# If you prefer Clinton but Sanders gets the nom, will you vote for him? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 24, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026 "2016-02-24T22:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/41 "2016-02-25T07:17:15Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > If Sanders wins, it likely means there’s a Democratic Senate too, which changes the calculus at least for the first two years. Why assume that? A lot of Sanders’ appeal is that he’s seen as distinct from both of the mainstream parties. So there’s no reason to assume other Democrats will get elected on his coattails. My guess is a lot of Sanders supporters would vote for him as their Presidential choice and then will follow through by voting for some Green or other third party candidate for Congress. Third parties will get a higher than usual vote count but the result will be Democratic candidates will have their vote counts diminished and Republican candidates will win elections. So there’s a good chance President Sanders will have to deal with a larger Republican majority in Congress. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/42 "2016-02-25T07:33:35Z")
Obviously, for the reasons I stated in the other thread. No matter who wins the Democratic nomination, every single one of the Republicans is worse. Though I’m only a Clinton supporter because I think she has a better chance of winning the general. I actually do support all of Sanders’s positions, but I know a whole lot of the electorate isn’t there yet. So that means voting for Sanders is even more important, since he’ll have fewer supporters. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2016, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/43 "2016-02-25T08:00:20Z")
Wiser words were never spoken, **BigT**. > [@CarnalK](#): > > I doubt I’ll have to but I hope I can convince him that Bernie is not so bad if it’s between him and Trump or Cruz. Sanders is a politician. He’s not going to burn down the country. Cruz will. Trump probably won’t - we hope. It’s fascinating to me to ponder what Cruz would do. He’s such an obvious phony, I really can’t be sure at all. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/44 "2016-02-25T13:23:44Z")
Another Republican presidency is absolutely unacceptable. For the remainder of eternity. Senator Sanders would have my vote. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/45 "2016-02-25T13:32:19Z")
Yes, very easily. I like both candidates, and I only support Hillary because I think she’ll be a much stronger general election candidate. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/46 "2016-02-25T13:41:53Z")
I think I would go for Sanders in that case, mostly because of the awfulness of the likely Republican candidates. If Kasich were to somehow get the nomination, I might be torn (hey, I voted for Nixon over McGovern way back when), but Trump or Cruz are ‘nevers’ in my book and Rubio is simply not able to do it, IMHO (same reason I didn’t vote McGovern). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/47 "2016-02-25T14:45:29Z")
I’d vote for Bernie since he’s much closer to my views and better than any Republican now in the race, but I’d do so without any great enthusiasm, since I’m almost convinced that he would lose in November. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/48 "2016-02-25T15:17:26Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I’d happily vote for Sanders if only for the supreme court picks. Also Sanders is no Ralph Nader. > > I’d hope I could persuade XT to hold his nose and vote for Bernie. Martin Hyde would be in a world of pain though. From his vantage voting Dem would make no sense. > Sanders 2016: Hey, we survived W. Well, full disclosure…I will literally vote for ANYONE except Trump. If Trump wins the Republican nomination I will vote for Sanders, even though I will have to hold my nose and stop my gag reflex. Trump is so ridiculous though that I just couldn’t stand it if I didn’t vote against him. Anyone else the Pubs toss up though and I’m voting third party. And Canada is still an option. 😉 Please you Dems voting in this primary (I’m an independent so don’t get to vote in the primary in my state)…PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Nominate Hillary. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/49 "2016-02-25T15:31:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Spinoff from [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=784476). Seems fair to turn it around. If you’re a Democrat who prefers Clinton, but Sanders gets the nomination, will you vote for Sanders in the general election? If not, why not? And if you don’t vote for Sanders, whom will you vote for? Or, will you just not vote? Absolutely 100%. Wouldn’t even hurt to do so. I prefer Hillary but both candidates have their strengths. And what separates them is infinitesimally unimportant compared to what separates virtually any Democrat from Trump. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/50 "2016-02-25T15:46:09Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I wanted Clinton 8 years ago, but I voted for Obama over McCain and McCain is a hell of a lot better than Rubio, Cruz, or Trump. (Yes, I know McCain is quite conservative, but he never accused Obama of purposely trying to screw up the country (Rubio), or accused an opponent of French-kissing Obama (Cruz), and Trump? Ha! At least McCain would have tried to do something about campaign finance). I was less worried about a McCain presidency than any Republican presidency in a while, until he picked his batsh!t running mate. > [@XT](#): > > Well, full disclosure…I will literally vote for ANYONE except Trump. Seriously. I would vote for Ronald Reagan before I would vote for Trump. I think about the only person who could be worse than Trump would be Michelle Bachmann. Thank the deity she’s not running again. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/51 "2016-02-25T16:07:57Z")
I prefer Clinton, because I think she’d be an extremely competent executive. But, in general, I vote for the party, not the individual politician. The policies of the GOP are anathema to me, for the most part, so I’ll vote for whoever the Dems nominate. I’d much prefer Bernie as a guest at my next Passover seder than as POTUS, but the thought of Rubio, Cruz or Trump in the White House frightens me. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/52 "2016-02-25T16:20:43Z")
Yes, I would. I’m not a fan of HRC but plan to vote for her in the primary and in the general if she gets the nomination. I do not care for Sanders - at all. That said, take the worst of both of them and commingle them into completely unappealing Democratic Party nominee and I’d still vote for it/he/she over anything the GOP is putting forward. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/53 "2016-02-25T20:52:01Z")
> [@MeanJoe](#): > > Yes, I would. I’m not a fan of HRC but plan to vote for her in the primary and in the general if she gets the nomination. I do not care for Sanders - at all. That said, take the worst of both of them and commingle them into completely unappealing Democratic Party nominee and I’d still vote for it/he/she over anything the GOP is putting forward. I find this inspiring in a strange way. Kudos to you for your very sound reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/54 "2016-02-25T20:57:45Z")
I feel like this election is forcing me to decide which flavor of giant douche or turd sandwich I prefer, regardless of which party I vote for. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/55 "2016-02-25T21:12:45Z")
It’s definitely going to be a lesser-of-two-evils election for me, no matter who wins their respective parties’ nominations. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/56 "2016-02-25T21:23:26Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I feel like this election is forcing me to decide which flavor of giant douche or turd sandwich I prefer, regardless of which party I vote for. Huh. Isn’t that how every election is? I mean, 2008, I actually was voting FOR someone. Obama, I thought, might disagree with me on a fair amount of policy, but at least he was a fairly decent human being, and I’d never realized a decent human being could make it to November in a presidential election. I kind of felt the same way in 2012, although some of his actions )(on privacy, for example) cemented our policy disagreements. Every other election I’ve voted in was a lesser of two evils situation. How many elections have you been excited about the person you voted for? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/57 "2016-02-25T21:39:02Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > It’s definitely going to be a lesser-of-two-evils election for me, no matter who wins their respective parties’ nominations. Was there anyone running this year for whom you could have voted with an open nose? ---
**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:** [February 25, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/58 "2016-02-25T22:05:54Z")
Yes, I hope to see Clinton on the ballot but I would certainly support Sanders. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/59 "2016-02-25T22:27:43Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Please you Dems voting in this primary (I’m an independent so don’t get to vote in the primary in my state)…PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Nominate Hillary. ## Ok, ok. As a favor to you **XT** , I’ll arrange for Hillary’s nomination. 😃 _::Waves magic wand::_ Incidentally, I think Hillary is a mediocre candidate, but also a victim of Republican smears. The attacks on her are horseshit, but some of the manure has stuck. Note though that she’s a terrific boss and inspires loyalty and hard work from her staff. In other words she appears to be a decent human being, once you strip away the baseless slander. Kevin Drum: [INDENT]And now we’re back where we started. Hillary obviously blew it when she set up her own email server, but once again, thousands of hours of investigation have turned up nothing. It was dumb, but there’s no scandal, no national security threat, and no cabal of silence. Hillary Clinton has been required to make her entire email record public, something that’s never happened before to a secretary of state, and still there’s nothing. She’s undergone hours of House questioning, and still nothing. But the mud keeps coming. Maybe Huma Abedin will finally provide the smoking gun! Maybe if we demand to see her personal emails! Maybe if we recover bits and pieces from the server! There just has to be something there. There isn’t. Hillary didn’t order the assassination of Vince Foster and she didn’t set up a personal email account so she could conceal her orders to stand down the rescue effort in Benghazi. But thanks to the obsessive Clinton hatred of Judicial Watch and the assistance of credulous judges like Emmet Sullivan, the “drip drip drip” will keep on coming. We never learn. [/INDENT] Both Colin Powell and Condeleza Rice had their own private email addresses. More generally, you have to go back to around 1980 to locate dubious behavior on the part of HRClinton. HRClinton is a old fashioned politician who brokers interests. That’s a good thing. Her only problem is that she’s a lousy orator. > **[Clinton Derangement Syndrome is alive and well](https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/02/clinton-derangement-syndrome-alive-and-well/)** > >   Oh yeah. GWBush misled the country on WMDs in Iraq. The WSJ misleads the country by claiming that he was cleared by a governmental report. No: the Phase I report commission were told specifically not to go into that. But the Phase II report said otherwise: the “…Administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent.” Details matter. GWBush dodged the draft and misled the public about his tax cut plan during the 2000 campaign. It is not surprising that we are getting similar distortions regarding his deceptions during the run up to the Iraq War. [Crazy Nut Donald Trump Thinks George W. Bush Was President on 9/11](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/02/crazy-trump-thinks-bush-was-president-on-911.html) If you want to evaluate a politician’s character, look at their policy claims and positions. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026/60 "2016-02-25T22:36:33Z")
I couldn’t vote for Bernie. Just won’t happen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-prefer-clinton-but-sanders-gets-the-nom-will-you-vote-for-him/747026.md?page=4)