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Bernie Diehards Need to Stop Fixating on Warren
Sanders diehards are scared of Warren’s rise. They should be more worried about Biden.
A panic is beginning to set in across Bernie World. Bernie Sanders is plateauing or losing momentum in the polls and a slew of recent surveys show that Elizabeth Warren is surging in early primary states and nationally, sometimes surpassing longtime front-runner Joe Biden. Warren even seems to be inching past Sanders in New Hampshire, the first-in-the-nation primary where the Vermont senator’s huge margin of victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 set in motion his stunning performance in that year’s nomination contest.
Sanders supporters are particularly concerned about how Warren is outstripping him among very liberal voters, and are out in full force arguing against Warren’s policies and leftist bona fides. Writers at Current Affairs and Jacobin and prominent members of the leftist commentariat online have made pointed criticisms of Warren, painting her as a figure whose similarities with Sanders are illusory and suggesting she’s likely to tack to the middle while in office. On top of this, the Sanders campaign has loosened the leash on its campaign attack dogs, suggesting an informal non-aggression pact between the two candidates may be unraveling a bit.