Hillary Clinton Leads in New Hampshire by Historic Margin

[Jim Lane]

108. Please don't get so defensive. I'd love to see Sanders elected, but I don't ignore the obstacles.

"Are you saying being black isn't true?" No, being a Black Muslim is the part that wasn't true.

"Wasn't this 'negative for some voters'? Absolutely. One thing that mitigated the harm, though, is that we lost most of the white racist vote years ago anyway. The people who wouldn't vote for a black wouldn't have voted for Joe Biden, either. My concern is that the "Socialist" label might cost some votes from people who would vote for Biden.

"You say Bernie is 'someone who can embody that kind of dissatisfaction,' what specific type of dissatisfaction are you referring to?" What I alluded to in my post -- the feeling that the country is on the wrong track, that government isn't on the people's side, and that traditional politicians of the Democratic and Republican Parties are part of the problem, not part of the solution. Sanders would be starkly unlike any other major-party nominee of the modern era, a fact that would be a negative for some voters (see preceding paragraph) but a selling point for others.

"If Obama was able to prove the attacks on him were wrong, why won't Bernie be able to educate the dem uninformed of what a dem socialist means and it's not a communist?" I didn't mention the word "Communist". My concern is that even the word "Socialist" has a negative connotation with millions of swing voters. He could educate some but it's an illustration of an axiom attributed to Reagan -- "If you're explaining, you're losing." This is why the Republicans shamelessly resort to negative campaigning, whether it's true or not. (The bright side is that this is one respect in which Sanders might lose the nomination but still have an overall win. His candidacy would serve to educate at least some people about these points, and thus make it easier for a progressive to be nominated in a future cycle.)

"The Millennials aren't swayed by this communist nonsense because they didn't live thru it." As noted above, I'm talking about the "Socialist" label. Even as to that, you're probably right that it's less of a negative with Millennials than with older voters. That's nice, but we can't win an election on Millennials alone.

"Can you please tell me how the principles of a dem socialist 'might be more damaging' to this country than corp worship?" I thought it was clear from my post (#103) that I was talking about what would be damaging to Sanders's electoral prospects, not to the country. In fact, I was responding to your post #102, in which you used the word "damaging" in the electoral sense.

"Also, you previously stated that Bernie could be considered a 'dangerous radical'. Why are you still pushing this communist crap?" I did not opine that Sanders is a dangerous radical. I did not opine that there's even a legitimate argument that he's a dangerous radical. My exact statement, again (as I thought was obvious) in the context of electoral prospects, was: "Will (people) hear his policy ideas, coupled with his former Socialist affiliation, and see him as a dangerous radical?" Given the preconceptions that millions of people already have, and given how those will be played upon and augmented by the corporate media if Sanders runs, I continue to believe that that's a real concern.

On the merits, I love the guy. I may well vote for him in the primary, depending on what the lineup is, just as I voted for Kucinich in 2004 without deluding myself that he had much chance of becoming President.