# If Bernie Sanders gets elected as president... **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 12, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957 "2015-07-12T17:52:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/61 "2015-07-15T00:12:58Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Which powerful, successful countries are “Socialist”? By Republican reckoning I’ve got: > Germany > France > UK > Canada > > Basically, name a country that isn’t a 3rd world shithole, and Republicans would declare their broadest public policies “Socialist” if a Democrat proposed them. By left wingnut standards they are all right wing capitalist countries of course. 😛 None of those countries have the majority of their industries or ‘means of production and distribution’ owned or controlled by the government, however, so they all fail as primary socialist countries…i.e. they are no more ‘socialist’ than the US is, or, put another way, the US is as much a socialist country as any of these. China now…that COULD be a good example looked at that way, since more than half of their ‘means of production and distribution’ are owned by the state. Though, of course, the parts that actually work are the capitalist ones. As to the OP, personally, I’d make him a colonel… ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/62 "2015-07-15T00:16:16Z")
Wow, I’m a socialist 98% Sanders 85% Hillary 73% O’Malley 52% Rand Paul 25% Trump (scary) 4% Cruz. (I wonder where we agree?) ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/63 "2015-07-15T00:29:47Z")
This [bullshit](http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2015/07/12/gun-control-crowd-still-sour-over-sanders-view-on-second-amendment-n2024288) that the leftist media is pushing, trying to make Sanders look like a [gun rights hero](http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/10/bernie-sanders-spars-with-arlington-gun-control-activist.html) is pure propaganda! The more they tell a lie and the bigger the lie they tell the more the masses will believe it! Sanders has consistently scored nothing better than an “F” grade from both the NRA and Gun Owners of America. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/64 "2015-07-15T00:34:49Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > How does it define itself? Certainly not socialist an any meaningful sense of the word. Its a hobglob of various levels of government owned stuff, Peoples Liberation Army owned stuff and good oldfashioned 19th century capitalism. They make no pretense of government ownership for the sake of the people. Its for the sake of the party or the army. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/65 "2015-07-15T00:36:42Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > India. India defines itself as socialist in their constitution’s preamble: “We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a one **Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic** and to secure to all its citizens:” > > India is also the world’s most populous democracy and, as evidenced above, a secular (non-religious) republic. They also somehow manage to function just fine with over 20 official languages; I’m not sure why conservative Americans think we need only one. > > But socialist? Yeah. This is all I got about India… > **[Socialism in India](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_in_India)** > > Post-independence and Cold War > Contemporary history > Socialism in India is a political movement founded early in the 20th century, as a part of the broader movement to gain Indian independence from colonial rule. The movement grew quickly in popularity as it espoused the causes of India's farmers and labourers against the zamindars, the princely class and the landed gentry. After independence and until the early 1990s, socialism shaped some economic and social policies of the Indian government... ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/66 "2015-07-15T00:36:59Z")
Sanders is absolutely fine with guns as long as it’s rural folks. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/67 "2015-07-15T01:12:20Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Wow, you named a case where conservative justices did something a liberal didn’t like. That proves nothing. > > Name a case where liberal justices decided something that liberals didn’t like. Well, I consider myself a liberal, but I didn’t like [_Kelo vs. City of New London_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelo_v._City_of_New_London). ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/68 "2015-07-15T01:14:49Z")
Conservatives liked it even less. But that’s an exception that proves the rule. Liberal justices can’t exactly rule against government’s near absolute economic regulatory powers. Unlike purely political actions undertaken by Congress, judicial decisions create binding precedents. Rule against a government power and you forever close off the government’s ability to use it that way again, plus you open the door for other restrictions on government economic power. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/69 "2015-07-15T01:18:52Z")
Bernie Sanders Democrat - 98% Hillary Clinton - 92% Martin O’Malley - 65% Chris Christie - 36% Mike Huckabee - 24% Rand Paul - 23% Jeb Bush - 20% Donald Trump - 17% Lindsey Graham - 16% Scott Walker - 10% Carly Fiorina - 5% Ben Carson - 4% Marco Rubio - 4% Rick Perry - 3% Rick Santorum - 2% Ted Cruz - 1% That 2% agreement with Santorum worries me. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/70 "2015-07-15T01:27:14Z")
It just means that of all the issues, there is one, just one, where you disagree with Sanders and agree with Santorum. Any idea which issue that was? ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/71 "2015-07-15T01:53:00Z")
Sanders – 98% Clinton – 88% O’Malley – 67% Paul – 24% Bush – 24% Christie – 12% Graham – 12% Huckabee – 10% Trump – 8% Rubio – 5% Walker – 5% Perry – 3% Santorum – 1% Cruz – 1% Carson – 0% Fiorina – 0% Surprises me that Sanders and Clinton are so close. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/72 "2015-07-15T01:54:35Z")
> [@blue\_infinity](#): > > Surprises me that Sanders and Clinton are so close. The notion that Hillary is a right-wing conservative is simply an exaggeration. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/73 "2015-07-15T01:56:07Z")
She’s not a conservative, but her history is nowhere near as liberal as Sanders’. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/74 "2015-07-15T12:27:46Z")
My results as a fairly moderate Canadian. The fact that Sanders is at the top does not surprise me at all. I’m a little surprised that Clinton was only 79%. I would have thought she would score higher as well. I actually thought that Rand Paul would score a little bit higher as well. In terms of Republicans, Graham and Cruz at 30% is shocking to me since I consider their views pretty much completely insane. I am very pleased to see Trump way down near the bottom of the list since he makes somebody like Cruz look credible. Sanders 93% Clinton 79% O’Malley 62% Paul 52% Huckabee 46% Kasich 34% Christie 33% Graham 30% Cruz 30% Walker 28% Bush 25% Rubio 25% Carson 23% Santorum 18% Perry 15% Trump 13% Fiorina 8% ---
**Author:** ![RagingxMarmoset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@RagingxMarmoset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RagingxMarmoset)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/75 "2015-07-15T13:08:20Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > This [bullshit](http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2015/07/12/gun-control-crowd-still-sour-over-sanders-view-on-second-amendment-n2024288) that the leftist media is pushing, trying to make Sanders look like a [gun rights hero](http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/10/bernie-sanders-spars-with-arlington-gun-control-activist.html) is pure propaganda! The more they tell a lie and the bigger the lie they tell the more the masses will believe it! > > Sanders has consistently scored nothing better than an “F” grade from both the NRA and Gun Owners of America. I love guns and shooting, but the NRA can go fuck itself. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/76 "2015-07-15T13:14:29Z")
> [@XT](#): > > By left wingnut standards they are all right wing capitalist countries of course. 😛 No, you don’t get to play the “both sides do it” game with me. Proposals that merely nudge our policy towards those of major European countries get Republicans screaming socialism. > [@](#): > > None of those countries have the majority of their industries or ‘means of production and distribution’ owned or controlled by the government, however, so they all fail as primary socialist countries Of course, Bernie Sanders isn’t proposing our government own or control any means of production and distribution, but he’s routinely called a socialist. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/77 "2015-07-15T13:18:04Z")
He does call \*himself \*one, so I think ya gotta let that go. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/78 "2015-07-15T13:22:40Z")
Bernie Sanders is a well-funded wedge attempting to split the ticket. Evidently if you can’t field a candidate good enough to win, you throw money at dirty tricks designed to weaken the other guy’s support. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/79 "2015-07-15T13:59:52Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Bernie Sanders is a well-funded wedge attempting to split the ticket. > > Evidently if you can’t field a candidate good enough to win, you throw money at dirty tricks designed to weaken the other guy’s support. Please. _I_ could win against any of those trying to get the Republican ticket. For the 3rd time in a row the election is the Democrats’ to lose. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957/80 "2015-07-15T14:14:23Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > He does call \*himself \*one, so I think ya gotta let that go. I think he’s devaluing the word “socialism” by equating it with social democracy, but considering the standards and Overton Windows of American political discourse, I’m willing to let it go too. Anything is a good thing that rehabilitates the word in this country and renders it a tropic of serious discussion, even hostile discussion, instead of a demon-label, as it is to the OP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-bernie-sanders-gets-elected-as-president/724957.md?page=5)