Bernie Sanders Argues He's Not 'Harming' Democratic Party by Staying in the Race

[AntiBank]

Source: ABC News

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders argued today that he's "absolutely not" harming the Democratic Party by staying in the 2016 primary race, but rather "invigorating" the party.

"I don't think I'm harming the Democratic Party," Sanders said in an interview on ABC's "The View." "I think I'm invigorating American democracy and invigorating the Democratic Party. The establishment obviously doesn't like it. They would like us to go away and do things in the same old, same old."

The Vermont senator, who continues to battle Democratic rival Hillary Clinton despite her delegate lead, also asserted that he's brought in more voters and suggested that his candidacy has helped the Democratic Party achieve an "unprecedented increase in voter registration among young people, among Latinos."

Sanders also clarified remarks he made in a recent interview with The Associated Press in which he said that the convention would be "messy."
"People in America have the right to demonstrate," Sanders said on "The View." "It's kind of what the Constitution of the United States is."

"It goes without saying ... that I will condemn any and all forms of violence," Sanders said, adding, "I don't see anything wrong with a vigorous debate."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-argues-harming-democratic-party-staying-race/story?id=39337863

[Jackie Wilson Said]

1. He isnt, we will be stronger when it is over. All liberals and Democrats will come together.

[retrowire]

6. One, you're wrong, and Two, you're hoping.

I mean that as in, you're wrong about him not helping the Democratic Party, I only joined because of him, there are many more like me.

And two, you've got no guarantee about liberals and democrats just... coming together after this.

We liberal Bernie supporters have been shat on this entire primary, it's pretty offensive to me to hear that "oh, we'll all get back to normal after this."

No. I've been called a racist, a sexist. I've been told that I don't care about Black Lives. I've been told that I'm destroying the party and I'm not welcome here. I've been called a whole bunch of other things.

I may hold my own nose when it comes time in the general, but you cannot have faith that everyone else will.

After this year, there likely won't be a Kumbaya moment.

[leftofcool]

9. Oh well.

You can hold your nose and vote or not. it's up to you and no one is going to bed for your vote.

[retrowire]

10. Oh I know. nt

[Feeling the Bern]

13. Way to work to bring the party together, HRC person

The more HRC speak the more I dig in my heels.

I have never just obeyed. Principles over party. And I am tired of the Democrats having the idea to tell voters "we suck, but not as much as those other guys."

[retrowire]

26. Exactly! And that seems to be the whole fucking mantra!

AT LEAST WE'RE NOT REPUBLICANS!!!

Fuck that, let's just do the right thing and do it one hundred percent! Let's work to give people what they deserve, and work to give people what we CAN GIVE THEM.

Get all the corruption and money out of washington and actually fix this fucking thing! Incrementalism does not fucking work.

[roguevalley]

42. the day a candidate has to 'get out of' the primary for someone else is the day we all just

merge with the Republicans and get it over with. Given that a GOP super pac has endorsed Debbie W. Shultz, I doubt that day is far off. disgraceful on both issues.

[LanternWaste]

122. Less or more divisive than "the only reason I became a Democrat was because of Sanders"?

"Way to work to bring the party together..."

Less or more divisive than "the only reason I became a Democrat was because of Sanders"? Less or more divisive than "he more HRC speak the more I dig in my heels"?

Seems you've taken the ethically convenient route of holding the opposition to a higher standard than you hold yourself to, and indicting them for what you yourself are guilty of doing.

Bias certainly blinds an undisciplined mind to anything which doesn't validate its biases... and you're accurately illustrating that (plenty of room below tough to rationalize the double-standard you advertise so vigorously)

[Feeling the Bern]

127. Whatever, pal. I never called myself a saint and I never held myself to a higher standard

If HRC wants my vote, she needs to tell the Clinton Bros to stop and control her Clinton Bros. Sound familiar?

Or does that only apply to Bernie Sanders?

Clinton people are making it harder and harder for me to vote on the presidential line. I may just do down ticket voting and ignore the president.

Giant Douche v. Turd Sandwich isn't much of a choice.

[RobertEarl]

21. Yeah, me too

Been slandered more by the H camp in the last year than I have been my whole life.

It is a shame Hillary hasn't even tried to constrain her supporters. Instead she's kinda been leading them on.

[tarheelsunc]

53. "It is a shame Hillary hasn't even tried to constrain her supporters."

I bet you don't even realize how ironic your post is.

[RobertEarl]

58. She has told so many lies about Bernie

And even more about herself.

But in the debates she sure told some truths and we all were shocked she could be so cruel. No wonder she's ducking debates. Quack, quack!!

[Lordquinton]

74. You mean not at all?

Or are forgetting that the "berniebros" slur is justified by pointing to the time Bernie said to stop that stuff?

But HRC has always tried to play both sides, always am embarrassment when it gets caught.

[cstanleytech]

91. Now hold on there, the actions of some supposed Hillary supporters are not the fault of Hillary

anymore than the actions of some supposed Bernie supporters are the fact of Bernie and it serves no good for anyone to be claiming its either candidates fault.

[RobertEarl]

94. well

Several times Bernie has scolded his more raunch supporters.

I recall not once H doing likewise for her's.

I never used the word fault. That word is entirely your construct. I did imply she seems at time she has been egging them on, and Bernie never has, iirc.

[cstanleytech]

98. So because Hillary according to you hasnt scolded them and Bernie has that means its her fault?

I dont buy that kind of logic and I still believe its not the fault of either candidate and instead the fault of the supposed supporters though I have to wonder if anyone of them are really just out cause trouble for the two Democratic candidates.

[Ned_Devine]

104. I would never have voted for the Clintons after 2008 any way.

The supporters (and that includes the media outlets and columnists) and all of the slandering of Bernie supporters just completely cemented the deal. There will be no coming together moment for a LOT of us. I know I don't speak for all of the Bernie supporters, but I'm sure I speak for plenty when I say that none of us would vote for the Clintons in a million years after the way we've been treated.

[cstanleytech]

106. Nor I but that's because I was counting on Obama to bring change.

Not that the lack of change is his fault because I don't think many people could imagine that the Republicans would be so spiteful as to throw the people of this country under the bus because their candidate lost to a black Democrat.

Edit: PS I really need to proofread before replying as this screen is way to tiny lol

[LanternWaste]

123. I'd allege that too if my bias depended on it. Oppression allows us a moral high-ground

"Been slandered more by the H camp in the last year than I have been my whole life...."

I'd allege that too if my bias depended on it. Oppression allows us a moral high-ground we so rarely stand on elsewhere in life.

[DemMomma4Sanders]

92. Does it matter if the Democratic party survives if something better evolves?

The name of the party...Democratic is great although its been anything but. We're a republic not a democracy. It seems that the older voters aren't even democratic rather hiding under the banner but in reality a Republican lite.

Two things can happen. The party can purge itself of the dinosaurs and start addressing modern problems with modern populist solutions like Direct democracy and Democratic socialism or the older democrats will merge with "Jenna Bush" style socially liberal fiscally conservative republicans and disruptive candidates will take over whats blue of the map today.

For a time, so long as the elites in the Democratic party deny that times have changed, this whole disruption is going to benefit the republican party.

It's a matter of how much damage are the FINANCIERS willing to do to the party before they acknowledge the populace may fear the word socialism, BUT SOCIALISM IS EXACTLY WHAT EVERYONE WANTS.

[dflprincess]

134. And what I sincerely hope is that you and most (all is hoping too much)

will stay involved in the Democrat party and help drag it back to what it should be.

There are many of us older Bernie supporters who've been active in the party a long time and we want you to stay. Please, start running for party offices as well a local offices (for a start). We're not getting any younger, someone has to be there to pick up the reins.

[retrowire]

135. I think I will be sticking around.

But all these Hillary supporters that have literally told me that I don't belong do get a bit grating on the nerves.

You can try to be someones partner only so much ya know?

[dflprincess]

136. I know just what you mean

I've been active in the party since McGovern ran and the Hillbots have made me have second thoughts about staying involved - but then I feel like I should if only to be a thorn in some people's side.

I'm relatively lucky though in that most the people in my local party organization are Bernie supporters and most the Hillary supporters are reasonable people. It's the party organization at higher levels that has left me wondering.

But glad to hear you're going to stay around.

[billhicks76]

60. Karl Rove Just Endorsed DWS Today

For tanking our party in state houses and senates and the US Congress. He thanked her. WOW. People are done with DWS,

[modestybl]

81. Of course he is making Dems stronger...

... if he is the nominee, we will get POTUS Sanders.

if HRC is the nominee, we will get POTUS Trump.

The only way the latter isn't the case, is if HRC adopts most of Sanders' policies and attititudes. That is why Sanders is taking this to the convention. And he is already winning political battles in this regard, which was his priority.

[liberal N proud]

2. Not buying his delusions

He lost any integrity that he had when he took hint message negative after saying he would run a positive campaign.

No better than those he criticizes.

[AntiBank]

4. glad to hear you find progressive ideas and inclusive democracy "delusions"

I think you made a wrong right turn somewhere...................

[cstanleytech]

37. I dont think they were referring to Bernies ideas rather to Bernies opinion that he isnt causing

harm to the party by remaining in the race in spite of the lower number of delegates he has won.

[modestybl]

82. What causes harm is a stupid and arrogant "frontrunner"

... who hasn't a clue about what people's lives are like now... and if HRC runs the way she wants to in the fall (i.e., as a Repub), then we will be getting POTUS Trump.

[cstanleytech]

84. Actually the only way we will get Trump is if idiots sit out the election because

their preferred candidate of either Bernie or Hillary doesnt win.

[modestybl]

85. Blaming the voters is a tactic of losers...

...you've just strengthen my point about HRC...

[cstanleytech]

86. Well run along then and dont forget to take your ball home with you. nt

[modestybl]

87. This is your idea of "bringing the party together"

... my vote won't counteract the millions HRC supporters turn off by their arrogance and cluelessness..

[cstanleytech]

90. "Blaming the voters is a tactic of losers..." Pot..........meet kettle.

[liberal N proud]

55. Not what I said, but twist away

[retrowire]

7. Good thing Hillary was a liar the whole time, at least thats consistent. nt

[Feeling the Bern]

25. Using a person's record against them is negative. That kool aid is amazing

More reasons HRC is light years away from earning my vote.

[SunSeeker]

29. No, basing your whole campaign on implying Hillary is a liar is negative.

His campaign slogan is "A future to believe in"--implying you can't believe Hillary.

[Feeling the Bern]

31. Ummm. . .Hillary has contradicted herself so much. Go to youtube and look up the videos

Again. . .enjoy that HRC Kool Aid, pal!

[SunSeeker]

34. Nope. She has been a Dem her entire adult life, unlike Sanders.

Oh, and what happened to those 2015 tax returns Sanders promised to turn over weeks ago? Jane still filling them out?

[AntiBank]

52. Sanders makes fuckall in salary and income compared to the 100 MILLION plus

the Clintons are worth. You are beating a dead horse.

[SunSeeker]

54. Sanders is a millionaire himself, hiding his assets under his wife's name.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-wife-accounts-for-reported-assets-120261

http://time.com/money/4235986/bernie-sanders-millionaire-finances/

And where are those 2015 tax returns Sanders promised to turn over?

[AntiBank]

61. thats bullshit, the 1st sentence of your link proves it (they are worth 194,026-$741,030)

Bernie Sanders on Thursday reported less than $750,000 in assets — all of it in his wife’s name — according to his presidential personal financial disclosure form.


According to the disclosure, Sanders and his wife Jane reported between $194,026-$741,030 in assets, a broad combination of investment funds.


The relatively modest disclosure is another indication that Sanders — a populist and self-described democratic socialist who rails against the “billionaire class” and has called income inequality “the great moral issue of our time” — is far less wealthy than many of his Senate colleagues

[SunSeeker]

72. Why did the rental properties he previously listed suddenly disappear?

If he is an open book with so few assets, why not disclose his 2015 tax returns--or any prior year besides 2014?

[AntiBank]

78. keep on barking at ghosts, bottom line is that Clinton is worth roughly 200 times what Sanders is

As for his tax returns, lets make a deal:

Bernies tax returns for transcripts and videos of her banker speeches

Hillary sometimes made more on ONE of her speeches than Sanders is WORTH.

[SunSeeker]

95. Bottom line is Sanders is a hypocrite. nt

[Ned_Devine]

105. I keep forgetting to put you on my ignore list. See ya!

[chknltl]

130. +1done.

Saved me having to address him or her b4 hitting the ignore button.

[LiberalLovinLug]

118. A hypocrite?

Firstly, is it verboten for a wealthy person to have a conscience and be in favor of a more fair system (ie. Warren Buffett). Do they have to give away all that they have to the poor first? That's a religious concept not a real-world one.

Secondly, even if you actually believed in the first point, $750,000? In the city I live, that cannot even buy you a house and property.

ridiculous

[SunSeeker]

119. Everything is relative. Sanders is certainly in the top 1% in Vermont. nt

[LiberalLovinLug]

120. lol

Vermont's personal income above U.S. average

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/money/industries/2015/04/08/vermont-personal-income-average/25474359/

You think in a mostly white, above average earning State, that $750,000 net worth is the 1%?

[SunSeeker]

121. You are confusing personal income with net worth.

From the little peek we got when Sanders finally revealed his full 2014 returns (the only year he has turned over), the amount of real estate taxes he listed on his deductions sheet indicated he holds property worth at least three times what the average real estate owner in VT seeks deductions for.

[LiberalLovinLug]

132. Yes everything is relative

Please take your own advice.

Bernie Sanders is one of the poorest members of the US Senate.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/apr/14/bernie-s/bernie-sanders-says-hes-one-poorer-members-united-/

And you still haven't answered why he is a "hypocrite" simply because he wants to help those who are not doing as well as even himself and his wife are.

I think it best you stop digging

[SunSeeker]

133. If he wasn't trying to hide he is a 1%er, he'd turn over his tax returns. nt

[Lordquinton]

75. Where's her speeches?

For which she made more from those alone than Sanders makes in a year. I see where your priorities lie.

[SunSeeker]

97. Deflection, as usual. nt

[GoneOffShore]

128. HRC-WJC Inc. has always been about HRC and WJC.

Despite protestations to the contrary, they've been socking away the Tubman's since Arkansas.

And it's always been about pleasing those 'big donors' with them.

[SunSeeker]

131. Hillary and Bill have supported the Democratic Party their entire adult lives, unlike Sanders.

[GoneOffShore]

137. They have pushed the party rightwards and away from working people.

It's always been about them.

And yeah WJC supported NAFTA, DOMA, DADT, Telecommunications Act, Welfare 'Reform', etc. which are really Democratic programs

[SunSeeker]

138. There was nothing "rightwards" about getting 8 million poor kids health coverage. nt

[GoneOffShore]

139. Welfare reform wasn't a rightwards push?

DOMA?
NAFTA?
DADT?
Telecommunications Act?
Who signed the repeal of Glass-Steagall?

And you think HRC-WJC, Inc, and their allies in Congress aren't going to continue to favor corporations over the interests of working people?

Cool - I've got a unicorn and some fairies in my garden that I'd like to sell you. Along with a big purple dinosaur who sings.

[liberalnarb]

48. "A Future To Believe In." Meant just that.

Hillary was not on the mind when the slogan was created.

[SunSeeker]

49. Tell it to the more gullible. nt

[liberalnarb]

64. And they call Bernie fans conspiracy theorists.

This is a joke.

[SunSeeker]

73. No conspiracy, it's called reading comprehension. nt

[liberalnarb]

77. Its not though, its just silly.

[SunSeeker]

96. Silly is denying that Sanders is attacking Clinton's integrity. nt

[cstanleytech]

99. To be fair doesnt that happen in the majority of political races? One candidate attacks anothers

for something they said or did however many years ago.

[SunSeeker]

103. Sanders is doing much more than that. He is claiming she is bought by Wall Street. nt

[liberalnarb]

108. If "a future to believe in" is an attack on clintons integrity, she obviously has a problem.

[AlbertCat]

62. implying you can't believe Hillary.

No.

Implying that you can't believe IN Hillary.... which is so very true.

She's completely manufactured.

[liberal N proud]

56. Going negative is where he lost his integrity

Not knowing he is hurting Democratic chances in the general election is delusional

Joining the party he attacks is hypocritical.

[JDPriestly]

57. What did Bernie do that was negative?

I must have missed it.

He is a truth teller. If that's what is considered negative, I feel sorry for Hillary supporters.

But Bernie has not been negative in this campaign.

[liberal N proud]

59. Where have you been hiding?

He called Hillary unqualified
He said she was the lesser of two evils
He promised that the convention would be negative
I could go on but you probably not reading by now.

Those are all in the last 3 days.

[JDPriestly]

67. She is unqualified. She knows very little about the budget or banking other than

what her wealthy friends tell her.

In contrast, Bernie was on the Banking Committee when he first served in the House and now serves on the Senate Budget committee. He is far better qualified than she.

She is at best and maybe not even at best the lesser of two evils.

How positive or negative the convention will be will depend on those who manage the convention as we saw in Nevada.

I have a long attention span. In fact, I am noted for it.

None of that is negative campaigning. Negative campaigning is Trump's calling out Bill Clinton's sex history and blaming Hillary for enabling him.

Bernie avoids negative ads and campaigning like the plague. Please read his book. He explains and describes his campaigns in there.

[liberal N proud]

107. She is the most vetted candidate in history

If she is unqualified, then why after all the investigations and allegations has nothing substantial turned up?

You believe some right wing lies about her for convenience. She will be our next President.

[leftyladyfrommo]

110. Me, neither

I think there is a good chance he will split the party to the point that Trump could win. Not that he seems to care. I liked him at first but I don't like the Bernie that I am seeing now.

And that would be a disaster of enormous proportions.

[Tal Vez]

3. He's a politician. What else could he say?

[bigwillq]

5. I don't think he is

By convention time, the party will be united. By November, most folks won't even remember about what happened in May or June.

There will be some Bernie supporters that won't vote for Hillary. That's expected, and that's fine. That's democracy.

But, for the most part, the party will be united in its attempt to put Hillary in the White House.

[retrowire]

8. I won't vote for Hillary. Ever.

But I will vote against Trump.

To clarify that subject line, it means I'll never vote "for" Hillary or anything that she is. I do not like her or trust her at all.

The only reason she'll get my vote is because I'm against trump.

[Gene Debs]

40. So you'll never vote for her, but she'll get your vote? How's that work?

[retrowire]

65. its a moral definition

If I have to vote for her, I can only make peace with it by telling myself Im not voting for her, I'm voting AGAINST him.

[Dont call me Shirley]

18. Do not count on that at all.

[Brother Joe Observes]

11. I agree

until June 7th.

[beachbumbob]

12. A weak angry old socialist hellbent on destroying our country..

Worse is the fact he takes no responsibility..

[TheCowsCameHome]

15. Nice try, but fail, bummyboy.

....yet again.

[mindwalker_i]

16. Give me that crack pipe!

[AntiBank]

22. news flash, is a DEMOCRATIC Socialist, I strongly suggest you learn what that actually is

Hint, its the pillar of what makes all the nations here in the Nordic (I have lived in Sweden for a decade) so wonderful to live in at almost all social levels.

As for destroying the country, I cant think of things that have done more to destroy it than NAFTA, the repeal of Glass Steagall and the odious Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, all of which were rammed down our throats by Bill Clinton, the Rethugs, and in the case of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, Hillary's very own chief economic advisor Gary Gensler, the former Goldman Sachs banker.




Hillary Blames Bernie for an Old Clintonite Hustle, and That’s a Rotten Shame

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/01/19/hillary-blames-bernie-old-clintonite-hustle-and-thats-rotten-shame


The Clintons have no shame, that much you can count on. That stupefying arrogance was on full display in the most recent presidential campaign debate when Hillary Clinton countered Bernie Sanders’ charge that she was compromised by her close ties to Goldman Sachs and other rapacious Wall Street interests with the retort: “Sen. Sanders, you’re the only one on this stage that voted to deregulate the financial markets in 2000, ... to make the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission no longer able to regulate swaps and derivatives, which were one of the main causes of the collapse in ’08.”

Hillary knows that the disastrous legislation, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA), had nothing to do with Sanders and everything to do with then-President Bill Clinton, who devoted his presidency to sucking up to Wall Street. Clinton signed this bill into law as a lame-duck president, ensuring his wife would have massive Wall Street contributions for her Senate run.

Sanders, like the rest of Congress, was blackmailed into voting for the bill because it was tucked into omnibus legislation needed to keep the government operating. Only libertarian Ron Paul and three other House members had the guts to cast a nay vote. The measure freeing Wall Street firms from regulation was inserted at the last moment in a deal between President Clinton and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm, R-Texas, who had failed in an earlier attempt to get the measure enacted. Clinton signed it into law a month before leaving office.

Sanders soon figured out that he and almost all other Congress members had been tricked into providing a blank check for the marketing of bogus collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps made legal by the legislation, of which a key author was Gary Gensler, the former Goldman Sachs partner recruited by Clinton to be undersecretary of the treasury.


Eight years later, when President Obama nominated Gensler to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, it was Sanders who put a temporary hold on the nomination, stating: “Mr. Gensler worked with Sen. Phil Gramm and [former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman] Alan Greenspan to exempt credit default swaps from regulation, which led to the collapse of AIG and has resulted in the largest taxpayer bailout in U.S. history.”

Today, Gensler is the top economic adviser to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. And the CFMA—key legislation that was “one of the main causes of the collapse in ’08,” enabling the great recession—is an enormous embarrassment that her husband on occasion reluctantly has conceded was drafted by his top aides and signed into law by him with great enthusiasm.

[whistler162]

23. Come on Hillary is not a Socialist!

other than that

[Feeling the Bern]

28. Really? How much did David Brock pay you for that turd of wisdom?

[Mike__M]

44. You feelin hungry

make all grumpy?

Cheer up

[elmac]

71. Hey DU

sounds like one of those Trump bloggers got through your filter

[mindwalker_i]

14. How would be be harming it?

More importantly, how is the democratic party harming itself, by shoving Hillary down our throats, election fraud, etc? Bernie seems like a really conveinient person to blame.

[Beacool]

19. Yeah, because only Sanders' supporters count.

The millions of people who voted for Hillary don't count simply because you support someone else. She won fair and square and that's eating you people up.

[mindwalker_i]

83. So, how is Bernie harming Hillary?

[Contrary1]

20. Once Bernie drops out of the race, it will become obvious

that she is failing all by herself. That won't stop them from blaming him, though.

[Beacool]

17. Of course he would say that, it's all about him and not about uniting the party.

Nasty, bitter, dogmatic an incapable of accepting defeat with any measure of grace and class.

By his constant accusations that the system was rigged against him and his insistence that he will take it to the convention and it will be "messy", he just proves what his opponents have been saying. He doesn't care about the damage that he's inflicting on the prospective nominee and the party.

Then again, why should he? He was never a Democrat to begin with, until he decided to use the party's resources to run for president.

[AntiBank]

24. Nasty, bitter <<<< I would bet your yearly salary that if you polled 100,000 USA citizens

and asked them who they would describe as nasty and bitter, either Hillary or Bernie, Clinton's share as a percentage would dwarf her share of votes she has gotten so far in the actually primary.

If you think Bernie Sanders is nasty, god help Hillary when Trump REALLLLLY winds up his hardballs in the GE.
You have not even begun to see nasty.

[Beacool]

32. One thing has nothing to do with another.

Everyone knows that Trump is a vile man. Some expected more from Sanders. He seems to give two figs what happens to the party and the person who will be the nominee. Instead of pivoting to Trump, he keeps complaining about the nomination process and continues to attack Hillary. He's making it much more difficult for his supporters to reconcile with the other side and present a united front against the real enemy.

[AntiBank]

43. the nomination process has been systematically pinched, poked, slanted, infected with possible

systemic rigging, ALL in the favour of Clinton. Damn right he is going to stick up for himself.

Bernie INSPIRES ME, something I never thought possible in a mainstream USA POTUS candidate.

I will not have my joy of finally voting for a person who believes in most of what I do stilted by a bunch of corpartist sycophants and coronation pushers. Clinton's positions, ideology (or lack thereof) and backers (huge banks, huge private prisons, huge agro business, etc etc etc), plus her behaviour of self enrichment to the tune of over 100 MILLION dollars between her and Bill SICKENS ME.

This Democratic party is hijacked by neo liberal, neocon agenda loving, bankster-friendly oligarchic forces, and its losing its progressive soul. Sanders is a huge chance for us to rally back, and it's disheartening to see him treated so shabbily by the DNC on down.

[Herman4747]

113. Everyone Knows that Trump is a Vile Man???

Not quite:


These two one-percenters make such a great couple, don't they?

[4now]

27. The man is simply delusional

[iamthebandfanman]

30. What was the name of that

one candidate who took her campaign all the way to the convention in 2008 ?
ope, that's right.. Hillary Clinton. :p

[Beacool]

36. Hillary showed class and released her delegates at the convention

so that Obama could be nominated by acclamation. Sanders is promising a "messy" convention.

"Yuge" difference.

[iamthebandfanman]

39. since the convention

hasn't happened yet..
maybe wait and see?
hes just trying to get leverage so that his supporters are given something from the party ..
just as Hillary did..
it got a lot of former Clinton people into positions under Obama and led to her becoming secretary of state...

again,
maybe wait and see? don't be such a gloomy gus :p

[Beacool]

93. OK, let's see how he behaves at the convention.

[bahrbearian]

68. "released her delegates at the convention"

[hack89]

50. Didn't she concede in early June after the last primary? Nt

[Stellar]

33. Why is everybody so concerned about Bernie harming the party?

I hear it from Democrats and Republic0ns. Was Hillary harming the party when she stayed in until the middle of June 2008? pfftt!

[SunSeeker]

41. Hillary never sued the party nor called the Democratic Party and its primaries "rigged."

It is one thing to attack your opponent. Sanders is attacking the entire party. As always.

[Stellar]

63. The Clintons racist remarks on African Americans...now they can't get enough of A.A

she got them and Obama draped all over her to win this election. She will do and say anything.

[SunSeeker]

102. The Clintons are not racists. African Americans don't have "Stockholm Syndrome."

African Americans know the Clintons have been fighting for them for decades, all while Sanders was holed up in monochromatic Vermont.

And Latinos know Sanders voted against Kennedy's immigration reform bill while Hillary voted for it. And they remember the reason Sanders gave at the time to Lou Dobbs, making the ridiculous claim immigrants are taking good American jobs like "teachers" and "lifeguards."

The transcript is here: http://www.vox.com/2016/2/12/10981234/bernie-sanders-lou-dobbs

[Stellar]

112. pffttt! How can Black people trust Clinton after the 2008 campaign?

How Can Black People Trust Hillary Clinton After the 2008 Campaign?

Much much more: Huffington Post

Hillary Clinton appears to be playing cynical racial politics again, as she did in 2008. It’s just got a different look and feel.

Today, Clinton is wrapping herself in the flag of Obama to appeal to Black voters, arguing that she’s the candidate who will address the needs of Black people. She’s got her surrogates attacking her opponent’s civil rights bonafides, and she’s built a large stable of Black establishment players to support her. Clinton is proclaiming that Black Lives Matter and offering bold promises to fight systemic racism and inequality.

But it’s hard to believe she’s serious about fighting for racial justice unless you pretend her 2008 campaign against Obama never happened. If you remember that period, there’s good reason to believe today’s promises are nothing more than lip-service to a community she sees as key to winning the nomination.

Clinton is now attacking Bernie Sanders for having criticized Obama, trying to take advantage of Black folks’ desire to defend the president. But it was Clinton herself who waged an incredibly nasty campaign of attacks and smears against Obama, going far beyond mere policy disagreements. A quick trip down memory lane reveals that Clinton has a history of employing race in a divisive, cynical manner.

*snip*

In 2008, Secretary Clinton damaged Obama’s candidacy by validating right-wing racist memes and smears, and she could have cost him victory against Republicans in the general election. She also helped hamstring the President’s ability to battle racism by supporting and legitimizing the right-wing fear-mongering that Obama would have an agenda to work for Black people at the expense of everyone else.

I don't know why they would vote for Hillary Clinton but for one thing...she worked under Obama, the same way that Rahm Emanuel did and they elected him major in Chicago because he did. Now they are truly sorry. Bill Moyers

[SunSeeker]

115. African Americans are not monolithic.

You are going to find some African Americans who do not support Clinton, like the Huffpo blogger you cite. You are also going to find some African Americans who do not support President Obama, like Cornel West. But they do not represent the vast majority of African Americans. African Americans know the Clintons have been fighting for them for decades, unlike Sanders who spent the same time pandering to his monochromatic Vermont base on every issue from immigration, to the F-35, to gun control.

[Stellar]

116. Isn't it wonderful that a man from a "monochromatic Vermont base" was supporting...

MLK, while Hillary Rodham lived in a suburb of Chicago...

As a young woman, Hillary was active in young Republican groups and campaigned for Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater in 1964.

While Bernie Sander attended the University of Chicago and got involved with Martin Luther King's march. Those same things that the, "monochromatic Vermont base" needs, we also in the African American community can use to help us.

1963: Economic justice has been the central focus of Sanders’ 40-plus-year political career—as a young activist at the University of Chicago, though, Sanders agitated more for racial equality. In 1963 he was arrested during a demonstration protesting the city’s segregated schools. He also traveled to Washington—his first time in D.C.—to hear Martin Luther King speak at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

I'm glad my mother was still alive to cut Bill Clinton's picture off the photo that she kept on her den wall, with Martin Luther King, Harold Washington and John F. Kennedy.

And as far as that F-35 gun control goes...haven't you heard, Sanders got a 'D' rating for his support of guns in his district.

BUT, don't worry..
I will vote BLUE in November!

[SunSeeker]

117. Hillary was always involved in the civil rights movement, while Sanders left it to live in Vermont.

Hillary was a "Goldwater Girl" in high school, because she loved her father, who was a conservative Republican. But while in high school she met MLK and was deeply inspired by him. It was her strong civil rights beliefs that made her realize she was not a Republican. She has voted Democratic ever since she was old enough to vote.

Once she was an adult, in 1972, she worked for Democratic Presidential candidate George McGovern and traveled to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to register poor Latinos to vote, the start of a lifetime commitment to people of color:

It goes way back. She was out in the field registering Latino voters in the Rio Grande Valley back in 1972. 

Hillary Clinton, the presumptive favorite for the Democratic nomination, beat Obama 2–1 among Latino voters in the 2008 primary. It wasn’t just name recognition, either. The Clintons have a robust network of Latino leaders and activists, and long history with outreach that dates back to 1970s in Texas. 
. . . 
In 1972, when a young Hillary and Bill Clinton were working the ill-fated George McGovern campaign, she worked closely with well-respected union leader, Franklin Garcia, who took her under his wing as she helped register Latino voters in south Texas and along the Rio Grande Valley.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/adriancarrasquillo/hillary-clinton-has-deep-history-with-latinos-and-theres-not#.jdqM3ajE3 

And what was Bernie doing in 1972? Holed up in Vermont, penning this screed: 

http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/young-bernie-sanders-liberty-union-vermont

[Stellar]

124. It's enough that I will vote for that chick. eom

[jalan48]

35. He's the best thing that's happened to the Democratic Party in decades.

Enough Republican lite.

[AntiBank]

46. the best since JFK, and actually since FDR

I detest Truman for his war crimes of the atomic bomb drops.

[cstanleytech]

89. They both have the potential to do that and thats why I will vote for whichever of the two wins

because they both have great potential imo.

[leftyladyfrommo]

111. He is not even a democrat.

He became a democrat 15 minutes before he started to run.

[jalan48]

114. I can see you are just into labels. Issues are more important to me.

[bravenak]

38. Like he cares

[Hekate]

45. Bernie is riding such a powerful ego-trip he won't stop until the crash comes.

At this point he is actively lying to his followers, every time he says they have a chance for him to be president. He's not trying to unify the Dem Party; he's actually trying to bring it down because it is not his vision (which begs the question, yet again, as to why he joined the party for this campaign).

At this point in the process, every time he bellows that the party is rigged, that Hillary is not to be trusted, that he and his cohorts are so special that they don't have to even read the rules of the 50 states, much less know the rules of the National Convention -- he is actively harming the rest of us and our chances to beat Trump.

Get over it Bernie. You're extorting a helluva lot from the DNC already -- don't be urging your acolytes to disrupt the proceedings as well.

[jtuck004]

47. The only people who care are not going to vote for you anyway. Go talk to the ones who will. n/t

[DCBob]

51. The problem is the longer he drags this out..

the more angry his supporters will be when he finally concedes. They may be so pissed off they will say fuck it and wont vote.

[zentrum]

66. He's helping the party.

He's going to help write the platform and that's going to be very compelling for Democrats and independents.

[Squinch]

69. Well, once again, that's idiotic.

[riversedge]

70. Whatever you say bern!

[stupidicus]

76. indeed, he's all about pulling it leftward away from the Hillarians

and it's good seeing them owning their rightward tilt as her supporters.

That's why we have had the endless succession of "chair throwing" like scandals -- to keep the focus off of comparing and contrasting their respective policy positions in the depth and breadth they should be.

[Mike Nelson]

79. This issue had shades...

...he is helping the Democratic Party, yes. He is also harming Hillary Clinton. I believe this is intentional. He sees Hillary as something more than an opponent with similar views... he sees her as the enemy. This was slow to take shape, but it's now obvious. While Bernie would not agree, he is hurting the Democratic Party by tarnishing Hillary. He would say this is good for the party, which I understand. I simply don't agree and will be voting for Hillary in November.

[modestybl]

88. How have we come to the point where the "frontrunner" looks to lose to Trump...

... and we're helpless to prevent it?

[d_legendary1]

80. He's not harming anyone

If anything he's demonstrating how a Democracy should work. Shutting up and getting in line is not what the forefathers had envisioned. Otherwise we'd be kissing the royal ring.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

100. Folks in the Hillary campaign floated that talking point long ago.

[tandot]

101. BS

It is all a big pile of BS

[madokie]

109. I'll vote

for Hill if I absolutely have too but I'll be damned if it will be with any gusto. I want no and I mean NO part of electing this woman to our highest office. I owe that to my Grand Daughter if nothing else. I owe that to the rest of the people in my age group. (68YO) as well. Hell everyone in America, Black, browns and all colors in between

[modestybl]

125. If HRC cannot take on Sanders, she'll falter with Trump...

Sanders plays hard, but fair. She won't no how to take on Trump, particularly if he tacks to her left on cheap foreign labor and trade ...

[floriduck]

126. Hell, he's trying to save a party from self-destruction. There may not be a Dem party by 2020.

[Gman]

129. What a sorry ass excuse.

I'm not beating my kids. I'm just correcting their behavior.