I would support Bernie Sanders in a primary, because I agree with him. But then, if he failed ...

[11 Bravo]

to secure the nomination, I would support ANY Democratic nominee. Because, you see, I believe that today's Republican party is deeply and fundamentally evil. That grinning, amiable, dipshit, Ronald Reagan; somehow managed to falsely put a moderate face on his party, all the while sending this country, specifically the poor and the middle class, into a downward spiral from which we are still struggling to recover.
So I will refuse to allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good, or even the marginally better. FUCK, I will GLADLY vote for Terry McAulliffe next week, because the other outcome is too horrible to even contemplate.
I'm a Democrat, and have cast my ballot for every Democratic Presidential candidate since I was old enough to vote, beginning with George McGovern. But I'm also an old guy, and while I devoutly hope that this nation reaches the point where a Bernie Sanders or an Elizabeth Warren can win a national election, at 62 years of age, I doubt that I will live to see it. I have no doubt that my sons, both staunch liberal Democrats, will carry on that fight.
In the meantime, however, I refuse to risk blowing up my party and thereby turning the reins of government over to a party which actually believed that Sarah Fucking Palin should have been placed a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

[gopiscrap]

1. I agree I would love to see Bernie run, move the entire conversation to the left.

I did that in Tacoma, WA in 1990. I ran against a quite conservative Democrat in the 6th US Congressional District in 1990. I knew I wasn't going to win, but I did move the conservation to the left. Bernie could do that way better than I did.

[11 Bravo]

2. You put your ass on the line, and for that I salute you!

It's easy to post on an internet message board. It's much harder to climb into the arena.

[gopiscrap]

5. thanks it was an amazing experience

we ran against him because he kept voting for funding of the School of America's right after the election (he won 56%-43%) he changed his vote!

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. Grain of salt time.

*officially* I'm obliged to agree with you, even if the nominee is Rahm Emmanuel. In reality the situation is more nuanced.

[Rex]

4. Who ever it is, gets my vote.

Bernie, okay. Elizabeth Warren, any day. Hillary, yep in a heartbeat.

[99Forever]

6. Your vote, your choice.

I see it differently. Having a "D" behind a name isn't enough. Want my vote? Then earn it by WORKING HARD for progressive policies, lip service during campaigns isn't enough.

I refuse to EVER again hold my nose and vote for the less stinking of two stinking candidates. That's my vote, my choice.

[Scuba]

7. So if Rick Santorum was the Democratic nominee you'd support him?

[11 Bravo]

8. Aah fuck, you got me! So while we're dealing with shit that is really likely to happen, tell me ...

if a unicorn climbed up your ass, would pull it out, or would you go on America's Funniest Home Videos?
Because, you know ... reality.

[Scuba]

9. Hey the Democratic Party has already been taken over by the right, er, I mean moderates ...

... What's to stop a well-funded Tea Party effort from taking over the Democratic primaries?

[11 Bravo]

11. I'll tell you what. If that happens, give me a call. My tired old ass will grab ...

a torch and a pitchfork, and we can wade into battle together.

[alarimer]

10. I don't agree with this approach

Maybe, most of the time at least, I can hold my nose to vote for any Democrat, but there are those I will NEVER vote for, even if they end up losing as a result.

I will NEVER vote for a Blue Dog. I will NEVER vote for a "pro-life" Democrat.

I think principles are important and you vote for the person that will serve your community's interests best. Corporate, Blue Dog, pro-life Democrats do not do that.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

12. 2000 should have answered this question definitively

Is there anyone here who thinks the world wouldn't be a far better place had Gore won that year?
This coming Presidential election is similar to that one: two terms of a centrist Dem prez has the left wanting more and again thinking third party. I never really liked Hillary, just like I never really liked Bill. But letting someone like Ted Cruz or even Chris Christie win would be a crime.
Bernie Sanders should run in 2016 in the primaries, because he would pull the conversation to the left, and that's always a good thing. But there is no such thing as even a moderate Republican anymore; the party that once had people like Jacob Javits and Ed Brooke in it was finally and definitively buried by the Tea Party and Fox News.

[Whisp]

13. K&R. Irresponsible nuttery is what that is - risking everything for the perfect

which doesn't even exist.

[quinnox]

14. I think every one needs to make their own decisions on who to vote for

and I get tired of the "You must vote this way!" nonsense, quite frankly. No, people can vote for whomsoever they please.

[TheKentuckian]

15. I don't have a preferred flavor of corporate rule. I don't see a friendly face for a security state.

[Jamaal510]

16. Ditto.

Sadly, even if a Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren were to get elected, they would still end up in basically the same spot as Obama without a Congress that is willing to work with them. Republicans are the #1 reason why the Patriot Act is still in effect, why there is no public option, no jobs bill, why our minimum wage is not par to where it should be, and why corporations still pay diddly-squat in taxes. Ever since Reagan, they've been like dead weight on a sinking ship, holding us back from matching where the rest of the developed world is on an assortment of issues.