Sanders faces tough sell in persuading superdelegates to switch allegiances

[WhiteTara]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-faces-tough-sell-in-persuading-superdelegates-to-switch-allegiances/2016/05/04/a5911d32-1135-11e6-81b4-581a5c4c42df_story.html

It may not matter what Sen. Bernie Sanders meant this week when he promised to push for a “contested” convention this summer.

Even with his victory in the Indiana primary Tuesday, it remains all but impossible for him to win the nomination.

Sanders used the phrase at a news conference over the weekend at which he predicted that neither he nor Clinton would arrive at the Democratic National Convention in July with the 2,383 delegates needed to win the nomination outright.

Clinton was on track, even with her loss in Indiana, to secure a majority of pledged delegates. Sanders’s point was that the nominee would also need a hefty supply of “superdelegates” — the 719 party leaders and elected officials who are automatically granted a vote at the convention — and that he planned to persuade these Democrats to support him.

[Stuckinthebush]

1. It won't happen

He has alienated himself from the DNC and its leaders so I don't see them switching support from Hillary to him.

It is essentially over.

[WhiteTara]

2. Except for his yelling and name calling. nt

[Stuckinthebush]

3. True

But it is sound and fury signifying nothing.

[CrowCityDem]

4. You can't accuse the party of money laundering and then expect their help.

[WhiteTara]

6. That wasn't very fore thoughted of him

But in the beginning, he didn't think he would need them. Or maybe he didn't think they would notice or care.

[seabeyond]

5. Sanders certainly has shown his stripes over the months. He has lost his credibility. Nt

[Ned_Devine]

7. I know. He should have taken money from the same banks that brought down the economy.

He should have been for the TPP before changing his mind when the focus groups told him to. He should have been against gay marriage until 2013 when it was just inevitable at that point. He should have been for fracking before changing his mind when he realized that it's the worst thing ever. He should have not only voted for the Iraq war, but really cheer lead for it only to say thirteen years later that it was a hard choice. THEN, he might have some credibility, right?

[seabeyond]

21. Hey, you know what Ned... He has. That is the joke in all this. He too takes from

Wall street, banks, corporations. He too is getting money from fracking and oil. He is a small fish, in a small pond so not as much as the bigger fish, but he is there with his hand out too.

Then cons, by pointing the finger at others.

Whatever, right.

[nolawarlock]

8. Here's how he's winning over Supers...

[WhiteTara]

10. Wow. That is really over the line

I don't think that will sway any SD; but maybe some will succumb to blackmail.

[nolawarlock]

11. Nah ... that's a tiptoe over the line compared to this ...

This is how not to win over super delegates:

[MineralMan]

13. Yes, that appears to be the chief strategy for

converting superdelegates. You can find such posts on just about every Democratic member of Congress' Facebook page, unless they're actively deleting them, as some have begun to do.

I'm sure this isn't any sort of official Sanders campaign strategy, but it's what's going on and is most likely to firm up those superdelegates' support for Clinton.

This tactic is a complete failure.

[nolawarlock]

14. You mean I'm not even seeing the worst of them?

Wow. That's unbelievable.

All you gotta do is go to Wikipedia's list of 2016 Supers and click "Endorsement" to sort who they're supporting. Go to any of their Facebook pages and see the hate. It's definitely not the kinda thing that would win me over but clearly that's what the "Bern" is really all about.

[link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Democratic_Party_superdelegates,_2016
|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Democratic_Party_superdelegates,_2016]

[MineralMan]

17. I've seen much worse on my own House representative's FB page.

Since she's a woman, she's even gotten some ugly misogynistic attacks, too, along with being called a "traitor," and worse.

She has finally started moderating her page and is actively deleting these attacks on a daily basis, so they aren't so visible any longer. However, if you go to her page, you'll often see some of these vile attacks before they are deleted by her staff.

A couple of the ones I've seen should have been turned over to law enforcement, and may well have been.

Really, though, there's nothing Bernie Sanders can do to stop the flow of this river of hatred onto those pages. It's not his official campaign that's doing it, of course. It's all freelance stuff that is voluntary on the part of some "supporters." They're doing far more harm to his campaign than good, of course, but their vicious bile just has to come out, I suppose.

[nolawarlock]

19. You just summed it up ...

I've been a web developer since 1994 and even though I'm now in retail, I still have a heavy involvement in the web marketing end of my company. That thing you just described, that your representative "has finally started moderating her page and is actively deleting these attacks on a daily basis" is the thing I think Bernie's most devoted fanatics are overlooking. If I had to turn off "visitor posts" like All Franken did, which only results in the fanatics spamming the comments sections of unrelated posts, or had to constantly delete the worst of the hate, there isn't a chance in the deepest pits of hell that I would ever support the candidate these people are stumping for. Not a chance in hell.

[MineralMan]

20. Yup. I can't imagine anything more annoying, really.

And I don't think that Bernie Sanders can stop it, either. He does have some nutball fringe people in his camp, even if not officially. They're hurting him badly, I believe.

That is the reason I switched my support to Clinton. I couldn't see how Bernie could win in the primary race, due to the fringe that surrounds him.

[nolawarlock]

22. I think that will be his undoing if he wins.

Everyone keeps talking about his polling against Trump which, if you take it into context, is Bernie fans talking about of two sides of their mouths because they also constantly talk about the Bernie media blackout. I realize this is intellectual calisthenics for some, but if you put those two truths together, it becomes clear that the only reason Bernie polls better against Trump is because most people have no idea what he stands for. Trump will eviscerate him in the GE. There isn't anything he can throw at Hillary that hasn't been thrown over the last thirty years. Benghazi, Whitewater, Foster, Emails, Foundation, Ron Brown's plane (can't you hear it buzzing over GDP now?).

[Marr]

9. I think they'd back Clinton even if she was indicted.

There's next to zero chance of him flipping more than a handful of them, but it's worth at least an attempt.

[RobertEarl]

16. Bernie wins the next 10 states

H continues to be trailed by the FBI

Panama papers singles out the Clinton funding

DNC money laundering is exposed

Bill mouths off again

H makes another gaffe

Obama begins to know Bernie's positions and decided he wants Bernie to succeed him

And Bernie gets the supers to believe he is the best

We Berners flood Philly and are heard loud and clear

That's the recipe for Bernie's nomination. Tastes great!

[MineralMan]

12. Time to step up the vile attacks on superdelegates by

Sanders "supporters," I guess. There just aren't enough ugly postings on their Facebook pages yet. Yeah, that's the ticket...

[WhiteTara]

18. Yes, it seems to be a winning strategy!

Not.

[Sinistrous]

15. The simple fact that Trump would make mincemeat out of her in the GE should

inspire some to vote Sanders.

[Lucinda]

24. Nonsense. Even many GOP members are saying they won't vote for Trump.

And he is alienating a new demographic every time he speaks.

[Scurrilous]

23. K & R