Bernie Sanders could do the impossible: Why Hillary Clinton’s “electability” argument has fallen apa

[Ferd Berfel]

http://www.salon.com/2016/01/12/bernie_sanders_could_do_the_impossible_why_hillary_clinton_is_no_longer_an_inevitability/

The nominating convention is still months away, but Sanders has already come farther than anyone ever expected

Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign has excited progressives and socialists alike in a way that’s unparalleled in modern American history. So far, however, Hillary Clinton has been able to draw substantial support from people who are sympathetic to Sanders’s views and his record, but believe that Clinton is the most electable candidate in the general election against what is sure to be an ultraconservative goblin. However, as polls over the past couple of months have shown, Sanders is showing signs that he’s every bit as a electable as Clinton — and when matched up against certain Republican candidates, he’s polling even better than she is.

In Sanders’s neighboring state of New Hampshire, he has exploded to a 14 point lead over Clinton in the latest Monmouth University poll. New Hampshire is a complicated state politically, a libertarian-leaning bastion in liberal New England, but Sanders fits the role of a rough, charismatic party outsider that New Hampshirites have a history of supporting, so it’s not such a surprise that Sanders is wooing them this time around.

(Sanders, by the way, leads every Republican he was matched up against in New Hampshire by double digits.)

What’s a bit more surprising is the ground Sanders is gaining in Iowa. The latest Quinnipac poll found that Sanders now leads Clinton by 5 percent in the earliest primary state, whose caucus is on February 1. If Sanders is able to beat Clinton there, it’ll give him a decisive victory in the two earliest states in the country (which also happen to be swing states).

And don’t underestimate the importance of Iowa: Barack Obama’s victory there in January 2008 solidified him as a serious threat to Clinton.

[thereismore]

1. The "only I can win" is not true. Everytime she says it, and she will, she will lie.

Other than this, what does she have? "I am a woman,... glass ceiling..." yes there's that. But many women are saying it would be nice to have a woman President but they will wait for someone else. There is nothing left other than money and machinery, but in terms of arguments she's freshly out.

[CoffeeCat]

3. Yes, and once Bernie wins Iowa her "only I can win"

argument is severely hobbled. After he also wins NH, it's completely dead.

Bernie will go into NV and SC a champion who defeated the "inevitable" candidate and she'll no longer have those memes.

Those memes were extremely important to her. They were the cornerstone of her campaign.

What's she going to say now and do now? Discuss how tough on Wall Street she'll be? Disparage single-payer even more--something that the bulk of our party really wants?

She ran a shoddy campaign that was based on a foundation of hot air, propped up by the media.

All of that goes up in smoke if Bernie wins IA and NH--and it looks like thats' the direction we're headed.

[SDJay]

2. I've Always Had Trouble

with the electability argument with SOS Clinton. I know it's anecdotal, but my family and friends run the gamut on the political spectrum. What I do know is that other than the strong Ds, the Rs and the squishes are absolutely united in their excitement to get out and vote against Clinton. The Rs are particularly rabid about it. They've been waiting for over 20 years to do this to her and to 'stick it to' the Clintons. The squishes aren't quite as riled up, but none of them like or trust her. I can't imagine it's that much different for millions of others.

It makes me think that as much as historic numbers of people lined up excitedly to vote for President Obama in 2008, there would be just as many people excited to stand in line for however long it took to vote against SOS Clinton in 2016. That leads to a disastrous result.

[thereismore]

4. Sorry, what's a squish? nt

[SDJay]

5. A Person Who Occupies

the 'soft middle' - one of those 'independent' types that is generally swayed by memes and ads. They refuse to say they lean one way or the other even though they generally do.

[thereismore]

6. Oh, I could never understand them. How can they not have an opinion? nt

[SDJay]

8. I Think

there are two reasons for people to identify this way:

1. They're just not very informed and don't want to get drawn into a debate and schooled by declaring an affiliation; and/or
2. They don't want to be associated with others who identify one way or the other. Many of us have that crazy teabagger racist great uncle that no one wants to deal with at holiday dinners, for example.

[Betty Karlson]

9. Question: does that same spectrum of family of yours happen to show Sanders' cross-over appeal too?

Because that is the picture I am getting: Clinton has negative cross-over appeal (Driving Democrats away) and Sanders would pull the Independents and some of the Republicans over to create a landslide victory for the Democratic Party.

[SDJay]

10. Good Question, and Yes... Sort Of

I noticed at the last get-together - which was at Thanksgiving as we were at my wife's family's house in Canada for Christmas - that a couple of older folks and younger folks either had positive things to say about Bernie or nothing too bad to say. These are people who, comparatively speaking, would agree on just about nothing whatsoever. However, that was a couple of months ago now and the MSM was still burying him, so he really didn't register much on the radar at that point, especially to my 'squishy' family members. One guy said, "You mean that socialist from New Hampshire or something?"

It was all Trump, of course, and some Hillary but that was about it. Ugh. A couple of folks liked Trump because "HE TELLS IT LIKE IT IS!" - think racist teabagger great uncle - and the rest hated his guts. NO ONE had anything really good to say about Hillary though except for a couple of lifelong Ds whose support was lukewarm at best. Everyone else reacted strongly and in a negative way.

Getting back to my original post in the thread, this is one of the reasons I have always wondered about this 'electability' argument, as I just don't see that cross-over appeal at all. The dedicated Democrats like her but don't seem to adore her or love her and everyone else either dislikes or despises her. I don't see how that translates into drawing the independents in to vote for her, especially when the other side will be lining up around the block to vote against her.

Just my opinion and obviously not scientific, though.

[Betty Karlson]

11. Thanks for the info anyway. It's a well told anekdote, and therefore valuable.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

7. What electability? I'm familiar with the meme, but it's not true. Her nomination would doom us.