2016 Presidential Race Thread

[Moss]

I wonder if Sanders will go the 3rd party route if he loses the nomination. Would make sense. Best case scenario for Republicans although I suppose someone could do the same thing on the right.

[Isbjørn]

Originally Posted by Moss

I wonder if Sanders will go the 3rd party route if he loses the nomination. Would make sense. Best case scenario for Republicans although I suppose someone could do the same thing on the right.

He won't. He'd just steal votes from Hillary, guaranteeing a new Republican president.

This means: vote for Bernie in the primaries

[Moss]

Originally Posted by Isbjørn

He won't. He'd just steal votes from Hillary, guaranteeing a new Republican president.

This means: vote for Bernie in the primaries

I agree, the best hope is to vote for Bernie in the primaries. But I don't think stealing votes from Hillary will be a prime concern for him. He would take some heat from the democrats but he's not really a democrat anyways. That is my fear, that he will split the vote and we end up with Jeb or Rubio or ...

[Xurtio]

Originally Posted by Josef K

How old are you? I was eight in 2008 and I knew who Dennis Kucinich was. Sanders only seems to have more momentum because he's the only candidate in the Democratic Primary besides Clinton (and I guess O'Malley and Webb, but who gives a shit) so there are fewer people to focus on.

I am 34. Obama was the exciting candidate in 2008. No one could really contend with him. Looking over Kucinich I don't really see him campaigning against superPAC or trying to get money out of politics at firSt blush. Was he really ever a serious contender against Obama though? The anti-corporate stance is what sets Sanders apart from other Democratic candidates (particularly Clinton). Green party has a similar anti-corpirate platform, but no momentum.

[Xurtio]

Also, knowing candidates at 8, you must have had parents and/or a school system that cared. I was raised on fishing boats in Alaska.

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by Isbjørn

He won't. He'd just steal votes from Hillary, guaranteeing a new Republican president.

This means: vote for Bernie in the primaries

Nobody's voting for your god damn commie pinko, you collective farming freak.

[Isbjørn]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Nobody's voting for your god damn commie pinko, you collective farming freak.

Shut up, you reactionary Tea Party moneywiper.

[John Wilkes Booth]

Originally Posted by Moss

I agree, the best hope is to vote for Bernie in the primaries. But I don't think stealing votes from Hillary will be a prime concern for him. He would take some heat from the democrats but he's not really a democrat anyways. That is my fear, that he will split the vote and we end up with Jeb or Rubio or ...

i'd take anyone over hillary

i'd literally rather make monica lewinsky our next leader

[Josef K]

Originally Posted by Moss

I wonder if Sanders will go the 3rd party route if he loses the nomination. Would make sense. Best case scenario for Republicans although I suppose someone could do the same thing on the right.

Let's just remember that Bernie Sanders is a firmly establishment figure at this point - him being powerful and getting things done relies on his affiliation with the Democratic party, and he's not going to practically ask to be kicked out of the Senate caucus which grants him his committee assignments. In addition such a run would massively hurt his credibility not just with the party, but with the public.

Originally Posted by Xurtio

I am 34. Obama was the exciting candidate in 2008. No one could really contend with him. Looking over Kucinich I don't really see him campaigning against superPAC or trying to get money out of politics at firSt blush. Was he really ever a serious contender against Obama though? The anti-corporate stance is what sets Sanders apart from other Democratic candidates (particularly Clinton). Green party has a similar anti-corpirate platform, but no momentum.

That's because super PACs weren't an issue - like, nobody had ever even used the term - until the Citizens United and SpeechNow decisions in 2010, which also opened the door to increased corporate influence in politics. While of course corporate influence has been an issue forever, unlimited (and anonymous) corporate campaign contributions weren't allowed until the former decision. There have been lots of politicians who care a lot about lobbying reform, but that's way less appealing than "the Koch brothers are buying elections!" and it never had nearly the political support that generically pro-campaign finance reform sentiment does now - see what I said above about Sanders being a fairly savvy politician.

In addition I just don't think it's true that Sanders has momentum. I think that largely you're seeing people looking for someone to talk about other than Hillary and landing on Bernie, because the other pointless candidates are not only pointless but boring (Martin O'Malley might actually be the dullest person alive, and his trying to solve this by constantly posing with his guitar isn't helping matters), which is one thing that Sanders is definitely not. And even if he were experiencing some kind of surge in numbers right now that could reasonably lead you to believe he could compete with Clinton (although, for the record, he is not and could not), he still lacks the kind of infrastructure and the kind of institutional support a candidate needs to get nominated. What's more, there's no evidence that any gains he's making are plausible reasons why he could win the nomination, any more than Herman Cain's brief surge in the 2011/2012 election cycle meant he had a real shot at beating Romney.

In short, I like Bernie Sanders well enough but he has no chance at this election and it's foolish to vote for him - that said, I'm glad he'll be in the debates, because hopefully Clinton will make some promises to do progressive things to win over his audience.

[Chula Vista]

Originally Posted by Josef K

In short, I like Bernie Sanders well enough but he has no chance at this election and it's foolish to vote for him - that said, I'm glad he'll be in the debates, because hopefully Clinton will make some promises to do progressive things to win over his audience.

Good point.