While that may be true, the flipside of that argument is simply that if she's not strong enough to handle Trump, she's not strong enough to handle Putin or any of the other baddies Obama has had to deal with over the last few years. People think of her as a bitch, I think its time for The Bitch to make her presence felt. Its not like she's gonna win over anyone from the Bernie contingent or those that simply hate her last name. Jeb Bush tried to stay above it and all he got for his trouble was complete and utter disrespect. You have to understand that the only thing Trump understands is brute force be it nuanced or overt. You have to beat Trump over his head because finesse isn't gonna get it done.
I think Bernie will get as much leverage as he can out of this and endorse hillary when all is said and done. That should help with most of the damage he does fighting her to the end.
Honestly I'm hoping the Bernie supporters push him to run as an independent and then the republicans get super pissed at Trump and have their own third party candidate. At this point I want total chaos and our entire faux democracy election system brought down. I also think if something like that did happen Bernie would win the popular vote but nobody would reach 270 electoral votes and you know if was say Cruz as the "republican" candidate he's winning Texas and Bernie is probably winning Colorado, Washington, Oregon and maybe even Michigan. That's a bunch of electoral votes that take the presidency away from Hillary.
wow that would be awesome I do have to admit. When it comes to the Presidential election, does a candidate have to reach a certain percentage of the vote in order to be declared the winner? Or is the law written for Al Davis "just win baby" hypothetically, having fun with your scenario: Clinton Trump Sanders Paul Ryan does anyone get even 27% of the popular vote? IF you only have 50% of the voting age population turning out (on average) and no candidate gets even 27% of that small group, you have yourself a president that won with such a small amount of support. Throw in the electoral college and that is one jacked up system
You have to remember that it was at the point that Trump's opponents began responding in kind that he completely took over the primary process and began pushing them out. Rubio and Trump's manhood was the end for the GOP establishment in this primary cycle.
In your scenario the election is decided in the House of Representatives with the Republicans effectively having 30+ votes to the Dems 20-. That's an easy win for whomever the GOP decides to have represent the party. The vote in the House must continue until a majority of the votes go to a candidate. Only the top 3 vote getters in the general election are eligible in the voting, so odds are that either Ryan or Trump would be ineligible although it is possible that Clinton would be ineligible.
Suppose the top 3 vote getters in my wacky scenario end up Clinton, Trump and Ryan. Ryan is a member of the house. Could he still be Wisconsin's contingent and vote for himself? Now that you mention the vote would go the the House, it obviously would be a great way for the Republican "establishment" to get their guy in the White House. If Sanders decides to run as a 3rd party candidate the RNC should consider the very scenario we are discussing so they can block Trump, block the Dems and get their guy into the White House after all.
I'm not sure if the Constitution specifically bars a sitting member of the House of Representatives from voting for himself as part of the delegation of his state. It would have to be an arcane rule that prevented candidates under consideration from being onn the floor of the House at the time the roll was called or something like that. The great danger for the GOP in your revised scenario would be related to whom the Tea Party wanted elected. It is possible that electing the other guy would be enough to see the Tea Party split off from the GOP permanently and form the most unlikely of things in the US political system: a viable third party. This is one of the things that happened in the fall of the Whigs and the rise of the GOP in the first place.
Sadly I don't think it's realistic because Sanders keeps saying he won't run as an independent although he absolutely should. He has enough support to win if it was him, Clinton and Trump because my guess is in many states such as California, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Virginia, Missouri, Nevada, there would be so many people voting against Hillary/Trump that I could see a Jesse Ventura angle where both candidates suck so much that a guy who only gets about 35% of the vote wins. For example Bernie could win California and 55 electoral votes if he got 35% of the vote. Clinton could get 30 and Trump 25% and Bernie gets all the votes. In all honestly if he did run 3rd party I count at least 40 absolute locks for him as far as electoral votes, Vermont, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Minnesota. It's not enough to win but Hillary absolutely needs these to win. Maybe not so much Vermont but she will not win without the other 4. I think California would be a toss up between him and Hillary, but in theory Trump could steal it if Bernie and Hillary supporters split the vote and Trump is able to maintain his 30% and squeak in some extra votes. That's the danger for Hillary because if Bernie did run 3rd party she will definitely lose a few states she planned on winning and they could even swing for Trump. I also think if it wasn't Trump Bernie would strongly consider it more but he seems pretty set in stone that they will do whatever they need to make sure Trump isn't elected. That being said the GOP ran another candidate all bets are off.
The e-mail thing has legs. Whether it will turn into enough to push Hillary out of the race is not clear but anybody who thinks it is a non-factor is wrong. It's simultaneously keeping Bernie Sanders in the race while it makes Hillary's negatives a bit deeper with each revelation. Add to that Bernie's inability to run without being negative about Hillary and the party establishment and it's a pretty big deal. Hillary could ultimately wind up cleared of any wrong-doing by the FBI and still take many of the hits that an indictment would have caused in public perception. By keeping Bernie in the race, I mean that he will not drop out until he's sure she's not going to be knocked out by it. He wants to be the candidate if she has to withdraw and the only way to keep his place in line absolutely clear is by him remaining in the race. If he drops out and then Hillary is knocked out of the race people like Joe Biden and Martin O'Malley and Jim Webb will create a free-for-all at the convention that he is unlikely to win.
