sure just who this rumpled, partially bald, white haired guy from Vermont is….?

It is important to understand that Bernie got where he is by way of a skeletal-sized campaign crew.  All of his campaign money, and I mean ALL of it, comes from grass-roots small contributions of less than $100 each.  As compared to Hillary, and most of the Republican candidates, all these candidates have a list of donors giving 6 and 7 figure donations.  Bernie has none of those.

Bernie also does not have a large national operation, yet he has drawn the largest crowds of all the candidates from both parties, and he’s done it across the country.  (28,000 showed up for his speech in Portland, OR)  Many of his speech venues have had to be moved to locations with a larger audience capacity.  This was and is, only because of the huge size of his crowds that want to hear what Bernie has to say.

So, why do you think that Bernie has made this kind of big impression on large parts of the Democratic voter base everywhere?

Well, one of the key areas is, that it’s very important that we first understand how the American public feels about Washington politicians. 

 

The American public is not just mad or upset with the “Do-Nothing” US Congress.  They are instead showing serious contempt toward this group that they elected.  A group that has done nothing for helping them or for fixing this country.  There’s a reason that the favorability rating of the US Congress by the American public is at only 8%.  Yep, 8% approval is the worst rating of the US Congress…..ever!

The reason that the head GOP Clown, Donald Trump, is so far ahead in the Republican polls is that many Americans agree with “The Donald” when he calls these Washington politicians “idiots” and “stupid”.  Just the fact that Trump calls it like he sees it is enough justification for these voters to consider supporting him over the traditional Republican politicians.

Now, when it comes to Bernie, Bernie is a real truth teller, and today, as with Trump, Bernie  also tells it like it is out there.  But Bernie’s talks are about real issues that people care about, not just illegal immigration and making America “Great Again”. He offers a liberal conservation about dealing with the nation’s income inequality that none of the other politicians are doing. 

 

Bernie answers the audience’s questions thoroughly, even when he says things they really don’t want to hear.  Such as when he says that the people are getting exactly what they asked for when they elected these wacky individuals, and installed them into a Washington DC office.

The conservatives mistakenly point to Bernie’s apparent strength as proof positive of how left-wing the Democrats have become.  But they are making the mistake of not seeing that like Trump, Bernie is just saying the things that the people want to hear.  Trump calls those in Congress idiots.  Bernie just tells the people that they need to change their thinking about who they should vote for in 2016.  And he suggests they seek out those running for office that think the way they do.

The reality is that Bernie is for real.  No one is really sure about Trump, but there is no question that Bernie believes in what he preaches.  Yes, Bernie is drawing large and boisterous crowds, but Bernie is yet to threaten Hillary in the national polls.  That is because he hasn’t broken through among African American and Latino voters.  Very important national blocks of voters.  And Clinton is very strong with both of these groups.

A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll has Clinton with a 59% to 25% lead over Sanders nationally. However, Clinton’s share was down 16% from June while Sanders was up 10%.

The reality for the nation is that the problems of inequality, of blocked mobility for moving up economically and of wage stagnation are now more severe than ever.  Anybody who doubts that the super-rich have gained even more power in the political system just isn’t following the news. The large responsive crowds for Bernie are because Sanders is marshaling all that "discontent and contempt" from his audiences.

The issues for the differences between Clinton and Sanders is really more about their personalities of qualification, likeability and truthfulness.

Sanders has led as being the most likable and most progressive.  And when asked who was the “least honest,” 31% picked Clinton while only 3% picked Sanders.  This is an area that Hillary’s campaign should definitely not underestimate. 

 

But even with that, Clinton was well ahead of Sanders for being a strong leader; for having the best chance of winning in November; and as having the right experience to be a US president.

Yes, Bernie may be saying what the people want to hear, but so far, Hillary still seems to be the one they would overall prefer to see in the Oval Office.

But that's as of today.  The election is more than a year away, and who knows what could happen over the next year.

Stranger things have happened.  Just ask Hillary Clinton about a guy called Barak Obama………

Copyright G.Ater  2015