The Sanders campaign needs to really humanize him if he gets the nomination and wants a shot at winning the general election.
As I write this I'm watching the great, new Showtime show The Circus, a nearly real-time documentary on the 2016 presidential election, featuring behind-the-scenes of the candidates on the trail in Iowa and New Hampshire that you won't see anywhere else, captured in near cinema-quality visuals. "Ego and arrogance is not his go-to place", says his wife Jane, who from just one clip makes clear she would be a huge asset and bring a striking contrast with another potential First Lady, Melania Trump (oy vey at that thought). The sincerity of Bernie's better half and OMG AN ACTUAL HUMAN BEING charm is presented just a few minutes after a great clip featuring a random, spontaneous backstage conversation between Bernie and a reporter. He's shown in what appears to be a moment he may not realize is being filmed, and you can just see it in his eyes that, regardless how you feel about his ideas and politics, and agree with him or not, he's truly a genuine, kind dude with good, pure intentions. I say this as a Hillary voter: Bernie is the real deal. I think if a general election audience gets the chance to see him - not up on stage at all these pre-planned prep rallies, but just hanging out, talking, chilllllling, whatever - they will warm to him.
Now, I must say that I sincerely do not care who gets the Democratic nomination as I genuinely like them both very much. What she has, he doesn't. What he has, she doesn't. My biggest concern about Sanders is if he could win the general (yes, I know - the polls. yawn), the only way he would then be effective is by having a very, very liberal congress to work with. We're talking a congress more liberal than the supermajority congress that awaited President Obama when he arrived in the White House in 2009. Because, even with THAT congress for example, Obama was still barely able to get the Affordable Care Act passed. Bernie wants universal health care ("medicare for all"), but the political reality is getting that health care plan through congress - after all it took before and after with the Affordable Care Act - would be a miracle. If he has a conservative congress, we could see gridlock worse than what we’ve had the past 4+ years. As much as I like him, and as big as his heart is, and his intentions sincere, he could be a disaster of a president. And not because of his abilities or smarts, but because of the intense opposition he would have in his own party. Picking him is a HUGE risk, and really it comes down to whether you want to take that risk. The first risk is the potential of him being crushed by whomever the GOP picks as their nominee, and the risk of him winning is - actually getting things done because of the partisan environment. Can Bernie win? Yes. Without question. Can he get done all this stuff he wants to get done? Sure. Obama certainly got a LOT done that he wanted to, which people seem to - frustratingly - forget.
So, it’s a big choice. I am not a huge risk taker when it comes to this. For me, in the end, it's all about SCOTUS, and I want to take the safer bet in preventing someone like - shudder to think - a President "Women Are Pigs" Trump from selecting judges for the bench for the highest court in the land. That is all. If Bernie gets the nomination, I will be proud to cast my vote for him. Even though I believe he has proven to be, and would continue to be, more effective in the senate. Bernie is exactly who we need in the senate, and Hillary is exactly who we need to govern; from a Democrat's point of view of course. As a friend of mine said recently, "stop deifying the presidency", and that is exactly right. Can we just end this and settle on either Clinton/Sanders or Sanders/Clinton? That's what I suggest these two do as they balance each other out quite nicely, and we can then crack the fuck on.
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