Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: I believe that Sanders is not electable. You can argue, but this is true [View all]BlueWI
(1,736 posts)but electable is what electable does. No matter who the nominee is, the work has to be put in to actually win. And we don't actually know whose electable until they win - until the candidates and their campaign staff, and grassroots Democrats, and the party infrastructure, all coordinate their efforts and realize that every candidate in double digits in the polling is a potential asset to build a winning coalition.
That being said, I am not supporting Sanders this time because of high negatives within the party, and frankly, that was part of the problem with the eventual nominee last time. Most of us said the high negatives within the party were not important in 2016. I think they were important and are important, and if there are alternative candidates with lower negatives, that's probably a better direction. But everyone has to live with the fact that their preferred candidate may not win, or their least favorite candidate may win. For instance, I'm not a Biden supporter, but I'm not going to harangue his supporters with online harassment, and if Biden wins the nomination, I have an interest in seeing him win the presidency.
I don't get why it's so popular to try and hector people into agreeing fully with one candidate. It's better to have open and respectful discussion and recognize that there are genuine differences on the issues. The disagreements should be focused on the issues, and there's shouldn't be so much slandering the candidates as one-dimensional cartoon figures. That was the problem last time with Clinton, and so far, that is the problem thus far with Sanders. Like him or not, many core supporters of Democrats like Sanders. What will the party as a whole do to recognize why Sanders has support, and leverage this support into an election day win?
Last point - I really am skeptical about the over-focus on 3% third party margins in WI, PA, MI. Third party voters will always exist. Hectoring them into submission isn't going to happen. How do we appeal to the other 97% of voters and the 50% of non-voters - as well as states beyond WI, PA, and MI? So much scapegoating, so little critical thinking and strategy, is the biggest problem that puts 2020 at risk.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided