2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)I like Sanders, really I do......BUT... [View all]
I actually like Sanders, but I've always been to the left.
What disturbs me about Sanders is this. He was never a Democrat until he decided to run for President. He is using the party to run. Why after 73 years does he only now decide the Democrats are good enough for him? He's anti establishment and he is running on the premise that he's a fresh face, yet he's playing the system like the best of them do.
It was my understanding that Sanders was initially in this race to drive the party left. With all due respect, is that not a job for an actual Democrat, not a party outsider? And now it seems the tone has changed and he's in it to win it.
He's got a lot of great ideas floating around out there, with absolutely nothing proposed on how to pay for them.
Sanders is not a negative campaigner. That's a wonderful thing, but hey! This is the reality.... National politics for the Presidency is BRUTAL. We know that Clinton is prepared to attack her GOP opponent's position on the issues and hammer home on them. They have been screeching BENGHAZI! BENGHAZI! BENGHAZI! at Clinton for years now and it rolls right off her teflon shield. They have investigated her 8 times about that clap trap and she has slapped them down every single time. When they start yelling SOCIALIST! SOCIALIST! SOCIALIST! at Sanders will he be able to do the same?
It may not matter to me and you that Bernie Sanders has a child out of wedlock. It may not matter that he's a self described Socialist, but you can damn well bet that the Republican party will absolutely crucify him on those two points if it ever comes to him vs a Republican.....and what else is out there on him? The press has not even started to scrutinize him. He is the darling of the left right now because he has not been on the national radar of voters before. He's 73 years old and it has taken him that long to get there. Remember this, the Clintons too were once the darling of the left many, many years ago. They have stood in the blast of the furnace issuing from the right for over 30 years and survived and thrived among the nastiest politics I have ever seen thrown at them. I cannot in good faith say that Sanders will be able to do the same.
I'll also say this. Clinton is 67. If she were to win and win two terms, she would would be 76 at the end of her last term. Sanders is 73, at the end of his first term he would be 78. Could he even have the stamina of going a second round of a national campaign? Would the nation elect someone who would be in his 80's as President? I want a two term Democrat, not a one term one.
These are hard thoughts and questions, but the honeymoon period for Sanders is ending. If it's serious, we need to be asking some serious and hard questions.