Democratic leaders willing to risk party damage to stop Bernie Sanders

[question everything]

WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. 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 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 Sanders’ 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 Sanders’ victory in Nevada’s caucuses Saturday, the New York 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.

(snip)

From California to the Carolinas, and North Dakota to Ohio, the party leaders say they worry that Sanders, a democratic socialist with passionate but limited support so far, will lose to President Donald Trump and drag down moderate House and Senate candidates in swing states with his left-wing agenda of Medicare for All and free four-year public college. Sanders and his advisers insist that the opposite is true — that his ideas will generate huge excitement among young and working-class voters and lead to record turnout. Such hopes have yet to be borne out in nominating contests so far.

Jay Jacobs, the New York State Democratic Party chairman and a superdelegate, echoing many others interviewed, said that superdelegates should choose a nominee they believe has the best chance of defeating Trump if no candidate wins a majority of delegates during the primaries. Sanders argued that he should become the nominee at the convention with a plurality of delegates, to reflect the will of voters, and that denying him the nomination would enrage his supporters and split the party for years to come.

(snip)

In a reflection of the establishment’s wariness about Sanders, only nine of the 93 superdelegates interviewed said that Sanders should become the nominee purely on the basis of arriving at the convention with a plurality, if he was short of a majority.

More..

http://www.startribune.com/democratic-leaders-willing-to-risk-party-damage-to-stop-bernie-sanders/568264352/

[enid602]

1. Leaders

I wish Repub leaders would have done that with trump.

[msongs]

2. oh this again...and again. btw is the text bolded in the original? nt

[LakeArenal]

3. Well, I think I respect their opinions.

Why wouldn’t they think it?
Sanders threw down the gauntlet to the Democratic Establishment.

Now, Sanders campaign is unhappy with their reaction? Too bad. So sad

[brush]

4. Guess they're weighing whether his nomination or stopping it would do the most damage...

to the party/down-ticket races etc. And the country btw if trump gets another four years.

[Moderateguy]

5. This...

There is a very tough decision that will need to be made. Either support Sanders and possibly lose the House and Senate seats or oppose Sanders and possibly lose the Presidency. I do not envy those who have to actively make that decision.

[maximusveritas]

6. it's worth the damage to stop him

Most of the Sanders supporters who would abandon the party because of this were likely never in it to begin with and would abandon it no matter what once Sanders is gone, so how much damage are we really doing anyway?
If they can't see the importance of putting aside their personal feelings in order to defeat Trump, they are not worth appeasing.
They will either mature and come back to the party over time or again, they were probably never going to anyway.

[question everything]

7. Many of them already did the damage in 2016 when they stayed home

And voting for Trump. As has been posted here, many rallied, with fog horn in front of the Nevada Democratic chair. Have we heard any word from him condemning them? No.