# 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:** 89
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1761 "2016-06-20T16:44:40Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What exactly does he say [here](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/transcript-bernie-sanders-speech-in-burlington-vermont-224465) that you disagree with? 1. “that the Democratic Party passes the most progressive platform in its history” I’d rather we win vs Trump. 2. \*we must ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons, \* Useless and political grandstanding. 3. \*end the gun show loophole \* there is no such loophole. 4. - making public colleges and universities tuition free \*- No. Make them reasonable so that no one has to incur a huge debt, yes. But not free. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1762 "2016-06-20T17:08:57Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > 1. \*end the gun show loophole \* there is no such loophole. Then you should have no objection if we ban it? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1763 "2016-06-20T17:20:02Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > It’s a number of things. > > She was very bothered when he called Planned Parenthood an “establishment organization” when they didn’t endorse him; she looks back at the history of the struggle for reproductive freedom and thinks this is the sort of thing that can only be said by someone who “doesn’t get” women’s health issues. > > She saw an element of sexism in the debates, interpreting Sanders’s frequent interruptions of Clinton and his finger-stabbing toward her as an attempt at diminishing and intimidating a much smaller woman. > > She found the whole “Clinton is unqualified” thing to be not only bizarre but saw it as something that men often say about women when they want to be dismissive of them (she showed me at the time a couple of articles that drew this conclusion, sorry no links), and she points out (and this goes to something that Sherrerd was saying) that Sanders has not used the term “unqualified” to describe Obama, or Kerry, or other male Democrats with the same baggage and positions. > > Now, I am dubious about some of this stuff. I think the PP response had little to do with women’s health issues; I think it was Sanders feeling entitled to the support of all “progressive” organizations and unable to avoid lashing out at those making a different choice: not specific to PP, then, or women’s issues, but simply an expression of the way he views the world. I think the same of the “unqualified” comment–it’s a Sanders-style scorched-earth remark born of frustration and perhaps desperation, and not aimed specifically at a woman: he just happened to have a female opponent. As for the debates, I think Sanders is in general an interrupter and a finger-waver; I’m not convinced he would do it less in debates against a male opponent, though I do agree it might be interpreted differently. I do suspect that there’s some interpretation going on here where my wife is concerned, something we all do: first she decides that she dislikes Sanders for real and genuine reasons, then she interprets his actions in negative ways to add to the dislike. And of course once you start interpreting Sanders’s actions through the lens of sexism, it’s easy to see it everywhere. > > But she’s a smart woman, and thoughtful, and she’s experienced some of this dismissiveness herself, and so I’m not inclined to dismiss her interpretation altogether (and worth pointing out is that our grown son in general agrees with her). And I will say that she got one thing right here. We saw a headline halfway through the primaries that said something like “Only one candidate has no women among their ten highest paid staffers–guess which one?” I said “Trump, of course, and if somehow not Trump, then Ted Cruz,” but she said, before reading the article, “No, it’s gotta be Sanders,” and she was right. Depends on how you look at it, I guess. I agree that the PP thing was all about the fact that they didn’t support him, and he was looking for an excuse to denigrate their choice of Hillary. To me their endorsement was a no-brainer anyway, but it was a slap in the face to him that it was the first time they’ve ever done it in a primary. The ‘unqualified’ thing was a joke, and goes more to show the socialist fantasy world that Bernie lives in. When you add in the debate, it definitely didn’t look good. I remember the talking heads making the point that it could be seen as misogynist. Ultimately, I think it was more about Bernie being all about Bernie than any sexism. Consciously he didn’t want to alienate anyone; he needed every possible vote he could get. But there could be a component in there; he is, after all, from a far less tolerant time. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1764 "2016-06-20T17:37:46Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Consciously he didn’t want to alienate anyone; he needed every possible vote he could get. But there could be a component in there; he is, after all, from a far less tolerant time. It bears remembering that the ‘60s counterculture that formed Sanders’ politics was, for all its egalitarian aims, [deeply chauvinistic](http://www.popmatters.com/feature/no-girls-allowed-crumb-and-the-comix-counterculture/). The men decided what got done and made the plans; the gals were expected to agree and pitch in. The more I observe of Sanders, the more he strikes me as an anachronism of the '60s activist left, from his casual, unthinking gender bias to his belief in the charismatic individual (Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy) as the most powerful agent of change, as opposed to diffuse, grassroots organizing that he talks about but doesn’t actually seem to know how to do. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1765 "2016-06-20T17:51:55Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What exactly does he say [here](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/transcript-bernie-sanders-speech-in-burlington-vermont-224465) that you disagree with? I can agree with someone on everything, but if he tells me that is opinion is \*obviously \*right and that I \*have \*to agree with him, then he can go fuck himself. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1766 "2016-06-20T17:56:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Ultimately, I think it was more about Bernie being all about Bernie than any sexism. Consciously he didn’t want to alienate anyone; he needed every possible vote he could get. But there could be a component in there; he is, after all, from a far less tolerant time. If its Bernie being Bernie, then perhaps Bernie is sexist? I say this because a lot of this behavior from men in my professional life has been excused by other men as “oh, that’s just Dave” - but its not “just Dave” Its “Just Dave around women.” And the women see it, Dave interrupts them and other women, steals their ideas, and the ideas of other women, insinuates (or states) that the women are unqualified or unknowledgeable, not the men. And, of course, there is the “not quite sexual harassment” that is oh so darn effective. References to emotion, clothing, or appearance. Granted Dave is often an asshole to men- but he is a more respectful asshole - he disagrees on merits. He gives credit. He’s unpleasant and obstructionist - but not insulting. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1767 "2016-06-20T18:04:49Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Then you should have no objection if we ban it? Yes, since I’d have a objection if you banned Unicorns too. Especially if that definition of unicorns was so broad as to include horses. Define it first, show that it’s an issue next, then you can ban it. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1768 "2016-06-20T20:12:10Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > It’s also worth pointing out, regarding the superdelegates, that this is a “be careful what you wish for” argument. This year it was the outside-the-mainstream progressive candidate who seemed to be getting screwed by the superdelegate system (he wasn’t, given that he lost the pledged delegates by a sizable margin, but never mind). But that has little to do with Sanders being a _progressive_ candidate; it’s mainly about Sanders being an _outsider_ candidate. > > It’s real easy to imagine an outsider candidate with the political leanings of a Jim Webb or a Joe Manchin, a libertarian-lite candidate perhaps, deciding to run for the Dem nomination with little support from party leaders, against a progressive who is very much a party insider. > > With superdelegates, in this scenario, the progressive has a good shot at the nomination even if the outsider’s campaign takes off. Without superdelegates, though, the outsider might well win, pulling the party to the right and ticking off the progressive wing. Many of the same people who are now excoriating the superdelegate system would be wishing ardently that it could be restored. Fixing things that aren’t necessarily the problem is a tricky business. Open primaries also expose the Democrats to this, as such a candidate, if they got traction, could conceivably do very well with centrist and right-of-center unaffiliated voters, especially if that year’s Republican candidate was god awful (like say, this year.) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1769 "2016-06-21T11:41:05Z")
Bernie’s May fundraising numbers are out. While his rallies may have drawn crowds, the $27 folks certainly tapered off in May. He raised substantially less than Clinton, bringing in 15.6 million compared to Clinton’s 26.2 million. However, as critical as I’ve been of Sanders, I will give him credit for not going in debt up to his eyeballs. His campaign has 9.2 million in cash at the end of May. This means he won’t need to make a deal to help retire campaign debt. > **[Bernie Sanders raised $15.6 million in May, has $9.2 million on hand](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/06/20/bernie-sanders-raised-15-6-million-in-may-has-9-2-million-on-hand/)** > > As the money came in, however, Sanders spent it at a slower clip than previous months. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1770 "2016-06-21T16:32:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, since I’d have a objection if you banned Unicorns too. Especially if that definition of unicorns was so broad as to include horses. > > Define it first, show that it’s an issue next, then you can ban it. From [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Instant_Criminal_Background_Check_System)… “Background checks are not required under federal law for intrastate firearm transfers between private parties.” When people say they want to close the gun show loophole this is what they are referring to. A reasonable person could believe that gun show loophole is a poorly word term for this, but it is certainly well defined. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1771 "2016-06-21T17:22:48Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > From [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Instant_Criminal_Background_Check_System)… > > “Background checks are not required under federal law for intrastate firearm transfers between private parties.” > > When people say they want to close the gun show loophole this is what they are referring to. A reasonable person could believe that gun show loophole is a poorly word term for this, but it is certainly well defined. It’s not a _loophole_ and it doesn’t necessarily (and in fact at least out here-never) occurs at _gun shows._ ego, there’s no “gun show loophole” It’s just another made up phrase like “Assault Weapon”. Ps, let’s stick with the OP, from here on it. This isnt quite a hijack, but it could become one. and we have a zillion threads about this. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1772 "2016-06-22T21:31:18Z")
No one noticed, but Bernie certainly seemed today to [admit he’s lost.](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/sanders-it-doesn-t-appear-i-m-gonna-be-nominee-n597141) ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1773 "2016-06-23T00:03:58Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > No one noticed, but Bernie certainly seemed today to [admit he’s lost.](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/sanders-it-doesn-t-appear-i-m-gonna-be-nominee-n597141) Yeah, he seems to have dropped into irrelevance pretty quickly - faster than I’d thought he would, actually. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1774 "2016-06-23T01:22:13Z")
Sanders gets a small amount of coverage on the political blogs, but the interview where he admits he probably won’t be the nominee was aired on C-span. Everyone has moved on from Sanders except for some die hards on social media and the random ‘activist group planning a protest at the convention.’ ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1775 "2016-06-23T01:58:53Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > My age-related question with regard to Sanders is more along the lines of this: why did he wait until he was 74 to run for President? Perhaps it’s because the country has taken a more conservative turn with the rise of the Tea Party, coupled with the economic problems that surfaced under Bush and have not fully recovered under Obama, combined with the dissatisfaction arising in the Occupy Wall Street movement, showing that maybe there’s a segment of the population that is open to a more progressive platform than Hillary, or really any mainstream Democrat, was going to provide. Maybe this is the first time he thought he had a chance to be a player on the big stage. I mean, he possibly felt like it 4 years ago but realized with Obama the sitting President, he didn’t have a chance. > [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > She was very bothered when he called Planned Parenthood an “establishment organization” when they didn’t endorse him; she looks back at the history of the struggle for reproductive freedom and thinks this is the sort of thing that can only be said by someone who “doesn’t get” women’s health issues. Calling Planned Parenthood “establishment” was a bit dunderheaded. > [@](#): > > She saw an element of sexism in the debates, interpreting Sanders’s frequent interruptions of Clinton and his finger-stabbing toward her as an attempt at diminishing and intimidating a much smaller woman. While finger-stabbing motions are generally a bad form for a politician (too easily misconstrued or misrepresented by opposition), I thought interrupting your opponent was a highly frequent behavior all around this election cycle. I certainly didn’t notice him doing it more than she did. > [@](#): > > She found the whole “Clinton is unqualified” thing to be not only bizarre but saw it as something that men often say about women when they want to be dismissive of them (she showed me at the time a couple of articles that drew this conclusion, sorry no links), and she points out (and this goes to something that Sherrerd was saying) that Sanders has not used the term “unqualified” to describe Obama, or Kerry, or other male Democrats with the same baggage and positions. First off, Obama, Kerry, and other male Democrats weren’t running at the time he made that comment. Second, that comment was in response to a comment where he was asked what he thought about Hillary saying that he was unqualified, so he was just trying to flip her term back on her by describing the things he thought were her flaws and qualification issues. I can’t argue that it isn’t used more frequently as a criticism towards women, but this doesn’t seem like a justified example of that. > [@](#): > > I do suspect that there’s some interpretation going on here where my wife is concerned, something we all do: first she decides that she dislikes Sanders for real and genuine reasons, then she interprets his actions in negative ways to add to the dislike. And of course once you start interpreting Sanders’s actions through the lens of sexism, it’s easy to see it everywhere. > > But she’s a smart woman, and thoughtful, and she’s experienced some of this dismissiveness herself, and so I’m not inclined to dismiss her interpretation altogether (and worth pointing out is that our grown son in general agrees with her). While it does seem like projection to me, I will admit to being male and therefore not having the same perspective, and less likely to notice those slights. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1776 "2016-06-23T02:10:39Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > … that comment was in response to a comment where he was asked what he thought about Hillary saying that he was unqualified … It’s all past the point, but no it wasn’t. It was in a speech to supporters at Temple University part of his prepared remarks, in which he made up a quote that Clinton had never said: “We have won, we have won seven out of eight of the recent primaries and caucuses. And she has been saying lately that she thinks that I am, quote unquote, not qualified to be president. Well let me, let me just say in response to Secretary Clinton: I don’t believe that she is qualified …” ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1777 "2016-06-23T05:00:36Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > It’s all past the point, but no it wasn’t. > > It was in a speech to supporters at Temple University part of his prepared remarks, in which **he made up** a quote that Clinton had never said: “We have won, we have won seven out of eight of the recent primaries and caucuses. And she has been saying lately that she thinks that I am, quote unquote, not qualified to be president. Well let me, let me just say in response to Secretary Clinton: I don’t believe that she is qualified …” I thought he was responding to[this Washington Post article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/06/clinton-questions-whether-sanders-is-qualified-to-be-president). ---
**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:** [June 23, 2016, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1778 "2016-06-23T11:22:37Z")
Presumably that article was the excuse. But again, no, he did not say it “in response to a comment where he was asked what he thought about” what she said; he brought it up unprompted. And in fact the article had no quote of her saying he was “quote unquote, not qualified to be president.” He made that quote up. (The actual interview was the interviewer trying hard to get her to say he was not qualified, after his flubbed interview in which he appeared to be lacking any meat to his plans, and her refusing to do so.) Really a minor point by now, just a clarification of something inaccurately stated. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1779 "2016-06-23T14:19:44Z")
Sanders has an editorial in the Washington Post today about what he, oops his ‘revolution,’ wants. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/23/bernie-sanders-heres-what-we-want/?hpid=hp\_no-name\_opinion-card-c%3Ahomepage%2Fstory](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/23/bernie-sanders-heres-what-we-want/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-c%3Ahomepage%2Fstory) A bunch of big words and big dreams without a lot of specifics. However, although he mentions universal voter registration, there’s not a word about changing the Democratic electoral process. I guess he’s been told in no uncertain terms that eliminating super delegates is off the table , since the Congressional Black Caucus supports them. Perhaps he was told that the more likely reform is to reduce the number of caucuses? There is also not a word about the Democratic Party Chair. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754/1780 "2016-06-23T16:09:42Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I agree with your wife. I saw all of those things as well - and as a woman who spent my time in corporate America - I’ve seen versions of all those power plays used against me and other women - but they are almost never used against men - regardless of how provoked they are, or how stupid the other man is being, they don’t get the patronizing condensation. And most of my liberal girlfriends saw it too. > > Women do tend to be more attuned to it. And men, even men who know better, don’t tend to notice it. [http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/03/19/google-chief-blasted-for-repeatedly-interrupting-female-government-official/](http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/03/19/google-chief-blasted-for-repeatedly-interrupting-female-government-official/) I thought he made a very aggressive physical move (a “power play”, as you say) against a diminutive young political reporter who asked a question he didn’t like. It was caught on camera by the Showtime political documentary show _The Circus_. His wife Jane was there, and seemed to be nervous/tense about it: she sort of grimaced and said “Calm down”. I posted about it here at the time, but everyone seemed to dismiss it completely. > [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Open primaries also expose the Democrats to this, as such a candidate, if they got traction, could conceivably do very well with centrist and right-of-center unaffiliated voters, especially if that year’s Republican candidate was god awful (like say, this year.) Right, and the irony is that traditionally it was progressive Democrats who resisted open primaries. I guess we’ve seen a shift in terms of the youngest left wingers not feeling it’s cool to register with the party; but who knows, as you point out, how that might shake out in the future. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754.md?page=88) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-bernie-sanders-d-vt-campaign-for-potus-thread/718754.md?page=90)