What Bernie accomplished was still significant

[Travis]

Bernie didn't get the nomination. That's alright, in my opinion. When he entered the race the talking heads thought he would just be an afterthought. He was a self identified "socialist" who talked a lot about inequality. That would never sell in AMERICA they all said. He wants to model the nation on Scandinavia? No one at their expensive cocktail parties wants that so surely it would be a message that would resonate with no one.

But it did resonate. He wasn't an afterthought. The people looked at what he was proposing and a huge numbers thought "hey, they ain't so bad!"

The received wisdom was that America is hopelessly right wing. That the only way to get votes is to be more hate filled, more religious, more regressive. Bernie showed that there is, in fact, a huge yearning in America for progress, not regression. For inclusion, not rejection. For egalitarianism not stark nihilistic libertarianism.

Things are now on the table that wouldn't have been before. Want a much higher minimum wage? Totally possible now. Want more subsidies for college? Lots of people are talking about it. Want true universal healthcare? Seems pretty popular. Want more union power? Seems to be on the table again.

This is all the good that has been wrought. It could be built on. This won't be the last election America has. There is a giant future out there ready to be seized.

I know many want to be dour. Want to sulk. Want to take their ball and go home. This is not the time for that. Build bridges, work with those that are open to these ideas.

 

[fuelair]

With no offense at all.......I wonder if Bernie knows that yet. I mention this as if Bernie doesn't turn to supporting Clinton or continues to run anyway and she loses (Trunp wins) then anything he ever did good will be found in the same trash heap that contains old Ralph Nader crap along with old Ralph Nader. The only thing that can work well enough to matter is voting out republickers everywhere possible and putting in Democrats- anything not geared to that is pretty much useless.

 

[PhantomWolf]

With no offense at all.......I wonder if Bernie knows that yet.

And even more importantly, do his more radical supporters.

 

[trvlr2]

Travis, are you familiar with the term "lip service" ?
I am sort of thinking that is the sop we have been thrown. Very soon, business as usual. No sign of the changes pulling back to the center.
OK, I am a tad down. 2016 was the first time since Jimmy Carter, a candidate caught my imagination, and the first ever time I contributed to a candidate. And then he loses to the machine. Drat!
It's the same ol', same ol' hopey-changey con all over again. I would have hoped, at my age, to not fall for that crap again.
I will vote for the harridan in November, not the small-handed, badger-haired moron.
I think the best part is, if she wins the general election, at least I will be able to goad the rebutlickers about it, because HCDS is rife amongst them.
Say, I am feeling better, already!

 

[Norman Alexander]

Lets hope that Team Bernie gets behind the Clinton campaign, and that Clinton takes on board his enthusiasm and ideas. They would make an unbeatable team working together.

 

[quixotecoyote]

Lets hope that Team Bernie gets behind the Clinton campaign, and that Clinton takes on board his enthusiasm and ideas. They would make an unbeatable team working together.

That would be nice, and I'll hope for it. But the campaign season seems to have been been "Vote for Bernie because of ideas" vs "Vote for Hilary because she's winning" so I doubt it'll change once she's done winning.

 

[PhantomWolf]

That would be nice, and I'll hope for it. But the campaign season seems to have been been "Vote for Bernie because of ideas" vs "Vote for Hilary because she's winning" so I doubt it'll change once she's done winning.

The way I saw it was "Vote for Bernie because of ideas" Vs "Vote for Hilary because of actual plans and policies."

 

[Foolmewunz]

Lets hope that Team Bernie gets behind the Clinton campaign, and that Clinton takes on board his enthusiasm and ideas. They would make an unbeatable team working together.

You're kidding, right? He's determined to go down with his ship, if you saw his speech. By the end of the evening she will have a greater lead, by far, than she started the evening with. She will be ahead in voted-for delegates by seven times more than what's available in Washington DC, next week.

More important... he apparently blind-sided Obama and Clinton, both. I think that if he thinks he has leverage by fighting in Philadelphia, he's nuts. The time to get that leverage was about two weeks ago when it was obvious that the numbers wouldn't work. If he'd come out then as a team guy, uniting to stop the GOP, he could've gotten major concessions. If he thinks he can push the DNC and candidate further to the left by fighting the bitter fight up to the end, he's deluded. He will lead the Children's Crusade to Philadelphia, perhaps believing himself that it's for concessions, but his followers still think they're going there to win. He's almost guaranteeing a completely disaffected bloc of what should be, at minimum, hard core anti-Trump voters.

Tonight was the night that he could've solidified what he'd built. He's going to wind up trashing it, instead.

 

[Travis]

That's Bernie though. I hope that people that voted for him, such as myself, can see that now is the time to migrate to the important goal of not throwing away everything that was gained and help Hillary.

 

[Foolmewunz]

That's Bernie though. I hope that people that voted for him, such as myself, can see that now is the time to migrate to the important goal of not throwing away everything that was gained and help Hillary.

I think the numbers from tonight show that Bernie's "devoted" are not-so-devoted across the board. If they really stayed home in these volumes because the AP told them their vote was futile, then you're left with a devoted core following.

He was supposed to be within about twenty points in NJ and lost by 27. California is even more striking... In what was supposed to be nearly a dead heat, he's going to lose by greater than ten percent; could be more. If he can lose four hundred thousand votes just because he was inexorably trailing, how many more will he lose when the binary choice is apparent.

He's trying to sell his ticket to the ball as TEN MILLION voters. It's less than half that when the terms change to Bernie Way or the Highway. Hell, it would be a whole lot easier with him, but after his shenanigans last night, I kind of think Barack and Harry are going to read him the riot act on Thursday.

Mind you... from his point of view, I know what he's doing. He thinks he was to wrest major concessions out of them, but what, in the convention, is going to be binding? Look at the party platforms of the last dozen conventions. How much of any of those platform planks were actually adhered to by the candidates and/or the eventual winners of the Presidency? If those planks weren't the original beliefs/stands of the candidates, they got ignored other than giving them lip service.

He will get nothing, now. They've sucked up the important items as to his appeal. They know they have to stay on at least a liberal, if not quite progressive path, that they have to get majorities in Congress to pass meaningful reform of banking, etc.... He should've taken the victory, been proud of it, and used those hundreds of millions to build up left/progressive candidates on the down-ticket.

 

[Brainster]

Bernie got lucky, because he was facing a terrible candidate. Most of the pundits wrote him off, but if he had pushed harder in the beginning of the campaign he might have won the nomination. As for what he accomplished, he mostly spent a lot of money and got Hillary to run a little more to the left than she wanted to. But she'll tack pretty hard right in the next five months, especially after the convention.

Guess who's facing that terrible candidate now? Somebody whom most of the pundits have already written off, but who nobody can say won't push hard.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Bernie got lucky, because he was facing a terrible candidate. Most of the pundits wrote him off, but if he had pushed harder in the beginning of the campaign he might have won the nomination. As for what he accomplished, he mostly spent a lot of money and got Hillary to run a little more to the left than she wanted to. But she'll tack pretty hard right in the next five months, especially after the convention.

Guess who's facing that terrible candidate now? Somebody whom most of the pundits have already written off, but who nobody can say won't push hard.

I disagree as to his prospects. It's been "all over" since long before Hillary secured the needed delegates. He should've been working for party program/plank concessions since the Mid-Atlantic Massacre. He could've continued "on-message" but with party backing and a better chance to move more moderate Dems to his cause. By fighting to the bitter end, he gets more street cred for his "revolution" but could very well relegate the progressives to the Democratic Gulag again, instead of a seat at the table.

We ain't doubting that Trump will push hard, but where's he going to hide his teleprompter in news interviews? His ego and inability to say, "Hmmm, let me think about that and address it by a position statement" mean that someone's going to piss him off with a question and he's going to go off the deep end. He's already got every living President AND presidential candidate in his party aside from Dole boycotting the convention. He has two former VP front-runners who dislike him, and one is the Philosopher of the New GOP.

Donald will continue to self-destruct. If Hillary is some people's idea of the worst possible candidate, then we couldn't pick a better year for her to run.... against the even-worst worst possible candidate.

 

[applecorped]

Bernie who?

 

[sunmaster14]

Bernie didn't get the nomination. That's alright, in my opinion. When he entered the race the talking heads thought he would just be an afterthought. He was a self identified "socialist" who talked a lot about inequality. That would never sell in AMERICA they all said. He wants to model the nation on Scandinavia? No one at their expensive cocktail parties wants that so surely it would be a message that would resonate with no one.

But it did resonate. He wasn't an afterthought. The people looked at what he was proposing and a huge numbers thought "hey, they ain't so bad!"

The received wisdom was that America is hopelessly right wing. That the only way to get votes is to be more hate filled, more religious, more regressive. Bernie showed that there is, in fact, a huge yearning in America for progress, not regression. For inclusion, not rejection. For egalitarianism not stark nihilistic libertarianism.

Things are now on the table that wouldn't have been before. Want a much higher minimum wage? Totally possible now. Want more subsidies for college? Lots of people are talking about it. Want true universal healthcare? Seems pretty popular. Want more union power? Seems to be on the table again.

This is all the good that has been wrought. It could be built on. This won't be the last election America has. There is a giant future out there ready to be seized.

I know many want to be dour. Want to sulk. Want to take their ball and go home. This is not the time for that. Build bridges, work with those that are open to these ideas.

No, this is a complete misreading of the situation. Bernie did not catch on due to his ideas, because, for the most part, his ideas were either vague, impractical, or overlapped with Hillary's. He caught on because he was the alternative to Hillary. That is all. There is no movement. There are no progressive goals which were advanced (thankfully). He managed to cause Hillary a little agita, wasted a little money, caused a bit of ill will between a large segment of the Democratic base and the Hillary campaign, and that's pretty much it. All in all a huge positive from my point of view.

I'm still worried about Hillary getting indicted and being driven out of the race actually. I would win some money, but I think it would be terrible if Bernie were the nominee. Hopefully, she will be indicted, but it won't completely derail her nomination.

 

[d4m10n]

I know many want to be dour. Want to sulk. Want to take their ball and go home. This is not the time for that.

With no offense at all.......I wonder if Bernie knows that yet.

And even more importantly, do his more radical supporters.

The future of the nation literally depends upon those who are tempted to figuratively take their balls and go home. Trump isn't an existential crisis solely for the GOP, he could easily destroy the gains of the last seven years and then some.

Bernie's legacy will depend upon whether his supporters (re)join the Democratic Party or go down the path of #OccupyDNC. If they choose the latter, he will not be remembered fondly by anyone who doesn't just want to watch the whole world burn.

 

[sunmaster14]

The future of the nation literally depends upon those who are tempted to figuratively take their balls and go home. Trump isn't an existential crisis solely for the GOP, he could easily destroy the gains of the last seven years and then some.

You think so? I don't believe it, but if it's true then he would have my support (if not my vote - that's spoken for).

Bernie's legacy will depend upon whether his supporters (re)join the Democratic Party or go down the path of #OccupyDNC. If they choose the latter, he will not be remembered fondly by anyone who doesn't just want to watch the whole world burn.

But he'll be a hero to those who have long sticks with marshmallows on the end. Figuratively speaking of course.

 

[sir drinks-a-lot]

I, for one, will be happy to see his campaign Bern out.

 

[pgwenthold]

OK, I am a tad down. 2016 was the first time since Jimmy Carter, a candidate caught my imagination

Seriously?

You were all excited about Bernie because he's the next Jimmy Carter?

I know that Carter's presidency was not the disaster it is made out to be, but come on, is that what you are striving for?

 

[ponderingturtle]

That's Bernie though. I hope that people that voted for him, such as myself, can see that now is the time to migrate to the important goal of not throwing away everything that was gained and help Hillary.

The goal is now to make trump win to bring about the revolution I thought.

 

[The_Animus]

He is staying in to continue to promote his message and on the unlikely chance Clinton is indicted. After the convention and Clinton is officially the nominee, he will endorse her.

This isn't rocket science