Barack Obama supporters outraged by Bernie Sanders' 'deplorable' attack on Democratic Party

[TomCADem]

Bernie can't help but attack Democrats. He helped write the platform in 2016. A lot of Democrats have long pushed progressive views similar to his. Before Bernie, Al Gore was sounding the alarm on global warming. Yet, despite the fact that the party has moved left, Bernie has repeatedly attacked the party he hopes to lead. As noted in 2018, he patronizingly dismissed President Obama on MLK day. Even in 2020, with a Democratic party that has moved left, Bernie still repeatedly attacks the so-called "Democratic establishment" as part of his standard stump speech.

P.S. Many Bernie supporters continue to deny that Bernie has bashed the Democratic party notwithstanding repeated examples of him doing so.

This is why you can't trust Bernie. He repeatedly and consistently attacks his would be allies such as the 2018 example below.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/bernie-sanders-obama-anger-martin-luther-king-death-assassination-jackson-mississippi-a8289456.html

Bernie Sanders has triggered a backlash by making comments interpreted as an attack on Barack Obama on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King.

The senator for Vermont appeared to criticise the first black US President as he branded the Democratic Party a "failure".

* * *
"The business model, if you like, of the Democratic Party for the last 15 years or so has been a failure,' said the Vermont Senator.

"People sometimes don't see that because there was a charismatic individual named Barack Obama. He was obviously an extraordinary candidate, brilliant guy. But beyond that reality..."

[Cha]

1. Yeah, not taking any advice from BS.

[evertonfc]

2. I'm so tired

of this primary already. Our frontrunners are old, white Washington insiders that, to be fair, are not particularly inspiring. I have a feeling of a divided party going into 2020. I hope Im wrong

[Scotch-Irish]

4. You're wrong.

Count on it.

[Hekate]

6. You're wrong

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

52. Wrong... we will unite around Bernie.

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[MrsCoffee]

69. No we won't.

Because he won’t be the nominee. Ever.

[fleabiscuit]

77. Polling doesn't indicate that outcome. nt

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

80. Not quite yet... but I see the polls turning in Bernie's favor. Of course, ultimately, the voters

will decide the outcome... as it should be!!


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Thekaspervote]

3. Count me as outraged as well!!

He comes barreling in, uses the party for his own needs, then leaves! What friend, what relative would you be willing to accept that kind of behavior from??

[Hekate]

5. That is Bernie's schtick since the dawn of time & it has gotten very old for some of us.

Never a criticism of the GOP. Always ready with one for the Dems.

[DanieRains]

7. Bernie Always Critisises Republican Scum

Too many people aren't convinced we are on their side.

Trump fooled a lot of Obama voters.

He had the billionaire owned media attacking Hillary for decades and ignoring his obvious crimes, but still.

Us Dems need to fight for struggling Americans as hard as Republiscum fight for billionaires.

Bernie is far from perfect but he tries.

[Lexee]

14. Bernie did his part in revving up the attack machine against HRC and the establishment Dems.

[jrthin]

56. Yes he did! nt

[Champion Jack]

29. exactly

[ehrnst]

33. "Far from perfect?"

Everyone tries... but many Sanders supporters believe that He is the metric of perfection concerning progressive ideals.

And Sanders himself often implies that anyone who doesn't agree lockstep with him is "corrupt."

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

53. Thank you for that... Bernie's heart is ALWAYS in the right place!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Cha]

63. Yeah.. he "tries" hard to bash my

Democratic Party..

Nancy Pelosi, "Establishment Democrat," was elected the same year as Bernie & is the same age

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=390604

I get a little bit tired of Democrats who defend a cruel, dysfunctional health care..

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=314341

Link to tweet

[cwydro]

16. I don't understand why the leadership allows him to play this "I'm a Dem when it's useful" game.

Seems all wrong.

[Hekate]

31. I don't either. After 2016 I felt like, "Fool me once..." you know?

Last edited Sun Dec 29, 2019, 06:15 PM - Edit history (1)

Remember that very old and very sexist thing -- "Why buy a cow when milk is free?" Why should Bernie "marry" the Democratic Party, when he gets all the benefits of membership for free?

[ehrnst]

34. +1000.

[yardwork]

19. I agree.

[thesquanderer]

8. re: "he patronizingly dismissed President Obama on MLK day"

As your own link shows further down, that interpretation was in the eye of the beholder. The article shows another reaction, "Bernie Sanders is literally saying Obama was so good, you all missed the Democratic Party's failures right under our nose." IOW, this is Sanders talking about the failure of the party *despite* not *because* of Obama's presidency. It is not an attack on Obama by any means. And if you want to know what he means by the failure of the party, you have to read the full quote in context:

The business model, if you like, of the Democratic Party for the last 15 years or so has been a failure. People sometimes don't see that because of the charismatic individual named Barack Obama, who won the presidency in 2008 and 2012. He was obviously an extraordinary candidate, brilliant man. But behind that reality, over the last 10 years Democrats have lost about 1,000 seats in state legislatures all across this country.

It's easy to make things sound like something other than what they are when you take them out of context.

[George II]

12. People keep bringing up that "over the last 10 years Democrats have lost about 1,000 seats"...

In fact, it was only 910 seats. And what gets ignored, be it inadvertently or intentionally, is that last year Democrats gained back about 350, 40% of those seats IN ONE YEAR!

So much for the "business model of the Democratic Party" being a failure.

[thesquanderer]

17. The quote was from before the 2018 elections.

And 910 is not so far from "about a thousand." It's 91% of the way there.

Anyway, the point was, he was not in any way disrespecting Obama.

[George II]

36. It's closer to 900 than it is to 1,000 - why not use 900? And in one day in November 2018....

....almost half the losses over the previous ten years were wiped out. We should look forward, not backward.

[thesquanderer]

42. Actually, I just googled, and found a number of references that it was *over* a thousand.

1030...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4063898/As-Obama-accomplished-policy-goals-party-floundered.html

1042...
(11 Senate, 62 House, 12 governorships, and 958 seats in state legislatures)

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/10/14211994/obama-democrats-downballot

Maybe it depends on exactly which years you look at, or which offices. But the point remains the same. When Sanders was giving that speech, the Dems, despite Obama, had lost a lot of clout at lower levels. Arguing whether it's closer to 900 or over a thousand is kind of missing the forest for the trees.

[dansolo]

68. The numbers aren't really the issue. It is the alleged cause of the losses.

First off, the losses started in 2010. What led up to that? The passing of the ACA. I blame two major factors for those losses - the DNC for abandoning the 50-state strategy, and the progressive wing for contributing to the negative propoganda about it. Then we had the census and redistricting. With the gains in state legislatures, Republicans were able to gerrymander their districts and impose voting restrictions. That caused even further losses. Then you have to consider the constant barrage of negative media about the Democratic Party coming from the right and the left (and Russia)

Anyone who claims that the losses in the past decade have been due to policy is intentionally ignoring the other things going on.

[Cha]

87. Exactly.

[ehrnst]

35. +1000.

[betsuni]

65. "he was obviously an extraordinary candidate, brilliant man."

He was president for eight years, not a "candidate." Leader of the Democratic Party. He didn't just read speeches on the teleprompter at rallies and be charismatic. Responsible for the "business model" of "failure." Bernie doesn't seem to know that there was a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate for only four months and ten days when Democrats had that two year slight majority and unprecedented Republican obstruction the full eight years. The Republican Patty is organized crime/radically right-wing insane -- there is no "both sides."

As if Democrats could do anything they wanted but didn't, and as we know from the thousands of times he's said it, he thinks it's because of corruption: "The point that I make over and over ... is the ideas that I talk about are the ideas that the American people want. They don't get it because you've got a Congress indebted to wealthy campaign contributors."

So how was President Obama corrupt, Bernie? As Hillary Clinton pointed out: "President Obama took more money from Wall Street in 2008 than anybody ever had. And when it came time to stand up to Wall Street, he passed and signed the toughest regulations since the Great Depression, with the Dodd-Frank regulations."

And no, the ACA was not (as I've so often seen) some sort of proof of being in the pocket of Big Pharma and insurance. The bill with a public option passed Congress, couldn't get through the Senate because of a handful of moderates (obviously no Republican votes). Bernie knew how hard it was, that single payer was out of the question (2010): "I would say that in the Senate, there are at most 10 votes for a single payer plan. In the House I have no idea, but it's a small minority. It's absurd to say, 'Mr. President, go forward and make your bill single payer' when you've got 10% of the Congress supports you."

If he thinks Democrats are corrupt and failures, he should give examples. If he knows of elected officials taking bribes, why doesn't he expose them? It's baffling!

And the idea that Americans are carefully examining the Democratic and Republican platforms and rejecting the Democrats because it's not progressive enough so they'd rather go with Republicans is:

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

70. Since when does the truth matter when it comes to bashing Bernie!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Cha]

86. Yeah, it was a diss.

[PatSeg]

9. If Bernie wins the nomination

and then the presidency, where will he find the allies to help make his agenda reality? Among the many Democrats he maligns and disparages throughout the primary? Does he believe that one man can do all this alone? Many of his ideas have merit, but his perception of what a democratic president can do is surprisingly flawed for a man of his experience.

Meanwhile, his language is divisive at a time when voters are looking for unity.

[George II]

13. He's alienating Democrats and few if any would side with him. He'd be a loner in the White House....

But we don't have to worry about that, he probably won't even finish second once all the primaries are over.

[PatSeg]

15. I'm picturing a very angry loner

He's been in politics long enough to know better, but I think he was overwhelmed by the support he received in 2016 and hasn't come back down to earth yet.

I agree that he probably won't win the nomination, but I hope he doesn't divide the party like he did last time.

[NurseJackie]

58. He's alienated me. I've had enough. I can't support him.

[trueblue2007]

64. George.... i hope you are right

[Capt. America]

66. I just wish he would stop yelling at us all the time. He's stuck at one volume.

You don't need to yell about everything like Trump does.

[yardwork]

20. Sanders has a relatively poor legislative track record.

He has not demonstrated the ability to build coalitions needed to pass legislation.

[PatSeg]

37. I wonder what his vision of a Sanders presidency is

If he couldn't build coalitions in congress, what makes him think he could do so from the White House? Meanwhile, he has burned a lot of people.

[yardwork]

44. The vision is fairly authoritarian, I think.

"We'll do it because I said so and I know best" seems to be the message.

[PatSeg]

48. Yes, it would seem so

[George II]

38. That's a nice way of putting it.

[TreasonousBastard]

59. He's like the loud guy at the end of the bar-- even when he's right, nobody of any...

importance is listening.

He is not the best person to lead us into the future.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

71. Attacking another Democrat only helps tRump!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Fresh_Start]

26. exactly, Bernie doesn't have allies to govern with

so if he wins the nomination kiss then next 4 years goodbye in terms of progress on any important front other then post office naming

[PatSeg]

39. Hard to believe he cannot see that

Its not like he is a newcomer to DC. Change takes compromise and relationship building. Only a dictator or king could bring about change alone.

[Fresh_Start]

72. yes, he can see that but he is too damn wrapped up in himself to care

and his followers are too naive to anticipate the consequences

[PatSeg]

73. That is rather sad

I think he started out with good intentions, but all the attention and the huge following may have clouded his vision. Now it often seems like vanity and ego obscure the message.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

78. This is *exactly* why I don't support Bernie this time.

I did in 2016 but he lost me when he was such a bad sport after Clinton secured the nomination and his supporters tried to disrupt the convention. He showed himself to be a my-way-or-the-highway sort of guy, and made it worse more recently by hiring the likes of Nina Turner, Brihanna Gray and David Sirota, and he continues to bash the Democratic Party, of which he is a member only when it's useful for him. He would be an ineffective president because all presidents need the support of their party in order to get their policies through Congress. Especially since it's clear that the GOP will continue to obstruct as they did during the Obama administration, a Democratic president will need Democrats' support more than ever. If Bernie keeps kicking other Democrats in the nuts at every opportunity, does he really think they'd have his back if he gets to be president?

[PatSeg]

81. I didn't support Bernie in 2016

but I did have a high regard for him. When I saw how he behaved when Clinton won the nomination, I was terribly disappointed. It feels like he has just gotten worse and now I barely recognize the man. He is coming across as a bitter, angry man, who never got over his loss in 2016. I really wish he hadn't run again.

[Cha]

88. He acts like he doesn't care...

Link to tweet

chris evans

@notcapnamerica

@BernieSanders
: “Barack Obama won 10% of the white vote in Mississippi. That speaks to very bad work done by Democrats there. 90% of white people in Mississippi are not racist.”

7:55 AM · Jan 18, 2020

[Hortensis]

10. Good if more are paying attention to his messages of decades.

To put it mildly, they don't hold up to rational inspection, and his various attempts of later decades (every day these days!) to hide what socialism is reveal a lot more that people need to know about him.

Thinking of his "Tweedledum/Tweedledee claims about Democrats and Pubs, I wince when I think of my earnest teenaged attempts to explain to conservatives around me that eliminating ALL welfare programs would cause children to go homeless and hungry, that we at least have to protect their wellbeing. No wonder they got angry; I just didn't believe they wouldn't agree once they were informed.

The contempt of conservative acquaintances for what in those days was called my bleeding-heart naivety was just as profound as today's, though less nastily expressed.

[StrictlyRockers]

11. The spin is strong in this thread.

I read what Bernie said in a different light. He also happens to be right. He's usually right. Open-minded people can easily see that.

[yardwork]

22. No evidence offered in this post, just the statement that "open-minded people" will see them.

[Fresh_Start]

27. so will the easily dupped and the choir easily see what they want to see

ignoring reality

[TomCADem]

49. On MLK Day, Bernie Made a Patronizing Remark About President Obama...

...dismissing him as a "charismatic individual." President Obama was President for two terms in the face of tremendous right wing opposition. Bernie's trivialization of President Obama on MLK Day sounds like, "He speaks well for an African American." It was tone deaf, particularly when his comments are read together with his overall attack on the Democratic party.

[thesquanderer]

51. There was no trivialization of Obama there.

Please see my reply about this in post #8.

[Cha]

61. Yeah, that ridiculous statement didn't go over so well.

[The Valley Below]

83. Sanders alienates yet another important component of the Democratic coalition.

Who's left?

I'm not sure this is the way to win a nomination.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

54. Yes, Bernie's usually right; not always, but anyone who's fair knows Bernie's heart

is ALWAYS in the right place.


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Autumn]

18. I'm curious, which candidate do you support? You only post OPs about Bernie, nothing positive

You post no OPs about any other candidate that I have seen, although to be fair I may have missed one. You must like one of them or at least want to know about them.

[yardwork]

21. Do you have anything to say about the post itself, rather than the poster?

[Autumn]

23. Asking questions of fellow DUers is allowed. If I were Undecided I would want to know about

all the candidates and research them. Wouldn't you?

[yardwork]

24. You didn't answer my question.

[Autumn]

25. I didn't ask you a question I asked the OP a question. You responded asking me a question

I don't owe you an answer since my response was to the OP.

[NNadir]

32. As a former "undecided" who has actually decided and then switched...

...I think most people have a general feeling about the pool of candidates that is prioritized.

I never came close, when I was undecided - and I probably will need to switch eventually because my candidate will not win the nomination - to thinking that Bernie Sanders was even close to being an acceptable candidate to me.

He always ranked somewhere close to Gabbard and the other non-Democratic or "barely Democratic" or "nominally Democratic" candidates, which is at the very bottom of the list, effectively in the garbage pile.

The commentator does not need to identify a preferred candidate to assume that some people on the list are garbage, who would only would be worth a vote were they up against Trump.

There is voting for the "lesser of two evils" and voting for a candidate who can save the country. If I am forced to vote for Sanders against Trump - perish the thought - I would do so, but do it weeping for the future of my country, since its on going destruction would be assured.

[George II]

40. I have positive feelings about all but two or three of our candidates.

[Autumn]

43. I feel the same way about of a couple of the other candidates.

If I am forced to vote for them against Trump I would do so, but do it weeping for the destruction of my planet

[NNadir]

45. As a scientist, I think if you are concerned about the planet...

...you would do well to change candidates.

Senator Sanders doesn't know any science, and is almost Trumpian in his unfamiliarity with science, and his stated policies and actions as a Senator are making things worse, not better.

I note, with disgust, that the common views on climate change, with which Senator Sanders agrees, have been actively embraced worldwide with the result that coal was the fastest growing source of energy on this planet in the 21st century, and that the rate of accumulation of the dangerous fossil fuel waste carbon dioxide has reached the unprecedented rate of 2.4 ppm per year.

[Autumn]

46. That's a matter of opinion. Mine differs. None of the candidates know science. nt

[NNadir]

47. No, it's a fact, not opinion. The scientific knowledge of candidates can be gleaned from...

...their positions.

I would note that the candidate I support, who will not, regrettably win, has an excellent understanding of technology, science, and its consequences. In fact, it informs his entire candidacy.

If you think that "none of the candidates know science" you may not be in a position to know what science is. I do.

[still_one]

67. +++

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

55. Thank you for pointin this out; just imagine if we quoted what Joe said about Obama.

Or Bill Clinton... after all, it's just what they said. But, heads here would explode!! That's actually why I'm NOT advocating doing that, as it would only serve to divide us at a time we should be UNITING!!!

I'm thinking positive though... that Bernie WILL unite us once he wins the nomination.


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[jcmaine72]

76. Certainly a reasonable question to ask.

Hopefully the OP will give you the courtesy of an answer.

[LakeArenal]

28. Let's see...

He may not be part of the Democratic Establishment but he’s part of the political establishment.

He doesn’t like millionaires, tho he is one.

He runs as a Democrat tho he isn’t one.

He’s been made part of the DNC as an outreach or some shit, but the Democrats
are persons non- grata.

He’s caustic and ranting.

[Cha]

41. Dead on!

[Gothmog]

30. As a stroing supporter of President Obama, I am not happy with sanders' attacks

I am a proud member of the Democratic Party and I am not happy with sanders or his attacks. I will support the nominee of the party but I doubt that sanders will be the nominee. sanders needs some support from Obama supporters to be the nominee and that is NOT going to happen. I seriously doubt that sanders will get any support from Clinton supporters. Sanders support has really declined and I do not see a path for sanders getting the nomination.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

?s=20

[betsuni]

50. K&R

[Cha]

62. One reason Why We Support President Obama..

Link to tweet

[aikoaiko]

57. Some Democrats like this about Bernie.

This incident/article is over 1.5 years ago and Bernie is still here with a decent amount of support.

Ha.

[Cha]

60. Thank for this, TomCADem.. I don't "like" BS ever since

he "thought it was a good idea to primary President Obama in 2012".. and it's gone down hill since.

[Gothmog]

75. I will support the nominee of the party

I really doubt that the nominee will be someone who attacked President Obama. There are are a large number of real Democrats with good memories who will not forgive or forget

[Cha]

79. omg.. I hope NOT!

[TomCADem]

82. Ironically, Bernie Is Now Blaming Hillary for Creating Disunity By Attacking Him

Another classic BS move.

[Act_of_Reparation]

74. The nature of the two-party system means that some people will be Democrats by circumstance...

...and not choice.

Bernie Sanders recognizes that and is, for better or worse, exploiting it.

[Cha]

84. K!

[Gothmog]

85. I am also outraged

I do not like sanders attacking the party and I agree with the other Obama supporters in this