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Is there any evidence that Sanders gained so much support for the same reason, that people didn't like Clinton? At the beginning of the race, I assumed Sanders

Is there any evidence that Sanders gained so much support for the same reason, that people didn't like Clinton? At the beginning of the race, I assumed Sanders would be like the "RON PAUL 2008" campaign, with a small but vocal group of supporters. I did not think a self-described socialist would be viable in a general election. (Remember how Obama was called a "soshulist"?) Suppose DNC didn't pick the favorite, and there was a mainstream alternative to Clinton with a favorable approval rating (e.g. Biden). Would Sanders still have garnered this much support? Had Sanders been the nominee, I would have voted for him: not for his leftist stances but because he seemed like he could be trusted with not running the country into the ground. I stayed home this election.

gremlinsinc 10y ago
Bernie Sanders currently has the highest approval rating of any member of congress. He's by all rights the most popular member of the entire American government. People respect him from the left and right. I know many republicans who would vote for him. I all green party votes would've gone to Bernie (Jill said herself if he won the green party wouldn't throw a candidate in the race). Many votes for the Libertarian party would've also gone to Bernie Sanders. Then a lot of the Trump supporters are actually bernie supporters who feel like the DNC betrayed us by sabotaging the whole thing.. There's a LOT of hate and anger in the democratic party right now. On facebook I see a shitstorm of anger from Clinton supporters against Bernie supporters blaming US for her loss as if WE are responsible for her being a shitty politician. As if it's not HER responsibility to WIN our votes and CONVINCE us she's the best candidate. She obviously couldn't do that. So, yes Bernie definitely had a good chance of winning. He also was polling about 10 points above Clinton against Trump in most states. He also won Michigan AND Wisconsin which Trump carried.

gremlinsinc 10y ago

Bernie Sanders currently has the highest approval rating of any member of congress. He's by all rights the most popular member of the entire American government. People respect him from the left and right. I know many republicans who would vote for him. I all green party votes would've gone to Bernie (Jill said herself if he won the green party wouldn't throw a candidate in the race). Many votes for the Libertarian party would've also gone to Bernie Sanders. Then a lot of the Trump supporters are actually bernie supporters who feel like the DNC betrayed us by sabotaging the whole thing.. There's a LOT of hate and anger in the democratic party right now. On facebook I see a shitstorm of anger from Clinton supporters against Bernie supporters blaming US for her loss as if WE are responsible for her being a shitty politician. As if it's not HER responsibility to WIN our votes and CONVINCE us she's the best candidate. She obviously couldn't do that. So, yes Bernie definitely had a good chance of winning. He also was polling about 10 points above Clinton against Trump in most states. He also won Michigan AND Wisconsin which Trump carried.