Serious question...does anyone really think Bernie Sanders would win a general election?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

87. What makes you think I'm a Clinton supporter?

I don't particularly care if the candidate is Clinton, or O'Malley, or anyone else with at least some chance of winning. I *expect* Clinton to win, as everyone else with the slightest grasp on reality does, but predicting something is *not* the same thing as wanting it.

An awful lot of people don't get that, and that's why Sanders, like every other politician, *has* to lie about his chances of winning, and why I don't hold it against him: if he doesn't tell the obvious untruth that he thinks he can win, stupid people will interpret that as meaning that he doesn't want to win. When the real election comes, like in every past election, you'll see both candidates lying about their assessment of their chances of winning that, too, and I won't hold it against them, either.

For what it's worth, I think that any of the Democratic candidates would make a decent president - Sanders arguably the best, depending on the makeup of Congress. I think that Clinton and O'Malley would both be likely to narrowly lose the presidential election to the Republicans, because of the milestone of 8-year incumbency, while Sanders would be very likely indeed to lose heavily - probably the heaviest Democratic defeat since 88, or even 84. I'm pretty confident, but not certain, that Clinton will win the primary; I am even more confident that even if she doesn't, Sanders won't either.

Whoever the Democrats select, I'll be hoping they win. But I'll be betting the other way, and if it's Sanders, I'll be betting heavily.