Page 10 - HOH

A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 9 January 2020

Fears of Sanders win growing among Democratic establishment

By STEVE PEOPLES and AL- place the nation's private other progressive firebrand,
EXANDRA JAFFE insurance system with a was a stronger candidate
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — government-run Medicare who would cannibalize his
Increasingly alarmed that for All system. support. With Warren's can-
Bernie Sanders could be- "You have to take Sen. didacy struggling to main-
come their party's presi- Sanders seriously," said tain momentum, however,
dential nominee, establish- Bera, who has endorsed those assumptions are now
ment-minded Democrats Biden. "Those are going to being questioned.
are warning primary vot- be tough positions for our "He has now emerged as
ers that the self-described members to run on." somebody who's got the
democratic socialist would Montana Sen. Jon Tester, ability to win the nomina-
struggle to defeat Presi- who led the Senate Demo- tion," said former Obama
dent Donald Trump and crats' campaign arm the aide Ben LaBolt, who isn't
hurt the party's chances in last time Trump was on the aligned with any 2020
premier House, Senate and ballot, warned that Re- campaign but opposes
governors' races. publicans "are really good Sanders.
The urgent warnings come In this Dec. 13, 2019, file photo, Democratic presidential candi- at making elections about LaBolt seized on what he
as Sanders shows new signs date Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a campaign event in who's at the top of the tick- called Sanders' short list
of strength on the ground Manchester, N.H. et." of accomplishments over
in the first two states on the Associated Press "I come from a state that's three decades in Congress.
presidential primary calen- pretty damn red. There is no Over that time, the senator
dar, Iowa and New Hamp- 2020 field's moderate wing, "People in establishment doubt that having 'socialist' wrote just a handful of bills
shire, backed by a domi- including those backing Washington are terrified of ahead of 'Democrat' is not that ultimately became
nant fundraising operation. former Vice President Joe Bernie Sanders," Weaver a positive thing in the state law.
The Vermont senator has Biden, former South Bend, said. "The truth of the mat- of Montana," Tester, who "He's more concerned
largely escaped close scru- Indiana, Mayor Pete But- ter is their centrist tacking has not endorsed any 2020 about shouting in the wil-
tiny over the last year as his tigieg and Colorado Sen. over the years has led us to candidate, said of Sanders. derness to make an ideo-
rivals doubted the quirky Michael Bennet. the place where someone "He can overcome that, logical point than getting
78-year-old's ability to win In some ways, the criticism like Donald Trump can get but I think it's something things done," said LaBolt,
the nomination. But less is not surprising. elected." he's going to have to do." whose communications
than a month before Io- Sanders has spent de- Less than four weeks before Several Sanders critics firm has done work for the
wa's kickoff caucuses, the cades fighting to transform Iowa's Feb. 3 caucuses, noted that he has largely health insurance industry's
doubters are being forced the nation's political and Sanders' critics are making escaped intense scrutiny push to expand Obama's
to take Sanders seriously. economic systems, creat- a concerted effort to turn throughout the campaign, health care law, the Afford-
Former Chicago Mayor ing a long list of political up the volume. in part because some as- able Care Act, at the ex-
Rahm Emanuel, previously adversaries along the way. The ranks of the concerned sumed that Massachusetts pense of Sanders' preferred
a senior aide to President Many people connected include many Democrats Sen. Elizabeth Warren, an- Medicare for All plan.q
Barack Obama, warned to Hillary Clinton, for exam- tasked with preserving
Democrats that Sanders' ple, still blame Sanders for the party's majority in the
status as a democratic so- not working hard enough House and expanding its
cialist and his unwavering to support her after their minority in the Senate and
support for "Medicare for long and bitter presidential governors' mansions across
All" won't play well among primary feud in 2016. Some the country.
swing voters in the states Democrats still accuse him California Rep. Ami Bera, a
that matter most in 2020. of not being enough of a leader in the Democratic
"You need a candidate team player. Congressional Campaign
with a message that can Sanders' chief strategist Committee's "frontline"
help us win swing voters Jeff Weaver dismissed the program to protect vulner-
in battleground states," growing criticism as a re- able House members this
Emanuel said in an inter- flection of the strength of fall, warned that a Sand-
view. "The degree of diffi- his candidacy. ers nomination would force
culty dramatically increas- He raised more money more than 40 Democratic
es under a Bernie Sanders than any other Democratic candidates in competitive
candidacy. It just gets a lot candidate in the last quar- districts — most of which
harder." ter — virtually all of it from were carried by Trump four
The increasingly vocal con- small-dollar donors — and years ago — "to run away
cerns are coming from a he's considered a legiti- from the nominee."
number of political vet- mate contender to win Specifically, Bera cited
erans tied to the Obama Iowa and New Hampshire Sanders' signature health
administration and the next month. care plan, which would re-