This was my thinking. If Sanders was younger and in first place then heart trouble might be made into a stick-to-itiveness story that could end up working favourably. But the worst kind of public relations is the kind that goes to confirm what people already think of you. Heart trouble in a candidate that people already think of as possibly too old is going to play really badly, and Sanders needed everything to go right to make up ground, not for setbacks to cause a further loss.
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Yeah, and it’s sort of a positive feedback thing, too; even if I don’t think it’s a big deal, I know others will, so it makes him look less electable.
Well, the surgery makes him less likely to drop dead, that’s why they did it. And they wouldn’t even do that kind of maintenance work if he was really fragile. Medically, he’s better qualified now than he was last week. But it certainly draws attention to the fact that he’s 78, and reminds us that it’s never a completely safe bet that someone can do a stressful job when they’re 86.
(On reflection, I’m betting he will withdraw within days)
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Unusually frightening halloween decoration?
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His choice of a running mate will be really important. That’s all I’ll say. I hope he lives to be 100, but ya gotta be prepared. No dan Quayle’s or Sarah Palins. Lol.
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I know LBJ was a thing, but… does anyone really think that way? I don’t think Bernie is going to win an election through the support of people who are seriously planning for him to die in office.
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This wasn’t heart surgery, it was a catheterization. Look into the statistics associated with it - the risk of complications is lower than a root canal.
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Exactly. It’s an outpatient procedure with a fairly short recovery time. Sanders is in good shape, he should be fine by today. Heck, my MIL had two put in and recovered within two days, and she has CPOD, congestive heart failure, and diabetes.
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Even though the Democratic Primary field is still pretty crowded, I would still be totally open to hearing her platform and policy positions.
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If Bernie wins the primaries I’d vote for him even if he was on his deathbed. Ha. Remember when a dead guy beat John Ashcroft in Missouri!?? Haha. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_United_States_Senate_election_in_Missouri
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This past weekend I ended up speaking with an acquaintance who can only be described as classic flavor Bernie bro.
So for one yes they exist. I know several people who fit the mold outside of the computer. They aren’t bots or astroturfers or trollies paid by Shillary.
But for two Warren came up and most of what the guy knew about her was derived from right wing talking points. Referred to her only as Pocahontas, and was very concerned about her 5 million dollar mansion. He was also concerned about how she’d “stolen” the Working Families Party endorsement from Bernie, even though he’d couldn’t tell you what the Working Families Party was.
And that’s sort of the thread in my interactions with these types. They seem almost entirely unaware of politics outside of Bernie. Cause they don’t follow politics. They follow Bernie. Its more of a fandom for those guys (and they are almost always guys). Their info seemed to come from dank memes, which we know were mostly Russian and alt-right driven. Or directly from the Sanders campaign, which isn’t exactly a news source.
His number two was Tulsi Gabbard. Who he also knew nothing about beside “progressive” and "anti-war. But the more important thing that came out of that conversation is that he’s chilled the fuck out a lot since 2016. Challenging his claims back then brought out rage and Vince Foster. This time he actually listened, acknowledged that he wasn’t aware of things.
As for why Biden? Polling right now is still heavily influenced by name recognition and news coverage. Biden is the most recognizable name with the highest level of coverage. So you’d expect him to be over represented in second choices across candidates. Plus the whole electability thing seems to be a major driver for Biden. People assume he’ll have an easier time winning so lacking awareness of other candidates. Might as well Biden cause he can win, right?
You’d be surprised. Like I said my 96 year old grandfather who does not deal well with surgery just went through this.
As a practical concern whether this means anything for his overall wellbeing and risks moving forward depends almost entirely on what kind of heart attack, how quick they caught it and how severe.
As people get older you just get more prone to a sort of mild slow moving heart attack, almost irregardless of cardiac history or general health. I’ve 2 of my 3 grandparents go through that in the last 3 years. It doesn’t neccisarily make a person any more likely to die, to have another heart attack or impact overall capabilities long term. So in all likelihood Bernie is gonna be fine, depending on his medical history. This is serious if shockingly low impact surgery, and a pretty big medical event. But on its own its not the sort of “it won’t be long now” situation that a stroke would be.
But even if that’s the sort of situation Bernie is in that’s not how its gonna play, and I don’t think how people should make a decision. We don’t know that he’s fine and if was anything other than a mild heart attack, the other options are rill bad. I don’t really think he’s got much chance of gaining support after this, given the concerns people already have vis a vis age and health across candidates.
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[No you wouldn’t. She has dementia on top of all the self-inflicted diseases.]
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[Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. My comment was only supposed to be a nice funny in a friendly spirit. Human bodies are trouble sometimes…]
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[No worries. Her health problems are karmic in nature. Some families have “black sheep”, but she was the family dumpster fire.]
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