Democratic Debate

[Gob]

Bernie's too old.

[BoSoxGal]

Bernie's too old.

Bullshit.

Nelson Mandela took office at age 75. He did some great stuff while there and managed to keep in decent shape while doing it, too.

Bernie's a healthy, tough old bird. I bet he lives very healthily through his two terms of office.

[Gob]

Bernie getting two terms would make him 83 buy the end of his tenure, far too old to be in charge of the US. Mandela retired at 81.

[rubato]

And you honestly think Hillary will deliver anything different with a republican Congress? She's a pretty polarizing figure even at the mention of her name.

She isn't promising to do those things. She has a much more realistic idea of what is possible. She has a better sense for what legislation is possible.


"polarising" is a meaningless comment in the current era. There is no Democrat which will be in any way less polarizing than any other. They will oppose anything a Democratic president will do. Their total flip-flop on Romneycare (an idea from the Heritage Institute) should have made that clear.


yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

Bernie's too old.

He is old. Whether it is 'too old' can only be determined by having him as president and seeing how it turns out.

But the equation is: is the risk of him dying in office greater or lesser than the risks of having the other choices in office? Alternatives who are certain to be bad presidents have to be considered worse choices than someone who only has a chance of bad health or death.

I think it is unlikely that he will be able to do very much in a first term so we do have to think about 8 years rather than 4.

yrs,
rubato

[Bicycle Bill]

Bernie getting two terms would make him 83 buy the end of his tenure, far too old to be in charge of the US. Mandela retired at 81.

He's got to get one term first.... then we'll worry about the second one.

-"BB"-

[Jarlaxle]

He could certainly serve one term and retire.

[Econoline]

Of all the reasons to oppose Bernie for POTUS, "Too old" is sure one of the worst. If he remains healthy (and who's to know if ANYONE will remain healthy???), it could well be an advantage.

As for whether Hillary would do any better than Bernie against a Republican congress... Well, she's had to endure over two decades of withering negativity, and if she manages to overcome all that and still manages to win the Presidency that alone will say a lot about her political skills and her ability to overcome opposition. Then add in her husband's not inconsiderable political skill and acumen...

Plus I'd imagine that if all else fails she, Bill, and their political cronies probably know where enough of the skeletons are hiding and bodies are buried so as to be able to whip a few Republicans into line...

[Lord Jim]

Bernie getting two terms would make him 83 buy the end of his tenure, far too old to be in charge of the US. Mandela retired at 81.

Eighty is the new 60....

What matters isn't "age" per se it's how energetic and vigorous you are...

Some people are "old" and decrepit at 50...

Others are robust at 90...

My Mother-In-Law is 77, (though she doesn't like to admit it...she tries to claim she's five years younger) but she's in incredibly good shape...

When I take her out for a drink at our local Irish Public Establishment, guys 20 years younger than me try to hit on her...

Attention that she enjoys immensely....

[Lord Jim]

Of all the reasons to oppose Bernie for POTUS, "Too old" is sure one of the worst.

I absolutely agree....

There are way too many splendid reasons to oppose him to have to resort to that one...

Like Trump, Sanders relies largely on hate and fear to build support...

In Trump's case, it's hatred and fear of specific groups; (Mexicans, Muslims, etc) in Sanders' case it's hatred and fear of anyone who has more than you do. His message is pure class warfare; the politics of envy. He's appealing to some very base instincts.

His understanding of economics ranges from infantile to non-existent, his numbers don't come anywhere close to adding up. If it even looked like it might be possible that his hare-brained Golden Goose killing fantasyland ideas were going to be enacted, this country would tumble into a recession the dimensions of which would make the last recession look like a day at the beach...Unemployment would be back in double digits, (something that probably doesn't bother him; when it comes to making people dependent on government assistance, Sanders is a "the more the merrier" kinda guy...) and the flight of capital and investment from this country would become a stampede...

He would also further eviscerate the defense budget, making the country less safe and sending all kinds of bad signals to friend and foe alike. He also wants to further gut The Patriot Act, (rather than do the right thing, and restore the meta data provisions that were foolishly removed).

About the only thing I agree with him about is that more needs to be done to prevent another "too big to fail" and foolhardy loan situation. On just about every other topic, he's pretty much headed 180 degrees in the wrong direction.

So yes, there are many, many, many excellent reasons to oppose Sanders without having to resort to disqualifying him based on age...

[Big RR]

Come on Jim, don't sugarcoat it--tell us what you really think.

[Lord Jim]

Well Big RR, I thought I'd pull my punches just this once...

[wesw]

Bernie and trump are both waging class warfare.

high time too.

yes I know that trump is a billionaire, but he is nothing next to gates and zuckerburg and Bezos.

it wasn t the poor who brought our first revolution to a head. it was led by men of power. small power compared to the british..., or so they thought...., but men of wealth and power were allied with the unwashed masses.

if you smell tar cooking and see chickens being plucked..., RUN!!!!

[Bicycle Bill]

Bernie getting two terms would make him 83 buy the end of his tenure, far too old to be in charge of the US. Mandela retired at 81.

My Mother-In-Law is 77, (though she doesn't like to admit it...she tries to claim she's five years younger) but she's in incredibly good shape...

When I take her out for a drink at our local Irish Public Establishment, guys 20 years younger than me try to hit on her...

Attention that she enjoys immensely....

(no offense intended, LJ, just too good an opportunity to pass up)


-"BB"-

[BoSoxGal]

Yeah, I was also gonna say, no disrespect to your MIL, but this: "When I take her out for a drink at our local Irish Public Establishment, guys 20 years younger than me try to hit on her... " really doesn't say much at all about her looks.

[Joe Guy]

Hey Babe! You wanna dance..... urp!