So, everyone’s favorite sweater-wearing self-proclaimed socialist, Sen. Sanders of Vermont, is considering entering the Democratic presidential primary in 2016.
It’s widely agreed that there’s essentially zero chance he would win the nomination, let alone the general. The goal, then, would be to ‘shape the debate’. Do you think this would happen? Would it be a good thing, either for the Democrats or in general?
He seems like he’d be a modern-day Jimmy Carter.
No, Carter had a (self-evident) chance of winning.
Sanders could espouse his points and see if it led to any, more serious contender picking them up based on how the electorate responded. I think it’s unlikely but hey, Herman Cain was a frontrunner for a month or two last time. Anything can happen.
I’m sure Sanders knows he had no chance of winning. The only question is which direction his campaign will push the election.
Sanders is a genuine left-winger. Will his campaign make the public realize how moderate most Democrats are in comparison? Or will the Republicans be able to convince the public that all Democrats are as left-wing as Sanders?
I actually really like him and believe he would do a good job, but I seem to be in the minority.
He is there to shape the debate, and it’s an important role to play. I applaud him for doing it, though I don’t know if he’s prepared to actually stay in the campaign long enough to make a difference. I really don’t think Hillary will be a good president, and I doubt I’ll want any of the Republican candidates either. The idea of a ‘None of the Above’ vote is starting to be very appealing.
I think it’s a great idea. You go, Bernie! Hearing some real ideas from the real left would be a hurricane of fresh air. Normally the left viewpoint is completely suppressed, and all the public hears is center-right (Obama, Clinton), and off-the-cliff right (today’s republicans). It would be a joy to have him in the debates.
Remember how Am Sharpton and Carol Moseley-Braun shaped the debate in 2004?
'Cause I don’t.
Is Sanders really to the left of Dennis Kucinich? I’d actually say he’s a little to the right of him, despite proclaiming himself a socialist.
Moving the debate in a new direction only happens if you have enough supporters that other candidates want them. Ron Paul had that going for him. Sanders, probably not so much. Kucinich was ignored. Sanders will be too unless he can develop a Paul-like following.
I thought 2000 cured liberals of the illusion that there’s no point in choosing between a moderate Democrat and a conservative Republican.
One effect on the debate that he might have is to make Republicans look moderate. If Sanders’ ideas are at all influential in the Democratic party, to the point that he affects its efforts to achieve the White House, it will be more than a perception.
“Vote for me - I am more moderate than Bernie Sanders” is a lot more plausible to the moderate middle for the GOP than a bunch of candidates who say about Bernie “yes, but not as much and slower”.
Regards,
Shodan
I’ve never heard of Sanders calling for the creation of a “Department of Peace,” at any rate.
And if he can, what happens then?
Well, no – the emergence of a vocal progressive insurgency (ITSM the whole point of Sanders’ candidacy would be for him to serve as a spark and nucleus of that) to the left of the Democratic establishment would have the effect of pulling America’s perceived political center-of-gravity and Overton windows leftward – thereby making the Republicans appear more extreme.
If so, that would be a Republican advantage.
It might also make the entire Democratic field look extremist. You don’t think that having a Santorum or Palin in the running in 2016 would make the entire GOP look far right?
I’m no Sanders fan but he hardly deserves to be lumped in with those two. He can provide reasoned debate and put questions to Hillary about what she actually believes and what she would do as President. I don’t believe she has any intention of revealing that without some competition.
Following on my comments above, IMHO Hillary Clinton is a conservative Democrat who supported George Bush in his worst mistake. That barely scratches the surface of my negative feelings about her. Unjustified Republican attacks about Benghazi do not add to her qualifications and I don’t see any reason to believe she’ll do significantly better than a likely Republican candidate. Not that I would vote for that Republican either, or even that my vote will matter, but I’d have to hold my nose to vote for anyone who seems to be a likely candidate at this point.
I didn’t realize that Bernie Sanders had become a born-again Christian.
Every analogy, obviously, breaks down at a certain point.
True, but that analogy breaks down extremely quickly.
Indeed. Despite all the hate-on that the right has for Carter, he wasn’t particularly liberal, especially for the 1970s. He deregulated the airline industry, bailed out Chrysler, and supported terrible dictators around the world simply because they were capitalists. He was primaried by Ted Kennedy in 1980 due to his antiliberal policies. The analogy between Carter and Sanders doesn’t just break down, it fails to get started.