My Two Cents: Trump vs. Bernie? Why?

Bernie23Okay, I opened up comments – for now – so can someone please explain to me, what would be the purpose of a debate between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders? They both appeal to largely the same people, albeit on opposite ends of the spectrum. They appeal to people who think “the system” is somehow “corrupt” and who want to stick to to everyone in the center, which is about 80% of the electorate.

They both advocate for causes that the majority of Americans really don’t care about: Bernie is obsessed with income inequality and single payer, neither of which anyone cares about, except for people who obsessively listen to far left talk radio,  and Trump used right wing talk radio to decide what his positions on the issues would be. The strongest supporters of both candidates – who are the only ones likely to watch, since it will look much like a Jerry Springer Show – will each believe their guy won. See, here’s the thing about both extreme left and extreme right. They don’t really care about policy; they care about “fighting.” They care about landing blows on the other side. So, when Sanders has Trump, he wins in the eyes of the Stans, and we all know about the right wing; any time any Republican says anything negative about liberals, they become demi-gods to those batch it crazy loons.

Trump 2And I’m sure the subject will turn to Hillary at some point, and they will both take shots at her, but so what? She’s been taking shots for 30 years and she’s a front runner for president; I think she can handle it.

I just don’t see where such a debate helps anyone. I know, the dumbest pundit on the Internet, Jim Hoft, thinks it’s a “genius idea” on the part of Trump and he imagines nothing but Hillary-bashing going on, but again, who cares? It’s too early for any of that to stick and at this point, there is no way viewers won’t be seeing Darrell Hammond and Larry David going at it. And Trump will be going after Hillary for another five months, anyway, so one small ding in early June isn’t going to make much difference.

The only thing I see with this is tarnishing Bernie’s legacy, such as it is. If he does agree to do this, it makes him look like a clown, taking the dare of someone Martin O’Malley rightly called a “Carnival Barker.” If he wants to cement is legacy as a “revolutionary,” that won’t do it. His name recognition is still only in the low 80s; does he really want to get to 100% by doing what would be a reality show with Donald Trump? He can’t win the nomination, not that something like this would help him with California, anyway. So, again, I ask; what’s the point?

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My Two Cents: Trump vs. Bernie? Why? — 5 Comments

  1. You are too sour. Bernie has done a lot even if he doesn’t get the nomination. He should keep trying to get the country to build a progressive majority and to get new voters to vest in progressive issues and thinking. We can both defeat Trump and build toward work. Sanders has enunciated a twelve point program built largely on Jessie Jackson’s Rainbow coalition of the 1980’s, largely in 1988.

  2. I can understand the Sanders campaign. It’s stupid and puerile, but we have seen this before, and we managed to avoid the disasters that would have resulted.

    What I can’t understand is the debasement of the American public such that Trump wasn’t laughed out of contention over a year ago. We have truly become a nation that deserves him if we allow the sort of crap this penny-ante thug has been purveying since Day One. In that sense I don’t really fault the media for blowing it: It’s like Ted Bundy, from Death Row, announcing he’s running and being taken seriously. Who’d have thunk it? Apparently quite a few people, who would say, “Yeah, that Ted’s a killer, but he lets you know where he’s at. He’s no phony. He hates women and he doesn’t pussyfoot around. He kills them and dismembers them, and he makes no bones about it. Well, actually, he sort of does, but you get my point.”

    Anyone who could take Sanders seriously after this really needs therapy. Your guy just got taken by a con man, a con man who admits he’s a con man, and he still fell for it. Gee, Bernie, how was this ever going to turn out well for you? All you’ve managed to do is alienate the 3 or 4 senators who’ll still return your phone calls. Was it worth it? You really want to be the Ralph Nader of 2016?

  3. So agree with this. The only reason why Sanders wants to do this is for free media coverage, because people are starting to ignore him and he only has about $6Million left despite the large amount of donations he received.

  4. I get it that Sen Sanders wants to win the nomination, however, does he also want to damage Sen Clinton so that she doesn’t win the Presidency in the general election?

    It certainly appears that way!

    Sooo… with that said …is Sen Sanders a Democrat or just using the Democratic Party in HIS attempt to become POTUS?

    If that is the case …how is he any different than the GOP/Republican front runner?

    That guy is a joke!

    Is Sen Sanders a joke?

    If he participates in this “reality show” stunt …well …THAT speaks for itself!