# How do you think Sanders supporters will react if he doesn't get the Democratic nomination? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 2, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788 "2020-03-02T14:58:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/41 "2020-03-02T21:54:01Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > Figured you’d chime in. **wipes the venom off his face** > > I was nasty? That’s all Bernie people know. Hostage taking and bullying to get their way. We don’t want the revolution, we don’t want to move the stupid window, and we really don’t care where Bernie fits in on a European scale ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/42 "2020-03-02T21:58:39Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > That’s all Bernie people know. Hostage taking and bullying to get their way. We don’t want the revolution, we don’t want to move the stupid window, and we really don’t care where Bernie fits in on a European scale Excellent. And in what way does that (quite frankly, bullshit) claim fit with anything I said? What “hostage taking” did I threaten? And for YOU, of all people on this damn board short of maybe **John Stamos’ Left Ear** to accuse Sanders supporters in general, and me in particular, of “bullying”? :rolleyes: SMH. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/43 "2020-03-02T22:03:02Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > Sanders supporter here. > > I’ll vote for whoever the nominee is, because Trump. > > However, at this point, I’ve become disillusioned with the party… and I live in the damned SDMB “liberal bubble”, but still feel like I and others like me are expected to shut up and vote for the Dem, regardless, while watching our party march ever rightward. Despite over a decade of evidence to the contrary, a large contingent STILL believes that somehow the Republicans will SUDDENLY want to work to enact legislation put forth by the Democrats if its Joe Fucking Biden in the White House rather than Bernie Sanders, when the reality is they wouldn’t vote for the “ **Republicans Get Supreme Power Bill of 2021** ” if it was offered up by a Democrat. > > I’m tired of watching the nation’s money get funneled to the top 1%. I’m tired of living in a plutocracy that calls itself a democracy. I’m tired of watching people in BOTH parties being convinced to vote against their own self-interest. > > It’s time for a fucking change. I don’t get this at all. The Democratic Party has not been marching ever rightward. If we take 1992 as the start of the current political era, here is how things have gone, at least in my opinion. The 1992 version of Bill Clinton was less liberal than the version we had by 2000. John Kerry has moved a little further to the left by 2004 compared to 2000 Bill Clinton. The 2008 versions of Obama and Hillary were more liberal yet compared to Bill Clinton in 2000 and Kerry in 2004. The 2016 version of Hillary was more liberal than the version that ran against Obama in 2008. And this year’s candidates, even those from the “moderate” lane, are more liberal than Hillary was in 2016. Where does this idea that the party is moving to the right come from? ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/44 "2020-03-02T22:07:35Z")
I think how Sander’s conducts himself will make some difference. And it’ll probably turn out badly. His rhetoric seems so immutable. It’s hard to imagine him compromising on much. And really, compromise is one of the founding ideals of the US, seems to me. I worry that Sanders could damage his reputation with how he responds, kind of like John Kasich did in 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/45 "2020-03-02T22:18:40Z")
It depends. If the democrats and their allies in the MSM like CNN and MSNBC, along with their Hollywood allies, can keep up the idea that Trump is Hitler/Satan/Evil incarnate/Thanos or other ultimate badguy, then Sanders supporters will of course vote for whomever is in the dem category. Otherwise they will sit this one out of maybe vote for a 3rd party like say the Greens or american socialist party. Thing is Sanders people want REAL change. They dont want just a sidestep to the left, They want a total 90 degree turn. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/46 "2020-03-02T22:55:06Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > If the democrats and their allies in the MSM like CNN and MSNBC, along with their Hollywood allies, can keep up the idea that Trump is Hitler/Satan/Evil incarnate/Thanos or other ultimate badguy, then Sanders supporters will of course vote for whomever is in the dem category. You forgot Twitter, the way they make him look like “Hitler/Satan/Evil incarnate/Thanos or other ultimate badguy” is the most effective of all of the MSM. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/47 "2020-03-02T23:32:35Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Where does this idea that the party is moving to the right come from? The candidates have been moving slightly leftward. The growth in the party has been more significantly leftward. That creates a larger gap between them even though both movements have been in the same direction. The real question is where the core of the party sits at the current moment. I think that the majority still sits in the center-left, but the loudest voices are much farther left. If they voted at the same percentage that the moderates did then they’d be justified taking over the party. They don’t, being generally younger. The trend is definitely leftward, nonetheless. Maybe by the next election cycle the party center will have moved sufficiently. I just don’t see it for this year. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/48 "2020-03-03T00:16:11Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I don’t get this at all. The Democratic Party has not been marching ever rightward. If we take 1992 as the start of the current political era, here is how things have gone, at least in my opinion. The 1992 version of Bill Clinton was less liberal than the version we had by 2000. John Kerry has moved a little further to the left by 2004 compared to 2000 Bill Clinton. The 2008 versions of Obama and Hillary were more liberal yet compared to Bill Clinton in 2000 and Kerry in 2004. The 2016 version of Hillary was more liberal than the version that ran against Obama in 2008. And this year’s candidates, even those from the “moderate” lane, are more liberal than Hillary was in 2016. Where does this idea that the party is moving to the right come from? If you only go back to the post Reagan era, yeah the party hasn’t changed much (if anything it has moved left since the 90s). However going back to earlier in the 20th century, the democratic party has moved very far to the right. Large scale ideas like the ones from FDR and LBJ would never pass in a modern democratic party, not even on a state level where democrats have supermajorities in congress. Sanders is pretty in line with FDR. FDR was a mainstream well respected democrat in the 1930s and 1940s. Sanders is portrayed as a radical extremist. The party has moved to the right, a lot of which can be traced back to the Reagan revolution, the abolition of the fairness doctrine, the rise in lobbying and corporate power, and the southern strategy in the mid/late 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/49 "2020-03-03T00:48:51Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If you only go back to the post Reagan era, yeah the party hasn’t changed much (if anything it has moved left since the 90s). > > However going back to earlier in the 20th century, the democratic party has moved very far to the right. Large scale ideas like the ones from FDR and LBJ would never pass in a modern democratic party, not even on a state level where democrats have supermajorities in congress. > > Sanders is pretty in line with FDR. FDR was a mainstream well respected democrat in the 1930s and 1940s. Sanders is portrayed as a radical extremist. > > The party has moved to the right, a lot of which can be traced back to the Reagan revolution, the abolition of the fairness doctrine, the rise in lobbying and corporate power, and the southern strategy in the mid/late 20th century. The fairness doctrine??? The days of Walter Cronkite are over. It never applied to cable. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/50 "2020-03-03T01:11:23Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If you only go back to the post Reagan era, yeah the party hasn’t changed much (if anything it has moved left since the 90s). > > However going back to earlier in the 20th century, the democratic party has moved very far to the right. Large scale ideas like the ones from FDR and LBJ would never pass in a modern democratic party, not even on a state level where democrats have supermajorities in congress. > > Sanders is pretty in line with FDR. FDR was a mainstream well respected democrat in the 1930s and 1940s. Sanders is portrayed as a radical extremist. > > The party has moved to the right, a lot of which can be traced back to the Reagan revolution, the abolition of the fairness doctrine, the rise in lobbying and corporate power, and the southern strategy in the mid/late 20th century. Not a single sentence in this post has any relationship with reality. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/51 "2020-03-03T01:37:07Z")
There’s no way they accept it, which is why I wish the pretender candidates would have gotten out sooner than they did. On the other hand, I wish Biden’s campaign would have been more aggressive early on. They played not to lose and they showed no passion. Biden’s whole campaign was “I got to wash Barack’s jock strap” and “I’m electable.” ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/52 "2020-03-03T12:36:20Z")
The last 2 dem nominees were a black man and a woman. Dem voters wanted to get away from white males. Biden is also the “its his turn” candidate meaning the party member with the most clout and experience. Sort of like Bob Dole and John McCain were. Hillary was also that candidate. Come to think of it the last 3 dems who won the white house (Carter, Clinton, Obama) were in ways “outsiders” and not the parties most established politician. Will they get behind a white male who is deeply entrenched in the establishment and really offers nothing to the far left wing of the party? Will they instead of voting dem, get behind a 3rd party candidate? Hard to say. Sanders is a white male but at least offers some major changes. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788/53 "2020-03-03T13:20:38Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If you only go back to the post Reagan era, yeah the party hasn’t changed much (if anything it has moved left since the 90s). > > However going back to earlier in the 20th century, the democratic party has moved very far to the right. Large scale ideas like the ones from FDR and LBJ would never pass in a modern democratic party, not even on a state level where democrats have supermajorities in congress. > > Sanders is pretty in line with FDR. FDR was a mainstream well respected democrat in the 1930s and 1940s. Sanders is portrayed as a radical extremist. > > The party has moved to the right, a lot of which can be traced back to the Reagan revolution, the abolition of the fairness doctrine, the rise in lobbying and corporate power, and the southern strategy in the mid/late 20th century. Even if we go back that far I think the party has still moved to the left. Regarding the Southern Strategy, that made the party more liberal. The effect was that Dixiecrats, who were the most conservative members, became Republicans. This applies to both the voters and the elected officials. Regarding LBJ and FDR, let’s look at some of their signature achievements. LBJcare (Medicare) was an improvement on what came before, but Obamacare improves on that. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a great achievement. But if someone were to try to convince me that minorities were treated better in 1965 than in 2015 or even 2020, I’d laugh at them. Whatever aspects of FDR’s great society have been weakened were weakened by Republicans, not subsequent Democrats. If FDR and LBJ were around today, I have no doubt they would be liberal. But the FDR from the 30s and 40s and the LBJ from the 60s were not more liberal than current day Amy Klobuchar or Pete Buttigieg. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-think-sanders-supporters-will-react-if-he-doesnt-get-the-democratic-nomination/848788.md?page=2)