Democratic Leaders Willing to Risk Party Damage to Stop Bernie Sanders

[RandySF]

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, hear constant warnings from allies about congressional losses in November if the party nominates Bernie Sanders for president. Democratic House members share their Sanders fears on text-messaging chains. Bill Clinton, in calls with old friends, vents about the party getting wiped out in the general election.

And officials in the national and state parties are increasingly anxious about splintered primaries on Super Tuesday and beyond, where the liberal Mr. Sanders edges out moderate candidates who collectively win more votes.

Dozens of interviews with Democratic establishment leaders this week show that they are not just worried about Mr. Sanders’s candidacy, but are also willing to risk intraparty damage to stop his nomination at the national convention in July if they get the chance. Since Mr. Sanders’s victory in Nevada’s caucuses on Saturday, The Times has interviewed 93 party officials — all of them superdelegates, who could have a say on the nominee at the convention — and found overwhelming opposition to handing the Vermont senator the nomination if he arrived with the most delegates but fell short of a majority.

Such a situation may result in a brokered convention, a messy political battle the likes of which Democrats have not seen since 1952, when the nominee was Adlai Stevenson.




https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/us/politics/democratic-superdelegates.html

[highplainsdem]

1. K&R

[evertonfc]

2. look. If no one gets 1991 all bets are off

[empedocles]

3. Perhaps, 'Dem Leaders Willing to Risk Party Damage to Stop Loss of House' ?

[Perseus]

13. 2018 was a win for progressives, why would a Bernie nomination reverse that? If anything, it should

help.

Even Faux news was shocked when they asked a town-hall audience if they wanted M4A, it was an overwhelming applause and the moderator of the town hall stood there with his mouth open, that was a Faux News town hall...and it is the same across the country.

What are these status quo people afraid of with Sanders? And they are not afraid of what is happening with this administration? The excuse is not real that Sanders cannot defeat the creature, all the polls show that he does better than any other candidate, the reality is that they rather have the creature win again than to support someone who is a threat to the status quo which they and their donors love.

This is nothing short of trying to please donors and to save the status quo which Bernie is a threat to. Well, we are becoming the "stupid Americans" European always laugh at, running away for what is good for us just to preserve a status quo that is designed to screw us, the planet, and everything else.

Anyone who thinks the status quo candidates are going to change anything for the better is dreaming, they have no interest in progressive ideas, they want everything to remain the way it is, that is how they like it, they cannot function in ways they cannot understand.

The few things one can point out that these status quo candidates are good at is nothing exclusive to them, any of the other candidates will excel at that as well. I don't need to go into details.

[R B Garr]

18. Bernie's revolution lost in 2018.

Actual voters picked the more mainstream candidates.

[ancianita]

4. We're 48 primaries out.

Last edited Thu Feb 27, 2020, 11:31 PM - Edit history (1)

Vote for your candidate.

Watch for who Americans vote for.

It's not time to worry yet.

[Perseus]

7. I think its time to worry about Democrats screwing things up for Democrats

At this rate they are dividing the party so much that people are becoming very angry.

I am going to confess to something here...Every time I see news like this in DU, or some bashing about Sanders, it is usually by a Biden supporter, easy to know because Biden's picture is on the bottom. I used to like Biden's smile, but as of late it is usually accompanied by some Sanders bashing and now when I see Biden's picture what I see is a smirk, and I am not even a Sanders supporter at this time, but I will vote for him if he gets the nomination, no doubt about that.

[ancianita]

11. I don't. Everybody worries about who Americans will vote for and why. It's really not about us.

I read the headline and article. It's an "if this, then that" article. It's not factual or helpful to me.

I just refuse, 48 primaries out, to take what are actually speculations seriously, unless I read something factual.

So far, media speculation is overwhelmingly
-- non-factual,
-- he-said/she-said,
-- "issue" de jour amplification,
-- speculation and
-- hype.

Just my opinion.

[oasis]

5. ImWithThem

<<<<<This

[Perseus]

6. Wow, what an insane headline

Nothing like fighting against ourselves, trump must be thrilled, and don't complain if Sanders is sidelined, again, and his supporters do not show up to vote.

Insanity...I guess Michael Moore was right when he said "I believe Democrats can win in November, but of course we have Democrats who somehow manage to screw things up."...and Democrats are doing it again.

Shame!

[mtron32]

8. Democrats attack progressives with strength but are terrified of Republicans.

How the hell does that work?

[jg10003]

9. since Reagan won dems have been scared of being called liberal.

[Perseus]

12. mind boggling...And then they will go and blame someone else.

Yes, Comey may have had something to do with it, but there were a lot of gaffes done by the DNC and Democrats in power that contributed to the loss, I can count a couple.

1. Obama and Biden not managing to tell the country Russians were helping the trump campaign, the excuse that it would have hurt Hillary is not valid, at all.
2. DNC and Democratic leaders going after Bernie, like right now, that turned many voters away, or voted for the creature in retaliation.
3. The inability to protect voting machines and voting places, and I don't see any efforts to that effect this time around either.

It is very difficult to understand, and I hated the moment Michael Moore said what he said, but he was right, "Democrats will find a way to screw things up."..How sad, four more years of the creature and his crooks, I don't know that people have any idea of what will happen, I do because I have seen this exact movie before in South America, and other places. I would vote for "Joe The Plumber" in order to get rid of trump.

[stopdiggin]

10. frankly I am not overly concerned

about the prospect of a "brokered" convention. Why must I see this as a looming "debacle?"

Putting aside partisan interests in preferred candidates, I think the process (if it comes about) could very well serve to produce exactly what it was designed to. A consensus (and eminently electable?) Democratic standard bearer. I can live with that.

[Laelth]

16. +1 n/t

-Laelth

[Go Vols]

14. Don' think he will be stopped this time.

[jcmaine72]

15. The damage would be incalculable.

Most at DU probably favor a brokered convention for reasons few here have been shy about expressing, but doing so would be an extraordinarily bad idea.

I'll say merely this: Alienating the Left, especially the Party's large segment of younger, progressives voters, would be disastrous for the Democratic Party and its future.

[LexVegas]

17. The damage caused by Bernie as the nominee would be far far greater. nt