WI: Bernie Sanders ran against Obama in 2012?

In 2010, Bernie Sanders gave an 8 hour speech about Tax Relief, Unemployment insurance and other stuff. The speech led many to make petitions for him to run. In fact, he was endorsed by a Jewish Rabbi and an economist. Lets say all these motivate him to run against Obama in the primaries. How much does he get?
 
In 2010, Bernie Sanders gave an 8 hour speech about Tax Relief, Unemployment insurance and other stuff. The speech led many to make petitions for him to run. In fact, he was endorsed by a Jewish Rabbi and an economist. Lets say all these motivate him to run against Obama in the primaries. How much does he get?

He'd be knocked out. Progressives generally supported Obama at that point, and Bernie's support would be narrowed to the fringe left. I assume he'd suspend his campaign after New Hampshire.
 
He'd be knocked out. Progressives generally supported Obama at that point, and Bernie's support would be narrowed to the fringe left. I assume he'd suspend his campaign after New Hampshire.

I think the corporate scandals would give him some support
 
One thing that the Hillary and Sanders campaigns did was divide the progressive coalition. As it turned out, Hillary's overwhelming support among progressive blacks, along with progressive Hispanic support, was greater than Sanders' support among white progressives.

I can't see Sanders peel away the young from Obama, so assuming a best-case scenario for Sanders, he'll lose by more than eleven points.
 
But this is a sitting senator, not some loony that owns an anti-Semitic cult (and has been to jail).

Who cares? We don't believe incumbent Presidents should have to run in primaries anymore. Sanders would get tarred as worse than LaRouche for jeopardizing Obama's re-election chances, a la Ted Kennedy.
 
Sanders would lose quickly (maybe even dropping out before the voting starts) and everyone would forget about it by November. The Democrats might nominate a candidate against Sanders in Vermont who would lose massively because it's Vermont. Obama still easily beats Romney, people forgive Sanders because he didn't ruin Obama's re-election, and then everything goes as usual until 2015, when Sanders decides not to run. O'Malley does slightly better than IOTL, but Clinton still wins. The end.
 
And what about Obama's re-election? Would Romney say stuff like "Even his own party doesn't fully support him!"

Sanders is an independent, of course this was the era where Obama could have saved a child from a burning building and certain media outlets would have cried "stranger danger" so I guess it'll be used anyway. The problem is that depicting your opponents as weak and divided isn't always a great tactic in turnout-driven elections, sure you convince people not to vote for your opponent but it might also assure some of your opponents that they don't need to bother cueing in the rain. Expect the communist orwellian Kenyan dictator, Barack Saddam Hussein Osama, to continue to be the main hack message.

The problem is that Obama possibly could actually be helped to distinguish himself from that caricature by going up against a self-proclaimed socialist.
 
An incumbent President is much, much more powerful and supported by their Party than the heir apparent. If he actually looks like he might beat Obama the Democratic Party will go all-out to destroy him, to a degree that would make Debbie Wasserman-Schultz look fair and impartial.
 
I wonder what the 2012 picture would have looked like if Obamacare and the stimulus package had both failed, and Democrats had lost the Senate in 2010 (Reid and Coons losing). Throw in the Bin Ladin raid getting shot down by the Pakistani air force or intercepted by army troops or something like that, and things could get really ugly for Obama. He'd still be invulnerable to a primary challenge, but Romney would hand him his ass in the general.
 
I wonder what the 2012 picture would have looked like if Obamacare and the stimulus package had both failed, and Democrats had lost the Senate in 2010 (Reid and Coons losing). Throw in the Bin Ladin raid getting shot down by the Pakistani air force or intercepted by army troops or something like that, and things could get really ugly for Obama. He'd still be invulnerable to a primary challenge, but Romney would hand him his ass in the general.

Yes, that's true, but that's off-topic. Still an interesting topic.
 
Yes, that's true, but that's off-topic. Still an interesting topic.

Well, the general point being that even in that no-hitter presidency scenario, he'd still be untouchable...for other Democrats. Kennedy didn't come all that close, and he still managed to poison the well for future primary challengers.
 
Iowa: Obama, 38 pledged delegates and 11 super-delegates; Sanders, 18 pledged delegates and no super-delegates

New Hampshire: Obama, 18 pledged delegates and 5 super delegates; Sanders, 10 pledged delegates and two super-delegates
 
Iowa: Obama, 38 pledged delegates and 11 super-delegates; Sanders, 18 pledged delegates and no super-delegates

New Hampshire: Obama, 18 pledged delegates and 5 super delegates; Sanders, 10 pledged delegates and two super-delegates

More accurately:

Iowa: Obama, 56 pledged delegates and 11 super-delegates
New Hampshire: Obama, 28 pledged delegates and 12 super-delegates
 
More accurately:

Iowa: Obama, 56 pledged delegates and 11 super-delegates
New Hampshire: Obama, 28 pledged delegates and 12 super-delegates

All right, here's a compromise:

Iowa: Obama, 49 pledged delegates and 11 super delegates; Sanders, 7 pledged delegates and 0 super delegates

New Hampshire: Obama, 26 pledged delegates and 7 super delegates; Sanders, 2 pledged delegates and 0 super delegates
 
All right, here's a compromise:

Iowa: Obama, 49 pledged delegates and 11 super delegates; Sanders, 7 pledged delegates and 0 super delegates

New Hampshire: Obama, 26 pledged delegates and 7 super delegates; Sanders, 2 pledged delegates and 0 super delegates

Sanders is not gonna win delegates against an incumbent. Maybe he'd win one in Vermont, but that's it.
 
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