If Sanders runs 3rd party, Clinton wins. Here's why:

[Scootaloo]

36. You need votes to win.

The problem facing Hillary is that she's spurning 40% of her own party. She's made it clear that she's not only going to ignore us, but that she's going to do what she can to work against the interests of the left. That's real inspiring for voter turnout, isn't it, shitting on nearly half of your party... Which includes the overwhelming majority of people who are set to be the party's next generation.

And at the same time she seems to be doing Republican outreach. Pandering for Jeb's donors, coming up with plans to appeal to conservative white Republican voters, the lot of it. While she might squeeze some money out of the privilege class (they're fine with whoever wins, after all) Republican voters aren't going to go for her. You and the rest of her supporters love making a case about all the ludicrous shit she's taken from Republicans, well, who do you think eats that stuff with a spoon? They hate her.

And independents? Most independents are independents out of a distaste for "politics as usual." If you offer them a Clinton dynasty on one hand, promising politics as usual, and you offer them the outgassing colon ulcer of Trump who promises to shake up as much as he can get his hands on... well... Hate to say it but Clinton isn't likely to wow the crowd there. This is looking like an "independents stay home" match-up at best.

Clinton's gonna have some work to do ahead. DWS can't carry her bodily over the GE finish line. All her primary voters can't do it either - especially since some amount of those voters won't be real interested if her opponent isn't a Jew (hate it all you want, but yes, it's a factor in the primary, same as Obama's race was.)

She needs ot shore up her own party support, first. Demands that the plebs know their place and fall in line won't do it. Kind of the opposite effect, actually. She needs ot assure the left of the party that she's willing ot work for us as well - and NOT in that trickle-down bullshit way of "What's good for my big donors will be good for you too, trust me!"

Then she needs to figure out how to appeal to Independents. This is a hard one, 'cause they're all over the place. Maybe first stop, withdraw the notion of giving her husband a cabinet position. Dynastic nepotism, again, huge turn-off for indies. And no, for the record, whether or not you think he's a good pick doesn't matter. Clinton could appoint Rafalca to cabinet position and you'd praise her shrewd judgement and her efforts to appeal to Dressage Horse-Americans. Independents will see one Clinton giving another Clinton a cushy position (Over finance, no less?) and will break out their barf bags.

Then, and only then, after securing her own party and making whatever appeals it takes to get Independents, should she try Republican outreach.

By doing it backwards, she's just spinning her tires and spraying all of us - you included - with the mud. You might thank her for the free facial pack, but others aren't quite so willing to take mud in the eye.