Last fall, I wrote a piece listing the four questions we should use to choose our candidate for 2016. I won’t rehash that piece, as you can go read it for yourself if you wish. But, as we come around the far turn and head into the stretch (and yes, it’s Derby season here), I thought it would be interesting to ask the questions again. Jump below for the questions and a couple of my thoughts about them.
The four questions:
- Are there any showstoppers for you?
- How good are their policies?
- How good a candidate are they?
- How good a President would they make?
I also included a formula that multiplied the four questions, but isolated the “showstoppers” question so that a zero ranking there (meaning there is one or more showstoppers) would result in a zero for the total. Yeah, math and Excel nerd.
So, here’s the thing. I’ve seen a great deal of discussion about #1, with numerous people declaiming loudly that they would never vote for one or the other. I’ve also seen some discussion (not as much) about #2, with the Sanders people pointing out the top-line quality of his policies, and the Clinton people responding (sometimes) with the “at least hers are achievable.” OK, fine; I like Sanders’ progressivism better, but that’s not the point of this diary.
The questions that trouble me these days are #3 and #4.
First, the “better candidate” question. I get that Clinton wins across the Democratic party. In any closed primary, she wins. Among my friends that are lifelong Democrats, she is the clear leader. Among the party leaders I know, she is the clear leader.
However, when I look across the electorate as a whole, I see much more interest and attraction to Sanders. My two sons (25 and 34) have been pretty a-political up to this point, even though I have (naturally) pushed them to get involved. This year, with NO pushing from me, they each came to me independently and told me they were supporting Sanders. When I asked them about Clinton, their faces fell, and one said “just more of the same.”
I see the same responses from my independent friends, my millenial friends, my progressive friends, and even my Republican friends. They either are already supporting Sanders, or are considering it. Clinton? Not a chance.
So, looking outside the party and across the nation, I wonder about the wisdom of putting Clinton at the top of the ticket.
But, then there’s question #4. Here, I am torn again. I have spoken with at least one person who works in Congress, and their single comment about Sanders was “he’s hard to work with.” That’s one comment from one person, but I trust that person, so it made an impact.
I love Sanders’ vision, but visionaries don’t always make good leaders … especially when the thing you are leading includes people who aren’t your followers and haven’t bought into your vision. Clinton is both a policy wonk and a DC insider. I suspect that over four or eight years, she would get more done than Sanders. Would I love to see all of Sanders’ policies enacted? Absolutely. Do I think he is the one to get that done? Not sure. Not sure at all.
I’m fairly sick of reading the Rox/Sux diaries, especially the ones that seem stuck on question #1. (And have to attack the candidate and their followers personally.) (Which has happened from both sides, and don’t act like it hasn’t.) I would like to see us think beyond the party and the primaries and start to think about both the general (#3) and the actual Presidency (#4).
Thoughts?
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Bruce in Louisville