2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: American Revolution (Phase Two) [View all]H2O Man
(73,537 posts)In both 2000 and 2006, Hillary Clinton was able to unite people here in NYS ....and not just registered Democrats. She had a lot of Independents and republicans voting for her, too. But 2008 changed that.
In 2008, it was easy to re-unite the Democratic Party behind Barack Obama. The truth is, there was very little difference between Barack and Hillary. So we all found common ground -- except a few bitter, dehydrated people who refused to vote for the Democratic candidate.
In 2016, there are huge differences between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The vast majority of these come down to values. It is inaccurate to believe that saying we all want the same basic changes ....an attempted pleasantry that illustrates the huge divide between the candidates, and more importantly, their supporters.
The Clinton campaign holds that our political-economic-social system is solid, and merely needs a few minor "repairs" to make everyone happy. The Sanders campaign demands a complete overhaul of a corrupt, toxic system.
Thus, 2016 and 2008 are really different. If Hillary does win the party's nomination, do you really expect that even 50% of Sanders supporters will vote for her? I think that is unrealistic.And I say that, as a person who has campaigned for, and voted for, virtually every Democratic candidate for president in my adult life. Without question, this year is distinct from any previous .....and I don't see the capacity to unite us as a quality that Hillary has. Perhaps more importantly, the Clinton campaign -- from the top positions to the grass roots -- has engaged in more offensive behavior than that of any winning Democratic candidate I have seen.