Saturday, February 22, 2020

Why Biden is Down and Sanders is Up

A theory:

A year ago, Biden was polling nationally in first place. But a significant amount of his support was coming from people who supported him because of a belief in his “electability.” As soon as the myth of Biden’s electability was punctured, the bubble burst, and Biden’s polling numbers collapsed.

Sanders is the opposite phenomenon. For substantive reasons, a lot of people wanted to support Sanders, but hesitated because they were afraid he wasn’t sufficiently electable. And as Sanders began to raise unprecedented amounts of money from small-dollar donations, rise in the polls, perform strongly in debates, and win the popular vote in Iowa and then in New Hampshire, people who previously doubted his electability began to support him.

If I’m right about this phenomenon, Sanders is only at the beginning of a virtuous cycle. His massive win in Nevada—despite all establishment attempts to stop him—is going to draw even more supporters who had previously hesitated because of electability concerns. And as electability concerns are increasingly replaced by a belief that “Sanders could actually win this,” and as “Sanders could actually win this” is replaced by “Sanders is going to win this,” he is going to become unstoppable, no matter how much the Democratic establishment and the establishment media throws at him.

Of course I could be wrong; having watched innumerable television “experts” humiliate themselves prognosticating, it’s best to be humble about how much one might be missing.

But at this point, this is how I see it.

By the way, I got some of the idea for this post by a fascinating business book I read years ago—Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers—about how a new technology first attracts early adopters before crossing over to mass-market appeal.

11 comments:

  1. Dear Barry:

    I'd support Sanders for president in a heartbeat. The question is WILL HE WIN?

    Don Bay

    E-mail: drbay55@gmail.com or don.bay@comhem.se

    Website: DeBaytable.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Don, of course no one can know for sure. But I'd recommend this article, which I found persuasive:

    https://jacobinmag.com/2019/12/bernie-sanders-vs-donald-trump

    ReplyDelete
  3. I read the articles and agree that Sanders is the guy to stop. Unfortunately, Biden may be the nominee. The status quo will win again.

    Sincerely,
    Don Bay

    E-mail: drbay55@gmail.com or don.bay@comhem.se

    Website: DeBaytable.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I read the articles. I agree that Sanders might win, but that'll make Hillary Clinton sad because she prefers Biden, a status quo guy if there ever was one.

    Sincerely,

    Don Bay

    E-mail: drbay55@gmail.com or don.bay@comhem.se

    Website: DeBaytable.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi, Barry:

    I read Jacobin articles and agree. If Sanders is the nominee, Hillary Clinton will be upset because Biden is her status quo buddy. Biden's likely to name a billionaire as his running mate, but given Sanders' intelligence, he'll name a woman of color. Stacey Abrams and Michelle Obama come to mind.

    By the way, your sites' CAPTYA pictures are so small and fuzzy that I have to press my nose close to the screen to even see the images. Can you ask them to do something about the problem?

    Sincerely,

    Don Bay

    E-mail: drbay55@gmail.com (or don.bay@comhem.se)

    Website: DeBaytable.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi, Barry:

    I read the Jacobin articles and agree. Assuming Sanders is the nominee, Hillary Clinton will be angry because Biden is a status quo guy. He might even name a billionaire as his running mate. However, Sanders' intelligence will lead him to name a woman of color as his running mate. Stacey Abrams and Michelle Obama come to mind.

    By the way, your sites' CAPTYA is so small and fuzzy that I have to get close to the screen and even then I might miss it.

    Sincerely,

    Don Bay

    E-mail: drbay55@gmail.com (or don.bay@comhem.se)

    Website: DeBaytable.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi, Barry:

    I read the Jacobin articles and agree. Assuming Sanders is the nominee, Hillary Clinton will be angry because Biden is a status quo guy. He might even name a billionaire as his running mate. However, Sanders' intelligence will lead him to name a woman of color as his running mate. Stacey Abrams and Michelle Obama come to mind.

    By the way, your sites' CAPTYA is so small and fuzzy that I have to get close to the screen and even then I might miss it.

    Sincerely,

    Don Bay

    E-mail: drbay55@gmail.com (or don.bay@comhem.se)

    Website: DeBaytable.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi, Barry:

    I read the Jacobin articles and agree. Assuming Sanders is the nominee, Hillary Clinton will be angry because Biden is a status quo guy. He might even name a billionaire as his running mate. However, Sanders' intelligence will lead him to name a woman of color as his running mate. Stacey Abrams and Michelle Obama come to mind.

    By the way, your sites' CAPTYA is so small and fuzzy that I have to get close to the screen and even then I might miss it.

    Sincerely,

    Don Bay

    E-mail: drbay55@gmail.com (or don.bay@comhem.se)

    Website: DeBaytable.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Don, it shows up clearly on my browser and I haven't had any complaints. Beyond which...I'm not sure how to change it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I wanted Sanders last time around and still want him today. Unfortunately, for the Untited States, it's a little too late and who didn't see that coming. The dems seem to hate Sanders more than Trump and Biden is already part of the establishment quo and that's who they want. People seem to equate democratic socialism with communism and dictatorship. There will be no change with Biden but he will have my vote anyway just because he's not the orange man.
    Another issue is Sanders is Jewish and people are very, very prejudiced. Prejudice is more pronounced than ever before - thanks again to the orange man.

    Thanks to the orange man for not caring about our safety, for not caring about our planet, and for only caring and pandering to the wealthy!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi, Joy:

    Because Sanders has withdrawn and endorsed Biden, there's just one guy left standing. Although the guessing is that Biden will become more progressive thanks to Sanders and Warren. Consequently, to go with my heart, I won't vote for Biden because I believe he'll revert to his more comfortable status quo ways. He's promised that he''ll name a woman as his running mate. It'll be great If he sticks to his promises, but suppose he reneges. To make it simple, I'll write in Stacey Abrams for president. She has so many qualifications that I believe she would bring the younger people and people of color.

    Unfortunately, Kamala Harris is a strong possibility as Biden's V.P. During the debates, she has "overlooked" her record as the California Attorney General, she called Biden out for his past positions and she's shown she's eager to get on the ticket.

    So, Stacey Abrams is the right person for the job.


    Don Bay

    E-mail: drbay55@gmail.com (or don.bay@comhem.se)

    Website: DeBaytable.com

    ReplyDelete