Sanders' view are to the left of the mainstream; Clinton's views are self-serving and ever shifting

[Attorney in Texas]

Neither candidate is perfectly electable: one candidate needs to persuade the voters to a more progressive plan for our counrty and the other candidate needs to win back lost trust.

We should ask -- what are the candidates doing to improve their electability and to buttress against their main weaknesses in the general election?

Sanders

With Sanders, the challenge is show America that we are better than what we have accomplished so far. Outside of the US, the rest of the industrialized world can afford

1. universal health care that does not pay a huge portion of the cost as a ransom to private insurers;
2. paid parental leave that allows families time at home with newborn children;
3. a $15 an hour minimum wage;
4. treating drug addiction as health issue rather than warehousing addicts in for-profit prisons.

There are those in the US who say we cannot afford the benefits which are so widely enjoyed by people outside of the US. Those naysayers underestimate us as a people and a country. Sanders' main challenge in the campaign is disproving the naysayers who would sell America short. Bringing voters to see that our society can be a better, more equitable, and more just society is not an easy task, but it is far from insurmountable. Already, a majority of the US wants a single payer Medicare-for-all type health care system, even larger majorities favor paid parental leave including both maternal and paternal leave, and still larger majorities favor a $15 an hour minimum wage. We are a progressive nation, but we lack the political fortitude to adopt progressive policies, and Sanders' task is to build that progressive groundswell.

Is Sanders working to improve his electability by buttressing against his main weaknesses in the general election? Yes. Sanders is focused on the issues that a silent majority favors and which he will champion.

Clinton

With Clinton, the challenge is winning back the voters' trust. Of all the candidates in both parties, "Clinton has the lowest rating for honesty as American voters say 60 - 36 percent she is not honest and trustworthy," which is noteworthy in that she is even less trusted than Trump, who is deeply mistrusted. Clinton's trustworthiness problem extends across the whole electorate, and she is trusted by only 35% of independents, 30% of men, 41% of women, 37% of those with college degrees, and 35% of those without college degrees. Most importantly, trustworthiness is a critical general election issue:



Is Clinton working to improve her electability by buttressing against her main weaknesses in the general election? I'm not seeing any campaign efforts to bolster Clinton's trustworthiness, and I would feel more comfortable with the idea of either Sanders or Clinton winning the nomination if I saw more effort from the Clinton campaign to bolster her trustworthiness.

[merrily]

1. Sanders' views are well within the mainstream.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12777036

[Attorney in Texas]

3. The people want Sanders' programs (as my links confirm), but he's politically left of the mainstream

I agree 100% that his policies are well within the mainstream as judged by what the majority of people want (as I tried to convey with my links to polling on universal health care, minimum wage, and paid family leave), but there is no denying the fact that he is well left of the center politically. What Sanders must do is show America that we the people are where Sanders lives and not where the center of the political world resides.

[merrily]

4. Oh, you meant left of politicians? I meant within a majority of Americans.

I don't consider where politicians are any indication whatever of where the mainstream of America is.

[Agschmid]

5. Your posted charts don't agree with each other...

This muddles your overall message.

[Attorney in Texas]

6. That is the nature of considering many sources. Not all voices agree 100% but a consensus emerges.

[Agschmid]

7. I'm not saying they should agree but I certainly don't see consensus.

Except that our candidates are more liberal than republicans, if that's what you were going for.

[Attorney in Texas]

8. You don't see Sanders and Warren consistently toward the left and Cruz and Paul consistently toward

the right and Clinton consistently between those two points?

[Juicy_Bellows]

9. I have no friggin' idea how you could not. nt.

[Attorney in Texas]

10. Some folks see whatever they want to see

[Juicy_Bellows]

11. I wish I had that skill.

I am forced to realize and deal with truths, if I don't I feel dirty. God damn morals.....

[MaggieD]

16. So the 60% polling for Hillary aren't "people"?

What are they then?

[BlueCaliDem]

2. Sanders has flip-flopped on gun safety and immigration now that he's running for president

and needs the African American and Hispanic/Latino vote. And you don't think that's self-serving and "ever shifting"?? Come ON.

He's just getting away with it because corporate M$M is in the tank for the GOP and they've kept a hands-off approach with him while focusing all negative reporting on Hillary Clinton.

It's no secret that the GOP would rather run against Sanders than Clinton. But should Sanders win the primaries, you can BET that the GOP will bring his NRA friendly but immigration-unfriendly past to the forefront with lots of help from U.S. ma$$ media. The result will be that he'll be hated in the African American and Hispanic/Latinos community that they might not vote for him, and Republicans will reap the rewards.

Don't get me wrong...I'm happy he's finally come around in support of immigration and gun safety reform, especially since he's voted against these issues in the past when he hadn't decided to run for president.

In summary, and not to be too off-topic, if Sanders supporters are going to knock Hillary Clinton for being "self-serving" and "ever shifting", then they should apply those same pejoratives to Sanders as well. But they can see it in a different light: consider that every single presidential candidate is "self-serving" in order to get votes, and that "ever-shifting" isn't a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of strength by a leader who actually listens to the wants and needs of his/her constituents and who makes changes where necessary that's beneficial to those constituents.

[MaggieD]

14. Nailed that

[BlueCaliDem]

17. Thanks, MaggieD.

[Betty Karlson]

12. Bookmarked for later viewing. eom

[MaggieD]

13. Twice in one night?

LOL!

[bravenak]

15. Gawd.