Sanders unelectable?

[Rvaughn]

[Lou]

I think Biden's comment is probably correct. In presidential election years and even beyond, the presidential nominee tends to become the face of his/her entire party. We've certainly seen that happen with Trump. The only way I can see it not happening is if down-ballot Dem candidates intentionally, publicly, vehemently, and repeatedly disavow Bernie's self-identified socialism should he become the nominee (a possibility which I think the DNC will try to head off at all costs). All of which is to say that Biden's comment doesn't just express concern that Sanders himself might be unelectable, but that having him as the Democrats' standard-bearer might hurt the chances of other Dems as well. Or at least that's how I read it.

[Haruo]

Looks to me like Trump has got anybody left of Biden tagged as a Radical Leftist, not sure about Buttigieg but then of course he has sex problems. I'm not sure what this all means. But it looks to me like the democratic socialists (at least in the corn belt) outnumber the old-school liberal democrats these days, if you compare Bernie plus Liz (no, Beth; all candidates should have B for an initial) to all the others combined in the just concluded Iowa Caucuses. So it might be necessary to dismantly the Democratic Party in order to stop them. I can envision a future in which Trump wins a plurality in a four-party race (two Democratic parties, one socialist, one big-money-interested) and two GOPs, one Trumpian and one Mormon, but is denied the presidency by the House of Representatives (which might have an even larger Democrat majority than now). Trump's plan for the Palestinians could then be applied to the USA, with tunnels from one Democrat stronghold to another. Like a cross between the partition of India and a spider web.

Eventually, Cascadia will rule.

[Sandy]

In the 2016 election, polling data consistently showed Bernie further ahead of Trump than Clinton was. She ran inside the margins of error for most of the campaign. He was between 5% and 15% better than Trump depending on the poll. There are more candidates now, so his support is diffused, though his rallies still draw big, enthusiastic crowds. He's consistently more than 5% ahead of Trump in head to head polling. Paired with a balanced running mate, campaigning and explaining their position, I don't think Bernie, or any Democratic nominee, will be "unelectable."

[Rvaughn]

[Haruo]

I think Bernie will pull in a bunch of folks from the left who normally sit out presidential elections, who wouldn't bother to vote for Biden, and Biden will pull in a bunch of people in the middle who would not vote for Sanders. Question is more, where are these groups concentrated? Because as I keep stressing, nationwide point spreads mean zilch; the Electoral College makes the decision.

[Sandy]

[Haruo]

I started a thread on Facebook with a link to this thread here, and got quite a lot of play out of it. Robert Reich, the genetics of people named Richmond, and lots of other angles.