Could Bernie Sanders be the Democrats' Barry Goldwater?

[youngohioan216]

Like Goldwater, Sanders is dismissed as an extremist by his party's establishment but he could be laying the groundwork for the future of his party.  In the 40s-60s the Republicans moved to the center and accepted the New Deal agenda, similar to the Democrats' embrace of neoliberalism in the Clinton-Obama era.  Both Goldwater and Sanders rejected the moderation of their contemporaries for their unabashed, purist ideologies.  America wasn't ready for someone as conservative as Goldwater in 1964, and he was defeated in a landslide.  But his candidacy paved the way for Reagan to mount a strong primary challenge against Ford in 1976 and win the presidency in 1980.  If Sanders somehow manages to win the nomination he would be a major long shot to beat even Trump or Cruz in the general; currently Americans would prefer an atheist or Muslim president to a socialist.  But he's been crushing the under 40 vote so far, and as these voters get older and become a larger share of the electorate could his ideas become mainstream in the Democratic Party like Goldwater-style conservatism became the standard Republican platform?  Could we see a democratic socialist become president in 12-16 years?

[MT Treasurer]

I mean, Goldwater was a better candidate than Sanders and more honest, too.

[Comrade Funk]

And who is the Republican LBJ? Because it looks like the GOP circus is intent on nominating a clown.

[Mehmentum]

But I thought Obama was the Democrats' Nixon?

I stopped believing in this kind of parallelism a while ago.

[This account no longer in use.]

Possibly. No matter who wins the nomination, Sanders has already reached his goal of introducing his platform to the mainstream.

[RaphaelDLG]

Yes, though it'd be hard to determine how much of it to attribute to Sanders personally and how much to attribute to the aging, increasingly influential millennial demographic

[Asian Nazi]

I mean, Goldwater was a better candidate than Sanders and more honest, too.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yes. And that's exactly why I'm supporting him.

[Famous Mortimer]

Yes. And that's exactly why I'm supporting him.

[DS0816]

Like Goldwater, Sanders is dismissed as an extremist by his party's establishment but he could be laying the groundwork for the future of his party.  In the 40s-60s the Republicans moved to the center and accepted the New Deal agenda, similar to the Democrats' embrace of neoliberalism in the Clinton-Obama era.  Both Goldwater and Sanders rejected the moderation of their contemporaries for their unabashed, purist ideologies.  America wasn't ready for someone as conservative as Goldwater in 1964, and he was defeated in a landslide.  But his candidacy paved the way for Reagan to mount a strong primary challenge against Ford in 1976 and win the presidency in 1980.  If Sanders somehow manages to win the nomination he would be a major long shot to beat even Trump or Cruz in the general; currently Americans would prefer an atheist or Muslim president to a socialist.  But he's been crushing the under 40 vote so far, and as these voters get older and become a larger share of the electorate could his ideas become mainstream in the Democratic Party like Goldwater-style conservatism became the standard Republican platform?  Could we see a democratic socialist become president in 12-16 years?

Yes.

It could happen this year.

This is the direction the Democratic Party should be heading.

As they are now … they have colluding to deliver the nomination to the eyes of their affections and that candidate, who insisting she is "progressive," spoke of her great love and counseling from Henry Kissinger.

The Millenials are not with the Reagans/Clintons brand of leadership. So, the Democratic Party is going to get realigned … whether or not careerists like Establishment types like Debbie Wasserman Schultz and John Lewis are comfortable.

[Trapsy]

I mean, Goldwater was a better candidate than Sanders and more honest, too.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

No, don't be a hack.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Here we are folks, a bunch of self-proclaimed Democrats are praising Barry Friggin' Goldwater of all people just to take a cheap shot at Bernie.

The Hillary hackery is reaching new lows every day.

[Trapsy]

Here we are folks, a bunch of self-proclaimed Democrats are praising Barry Friggin' Goldwater of all people just to take a cheap shot at Bernie.

The Hillary hackery is reaching new lows every day.

Just trolling.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Nah I think  hes the Democratic 1988 Pat Robertson(not nearly as crazy though) mixed in with Bob Dole while Hillary is the HW Bush of this cycle.

[Shadows]

Here we are folks, a bunch of self-proclaimed Democrats are praising Barry Friggin' Goldwater of all people just to take a cheap shot at Bernie.

The Hillary hackery is reaching new lows every day.

Hillary hacks are the worst of all supporters - But there is nothing you can do!

[This account no longer in use.]

No, don't be a hack.

Did you read the original post? He was pointing out that even though Goldwater lost, much of his views became the Republican Party platform several years later.

[Beet]

Here we are folks, a bunch of self-proclaimed Democrats are praising Barry Friggin' Goldwater of all people just to take a cheap shot at Bernie.

The Hillary hackery is reaching new lows every day.

You're the one who basically admitted you'd like to see Democrats crushed in a landslide in November.

Either way, I don't think so. Goldwater was electorally crushed. I think he was trailing by like 50 points in the G.E. in the spring of 1964. Sanders could actually win big.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

No, don't be a hack.

Did you read the original post? He was pointing out that even though Goldwater lost, much of his views became the Republican Party platform several years later.

I just assumed this thread was "Bernie could do even worse than McGovern or Mondale". Obviously he's not going to do as bad as either of those two. In fact, even though the evidence suggests that Hillary would do a fair amount worse than Bernie, she's also not going to lose by 20+ points.

[ProgressiveCanadian]

This just shows how "Progressive" the Hillary hacks really are. A huge 5/1 majority of the Democratic voters like Bernie Sanders. Plus since when is anyone questioning his honesty when It's more asked about Clinton?

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Yes, and that's why I hope Hillary wins the nomination. We can't have socialism becoming an acceptable ideology in the mainstream. Losing to Hillary would be a million times more preferable than crushing Sanders only to have a socialist become president in 20 years. Conservatives need to look at the long game so we don't leave our children with a more redistributive government than the one we were left with.

But I don't think Millennials are destined to always be this liberal. Give them a chance to get better jobs, get older, and have kids, and they may move to the right. They already have moved that direction significantly since 2008, and they're also starting to make their great migration to the suburbs.

[Figueira]

1. Sanders most likely isn't winning the nomination.
2. If Sanders wins the nomination, he'll probably win the general election.
3. If Sanders wins the nomination and loses the general election, I think the Democrats will try to discredit his ideology in the future.

So no, not very likely.

[KingSweden]

Yes, and that's why I hope Hillary wins the nomination. We can't have socialism becoming an acceptable ideology in the mainstream. Losing to Hillary would be a million times more preferable than crushing Sanders only to have a socialist become president in 20 years. Conservatives need to look at the long game so we don't leave our children with a more redistributive government than the one we were left with.

But I don't think Millennials are destined to always be this liberal. Give them a chance to get better jobs, get older, and have kids, and they may move to the right. They already have moved that direction significantly since 2008, and they're also starting to make their great migration to the suburbs.

I think this will have the net effect of making many suburban areas much more liberal, though. Suburban areas probably will still be right of the cities, as they are now, but the net movement of both will likely continue to be to the left.

[Oakvale]

In that he will lose in a historic landslide and lead to the man who beat him launching a massive war and bankrupting the country by simultaneously pursuing disastrous government spending programs, yes.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

Bush and Kasich would beat him in a landslide for sure.