BS: "We will be taking on [...] the establishment wing of the Democratic party"

[Jim Lane]

182. Easier to make your case when you misquote, isn't it?

Your version: "take on the Democratic party".
Bernie in real life: "taking on ... the establishment wing of the Democratic Party."

As it happens, there's a huge difference between those two statements.

Let's take health care as an example. The Democrats (plus a tiny contingent of Republicans) are the only ones standing between us and the loss of the ACA. Every Democrat in Congress voted against the anti-Obamacare bills. Meanwhile, there was disagreement within the ranks about single payer. Democrats in the establishment wing of the party, like Diane Feinstein, oppose it. Democrats in the progressive wing of the party, like Elizabeth Warren, support it. Each wing is "taking on" the other because that's what's involved in an internal disagreement. It didn't undermine our opposition to the GOP. The Democratic caucus in each chamber was in complete solidarity in voting No.

When Bernie Sanders launched his race in 2015, and again after Clinton secured the nomination, he rejected the pleas of many of his supporters and did not run in the general election as an independent or a third-party candidate. THAT would have been taking on the Democratic Party, a la Ralph Nader.