2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: If you're voting for Hillary because you think she can win the GE, you're part of the problem. [View all]Gothmog
(145,176 posts)I like Sanders personally and agree with many of his positions. According to that silly online poll/quiz, Sanders is closer to my positions than Hillary Clinton but I am not convinced that Sanders can win in a general election. I have asked repeatedly for an explanation as to how Sanders will be viable in a general election contest where the Kochs will be spending $887 million and the RNC candidate will be spending another billion dollars and I have yet to see a satisfactory explanation. If Sanders wants to appeal to the base of the Democratic party he needs to show that he is viable. Heck, Sanders own campaign manager's article on the strategy states that he does not think that Sanders will be the nominee and that he will be happy if Sanders is deemed to be a serious candidate along the lines of Jesse Jackson in 1984 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/12/bernie-sanders-s-strategist-this-is-how-we-win.html
if you read the last three paragraphs of this article, Sanders campaign manager does not outline a path to the nomination but a path to be a "serious" candidate.
Sanderss outsider campaign has been likened to Jesse Jacksons insurgent campaign in 1988it wasnt until the Wisconsin primary in April that Michael Dukakis defeated Jackson. But Devine thinks the more apt analogy to todays politics is 1984 when the combination of Gary Harts insurgency and Jacksons coalition of minority voters together almost beat Walter Mondale. Jackson never received support from the institutional party, but he demanded respect. If we register, as Jesse Jackson did, millions of people, that would be a huge lift for the party in Senate races. And for whichever Democrat reaches the magic number of delegates next year to secure the nomination.
The idea that Sanders is good for the Democratic Party is a hard lesson for Clinton to appreciate in the heat of battle. But hes got voters fired up and ready to go, and Democrats need that energy.
The apparent goal of this campaign is not for Sanders to be the nominee but to be considered a serious candidate who might almost beat Hillary Clinton.
I was amused that this article was discussed as being positive for Sanders http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=667157 I read the entire article including the last three paragraphs. It appears that thee best that Sanders' campaign manager is hoping for is to duplicate Jessee Jackson's 1984 feat of getting close to keeping Mondale from the being the nominee. My problem is that I like most Clinton supporters like Sanders and already respect him on a personal level. I am not sure what more Sanders will get by being a serious contender.
This article is silent on what Sanders intend to do in a general election contest in that it appears that Sanders campaign manager does not expect that Sanders will be the nominee.
Again, support the candidate of your choice and I will support the candidate who I think is most viable. I have a great deal of personal respect for Sanders and I have no problem with giving Sanders a great deal of respect at the Democratic National Convention for being a serious contender.