Bullshit. It is the Dems themselves that are pushing “gun control”. Beto was dumb enough to say something like “Yes, I am coming for your AR-15”. All an acceptable candidate would have to say is something like “I support the 2nd Amendment. As President, I will veto any bill that purports to ban any type of gun, or any attempt to create a license/registration system.” Ideally, that should be incorporated into the official party platform at the convention.
…Joe Walsh is a hard-right-tea-party-conservative who called Obama a Muslim and promoted birther conspiracies. I’m sure would agree on every single one of your red-line issues. (and full disclosure is running for the Republican nomination)
For me it would all come down to what you consider the stakes to be. Do you consider Trumps actions in office to be criminal? Do you think they are on the road to authoritarianism? If you do, then I think your first step has to be to either support his opponent in the primary process or to advocate for Donald Trump to step down. I think if your convictions are that important to you then don’t look to the Democrats. They shouldn’t have to compromise their value systems because you don’t want to vote for Trump at the next election. Fight for your party. Fight for your country.
If that fails then its really up to you what you do next. I personally believe a vote for Trump is a vote for an escalation of the chaos you see now. That if Trump is re-elected then it will mean the eventual end of what most would consider to be “American democracy.” I think that people like Joe Walsh can see this clearly. I hate almost everything that Walsh stands for. If (I lived in America) Walsh were ever to get elected I could imagine I would be opposing and protesting every single legislative initiative that he would put forward. But in a head-to-head with Trump Walsh would get my vote every single time. Even though I oppose him on some of my own red-line issues. The stakes for me are just that high.
The Democrats may do a lot of things if they get power but they will respect the constitution: even if that means they can’t “take your guns” in a manner that the Supremes won’t allow. A vote for the Democrats is a vote for the return to the status quo, a step back to normalcy IMHO. A step back from the brink.
As for who to support? Well out of the leading candidates the two that I personally think are the worse are Biden and Mayor Pete: so those are probably the two that you should support 
Neither would rock the boat, neither would do anything radical, both are running on being able to “reach across to the other side”. Biden has a much bigger chance than the Mayor. So I would support him.
But if the only reason you are “looking across the aisle” is because you don’t think Trump is fit to be President, then I hope that the Dems don’t pick someone in the primaries to cater to a voter like you. And I mean that with all due respect. If you can’t get your figurative house in order then the Dems shouldn’t have to compromise to placate you. They should be picking whomever they think is the best to do the job (and if they think that person is someone I don’t support like Biden or Mayor Pete, then so be it.)
If I vote for the smaller pile, I am still voting for shit.
The popularity of various forms of gun control (things like universal background checks are ~90% popular, IIRC) means that one party will always be in favor of more gun control, barring a massive shift in public opinion (or perhaps even more unlikely, actual passing of significant gun control legislation). If gun control is at the top of your issue list – more important than mistreatment of women, migrant children, coherence and even a shred of integrity, decency, and honor in the White House, and many other issues – then it’s extremely unlikely you’ll ever support a Democrat. The popularity of increased background checks and other gun control issues within the party means that a Democrat as the OP describes has pretty much zero chance of being nominated at present.
Whelp, I guess you’ll just have to vote for Trump then. Because it’s someone else’s fault for not giving you a right-wing Democrat to choose.
Just keep telling yourself… “NOT MY FAULT.”
Maybe it isn’t actually shit though.
The point is maybe, just maybe, there’s a reason that there aren’t any serious candidates that fit all of your expectations. You are entitled to your political preferences, but if nobody else wants that, then what is your next step? Just refuse to participate in the process altogether? Just go ahead and vote for the biggest piece of shit you can find?
Life (and Mick Jagger) teaches us that we can’t always get what we want. But not getting exactly what we want isn’t an excuse to go for the absolute worst thing we can have. Especially when everyone must live with our collective choices.
I’m not “looking across the aisle”, whatever that means. I voted for several Dems in my state elections. Pro-gun Dems. I’d like to do that in 2020.
On a national level, Dems write off voters like me at their peril. There simply are not enough radical lefties out there to win a national election. They can’t win without attracting those of us in the middle, and maybe some of us that lean to the right. Even Saint Obama warned them about going too far left, though I don’t think he mentioned guns.
Oh. “Gun control” = “Democrats are going to take away your guns!”
And if I accidentally bump into you in a crowded shopping mall, there’s no difference between that and attempted murder, amirite?
My takeaway is that there’s no pleasing someone like you, so why bother to try.
Fine, but let there be no whining and gnashing of teeth when Trump wins again, because the Dems failed to field an electable candidate. Again.
Someone thinks they are awfully important.
2nd amendment absolutists are not the majority, why do you think you deserve to be treated as such?
More importantly why should both candidates in the election be on your side of this issue when the American public as a whole is not? Why should your views hold supreme? Just because that’s what you want?
And if they had a D by their name, they still wouldn’t get the vote, because reasons.
Or because right leaning voters don’t care about the future of our democracy or whether we actually control our own elections or if other countries will be in charge of choosing our leaders for us?
Can you please take some responsibility for your own choices and stop blaming everyone else. This is such a tired talking point and it’s really about pointing blame at everyone else for your own shitty choices.
No, because you’re the sort of voter who claims you might vote for the right Dem, but when push comes to shove, there’s no pleasing you.
And if we bend over backwards to please voters like you (and by and large fail to win their votes anyway), we’ll probably lose more voters who’d have turned out for even a Biden-level bona fide Democrat but who won’t show up for someone who’ll sell the party out just to win someone like you.
Which is the point. Then he can say “see libs, it’s all your fault the guy I wanted and voted for, and that you opposed, got elected”. Personal responsibility is only for others I guess.
Some Americans worry about guns too much, so I am delighted to see OP list four criteria only two of which are related to gun control. It’s refreshing to find a voter not obsessed with that single issue.
Suppose you lived in a swing state, and polling told you your vote might be decisive but the Libertarian would finish a distant third. Would you still throw your vote away?
My vote goes to the candidate that most pleases me. Criteria to please me is listed, in part, in the OP.
I’m pretty dumb that I need this explained to me, I guess…
But why the vehement opposition to gun registration? Guns aren’t a big part of my life and I don’t pretend to understand all the issues, but having to register your weapon just doesn’t seem like a huge burden to me.
I’m sincerely asking because I want to understand, not trying to make a point.
Well, Hillary Clinton is a pretty moderate Democrat, but Republicans have painted her as to the left of Che Guevara. Then when Dems have candidates like Warren and Bernie, suddenly Hillary looks pretty good, eh?
Read the fucking thread. Specifically post #27, where I clearly stated that I have voted for Dems quite recently, and would love to do so in 2020.
The Dems came metaphorical inches away with a C+ candidate who had been demonized for decades. That doesn’t mean it will be easy this time, but in order to win, all we have to do is a smidgen better than Hillary in WI, MI, and PA.