I have listened to Bernie on the Thom Hartman show for years, and agree with, or could accept almost every major position Bernie has advocated. But I do not live in an echo chamber or bubble. My fellow voters, even on the Democratic side have convinced me:
1. They do not share my level of interest in civics and politics.
2. They do not know much about, and have no strong opinion on the traditional liberal world view.
3. They have not investigated, studied or even thought about the domestic policies and appointments of FDR and LBJ, nor do they know about the history of the labor movement, earlier restraints on immigration, segregation and Jim Crow, conservative jurisprudence on the Supreme Court and the struggles of the Warren Court to overcome it, real graduated taxation and regulation of banks, and the transformation of America's economy from agrarian, to manufacturing to its present emphasis on service and consuming what we produce.
4. They repeatedly demonstrate no understanding that the domestic policies and appointments of FDR and LBJ were doctrinal, and could have been a template that, if subsequent presidents had followed and adapted to modern challenges, would have improved their economic stations, quality of life and security. And,
5. They repeatedly vote (or decline to vote at all) based on personality, single (and often irrelevant or trivial) issues, and as a consequence, intentionally allow people like Scott Walker to win a recall election he should have lost, the election of congress people who are proven idiots and/or vote against the voters' interests; they likewise willingly allowed unions to slip from having major influence to promote workers; and worse of all, they gave the NRA, church leaders, war mongers, and multinational companies the governance of the United States wrapped with a bow.
For low knowledge, fair-weather voters, it is not out of the question that Bernie Sanders could get elected, albeit a very long shot. Indeed, if Bernie Sanders starts being treated by the media like a rock star, if the New York Times and other media outlets decide to step up the trashing of H. Clinton, and if by contrast, Sanders is painted as cool and honest, a Mr. Smith goes to Congress miracle is not out of the question. But if that happened, my fellow Democrats will have nominated, and the country would have elected a mythical person created by a combination of the media, and the ignorance of the crowds- not the real human known as "Bernie Sanders". This is important since the real man would not be able to govern. Lets face the facts: the states will still be in the hands of the right wingers, as will congress. My fellow Democrats will do to Bernie Sanders what they always do when they elect candidates who ran on ideology (like Jimmy Carter), which is to abandon the presidential candidate they elected, and this would happen to Bernie Sanders within a few months after the election. Gridlock would get worse since Sanders, would have to honor his mandate based on leftist and Socialist ideology, and he would be obliged to press for programs he could never sell to Congress, or even to a majority of Americans (which would be the huge group covered by polls, not just those who voted).
In other words, the Sanders-soldiers who believe Sanders could govern are akin to the children who think Tinker Bell can enable them to fly by sprinkling fairy dust on them.
Below the fold, are a few more observations.
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