Clinton campaign worried about Sanders, believe he's a real threat

[Famous Mortimer]

I read a politico article saying the exact opposite.

Remember how much everyone hyped Bill Bradley against the ageing neoliberal warmonger Al Gore

Was there a war and peace element to Bradley's campaign? I legitimately don't remember. He opposed the war on Serbia?

[Famous Mortimer]

Sanders, on a fundamental level, cannot be taken seriously as a "real threat". He preaches the benefits of a Nordic-style welfare state and heavy taxes on the wealthy. This sounds great, but Nordic-style welfare states can't actually function on "soaking the rich" alone (not to mention that they also need small, homogenous societies) All Hillary has to do is say that Sanders' is either planning to "raise taxes on working families" to upwards of 40% or simply talking fantasy.

This repeated refrain that social democracies need "small societies" is quite infuriating. Infuriating because it makes no sense and because so few people point out the logical fallacy of the whole thing. Why do you need a small state? As long as the tax base increases with the size of the population (which, of course it will because they're the same thing), you will be fine. It's not as if anyone is proposing an American sized social democracy but only collecting taxes from the equivalent of the Swedish population.

[Famous Mortimer]

I hope all these Sanders supporters are happy when a Republican wins and Ruth Ginsberg is found keeled over on the floor of her office and the Republicans get to choose the next Supreme Court Justice so that they and some other little toad on Daily Kos gets to feel good and self-righteous about themselves.

Pathetic and disgusting. But whatever it takes for the True Leftists of Atlas to feel good about themselves, the jackasses.

I've considered this "risk" and I'm willing to take it. What exactly are you worried an extra conservative justice will do? Republicans have had multiple chances to shift the pro-life/pro-choice balance but they never have the balls and I doubt they grow them. With corporate stuff, Hillary appointments would be just as bad the Republicans.

[Famous Mortimer]

ACA is a garbage bill. Not going to miss a chance to move the national political debate to the left for the sake of saving it.

[Famous Mortimer]

Long term, the debate will result in real universal health care.

Short term, I don't even think the ACA will get repealed. It's a give away to the GOPs corporate donors and no one is ever going to do away with the filibuster because they realize they themselves will eventually in the minority.

[Famous Mortimer]

ACA is a garbage bill. Not going to miss a chance to move the national political debate to the left for the sake of saving it.

So do you think Republicans would be well served by 'moving the debate to the right' and nominating Ted Cruz? 

No. Of course not. Are you trying to paint me as being a hypocrite because I'm a left-winger and I want left-wing stuff to happen and not right-wing stuff? So basically anyone with views is a hypocrite? The only non-hypocrites are Moderate Heroes?

[Famous Mortimer]

ACA is a garbage bill. Not going to miss a chance to move the national political debate to the left for the sake of saving it.

So do you think Republicans would be well served by 'moving the debate to the right' and nominating Ted Cruz? 

No. Of course not. Are you trying to paint me as being a hypocrite because I'm a left-winger and I want left-wing stuff to happen and not right-wing stuff? So basically anyone with views is a hypocrite? The only non-hypocrites are Moderate Heroes?

You misunderstood me.

I didn't ask if you wanted them to nominate Cruz.  I asked if you thought nominating Cruz would be a good strategy for Republicans.  Its possible to say 'conservatives should do this if they want to do well', and then say 'but I don't want them to do that'.

No because the political debate in the United States is already very much to the right. If Sanders succeeded in moving it to the left, we would probably still be one of the more conservative countries in the industrialized world. There's not much room for the Republicans to go right-ward but there's plenty for the Dems to go left-ward.

[Famous Mortimer]

ACA is a garbage bill. Not going to miss a chance to move the national political debate to the left for the sake of saving it.

So do you think Republicans would be well served by 'moving the debate to the right' and nominating Ted Cruz? 

No. Of course not. Are you trying to paint me as being a hypocrite because I'm a left-winger and I want left-wing stuff to happen and not right-wing stuff? So basically anyone with views is a hypocrite? The only non-hypocrites are Moderate Heroes?

You misunderstood me.

I didn't ask if you wanted them to nominate Cruz.  I asked if you thought nominating Cruz would be a good strategy for Republicans.  Its possible to say 'conservatives should do this if they want to do well', and then say 'but I don't want them to do that'.

No because the political debate in the United States is already very much to the right. If Sanders succeeded in moving it to the left, we would probably still be one of the more conservative countries in the industrialized world. There's not much room for the Republicans to go right-ward but there's plenty for the Dems to go left-ward.

Eh, imo there's plenty of room to move rightward.  Historically, industrialized nations have drifted far further right than the U.S. is now (the big example is Nazi Germany.)  When you get further right than the Tea Party types, you start getting into the white supremacist types and then full blown neo-nazis.  These far right ideologies are obviously horrible, but they exist on the left-right spectrum and could theoretically be made more mainstream (at least within the Republican party) by a Cruz candidacy.

 

Ignoring the fact that we're going way off topic for this thread, no, there is no chance Nazism could become mainstream in America. No, Ted Cruz, as horrible as he is, is not a Nazi.

WTF

[Famous Mortimer]

They're further right but again, they have no chance of ever catching on.

Nazism isn't realistic and could never be.

Social democracy isn't realistic right now but it could be, as it is in Europe and Canada.