Sanders stays, so his movement can live on by dragging Biden leftward

[arenean]

Bernie Sanders vowed to attend the upcoming Democratic debate after a string of primary losses, and posed questions for his rival.

From his hometown of Burlington, Vermont, Bernie Sanders got up to speak on Wednesday afternoon, after a disappointing night of watching the results from Tuesday’s primaries roll in.

Would he stay or would he go? For now, he stays, determined to fight on and try to drag the Democratic frontrunner, Joe Biden, to the left, so that even as Sanders’ race effectively peters out, his movement goes on.

Although Sanders said he was winning the “ideological debate” against the moderate Biden, and the “generational debate” in terms of older voters pouring to the polls for his rival, he acknowledged he was losing the “electability debate” for the party nomination to fight Donald Trump in the November election.

Sanders said he had spoken to a number of voters who supported his policy proposals but backed Biden because they feared Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist, could not defeat the president.

So as voters waited with bated breath to see if he would quit after crushing defeats in primaries in the last 10 days, he vowed to attend the scheduled debate against Biden in Arizona on Sunday night, effectively confirming his campaign goes on.

The Vermont senator then previewed the issues he will hammer on in the coming days.

“Joe, what are you going to do to end the absurdity of the United States of America being the only major country on Earth where healthcare is not a human right? Are you really going to veto a Medicare for All bill if it is passed in Congress?” Sanders rhetorically asked, referring to his promise of government-provided health insurance for everyone.

Then he added, defiantly: “On Sunday, I very much look forward to the debate in Arizona with my friend Joe Biden,” Sanders said.

The candidate then left the hastily arranged press conference without taking any questions.

It was a diehard move, which may give his fervent supporters solace even as it dismays the Democratic party leadership, which is keen to unite and gear up to face Trump together.

Full story: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/11/bernie-sanders-stay-in-drag-biden-left-movement-lives-2020-democratic-election

[MrsCoffee]

1. Fuck the excuses. If Joe needed to move left more would be voting for Bernie than Joe.

They aren’t. They are voting for Joe by huge margins.

Bernie is nothing more than a spoiler at this point. Again.

Ffs.

[delisen]

20. I think Biden need to acknowledge the serious issues forcefully.

I am not a Sanders supporter-never have been; but I think Biden has indeed been pro big corporations, such as DuPont (a disgusting and poisonous corporate giant), as well as colleges snd universities which have grown fat on the student business, and the big bank industry which destroyed our economy for a decade.

The fact that we have credit card rates of up to 30% interest and people who cannot bankrupt out of ruinous student debt and even have their social security checks reduced for student loan payments is a Biden responsibility.

Sanders got shot down because of the electability issue of a Democratic Socialist and how the would make us a Democratic Socialist party - a mill stone round the necks of all our candidates for office. We were in danger of losing the House we had just regained after losing it a decade ago when Biden was Vice President.

Joseph Biden is far from an ideal candidate but for the above reason is preferable to Sanders.

Many of us no longer have a margin in our lives and we are soon to face the full force of pandemics for which we are unprepared and climate change which can devolve into a living horror.

I am not willing to stick my head in the sand and go all rah rah for any presidential candidate. Biden however will receive a lot of support as president; Sanders might continue to be at war with the party even if he should get elected-which I doubt he can, and would surround himself with the authoritarian people he has drawn to his campaigns.

[Demsrule86]

26. I think not...and I mean no disrespect but you don't support Biden...so why should we care what you

think...clearly with this negative post, you are anti-Biden.

[Tom Rinaldo]

21. That's an oversimplification

A clear minority of Democratic primary voters, in every contest held to date, are picking their candidate primarily based on issues. An overwhelming majority are picking their candidate based on who they think is more likely able to defeat Trump in the Fall. The exit polls however continually show, for example, that clear majorities of Democrats voting in the primaries favor Medicare For All and other policies favored by Sanders, such as measures to address income inequality, college loan debts, the environment etc.

[Demsrule86]

24. But not when they learn it outlaws work insurance...you all always forget the detail but it doesn't

matter as it won't pass in Congress.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

27. +1000

[thucythucy]

29. Talk about "oversimplications"!

To say that Sanders voters are going with the issues, while Biden voters are going with "electability" is both an oversimplification and a grand example of the kind of arrogance and condescension that the Sanders campaign has been dishing out for months.

This is especially bothersome when you consider that Sanders lost--by enormous margins--the African American vote which is the bedrock core of the Democratic Party.

Could it be that Democratic voters looked at Sanders and saw the same old same old campaign speech from four years ago, saw him choosing Green Party ideologues who helped put the current monster in the White House as his closest staff and advisors, saw him refusing to be an actual Democrat while taking advantage of the Party's infrastructure, saw someone who called for the first African American president to be opposed in the 2012 primaries, saw someone pushing legislation that advanced the interests of gun manufacturers and the NRA (while refusing to deal with gun violence overall, especially in minority communities) and said: pass?

No no, it has to be "electability" versus "issues."

Because only a fool would oppose "the revolution" on the issues.

[Tom Rinaldo]

43. If there is arrogance it is assumptions being made about my post

I am not dividing people into Biden or Sanders camps and/or ascribing different levels of sophistication to anyone. I have simply been following exit polls released from all of the primaries, such as these:

A government plan for all instead of private insurance,
Support/Oppose:
VT: 73%/23%
ME: 69%/28%
TX: 63%/33%
MN: 62%/35%
CO: 57%/36%
CA: 57%/36%
NC: 55%/41%
OK: 53%/43%
TN: 52%/44%
AL: 51%/43%
VA: 52%/45%
MA: 50%/45%

@CNN
Exit Polls
https://cnn.com/election/2020/

[LostOne4Ever]

32. Unless Bernie runs 3rd party it is literally impossible for him to be a spoiler.

Jill Stein was the spoiler last time. Bernie only ran in the primary last time and he conceded the primary and endorsed Hillary at the convention too.

[thucythucy]

40. Maybe not a "spoiler"

but someone who weakens the chances of booting Trump out of office in November.

[LostOne4Ever]

41. That is a better way of putting it. (nt)

[Skidmore]

2. So, what that says to me is

that he cannot count on the sustainability of his agenda or his supporters.

[Squinch]

3. The Democratic voters have rejected BSs leftward drag.

This isn't about BS anymore. He lost. The party doesn't owe him a participation prize any more than they owe one to all the other candidates who have dropped out.

The voters have chosen to go for realistic and attainable goals rather than talking about things that will never pass.

BS needs to stop dividing the party at this time when we need unity more than at any other time. I would say he needs to take a page from Pete and Amy and support the party, but that'll never happen. So at the very least he needs to stop acting like any of this is about him anymore.

It isn't.

[NanceGreggs]

7. ...

[Squinch]

14. .

[Cha]

17. 2nd!

[Docreed2003]

19. +1

[questionseverything]

28. it is about the 20 million citizens without healthcare

and the 50 million that have insurance they cannot afford to use

if you as a biden supporter are saying you don't care about that, you are doing him no favors


biden says his public option will help with the not insured and underinsured, now is the time for him to expand and explain that plan to win Bernie supporters over

when people are literally dying of perfectly manageable medical problems and you accuse us of "dividing the party" it is insulting

[Squinch]

34. What an obnoxious and ridiculous straw man of a comment.

I don't care about a candidate who tosses out words but never comes up with a practical way of making a dent in those numbers.

I do care about the fact that the guy who DOES have a plan to do something about those numbers has won the primary, and someone is trying to derail his GE campaign.

Why don't YOU care about that?

[Cha]

4. BS isn't going to be "dragging" Biden Anywhere.

The Voters in all these States Voted FOR Joe Biden not Sanders.

Get it?

[sop]

30. And no matter how far left Biden goes to placate Bernie's followers, it will never be far enough

for many of them. Hillary adopted a lot of Sanders' policy prescriptions, but it didn't do her any good with his hardcore followers.

[Cha]

42. Ikr.. it will never be "left" enough for them.

Exactly! Hillary gave concessions and they didn't appreciate It one bit.

Same page, sop!

[bluedye33139]

5. Medicare for all is a terrible litmus test

There is 0% chance of this Congress passing a Medicare for all bill. There is a zero chance of Biden vetoing a bill that will never exist. This is a dumb talking point.

[sop]

33. Joe should ask Bernie the following question during the debate:

"Senator Sanders, how can you honestly look Americans in the eye and say any of your plans will be passed by Congress?"

[SWBTATTReg]

6. How about working via the legislative means (the House and / or Senate) to get these things ...

that you want? If you don't get these first, then it's kind of moot, isn't it? Let's first concentrate on winning and kicking the orange anus out of office and then get down to work.

[lapfog_1]

8. I think this does the opposite... it pushes our nominee to the right

because the longer Bernie is around, running his attack ads on Joe, the more center and center right votes Joe needs to attract for the election in November.

Bernie people may not "vote blue no matter who"... especially if Bernie keeps having his surrogates write negative things about Joe.

We need to get behind Joe now.

Especially with the global pandemic, we need one voice to contrast with Trump. Not two. We need to show the "alternative President you can have next January if you get out and vote in November"

[showblue22]

9. Bernie is in a position of weakness not strength

He can not demand anything. Hillary made massive concessions and the convention was still a shit show. This time, it's a massive blow out, a landslide. If Bernie wants concessions. he needs to politely ask, not demand.

[LostOne4Ever]

35. The Convention last time gave Hillary a huge bump in the polls

If that is a shit show then we need more of them.

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/how-big-is-hillary-clintons-convention-bounce-226545

[showblue22]

36. You're giving the shit show credit for Hillary's bump?

[LostOne4Ever]

38. No, I am saying the Convention was not a shit show. (nt)

[NurseJackie]

10. Jump on the Biden Bandwagon & abandon the revolution!!

Joe/Kamala or Biden/Harris 2020!!
Jump on the Biden Bandwagon & abandon the revolution!!

[Squinch]

12. .

[ecdab]

11. The beatings Bernie is about to take in Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, etc. are not going to help

his movement, those beatings are just going to make him and his movement seem a whole lot less relevant than they really are. Bernie's not doing anybody any favors by hanging around in this race - including himself and his supports. He's not building leverage, he's throwing it away.

[Squinch]

13. This! How can he and they not see this? He can get out now and

play the elder statesman role while retaining some perception of relevance. Or he can wait for the bloodbath that is coming and that will crush any perception of his relevance.

That he is choosing the latter is so irrational!

[Cha]

16. Like not wanting to build on a

30% coalition. With no plan B

[Cha]

15. Well said, ecdab

[treestar]

18. Not specific enough

All speculative too. When is M4A going to pass Congress? Not in this term.

Bernie would have won if the voters were for this.

[Gothmog]

22. if sanders keeps losing primaries by large margins, this plan will not work

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.

[Demsrule86]

23. Given that he has lost 13 states he has no right to demand shit...and his presence will re-elect

Donald Trump...he needs to get out. He has won what three states? And that is all he is likely to win.

[bluedye33139]

25. I'm opposed to Medicare for all as a litmus test

I particularly oppose the way that Sanders and his camp oppose a public option and expanded Medicaid.

[BidenBacker]

31. Real dumb move if Biden allows that to happen

Joe's doing just fine (actually a LOT more than just fine) right where he is. Just stay put and appeal to the broad swath of Americans who are somewhere in the middle and win the election in a landslide. Then after he gets in, tack left and start implementing liberal policies that help the vast majority of people.

Americans prefer having "socialism" spoon-fed to them...they don't like having their mouths forcibly held open and having it poured down their throats.

Besides, another 10 months of coronavirus and market meltdowns and they'll probably be begging for it.

Stay the course, Joe.

[Scurrilous]

37. Biden won't be dragged anywhere. Bernie's the one to be dragged. To the curb, for antiquers to find.

Bernie now thinks M4A will pass in Congress. OMFG He is truly...….' Are you really going to veto a Medicare for All bill if it is passed in Congress'.' 'Not me, shush.

[beachbumbob]

39. biden can pay no attention to sanders or his supporters. Sander's supporters can decide

if they want 4 more years of trump or not. If they do, screw them. We can do without you and you have no input in the future period.

[William769]

44. Horse shit!

He's staying on to feed his ego.

[Hortensis]

45. They're the ones who need "dragging" to real progressivism.

It's not just a label to dirty.

Definitely classes in the principles and practices of liberal democracy would be desirable as well.