I think it's fine for Sanders to stay in the race....

[LAS14]

.... if he treats it like a national platform to push his agenda and not as a platform to tear down Biden as a person.

[Squinch]

1. Maybe it will be different this time.

[comradebillyboy]

5. Sure it will

[Squinch]

6. Right? The first time it was bad. This time it's unforgivable.

[msongs]

11. he promised not to hit me again lol nt

[Squinch]

12. Exactly. He really loves us. "He's just holding Joe's feet to the fire for Joe's own benefit."

[Thekaspervote]

2. Agree... although I think he said that Biden doesn't care about the young people...

This isn’t helpful

[Demguy81]

3. I tend to agree.

Yes, it was a convoluted press conference from Sanders. But, the questions he asked were interesting. If he is pressing Biden to lean left (without unnecessary personal attacks), it will be Biden's time to shine. Bernie should bow out after losing next week's primaries.

[Squinch]

7. Lol. But he won't. And don't look now but he has lost. He doesn't

get to dictate terms or make demands.

There is no prize for participation.

[Turin_C3PO]

14. I don't mind him

pushing Joe to move left as long as he refrains from attacking him. We shall see how it all plays out in the next week.

[Squinch]

18. He lost. His agenda lost. If he "pushes Joe left" that would require

Joe to go against all the people who DID NOT VOTE FOR BSs agenda.

We voted for Joe. Not Bernie. Bernie lost. He does not get a prize for participation, any more than any of the other candidates.

And besides, we know where it leads when BS tells us he's improving us. We've seen it before.

[Turin_C3PO]

19. I'm not saying Joe

has to actually listen to him. I’m just saying I don’t mind if he stays in another week as long as he stops the negativity.

[Cha]

38. he won't

[djg21]

23. You will mind if

Trump again wins by virtue of only the electoral college or only by a small majority of the popular vote. Then you can think about all the never-Trump republicans and middle-of-the road voters that were alienated by Biden’s move to the left in order to placate Bernie, WHO DECISIVELY LOST THE PRIMARY, and has no business making any demands.

This happened in 2016 and will happen again if we let it. Bernie should drop out, and Biden should refuse to participate in any further debates. Enough. Bernie is an asshole. I’m sick of him, and I’m sick of his supporters making lame excuses for him and justifying his conduct, which is not in the interests of the Country or the Democratic Party.

Oh I forgot. BERNIE IS NOT A DEMOCRAT. Why should we expect him to act as one?

[Turin_C3PO]

25. Well,

I don’t think he should stay in past next week. I wish he would have dropped out today, but he didn’t. We’ll see what the next week brings.

[Demguy81]

17. It's going to be a process of

Having the last debate, having Bernie lose the next primaries, and then a reconciliation between the two candidates and their supporters and to build a platform that will decimate Trump. It will require the cooperation of both groups. Any talk of "we won get lost" or "Bernie or Bust" is unhelpful.

[Squinch]

21. What makes you think so? What in the man's history leads you to that conclusion?

And this isn't, "we won, get lost." This is "Joe won. Get on his bus. Just like the rest of us did when our candidates lost."

Why is BS different?

[Demguy81]

22. I am saying this is what should happen.

Will it happen? I think so, but I've been wrong before. I think the issue is that (whether rightly or wrongly), there is a perception that Biden's side represents the establishment, and Bernie's side represents an insurgency. Getting those sides together is going to require work. I am a Bernie voter who will enthusiatically endorse Biden, but I can't speak for others who might need more time. A lot will ride on Bernie, he's got to do better than he did in 2016.

[Squinch]

24. But again, no other candidates' supporters are expected to "require work."

And we know that "work" means concessions. But that means concessions to the "insurgency" that has been soundly rejected by voters.

So why is BS entitled to this "work"? Liz isn't. Amy isn't. Kamala isn't. Mike and Pete and Andrew aren't. Why is BS?

[Demguy81]

30. Because I want to win in November.

If BS and his supporters getting special treatment leads to a greater probability of beating Trump, then I'm all for it.

[Squinch]

31. I don't see how it does. Or why anyone would think it does.

There is nothing in history to suggest that appeasing BS leads to better outcomes.

[Demguy81]

32. We're better united than divided.

A lot will ride on Bernie doing the right thing next week, and a lot of BS ideas are popular, even if he is a terrible messenger. All should ride on the GE, take from BS what will help in the GE, and politely dismiss what won't. In turn, BS should be a surrogate for Joe, talking about their friendship and Joe's character.

[MontanaFarmer]

4. If he spends the debate giving Republicans

2 hours of attack footage against Joe, it's going to backfire on him tremendously. He's currently well- liked by dem voters, but that's going to change if he does what he did 4 years ago. 35% is all he'll ever get in a democratic primary (not caucus). A revolution, that isn't.

[Squinch]

10. Joe should bow out of the debate. He has more important things to do with his time

now. We have serious work to do and the survival of the Democracy depends on it. We don't have time for this shit.

[still_one]

8. I agree. I would also add not tear down the Democratic Party. Isn't the point to convince people

why ones positions are the best ones?

[TwilightZone]

9. He's not about to change strategies now.

His staff pretty clearly believes that going hard negative is the only way to turn his campaign around. They're not about to bail on that now.

[Demsrule86]

13. Check out twitter and see what his campaign is doing...they are tearing down Biden.

Cancel the debate ...Corona virus is too dangerous.

[Turin_C3PO]

16. The DNC

did cancel the audience at the debate. So that’s something, at least.

[Demguy81]

20. Should have done this a long time ago.

I might be in the minority, but I think the crowd takes away from substance and awards crass personal attacks.

[Turin_C3PO]

26. Yeah, I don't like debate audiences.

It’s not professional wrestling.

[totodeinhere]

36. They are giving the Biden campaign a preview of what they can expect from the Trump campaign.

Better to get it out in the open now and deal with it before Trump gets a hold of it which he surely will. As far as the debate goes, there will not be a live audience so I think there will be minimal risk.

[Demsrule86]

37. Bullshit attacking our nominee hurts our election efforts. I disliked Bernie before.

Now,I despise him.

[totodeinhere]

39. No, constructive criticism of our nominee will only make him stronger in the long run.

Just because he will probably be the nominee should not make him immune from criticism.

[LakeArenal]

27. Well, his remarks awhile ago shows he's going to be attacking Joe Biden

Sore loser gonna sore.

[stopbush]

28. Nope. What Sanders is doing is not good for the D Party or our nominee.

But Sanders isn’t a D and he doesn’t really care about what’s best for the Party. In fact, he’s pretty much declared war on the Party.

Does Sanders seriously think that regurgitating the talking points we’ve heard for six years Sunday is going to change a single vote in his favor? Hell, most voters have his stump speech down cold.

[lapfog_1]

29. today he gave his stump speech

claimed victory in the polling (the exit polls were overwhelmingly for us) and then went on a long rambling attack on Biden... basically asking Joe to have a plan to fix every social and economic "injustice" in the world... and quoted a number of questionable statistics.

[Chainfire]

34. Sanders staying in the race

Keeps Democrat politics in the headlines. It is probably not bad even if they are in a pissing contest. I don't think that it hurts the cause for the battle continue until the convention.

I would like to see Biden campaigning against Trump, as if he is the nominee, and not worry too much about Sander's campaign.

I will tell you this though, if we can't beat Trump, with any candidate, after his mishandling this present crisis, we are doomed.

[LAS14]

35. Yeah.. Part of the feeling that prompted me to start this thread...

... was the prospect of Biden disappearing from TV until.... oh.... July? Or even later if Trump refuses to debate.

[mvd]

40. Yes, that point is important

I appreciate the kind words I got from Biden supporters. It is hard when you realize your candidate basically has no chance.

I think the debate would be good if it is a productive exchange of ideas.

And if in the next couple weeks Biden gets an even more insurmountable lead (very likely), time for Sanders to give it up. The movement is not just about Bernie. Hopefully most Bernie supporters are like me and support Biden while keeping things like Medicare for All in the spotlight.

[Gothmog]

41. STaying in the primary race and losign by large margins may actually help Biden

sanders not dropping out may help Biden. sanders keeps on losing primaries by large margins nnly strenghten's Joe's position https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/11/no-surprise-bernie-sanders-is-still-all-about-himself-never-party/

Sanders’s remaining in the race should serve several salutary purposes for the party and the country. First, seeing him lose overwhelmingly week after week will dispel the notion that the Democratic Party has moved left, or that he is in a dominant position to negotiate with the overwhelming winner. It’s not clear why the Biden camp should “give” Sanders anything.

Second, it is good to keep Biden in fighting form, continuing to boost turnout and showing, as he did in Philadelphia, how presidential he is. Biden can pivot to the general election, essentially ignoring Sanders. (His planned speech on the coronavirus is the perfect opportunity to leave Sanders out of the discussion entirely.)....

Whoever is to replace Sanders as the standard-bearer for the left — hopefully someone as smart and wonky as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — will need to learn how to win elections. (Hint: It is not by scaring voters or attaching oneself to the socialist label.) When in office, a new generation of leaders on the left will need to learn the art of deal-making rather than waste years, as Sanders has, rabble-rousing but accomplishing nothing. Unlike Sanders, Warren (or whoever else takes the reins) will not be burdened by a record of reflexively praising dictators nor be driven to attack fellow Democrats.

Sanders will end the race at some point, a diminished figure. In retrospect, his wins in 2016 will be seen more as an anti-Hillary Clinton vote than a pro-Sanders vote. How he behaves at Sunday’s debate will determine whether he leaves a bad taste in the mouths of Democrats.

[MrsCoffee]

42. He has used his candidacy as a national platform to attack the Democratic Party and it's leadership.

Why do you think he would stop now?

[Demsrule86]

43. He won't and I think it gives false hope to his followers who will be even more angry and bitter

when they realize that he has in fact lost right now.

[Tercules]

44. Aaaand he siphons off just enough delegates...

that it ends up a brokered convention. Even with the sizable plurality Biden would probably have, I can see Bernie lunging at his last chance at the ticket by going into full attack mode on Biden.