Third Party candidates do not win the presidency. Not even come close. Even a person as popular as Teddy Roosevelt could not win it. A vote for a Third Party candidate is a vote in essence wasted and will result in a Republican win.

@jorj Which is better for the common man...Republicans or Liberals albeit some tainted by corporate money?

@dahermit which is why Bernie runs as a Democrat. He understands that is the only way to win & the only way to create change. Work from within instead of complainig about how bad the 2 main parties are.

@Heidi68 As far as I know, Bernie still lists himself as an "Independent", not a "Democrat". Which is in my opinion a mistake on his part. He is the only one (except for Elizabeth Warren), that understands the central issued is the despararency of the income of the working class to that of the ultra rich. In short, in order to win, Bernie needs the resources of the Democratic Party behind him.

@dahermit he runs as a Democrat until he receives the win and the he turns down their nomination. Look back at his history in New Hampshire.

@jorj whatever are you talking about? In both of the above statements, you must be getting confused. What made up talking point are you talking about?. Within this whole thread I have only gone back to the previous election. Where exactly are you getting 20+ year talking points? You have yet to state one single thing other than 3rd party hate. No proof, just hate of the current system.
As I stated on the other thread - we have many young enthusiastic mostly Democrats running who could change many of the things most 3rd party people are interested in but you, yes you, are so filled with hate you won't open your eyes to the possibilities right in front of you.

@jorj when have I talked down to you? You are the one calling yourself names. You are the one typing confusing statements. I did ask specific questions - what are you talking about 20 year old talking points - when everything I have discussed has been from the last election. Go back & reread both of the threads...

@jorj seriously - you need put your big boy pants on - you want me to attack you I will but I have not up to this point.
The first comment on this thread between the 2 of us was you attacking me on Bernie. And then you squalling about echo chambers - one comment it is fox news & republican then it is Democrat echo chambers. Please put down whatever you are smoking or drinking and come back when you are sober. Until you can make coherent comments I am done with you. Have a good night.

Right on!

I left the Democratic Party when they forced Hillary as a candidate. I am now aligned with the Progressive Independents.

@Reignmond

Bernie Sanders voters helped Trump win in 2016. Here's proof:

[newsweek.com]

[npr.org]

That certainly has potential. I read an article a few weeks ago about Trump being concerned about Biden. However, Joe is 75 years old now.

@balou joes in pretty good shape. Bet he could run circles around 45.

How is Bernie too far behind? He’s been the most popular politician for the past two years in all of Congress. Hell, he started the Democratic primary with 4% favorability and won almost half the votes.

@Marz I didn't say behind, I said left. Concerning the general population of the United States he is deemed too far leftist/socialist/communistic to be electable by the general population. IMHO

@Marz Would I vote for him if he was the nominee, hell yes.

@starwatcher-al according to mainstream media he's too far leftist. Every policy he defends has majority support. If he's left, then so is the majority.

@Marz Right , the majority is getting lefter (?) all the time

@JustLynnie I don't know about that. There are far too many people who grew up in the 50s and 60s and were absolutely brainwashed about the evils of socialism! It would take years of education to get past that. And, as much as I like and respect Bernie...I don't think he can win.

@JustLynnie Not all of them....but, SOME OF US are!

@hankcalifornia That's a point, if we could get rid of the two crazies.

That's a good point because Obama basically came out of nowhere. However, he gave a great keynote speech at the 2004 DNC. He looks like a baby here:

@balou "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that we are are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness................"
This is the reason I became a citizen. This is where my affection for America lies. To my mind this alone, inspires commitment.
Sadly it seems that those who do believe in the 'creator' have forgotten this.

'........but when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under DESPOTISM, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such a government, and to provide new guards for their future security."

It seems that neither of these statements are in play today. ?

No kidding. But, I provided a list of likely candidates.

Maybe one day, who knows?

He’s running for senate in Texas.. we need him to kick Cruz’s ass.

@Green_eyes yes we do!!!

@MichelleGar1, @Green_eyes Absolutely! Beto has my vote!

@balou mine too!

Beto would make a great VP choice for someone in 2020 if he loses a squeaker to Cruz in Nov.

@Alvingo1 that's true!

It will be here before you know it, all of the debates, etc.

@balou yeah I hope they don't pull the same b*** they did last time around.

Tulsi Gabbard?

I’d vote for Bernie’s corpse over Kennedy.

@jorj While I am concerned about the level corruption among many long established Politicians, inexperience can be every bit as bad and is likely to lead to corruption.

Plus, the most crucial deciding factor for me is history. I don't care what a politician says, I look at their history! What they have done in the past, is what they will do in the future!

@jorj I was gonna say shit show - maybe I should have stuck with my first thought...

@jorj monkey directed at a black person is racist. Monkey show to describe the circus happening in our government is spot on.
Hypocracy and double standards is electing a draft dodging, pussy grabbing idiot and calling him a lover of the military & christian.

@jorj Ah, you prefer to throw away your vote instead. I mean, why bare responsibility for your actions. You are taking the cowards way out.

@jorj there is a difference between following blindly and actually researching the candidates. Did you actually research HRC? Or did you believe the lies the repubs have been spreading since 1970ish?
Writing in a candidate is the worse thing you can do. It is literally throwing away your vote. Talk about a two year old throwing a temper tantrum. If there is a 3rd candidate on the ballot & they have some sort of possibility of winning, by all means vote for them. But in 2016 Jill Stein had zero chance of winning - in that case the vote was wasted. She did not even have a good platform - so please don't talk about democrats having weak political stances.

@jorj also educated and informed people understand the difference (as I stated previously) between directing a comment toward a person and directing a comment toward circumstances happening vs, as you did, making everything about race.
You talk about shaming but darned if you aren't real good at passing an awful lot of judgement and justifying it by calling yourself an independent.

@jorj do you not realize you also lose? And for every bad thing the republicans do, the consequences also affect you?
Why is it so important for you to claim independent when the results are disastrous for the whole country? Why do you not vote for the candidate who will come closest to your ideal even if that is not perfect but has a chance of winning instead of voting your party line or throwing away your vote by writing someone in?
Btw- you are not winning.... smdh.

@jorj if you chose to throw away a vote on a candidate that can not conceivably win, you have effectively not voted. You took the cowards way out, by participating while not actually participating.

@jorj I don't care if you vote 3rd party but you seem to think voting for Jill Stein was a better choice. That is just crazy. I will take an elite who at least has some knowledge & has actually worked in government over a non-platform fool. She had no position, no knowledge (as the current idiot in chief) of how our government actually works - crap she had never even won an election, for anything. Voting for someone like that is wasting your vote. Choosing the best of 2 in a bad situation (if you felt that way) is better than Jill Stein.

@jorj wow! Stein has never done a single thing. Not one single thing. She can spout being a liberal until she is blue in the face but until she actually gets elected and works on a committee which actually passes a bill she is nothing, spouting nothing. What you fail to know is I actually liked Stein when she first through her hat in the game. Then I researched. She could not even win an election at the local level....
You can continue to dig in and fight against everything just because you don't like the 2 main parties or you could open your eyes to all the AMAZING people running right now - mostly as Democrats. You could spend your energy working with & for them. Get them elected for the change you feel we need.
And if you think Democrats & republicans create the same policies which are hurting you, you better learn to research. Hint - 40 hour work week, unions, social security, epa.........
Back to losing - do you honestly believe the republicans are concerned about your health and safety - I will repeat EPA.

@jorj you are the one who continues to discuss everything but what the original topic of this thread is/was. If you cannot see the AMAZING, yes amazing group of Democrats who are running - yes, you might be all those things you sarcastically called yourself.
Not one person in your green party has a chance - for the most part they have no platform. Why are you so against the candidates who want change, want a better, non old guard Democrat party? Why are you not willing to look at ALL who are running and actually choose the best candidate vs just voting for anyone who is not Republican or Democrat or writing in Mickey Mouse?

@jorj you have continually knocked the dems yet even in this comment you stated 'a rookie getting elected either has to fall in line and play ball or they will never get a seat at the table' and you think a green party rep will get anywhere? ... that is not logical. My point all along has been new blood - go up and read my original comment. A new, different party is not the way to go. WE need to fix this. WE do that by voting and making smart choices when we are in the booth. A smart choice is one who is the closest to our ideal that has a chance of actually getting elected. They may not be perfect but slightly imperfect elected officials are better than what we get when people get mad when their candidate did not get the votes. Which is exactly what happened with many who wanted Bernie - it wasn't that they were unhappy with Democrats they were mad that their guy lost. And he did lose - Hillary got the votes and that is what counted in the primary. Did the DNC make a mess of things? Absolutely. What do we do to fix that? Throw our hands up?, not vote?, right in Mickey Mouse?, vote where the person has zero chance?, or do we dig our heels in and make effective changes? I say the latter. I say we give Tom Perez a chance - if he behaves as Schultz did we fix it and continue to fix it until we find someone who is going to do the best for the Democrats. ALL Democrats.
You keep saying you are no better off whether it is a repub or a Democrat yet that is not true. If you only look at the environment you will know they are not treating you (your kids, your grandkids) the same.
The biggest problem with the Democrats is they play nice when they have power which is why we have many of the problems you have brought up. No one is perfect, no group is perfect we can only strive for that and we do that by voting smart every election - not just presidential but we start at the local level. When we make our local governments work for US then we move up the ladder, not the other way around.

@jorj now I am truly done with you - you would rather destroy the planet just to feed a couple of families when coal is moving out west anyway & natural gas is far cheaper! Selfish ignorance must truly be bliss. Yes I am attacking you now.
Done - good night