I made the following chart--which has the illusion of being scientific, but in fact is based on my subjective visceral feelings--and it illustrates my general thinking. Click on the graph to enlarge.
Basically it comes down to the feeling I have that Bernie's floor and ceiling are lower than Hillary's floor and ceiling. In all likelihood they both would end up being in the 5-7 range of goodness (goodness according to me and what I want out of a President).
But perhaps the thinking that got me to the graph is more interesting than the graph itself. How did I make up these imaginary data points? To answer that requires some introspection but first an admittance: I think the version of America that Bernie is selling is more akin to the version I would like to live in. In many people's eyes that should be sufficient to get my vote. So for starters I'll say Bernie is selling me a nine or ten level Presidency while Mrs. Clinton is selling me a seven or eight level. And yet, I think her ceiling is higher. Bear with me here.
Let's first look at what is wrong with the GOP. They have an insistence that the candidate they put up be a reflection of their farthest right ideology. They think it is appropriate that a person as far right as possible should run the country even though clearly half of the populace would prefer the country resemble a more liberal place. This works on small scales (like Congress), but we're talking about hundreds of millions of people when we talk about the President. It's simply unrealistic to think the most extreme candidate you can put up should speak for all those people who fall into a wide spectrum of political beliefs. Beyond that it's a good way to lose an election.
But aren't you settling if you don't pick the person furthest to the left or right? Maybe? Perhaps? I don't have a good answer to that. However, I don't in actuality believe Hillary and Bernie are that far apart in what they believe is right; where they mostly differ is in what they believe can be accomplished, and perhaps should be accomplished for a population as large and as varied as ours. And to be honest, what I think this country's politics lacks more than anything is a willingness to compromise. I get wanting what you want. But the left isn't the entire population and we have to respect those with differing ideas about the country even if we have the presidency. We have to compromise. I'm probably more liberal than Hillary and closer to Bernie in my personal beliefs, but picking the candidate to the furthest left simply feels unwise and counterproductive to me. At some point someone has to stop the madness that is the game of one-up-manship the two parties are playing with each other, someone has to offer an olive-branch to the other side. This incessant pushing toward the edges is what will tear this country apart, IMO. So while some value Bernie's seemingly unbending nature and his unwavering demand for his policy changes, I value someone who will work with the other side. I'm of the opinion that if a vast majority of the population and politicians aren't on board for a change as massive as single payer health care, then the version we get is going to be sabotaged and ham-stringed if it ever makes it into law. We'll all end up hating it. We need all our best minds on how to make this work, and whether we like it or not, some of those best minds don't share your political ideology.
I've seen the list of amendments Bernie has made during his time in Congress, and it's a fine list, but it's not large in number nor are any of them vast in scope like the big changes Bernie wants to make. He's shown himself to be effective at adding small pieces of legislation to larger bills but not getting big ideas and projects through, and he's been trying a long time. I'm just not convinced he has the political know-how or the demeanor to compromise in meaningful and fruitful ways that this country needs right night. Would I take him over the mess on the right? Of course, those guys are insane (at least the two with any chance of winning), but I just can't see Bernie being as effective as Hillary.
Then there is the boogie-man of Hillary changing her ideas/mind over time. People say this like it's a bad thing. In my mind part of being a liberal is not being conservative (which by it's very nature tries to prevent change). A person changing their opinions and admitting faults in the past is not a negative at all to me. It's a sign of growth and progress and a certain amount of humility. So again, when people complain about her in this regard, I view it as a plus not a minus.
Why is Bernie's floor so low? Because if he is as bullheaded while being the President as he sounds on the campaign trail, then American politics will continue the downward spiral of doing nothing. Even if he compromises and gets some of his ideas into legislation he's still not getting everything he's promised and he likely will have to do some serious compromising with the right, which will be okay with me, but will risk causing major disillusion in new voters who thought he was going to be as unto an angel coming down from the firmament. He either has to dig in his heels as President and get nothing done or get a subset of his ideas done but look like a sellout to those who placed so much faith in his ability to cast some sort of wizardry over Congress. This limits his ceiling.
On the other hand I don't fear Hillary will ever be as obstinate as Bernie appears to be. At worst she keeps us where we are (which I know is not optimal) but at best she compromises, plays the game of politics which she appears to be apt at, and pushes American social systems further left. But beyond that having a woman as president feels like it could do so much for this country, for every little girl or woman who has ever felt powerless or dumb or less than. It's palpable and has great and incalculable value. Bernie makes fantastic speeches and inspiring videos, but when I saw Hillary's first video announcing her candidacy I was moved to tears. While some find value in a bird sitting on a podium I find mine elsewhere, but it's no less heartfelt. So even if Hillary accomplished the exact same set of legislative goals as Bernie, she offers something more, something beyond, something that puts her ceiling above his in a meaningful way to me.
And finally, I think she has a better shot at winning the election than he does. I know there are polls out there saying he has as good of a chance or better to win than she does vs Trump or Cruz. However, he's greatly benefited from having Hillary in the race as the supposed nominee. He has it good right now because the GOP spends its days worrying about email servers and Benghazi. If Hillary isn't going to be the nominee then no one on the right is going to have time to worry about those things when they have articles to write about how bad socialist Russia was/is and how much more Americans are going to pay in taxes so that Healthcare can be ran like the DMV. And then his poll numbers will inevitably stop looking so good. Hillary has taken her lumps for 20 years, the GOP damage is done and she still beats Trump head to head. In the end this fact alone is probably enough to push me to her side. The Supreme Court nominations she will possibly have to make are way more important and will have longer lasting effects than what either she or Bernie will be able to accomplish policy-wise as President.
I think I could be swayed otherwise but this is why I'd vote for her today.
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