General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Supporting the values of the Sanders movement is not "refighting the primaries". [View all]Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)Bernie did the exact opposite of Nader. Bernie did what those of us in the "Fuck Nader" camp have been saying for years that Nader himself should have done: Run in the Democratic primaries so as not to split the vote in the general election.
If Bernie had chosen to go the Nader route and run against both Clinton and Trump in the general election, Trump would have won the popular vote and a much bigger Electoral College win.
Bernie energized a lot of people, most of whom then voted for Clinton. Note that the number of people who voted for Bernie in the primaries was approximately ten times the number that voted for Stein in the general. I conclude that Clinton got more votes in the general than she would have gotten if Bernie hadn't run at all. Yes, Bernie's campaign message was that Clinton was too far to the right, but most of us who agreed with that message voted for her anyway, so his criticism didn't cost her a significant number of votes -- not enough to outweigh the votes his campaign brought her.