Originally Posted By oneyepete Since WE seems to be heavily laden with a democratic point of view, I have a question to ask. Which democratic presidential candidate would you vote for and why? I do not vote along party lines and I am not to keen on what the GOP is offering at the moment. I would like to know your reasons why you think your candidate would be a better choice. Thanks
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Which democratic presidential candidate would you vote for and why?<< I'm a Hillary guy, through and through. I like Bernie a lot and I think we're better off with him in the Senate. I support Hillary because she has tons of experience and has a realistic sense of what it takes to accomplish things in Washington. I think it's likely she will win and that the Senate will flip Democratic but not with a filibuster-proof majority. I suppose I'm one of those rare Americans left who thinks insider status in Washington is a good thing, that government is good and can accomplish positive things through incremental change. Our system of government was very deliberately setup to make change and accomplishments hard. I think Hillary would govern as a moderate left-of-center president and I think that has the most likelihood of getting things done. After all this time, I have zero idea how Bernie would govern. None. His proposals are attractive to liberals and they will never, ever pass. All the stuff Hillary says and does that drives Bernie supporters up the wall that they call pandering and selling out and dishonest? I shrug and call it the realities of campaigning in America. I firmly believe we get the candidates and the politicians we deserve. We the People are forever portraying ourselves as victims, as outsiders of this system, as if a Salem witch cursed us and now we're stuck with it. This system is our creation, our doing. And yeah, I think symbolism matters and in 2016 it's time to elect a woman. Imagine that a six-year-old girl could be fourteen when a Hillary Clinton presidency is over. Imagine the impact that can have. You can't be what isn't modeled for you. That matters to me.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>His proposals are attractive to liberals and they will never, ever pass. << As opposed to Hillary's, which … will never, ever pass. ;-) I don't trust Hillary. At all. I think there's overwhelming evidence that she has the ethics and sincerity of a sand slug, and I think a Hillary administration will be a non-stop scandal-fest, with nothing getting done, and most likely ending in impeachment - possibly successful. The GOP won't even have to make things up this time - they have plenty of material, with more surfacing every day. So, Bernie by default. And I wish I didn't have to vote for Hillary in the general, but here we are. I said I wasn't going to, but at the time I had clearly underestimated the GOP's ability to nominate someone FAR more awful. Doggone you, Elizabeth Warren. WHY didn't you run? WHYYYYYYYYYYYY???
Originally Posted By hopemax > Doggone you, Elizabeth Warren. WHY didn't you run? WHYYYYYYYYYYYY??? < As much, as I also would have liked to see her run, I'm not sure that she has acquired the necessary "political capital" to accomplish anything either. Just yesterday, a Republican Congressman told a Banker event that she needed to be neutered and compared her to Darth Vader. She makes the oligarchy uncomfortable, and so that would make it very difficult for her. I identify with her because of what she has said about being a Republican until she recognized the GOP was no longer the "best party to support markets." For me, it's not only that, but recognizing that the GOP absolutely wants a large, meddlesome, government. Just about their stuff. So I cringe at the "heavily laden" attribute, several of us are lumped in the Dem column because the GOP left us behind. But the GOP, or at least a portion of the GOP, is of the mindset that the "winning" strategy is "not to play," and I don't believe they are ready to walk away from that strategy for the next Democratic President. Even if they lose votes in the Senate, or the Senate entirely, the House is not going to flip. So obstructionism, all day, every day. I'm not sure which Democrat would cause a bigger tantrum from the GOP. Clinton because of who she is. Sanders because of his politics. So then it's, "Who will have the previously mentioned political capital to potentially break through the obstructionism from time to time, and make the most of it?" By that measure, I think Clinton based on the experience of her people. Sanders hasn't had to fight these type of fights, and I fear his people would mess it up, like I believe has happened with Obama. One-on-one, I think Sanders is preferable than Clinton because I do worry about cronyism/supporting the oligarchy with her. So what makes her the more unlikable, unfortunately might make her the more likely to accomplish something.
Originally Posted By ecdc I also think Sanders gets eaten alive in a General Election. Hillary's negatives are as high as they'll go. She's absolutely polarizing, but that polarization won't shift much. Sanders is still a relative unknown among many voters (we follow this stuff; most people don't, remember). The number one label that Americans won't vote for, above atheist, Muslim, woman, etc., is "socialist." Republicans will hang that label on Bernie and hammer him every minute of every hour of every day until the election. It's adorable when Bernie supporters say, "But it's Democratic socialism." Yeah, I'm sure Karl Rove and Sean Hannity and dozens of GOP Super PACs will make that distinction clear while they play heavily edited clips to make it look like Bernie is praising Fidel Castro.
Originally Posted By oneyepete Thank you all who posted. I appreciate you input in deciding where my vote might be cast. I am a bit surprised that more didn't. It would seem to me then, that when one side leans a certain way there is little argument or discussion about their differences. Yet there is plenty to be said, and find fault in, for those who don't lean the same way.
