Bernie Sanders’ Favorability Is Sliding Among Democratic Voters
Bernie Sanders' popularity seems to be sliding among democratic voters, according to the latest polls. | Source: Shutterstock
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is losing his hold on democratic voters.
According to a recent CNN poll , only 46 percent of voters believe the Vermont Senator is a “favorable choice” for president. 45 percent list him as “unfavorable.” A Quinnipiac University poll from last December goes even lower , giving Sanders a favorability rating of only +2 points.
Bernie Who?
So, what happened? A June 2016 CNN poll shows Bernie Sanders boasting 59 percent favorability, higher than the 36 percent of surveyed voters that saw him as an unfavorable choice. What could cause such a drastic change in such a short amount of time?
One reason may be that there are too many candidates for the 2020 run, and that Sanders is simply getting lost in the crowd. Between Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke and Elizabeth Warren, nearly 30 individuals have already announced or are considering announcing their candidacies for next year’s presidential race. Compare this to 2016, when only five democratic figures entered the fight for the White House.
Sanders was one of those five, meaning he had a fair amount of publicity and attention. This time around, the competition is fiercer. There are more faces in this contest, and Sanders is one of many.
You Lost Once Already
The Senator also failed to receive the democratic nomination the first time around, which may be negatively impacting his public image. Sanders lost in dramatic fashion in 2016, conceding to Hillary and ultimately pledging his loyalty to her campaign. It’s hard to see someone who’s lost big already as next year’s potential champion.
But there are other aspects of Sanders’ career and political history that likely make him appear shady to Americans. The Senator shares strong ties with New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose popularity has continued to dwindle thanks in part to her radical schemes for change including a 70 percent tax on the wealthy, and a Green New Deal deemed so expensive , it’s even making her fellow democrats nervous.
The young congresswoman has even lost favor among New York residents for her recent opposition towards what would have been Amazon’s Queens-based headquarters.
What Do You Really Stand For?
The presidential hopeful has allegedly been in support of both socialism and communism since the early 1970s. Sanders began his political career in Vermont as a senatorial candidate of the Liberty Union party, which calls for “nonviolent revolutionary socialism.” He also stated in 1985 that he favored adopting “traditional socialist goals” and spoke positively of bread lines in communist countries, claiming that such lines were a mark of communism’s success.
https://twitter.com/Greedy_Bernie/status/855241213426978817
For someone who seems to stand against capitalism, Sanders has built a solid financial nest for himself. The Senator made more than $1 million in 2016 and 2017 from book royalties. His 2014 tax returns also showed income exceeding $200,000, and he’s the proud owner of three lush homes .
Despite all this, Sanders has been criticizing millionaires for over 40 years, expressing in 1974 to the Burlington Free Press that “nobody should earn more than $1 million.”
How can Sanders ever expect the public to trust him when he’s so willing and ready to break his own rules?
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, CCN.com.
