Can anyone talk me off the ledge?
The party has put itself in a lousy position. It's certainly not the first time a party has done THAT, but the timing sure is bad. The party's overall reaction to the guy in the White House has been pretty ******* self-defeating, from Day One.
One of two things will happen: Either (a) some will stay home if the nominee is too far left or too far to the center, or (b) the anti-Trumpism sentiment will be strong enough to pull them all in. There will also be people who are so repulsed by what they're seeing that they may just vote third party (hello).
Flip of the coin. My guess is that anti-Trumpism will prevail, but I'm lousy at political predictions.
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You make some reasonable points. If I were a betting man, which I am at times; my guess is that they are going through an even bigger changing of the guard than the GOP when through when Trump won. The biggest difference IMO, is that the Dems saw Trump win and said "we aren't going to let that happen to us" while the GOP eventually accepted the will of their voters.
So, Bernie voters, in particular, will jump ship. Even if Bernie plays the patsy for a pocket full of gold, his supporters will NOT vote Dem, some will even vote Trump (7% of them did in 2016, you can at least double that this time).
Dynasty politics is bad for everyone. It shouldn't be part of the U.S system. This is what happens when the same people keep office for decades. Just think of the software app being used for Iowa, the delays. The Mayor Pete guy who has been promoted for months now. What are the odds that the woman from G.A who lost but pretended she won, is the VP choice?
Very possible. What keeps this a mystery for me is that I underestimated the rage and frustration from the Right that got Trump elected. The same thing could be existing and increasing on the Left as we speak. I surely don't know.
And we wonder why the use of anti-depressants is so widespread.
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Yes, the rage is real, but it's coming from a very loud, powerful minority. That minority, in my estimation, are Bernie/Warren supporters. All other supporters on twitter and on forums seem civil and somewhat logical. Bernie supporters in particular, thanks to the 2016 charade, will not support another candidate.
I also find it odd, that I don't hear much support for Pete anywhere from the public. Not on this forum or other places, yet, he quietly beats Bernie in Iowa? How is he so popular?
If I am a Bernie supporter, seeing how well he did in 2016 against a much more popular, seasoned and visible opponent, and then seeing him lose to Pete? It would have me wondering why it is possible and why I should vote for the person who beat him.
Bernie supporters now have the term "Wall Street Pete". That can't be good for the supposed, Little Guy supporting DNC.