General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I feel like I'm losing my mind with still more Hillary vs. Bernie [View all]Act_of_Reparation
(9,116 posts)People much smarter than you or I will write academic works dissecting the 2016 election, and I think it is safe to say none of them will conclude with the line "Bernie was the spoiler. That is what happens when spoilers run." I base this prediction largely on the fact we've had primaries before and this is the first time people are talking bullshit about a losing primary candidate costing a general candidate the election. No one blamed Dennis Kucinich or Howard Dean for Kerry's failure to unseat George W. Bush. No one blames Bill Bradley or Lyndon LaRouche for Al Gore's loss. Did Jesse Jackson cost Dukakis the election? Did he fuck it up for Mondale too, or was that Gary Hart's fault?
Please. The notion Bernie Sanders tipped the race against Clinton -- more so than, say, voter suppression, the Electoral College, Russian meddling, manufactured controversy, and the Clinton campaign's myriad missteps -- is next-level ludicrous. Bernie did not run a unique campaign; not in content, not in tone. And once it was over, he campaigned for Clinton. How in the galloping fuck could a seventy-year-old man with crazy hair and New York accent, who was almost completely unknown outside of Vermont, convince thousands of swing-staters to cast their vote for the candidate he was campaigning against? Is he a fucking wizard?
Jesus Christ, this is why I drink.