This thread will become a shitstorm.

[Tom Rinaldo]

221. Nance, we can not have a full discussion on this thread. Wish we could

I got into discussing some of this, granted from a different view point, and I got my first "hide" in five years. You know me well enough to know that I'm not a flamethrower. However there is a Catch 22 on DU in regards to discussions about Sanders, his supporters, and divisions among Democratic activists. At root it is pretty simple.

Bernie Sanders remains an active elected politician and is once again running fro President. Hillary Clinton obviously isn't. The fact that Sanders is still in elective office and once again is a presidential candidate opened the door on DU for two plus years now of "scrutiny" of Sanders and his role in the Democratic coalition, both now and previously. It is called "vetting" and there is some legitimacy to that activity. That "vetting" often brings up the past, including questions about his "Democrat for convenience" status. For a long time it included discussion of the fact that Sanders did not release his taxes during the 2016 primaries. It includes discussion of how people associated with him now acted during the 2016 primaries. And so on and so on. Allowable it seems because Sanders is once again a candidate etc.

I however had my post hidden because I too referenced the past divisions in exploring our present and future. My post was hidden however for violating the TOS for "Re-fighting the Primaries". Support for Sanders on DU under performs the national electorate. It is much easier, with our current membership, to express serious concerns about Bernie Sanders here than it is to praise or defend him. That is simply the way it is, everyone is entitled to their opinions but most people tend to congregate in places where their views are not almost always under attack. That increases the likelihood that someone like me, who would like a serious discussion about the divisions that plague the Democratic coalition today, will get my post hidden for doing so, compared to a post like this from you where you can openly state that you will never trust a candidate with the profile you ascribe to Bernie Sanders.

There are real divisions within the Democratic coalition, even more when you expand that to include people who often vote Democratic but do not consider themselves as loyal Democrats. Their votes carry the same weight as the most loyal of Democratic voters on election day. You warn about divisions that will be evident in the next Presidential election should Sanders be the Democrats nominee. Those who feel drawn to Sanders may or may not heed them depending on why they are drawn to Sanders, just as many of those who were drawn to a former nominee did not see fit to heed warnings then about that person's low approval ratings etc.

On this board I feel it is safe to say that the overwhelming majority of members backed the Democratic nominee in the last Presidential election regardless of who they supported in the primaries. I feel the same will be true in 2020 no matter who becomes the nominee, including Bernie Sanders if that should in fact happen, regardless of whether that is seen as moderately likely or virtually impossible. Elections however are very rarely decided by Democratic Underground members. I will close with an obvious observation. If most Democratic primary voters view Sanders even remotely the way he is mostly viewed here, there is no way he can become our nominee. But the opposite too may need to be looked at. If Sanders starts striking a winning chord with the electorate, that will be a significant development. If he polls well across the board, like he did in 2016, that should not be dismissed. The average voter does not swear allegiance to the Democratic Party.