As much as I would disagree with haymarket on a political level, I DO agree that Bernie's time has come and gone. Back in 2016, he would have, at least, gave Trump a much harder time than Hillary. He ran a platform that others on his side can get behind. He was able to connect with people, especially the younger crowd. He communicated his message articulately (even it was a little hard to understand him at times with his accent at times). Most importantly to the Democrat base, he had the greatest chance at defeating Trump back around that time. Hillary was complete garbage. The Democrat base did not want her at all. She ONLY ran on the message of "it's my time and no one else's, DEAL WITH IT!" That was it. No policies, platform, or even real connection was made with her base.
The DNC and the Democrat party as a whole, despite what others may say, did screw Bernie over big time. The first indicator was, and has been for a long time, the super delegates. The fact that their votes count more than regular delegates is just wrong. Next, the Saturday night debates. I don't know about anyone else, but who the hell watches political debates on a Saturday night? I did it once and, holy crap, I was bored out of my mind and wanted to do something else. And it was a way to divert people's attention away from it. Most people probably didn't even know that there was debate, so they didn't even get to hear what Bernie had to say. Finally, the amount of money that flowed into Hillary's campaign, the amount of advertisements, and the air time she got opposed to what little Bernie got was ridiculous. Somehow, though, Bernie still gave Hillary a ton of problems before she clutched the nomination, thanks to everything and every elitist out there that helped her out.
And here we are now. I think it's mistake for Bernie to run because he IS older. I know Trump's not much younger, but he's, at least, a young 72 year old (as odd as that may sound). If the Democrats were truly serious, they would push harder for a much younger person with that same mind set because not only that resonates with the base, but with the millenial generation coming in to take over, someone they can relate to would be better. Problem for them is not that they don't want a younger person, but rather they can't find someone within the age group, right now, that they're looking for that would stand out and unite them. Instead, it seems as though that they're waiting for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to become eligible to run, and right now, she might be (or I should rather say she is) a disaster for them. So putting all your chips into one person and playing the wait game can be (very) bad.
For now, though, Bernie's is only the latest person running, and could be considered at this point in time, the front runner. His odds at winning the nomination might be pretty good, but the presidency? I don't see it. Even though I'm not a Leftist, it doesn't take anyone special to figure out that there isn't ANYONE, running or expected to run, whose standing out. Even with O'Rourke still expected to jump in this race, along with possibly Biden, their chances don't seem better than anyone else's. If you want my most honest opinion on who would have the greatest chance of beating Trump in 2020, if she decided to enter the race, it would be Michelle Obama. Young AND old people like her, she would have a solid platform with her party, and she would have a message that would connect to many others in the Democrat base. If she did enter, she would almost instantly become the front runner. No question about it. But anyway, I've gone on too long. I predict that Trump will be re-elected in 2020, but we'll see what happens.
