To the Anti-Sanders folk: Who do you like?

[NanceGreggs]

42. Thank you for your civil ...

... and well-stated response. Sadly, they have become all too rare here.

I would be more than happy to see Sanders participate in the primaries. He is intelligent, extremely knowledgeable, and knows how to frame his positions with clarity and precision.

But I do not believe he is electable as POTUS, and here's why: As we have seen in election after election in this country, far more citizens vote on the basis of their perception of a candidate, rather than on the basis of said candidate's positions on important issues. That is a sad fact, but it is the reality of the situation.

We've certainly seen this with respect to the "disappointed with Obama" folks, who often express that they didn't get the man they thought they'd voted for. And in many, many instances, it becomes obvious that their perception of who Obama was, and how he was likely to govern, had no basis in reality. For many, Obama was some far-left mover-and-shaker, a cross between a miracle-worker who was going to change everything overnight and an avenger who was going to make life miserable for Republicans in payback for the misery we lived through under Dubya and his administration.

Had they actually listened to what the man said and watched how he conducted himself, they would have known just how off-base their perceptions were.

I remember reading conservative message boards during the Obama/McCain campaigns. The vast majority of the posters actually believed that Sarah Palin was an intelligent, politically savvy woman, a straight-talkin' "maverick" whose lack of polish denoted down-home common sense. I remember how many of them said that if only the liberals/progressives really listened to what she had to say, they would vote for the GOP ticket. They were certain that voters would come around to seeing what they saw, and would come away with the same "perception" of her that they thought was so incredibly obvious. As we both know, their perception couldn't have been more wrong.

So coming back to Sanders, there is a perception of him out there among many that he is too radical, too far-left, too doggedly persistent in his views, too willing to embrace ideas and actions that strike many as dangerously unrealistic. The socialist label doesn't sit well with a lot of people; he is also of an age that many find unacceptable given the rigours of the presidency. He is also a Jew - which many people, unfortunately, still see as a basis for suspicion, i.e. "He's not a Christian; he's 'different', he's not one of 'us'." And our friends in the "librul" MSM will waste no time in driving home all of the above.

Again, perception, not reality, is a driver in political elections. What we on the left see as Sanders' persistence will be seen by many as hard-headedness, and an unwillingness to compromise, even when it is in the best interest of the citizenry. What many of us see as an admirable lack of patience with stupidity, others will see as arrogance. What many of us see as common-sense innovative ideas, others will see as too far out of mainstream thinking to be taken seriously.

Do I believe Sanders would make a great president, who would do great things? Absolutely. But realistically, I have to accept that my perception of the man is not shared by everyone. I also have to accept that what I see as Sanders' strengths would be perceived as his weaknesses by many - and again, one cannot discount the impact of the mainstream media, who would ensure that those strengths became vulnerabilities day after day, broadcast after broadcast.

It is a truly unfortunate state of affairs that one has to take all of the above into consideration - but political reality is what it is, and ignoring reality never accomplishes anything.

I apologize for jumping the gun, as it were, in assuming that you were taking the position that Hillary supporters were being "anti-Sanders". There have been too many OPs of late that express that view, and I was annoyed to see yet another one. I often forget how black-and-white thinking has taken over DU - where if one says "I like chocolate ice cream," they will be bombarded with accusations that they "HATE!!!" vanilla.

In the end, I will be voting for whoever the Democratic nominee is, whether I like him/her or not, or would have preferred someone else. I know there are those here who see that as having no principles in voting for the (D) over every other consideration. But in truth, the overwhelming
principle that guides my vote is ensuring that an (R) never sees the inside of the Oval Office again in my lifetime.