2016 elections - because it's never too early

[garbon]

Though HuffPo says that Bernie can still win...

[jimmy olsen]

And to be sure, I don't get his plan. If he were say, supporting a lot of younger liberal candidates that would gain from his support and increased influence, I could see that...but as far as I know, he hasn't been doing that. I don't really understand then what his increased influence is being focused at / how it will be used.

He has started tranisitioning to supporting candidates like Fiengold. He's also supporting primary challengers like the one running against Schultz.

[Martinus]

[garbon]

Was that mean for the facebook thread?

[Jaron]

You can't resist posting stupid things, can you?

[katmai]

My Facebook feed is much quieter since blocking Marcins posts.

[derspiess]

[derspiess]

Oh I think it is fine if he wants to stay out the primaries. I do think though he should be toning down the rhetoric as a natural lead up to defeat, not getting shriller.

Call a candidate shrill? That's a good idea. I like that.

[derspiess]

Well, I honestly think his plan was (and is): win.  And while it may not be such a strategically oriented plan right now, it's that plan that got him this far, so it's hard to say it was a bad plan.  The DNC will certainly remember this primary season for some time coming, and I do think it will be an inspiration for more openly left-wing, even openly socialist candidates to run aggressive campaigns. 

And that's one of the many reasons Sanders 2016 is so different than Nader 2000.  Nader never ran to win on the Green Party ticket, at best to clear the threshold in more states to stay or get on the ballot, but really as a protest vote. 

While Sanders has always (except for the very beginning) run like he is intent on actually becoming the Democratic nominee and actually becoming President.  I have no reason to doubt he sincerely wants to win and thinks he can win -- his primary challenge was never really a protest attempt to pull Hillary left but a genuine run for office.  And while he's gotten way closer to it than I (or anyone else) ever expected, I think it is going to be hard for him ease into a gradual, perhaps "strategic" defeat after he has fought so hard to actually win.

You know, I can appreciate Sanders and his quest for glory.  I mean, after all, he was always there in the upper right hand corner, pushing the same message that nobody ever listened to, everybody brushed off as "that socialist guy in Vermont" like he was some sort of Jeopardy! clue...and now, finally, when he has a national audience.  People are listening.  And this was his first, his only, and his last shot at selling his message, the message he's always carried, to a responsive electorate. I can appreciate that.

But now, he's just coming across as an angry nasty ass old Jew, Larry Daviding up the whole thing and being that asshole in the register line, holding everybody the fuck up because he's arguing over an expired coupon.
   
He needs to let it go.  It's over.  It's been over.  It was a good run, and there are no losses more painful that those that bring you closest to that brass ring after a lifetime of work in obscurity.  But he needs to forget the fucking coupon already.

The mainstream Democrat candidates have been ignoring their Left Opposition, taking their support for granted, and getting away with it (save for the Nader blip on the radar).  Now the chickens are coming home to roost, and the Hillaryites can't handle it. 

But yeah, do things like send Barbara Boxer out there to taunt them.  That ought to work.

[CountDeMoney]

The mainstream Democrat candidates have been ignoring their Left Opposition, taking their support for granted, and getting away with it (save for the Nader blip on the radar).  Now the chickens are coming home to roost, and the Hillaryites can't handle it.

Yeah, and you know why?  Because 1968, 1972, (arguably 1976 if you look at results), 1980, 1984 and 1988, that's the fuck why.  Nobody ever votes for the Far Left, and you know that.  The Far Left has been, and always will be, a loser vote:  doesn't matter if it's Hubert Humphrey, Jesse Jackson or Jerry Brown.  That's why you people hate Clinton so fucking much: he made the Democratic Party electorally relevant again.  And you still seethe over it to this very day: the fact the Democrats can't put up chump candidates that are instant roadkill anymore.   

This whole drama of the Republicans trying to find a candidate "for the center"?  That shit was ironed out in the Democratic Party 25 years ago.  And they don't fucking regret it.  Let the GOP fight for their little Pyrrhic victories when it comes to "not compromising their values":  they're just learning all that does is keep you out of the White House--something the Democrats already learned years ago.

But yeah, do things like send Barbara Boxer out there to taunt them.  That ought to work.

Get in line, bitches.  She's just Trumping them, that's all.

[Jaron]

Get in line, bitches.  She's just Trumping them, that's all.

PREACH!

[Martinus]

www.paddypower.com changed Trump's win from 9/2 to 7/4. Clinton now at 1/2.

[citizen k]

The Far Left has been, and always will be, a loser vote:  doesn't matter if it's Hubert Humphrey, Jesse Jackson or Jerry Brown.

That's conventional wisdom which doesn't seem to apply in this election cycle.

[derspiess]

That's why you people hate Clinton so fucking much: he made the Democratic Party electorally relevant again.  And you still seethe over it to this very day: the fact the Democrats can't put up chump candidates that are instant roadkill anymore.   

No, we hated Clinton because he was a slimeball and we could smell him a mile away.  Despite that, we were more than happy to work with him when he reached out to the center.

Get in line, bitches.  She's just Trumping them, that's all.

She wishes she could Trump.  But she Trumps like a chump.

[Jaron]

Bill Clinton is a great man. He led America to an economic golden age that we've yet to see since he left office. He got us out of Iraq and kept our military commitments to a minimum.

In addition to that, he was a great communicator and negotiator and helps bring Republicans and Democrats together.

When Hillary is elected, I look forward to seeing his influence on US politics again.