2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Can Bernie Sanders Win the Love of a Party He Scorns? [View all]Indydem
(2,642 posts)Bernie Sanders isn't a Democrat.
He's said a truckload of nasty things about the Democratic Party over the last 50 years.
He's never fundraiser for the DNC or any other party apparatus.
He only started caucusing with the Democrats when it looks like he would face a strong opponent in Vermont.
He is not now, nor has he ever been, a Democrat.
So perhaps the quote should have been: "Bernie Sanders represents the not-a-democrat wing of the Democratic Party."
He's running for president on the Democratic ticket because it is politically expedient for him to utilize the party infrastructure he has spent his whole
life attacking and not paying for, rather than try to develop said infrastructure as a Democratic Socialist or a Vermont Progressive or a Liberty Union- whatever it is that he's calling himself that is clearly not a Democrat.