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sanders4prez:

Bernie Sanders on Education in America (x)

I really don’t want this blog to get political. I don’t. But at present, it’s the only one I’m using, and I have to say this: if you are an American leftist or liberal who can vote in the next presidential election, I am begging you to look into this guy. He is so little known compared to Hilary Clinton, but he’s so much better. I want to stop hearing people saying “I don’t really like Hilary, but she’s the only liberal running, so” because she’s not. Bernie Sanders 2016.

Vote in the primary, I don’t care what party you are or who you are favoring, get involved in the process. All of the parties have primaries or caucuses. You can get involved in Green, Libertarian, Democrat, Republican, Workers, Independent and any number of other parties and help choose who they will put forward in the General Election. You can make a difference.

Look up what is required to vote in your local primaries. A lot of them require you to join the party so if you want to vote you need to get on it prompt.

The Democratic Leadership will not support Sanders, it is upon the people’s shoulders to do that.

Bold text.

Didn’t this guy joke about gang rape or something?

Yes, in a poorly written satire piece in the 70’s. He has repeatedly voted and co-sponsored bills in favor for more action in of domestic violence cases and violence against women.

Bernie Sanders is unelectable in the general. He’s a self-identified socialist FFS. If the democrats are stupid enough to make him their candidate, we have a guaranteed 4 years of a republican president. Please don’t help this happen.

But isn’t this kind of reasoning a self-fulfilling prophecy?  Even if we want more extreme candidates, we don’t vote for them because they’re “unelectable,” hence they don’t get votes, hence they appear “unelectable.”

I’m not saying Sanders is electable in 2016 but I’m saying I’m in favor of voting for people I would actually want in office, in the service of things like shifting the Overton Window.  Constant short-term pragmatism isn’t necessarily the best in the long term.  (After all, with any luck, my life is going to last a lot longer than the next presidential term.)

(The Democrats making Sanders their candidate is at least possible and that makes this different, to me, from cases like voting for Nader.  There was never going to be a huge turnout for Nader, no matter what happened; there might actually be a huge turnout for Sanders.)

You’re ignoring the difference between voting for someone in the primary and in the general election. Sanders probably has no chance in the general election because the median American voter isn’t going to vote for a self-described socialist. Not because the median American voter doesn’t want someone “unelectable.” Democratic primary voters might be less worried by the socialist thing, but should be more worried about Sanders’ electability in the general.

My point is that for democratic primary voters, things like “demonstrate that socialism has more support in America than people think” have to be traded off against Sanders’ unelectability in the general.

The fact that the median voter won’t vote for a self-described socialist isn’t some immutable, exogenous condition we’ve been handed from on high; it’s the kind of thing that we could change by, say, changing which ideas and self-descriptions the media feels required to take seriously.  This is the kind of impact I’m talking about.

(via uncrediblehallq)