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* A series of polls — both nationally and in early-voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire — released over the past month make clear that Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden are running neck-and-neck.
“I mean, look, Joe and I are friends and I truly like Joe. But what is imperative is that we defeat Trump, the most dangerous president in modern history. And that means you’re going to have to have a huge voter turnout. You’re going to have to get working people excited. You’re going to have to get young people excited.
“Joe Biden voted and helped lead the effort for the war in Iraq, the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in the modern history of this country. Joe Biden voted for the disastrous trade agreements, like NAFTA, and permanent normal trade relations with China, which cost us millions of jobs. You think that’s going to play well in Michigan or Wisconsin or Pennsylvania?
“You know, Joe Biden has been on the floor of the Senate, talking about the need to cut Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid. Joe Biden pushed a bankruptcy bill, which has caused enormous financial problems for working families. So, if we’re going to beat Trump, we need turnout. And to get turnout, you need energy and excitement. And I just don’t think that that kind of record is going to bring forth the energy we need to defeat Trump.”
Taken together, the picture is clear: Not only has Sanders lasted longer as a viable candidate than many people thought, but he also will have the resources to fight it out for the nomination for months to come.
And then there’s perhaps the most important element of all of this: Sanders appears ready — in ways he never seemed comfortable with in his 2016 primary challenge to Hillary Clinton — to draw real contrasts with his fellow Democratic candidates in order to peel votes away from them.
Interviews like the one Sanders gave to Cooper on Monday night suggest that he won’t make that mistake again. (Sidebar: Campaigns — all campaigns — are about choices between candidates. Highlighting your strengths is of value, yes. But so too is noting your opponents’ weaknesses — and why they should matter to voters.)
Sanders has clearly read up on Biden’s looooong voting record — supported the invasion of Iraq, backed NAFTA, advocated for a bankruptcy bill — and is beginning to roll out the clear contrast between the former vice president’s record on those issues and his own. (Sanders is helped in all of this because he was in the Senate contemporaneously with Biden and can point to moments where the two differed.) The next question for Sanders will be whether he puts these critiques in television ads in places like Iowa and New Hampshire as the votes in both of those states near.
Whether Sanders continues to take the case to Biden remains to be seen. Ditto whether he will wind up as the Democratic nominee. But what is less ambiguous is that Sanders is in far better position to become the Democratic standard-bearer than most people — including most Democrats — expected him to be even as recently as last fall. And the Iowa caucuses are only 27(!!) days away.
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