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Jon Rosen's avatar

Great post Ralph. I too love Bernie and AOC but I also agree that Bernie could never be elected. He is to be fair "an old commie jew" ( as am I by the way and proud of it!) But sadly in this country that makes him virtually unelectable nationwide as a President no matter how great he might turn out.

And as I have said before AOC is simply not mature enough as a leader to be a president. I am not sure she could be elected Senator in her home state of New York. Maybe in 6-8 years, yes. But not yet.

All that said they are great legislators and advocates for our cause and I continue to support them both in their efforts to shine the light on the Trump terror emanating from DC.

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lauriemcf's avatar

While I agree that neither of them could be elected President - I would definitely vote for AOC if she ran for Senator in NY.

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Jon Rosen's avatar

I would TOO of course but it's also necessary to face the political realities in NY (and anywhere). New York is really two completely different places: NYC and New York state (and part of NYC, i.e., Staten Island doesn't really count!)

AOC could easily get elected Senator from NYC but unfortunately there is the pesky reality that NYC doesn't get their own Senator. And she is at best a 50-50 shot at getting elected Senator in NY State possibly less than that.

There are other states where getting elected to Congress in a major district would practically pave the road for you to the Senate but unfortunately NY is NOT one of those states.

Someday I think she will make it and maybe even the White House but sadly not this decade. And I want her to hold her Congressional seat and not sacrifice it like California's Katie porter did when she took on Adam Schiff for Senator. That was a tragic House loss for the Democrats. And the same problem too.

Schiff had 20 years in Congress and Porter, a bright progressive woman had only 2 terms. Anyone with any sense could see that she was heading uphill. It's one thing to go uphill against a monster but Schiff was a liberal hero.

Katie had no chance and I fear AOC needs more time to be ready to fight for av Senate seat let alone the Presidency no matter how much she could handle it. We allk know Harris would have made a terrific President but she had to win first.

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Judith Smith 1111's avatar

Jon Rosen -- Use care when using the phrase "we all know" before stating your own opinion.

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Jon Rosen's avatar

I do use care. It is a common expression and MOST people understand that it is an expression of speech not to be taken literally. It means "most of us should know".

But my apologies I will try to be more careful. It is funny that you picked out almost the very last thing I wrote in a relatively long comment so can we agree that most of what I wrote is good?

Thanks!

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Anne B's avatar

I agree with you about politics, Jon. You have to win.

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John Jennrich's avatar

Winning has to be he first priority for Democrats, regardless of what it takes (assuming that "what it takes" is ethical).

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Deborah's avatar

I agree. She may be ready someday but not yet. Upstate is another world.

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J L Graham's avatar

I doubt Lincoln would make it to the presidency today, or at least there would be widely expresed opinion that he wouldn't.

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Jon Rosen's avatar

Not with that beard!

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MysticShadow's avatar

He is not communist he is a democratic socialist.

He has never advocated nationalizing business it must be embarrassing to be so ignorant unless you're to ignorant to realize it.

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Jon Rosen's avatar

Dude, get over yourself. Did you see the quote marks around the expression "old commie Jew"? It is NOT a literal statement of fact, it is a representation of what the opposition thinks of him.

THIS o them he is OLD (totally true), he is Jewish (also totally true) and a "commie" in the same way that 1950s Joe Mc Carathy supporters called ANYONE who was to the left of Attilla the Hun a "commie".

The point is that Bernie, whatever you call him, is WAY to the left of mainstream America. He never had any real serious chance of being elected President and he stillo doesn't. If we couldn't get Harris elected, Bernie isn't even on the road map.

But I LOVE the guy and I hope he keeps doing what he is doing because it is a rallying point for the people. And we need that right now.

Just don't get confused between someone who can help us win and someone who can win himself. He is the former, not the latter.

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MysticShadow's avatar

Apologies, I was reminded of when, during the 2015 primary race, my right-wing brother-in-law asked me if Bernie Sanders is the same kind of communist as Hitler. I guess I'm just sensitive to feeding the right-wing propensity to label every liberal as a communist. My experience with right-wingers is that most of them don't know the difference between a communist and a fascist. They don't realize that they are now fascists.

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D4N's avatar

Well said MS. Furthermore and a thing that unfairly bias' some people is that even if he were a raging communist, we have two other branches and the constitution to tame any wayward policy leanings by only the executive branch. Congress makes all law, departments, etc., in harmony with the constitution - if not, the judiciary steps on it.

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Jon Rosen's avatar

"Even if he were a raging communist, we have two other branches of government... to take any wayward policy leanings."

I am assuming this was an attempt at political humor, right? Be cause if you were serious, have you noticed how effective those other two branches are right now when we need them? The judiciary is trying but Congress is totally under the thumb of Trump.

Just saying...

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