General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Only 30 % of democrats want Sanders to run again [View all]StevieM
(10,503 posts)accomplish if he were to become president.
It is possible that he wins the nomination, in part because he has sold this image of himself as super-electable. And some voters might also be scared that the base of the party won't rally behind the nominee if Sanders is denied again. Finally, he might legitimately impress a lot of voters with his ideas. All of these things could garner him a victory in the primaries.
If Donald Trump is the GOP nominee in 2020 then it is by no means impossible for Bernie to beat him, especially since he is going to do a whole lot more wrong between now and then. I don't think Bernie could have beaten a Republican like Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio in 2016. It is not clear what would have happened if he had run against Trump. The GOP would have made up a series of fake scandals about him, and probably would have gotten an assist from the FBI. And he might not have destroyed Trump in the debates the way that Hillary did. So we can't be certain what would have happened. But in 2020 I think he could do it.
The question remains: what would he get done as president? Single payer health care is unlikely to pass. But does he spend all his political capital, and effort, trying, thereby taking away his chance to overhaul our nation's energy economy?
And does having a candidate who calls himself a socialist, albeit a Democratic Socialist, hurt us in some down ballot races? Even if it doesn't hurt us in 2020, does it make these newly elected Democrats more vulnerable in 2022?