Some Bernie Sanders supporters question his chances in general election

PLAISTOW, N.H. — Carola Organschi thinks Bernie Sanders is passionate. She likes how he “cares about the little guy.”

Organschi, a Dover Democrat who voted for the Vermont senator in the 2016 presidential primary, said she’s “definitely a Bernie Sanders supporter.”

But her primary concern is getting President Trump out of the White House, and she’s “not sure who’s going to be the most electable.”

“Would I like (Sanders) to be president? Yes. Do I think he’s electable? I don’t know,” Organschi mused. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Sanders’ base may not be all that it was in 2016, but the Vermont senator has held onto an enthusiastic and relatively firm core of supporters throughout the 2020 presidential cycle, his campaign seemingly rejuvenated after his October heart attack. He’s poised to end 2019 with a slim lead in the New Hampshire polls, according to his Real Clear Politics average, and will finish out the year nationally with largely the same measure of support he started out with, while some of his rivals have experienced far more turbulence.

“Bernie has a very solid base, which is more than a number of these other candidates can say,” said University of New Hampshire political science professor Dante Scala. “And unlike the others, he’s actually been on the ballot before and there will be a lot of voters in 2020 who voted for Bernie four years ago, so there’s that kind of habitual voting to his advantage.”

But amid the campaign rally loyalists festooned with “Bernie” stickers and “Bernie Beats Trump” pins are some who say they’re comfortable voting for Sanders in the upcoming primaries but question whether he has what it takes to go all the way in the general election.

“That’s really the question, isn’t it?” said Shawnda Lapointe of Sanford, Maine, adding, “He has my vote in the ideal world.”

Organschi said she’s skeptical — not of Sanders and his progressive agenda, but of a general electorate that voted Trump into office in 2016 and that doesn’t fully support a nationalized health care system like the senator’s long-championed “Medicare for All.”

Plaistow independent Alyce Zepf also supported Sanders in 2016. She likes his domestic policies, and the fact “he hasn’t changed.” She wants to vote for him in February’s first-in-the-nation primary.

But at an “environmental and corporate greed” panel on Saturday, Zepf said she wanted to hear more about Sanders’ foreign policy. She’s worried about Sanders’ age — he’s the oldest candidate in the race at 78 — his health and the size of the Democratic field.

“He’s too liberal. Not for here — for the rest of the country,” she said.

Sanders acknowledged some of the doubts dogging his candidacy during a series of campaign events Saturday in New Hampshire, telling voters in Dover how he plans to accomplish his “ambitious agenda” — including passing his signature Medicare for All in the Senate through a “budget reconciliation” process that would require the votes of just 50 senators and the vice president instead of a super majority.

He also appealed directly to the Granite Staters who propelled him to primary victory with 60% of the vote in 2016 — some of whom have now flipped to progressive rival U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Roland Goodbody, a Portsmouth Democrat, said he tried out other candidates this cycle but ultimately came back to Sanders.

“I like Warren, too, but I’m sticking with Bernie,” Goodbody said. “Primaries are about what you really want.”

Goodbody said Sanders could have gone all the way in 2016, had he been given the chance.

“Would he be able to do it now?” he mulled. “I’ll say let’s put him there and see.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Zz1FB4