Look at the Democrats. In 2000 they had a brief competition between Al Gore and Bill Bradley. In 2004, John Kerry was the de facto nominee after Iowa. The 2008 primary eventually whittled down to three serious contenders: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards. Although Bernie Sanders is putting up a brave fight this year, Clinton is protected by having only one opponent and a firewall of party insiders (superdelegates) to save her from unpredictable demotic forces.


Ay-Nawn:

    The two truly viable candidates left in the Republican Party's ... are loathed by the kind of people who make the Republican Party a viable national institution: its donors, elected officials, court intellectuals, and leading activists.

I don't understand how this can be a viable statement. While I reserve skepticism for polling procedures and ridiculous media bias, the reality is that there's a significant population within the population that supports these goons. THOSE supporters are the body of the Republican who have been following such a divisive narrative from these "kind of people" up until this point. Don't get me wrong; yes, these candidates are denounced vehemently by their respective institutions, but the reality is that they're reaping the benefits of what they've sown. Only now do they see the power of such a narrative over time.


posted 2926 days ago