Hillary Clinton
Related: About this forumBernie Sanders says he’s more electable than Hillary Clinton. Um, no. (Hillary Grp)
Bernie Sanders's campaign released a strategy memo to reporters on Wednesday aimed at pushing back at the notion that he is losing ground in his primary challenge to Hillary Clinton. One argument in it stood out to me: Sanders is a better general-election candidate than Clinton.
Here's the essence of the Sanders camp's argument:
The totality of this data begins to raise real questions about the conventional wisdoms assumptions regarding which Democratic candidate would fare better in the general election. That Bernie outperforms Clinton with independents and Republicans by wide margins (by net 22 point[s] and 40 points, respectively) should suggest that he is actually better positioned in the general election than is Clinton. The head-to-head match-ups bear this out as Bernie does comparably well if not better than Clinton in essentially every general election match-up with leading Republicans.
Twenty two points! 40 points! President Sanders, here we come!
Ahem. A little clarification is in order.
The "wide margins" that the Sanders camp cites are tied to favorable/unfavorable numbers, not head-to-head horse-race ones. So, yes, according to a recent WaPo-ABC News poll, Sanders has "only" a net negative 30 favorable (26 fav/56 unfav) score among Republicans while Clinton has a net negative 70 (15 fav/85 unfav). But, this assertion "The fact that Sanders is seen in such a different light by Republicans indicates he has more potential to win a larger share of Republican voters in a general election than does Clinton" is a bridge way too far.
Presidential elections are the most polarizing campaigns that exist in America. People retreat to their partisan camp and stay there....There's just no real crossover vote in a presidential election.
Clinton's numbers, because of her longtime national profile, have that partisanship already baked in. She's totally known and totally divisive. Democrats like-to-love her; Republicans don't. Nothing will change about those numbers between now and next November.
...The Sanders campaign seems to be mistaking Republicans not really having a strong impression of the senator from Vermont to him having a genuine chance of winning any decent chunk of Republican voters as the Democratic nominee. (There's a big portion of the memo dedicated to how Sanders does better than Clinton in head-to-head matchups with the most likely Republican nominees.)
That's almost certainly not the case. If Sanders did wind up as the Democratic nominee, tens of millions would be spent by conservative groups familiarizing Republican voters with his record which begins with the fact that he is an avowed democratic socialist....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/19/bernie-sanders-says-hes-more-electable-than-hillary-clinton-um/?postshare=7381447965861153&tid=ss_tw via Chris Cillizza, Washington Post
Tommy2Tone
(1,307 posts)Should he become the nominee he will receive that attention and they will be helped by the media.
FloridaBlues
(4,008 posts)Tommy2Tone
(1,307 posts)Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)riversedge
(70,245 posts)DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)Gothmog
(145,339 posts)It is clear that Sanders is not electable or viable in the general election and the rationale advanced by the Sanders campaign is really dumb at best. This quote from the article cited really makes it clear why Sanders is not viable:
Is it possible that even with his socialism and his proposals for massive increases in government spending, Sanders still might be a less polarizing figure than Clinton among Republicans? Sure. But we are talking about slices of an onion in terms of the difference.
There's a case to be made by Sanders against Clinton in a Democratic primary fight namely that she has demonstrated a lack of sufficient commitment to liberal principles during her time in public life. That's sellable to a wide swath of Democrats. The argument that Sanders's is a stronger general-election candidate than Clinton just isn't.
Sanders will not pick up any GOP votes and if that is the basis of the Sanders' viability analysis, then my support for Hillary Clinton is well placed
DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)and believing he could win the GE.
Gothmog
(145,339 posts)The explanations that I keep seeing are really sad and not adequate. Sanders is not going to be taken seriously as a candidate unless he makes a good case that he can win in the general election and so far that has not happen. This explanation by the Sanders campaign was their latest lame attempt and even Cliizzia saw through it
Tarheel_Dem
(31,235 posts)DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)Walk away
(9,494 posts)he is not winning! After that speech Bernie gave today (my high school Social Studies teacher gave it better 40 years ago) I think we can pull the plug on that snorer.
GusBob
(7,286 posts)With the Holidays approaching it's time for dinner table politics.
Heard at dinner tables across America next week:
Hey didja hear? The Democrats want to turn America Socialist!
Walk away
(9,494 posts)The few clips I've seen on news shows are comical. I forced myself to watch the entire thing on line and I was so bored I almost dozed off!
Cha
(297,323 posts)Cha
(297,323 posts)NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)... fudging the numbers!
(Get it? Anyone? "Fudging" ... get it? The numbers are covered with fudge! See?)
DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)juajen
(8,515 posts)This is really good!