NEW YORK, NY Jan. 14 (DPI) – More than 2500 reader comments pounced on today’s conversation between New York Times columnists Gail Collins and Bret Stephens, which posed the provocative headline, “How Does President Sanders Sound to You?”

Most readers went off on the NYT’s house conservative Stephens, who didn’t see great benefit in a Bernie Sanders presidency. Many other readers gushed about the just new world that Sanders would bring to Washington.

All this, because Sanders is ascendant in the polls in Iowa and early primary states, and he seems to be separating himself from his chief rival, Elizabeth Warren.

But for all the rising energy surrounding the Sanders candidacy, a few readers checked their emotions long enough to point out that the 78-year-old Sanders has accomplished little in a lifelong career in politics, and his rear-view-mirror ideas may sound appealing but make him unelectable as a national candidate. In fact, his nomination as a Democrat – after years as an independent – would be problematic for a party and a majority of voters eager to oust Trump.

A sampling of popular comments expressing skepticism about a Sanders presidency:

Let’s not delude ourselves — Sanders is never going to be president. Trump-Sanders would be a repeat of Nixon-McGovern. It would be an electoral college landslide. Sanders would pile up worthless extra votes in New York, California and Massachusetts, but he’d lose Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and he’d do very poorly in the west and southwest. I don’t see how Sanders competes in Nevada or even Colorado. Anybody with the slightest libertarian tendencies wouldn’t trust Sanders. Elderly voters and suburban conservatives who don’t like Trump — and there are a lot of them — well they’ll enthusiastically take the devil they know over someone like Sanders.

I, for one, a lifelong DFL’er here in Minnesota wouldn’t vote for that man at gunpoint. I still cringe when I think of the Nurses for Bernie crowd at our precinct caucuses shouting their neighbors down and making ridiculous comments such as “Hillary was responsible for a bloodbath.” If that man had any guts he would run as an Independent. To those who cite his purity, remember that is not bravery. His lackluster record of Senate accomplishments, and his gun rights voting record show him to be neither.

Bernie Bros need to get a clear understanding of how life-long Democrats like me feel about his candidacy. We are the people who knock on doors, support the Party up and down the ticket, donate, vote in every election. For us, Bernie is not a Democrat, has no intention of being a Democrat, has never supported Democrats, and is in our minds partly responsible for putting Trump in the White House. We also fear that once again he and his cult of followers will go off and pout if he isn’t nominated and refuse to work for the ultimate nominee. To top all that off, he has never accomplished anything meaningful in his long career in public office. What exactly can I consider to assess his capabilities? So no, I can’t picture a President Bernie because I could not support him. Ever.