Do you know anyone over the age of 25? I'm not trying to be flippant here: Anyone born before 1975, when presented with the word "socialist," doesn't think of Scandinavia. We think of the Warsaw Pact. And no, not everyone knows of his socialist ties, and older people are NOT happy about them.

and they can be manipulated...that is what would happen...the under 25 don't decide elections

You're exactly right: the under-25 don't decide elections. It's strange Bernie's placed all his eggs in the basket that doesn't vote.

be exploited by the media to make bernie looked MORE out of touch with middle america...and that segment votes and votes big...make them fearful

sanders has never been vetted....

Fox news would have streaming video from Venezuela all day. They would make Bernie the president of that country.

(even before I made up my mind to support Hillary) that I fear that a Bernie/Trump GE would amount to a referendum on socialism vs. capitalism. And this is a country that loves capitalism more than anything.

With Hillary vs. Trump the election can instead be framed as a battle between competent and incompetent. I suspect that given the high negatives both of them have (sorry Hillary, but it is sadly and largely unfairly true), a lot of people will decide based on which one they perceive to know what they're doing, instead of which one they like. At least, it will be Hillary's job to frame the election in those terms, before Trump frames it in terms more favorable to himself (e.g., "plain speaker vs. lying liar" - which is what I think he's aiming at, but which I don't think will work, since he's also seen as untrustworthy by most Americans). So with Hillary I think there's a better chance to frame the election in terms that are favorable to our side.

..the unknown on sanders would work against sanders in a huge way....bthe constant hillary bashing as achieved... the republican objective the yset in place years ago.... but still won't be enough as they have the worse candidate running that I have seen in my lifetime. The american people know little about trump actual history...and it can only get worse for him

and better for hillary

She has lost a lot in favorability numbers in the last year or so, thanks to Karl Rove's stealth campaign starting last year, and thanks to Bernie playing into their hands. But I think she's pretty much at rock bottom. Bernie has only one direction to go: down. And he already has. He's lost the respect of many already, as his pettiness has been revealed in the waning days of his campaign. Another few months and a lot of people would disapprove of him. But as you say the same is true for Trump.

It is pretty clear that of the three, Hillary is the only one who is competent. That is her strength - not likeability. And a Hillary Trump battle will play to her strength.

I had no idea Sanders was involved in SWP. They tried to take over several NOW chapters in the late 70s-early 80s. In Iowa, they often worked at slaughter houses where they tried to convert the workers. They also ran for local offices and got maybe 12 votes.

Their main claim to fame, besides being obnoxiously earnest, was that no matter what the topic they just repeated their talking points. Hum, sounds kind of familiar.

Just think the field day GOP would have....we saved America by sending sanders back Vermont