2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Ten honest questions I’d like every Bernie Sanders supporter to answer [View all]> 1. If Elizabeth Warren were in the race, most of you would be supporting her instead. If neither Warren nor Bernie were in the race, most of you would be supporting Martin OMalley despite knowing nothing about him. How are we supposed to take your endorsement of Bernie seriously when you appear to be simply backing him because hes not Hillary?
Well, we're not simply backing O'Malley (or Chafee, Webb, or Biden) because they're not Hillary. If Hillary wasn't running, I'd still be an enthusiastic Sanders supporter. He's excellent on the issues, and someone actually trustworthy.
> 2. Do you honestly believe that Bernie would do well with foreign policy? Do you think hed really be able to get congressmen of either party to vote for any of his initiatives once they see that hes not willing to compromise even a little? Are you envisioning a scenario in which President Bernie would be able to get anything accomplished at all? Even his most prominent supporters like Noam Chomsky have acknowledged he would get nothing done in office. Are you so enamored with the very idea of a protest candidate winning, you wouldnt care that hed be ineffective?
Bernie would do a lot better with foreign policy than someone who voted for war with Iraq, a war with Iran, and wanted to arm the Syrian jihadists. Bernie is no peacenik, but he thinks carefully before supporting a war.
The idea that Bernie never compromises is ridiculous. He'd worked with Republicans over his whole career, whether it was as mayor of Burlington, being the top sponsored of passed amendments in the Republican controlled 1995-2006 House of Representatives, or getting a major Veterans bill passed through the Republican House last year.
> 3. Are you unable to understand national polls, or do you just like to ignore them because they reveal that your guy is losing by thirty-eight points within his own party?
Sanders is not losing by 38 points. He's losing by comparable numbers to Obama this time in 2007.
> 4. Are you under the impression that the people showing up to Bernies rallies each get more than one vote? Is that how you think he closes the gap? Or have you intentionally saturated yourself so thoroughly with people voting for your guy that youve honestly forgotten the vast majority of the nation says they favor someone else?
Total straw-man here.
> 5. Do you understand that Bernies refusal to take traditional SuperPAC money means that even if he did get the nomination, hed be outspent ten to one by his republican opponent? Are you aware that moderates and undecideds make their decisions based primarily on television ads, which are the most expensive part of any campaign? Do you get that nearly every ad would be for the republican? Do you get that hed almost certainly lose? Would you really rather Bernie get the nomination and lose, than Hillary get the nomination and win? Because thats how it looks to the rest of us.
No, he would not get outspend 10 to 1. Sanders can raise hundreds of millions of hard dollars like Obama did. And when he got elected to the US Senate, he won over 2-1 despite having $7.3 million spent against him. That's about the same per voter as $3-4 billion nationwide.
> 6. Why do you spend more time pushing crazy lies about Hillary than you do talking up Bernies ideas? Bernie himself has made it clear that he thinks highly of Hillary, and he scolds any reporters who try to get him to trash her. If youre primarily supporting him because you think lowly of her, have you considered the extent of the disconnect between you and your candidate? Has it occurred to you that if Bernie heard you talking about Hillary the way you talk about her, hed angrily tell you off?
Crazy lies? Another strawman. Bernie is simply much better on the issues.
> 7. Do you really think that Bernies strong showing in New Hampshire, a tiny state five minutes from where he lives, where hes been locally popular for decades, is representative of the nation? Do you really think that New Hampshires four electoral votes will make a difference in this primary? And again, do you not know how to read national polls, or do you just like ignoring them because those polls reveal that your guys candidacy is already finished?
Burlington isn't 5 minutes from NH. NH is a totally different state than Vermont. And Bernie is leading in Iowa.
> 8. Do you get that youre supporting Bernie for essentially the same reason that conservatives are supporting Donald Trump? Do you realize that both men are basing their campaigns entirely on government sucks, the system sucks, both parties suck, politicians are idiots and a trained rat could do better, and Im just that trained rat. Do you not understand the parallels between your desire to stomp your feet at Bernies generic indignance, and conservativess desire to stomp their feet at Trumps generic indignance? Does that not embarrass you?
Another straw man. Bernie has a 32 1/2 year record as mayor and Congressman of working for better government.
> 9. Most of you supporting Bernie are also fans of Obama. Seeing how Obama has all but endorsed Hillary, and how Obama sees her as his natural successor, dont you find it odd that youre instead rooting against her even as you still try to take credit for supporting Obama? How does that make you any different from the republicans who try to take credit for Obamas accomplishments while insisting he should be replaced by republican?
Obama hasn't all but endorsed Hillary. Particularly if Biden runs. And Obama certainly isn't as good as Bernie on the issues.
> 10. And the only question that truly matters: when Hillary becomes the democratic party nominee, will you pout and stay home on election day and hand the nation back to the republicans? Or will you show up and vote for Hillary because you know shes the far better of the two candidates? While none of us understand why youre supporting a less-qualified protest candidate whose ideas arent realistic and who cant win anyway, were really only going to judge you based on what you do on election day. So when its Hillary vs Jeb TrumpCruz, whats it going to be?
The idea that Bernie can't win is hogwash. And Hillary certainly hasn't done a damn thing to earn my vote.