Bernie Sanders says he's staying in the presidential race. Many Democrats fear a reprise of 2016.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Behind the growing fear among many Democrats that Sen. Bernie Sanders’s continued presence in the presidential race could spell doom in November is the belief that they’ve seen it happen before — in the last campaign.

The 2016 Democratic convention was just about to get started when Sanders (I-Vt.) addressed his delegates. It was time to support her, he told his backers. They disagreed, booing loudly. Some stuck their thumbs down as TV cameras captured the extraordinary show of dissent, which would continue on the convention floor.

To some Democrats in that campaign, it was a lesson learned the hard way about the limitations of Sanders’s promises of support and the ferocity of his unbridled backers. Four years later, with the senator from Vermont still running against former vice president Joe Biden despite almost impossible odds of victory, some party leaders are increasingly worried about a reprise of the bitter divisions that many Democrats blame for Hillary Clinton’s loss.

“It’s the equivalent of a World War II kamikaze pilot,” said Philippe Reines, a longtime adviser to Clinton. “They have no better option than to plow into USS Biden.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/bernie-sanders-says-hes-staying-in-the-presidential-race-many-democrats-fear-a-reprise-of-their-2016-defeat/ar-BB11U5OR?li=BBnbfcL

[Walleye]

1. It was ugly then and it's ugly now.

[The Magistrate]

2. 'Bernie' Is Not In This For The Party's Presidential Nomination, Sir

The sooner people get that through their heads, especially his well-meaning supporters, the better it will be for our people and our country.

The fact is Sanders campaigns not to gain the Democratic Party's nomination for President, but to weaken if not wreck the 'Democratic Establishment'. For 'Bernie', ousting Trump and ending the Republican majority in the Senate is barely an afterthought to this long-standing purpose. Once Sanders' supporters face this fact squarely, they may be able to decide honestly what their best course in this election is: voting against 'Bernie' in any future primary, and for Mr. Biden and Democrats all down the ticket to the lowest office on the ballot come November.

It is probably true that Sanders sees destroying the 'Democratic Establishment' as an essential precondition to defeating Trump et al, and so by his own lights he means it when he says he will do all he can to defeat Trump. But that belief is so self-serving and delusional it deserves not just scorn but contempt.

As with Trump, the only real cure is to deprive the man of the oxygen of worshipful attention. The effect would be that of a bucket of water on the wicked witch of Oz....





"From Bernie’s perspective, dropping out of a race once you have no chance of winning is peculiar behavior that can only be explained by the work of a hidden hand. For most politicians, though, it is actually standard operating procedure. Only Sanders seems to think the normal thing to do once voters have made clear they don’t want to nominate you is to continue campaigning anyway."





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[NanceGreggs]

6. Exactly so. n/t

[DarthDem]

11. Well Said, Judge

[Mr.Bill]

3. Don't let him anywhere near the podium. n/t

[brush]

4. Seen this movie before, didn't like the ending. Someone needs to get over himself.

[DarthDem]

5. No, we don't

This isn't four years ago. To put it mildly. No one fears Sanders this time. Every day he fails to drop out, he becomes more irrelevant and even less of a concern.

[The_REAL_Ecumenist]

9. PREACH!! His wish 4 bigger testes R behind his so called run. I was really pulling for his

ignorant & selfish ass last time around but when it came for the general, I VOTED BLUE. This time around, his f*cking bernie bros & their blind push, using RACISM, MYSOGYNY & outright lies hv soured me so much tht I believe the word for what I feel for that idiot rhymes w/Date! He bound & determined to win a crown in a race that has NOTHING to do with his fucking EGO. He doesn;t care if people die, as long as he has his very own PYRRHIC victory, dumbass.

My mother, (God rest her soul), had a saying that went a little something like this:"If you want to know how a potential husband will treat you, pay attention to how he treats his mom, sisters, grandmother, Aunts, cousins & if it applies, his daughters, because, THAT'S how he'll treat you." Once I read things that I didn't know about in "16, (his deserting his wives, NOT supporting his children, not holding a job other than his senate seat & any number of lies he's told), I would set myself on fire & poke my own eyes out with rusty forks.

[sop]

7. Sanders has used the Democratic party primaries to build his movement and gain supporters.

He won't admit the viability of his movement requires the destruction of the existing Democratic party. That's the revolution Bernie's talking about.

[The Magistrate]

8. Politics As A Virus, Sir

Sanders is an 'entryist'. He seeks to take over the machinery of an existing party, and set it to making copies of himself, as candidates and, he hopes, voters. A group called 'Militant Tendency' did this to the Labour Party in England, back when 'Bernie' was still knocking about in his radical salad days. It kept Tories in charge for a good many years. With Corbyn recently, something similar has befallen Labour, with what looks like an identical result. People like Corbyn and Sanders simply repel a goodly portion of any national electorate, including many people who wold otherwise oppose the excesses of conservative radicals, and are in fact open to many left and progressive policies.





"From Bernie’s perspective, dropping out of a race once you have no chance of winning is peculiar behavior that can only be explained by the work of a hidden hand. For most politicians, though, it is actually standard operating procedure. Only Sanders seems to think the normal thing to do once voters have made clear they don’t want to nominate you is to continue campaigning anyway."





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[Happy Hoosier]

10. When Sanders entered the race...

I predicted the same shit show he gave us in 2016. And here we are. Thanks for nothin’ Bernie.

[kcr]

12. It won't be like 2016

Outside of Twitter and places like this, hardly anyone is even talking about Bernie Sanders or listening to him anymore. His performance in 2020 made it clear that 2016 was all about Hillary hate, and he doesn't have her to kick around this time. The latest pathetic attempt against Biden with the rape accusation didn't even make the mainstream news. Nobody cares. He's done, and his career, for the most part, is done, too. The progressive movement is ready for new voices.

[ucrdem]

13. "equivalent of a World War II kamikaze pilot"

p.s. he may well crash and burn but it's clear the USS Biden will forge ahead, teflon intact, flaming carcass on the deck or no.

[Gothmog]

14. The benefit of the Democrats denouncing Sanders's selfishness

I am tired of sanders and his supporters demanding that we bend a knee and anoint sanders as the nominee. It may be better to simply give up on the 15% who will not vote for any real Democrat and move on

Link to tweet

If you are in the search for silver linings, one benefit of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pointlessly continuing his losing campaign is the freedom for Democrats to denounce him and his anti-party escapades. After years of humoring him, the vast majority of Democrats, from super-progressives to moderates, can now say out loud what they’ve said quietly: It has always been about Bernie. It’s not a movement, but rather a vanity project. ....

The problem, according to many Democrats, remains that 15 percent of Sanders supporters say in polling that they would vote for President Trump over Biden. This nugget actually makes the opposite argument: There is nothing that would satisfy some faction of the Sanders coalition that would rather blow up our democracy and reelect Trump. With people so irrational, the best response is to ignore them. They, like the MAGA-hat crowd, are unreachable and cannot be bargained with (e.g., more New Green Deal talk!). So do not try. No more outreach to Sanders, no more promised policy modifications, no more speaking slot at the convention. Enough

This would have some salutary effects.

First, it would make perfectly clear that Biden is not Sanders and not a crazy left-winger, as Trump would like to paint him in the campaign. Biden makes a sharp distinction between the “democratic socialist” crowd and his own brand of center-left politics. Since he cannot get the 15 percent of “Bernie or Bust” Democrats (or independents), he might as well make a strong play for moderate independents and disaffected Republicans. Cutting Sanders off effectively allows Biden to pitch to gettable swing voters, not waste time on unattainable Bernie Bros.

Second, freezing out Sanders will make governance in a Biden administration much easier and more cohesive. There will be no debt to be paid to Sanders, no advisers taken on to satisfy Sanders, and no weird and distracting policy initiatives to lead the new administration astray. This would be a center-left administration confident of its own governing agenda — and personally cohesive.

Third, it would free up constructive, smart progressive leaders such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to lead that wing of the party. She has already begun that process, contributing bankruptcy and student loan forgiveness plans to the Biden campaign. With a practical, crafty progressive in the Senate (hopefully in the majority and able to lead on legislation), Biden would be able to broaden his appeal and cultivate allies in the Warren wing of the party.

In other words, shoving Sanders offstage opens up room for party builders and party reformers, putting aside unattainable proposals (e.g., Medicare-for-all) in favor of a smarter, more broadly acceptable agenda. (Biden would not need to fend off a Warren primary challenge, as Barack Obama did with Sanders in 2012.)

The party is never going to make the 15% to 25% of sanders supporters happy. 25% of sanders supporters either voted for trump, voted for a third party candidate like Stein or stayed home

Link to tweet

I am tired of trying to appease sanders supporters who are not going to be happy and there are real benefits in moving on and ignoring these voters.