If Bernie Sanders Runs For President, It Won’t Be as an Independent: “I will not be a spoiler”

[MoonchildCA]

43. Well, that's all good and fine. I too will vote for the candidate.

However, saying it is not a forgone conclusion is not "disparaging" or "false."Saying Clinton is polling so high because of name recognition is not "disparaging" or "false."

You are welcome to love Hillary--many people do. I doubt that the 61% love her as much as you do, but we will see when the primary is underway.

The bottom line is that, this far out, the polls are mostly about name recognition. No one else being talked about has ever run a national election, so though they are household names among DUers, that is not necessarily the case with the general public. If you look at the polling this time 8 years ago, Hillary was way out in the lead, but there were other names that were pulling double digit numbers, such as Kerry, Edwards, and Gore. Why? Because that had all run for president before--as top candidates. There is no one in the (possible) field that has been there before, except Hillary, and you could argue Biden, but he has never polled high on a national ticket by himself. All those polling numbers are going to her because she's the only one that has been there before.

If it were possible to do a scientific poll on DU, with people that are really politically aware, I've got a feeling she would not poll quite so high, though she might still be ahead this early in the game.

What I really don't like is people acting as if it is a forgone conclusion. It is not. Until the primaries are well underway, anything can happen, and often does. Barack Obama showed us that.