The Democrat Establishment has apparently determined that a Bernie Sanders nomination is a ticket to Democrat Party disaster in November. Bernie is gaining momentum as the Democrat front-runner, having trounced the field in the Nevada caucuses. However, contrary to his campaign’s spin, his support base within the Democrat Party doesn’t translate well at all to the general election, and here is the reason why: Americans support capitalism, not socialism, as this recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed:

Fifty-two percent of those polled said they viewed capitalism positively, while just 19 percent said the same about socialism. In an almost mirror flip, 18 percent had a negative view of capitalism, while 53 percent viewed socialism negatively.

And the Democrats’ big guns know it and have been targeting Sanders publicly for weeks now. First, James Carville, Bill Clinton’s lead political strategist, got into a tit-for-tat with Sanders after the Iowa caucuses:

Democratic strategist James Carville has said that he agrees with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ assessment of him as a “political hack,” adding that he’d rather be a hack than a “communist” like the senator from Vermont.

Then, the reliable Chris Matthews, a Democrat hack/pundit at MSNBC, weighed in. Don’t forget that Matthews was the former chief of staff to Democrat Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill in the early 1980s when O’Neill was sparring with President Reagan. On 8 February, after a Democrat debate, as a direct broadside aimed at Bernie Sanders, he pointedly commented that socialism doesn’t work.

Then, after Sanders won the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, Matthews upped the rhetorical ante about Sanders.

The most jaw-dropping [comments] came from MSNBC host Chris Matthews, who said he was reading about the fall of France to the Nazis in 1940, and it reminded him of what was going on with Sanders appearing more likely to win the nomination. He mentioned he had been reading about the fall of France in 1940 and about a call to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill relaying that “It’s over” for France. “And Churchill says, ‘How can it be? You got the greatest army in Europe. How could it be over?’ He said, ‘It’s over.’ So I had that suppressed feeling,” Matthews said.

It’s pretty amazing that he would tie a Jewish Democratic Socialist to the Nazis steam-rolling over France in 1940, but that is an indication of what Establishment Democrats like Matthews fear with Bernie Sanders at the top of the ticket in November.

But Carville wasn’t done yet! Bernie’s big Nevada win set him off in a tirade Saturday night:

James Carville absolutely exploded during an appearance on MSNBC Saturday night, calling Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) all but inevitable nomination as the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, “political suicide,” and suggesting that Vladimir Putin is “happy” that the Democrats are helping to get President Donald Trump re-elected.

Joe Lockhart, yet another Democrat Establishment figure, weighed in on Saturday, as well. He sees Mike Bloomberg as the Democrats’ only hope in stopping the Bernie juggernaut and proceeded to give him advice to “take one for the team.” Lockhart knows that Bloomberg has the resources to take Bernie down. Here are excerpts from his CNN opinion piece that clearly expresses the sentiments (and fears) of the Democrat Establishment:

If Bloomberg wants to make it past the Democratic National Convention in July, his strategy needs to change –quickly. His first objective is to nab the nomination, and to do that, he needs to direct his resources to take down Sanders before he even has a chance at Trump. Sanders has a chance to run the table as the rest of the field fights each other for the honor of coming in second. Sanders has emerged as the Democratic front-runner, and his support stands at 25% among Democrats and independents who lean Democratic, according to the most recent Quinnipiac poll. But that’s not enough to win the general election. I don’t believe the country is prepared to support a Democratic socialist, and I agree with the theory that Sanders would lose in a matchup against Trump. In a general election battle between two divisive figures who both preach the politics of grievance, I believe Trump will win the battle to the bottom and remain the last man standing. Of all the other Democratic candidates, Bloomberg may be the only one who can stop the Sanders freight train and still have a shot at winning the White House. If Bloomberg has any chance of winning the nomination, he has to redirect his resources during the primary and run ads against Sanders — not Trump. Bloomberg needs to use the next $400 million in ad spending to attack Sanders on his potential weaknesses in a general election and highlight how far left his campaign is. Hitting him on his past record on guns is a must.

Lockhart fully understands that NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, and his money line explains the Democrat Party fears of a Bernie candidacy: I don’t believe the country is prepared to support a Democratic socialist. Expect to see many more attacks on Bernie going forward as Super Tuesday approaches.

And don’t forget what Hillary Clinton said about Bernie back in January as she refused to pledge her support if Bernie won the nomination (“Nobody likes him.”)

Even the Congressional Black Caucus (as Establishment Democrat an organization as there is) is piling on:

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who he described as a socialist, as the presidential nominee in 2020 could put the Democrats majority in House of Representatives in jeopardy.

The Democrat Establishment won’t let Bernie win, and they’re not going to let him jeopardize their political power in Congress. And their foot soldiers like Carville, Matthews, Lockhart, and many others will help make sure of it.

The end.

Stu Cvrk served 30 years in the US Navy in a variety of active and reserve capacities, with considerable operational experience in the Middle East and the Western Pacific. An oceanographer and systems analyst through education and experience, Stu is a graduate of the US Naval Academy where he received a classical liberal education which serves as the key foundation for his political commentary. He threads daily on Twitter on a wide range of political, military, foreign policy, government, economics, and world affairs topics. Read more by Stu Cvrk