Clinton is 956 delegates ahead - why won't Bernie concede?

[MaggieD]

There are only 20 more delegates to be awarded. He is mathematically eliminated at this point. Yet today Bernie said again that he is taking it to the convention.

Why is Bernie seemingly incapable of admitting he lost? Is it because he is a man who got a thumping from a woman? The appearance of sexism on his part is strong. And it confirms one of the many reasons I could not support him.

[Ned_Devine]

1. Maybe it's the FBI investigation

No democratic nominee before has been under a criminal federal investigation while being the presumptive nominee before. That's a pretty cool first, huh?

[msongs]

2. and what criminal federal investigation would that be? be specific and name your public source nt

[think]

5. The Server did it in the Study with Sidney Blumenthal... New Clue Game....

[AgingAmerican]

35. Clinton is undoubtedly a subject of the investigation

...but whether she meets the definition of an official FBI "target" is unknown. That term is reserved for people for whom there is substantial evidence linking them to a crime, according to the prosecutor’s judgment.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/may/12/fbis-investigation-hillary-clintons-emails-recap/

[apcalc]

133. No Clinton is not the subject of an investigation.

[AgingAmerican]

137. Lolz

[840high]

127. Don't play dumb.

[Lord Magus]

16. 4 days. -nt-

[senz]

60. ... until darkness descends and truth vanishes like a flickering flame

gone out.

[sheshe2]

79. ...

[chwaliszewski]

88. Ignore

[rjsquirrel]

83. Oh dear lord

Such drama.

[enid602]

54. republican

You and your Republican colleagues have put a lot of work into this one. I wish you well.

[anigbrowl]

121. No it isn't

Presidential candidates 'suspend' their campaigns, not least so they can continue to solicit cash to cover their campaign debt (cue a cheap crack about Hillary's 2008 campaign debt). If Clinton were actually indicted (something I consider wildly unlikely) Sanders could easily say 'well circumstances have changed' and reactivate his campaign, there's no law against that or any party rules that I'm aware of, I certainly wouldn't have a problem with him doing so in such a situation.

So I don't buy that that's the only reason at all.

[bravenak]

125. She is not under a criminal investigation

[bravenak]

128. I hope it ends soon

[apcalc]

132. She is not under investigation, much less a criminal one.

[Live and Learn]

3. Because the rules say he doesn't have to and his supporters don't want him to. nt

[brooklynite]

34. True...and the rules also don't say he has be given any consideration in the Platform discussion

[KPN]

39. True ... but that would be just plain dumb.

How do you think Hillary got SOS?

[sheshe2]

80. She slept her way to the top?

[KPN]

106. Nah, no time to sleep with all the finagling that was required.

[apcalc]

135. If that was true, women would rule the world.

[senz]

44. And if that manages to piss off Bernie supporters, the rules say

Bernie supporters can vote for whomever they damn well please in the GE.

[Live and Learn]

46. + a gazillion. nt

[sheshe2]

72. Vote for who you please...,.

You just won't be doing it here,

Rules~

[Live and Learn]

105. LOL You mean DU hasn't gotten its polling place certification, yet?

I imagine you won't be voting here either.

[democrattotheend]

111. Actually, they do

Because I believe that under the DNC rules, assignment to the platform committee is proportional to how many delegates each candidate won. I think most candidates who drop out just release their delegates and don't enforce these rules, but they are entitled to be represented by the delegates who were elected for them, just as Hillary was within her right to not release all delegates and be formally nominated at the convention in 2008. She would have been within her rights to insist on a full roll call as well, instead of calling for nomination by acclamation.

[LuvLoogie]

4. Well he has yet to sit in judgement of her "platform" in their meeting Tuesday.

He want's to "work with her to form a government" he can sign off on. He must approve of Hillary's agenda and make sure that his agenda is addressed.

Hey it's Bernie. Hillary is not the nominee until he says so.

[sheshe2]

73. Lol!

[Eric J in MN]

93. Hillary Clinton doesn't have to meet with Bernie Sanders.

Why do you think she's going to meet with him?

[all american girl]

110. Because she's polite and doesn't want to burn the Democrats down.

She knows that everyone needs to work together to get to a better place. I don't think that's wrong.

[Sancho]

6. Bernie mistakenly thinks his strategy will get him consideration.

In fact, that is a "male" attitude. I believe he would be better to concede and ask to be heard.

[think]

8. Hillary no longer banks at UBS. She's bonafide....

[Sancho]

15. Regardless of where Hillary banks, Bernie has stupid strategy...

his stubbornness and lack of understanding clearly indicate he would make a poor President.

[rhett o rick]

55. LOL. You judge him by your standards. He won't bow before the Chosen One like you would.

We are fighting for helping the 2.5 million American children that are homeless and the 16,000,000 American children living in poverty that you somehow can rationalize don't matter. You choose to support the big banks. Shame on you

[Ned_Devine]

14. Ahh, the old "male" attitude bullshit

[Sancho]

19. It seems obvious..old man attitude prevails with Bernie

...but don't discount male piggishness too.

[senz]

49. As a woman, I must tell you, those people

embarrass me.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

63. Thanks for that senz... nice to hear.

[chwaliszewski]

89. Ned's comment #21 got hidden? Seriously?

Wow. It's really getting sad here.

[senz]

109. It's happening to many innocent comments by Bernie supporters.

They're trying to thin our ranks. Strange, since many of us will be leaving voluntarily quite soon.

[chwaliszewski]

112. I guess Hillary has got this.

We're not wanted or needed.

[senz]

113. Actually, she is only 368 delegates ahead and has not won the nomination.

Hillary has 2,178 pledged delegates, many of them from election "irregularities" that are under investigation.

Bernie has 1,810 pledged delegates with California not fully counted.

The superdelegates vote on July 25.

As for DU, Hillary supporters have always been like this but lately, with the nomination in doubt, they are becoming more virulent in alerting innocent comments and making verbal assaults.

[Eric J in MN]

94. Since she agreed to meet with him

...apparently he doesn't need to concede first.

[floriduck]

138. Your response is rather sexist to me. Bernie is sticking around to make sure Hillary maintains

her stance on issues from a left position instead of migrating back to center-right. He's actually doing her a favor by making her maintain her positions like the new and improved $15/hour minimum wage and her anti-XL Keystone pipeline and TPP stance. More people will like those than her original positions.

[Beowulf]

7. Do what you've always wanted to do -

ignore him. Bernie's got his reasons and some of them don't rest with the nomination.

As usual Clinton supporters haven't a clue when it comes to Bernie.

[senz]

51. A friend who hangs out at Gawker told me

they've reached the conclusion that Hill Folk can't understand motivations that aren't utterly cynical.

[Beowulf]

59. I was commenting to my spouse this afternoon

that "Republican" and "Democrat" really don't mean much these days. If we really wanted to be honest in naming our two major political parties we'd call them The Insane Party and The Cynical Party.

I'm with you, Senz, on this one.

[senz]

64. That's excellent, Beowulf.

There's got to be a better party going on somewhere!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

103. Seriously! Could it be Bernie is a man of principle?

[Wilms]

9. Bernie HATES women.

The only reason he wants better wages is so that a single income can run a household and there's no excuse for women to be other than where they belong; the kitchen.

Why won't the media talk about it? They won't even mention that little kitten-eating thing he's known for. I suspect that one is high on your list.

[GoneFishin]

86. He wants children to have healthy and sufficient food and medical care so they will be strong enough

to generate big profits for their bosses once Bernie eliminates the child labor laws.

[Lil Missy]

10. Bernie Math. n/t

[Armstead]

22. Bernie Match is saying "I know I will not win."

But you only hear what you want to I guess.

[glowing]

11. Because "revolutions" never suspend or concede.

They always demand and demand and demand... Unless Dr. King should have just sat down and shut up.

And who said he's being a sexist in bringing the issues to her? That's just weird to label a Feminist a "sexist".

[coyote]

146. Who has heard of a revolution packing up and going home

I look forward to the convention

[seabeyond]

12. Yes, it does appear to be about his ego and not conceding the win to a woman. Nt

[Armstead]

20. He said that today. "Because Hillary Clinton is a woman I will never concede."

At his announcement in Burlington, he said "I will never allow a woman to become President."

I heard it. Hoinest.

I apologize. You were correct all along.

[seabeyond]

28. Nah, they can never own it. He just knows his policies are better and voters just don't know what is

Good for them so we just all need to sit down, shut up and let him have his way. Nothing so obvious as admitting this flaw it just comes out in behavior.

Like want to boss the winner around.

[Eric J in MN]

87. Bernie Sanders was for gay marriage

...when Hillary Clinton was against it and the majority was against it.

According to your logic, he shouldn't have advocated what he believed in since he was in the minority.

[seabeyond]

100. Sanders was for marriage equality in 2009. Good for him.

[bravenak]

13. Yep

[Armstead]

17. "I'm very good at arithmetic" -- That's basically a concession.

[aikoaiko]

18. He can admit it, He prefers to campaign until the end. Its actually quite charming to

see a politician keep his promise to his supporters.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

65. I love him for it!

[MelissaB]

23. Oh, boy! It's the sexism talking point again.

Look for broken records the rest of the night.

[Sancho]

24. On Tuesday I heard Hillary was serving halibut and white wine...

Not a couple guys sharing a beer!!

[sheshe2]

75. Halibut,

who knew. I prefer steamed mussels.

[AtomicKitten]

25. This is why.

[MaggieD]

31. LMAO

[AtomicKitten]

48. Just like 2000, 2002, 2004, and so on.

Election fraud wasn't funny when it was done on behalf of Republicans. The person in the video probably saved Obama's reelection in 2012 when he uncovered election tampering in Ohio. He has pinpointed exactly which precincts perpetrated tampering during the Democratic primary. You won't be laughing when Discovery gives him access to raw data and exit polling. He was generous with Hillary stating the perpetrators used Hillary to stop Bernie. But in the words of Father Pfleger, if you're the beneficiary, you are responsible.

[MaggieD]

52. Hmmm, so which states here he won was there election fraud?

Do tell.

[Segami]

142. I think it's safe to say, expect more

facts and evidence to surface within the coming weeks. I have yet to see the MSM act like journalists and investigate the claims within the lawsuit.

[Ken Burch]

26. He isn't harming anything.

It's more about wanting to make sure the platform includes a lot of Sanders stuff(which needs to happen to get the support of Sanders supporters-you can't expect those votes if he gets little of nothing).

It's enough that he isn't attacking her.

[MaggieD]

30. He looks like a sore loser and sexist to me

And to a lot of other women I know.

[Ken Burch]

36. He'd be doing the exact same thing if it was Biden who was 956 votes ahead

or any other man. Why do you assume that it's about gender?

The best approach is to negotiate. I think HRC gets that and that that is what the meeting on Tuesday will be about.

Our path to victory in November leads through a blended platform encompassing the best from ALL the Democratic primary candidates, and a revitalization of the party(a party which is currently in long-term decline on the Congressional, gubenatorial and state legislative levels)through reorganization and reform, because NOTHING in the Democratic status quo is working. If it were, we wouldn't BE in minorities in Congress and the state legislatures.

[MaggieD]

41. I doubt that

And it sure doesn't look that way to lots of folks.

[Ken Burch]

45. Why?

Has he ever given you or anyone else any real reason to think that his campaign was based on opposition to the very idea of a woman being president?

If he felt THAT way, why would Bernie have spent so much time trying to talk Elizabeth Warren into running?

It's a campaign about issues. That's all it ever has been. Why is that so difficult to accept?

[Ken Burch]

58. He was challenging Madeleine Kunin because he thought she was too conservative on some issues.

He'd have done the same if she was a man running on the same program.

There was no good reason for him to stay out of this year's primaries. He ran because that was the only way to give the voters a chance to vote for someone who'd take the side of the people on economic issues.

If Warren had run or if HRC had embraced Occupy values, Bernie would have stayed out.

It was just about the issues.

And even if you thought he wasn't feminist enough, can you really quarrel with the idea that the party SHOULD challenge corporate control of politics and the economy? It's not as if there is a conflict between doing that and supporting social progressivism. It's entirely possible for the same party to do both, and Democrats can only gain in support in the fall by doing that.

[chwaliszewski]

90. You're wasting your time. Her mind will not be changed.

The thing I don't get is if Hillary's supporters are so confident, what are they worried about? Why even start a thread like this if Hillary has got this?

[MaggieD]

98. Oh baloney

His history shows differently, as does the way he treats his own wife.

[840high]

129. He treats his wife

much better than Bill treats Hillary.

[AgadorSparticus]

68. I don't feel that way. I don't think he would be treating Biden like this at all

Or Obama or any man, for that matter. That's my take on it, anyways.

[AirmensMom]

92. Not to this woman.

[kpola12]

27. She is not!

The Supers don't vote til July 25. California still has 2.5 million votes to be counted. I don't believe Puerto Rico has been counted. The real bitch is you know all this but just don't play well with others.

[MaggieD]

29. She is the nominee

Whether Bernie and his fans are able to accept it or not.

[kpola12]

33. Presumptive.

[MaggieD]

43. Sorry, it's over

Why does he not admit that?

[jillan]

32. No she's not. She is 375 delegates ahead however.

She has 2203.
Bernie has 1828.

I'd listen to your argument if it was based on facts.

Superdelegates don't count until July 25th per the DNC.

[KPN]

37. Maybe its the electoral shenanigans.

Exit polls vs votes major differences; suppression tactics; California's missing 2,000,000+ votes; etc., etc. .... But more to the point, why should he concede until an actual vote at the convention completes the process. By D Party rules at this point, she hasn't won it. In fact, she doesn't have the lead you stated at this point -- it's actually about 500 less.

Bernie has a conscience about corruption in our electoral and governance systems. Why should he discount what his conscience and most Americans tell him?

It's not about winning, it's about doing what's right.

[immoderate]

38. I think it's because it really, really, really pisses you off.

Really. — Why else?

--imm

[840high]

130. Bingo! Bam!

[senz]

40. According to fivethirtyeight.com, she's 368 delegates ahead.

She's got 2,178 pledged delegates.

He's got 1,810 pledged delegates.

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/election-2016/delegate-targets/

You should fix your title line. It's incorrect.

[MaggieD]

47. Nope - she is 956 ahead

He lost and he lost in a spectacular way.

[senz]

56. Take it up with fivethirtyeight.com. Or just keep telling yourself that

if it makes ya feel better.

[Recursion]

67. She has 368 more pledged delegates than Sanders (nt)

[Ash_F]

42. FBI

EDIT - But also to keep her closer to the center(her left) on policies for as long as possible.

[sheshe2]

81. Vatican

[rhett o rick]

53. Why are you asking him to concede if it's all over? It's not all over. hello

Like asking the Red Sox to concede to the Yankees in the 8th inning.

We don't bow before your chosen authoritarian leaders.

[senz]

57. Precisely. Aren't they cute?

Squeee!

[sheshe2]

82. You are a Red Sox fan?

[rhett o rick]

116. Are you a Goldman-Sachs fan?

[sheshe2]

117. Are they a baseball team?

[rhett o rick]

139. No but if Hillary wins they will be running the country. So much for your social justice agenda.

[sheshe2]

140. oh

[Rex]

61. He heard it was driving a few people crazy on this a political forum.

I kid, no idea I guess he is going all the way to the convention.

[Mike Nelson]

62. Agree he has an issue, but...

...am not sure it's gender. Bernie might have done the same with Webb, Chafee or O'Malley. He has some "coming down" difficulty. I trust he will land safely, however.

[Recursion]

66. This used to be a lot more common; it's not the end of the world

Taking the campaign to the convention was kind of normal up through the 1980s, and Brown did it in 1992 (though he didn't get a speaking spot because of that, which Sanders should probably keep in mind).

[JustinL]

69. Maybe he's waiting for all the votes to be cast, like Clinton did in 2008. n/t

Clinton didn't concede until 16 days after Obama had won a majority of the pledged delegates. The only way she could have won the nomination after that is if the superdelegates had thwarted the will of the voters.

[lancer78]

70. Saying Sanders is

Sexist is wrong. Can men not like HRC because of her policies?

[Vattel]

71. Your suggestion that he is staying in because he is sexist is a stupid smear.

[BadgerKid]

114. Well, technically "appearance of ..." was stated

so probably the post would evade hiding by jury. I found the post repulsive nevertheless and incremented my ignore list.

[JDPriestly]

76. What difference does it make whether Bernie concedes?

Bernie is about a movement, not just about winning a primary.

If Hillary wins the nomination, Bernie's movement continues.

If Hillary doesn't win the nomination, Bernie's movement continues.

What's to concede. The convention delegates vote. There is nothing to concede.

Why would Bernie concede?

It isn't necessary or important.

Isn't that OK?

[KPN]

107. Exactly!

[sheshe2]

77. MaggieD!

You are back!

[MaggieD]

96. Hi!

[sheshe2]

78. It was a 5-2 leave.

[MaggieD]

99. LMAO

Naturally the alert stalkers are on the case.

[pat_k]

84. Why won't you listen to what the campaign has made crystal clear?

The campaign has been crystal clear since last Tuesday. They are in the process of deciding next steps, but NO final decisions will be made until after DC votes on Tuesday.

He made a commitment to campaign in every state until the last vote was counted. That's what he's doing.

When you've been told "I won't be announcing anything until next week", it's just plain silly to keep whining about the absence of an announcement this week.

Denouncing the man for a decision that has yet to be made is premature. Cool your jets. There will be plenty of time to applaud or lambaste him when he announces the course he is taking.

[MaggieD]

95. What is there for him to "decide"?

He lost by a yuuuuge margin. He is apparently just pathologically unable to grasp the concept that he lost or admit it.

[pat_k]

120. He could...

release his delegates when he endorses her. Or he could ask then to stay with him and vote for him on the convention floor to demonstrate the strength of support for a New, New Deal within the party.

This isn't just about winning the nomination. It never was. Decisions have yet to be made. And negotiations are happening behind the scenes.

You don't give up your leverage without getting as much as you can. He owes that to his supporters.

And whether the Party likes is or not, any "concessions" he gains are going to strengthen, not weaken, the party and our chances across all elections. We may be dragging it along kicking and screaming, but all we want is for our Party to become the popular, powerful force for economic and social justice it can be. (Instead of the feeble, ineffective, defense against the ever advancing Repubs we currently are.)

[MaggieD]

122. He still loses on the first ballot either way

It's not like this was a close race like 2008. He lost by a large margin.

[pat_k]

123. Refer you back to

This isn't just about winning the nomination. It never was. Decisions have yet to be made. And negotiations are happening behind the scenes.

You don't give up your leverage without getting as much as you can. He owes that to his supporters.

And whether the Party likes is or not, any "concessions" he gains are going to strengthen, not weaken, the party and our chances across all elections. We may be dragging it along kicking and screaming, but all we want is for our Party to become the popular, powerful force for economic and social justice it can be. (Instead of the feeble, ineffective, defense against the ever advancing Repubs we currently are.)

[MaggieD]

124. Could have fooled me

I have been very active in politics for a very long time, and you will not convince me that the kind of folks that would do such a thing at the convention OR just not accept that the vast majority of the party DOES NOT agree with them are in any way helpful to the party.

I know that it sounds like they would be, in theory, but again I have seen this kind of thing on a local and state level and all it does is create factions. It does not ever result in anything positive.

[whistler162]

85. My guess is because

you haven't asked him nicely and then told him you would hold your breath until he does!

If SoS Clinton has enough delegates to clinch the nomination then why are you and so many others so anxiety ridden about Senator Sanders not conceding?

[BobbyDrake]

91. Because Bernie Sanders hates democracy and can't handle losing.

If he does "take it to the convention," then his plan is clearly to overturn the results of the popular vote. The will of the people has spoken, but Bernie doesn't like their answer, and thinks somehow that he knows better than they do.

[Vinca]

97. Because he said he'd stay in until everyone voted.

Why are you so concerned? It appears your candidate is the nominee. And stop with the sexism meme. It's bullshit. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it.

[brooklynite]

101. So, he'll concede in the next 48 hours? Good to know.

[Cobalt Violet]

102. Mathmatically he EARNED the right to go to the convention.

You say you're good at math but seem to be struggling with basic counting. 2383 is number of delegates she needs to get the nomination. As of now she only has 2203. The leaves 180 delegates short. Since she needs super delegates to to the number needed she will have to wait until the convention to be the nominee. If the supers were to vote for Bernie he would have enough to win. Is that likely atm? No, but still possible mathematically. He earned it. His voters and the DNC rules gave him that right.

2383-2203 = 180 not 2383

[One of the 99]

104. The primaries aren't over yet.

Bernie wants to make sure that every voter has a chance to vote.

[MaggieD]

108. I look forward to his thumping in DC

Although it won't be as fun as CA and NJ.

But I mean come on, are the delegates he might pick up in DC going to close that 956 delegate deficit he is sporting? He seems like he can't accept the fact that he lost with this baloney about "taking it to the convention."

[One of the 99]

118. Never said that were.

But the people of DC deserve to have their vote.

[findrskeep]

143. Yes, and there could possibly

be more cheating that can be added to the lawsuit. Give em' enough rope...and all that.

[TSIAS]

115. Wait until this weekend

As of now, he's taking the same exact posture that Clinton took in 2008. The final votes will be cast on Tuesday. I suspect he'll suspend his campaign by the weekend.

If you call getting a thumping -- going from 3 % to nearly 45 % -- I'll take a thumping any day.

At least you only have a few more days to sow your division here.

[MaggieD]

119. He lost by a huge percentage

Well over 15% of the delegates when it is all said and done. That is huge. I really don't understand this idea that he went from "3 % to nearly 45 %"

First of all that is simply not true. He does not have anywhere even close to 45% of the delegates. Secondly, it was a two person race. So of course he got a good share of the "I hate Clinton" vote.

IMO, he is unbelievably disrespectful in refusing to concede. And as such he has confirmed every negative thing I thought about him.

[840high]

134. Keep thinking - negative is good

for you.

[TSIAS]

144. OK

He got 43 percent of the popular vote. He also received 45 % of the pledged delegates.

Are you really saying that Martin O'Malley or some other candidate would have won 23 states? Kerry won something like 47 states. Gore won all 50. Those were landslides. This was a close contest.

[TheFarseer]

141. I think he just very strongly disagrees with her on key issues

And wants to spread his message as long as possible. That's my best guess.

[Demsrule86]

154. If he does not concede...I would not let him spread anything

No convention goodies ...and out he goes after the first vote...he can hand with the 'protest' (riot?) that he helped assemble.

[CorkySt.Clair]

145. Kick

[ThinkCritically]

147. Because he doesn't have to.

[azurnoir]

148. To annoy you?

[Lil Missy]

149. Bernie Math. And Ego.

[tonyt53]

151. Yeah, right Bernie lost big time, get over it.

[Orsino]

153. He has told you repeatedly what he's campaigning for.

He hadn't achieved those goals yet, and has pledged to campaign for them until the convention.

For further details, I can only refer you to his many speeches.