I truly believe that if Bernie does not run independent, and encourages his voters to vote for HRC "as the only way to defeat Donald Trump," that just barely enough of them will hold their nose and do it for the Supreme Court. And HRC will squeak in, hated and with no coat tails, because Donald Trump is truly unfit, in a non-traditional way. HRC is unfit, much like the Bush family. But as we also know, the "establishment" wasn't just ready for Hillary this year, they were ready for Jeb. So the HRC level of unfit has previously been embraced by this country, but Donald Trump's brand of unfit has not been seen before on this level. So I think HRC can pull it off if Bernie TRIES to help her and gets her just enough of his people.

That being said, I am SURE, that if Bernie Sanders ran as an Independent, he would beat both Hillary Clinton and Trump. Just take all of Bernie's voters in the primaries, and all of the indies that wanted to vote for him, and the Trump voters who really just hate Hillary, and about 50% of Garry Johnson's 10%, and the undecideds, and those who will newly register just to vote for Bernie once they learn more about him throughout the summer. But although he would get more votes than them, failing to get 50% in most states would throw things into chaos.

However, I have an idea that could EASILY make Bernie the people's choice. It would take a sacrifice on Bernie's part, because he would have to curtail his platform a bit. Basically, Bernie would promise to only serve one term, and to focus primarily on campaign/election reform, and restoring some fairness to the tax code, especially cracking down on corporate welfare and corporate loopholes. As far as the other parts of his platform, it would fall into 2 categories.

1. Legislative proposals
All legislative proposals (such as Single Payer), falling out of the two main categories, would become educational initiatives on Bernie's part. He would campaign and educate voters on the wisdom of his many proposals. And after the main points of his campaign promises are done, he can try to move on to more proposals that have gained any traction.
2. Appointments and Foreign Policy
This is the best part. Bernie rides into office as a credible change agent, promising to focus exclusively on the two most popular and simplest parts of his agenda. But all the while, he gets to remake regulatory policy with his appointments of non-corporate hacks. And he gets to manage American foreign policy in a strong yet non-interventionist manner, as he tries to moderate some of our drone and Israel policies. According to Bernie's statements, the war on Isis would continue as is.
3. Supreme Court. As Bernie campaigns on a positive, Make American Democracy Great Again platform, he will campaign for Senate Democrats, all the while savaging their candidate. He can pull that off, get the Senate, and then appoint a kick-ass Supreme Court.

The attractiveness is this:
-Trump: An Outsider, but is unfit, and maybe crazy
-Clinton: Insider, Untrustworthy, considered corrupt in government, careless with secrets, fit but hated by many
-Bernie: Outsider, Trustworthy, Fit, Not Corrupt, Focused on main issues people want action on, not personally ambitious (1 term)

The reason for pledging one term and to focus on the main most unifying platform, is that this can generate a Movement that even includes Republicans and people who have never voted. It can create a wave that can generate Democratic majorities. Ironically, when HRC's and Bernie's clean government platforms are debated, more rank and file Democrats will actually endorse Bernie's proposals, and that will help Bernie endorse them and help them get elected.

Bernie is who the people want this year for a simple reason. He has none of the things that everybody hates about politicians: lying, greed, ambition, rich donors, scandals, inauthenticity. And he has all the things people love: principles, passion, honesty, guts to answer tough questions and tell it like it is, and he is an OUTSIDER in the year of the outsider. It's TOO perfect to pass up.

Luckily, I know that Jeff Weaver reads all my diaries as soon as they are posted, so.....Oh wait, I was dreaming.

Thanks for reading. If you actually made it this far. And if you did, I wish I could give you a cookie. But this thing just doesn't work like that.