Hillary Clinton Leads in New Hampshire by Historic Margin

[Jim Lane]

101. Agree re DLC, disagree re Warren and Sanders.

You write:

The activist wing of the party are hepped up over Warren and Sanders; meanwhile, the rest of the nation hears their names as Presidential candidates and laughs hysterically.

No, the Washington commentariat hears their names and laughs. Most of the nation hasn't heard their names at all, at least not enough to form any opinion about either of them as a possible President. That's why, as people have pointed out in this thread and elsewhere, polls now mostly measure name recognition.

Of course, name recognition is a big help. Except for Joe Biden, any of the people who've been mentioned as possible Clinton opponents would have to start off just making themselves more widely known. They might not be able to do that well enough to even be competitive. Assuming they overcome that obstacle, the increased public awareness of them would boost both their "Favorable" and "Unfavorable" ratings. For example, as people hear more about Bernie Sanders, will they be impressed with his straight talk and refusal to kowtow to the corporations? Will they hear his policy ideas, coupled with his former Socialist affiliation, and see him as a dangerous radical? Some of each, I'm sure, and right now it's hard to predict which view will predominate.