I'm honestly starting to think sander's is our last hope -- I was on the fence until seeing this. Meanwhile he is getting undermined by the media.
If anything he is being undermined by the DNC, not the media. The DNC should be ashamed of themselves for thier blatant support of one candidate over the other(s) .
The thing with Sanders, I think, is that he has been around for so long and he has been so consistent, that you can know what he think about most issues:
https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/27110/bernie-sande...
i don't recall obama being an actual socialist or talking about breaking up the banks. i do recall obama being a dem and giving the banks bailout money though.
> he is being undermined by the DNC
agreed.
His ideological framework hasn't changed in the entire time I've been following him (I'm from Vermont) and that includes going from mayor of Burlington up through US Senator.
He's also not saying things to get elected. He'd have a much better chance if he dropped some of his more socialist rhetoric, but he genuinely believes it.
Yeah, this whole thing about electing the right president who will somehow magically change all the wrongs of the world overnight is a fairy tale. If someone like Ron Paul or Bernie Sanders got into office, a little would be different, especially with regards to foreign policy, but without a pliable or cooperative congress, literally nothing would get done. It would be a waste of 4 years. People overestimate just how much power the president has. Even with executive orders, there's only so much a president can do within the law. If you want universal health care, or MJ legalized, or CISA repealed, a president can't do that by himself, that requires congress.
Presidential elections are a red herring I'm afraid, and that's no exaggeration. If you want true and real governmental change, it requires you to vote the right congressmen and senators into the government.
I'm not sure who you guys think you're arguing against.
I understand why you feel like you're correct in naysaying and feeling like you're adding something to the conversation by being contrary. Unfortunately you're setting up a bit of a strawman, as if people who support Bernie feel like somehow he's going to magically change everything by himself. Bernie himself said that will not be the case, and you're mostly just arguing people who have little understanding of government, who honestly aren't even taking part in this conversation.
Bernie is probably the most likely candidate to promote the idea in your comment anyway, as he's the only candidate who I feel truly wants to change the system. So even in regards to your opinion your only real candidate is Bernie. He's the only one talking about political revolution, which is what would be necessary for real change.
Sometimes I forget that hackernews has a slightly more intelligent user-base. Unfortunately, I participate on reddit as well, and there, political supporters have a slightly naive view of how politics and the government works (that's putting it nicely). Sometimes I confuse the two websites.
> So even in regards to your opinion your only real candidate is Bernie. He's the only one talking about political revolution, which is what would be necessary for real change.
Well, real change means electing the right congressmen. To up-end our current republic, the first-past-the-post system, and to reform campaign finance requires electing senators who would do just that.
If Bernie wins the nomination, he's definitely getting my vote. Unfortunately, that's a near impossibility. And he also said he wouldn't run against Hillary if she wins the nomination. Bernie recognizes the fact that he would damage the party and take votes away from Hillary if he runs as an independent. He's a pragmatic & logical man and understands that a Clinton presidency is orders of magnitude better for our country than a Bush or Trump presidency. It's simply the lesser of all the evils.
And unless you run for office yourself, it's always, always going to be choosing between the "least evil" because no candidate will represent your views 100% unless, again, you run yourself.
Read that, not so crazy.
Unfortunately, I read the same exact thing about Ron Paul in 2008 & 2012. :)
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2011/1106/R...
and
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/01/09/cbs-poll-in...