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amborin

(16,631 posts)
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 10:52 AM Mar 2016

Current Affairs: Unless the Dems Nominate Sanders, A Trump Nom Means A Trump Presidency



Democrats need to seriously and pragmatically assess their strategy for defeating Trump. A Clinton run would be disastrous; Bernie Sanders is their only hope.

by Nathan J. Robinson

With Donald Trump looking increasingly likely to actually be the Republican nominee for President, it’s long past time for the Democrats to start working on a pragmatic strategy to defeat him. Months of complacent, wishful insistences that Trump will disappear have proven false, and with a firm commanding lead in polls and several major primary victories, predictions are increasingly favoring Trump to win the nomination.

If Democrats honestly believe, as they say they do, that Trump poses a serious threat to the wellbeing of the country and the lives of minority citizens, that means doing everything possible to keep him out of office. To do that will require them to very quickly unite around a single goal, albeit a counter-intuitive one: they must make absolutely sure that Bernie Sanders is the Democratic nominee for President.

snip

a Clinton match-up is highly likely to be an unmitigated electoral disaster, whereas a Sanders candidacy stands a far better chance. Every one of Clinton’s (considerable) weaknesses plays to every one of Trump’s strengths, whereas every one of Trump’s (few) weaknesses plays to every one of Sanders’s strengths. From a purely pragmatic standpoint, running Clinton against Trump is a disastrous, suicidal proposition.

Sanders supporters have lately been arguing that their candidate is more electable than people think, and they have some support from the available polling. In a number of hypotheticals, Sanders does better than Clinton at beating Trump, and his “unfavorable” ratings among voters are a good deal lower than Clinton’s. ....

snip

http://static.currentaffairs.org/2016/02/unless-the-democrats-nominate-sanders-a-trump-nomination-means-a-trump-presidency
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Current Affairs: Unless the Dems Nominate Sanders, A Trump Nom Means A Trump Presidency (Original Post) amborin Mar 2016 OP
Completely wrong. Sorry, but it is. ghostsinthemachine Mar 2016 #1
Sorry, but I think I saw the reverse being argumented over the weekend: Betty Karlson Mar 2016 #6
Hillary is too polarizing (see polls at link) Baobab Mar 2016 #19
Then let's make sure he is nominated. Betty Karlson Mar 2016 #21
that is your anecdotal experience; tells us nothing about larger populations amborin Mar 2016 #8
Actually, it's consistent with my observations of people in general Rebkeh Mar 2016 #15
That's what the polling data say now. Octafish Mar 2016 #2
How does Trump win without women and minorities? sufrommich Mar 2016 #3
My hairdresser is a woman. She supports Trump. IdaBriggs Mar 2016 #5
??? Rebkeh Mar 2016 #16
Exactly. Lucinda Mar 2016 #17
Rest of article rings true to me also: marions ghost Mar 2016 #4
yes; she has not been vetted; Bernie has been gentle with her; the repubs have not yet amborin Mar 2016 #11
Yikes, & I'm sure tRump would go there marions ghost Mar 2016 #13
Oh, puhleeeez... Surya Gayatri Mar 2016 #7
Hillary is a HORRIBLE candidate... AzDar Mar 2016 #9
Death throes of a dying campaign. nt LexVegas Mar 2016 #10
Isn't Nathan Robinson one of those nutcases that's been predicting a Bernie victory over Hillary? DanTex Mar 2016 #12
Dilusional article to say the least calguy Mar 2016 #14
Several of my neighbors who I thought were likely Republicans seem much more Bernie than Hillary Baobab Mar 2016 #20
Illogical quickesst Mar 2016 #18

ghostsinthemachine

(3,569 posts)
1. Completely wrong. Sorry, but it is.
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 10:56 AM
Mar 2016

Every Repub I know, and that is a lot, would either hold their nose and vote for HRC, or not vote at all for President if it is HRC and Trump. Especially the women. Rep women hate Trump.

 

Betty Karlson

(7,231 posts)
21. Then let's make sure he is nominated.
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 12:55 PM
Mar 2016

I'd like a landslide win. Swingstate Louisiana sounds awesome.

Rebkeh

(2,450 posts)
15. Actually, it's consistent with my observations of people in general
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 11:55 AM
Mar 2016

Whether I know them or not. They hate her more than they fear Trump. It's messed up but true.

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
2. That's what the polling data say now.
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 10:57 AM
Mar 2016

Who can imagine what the numbers will be after the debates between Bernie and the insane NAZI?

sufrommich

(22,871 posts)
3. How does Trump win without women and minorities?
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 10:59 AM
Mar 2016

Some of these "OMG,Trumps going to win!" OPs seem to ignore that the vote isn't reserved for white men.

 

IdaBriggs

(10,559 posts)
5. My hairdresser is a woman. She supports Trump.
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 11:03 AM
Mar 2016

It was an awkward session on Saturday. I like Bernie, she likes Trump. We found common ground in Hillary bashing.

marions ghost

(19,841 posts)
4. Rest of article rings true to me also:
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 11:01 AM
Mar 2016

Her supporters insist that she has already been “tried and tested” against all the attacks that can be thrown at her. But this is not the case; she has never been subjected to the full brunt of attacks that come in a general presidential election. Bernie Sanders has ignored most tabloid dirt, treating it as a sensationalist distraction from real issues (“Enough with the damned emails!”) But for Donald Trump, sensationalist distractions are the whole game. He will attempt to crucify her. And it is very, very likely that he will succeed.

Trump’s political dominance is highly dependent on his idiosyncratic, audacious method of campaigning. He deals almost entirely in amusing, outrageous, below-the-belt personal attacks, and is skilled at turning public discussions away from the issues and toward personalities (He/she’s a “loser,” “phony,” “nervous,” “hypocrite,” “incompetent.”) If Trump does have to speak about the issues, he makes himself sound foolish, because he doesn’t know very much. Thus he requires the media not to ask him difficult questions, and depends on his opponents’ having personal weaknesses and scandals that he can merrily, mercilessly exploit.

This campaigning style makes Hillary Clinton Donald Trump’s dream opponent. She gives him an endless amount to work with. The emails, Benghazi, Whitewater, Iraq, the Lewinsky scandal, Chinagate, Travelgate, the missing law firm records, Jeffrey Epstein, Kissinger, Marc Rich, Haiti, Clinton Foundation tax errors, Clinton Foundation conflicts of interest, “We were broke when we left the White House,” Goldman Sachs… There is enough material in Hillary Clinton’s background for Donald Trump to run with six times over.

The defense offered by Clinton supporters is that none of these issues actually amount to anything once you look at them carefully. But this is completely irrelevant; all that matters is the fodder they would provide for the Trump machine. Who is going to be looking carefully? In the time you spend trying to clear up the basic facts of Whitewater, Trump will have made five more allegations.

amborin

(16,631 posts)
11. yes; she has not been vetted; Bernie has been gentle with her; the repubs have not yet
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 11:31 AM
Mar 2016

started in on her; as far as women are concerned, she is on record saying some pretty awful things about vicitims of Bill's predation;

marions ghost

(19,841 posts)
13. Yikes, & I'm sure tRump would go there
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 11:38 AM
Mar 2016

............... I do not want to relive the 90's no matter how much it was better than the horrors of the 2000's. We all know the negatives of Bill's presidency as far as policy.

I hate to see the dirt that will be dug and flung if it's Hill vs Trump.

calguy

(5,292 posts)
14. Dilusional article to say the least
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 11:47 AM
Mar 2016

Republicans would have a hay day running false ads about Bernie's "communist past" and how Bernie would transform America into another Venezuela or Cuba. Of course they would be false, but believable to the masses of uninformed and easily swayed masses. Don't let Bernie's high poll numbers against Trump fool you. GOP would never attack their dream opponent until the nomination is in his hand.

Baobab

(4,667 posts)
20. Several of my neighbors who I thought were likely Republicans seem much more Bernie than Hillary
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 12:18 PM
Mar 2016

Development is a big issue, people see real-estate developers as waging war on current residents in order to make money on the churning.

Obama with his past of real estate development and Clinton with her neoliberalism are part of that group so I think people see Sanders will likely be the only candidate that doesn't create some big disaster for them to funnel profits to real estate moguls.

the TTIP contains a energy bill that will irreversibly export energy and that could mean much higher heating and electricity prices, leading to loss of affordable housing in large amounts in cities.

If that happens the Democrats will be blamed. Maybe thats their goal, but if so, its suicide for this party.

quickesst

(6,280 posts)
18. Illogical
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 12:06 PM
Mar 2016

Okay, so you have two teams, and the members of each team compete with each other to determine who will compete for the overall championship. One team has already finished their final match and picked their champion. The other team has one final contest to choose their champion. Competitor A and competitor B engage in their match. Competitor A handily beats competitor B. Due to some kind of logic that is difficult to understand, the outcome is overridden and competitor B, the loser of the final round is chosen over the winner of the fiinal round to represent their team for the championship. WTF!!!!

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