DU Poll: If you are NOT a Sanders supporter, would you switch to Sanders IF...

[thesquanderer]

If you are NOT a Sanders supporter, would you switch to Sanders IF polls started consistently showing that he was the candidate likely to be strongest against Trump?

This comes to mind because many people have previously said that Biden was the one to pick because, even though polls showed Sanders beating Trump, Biden beat him by more, making it a more certain win with potentially better coattails. What if that changes such that that position is held by Sanders? Would people who prefer other candidates switch their vote to him?

So that's the question:
If you're choice is not Sanders, but polls say Sanders is strongest against Trump (highest margin of victory, including crucial swing states), what would you do when it came time to vote?

39 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	I would switch to Sanders. Beating Trump by as much as possible is the priority.
	12 (31%)
	As long as there was someone else I preferred, I would not switch to Sanders unless Sanders' odds of beating Trump were substantially better than anyone I preferred. Being just somewhat better wouldn't be enough.
	4 (10%)
	As long as there was someone else I preferred, I would not switch to Sanders unless there was no candidate I preferred who beat Trump outside the margin of error.
	0 (0%)
	As long as there was someone else I preferred, I would not switch to Sanders unless polls showed any other candidate I preferred losing to Trump.
	1 (3%)
	Regardless of polls, I would not switch to Sanders as long as there was another candidate on the ballot who I preferred. Voting my beliefs is most important and/or polls can be wrong.
	22 (56%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Mike 03]

1. #2: If his odds were 'substantially better' of defeating Trump. nt

[TwilightZone]

2. It's unlikely that he'd ever have a significant lead over the others vs. Trump.

All of the Dem candidates fair similarly (within a few points) vs. Trump in head-to-head polls. That's been the case most of this election cycle. Bloomberg actually has the largest average lead vs. Trump at the moment, followed by Biden.

Of course, the polls that matter are the state polls in the few states that will swing the election. There isn't enough data coming out of them yet to tell us much, but it's unlikely that Sanders would have a "substantial" lead over the others unless we're down to a couple of candidates. Maybe not even then. There's a lot of anti-Trump sentiment, and all of our candidates benefit from that to some degree.

[thesquanderer]

10. If it comes down to Sanders vs. Bloomberg, I could see Sanders doing much better...

...than Bloomberg would do against Trump among the "blue collar working class" voters in the rust belt. If that happens, and they're close everywhere else, then I'd say Sanders could well be stronger against Trump in the general than Bloomberg would be.

[Squinch]

30. I think the opposite would happen. Those people would be much more likely to go with Bloomberg.

[thesquanderer]

35. Why? He didn't get them as mayor of NYC.

Here's the stats...

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/04/nyregion/1104-ny-exit-poll.html

[Demsrule86]

33. No, look at Sanders and the union in Nevada...he will not do well. The GOP will destroy him

and Trump will win the EC...at least...and probably way more than last time...I will put my efforts into an attempt to save the House...the Senate would be gone.

[Sherman A1]

3. I will vote for the nominee

beyond that I will not commit.

[rockfordfile]

7. Same

[Demsrule86]

4. False premise...Sanders will not win a general regardless of any poll...and as the oppo

will drop after the primary is over no poll will sway me from voting for Biden or for Bloomberg should Biden falter...not a good poll... I would call it a push poll personally.

[thesquanderer]

11. So your answer would be #4, you wouldn't vote for Sanders, and don't trust polls that say he'd win.

That's within the premise I presented. I did try to fairly represent all perspectives in the possible answers.

[Demsrule86]

18. It is hard to do a poll ...my point is that it is not the polls that are unreliable but the fact of

all the oppo Trump has.

[Fresh_Start]

5. I believe Sanders will lose to Trump

polls are meaningless since something like Comey can happen a week before the election

[LakeArenal]

6. Not in the primary.

[floppyboo]

8. The polls on RCP/538 showing margins asking 'Who do YOU think has the best chance..."

If you get out of the MSM talking points for a bit, and look at the facts instead, you (meaning all of the people who are too terrified by Trump that they become just as submissive as all the Trump "mexicans are rapists" voters) you'd see Sanders has ALL the advantages, outside of corporate sponsorship. As is evidenced by the army of volunteers and donations spread across the country, the polls showing him winning all demographics, the polls showing him as most favorable, etc. Bernie has the best chance. Hands down. Voting for a centrist is a proven loser.

[Demsrule86]

19. First of all Biden is not a centrist...secondly...there has never been a left candidate elected

president...we lost everytime...and during McGovern's time were were a more liberal nation. Also, Obama ran in the middle...you have to. Sanders presented by the GOP as a socialist will get trounced by Trump....will lose the rust belt and florida as well for sure.

[thesquanderer]

22. re: "there has never been a left candidate elected president...we lost everytime"

I don't think that's really true, because at least in recent history, we've never even tried. When's the last time we put up a real left candidate in the general? Not since McGovern, right? And honestly, I think a lot of that loss had to do with the Eagleton fiasco.

[Demsrule86]

32. The point is it has never happened. And I consider the Dukakis massacre to be an attempt as well.

And that is closer to Sanders as Dukakis was leading Bush but was cruhed by the GOP smear machine just as Sanders will be. You can tell a great deal by looking at the Senate and the states...the GOP is doing much better there...no indication at all of a leftward movement in terms of the country...and moderates won back the house...run Sanders and we lose 35 state most likely.

[IronLionZion]

9. It would be really interesting if we didn't have a nominee by the time it gets to DC

on June 2. My vote never counts for these sorts of things.

[W_HAMILTON]

12. Other.

I will never vote for Sanders in another primary again -- period.

I dislike him almost as much as I dislike Trump. I feel that if not for him, we wouldn't have Trump in the White House to begin with. And he and his supporters are well on their way to ushering in a Trump reelection, with all their conspiracy theory bullshit and trashing the party every chance they get.

[judeling]

13. Since I beleive any of our candidates will beat Trump if in different ways

So I'm would be reluctant because Bernie would not beat Trump in the Way that will bring the most down ballot candidates along.

[Arkansas Granny]

14. I will stick with my favorite until the nominee is declared.

Once the nominee is decided, that person will have my support and my vote.

[highplainsdem]

15. I'll vote for the nominee. If that's Sanders, I'll hold my nose and vote for him,

but I'll fully expect him to lose to Trump by a landslide, cost our party control of the House, and leave the Democratic Party trying desperately to wash off the socialist label for years to come.

I wish to God he'd retired to Vermont years ago.

I agree completely with the Las Vegas Sun's opinion of him:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287512192


https://lasvegasweekly.com/news/2020/feb/13/our-2020-nevada-caucus-endorsement-amy-klobuchar-a/

Sanders is the only clear non-starter. It’s impossible not to regard the Vermont senator in a Trumplike mold—he seldom has shown an ability to build consensus and threatens to use executive orders extensively, just like Trump. It’s also doubtful he could assemble a highly qualified Cabinet, meaning he’d essentially be the left wing version of Trump: isolated, angry, unable to work with others and showing too little respect for dissenting opinions. A Sanders candidacy simply guarantees a Trump second term.

[rzemanfl]

17. +1. n/t

[Clash City Rocker]

16. Trump has bragged that Republicans will change parties to vote for the weakest Democrat

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/feb/10/trump-rally-republicans-will-vote-weakest-democrat/

But we’re supposed to believe they’d never lie in a poll, right?

[highplainsdem]

20. That's occurred to me, too, that some of Sanders' "support" in polls is from lying Republicans.

[jmowreader]

21. I'm not buying into polls this time around

Envision this scenario: The MAGAts and Trump's Russian agent handlers game the polls to make it look like Sanders is the only candidate who has the faintest chance of beating Trump. People think, "well, the polls all say Sanders is popular, we'll vote for him." He wins the primaries and becomes our standard-bearer.

The very evening Sanders goes to the podium to make his acceptance speech, Putin's cutouts at the NRA and RNC begin their billion-dollar ad buy that aims to turn Sanders into the Second Coming of Josef Stalin.

Trump becomes the first presidential candidate to win all 50 states.

I'm sorry, folks. I realize a lot of people here love Sanders, but he's the candidate Trump can beat the easiest.

[pansypoo53219]

23. if IF he is the nominee. if YOU DONOT VOTEFOR HIM YPU ARAE VOTING FOE TRUMP.

NO MATTER WNO, VOTE BLUE. we have to stopthios mother fucker stacking the judiciary !!!!!!!!

go you think i wanted to vote for hillary? or dukakis, or kerry? or fucking joe leiberfuckenputz? this is why democrats lose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bernie will still be better than the MORON!

[Gothmog]

24. trump would destroy a weak candidate like sanders in the general

I am very worried about down ballot races. sanders is a very weak candidate and would be easy for trump to destroy. In addition to the well written 101 page memorandum with oppo on sanders with a 1000 pages of backup from the Clinton campaign trump has his own oppo file on sanders that would destroy such a weak and divisive candidate like sanders.

Link to tweet

trump had a two foot thick book of oppo research on Sanders http://www.newsweek.com/myths-cost-democrats-presidential-election-521044

They ignored the fact that Sanders had not yet faced a real campaign against him. Clinton was in the delicate position of dealing with a large portion of voters who treated Sanders more like the Messiah than just another candidate. She was playing the long game—attacking Sanders strongly enough to win, but gently enough to avoid alienating his supporters. Given her overwhelming support from communities of color—for example, about 70 percent of African-American voters cast their ballot for her—Clinton had a firewall that would be difficult for Sanders to breach....

So what would have happened when Sanders hit a real opponent, someone who did not care about alienating the young college voters in his base? I have seen the opposition book assembled by Republicans for Sanders, and it was brutal. The Republicans would have torn him apart. And while Sanders supporters might delude themselves into believing that they could have defended him against all of this, there is a name for politicians who play defense all the time: losers....

The Republicans had at least four other damning Sanders videos (I don’t know what they showed), and the opposition research folder was almost 2-feet thick. (The section calling him a communist with connections to Castro alone would have cost him Florida.) In other words, the belief that Sanders would have walked into the White House based on polls taken before anyone really attacked him is a delusion built on a scaffolding of political ignorance.

sanders was such a weak primary candidate that the Clinton campaign did not use its oppo but trump would have fun destroying such a weak candidate like sanders

I will vote for the nominee of the party but I fear that the nomination of sanders will lead to a Speaker Kevin McCarthy

[Codeine]

25. There is no circumstance in which

I will cast a primary vote for Sanders. None whatever.

Should he be the nominee after it all shakes out then there is no circumstance in which I would NOT cast a general election vote for Sanders. None whatever.

[gollygee]

26. Sanders doing well in polls against Trump now doesn't mean much to me

He would not survive in the GE against Trump. In 2016, I thought anyone could beat Trump so we might as well go for the most progressive candidate. I have learned the error of my ways. We need someone who can win. We also need someone who is not so divisive. Our country is going through hard times and we need it to be brought together.

[MH1]

27. We have to consider that polls may be hacked.

If they started showing Sanders beating Trump by substantial margins in crucial swing states, I would be very concerned that they had in fact been hacked.

But sure, IF I BELIEVED THE POLLING WAS ACCURATE, what I selected above holds.

[whttevrr]

28. I feel like he did not support Clinton enough in 2016.

I do not think I can vote for him for any reason.

[Beartracks]

29. "Voting your beliefs is more important" than beating Trump??

Or do people choose this response because they can't fathom how polls could ever show Sanders beating Trump?

=======

[underthematrix]

31. Polls indicating Sanders beating Trump in the GE is a psyop.

[woodsprite]

34. If he wins the primary, then I'd switch

Before that, I’m voting for the best person I believe can handle the destruction that trump has wrought.