If you’re one of Bernie’s top rivals (Biden, Pete, whoever) and want to launch a nasty attack campaign to take him down, what would the main attack line be? (Not endorsing these theoretical attacks, just trying to anticipate what may be coming in the next few weeks)
I can’t imagine any candidate would reference it directly (would have to be through a Pete or Joe-backed proxy force) but the heart attack / age / health stuff -- “we can’t take that kind of risk against Trump!” etc. -- seems like the only plausible angle they really have
I’ve randomly talked to a bunch of (older) NH voters who supported Bernie in 2016 but are now shopping around for someone else because they think he’s too old and has health issues. (Ironically, zero young voters seem to care about this. It’s only Bernie’s fellow oldsters)
So yeah I’d expect not-so-subtle whisper campaigns to emerge in the next few weeks aimed at older voters trying to spook them about the age/health stuff
I don’t think the “socialism” attack really works on Bernie at this point because he’s spent 5 years “normalizing” his brand of socialism as fitting in comfortably with the broader Democratic Party coalition. We’re talking Dem primary voters here, not the general electorate.
