What % of the people need to support you to say you have the support of "The People"?

[Godhumor]

And does that definition apply to all candidates?

Can multiple candidates be supported by "The People" or can there be only one (Highlander-style)?

Do "The People" have specific demographic characteristics?

Is it, in fact, possible to define what "The People" want?

I really am curious, because I would like to know how one can earn the moniker of the "The People's Candidate".

[upaloopa]

1. It's all bull shit to co-opt the "people" for your

self centered purposes.


Someone here is co-opting Dr King for their Bernie talking points.

[NCTraveler]

2. Really is a loaded and abused term, isn't it? nt.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Pigeon holes are for pigeons.

[Godhumor]

4. So, I can say Clinton is the People's Candidate because she has majority support?

And it would be just as true as Bernie being the People's Candidate because he had passionate followers?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Go right ahead. Quite a number of us would find the claim laughable.

You might get more support if you said that Bernie is the Socialist's candidate and Hillary is the candidate of the MIC and Wall Street.

I've never known of a politician who didn't claim to be the "Candidate of The People". Alas, there's some of The People who will disagree.

There are no facts, only interpretations. Friedrich Nietzsche

[Godhumor]

13. But if a claim can be found to be laughable then there is a reason it is laughable

And, as such, there is a definition of The People the claim fails. But the question is, what defines The People?

And the labels you propose don't work, I think, because Bernie wants to represent all Democrats, as does Hillary, and Hillary has support far beyond corporate interests.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. That's what I meant about pigeon holes.

The People is a throwaway term used by politicians of all stripes. It's as useful as Real Men, Real Women, Real Democrats, Real Republicans, Real Catholics, or Real Buddhists.

Put simply, there is no "People", but a group of humans with differing bodies, traits, personalities, morality, and preferences.

Politicians try to sell themselves as the Leader of The people, to a lot of people who don't even want leaders of any kind.

[MineralMan]

5. Everyone says they represent "The People."

I suppose they represent the people who support them,

Some people use "The American People" as a substitute. The louder they say that, the fewer people they actually represent.

There are many similar overstatements. You'll see things like "Democrats support Bernie Sanders." That statement is only accurate if you add "Some" to the beginning of the sentence. The same is true of all such overstatements. People tend to forget the qualifiers. The idea is that you'll actually believe their overstatement if they leave it out.

It's a really common logical fallacy, really. It's in wide use, especially, by politicians and their supporters.

[Godhumor]

8. And this is why DUers support MineralMan

Oh wait, god dammit, I did that wrong.

[MineralMan]

9. Why, so they do.

[MohRokTah]

6. 50% + 1 in a general election. eom

[JaneyVee]

7. At least 50.1%

[mmonk]

11. A peoples candidate always is in their corner regardless of what they are led to

believe. They may disagree due to what they have been led to believe. Such is the state of being human. Typically, a person can be considered a peoples candidate from those that have not been led to vote against their interests through fear or deception.

[mythology]

12. I think it takes a pretty high level of support

Something on the order of 66 plus percent. Below that you can still have a majority and even a mandate, but to mean saying that you have the will of the people requires more than that. To me it requires an almost overwhelming level of support. It should be difficult.