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pinebox

(5,761 posts)
50. Nope.
Tue Oct 20, 2015, 04:35 PM
Oct 2015

I'm going to go ahead and copy and paste a reply I left yesterday in one of my responses.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=701962

In a general, she's not electable.
This is what I have been saying. She doesn't have the reach across the aisle power that Bernie does. No where even close.

You're traditional Republicans are completely disenfranchised with their party and feel they no longer represent them. They have no love for Hillary either, absolutely none but Bernie is another story entirely and this is why he's far more electable in a general than Hillary. I've been saying this all along. Hillary supporters either refuse to believe it or their minds are so blown that they can't fathom it.

Read here please

Republicans for Bernie Sanders
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/23/1395700/-Republicans-for-Bernie-Sanders
It is a real thing.
Now before you all naysayers say "It's just Republicans who want Bernie to win so they can beat them in the GE!" Well maybe the politicians think that... but not the people who are calling themselves Republicans for Bernie Sanders. I believe that there are lot of Republicans who would actually going to vote for him in the general election.

What is my proof for this? Take a look at that sign in the top there. It's from Vermont. A sign on a rabid anti government person's store. Tea party to the extreme. And guess what... there's a sign promoting the "socialist" Bernie Sanders.

"Experience that money just can't buy." <--- That, right there, in a nutshell, is the essence of his crossover appeal.

?1435025656

?1435025656


Want more? Ok I can provide that.

Republicans for Bernie
http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/05/24/republicans-for-bernie/

In the past few days, I’ve run into two Republicans who said that they want Bernie Sanders for President. Republicans for a avowed democratic socialist. How did that happen?

The first one was on Facebook. I later learned his name, Everett Clifford. He commented on a pro-Bernie post that I put up. He told me that he was a Republican, an ex-Marine, and a minister. “Have been living in Vermont for many years, have voted for Bernie every time, very proud of him, he tells us what’s wrong, and how to fix it, never ran a dirty campaign, so as a Republican, Marine vet, and Minister, I’m voting for Bernie Sanders.” I made a poster with him on it and told him I thought that Bernie’s campaign should find more Republicans like him. (I contacted Bernie.org and told them the same thing). If Republicans could supported a democratic socialist, that would show that his message of battling the billionaires has broad appeal. Everett Clifford told me that he thought that there were others like him. (He said he liked my poster. Someone reposted my Clifford poster on a liberal Facebook page and it drew 86 “likes,” which I thought was good, even though I didn’t find my poster that attractive).

Then, a day later, I found a post by another avowed Republican. This post went to great lengths, explaining why the person was supporting Bernie Sanders and was against the Republican party.

I am a long-time GOP supporter. During my teenage years, I witnessed Reagan, contrary to the narrative today, being a very pragmatic moderate Republican. After providing the economy with some Keynesian stimulus in the form of tax cuts, as the economy got back on its feet we saw him increase taxes to help reduce the deficit. He closed loopholes for the wealthy. He granted amnesty (something I oppose but it shows how he was willing to compromise.) He worked with Tip o’Neill to salvage social security. While I did not support Iran Contra, I proudly registered to become a Repbulican just in time for the upcoming election of 1988. I voted for H W Bush, and after being impressed with his pragmatism (I.E. raising taxes although they were unpopular) I voted for him again. During the Clinton Presidency, however, I began to notice a substantial shift to the right. They pushed legislation like DOMA and NAFTA which I could absolutely not support. However, they showed willingness to compromise with Clinton on major issues such as welfare reform and balancing the budget, so I was not yet ready to abandon the GOP, although I did vote for Perot in ’96.


Want more? Ok I can provide that too.

My story as a Republican that is supporting Bernie Sanders for President.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SandersForPresident/comments/35wpgr/my_story_as_a_republican_that_is_supporting/
I am a long-time GOP supporter. During my teenage years, I witnessed Reagan, contrary to the narrative today, being a very pragmatic moderate Republican. After providing the economy with some Keynesian stimulus in the form of tax cuts, as the economy got back on its feet we saw him increase taxes to help reduce the deficit. He closed loopholes for the wealthy. He granted amnesty (something I oppose but it shows how he was willing to compromise.) He worked with Tip o'Neill to salvage social security. While I did not support Iran Contra, I proudly registered to become a Repbulican just in time for the upcoming election of 1988. I voted for H W Bush, and after being impressed with his pragmatism (I.E. raising taxes although they were unpopular) I voted for him again. During the Clinton Presidency, however, I began to notice a substantial shift to the right. They pushed legislation like DOMA and NAFTA which I could absolutely not support. However, they showed willingness to compromise with Clinton on major issues such as welfare reform and balancing the budget, so I was not yet ready to abandon the GOP, although I did vote for Perot in '96.
In 2000 I voted for W, noting the pragmatism of his father and his seemingly reasonable 'compassionate conservatism.' However, I quickly noticed things were a bit off. He began the war on terror and simultaneously cut taxes, even though wars are generally financed through tax hikes. He then expanded Medicare, and again he did not pay for it. I was upset with this, but I was also sucked into the whole "we need a strong leader to defeat terrorism" which I was convinced John Kerry was not, so I voted for him. Deficits kept rising, the wars were failing, and the WMD claims turned out not to be true. Then the economy collapsed thanks to deregulation, and I strongly regretted my decision to vote for him. In 2008, I refused to vote for McCain, because he seemed way too far right on foreign policy, abortion, and gay marriage (shouldn't small government supporters be pro choice,) but I also didn't vote for Obama as his rhetoric seemed extremely far left.
Of course, when Obama got into office, I quickly realized that he was actually, if anything, a moderate Republican. He passed the ACA (Heritagecare) bill, extended the Bush tax cuts (even for the wealthy at first!) and steered us out of the worst recession since the Great Depression. After the 2010 wave elections for the Tea Party, I was disgusted with how far right the Republican party had gone, and began noticing the blatant racism. I found republicansforobama.org, a group of people closely reflecting my views, and voted Obama in 2012 and Democrat in 2014. I lurked on reddit for a few months, reading r/politics regularly, and was amazed by Bernie Sander's policies. Everything he did was for the American worker, from protecting them from outsourcing and cheap foreign labor, to fixing the budget deficit by hiking taxes on the rich, to boosting the minimum wage. He'd be considered a centrist back in the 80s, which is why he has my vote.


Want more? I can provide that some more!

Republicans for Bernie Sanders: Why the democratic socialist is sweeping his home state
If Bernie Sanders ends up being the Democratic nominee for president, and it looks more and more every day like he will be, his Republican opponent is going to have a very hard time beating him.

And that’s because of all the Democratic candidates running, Bernie Sanders has the best chance of capturing Republican votes.

I’ve seen how Bernie does this, up close and personal.

Despite its reputation as a place filled with liberal hippies, Vermont, like most of rural northern New England, is home to a lot of conservatives.

Anyone running for statewide office there needs to win these conservatives’ votes, and Bernie is great at doing that.

Back in 2000 when Louise and I were living in Vermont, it wasn’t all that uncommon to see his signs on the same lawn as signs that said “W for President.”

Seriously, I’m not kidding.

And as NPR’s “Morning Edition” found out last year, some of Bernie’s biggest fans are in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, the poorest and most conservative part of the state.

It’s people from the Northeast Kingdom who’ve overwhelmingly elected Bernie to almost 20 years in Congress and two straight terms as senator, and it’s people like them in the rest of the country who will probably send Bernie to the White House if he gets the Democratic nomination for president.


Want more? Alrighty!

How about this from the Republicans For Bernie facebook page? https://www.facebook.com/republicansforbernie

FAQs about Republicans for Bernie Sanders...

'As a Republican, how can you possibly agree with Bernie on every issue?'

Speaking only for myself (the page administrator), the truth is that I don't. Can any of us actually claim that? There are some issues on which I am to his "right," and at least one issue on which I am to his "left." But then hey, Bernie Sanders may be deemed to be to the right of Hillary Clinton on a couple matters as well. It sorry if seems like only a narcissist would demand a politician who agrees with him/her on every point. Good politics are about honesty and compromise, and there may be no politician alive who understands this better than Bernie.

'Are you REALLY a Republican?'

I believe we have a wide assortment of Republicans, former Republicans, and "recovering Republicans," as well as supportive Independents, Greens, Libertarians, and Democrats represented here. Speaking for myself, yes indeed, I am a card carrying Republican and have been for a long time.

'If you hold so many progressive values, why not just become a Democrat?'

That's a good question, and one about which people have expressed many opinions on this page. Allow me to try to summarize: Exactly why should I become a Democrat? My membership in a political party does not dictate how I have to vote. Furthermore, political parties are by nature (at least to some degree) collectively organized entities in a state of constant flux. It is only relatively recently that the two major U.S. parties have become so polarized and rigidly aligned with modern notions of "liberal" and "conservative." Historically - and we're not even talking that far back - both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party have included significant numbers of liberal, moderate, and conservative members. I would venture to say that there's been something of a mass exodus of moderates and progressives from the Republican Party in recent times toward non-party affiliation. This event is often hailed by liberals as an evolutionary step, but I would contend that it has also been a major factor in the Republican Party becoming increasingly conservative. If you have a room filled with introverts, extroverts, and inbetweeners, and the latter two groups leave, then what is the reason for the room suddenly getting so quiet? Perhaps that's not the most apt metaphor in the world, and I truly don't mean to lay blame at the feet of independents whom I actually admire greatly, but I think you get the point. Moderates and progressives are needed in the Republican Party in order to help steer the ship. Otherwise, it just becomes a ship of fools - as it largely has already - captained by religious fundamentalists and billionaires. I, for one, have no interest in letting those folks have their own ship for even one second longer. Many U.S. presidential elections seem to end up becoming a fight for the halfway point between the platforms of the two major political parties. So until our two-party system changes into something more sensible, it's important that we establish the Republican Party in a more moderate position in order to render the halfway point at least somewhat palatable. But does our party leadership really listen us? Well, that's debatable. At least we periodically get censuses in the mail from them asking our opinions on future party directions. There are myriad other ways of influencing the direction of a party, but it takes numbers to do that. Also I must ask in return, if you support the politics of Bernie Sanders (and don't live in a closed primaries state), why not become a Green? Isn't that closer to the mark? And is the Democratic Party really all that great? Hillary Clinton sure wants us to believe so. I'm not so sure. There are certainly lots of good Democrats, but many Democratic politicians seem to be wolves in sheep's clothing. At least with most of the current Republican politicians, you simply know that they're wolves. wink emoticon

'Will you register as a Democrat in order to vote for Bernie in the primaries?'

Again, speaking only as the administrator of this page: You're darned tootin'. I have the day marked, and plan to register a week early just to be on the safe side. The reason for this decision, of course, is that I live in a state with closed primary elections. Many Republicans actually live in states with open primaries where registering as a Democrat is not required to vote amongst the Democratic contenders.

'Do you have ulterior motives for supporting Bernie?'

No. There is (or at least was) another Republicans for Bernie page whose self-described purpose was to defeat the Democratic Party in the 2016 election by ensuring that the Democrats nominate a candidate who is not electable. My guess is that they don't know they're playing with fire. Bring it on.

'But the Republicans have _______ [fill in the blank with the atrocity of your choice]. Doesn't that bother you?'

Of course. Probably. It depends on the atrocity, and it depends on the Republican. Again, speaking for myself as a U.S. American Christian Caucasian male rural gun owner whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower, I'm a clearly a member of several privileged groups responsible for great atrocities. Rather than dwelling on the many ways I am guilty by association, I instead endeavor to use my humble life to serve the Earth, humanity, and the Spirit of Love with all my heart. On a good day, I maybe even succeed a little.

Have a good weekend, y'all

#BernieSanders2016


Go Clinton! And, I can't beleive Trump is at 6% Evergreen Emerald Oct 2015 #1
Trump will crash and burn. He's got the same fan base sufrommich Oct 2015 #2
Here is a link to peer reviewed research DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #3
This was the post I was asking about in #47 Gore1FL Oct 2015 #54
My argument DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #55
I'm not asking you to spam your argument. I am asking you to support it. n/t Gore1FL Oct 2015 #56
I cited the peer reviewed research that buttresses my assertions. DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #57
And I asked what page supported your argument Gore1FL Oct 2015 #58
You and anybody else can see I cited the quotes verbatim with the page they are on DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #59
It says they are better than a single poll. Gore1FL Oct 2015 #60
What part of DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #61
I understood all of it Gore1FL Oct 2015 #62
What don't I understand ? DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #63
Yes you did. Gore1FL Oct 2015 #64
There is nothing dishonest about my thread and I regret you felt the need to disrespect me. DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #66
GOPers always have voted against their best interest and have the nerve Iliyah Oct 2015 #28
The Republican Party proper also is on the hook. SusanaMontana41 Oct 2015 #52
Damn! I just put down a sawbuck on Rick Santorum. nt onehandle Oct 2015 #4
LOL !!! - Stop The Presses !!! WillyT Oct 2015 #5
If that means... DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #6
You crack me up. Evergreen Emerald Oct 2015 #8
I don't think we're at acceptance yet. Many more angry, divisive threads to come, I think. randome Oct 2015 #9
It's not acceptance... SidDithers Oct 2015 #22
Well then, time to abandon my principles and vote for the corporatist most likely to win. leftupnorth Oct 2015 #7
Depnds on who the GOP runs Armstead Oct 2015 #10
To what extent do "people who participate in online betting markets" represent "likely voters"? phantom power Oct 2015 #11
Please see Post #3 DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #16
Wrong, it says 53% odds say someone will beat her in the general election Reter Oct 2015 #12
We welcome Prez Trump...Carson...Bush III...or even worse... Hepburn Oct 2015 #13
In a field of over twenty five people. DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #15
Then what about the 90%+ chance of losing faced by any other Dem candidate? LonePirate Oct 2015 #17
He is ignoring a step in the process, a step the model takes into account DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #18
Oh FFS... SidDithers Oct 2015 #23
There is only one way fredamae Oct 2015 #14
You got me angrychair Oct 2015 #19
Online gambling is gambling against random outcomes brooklynite Oct 2015 #29
Should. angrychair Oct 2015 #44
Betting odds are math? redgreenandblue Oct 2015 #20
Please see Post #3 DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #21
Not according to the latest poll berni_mccoy Oct 2015 #24
That poll is nearly a month old DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #27
The trend says otherwise via RCP berni_mccoy Oct 2015 #42
Again, the peer reviwed research suggests the best way to find out who will win is to actually... DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #43
So now you turn to online gambling for solace? AgingAmerican Oct 2015 #25
Please See Post #3 DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #26
K & R Iliyah Oct 2015 #30
I like predictwise but miss the old Intrade market Gothmog Oct 2015 #31
Well, y'all have fun with that. [nt] Jester Messiah Oct 2015 #32
This message was self-deleted by its author Ed Suspicious Oct 2015 #33
Math is clear, but the electability odds variable is worthless. Here's the math that counts: DrBulldog Oct 2015 #34
Mantra, mantra, mantra... SoapBox Oct 2015 #35
Love the math! Big k&r! nt sufrommich Oct 2015 #36
K & R SunSeeker Oct 2015 #37
The true winners will be American Citizens. Thinkingabout Oct 2015 #38
I guess Jamie Dimon & the bankers will continue the parties at the White House! dmosh42 Oct 2015 #39
I WISH I had saved... BrainDrain Oct 2015 #40
The odds of course aren't static... DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #46
An online betting market sounds very scientific. n/t Gore1FL Oct 2015 #41
Please see Post #3 DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #45
Which of those 26 pages supports your argument? n/t Gore1FL Oct 2015 #47
Here DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #48
You repeated the first post. That is not useful. Gore1FL Oct 2015 #53
Hillary will be a great President! workinclasszero Oct 2015 #49
Nope. pinebox Oct 2015 #50
well vadermike Oct 2015 #51
Biden saw the handwriting on the wall and would most likely agree. oasis Oct 2015 #65
Intrade has Clinton at 94% Gothmog Nov 2015 #67
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