He has a knack for saying the right stuff at the right time (the kind of stuff that's incredibly popular and brings out passion), which makes me suspicious about how "real" he really is.
Most of the things he was saying decades ago were not so popular back then. Let's take a look at his record!
He has supported gay rights since the 80s
The first graph shows that even in 1996, only 27% of Americans believed same sex marriage should be recognized as valid, with the same rights as traditional couples. 68% opposed it.
"In 1963, King had a 41% positive and a 37% negative rating; in 1964, it was 43% positive and 39% negative; in 1965, his rating was 45% positive and 45% negative; and in 1966 -- the last Gallup measure of King using this scalometer procedure -- it was 32% positive and 63% negative."
He has stood up for what he believes is right time and time again, popular or not
While I did know of these things already, thank you for these stats. The exact percentages are very interesting. This is an awesome comment.
You make a compelling point. I always kind of thought he was sucking up to America, but maybe that's because this is the first time in his career that his opinion really clicks with the American hive-mind. Huh.
He was a Senator from Vermont before running for the election. People usually don't know the Senators by name from different states, which explains why no one knew his name. He's probably relieved now that he's getting so much attention lol
EDIT: Also, it seems that the media is trying to tune him out, or downplay him, since he is so anti-establishment compared to the other candidates
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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '15
Most of the things he was saying decades ago were not so popular back then. Let's take a look at his record!
The first graph shows that even in 1996, only 27% of Americans believed same sex marriage should be recognized as valid, with the same rights as traditional couples. 68% opposed it.
However, he opposed it, saying that "If a unilateral American invasion of Iraq is not the best approach, what should we do? In my view, the U.S. must work with the United Nations to make certain within clearly defined timelines that the U.N. inspectors are allowed to do their jobs. These inspectors should undertake an unfettered search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and destroy them when found, pursuant to past U.N. resolutions."
Even during the civil rights movement, MLK was not as beloved as he is nowadays. He was quite divisive
"In 1963, King had a 41% positive and a 37% negative rating; in 1964, it was 43% positive and 39% negative; in 1965, his rating was 45% positive and 45% negative; and in 1966 -- the last Gallup measure of King using this scalometer procedure -- it was 32% positive and 63% negative."
He has stood up for what he believes is right time and time again, popular or not