Bernie Sanders Says Black Voters ‘May Not Understand’ His Awesome Civil Rights Record

Posted by | June 29, 2015 16:30 | Filed under: Contributors Opinion Politics Tommy Christopher

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Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) presidential candidacy, buoyed by a national media anxious to take former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton down multiple pegs, has created a lot of excitement among a particular segment of the Democratic base, but not among the coalition of white and non-white voters that delivered President Obama two consecutive victories. If Senator Sanders is hoping to change all of that, his appearance on Sunday’s This Week doesn’t figure to do the trick.

When host George Stephanopoulos asked why he performed so anemically with non-white voters in a recent poll (Sanders received just 3% support, versus Hillary Clinton’s 91%), Sanders chalked it up to a lack of “understanding” from black voters…READ MORE

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Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: Tommy Christopher

Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

32 responses to Bernie Sanders Says Black Voters ‘May Not Understand’ His Awesome Civil Rights Record

  1. NW10 June 29th, 2015 at 17:45

    This is yet another one of the many reasons Bernie Sanders will lose, and lose badly. He is completely tone deaf in regards to minority outreach and only has one script: “income inequality, millionaires and billionaires, get the money out of politics.” What’s affecting minorities right now, particularly black people, is police brutality and racism, i.e Charleston with the white supremacist shooter, and Baltimore with Freddie Gray. Hillary Clinton gave a speech just days after Charleston happened laying out how we are far from getting rid of racism, whereas Bernie Sanders continues to talk about income inequality as if it’s the only issue affecting black people. Sanders also hasn’t discussed immigration reform for Hispanics/Latinos, which will doom him in Texas. Bernie’s campaign will win New Hampshire, and then go on to fizzle out and burn when he has to compete in states with large minority voting blocs, and more pragmatic liberals.

    • tracey marie June 29th, 2015 at 17:59

      exactlly, I get attacked whenever i do not swoon over Bernie, he will never get any moderates or right to vote for him. A vote for Bernie is a vote for a republican. He made a comment that “guns will not solve all our problems” I found that condescending.

      • jasperjava June 29th, 2015 at 21:41

        How is that condescending? Do you think guns will solve all our problems?

        I don’t understand all this hostility towards Bernie Sanders. He’s a liberal’s liberal. He’s not going to win the nomination, so I wonder why people are worried that he might. It’s good to have him in the primary: he pushes Hillary to the left and gives her healthy competition to prevent the appearance of a coronation.

        It was wrong for you to say that a vote for Bernie would be a vote for the Republicans. That would only be true if he pulled a Ralph Nader and siphoned away leftists from the general election. I don’t see him doing that.

        • tracey marie June 29th, 2015 at 21:45

          I am not hostile towards him, I just do not think he is capable of being a well rounded President. He does a good job where he is, I agree he will not win the nomination but I will not pretend he is more then he is.

        • greenfloyd June 30th, 2015 at 05:22

          Sanders is a determined man, he seems to be getting more cranky lately. Nonetheless, the good senator is a learned elder who has earned a fair hearing. But I never want to live through another calamity like 2000. While it’s not really a fair question to ask any candidate, “Will you get out of the way, if you are not nominated?” I think it’s justified given our recent history and the importance of keeping Rs out of the WH and hopefully cutting them down to size in the Congress.

          • Marmalade October 23rd, 2015 at 10:50

            Will the corporate whores who support partisan politics get out of the way so that we can promote democracy? Now that is question that needs to be asked and answered.

    • arc99 June 29th, 2015 at 18:45

      Obviously I will be voting for whomever the Democratic nominee is in November 2016. Having said that, if Sen. Sanders is on the ballot when the primaries come to town in California next year, it is a slam dunk 100% certainty that he will get this 62 year old black man’s vote.

      Maybe I am a minority of the minority so to speak, but I find the criticism of his campaign to date rather peculiar. He just announced a couple of months ago and people are criticizing him for the issues he has not yet addressed.

      To me it’s like engaging a builder to construct a new home for you on a completely vacant lot, and then showing up at the job site a week later demanding to know why the carpeting has not been installed. It is a long campaign. The first order of business for any candidate is to get their base motivated and energized to reach out to ideological colleagues whose first choice of a candidate might be different. In my view, that is what Sen. Sanders is doing.

      No, income inequality is not the only issue affecting black people. But it most certainly is the issue that touches millions of black folks 24x7x365. Maybe he will fizzle and burn as he moves his campaign to key states like New York, Michigan, Florida and California.

      Then again, maybe he won’t. Let the campaign play out. I pesonally applaud Sen. Sanders for not shying away from a truly leftist agenda.

      In the meantime, at least have the courtesy to be accurate about his campaign. To say he has not discussed immigration reform is not true.

      http://www.christiantoday.com/article/immigration.reform.news.2015.whats.bernie.sanders.take.on.the.immigration.issue/57231.htm

      Democratic presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, appeared in a meeting with Latino officials last week and his speech was mostly targeted toward support for immigration reform.

      Sander’s comments came at the conference on the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, where he vowed that if he wins the White House, he would push for reform and do more than Obama has done for deportation relief.

      • NW10 June 29th, 2015 at 18:53

        Having said that, if Sen. Sanders is on the ballot when the primaries
        come to town in California next year, it is a slam dunk 100% certainty
        that he will get this 62 year old black man’s vote.

        Based off of what? Let’s not forget how powerful the Clinton machine is in California, and how there aren’t just black voters there, but Asian voters as well, both of whom will most likely vote for Hillary Clinton.

        Maybe I am a minority of the minority so to speak, but I find the
        criticism of his campaign to date rather peculiar. He just announced a
        couple of months ago and people are criticizing him for the issues he
        has not yet addressed.

        Because he has one script and refuses to budge from it. That is the sign of a campaign that is built to lose.

        But it most certainly is the issue that touches millions of black folks 24x7x365.

        According to who? What black person has said that income inequality touches millions of black voters? Or is this just Bernie Sanders assuming that it is so, having not spoken to many black people? Most black people at this point are more concerned about police brutality and the overt racism they experience in certain places around the country.

        I pesonally applaud Sen. Sanders for not shying away from a truly leftist agenda.

        And that is why he will lose, there aren’t enough leftist voters in the primary states for him to win, especially in red states. Most voters at this point aren’t looking for a unicorn, they’re looking for a pony, which is why they’ll end up voting Hillary Clinton or Martin O’Malley. Sanders message will only resonate with other far left folks, which won’t be enough to overcome the Obama coalition that Hillary Clinton is courting. My 2 cents.

        • arc99 June 29th, 2015 at 19:04

          Although I live now in California, most of my friends and family are in my hometown Washington DC.

          Aside from personal correspondence and my own amazement over the gentrification of the city I grew up in, income inequality is certainly a topic of conversation among residents and leaders in the city.

          You have your opinion and I have mine. The ballot box will decide the outcome. In the meantime, based on what I see so far, the criticism of Sen. Sanders’ campaign does not square with the facts as I know them.

          http://www.businessinsider.com/r-to-see-us-wealth-gap-look-no-further-than-washington-2014-01

          A Washington Post poll in January showed that 52 percent of District residents felt the city was mainly divided by income. Just 12 percent cited race.

          “It’s not a black or white thing. It’s a money thing. Either you can afford it or you can’t,” Keith Larry, 40, a barber at Seventh Street’s Ordinary People barber shop, who is black, said of the gap between rich and poor.

          The impact of new money is clear in housing, where rent increases have outpaced inflation by 50 percent since 2000, according to another 2012 Fiscal Policy Institute study.

          The number of low-rent apartments costing $750 a month or less halved from 2000 to 2012, while the stock of those renting for $1,500 or more tripled, the report said.

          The result is that poor people are forced to move out of neighborhoods where rents are rising, or leave the city.

          “It’s the wheel of the haves and the have-nots,” said laborer Tyrone Queen, 43. “There is a kind of underlying movement to get them out.”

          Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-to-see-us-wealth-gap-look-no-further-than-washington-2014-01#ixzz3eUljDObc

        • jasperjava June 29th, 2015 at 21:26

          Arc99: “But it most certainly is the issue that touches millions of black folks 24x7x365.”

          Nw10: “According to who? What black person has said that income inequality touches millions of black voters?”

          Well, Arc99 for one. He’s African-American, and ought to know.

          I am convinced that Black voters are just as concerned about jobs and the economy as other voters. They are not single-issue voters only concerned about race and policing issues. That seems like a stereotype .

          We have a number of excellent African-American commenters on Liberaland, and they bring varied perspectives on a wide range of issues .

        • Lyle52 June 30th, 2015 at 07:17

          “Sanders message will only resonate with other far left folks”

          Really? Why do the majority of Americans back his agenda?

    • Lyle52 June 30th, 2015 at 07:15

      “Pragmatic liberals”? They’re supporting Bernie!

      • NW10 June 30th, 2015 at 07:24

        When I say “pragmatic liberals” I mean the ones who are actually politically realistic and understand that they can’t get a unicorn, and instead have to settle for a pony. Bernie Sanders talks a good game, but in the end he’s talking fantasy, whereas Hillary Clinton and even Martin O’Malley actually talk about things they can realistically accomplish.

        • Lyle52 June 30th, 2015 at 09:18

          “Bernie talks a good game”? “He’s talking fantasy”? BS. The majority of Americans support what he’s saying. If telling the truth is talking a good game, then count me in.

        • mea_mark June 30th, 2015 at 16:12

          If Bernie can get the young people to turn out and vote, I think he wins. If he can’t Hillary does. Getting the youngest to vote is certainly a challenge. I do think there is more support for Bernie than you think though. That’s just an opinion though, really to early to tell.

    • johnnybizzoy June 30th, 2015 at 15:03

      What is affecting minorities right now is black on black crime. 93% of black homicides are committed by other blacks. Yes, abusive cops are a problem. Yes, racism is still an impediment, here and there. But the larger problem they face is the violence coming from their own communities. And if you want to point to social conditions – you can blame the failing government schools, and the cycle of dependency fostered by the welfare state, and lowered expectations across the board.

  2. Lyle52 June 30th, 2015 at 07:13

    There’s no doubt in my mind Bernie Sanders is every bit an advocate of black Americans as Hillary Clinton. This whole BS about Bernie being from 95% Vermont doesn’t mean a thing. Vermont played a big role in the abolitionist movement. Vermont abolished slavery before it was admitted to the union. Vermont wrote it in their constitution. Bernie marched with MLK for crying out loud.

    • allison1050 June 30th, 2015 at 09:55

      I think the so called journalists is just pissed because she doesn’t to their Q&A stuff but when you stop and consider the lack of serious questions that are usually NOT asked of a candidate well…

      • johnnybizzoy June 30th, 2015 at 14:41

        Hillary doesn’t need to answer any questions. The public doesn’t need to have access to their rulers.

        • tracey marie June 30th, 2015 at 15:33

          more whining from you.

        • allison1050 June 30th, 2015 at 16:45

          Lame hon very lame since they tend Not to ask anything of true significance in the 1st place.

  3. WabBab July 15th, 2015 at 04:06

    No matter how many times you media munchers try to stuff Hillary™ down my throat, I will never vote for her. Riddle me this–if you think that Bernie is going to ignore black voters just because, what? He from Vermont? You think he isnt going to do anything when you get into Office? On what basis? And so your answer… Is to vote for Hillary™? Of all people, ex republican flip flopping Hillary? The lady who is literally owned by corporation money? Do you really believe she gives a f about black people? Hillary®©™ already has a history of being more right leaning, not to mention she only changed from republican because her hubby Bill™.

    Why dont you talk about the fact that he has been a radical liberal since before the civil rights movement picked up speed, that he protested police brutality, participated in the first sit in protest outside of the whitehouse during the civil rights mov, that he was arrested holding a school segregation protest, before many whites were involved in the movement, that he has been consistent in his stances for his entire political career! Who the f¥ck is Hillary®? Are you guys asking for Obama-do-almost-nothing 2.0 but WORSE? Tf?

    What has Hillary™ said about the tpp? You dont care that she is corporate bought off? Bernie wants to get rid of the citizens united act, the Nsa spy on you act. What has Hillary™ said? Is she gonna get rid of trickle down economics?

    Lets look at the type of ish Hillary® says. Hillary: I think its bad that ppl are poor. We gotta change that.

    Bernie Sanders: The 1% is stealing 100% of our National income. This means ppl are working like slaves for corporations. I want to abolish the citizens united act so corporates cant buy out our politicians. I want to make sure Corporations cant move our jobs overseas and jack up the prices of medicine with trade agreements like the tpp, nafta, and cafta. I want to close the corporate tax loopholes and tax the corporate 1% and wallstreet specifically. And use that tax to create free healthcare and college free. That of which by the way, he has been CONSISTENTLY saying for his entire political career. Hillary® just started saying this, what. Last week?

    Bernie sanders is the ONLY person running this election who is not prematurely bought off my corporations.

    If you want the black community to continue suffering with an inescapable state of poverty, that of which effects us more than ANYONE due to our Historical and recent oppression disadvantages, vote Hillary®©™ because I guarantee she isnt going to do sht for us. F Hillary, if i wanted a flip flop, I’d go to the store and buy one. She’s already been bought by corporations, oh wait. She is completely incapable of getting black issues, she has never even experienced poverty, unlike Bernie Sanders.

    I just find it crazy that right wingers are outright calling him a socialist and here you guys are calling him a republican with no basis except he’s old, white, and from Vermont. That is pathetic, and shows you eat what the corporate media spoon fed you on Bernie. New flash: they arent on your side.

    im not a masochist, I am not going to sabatague myself. Bernie Sanders for President, thank you very much.

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