What do you think this race would be like if Bernie hadn't run?

[Ken Burch]

Does anyone think any of them would be talking about police violence against PoC?

Does anyone think that corporate power or social and economic inquality would be part of the Democratic discussion?

Does anyone think this race would be about any issues OTHER than "The Court...The Court...The Court.."?

Or that anyone other than Wall Street donors would be important to any of the candidates(assuming Warren also wasn't running)?

Is there any reason to think that, without Bernie or Warren in the race, the 2016 Democratic campaign would be anything but a total blandburger(Warren would have talked about corporate power, but NOT police violence and anti-oppression issues, to be clear)?

Bernie is not a saint, and he's not perfect, and this isn't about him as a person...it's about the issues and the people he speaks for...the ones no one else would speak for and no one else would care about.

[olddots]

1. I'm optomistic enough to think someone would rise to the occasion

Bernie is wise and noble and I support him 100% at the same time it would be great to have fairy tale perfect candidate , that doesn't exist .

[hrmjustin]

2. Yes they woukd have been discussed.

[Ken Burch]

3. briefly, and then silence would have been enforced.

Just like in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004.

Everytime we have a frontrunner who gets an easy nomination, the party always ends up standing for nothing at all.

This is why it's always a tragedy for the party to have a coronation. That always means our soul gets checked at the door.

[hrmjustin]

4. I think it is ridiculous to think the other candidates woukd not talk aboutnit.

Sanders does not have a monopoly on issues.

[Ken Burch]

12. No, issues ONLY discussed if there is a real fight for the nomination.

That's why most HRC supporters are obsessed with getting Bernie out of the race before the primaries...most want us to run this campaign exactly like the ones in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004...races where nothing was discussed and we were told to simply trust the nominee to be different than the GOP.

Bland "coronation" primary campaigns produce either defeat or useless victories. No one still thinks it would have mattered if Kerry had won...or Mondale or Dukakis.

[hrmjustin]

14. And how are we going to get him out of the race before the primary?

[CentralMass]

27. We aren't.

[hrmjustin]

28. Still haven't got a response from him on that.

[Armstead]

21. IT would be a first if they did

They should have been talking about the growing concentration of wealth, the gap between rich and poor, monopolistic corporations and the hollowing ou of the middle and working classes since AT LEAST the early 1990's.

But they didn't, and no reason to expect they would do so now, except in the blandest poll0testd terms.

[Vinca]

5. I imagine the discussion would be far more to the right by the "presumed" nominee.

That's the underlying problem with the Democratic Party. As the GOP went to the far reaches of wingnutland, Democrats in office tried to attract the few remaining moderate Republicans by trending right. When you do that year after year it suddenly seems Democrats are what Republicans were a few decades ago.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. Why do you think Warren would create talk about police violence and civil rights?

She has no record at all to indicate she even thinks about any of that. She was a Reagan/Bush Republican they used racist rhetoric constantly, they were aggressively homophobic and intensely anti choice. Has she ever explained any of that?

[Ken Burch]

9. I didn't mean she'd create talk on police violence or LGBTQ/Poc issues.

With Warren it would be about corporate power, which we all know HRC would never talk about on her own.

HRC was progressive on LGBTQ issues, women's issues in a bourgeois sense(including reproductive rights), but nothing else. Those are crucially important issues, but none of them threaten anyone's grip on power.

Sorry about any confusion in the wording of my OP, have now edited it to clarify.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. A lot more boring.

[Uncle Joe]

8. Something like this.

Thanks for the thread, Keny Burch.

[LWolf]

31. Yep. nt

[think]

10. Single payer woulld not be heard of....

[Warren DeMontague]

13. If pablum, poll-tested sound bites and empty platitudes were 10 dollar bills, we'd all be rich. That's how.

By now we would not only know that HRC wants "to empower communities and families" and that "the middle class needs a champion", she would have gone into FAR greater detail about championing communities and families AND how the middle class needs to be empowered.

We might even have another country music video!

[frylock]

17. Why do you hate communities and families?

/s

[Warren DeMontague]

19. I just hate quality music.

[bigwillq]

15. I would have little interest in this race w/o Bernie in but

to answer your questions:

Does anyone think any of them would be talking about police violence against PoC?

YES

Does anyone think that corporate power or social and economic inquality would be part of the Democratic discussion?

YES

Does anyone think this race would be about any issues OTHER than "The Court...The Court...The Court.."?

YES

Or that anyone other than Wall Street donors would be important to any of the candidates(assuming Warren also wasn't running)?

YES

I am pretty confident that one, if not more, of the other announced candidates would be talking about these issues. And I would expect any future DEM candidate to be talking about these issues.

[Armstead]

22. They would be setting a precident if they did

[Chan790]

16. I think...

*Hillary would be tacking further right to have to moderate less left in the GE.

*O'Malley would be polling stronger as the main Clinton-opposition candidate.

Those would be the only differences.

[elleng]

18. It seems you've missed someone,

and it's TOO DAMN BAD!

Martin O'Malley:

1. Ended death penalty in Maryland
2. Prevented fracking in Maryland and put regulations in the way to prevent next GOP Gov Hogan fom easily allowing fracking.
3. Provided health insurance for 380,000
4. Reduced infant mortality to an all time low.
5. Provided meals to thousands of hungry children and moved toward a goal for eradicating childhood hunger.
6. Enacted a $10.10 living wage and a $11. minimum wage for State workers.
7. Supporter the Dream Act
8. Cut income taxes for 86% of Marylanders (raised taxes on the rich).
9. Reformed Maryland’s tax code to make it more progressive.
10. Enacted some of the nation’s most comprehensive reforms to protect homeowners from foreclosure.

Mother Jones magazine called him the best candidate on environmental issues.
Article here:
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/12/martin-omalley-longshot-presidential-candidate-and-real-climate-hawk

https://martinomalley.com/climate/

Martin O’Malley Calls for Expanding Social Security.
http://time.com/4005849/martin-omalley-social-security/

Martin O'Malley to Wall Street: "I Will Not Let Up on You"
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/07/martin-omalley-wall-street-i-will-not-let-you

These are only a FEW of his positions.

[CTyankee]

23. It certainly is. I love his speaking out. It's too bad for his bad positioning here in the

2016 race, but who knows what will happen? He's doing it and pushing forward and that is what matters...

[elleng]

24. Yes it is, yank, too bad and who knows, as he says:

"History is full of times when the inevitable frontrunner is inevitable right up until he or she is no longer inevitable."

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-03-29/martin-o-malley-takes-aim-at-hillary-clinton-s-crown-

[CTyankee]

25. yep. could happen. in the meantime we've got a nice array of allies in our fight!

[quickesst]

20. I know how it...

....would have ended. The same way it's going to end this time.

PRESIDENT HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON!!

[PowerToThePeople]

26. I would probably not be very involved

May not even have planned to vote in the election.

[LWolf]

32. Before his announcement,

I was staring down a rabbit hole of another 4-8 years of disgust with the system. I just wanted someone who was not a neo-liberal to run and give me the chance to be involved. Anyone. I would have been fine with any non-neo-liberal Democrat.

I was first simply relieved when he announced; relieved that someone, for however short a time, would actually represent me. The rush of energy, enthusiasm, and determination that followed is astounding to me.

I think that if Sanders hadn't decided to run, there's be a whole bunch of people who weren't very involved or very motivated. And I can't think that is good for the future of the party or the nation.

[Romulox]

29. A bunch of Hillary victory laps in a car sponsored by Goldman Sachs. nt

[Blus4u]

30. I firmly believe..

that Bernie forced Hillary's stances more to the left than her campaign had planned.

Recall that she delayed announcing for quite awhile. She had no real incentive to declare and the republicans (about halve of them) were falling all over themselves jumping in.

Bernie declared and began to draw enthusiastic crowds and his message was clear. I feel that this forced Hillary's hand farther left then they intended....and in my opinion, that is a good thing!

Peace