Myself and all my friends were hoping for Bernie

[TheSocialDem]

And I’m certain they will all vote for Biden. Period. But they are pretty pessimistic about the whole thing and I can’t lie I am too. Please Biden pick a progressive for VP and throw the base a bone. Something Hilary didn’t think she needed to do... don’t make the same mistake Joe.

This is my hope, with winning the GE foremost in mind.

[TwilightZone]

1. He should choose who he feels is the best person for the position.

It's about winning in November and nominating someone who could be president, if needed.

It's not about throwing someone a bone.

[TheSocialDem]

2. It's about uniting the party to win

[NurseJackie]

19. Bernie needs to get busy.

[Happy Hoosier]

44. Okay.... but the VP needs to be able...

To support the President’s agenda. That isn’t to say a Progressive can’t do that, but they must be willing to.

[The Magistrate]

45. Honestly, Sir

Don't you know unity means pulling in behind the faction that got the least votes and doing what the minority bloc wants?





"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."

[Aquaria]

47. Why do you deserve a bone?

What have “progressives” done to earn one?

What do you have to offer? What new voters did your side bring along? Your youth vote dream never materialized—exactly as more experienced political observers warned would happen. You made no new inroads with minorities—the supposed Latino surge is an illusion. When you look at the numbers more closely, you’ll see that there wasn’t any movement towards BS that couldn’t be explained by population growth. BS won in CA and the Texas border not thanks to a Latino surge, but thanks to BLOOMBERG, who siphoned off votes that Biden would have gotten. Or are you really deluded enough to think a Bloomberg voter would have voted for BS?

Go look at the numbers in CA, and you’ll see very few counties that Sanders won outright, but county after county where Biden+Bloomberg votes creamed BS.

Compare the Hispanic vote in 2016 with 2020, and the uptick is scarce to non-existent. Sure, he did great with the 18-44 Hispanics, but they don’t vote reliably. He sucked with the 44+ group who DO vote. And that is why in predominantly Hispanic counties like Hidalgo in Texas, he barely got 1000 more votes than he did in 2016. Worse, Biden and Bloomberg were literally breathing down the neck of BS in every Hispanic-majority county he “won.” Again, Hidalgo tells the story:

BS...............16683 votes....28.2%
Biden...........15877 votes....26.8%
Bloomberg....15106 votes....25.5%

You can find similar numbers to these all over Texas and CA. That’s why BS has Bloomberg, not his supposed Hispanic outreach, to thank for those wins.

Ad if that’s not enough, how will giving “progressives” that VP bone help Biden with suburban women and independents who will be crucial to putting him over the finishing line in November? If the majority of Democrats don’t even like “progressives” enough to vote for them, what makes you think the vast pool of reliable voters known as suburban women will? Or that independents will?

And just how do you think the party’s base of women and minorities would look upon that bone thrown your way after “progressives” have done nothing to earn it, and, worse, have gone out of their way to alienate that very base? Do you grasp at all how bad of an idea it’s been for “progressives” to deride a party’s base of women and minorities as “establishment” anything, simply because they didn’t bend the knee to the “progressive” dear leader?

If you want that small bone thrown your way, you need to earn it. Thus far, “progressives haven’t done anything that qualifies for such a concession.

[The Magistrate]

53. Solid Analysis, Ma'am

Progressives might try not treating the rest of the Party's adherents, and its leadership, as enemies. I know it sounds crazy, but it just might work to increase their influence, and foster unity....





"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."

[Demsrule86]

61. +100000

As always a perfect analysis.

[TheSocialDem]

5. You don't think there are and progressives that can do the job?

There are many and he should choose one

[treestar]

21. Who would fit the bill?

I don't know where you draw the line for the definition of progressive. It can't be Bernie because we don't want two old guys on the ticket as we can't assure a D house speaker.

The VP position would not be so important as having a D Congress. There can be more progressives in Congress. We need that and to defeat the Rs there. A Dem president can have an obstructing R Congress.

[sheshe2]

31. Name them.

Give us a list.

[Aquaria]

49. Not by the definition "progressives" use

Given how rigid the ideological purity standards are for “progressives,” your bench isn’t all that deep.

Any males of the persuasion are out.

Warren will not be the VP. She’s needed in the Senate as long as MA has a repuke governor who could and probably would replace her with another repuke.

Katie Porter is a long shot—and not in the safest of seats. It could easily flip red again without a candidate as appealing and qualified as she was.

“Squad” members are either too young, too alienating—or both.

So who do you have left?

[Dem4Life1102]

54. It should be someone who best helps him win

Nothing else matters.

[HarlanPepper]

3. I'm not getting why people need to be coaxed to the polls.

One would think the pile of bodies at their local morgue would be enough, not even counting the 3 year shit show that preceded the virus event.

[SheltieLover]

4. Sorry to hear you are bummed

I felt same way when Warren suspended.

I'm glad, though, that you & your friends are voting blue.

Yes, I'm hoping for someone progressive, too, to unify the party & move us in a good direction towards winning!

Hold the vision!

[brush]

6. Ahhh...FYI: The Democratic Party base starts with African Americans, women...

Latinx, Asian Americans, many suburban white women now, progressive whites, gays—you know, the ones who voted overwhelmingly for Biden, not the imagined youth vote that never seems to make it to the polls.

That's who the base is. We hope everyone gets on board and votes blue.

[Cha]

8. Exactly right.. Those are the Voters who propelled

Joe Biden and his supporters to Victory.

Biden will choose who is best suited to the job of his VP.. I'm sure after doing it for President Obama he knows what he's looking for in a Vice President. Someone who shares his vision for America.

[brush]

9. Hey, Cha. Now we can get on with the GE campaign. Hope you're safe.

[Cha]

13. Let's Hope So.. that this isn't all a

Mirage.

Mahalo, brush.. you StaySafe, too!

[relayerbob]

23. Yes. This

[tblue37]

29. Kamala Yard is or Stacey Abrams would be great choices. nt

[uponit7771]

43. THANK YOU !!!

[Aquaria]

50. Worse with the youth vote

Is the arrogance in “progressives” assuming that they’re a lock to vote for a “progressive.”

It hasn’t dawned on the “progressives” how 37% of 18-29 y/os who actually turned up in 2016 went for IQ4.5. That should be a giant honking clue that even youth voters are on a spectrum. It’s also never occurred to them that the remaining 53% of young voters will run the gamut of everything from far-right nutbaggery to independents to centrists to somewhat liberal to “progressive.” Just like any other age demographic.

So while young voters overall skew more liberal, it’s not necessarily enough to be as much in the favor of “progressives” as they wish for.

[brush]

63. Spot on analysis.

[SharonClark]

72. Exactly right.

[LizBeth]

7. Here is the thing. Hoping for Sanders since immediately it was known Sanders wasn't happening.

We Democrats are so damn tired of your two year old rant of what you wanted but did not get.

[frazzled]

12. It's four years old. /nt

[LizBeth]

17. Yes. I will not get on the band wagon of coddling ego. If Trump and death of others doesn't matter

to a person because they did not get Sanders, then... well that.

[Aquaria]

48. Five years, if you count 2015

When the longest get off my lawn rant started.

[Demsrule86]

10. I sincerely dislike Sen. Sanders and yet I would have crawled across broken glass to vote for him

if he was the nominee. i would not need a certain VP and I doubt one would have been offered. As for Hillary no offense but Sanders' supporters should not even say her name. She was the only one who stood between us and Trump who is busily killing Americans even as we speak. Now Biden stands between us and the horror of another term for the baby caging monster...so if as you are hinting, some of your 'friends' are threatening not to vote for him for one reason or another, I say shame on them.

[Squinch]

15. Boom!

[Demsrule86]

39. Thank you...Squinch

How are you?

[Squinch]

57. We're hanging in here in these very strange times. So far

everyone I know who has caught the virus has recovered or os recovering.

How about you and yours?

[Demsrule86]

65. I tested negative ...had strep throat...never though that would make me happy. My daughter's

girlfriend's Aunt has caught Covid...she is in her late 50's or 60's...she is a nice lady and almost every young person in the family, including my daughter and her girlfriend before we bought the house that they could live in while going to school, has lived with her. She is a nice lady...lost her husband a couple of years ago. Her job had moved to Cleveland so she was commuting an hour a day as she could not sell her house. It really needed work, and money was tight...I hope she will be OK...sad that great people like her are sick and Trump just struts pretending he has a brain. All of the death and despair is on him. November can't come soon enough for me. The rest of my family and hubs family is fine so far. And my daughter has a new job. She has been working for a real jerk who inherited his Dad's company (Dad hire her) and he is awful...making them work with no safety precautions...no distancing. She is out of there. He is from Carolina and will move the company from Ohio to there eventually if it survives...he has already lost 11 million dollar hedging.

[Squinch]

66. Im sorry to hear that. But good that you were negative.

And guiltily happy that your daughter's idiot boss has lost the 11 million!

Hang in there. In a few months we'll get rid of Donnie Bodybags. (That great name is not original to me. Another DUer coined it, but let's make it stick.)

[sheshe2]

27. Brava!

[Demsrule86]

38. Thank you sheshe2

[msongs]

11. guess what there are many democrats who have progressive values besides sanders nt

[Tetrachloride]

14. My progressive view

The Blue Tsunami, now and until forever more. Vote blue and win first. Then the lawmakers are blue. Otherwise, there is no "bone" to be had.

[NurseJackie]

16. That's not what "the base" means.

[frazzled]

18. The base of the party consists of the Democratic voters who always

vote for the party's candidates. So if a person feels they won't vote for Biden unless he "throws them a bone," they are, de facto, not a part of the base.

[hangaleft]

62. Yeah! You tell em!!

[treestar]

20. No do this instead

Go to work on the Senate or House campaign for a progressive. You need them in Congress. If they pass something really good, then you can pressure Biden to sign it into law (if he is not willing to already, but I'm more optimistic about that). Obama would have signed many good bills had we not lost Congress in 2010.

Stop thinking it's only the Presidency. If Bernie has a brain, he would organize you to do this nationwide now as it is, let alone if he were the presumptive nominee. Forget about Biden. There are months left to work on Congress and the Senate.

[mcar]

24. This!

[mcar]

22. The base?

The base of the Democratic party is women, primarily women of color.

It's a myth that "progressives" are the base of the party. They aren't.

[sheshe2]

30. Progressives can progress...

Yet to progress means making progress and all the whines it the world won't get us there. Hard work does and that means voting.

[BGBD]

36. This is a good point.

The people on Twitter saying they won't vote for Biden are not the base. They are the fringe and are not democratic voters to begin with. They are either trolls or usual 3rd party voters who were going for Bernie.

So, I don't really have time for anyone pretending to be liberal and saying they aren't going to vote for Biden. I'm not here to "win" their vote. I'd rather focus on increasing minority turnout and closing margins in white working class areas.

[The Magistrate]

25. The Base Of The Party, Sir, Are Those Who Can Be Relied On To Vote For Its Candidates

By definition, people who insist on being courted and coddled are not the base but the auxiliary elements. The left has been making this mistake for a long time, for some twenty years at least, and the only result has been Republicans in the Presidency, and the left finding itself ever weaker and more isolated within the Democratic Party.





"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."

[OAITW r.2.0]

26. Bones usually are an indicator of death.

Really don't wantt a President throwing bones. Lets no give Trump any ideas.

[Claustrum]

28. Serious question

If Bernie were to win but Biden got 30% of the votes, should Bernie shift right? Should Bernie choose a moderate to win over the moderate wing? Isn't Bernie a sellout then?

[comradebillyboy]

59. Bernie doesn't compromise. He wants total surrender. He will

never be satisfied with anyone but him calling the shots.

My opinion of the man continues to sink.

[Claustrum]

68. My question isn't directed at Bernie

My question isn't directed at Bernie but those who think Biden needs to adapt the whole Bernie platform. If Bernie is the nominee, I am sure they would be the same one who says Bernie should get everything and not change a bit.

I am, in no way, saying Biden shouldn't adapt some Sanders' and Warren's platforms. Matter of fact, I think he needs to adapt a bit more of them. However, Biden is free to choose some that fits with the current time and what fits into his platform.

Also, Hilary adapted a lot of Bernie's platform back in 2016 and still isn't enough at the end for a lot of these people. They end up brushing the adaptation off as "I don't trust her to enact any of them."

[The Magistrate]

70. It Is A Good Question, Sir

Though it sort of answers itself....

One will see it frequently claimed here that Sanders, by having perhaps a third of the votes, and a somewhat larger portion of the convention delegates (though his is still a decidedly minority cohort) entitles him to some substantial 'influence' in the convention. This is nonesense. He is entitled to nothing more than he could win in a floor vote. The majority may be moved to grant some points to him, but he is owed nothing, and is entitled to nothing. Democracy emphatically does not mean if you have a third, or two fifths, of the vote or the delegates, you are entitled to have a third or two of the matters before the convention decided in your favor. One grows quite weary of people who seem to think that is the case, and who can be relied on the squeal, if not to bolt, when that is proved a fallacy in the event.






"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."

[comradebillyboy]

71. There is no placating Sanders. Biden is properly

attempting to unify the broader party. He shouldn't adopt he policies of a failed campaign.

He should emphasize support for universal health care based on one of the more successful models like Germany or France. Neither Germany nor France is a single payer model. He should continue to advocate for a better social safety net and making higher education more affordable. He has adopted Warren's ideas on college tuition, but making tuition more affordable does nothing to address the huge disparities in public education that hold back poor people and minorities.

But those are all standard Democratic positions that weren't invented by Sanders.

Biden shouldn't start tilting at windmills to satisfy the "progressive" crowd.

[Loki Liesmith]

32. Honestly why care about VP?

It’s a ceremonial position.

Cabinet appointments matter more.

[pattyloutwo]

67. The VP

Will probably be the next candidate for president as Biden has said he’ll be one term, so it’s very important.

[Clash City Rocker]

33. I hope Kamala meets your exacting standards

Because it will probably be her. She is progressive, but she isn’t a socialist or anything like that.

If Biden picks a running mate who’s too far to the left, it will push away a large percentage of the people who supported Trump in 2016 but who might vote for Biden. Those people, by and large, were never going to vote for Bernie. So this is a very tricky decision for the Biden campaign.

[Dem4Life1102]

58. Probably be her?

Why?

[Me.]

34. So You Had To THrow A Snark At HRC With This Post

and please stop with all the scolds. If BS was winning in any way, he would've won. Yet his base doesn't seem to understand you have to win to win.

[Laelth]

35. I am SO sick of this fight.

99% of us are going to vote for Joe. Ignore the other 1%. It’s not worth fighting over.

-Laelth

[sheshe2]

37. So.

TheSocialDem
0. Myself and all my friends were hoping for Bernie

And I’m certain they will all vote for Biden. Period. But they are pretty pessimistic about the whole thing and I can’t lie I am too. Please Biden pick a progressive for VP and throw the base a bone. Something Hilary didn’t think she needed to do... don’t make the same mistake Joe.

So what exactly are you saying? If you don't get the bone you wish for, what will you do?

PS. I asked you above who you wished for, you did not answer.

Fact. Our Democratic base is women, women of color and African American both men and women. We have a progressive base. Who is your base that you speak of?

[The Magistrate]

40. One Passes Into A Mirror World, Ma'am

In this strange place, the base of the Party comprises the least reliable voters, and not only those voters the Party can rely on, but most of the people they elect to office, are not really representative of the Party at all, only adherents in name only....





"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."

[Aquaria]

51. We women and minorities have somehow arrived.

According to “progressives” we have magically become the Establishment despite how we still have a fraction of the wealth, power and rights of white men.

Through the looking glass, indeed.

[betsuni]

52. +1

[DenverJared]

41. You forget -- Biden has been progressive all his life

[ismnotwasm]

42. Who is not progressive, in your opinion?

Of the names that have bandied about?

[StevieM]

46. You might like Hilda Solis, the former Secretary of Labor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilda_Solis

[betsuni]

55. What does "pretty pessimistic about the whole thing" mean?

Do you mean how Republicans want to destroy the government? What does "progressive" in this scenario mean? What does "throw the base a bone" mean? Who do you think "the base" is? Democrats? You and your friends? Why would Democrats need a bone? Have you read the 2016 party platform? What is not progressive about it? What do you mean by "Hillary didn't think she needed to do"? I don't understand what your "hope" is.

[Sherman A1]

56. I agree

I supported Andrew Yang in the primaries until he dropped out, voted for Sanders as I thought him to be the next best choice of who was left when our turn rolled around. I will vote for Biden in the general election, but remain very pessimistic as to his chances of winning.

Until November I am tuning out as much of the election as possible.

[SharonClark]

73. But you thought Yang and Sanders

could win? LOL!

[Sherman A1]

74. I thought their ideas were where I wanted this country to head towards.

I really don't believe we have time for a re-set Presidency.

[honest.abe]

60. The choice on VP should not be based on throwing "progressives" a "bone"

It should be based on the following in my opinion:

1) who can best help win in the general
2) who can best take over being President should something happen to Biden
3) who can work best with Biden and his platform

[ucrdem]

64. Don't want to be harsh, but welcome to reality.

Bernie world is not reality. It's going to take some time to detox as it were, but Bernie is not the only "progressive" voice in the universe. In fact he's not particularly progressive, or honest, or informed.

Sorry, but that's the way it is.

[Politicub]

69. Keep your eye on the prize and bigger picture

I was disappointed when Warren dropped out, but now I’m crazy for Biden. I look at it as a matter of life and death, because it is for many people.

Be proud that Bernie influenced the discourse so much. His influence on the party will continue to resonate.