Bernie better fucking deliver if he wins, cause if he's a lame duck then you've just killed the progressive movement dead in the USA.
To be fair, Canadians don't get to vote for the queen either. Although the parliament does get to approve the Governor-General.
From my understanding, there are advantages and disadvantages to the Canadian system over the US (and if I'm wrong about any of this, let me know.)
A parliamentary system does remove some of the checks and balances, as the head of government is also the head of the legislature, so there is less pushback against their agenda. Democrats get pissed off about limits on what Democratic presidents can do, but are probably happy that Trump faces a Democratic House majority restricting what he can do. It's easier for the legislators to pick a new leader in between elections (Votes of "No Confidence" and the like) and personalities probably matter less when the head of government is selected by the legislature and not primary voters.
There won't really be much of an opportunity for split ticket voting, although most people already vote straight ticket in the US, so I can see why some would want the bite the bullet and go with making things better with the system as it is. The lack of primaries does make it easier to have multiple parties. Right now, different constituencies can hash it out within the Republican and Democratic primaries, but without a primary process to give everyone a voice, you could easily have multiple parties instead. This may be where personalities come in, as a popular candidate for Prime Minister could bring in a lot of hangers-on (Emanuel Macron created a new party in France that won 308 out of 577 legislative seats, with 42 more going to an allied party.) There is the argument that with multiple parties comes a need for coalitions and consensus, as no one would be able to get a majority by themselves and they'll have to work together, although this suggests that someone clever won't be able to exploit the system. And there's also the possibility for chaos when no consensus exists (see Israel right now.)
"The Fix is in and that's normal" isn't a great approach to get voters on your side later. "Yes, we manipulated the system against someone you believed in; please back our guy because you're backed into a corner." is not an appealing argument.
It's usually not up to presidential contenders to explain the nuances of a subculture to a mainstream audience, especially with the possibility of getting into uncomfortable side-discussions.
There are going to be a lot of unknowns right now.
I could easily imagine Sanders winning big by encouraging people who don't usually vote in primaries to go for him (as some did in 2016.)
Quiet Democrats underrepresented on the internet could easily go big for Biden, giving him a bigger than expected win.
Then there's the question of what'll happen in Iowa precincts where supporters of candidates who don't get 15% move on to a second choice. Maybe Warren benefits as a compromise choice, or Biden and Sanders benefit due to name recognition.
Interesting that polls consistently show 60% of Democrats backing a white guy over the age of 75, be it Sanders, Biden or Bloomberg.
Sincerely,
Thomas Mets
100%.
And that is true for most people who are tired of the obsessiveness of some Bernie supporters. I will support Bernie with all I am able to, if he gets the nomination. I just want to know that we can count on the not-a-cult Bernie supporters to do the same for whoever else might win the nom if it ISN'T Bernie, or if we can count on four more years of “Bernie should have won, if not for Hillary/Obama voters/‘fake’ leftists, etc.” clogging up this thread every day...
Last edited by zinderel; 01-22-2020 at 04:01 PM.
Well because Clinton smears and lies about people all the time. I literally posted just one page back how she smeared Obama and his supporters as Obama boys. She can't help it. Shes a liar to her core.but please ignore the insinuations that Clinton and Biden aren't terrible and divisive to the party.
The Cover Contest Weekly Winners ThreadSo much winning!!
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." - Sinclair Lewis
“It’s your party and you can cry if you want to.” - Captain Europe
To put all of this simply...
Right after The Democratic Party lost the Presidency and Congress to The Republican Party in 2016, Senate Democrats gave Sanders a leadership position.
You don't get to to the above, and say "Hey, By The Way, Could You Just Not Mention How We Just Face Planted Going Forward Even Though We Are Asking For Your Help?"
If Sanders' backers are important enough that their not backing the party could be consequential enough to wind up in a loss for The Democratic Party, than they are certainly important enough to get a say along with that involvement.
Last edited by numberthirty; 01-22-2020 at 05:06 PM.
It's not just here -- if you go to Reddit, Gamefaqs, Salon (etc) you will see nothing but attacks on Biden and "corporate" Democrats by Sanders supporters.
https://old.reddit.com/r/politics/?hl=
There are virtually no attacks on Sanders on those forums but there are attacks on -- and lies about -- Biden (Harris, O'Rourke, Hillary, and recently Warren, etc) on every single political forum I've visited, many of them dishonest and filled with outright spite for Biden or any other "mainstream" Democrat who doesn't fulfill their political ideal in the same way as does Sanders.
It was Warren during the debates, then a day later it was Biden over Social Security. Before that it was O'Rourke, Harris, and Hillary.
If there is one thing Sanders supporters should not do, it's try to play the victim while constantly throwing stones at others.
Just prove your candidates can win by voting them into office instead of causing everyone to lose to Trump.
People have already agreed to vote for Bernie if he wins -- that's really the best you can hope for at this point, given the divisiveness at hand.
Last edited by aja_christopher; 01-22-2020 at 05:17 PM.
I personally just dont care about this shit right now. I'm so exhausted by Trump crap that I don't care about this infighting. I'm voting straight blue no matter. Warren, Bernie, Petey, whatever.
Anyone is better at this point. Once we get blue in, we can start fixing shit with blue.
Opinions may vary in quality.
My big article on Mariko Tamaki's Hulk & She-Hulk runs, discussing the good, bad, and its creation.
My second big article on She-Hulk, discussing Jason Aaron's focus on her in Avengers #20.
That ignores a pretty basic reality...
If HRC is on Howard Stern saying that she hopes Sanders will just support the eventual nominee while pulling what she has over the last couple of days, there is no scenario where that is working towards what you are talking about.
If anything it works towards doing the opposite of what you are saying that you want.
Centrists use "Unity" as a weapon, basically telling Progresives shut up and bend the knee. Democrats have polls on their side for many issues and don't fight for our votes. We're just supposed to be Tribal and vote for incrementalism, #civility, and Trump bad sad and basically no change.
This is why we lose. Even when we get rid of dump, and get a centrist, then what?
Lol.
Work with people locking up children?
I agree that dems need an overhaul but Bernie with his pie in the sky promises, pro gun stance and wacky alternative medicine beliefs coupled with his advanced age and weakened heart isn't the right leader.