Bernie Sanders vs Jeb Bush (and other GOP candidates)

[RR1997]

If Sanders won the nomination, how would he perform against Jeb Bush and other possible GOP candidates?

Here's my Jeb Bush vs Bernie Sanders map:

Jeb Bush: 376 EV's, 55% of the popular vote
Bernie Sanders: 162 EV's, 41% of the popular vote

[RR1997]

Lol you guys are delusional

Sanders is a self-proclaimed SOCIALIST (I know he actually isn't).

The GOP candidate would probably tie Sanders to the USSR (lol) and call him a far-left socialist lunatic, and the GOP candidate would probably win by a landslide just by doing that.

Anyone who thinks that Bush would lose or get less than 320 EV's is either a huge troll or delusional as far as I'm concerned. Even my map is probably being too generous to Sanders.

I could also imagine fundraising being a huge problem for Sanders if he won the nomination. A lot of wealthy donors who supported Obama and other mainstream Democrats aren't going to support Sanders for very obvious reasons.

You guys remind me of the Paulbots back in 2012 who believed that Paul would actually defeat Obama if he had won the nomination.

[RR1997]

A socialist will not be perceived as a moderate by American voters. Especially when compared to a conservative governor who has a strong record on governing a swing state.

See, you're using real life logic.  That doesn't apply here on Atlas.

Bernie Sanders isn't any more socialist than a lot of other mainstream government officials (including Obama before he became President); he's just the only one that identifies himself as such. If he is able to convince American voters that democratic socialism is different than USSR-style socialism through a public awareness campaign, he has a great chance of winning the election by a sizeable margin. I think somebody made this point earlier, but people would actually have a reason to be inspired to vote for Bernie Sanders (REAL change); Jeb Bush is just some status-quo mainstream Republican who would disenfranchise many, especially including those who are actually looking for change. And Sanders won't be burdened by comparisons to Obama or the mainstream Democratic Party, as, well, duh.

1.) Sanders is going to be spending much of his campaign on defense.  Bernie Sanders is going to need to run a public awareness campaign before he can even think of winning.  This is an added barrier to winning that he simply can't afford.

2.) Your strategy for Sanders relies on the effectiveness of a fairly complex and nuanced argument.  Can you see the problem here?  Complex and nuanced arguments get lost in the noise. 

3.) Bernie Sanders is going to spend much of his campaign talking about how Socialism isn't so bad, meanwhile Jeb Bush will line up Republicans and conservative Democrats to talk about how Socialism is that bad.  A public awareness campaign is impossible if its swamped up in ads saying the exact opposite thing.  Most voters will write it off as 'he said, she said' and just go with their already existing opinions.

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