If Bernie can't figure out how to work the nominating process ...

[salinsky]

... how can we reasonably expect him to master the machinations of the office he seeks?

I get that he's running against a broken system and the establishment that supports it.

But, we need a candidate that can figure out how to circumvent all the obstacles the establishment has thrown up without alienating the institutions it will need to be successful.

Bernie has run hotter than expected, but is still falling far short in those regards.

[HERVEPA]

1. Well......, that's just horseshit. Not even a good try.

[salinsky]

7. Bernie's campaign is the flipside of Trump's ...

... they are both fueled by populism, but neither candidates understand how to manipulate the institutions they seek to lead, nor how to operate the levers of power should they succeed.

[HERVEPA]

21. Let's see. He was an incredibly successful mayor of Burlington. He's forgotten since then.

Pray tell what levers of power Hillary has operated. Well, wars, yeh, you counting that?
Comparing Bernie to Trump is asinine. Your guy Jon Stewart would rip you to pieces.

[salinsky]

25. If Bernie is such an ass kicking revolutionary figure ...

... wouldn't you expect him to understand how to win within the party apparatus in which he chose to run?

Shouldn't he have studied and emulated Obama's insurgent campaign?

Shouldn't he have known he would need to do some monumental coalition building with people of color to be successful?

When asked how he would govern in 2008, Obama responded, "watch how I campaign".

Watching how Sanders is campaigning doesn't even begin to reveal a recipe for success on the national level.

[HERVEPA]

30. Wow, you sure can dish the horseshit. He has done 20 times better than anyone expected.

Possible conclusions:

His opponent is not a good campaigner even with DNC/DWS in the bag for her, and is just not very much liked or trusted
or
He's done a damn good job campaigning
or
a combination of both.

Oh, I'm sorry, that's logic. I couldn't think of a simpler way to put it so you'd understand. My apologies.

Make an honest post and you won't get sarcasm back.

[salinsky]

36. That's nice ...

... he's done well.

But, that's not the same as organizing the coalition you need and winning.

So, he's failed.

[HERVEPA]

39. Projecting?

[Renew Deal]

47. 2 person race

And taking red meat positions.

[Renew Deal]

46. Bernie said he didn't compete in the states he lost

He might not be losing as badly if he chose to compete.

[thesquanderer]

54. He competed hard in South Carolina

He saw that his message did not resonate sufficiently to be able to persuade the number of voters he was looking for. So he decided to put more resources into states where those resources would better pay off, and not commit a lot of resources to states where he wouldn't do well no matter what.

[upaloopa]

2. He thought he could start a revolution that would sweep him into office and would

continue throughout his administration.

What he really started was a following that thought they could manufacture reality.

[salinsky]

12. I'm beginning to wonder if Bernie and Trump didn't both have the same motivation ...

... to run.

That being to enhance their brands.

And, now they find themselves totally unprepared for what comes next.

[HERVEPA]

22. And Bernie needed to enhance his brand for what reason.

He is already a senator. He was enhancing his brand to achieve that position between senator and president?
What position is that pray tell?
Do you think the tiniest bit before you post this shit?

[salinsky]

29. I dunno, he's pretty good at separating people who are furious about their loss ...

... of white privilege from their money.

Maybe he's preparing for a second career selling reverse mortgages like Fred Thompson did?

[HERVEPA]

31. Your white privilege crap is pure bullshit. And he has a fine career, thank you.

[HERVEPA]

32. Do you think he has pocketed the money. Grow the hell up.

[salinsky]

34. I would never suggest such a thing ...

... he just has a certain skill set which is appealing to a certain demographic.

I think he's very much qualified to sell reverse mortgages.

[frylock]

37. You seem nice.

[uponit7771]

50. +1, lol...

[TM99]

23. Y'all have got to try harder

with this piss poor equivalencies and analogies.

What 'brand' is Sanders pushing? Come on, lay it out for us Einstein, this I have got to hear!

[HERVEPA]

35. He's got nothing except bull. And sadly, I'm sure he's trying as hard as he can.

[frylock]

38. He's Trolling for Dollars.

[uponit7771]

52. The type of brand to say "I don't know" to who he's going to get shit done. Great marketing ...

... horrible implementation

[randome]

3. Maybe his consultants are giving him bad advice?

[hr][font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font][hr]

[IamMab]

6. Talk is cheep.

[Codeine]

14. Apropos of nothing, that's a remarkably pretty bird. nt

[jmousso75]

4. If Bernie can't figure how to work the nomination process.........

Really.............??????|

You need a candidate who can circumvent obstacles the establishment has thrown up yet you are voting for the establishment? The Clinton's have been okey doking people for the last 20 years.

[NCTraveler]

10. Sanders Campaign Manager said he didn't know the rules to the Iowa Caucus, after the Caucus.

Blame that on the "establishment" all you want. Such a wore out line.

[salinsky]

11. I want effectiveness, competence, and a reasonable expectation of some success ... nt

[Avalux]

5. Hmmm, do we need a candidate who was careless as SoS?

Bernie has navigated the halls of congress and the procedural processes therein to get things done for decades; how do you explain that if your assessment is correct? It doesn't hold water.

You should be more concerned about someone who, as SoS, thought it was OK to circumvent the government's email system and run her own, carelessly placing official correspondence somewhere it didn't belong.

[salinsky]

9. Running the office that he seeks ....

.... is quite a bit different than being Senator from Vermont.

A little more complicated.

[Avalux]

13. Sorry, years of evidence don't support your assertion.

He has an amazing history and his campaign is a phenomenon - in the past year, Bernie has done something he was told was impossible, and against a shitload of big money roadblocks. He would have crashed and burned a long time ago if he was the person you say he is. You can disagree with Bernie, but to imply he's not qualified is ludicrous.

[salinsky]

15. I never said he wasn't "qualified" ...

That's Bernie's terminology, not mine.

Of course, he's qualified.

They both are.

He just doesn't seem to grasp where the power lies, how to wrestle control over it, and how to wield it once you have it.

[Avalux]

17. Your last sentence tells me you think he isn't qualified. What else would you call that?

[salinsky]

19. Qualified, but not properly outfitted for the job .... nt

[Avalux]

26. LOL ok then. I'm going to stop right here.

[TM99]

24. So for you then

if he won't suckle at the corporate teat and play rat-fucking quid pro quo games, then he isn't qualified?

[salinsky]

27. Again, I never said he isn't qualified ...

... There's lots of jobs for which I'm qualified, but I wouldn't be particularly good at some of them.

He's not particularly good at this.

[TM99]

28. Horsehit!

Yes you are. In the same way that Clinton is discrediting and disqualifying him by intimidating, implying, and suggesting without directly saying that he is not qualified.

And your second sentence is even more ridiculous. If I am qualified for a job, then I am good at the work that is expected of me. That is what it fundamentally means to be qualified for a job.

[salinsky]

51. Selling reverse mortgages, ...

... there's something for which he'd be totally qualified ...

... and, he'd be good at it.

He knows how to speak to the target demographic.

[Control-Z]

16. An amazing history?

You've got to be joking. He's still tring to keep 20 years of it a secret.

[pressbox69]

42. LOL

[KittyWampus]

40. sitting on a back bench isn't "navigating the halls of Congress". He's an empty suit

who can't even respond to an editorial board on his pet issues and accomplished next to nothing in all the years he's been in office.

There's a reason next to no one in Congress is endorsing him.

But you go on with your email nonsense.

You know, let's forget all the cheating that Sanders' campaign has engaged in...

Sanders' campaign can't even follow FEC regulations.

[pressbox69]

43. Roveian

[salinsky]

49. Ouch ...

... that was brutal.

[uponit7771]

53. +1, they've been the angry half time show from the beginning. After many times people asked for...

... details on certain aspects of their plans and they would either change their plans or tell folk to go to hell then I knew something was untoward.

[NCTraveler]

8. It was pretty revealing when Weaver questioned the Iowa results....

and in the same breath said he didn't know the rules to the caucus. He is such a shady chump.

[Control-Z]

18. I love your language.

"shady chump"

It is such a nice way of saying what I would have.

[Control-Z]

20. Yeah.

He didn't bother to tell his followers they had to be registered democrats to vote in NY. Seems like an important concept to just skip past.

[Sancho]

33. He knows how it works. He is losing.

Nothing he can do about it because he is the weaker candidate.

[pressbox69]

44. He seems like a nice old man

but how many families allow great grandpa to handle the remote control?

[salinsky]

48. Much less ...

... the checking account.

[pressbox69]

41. Just dropped in to say hi Sal

A lot more traffic here than there is in the other place.

[salinsky]

45. .....

[thesquanderer]

55. please clarify, what exactly are you talking about?

re: "Bernie can't figure out how to work the nominating process" -- did I miss something? Does this refer to something in particular? I'm not sure what this is about...

Ultimately, though, if he doesn't know how to work the process, he won't be nominated, so it's not an issue. If by some chance he gets nominated (especially with having started out as an underdog by a tremendous margin), then by definition, he knew enough about how to work the process!