General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 40% of voters identify themselves as Independent. [View all]Proud Liberal Dem
(24,412 posts)but he likes to get out there and criticize them publicly all of the time. If I was an ignorant, uninformed voter listening to Bernie criticize and I didn't particularly like Republicans, I probably wouldn't be very motivated to vote for Democrats either and might throw my vote on a third party or not vote at all. This is not me saying that the Democratic Party is perfect or above reproach, but you can talk about "warts" and problems with the party "in house" and leave it out of major campaigns that we simply can't afford to lose if we want to live long enough to see some good progressive progress in the country. Bernie shouldn't be able to have it both ways- If he wants to support the Democratic Party, fine, but he needs to keep the sniping and criticism in backrooms or with party officials. Otherwise, if he just wants to be "Independent" and be able to speak his mind about both parties, that's fine too but he shouldn't be allowed to serve the role as a de facto representative of a party he isn't even officially a member of at the same time. IMHO.