2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Please DON'T CALL Hillary A Progressive [View all]Gothmog
(145,046 posts)First, Sanders will not be the nominee unless there is a real path demonstrated for him to win or be viable in a general election contest. I like Sanders and according to the online quiz, I am closer to Sanders' positions than to Hillary Clinton's positions. However, I live in the real world and it is clear to me that Sanders in not viable. Your explanation as to Sanders viability would not convince anyone to support Sanders other than people who already have decide to do so.
Second, it is not donors deciding not to contribute but the fact that Sanders is committed to a plan that will keep such donors from contributing. President Obama had the best small dollar fund raising machine in the history of politics and even he had to use a super pac. Under the campaign finance rules, major donors can only give $5,400 directly to the Sanders campaign and another $30,800 to the DNC. That amount may not be sufficient when the Kochs and the RNC candidate will have access to super pacs that can raise unlimited amounts from large donors. It is not a case of the Democratic super donors deciding not to give but there not being an acceptable mechanism for these donors to give if Sanders is the nominee because of the ban on super pacs.
I note that you do not want to discuss the role of negative ads and the terms "socialist" and "socialism". Sanders is very vulnerable to be being buried by negative ads. These terms poll badly now and would be radioactive after several hundred million dollars of negative ad. Many Democrats do not want to run the risk of hoping that voters will change their views on socialism in a contest where Sanders will lack the resources to fight back effectively.
The recent polling and the lack of traction by the Sanders campaign confirms that I am not the only one who is concerned about Sanders not being viable in a general election contest. While Predictwise is still unproven and may not be as accurate as the old Intrade system. it is clear that I am not the only one who thinks that Sanders will not be the nominee. Again, if Sanders wants to expand his base beyond the current group of supporters, Sanders will have to provide a good explanation as to how he will be viable in the general election.
Hillary Clinton and most democrats hate Citizens United and the only way to change the game is to win in 2016 and to appoint SCOTUS justices who will vote to overturn this ruling. To that, we have to win which is why many Democrats are not willing to take a chance on Sanders. Texas is the process of having yet another election under a voter suppression plan that was allowed to go into effect due to the SCOTUS gutting of the voting Rights Act.
Again, I live in the real world and I am not convinced that Sanders is viable. If Sanders is the nominee, I will support him but I may end having to direct my campaign contributions to areas where I see some chance for success such as the Democratic Senate campaigns and local races.