Why Bernie Sanders Is Our Best Chance to Beat Donald Trump

[KPN]

And why Berners shouldn't let themselves get discouraged by the Clinton machine's mind games!

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Hand-wringing over party unity misses the point. No one cares about your precious parties.
As Hillary Clinton joylessly stumbles her way to the Democratic nomination, calls have increased for Bernie Sanders to either drop out of the race altogether or, at least, to stop fighting so darn hard. We’re told that Bernie should drop out for the good of the party. Bernie should drop out so that Hillary can make her general election “pivot” (which presumably means she can be free of the burden of pretending to be a liberal). … Hogwash. ... Bernie Sanders is our best chance to beat Donald Trump and to prove to the young voters backing him that the Democratic party actually stands for something.

Error in thinking #1: Sanders supporters care about the existing system.
... These young voters are expected to back down for the sake of a party they tell pollsters they don’t identify with, in the service of nominating a presidential candidate who promises to maintain a system that has conspired to screw them at every turn.

Error in thinking #2: Uniting around Clinton is the best shot to beat Trump.
The very same people who condescendingly exhort Sanders followers to “do the math” on the nomination process seem to have left their own calculators at home when it comes to figuring out who can actually win this fall. … According to the math, Sanders is a much better bet for November, which makes sense when you think about it. Consider, for example, that he has cleaned Clinton’s clock with independents.
Here’s a reality check folks: Independents win elections. They like Bernie and they hate Hillary. That’s to say nothing of the fact that a majority of voters find Clinton untrustworthy, a reality I’m confident will not be helped by her general election “pivot” to yet another version of the real HRC.

Error in thinking #3: Winning is the only goal that matters.
Let’s pretend Hillary Clinton is a winner. Is this really what the Democratic party has been reduced to? Not fighting for the poor? Not standing up for the working people of this country? Not fighting with every breath to push the money and corruption out of a system that only works for a glossy few?
Of course, we know that for much of the party establishment the answer is yes. Bill Clinton provided a master class in how to sacrifice your principles to the gods of electoral success. A tactic, by the way, that may have found some success at the presidential level, but which has led the Democratic party to historic, crushing defeats in most of the country. For reference, just examine the largest number of state legislatures in our nation’s history in Republican hands or the way inequality has soared unchecked as Democrats decided that winning national elections mattered more than fighting for the middle class or the working class or the poor.
So to the Bern-baby-Bern crowd I say, keep fighting. Your fight is worthy. Your cause is just. Your passionate existence irritates the Democratic powers that be because you remind them of all that they are supposed to stand for.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/krystal-ball/why-bernie-sanders-is-our_b_10064830.html

[Trust Buster]

1. He couldn't win the Democratic nomination. Votes matter.

[MisterP]

2. she's not liked or trusted and has little to offer--I mean, what's all the big confusion here?

[asuhornets]

4. Well,she's winning....nt

[HillareeeHillaraah]

5. Outside the parameters of a heated campaign...

He has the reputation of being difficult to work with and not a particularly nice guy. Secretary Clinton on the other hand...well read for yourself ~


Most Admired Woman in World, Record 20th Time Gallup, December 2015


http://www.gallup.com/poll/187922/clinton-admired-woman-record-20th-time.aspx

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Americans again name Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama the woman and man living anywhere in the world they admire most. Both win by wide margins over the next-closest finishers.


And then there's this international poll...

http://indy100.independent.co.uk/article/these-are-the-most-admired-people-in-the-world--xJ9bGsWhje


Bill Gates and Angelina Jolie are the most admired man and woman in the world in 2015, according a new poll, with Barack Obama, Xi Jinping, Malala Yousafzai and Hillary Clinton polling closely behind them.


vs. Bernie's history with likeability


Here, from an October 2015 article by Mickey Hirten, a former editor of the Burlington Free Press:

Considering that the Free Press' editorial positions were very liberal, reflecting the nature of a very liberal Vermont community, one might think that meetings with Sanders were cordial, even celebratory.

They weren't. Sanders was always full of himself: pious, self-righteous and utterly humorless. Burdened by the cross of his socialist crusade, he was a scold whose counter-culture moralizing appealed to the state's liberal sensibilities as well as its conservatives, who embraced his gun ownership stance, his defense of individual rights, an antipathy toward big corporations and, generally speaking, his stick-it-to-them approach to politics.


(Snip)

I'm not alone in my opinions about Sanders. Chris Graf, long-time Associated Press bureau chief in Vermont, in an article published Sept. 30 in Theweek.com, had this to say about the senator.

“Bernie has no social skills, no sense of humor, and he's quick to boil over. He's the most unpolitical person in politics I've ever come across,” Graf said. Others who have covered Sanders agree.


Comments by pro-Sanders supporters argue that was over twenty years ago, he's mellowed since then. I would put forth that "mellow" is not a word anyone would use to describe candidate Bernie Sanders.


http://lansingcitypulse.com/article-12189-the-trouble-with-bernie.html

[Ohioblue22]

3. But he can't get the votes needed to win

[workinclasszero]

6. 1. Win primary

2. Win GE

Questions?

[TeamPooka]

7. Error in thinking #0 Guy who can't win a party primary can win general election. nt