Bernie could win. Some say he's old, but Biden is the person being floated as a possible candidate the most frequently, and he's only a year and change younger. He would represent change from the status quo, which I think people are still craving as Trump has only rigged things for powerful interests even further, and people are sick of it. Bernie has been on the right side of things since the 70s. Even Trump's own supporters are saying they want an end to American overinvolvement in foreign wars, and to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia (at least they said that when it was Clinton in Saudia Arabia's pocket). Bernie represents an authentic voice for that sort of change, for courage to stand against the war industrial complex. He also senses the growing authoritarianism around the world and wants to counter that, which should appeal to pro-democracy types, people who want to spread American values across the globe, and libertarians alike. He has enough libertarian appeal that when Rand Paul dropped out of the 2016 race, the pro-Bernie reddits were flooded with Paul fans that switched sides. I think he could be a very uniting force. The main fear against him I see are people afraid of his "socialism", but their idea of socialism and his idea are two different things, and I think many people afraid of it now would get over that fear and embrace him once they saw him in action.
Warren seems pretty good, and would be an amazing President. She seems like basically what I wanted Obama to be, but he disappointed me. She really saddened me by not having the courage to stand for something in the 2016 primaries. If she'd endorsed early enough, it could have changed the whole primary, and we might not be in this mess right now. Since the election however, she's been reminding me why I loved her before. Warren would have trouble winning though. It's not fair, but while women won a ton of seats in this election, there's still a clear bias against them in government, and it would hurt her. People who see a huge difference between her and Bernie are imagining things. The main difference is she still believes properly regulated capitalism can deliver for human progress, whereas Bernie thinks direct but democratic interventions in markets are necessary. He isn't entirely anti-market however, and for that has gotten a lot of criticism from communists and straight socialists, and even some democratic socialists. Many argue he's more of a social democrat, and based on his actions and disregarding his rhetoric, they'd pretty much be right. Warren is also a social democrat, so if a social democrat is what you want, you might as well go for Bernie, because he will push for pretty much the same policies as her (higher wages, Medicare-For-All, free public education extended down to preschool and up to community and other public college degrees, better regulation and even breaking up of big banks, more action on climate change) while avoiding sexism. Again, it's not fair, but it is reality, and the cost of losing, for both America and humanity, is just too great. If you want a girl for the sake of history making, however, Warren is probably your best bet. Bernie or Warren, these policies are popular and anyone with the courage to fight for them on the national stage and the ability to communicate them properly will do very well, and no Dem girl has more popular policies more clearly communicated than Warren at this point.
Beto may have lost his most recent race, but he could also be a great choice. He has an amazing ability to reach across the aisle despite clearly not being a moderate. For that, he's been compared to Obama, who won the Presidency after just one term in Illinois as Senator and also tried to reach across the aisle with some initial success. But Obama did that before the Trump era, before the sudden, rapid polarization of the country, and Beto did it now, in the peak of our polarization, and he did it in TEXAS of all places. Sure he lost, but you know who else was a member of the U.S. House of Represenatives, ran for Senate, barely lost, then went on to run for and win the Presidency, uniting our country at its most divided? Abraham Lincoln. That's right, Abraham Motherfucking Lincoln. He was a Representative for Illinois, ran for Illinois Senate in 1858, lost, but went on to win the Presidency in 1860. I'm just saying, it's happened before, and it worked out pretty damn well, preserving the Union in the only time in it's history more polarizing than this one. He also united fractious wings of the new Republican Party, from the ravenously liberal Radical Republicans, to the more moderate and conservative wings, all the way to the ex-Democrat wing of people who recognized that the Democratic Party of the time was actually an anti-democratic force. Beto could do the same with the progressive and moderate wings of the Democrats, as well as the Never Trump Republicans, by giving everyone a charismatic, positive figure to rally around, someone to vote for who represents the earnest, honest values of America, as opposed to merely voting against Trump's hate. I'm not saying you need to go all out for Beto, just that I find the Beto-Lincoln parallels really exciting. Another thing to keep in mind? Beto WON amongst native Texans.
