Dismiss what Senator Sanders has Accomplished Over the Last Year if You Wish

[SheenaR]

But in the history of our Party, and since we began the Primary process, only two candidates received have ever received more votes than Bernie Sanders and they are President Obama and Secretary Clinton.

Not Carter or Kennedy, not Mondale, Not Dukakis, Not Clinton, Not Gore, Not Kerry.

The fact that a Septuagenarian Socialist Jew from Vermont achieved this demands at the very least some recognition and some respect for a battle well fought.

There are lots of pretend unity posts today. I ask that those on both sides take a minute to acknowledge a great campaign which got many off the sidelines to vote in our Primaries including me, who gave up on the process after being personally burnt by John Edwards.

It was not enough. Secretary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee. Congrats to her and her supporters, both those who are gracious and those who have so far lacked it. Congrats nonetheless.

But let us not dismiss the spirited efforts of those who worked hard for the Senator and of the Senator himself. You may still hold ill feelings toward him, you may not like him. I take this time to pay tribute to a lifelong public servant and a man I admire greatly on a worthy Primary campaign. I hope we have not heard the last from him.

Cheers

[MFM008]

1. Im not dismissing him

and I think we shall hear more from him in the framework of what is to come.

[msongs]

2. accepting and acknowledging reality are personal plusses. when the loser does that he gains strength

to promote his agenda in the real world

[pangaia]

5. Sometimes holding on to one's beliefs and intergity despite the reality,

or the seeming reality, is the more noble path.

[JimDandy]

7. Always... I'd change that to always. n/t

[msongs]

13. there is more than one path to the same goal nt

[dinkytron]

3. A thousand recs. You are too polite for me though. These fake unity posters can fuck off.

[ancianita]

4. Berners did work hard. I'll take fake unity gestures over the snark and flog for now.

[OregonBlue]

6. Agreed. Bernie ran a great campaign. What's not to like about Bernie. He is going to

have a lot of influence on the party because he proved that there is a huge percentage of the Democratic Party who wants to move away from the DNC and on to a true Progressive agenda.

[randome]

8. He received votes, yes, but is that really an end in itself?

It reminds me of a friend who once said he admired Tom Petty because he was still out on stage and rockin' and rollin', and I said, "Dude, you admire him because he's old?"

Same thing with Sanders. Thus far, his campaign has borne little fruit. He may have helped push Clinton further left -and more power to that objective- but he's going to squander what remaining opportunity he has if he doesn't start working with others better.

I wonder if he's learned anything from this time. And I'd like to hear what others might say he learned. Positive things.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]

[Schema Thing]

16. No, it's not. So it's beyond stupid for people to be saying he should concede now.

That would be saying "winning the presidency is all this was ever about". Fuck that noise... fight for every progressive concession you can extract, Bernie.

[Hortensis]

9. If it wouldn't take took long, I'd go find one of

the many posts I've made about how Sanders has energized the party and made everyone aware that there is great support for leftward movement and pushes for greater change than was previously thought supported.

The unity posts aren't pretend, in any case. That's a great difference between people.

Some of the more passionate Bernie progressive regard regular Democratic progressives who don't agree with them as corrupt enemies who must be defeated. Like Bernie himself, apparently. Of course many of those don't believe messages of unity.

Whereas most mainstream progressive Democrats tend to regard Bernie's progressives who don't agree with them as anything from normal Democrats who just prefer the other candidate, to people carried away by passion now but probably fine later, to irredeemable fools. So for them, fine. Here's a clue: SBSers presumably all have the vote, and that's what matters. Unity at the polls.

[CrowCityDem]

10. The country also has significantly more people than when Carter, Mondale, etc were running.

[SheenaR]

11. Yes and no

There were more people in 2016 than 2008, yet more people voted in 08

There were more people in 2000 than 1992, yet more people voted in 92

There were more people in 1992 than 1988, yet more people voted in 88

There were more people in 1984 than 1980, yet more people voted in 80


The achievement is noteworthy, regardless of the time it took place. If we had 2008 turnout, you are likely looking at over 14 million for Sanders.

[Txbluedog]

12. He's achieved a lot

And now is the time for him to focus on how he can use that achievement to advance his progressive agenda, not squander it on the dem nomination, which is truly lost to him

[auntpurl]

14. Why would you dismiss them as "pretend" unity posts?

I can only speak for my OP, but I assure you it was totally sincere. I also challenge you to find a post of mine that was ever uncivil or rude or cruel.

Dismissing people who are trying to extend an olive branch by accusing them of being insincere is counterproductive.

Congratulations to Senator Sanders for a hard-fought campaign.

[SheenaR]

17. My mother would always say

If you have nothing to worry about, why the guilty conscience.

I wasn't addressing "auntpurl".

I was addressing those who have been literally verbally abusive during the process who now want to shake hands and be pals.

I apologize if you felt lumped in and it wasn't my intention

[geek tragedy]

15. over ten million votes for a 'protest' candidate is indeed a spectacular accomplishment.

it certainly does not all have to be for nothing, but that depends on him now.

[GreatGazoo]

18. I'm only seeing about 1/3 of the posts in this thread so I'm guessing that many want to dismiss?