2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumPersonalities aside, which candidate represents YOUR OWN priorities and goals?
Setting aside the sniping between "Supporters" and the personal image and "electability" snarking and peeing contests: Which candidate has the actual message, policies and goals that represent YOU personally? Suppose they were all Blank Slates as individuals, and you just looked at their message, platform and positions, and assumed they all had an equal shot in the GE?
Me, I'm a hardcore Sanders supporter because he has been speaking (and fighting) for the things I believe in for decades. I agreee with about 85 percent of what he has proposed and supported now and in years past. His diagnosis, and his proposed solutions are what I believe in, and have believed in since the 1980's.
But my Number Two on positions is O'Malley. In fact, my ideal candidate/platform would be a merger of Sanders' basic message and goals and positions with many of O'Malley's detailed positions and proposals....
And further, at least in his words, O'Malley has identified more specifically an issue I believe needs to be addressed, and which even Sanders has not really talked about enough. That is the need for more vigorous anti-trust and anti-monopolist regulations and enforcement to reverse the consolidation of the economy into the hands of a small number of Massive Monopolistic Corporations in all sectors of the economy.
peacebird
(14,195 posts)Android3.14
(5,402 posts)I'm with you.
Vinca
(50,310 posts)I imagine if you quizzed people on what he stands for without mentioning his name or the word "socialist," he would represent them, too.
askew
(1,464 posts)His strong commitment to immigration reform, helping refugees, repealing death penalty and strong gun control are all issues he is light-years better on than any other candidate.
I like his mixture of optimism, progressive values and moral principles mixed together. He seems like the natural successor to Obama.
Bernie is really the only other candidate I'd consider though I have some serious reservations about him.
Hillary is just unacceptable.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)and that is my #1 Issue, the debilitating, for the people, awful, corrupting effects of money in politics. We can get nothing else done until that lock on our corrupted system, 'rigged' as Warren correctly stated, is broken.
And I am not alone, over 80% of Americans, across all demographics, want this money out of our political system. It is probably the main reason why Bernie is doing so well, while O'Malley despite his pretty decent stand on many issues, isn't.
askew
(1,464 posts)O'Malley had 0 name recognition when the race started whereas Sanders had a higher name recoginition among progressives due to his multiple appearances on NPR, MSNBC, etc.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)with a smidge of chafee because he voted against the iwr and is anti dp.
Absolutely!
AtomicKitten
(46,585 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts)Similar reasons
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)well be in a depression the way things are going. He's the only lighted path I see before me.
PragmaticLiberal
(904 posts)And the reason is quite simple:
I've seen him actually implement much of the platform the other candidates have just talked about.
Also like the fact he's giving in-depth proposals, heavy on details.
And last but not least (imo), he's the right mix of pragmatism without sacrificing his core beliefs.
CharlotteVale
(2,717 posts)Pastiche423
(15,406 posts)I have been closely following Bernie for over nine years.
A few years ago, I began telepathically chanting to Jane Sanders to nudge her husband to run for president. I did it every night before I went to sleep.
On May 26, 2015 my chanting was rewarded.
On August 9, 2015 I got to finally see them w/a few close friends (28,000) in Portland, Oregon.
I am sooooo psyched for Bernie!
YabaDabaNoDinoNo
(460 posts)If I were a republican I would be a big Clinton supporter but I am not.
JI7
(89,276 posts)Baltimore18
(45 posts)lovemydog
(11,833 posts)followed by O'Malley. For the same reasons you mention.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)is the best fit from this crop of primary candidates; he's a strong fit.
I don't have a number 2; none of the rest represent my priorities and goals very well.
Yes, of course, they are better than republicans, for those who feel the need to point that out to me.
seaglass
(8,173 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)Fearless
(18,421 posts)McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)Some things must be accomplished by the oppressed group for themselves, not as "gifts" from others.
Fearless
(18,421 posts)sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)O'Malley #2, Clinton #3
Vattel
(9,289 posts)doesn't always match the candidate's true goals and priorities and policy preferences. One has to look at the record of the candidates as well as what they say on the campaign trail. And Sanders has by far the best record among all candidates.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)Character and all that are also obviously important. But I was deliberately trying to steer this clear of the personalities, to focus on the basic message and goals of the different candidates....For one reason to see what people think is truly important, beyond all the strategery.
Vattel
(9,289 posts)Looking at record and rhetoric, Sanders is much better.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)and to mix it up a little further, for NONcandidates, my choice is Warren.
Fearless
(18,421 posts)elana i am
(814 posts)so far i have only found two things i disagree with him on. guns and israel. and really we're not THAT far apart on those issues either. he has a more moderate approach, but he's nothing whatsoever like a gun nut or a zionist.
eh, i can't have everything...
for the rest that i have managed to research, we are pretty much aligned on our opinions.
i guess omalley would come next.
if we're doing dream candidate mash-ups, then it would be a sanders/warren hybrid for a double shot of populism. right now the most important issues for me in this election are ridding ourselves of citizens united and reckoning with the wall street vermin.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)However, gender is a huge issue. And will be after we have our first female president. But maybe a little bit more manageable.