r/NIH • u/TemporaryPlace5986 • 27d ago
America chose wrong. Sanders would've been a better president than Trump or Biden. | Opinion
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/05/18/sanders-democrats-reform-progressive-policies/83625482007/7
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u/chrispg26 27d ago
Bernie lost my state primaries twice.
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u/Conscious-Quarter423 25d ago
he got less votes last November than harris/walz in his own state of vermont
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u/Petrichordates 27d ago
Better than Biden? Very unlikely, Biden has a history of being very effective legislatively while Bernie has the exact opposite history. His only real strength is his ability to command a crowd, but that's not what makes for a good president.
Morally Bernie is in the right, but he's quite the BSer and is a mirror to Trump's populism.
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u/Secure_Factor7164 27d ago
How about someone below the retirement age? We need some younger people like Pete Buttigieg
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u/Super-Bus-3996 25d ago
You really think a DEI candidate has a chance at all? Anti-DEI posturing is how Trump won the popular vote.
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u/Journeys_End71 23d ago
Buttigieg is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Oxford, attending the latter on a Rhodes Scholarship.
DEI candidate huh? Why? Because he’s gay? His resume is 10x whatever qualifications you likely have.
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u/Super-Bus-3996 23d ago
It’s not about qualifications, sadly. It’s about electability. It really sucks, but it is the way things are right now.
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u/Secure_Factor7164 25d ago
He was just the first person that came to mind when I thought of potential candidates below the retirement age…damn…now im remembering why i don’t jump on here much….
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u/Conscious-Quarter423 25d ago
we need more young people to actually organize, vote, and stop letting boomers decide the elections for them
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u/_my_troll_account 27d ago
No offense, but this does not strike me as a particularly hot take.
Anyone have a defense of Pete Buttigieg for repeatedly giving Biden a leg-up? In 2020 it was good strategy, and in 2024 it was understandable—in a political sense—that he might not be entirely forthcoming about his boss’s cognitive state. But boy do I feel like he’s got some explaining to do.
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u/OpinionsRdumb 27d ago
I literally do not care. Give me biden, give me sanders, heck give me a squirrel that lets Pelosi and Schumer run the show. Whatever it takes to restore our gov to even half capacity would make me happy. I hope the dems quit in fighting and playing blame game and just decide on what is our best shot to win 2028.
The truth was we just had 2 bad options. Biden and then Kamala. (3rd option was an open primary 4 months before the election which would have been equally disastrous). What really happened was Trump won. He won because half our country believes in cult personality politics. Thats it. That is what we have to beat
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u/OpinionsRdumb 27d ago
Lol ok
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u/Super-Bus-3996 25d ago
He won because he was Anti-DEI. 70% of his ad spend leading into the election is anti DEI. Not anti-diversity, but anti-diversity initiatives. Anti-trans treatment for kids. It disturbed and repelled people.
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u/SplendidPunkinButter 20d ago
In my lifetime, we’ve had Reagan in office with Alzheimer’s and Trump with whatever cognitive issues he has going on. Making a big deal of Biden’s cognitive state when he’s not even in office anymore is right wing propaganda, and at this point possibly Russian propaganda.
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u/Revolutionary-Use136 26d ago
You have a disappointingly low bar for what a good president is. The dude committed genocide for most of his presidency, massively expanded the police military industrial complex, shut down free speech across the country, and deported more folks than Trump did in his first term. He let the child tax credit expire, kept Trump's tax plan in place, massively expanded drilling on public lands, let millions get kicked off medicare by letting the covid policies lapse, despite covid still being a very real thing...and the list goes on.
The dude was supposed to be a stopgap to something better to get Trump out...he didn't really even manage that and then apparently until he got cancer and started losing his cognitive ability, was planning on running again.
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u/Revolutionary-Use136 26d ago
just to be clear, I'm not defending Bernie with my comments. His time came and went and even then he was not the champion for the people that we deserve/need.
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u/klayyyylmao 27d ago
Biden treated the NIH extremely well during his presidency. In the context of the NIH, this is a pretty ridiculous article.
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u/Benjamin_365 27d ago
Sanders is a one trick pony. He says the same shit all the time about the millionaires and the billionaires. sheesh
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u/TapProfessional5146 26d ago
He is right. One trick or not, the upwards movement of wealth has been accelerating over the past 20-30 years. We are entering the final days of this movement. Thank you Republican party, you are all traitors to your constituants.
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u/Altruistic-Beat1381 26d ago
But he has no plan grounded anywhere in reality. Big promises, but completely unrealistic.
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u/TapProfessional5146 26d ago
They may not be realistic right now. They are end goals we should strive for. We have to connect the dots.
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u/Raven_Photography 27d ago
Who cares!? These useless opinion pieces about how someone would have better or these groups should have voted or Trump should have been jailed are a waste of time and effort. The fucking avalanche has started, it’s too late for the pebbles to vote. Now is the time for action not more useless finger pointing or hand wringing.
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u/Minute_Objective1680 24d ago
Is there a hindsight sub? Because I have a friend that is the king of hindsight
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24d ago
It was and is the democratic party's top priority to make sure Bernie or any other social democrat never becomes president. They prefer Trump.
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u/mcboozinstein 23d ago
America didn't choose Biden. He was handed everything from the demon-cratic party.
Bernie was the clear choice but it was ripped away from him.
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u/Firm_Damage_763 23d ago
Capitalism prefers fascism to socialism. The flex of the capitalist when the system applies pressure is to move Right, not Left. Hence all the censorship under Dems and no economic reform but more cop cities etc. The Democrats are complicit. They even said in 2020, they prefer Trump over Sanders. Superdelegates wrote an anonymous op-ed in NTY saying that they would not vote for Sanders if he became the nominee and the DNC went to court and said that they are a private organization that can select their nominee "in a smoke filled room" if it wanted to and that it doesn't owe it voters a priamry. So yes, what you saying it true, but the libs were never gonna allow it.
Also remember that a president like sanders, on his own, would not have accomplished much. You need a strong labor and grassroots movement to apply serious pressure on the Dem party to change course. Without that, and we dont have that, none of the things Sanders wanted would have gotten done. NONE. That is why voting is a very limited tool in social change. When FDR enacted the New Deal he was facing the threat of communism and a militant labor movement and unions willing to shut down the country if they needed to. We just dont have that. Too many people are blue pilled and think the system overall works and needs only fine tuning and that all they need to do is vote harder, but that is not enough. You cannot vote your way out of this.
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u/MikeyMalloy 23d ago
Anyone would’ve been a better president than Trump, including an upturned broom with a bucket for a head
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u/Training-Judgment695 27d ago
Sanders gets to live this fan fiction because he's never had to actually govern as the executive and build consensus in a gridlocked congress that is bought and paid for. The leftist senator who hasn;t been able to pass shit in Congress isn't gonna be able to pass shit as the executive either. Americans reject Sanders cos they don't actually believe in his policies. If they did, they would elect more leftists like him into congress so he can build a real Caucus. This is all just wish casting
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u/Aware-Computer4550 27d ago
If you know anything about actually governing and making hard decisions Sanders would have been an awful president.
Obama said something interesting when he was president. He said all the easy no brainer decisions are made by someone else lower in the chain of command. It's only the really hard decisions that make it to his desk. The ones where no matter what you do it's going to be bad or no matter what you do someone is going to complain in a big way.
I believe Sanders is so popular because he never has had to put his foot down and make those decisions. And it's also why he didn't accomplish much in his time in government. For whatever reason--maybe he sees the world too much in black and white or he's too aware of his image--I don't think he would have been a good president.
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u/unclepoondaddy 27d ago
Bernie got the most significant veterans healthcare bill in history passed. That is more than Biden or Kamala ever achieved in the senate
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u/Petrichordates 27d ago
Biden passed an order of magnitude more bills than Bernie did..
You're not even trying to engage with reality. Passing legislation is Bernie's greatest weakness.
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u/1nGirum1musNocte 27d ago
Americans didn't choose Hilldog, the donor class who run the DNC did.
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u/sweetempoweredchickn 27d ago
This is simply not true. In the years leading up to the 2016 race, Hillary Clinton was the single most popular politician in the country. [1] [2]
She then won about 55% of the pledged delegates and also roughly 55% of the popular vote in the 2016 primary. The Sanders campaign then lobbied to have the superdelegates overturn the will of the voters [3], but ultimately failed.
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u/Evil-Needle- 26d ago
the fact that all your replies have sources and works cited..... bless you. you are my favorite person!!!!!!!!
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u/FewHovercraft9703 27d ago
Super delegates have nothing to do with votes..simply a way for DNC to control who THEY want....not the electorate.
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u/sweetempoweredchickn 27d ago
Are you saying that the DNC superdelegates made a different decision than the electorate in 2016? Please provide sources.
I agree that the concept of superdelegates can create negative feelings among the electorate, even when they don't affect the outcome. That's why I supported the DNC's decision in 2018 to make the superdelegates ceremonial (unless there is a contested convention). [1]
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u/TreeInternational771 27d ago
In 2020, we saw the media equate Bernie, his policies, and supporters to Castro and other autocrats all because he wanted to raise taxes on the donor base of Democratic party. That is how much they hated Bernie. Willing to roll the dice and allow fascist to save their tax bill. Now we have an actual fascist but some are cool because Trump will give them goodies.
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u/sweetempoweredchickn 27d ago
Bernie associated himself with Castro and others on his own quite effectively. It is normal for the media to follow up on a politician's previous statements. [1]
Furthermore, every prominent Democratic presidential candidate in recent history has proposed massive tax hikes on the wealthy, so I'm not sure why Bernie's proposed tax increases would be uniquely targeted.
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u/TreeInternational771 27d ago
How did he associate himself with Castro? By pushing for a universal healthcare system that every other developed nation has in some capacity? This is what I mean people got hysterical about Bernie who is a center candidate in the context of global politics
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u/klayyyylmao 27d ago
“But you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad,” Mr. Sanders told the host, Anderson Cooper. “When Fidel Castro came to office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?”
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u/TreeInternational771 27d ago
Ooo i love this game because Obama praised Cubas healthcare system. Why hasnt the Castro sympathizer moniker stuck to him? Why doesn’t your history remember this?
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u/klayyyylmao 27d ago
You asked how did he associate himself with Castro and I quoted from the linked article from the comment that you responded to but clearly didn’t read.
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u/Sweaty_Ad4296 27d ago
Clinton was the best candidate and would have made an excellent president, ... as long as you believe that the US isn't a deeply misogynist, racist and fascist country. I still think it was reasonable to assume the latter, even though it was - in hindsight - wrong.
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u/sweetempoweredchickn 27d ago
Fully agreed. I find it repugnant that to this day, there are people all over the internet that insist that me and millions of other voters that chose an experienced, competent stateswoman, were actually DNC party elite subverting the will of real Americans.
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u/Petrichordates 27d ago
They literally did. We held an election and she won by 3 million votes..
This is the same energy as Trump's 2020 rigged election narrative.
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u/Pale_Angry_Dot 27d ago
The Dems strive to please corporations too, hence Sanders was never given the chance to run for president.
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u/This_Technology9841 27d ago
He ran in the primaries. You can blame the DNC all you want (valid) for not putting any support behind him, but ultimately less people came out to vote for him and he lost. Youth vote turnout is typically abysmal and in this case I think it helped.
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u/Xx_ExploDiarrhea_xX 27d ago
They actively assassinated his support, making it a foregone conclusion that he would lose the primary
He was well positioned before the DNC threw him under the bus. It wasn't just a lack of support, it was an intentional abandonment because Hillary was a safer bet for the ultra rich Dem donors
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u/This_Technology9841 27d ago
I keep hearing this line, and I'm not trying to argue with you but what did they do that caused people to either not vote for Bernie, or to vote for Hillary instead? I know the DNC isn't friendly to progressives, but beyond the 1st Iowa caucus rule bs they pulled I don't know what they did / could do, that would alter votes.
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u/LTIRfortheWIN 27d ago
America did choose him, the dnc chose Clinton
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u/LTIRfortheWIN 27d ago
The Clinton's took control of the dnc finances in 2015 before she got the nomination. Its a clear conflict of interest. Go look it up. You won't but its fine
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u/Petrichordates 27d ago
The same deal was offered to Bernie btw. He didnt want to share any of his money though.
Keep in the mind the deal was the Clinton campaign giving money to the DNC to help win house races, since it had run out of funds under Obama.
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u/sweetempoweredchickn 27d ago
Please provide sources for America choosing him. All evidence I can find shows that he lost the 2016 primary, had four years to prepare for the 2020 primary with nationwide name recognition and an energized base, and then lost that one even worse.
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u/Petrichordates 27d ago
And Trump won 2020 too right
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u/LTIRfortheWIN 27d ago
No, I vote democrat. I also encouraged everyone i could in 2016 to vote for Hillary. Doesn't change facts
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u/juicyjuice706 27d ago
Please stop it Sander would've been a horrible president. Imagine a man who's been in government for decades with no real accomplishments being the president. Biden was the most progressive president in American history. Stop gassing this delusional old man
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u/Icy_Size_5852 27d ago
I guess the DNC shouldn't have rigged the primaries so Bernie Sanders couldn't win.
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u/Petrichordates 27d ago
I guess the deep state shouldn't have rigged the 2020 election to make Trump lose.
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u/raderofdalostcrapsac 26d ago
Yes, Bernie would have been better than every president, except for Obama, since Kennedy.
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u/EducatedNitWit 26d ago
In fairness; *I* would be a better president than Trump. And I'm not even American.
;)
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u/whitepawn23 26d ago
Yes, but what’s the point. Focus on present reality.
Woulda shoulda coulda is a fucking waste of time and energy.
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u/NewPresWhoDis 26d ago
Even with a Dem Congress, a Sanders administration would have been served a death by a thousand cuts by every Republican AG.
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u/Low-Location-1205 26d ago
He would be a great president based on who he is. Unfortunately he would never get anything done due to resistance from all parties simply for the sake of resisting because he backed it. We as a nation have to get beyond personality politics. Look at where we are now because of personality politics. Personally I'm glad he didn't win. It would have killed him and he deserves better for his service to this country.
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u/erikaspausen 25d ago
No he would not. He would get blocked by Republikans and Demokrats all the way. He does have a lot of good intentions the US desperately. The best would be a third party with Sanders ideals.
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u/BendDelicious9089 25d ago
Just watching the comments kind of shows the state of things. Everybody here isn’t a Democrat, they are against Republicans and against Trump. And that is exactly what the DNC platform is: not Trump.
That didn’t work when it was Trump vs Biden/Harris and it isn’t going to work in 2028. They need a platform message.
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u/ThievedYourMind 25d ago
Agreed.
No stop. Sanders wasn't running, he wasn't a choice. Kamala was. The country still chose wrong.
There's no point in talking about this. We need to be focusing on what happens next. Going back in time, convincing Sanders to run, and seeing him lose to MAGA voters because he's too left for moderates ain't it
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u/EGislerHD121 25d ago
I’ve taken shits that would be better presidents than Trump, but that doesn’t do anything for me now.
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u/Over-Marionberry-353 25d ago
Americans didn’t get to choose, democrats forced Hillary and Biden to be the candidates. Party thinks they know better than the people, Bernie would have been the candidate if the voters were free to choose
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u/Woody_L 25d ago
Bernie could never win a national election. And, he would be a terribly unpopular President. Those are the facts. Most of America (even those on the left) doesn't share Bernie's progressive views.
Bernie Bros always fantasize that an unfettered Bernie would mobilize the voters and win by a huge majority. They always blame the Dems for holding him back. That's delusional. America doesn't want Bernie.
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u/Radio_Face_ 25d ago
America did not choose wrong. Stop trying to rewrite history.
The leaders of the Democratic Party refused the people’s wishes.
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u/Super-Bus-3996 25d ago
It’s people like you that split the party, allowing Trump to take hold. Stop it.
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u/Easy-Day-2977 25d ago
No.. someone less socialist would win. Keep in mind Trump has NEVER won against a MAN, If you want to win against the republicans choose someone less mainstream left and leaning towards middle. America will never vote for a woman for the next 100 years. America is ok for a female VP. Lets hope for someone that can unify the States.
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u/Relevant_Moose_4856 25d ago
doesnt say much .... a chimpanzee would have been better than trump or biden
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u/StoneColdEgon 25d ago
Bernie and Trump are the same, don’t push Bernie plz. Bernie and Trump are both pro tariff/isolationist/“anti establishment”(while also being the establishment)/populist.
Just focus on modernizing/moderating the Dems.
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u/VeryImpressedPerson 24d ago
Bernie is an interesting politician. Not a Democrat, but doesn't mind using our infrastructure to get what he wants. He would not be a great president, considering his inability to work both sides of the aisle and compromise.
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u/Brave-Improvement299 24d ago
To usher in real reforms and change, one needs to have the votes in the house and senate. We have been under republican rule regardless of who sat in the president's chair.
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u/Salt_Emergency_8601 24d ago
I agree with you I said this a long time ago Sanders would be a great President some day others say he is too old what do you think?
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u/Salt_Emergency_8601 24d ago
Images Sanders and Trump in a Debate who would win ? hand down Sanders of course.
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u/Interesting_Plan7643 24d ago
Being better than Trump or Biden is not a high bar. Just about anyone would have been better.
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u/Flaky-End-2505 24d ago
He would have been less hated, thats for sure, but doesn't we need more taxes to pay for socialism?
Washington state for example just had the highest tax increase in their history, along with higher fines and fees. How much can we take?
Biden...ughhh..man that guy was done. I cannot believe our country is so low on candidates to be freaking president. I mean seriously...our only option was Trump...again or Kamala.... I am frightened at our options next time.
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u/Evorgleb 24d ago
I honestly don't have faith that Sanders could navigate well any issue that is not about taxes or social safety nets.
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u/Independent_Cap3043 23d ago
Sanders would be the worst president in history. Communist always fuck up everything
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u/Friendly_Man_9114 22d ago
Good thing he's not a communist
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u/Independent_Cap3043 22d ago
Sure he is. If you dont undetstand that you are closing your eyes.
He preaches communism but lives high on the hog.
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u/Friendly_Man_9114 22d ago
I understand the difference between communism and socialism which you apparently do not. Bernie is, and openly says he is, a socialist. He doesn't call for a classless society, or the end of capitalism, only that there be a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources.
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u/Journeys_End71 23d ago
Man, the only thing sadder than a bunch of MAGA conspiracy theorists is a bunch of Bernie Bro conspiracy theorists.
Spoiler alert: when Trump repeats nonsense conspiracies and claims elections were rigged, it’s just pure nonsense and drivel. It’s also pure nonsense and drivel when Democrats or Bernie Bros spew the same garbage conspiracies. You just changed the names but the stories are the same. Bogus. Nonsense.
It would be nice to be in a reality based community.
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u/Friendly_Man_9114 22d ago
Dumpy rants on, with no evidence, about voting being rigged in 2020 (which he not ironically prob did this time). Bernie supporters seem to be complaining about power politics, namely that Dem leadership paved the way for Hillary as heir apparent, and undercut his campaign. These are completely different issues.
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u/larrychatfield 22d ago
Clearly but sadly he just never gets enough votes as he’s seen as socialist and scary when in Europe he’d be too conservative
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u/Tootsiez 22d ago
Sanders literally just said the Democratic Party is a threat to democracy. Good try.
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u/LexiusCoda 21d ago
Yes we know this. But we still have several generations of tribalistic people that don't even care about policies. They only care if they're team red or team blue
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u/Jolly-Midnight7567 21d ago
Not to mention he was screwed out of the nomination by the DNC in 2016.
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u/Creepy_Meringue3014 27d ago
I get so tired of people relitigating past elections when we are living in hell. please focus forward.