Bernie Sanders Is the Unity Candidate

[Uncle Joe]

As a Bernie Sanders nomination and presidency become increasingly viable (if not downright likely), his widening popularity signifies something bigger—a palpable yearning and movement across America for a unifying politics based on universal needs that can bring Americans together around common interests instead of dividing us through fear, scapegoating, and radical inequality.

Despite the desperate smears from center-right opponents claiming he is “divisive,” the reality is that Bernie Sanders’ policies are all about unity: common needs, mutual care, and a shared future.

Ragingly divided as the Trump era has been, there is a remarkably strong chance that Sanders’ politics of compassion and care can win the day in 2020. What this politics means for America and the world cannot be underestimated. With climate crisis and inequality bearing down on us with increasing ferocity, our planet and humanity cannot afford the “options” of Trumpian carnage and division or of woefully compromised centrist tweaks offered by Biden, Buttigieg or Klobuchar that uphold the very same system that is crumbling before our eyes.

(snip)

We’re facing a climate crisis threatening all of humanity; a nightmare of personal debt, poverty, and homelessness crippling millions; a healthcare and education divide that is both inhumane and untenable as a society; racial injustice and a war on immigrants that betrays our promise and potential as a species and a nation. Being unapologetically bold in the face of deadly crises is an act of love and compassion.

(snip)

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/02/28/bernie-sanders-unity-candidate

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Somebody should mention this "unity" concept

to Bernie's campaign staff and other supporters who seem to spend most of their time harassing and insulting Democrats - just like the author of this opinion piece when talking about "woefully compromised centrist tweaks offered by Biden, Buttigieg or Klobuchar that uphold the very same system that is crumbling before our eyes."

[LisaM]

26. It's from commondreams

I liked that site when it first existed, but it's become increasingly narrow and rigid and (to my mind) propagandic.

[LiberalFighter]

82. Yep! My thought too.

[Fresh_Start]

41. +1 nt

nt

[gredinger]

2. Our President.

Bernie's gonna win because he's building the most diverse coalition. He's inspiring a generation.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. How do you build a diverse coalition by insulting everybody

who doesn't walk in lockstep with your rigid ideology?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. That's your opinion, not "reality."

And Bernie's supporters are living in their own echo chamber that does not permit any other sound to enter.

By the way, the correct usage isn't "have woke up," it's "have woken up" or "have awakened."

[Demsrule86]

33. The wealth tax will not pass constitutional muster...and I am against it...soon it will be applied

to any property owner. We can tax capitals gains and income but I am not for a wealth tax...like the income tax it will eventually be applied to all.

[thesquanderer]

58. re: "soon it will be applied to any property owner"

I live in a state where such a tax is ALREADY applied to any property owner. I'm not sure there's any state that does not have a property tax.

At least Warren's version only applies to people with a great amount of wealth. I am not wealthy, but I still have to pay my property tax (and the state can take my house away if I don't).

[Demsrule86]

59. Wealth tax is different than a simple property tax...I am against it and do not believe it is

is constitutional. An inheritance tax with few if any loopholes would be better..

[showblue22]

35. Trump is doing pretty well denying reality.

I say it's working for Bernie pretty good too.

[Uncle Joe]

38. Welcome to D.U. gredinger.

[rzemanfl]

9. I always read profiles. n/t

[RelativelyJones]

43. Me too

[dware]

47. I do so also. nt.

[nolabear]

66. Thanks for the heads up.

[redstateblues]

12. Hardly. He is the most divisive politician since our current President

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

55. YOU KNOW IT!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join The Revolution!!

[Cha]

72. No, Sorry.. you're So Wrong, gredinger

[trueblue2007]

74. OH he is not.

[still_one]

3. Unity candidate for Jill Stein supporter Gray, and Hillary hating Sirota and Turner

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Call for unity - and then insult everybody who doesn't agree with you.

Yeah, that's gonna work.

[still_one]

25. Makes no sense at all to me

[samnsara]

53. i will never forget the image of the bs surrogate calling Hillary a 'Corporate whore' and thousands

..of bs supporters cheering at that.



Unity? I think not...

[TwilightZone]

4. "center-right opponents"

Stuff like this is why no one should take Common Dreams seriously.

[gredinger]

8. Popular site

Looks like common dreams is ranked #11,267 on the internet;

https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/commondreams.org

This site is ranked #21,445.

https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/democraticunderground.com

---

I'm not sure that anyone takes this site seriously.

[TwilightZone]

13. Popularity means nothing.

Trump is popular. Do you rate his credibility on his popularity? How about Fox News?

It's popular because it tells some people exactly what they want to hear, without the nuisance of context or data points that don't fit the narrative. This is nothing new with CD.

[lapucelle]

83. Really? Accusing a poster of spreading "fear, uncertainyy, and doubt" just because he disagrees

with you?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. Newsmax is ranked #7,051.

By that metric we should take Newsmax almost twice as seriously as Common Dreams, but we don't. At least I don't. I don't consider Alexa rankings to be determinative of whether to take an internet site seriously.

[dware]

48. I'm not sure that anyone takes this site seriously.

Then why the hell are you here pedaling your nonsense?

[Cha]

75. Good question.. wonder if he has an answer?

[dware]

85. Probably not Cha.

He's on time out, 5 hides in 2 days is not a good start on DU.

[Cha]

86. Yeah, I read profiles, too..

.. lol.

[dware]

88. Ah yes, I should have realized that.

[Cha]

89. ..

[Cha]

73. I'm sure you're wrong, gredinger.

[enid602]

6. unite

Sure but he'll be uniting them, and not us.

[highplainsdem]

10. LOL! The "unity candidate" who's at war with the rest of the party he's trying to use for this

presidential run since he'd get nowhere runnng for president as an independent?

The "unity candidate" who's already filed to run as an independent for Senate again if this run fails, as it almost certainly will?

The "unity candidate" whose supporters harass people who don't support him?

THAT "unity candidate"?

With "uniters" like that, we don't need dividers.

[TwilightZone]

16. Yeah, that's always been rather baffling.

His campaign seems to have alienated pretty much everyone at one point or another, yet he's the unity candidate.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

[Cha]

76. Yeah.. this was tried awhile ago.. didn't go over well then,

either.

[Vivienne235729]

29. +1000

[zackymilly]

14. LOL at some of these posts. nt

[PatSeg]

17. That's strange

I'm not feeling the unity. More like, "My way or the highway" or "If you don't support Bernie, you're a DINO". The last three horrible years have been divisive enough, we don't need that in the Democratic party as well.

[PubliusEnigma]

18. Too bad he's not a Democratic Candidate.

[MrsCoffee]

19. Better Believe It!

[MineralMan]

61. Oh, snap!

[Stuart G]

22. What if Bernie is not our nominee. Will you vote for whoever our nominee is?

That is true..."UNITY".. I will vote for whoever is our nominee. Bernie comes and goes. If Bernie loses, he may just leave our Democratic Party and become an "Independent" again..

[Codeine]

24. As in "you'd better unify or our followers

will doxx you and send you death threats.”

[OhZone]

27. This is satire, right?

No?

Oh well, I laughed anyway.

[Sloumeau]

28. The most left edge candidate since McGovern is going to unify the party?

All while many of his supporters do things like dox the other candidates and their supporters?

Pardon me if I am unconvinced.

[Demsrule86]

30. OK...but nothing unifying about sanders...

[McKim]

31. Just Stop It!

Just stop it! Stop the fighting. I am a Warren-Sanders supporter. I will Vote Blue No Matter Who.
Let’s let the primaries play out and get behind the front runner. My main value in any election is who is going to not waste our tax dollars on wars and use those dollars to benefit our own people?
This is very simple. I wish military spending was more of an issue in this election, it is the elephant in our Livingroom.

[MontanaMama]

32. Certainly feel like it here on DU.

[Cha]

77. And, on twitter..

[randr]

34. I think Democrats will have it in them to unify behind whomever is chosen

I do not think those Republicans who may not like Trump and need an alternative are ready to unify behind Bernie.
In fact, I am sure of it.

[Happy Hoosier]

36. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOlolololol.....

Nope.

[showblue22]

37. This is some heavy gas-lighting.

[awesomerwb1]

39. Lol Common dreams desperately trying

To be the 24/7 pro Bernie propaganda outlet.
Even the folks at the Onion wouldn’t go this far. “Unity candidate”.....

[Hav]

40. Sadly, he's anything but a uniter when you make a distinction

between his policy proposals and the way he campaigns. If he's doing anything, it's creating division, fracturing the Democratic party he attacks as a campaigning tool, pointing at "enemies" for his followers to despise and hate. It's unfortunate that he's apparently not capable to just campaign on his policies, he also needs the polarization and divisiveness. It's almost delusional to look at his style and the actions of some his followers and then call him a uniter.

[Squinch]

42. You crack me up.

[Moderateguy]

44. The new defination of Unity...

I am going to insult your party, most of it's elected officials but you better make me it's candidate

[Fran2020]

45. Bernie brings people together with ideas and policies.

Heathcare for all. College for all. His message is unifying. Not just within the Democratic party.

[dware]

56. Not even within the Democratic Party,

of which Bernie isn't even a member of.

[Fran2020]

64. Bernie unifies the PEOPLE and VOTERS in the Democratic Party.

It's the establishment and the lobbyists that don't like Bernie.

[dware]

65. Suuuuuure he does.

There's that establishment label again, right on cue.

[Uncle Joe]

71. You nailed it Fran.

[Cha]

78. And, there it is! "Establishment" "Establishment" "Estabishment"

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

57. It's all about havin the right progressive policy... precisely why Bernie is so popular

and is glidin, while Biden's slidin, in the polls!! I expect we'll start unifying around Bernie's nomination soon after he dominates Super Tuesday.


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join The Revolution!!

[George II]

79. So far his vote counts have been lower than previously, how is that "so popular"?

[JudyM]

69. Anti-corruption. Strongest action on climate.

That’s what matters to me. After slamming trump to the ground, which he is best positioned to do.

[dware]

46. This is an article from the Onion, right?

Oh wait, no it isn't, although it should be.

Bernie is most definitely NOT a unity type of person.

[tritsofme]

49. Is today Opposite Day?

[comradebillyboy]

50. Yes he unifies all the groups that want to demolish the Democratic

Party.

[SidDithers]

51. commondreams. LOL...nt

Sid

[samnsara]

52. ummmmmmm nope

[AlexSFCA]

54. we'll find out in a few days

I think by end of Tuesday we will have a very good idea if BS is the nominee. We will unite in a NYC minute. No doubt. This is because BS supporters are the ones who are divisive so if he is the nominee, the rest of us have no trouble uniting. BS has one landslide path to nomination - if economy goes down before election like it did in 2008. If this happens, his message will be the only one resonating when millions start to lose their jobs and benefits, primarily in swing states. He will then help, not make it more difficult, to carry house and senate. But this is a big if.

[msongs]

60. we saw the unity candidate in action several years ago but I wont mention 2016 lol nt

[MineralMan]

62. Warfare promotes peace, too.

Newspeak.

[onetexan]

63. Rotfl

[nolabear]

67. I'm sure that's why his followers are so welcoming to others.

Some of the snarkiest, rudest, most condescending people I have ever seen. I get the sense I mean nothing to them if I’m not in the cult and they’ll be just as glad to have me out of the way of “our” revolution. And their candidate doesn’t seem to even see us. We’re part of some ideology, useful as props for what they can claim we’ll surely get and should surely support. Actual people are treated like dirt much of the time.

[betsuni]

68. Did April Fools Day come a month early?

[octoberlib]

70. Sanders literally bashes Democrats in every fundraising email. Give me a break!

[sheshe2]

80. I am loving Common Dreams.

They give a laugh every day.

[redstateblues]

81. Just saying it doesn't make it true. I will vote against Trump

Bernie has never made me feel that he is into anything but himself.

[blm]

84. Wonder why he never took even one of those issues and actually did something

over the last few decades that would have a significant effect?

[TexasTowelie]

87. .

[ehrnst]

90. That seems to be lost on many of his supporters.

Many seem to think that any dissent or disagreement needs to be quashed harshly, not respected.

Link to tweet

[Renew Deal]

91. It unifies Sanders supporters and republicans in joy about Sanders being the nominee

Both groups couldn’t be happier.