We asked 6 political scientists if Bernie Sanders would have a shot in a general election

[mfcorey1]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027593690

Bernie Sanders has gone from long-shot candidate to a real contender for the Democratic nomination for president.

Were Democrats to make the "democratic socialist" from Vermont their nominee, would he have a chance of winning a general election?

We posed that question to six of the country's top political scientists, and their answers were broadly consistent: Under some unlikely circumstances, Sanders could win a general election. But nominating him would make it significantly more difficult for Democrats to keep the White House.

" political views are more toward the ideological pole than the average voter's," said John Sides, a professor in political science at George Washington University, in an email. "Absent a very favorable set of conditions, nominating a candidate like Sanders as opposed to a more moderate Democrat creates the risk of a penalty at the ballot box."
The famous social science experiment that shows why Sanders would be easy to beat

But that in turn raises another (perhaps more obvious) question: What turns people off from extreme ideas? Why are voters less likely to support candidates who propose more radical solutions?

That question may be answered by a series of famous social science studies conducted several decades ago by Princeton University professor Daniel Kahneman, according to Bruce Miroff, a political science professor at the University at Albany.

[KingCharlemagne]

1. Sanders' ideas are not 'extreme'. They are main-stream to all but the

upper crust moneybags set.

[R. P. McMurphy]

2. Exactly! nt

[KingCharlemagne]

3. Way OT, but I like your sig-line and nom de plume. As I think about it, HRC reminds

me of Nurse Ratchett!

[stillwaiting]

4. Everyone seems to continue to underestimate Bernie Sanders.

So many can't IMAGINE that his policies and viewpoints would be supported by average Americans DESPITE the fact that issues polling shows average Americans supporting his positions.

[TheBlackAdder]

5. Rutgers-Eagleton Poli-Sci folks say this is a never seen before phenomenon--highly unpredictable!

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Anyone who says that they can predict this, beyond guessing, is not objectively stepping back!



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