Do Bernie Sanders supporters hold "far-left" and "fringe" views in America?

[gobears10]

I was watching a HuffPo interview in which Rep. Barney Frank said that Bernie Sanders' social-democratic perspective was a "minority" viewpoint in America. He elaborated by saying, that in his view, much of the country was to the right of where Hillary Clinton currently is, and Sanders isn't even remotely electable and too fringe. The vast majority of liberals, according to Frank, are perfectly happy with Hillary Clinton and don't think that the Democratic Party isn't far left enough. And people who don't think it's left enough are basically far-left progressives on the fringe in American politics.

So, you have reasonable views if you support the Democratic Party establishment. Supporting the GOP is also a mainstream view. But being a progressive and Sanders supporter makes your views fringe, just as supporting Rand Paul or a Tea Partier is a "fringe" non-mainstream view.

To elaborate, basically according to Frank, a "normal" leftist in America supports Obamacare/ACA, fighting against Republicans who want to defeat it. A "fringe," "far-left" progressive thinks Obamacare didn't go far enough, and wants single-payer, Medicare-for-All. A "normal" leftist defends Dodd-Frank from GOP attacks, whereas a fringe leftist wants to reinstate Glass-Steagall. A "far-left" fringe leftist wants tuition-free college, whereas a normal leftist wants debt free college.

I just find it weird, because I don't view my beliefs as "far-left" or "fringe." What I want is the status quo in Canada and many European nations, and my preferred policies are defended by both the center-left and center-right parties in those countries. I'm more like an international centrist, but my views are perceived to be "far-left" in the U.S. because of how conservative our country has been for the past several decades.

[bravenak]

1. In this nation Yes.

I know I'm farther to the left than most black folks I know. I bet that is surprising too.

[BainsBane]

6. Except the recent PPP poll

shows he is most popular among voters who identify as "very conservative."

[bravenak]

7. Strange, huh? I find that strange for a guy who is far left.

[artislife]

8. It is his naming names style.

Heh..who has insomnia? ! I have friends who were pretty left then went into libertarianism because of the federal reserve. Now they like Bernie. All those groups want to break the system.

Ymmv

[bravenak]

9. The brutally honest stuff, but not out of control like Chris Christie?

Yeah, I be up all night.

[BainsBane]

10. I don't

Not when you look at what he focuses on and what he doesn't. Remember the Tea Party began over anger at Wall Street, so conservatives can be drawn to that.

[bravenak]

11. I always forget about that part.

Plus he's not black.

[BainsBane]

12. No, and he doesn't emphasize traditional Democratic constituencies. nt

[bravenak]

13. The Obama coalition.

[artislife]

15. I have to say he sounds pretty normal

He sounds kind of no nos.. moveran to me. I may be dreaming but I think when the larger part of the country starts listening he will sound pretty sane.
I think he will start to do well with Latinos. His hair and gruff will feel right somehow.

[hifiguy]

40. Oh, OK, NOw I get it.

Working class and middle-class folks aren't traditional Democratic constituencies. Labor is not a traditional Democratic constituency.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Jebus wept.

[Comrade Grumpy]

23. That has me scratching my head.

Important to note that those polled were Democratic primary voters. Democrats who described themselves as "conservative" or "very conservative."

So, what is a conservative Democrat?

Sander doesn't seem to have any conservative positions. He's socially progressive, he's economically progressive.

I don't get it.

[Reter]

56. Ron Paul also had quite a bit of liberal support

Even Pat Buchanan did. Fringe candidates are so far to the right or the left that they turn, gathering much support on the opposite spectrum.

[PatrickforO]

2. That's because trillions of dollars are at stake and the military-national security-prison-

industrial dragon be hungry.

If we have the temerity to even suggest we want things like single payer healthcare, subsidized childcare, more equitable funding and local control for public schools, abolishing private prisons, ending the drug war, affordable college...

Well, the dragon be losing money then!

That's why we be THOROUGHLY propagandized to pull ourselves up by the ol' bootstraps, and to mistrust everyone else and to harden our hearts toward helping the poor - because they be LAZY, don't you know...

Seriously, Bernie's views represent the mainstream of America - we're seeing that as people hear what he says. We haven't had a candidate this good in decades. He's the real deal.

So, when he passes Clinton, which he will, and becomes the Democratic candidate, we can expect vicious smears - MASSIVE millions spent on negative ads that blanket the airwaves. And all Bernie will have is us.

But we the people, when we organize and stand for something, as we have not in many years - not together - are very, very powerful.

So that ol' dragon - he be quaking in his boots!

[Half-Century Man]

3. I really do try to be far left.

I work and work at it and find out I'm not so far from the main stream of America (when polled on the specific issues).
I do want to end American billionaires, I see them as a bottleneck restraining society. I just want the ones that exist currently to be the last.
I want to regulate capitalism. It too often is used to beat people down, instead of presenting an opportunity.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. I don't consider myself far left at all,

but I do consistently turn up in the lower left-hand corner on that test we take every now and then...left libertarian, I think they call it. Of course, I think many of my fellow DUers are right there with me.

[pnwmom]

5. No, polls show his Democratic supporters are actually much more likely to identify as "conservative" than

Hillary's supporters.

[Enthusiast]

14. Barney Frank is either an insider or horribly out of touch.

I suspect Barney has been given a mission that he is fulfilling.

There is nothing fringe or too left about Bernie's policies.

Bernie Sanders is right there with the American people on policy issues.

Of course the billionaires want you to believe otherwise, so Barney. The first of many, not even the first and certainly not the last. This will become downright fucking hilarious before it's over.

[ChiciB1]

52. Barney Frank Simply...

Got The Message! I always looked to him as someone I could mostly agree with on most issues. Can only come to one conclusion, he's not really who I thought he was. I'm no rabid leftist Democrat, but I AM A DEMOCRAT! To me, ever since the Party went down the DLC road it took the ROAD TO THE RIGHT!

And then, there's ALL THAT MONEY that talks and talks and talks! So, for many of us who have been Democrats longer than some here who were never born, I guess you'll never be able to understand what we feel Democracy Looks Like!

[Enthusiast]

58. I am so with you, ChiciB1.

[ChiciB1]

62. Right Back At Ya!

When Will They Ever Learn???

[raouldukelives]

16. I would imagine quite a few do.

Certainly as opposed to other candidates. That isn't to say Sanders views himself are far left, if anything, they appear by polls I have seen here to be quite centrist. With everyone else being caught in various degrees of conservatism.

It is all so easy after Citizens United. Corporations are now people. The most racist, sexist, animal hating, climate denying, devious, deceitful, anti-democracy, anti-christian and anti-progress people one could ever know.

There are those that stand with the least among us and there are those that stand with the most. Thanks to the daily efforts of the latter, the former will continue to expand at breakneck pace, to the chagrin of liberals and the veiled happiness of those obsessed with greed.

[Vinca]

17. Bernie is a modern day FDR. I don't think those are radical views.

Like Obamacare, if you ask people questions about individual components, it turns out they're big fans and don't know it.

[BainsBane]

21. FDR presided over a party and country

that enforced Jim Crow.

[Vinca]

24. We have evolved a little since then.

I was referring to social programs and caring about the poor.

[BainsBane]

29. a little

And it wasn't about the poor per se or structural inequality but the crisis of the Great Depression. Much of the poor was overlooked, as always. What bothers me is many here consistently view the country through the lens of the white middle and upper-middle class and assume it applies to all of us. It does not, and it never has.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

32. So now we're purging FDR huh?

This is getting hilarious, please proceed.

[BainsBane]

35. I'm telling the truth

Not purging. I'm tired of seeing people hearken back to time in history when the majority were denied basic rights and lived in crippling poverty. US history is checkered, full of contradictions and inequality. Pretending otherwise is purging truth.

[el_bryanto]

37. Why do you think people on this board bring up FDR?

Do you think they bring it up because they want to see us turn the clock back to the 1930s/1940s on civil rights?

Bryant

[hifiguy]

39. Sickening, isn't it.

And so very, very transparent.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

42. Sickening and scary.

It reminds me of Pat Buchanan's revisionism.

[hifiguy]

45. An excellent analogy.

[appalachiablue]

47. The FDR speak is fairly common on this forum, I've almost left twice because of it.

The revisionism and negativity are firm, from the internment camps, Jim Crow, everyone poor and miserable- that's all FDR was about to those. Got it from a boomer with a Dad who was in the Pacific Theatre so they said, and from much younger ones who stated straight out "the Dem. Party to me means Clinton and Obama"... and the internet. It's interesting that I haven't seen any venom for Reagan from the same ilk.

[arcane1]

51. We had Jim Crow under FDR. If Sanders is FDR then he supports Jim Crow.

That's what passes for "thinking" around here

[beam me up scottie]

60. You noticed that too, eh?

The logic is weak in this one...

[Trajan]

27. Exactly ... I am a New Deal-Great Society Democrat

Which are EXACTLY the policies that Bernie Sanders promotes ....

Their is nothing 'far left fringey' about it ... It is the same mainstream policies that our parents and grandparents enjoyed throughout most of their lives ... It is completely normal in their worldview ...

Nothing whacky or crazy about it ...

[madokie]

18. Barney

I used to have a lot of respect for you bro' but when you retired you dove in the lions den and became one of them. Respect, not so much anymore, sorry
All I can say to Barney is to simply go away.

[Cosmocat]

19. Framing versus reality

As someone else noted, broken down by its actual components, the country largley supports ACA.

But, framed repeatedly as the socialist, big government takeover of healthcare it is "unpopular."

This country has been subjected to over a quarter century of right wing framing that the msm now reprenents as reality.

We now have our heads so far up our rears we dont know who we are anymore.

10 years ago, the broad expectation for police was that they conduct themselves with respect and restraint.

But,, because we have had a black democratic president and there have been a never ending stream of incidents w police flat killing, most times completely innocent balcks, "conservatives" being conservatives have spun it so desperately and repeatedly, today, police pretty much can kill you for nothing to half the country.

[djean111]

20. Oh, I think the framing is being constructed to say this - if you do not support Hillary,

you are too far left and fringe. Or a GOP tool. Or hate women and immigrants. And are probably racist.
Simple as that.

[beam me up scottie]

36. +1,000,000

They're desperate to stop the migration to the left.

[appalachiablue]

48. +1 All of that, and 'isolationist' too.

[Autumn]

57. Magic decoder ring isn't needed to understand what surrogate #3 is saying.

Barney can fail along with Claire and Carlos Danger.

[beam me up scottie]

59. Duh duh duh DANGER...

Every time I see his name I think of John Oliver dancing to that song...

[Snotcicles]

22. Barney Frank holds a different view of where the baseline between left and right stands than I do

And who made he the arbiter of where that is.

[brooklynite]

25. Maybe the fact that he's had to work to get elected in this environment?

[cantbeserious]

26. Define "Fringe" And "Far Left"

eom

[Scootaloo]

28. Barney Frank joined the board of Signature Bank on June 25

A month later he's trying to shitbag Sanders.

No great surprises.

[cantbeserious]

30. The Status Quo Cannot Be Upset - The 1% demand Their Tribute From The Chumps - Profit Must Be Made

Some perspective from Of Two Minds.

Liberation Is Unprofitable

If we had to summarize the sickness of our economy and society, we could start by noting that liberation is unprofitable, and whatever is not profitable to vested interests is marginalized, outlawed, proscribed or ridiculed. Examples of this abound.

Liberation from digital communication servitude is not profitable. Don't have a smart phone on 18 hours a day, every day? Loser! Luddite! Liberation from digital communication servitude is not profitable, therefore it is ridiculed.

Liberation from debt is not profitable. Only the wealthy can afford to buy a vehicle without debt, a home without debt or a university education without debt. For everyone else, liberation from debt is not an option, because debt is highly profitable to our financial Overlords and the politicos they buy/own.

Liberation from political elites is not profitable. Dependence on the state for monthly payments binds the recipients to the political elites that control the money and payments, and to the financial elites who control the political elites.

Liberation from the staged, soap-opera political drama of elections is not profitable. Election advertising generates staggering profits for media companies, and the ceaseless nurturing of fear, resentment and indignation fuels acceptance of centralized power and control.

Snip ...

[RDANGELO]

31. The main theme of his campaign is income inequality.

The majority of the people support action by the government to circumvent that. Hillary has incorporated it into her campaign. I find it hard to believe that Frank is so out of touch with that.

[Cleita]

33. I actually am far left. None of the candidates are far left.

In a sane world, they would be considered moderates

[tularetom]

34. Barney Frank's sister (her name escapes me) has been associated with Hillary Clinton for years

She worked on her NY senatorial campaign as well as her failed 2008 presidential attempt. So I suspect there is some sort of family loyalty dynamic at play here.

[Maedhros]

54. Her name is Ann Lewis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Lewis

Ann Lewis is an American political advisor who was Senior Advisor for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. She has served as the Director of Communications for HillPAC and Friends of Hillary 2005-2007 and from 1997–2000 as Director of Communications and then Counselor to Bill Clinton.

Lewis is now the president of NoLimits.org, an issue-based educational organization enabling individuals to stay engaged and active on issues such as health care reform, economic and work-family policies, international and national women's rights, security matters, and other issues and policies championed by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

[hifiguy]

38. He is not saying one thing that REAL Democrats since FDR have always said.

Harry Truman, John, Robert and Ted Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon Johnson, George McGovern, Paul Wellstone and countless others.

Bernie is no more radical than any of them. He represents the DEMOCRATIC wing of the party.

[oberliner]

44. Then why be an Independent rather than a Democrat?

He wanted nothing to do with becoming a member of the Democratic party until extremely recently.

[artislife]

46. So he wouldn't split the general like Nader did.

He has thrown in his votes with the dems, now he is giving them a chance to throw theirs in with his. But you got that, right?

[Enthusiast]

63. PLUS ONE, a huge bunch!

[AtomicKitten]

41. He's a better Democrat than most Democrats.

[appalachiablue]

49. Amen to that.

[oberliner]

43. Yes

I think the majority of DUers could be considered far-left and/or fringe relatively speaking.

[John Poet]

53. You're all a bunch of commie-pinko agitators !

That's why I like to hang around here.

[John Poet]

50. I hold "far left/ fringe views"? God, I hope so. eom

[Maedhros]

55. I am farther left than many.

I advocate nationalization of utilities (power, water, Internet), progressive taxation, publicly-funded elections, publicly-funded higher education, universal health care, decriminalization of drugs and a return to a treatment strategy, nuclear disarmament, non-belligerent foreign policy, workers' control of the means of production, free speech, equality for all races/genders/orientations, and a robust, independent, adversarial media.

Most importantly, ending the 'War on Terror.'

[arcane1]

61. Indeed. I guess I'm far left too, because I agree on all counts.

All this time I thought I was merely rational, not far left

[Maedhros]

68. Well, on DU "Far Left" means you don't want to put Social Security on the chopping block.[n/t]

[Enthusiast]

64. I would like to vote for your program!

[TheKentuckian]

65. That was last week. This week we are the conservatives in the party.

why that is since we are for "far left, fringe" policy and the same folks have been saying so for years I don't know what any of 5he labels mean anymore and don't much care.

It will always be something because what they are actually for is the status quo. Fuck em.

[mwooldri]

66. Bernie Sanders is so far left....

... it makes Obama seem like a mainstream Republican.... and Hillary seem like a Teapublican.

And if you believe this, I'd like to interest you in some stock in Enron.

Seriously... I think Bernie is just saying things as they are. I think people have got fed up of right and left. There are reasons he ran as an independent candidate, and holds office officially unaffiliated with any party. I think he will surprise us and gain significant independent and even Republican votes - something I don't think Hillary Clinton can with the Republican base.

[cherokeeprogressive]

67. Nnnnnnnnnope.