Sanders loses convention leverage

[brooklynite]

Politico:

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Leverage: it’s the one thing Bernie Sanders’ advisors and aides consistently point to when asked why, exactly, he’s formally staying in the Democratic primary race that he’s lost to Hillary Clinton.

But it's the one thing he’s been bleeding every day ever since he dropped California’s primary by a much wider-than-expected margin last week. Sanders’ summer was supposed to be all about building leverage for the Democratic convention, providing him with a better hand to play as he presses Clinton to accept his policy positions and party reform suggestions. Now, the people closest to him aren’t sure how exactly to get it back.

His first and most prominent endorsers have jumped off the bandwagon, congratulating and in some cases endorsing Clinton — from Sen. Jeff Merkley to Rep. Raul Grijalva, and from the Communications Workers of America to MoveOn.org.Each of the big-name Democrats and groups who steadfastly remained neutral in the primary have flocked to Clinton over the past week, from President Barack Obama to Sen. Elizabeth Warren to the AFL-CIO. Even Sanders' highest-profile congressional endorsee, Nevada’s Lucy Flores, lost her primary bid on Tuesday despite his cash injection into her campaign.

Someone will probably complain that this is unnecessary "bashing" of Sanders. But since his Campaign Manager says Sanders is "still an active candidate", it's worth evaluating the real future of his campaign.

[geek tragedy]

2. the truth is Clinton doesn't need Sanders and is rapidly reaching the point

where she won't have any use for him

[harun]

15. I'm thinking Nov. 9th she might realize she needed him.

[LoverOfLiberty]

17. Is that what you are hoping

will happen? Because there seems to be a lot of that going around on the Democratic site.

[geek tragedy]

23. No, she's winning right now, with him being deliberately

worthless to her fight against Trump

[geek tragedy]

33. all of the sensible Sanders supporters have already begun the process of moving on.

including those who are authentic socialists and leftwingers

his movement is evaporating right under his feet.

now that he's not a real candidate anymore, his movement is losing the glue that held it together.

[eastwestdem]

39. Exactly!! nt

[harun]

55. Your moderate republican's voting for Hillary in Red states is going to do nothing.

We will see soon enough.

[CorkySt.Clair]

36. So one more for Bern it all down then?

Got it.

[grossproffit]

58. Your signature line is everything to me.

[CorkySt.Clair]

60. Thanks

I saw a thread on the "competing', anti-Dem site that shall not be named that was complaining about how another poster had this gif in their sig so I thought, why not make it 4 times as annoying to them.

[workinclasszero]

59. She is kicking Trumps ass right now according to polls

with ZERO help from Sanders.

Sanders was an illusion all along, now he is a total non-factor.

[obamanut2012]

41. I have been thinking that, too -- Orlando changed things

imo

[geek tragedy]

43. her speech slamming Trump changed things. that prompted Trump's current meltdown. nt

[leveymg]

54. The truth is Clinton and her accolytes think they don't need anyone except Trump and her big donors.

Once elected, she'll simply move further to the Right and escalate the New Cold War. That should be fun.

[aikoaiko]

3. I think Bernie is doing exactly what he wants and I support him.

If HRC hasn't offered something to induce his concession, then there really isn't any point in conceding.

[Cal33]

31. Agreed. I, too, support Bernie in whatever he wants to do. He is a trustworthy leader.

[Triana]

40. Exactly. He's a wise man and a wise politician. He's trustworthy and his ideals are

what should be any Democrat's ideals. He's fighting for them and his supporters should fight with him. As for the rest - the oligarchy and their cheerleaders who just want more of the same from the last 40+ years, leave them behind.

[Lord Magus]

47. Since when is acknowledging reality something that requires inducement?

We're not talking about whether Bernie endorses Hillary, just about whether he admits she beat him and congratulates her on her win.

[Armstead]

4. So he hasn't bowed down and kissed the ring yet....awwwww

He has made it clear that he plans to actively work to support the Democratic nominee against Trump.

He is not in the same position as his high-profile supporters, who are able to switch quickly. Sanders has to be miondful of the 43 percent of the voters who supported HIM in the primary for a reason.

[TwilightZone]

7. "Sanders has to be miondful of the 43 percent of the voters"

Clinton had 48% of the voters in 2008 and didn't drag things out. She conceded, endorsed Obama, and actively campaigned for him.

Sorry, but that argument makes no sense. Sanders is not unique in any of this. People win; people lose. Happens every cycle. What they do next is how they're differentiated.

[Armstead]

9. Clinton's main objection to Obama is that he was not her.

Sanders -- and those who support him -- are pressing for other goals than just his own political ambitions.

Clinton wanted to make sure she was in with Obama so she could benefit personally. She and Bill wanted to maintain their own power base and not ruin her desire to keep her options open as a future potential nominee.

That is different.

[TwilightZone]

16. "Clinton wanted to make sure she was in with Obama so she could benefit personally. "

Ah, the bullshit "she only conceded and/or blackmailed him for the SOS job and personal gain" meme.

A classic. Too bad it exists only in the minds of a few Sanders supporters.

And you wonder why there's still animosity between the two sides on DU.

[Armstead]

25. I didn't say that..

She made a decision not to fight Obama to protect her own political position. It was not just this magnanimous selfless sacrifice on her part.

(Though I also am fairly sure the SOS job was payback. She was not the most qualified choice available.)

[Sheepshank]

34. The problem with that argument touted by Bernie Supporters (in your title)

is that if Bernie is so very worked up about promoting his agenda, and wanting to have any sort of clout he should be wanting to make sure he is doing this right so that he can benefit as well. Instead he seems to want everyone to bow down to his whims for no apparent reason that it's what he wants.

Hillary knew how to do it build relationships after the 2008 election, and Bernie in 2016 clearly doesn't and it blowing it all way around. He is coming across as wanting the DNC and Clinton to kiss his ring so that he will finally declare her the winner and also get to reform the DNC, and write the party platform. There was a reason he developed the reputation of not getting along with his peers over he last couple of decades in office.

I am so glad this type of personality isn't leading the nation especially when it comes to international relations and trying to cajole and massage the Republicans into anything. While I think the Republicans are not going to be quite as obstructionist and reticent as they were under Obama, they still don't play well, and some contrarian, inflexible baggers will remain in office. Hopefully a larger group would have learned how much damage this McConnell process (obstructionist/Tea Bagger negativity) has caused, they will try the compromise route a little more often than under Obama. It will take cajoling and massaging to nudge the Reps in the that direction. Bernie doesn't have the ability and personality to do that...at least not that he's shown any passable ability in that area in his 20+ years in office.

[Lord Magus]

49. This isn't the first time a candidate has lost to someone they had real disagreements with.

And conceding that the winner actually won is not some grand favor that Bernie would be giving to Hillary.

[redstateblues]

5. His relatively small audience for the live streamed speech is a signal

to Hillary that Bernie's support is fairly soft. Considering that he got 12M voters in the primary, 218,000 is a blip

[geek tragedy]

6. "still far from sounding a truly conciliatory tone."

And while his team has started signaling that it’s reached a new phase, it’s still far from sounding a truly conciliatory tone.

“We would like to get to a place where we could very actively support the nominee,” campaign manager Jeff Weaver told Bloomberg Television on Thursday — a hope-filled line for Clinton’s team that nonetheless implied there was still considerable work to be done before true unity is achieved.

To Sanders’ most steadfast remaining supporters, anything short of a continued campaign to tug Clinton on specific points — from embracing a nationwide ban on fracking to axing the superdelegate system — would be an abandonment of his “political revolution."

There will be no unity.

[Tarc]

8. Merkley is still going to cast a symbolic superdelegate vote for Bernie

But is otherwise fully on-board with supporting Hillary in the fall. Otherwise, this article is pretty spot-on; the longer he holds out the more he loses standing in the party.

[JonLeibowitz]

53. I'm not sure how Merkley endorsing the expected nominee is Sanders losing leverage.

Other than the fact that the loser of the primaries doesn't become the nominee.

Merkley's support for Bernie and the issues hasn't changed.

[HumanityExperiment]

10. POWER

So ask yourself why you are unable to let it go, if Bernie isn't really a factor any longer why are you dedicating so much time and effort towards him?

[onehandle]

11. Bernie is keeping the focus on himself as long as he can by not conceding.

He's being just another politician, which is sad.

[calimary]

18. As my husband often describes it - "more ME, please!"

I'm sorry, but that sure seems to be about the size of it. He's losing leverage. So glaringly that even the chattering class is on it now. As Nancy Reagan once warned - "people are talking" - to the hapless and didn't-realize-his-goose-is-cooked Don Regan. Buzz had begun that he was in trouble, had fallen out of favor, and was well on his way out of the Reagan White House. It turned out to be true. Bernie does NOT want people talking about this, now. It doesn't serve him or suit his interests. I get a very strong feeling that he does not realize this.

[Adrahil]

12. I think he has less than a week....

or he becomes pretty irrelevant.

Yesterday, the last Sanders supporter I personally know (and earlier, a self-proclaimed Bernie-or-Buster) said he would support Clinton in November. He's reluctant, but he's doing it. The other Bernie supporters I know pledged Clinton support following California.

[Demsrule86]

22. I would agree with that

There is a growing consensus that Bernie can't deliver his voters anyway.

[NurseJackie]

50. He had a stronger negotiating position before California and New Jersey voted ...

... but his vanity prevented him from making the most of things. More opportunities squandered, and it's been downhill for him ever since.

[CorkySt.Clair]

13. I think a Wednesday afternoon speaking slot would be just right for him.

Say around 2 p.m. eastern?

[L. Coyote]

14. Watch and learn as our great candidates work to demolish Trump and take over Congress.

And by that I mean work together, albeit not everything happening in a US Presidential campaign is transparent to everyone.

There is a game plan at this point for a unified party and a November victory that includes all the new people brought into the process.

[Demsrule86]

20. No...we don't want two 'candidates'

We want one nominee and one former candidate who has conceded and endorsed working to demolish Trump...It won't work any other way.

[L. Coyote]

30. We have 435 congressional districts = pop, 710,000 each, 55 districts to flip

55 districts to flip in a Democratic wave election

[Demsrule86]

35. We have a gerrymander ...the only hope of getting the house is for Clinton to win by 8-10 points.

Bernie is no help with any of that. He needs to help as a former candidate. She is the nominee, and we don't need two candidates ...we need one nominee and one former candidate who fights for the Democrats without saying crappy things about Democrats...flipping the house is meaningless if Trump gets in with five court picks.

[Dawgs]

19. Here.

I'll let Cenk explain it to you.

[Demsrule86]

21. No one but BOB's will watch that. Like all Berniebots...Cent has done himself real harm. nt

[apcalc]

29. Cenk....do you mean to say

CHANGE IS INCREMENTAL??????

The revolution isn't dead , and will TAKE SOME TIME?
Work with the grassroots? Work to change the Senate and the House?

Well waddaya know? Hillary was criticized for ' incrementalism' here often.

Duh.

[Demsrule86]

37. Yeah well spell check has never heard of him..

The revolution is dead. Bernie has wrecked it in my opinion...it reminds me of occupy ...so much promise.

[Dawgs]

48. It's okay.

You wouldn't understand anyways.

[MattP]

26. Speaking of ego, Cenk is a idiot

Get a couple of drinks in that one and watch him go off on a airline crew, what a jackass

[Agnosticsherbet]

24. Trump is doing so much to to scare the Whack-a-doodle out of Americans, and

damage his own chances and the Republican brand that Sanders clout is bound to evaporate.

Center-Right Republican voters are fleeing either to Johnson or voting for Clinton. Sanders should bring his own people aboard to balance out any center-right movement into the party.

Just as with the Puma's in 2008, there will be some diehards who will not vote for Clinton even if Sanders became her BFF.

[zappaman]

27. Who?

[AgingAmerican]

32. This is the Hillary supporter threat

Cracks me up how apoplectic they are

[LexVegas]

38. He needs to lose his committee assignments. nt

[obamanut2012]

42. 100% agree

[tritsofme]

44. No reason to be petty, we may need him someday.

I never supported sanctioning Lieberman in the Senate for far greater transgressions, and Lieberman continuing to caucus with Democrats allowed us to secure a majority in 2007, and pass the Affordable Care Act in 2009.

[geek tragedy]

46. nah, he can keep his committee assignments, they need his vote

in the Senate even if he's worthless in the general election vs Trump

[Chemisse]

52. I disagree.

He should do as he likes, without penalty. But he can't expect to have a lot of impact on the platform if he doesn't get on board right away.

[WhiteTara]

56. Without penalty and not having

impact on the platform is a bit contradictory.

[Chemisse]

61. Without penalty means not taking him off of committees or penalizing him in some other way.

Whether he has impact on the platform depends more on his timing and level of cooperation. If he doesn't come around he is just going to become irrelevant, and the DNC won't cater to him at that point. That's not a penalty; it's just a consequence.

[Chemisse]

51. Sanders' leverage peaked about a week ago.

He is rapidly becoming obsolete in the presidential elections.

He needs to act immediately!