Maybe Your Second Choice Should Be Your First;Here’s Why You Should Consider This.

[elleng]

by a friend

'Hello fellow Democrats. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m beginning to worry that many of us are presently marching down diverging roads to defeat. That’s the bad news. The good news is that we all still have time to follow the road most of us have not yet taken. That’s the road to party unity and potential victory next November.

Some of us now on Bernie Boulevard have vowed that we will never switch to the Hillary Highway. Meanwhile, I’m pretty sure some of us now on the Hillary Highway would balk at turning onto the Bernie Boulevard. In other words, I get the feeling that it’s going to be very difficult to unify the party around either of these two candidates.

Oh sure, a Clinton/Sanders or Sanders/Clinton “unity” ticket is theoretically possible…. But, does anyone seriously think such a ticket would actually unify the party? Would either of these get the vow-takers, etc. back into the fold? And, most importantly, does anyone really believe either of those tickets would win next November?

I don’t, and neither should you.

But wait, you’re probably thinking, aren’t all the potential Republican tickets simply ridiculous? Won’t Hillary or Bernie be able to defeat any Republican ticket without the vow-takers, etc?

Don’t bet on it.

“The Demo­crats’ hopes of hold­ing the White House rest on…re­mo­bil­iz­ing the Obama co­ali­tion of mil­len­ni­als, single wo­men, and non­white voters” — the so-called “rising American electorate” or RAE. Unfortunately, that coalition is presently less motivated than Republicans, conservatives and white non-college men and women. This is in spite of all the enthusiastic support Bernie has generated on-line and in spite of the millions Hillary’s campaign has already spent. And it’s in spite of so many good Democrats now marching down Hillary Highway and Bernie Boulevard.

So, what did Obama have going in 2007/8 to motivate the rising American electorate that Hillary and Bernie don’t have now? Why are they falling short?

He was the new guy. He had youth. And in each of those ways, he was something like nearly all the Democrats we’ve elected President for the past 55 years. Obama, Clinton, Carter and JFK were also all youthful new long-shots a year before they were elected.

Which brings me to the road not yet taken by so many Democrats this election. The new guy road. Perhaps the best road to the hearts and minds of the new American electorate. The road some say is to the future of the Democratic Party. And perhaps the only road to party unity next year….

Martin O'Malley could be the candidate the whole party would support. There are indications that he’s becoming the second choice of many Democrats. He’s also becoming the first choice of increasing numbers of Democrats who’ve given him serious consideration. And he’s a Main Street Democrat, willing and able to tackle the toughest challenges.

So, please think about it, Democrats. The future of our country is at stake. If the alternative candidates being supported so far are any indication, the people are looking for new leadership. And our party needs to be unified to win next year. The good news is that we can accomplish both those goals. But first, more of us need to exit the Hillary Highway and depart the Bernie Boulevard, and head on over to Martin O’Malley’s Main Street. If we go there without prejudice, we just might like what we see and learn. And perhaps we’ll discover the candidate who has the best chance of keeping a Democrat in the White House for the next eight years.'

https://medium.com/@Nick_Kelly/maybe-your-second-choice-should-be-your-first-here-s-why-you-should-consider-this-a136da14bcd8#.mz515ctwk

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. O'Malley used to be my second choice.

Until he started deliberately misrepresenting Bernie, at which point he became just another lying politician and persona non grata. There were ways to legitimately differentiate himself from Bernie and to maintain civility while doing so, but he chose instead to malign, misrepresent, and simply lie. So no, he's not my second choice any more. Or any of my choices. Indeed, about the best way for Bernie to lose my vote in the general would be to pick O'Malley as his VP.

[winter is coming]

2. +1. n/t

[djean111]

3. Not my second choice, either. I agree. n/t

[HerbChestnut]

4. I'm starting to agree with this.

O'Malley's resorted to Red Baiting when talking about Sanders. It's unfortunate because I really wanted to like him.

[retrowire]

9. Now listen here...

O'Malley was my second choice. Then he pulled this political bullshit of misrepresenting Bernie.

I was pissed about that too.

But after a bit, I felt it was forgiveable. He's in a hard third place in this race. It's hard to blame him for trying a dirty tactic.

Because his policies are great, and he seems genuine. PLUS, in the last DEM Debate, Bernie and O'Malley basically tag teamed Hillary. Not letting her get away with shit on stage. I loved their synergy.

So yeah, I've been able to forgive O'malley. It's not like he's kept it up.

[bigtree]

10. meh

...maybe Sanders shouldn't have lumped O'Malley in with Clinton in the last debate, ranting about Wall Street. I didn't get all butt-hurt about it. It's politics. It's bullshit, but I guess Sanders needed to try and dismiss O'Malley's progressive platform and his progressive achievements.

Sanders and his campaign aren't above misrepresenting his opponents record. Moreover, O'Malley has every right to reject 'socialism' as much as Sanders has to embrace the philosophy. He brought the issue into this campaign. Blaming other Democrats for distancing themselves from Sanders sketchy explanations for his made-up moniker is a weak defense.

[HerbChestnut]

5. Sorry Ellen,

But so long as my first choice is still in the race I won't be voting for my second choice. And even then O'Malley is barely my second choice right now.

[Andy823]

6. I would agree 100%

The infighting is getting insane around here, and I think O'Malley would be able win over all voters, young, old, male or female. He should be much further ahead in the polls, but the MSM has made sure this is a battle between Hillary and Bernie. I think the reason for this is that the GOP fears him more than the other two because he can unit democrats, not divide them.

I see some here have already thrown him under the bus, but as has been said many times, DU is not reflective of real life, and in real life, I think many will give him a second look over, and decide that he should be their number one pick, not number 2.

Thanks for posting ellen.

[elleng]

7. Thanks for responding, Andy.

Reminds me of Dem past tactic:

[HerbChestnut]

8. It's not about throwing him under the bus.

If a candidate goes out of their way to misrepresent one of his colleagues then they are deserving of criticism.

[bigtree]

11. Sanders went out of his way to (mis)represent PACs supporting O'Malley

...as an indication he was 'beholden' to Wall Street, in the last debate.

He can dish it out, but supporters here are awful thin-skinned when it comes to criticisms of their own candidate.

He's not in some universe by himself. He brought the issue of socialism into this race, himself, with his own invented adoption of the label of 'Democratic Socialist.' It's a grab bag of rationales for adopting that moniker, made worse by Sanders' own contorted version of the label.

There's absolutely no reason opponents should be required to carry that political water for Sanders. At the least, they should be reasonably allowed to distance themselves from his nebulous version of what 'Democratic Socialism' means.

[brooklynite]

12. With all due respect, I'm not sure O'Malley is my second choice.

I have concerns that Sanders can't win the General Election, but I have even greater doubts about someone who's only raised $3.8 M to run a national campaign, and can't get his poll numbers out of Dennis Kucinich territory is going to do better.

[bigtree]

13. money and polls

...those are your priorities in an election?

Inspiring.

[elleng]

15. Thanks, bigtree!

An excellent point!

[mythology]

16. They are relevant factors in winning which is kind of the point of the election

That said, I'm happy to vote for any of the three candidates as the differences between them are small and the differences between them collectively and the buffoons in the Republican primary are not small.

[elleng]

14. but you KNOW why his numbers are where they are, brooklynite,

you of all the DUers! TPTB have done everything they can to keep him under wraps, and due to THEIR power, it's worked! So trying to elbow between the 2 'frontrunners' is a heckuva task, especially since the msm wants DRAMA!

[NCTraveler]

17. I would argue...

If a candidate is polling like Clinton, with under two months left in the primary, the party is unified.