HRC is sabotaging her own chances with her tactics.

[Ken Burch]

If she does get nominated, she will need the passionate support of everyone supporting both candidates to win Those of us who support Bernie but are not Bernie or Bust will try our best to make unity happen(as I hope her side will do if WE prevail in Philly).

She will make it nearly impossible for us to do that work if she keeps campaiging as though our campaign is illegitimate and our candidate is unqualified. She will also make it difficult, if not impossible for us to do that if she plays hardball on the platform(she will owe us concessions on economic policy, trade policy and foreign policy planks, which will be in her interest to make anyway since our positions are generally more popular than hers on those issues. if we were ahead coming into Philly, our side would accept whatever language HRC supporters want on social justice issues) and doesn't retract her claim that Bernie is not qualified to be president-with Bernie retracting the counter-claim he made in response.

The path to victory lies in validating the best of both campaigns and both candidates and making sure that both sides leave Philly feeling their efforts were worth it and that they achieved something. If Bernie is nominated, we will make sure to validate the HRC campaign on the best of their issues and will do all we can to send them on their way home feeling respected and included. If HRC's campaign prevails, it will be equally obligatory of them to make that effort towards us. There is no reason for either side not to do that, and no reason for either to take the traditional "winners rule-losers drool-you HAVE to support us because you have to support" attitude we usually see from whoever gets nominated. That tone(Obama supporters weren't quite like that to HRC supporters in 2008, for example)usually does nothing but cost us votes, without ever bringing in new votes for our npominee from any other blocs of voters.

A first step towards this is for both candidates to admit that the other candidate is, in fact, fully qualified to be president.

[villager]

1. Well stated, Ken. As per another recent exchange of ours here...

...this place is rapidly becoming as stratified as the Middle East, eh?

[Ken Burch]

3. And with less morality at times. n/t.

[geek tragedy]

2. Too late for this, Ken. After Bernie's crossing of the Rubicon

tonight, no Clinton supporters care about grievances from Camp Sanders. Unity will only come when his ego will allow it.

Falling on deaf ears, this is.

[Ken Burch]

5. The Rubicon was crossed by your candidate first.

She had no excuse for calling him unqualified. No Democratic candidate should ever say that to another.

They both need to apologize here.

And HRC can't win in the fall on her primary base alone, given that no one to the right of that base will ever vote anything but Republican again for the rest of eternity.

[geek tragedy]

7. SHE DID NOT CALL HIM UNQUALIFIED

A media headline falsely stated that she did.

Anyhow, until Sanders climbs down, no Clintion supporters are going to think about unity until April 26.

[ThePhilosopher04]

14. The media headlines come from her campaign. Where do you think they get their talking points from?

Mainstream media works for Hillary Clinton.

[itsrobert]

27. Just silly.

[ThePhilosopher04]

60. You know better

[Fumesucker]

15. She didn't call Obama unqualified in 2008 either but she damn sure implied it

2016 is turning out to be 2008 all over again for Hillary, she's hitting the same underhanded and disgusting themes she did against Obama.

[geek tragedy]

18. and your guy is managing to be even worse.

he actually did call her unqualified.

Nasty Naderite who hates Democrats and the party at the end of the day. 19 more days until
we can go back to ignoring his ass.

[Fumesucker]

19. The difference being that Sanders hasn't said any of the Republicans are competent

While Clinton praised McCain and then had her words used in one of McCain's ads in the general.

[geek tragedy]

20. But she didn't say Obama was unqualified.

She certainly implied it--which is not that unusual--but she didn't flat out say it.

That left her the option of endorsing and supporting him.

Sanders has taken that option off the table.

He also took his promise to run a positive campaign and put into a wood chipper. Not too long before he starts alluding to the Indictment Fairy now that he's gone kamikaze.

[Fumesucker]

21. Another Democrat vouched for McCain's qualifications in 2008 as well

[geek tragedy]

22. He wasn't a Democrat in 2008. Just like Sanders isn't nt

[Fumesucker]

25. You're probably getting tired of hearing this but..

Bless your heart.



You don't get to distance yourself from Holy Joementum that easily, he's the quintessential pragmatic moderate Democrat.

[geek tragedy]

26. No he's not. He's what the purity police imagine is a typical

mainstream Democrat. Traitor Joe was not popular amongst mainstream pragmatists. He bombed when he ran in the 2004 primaries.

John Kerry and Barack Obama are much better examples.

Anyhow, Bernie is now a left wing Never Hillary type, so screw him and his fellow Naderite travelers.

[Fumesucker]

33. Joebituary was Vice Presidential nominee precisely because he was a pragmatic moderate Democrat

Lieberman was a Democratic party heavy hitter who got brought in because Al Gore wasn't considered pragmatic enough, too flighty and charismatic so they needed someone a little less flexible and open.

[geek tragedy]

51. what planet were you living on from 1999-2000?

because Al Gore wasn't considered pragmatic enough, too flighty and charismatic

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/gore060799.htm

Which brings us to Al Gore, the highest-ranking boring man in the land. Or so the polls say. He is, these surveys suggest, the vanilla pudding of the species. This doesn't have to be an absolute truth to be a problem. In America, when an impression takes root it multiplies until it becomes commonplace until it becomes parody until it becomes accepted fact. And then it's too late. It has become legend. We don't have to speculate about this phenomenon. We have Al Gore. We have political science:


• Washington Post-ABC News poll: 56 percent describe the vice president as "very boring" or "somewhat boring."


• Newsweek poll: 65 percent think Gore's "stiffness" is a problem for his campaign.

• CNN-Gallup-USA Today poll: 65 percent say the quality "inspiring" does not apply to Gore


• Pew Research Center poll: "Please tell me what one word best describes your impression of Al Gore." The word Americans came up with most often? Boring.

I think we're done here. You're entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.

[Fumesucker]

57. I thought you would find that amusing

You don't remember Earth Tones?

Our Al was a wild and crazy guy at heart, he puffed a lot of weed in Nam and the establishment knew it, he was suspected of hippie sympathies despite his mild mannered Clark Kent exterior.

[snowy owl]

17. There goes media again.

the words were "disqualify" him by her team so what does that mean?

[Bohemianwriter]

36. So you categorically deny her indicating...

his qualifications at all, and starting to question whether he's a "real democrat" or not - a talking point that has trickled down to her followers on the internet?

So you don't see the dirt she is throwing after a huge loss in Wisconsin, and then take Bernie out of context (while others are talking about Bernie being sexist) and whine about his retaliation?

This is the list of why she is not qualified to be president.

“I don’t believe that she is qualified if she is through her super PAC taking tens of millions of dollars in special-interest funds.

“I don’t think that you are qualified if you get $15 million from Wall Street through your super PAC.

“I don’t think you are qualified if you voted for the disastrous war in Iraq.

“I don’t think you’re qualified if you supported almost every disastrous trade agreement.

“I don’t think you are qualified if you supported the Panama free trade agreement, something I very strongly opposed, which has given the green light to wealthy people and corporations all over the world to avoid paying taxes owed to their countries.”

I would like to add another 6 foreign policy blunders and one domestic that would disqualify her to be commander in chief:

The Patriot Act

The Honduras coup de tate.
Her opposition to Obama's nuclear deal with Iran
Afghanistan
Libya
Syria
Her blind support for the RW Zionist regime of Israel against the Palestinians.

I will also include her foundation that takes money from Saudi tyrants who in return gets to buy American weapons to be used against Yemen while they execute Atheist poets, and peace mongering Shia leaders as terrorists.

[geek tragedy]

50. No, I'm saying she deliberately avoided saying he's unqualified.

She left that door open.

Candidates are always going to cast some shade in that department.

But they don't flat out say that members of their own party are unfit for office.

Because once they go on the record saying that, they can't endorse later.

[timmymoff]

79. Always someone else's fault

No personal responsibility. Bill a victim of many vast right wing conspiracies, Hillary was tricked by Bush into war( which makes me question her judgment even more). Now the media harmed her. Always someone else other than Her Corporate Majesty. She is obviously not qualified if she cant even hold herself accountable. Poor Poor Hillary tough as nails and as dumb as a nail regarding campaigning.

[strategery blunder]

9. It was always too late for this in the eyes of Hillary supporters.

But then again, I suspect that's why Ken wrote the post he did.

Will I vote for the Democratic nominee? Yes.

Will I put my personal friendships with Bernie supporters on the line trying to convince my friends to vote in the general if Hillary is the nominee? No, Hillary has not earned any sacrifices from me with her campaign, and that is an example of what Ken is referring to.

The more Hillary digs in her heels, the worse the "enthusiasm gap" will get in the general. She would rather a Republican win the general than risk another primary defeat.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

10. there is no rubicon

she is bad news

far too many would never never vote for her

it is a reality that some are not smart enough to understand

[Lizzie Poppet]

44. Pretending that Bernie was the one to initiate the nastiness fools absolutely no one.

No one.

[liberal_at_heart]

4. Are you kidding? I know this song. We will be told to sit down, shut up, and fall in line

just like we have been for years now. There is a lot of pent up anger on the liberal side and there will be lots who do not come back this time.

[840high]

12. .+1

[hereforthevoting]

32. I do disagree with one thing here

I was a bit naive when Obama came on and I did become engrossed in the hope and change thing. Never really saw the hope but we do have a lot more people on insurance rolls and Gitmo is.... well, we have a lot more people on insurance rolls.

[Lizzie Poppet]

46. And I'll happily respond with a hearty, heartfelt "go fuck yourself."

I have no problem leaving the presidential slot on my ballot blank if the major parties offer me two slightly different flavors of the same old shit.

[Yurovsky]

69. I agree 100%...

If it's HRC vs Cruz, it'll be Corporatist with a side order of reproductive rights vs Straight-up Corporatist.

If it's HRC vs Trump, I don't think Trump cares about the anti-choice whack jobs. It'll just be Corporatist vs Racist Corporatist.

While HRC would be preferable on the social side of the house, I'm not voting for someone who is a-ok with Wall Street screwing me relentlessly. Sorry not sorry.

I'm getting too damn old to put up with being told to just sit there and take it, it's just the way things are...

[Fumesucker]

6. Gollum was ecstatic when he got the One Ring back...

[fun n serious]

8. Bernie is making it hard for me to accept him as the nominee..

I think we're in the same boat

[Nanjeanne]

23. Don't worry. What few Dems like you he loses he will more than make up with

Independents and young people.

[geek tragedy]

24. Bernie isn't even going to be a credible candidate by the end of the month.

trying to throw the election to Trump isn't going to play well

[Ken Burch]

37. How can you know that? NY is up for grabs...

...our support is rising even in PA, and we can't really leave Oregon and California out of the equation.

Why not win by incorporating the best of both candidates' proposals in the platform? By making sure nobody at all leaves Philly feeling crushed and dissed?

"You lost-shut up and take what you're given" is not a winning mindset to create a Democratic victory.

[geek tragedy]

48. NY is not up for grabs. That's Sanders campaign hype.

Siena will be out with a new poll fairly soon, and they're one of the few pollsters who do ask about party ID.

PA--polls show him down double digits except for Quinnipiac, which is constantly biased in his favor.

Bernie has made it clear he has no intention of supporting the nominee if it isn't himself.

So, he's taking himself away from the table.

You're a good guy (assuming gender is consistent with username) but Bernie crossed a line he's going to have a very difficult time uncrossing.

[Bohemianwriter]

38. So you will not vote democratic if Bernie gets the nomination?

Where is your party loyalty?

And why bash Bernie while giving Hillary freepasses?

And why should Hillary use Obama as a prop when she used the same tactics against him in 2008 as she uses against Bernie today?

Do you really consider Hillary to be more trustworthy and clean in her approach in this election?

[azurnoir]

11. Drop a smear and run while the candidate is trying to explain drop another just like '08

[ThePhilosopher04]

13. She crossed the Rubicon a long time ago. She can't win the general.

[hollowdweller]

31. I think that's republican wishful thinking you are projecting there.

You are describing what is going to happen after their contested convention. My brother who is a republican says if Trump doesn't win he's never voting again.

[Agschmid]

49. Squidbillies. It's pretty obvious.

[Agschmid]

55. Well what can I say the voice actors are quite good.

[FSogol]

58. Except that sometimes a voice actor can lose their voice. I bet that sucks. n/t

[hollowdweller]

28. I think she was tougher on Obama than Sanders

However the same tactics she used against Obama will hurt her chances of winning.

People think she's like the way she's acting anyway, esp independants and to be honest she'd do better if she wouldn't play into their expectations which would make Bernie look harsher.

I support Sanders and have no problem voting for her in the general. However when the general comes she needs to be able to get the majority of everybodies votes to win.

[seabeyond]

29. Tired of you all holding your votes hostage. Don't vote, vote for Trump. Freedom of vote.

[Ken Burch]

34. In any year, the runners-up have the right to expect something

If Bernie is nominated, we will be conciliatory to HRC supporters and their concerns(and he has already proved he is just as strong on the issues you have accused him of betrayal about, and will do even more to prove himself on those), so it's only fair to expect HRC and her supporters to do the same. There really isn't anything our campaign supports that grassroots HRC supporters couldn't stomach, after all.

What I am saying is, the path to party unity involves both sides being treated with respect and everyone walking away feeling like what they've been doing for all these months and years was worth it. That's the best way to win. We don't achieve anything by the nominee saying "you lost-know your place". That just drives turnout down.

[seabeyond]

40. I do not think there will be conciliatory from Sanders or supporters at all.

Now, my commenting that I am damn tired of you holding votes for hostage has nothing to do with how Clinton will handle it. She is very gracious. More power to her. Personally, I would not allow Sanders at the convention to cause more problems and chaos, but I am sure the Democrats will.

[Ken Burch]

41. Bernie won't be a wrecker.

He's just in this to fight for the people.

[seabeyond]

43. He has been exactly a "wrecker" for about 3 months now. And getting much worse.

[Vinca]

30. When you watch her reaction to Bernie, you have to wonder what would happen in the general election.

In case people haven't noticed, the GOP has been relatively quiet about Hillary so far this election cycle. I think they're trying to lull her into a sense of thinking it won't be as bad as she thinks. BIG mistake. Day one of the general election will be like a nuclear blast.

[1StrongBlackMan]

35. If you think the GOP has been quiet about HRC ...

what is your assessment of their approach to Sanders?

[Vinca]

63. The same. Only Bernie isn't currently being investigated and Bernie

had nothing to do with their all-time favorite topic Benghazi. Both would be hit hard by the GOP, but I think there is one person the right hates more than Obama and that's Hillary. FYI, although I support Bernie, it's rather obvious Hillary will be the nominee. I think Hillary supporters are looking at her through rose-colored glasses and will be in for a giant wake-up call once she's anointed. All the candidates have said about her on the right in this election, so far, is Trump saying she shouldn't be allowed to run (FBI). That will change the day she gets to the lucky number. If you think Bernie is attacking her, you ain't seen nothing yet.

[1StrongBlackMan]

64. So the GOP hasn't been quiet about HRC?

[Vinca]

65. You're making me want to go outside and hit my head on the pavement.

As I said, Trump has been the only one who has said anything and it's only been in passing, not a full scale attack. They're currently sitting on the sidelines rubbing their hands together and salivating, just waiting for her to get the nomination.

[1StrongBlackMan]

67. Okay ... Tell me ...

how will a gop candidate, whomever he might be, saying what the media has been saying for the past year and a half, be more "damaging" than the full-scale attack that the media is currently engaged in?

[Vinca]

72. You're kidding me . . . right?

The GOP candidate will be covered around the clock and every stop he makes will most likely be spent bashing Hillary for 99.9% of the speech. And what is this current "full scale attack" you're talking about? If you mean the current kerfuffle between Hillary and Bernie, that's a nothingburger. Just wait until the GOP gets going. We'll being hearing everything from Bill's girlfriends to Benghazi over and over and over and over and over again. It's going to make 2008 and Rev. Wright seem like the good old days.

[1StrongBlackMan]

73. No.. I'm not. I suppose you haven't notice that any, and everything, that the gop candidate can say

is already being broadcast on a daily basis.

[Vinca]

74. I have noticed, but they aren't talking about Hillary at the moment.

The current focus is "Lyin' Ted" and "New York values."

[1StrongBlackMan]

75. Give it ten minutes ... there will be a email-gate or Foundation story ...

immediately preceding, or following, a story about the competitiveness of Sanders.

[Vinca]

77. I'm self-employed and have the news on in the background all day.

Since I don't listen to Fox I don't hear those stories all day long. I don't doubt Rush Limbaugh and the rest of them chat about it 24/7, but it's highly unlikely any of their listeners would vote for any Democrat anyway. To be honest, I've been disappointed Hillary is getting a pass on the FBI story. Nobody seems to take it terribly seriously. I don't think I've heard anything of any substance about the Clinton Foundation. Stories are here on DU and other Internet sites, but most of the political coverage on the television is about Trump and that's something that has been well documented (by Media Matters, I think).

[restorefreedom]

39. i actually believe she no longer cares about winning the wh

sure, it would be great for her, but with all her screaming flaws as a candidate and a human being, she is not stupid. she has to see at this point that the general is out of reach, and that assumes there is no criminal fallout from the fbi probe.

so if the wh is not going to happen, whats the point? because she will still be making history as the first woman nom on top of a major ticket. and her new scorched earth policy is proof that she cares not about the country or the future of the party she claims to be loyal to. she will take everyone down as she pursues her political ambitions.

it is, as it has always been, all about HER.

[Ken Burch]

42. I hope you are wrong, but it's no sure thing that you are. n/t.

[restorefreedom]

47. i hope i am wrong, too :) nt

[redstateblues]

56. Nice projection! Bernie's campaign is a cult of personality

As a Hillary supporter I admit that she is not a perfect candidate although she is the most qualified. Bernie supporters, on the other hand, can never admit any of the many missteps or imperfections that Bernie possesses. It's like he is idolized and worshipped as if he is some savior. it's kinda creepy at times.

[restorefreedom]

62. the projection is not bernie supporters

hillary has run a campaign of smear and destroy and her supporters are all on board. it took a relative of one of the murdered sandy hook children to call her out on her obscene exploitation of their deaths for her political agenda.

[yourpaljoey]

76. I think she believes she has a strong chance of winning

Hard to believe for us looking in from the outside; but I suspect she is locked into a coronation ideation. The meltdown will be one for the ages.

[restorefreedom]

78. yes. bubble bursting can be harsh on the one in the bubble. nt

[dr60omg]

53. Thank you Ken

That was stated beautifully!
I think people over time have become aware of how the Clintons play language games it is the same games that got her husband in trouble parsing language like mortgage derivatives into smaller and smaller components while obfuscating the original intent of her statements.

[Yurovsky]

61. I'd say selling out to Wall Street...

will make it awfully hard for genuine progressives to support her. It's not enough to hate Trump or Cruz, they actually have to support Hillary on some level, and if she's just a pro-choice Corporatist, it's hard to get excited about voting for someone who may protect reproductive rights but crush average working-class and poor Americans via her corporate-centric worldview.

Seriously, does anyone think she'll bite the hand that has provided her with the Rockstar lifestyle to which she feels entitled? Seriously??? 😂

[Betty Karlson]

66. Yep: scorched earth never laid the foundations for victory

It's all about denying all things to nearly all men. Which is why only the very richest and disconnected among us even consider scorched earth.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

68. She's going to have a bumpy ride to the White House without the Left and Independents.

[Yurovsky]

71. But she'll still have her Wall St. pals...

of course they won't care if HRC or the GOP wins, as they cash in either way.

I honestly wonder if she just thought progressives would look past all that dirty money and loyalty to her corporate benefactors... If so she badly miscalculated ...

[Beacool]

70. Yeah, because nothing says party unity as someone calling the party's front runner

unqualified to be president.

Did it ever occur to you and his supporters that he would need her supporters to win the presidency in the unlikely event that he won the nomination?

It's a two way street........