Bernie Sanders Officially Admits He Lost

[BainsBane]

Bernie Sanders gets tossed a bone today:

Top Bernie Sanders supporters Dr. Cornel West and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) will be among those on the Democratic Party's important Platform Drafting Committee after the Vermont senator won a key concession as he looks to leave his mark on the party's platform. The roster of the drafting committee, released by the Democratic National Committee on Monday, reflects the party's agreement that Sanders would have five supporters on the committee, compared to six for Hillary Clinton.

First off: If Bernie has officially agreed to accept five out of 11 members on the Platform Committee, isn't that a tacit admission that he's already lost the nomination?

But also: Does anyone care about the platform? Seriously. I know it's a big fight every four years, but does either party platform ever have any effect at all on the election?

The rest of the piece is perhaps even more interesting in that it talks about a survey showing many of Sanders supporters don't actually support his policies.
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/05/bernie-sanders-officially-admits-he-lost

[Bonobo]

1. I love all these supposed Progressives outraged that the platform committee will (gasp) include

Outspoken voices for Progressive causes.

"How dare he tell her what to do!"

[BainsBane]

6. Sigh

[Lucinda]

2. Thanks for the article...bookmarking to read in the morning!

[newrevolution]

3. I'm amazed some of you think she's still going to be the nominee

She's not and she will be suspending her campaign very, very soon

[Lil Missy]

5. when monkeys fly out of my butt.

[Hortensis]

27. 7 posts, content of this one, briskly brief

and on to whatever. Maybe consider the source? Literally?

[lagomorph777]

36. I hope those monkeys don't have claws on their wingtips.

[leftynyc]

23. Oh lookie

Another newbie who thinks they know better than everyone else. How adorable.

[DesertRat]

46. In your wildest dreams

[MADem]

4. The article from which the survey information is taken is ... shocking!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/23/opinion/campaign-stops/do-sanders-supporters-favor-his-policies.html?src=me&_r=0

Damn--I can't even choose a few paragraphs, ya just gotta read the whole thing....

[BainsBane]

7. Interesting, isn't it?

It also sheds light on why a number of them wouldn't support Clinton in the GE. They don't like Democratic policies to begin with.

[Vattel]

14. Don't put too much weight on opt-in internet surveys.

Bernie beat Hillary even in SC with self-described "very liberal voters." And if you think he didn't beat her soundly in WA and OR due to the more progressive nature of electorate in those states, then I have some swampland I want to sell you.

[BainsBane]

18. You obviously didn't read the article.

Since you don't even know the data is from exit polls in multiple states, combined with a discussion of social science research. I don't even know what the point of commenting is when you can't be bothered to figure out what you're talking about.

[Vattel]

30. Wow, you are very rude.

I was referring to the survey that concluded that many of Sanders supporters don't support his economic policies. That was an opt-in internet survey, not exit polls.

[Hortensis]

35. LESS likely than Clinton voters to favor Sanders policies?!

More detailed evidence casts further doubt on the notion that support for Mr. Sanders reflects a shift to the left in the policy preferences of Democrats. In a survey conducted for the American National Election Studies in late January, supporters of Mr. Sanders ... were less likely than Mrs. Clinton’s supporters to favor concrete policies that Mr. Sanders has offered as remedies for these ills, including a higher minimum wage, increasing government spending on health care and an expansion of government services financed by higher taxes. It is quite a stretch to view these people as the vanguard of a new, social-democratic-trending Democratic Party.

Just wow. I feel sure some of Sanders liberals must be attracted by his proposed farther, faster versions of what are really just well established liberal "concrete policies."

It seems probable that the results are dragged down by far-lefters and conservatives with other motivations.

[BainsBane]

41. The article clearly says it's based on exit poll data from multiple states

Not an online survey. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/23/opinion/campaign-stops/do-sanders-supporters-favor-his-policies.html?src=me&_r=1 Whereas the survey you reference was conducted using scientific methodology, not the "Bernie is winning in 50 states" online polls so famous in this primary cycle.

[Vattel]

45. Apparently you can't even read your own article.

To use your words, I don't even know what the point of commenting is when you can't be bothered to figure out what you're talking about.

What the article says:

In a survey conducted for the American National Election Studies in late January, supporters of Mr. Sanders were more pessimistic than Mrs. Clinton’s supporters about “opportunity in America today for the average person to get ahead” and more likely to say that economic inequality had increased.

However, they were less likely than Mrs. Clinton’s supporters to favor concrete policies that Mr. Sanders has offered as remedies for these ills, including a higher minimum wage, increasing government spending on health care and an expansion of government services financed by higher taxes. It is quite a stretch to view these people as the vanguard of a new, social-democratic-trending

That was the survey to which I was referring. Defend the survey's methodology all you want, but don't dismiss my remark on the grounds that I was confusing exit polls with an online survey.

[sheshe2]

8. K&R

[deepestblue]

9. _

I sure hope Bernie loses so we can START EVEN MORE WARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRS!

[BainsBane]

11. Read the whole article

And the link to the times piece with data showing that Many Sanders voters don't even support his policies, and that Clinton voters are far more likely to support the liberal policies Sandes campaigned on. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/23/opinion/campaign-stops/do-sanders-supporters-favor-his-policies.html?src=me&_r=1

We have on this site people who have decided ideology is determined entirely based on association with a politician, as though no political consciousness exists apart from one man or woman's political career. The assumption was always inane, but the evidence from exit polls show that Sanders attraction has more to do with factors unrelated to political views, which may be why we see some of his supporters here anxiously hoping for a Trump presidency, someone who promises an even bigger military and more aggressive foreign policy, and just about everything else they have claimed to oppose. The data shows that Sanders appeal had to do with his identification as an independent and his opposition to the Democratic Party and all that entails, especially the diversity of Democratic voters.

Then there are the kind of projections reflected in your post that bear no relation to anything in Sanders's record, which is one of constant support for the MIC, including trillion dollar boondoggles like the F35 that even John McCain opposes. But project away. It saves having to actually having to look into a candidate's record or deal seriously with policy. Of course, one can hardly blame supporters for not doing what the candidate himself never took seriously.

[rjsquirrel]

10. Cornell West ?

Brilliant.

[BainsBane]

12. Certainly shows why he could never

Earn a majority of the black vote. Do you suppose he doesn't know how despised West is by so many African Americans? Or does he continue to promote him even knowing that?

[rjsquirrel]

13. Yep that was my point

Brother Cornell is disliked by a large number of African Americans for constant dissing of our first Black president.

He's also an intellectual charlatan.

Makes him a perfect representative for Bernie.

[cali]

15. Tossed a bone like the scurvy flea ridden dog he is

I don't even have to look to know that's kevin drum.

Disgusting

[deepestblue]

16. okie

Bernie's a war monger and his opponent is a dove.

Just switched my vote.

[merrily]

17. Possible "tacit admission" that is speculation/wishful thinking on the part of the author

now equals an "official" admission. That's a lot of bull puckies, piled on a lot of other bull puckies.

[BainsBane]

20. He accepted minority representation on the committee

Which means he knows he's lost. Not that he'll be so forthcoming with his supporters. He's got a personal motivation for keeping the campaign going as long as possible.

[merrily]

22. EVEN IF TRUE, how is anything unspoken an "official" admission of anything? Your headline is bs.

My reply 17 is correct. So is this one.

[metroins]

26. All that matters is he lost

Whether he says it today or June 20th or on independence day itself, it doesn't matter.

The day of the "official" statement is irrelevant.

[merrily]

33. Actually, what matters for this thread is that the headline is bull puckies.

[Eric J in MN]

32. No. If the proportion of delegates dramatically

...changes, so will the proportion on convention committees.

[pinebox]

19. Can you show where Bernie "officially" admits he lost?

I see no concession speeches posted anywhere.
Thank you.

[Gothmog]

21. Sanders lost a long time ago

[R B Garr]

24. "Their distinctive liberalism is mostly a matter of adopting campaign labels,

not policy preferences."

In other words, Sanders is all hat, no cattle. He's just hooked on the applause he gets from his campaign labels.

[BainsBane]

37. Well, that isn't so much the conclusion of that piece

as to say that many of his supporters--like most voters--respond based on attachments other than policy and in fact don't even agree with many of his policy positions.

[Betty Karlson]

25. You wish: you have declared his campiagn to be over so many times, who will believe you this time?

[panader0]

28. "tacit" equals "official"? No--fail

"official" has been showing up in several posts lately from the Hill camp.
That was yesterday--today it's that Fox is bad--get on the ball bain.

[imagine2015]

29. Do you have a link to verify your claim that Bernie officially says Hillary has won the nomination?

Of did you must make this up this false claim in order to get hits on your misleading post?

[BainsBane]

38. Mother Jones makes their case clearly enough

Read it.

[Eric J in MN]

31. Another anti-Sanders piece from Kevin Drum.

They're choosing platform reps based on the current count. If the count dramatically changes, so will the rep numbers.

[Orsino]

34. Committee needed forming now...

...before the primary is actually over.

Your headline misinforms. Was that deliberate?

[BainsBane]

39. It's the title of the article in Mother Jones

As you can would know if you actually bothered to look at it.

The point is that in accepting minority representation on the committee, he is accepting the fact he will not be the nominee. That he continues to seek campaign contributions in spite of that is something that I would think should interest his contributors.

[aikoaiko]

43. Not quite the title. You dropped the "kinda sorta" and the asterisk

*OK, OK, it's not official. It's...um, a semi-admission of reality? Or something. In any case, I've gotten a bunch of non-ranty emails about this, which is a welcome change. So I'm happy to clarify that I was sort of semi-joking. Or something.


I can write that because I bothered to look. How about you?

[BainsBane]

44. So you're right

I used the title as it appeared on my google news feed. The ongoing confusion between journalist and poster (not to mention candidate and supporter) is one I find continually confounding.

[vintx]

40. lol... pathetic

[aikoaiko]

42. Kinda Sorta