Youâd think itâd be easy to clinch the Democratic party nomination when your primary opponent is, by voting record and platform, a shape-shifter neoliberal who wouldâve been a serious contender in any Republican primary before 2000.
To steal from DFW, I wish Sanders âway more than luckâ (and Iâll give him my vote to minimize his need for it), but at the same time I canât shake the feeling that a tight margin, win or lose, in the Democratic primary still wonât register as mandate for serious change among the party establishment.
Didnât Xeni just post the same article a little while ago?
You know how it is, you wait months for BB to post about Sanders, and then three turn up at once.
Great news about African-Americans and Hispanics, since initially he was having a tough time connecting with both groups. Also good to see that younger women are just as concerned with the issues as they are with having the first female POTUS.
But yeah, the DNC is looking to screw Sanders out of the nomination in any way possible even if he has the popular vote. One of the first orders of business for reforming the party is getting rid of the super delegates â a lack of accountability should be at odds with a supposedly liberal party.
In the meantime, I saw this the yesterday. Might be a good insurance policy, especially if someone can build them a better Web site and petition form:
Given that so many US electoral races are won by ânone of the aboveâ â voters declining to cast any ballot at all â the ability to mobilize voters is key to winning elections.
Well yeah, no shit. The left has done a lousy job reaching out to those demographics during mid-terms and off year elections the past couple of times which gave the right several prominent state positions and control of the house.
Thatâs why I think that Sanders supporter in reliably blue states and districts should write him in during the general election if heâs not the nominee. Clinton would still beat the Republican overall, but the difference in her popular vote numbers from Obama or her husband in those states would send a message.
Given how the DNC has rigged things in Clintonâs favour, the best Sanders can do with this great popular support from the primary is push for a more liberal platform as a condition of his endorsement.
not intially initially though.
Yes, that made it even stranger. Sometimes Sanders can be too modest about his history and achievements.
Some call it âkeeping your powder dryâ
Also, he looks like Egon Spengler in those photos.
A lot can change in the 8 years of a Sanders administration.
Win or lose, I think weâll see more Bernie-alikes in the coming years, and some of them WILL win. The DNC wonât always have a Chosen One.
Some Bernie-alike politicians already have won. And at least one has done so without backing away from her âsocialistâ affiliation.
Thereâs some talk of her running for the soon to be vacated Congress seat for Seattle (WA 7th district), too. You can imagine itâs a pretty liberal electorate, so she might have a chance.
Thereâs a lot of news floating around on how the Repub establishment delegates may not nominate Trump if he wins the primary popular vote and the Repub establishment are making plans for that event. Many comment posts have many Dems laughing at their dis-functioning situation but Iâve been saying all along that the same thing is going to happen on the Dem side WHEN Bernie wins the nomination. The Dem establishment delegates will most likely balk at electing Sanders when they really want Clinton in that position. The establishment of both parties seems to be in denial of what the populous really wants, which seems to either be a non-establishment Democratic Socialist or a blustering non-establishment fascist The powers that be will most likely fight tooth and nail and manipulate every rule in the book to maintain their power. If that happens, in either case, general voters on both sides will most likely be pretty pissed.
Neither Trump nor Bernie have rules out an independent run if they donât get the nomination. Iâm truly hopeful we get the chance to see a true 4-way general election with populist candidates going directly up against the party insiders. (This is one of the conditions where 3rd party political parties can get off the ground, quickly)
A three- or four-way split of the major parties may cause long-unused parts of the Constitution to be exercised. In most states, the electors are required to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged. Thus, it is possible that no candidate will receive a majority from the Electoral College. In this case, the House of Representatives must elect the president, voting as states, a procedure which has not been used since 1824. In the present House of Representatives, the delegation from most states is Republican, and most observers think this will continue to be so after the 2016 election. Of these, my guess is that most are Establishment rather than Trump / Tea Party types. So there is hope for âJEB!â even if he comes in third.
It would be nice, but Sanders has pledged to support the Dem nominee if it isnât him (whether it has policy conditions attached is still unclear, but I hope so).
Trump signed his own document pledging he wouldnât do an independent run, but of course signed pledges mean very little to Captain Bankruptcy. His price for staying out of the race is going to be a lot different than Sandersâ, and will likely involve billions in real estate sweetheart deals with local GOP politicians.
If Bernie loses, I suspect the Democrats will as well. Nobody likes Hillary and sheâs burdening the party with this drawn out, criminal email business. Iâm a voter who will probably skip voting this election for lack of any decent candidates.
