# 2016 Bernie Sanders (D-VT) campaign for POTUS thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 28, 2015, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754 "2015-04-28T22:40:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/61 "2015-05-03T11:08:20Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > I have no problem with supporting him as long as he stays in the race, although I still think Hillary’s gonna be the nominee in the end. I want to support a more reliably left of center candidate while I can. > > He’s 73! HRC and Elizabeth Warren are both in their late 60s. Why don’t we have any Democrats ready for the big leagues who are younger than 65? Where are the younger Baby Boomers and the Generation X presidential candidates? Correct me if I am wrong, but Americans politicians of that age bracket are mainly Republicans. American voters in that age bracket have mainly been Republicans for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/62 "2015-05-03T11:10:46Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The only thing Bernie Sanders does is make me like Hillary Clinton more. Incidentally, Liz Warren and Barack Obama accomplish the same feat. I am consoled that even if Clinton wins, at least it’ll be better than the alternatives on the Democratic side. Well, not totally. O’Malley and Biden would probably make better Presidents but they don’t seem to be under consideration. In the Senate, Obama voted very similarly to Mrs Clinton. Maybe a little to her right. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/63 "2015-05-03T11:43:48Z")
What, in the two years they served together before he started campaigning full time? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/64 "2015-05-03T14:16:27Z")
How does that negate what I said? And as I recall, she was campaigning full time at the same time he was. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/65 "2015-05-03T16:33:44Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Another way of looking at it is, he raised more in his first day than Serious Candidates Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio did in theirs. > > But they’re to be taken seriously, and Bernie’s not. Whatever. > > Of course, Cruz, Paul, and Rubio may successfully woo billionaire sugar daddies to bankroll their campaigns, while Sanders probably isn’t interested in pursuing such support. > > So yeah, serious v. not. You’re right, because the Republican equivalent of HRC right now who makes those guys not serious is… remind me again who that is? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/66 "2015-05-04T04:03:33Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Bernie Sanders=Ron Paul. He’ll raise money and have a dedicated fan base, but he’s not winning the nomination. He’s old and an ideological kook. Please specify what’s kooky about [his politics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders#Tenure_2). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/67 "2015-05-04T04:05:04Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You’re right, because the Republican equivalent of HRC right now who makes those guys not serious is… remind me again who that is? Jeb. Nobody else, really, not even Christie, and certainly not Walker. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/68 "2015-05-04T04:58:08Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > Moving further towards the base and away from the center at the convention without some other upside sounds like McCain picking Palin. The last Democratic politician running for president to move toward the base and away from the center was Dennis Kucinich. The rest of the candidates treat the base as the center. That is why long primaries are good for Democratic candidates. They are talking about stuff most everyone wants. Bernie Sanders will be no different. Senator Sanders has been focusing on economics and getting money out of politics and his ideas are hardly radical. Adopting them isn’t likely to hurt Hillary Clinton’s electoral chances so long as she can do so without dampening enthusiasm with her big money donors. A strong Sanders campaign helps Ms Clinton. It allows her to position herself as the moderate and justifies some populist positions with Wall Street. The mainstream media can be expected to support his campaign because it breaths some life into the story of the Democratic primary. Voters can contrast their debates with those of the Republicans, which helps the Democratic nominee. I’d love to see a groundswell sweep away Hillary Clinton but I just don’t see it happening. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/69 "2015-05-04T09:09:37Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Sanders has never called himself a Democrat before - has long insisted he’s not one - and now he wants the party’s nomination for President? Feh. Take a hike, pal. He has always called himself a Democratic Socialist and he has always caucused with the Democrats so you sound like one of those people who screech about how the New York Giants play in New Jersey: It shows more about your allegiances than anything constructive. And unsurprisingly, the Democratic National Committee says you’re the one who should get hiking boots: > [@](#): > > DNC rules do not require a presidential candidate to register as a Democrat to run in the primary - they only require a candidate to demonstrate “a commitment to the goals and objectives of the Democratic Party.” > > “If you’re good with us, we’re good with you,” the aide explained. “If you can demonstrate that you share our principles, then you can legitimately be a candidate as long as you meet the other requirements. It would be hard to argue that Sanders does not adhere to the principles of the Democratic Party, considering the fact that he caucuses with them in the Senate.” > > [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/five-things-to-know-about-bernie-sanders/) We get it. You don’t like Sanders. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/70 "2015-05-04T09:15:32Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > New Republic has a good article on him and his “socialist” shtick: > > [Stop Calling Bernie Sanders a Socialist | The New Republic](http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121680/bernie-sanders-democratic-socialist-not-just-socialist) What do you mean “schtick?” He is not a socialist, he is a Democratic Socialist and he always corrects members of the media when they refer to him as just a socialist. Do you think the two are the same thing? Because they’re not. Can you cite Sanders taking over the means of production into government hands or even wanting to? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/71 "2015-05-04T09:19:07Z")
> [@Linden\_Arden](#): > > Sanders is a bumbling but well-meaning fool who genuinely hates business and supports the drug war. You have a cite that he supports the drug war? Here’s what he said in [Time Magazine](http://time.com/13328/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-2016/): [QUOTE=Bernie Sanders] I have real concerns about implications of the war on drugs that has. We have been engaged in for decades now with a huge cost and the destruction of a whole lot of lives of people who were never involved in any violent activities. [/quote] Doesn’t seem very supportive to me. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/72 "2015-05-04T11:31:05Z")
I thought “Democratic Socialist” meant the followers of Trotsky. 😕 Seriously, though, “socialist” means a lot of different things, and Stalinist seizure of industry isn’t the first or primary sense. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/73 "2015-05-04T13:19:56Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Seriously, though, “socialist” means a lot of different things, and Stalinist seizure of industry isn’t the first or primary sense. [Democratic Socialism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_socialism) means something too. Here’s the [FAQ](http://www.dsausa.org/what_is_democratic_socialism) from the Democratic Socialists of America. I don’t see any “kooky ideas” here. As far as I can see, they’re what we would simply call “liberals” if the country wasn’t so far right that Obama is considered a socialist by many, many Americans who also feel that Socialism just has to be the evilest thing possible (just check the [GIS for Obama Socialism](https://www.google.com/search?espv=2&biw=1680&bih=935&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=obama+socialist&oq=obama+socialist) for fun). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/74 "2015-05-04T13:39:01Z")
I adore Bernie Sanders. Barney Frank once advised Sanders that he might find greater appeal outside Vermont if he were to “comb his hair,” a comment very telling for this very unique politician. He can be cantankerous and even seem obstinate but [he can compromise](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/bernard_sanders/400357/report-card/2014) and while he didn’t agree with everything that the Obama administration has done, he has fought them when he felt it necessary. He’ll never win. There is no national voice on the progressive left anymore. But I will support him and I am hopeful that his voice on many issues he feels are important will be a voice that gets heard by people, and while the GOP clown car will be busy trying to wrap themselves in the flag while Jesus looks on, nodding approvingly, it is my hope that he will be able to be considered a serious enough candidate to get his voice out there. Best case scenario is that he is able to grasp onto some of the populism that Elizabeth Warren has tapped into and can get a lefty foot in the door to show that his views are not out of step with what made America great and pushes Hillary Clinton further to the left than maybe she might go without any competition at all. Worst case is his lack of style becomes what the media decides to latch onto, leaving his message and political views to die while all the corporate-backed slick candidates on both sides keep trying to appeal to whomever can give them the most millions of dollars. I’ll support the guy either way and hope for the best, ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/75 "2015-05-04T15:59:27Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > He has always called himself a Democratic Socialist and he has always caucused with the Democrats so you sound like one of those people who screech about how the New York Giants play in New Jersey: It shows more about your allegiances than anything constructive. > > And unsurprisingly, the Democratic National Committee says you’re the one who should get hiking boots: … > > We get it. You don’t like Sanders. My wife’s from Vermont and I knew quite a bit about Sanders even before now. I agree with him on quite a few issues. But if you have never affiliated with the Democratic Party, and if you run against its candidates in your home state, why should you run for its Presidential nomination? Why not run for the Democratic Socialist nomination (if there is such a thing)? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/76 "2015-05-04T18:34:40Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > My wife’s from Vermont and I knew quite a bit about Sanders even before now. I agree with him on quite a few issues. But if you have never affiliated with the Democratic Party, and if you run against its candidates in your home state, why should you run for its Presidential nomination? Why not run for the Democratic Socialist nomination (if there is such a thing)? Well, the [Democratic Socialists of America](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Socialists_of_America) is, as a matter of policy, not a political party, and never runs candidates for public office. There is also the [Socialist Party USA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Party_USA). It usually runs candidates for POTUS, they appear on the ballot in some states, but they never get any press attention. All Dem contenders get press. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/77 "2015-05-04T18:42:05Z")
Since somebody has to say it: Splitters! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/78 "2015-05-04T18:47:44Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > My wife’s from Vermont and I knew quite a bit about Sanders even before now. I agree with him on quite a few issues. But if you have never affiliated with the Democratic Party, and if you run against its candidates in your home state, why should you run for its Presidential nomination? Why not run for the Democratic Socialist nomination (if there is such a thing)? I’m going to take a wild guess and say it has something to do with $$$. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/79 "2015-05-04T23:42:38Z")
Or, you could read BG’s post. Or do you have him on ignore? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/80 "2015-05-04T23:50:21Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Or, you could read BG’s post. Or do you have him on ignore? Except that it only offered one possible answer (and that by implied) to the question of why run for the Democratic party nomination under those circumstances: because the running for Socialist nomination would not get any attention … and of course attention gets money and money gets attention. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754.md?page=5)