Could Bernie Sanders win Florida?

[Thunderbird is the word]

In the primaries? I mean I could see him definitely appealing to the old Jewish vote and also a lot of college students.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Don't think so. Hillary will crush him among non-whites and they will be a sizable chunk of the Democratic primary electorate.

[Maxwell]

Don't think so. Hillary will crush him among non-whites and they will be a sizable chunk of the Democratic primary electorate.

Yes this will be Bernie Sanders big problem throughout the primary.

[Lief 🗽]

Sanders would get crushed in Florida in both the primaries and the general.

[H. Ross Peron]

Clinton would win overwhelmingly with the combined Hispanic+black+suburban soccer mom vote.

[Mehmentum]

Well this is a fun thought experiment.  I'll (of course) be assuming that the primary becomes competitive.

Clinton got 49.7% of the vote in the 2008 Florida primary.  That alone should give you an indicator of where this is going.  In 2016, Clinton will likely have the support of African Americans as well, adding significantly to that.  If she gets 70% of African Americans, she'd get something like an additional 8 or 9%.

I don't know how Edwards voters would split, but even if they all somehow go to Sanders, he's still at a significant disadvantage.

Of course there will be new voters as well.  In order to win, Sanders would need to win a lot of new voters.  Considering that younger people are more likely to be minorities, that might be harder than it seems.

If the primaries become competitive, a state full of minorities and southern whites is not going to be Sanders' best target.

[JonathanSwift]

He might do better there than in any other Southern state, but I have great difficulty seeing him win it, or even make it particularly competitive.

[Rockefeller GOP]

It'll be interesting to see what the electorate was like.  Registered Democrats in much of the South and Appalachia (who many on this forum would probably call DINOs) clearly voted in the Democratic primaries in 2008.  They didn't have a choice in 2012.  We'll see if a lot re-register as Republicans for 2016 or stick to their traditional party.  I'm inclined to believe Hillary would slaughter Sanders with Panhandle Democrats.

[DS0816]

Well this is a fun thought experiment.  …

If the primaries become competitive, a state full of minorities and southern whites is not going to be Sanders' best target.

No.

For this to be competitive, the minorities-voting support would carry for Bernie Sanders.

[IceSpear]

Nah, not a good state for him at all. Even in a scenario where the primary becomes competitive, Hillary wins FL in a landslide.

[WVdemocrat]

Nah, not a good state for him at all. Even in a scenario where the primary becomes competitive, Hillary wins FL in a landslide.

This.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Edwards did very well in the Panhandle with Dixiecrats. I doubt that these people will vote now for an ultra-liberal Vermont Jew.

[TDAS04]

No.

[SATW]

Jews will still overwhelmingly support Hillary over Bernie.

[Famous Mortimer]

Edwards did very well in the Panhandle with Dixiecrats. I doubt that these people will vote now for an ultra-liberal Vermont Jew.

Edwards was running more or less on the same platform as Sanders, just minus the S word.

[IceSpear]

Edwards did very well in the Panhandle with Dixiecrats. I doubt that these people will vote now for an ultra-liberal Vermont Jew.

Edwards was running more or less on the same platform as Sanders, just minus the S word.

Being "culturally Southern" sometimes means a lot more than ideology.

[Famous Mortimer]

True. I'm not saying that every Edwards voter would go for Sanders but I'm saying there is a bases for some of them doing it. Yes, a lot of people voted for Edwards just because he had a dumb accent, a lot of others voted for him because they were poor and he wanted to help poor people (or a combination of his stupid accent AND being for poor people).

[Yelnoc]

He definitely has a better chance in the primaries than in the general election.

[Higgs]

He definitely has a better chance in the primaries than in the general election.

True, I know a lot of people think otherwise but I think Bernie would get absolutely crushed in the general.

Honestly I think Ted Cruz would even annihilate him in the general.

[ElectionsGuy]

I have a hard time seeing him win any southern state (besides maybe Virginia)

[andrew_c]

He has no hope of even coming close.

[PresidentTRUMP]

This guy is the best candidate to challenge hillary the Dems can come up with for some type of primary....REALLY?!?!? LOL

Of all the democrats in the country, to get Hillary truly battle tested for a general election Barry Sanders is the best option to do that?!?!?!

Please she will win all 50 states in the primary or close to it.