Will Bernie Remain a D if he doesn't get the nomination?

[stopbush]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by azurnoir (a host of the General Discussion forum).

Yes, Bernie switched his party affiliation to D to run in the primaries. I'm wondering if he'll stay a D if he fails to get the nomination, or whether he'll change back to an I.

I think that's a fair question to ask on a site called Democratic Underground.

[awake]

1. Will Hillary?

dumb question

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

13. I had the "dumb question" part, but

your title? I did not see that coming!

[NowSam]

26. Hillary is Dino and Bernie YES! EOM

[liberal N proud]

27. Hillary answered that question in 2008

She was and still is a Democrat

Sanders only came knocking on the Democrats door because he wanted to run for President and couldn't do it without their infrastructure.

[daleanime]

64. You're confusing the candidates....

Hillary wants to be president, Bernie wants to change our nation. If he could get that without being president I have no doubt that he wouldn't be in the race.

Not that you're going to listen to me for anything but ways to belittle me. So have a lovely day.

[liberal N proud]

70. Huh?

Belittle you?

where the $#%!@ does that come from?

[JEB]

2. Not an important issue for me. eom

[bigwillq]

3. I care little if he does or not.

Not a big fan of labels. I care more about what a person is trying to do for the city, state or country they represent.

[NorthCarolina]

4. It's a real non-issue to me.

Today's right leaning Corporate Democrats that have wrested control of the party do not represent me (I'm far, far, far, from millionaire status), and their ideals are nothing like the Democratic Party I grew up with, so were he to revert back to Independent I could certainly understand why.

If the establishment wins by hook or by crook and the Party continues to be nothing more than the Blue Hand of the elites, then I would actually look to another party or return to being an independent myself.

I have loyalty to ideas and passion, not any controlled party.

[TBF]

41. Hmmm ... .

when I renewed my Star Membership yesterday I was told that this is an independent site. Which is it?

[NorthCarolina]

43. Whatever.

To me, ANYONE who votes solely on the basis of "party" and not "ideas" is a dupe anyway.

[lame54]

5. I guess we'll never know

[StandingInLeftField]

6. ^This. nt

[NurseJackie]

19. He's retiring? :-P

[monmouth4]

7. I was an I then switched to D to vote for Bernie. I'll stay, no big deal..n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. I don't vote for labels.

"I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all." Thomas Jefferson

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

16. And?

Does that translate into swearing fealty to all Democratic candidates no matter how corrupt?

I registered in the Democratic Party in 1966. I now live in a state that doesn't register by party. I usually vote for Democrats but I have the archaic notion that despite any labels my vote still belongs to me, not to a party or candidate.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. I'm not "rooting for the other side".

I'm just saying that I will vote according my principles rather than a label.

You?

[randys1]

31. Are we in GD, not GDP? I think so, so it may be safe for me to say something.

Principles?

Which principles are those if your action or inaction results in a President Cruz who would make it routine for Women to die in back alleys, or Black people to be red lined and disenfranchised, or Gay people to be ostracized and maybe jailed?

Let's get blunt, shall we? Is it that those things dont matter to you or is it you think there is NO way a teaparty House, Senate and White House would do those things?

I am very curious.

[frylock]

51. Negative.

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[frylock]

60. I'll play your game.

Show me within this text that one needs to be a Democrat to participate at DU.

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[frylock]

67. If you are bashing, trashing, undermining, or depressing turnout..

Take that up with Hillary Supporter.

[frylock]

72. I don't pay attention to that nonsense.

I had no intention of voting for Obama again in 2012, but eventually came around as an FU to the teabaggers. The greater question is whether the party establishment is going to get behind Bernie if he wins the nomination, or will we see more ratfuckery like the Dems pulled with McGovern.

[BlueCaliDem]

9. Nope. He won't need the Democratic Party's infrastructure anymore, will he?

Since Bernie's touted around here as a man of integrity and never flip-flops (although I take those claims with a pound of salt), I guess people need to take his word when he said,

"It would be hypocritical of me to run as a Democrat because of the things I have said about the party." - Bernie Sanders

[NurseJackie]

18. People are beginning to notice.

[OldHippieChick]

21. I hope you are correct.

Down ballot is so critical. He can't get ANY of the things he wants done if he still has a repuke party running Congress and yet he does nothing for Democrats.

[BlueCaliDem]

28. I believe NurseJackie is correct. Democrats are beginning to notice and I hope, in time, they

come to the full realization that it might not be a good thing for the Democratic Party to experiment on Bernie considering there are 24 Republican Senate seats the GOP needs to defend this cycle, with 18 of them to be likely competitive.

If you haven't already read this article - by a GOPer, no less - then it's an eyeopening read and it's why I strongly support Hillary Clinton and all Democrats this election cycle.

[frylock]

53. All 30% of you are beginning to notice.

[BlueCaliDem]

23. Yes, they are.

And that's a good thing for the Democratic Party.

For some reason I get this image in my head with regard to his sudden change as a D:

[NurseJackie]

25. Good visual.

[BlueCaliDem]

29. Thanks!

I just can't shake that image when I consider Sanders' candidacy.

[NurseJackie]

35. He's always made me feel uneasy. Nothing about him appeals to me.

I'm uncomfortable watching him, listening to him ... even reading his words. But knowing how tenuous his desire is to be a member of the ACTUAL PARTY he hopes will nominate him ... well, I won't say too much more (for obvious reasons) but I will briefly comment that it does give me pause.

[BlueCaliDem]

37. Full disclosure: Back in May last year, I briefly supported Sanders.

I guess I like what I heard him speak about on the Ed Schultz show. Then, as I began listening and watching, I began to get this odd and unpleasant feeling. It was when I decided to give Hillary Clinton a second (tenth?) look.

I didn't come to my decision to support her, lightly. It took a lot of research...and then I saw more and more of President Obama's people joining her campaign. Now, if any people know Hillary Clinton best, they do. They're the ones who have worked closely with her, and they appeared to trust her. And so does President Obama.

Now I'm happily snug like a bug in her camp, and I support her candidacy and eventual presidency 100%. The more I learn about Bernie, the snugger I become in Hillary Clinton's camp. And what Bernie's comic book store manager/ campaign manager said: that you can't be a Progressive and a Moderate, is patently false. You can't be a Liberal and a Moderate, but you can certainly be a Moderate and a Progressive.

[BlueCaliDem]

30. Thanks! eom

[lumberjack_jeff]

36. Right, because that infrastructure has benefited the Sanders campaign so greatly.

[BlueCaliDem]

38. Yeah. It has.

[frylock]

55. How so?

[jehop61]

10. A great question

Bernie has, so far, been all about Bernie. No fund raising for down ticket candidates, no attention to Democrats seeking to change our Congress. Hillary has raised millions for the party. She knows the value of having more Democrats in the House And Senate to support her agenda.

[NurseJackie]

17. +1

Exactly!

[BlueCaliDem]

39. Bernie has all but raised a giant goose egg for down-ticket Democrats.

He's in it for himself because he darn well knows that there are constitutional limits to the powers of the president, and that everything he's promising his supporters require the help of allies in Congress. And he's done nada for them.

[mikehiggins]

40. Why do people donate to Sanders' campaign

I talked about this earlier but its worth spreading.

1) when 911 happened lots of people donated to Red Cross to help the victims. Red Cross used a lot of the donations to fund other programs. There was a terrific firestorm from people who had donated for a specific reason and had their funds "misused", even in a benevolent way, by the group.

2) Hillary's people are doing a lot of good across the nation (or at least trying to do so) in helping Democratic candidates and programs. She has the money. It's fairly certain that none of the contributions to her war-chest were earmarked for that, but she's got plenty and doing favors is a traditional political practice.

3) No one has contributed to Sanders for ANY other reason than directly helping him get elected. Period. If his campaign uses money to help protect the gray wolves out here in New Mexico it might be a good thing but it would be a betrayal of the donors who contributed whatever small amount they could to help him run. That kind of "slick" maneuver is not in his playbook.

I'm fairly certain that if Bernie had access to 157 million his campaign might work differently. He doesn't. Instead he is involved with taking on the most powerful political/economic establishment this nation has ever seen.

Works for me.

[mythology]

44. The money Clinton has raised for the party is separate

From that raised for her campaign. It's largely from donors who are already capped for her campaign.

[frylock]

57. All he does is talk about himself.

#istandwithher

[SalviaBlue]

14. Don't know, don't care.

He stands for democratic values.

[Stardust]

15. Who gives a rat's ass?

[Rex]

24. No.

[tkmorris]

32. Actions speak louder than words

It is easy to call yourself a Democrat. It takes a lot more than that to act like one.

Labels don't interest me. Ideology does.

[SidDithers]

33. Magic 8 ball says...

Outlook not so good.

Sid

[Vinca]

34. I hope not because it will clearly be time for a third party that makes an impact.

Note: Bernie only switched his affiliation to be sure the presidency wasn't handed to the Republicans. If he had run as an Independent, the split vote would make it the best election ever for the GOP.

[Octafish]

42. Better Question: Will the Party continue its rightward lurch if Bernie isn't the nominee?

You know, continue to morph into Republican II.

[mythology]

45. This talking point is really tiring to keep hearing

The parties are objectively measurably moving apart, not closer together. The evidence is clear and overwhelming.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/02/13/polarization-in-congress-has-risen-sharply-where-is-it-going-next/

http://io9.gizmodo.com/its-been-150-years-since-the-u-s-was-this-politically-1590076355

[Octafish]

49. Really? I remember when Democrats supported the New Deal.

Nowadays, they work to remove the New Deal protections from banksters and what not. Case in point:

The repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999 spelled disaster in the 2008 Bankster Bailout.

The Democratic president who signed it into law was working in a spirit of bi-partisanship with his Republican Senate colleague to encourage new areas of banking by deregulating the financial industry cough gutting the New Deal protections of the Wall Street casino from using taxpayer-backed bank deposits.

See if you can spot some familiar names on this list:



They now work together at UBS -- which received uncounted billions in bailout money -- to specialize in some kind of "Weath Management."

PS: Forensic economist and former Fed regulator William K. Black wrote it reminds him of what happened during the Savings and Loans Crisis of the late 80s and early 90s. It was the greatest bank heist in history, until the Banksters of 2008, which were made possible by you know.

[tkmorris]

74. They are more polarized. That does NOT mean further apart ideologically

It's a fallacy to assume they mean the same thing.

[restorefreedom]

46. he has been a better dem than many dinos

so i could not possibly care less what letter he puts after his name

[LannyDeVaney]

47. Nope ...

he'll change to I on March 2nd.

[hack89]

48. You kidding? Of course not.

He won't need them anymore.

[frylock]

50. How would that effect my day-to-day life?

[liberal_at_heart]

52. I am so sick of all this party loyalty crap. You know only 30% of Americans

identify as Democratic and 40% identify as Independent. The days of bullying people to be in the Democratic party and to vote Democratic are over.

[EdwardBernays]

54. It won't just be Bernie

a lot of Sanders supporters won't be voting for Clinton... for good reason...

There's going to either have to be a Dem party that's more responsive to the 99% or there's going to be a new party...

[HassleCat]

58. I doubt it

If he returns to the Senate, he will probably return to being an independent, since that's how his constituents see him. His appeal is not one of party loyalty, but of putting Democratic ideals ahead of the current strategy. It's not just a run for office, but an attempt to change the direction of our party to accommodate more progressive candidates. If he fails with that, it's pretty clear the party wants little to do with him or his views.

[MelSC]

59. I think this is a GREAT question...

Bringing back memories of Nader...and some anger.

[Nay]

61. No, I can't see why he would. He's explained several times that he

does not want to run as a 3rd party independent candidate because that would elect a Republican. He has always caucused with the Democrats and the party has allowed him to run as a Democrat. If he doesn't win, I expect him to change back to independent, because that is what he is.

[daleanime]

62. So you're hoping the people he's bring to the party....

will leave?

[MelSC]

68. My guess is the opposite

More scared that the Bernie supporters will ruin Clinton's chances.

Even if he stays a D, I am worried that Bernie supporters will just not vote at all instead of voting for Hillary.

I don't think Bernie would do that, he knows what that would result in....a Republican president for sure! Bernie seems too good of a guy...I would hope.

[daleanime]

73. So let's do our best....

to make sure they have no choice?

I, for one, am not going to push Hillary supporters to vote for Bernie. It's your right as americans to vote according to your views, if you don't want to support a sexist, racist, communist gun-humper like Bernie you shouldn't.


PS-no one is 'ruining' Hillary's chances except for Hillary. Have a lovely day.

[B Calm]

65. You need to delete the OP and repost in GDP.

[azurnoir]

77. umm yes it is sorry locking by host consensus

[ViseGrip]

76. If I were treated like him via the 'party', i'd consider this for sure.