Bernie’s failed electability argument

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Both on Daily Kos and at other Bernie supporters hangouts (reddit etc) the most heard argument why Bernie should stay in the race and win goes as follows: even if Hillary wins the popular vote and the pledged delegates race, the Super delegates should still switch to Bernie because he is “more electable” than Hillary.

Evidence for this is found in polls which suggest Bernie fares better against Trump than Hillary.

I want to discuss the weak points of this theory in this diary.

The first problem with this argument is the basic undemocratic nature of this argument. Super delegates have never gone against the popular vote/ pledged delegate count. In fact: when Obama gained more pledged delegates than Hillary did in 2008, the Supers switched to him.

Suggesting that even when Hillary basically wins the primaries, nets more pledged delegates and popular votes than Bernie, the Supers should still switch to Bernie, is a basic undemocratic argument. It can only stand when you say its okay for the establishment (the Supers) to ignore and override the election results.

Strange coming from Bernie supporters, who are always the first to cry about voters suppression, but support voters suppression when it benefits their candidate.

2: the electability argument in itself.

Bernie lost…Duh.

If he’s so electable and such a strong candidate, than why didn’t he win the primaries? Why did Hillary net 3 million more votes than he did?

The results don’t really suggest he’s such a good / electable candidate, do they?

3: the main reason why this whole argument is so silly: Bernie has received a free ride from the Republicans so far. Republicans aren’t idiots, they desperately want to run against Bernie, because they know it will be so incredibly easy to destroy him.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/5/10/1525010/-Bernie-s-failed-electability-argument

[puffy socks]

1. And, when it

comes to hypocrisy, nobody reeks like Sanders and his BoB supporters...

"The next big thing will be this wave of petitions targeting individual super delegates," said MoveOn Washington Director Ben Wikler. "Asking individual members of Congress and governors and other super delegates to individually make a pledge to support the will of the voters when it comes time to count their votes."
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/bernie-sanders-superdelegates-democrats-219286


I love the "he's a more electable candidate " argument as the nomination goes to Hillary, the supposed "weaker candidate" .

It is then assumed at this point, that every single Independent will vote and will vote in favor of Sanders. Which I know is hogwash because I am an Independent voter who is proudly voting for Hillary Clinton.

[savalez]

2. Where are those "polls"?

I've yet to see them in my travels. Granted I don't seek them out but the ones I see say HRC is the better candidate.

[LiberalFighter]

3. Automatic delegates will be able to defend their support of Clinton by using Bernie logic.

They say it should be the will of the people. Well! How many votes does Sanders have compared to Clinton. It seems the will of the people is behind Clinton.

[TwilightZone]

4. That doesn't even address perhaps the most obvious: the electoral college

1) We don't elect presidents based on popular vote, so this head-to-head stuff is just media fodder. We use the electoral college, and there's no evidence that Sanders is going to do better in swing states than Clinton. None. Current projections show Clinton easily defeating Trump, in part thanks to swing states. We have no idea what a few months of vetting would do to Sanders' numbers, especially in those few states that are really going to drive this race.

2) The primaries aren't even over yet. Once Clinton is the nominee and Sanders supporters and others have a little while to stew over the possibility of "President Donald Trump", I think the numbers are going to shift significantly. If DU is any indication, a few of them are probably voting for Trump in polls now just out of spite.

[yallerdawg]

5. That link has some devastating attacks and documentation!

There have been a lot of free rides so far!

Only one candidate pays in full.

[72DejaVu]

6. Why does Bernie poll better than Hillary?

Because Hillary's supporters tell the pollsters that they will vote for Bernie, while Bernie's supporters won't say they will vote for Hillary.

[NYC Liberal]

8. And Bernie is aiding Trump by continuing to attack Hillary

instead of accepting reality and helping to defeat him.

[anotherproletariat]

7. I don't think he even believes it. It's just the only thing he has. BS is enjoying his year of fame

and just doesn't want it to end. If he had been a Democrat longer than a few months, he might have some loyalty and dropped out for the sake of the party months ago.

I'm guessing he will retire from the senate soon, and go on a speaking tour.