Not sure if this belongs here but I feel safe here.

[Tommy2Tone]

A big what if.

What if Hillary and Rubio were the Dem and Rep candidates and Trump and Bernie ran as independents?

ask me to delete and I will.

[Hoyt]

1. That would be ugly and hard to predict who would walk away President. Don't think it is far fetched

I can see Trump doing it just for the publicity. Although Sanders has said he would not, he could change his mind citing the enormous support of his supporters to do so.

In that case, I guess someone getting 26% of the electorate could become President. That is concerning.

[Tommy2Tone]

2. Thanks I thought so too.

I think the way this country is divided it will happen someday. I have never seen the split in the
Democratic party as wide as it is now?

[fun n serious]

3. Sanders sounds different now.

I think he is very capable of doing that. He sounded angry and ready to get ugly this morning

[Hoyt]

6. I really think it's possible he'll yield to his supporters and say he was mistreated by Democrats.

I hope not, but it is possible. If Sanders doesn't become President, I think enough of his supporters are spiteful enough to accept a GOPer appointing 2 or 3 Supreme Court Justices, repealing the ACA and replacing it with inadequate vouchers, cutting Social Security, bombing Iran, etc.

[fun n serious]

8. Yep. He is dangerous. nt

[Tommy2Tone]

7. His supporters as well

They are both ready to scorch the earth. Why would Bernie care? He will go back to Vermont and as an Independent. I also believe a majority of his fans would never vote for Hillary.

[leftofcool]

11. I think if the supers don't "give" him the nomination he will run as an indie.

[fun n serious]

14. I do too

Very bad news for us but he hates us anyway

[ucrdem]

4. My $.02 or call it wishful thinking:

I think Nevada was Sanders' last stand and he lost. After this the losses are going to get bigger and bigger until he's in O'Malley territory and the only exit is a nice speech. He won't be able to claim a groundswell because there isn't any except maybe in NH and VT so there goes the 3rd party scenario though I have no doubt he'd do it if the story was different.

Let Trump split the ticket. I can't shake the suspicion he's in this to help the Clintons but that would definitely help.

[Fla Dem]

19. If Bernie does that it may very well be the beginning of the end for him

If the US ends up with either Trump or Rubio, or worse Cruz, he will never be forgiven for it. Could be the end of his senate career. Although at 75 (will be in Sept) he may not care if he is re-elected in 2018.

I think if HRC goes up against Cruz she wins, if Rubio, a toss up because the Cruz people will coalesce with Trump and might give Trump the needed votes over a divided Dem vote.

[misterhighwasted]

5. They both say a lot of things & cry foul to justify a change of direction, the next day

With the Koch Birchers now patting Sanders on the back in (ahem) agreement of "too much money in politics" , expect it.
Typical Koch owned teaparty tactics.
This campaign has always been about destroying the Dem Party with dog whistles.
IMO
Will post the link to the Koch ref asap.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-koch-this-is-the-one-issue-where-bernie-sanders-is-right/2016/02/18/cdd2c228-d5c1-11e5-be55-2cc3c1e4b76b_story.html

When the fattest wallets in town are publicly patting ya on the back for the very thing they are up to their eyeballs in, well..yup.

Doesnt matter. Sanders & Trump can split the Indy fringe votes. Hillary will continue to carry the true Dems & win the GE in the end.

[spyker29]

9. Could mean allowing House of Representatives to decide.

[Tommy2Tone]

10. Does some candidate have to get 50% of the vote?

No way that happens with the four mentioned above on the ballot.

[spyker29]

12. Yes

And I agree, hard to see one of four getting more than half of electoral college

[Treant]

13. It's interesting!

and please don't delete.

It's getting late to get on the ballot on many states, which also look askance (or it's not legal) for those who already ran on another ballot to run then as an Independent. In those states, except for write-ins, Trump and Sanders wouldn't matter.

When Sanders does not win the Democratic Party endorsement fair and square (and that will happen), a lot of blush will be off the rose. He should perform about as well as a typical Independent.

Ditto with Trump on the other side.

Will it lead to no candidate getting 271 Electoral votes? Maybe...but I seriously think that it won't end up mattering. Trump and Sanders end up with 0-10 EVs each, and Rubio and Clinton would split the rest on predictable boundaries.

Which, all else being equal, leads to a Clinton Presidency.

Now if Sanders does run but Trump does not (Sanders has already stated he wouldn't do this, but...), then the map would change.

[book_worm]

15. I''m pretty sure Bernie will support Hillary, but honestly I can't say I believe some of his

vocal supporters on DU will.

[jsmirman]

16. I agree, I don't think Bernie is a Nader

I think he's really enjoyed the adulation, but I think he wants a plank, not a fire in the auditorium.

[wildeyed]

17. I dunno.

But if Trump wins the Rep nom, the political world as we know it is over. I guess that means that the Tea Party successfully nuked the GOP, which seems like a great thing, but then so much will be in flux. Law of unintended consequences and all that....

[charlyvi]

18. Bernie said he wouldn't run as an Independent.

That's why he is running as a Dem. He said this early in the process; I don't know how he feels now. You can get a fairly large head when your supporters keep telling you how great you are.