Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Bernie Sanders and Cognitive Dissonance at NPR's Morning Edition

COMMENTS ON http://www.npr.org/2016/04/05/473063711/polls-show-wisconsin-voters-to-buck-trends-vote-for-sanders-cruz

(Posted here because posting there requires allowing NPR "to comment on your behalf." Um, what? No thanks.)

CONTINUING RACIST MSM NARRATIVE (i.e., the idea that people like Bernie because of their skin color, not because of his ideas.):
BARRY BURDEN: "Bernie Sanders has a lot of strength in Wisconsin. It's an electorate that is set up to favor him. It's a whiter electorate than in a lot of states where the Democrats have been competing."

EVIDENCE THAT SANDERS IS MORE ELECTABLE IN THE GENERAL (BUT PRESENTED ONLY AS AN MSM EXCUSE FOR CLINTON'S LOSSES):
BURDEN: "It's also an open primary, and that helps to bring in some independent voters who are more on his side."

CONTINUING AGEIST MSM NARRATIVE (i.e., the idea that people like Bernie because of their age, not because of his ideas.):
BURDEN: "And then there's a fairly strong base of students in the state - college students in particular in Madison - who are enthusiastic about him."

CONTINUING RACIST/AGEIST MSM NARRATIVE REPEATED (i.e., It can't be Bernie's ideas that people are voting for; it must be their age or skin color making them vote for him):
BURDEN: "Well, as I say, I think there's some demographic factors that are working to Sanders' advantage here."

EVIDENCE THAT SANDERS IS MORE ELECTABLE IN THE GENERAL (Bernie raised $44M in March; Hillary raised $29M) & FURTHER MSM ATTEMPT TO FIND EXCUSES FOR CLINTON'S LOSSES:
BURDEN: "He also has the luxury of not having to do any fundraising. His money is all raised on the Internet somewhat automatically, without a lot of effort from him. And that frees him up to spend all of his time, essentially, campaigning in the state. He's barely left the borders of Wisconsin over the last 10 days."

EVIDENCE THAT CLINTON IS LESS ELECTABLE IN THE GENERAL & CONTINUING MSM ATTEMPT TO FIND EXCUSES FOR CLINTON'S LOSSES:
BURDEN: "In contrast, Hillary Clinton has done some events in the state and run some advertising, but she's also traveled to fundraisers on the East Coast."

CONTINUING MSM ATTEMPT TO REMOVE OUR EYES FROM THE BALL (Bernie's victory on March 5-6 [69 to 65 delegates (51% to 49%) KS/LA/NE/ME]; Bernie's victory on March 22 [75 to 55 (58% to 42%) AZ/ID/UT]; Bernie's victory on March 26 [104 to 38 (73% to 27%!!!) AK/WA/HI]):
BURDEN: "And she's looking ahead to New York, Pennsylvania and some other states that are down the road."

CONTINUING MSM ATTEMPT TO FIND EXCUSES FOR CLINTON'S LOSSES:
RENÉE MONTAGNE: "So you're saying Hillary Clinton hasn't put as much energy into the state as has Bernie Sanders."

EVIDENCE THAT SANDERS HAS MORE SUPPORT AMONGST MORE PEOPLE:
BURDEN: "A lot of the leadership of the unions has endorsed Hillary Clinton, but a lot of the rank and file has really resonated with the Sanders message about the minimum wage (SANDERS $15; CLINTON $12), about inequality (To paraphrase the Bill Clinton campaign: "IT'S THE MIDDLE CLASS, STUPID."), campaign finance (THE RICH SHOULD NOT HAVE 'MORE FREE SPEECH THAN OTHERS'), trying to reverse the trade patterns in this country (TRADE DEALS SHOULD BENEFIT ALL AMERICANS, NOT JUST LARGE CORPORATIONS). And I think the average union member on the ground just finds the Sanders messages more appealing. (THE AVERAGE INFORMED AMERICAN ALSO FINDS SANDERS MORE APPEALING: https://berniesanders.com/issues/)"