I'm a Bernie supporter and if he ran independent, I would curse his name to hell and back again and never forgive him. Ever. It's one thing to vote one's conscience, and then there's gift-wrapping the presidency for whatever doucheclown gets the repub nod. That move would be utterly, totally unforgivable. In fact, if he doesn't do his part to personally support Hill if she gets the nod, and urge his supporters to vote in November, then he can eat **** for not doing his part to fight the greater enemy.
This. I like what Clinton says, but I know she's full of it. Still, i'd rather have her then any of the Republican candidates even with that knowledge. Overall though I highly prefer Sanders over Clinton, Sanders is an OG. He's been all about his views since the very beginning. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jBk-NbMFFsw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> vs <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O49wD6_g_Bs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Bernie, as a stand alone, running as an independent would be a disaster for progressives. He would steal Hilary's votes and the election would fall into the Conservatives hands, which would be a nightmare. I don't know if it is even possible, but what if BOTH Trump AND Bernie, after losing in the primaries, ran as independents.
Let's assume one is not contended basically with the status quo for purposes of this post. You are pretty tone deaf if you think Bernie is mainly rhetoric as the inexperienced Obama was when he entered office.. Look at howthe cautious Obama was in his only two years in the Senate before he started running for president. For instance he all but apologized for his temerity of speaking out against the Iraq War when in state office in Illinois. Millions realize that Bernie is serious, did not change when he went to Washington and will keep fighting. It is his appeal. It is already a GOP Congress, so why do you think same ol same ol Hillary will change that much? I know maybe there are a a couple more GOP retirements or whatever. I agree that it will be very hard to cow the Repubs with their billionaire sponsors in their gerrymandered districts, with the typical truncated electorate Hillary's uninspiring status quo rhetoric will engender. This is not speculation but a near certainty based on the last 8 years and Obama. See how the mild mannered Mr. Obama immediately started to get wiped out in his first MId Terms. It is not mere speculation, as we saw yesterday, how the electorate can be expanded by bold easily to understand proposals that help the majority as Bernie showed yesterday . From what I hear you will see this in Minnesota soon. If the young actually believe that the fight is on and will continually stay on for free college they will stay committed through the midterms. Similar with the tens of millions with no insurance or lousy insurance including much of Obamacare. Same with the fight to expand social security benefits. It is very difficult for Hillary to expand the electorate as she is constrained by her need to court the millionaire and corporate money and her pledge of virtually no new taxes for them which will be required for the programs that inspired the potentially expanded electorate. However, even if Hillary pledges more than minor tweaks to the staus quo (you can expect a bit of populist rhetoric as corporate Dems usually do during the eelection ) it won't matter much as she has zero credibility as as an agent of change. Only the hapless Jeb has less credibility as an agent of change. It will take a couple of election cycles with an expanded electorate composed of young folks and poor folks who are not scared to change the statu quo to cow the Repubs and the coprorate controlled Dems or to replace many of them. With the uninspired Hillary type campagn and the resulting truncated electorate it is impossible or will take many years. Maybe check out Ken Burns "The Roosevelts" on Netflix as an example of how this type of change has occurred in US history. I do remain slightly hopeful that Hillary if the nominee , ever the opportunist and chameleon might actually take a chance and actually move a bit, and not just rhetorically, as she would love to have the enthusiasm of the potential young voters. These voters rightfully don't trust her and are not motivated by only fear that things could be worse if the Repubs win. These younger voters are also harder to control with the mainstream media spin.
You seem to like to use the term "contented" as a disparagement which tells me that you deal with a lot of frustration. Nothing you have said indicates that Sanders will actually be able to to change things. You're reading a narrow Sanders defeat as some sort of mandate for change when again forgetting that Sanders still came in second and also the fact that the Republicans turned out in record numbers for a Ted Cruz whose views are about the polar opposite of Sanders. Except of course Cruz supporters also consider "moderate" to be an insult and probably aren't contented. As I said earlier this is certainly something for Sanders to build off but lets not forget that the Iowa Caucus also gave Cruz something to build off. Your criticism of people from Obama on down as contented ignores the fact of recognizing that there is also another side that is just as solid in their belief. Somehow you, and many others, seem to believe that overcoming that is to get angrier and less compromising. Well that sounds awfully similar to what is coming from the Cruz et al too. Also regarding the Roosevelts consider that Teddy Roosevelt lost in 1912 so it wasn't like he kept on leading a revolution. For that matter the Republican Party of Teddy Roosevelt not long after him became the pro-business moneyed party of Harding, Coolidge and Hoover. FDR came in during the worst economic collapse in US history followed by a World War II and was unconstrained by the 22nd Amendment. There are a lot of issues right not but the country isn't anywhere near the disasters and threats of the Great Depression or World War II. In other words I don't think the Roosevelts are apt comparisons to apply. As far as a couple of election cycles as pointed out earlier, with the exception of Bill Clinton in 1998 all modern two term presidents have lost seats in the Congress in their second term. Term limits rather than making a second term president more powerful has often weakened them because their Congressional allies know they can't count on presidential coattails. At the same time your call for young people hasn't translated to much midterm election success. The sad truth is is that young voters don't turn out when it isn't a presidential year. So what size would you like the T-wolves championship jerseys in?
Well as someone who volunteers for disaster recovery I guess I wouldn't know about suffering. Are you now saying that Sanders actually won Iowa? I saw millions of kids getting engaged in 2008 also. Deja Vu all over again. I do find it funny from someone who keeps on facing political frustration that I'm the one who is politically tone deaf. Y'all have that in common. And how is Bernie Sanders going to win those people over or at least get them to not obstruct his legislative agenda if he wins? How is Sanders going to out maneuver them in Congress? How will he win over moderate allies of either party to his self-admitted radical agenda? Cruz and Sanders among the candidates occupy opposite ends of the ideological spectrum and the question to both is how can they implement an agenda that will be opposed tooth and nail by the other side. In many ways Cruz will have it easier as he wants to weaken and minimize the federal government (except in social issues) he can largely do that without Congress by weakening the Executive regulatory authority. Sanders has a tougher challenge. Most of his proposals will require new laws to not just reform existing structures but build whole new ones. The only answers that you and others supporting Sanders have come up with is "Revolution!, Young People! 1%!, Down With Wall Street! and etc.." Those are nice soundbites but hardly recipes for implementing major legislative change. I get the feeling you're much older than me so you might remember this in person. I wasn't around then but like to consider myself a student of history. You remember which President built the Great Society? It wasn't a starry eyed revolutionary but quite possibly the cagest politician and the insider of insiders. People criticize Hillary Clinton as being a slimy politician who plays dirty tricks on enemies and friends alike. She is nothing compared to LBJ. Yet it was him and not original hope and change candidate JFK that got Civil Rights and Voting Rights passed. For that matter since you're such a fan of the Roosevelts neither Teddy or FDR or were outsiders. They had both been in government for decades prior to their presidencies. Rather than being mayor of a tiny city and in Congress for a small state they were governor of the largest state in the country.
I am far from being a socialist, obviously, but there's something about Sanders I admire. He seems like a person with principles and values, much more so than Hillary Clinton.
He comes across as a more authentic person who seems honest even if I disagree with his politics. Hillary is basically the opposite of authentic or honest.
It was a great showing, but Bernie really needed a win, just because he is so far behind nationally. How he manages to do in Nevada & SC will be telling. Can he somehow cut the massive leads Clinton has?
This. One should always give the best shot, but if a win is not forthcoming, take one for the team. Hillary and Bill lost in 2008, but they gave their full support (at least by appearance) to Obama. This is what it takes to unify the party for the general election.
I'm voting dem either way, but would love to see him get the nomination. If that happens, then he will have had to build enough momentum to where he could actually win the general election. I still think it's a long shot for him though.
Trump already hinted that he would. Bernie might have too much class and he is a Democratic Senator. I think if Sanders chose Elizabeth Warren as his VP though, not only would she annilate every other contender in the VP debate but with a platform she has the fantastic speaking ability coupled with a Harvard Law background intellect and a insanely successful track record with laws and policies that she has put in place..when given a chance she is going to sway and sway women voters, young voters, etc who were leaning towards Clinton. She's really Sarah Palin with a great speaking voice and a Mensa IQ.
Sanders had his largest day by far of campaign financing, raising $3 million since losing the Iowa caucus by .2%
