Originally Posted by jgw
perotista
I fear you are missing something here. The simple fact is that the independt are not dedicated lefties and those candidates running on the far left will not get their vote. This has been proven, time after time. So, the candidate, to be appealing to the independent, can't be continuously selling free everything pie in the sky. That stuff should be saved for AFTER getting elected! The only two candidates that are actually doing that are Bloomberg and Steyer. However, if either of them get the nod the purist lefties will cause a huge uproar and, then, just as happened with Bernie they will not vote. If the Dems engender a massive vote, however, that might not matter as the purist democratic lefties are not actually a huge percentage of Democratic party. Bernie and Warren, for instance, will not get the independent vote and will lose to Trump. That is, I believe, a simple fact.

A lot of the problem is the media and what they cover. They will cover, to exhaustion for instance, any little battle within the Democratic party with gusto as they LOVE to cover political bickering of candidates. This is not helpful (I think its just plain wrong but tv, for instance, knows what people want to watch and the voting public seems to dote on that sort of thing.) My wife watches Sunday Political Shows. They go on and on. If there is a mean spirited Republican available he will get the time to state his/her fantasies. They are rarely called for flat out lying. My own thought on that kind of stuff is that it should be delayed by the couple of minutes most can be truth checked and then reported if there is a problem. If they did that there would be fewer Republican talking heads which would not break my heart. I can go on and on with this one but I betcha most understand this one.

My main fear is that the Dems are going to run somebody who simply cannot get the independent vote. As far as I can tell few Democrats are even thinking past the dreamland of the left with all that free stuff. The very attitude that nary a one actually understand that stuff paid for with taxes is NOT free! Their problem is that the independents don't buy that one. There have been a pile of polls that prove that one.

I am all for the inspiration thing but, first, they have to inspire more than a small group of lefty purists who are determined to REALLY screw it up to make some kind of point. My main fear is that they are going to get their way and we will get to have another 4 years of Trump. After that I am not so sure we won't have him for the rest of his life. Please remember, the numbers Trump has, amongst voters are almost exactly the same as those Hitler had when he took over. These are dangerous times!

Again, I am not against all that the purists want to do, I just wish they would stop preaching it until they win and that, obviously, just isn't going to happen. My main hope is that Trump screws up bad enough to get replaced without killing us all in the process.

Oh, I would prefer either running billionaire to the current crop of non-billionaire candidates. This preference is based on who I think can really beat Trump, especially concerning his economic figures. Nobody with the current economy has ever been beat, as far as I can tell - not a single one. The Dems gotta get smart if they are to win and, so far, they are failing, big time.
I agree. I've made it a habit of studying independents as in any close election, they are the deciding factor. I already mentioned the fact 90% of those who identify with the two major parties will vote for their party's candidate regardless of who it is or how good or bad that candidate is.

Then I break down independents into three groups, independents lean Republican, independents lean Democratic, then pure or true independents with no leans. Independents who lean toward one party or the other vote for the party's candidate around 75% of the time. Independents who lean one way or the other make up an average of 80% of all independents. Which means only 20% of independents, give or take are true independents, no leans. Roughly 8-10% of the total electorate.

I keep track of this stuff for my monthly election forecasts. I do think even with a good economy, Trump can be had and beat soundly with the right candidate. I'm no democrat and I'm not about to tell them who I think that candidate is. That's for them to figure out.

Yes, Sanders voters were one of many reasons Hillary lost in 2016. Perhaps the moral of the story is don't jury rig your primaries in a certain candidate's favor and don't choose your candidate four years in advance. I'm not much worried about the primaries, most independents can't vote in them and most don't pay them much attention.

I'm backing Steyer here in Georgia. I'll vote for him in the primary if he is still around. If he wins the Democratic nomination, then I'll put what's left of my old Reform Party organization to work for him. If they have a mind too that is.

It's high past time that we start electing Americans to congress and the presidency who put America first instead of their political party. For way too long we have been electing Republicans and Democrats who happen to be Americans instead of Americans who happen to be Republicans and Democrats.