More evidence why Sanders is not the person for the nomination. He cannot unify the party

[still_one]

THE DEMOCRATIC ESTABLISHMENT IS NOT THE ENEMY!!!

It should be quite evident that not only he cannot move beyond his base, and he is actually losing people from that base

[beachbumbob]

1. to ideologues we sure are, I don't care if they take their ball home and whine

I laugh at any one who thought for 1 milisec that sanders was an uniter, he has been anything but one his entire political life

[still_one]

3. It should be quite evident that not only he cannot move beyond his base, and is in fact losing

support from that base

[beachbumbob]

5. yep, its a tiresome song and dance

[showblue22]

21. He's the opposite of that and it's by design

In his early writing he said he would be proud if he was the spoiler.

[LisaM]

2. There's an almost historic chance for party unity here and he's blowing it off.

I'm not surprised, but I'm disappointed.

[asiliveandbreathe]

4. Did Sanders miss his opportunity to unite our country??

Is this another "it's all about me" moment?..WTH….

Democratic voters want to DUMP tRump..WTH Bernie????

[sunonmars]

7. Yup all about him, cannot accept defeat. He's a severe narcissist

[DaDeacon]

6. Funny ...

Joe Mansion and even Susan Collins get more respect on the forum than a guy who votes with party consistently and fights for labor rights. Sorry, he disappointed you but we'll see you Sunday.

[still_one]

8. When a campaign strategy is to declare war against 70% of the Democratic party, you should not

lecture people about respect

[DaDeacon]

11. strawman argument nothing I said.

Please respond to my post if you need to replay to me.

[still_one]

18. My point is he is attacking what he terms as establishment Democrats, and whether he has voted with

Democrats the majority of time is not the point. Painting establishment Democrats as the problem is a divisive tactic

From my perspective he has every right to stay in the race as long as he wants, but in my view he would be far more persuasive if he pursued why his views were the way to go, instead of using establishment as the problem

This is comparable to how the republicans perverted the liberal word

[showblue22]

23. I hope Biden tells Bernie No

at the debate. Biden brought out millions of new voters who don't want Bernie's platform. Biden should say that exactly to Bernie.

[onetexan]

29. +1 -K&R

[LanternWaste]

9. Fighting against the Democrat party is disappointing. To Democrats.

But I can empathize with non-Democrats who support fighting the party for the sake of a sacred cow that no longer gives milk.




I s'pose Sanders simply hasn't earned the collective respect you reference and bemoan with such alleged sincerity.

[DaDeacon]

12. The party is fighting itself.

The left of the party (not far left) and it's center to right-wing parts DO not agree. Unity is not one side being made silent for the other. It is coming together to unite cause with need.

[dansolo]

31. That's what happens when you take a no compromise approach

You Sanders supporters treat negotiations and compromise just like Republicans do. Moderate Democrats are more than willing to incorporate more liberal policies. I don't see any indications that you are willing to do the same.

[DaDeacon]

35. Negotiating like your opponent?!?!? Seems fair.

I'm not an absolutist but you bargain from where you want to end and compromise to an agreed middle. If you want a $10 raise you dont start by saying "I'll take $5 boss"

[Hav]

24. Susan Collins gets no respect

She's a joke. No one buys what she pretends to be and everyone here hopes she gets voted out.

[Laelth]

10. The big problem is that he can't change his stump speech.

He’s been running against the Democratic Party for so long that it’s like he doesn’t know what else to say. It’s sad, really, because the Democratic Party is now sufficiently liberal (once again) to be open to Bernie’s policy proposals, but Bernie is still stuck in the 1990s, and he’s running against the party that actually wants to accomplish his policy goals.

Sad. Truly.

-Laelth

[DaDeacon]

13. What liberal policy is the center party fight for?!?!

I'm asking honestly?

[Laelth]

19. Bernie promised us that he would fight for THE WHOLE CHICKEN.

That’s why I voted for Bernie in the TX primary. I would have voted for Elizabeth, but her campaign was not viable at that time. Bernie’s was. They both promised to fight for THE WHOLE CHICKEN.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287643537

Now, no other Democratic candidate is promising to fight for THE WHOLE CHICKEN. That’s not what I said in my post, above. I argue that the Democratic Party is now, once again, liberal enough to be OPEN to the idea that the people deserve THE WHOLE CHICKEN. That’s all I said (other than the fact that I think Bernie’s shooting himself in the foot by running against the only party that is open to his agenda).

-Laelth

[dansolo]

32. Instead of fighting, I'd like to see more working

Fighting is the easy part. Getting the legislation passed is not. Bernie wants to be president because it gives him the perfect scapegoat opportunity. He can sit back and not worry about doing the difficult job of crafting legislation, and getting support in Congress to get it passed.

[DaDeacon]

36. Two replies but no answer.

[Blue_true]

40. The ACA was a major accomplishment. President's since Wilson have been trying

to get some form of national healthcare. The ACA provides a framework from which we move to the next level.

I believe that the Coronavirus is a major opportunity to reform healthcare delivery in this country to make it less expensive and all encompassing. We need a person that can take advantage of that opportunity, I believe that Joe Biden can.

[DaDeacon]

41. Agreeded friend...however

This is kinda been the crux of my support for Sanders. Because Democrats allowed for sweeping compromise while holding all the levers of government at the the time the ACA was watered down into a mass insurance company discount deal as opposed to a ture universal healthcare plan. Was it helpful yes. Did it accomplish its goal no. We keep walking into negotiations with the wolf as sheep hoping we can convince them to have chicken tonight instead of lamb. Lol
Our progressive roots as the Modern Democratic party should be at the foremost of all policy. People, labor, and environmental concerns. We are losing our way because its becoming about power without a focus on what we need the power for. Compromise is a tool to establish framework from where to build. The ACA as a framework was flawed because it allowed for a mandate of coverage as opposed to a foundational understanding as healthcare as a right.
Sanders doesn't have a book full of plans or the support of all the party, or the charisma but he has the one thing that has been missing form the party since the election of Bill Clinton. A policy focused on labor over wallstreet. Raising the minimum wage, true universal healthcare, and college education as a fundamental has high school. If Biden was to win the nomination I need him to accept that many supporters from the left need those causes championed and not with half measures but with good foundations to build on.

[samir.g]

14. he's not even a member!

[ibegurpard]

15. And Biden has the momentum

I don't see that changing. It's happening organically. Sanders is in a much worse place now than he he was at this point in 2016. Why would you want to jeopardize this by going scorched earth on him. It's happening. Let it happen.

[philly_bob]

16. Here on DU, progressives are "vile scumbuckets", "leftist dirtbags" and ...

as bad as Trump. Now THAT'S how to unify a party!

[philly_bob]

25. A typically mean, taunting, schoolyard reply

Not intended to unify the party, even after Biden has apparently won.

[HarlanPepper]

27. Yes, he has won.

And Bernie has lost. Vote blue in November. The end.

[philly_bob]

34. That I will do, if Biden gets nom.

There's still a debate and convention to go.

[dansolo]

33. If you won't vote against Trump, then you are a vile scumbucket

I don't understand how anyone who calls themselves a progressive would not vote against Trump.

[Cha]

20. In fact.. just the opposite.

[dalton99a]

26. It's a lifelong habit

[Ponietz]

28. To misidentify the enemy renders one incompetent, reckless, dangerous

[lapfog_1]

30. more important than that...

all those "young voters" he talks about... they either don't vote or didn't vote for Bernie this go round.

So how is it that when he can't even get them to turn out and vote for HIM, he feels entitled to direct the party platform because he, and only he, will get them to turn out and vote for someone they all despise almost as much as they dispise Trump?

Seriously... we should NOT count on the Bernie wing of the party this fall... if we do, we lose.

[William769]

37. ...

[BidenBacker]

38. I dunno

but Bernie sure seemed to unify the "capitalists" on CNBC today.

All day long they were screaming for the federal government to help save their stock portfolios.

CNBC: "We need some socialism...NOW!"

I sure wish there was a deadly virus that only killed world-class hypocrites.

[Gothmog]

39. The Establishment Didn't Destroy Bernie Sanders. He destroyed himsel

I never considered sanders to be a serious candidate. sanders has zero major legislative accomplishments in part because none of his fellow Democrats really want to support his agenda. I do not understand sanders' political revolution and how this revolution would somehow force congress to adopt his agenda. The only thing that is clear is that sanders attacks on other Democrats and the Democratic Establishment have backfired

Link to tweet

If you look back at Sanders’ share of the vote in each primary, he hasn’t actually lost ground. In Iowa and New Hampshire, he got a quarter of the vote. In Nevada, he got a third. In South Carolina, he got a fifth. On Super Tuesday, he stayed in the same range, drawing about a quarter of the vote in the states he lost and a third of the vote in the states he won. What hurt him was that Biden increased his share of the vote, while Sanders didn’t. As other candidates dropped out, their voters went to Biden, not Sanders. And one reason for this pattern is Sanders’ constant message of antagonism. He has cultivated enemies instead of friends. Now he’s paying the price. …..

Sanders’ first defeat, on Feb. 29 in South Carolina, was a warning that he needed to assuage fears about his candidacy. Instead, he celebrated those fears as proof of his success. On March 1, he proudly told a crowd in San Jose, California, that the turnout at his rallies was alarming the establishment. The next day, in St. Paul, Minnesota, he repeated that message. When Sanders was informed that fellow candidates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar were dropping out and endorsing Biden, he said it was no surprise, since the corporate elite was out to get him. And when Maddow asked Sanders whether he was specifically running against “the Democratic Party establishment”—not just a generic “political establishment”—he replied: “Democratic establishment. Yes.”

At his rallies, Sanders has continued to call for a “political revolution.” And he has added another villain to his list of enemies: the stock market. When the market surged after Super Tuesday, Sanders, far from welcoming this news, cited it as evidence of Biden’s corruption. “We’re taking them all on,” he said of the companies whose valuations had increased. “The stock market went up this morning ’cause they thought that Biden did well.” Sanders told Maddow that “the health care industry and the drug companies did very well” because “Biden had a good day.” And he warned these companies that if he got his way, their stocks would suffer. “I got some bad news for those guys,” he said. “Don’t count your chickens until they’re hatched.” ….

Meanwhile, Sanders has escalated his talk of conspiracies. On Sunday, he claimed that “the establishment put a great deal of pressure” on Buttigieg and Klobuchar to “force” them out of the race. “What was very clear from the media narrative and what the establishment wanted,” he told George Stephanopoulos, “was to make sure that people coalesced around Biden and try to defeat me.” On Wednesday, after his defeats, Sanders again rebuked “the Democratic establishment” and insisted that “our campaign has won the ideological debate.”

What Sanders fails to understand is the connection between his defeats and his rhetoric. It wasn’t the media or the Democratic National Committee that turned Buttigieg, Klobuchar, and millions of voters against him. It was Sanders. His relentless message of conflict, along with his expanding list of putative enemies, attracted a fraction of the electorate but alienated everybody else. As the primaries narrowed to a two-man race, his base was no longer enough to win. The establishment didn’t destroy Bernie Sanders. He destroyed himself.