Editorials & Other Articles

Last edited Wed Apr 27, 2016, 07:32 AM - Edit history (1)

In reply #93 you referred to the "facts" showing that Sanders would win as an Independent because "out-polls every other candidate. And has less disapproval ratings," yet you have no relevant data to support that claim about Sanders (I). Instead, you have polling data for Sanders (D), who wouldn't be the candidate in your hypothetical projection. Show me poll data for a three-way race between Clinton (D), Sanders (I) and GOP asshole-to-be-named-later (R), and we'll talk.

Maybe it wasn't intellectual dishonesty. Maybe it was simple carelessness or innocent ignorance about how polling data work. Take your pick.

Let's be honest here: if Clinton had done exactly the same thing, then Sanders' supporters would be calling her out for her calculated and cynical tactic. But Sanders gets a pass because... Why, exactly?

"Deserves?" What does "deserves" have to do with it? Is he a Democrat or is he not? Sanders' supporters around here explicitly (I can post links, if you don't believe me) declare themselves to be the real, true Democrats, yet Sanders runs as an Independent in Vermont. Why? If he's a Democrat, why not be honest about it? Why has he registered as an Independent in Vermont for 2017?

As I noted, he hasn't campaigned for other Democrats, and there's no indication that his presence on the ticket will boost other Democrats in November. Show me evidence to the contrary, if you can.

Well that's not the real question, is it? His party affiliation should indeed be irrelevant to the correctness of his policies, but it's naive to imagine that that's what the election is about or how the process works.

Does Sanders have sufficient resources to take on Clinton and the GOP candidate? Because the Democratic establishment that his supporters so clearly despise certainly isn't going to help him. Forgive me, but there's no way that Sanders (I) can capture enough of the electorate to win. He'll take most of the Independents, some of the Democrats, and a few Republican voters. That would leave the GOP contender with a clear and strong advantage over Clinton and Sanders, and then we're all but guaranteed to have a Republican Whitehouse.

If you're writing electoral fan fiction, then that's fine. But when you claim that your imagined outcome is "supported by facts," you need to support it with facts.