"Feel the Bern": The BERNIE SANDERS Thread - Part 2

[Matt]

I don't disagree, but at this stage Sanders and his team should know Trump's MO, IMO they would've been able to prepare him to at least a certain degree - notwithstanding all of Bernie's alleged character defects that I mostly buy as legit.

Frankly, I don't think they could have prepared him. I think Bernie is just too stubborn and is too convinced that he is always right and when really challenged on that notion, he breaks. One anecdote that comes to mind is shortly after he won his position in the House. A reporter interviewed him about the election for Mayor of Burlington (the position he had just left). Sanders tried to brush it off and talk about what he wanted to talk about. The reporter asked him if he felt an obligation to the voters, as the state's single House member and the former mayor of Burlington, to endorse. Sanders told him to go **** himself and stormed out screaming about how he came to talk about "his congressional agenda" and how what he was doing was more important than a mayoral election. Washington Post ran a story by that reporter earlier in the primary where he referenced that incident. I cannot find it at the moment. But I digress...my point is, Sanders has very narrow vision. He wants to talk about what he wants to talk about and if anyone takes him off track, he gets flustered and angry. Hell, look at the New York Daily News interview. Sanders could not have asked for a more favorable media outlet to interview him. Yet the moment they got on policy that fell outside of his very narrow scope of Wall Street reform, he collapsed. If his team could not prepare him for an interview, I don't think they could prepare him for Trump. Trump is a master at pushing buttons and rattling his opponents by diverting the conversation off point. I just don't think Sanders could've handled that.

 

[DeadPresident]

Frankly, I don't think they could have prepared him. I think Bernie is just too stubborn and is too convinced that he is always right and when really challenged on that notion, he breaks. One anecdote that comes to mind is shortly after he won his position in the House. A reporter interviewed him about the election for Mayor of Burlington (the position he had just left). Sanders tried to brush it off and talk about what he wanted to talk about. The reporter asked him if he felt an obligation to the voters, as the state's single House member and the former mayor of Burlington, to endorse. Sanders told him to go **** himself and stormed out screaming about how he came to talk about "his congressional agenda" and how what he was doing was more important than a mayoral election. Washington Post ran a story by that reporter earlier in the primary where he referenced that incident. I cannot find it at the moment. But I digress...my point is, Sanders has very narrow vision. He wants to talk about what he wants to talk about and if anyone takes him off track, he gets flustered and angry. Hell, look at the New York Daily News interview. Sanders could not have asked for a more favorable media outlet to interview him. Yet the moment they got on policy that fell outside of his very narrow scope of Wall Street reform, he collapsed. If his team could not prepare him for an interview, I don't think they could prepare him for Trump. Trump is a master at pushing buttons and rattling his opponents by diverting the conversation off point. I just don't think Sanders could've handled that.

That's fair. And he probably doesn't have the insight to look critically at his own conduct, or he probably would've fixed it by now. IMO anyone trying to have a legitimate discussion with Trump will fail, he'll obfuscate and deflect continuously until the person he's debating against seems like the one that's not keeping track.

The patients are running the asylum in this race.

 

[DarkKnight]

Whats the latest on Bernie possibly running as an independent? I'm no Bernie fan, just curious about it I read something on this the other day but didn't have time to read the full article.

 

[Unbreakable Lex]

Whats the latest on Bernie possibly running as an independent? I'm no Bernie fan, just curious about it I read something on this the other day but didn't have time to read the full article.

If he's seriously "Never Trump" he won't run.

 

[DarkKnight]

If he's seriously "Never Trump" he won't run.

Not sure I fully understand what you mean by that? would you mind elaborating if you don't mind?

 

[Unbreakable Lex]

Not sure I fully understand what you mean by that? would you mind elaborating if you don't mind?

He has said time and time again that he will fight a Trump candidacy and that he would do all he could from preventing a Trump Presidency.

If he were to run as an independent, he'd be handing the Presidency to Trump.

 

[DarkKnight]

He has said time and time again that he will fight a Trump candidacy and that he would do all he could from preventing a Trump Presidency.

If he were to run as an independent, he'd be handing the Presidency to Trump.

Ohh I understand now, thank you for explaining, yeah, When I heard Bernie was thinking of running for presidency as a independent that was the thought that crossed my mind. Was kinda hoping Bernie would run as a independent thinking about that.

 

[Matt]

Most ballot deadlines have passed and most states prevent you from being on the primary ballot and then flipping to independent to be on the general election ballot anyway.

 

[DarkKnight]

Most ballot deadlines have passed and most states prevent you from being on the primary ballot and then flipping to independent to be on the general election ballot anyway.

That's what I thought too. I read a little bit on it when There was talk that Ted Cruz might beat Trump, and Trump would run Independent. I did a little bit of reading at that time.

 

[Matt]

That's what I thought too. I read a little bit on it when There was talk that Ted Cruz might beat Trump, and Trump would run Independent. I did a little bit of reading at that time.

A lot of it depends on the state. Some states have exceptions carved out for the presidential election (for example, you can't run as an independent in a Senate race after losing a party primary, but you can do it in presidential elections).

But even those states have de facto bans for candidates who stay in long enough. For example, Martin O'Malley dropped out in February. He could probably satisfy the deadlines to get on the ballot as an independent in most states. Sanders, on the other hand, stayed in until mid-June (at least, who knows how long he will keep going). He obviously cannot run as an independent while also running as a Democrat. So by this point, ballot registration deadlines would block him from doing it in the states that do not apply sore loser laws to presidential races.

 

[Victarion]

Hilldog won the District of Columbia. 70 to 20 is about what it came out to.

 

[samsnee]

It's eerie how little we've heard from Sanders since the Orlando shooting.

 

[Mysteryman]

Certainly, Bernie spoke out against the violence?

 

[Victarion]

He gave a brief address, attended either a funeral or memorial service for the victims.

 

[Sara Lance]

I like Bernie as a person but I honestly don't understand why anyone thinks he would go a good job as a President. The man is a lone wolf that seems to be able to barely tolerate the party he is using to fun for president. If you are President you need to work with Congress and Senate and I can't see Bernie being able to do that. His entire plan seems to " once I become president there will be a magical revolution and people will vote in a Senate and Congress that supports me in everything"

Ditto for nerves. A President needs nerves of steel. Hillary ran one of the softest campaigns against him ever and he is already losing it. I can't even imagine how he will break when the Republicans go after him with every trick of the book. You can say a lot about Hillary but that woman has been under constant siege for more then two decades and it's still going

Honestly I think the best possible position for Sanders is to be a mascot. Someone going around the country hyping up young voters and getting in more liberal senators ,congressmen and governors. That's the only way I can see him making any long term change

 

[Slushy]

1 million ballots for Bernie "invalidated" in the California primary and not a peep from the media. Hmm...

 

[Marvolo]

1 million ballots for Bernie "invalidated" in the California primary and not a peep from the media. Hmm...

Yeah, because it didnt happen.

On June 8 some counties began publishing updates on how many ballots had been counted and how many were still uncounted. Some of the more paranoid Bernouts seem to have got the idea into their heads that California wasnt going to count those uncounted ballots and they spread their BS conspiracy on Reddit and Bernout blogs. And then some others spread a lie about ballots being discarded.

http://www.snopes.com/uncounted-california-ballots/

 

[Matt]

Sanders is STILL refusing to concede

At this point he is being a child. He seems to have shifted his tantrum away from Hillary Clinton (which, by no coincidence I'm sure, happened right after President Obama invited him to the White House) and has instead set his focus to "reforming the Democratic Party" with little veiled insults at Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, whom he has sworn to see defeated in her August primary.

Look, Schultz was clearly in Clinton's camp from day one, but the way Sanders is acting, you'd think he was within inches of the Democratic nomination when Schultz suddenly swooped in and screwed him over in an epic Vince McMahon-esque fashion. Fact is, Bernie just lost. And rather than admit that, he seems intent to find someone to blame and destroy them. He went scorched Earth on Clinton until the President told him to knock it the **** off (I am sure Senate leadership did the same).

So now, rather than concede after the final primary, when he has lost by any metric imaginable, he is going scorched Earth on Schultz.

Frankly, he needs to just shut up and go away. ALl of his talk about "reforming the Party" implies that the Party is a broken, corrupt institution. Hell, he has said that. In other words, he is feeding into Trump's narrative. He has more potential to damage Clinton doing this **** than he did running against her.

 

[Matt]

Also, can we talk about the hypocrisy of his intervention in Schultz's race? He isn't just going after her position as DNC Chair. Her losing her House race wouldn't impact that. You don't have to hold office to chair the DNC. Howard Dean did not hold office during his time as DNC chair, for example. Yet for some reason, Sanders is targeting her House seat rather than her chairmanship.

Further, the way he is doing it stinks of hypocrisy. Sanders constantly *****es and whines about the negative impact that money has on politics and how special interest uses money to further their goals. So consider this:

Tim Canova is running against Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. Sanders through direct donation and splitting his campaign donations with Canova has given him about $225,000 (which is huge for a House race).

Bernie Sanders, a guy from Vermont with no connection to this particular House district in Weston, Florida, the guy who has spent the past year *****ing about how money corrupts in politics, is pissed off about the way Wasserman-Schultz treated him, so he is trying to buy her opponent the race. Does no one see the hypocrisy there?

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Sanders has an enemies list: Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, closed primaries, superdelegates.

Of course, he doesn't hate caucuses that are dominated by the hardest of the hardcore supporters that have nothing better to do than stand around for hours and don't reflect a broad electorate. Caucuses have terrible turnout.

While I don't mind a little bit of non-Democrats influencing the primaries - a little bit helps dilute the echo chamber/bubble effect, I oppose opening up the primaries to all Republicans and independents in every contest. Parties are a private club, It should be Democrats that pick their club's nominee. Sanders is mad that Clinton won Democrats something like 2 to 1 over Sanders and Sanders won non-Democrats and he wants to change the system to favor what else? - himself.

 

[Victarion]

So these uncounted ballots his reddit's going on about don't amount to a hill of beans? Also, seems like a lot of "Berniecrats" did well last night in whatever elections.

 

[souvlaki]

So these uncounted ballots his reddit's going on about don't amount to a hill of beans? Also, seems like a lot of "Berniecrats" did well last night in whatever elections.

Uncounted ballots in CA wont do crap other than sway the percentage by 1 or 2 points in either direction. Which election are you referring to? Sanders did horribly in DC yesterday.

 

[Victarion]

Oh, the congressional and state primaries in South Carolina.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Sanders list of demands reads like a blueprint for him designing a 2020 run for the nomination to unseat Clinton.

 

[Kelly]

Also, can we talk about the hypocrisy of his intervention in Schultz's race? He isn't just going after her position as DNC Chair. Her losing her House race wouldn't impact that. You don't have to hold office to chair the DNC. Howard Dean did not hold office during his time as DNC chair, for example. Yet for some reason, Sanders is targeting her House seat rather than her chairmanship.

Further, the way he is doing it stinks of hypocrisy. Sanders constantly *****es and whines about the negative impact that money has on politics and how special interest uses money to further their goals. So consider this:

Tim Canova is running against Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. Sanders through direct donation and splitting his campaign donations with Canova has given him about $225,000 (which is huge for a House race).

Bernie Sanders, a guy from Vermont with no connection to this particular House district in Weston, Florida, the guy who has spent the past year *****ing about how money corrupts in politics, is pissed off about the way Wasserman-Schultz treated him, so he is trying to buy her opponent the race. Does no one see the hypocrisy there?

PLEASE.... let Shultz lose her seat.....I cannot stand that woman. She does little to further the Democrat party or women.