DU Poll: Regardless of your first choice, would you be comfortable with Sanders as the nominee?

[thesquanderer]

There's been a bunch of discussion here about how polling showed that, even if he isn't someone's first choice, Sanders is the candidate that the most Dems are comfortable with (about 2/3 of Dems, whereas fewer than that are comfortable with any of our other candidates). I'm curious to see how that might compare with the DU population. So... choose one:

93 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I would be comfortable with Sanders as our nominee (though he may or may not be my first choice)
	24 (26%)
	I would not be comfortable with Sanders as our nominee
	69 (74%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[dem4decades]

1. Tell me how we can lose PA and FL and win the presidency, then i might be comfortable.

[thesquanderer]

3. I will be really curious to see the Florida polling in the coming weeks.

Previous polling shows Sanders doing well there against Trump. It will be interesting to see how much impact all this Cuba publicity will have on those numbers.

[intheflow]

41. What we may lose in Cuban-American vote might be made up in

the former felons who can now vote. Looking at any given demographic in isolation is not seeing the whole picture.

[Cal Carpenter]

10. Not that polls for the general mean much now

But Sanders beats Trump at the same or better margins than the other candidates in PA so far. Sanders does well in the rust belt polls, despite what people say. And while, again, the polls may not mean a lot, patterns are emerging and they're more valuable than 'what people say'.

FL is another story, and insofar as there are any polls there for the general, Bloomberg is the only one with a meaningful beating of Trump. But Bloomberg's numbers overall are going down at the moment, and he does poorly against Trump (sometimes the worst) in other swing states.

In any case, other than nominal "swing state" status, FL has almost nothing in common with the other swing states. Florida's polls are waaaay different than the patterns we see in other states and in national polls. And at this point, it's barely purple at best. Not to say it wouldn't be a huge help to win it in November. But to focus on Florida to the detriment of the other swing states seems unwise.

It'll be interesting to see what happens on Super Tuesday when Bloomberg is actually, you know, on a ballot, lol. But I don't think he's the savior some folks seem to think he was gonna be. He'll get some delegates, I'm sure, but nothing that will skyrocket him into actual electoral viability. In my guess, anyway.

My comments about the polls are coming from a close reading of this page, btw: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/elections/

[Rorey]

2. I'm really not "comfortable" with anyone

The stakes are too high to feel comfortable. I'm scared. Definitely scared.

[Hoyt]

4. Wouldn't whine about Sanders, but would be resigned to a big loss in November, hoping I'm wrong.

[Poeraria]

5. Voted No, because I think he is a sure fire way of re-electing Trump.

But should it happen, I will vote Blue, no matter what.

[Perseus]

12. I am sure you don't care about the polls, but he is on top when asked who beats trump

Most every poll I have seen has Sanders as the #1 to beat trump, I don't get where people get that is not so.

People love the polls when it favours their choice of candidate, but when it favours Sanders then "polls are useless"...how convenient.

There is s DUer who supports Biden, he posted some polls where Biden leads, and "those were great and very accurate polls", then I read a comment he/she made at another post where polls showed Sanders ahead in all counts, and suddenly "polls mean nothing at this phase", talk about having your cake and eating it too.

[Poeraria]

17. Sanders will not attract the moderates needed to win in the General Election.

Sanders career is filled with positions taken and statements made for shock value to spur debate. These will come back to haunt, and take down down ballot candidates as well.

Sanders has built a formidable following. If this is about his issues, and not his ego, he'd get behind a candidate that can be elected and use his army to get the candidate elected, all the while building political capital that he can use to promote his vision under a Democratic administration. Right now he is facing defeat in November, that will also kill his ideas for good.

[thesquanderer]

23. re: "Sanders will not attract the moderates needed to win in the General Election."

There are two ways to approach the general. You can focus on the party base plus moderates, or you can focus on the party base plus your more extreme supporters. It's hard to predict which which strategy will be more successful. For example, in 2016, Hillary took the first approach, and Trump took the second, and look who's in the White House.

[Poeraria]

28. If Berners abandon the nominee, if not Bernie...

you may be correct. They may elect trump a second time. I hope, if they pull the, "go home and take their ball with them", that the candidate can replace them with loyal Dems and fed up moderate, and liberal Republicans. If that happens, why would anyone ever support Bernies issues, or try to court his supporters?

[BusyBeingBest]

6. I think Sanders may have a better chance than Biden in the general,

so yeah. I think Bernie is sharper and a better campaigner and has dedicated supporters. They're FOR him, strongly, whereas Biden tends to be a default choice against Bernie. I'm not SUPER comfortable, mind you, but I can deal with him.

[Perseus]

15. The problem with Biden is that he wants to be liked BY ALL, that includes republicans

He talks about Moscow-Mitch as if they are best friends, he calls him "Mitch", and he thinks he can negotiate with republicans, which is false, he was not able to do it when he was VP, so he is soft on them as if to guard a friendship that doesn't exist.

Sanders on the other hand has no issue charging against them, he just goes at it, and the creature, if he dares to debate Sanders, which I doubt because the creature is a coward and I don't think his campaign handlers will allow him to, will clean the floor with the creature. The creature has not had anyone to fight with the aggressiveness that Sanders brings to the table.

You are correct, Bernie is very sharp, he has demonstrated it in the debates, no other candidate has had to face so much aggression against him and come out the winner. Yes, Warren did very well as well, and that is why at this time I am leaning for a Sanders/Warren ticket.

I believe that Warren would pave the way for a future woman president if she becomes the VP, she will have Pence for dinner at the debates as well. One more thing...Although Sanders and Warren have had their short boxing matches during the debates, their agendas as very similar, and I believe they can work very well together, both are very smart.

This is an interesting article from The Guardian about Biden's electivility:
[link:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/04/joe-biden-electable-trump-2020-election|

[BusyBeingBest]

20. Thanks for the article, it raises a lot of my concerns with Biden.

Yes, having seen Bernie and Biden multiple times, it's clear Bernie's mental faculties are quicker than Joe's, for two dudes the same age. I also believe Bloomberg's mental faculties are sharper than Joe's, for also being the same age. There are some people, especially on DU, who truly have great affection for Joe as a sentimental or Obama-connected choice, but I'm afraid that might not carry us. These are the folks who can't see anything wrong with Biden making up a story about being arrested, and then making up ANOTHER story about Mandela thanking him profusely for being arrested--that's a lie stacked upon a lie, and his followers defend it when any other candidate would have been done at that point.

I don't think he's a bad person at all, or a constant liar, but the GOP will hammer stuff like that, and his sometimes bizarre actions and words, and paint him as a senile plagiarizing liar. I don't think they will have that on Bernie-- Bernie has some weird stuff in his past, but his supporters are much less fickle and won't break for tRump at the last minute.

[Squinch]

7. 2018 results tell me he would lose in a landslide.

[Gothmog]

8. I will support the nominee of the party

Last edited Fri Feb 28, 2020, 07:41 PM - Edit history (1)

If sanders is the nominee, I would expect to lose the House and see Kevin McCarthy as speaker

If sanders is the nominee, I would work to try to minimize the damage to down ballot candidates

[Hermit-The-Prog]

43. This is my fear ...

BS and his followers have shown no concern with anything except getting BS installed. We need to keep the House and at least try to take the Senate. Gaining the WH without those would be a pyrrhic victory.

I think Democrats would be hammered almost everywhere if BS is the nominee. Polls suggest this.

[genxlib]

9. There are really two different aspects to that question

Would I be personally comfortable voting for him?

Am I comfortable that enough people will vote for him to win?

These are two different questions and they could have different answers.

It is true of policies as well. I think MFA would be the right thing to do for America but I also think it is not going to happen as an immediate implementation and it will be a losing issue for a campaign.

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

11. Four more stinking years of trump

Sanders needs to rethink his always running endeavour.

[Act_of_Reparation]

22. Or Biden needs to run a better campaign.

Bernie's not going to have a Damascus Road moment. He's not. Period. End. Of. Story.

If you want him to go away, you're going to have to fucking beat him. Maybe write Joe and ask him what in the galloping fuck he's doing out there?

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

24. South Carolina not looking good for

Your candidate.

[Act_of_Reparation]

32. You must have me confused with some other guy.

They were the one whining about getting beat.

[IluvPitties]

13. The results are clear...

[The Mouth]

14. I have concerns about his ability to get anything done

But with a Republican Senate, not much is going to get done anyway, so having a Jewish Democratic Socialist who has fought for progressive causes for decades would at least be a good symbolic victory.

I'm still pulling for Pete, mostly because my gay friends would be utterly thrilled (as would I, regarding breaking barriers) and I think he could do a competent job. The only one who disgusts me is Bloomberg; 'better than trump' is a pretty low standard and he barely meets even that in my personal opinion.

[Arkansas Granny]

16. If he's the nominee I'll vote for him, but I don't think he can beat Trump.

Electability is my main concern with this election.

[frazzled]

18. "Please don't put me in that position"

Watch this South Carolina gentleman express how many feel (segment begins at 5:57 and ends around 6:42):

https://www.pbs.org/video/south-carolina-still-joe-bidens-firewall-qpe5mm/

[Sloumeau]

19. I'd vote for Sen. Sanders in the General if he gets the nomination,

but I would prefer just about anyone else. Biden is my preference, but I could totally live with Klobuchar, Warren, Buttigieg, or Steyer. Bloomberg would be tougher to swallow, but I think even he would have better chance of defeating Trump that Senator Bernie Sanders would. There is no way a Socialist is getting in the White House in 2020.

[MineralMan]

21. I would vote for Sanders, but would not be comfortable with that vote,

since I believe he would lose in a landslide.

[brooklynite]

25. What do you mean by "comfortable"?

Would I support him? Absolutely.
Would I expect him to still lose? Absolutely.

[thesquanderer]

29. Meaning of comfortable? Based on this poll...

https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/200085NBCWSJFebruary2020Poll.pdf

and the exact wording they used was:

I'm going to list people who have said they will run for president. For each one, please tell me whether that person is someone you would (a) be enthusiastic about, (b) be comfortable with, (c) have some reservations about, or (d) be very uncomfortable with.

Total of A+B corresponds to the first option in this DU poll. C+D corresponds to the second.

So... I guess, interpret accordingly.

[brooklynite]

30. In that case: reservations to very uncomfortable

[Hermit-The-Prog]

44. Nobody told me about reservations. Should I have called ahead?

[lark]

26. I would definitely be unhappy and uncomfortable with Bernie as our nominee.

However, I would hold my nose and vote for him. I'd have a harder time trying to sell him with GOTV efforts, but guess I could swing it by just saying drumpf is far worse. Bernie would lose my state of FL and handily, even my kids friends (20's and 30's) are against him. I don't trust him one little bit, think he's the absolute worst candidate (Bloomberg is close) the Dems could put forward and only drumpf is worse. However, with drumpf being a country destroyer and fascist, Berne is clearly better than him.

[Kaleva]

27. I'll vote for Sanders but will be expecting a big loss including down ticket races

[Kaleva]

31. kind of a wipeout.

[thesquanderer]

33. Yeah, at least so far, roughly opposite from Dem voters IRL. (n/t)

[Kaleva]

34. The average DUer is more knowledgeable on politics then the average Dem voter

We have a very good idea on Sander's strengths and weaknesses and how he'll be attacked by Repubs if he is the nominee.

[thesquanderer]

35. On the positive side... NOBODY will have as much ammunition thrown at them as Hillary did...

...and she came within a hair of winning. Okay, three hairs.

And it's not like any other candidate isn't going to have all kinds of stuff thrown at them. It's not like the Republicans care about whether it's accurate or not. Socialism! Burisma! Stop-and-frisk! Pocahontas! Whatever...

[Kaleva]

36. The best defense is a good offence.

Bloomberg already has the cash on hand to fully fund a GE campaign and launch a full frontal attack on Trump everywhere.

[Bettie]

37. I think the bigger question is this:

Will you vote for the Democratic nominee even if you are 'uncomfortable' with that person?

I will. Even if it is Bloomberg, I'll do my best to get him elected. I'm not comfortable with someone being able to buy the nomination, but if he's the eventual nominee...there's no contest and no chance of me staying home.

Right now, THREE states have voted, so nothing is written in stone.

[thesquanderer]

39. I t hink pretty much everyone on this site is committed to voting for anyone over Trump,

comfortable or not.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

38. "I'll vote for the Democratic nominee in the general election."

But, comfortable? No. I think he (like Trump) will just travel the world pissing off leaders.

However, I'll like his Supreme Court picks over Trump's. (as well as all other courts)

[lees1975]

40. Let's get real here people

Trump isn't going to win this election, regardless of who the Democrats nominate.

[lostnfound]

42. I canvassed for him in 2016, but no. Terrified of 4 more years.

And not thrilled about the hostility between left and right only growing.

[Gothmog]

45. The moment Bernie Sanders becomes the nominee 24 / 7 news & ads like this thread

Link to tweet

[Hortensis]

46. Lol, as a "gelatinous 100 year old," hell no.

Populist leaders have to keep their "red in tooth and claw" populist followers fed. It is not a comfortable thought at all to empower a hostile movement that I now find has added people who are living and working too long to the list of "establishment" groups they're eager to destroy. .

Of course, bless their spiteful, hostile hearts, who can't understand the newest resentment of those always seething with aggressive resentment: against those who are living, working good jobs, and voting decades longer than before, instead of dropping dead and leaving the goodies to them? No difference really from their burning class resentments. No difference from the even deeper resentments against jumped up minorities and women who expect to share the respect, the good-paying jobs, and the inheritances for that matter, that were once their right. Same-old, same-old, same-old.

Anyway, comfort's just the wrong word to apply to any populist movement, regardless of its current favorite targets. To populists, including Sanders himself, everyone not with them is an enemy to be defeated or bystander to be marched over.

And, what's really scary-UNcomfortable is that to win the GE Sanders would have to draw a lot more of this type away from Trump's populist movement. What would he have to do then to keep them happy so they didn't turn on his own gelatinous ass? The idea of fighting fire with fire when you can't keep either from going wild is not comfortable.

A much happier idea is fuck them all with my old witch's broom, then turn it around and sweep them back into the holes they crawled out of. In other words, vote hell no in the primary.

From one of Sanders' largest groups of populist supporters:

"The essential problem is not that liberals are “as bad” as conservatives but rather that there is a giant sucking void at the core of their being."

"These days, there are two kinds of liberals: those who vote for Democrats because the alternative is worse, and those who get teary-eyed at the thought of supporting Cory Booker or some similarly phony slug. The latter are just moderate Republicans and should be written off completely. The former deserve better but probably have some misplaced attachment to the political tradition of “standing up” to the right wing."

How did this disordered creation develop these particular bizarre, hate speech notions about Democrats? Surely "I am not, nor have I ever been a liberal Democrat" Sanders had nothing to do with it?