ANTHONY WEINER: I have one big question for Bernie Sanders

[cascadiance]

66. This is exactly right. And running as an indy in the Democratic Primary may get MORE GE votes!

I think Bernie recognizes that this country is at a turning point, with both of its two major parties (that within this system are the only parties able to win a presidential election without something like instant runoff voting), some big changes are needed for our system to survive as a democracy, and that the people in general are starting to see that and either have tuned out to politics in general and haven't voted, or are becoming independent voters.

1) As noted he doesn't want to go the Nader route and run as an independent, where is more likely to lose, and also have the Democratic nominee lose too. He understands the wisdom of that, and I would like to think Weiner is capable of understanding that too.

2) Now as to why he doesn't join the Democratic Party to run in the primary. Well, first he really doesn't NEED to with our current set of rules, and secondly, I think by him doing so, it highlights that our system is needing fixing like Citizen's United and McCutcheon decisions being taken down, and something like instant runoff voting, and by him running as an independent, he can highlight that though the Democratic Party is certainly better than the Republican Party or he wouldn't caucus with them or run in their primary, but that it is also in need of fixes too to make it more answerable to its base of voters than those that currently fund it.

3) By him running as an independent in the Democratic Party, it is in effect an invitation to those who feel disaffected by our current system having them being independent voters, or potentially very unhappy Republicans that don't like their party being bought too, that he's an opportunity to really set a course for huge changes in the system to correct these problems. If he just joined the Democratic Party, many of these independents would just write him off as someone else that has been "bought off" by the current system, and is doing this just to get elected president and follow the same problematic centrist BS crap that so many of them have recently too, even if Bernie might still wanting to be doing good things the way he has as an independent.

Quite frankly I think the way he's running the way he does has the best opportunity for a true populist to break the ice in either party and get a large portion of the population that are interested in more populist power from any party in the system to get activated and vote them in to office. I think Bernie is being very smart the way he's running things to activate grass roots movements to bring in those that might have been feeling left out over the last few decades. Perot showed there's a huge segment that want this kind of independent streak to have the masses speak truth to power on issues like NAFTA (that today's TPA/TPP has similar sentiments against it and both parties that have been pushing it).

I think that the Democratic Party should feel honored that a voice like his feels that the Democratic Party is the avenue for change here, and that it is the one that can be fixed, and rebuilt back in to the party of the people that it has been strongly in the past. Dismissing him is as some say here having party loyalty trump ideology and working on issues that affect all of us, which REALLY turns many millenials and other voters off.