How would the 2016 Dem. primaries have gone if Sanders hadn't run?

[Mr. Morden]

Suppose Sanders doesn't run in 2016, and the only Dem. candidates are Clinton, O'Malley, Chafee, and Webb.  Does Clinton win every state?  What kind of victory margins does she get in the early states?  How long do the non-Clinton candidates stay in the race?

[Kingpoleon]

I think Webb might sweep the states like Kentucky, West Virginia, and the like. I don't know if he would win the Deep South states. If he can get a good number of Blue Dog African Americans to endorse him, I could see this map:

Clinton: 55.8%
Webb: 42.2%

[IceSpear]

I think Webb might sweep the states like Kentucky, West Virginia, and the like. I don't know if he would win the Deep South states. If he can get a good number of Blue Dog African Americans to endorse him, I could see this map:

Clinton: 55.8%
Webb: 42.2%

Is this a joke? First of all, Webb's campaign was not serious. Secondly, blacks are not going to support an f'ing Confederate flag apologist at all, much less when his opponent is a Clinton. He'd make Bernie's share of the black vote look impressive by comparison.

Assuming Webb managed to run a remotely competent campaign and somehow kept support in the midst of perpetual slaughters in the vast majority of the states, this would be his ceiling:

[IceSpear]

My guess: Webb and Chafee are still complete duds and drop out before Iowa. O'Malley becomes her main challenger and gains some traction as a result, improving significantly in the national polls and closing the gap in IA/NH. Clinton wins IA comfortably, but is given a scare in NH as she only barely squeaks by O'Malley. He drops out after getting shut out on Super Tuesday.

In other words, I think in this situation that O'Malley is the Bill Bradley many of us thought Sanders was going to be.

[NeverAgain]

She would have crushed anyone unless it was Biden or Warren IMO. I could see a 50-State-Sweep, maybe losing WV and KY due to coal. I could see an O'Malley surge (but only for a bit), but maybe that's just my President Infinity playing.

[The Last Northerner]

O'Malley becomes the default not Clinton, camps out in Iowa for 6 months, but still gets a respectable loss. Clinton sweeps 40-45 states (holdouts include West Virginia, Utah, etc).

[Senator-elect Spark]

Hillary Clinton- 40 states, (58.7%)
Martin O'Malley- 10 states, (41.3%)

Hillary Clinton- 38 states, (56.4%)
Jim Webb- 12 states, (42.6%)

Hillary Clinton- 45 states, (77.6%)
Lincoln Chafee- 5 states, (23.4%)