Bernie Sanders 2016 Feel the Bern!

I am not a registered democrat, I am left leaning moderate independent. I have voted in both democrat and republican primaries. I voted for Lugar when he was still here and voted against the tea party candidate to send Joel Donnelly to the senate. I would vote for moderate Republicans who does not pander to the extreme right. Hillary may not be a great candidate, but she beats Trump and Cruz by a mile. Do not bet against her in 2020 if she wins this year, if the economy continue its upward trend for the next four years, I fully expect her to be reelected. I expect Hillary will be able to accomplish more than Sanders if elected, to me Sanders is all pipe dreams and big talk but not grounded in reality.

 

If Jerry Brown was the only Democrat you could stomach in the last 40 yrs, you may not be a representative Democrat voter.

 

Enthusiasm is contagious.

Ms. Clinton is like the party incumbent and it's easy to see the inertia of electing incumbents by looking at the re-election rate for Congressmen versus the National perception of Congress. But that doesn't mean you don't go all in for your true convictions.

The moral high ground is pretty pretty pretty popular when people actually get past the commie propaganda. Yes, progressivism is the moral high ground. This is just starting.... or could fizzle out, who knows?

 

Brown was the only primary candidate in the last 40 years I was enthusiastic about before Sanders.

I think the last president I really liked was LBJ, Vietnam aside.

No, I don't vote like a typical Democratic Party voter. Why would I and why should I have to, especially if the party offers a candidate I strongly dislike and have always disliked?

 

Did you dislike her when she was on the stage with Bill campaigning in 1992? I'm assuming that you could vote then. Did you dislike her while she was First Lady? What was so terrible about her that you, as a Democrat, have never liked her? Put aside the crap being thrown around during this election cycle.

 

So do you prefer to have people like Trump or Cruz in the white house or tea party congressmen in charge of the house?

 

Then you're just not a Democrat - which is fine. I don't consider myself a Democrat either. But why would you be either surprised or annoyed that a party that apparently doesn't really share your beliefs wouldn't vote for the candidate that does?

If Bernie was counting on primarily independents voting for him, then maybe the Democratic primary was not a realistic path given that, you know, it's primarily actual Democrats voting in it.

 

Yes, Deckard, I always disliked her, and I'm neither a member of the vast right-wing conspiracy, or the Democratic Party (although I guess I technically am since I voted in the primary).

I didn't vote for Bill Clinton in 92 or 96. I don't identify as a Democrat, and I am kind of surprised that there is so much backlash against Clinton within the Democratic Party. I figured it was a lonely position held by me and a few members of the Christopher Hitchens book club, but there's room on the bus, I guess.

As a side note, I did move back to Texas in time for the gubernatorial race and went to a Wendy Davis rally and while I voted for her (as I find the current war on reproductive rights in Texas to be shamefully ass-backwards), I was put off by it. I felt talked down to, especially by Leticia Van De Putte, who looked to score cheap applause that felt self-serving, rather than send a message or discuss policy.

The shining star at the event was Cecile Richards. She hit hard with facts, figures, and a call to action. I felt like someone was talking to me like an adult. If SHE was running for president or governor or Senator, I'd by all-in.

 

I would prefer to vote for candidates that represent my interests and values rather than against the ones I dislike the most. Or worse, being scared into voting for a candidate. Obama didn't take away my guns and Bush didn't outlaw abortion.

Again, as a registered voter in Texas, my vote for president is probably the least important anyway. It's the other candidates in the other races that'll invite my scrutiny. I'm likelier to support Democrats I don't like in state elections than in presidential ones, since those votes will actually count.

Dominionists like Abbot, Cruz, and Patrick scare me way more than the know-nothing populism of Donald Trump.

 

I'm not -- I'm just disappointed. And I felt like I needed to say something since Sanders supporters who don't like Hillary Clinton aren't all neckbearded Millennials. What I am surprised by is that my own long-held aversion to the Clintons is shared by so many Sanders supporters.

He's running until it's over and his goal is to resurrect ideas that were once part of the party. His aspirations don't go nearly as far as the New Deal or Great Society did, but I think that's the point. He's not a radical and his policy positions are not that unrealistic. Hopefully, the base he is energizing will participate after the election in the marketplace of ideas.

 

My apologies. I read "No, I don't vote like a typical Democratic Party voter" as saying that you were not a typical Democrat. Since you are not a Democrat, your feelings about Hillary Clinton carry a much different context.

I think she's terrific.

 

I like Bernie and I want Bernie to hang around not just this election but many more years to come to keep the Democrat anchored to the left but I don't see how this country in general election would vote for him. He is practically a Socialist. He admitted that much and I am ok with it, but there are just not enough people on the left to vote for him, I don't think.
I really don't trust those general election polls that think Bernie is the favorite over the Republican, even more so than Hilary. Just does not make sense unless the Rep. who are polled, cast their votes for him as a ruse.

 

I completely agree, Sander is not the right messenger for his own message. I hope we have universal health care one day, but Sander is not the one to get it done. If Hillary can get more for Pell grant, it would be a major victory, free college at this point is just pure pipe dream.

 

I think the republic is healthier when there is a true marketplace of ideas and a debate of policy. Greens, socialists, libertarians, paleo-conservatives and evangelicals are all part of the country and deserve their ideas to be represented and they aren't good fits under the big tents of the GOP and Democratic Party.

 

Now this is a rep-worthy comment. There is nothing I despise more in American politics than this self-righteous/purist attitude that only MY viewpoints matter and anyone who disagrees in any way is corrupt/evil, and therefore must not be given time of day. I applaud you in being your own man and not letting yourself be defined by the manifesto of a party -- this is really my attitude as well.

I share many of Sanders' ideals - like free college education and healthcare as a right, not a privilege. But at the end of the day, the truth is that there are many Americans who may not share those ideals. And it's their country too. So we've got to find some common ground somehow. The single biggest problem with American government, especially in the last eight years, has been purist obstructionism. Why does it suddenly become OK to have this same attitude because it's coming from the left instead of the right? Campaign seasons like this are an opportunity to drive the conversation and attitudes in the direction we prefer, but we've got to learn to listen, too.

 

I will listen and debate anyone on the left or right ...
Except when their entire vocabulary consists of two words, Benghazi and e-mail, what is there to talk about?

 

I don't understand how hard it is to register to vote, that's the law of the state of NY. It's been there for a while.
What do you want done?

 

The people you are referring to could have registered to vote as recently as a few weeks ago - the 6 months rule doesn't apply to them. If you spent as much time learning about the actual process as you do throwing tantrums about the unfairness of everything, maybe you'd know that it's not as unfair or as unreasonable as you think.