# 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:** 59
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1161 "2016-04-20T23:43:57Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > Polling and anecdotal evidence support his opinion. They don’t actually, as per your second linked article. Yes, 7% of Bernie Sanders supporters may vote for Trump while 66% will vote for Clinton. I’m sure 5% will vote for Mothman. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1162 "2016-04-21T00:17:53Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > So because CNBC is stupid enough to ask some British animal rights guy for some American voting predictions, we should all take note? > From your second link: > > That’s some serious flailing you’re doing, my friend. No flailing whatsoever. I was responding to BrainGlutton’s blanket statement:“they ain’t gonna vote for Trump/Cruz”. Clearly some percent of them are likely to, based on polling now. I then gave my reasons for why expect these percentages to rise as Trump courts Sander’s supporters. Any whole number percentage defection from Sanders to Clinton is significant, considering how many people have voted for him and will vote for him. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1163 "2016-04-21T00:22:26Z")
Sanders is still doing something for the Democratic party: he’s increasing overall turnout. If he’s still running by the time of the California primary, that’s good, because it means more people will be voting for State Attorney General, etc. It makes the election “more relevant.” I thank goodness for Sanders. He helps keep Clinton in the headlines! ---
**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:** [April 21, 2016, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1164 "2016-04-21T00:23:42Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > [25 percent of Sanders voters would shun Clinton](http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article70202867.html) And back in '08 [over 50%](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/06/exit-polls-half-of-clintons-supporters-wont-back-obama/) of Clinton supporters would shun Obama, and it got up to [60%](http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/08/clinton.voters/) before she suspended her campaign, before she made her efforts to unite the party. By the time the convention was over [major progress](http://www.gallup.com/poll/109957/obama-gains-among-former-clinton-supporters.aspx) was made. No question there had still been a few hold outs even by election day. And there is no assurance that Sanders will work as hard towards uniting the party as she did … she already was beginning to at this point even as they kept competing and she worked very hard in the lead up to and after the convention (albeit Bill C. was less of the enthusiastic supporter). But Clinton is starting out in a much better place with Sanders supporters than Obama had been starting out with Clinton supporters. And “[The Cure to Hillary Clinton’s Problem With Millennials? Donald Trump](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/03/donald-trump-solves-hillary-clinton-problem-millennials)” ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1165 "2016-04-21T00:29:23Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > I am seeing the[Medium.com “On Becoming Anti-Bernie”](https://medium.com/@robinalperstein/on-becoming-anti-bernie-ee87943ae699#.d5akw22yo) article from three days ago passing around like crazy on social media, with people abandoning and disavowing Bernie in droves. I wish it would show up on mine. That was a good piece. Granted, I had a lot of confirmation bias going in. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1166 "2016-04-21T00:36:49Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I wish it would show up on mine. That was a good piece. Granted, I had a lot of confirmation bias going in. It’s gone through mine and I agree. I started out in favor of Clinton but would have had no issues voting Sanders if he won the primary. Now I want nothing to do with him and think less of people who still support him. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1167 "2016-04-21T00:43:09Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > I am seeing the[Medium.com “On Becoming Anti-Bernie”](https://medium.com/@robinalperstein/on-becoming-anti-bernie-ee87943ae699#.d5akw22yo) article from three days ago passing around like crazy on social media, with people abandoning and disavowing Bernie in droves. I think that might have actually made me switch from Bernie to Hillary. Though is there a cite that Clinton is “to the left of Bernie on […] LGBT issues”? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1168 "2016-04-21T00:59:05Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > **asahi** , > > Um, she won Ohio by 13.8 and won NY by 15.8. Spinning that as “respectable” is really … odd. > > Seriously, dude. Considering where he was coming from in the polls, yes, it’s ‘respectable.’ Remember, this is a guy who we shouldn’t even be talking about right now. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1169 "2016-04-21T01:01:53Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Have you done the math? Hillary needs something like 450 more delegates to Bernie’s 1150. Write him off? He’s moved from a likable old man to a geriatric prick with his campaign. It’s not about the math right now; it’s about the winning streak. Hillary finally won a race – in her home state. If she takes even two of five next week, yeah, I agree. It’s over. Sanders has to go on a tear – I acknowledge that. But it could happen. New York was especially well-suited for Hillary. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1170 "2016-04-21T01:08:04Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It’s not about the math right now; it’s about the winning streak. Hillary finally won a race – in her home state. Not a fan of the 538 statisticians’ research that momentum really isn’t a thing? ---
**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:** [April 21, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1171 "2016-04-21T01:26:30Z")
**asahi** , as someone who does not believe that it is currently over, maybe you’d care to post in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=790973) which asks what results on 4/26 would be required to convince you it was? I do not think that people like me who felt it was over a long time ago, even if it had to play itself out, are helpful posters there. But you would be. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1172 "2016-04-21T01:29:32Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > And back in '08 [over 50%](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/06/exit-polls-half-of-clintons-supporters-wont-back-obama/) of Clinton supporters would shun Obama, and it got up to [60%](http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/08/clinton.voters/) before she suspended her campaign, before she made her efforts to unite the party. By the time the convention was over [major progress](http://www.gallup.com/poll/109957/obama-gains-among-former-clinton-supporters.aspx) was made. The difference is, though, that Sanders (like Obama in '08) appeals to the independent voters and those that aren’t strongly entrenched in the Democratic party. Those voters have less reason to just blindly switch over to a candidate they don’t prefer just because of the party. Clinton appeals mainly to those Democratic party regulars, who are more likely to support the party’s candidate regardless of who it is. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2016, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1173 "2016-04-21T02:27:07Z")
Some more data on that one out of ten Sanders supporters say they would vote for Trump over Clinton … Monmouth poll of PA today validates that concern: > [@](#): > > If the general election is between Clinton and Donald Trump, 81% of Pennsylvania Democratic primary voters say they would commit to supporting Clinton while 11% say they would vote for Trump. Of course it also true that: > [@](#): > > If Sanders is the nominee, 78% of Pennsylvania Democratic primary voters would back Sanders while 11% would vote for Trump. And for fun, [on the GOP side](http://www.monmouth.edu/assets/0/32212254770/32212254991/32212254992/32212254994/32212254995/30064771087/9e5f182c-8705-4e64-9a4b-ba4385c51549.pdf): > [@](#): > > 72% of Republican primary voters in Pennsylvania say they would support Trump in a general election against Hillary Clinton, while 9% say they would vote for Clinton and 7% would vote for an independent candidate. So FWIW it’s across the board. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1174 "2016-04-21T02:31:36Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Sanders doesn’t care about his standing in a party he’s not a part of. We can add this to the list of [things you’re wrong about](http://www.politicususa.com/2016/04/20/bernie-sanders-stay-democrat-life-support-clinton-nominee.html). ---
**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:** [April 21, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1175 "2016-04-21T02:54:27Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > How do you think he can do that? Because it is good for both sides: > [@](#): > > “Senator Sanders has been dominating the youth vote in the Democratic primaries so far,” Peter Levine, the Associate Dean for Research at Tufts’ Tisch College, which houses a program designed to promote civic engagement among young people, tells me. “If young people continue to turn out at these rates and continue to prefer Senator Sanders by large margins, they will accumulate into a very substantial pro-Sanders voting bloc that the Democrats will have to take extremely seriously in the general election.” > > Clinton knows this. In a recent interview with Rachel Maddow, Clinton made sure to indicate that she is “focused on letting young people who support Senator Sanders know I get it.” > > That could give Sanders some leverage later. Clinton will need to get all those young voters to start supporting her in big numbers. Even if turnout is down this year, Sanders — to a far greater degree than Clinton — seems to hold the key to engaging this constituency. He has somehow conveyed to a whole lot of young people that politics can matter in their lives. And remember, Democrats are betting on a new generation of young voters to give them a demographic edge that lasts beyond 2016. > > So you could see Sanders playing a role at the convention; in helping shape the agenda for the fall campaign; and in helping engage young voters, this time in preparation for the general election. As MSNBC’s Seitz-Wald reports, the Sanders camp sees such a role as a crucial part of his “political revolution.” Even if he doesn’t win. > > [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/02/23/bernie-sanders-will-take-it-all-the-way-to-the-convention-heres-why/) > [@](#): > > Or perhaps you have a recent historical comparison to offer. I do have to go way back on this one - 2008. And it involved Hillary Clinton. Both [she](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRPCkyqJT14) and [her husband](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_6IXjUNP84) had prime-time speaking roles at the convention after a contentious, closely fought race. Even [Chelsea](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYQuHJT617o) got in the act introducing her mother. And then [she actively campaigned for him](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/us/politics/27dems.html). Hillary has already [co-opted Sanders’ $15 an hour minimum wage position](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/4/hillary-clinton-blamed-stealing-bernie-sanders-min/) and she did that before the convention and nomination, while competing against him instead of with his help. Sanders cannot win this thing but he would be a big help to Clinton in getting young voters out to the polls and he came into this as a huge underdog who probably didn’t think he had a chance to win but did want to bring issues that were important to him to the foreground. Bernie being able to have a voice at the convention helps both of them achieve what they want and there is no reason why either side wouldn’t accept the assistance of the other in getting it. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1176 "2016-04-21T03:11:06Z")
Getting prime time speaking roles to give full throated support for the nominee is not quite getting major policy and position demands met. He is wanting ObamaCare revisited and making a doomed attempted move to “Medicare for all” a high priority. He won’t get her to take that on as her position. He wants “free college” for all at all public colleges. He won’t get her to take that on as her position. Yes, his vigorous support would be great both to help turnout for the top of the ticket and just as important to his stated goals, for a wide variety of races down the ticket. But if it getting that is contingent upon her taking on those positions then his support will have to be done without. Oh well. True it would be all that work just to marginalize himself near the end, but hey, it will be his choice. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1177 "2016-04-21T03:25:33Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > (Posted a bunch of stuff that said Sanders supporters would vote for Trump) When Susan Sarandon implied that she and a bloc of Bernie supporters would “feel Donald Trump will bring the revolution immediately” (something she subsequently [walked back](http://www.salon.com/2016/04/16/susan_sarandon_doesnt_support_donald_trump_actress_sets_the_record_straight_on_real_time_with_bill_maher/)), [The Atlantic pointed out](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/susan-sarandon-bernie-sanders/475875/) that “There’s little evidence that many Democrats would join her.” > [@](#): > > Are there really “a lot” of people who support Sanders now but who, given a choice between Clinton and Trump, would either sit on their hands or pull the lever for Trump? > > The answer is almost certainly no. > > For example, take a Quinnipiac poll released last week. In that poll, 78 percent of Democrats said they had a favorable view of Sanders. But 80 percent had a favorable view of Clinton. Now, more had an unfavorable view of Clinton than of Sanders—15 to 9—but that doesn’t suggest there’s a huge groundswell of anti-Clinton Democrats. > > The latest CBS News/New York Times poll suggests something similar. There’s a definite enthusiasm gap between Clinton and Sanders. Forty percent of Democrats said they were “enthusiastic” about a Sanders candidacy, versus just 34 percent who felt the same way about Clinton. But add in the number who say they’d be satisfied with Clinton and the gap shrinks to almost nothing: 81 percent would be enthusiastic or satisfied with Sanders, while 79 percent feel the same way about Clinton. (And that’s with a +/-4.5 percent sampling error.) > > Of course, you don’t have to go very far back to remember something akin to what Sarandon is describing in the Democratic Party—but last time around, it was in support of Clinton, not against her. The PUMAs (“People United Means Action” or, by some accounts, “Party Unity My Ass”) were such diehard Clinton supporters that they flatly refused to support the upstart Barack Obama eight years ago. So how did that turn out in 2008? Obama cruised to victory with the highest popular vote total in U.S. history, and a nearly 10 million vote lead over Senator John McCain. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1178 "2016-04-21T03:28:47Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Getting prime time speaking roles to give full throated support for the nominee is not quite getting major policy and position demands met. He is wanting ObamaCare revisited and making a doomed attempted move to “Medicare for all” a high priority. He won’t get her to take that on as her position. He wants “free college” for all at all public colleges. He won’t get her to take that on as her position. > > Yes, his vigorous support would be great both to help turnout for the top of the ticket and just as important to his stated goals, for a wide variety of races down the ticket. But if it getting that is contingent upon her taking on those positions then his support will have to be done without. Oh well. True it would be all that work just to marginalize himself near the end, but hey, it will be his choice. Or maybe he’ll show the pragmatism that allowed him to both be the most liberal person in Congress yet still vote for a Democratic agenda that was further to the right than he wanted. And you ignore the fact that Clinton would want his help too. This isn’t a one-way street. Sanders already got Clinton to capitulate on $15 an hour. Just because he won’t be able to get free healthcare or schools doesn’t mean that is all he is about. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1179 "2016-04-21T04:05:50Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > We can add this to the list of [things you’re wrong about](http://www.politicususa.com/2016/04/20/bernie-sanders-stay-democrat-life-support-clinton-nominee.html). Sounds a little like Bernie’s staff is practicing for a concession speech. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1180 "2016-04-21T04:15:26Z")
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