# Why do you think the Democrats aren't acting like there's an existential threat to American democracy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 7, 2022, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-the-democrats-arent-acting-like-theres-an-existential-threat-to-american-democracy/967535 "2022-07-07T05:21:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-the-democrats-arent-acting-like-theres-an-existential-threat-to-american-democracy/967535/121 "2022-07-16T16:31:54Z")
They would be doing their own fact checking as part of due diligence, while providing the source material they draw from. At some point reality actually exists, there are not separate realities with separate facts, as much as Republican strategists wish otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-the-democrats-arent-acting-like-theres-an-existential-threat-to-american-democracy/967535/122 "2022-07-16T16:33:15Z")
Not a lot of fresh blood in the list… > **[Analysis | The top 10 Democratic candidates for president in 2024, ranked](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/16/top-10-democratic-candidates-president-2024-ranked/)** > > Our quarterly rankings. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-the-democrats-arent-acting-like-theres-an-existential-threat-to-american-democracy/967535/123 "2022-07-16T16:41:41Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Sanders has been in politics nearly non-stop for forty years or more. Successfully. Yes, as a senator of a small and left leaning state. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Do you really think republicans (and democrats) only just now found the skeletons in his closet? I’m sure they did, but do you really think that the majority of the general public outside Vermont even knew who Sanders was prior to 2016? > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > That prior to this his opponents played nice and didn’t bother muckraking? You don’t think that the game is played differently between a senate seat for a small state vs the president of the country? > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > That only now would the pearl clutching revelations begin? What would be the point of doing so before? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-the-democrats-arent-acting-like-theres-an-existential-threat-to-american-democracy/967535/124 "2022-07-16T16:42:34Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Yes, as a senator of a small and left leaning state. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > You don’t think that the game is played differently between a senate seat for a small state vs the president of the country? IIRC he ran for president, twice, and was a credible candidate both times. Maybe Clinton and Biden were just super nice opponents. And why do you think a senate race in a left leaning state is somehow special and nice? Do you think only presidential races get mean? ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-the-democrats-arent-acting-like-theres-an-existential-threat-to-american-democracy/967535/125 "2022-07-17T00:03:44Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Maybe Clinton and Biden were just super nice opponents. Or maybe Clinton and Biden figured that they would win the primaries without airing the red-baiting oppo and it would be better for their chance in the general if they kept a lid on the worst and most blatant hippie-punching. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > And why do you think a senate race in a left leaning state is somehow special and nice? Do you think only presidential races get mean? In a left-leaning state, you might well be able to pick up as many votes as you lose by running as a self-described Democratic Socialist. Not necessarily true of the country as a whole. Thus, the attacks you use in different contexts change. ---
**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 18, 2022, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-the-democrats-arent-acting-like-theres-an-existential-threat-to-american-democracy/967535/126 "2022-07-18T17:45:40Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Yes, as a senator of a small and left leaning state. Yes, he doesn’t have the experience of running a large and politically divided state that Joe Biden got while being senator of… (checks notes) …Delaware. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-think-the-democrats-arent-acting-like-theres-an-existential-threat-to-american-democracy/967535.md?page=6)