@BTHT Trump never would have gotten the exposure or the thin veil of legitimancy he got from participating in the republican debates to have a shot at winning and wouldn't have garnered more than a 3rd party normally would if he even made it on the ballot in all 50 states. He knows he not only needed the exposure, but also that he in no way could get the political machinery in place to do more than make noise. I'm also still convinced he only ran to get money and attention, not to actually win.

Bernie should have run as an independent- its what he supposedly is, after all - but he also knows he needs a major party's infrastructure to actually win. Where I'm pissed at Bernie for is his decision to try and take over the dems instead of actually taking over a minor party that wants him and building it into a viable alternative instead of a 3rd party joke. Its a missed opportunity that would have help us much, much more in the long term than him being president (and considering his lack if actual party support he would have gotten jack shit done, but at least the pandemic wouldn't be so bad) for 4 years.

Had they both run as independents we'd probably still have a republican administration (if Bernie won a few states maybe Bernie and the dems strike a deal in electoral college support putting Hillary in office, but most likely he'd just siphon off enough votes to turn the state red).

Be better than what actually happened, though.