How Different Would It Be Now, If Bernie Sanders Had Won the Nomination?

Discuss.

Sanders would be leading by a much larger margin than Clinton is.

And the projected Democrat voter turnout would be greater.

It's difficult to say how Trump would have campaigned against Bernie. Presumably he would have focussed on calling Bernie a socialist and a communist, and too old. It's all crap, of course (a social democrat is not anything like a communist), but since Trump's "debating skills" amount to calling people names, that's probably what he would have gone with.

The collapse of the Trump campaign, loosely defined, would probably have proceeded the same way. After all, Hillary hasn't done much beyond standing back and watching Trump screw up. Bernie could do that.

On the plus side, we would be envisioning a genuinely progressive agenda for the next president. How much he could actually get done would depend on how much change we see in the House and Senate - that's true for Hillary too, of course.

While we're playing "what if", here's Robert Reich's thoughts for the first 100 days.

Robert Reich wrote:

Wishful Thinking: First Hundred Days after November 8

1. Hillary Clinton is elected President.

2. Democrats take over the Senate, and reduce the Republican margin in the House to just 3 votes.

3. Elizabeth Warren announces she’ll challenge Hillary in the 2020 Democratic primaries if Hillary isn’t sufficiently progressive and bold during her first term.

4. The Democratic National Committee issues new rules eliminating “superdelegates” and requiring open primaries.

5. In her inaugural address, Hillary Clinton promises to “wrest back control of our democracy and economy from the moneyed interests that have taken over both.”

6. President Hillary Clinton nominates Barack Obama to the Supreme Court, who immediately pledges to reverse “Citizens United.” Senate Democrats make a rule change that allows Obama to be confirmed with 51 Senate votes. He is.

7. President Clinton nominates Bernie Sanders for Treasury Secretary and Michelle Obama for Attorney General. Both are immediately confirmed.

8. The chairman of the Republican Party officially repudiates Donald Trump, saying “shame on us for having nominated him.” Mitch McConnell, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, and Mike Pence appear in a joint news conference in which they apologize for having ever supported Trump.

9. Disgraced and with his brand in tatters, the value of Trump’s properties drops 80 percent. His creditors demand that his personal assets – homes, planes, furniture, all he possesses – be liquidated to pay his bills.

10. Rupert Murdoch fires Sean Hannity from Fox News.

Trump would not have a a boxcar full of old allegations to throw at Bernie.  Bernie has been absolutely consistent through his entire public service, so there are no skeletons to find.

Therefore, Trump would have a very hard time campaigning on negative personal attack ads.  He'd be FORCED, more-or-less, to address the issues.

And in that Bernie would wipe the floor with him.  Landslide Sanders.

As to calling him "too old" Sanders is only 4-1/2 years older than Drumpf.

Robert Reich wrote:

Wishful Thinking: First Hundred Days after November 8

1. Hillary Clinton is elected President.
2. Democrats take over the Senate, and reduce the Republican margin in the House to just 3 votes.

Yes and yes.

Robert Reich wrote:

3. Elizabeth Warren announces she’ll challenge Hillary in the 2020 Democratic primaries if Hillary isn’t sufficiently progressive and bold during her first term.

Don't see it.  Warren is not activist enough to challenge The First Woman President in the first 100 days.  Best we can hope for is an appointment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that she founded.

Robert Reich wrote:

4. The Democratic National Committee issues new rules eliminating “superdelegates” and requiring open primaries.

No motive.

Robert Reich wrote:

5. In her inaugural address, Hillary Clinton promises to “wrest back control of our democracy and economy from the moneyed interests that have taken over both.”

Hilary is full of promises.  I'll be surprised if she delivers much of anything.

Robert Reich wrote:

6. President Hillary Clinton nominates Barack Obama to the Supreme Court, who immediately pledges to reverse “Citizens United.” Senate Democrats make a rule change that allows Obama to be confirmed with 51 Senate votes. He is.

"Wishful thinking" indeed.  He's not qualified, has no bench experience, and changing the rules ain't that easy.

Robert Reich wrote:

7. President Clinton nominates Bernie Sanders for Treasury Secretary and Michelle Obama for Attorney General. Both are immediately confirmed.

Robert Reich and Loretta Lynch more likely.

Robert Rich wrote:

8. The chairman of the Republican Party officially repudiates Donald Trump, saying “shame on us for having nominated him.” Mitch McConnell, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, and Mike Pence appear in a joint news conference in which they apologize for having ever supported Trump.

9. Disgraced and with his brand in tatters, the value of Trump’s properties drops 80 percent. His creditors demand that his personal assets – homes, planes, furniture, all he possesses – be liquidated to pay his bills.

Post-election quarterbacking will allocate blame to everyone EXCEPT Trump, maybe the GOP will look at their processes and limit the number of candidates, give more power to the superdonors in the selection process, and implement a superdelegate system modeled on the Democrats.  

Maybe the party will cease to exist for a few election cycles.  Any way you slice it it'll be ugly.

Robert Reich wrote:

10. Rupert Murdoch fires Sean Hannity from Fox News.

Never happen.  Hannity and Bill O'Reilly are huge moneymakers for Murdoch, and that's all he cares about.

Literally.