Biden can win the presidency without 100% of Bernie's supporters

[Yavin4]

It does not matter that Biden won't get 100% of Bernie's supporters because he doesn't need them to win the presidency. Biden's path to the presidency was African American supporters, suburban White women, and college educated White people, and that was before the virus shut down the nation. After this virus, Biden will be able to expand his support even further tp non-college educated Whites as well.

The "Bernie or bust" people are small in numbers and don't live in those parts of the country that can tip the election. There's simply not enough of them in Macomb county MI or Sandusky county, OH to swing the election. In fact, appeasing them too much may actually hurt Biden's overall chances with other groups.

This election will be a referendum on the character of this nation. No matter what people think of Biden, the alternative is a living nightmare of dystopian proportions. If this country put this asshole back in power, it's not worth living in.

[Thekaspervote]

1. Indeed he can and he will!

[Cha]

2. Well said, Yavin.. Thank YOu!

[Afromania]

3. Honest to god with everything going on this shouldn't even be an issue anymore.

Your choice is

psychopath and his merry band of inept crazies

or

Biden and the Adults in the Room


If you choose anything other than B for any reason at this point you are a complete momo. Your arguments have become completely invalid and you need to find the nearest corner and sit your ass in it.

[betsuni]

17. +1

[Demsrule86]

4. He will win and the left will have less influence...brought it on themselves.

I would rather not move right but there will be no choice with Sanders staying in too long to bury the hard feelings of Sanders supporters.

[Mr.Bill]

5. 100% of Bernie supporters

wouldn't even get off their asses and vote for Bernie if he got the nomination.

[The Magistrate]

6. Sanders Exemplifies, Sir, A Peculiar Sort Of Identity Politics

Sanders in his colossal egotism conflates support for certain policy goals with desire for him to be the leader of a movement to achieve those goals.

This is nonesense.

Even leaving aside the fact that most of those goals are general among Democratic voters and enjoy broad support among Democratic office-holders and Party officials, virtually no one, not even among Sanders' supporters, thinks he can actually achieve them should he come to hold the highest office in the land.

Expressions of support for Sanders are made as a marker of political orientation. Expressing support for Sanders says 'I'm not a moderate, I'm well to the left of most people', and as with most such things, serves to identify a 'cool' group separate from the general run of 'squares'. People doing this do not even particularly want to prevail, in the sense of being in the majority. It is axiomatic that a majority can never be 'cool', the feeling of being 'hip' and part of an 'in-crowd' depends on being outnumbered by the host of the unwashed and unenlightened. The point is not to achieve any political goal, to secure any discrete reform, it is simply to be sure one is perceived as a particular, and special, kind of person.

People who have an actual interest in achieving the goals widespread among Democrats, the goals of all left and progressive and liberal persons in general, recognize readily Sanders is far too flawed as a politician, and as a personality, to make any progress towards their goals. They know Sanders has not achieved any measurable advance towards them in his long Congressional career. They know Sanders' claim to hold patents and copyrights on these goals is nonesense, because they know their own desires pre-date Sanders, and exist in their hearts and minds without the slightest reference to him or influence by him.

In short, while Sanders imagines himself to be the indispensable man, an overwhelming majority of Democratic voters are clear in their minds that Sanders is quite dispensable, and are determined to see him disposed of, as soon as possible.





"From Bernie’s perspective, dropping out of a race once you have no chance of winning is peculiar behavior that can only be explained by the work of a hidden hand. For most politicians, though, it is actually standard operating procedure. Only Sanders seems to think the normal thing to do once voters have made clear they don’t want to nominate you is to continue campaigning anyway."





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[Yavin4]

9. Excellent post, sir. For evidence to support your thesis...

see the internecine online war of words between the Sanders supporters and the supporters Tulsi Gabbard. There will always be a candidate that the coolest of cool kids will rally behind.

Sort of like those that only like the most obscure foreign film.

[The Magistrate]

10. Politics As Indie Music, Sir

The best bar band in town gets a record contract, and instantly it's a bunch of sell-out hacks nobody can bear to hear....

[BlueLucy]

7. Biden will 100% win.

I would have been worried with anyone else but Biden. Move over Teflon Don.. we have our own Teflon Joe.

[TomCADem]

8. 'The Worst Possible Scenario': Never Trumpers Wonder What to Do About Bernie

While BS supporters like to demand that we suck up to them to convince them to vote Biden in November, what is ignored is how that what you lose in the small number of BS supporters who might vote for Trump or Green Party, you gain in independents and Never Trump Republicans who would like a President who not as overtly corrupt as Trump. Think of David Brooks, George Will, etc., who hate Donald Trump and have renounced the Republican party.

This is not about ideology. If we had Democratic equivalent of Trump who was a racist that scapegoated immigrants, attacked a free media, was narcissistic, who engaged in nepotism and diverted government and campaign resources for his own personal benefit, who sucked up to authoritarian governments, who turned his back on allies, and who was not prepared for a crisis, then I would consider voting for a somewhat mainstream Republican like Jack Kemp, Bob Dole, etc., just to protect our Democracy. Of course, most such Republicans, have long since been kicked out.

I think that Biden would be able to capture the vote of folks who may not agree with Democratic platform, but love their country and want to return to rule of law. Of course, they might get turned off by another person who fashions themself as an outsider running against the "establishment" and promising revolution and to drain the swamp, which often just leads to dictatorship and corruption.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/03/never-trump-maybe-bernie-118981

It’s been a rough four years for Never Trumpers, the cadre of Republican and former-Republican commentators, strategists and veterans of the conservative movement who tried and failed to thwart the president’s rise to power in 2016.

First, after failing to beat Donald Trump in the primaries and the convention, they cast about for a third-party candidate to represent their tribe, backing the longshot bid of independent Evan McMullin—or writing in a candidate like Mitt Romney or, for some, actually voting for Hillary Clinton. Then, once President Trump assumed office, they pinned their hopes on the moderating, mainstreaming effect of the Republican Senate. They rooted for the administration’s “adults in the room.” When all that failed, some began to come to grips with the idea that they’d just have to vote for whomever the Democratic Party nominated for president in 2020. Surely that person couldn’t be worse for America than Trump, right?

Now, with the Democrats quite possibly heading toward nominating an avowed socialist for president, horrified Never Trumpers are facing yet another crisis beyond their imaginings.

This past weekend, they faced it together, assembling Saturday at the National Press Club for the first-ever “Summit on Principled Conservatism.” The forum’s speakers included Never Trump figures Bill Kristol, Mona Charen, Rick Wilson, Mindy Finn, Amanda Carpenter, Tara Setmayer, Tim Miller, David Frum and Tom Nichols. Not long ago, this group would have met at the weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference, a gathering of thousands of fervent Republicans that ended Saturday in nearby National Harbor, Maryland. These days, however, CPAC has become a showcase for the Trumpist wing of the party—as Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway put it a few years back, CPAC has become TPAC.

[Butterflylady]

11. I'm as far left that you can go and for I was for Biden right from the start.

I knew Sanders in no way could beat trump.

[William769]

12. At this point in the primary Sanders is nothing.

He missed his opportunity to be something this election cycle and he blew it. Sanders can take his supporters & slither into obscurity. With the changes in the demographics this election, they are not needed and in my opinion not even wanted. It's time for the grown-ups to take over.

[Magoo48]

13. Relax, the vast majority of us are enthusiasticly voting blue no matter who.

[onetexan]

14. K&R

[thesquanderer]

16. Of course he can. Every non-incumbent president in history has probably won without getting...

...100% of the vote of his primary competitors.

I'm sure Trump didn't get all the Kasich, Rubio, and Cruz voters. Obama did not get all the Hillary voters. George W Bush probably didn't get all the McCain voters, and so on.

[la-trucker]

18. This is why Biden should not given in to Bernie's extortionist demands

They will not do any good.

There are way more votes to be had in the center than going ultra left.

No concessions to Bernie -- NONE

[Gothmog]

19. The sanders supporters who voted for trump in 2016 are mainly racists who hated Obama

The facts are that 25% of sanders supporters helped to elect trump by either voting for trump, voting for a third party candidate like Stein (who like sanders was supported by Russia) or stayed home

Link to tweet

This is based on the Cooperative Congressional Election survey https://www.npr.org/2017/08/24/545812242/1-in-10-sanders-primary-voters-ended-up-supporting-trump-survey-finds?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

That is according to the data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study — a massive election survey of around 50,000 people. (For perspective, a run-of-the-mill survey measuring Trump's job approval right now has a sample of 800 to 1,500.)

It appears that the sanders supporters who voted for trump where (I) not really Democrats, (ii) did not like President Obama and (iiii) were racists

Link to tweet

Party seems to have had something to do with it — Sanders-Trump voters were much less likely than Sanders-Clinton or Sanders-third party voters to have been Democrats. Likewise, approval of President Barack Obama appears to be related — Sanders-Trump voters approved of Obama much less than other Sanders primary voters.

Link to tweet

And then there is race. Nearly half of Sanders-Trump voters disagree with the idea that "white people have advantages."

Link to tweet

This tracks with broader observations about election 2016 — for example, as I wrote last week, in general, the larger a state's general-election Trump vote, the less likely its residents are to perceive a lot of discrimination in the world, according to data from the Public Religion Research Institute. And another postelection study — co-authored by Schaffner — found a "relatively strong indication that racism and sexism were more important in 2016 than they had been in previous elections."

These are voters that the Democratic Party should not be courting or counting on. There is nothing that Biden or the party is going to do to win over these voters. Appeasing these voters will only alienate the base of the party such as voters who are proud to be Democrats, who approve of President Obama and who are not racists.

I do not feel like appeasing these voters. The only thing that will make these voters happy is the party making sanders the nominee over the objections of 70% of the party

[Gothmog]

20. 7% of Sanders supporters say they'd vote for Trump against Biden

Link to tweet