....you know, the people who took the unpardonable step of voting for the IWR? Like Hillary Clinton? Why would those votes go to Bernie? And why would you want them?

Bernie supporters who do not like to vote for people with blood on their hands would perhaps not vote for Biden.

But that does not mean that people that reject Hillary so much that they declare support for someone not even running would not vote for Bernie.

See how that works? It's a logical problem you had there.

...you assume that every vote is pro- or anti-Hillary. There are likely some voters who actually like Biden based on his history and policies, and will select his name when a pollster asks. But Biden is a mainstream Democrat...just like Clinton. And when pollsters drop him from the list, I'd say 50-75% of his votes will go to Hillary.

Perhaps you missed the NBC poll where Biden was dropped, Sanders remained at 15 and Clinton went to 75?

CNN -(with Biden) 

HRC 58% 
JB-17% 
BS 15% 

NBC (without Biden) 

HRC- 75% 
BS -15% 

http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2016-national-democratic-primary

Personally, I don't interpret it the way some do. But time will tell.

and her lead increased even more.

...is going to vote for Sanders?!?

Wow. Just wow.

Alright. Whatever, guy. Just so long as we all agree to support the Democratic nominee, no matter who it is, I'm happy.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

That is your assumption for why people would choose Biden over Hillary. I disagree.

The Democratic party isn't the DU. It's a considerably broader tent than you imagine it to be.

Out in the real world, both Hillary and Obama are considered not just liberals, but very liberal.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

It is reality.

Admittedly it is a small sampling, but it is reality as much as anything else.

It has meaning and the frustration you see here with the system is very much at work in the rest of the country.

Now it loves Sanders.

Do you remember how that campaign went? The good Congressman got some noise. His support was extremely deep among the relative handful of people who liked him, and he could fill small to medium scale venues without much of any trouble. And he was the absolute darling of the standard DU writers. Boy, you couldn't open up the site in 2007 without seeing a "Kucinich is winning!!!!" post with a hundred or so upvotes.

Then the actual elections happened and he was crushed by Democratic primary voters.

So far from being representative of the country, it's not even representative of the liberal-skewed Democratic primary voters. And no, this isn't because of some nefarious scheme, or that liberal Democrats are somehow sheep. They just want to win.

Winning doesn't seem to be a priority to a very vocal segment of this site. Doing so is compromising your moral principles, apparently.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

In the details, you are right.

But in the bigger picture, I believe DU is a good reflection, an outlier though it may be, of what is actually happening.

I think you don't get it. But that's okay, few do.

Regardless of who it is. Even an old gun-toting religious centrist like me fears for the country if the Republicans win the Presidency.

I know "party loyalty" is considered some sort of character flaw around these parts, but it does indeed go both ways.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

...I'm just glad that you're acknowledging that in the "MSM" - i.e. MAINSTREAM media - these things are true.

The mainstream thinks Obama and Clinton are liberal. That's the vast majority of people. And you don't win elections without winning that mainstream majority. Period.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

When exactly was he running?

There was a huge amount of wishful thinking on this board that he might run, but he never for a nano-second gave any indication that he might be.

Whether those who would have supported him, had he decided to run, will go for Bernie or Hillary or O'Malley or anyone else who might declare, is a total unknown.

Biden is popular among a good portion of Dems and for good reason. it has nothing to do with Hillary or Sanders.

Biden's popularity stands on its own.

He'd make a great President.