Bernie Sanders (D) vs. Rand Paul (R)

[IceSpear]

The two Atlas Forum darlings square off. Who would you vote for?

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

I'd actually vote Sanders here.

[Miles]

Sanders.

[ElectionsGuy]

Paul

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Paul

Paul, but if Sanders wins, I wouldn't be too sad. His radical ideas would never be implemented, and his (few) good ones would be met with Republican support.

[TNF]

I would never vote for Sanders if he ran as a Democrat, so I'm going to have to go NOTA here.

[IceSpear]

I would never vote for Sanders if he ran as a Democrat, so I'm going to have to go NOTA here.

Why does it matter what banner he ran under? He's the same person either way.

[Peter the Lefty]

I would never vote for Sanders if he ran as a Democrat, so I'm going to have to go NOTA here.

Why does it matter what banner he ran under? He's the same person either way.

[Deus Naturae]

I would never vote for Sanders if he ran as a Democrat, so I'm going to have to go NOTA here.

Why does it matter what banner he ran under? He's the same person either way.

That's pretty naive. If Sanders were to run on a third-party line, it would be as a left-wing protest candidate and he would be willing to take positions that he never would if he was nominated as a Dem and had an actual chance of winning.

[Goldwater]

Paul

Paul, but if Sanders wins, I wouldn't be too sad. His radical ideas would never be implemented, and his (few) good ones would be met with Republican support.

What ideas do both Sanders and Republicans support?

[TNF]

I would never vote for Sanders if he ran as a Democrat, so I'm going to have to go NOTA here.

Why does it matter what banner he ran under? He's the same person either way.

That's pretty naive. If Sanders were to run on a third-party line, it would be as a left-wing protest candidate and he would be willing to take positions that he never would if he was nominated as a Dem and had an actual chance of winning.

Deus is correct.

[MalaspinaGold]

It doesn't matter what issues he runs on- it's what he does if he wins.

[Deus Naturae]

It doesn't matter what issues he runs on- it's what he does if he wins.

Those two things are not disconnected.

But, my point was that if Sanders was running as a non-Dem, he wouldn't have a chance of winning anyway. The potential for victory (or lack thereof) would significantly alter both the substance and purpose of his campaign.

[MalaspinaGold]

As Pat McCrory and Scott Walker can testify, being a moderate bipartisan consensus business friendly candidate once makes you a moderate bipartisan consensus business friendly chief executive.

[Mr. Smith]

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[Deus Naturae]

As Pat McCrory and Scott Walker can testify, being a moderate bipartisan consensus business friendly candidate once makes you a moderate bipartisan consensus business friendly candidate always.

Like those two (though I'm not sure how much Walker actually changed from his initial campaign to his time in office...he was always pretty right-wing), Sanders' shift once elected would almost certainly be rightward.

But again, that wasn't really my point.

[IceSpear]

I would never vote for Sanders if he ran as a Democrat, so I'm going to have to go NOTA here.

Why does it matter what banner he ran under? He's the same person either way.

That's pretty naive. If Sanders were to run on a third-party line, it would be as a left-wing protest candidate and he would be willing to take positions that he never would if he was nominated as a Dem and had an actual chance of winning.

So what, you think he'd disavow socialism if he got a major party nomination? I doubt his positions would change very much either way.

[MalaspinaGold]

As Pat McCrory and Scott Walker can testify, being a moderate bipartisan consensus business friendly candidate once makes you a moderate bipartisan consensus business friendly candidate always.

Like those two (though I'm not sure how much Walker actually changed from his initial campaign to his time in office...he was always pretty right-wing), Sanders' shift once elected would almost certainly be rightward.

But again, that wasn't really my point.

I highly doubt Sanders would shift rightward if he had moderated himself during the campaign. And even if it were, that would not change if he were to mount an independent bid rather than a democratic bid.

And that was quite obviously your point.

[AggregateDemand]

Vote for the old white guy. So Atlas.

[Illuminati Blood Drinker]

I would never vote for Sanders if he ran as a Democrat, so I'm going to have to go NOTA here.

Why does it matter what banner he ran under? He's the same person either way.

That's pretty naive. If Sanders were to run on a third-party line, it would be as a left-wing protest candidate and he would be willing to take positions that he never would if he was nominated as a Dem and had an actual chance of winning.

So what, you think he'd disavow socialism if he got a major party nomination? I doubt his positions would change very much either way.

uh excuse me IceSpear I think you will find sanders does not support ISIS the only true champions of anti-imperialism and is therefore a neoliberal fascist hp tool of the jewish illuminati banksters who will be rightfully guillotined when the revolution comes

[This user has not been convicted of 34 felonies]

Sanders.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Paul, but he'd probably lose.

[Murica!]

Sanders but if Paul would somehow win I would still be relatively happy, for once.

[Arturo Belano]

Sanders.

[Rockefeller GOP]

Paul.