As much as I love Bernie (and I do), I do think we should set our expectations realistically. Bernie Sanders in the White House is the dream outcome of this, and it may even be a real possibility, but people also need to realize what's at stake if he doesn't win the nomination so that we don't end right back in the mess we were in before.
If Hillary wins the nomination, people still need to vote. The supreme court is one of the biggest reasons why, with control of the court for decades being decided in the next 8 years. Progress with LGBT+ rights, labor unions, healthcare, affirmative action, privacy rights, discrimination law, abortion and birth control rights, campaign finance, and more is at risk if a Republican wins the White House.
Not to mention a Republican president, with a republican house and even still a possible Republican Senate if people don't vote can undo every single inch of progress we've made over the last years.
Sanders is the dream, but don't lose sight of the bigger picture if it doesn't pan out. We need to at a minimum protect the gains we have made.
I actually had no idea that Bernie was running under the Democrats ... and that makes me sad. I really wish he was running as Independent, leaving Hilary for Democrats, and god knows who for Republican. The fact that we still seem to have this weird need to stick to a two party system is mind-boggling. I suppose hoping for three parties this time around would be just too much for the American public to handle.
It would be a huge mistake for Bernie to run as an independent. That would in essence hand the presidency to the Republicans, undoing any progress that has been made in the past few years towards progressive goals. He knows that, that's why he's running in the primaries.
Our system is certainly not perfect, but for anyone to run as a third party candidate right now with the first past the post setup would be a death sentence to either the left or right depending who they are.
Without changing to a proportional representation system, which would require a complete redo of the constitution and government and has its own MAJOR drawbacks, the only real option I see would be instant runoff voting or even possibly more jungle primaries (though I would want to see more testing of those in more states before considering it nationally).
Instant runoff voting would be perfect in my opinion because it lets you choose your favorite candidate without risking handing the win to the other ideology, like you see in some multi party nations. It is still giving victory to the candidate with the most broad support base, but it allows for more flexibility and choice for voters.
There's some good alternatives out there, here's one explained in a video. I imagine that in order to change to something better there would need to be a political revolution in which the people unanimously push it.
He caucuses with the Democrats. Besides, we are much more likely to see a lively and meaningful debate from the left instead of silence during primary season now. He'll need DNC money to run for president. He is preparing for success instead of striking out on his own with no chance of winning at all.
At the very least, Sanders running as a democrat means if he wins the nomination, he has a place in the debates. That wouldn't be possible if he was an independent, the two big parties colluded after Ralph Nadier made it to the debates during his run that only the two big parties are allowed spots in the national debates.
This is one of the best posts that I've seen about this. Yes lets try to get Bernie the nomination if we can but Hillary is better than the alternative if he doesn't get it.
As much as I love Bernie (and I do), I do think we should set our expectations realistically. Bernie Sanders in the White House is the dream outcome of this, and it may even be a real possibility, but people also need to realize what's at stake if he doesn't win the nomination so that we don't end right back in the mess we were in before.
If Hillary wins the nomination, people still need to vote. The supreme court is one of the biggest reasons why, with control of the court for decades being decided in the next 8 years. Progress with LGBT+ rights, labor unions, healthcare, affirmative action, privacy rights, discrimination law, abortion and birth control rights, campaign finance, and more is at risk if a Republican wins the White House.
Not to mention a Republican president, with a republican house and even still a possible Republican Senate if people don't vote can undo every single inch of progress we've made over the last years.
Sanders is the dream, but don't lose sight of the bigger picture if it doesn't pan out. We need to at a minimum protect the gains we have made.
I actually had no idea that Bernie was running under the Democrats ... and that makes me sad. I really wish he was running as Independent, leaving Hilary for Democrats, and god knows who for Republican. The fact that we still seem to have this weird need to stick to a two party system is mind-boggling. I suppose hoping for three parties this time around would be just too much for the American public to handle.
I truly fear a fully Republican government.
It would be a huge mistake for Bernie to run as an independent. That would in essence hand the presidency to the Republicans, undoing any progress that has been made in the past few years towards progressive goals. He knows that, that's why he's running in the primaries.
Our system is certainly not perfect, but for anyone to run as a third party candidate right now with the first past the post setup would be a death sentence to either the left or right depending who they are.
Oh I know, but it's extremely unfortunate that that is the case.
What do you think would need to happen in order for there to be a viable and proper multi-party system?
Without changing to a proportional representation system, which would require a complete redo of the constitution and government and has its own MAJOR drawbacks, the only real option I see would be instant runoff voting or even possibly more jungle primaries (though I would want to see more testing of those in more states before considering it nationally).
Instant runoff voting would be perfect in my opinion because it lets you choose your favorite candidate without risking handing the win to the other ideology, like you see in some multi party nations. It is still giving victory to the candidate with the most broad support base, but it allows for more flexibility and choice for voters.
You need a different voting system. This is a good explanation if you haven't seen it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7tWHJfhiyo
I had a feeling it would be a CGP Grey video. He does a really fine job of explaining complex matters in an easy to understand way.
There's some good alternatives out there, here's one explained in a video. I imagine that in order to change to something better there would need to be a political revolution in which the people unanimously push it.
He caucuses with the Democrats. Besides, we are much more likely to see a lively and meaningful debate from the left instead of silence during primary season now. He'll need DNC money to run for president. He is preparing for success instead of striking out on his own with no chance of winning at all.
At the very least, Sanders running as a democrat means if he wins the nomination, he has a place in the debates. That wouldn't be possible if he was an independent, the two big parties colluded after Ralph Nadier made it to the debates during his run that only the two big parties are allowed spots in the national debates.
This is one of the best posts that I've seen about this. Yes lets try to get Bernie the nomination if we can but Hillary is better than the alternative if he doesn't get it.