Bernie Sanders: If You Ignore What You Hear on Corporate Media

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

06 April 16

s I sat and watched John King at the CNN big board last night showing us how Bernie would fall short if he won 55-45 in the rest of states, I was disgusted. If John King instead showed what would happen if Sanders won 57-43 (which he did in Wisconsin) in the rest of the states you would have seen Bernie’s line pass Hillary’s. The other networks were no better, MSNBC was showing the delegate count with the super delegates, Chris Matthews was calling the race all but over as he bashed Sanders’ spending on things that would benefit the people.

Bernie Sanders had just soundly defeated Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin, for his 7th victory in the last 8 races. Bernie will get over 70% in the next contest this Saturday in Wyoming. The media couldn’t bring themselves to just report Sanders’ success – they had to tell us why it wasn’t real. It has been this way the whole election. There is always a “but” after any praise of Bernie. So it wasn’t a surprise that while speaking on the cable news networks to his supporters in Wyoming Sanders told people to ignore what they hear on corporate media.

The corporate media has failed to report where the country is politically. It is either on purpose or they just don’t get it. The reality is right in front of them in their exit polls, so my guess is they are purposely getting it wrong and trying to spin the country back to where they are comfortable. So let’s look at what the exit polls in Wisconsin tell us.

Only one candidate excited the voters. That was Bernie Sanders. Nearly 60 of Wisconsin voters in the Democratic Primary percent said Sanders inspires them more about the future of the country. At least 7 in 10 Democratic primary voters in Wisconsin said they are excited or optimistic about what either candidate would do in office, but they’re more likely to be excited about Sanders. About a third say they’re excited about what he would do, while about half as many say that about Clinton. Voters in the Democratic Primary expressed comfort with Clinton but not excitement.

It is the same on the Republican side: More voters are excited about Donald Trump, and only 14% were excited about Ted Cruz, even though he won the state by a large margin. More Republican voters were scared of a Cruz or Trump presidency than were comfortable with either becoming the Commander in Chief.

Nine in 10 voters on the Democratic side see Sanders as trustworthy, while only 6 in 10 say the same about Hillary Clinton.

Three quarters of Democratic voters say they are worried about the direction of the U.S. economy. Over a third said the economy and jobs are the most important issues facing the country, and 3 in 10 consider income inequality to be their top concern.

The survey was conducted for the Associated Press and the television networks by Edison Research.

So it is clear that voters in Wisconsin voted for Bernie Sanders and against Donald Trump. The exit polls showed very little real support for Ted Cruz; his vote was a protest against Trump.

New York

Bernie Sanders will win easily in Wyoming on Saturday, before the race heads to New York, where it will be all out war. The Clinton campaign will be going for the knockout on what they think is her home turf. They are already attacking Bernie on guns, claiming that criminals are going to Vermont to buy guns. They ignore the fact that most guns in New York City are bought upstate. Gun laws are less restrictive in the rest of New York State, a policy that Hillary Clinton supported in 2008 when she was the senator from New York.

CNN reported tonight that the Clinton campaign said they would get tougher on Sanders and they are ready to put him away. That will be easier said than done. While Hillary Clinton has called New York home since she moved there to run for the Senate, Bernie Sanders was born and raised in New York. Just last week he had 18,000 people at a rally in the Bronx. Next week he will hold a rally in Washington Square Park on the day before the newly agreed upon debate in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard.

Clinton will turn up the heat in that debate, as will Sanders. We already have Sanders starting to raise the issue of Clinton’s support for the Panama free trade agreement. Sanders gave a speech in 2011 in which he said the agreement would protect offshore banking practices that allow the wealthy to avoid taxes. The Panama Papers scandal is another example of Bernie Sanders being right, warning us years before a major scandal or event takes place. Clinton pushed through the Panama Free Trade Deal at the same time that Sanders vocally opposed it, warning that it would limit the government’s ability to clamp down on illegal activity.

New York will be a must-win for Sanders if he is going to catch Clinton in pledged delegates. It will not be the end for Sanders or his political revolution, which is revealing a major shift to the left in this country. In 2008, 46% of Wisconsin Democratic primary voters called themselves liberal, 40% moderate, and 14% conservative. In 2016, 61% said they were liberal, 27% moderate, and 5% conservative.

The country is shifting politically, and Sanders’ political revolution has momentum that will translate beyond 2016. If Hillary wins the nomination she will be the last corporate Democrat to lead the party. Progressives are poised to take control of the party.

Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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