The dominant rationalization for supporting Hillary Clinton instead of Bernie Sanders is that she "can win." This is wrong for a number of reasons.
First, the poll taken here at Dailykos is showing that while a significant number of Sanders supporters would not vote for Hillary in the general, pretty much all of the Hillary voters would support Sanders in the general. So the Democrats unite behind Sanders but not behind Clinton.
Then there are people like this one quoted here http://mic.com/... :"Eddy Tingles: "Even as someone far from Bernie on the political spectrum, he's literally the only candidate I trust. I like Rand's libertarian politics but his willingness to cater to the mainstream at the expense of his values puts him behind Bernie. I first heard about Bernie on the internet a few months before he started talking about a presidential run, and he just seems like a real straight shooter.""
We need to face facts, over 40% of voters are registered independent. To win our candidate needs to get votes from significant numbers of those voters. Google Independents for Hillary or Clinton and nothing comes up. Obama comes up. Bernie Sanders comes up . Bernie even has a Facebook group of Republican supporters
But there is an important point no one is making about this "can win" idea in this election cycle: we do not need to live in fear of clowns. This is an unbelievably weak group of Republican candidates, the Clown Car pack. They are running a group of dishonest extremists, people most Americans do not agree with much or at all. Candidates calling Mexican immigrants horrible names on national TV, calling for an end to the Supreme Court, candidates who apparently believe they are demi-gods who can call down "fire and brimstone." The front-runner is the brother of the most disastrous President in American history.
This is not an election cycle where we have to desperately sell our principles out to back the one candidate strong enough to beat the Republican. Anyone running for the nomination as a Democrat "can win." In this case, Bernie Sanders will not only win, he will bring more voters to the polls than Hillary will, helping Democrats downticket across the country.
Finally, let me just ask that we all swear never to mention McGovern again. Those voters are mostly dead now. The issues of the time are mostly dead too. Few march for or against segregation these days, or call for peace with Vietnam, or worry about the threat of the Soviet Union. Forty three years ago now, I think it is time to give a real Democrat a shot again.
