Bernie Sanders has positive favorability ratings. He's the only leading candidate in 2016 with positive favorability ratings. If you care about losing to a Republican this year, then you should care about this fact.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump do not have positive favorability ratings.
59% of Americans distrust Donald Trump.
67% of Americans find Hillary Clinton "not honest and trustworthy."
Yes, more Americans trust Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton. I explain in my latest YouTube segment that because 67% of American distrust Hillary Clinton, only Bernie Sanders can prevent a xenophobic billionaire from making decisions in the Oval Office. I also highlight why negative favorability ratings, in addition to an ongoing FBI investigation, pave the way for a Trump presidency if Clinton is the nominee.
Not many people know that 67% of Americans find Hillary Clinton "not honest and trustworthy." Not many Democrats know that 30% of Democratic voters distrust Hillary Clinton, in addition to a startling 74% of Independent voters in America. Since 43% of Americans are politically independent, Trump has the edge over Clinton, especially since Trump donated money to Clinton's Senate campaigns and foundation.
In addition, Republicans and especially Trump will make Clinton's ongoing FBI investigation and trustworthiness problems the central themes of every televised debate and every political advertisement. Things are bad for the Clinton campaign when a former Obama intelligence official believes Hillary should "drop out" of the presidential race. Ultimately, nobody wins a general election without better favorability ratings than his or her rival, and Bernie Sanders is the only leading candidate with positive ratings in 2016.
For a great visual experience, please watch Brian Hanley's animated rap videos, highlighting exactly why Bernie destroys Trump. Or, you can just read this article explaining why Bernie Sanders destroys Trump.
By the way, if anyone tries to disparage my ability to predict future events, just remember Clinton's statement that she "always tried" to tell the truth. Like Clinton, I can simply say that "I always tried to predict accurately." As it stands, I won't concede tight races in Iowa or Nevada and Bernie Sanders demolished the Clinton campaign in New Hampshire.
It's amusing that Hillary supporters don't see the irony in gloating over razor sharp wins, when Bernie Sanders was over 40 points behind just eight months ago.
When it's all said and done, my greatest prediction is the headline of an article written in June of 2015 titled Why Bernie Sanders Will Become the Democratic Nominee and Defeat Any Republican in 2016. I don't care what people think of me, but I've been saying Sanders will win the presidency since last summer. I was also right about Bernie cutting into Clinton's lead in the polls. According to Real Clear Politics, Bernie is only 5.6 points (nationally) behind a $2.5 billion campaign that was "inevitable" to everyone.
Back then, very few people were talking about Bernie Sanders truly battling Clinton, but I was, and to troll me on social media because Clinton barely scored "wins" only proves my overall point.
As for South Carolina and Super Tuesday, every stunning upset will be magnified exponentially, especially since Clinton is only 5.6% above Sanders nationally according to Real Clear Politics.
The fact Hillary Clinton accepted $133,450 from prison lobbyists, after Bill Clinton apologized for making mass incarceration "worse," will affect the South Carolina primary. My friend Tim Black goes into great detail about Clinton's prison lobbyist money in this segment of Tim Black TV. Mr. Black also has an important message for the voters of South Carolina.
In 2016, Bernie Sanders will be able to defeat the Clinton machine, primarily because he's honest, and Hillary Clinton once made up a story about surviving Bosnian sniper fire. If you disagree, please name the last winning presidential candidate with Clinton's negative favorability ratings.
Therefore, before elaborating on why Hillary Clinton "always tried" to tell the truth, let me explain how I became a Bernie Sanders supporter.
In June of 2015, I had dinner with a childhood friend at a Mexican restaurant in Pasadena. He was wearing a "Bernie" tee shirt, and I had just been published in The Baltimore Sun, voicing my support for Martin O'Malley. After a couple of margaritas, we started talking about politics and Hillary Clinton's stranglehold on the Democratic nomination. I explained that I'd never vote for someone who once stated "No, I don't regret giving the president authority because at the time it was in the context of weapons of mass destruction, grave threats to the United States, and clearly, Saddam Hussein had been a real problem for the international community for more than a decade." You see, after a couple of margaritas, I can recite exact Hillary Clinton quotes from as far back as 2004.
My friend then asked, "Bernie Sanders voted against Iraq, he stands for everything you stand for, why don't you vote for him?" I smiled and agreed, but explained that Sanders could never win because he was a socialist. Yes, H. A. Goodman actually made that argument.
After writing about Elizabeth Warren, Jim Webb, Martin O'Malley, and even a Republican (only because of Clinton's neoconservative war policies), I still wasn't truly ready to join a burgeoning political movement. After all, he just couldn't win, right? I had written about Bernie in April, but wasn't as passionate as most supporters.
I wasn't convinced until some weeks later, after realizing that Bernie Sanders wasn't a "Fox News socialist," but a Democratic-Socialist like FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, and other presidents. I did my homework (especially with Clinton's inability to maintain a "commanding" polling lead over Obama), and I became part of a political revolution encompassing black, white, Latino, Asian, and Americans of all religions and backgrounds.
By supporting Vermont's Senator (active in the Civil Rights movement and arrested in 1963), I joined a movement that rattles establishment politicians and pundits.
Very quickly, I realized we'd never have another Bernie Sanders again, perhaps in our lifetimes. I wrote a piece in The Huffington Post titled It's Official -- Bernie Sanders Has Overtaken Hillary Clinton In the Hearts and Minds of Democrats, that just hit 733,000 Facebook likes. I then wrote a piece in The Hill titled Sanders's integrity and honesty worth more than Clinton's billions that hit 117,000 Facebook Likes. I've kept at it, and I'm willing to write-in Bernie's name, no matter what happens; a great number of progressives agree with me.
We now have a chance to elect someone capable of fixing structural issues pertaining to Wall Street, foreign policy, and American politics. There's a reason Bernie Sanders voted against the Iraq War and "blasted" Alan Greenspan in 2003, five years before the Wall Street collapse. There's also a reason Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq War and won't disclose transcripts that earned her and her husband $153 million from Wall Street.
Finally, Clinton's issues with transparency are highlighted by Carl Bernstein in this CNN interview. As for why 67% of voters distrust Clinton, nothing exemplifies this dilemma better than a Washington Post article titled Hillary Clinton's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad answer on whether she's ever lied:
PELLEY: You talk about leveling with the American people. Have you always told the truth?
CLINTON: I've always tried to. Always. Always.
PELLEY: Some people are gonna call that wiggle room that you just gave yourself.
CLINTON: Well, no, I've always tried --
PELLEY: I mean, Jimmy Carter said, "I will never lie to you."
CLINTON: Well, but, you know, you're asking me to say, "Have I ever?" I don't believe I ever have. I don't believe I ever have. I don't believe I ever will. I'm gonna do the best I can to level with the American people.
Rest assured, President Hillary Clinton "will always try" to tell the truth in office. Nothing examples Clinton's issues with trustworthiness better than this interview. The Bosnian sniper story is a close second, followed by the convenience of a private server.
I explain why I'm only voting for Bernie Sanders in this YouTube segment. I highlight on The Benjamin Dixon Show why Hillary Clinton's racial justice record will hurt her performance in South Carolina and throughout the South. Bernie Sanders is now less than 6 points from Clinton nationally. He's one stunning upset away from surpassing Clinton nationally, and then we have a whole new ballgame.