Bernie Sanders

The closet the US have to a normal centerist politician, and they seem to think he's some rabid left wing socialist. In-laws of mine in Texas pretty much consider him a communist ffs.

He's too old, will be 79 in three years.

There will be a lot of talk of Elizabeth Warren running on a Sanders type policy platform, so if Bernie is too old she would be the next person up.

But she has two problems.
Firstly she is a woman and secondly she has that native American heritage question about her, which got swept under the rug in a Democrat friendly state like MA but will be front and center in a national campaign.

No way Bernie runs again let alone is actually an electable candidate. He is just too old, its fine saying he is in good health or whatever but when you will be mid 80's by the end of your first term if you did get elected it is just going to be too hard of a sell to too many people.

He is seen as basically a communist on one side and has cut himself off from the other, after they ****ed him. It just won't happen.

O'Neill wrote: »

Who do I expect him to unify? Well the people. He’s woken up a large percentage of young people. He’s even managed for some Trump supporters to support him

The problem with young people is that they are not very reliable in an actual election.

At the end of the day they tend to vote in smaller numbers than expected.

And as they grow up they tend to become more conservative.

VonZan wrote: »

Really? Oprah is too clever to damage her reputation and what is the point in electing another unqualified celebrity?

because it's become nothing more than a popularity contest?

I was at the Bernie Sanders talk in Dublin last year, it was a very moving experience, it was great to see a high level politician actually speak to the people, about the people, somebody that actually cares about the people and our planet, he's also very well informed. It would give you hope for humanity and our planet, I don't think he ll run again though, but hopefully his energy will carry through, or I fear for all of humanity

I sincerely hope he does run again, he's certainly been thinking about it from all accounts. Either him, or someone who's willing to tear up the status quo and stand up for human rights, which Obama's administration spectacularly failed to do when it expanded warrantless surveillance and failed to tackle unpunished police brutality.

Nody wrote: »

So you want Trump to win again? Because any candidate like you describe would be taking significantly more votes from the D than the R in any national election and likely to cost a swing state or two for the D candidate ensuring Trump gets another 4 years.

I'm talking about such a candidate running for the Democratic Primary, not as an independent. The Dems are supposed to be the opposition towards Bush-era legacy crap, I'd argue that those helping to prop it up are full of sh!te when they claim to be left of centre - or even centrist.

And I reckon after the 2016 election, there'll be far more of an appetite among primary voters for a truly liberal Democratic candidate as opposed to the lukewarm Republican-lite platform on offer in 2016. It wasn't just Clinton, but Tim Kaine, her VP pick, was even closer to the Republican ideology on civil liberties being unimportant than Clinton herself. That's one of the lesser talked about but equally infuriating problems with 2016 - the VP pick is usually seen as an opportunity to balance the ticket after a divisive primary, in 2016 they used it to double down on the Republican-lite theme rather than counterbalance it.

Sanders (or somebody equally liberal) with a more centrist Dem as VP would probably be acceptable to most Dem and independent voters. Another candidate who adopts the third way ideology of "what the Republicans did was awful, but let's work with it instead of trying to repeal it" is a far greater risk to ensuring a second Trump victory through voter apathy and disillusionment on the left, IMO.

O'Neill wrote: »

Now with the potential announcement of Opera being one of the candidates of the Democratic Party, has everyone forgotten about Bernie?

Say all you like about him, he has galvanised a lot of people, I see him as a unifier personally. Ever since he's lost the vote, unlike Clinton he is still out there campaigning. Thoughts?

No doubt Bernie has still been out there making the same kind of case as he did during the last election. I would say though that the last thing the Democratic party needs is more Clinton. Rightly or wrongly she is toxic and just needs to go away. personally I would say rightly as she represents IMHO the corrupt corporate group that controls and run the Democratic party.

GuiltyAir wrote: »

As bad as Trump has been the Dems have failed to show real strength or leadership. It's bad that Schumer and Pelosi are withering over the past year while the strongest members, Sanders and Warren, are so clearly out in the cold. I don't think the Democratic party has come close to acknowledging the division within and will continue to suffer if it expects high-visibility elections to force its left to heel out of fear.

I could not agree more. The Democratic party just does not get it. The fact is the party is a corrupt corporate controlled party and that is a big reason why so many do not vote for them. I mean look at the debacle that was the whole campaign for them last time out yet despite that the only thing the Democrats really have going for them is they are not Trump. Once again vote for the lesser evil is essentially their manifesto.
Reality IMHO economically is the Republicans represent and serve the top 1% the Democrats maybe the top 20%. Sure they are not as bad as the Republicans but they still do not care about nor do they work for the best interests of the vast majority of Americans on a consistent basis hence why voter participation is so pathetic in the US.