2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumFor those who say Bernie cannot win, I have one date and two words:
1976. Jimmy.Carter.
Relative unknown who tapped into the grassroots. Longshot when he entered the race. A few months later he took the oath of office.
The people are starving for a president who gets it and is authentic.
peacebird
(14,195 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)chervilant
(8,267 posts)They are joining the campaign for Bernie, and giving donations. I wish I could help him.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)rateyes
(17,438 posts)of the present Repubs are stronger than Jerry Ford.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)Tell me that the GOP has resigned the Presidency after committing a crime in the last 4 years.
brooklynite
(93,878 posts)Like: who did Carter run against?
Answer: one the largest fields of Democrats (and no "big name" like Hillary Clinton).
Seriously, unless your argument is that "things can happen", these "someone else won" thread are a waste of time if you don't explain what similarities there are between Sanders and whomever the "someone else" is...
Helen Borg
(3,963 posts)brooklynite
(93,878 posts)Add to which: Clinton had 20-30% lower polling than she does now.
Care to try again?
Helen Borg
(3,963 posts)To lose again due to the same mistake of ignoring the competition...
Aerows
(39,961 posts)at winning Presidential Elections, no matter how well known she is.
A fellow named Barack Obama is a testament to that fact.
Look around you - all of these people on DU that are supporters of Bernie - why do you think they want to vote for Bernie (or O'Malley, for that matter)?
I'll give you a hint - it isn't because they are misogynists, and it isn't because they want to support an also-ran politician as our nominee. They aren't wanting a pony. What they want is genuine integrity in government.
They support Bernie Sanders because he has the message that is most important to the people that support him.
chknltl
(10,558 posts)".... all of these people on DU that are supporters of Bernie - why do you think they want to vote for Bernie (or O'Malley, for that matter)?
I'll give you a hint - it isn't because they are misogynists, and it isn't because they want to support an also-ran politician as our nominee. They aren't wanting a pony. What they want is genuine integrity in government.
They support Bernie Sanders because he has the message that is most important to the people that support him. "
(For the record, I believe a President Sanders would try to fix what I feel our nation needs fixing better than a President H. Clinton would. Secondly, my not wanting a pony has nothing to do with politics but everything to do with not being able to feed one.)
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)He didn't have any big name competition in the primary, and ANY Democrat would have won in 1974.
Bernie Sanders will never be President of the USA.
antigop
(12,778 posts)SCantiGOP
(13,856 posts)Is there really any question that Watergate was the overwhelming reason that Carter won? Stating an obvious fact is not an indication of an anti-Bernie meme.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,705 posts)Jimmy Carter left our Convention with a thirty three point lead and if not for thirty thousand votes in Hawaii and Ohio he would have lost the election. The Repubs had an Electoral College lock from 64 to 92.
Ino
(3,366 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts)Bless your heart.
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)I hope yours is ok after Super Tuesday.
brooklynite
(93,878 posts)Whatever makes you happy...
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Reter
(2,188 posts)Are we 12?
99Forever
(14,524 posts)Bu bye.
Reter
(2,188 posts)Waaaaaa.
scscholar
(2,902 posts)to propel him into the White House.
malthaussen
(17,066 posts)As I recall (I was sapient at the time), Watergate was not of decisive significance in 1976, although no doubt the dislike of Ford for being an unelected President could be linked to that. I'd say Nixon screwed the pooch so poorly that yeah, it would have been hard for a Democrat to lose in '76. But after all, Reagan was overwhelmingly elected in 1980, so I'm not sure 1976 is really the most felicitous comparison.
-- Mal
Dr. Xavier
(278 posts)there was no way that the Repugs were going to win. The GOPers had been so screwed by Nixon, that it was a near sweep in the house and Senate, if I remember right. That's what made the Carter administration so bad, his own party turned on him. Think of the first two years of this presidency. No independent is ever going to vote for a democratic socialist, the Repugs will destroy him on that claim alone. And they have been campaigning against Hilary for 25 years. Combine those factors with the Koch suckers money and the low interest and you're going to have a blindside block that you won't be able to stop in a million years. The GOPers PR machine is salivating over this one. Wait and see. Even a maniac like Cruz will be made to look like the second coming of Christ with all the $$$ they have saved up for this one.
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)Spent many days knocking on doors for Jimmy Carter...
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)DeeDeeNY
(3,352 posts)I was always amazed at how quickly he could make up his song parodies. A great talent.
I'm not settling for another Wall Street/Bankster/Corporate type...enough of that.
Go Bernie!
Indepatriot
(1,253 posts)Huge underdog. 5pts down from where Sanders is at this point. African American. Name that sounds a lot like the most hated terrorist on the planet. Tiny "war chest" compared to HRCs......
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Obama won, in part, due to social media and grassroots motivation.
Against Hillary Clinton.
And here we are now, with another candidate that is drawing huge crowds, is favorably covered in social media and has grassroots momentum and motivation.
Yet here we are on a social media site being told that we are children for believing anybody but Hillary can be elected.
Indepatriot
(1,253 posts)That shit's as low as it gets.
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)In fact I got banned from the Hillary group for pointing out to them that they had people in their group that didn't support Hillary the last time. I was told that it was common knowledge that some supported Obama in '08 and that I should delete my post. I said that if my post was factual, hurt no one and that the host agreed with it I wasn't going to delete it. I was banned. I was devastated for all of one second.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)But Carter also took advantage of a split liberal field and garnered support from a great deal of southern conservatives. There was a huge primary consisting of liberal stalwarts like Jerry Brown, Mo Udall, Frank Church and Birch Bayh.
The only competition Carter had for the conservative vote was Scoop Jackson, who opted to not run in Iowa.
Carter did benefit from Watergate, which soured America on Washington politicians - but he was also a governor completely dissociated with Washington. Almost all of Sanders' career is in Washington. He might be an outsider on message, but on background he's not Jimmy Carter.
Bill Clinton is the best example of a Jimmy Carter-like politician - right down to the conservative southern roots.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,705 posts)Who knows how things work out if he got in early. He would have still got smashed in the South but might have been able to put together a winning coalition in the primaries and general election.
840high
(17,196 posts)Prez I think was an honest man. Just like Bernie.
Fred Friendlier
(81 posts)"Due to the absence of any clear front-runner for the nomination and a political climate that seemed tilted heavily in their party's favor, a record number of Democrats competed for their party's presidential nomination in 1976. Most of these candidates would drop out early in the race."
This looks the precise opposite of today's scenario, with one prohibitive favorite and one protest candidate and a few also-rans.
BKH70041
(961 posts)If you never heard that before, bookmark it here as your first note of doing so.
He'll be permitted to toy with the "progressives" of the party, but in the end, they'd never let him win. The Democratic Party, not the Republicans, is the party of the rich. Figure it out if you haven't already.
rateyes
(17,438 posts)will make him win. It's an election, not a coronation. And, sadly, you are correct in saying that the Democratic "establishment" has made the Democratic party the party of the rich. The upcoming political revolution is going to change all that.
dreamnightwind
(4,775 posts)I believe you're mostly correct in your assessment, which is a terrible indictment on the extent to which our party has been captured by monied interests.
I do believe you're the first person I've run across that identifies the situation correctly and still supports it. Usually I can give a poster a break based on ignorance or denial, or if I'm being kind I could say "difference of opinion" about the state of things.
So why are you a Democrat, I'm curious?
And if the part of your post about the party won't let him win is correct, that is a great case for Bernie to take his campaign outside of the party. I certainly hope you're wrong about that, it would mean this party is entirely illegitimate.
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,110 posts)Response to rateyes (Original post)
InAbLuEsTaTe This message was self-deleted by its author.
Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)...Bernie is not like Obama 2008, Bernie is not like Obama 2012. Bernie is not like Kennedy or Carter. 2016 is its own campaign with its own issues, candidates, societal issues and Supreme Court issues. 2016 candidates are being held to issues that are important to us for 2016 and not "going back" as we keep hearing like some Bagger talking point.
Fuck this "Bernie is like xxxxx" shit.
I think the problem will all those here who post Bernie is like xxxx just aren't old enough to remember those specific elections.
I am. I'm 66, and even though I'm ashamed to admit I did not vote in the first election for which I was eligible to vote, 1972, I've voted in every Presidential election ever since, and in a great many primaries, once I fully understood how important they are.
While there is some usefulness in looking to the past (Santayana was absolutely correct when he said "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it" there are still differences between specific past events and those in the present. If you actually do remember and understand history, you gain enormously.
It's my personal opinion that Bernie Sanders is a candidate unlike any others I have known. Yes, he bears some similarities to others, but he's more himself than anyone else.
rateyes
(17,438 posts)Both then and now, we have tumultuous times. Back then, the country craved honesty and authenticity. Jimmy was a relative unknown who came out of nowhere to win. I believe Bernie is going to do the same by apping into the grassroots and starting a political revolution.
madokie
(51,076 posts)so we won't have a repeat of Jimmy. The 'CONs did to Carter the same as they did to Clinton and Obama, Obstruct, obstruct obstruct until the end.
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)huge coattails for Senate and House candidates, Independent, third party, and Democrat.
randome
(34,845 posts)This summer almost seems like the start of an American Spring, what with the Supreme Court decisions, the widespread disdain of the Confederate flag, etc.
I'm still unconvinced Sanders has much of a chance but November, 2016 is a long time from now.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"Everybody is just on their feet screaming 'Kill Kill Kill'! This is hockey Conservative values!"[/center][/font][hr]
IronLionZion
(45,261 posts)Reter
(2,188 posts)Completely different situation.
Babel_17
(5,400 posts)A reminder of how Americans look outside the box when their tolerance for BS has been exceeded. I think it obvious that, after Nixon, people wanted a distinct change from that BS.
And now, after the looting of our economy by Wall Street and the banks, the American people want a clean break from that BS. They want to send a message. "Enough!" and "No more!".
The TPP looks scary and it can't produce anything, except enthusiasm from the usual suspects who are cheerleaders for the corporations, before election time.
Anybody who is carrying that albatross of a reminder of NAFTA around their neck, and also carrying the scent of money from Wall Street and the banks, and who reminds the public of the failed vision of liberating Iraq, is doomed.
Such a person, Jeb Bush for example, will fold like a cheap suit when tangling with our party, with Sanders at the top of our ticket.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Sanders is totally different. I'd be behind him 100% -- mainly because of his wanting us to be more like Scandinavian countries -- if I thought he could win. At this point, I really don't.
Maineman
(854 posts)greenman3610
(3,947 posts)Mcgovern