Sanders can't win the general election--why are people so blind to that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I look at it this way. If it's Bernie against ANY Republican, I'll vote for Bernie. If it's Hillary against Kasich, I'll vote for Kasich If it's Hillary against Jeb, I'll probably stay home. If it's Hillary against Trump, I'll vote for Hillary.

And I'm a Democrat for the most part.

I'm a Democrat for the most part and am baffled by my choices. Bernie Sanders with the free tuition at public colleges and universities? Outrageous for a Virginia resident to pay the same as a out of stater now for grad programs at UVA, Mason, etc. Bernie's social security for a bastardized defined benefit plan taxing all income? Social security pays benefits with no relationship to an individuals contributions. ie 1 can receive over 1/3 of another's benefit without having to contribute 1/3 of the other's contribution.

Any relative overstaying a visa gets a pass?

How could Clinton have f'ed up so badly in NH? Out of all of them who do I trust to create real jobs? I have relatives whose jobs/manufacturing went overseas. We ship wood to china then it gets shipped back as furniture. Moosehead Furniture. Duckloe. Surefit. Steel.

[Anonymous]

so Trump is an asshole but I do think he has experience in actually doing things be they manufacturing or building. Where are his products manufactured?

Outed by Letterman years ago. Now open factories in the USA and people will be happy.

[Anonymous]

People cannot possibly be deciding between a GOP candidate and Sanders. Every. Single. GOP candidate is pretty much on the opposite end of Sanders of most issues not to mention understanding of what's wrong with America and how to fix it.

This year I'd say the chasm between GOP and Dem candidates is bigger than ever.

Without a doubt, Sanders and Clinton have much more in common with each other, than they do with any GOP candidate.

Honestly, I don't understand...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lean left on a lot of issues, but have voted for republicans before (locally and at the state and congressional level). I've heard about some of his proposals and really don't under HOW he can do any of this considering how right wing the House is at the moment. I also know nothing about what he has accomplished. That said, I agree with a lot of the points he is making but have no clue how any of them would ever be realized (single payer -- means taking down the insurance industry which just seem impossible based on lobbying dollars spent in Congress). Also: the president doesn't pass laws.

For everything I've read about Sanders, I don't think he has any more substance than Clinton. His ideas sound great. But execution?

That said, I don't see myself voting for a republican. Kaisch is the closest to getting my vote and I don't like his stance on abortion.

I agree with most of what you say. In a way, Sanders is like Rubio: beautiful words, amazing rhetoric, and never accomplished anything of substance.

Rubio at least has potential, being just in his 40s.

So I'm not crazy. My facebook went sideways with people extolling his ideas and I spent some of lunch googling him and couldn't really find anything of substance the man accomplished. And his ideas are lovely. But I don't see anything that explains how he plans to accomplish them in this country's political environment. It's crazy to me.

AGREE. From an interview today with Kasie Hunt of MSNBC:

Hunt: You say that you want to create a political revolution, that you will be able to get things done as president of the United States. As somebody who has covered Congress for a long time, you've been in Congress for a long time. Do you expect that you could walk into that office and have Congress change overnight? A lot of these proposals you are pushing forward would never pass the Congress.

Sanders: No, that's never what I said. It's not that my personality is better than Barack Obama's. Or that Mitch McConnell would work more easily with me than with Obama. What I have said is if we rally the American people to demand that Congress do what the American people want them to do.... Overwhelmingly the American people want to raise the minimum wage, Congress does not. Then the job is to rally the American people to tell Congress to do what the American people want. Pay equity for women - overwhelmingly. The question is there is a huge gap right now between Congress and the American people. What presidential leadership is about is closing that gap.

Hunt: And you don't think that President Obama has successfully closed that gap.

Sanders: No, I don't. I mean I think he has made the effort, but I think what we need, when I talk about a political revolution, is bringing millions and millions of people into the political process in a way that does not exist right now.

HOPE IS NOT A PLAN.

Yeah. This doesn't make me want to vote for him for president. Because he seems to have no understanding that the president doesn't pass laws and I think the bulk of people would look at this rhetoric and back away slowly. Americans like change. Slowly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People cannot possibly be deciding between a GOP candidate and Sanders. Every. Single. GOP candidate is pretty much on the opposite end of Sanders of most issues not to mention understanding of what's wrong with America and how to fix it.

This year I'd say the chasm between GOP and Dem candidates is bigger than ever.

Without a doubt, Sanders and Clinton have much more in common with each other, than they do with any GOP candidate.

Honestly, I don't understand...

Then, you haven’t seen many of the interviews in Iowa and NH. I saw more than a handful of people who were undecided, but were debating between Trump, Kasich, or Sanders.
This says more about the fact that they do not trust traditional politicians, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:so Trump is an asshole but I do think he has experience in actually doing things be they manufacturing or building. Where are his products manufactured?

Outed by Letterman years ago. Now open factories in the USA and people will be happy.

Trump is a developer, not a construction contractor or necktie manufacturer. The fact you license your name to some Chinese manufacturers isn't evidence that you are actually capable of doing anything outside your core competency. In fact, his disastrous experience in the gaming industry suggests that he isn't that competent as a businessman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HOPE IS NOT A PLAN.

When it comes to rallying the masses, HOPE is a very powerful plan

No, it's a hope.

So your saying people with no hope in a plan make better supporters of said plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HOPE IS NOT A PLAN.

When it comes to rallying the masses, HOPE is a very powerful plan

No, it's a hope.

So your saying people with no hope in a plan make better supporters of said plan?

No, I am saying (different PP) that just talking about ideas without having any understanding of what it takes to accomplish even incremental change does not inspire my confidence (as a swing voter). Change? Yes, we need it. But advocating to burn down the system or a revolution is not going to appeal to me. I have a job, a mortgage, children, and student loans. I want us to be better. I don't think tearing everything apart and building from the ashes is the answer (or even possible in this political environment). It's insulting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HOPE IS NOT A PLAN.

When it comes to rallying the masses, HOPE is a very powerful plan

No, it's a hope.

So your saying people with no hope in a plan make better supporters of said plan?

No, I am saying (different PP) that just talking about ideas without having any understanding of what it takes to accomplish even incremental change does not inspire my confidence (as a swing voter). Change? Yes, we need it. But advocating to burn down the system or a revolution is not going to appeal to me. I have a job, a mortgage, children, and student loans. I want us to be better. I don't think tearing everything apart and building from the ashes is the answer (or even possible in this political environment). It's insulting.

I agree with most of that, but I have a bit of a different take.

Even if you didn't have those things to start with, and if you fully agreed with the final destination, you still need to make sure you know exactly HOW to reach that destination, and then do it.

There's Hope and there's Snake Oil

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I look at it this way. If it's Bernie against ANY Republican, I'll vote for Bernie. If it's Hillary against Kasich, I'll vote for Kasich If it's Hillary against Jeb, I'll probably stay home. If it's Hillary against Trump, I'll vote for Hillary.

And I'm a Democrat for the most part.

I'm a Democrat for the most part and am baffled by my choices. Bernie Sanders with the free tuition at public colleges and universities? Outrageous for a Virginia resident to pay the same as a out of stater now for grad programs at UVA, Mason, etc. Bernie's social security for a bastardized defined benefit plan taxing all income? Social security pays benefits with no relationship to an individuals contributions. ie 1 can receive over 1/3 of another's benefit without having to contribute 1/3 of the other's contribution.

Any relative overstaying a visa gets a pass?

How could Clinton have f'ed up so badly in NH? Out of all of them who do I trust to create real jobs? I have relatives whose jobs/manufacturing went overseas. We ship wood to china then it gets shipped back as furniture. Moosehead Furniture. Duckloe. Surefit. Steel.

and we import hundreds of thousands of cheap guest workers to take jobs from our own citizens. clinton wants to increase this. It is one of life's many ironies that the democratic party, which once stood behind american workers, has sold them out and wants to increase immigration that takes away american jobs. she is wall street in a thin disguise.