2020 Democratic Primary

[Aeon Jiminy]

From the Washington Post: Sanders supporters have weaponized Facebook to spread angry memes about his Democratic rivals
...
Since the beginning of 2019, nearly 3,000 active Facebook pages supporting Sanders have generated more than 290 million interactions — meaning shares, likes or other user actions — according to an analysis by Trevor Davis, a research professor at Livingston’s institute. For contrast, about 350 pages devoted to former vice president Joe Biden have generated just 9 million interactions; nearly 300 pro-Warren pages come in at under 20 million interactions.
...
The rising popularity of the tactic among Sanders supporters may help explain the scores of images bashing Sanders’s opponents that have appeared in nearly simultaneous bursts in recent weeks, pushed out by highly networked clusters of Facebook users, according to Davis’s analysis. He did not find evidence that the campaign itself was involved in this activity, focusing instead on the informal Facebook activity by supporters.

No other Democrat’s supporters are engaged in behavior on a similar scale, which is more characteristic of the online movement galvanized by Trump.
...

Okay, okay. I'm a bad person. You're a good person. Satisfied?

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

From the Washington Post: Sanders supporters have weaponized Facebook to spread angry memes about his Democratic rivals
...
Since the beginning of 2019, nearly 3,000 active Facebook pages supporting Sanders have generated more than 290 million interactions — meaning shares, likes or other user actions — according to an analysis by Trevor Davis, a research professor at Livingston’s institute. For contrast, about 350 pages devoted to former vice president Joe Biden have generated just 9 million interactions; nearly 300 pro-Warren pages come in at under 20 million interactions.
...
The rising popularity of the tactic among Sanders supporters may help explain the scores of images bashing Sanders’s opponents that have appeared in nearly simultaneous bursts in recent weeks, pushed out by highly networked clusters of Facebook users, according to Davis’s analysis. He did not find evidence that the campaign itself was involved in this activity, focusing instead on the informal Facebook activity by supporters.

No other Democrat’s supporters are engaged in behavior on a similar scale, which is more characteristic of the online movement galvanized by Trump.
...

Pretty much. I friended a lot of Bernie supporters on faceboop in '16. Every last one of them keeps spouting the same 'Only Bernie has our backs, only Bernie is progressive' - and it extended to RL, a friend I game with started against Warren and I had to correct him. At least he listened, but the ones I am only in contact with online [the one I knew in person has since moved to Tennessee] aren't listening, they are letting their emotions rule them, and it really is a cult of personality.

I do not blame Bernie, but he -does- have a follower issue, and really, outside of trying to get them to cut it out, there isn't much he can do about it. And it doesn't even mean the issues are starting with them; but it doesn't matter if they keep propagating it.

 

[Essence Lumin]

The rising popularity of the tactic among Sanders supporters

That whole thing makes it sound likes it is some organized 'tactic'. It seems more likely to me that Sanders supporters are more likely to be outspoken on Facebook or wherever.

 

[Ishina]

I think the more interesting take away is how Sanders' opponents have weaponized his popularity.

I wonder if it is the same people who did it to Obama.

 

[Anya Ristow]

From the Washington Post: Sanders supporters have weaponized Facebook to spread angry memes about his Democratic rivals
...
scores of images bashing Sanders’s opponents that have appeared in nearly simultaneous bursts in recent weeks, pushed out by highly networked clusters of Facebook users

There are some hints of what's happening, chief among them the part I've reduced your quote to. Many of the friend requests I get are for people posting political crap and I just fail to become their audience, even if they're pushing stuff from inside my bubble. Highly networked clusters of Facebook users. IOW their reach is mostly among themselves.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

 

[Lady Darnk Juniorette]

I think the more interesting take away is how Sanders' opponents have weaponized his popularity.

I wonder if it is the same people who did it to Obama.

Those damn Obama boys!!!

 

[Aeon Jiminy]

I think the more interesting take away is how Sanders' opponents have weaponized his popularity.

I wonder if it is the same people who did it to Obama.

This playbook is old as the hills. When it shows your hypocrisy to attack the message, you start attacking the messenger. Ring the bell. They bark.

Imagine letting women have the right to vote... they're crazy and need to be brought down a notch. I'm not prejudiced, but those colored people are just out of control, acting uppity, and think they can just come in and do as they please. Act civilized. They're not like us. Jews always have to push themselves into every country club in town. They don't belong. Follow the rules. I have nothing against fags, but they're always trying to shove it in my face.

I'm up here with everyone else...

And you're down here. I have a mountain of certified expertly written documentation to show you your place. What's the problem?

 

[Anya Ristow]

 

[Cristalle]

Pretty much. I friended a lot of Bernie supporters on faceboop in '16. Every last one of them keeps spouting the same 'Only Bernie has our backs, only Bernie is progressive' - and it extended to RL, a friend I game with started against Warren and I had to correct him. At least he listened, but the ones I am only in contact with online [the one I knew in person has since moved to Tennessee] aren't listening, they are letting their emotions rule them, and it really is a cult of personality.

I do not blame Bernie, but he -does- have a follower issue, and really, outside of trying to get them to cut it out, there isn't much he can do about it. And it doesn't even mean the issues are starting with them; but it doesn't matter if they keep propagating it.

It's a cult of policy. Bernie is not some charismatic dude. But for people dead set on certain policies, it is true that he is the only one who is willing to fight hard for certain things. Warren's Medicare for All transition plan equates to "not in my lifetime." If you're going to lose on the issue, I at least expect you to fight for it instead of waffling out of the gate and negotiating against yourself, and when the compromise position comes, you've basically got nothing. The thing people have not learned from Trump is how important it is to be seen fighting for the things your base cares about. People can tolerate you losing so long as you actually put up a fight.

Bloomberg is only doing his apology tour because he needs minorities to win. He's not to be believed on racial justice, the minimum wage. The only thing I can believe him for is guns.

Biden used to be known as "the Senator from MBNA" before it eventually got subsumed into Bank of America. He's been trying to plagiarize Bernie's long record of civil rights activism, going so far as to lie about being arrested in South Africa when trying to see Mandela. Pathetic. He's also an Iraq War warmonger.

Warren has some progressive cred to her name and is far from the worst candidate out there, but there are issues with some of her positions that are deeply troubling (for me, that's mostly on foreign policy).

Steyer is trying to buy this race, just like Bloomberg.

Buttigieg is a media creation, a slick talker who keeps faking how much black support he has and I don't believe him when it comes to racial justice. He offers next to nothing. As the union marchers in SC showed him, "where was 15 in South Bend?" Add in the fact that he is a former spook, and all his billionaire backers, and you have the perfect storm of "not in his lifetime" on healthcare plus continuing endless wars because we can't figure out what winning looks like.

Klobuchar is the least inspiring, telling us what we can't do and thinking that that's bold. Yeah, okay, gaslighter.

Gabbard is near irrelevant, even though her policy positions are mostly acceptable to me. I agree with most of her stances on foreign policy. I think her "Single Payer Plus" plan would be a better compromise than "Medicare for All Who Want It"/the public option but I think falling for the canard of "choice" leads to bad policy.

And most of these others don't really go far enough on climate change, though some are better than others.

 

[Anya Ristow]

Robert Reich reads Anya's VVO posts and makes an illustrated video about it.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

This is getting completely crazy -- no matter what reservations you may have about him, you don't hatch bizzare plots like this against the leading candidate

Michelle Obama petitioned to run as vice-president to stop Bernie Sanders, report says

Anxious party officials float late-entry candidates anticipating brokered convention

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Arilynn]

Okay, okay. I'm a bad person. You're a good person. Satisfied?

That’s a very odd, highly personalized response to a post that was nothing more than an article quote and citation. Your choice, I guess. /shrug

 

[Kara Spengler]

This is what keeps me awake at night.

How New Voting Machines Could Hack Our Democracy | Jennifer Cohn

The United States has a disturbing habit of investing in unvetted new touchscreen voting machines that later prove disastrous. As we barrel toward what is set to be the most important election in a generation, Congress appears poised to fund another generation of risky touchscreen voting...

www.nybooks.com

Agggg! Run away! Our entire field should not be allowed anywhere NEAR the process. Next time someone will be selling quantum computers to do the counting.

Voting Software

 

[Lady Darnk Juniorette]

 

[Lady Darnk Juniorette]

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

I think it is much more important to fix K-12 which is very broken. Start by eliminating laws requiring teachers to spend all their time prepping students for tests and let them actually teach.

This.

Free college is great, and, I feel, even necessary for a thriving economy. But our K-12 system is failing our children. Schools are grossly inconsistent from state to state and even district to district. And the students they are turning out are often woefully prepared for college, free or not. Teaching to tests is part of the problem. They make for great test scores, but poor problem solving skills.

 

[Kara Spengler]

His ideas are pretty good for an American politician, but everytime I see Sanders, I see a physically worn down old man. Should he really be considered to become the president of the USA for the next 4-8 years?

There are several candidates and potential candidates within several years of each other. All basically in the same place on the actuarial tables but why is it the only one who ppl scream is too old is the one who seems the healthiest of the lot?

 

[Cristiano]

 

[Pamela]

This.

Free college is great, and, I feel, even necessary for a thriving economy. But our K-12 system is failing our children. Schools are grossly inconsistent from state to state and even district to district. And the students they are turning out are often woefully prepared for college, free or not. Teaching to tests is part of the problem. They make for great test scores, but poor problem solving skills.

Testing initially made me a better teacher. Feedback data is a good thing. But eventually it became the tail wagging the dog. Before long only what is tested — even if it is a good test of problem solving and critical thinking — is given any place in the curriculum. Then arts and PE and socializing get cut back. And some teachers feel like their focus all year must be on the kids at risk of failing the test and comes at the expense of kids who enter already having mastered all the knowledge and skills tested.