Bernie Sanders: I Want To Revitalize the Democratic Party PoliticsNation MSNBC

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31. He's been there, and done that (when he ran for the D POTUS nomination).

http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/533/15031422533/15031422533.pdf (PDF file warning).

But people within my/our party treated him like crap, even when he had that 'special' D by his name. It was a sickening thing to witness.

Furthermore, as Bernie just said in the video, he was elected to serve as an Independent Vermont US Senator. He wants to honor that commitment to his constituents. I think that is the noble thing to do... I'll never forget how in the 90's there was a nearby State Representative who was elected as a D only to change her party affiliation to R in the middle of her term. That literally threw the entire Maine State House into an uproar because it meant having a 75/75 D & R ratio (along w/one Independent). Committee chairmanships had to be altered to share 50/50 w/the R's. And it was all because of this one woman w/a bee in her bonnet. She was never elected to serve again, even though she tried. Her constituents were rightfully pissed, and I don't blame them.

So, the point here is that Bernie does not think changing his party affiliation mid-term is the right thing to do. Maybe if/when he runs for US Senate again, he'll run as a D?... Somehow tho, I doubt doing so would silence his critics here at DU.

Personally, I don't care what letter he has beside his name, as long as he continues to fight hard for the benefit of the people of this country.