Bernie. Don’t Do This.

[workinclasszero]

Bernie. Don’t Do This.
With a scorched-earth campaign against Clinton, Sanders is risking his party’s nominee, its coalition, and his message.
By Jamelle Bouie MAY 19 2016 7:26 PM


Bernie Sanders is still in it to win it. Which is a problem. Because he can’t.

Hillary Clinton holds 1,768 pledged delegates—allocated through primaries and caucuses—to Sanders’ 1,494. To overcome that deficit, Sanders would have to win 67 percent of all remaining delegates, including massive wins in Clinton-friendly states such as California and New Jersey. Barring an extraordinary shift, this won’t happen. It’s not a live possibility.

But the Sanders campaign doesn’t seem to care. “While Mr. Sanders says he does not want Mr. Trump to win in November, his advisers and allies say he is willing to do some harm to Mrs. Clinton in the shorter term if it means he can capture a majority of the 475 pledged delegates at stake in California and arrive at the Philadelphia convention with maximum political power,” reports the New York Times on the campaign’s newest strategy—a scorched-earth run to the finish.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/05/bernie_sanders_scorched_earth_run_against_hillary_clinton_is_a_mistake.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_top

[liberalnarb]

1. BWAAAAAAAAAH!

Get over it.

[LexVegas]

2. Sanders is irrelvant. nt

[MadDAsHell]

6. So is spelling, apparently. nt

[workinclasszero]

7. True but he hasn't given up yet

When and if he becomes an ally of the democratic nominee, things will change.

That's a mighty big IF admittedly.

[bvf]

17. There is no democratic nominee.

[Autumn]

3. scorched-earth campaign? Who the fuck lit that fire, it sure wasn't Bernie

Have fun with it.

[apcalc]

27. Yes

Sanders lit it, encouraged it.

[Autumn]

30. Oh of course he did. In Hill Land

[flor-de-jasmim]

4. 50-state strategy - 50-state strategy

[Gregorian]

5. Scorched what?

Are you even alive?

The only scorched earth in thisi election is the complete and total propaganda and blackout against a candidate who is actually inthe election. To claim Sanders is doing anything other than patiently waiting for some civility is utter bullshit, and you know it.

[workinclasszero]

8. Yeah guess you missed this part...

“While Mr. Sanders says he does not want Mr. Trump to win in November, his advisers and allies say he is willing to do some harm to Mrs. Clinton..."


That little angel Bernie is patiently waiting for some civility huh?

[tex-wyo-dem]

9. +1!

[WDIM]

10. Scorched earth. that's a laugh.

Just let people vote and let every vote be counted.

[Armstead]

11. Unlike the true scorched earth Clinton unleashed against both Obama and Sanders

Both Obama and Sanders are gentlemen (and don't jump on that word for imagined sexism) who have decency and tried to run decent campaigns against the Clinton machine.

The Clinton Machine responded with scorched earth, which ironically tried to paint both of them of running nasty messianic campaigns.

Both primaries got ugly. The common denominator? (Hint, neither Obama or Sanders.)

[apcalc]

29. Ridiculous

She has handled him with kid gloves....

[mmonk]

12. Bullies claiming victimization when people stand up is an interesting concept.

[frylock]

26. That strategy is going to fail miserably against Trump.

He'll just triple down and call the Democrats weak. And he'd be right.

[tex-wyo-dem]

13. Nice narrative (not)...

Politics is messy...get over it. Whatever criticisms Bernie says about HRC and the DNC now will likely be forgotten as soon as the primary is over.

As pathetically horrible as Trump is, Hillary should be able to beat him with her eyes closed if she's a strong candidate at all....oh, wait.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

15. It's politics. Mean things will be said. They'll be set aside in a month.

Sanders won't say anything meaner than Trump would, and -- mathematically -- he does still have an outside shot (about the same as me winning Powerball, but a shot).

Bottom line:

-Hillary will win. She'll easily get enough remaining delegates out of NJ and CA, and the other states/territories (PR, NM, SD, MT, ND, USVI) (which she'll likely lose). She'll go on to win DC the following week

- Sanders will endorse her. That's really not a question. Should he run indy, or remain silent, he would enjoy being invisible in the Senate (unless he would want to caucus with the Republicans); he won't get meaningful committee assignments. What's more likely is that he'll give a pretty speech about defeating Trump and go home. However.....

- If Hillary wants Sanders to really put his backside into helping her, or join the ticket, then she's going to have to embrace some of Sanders' agenda. Otherwise, many of his supporters have clearly indicated that they won't show or will vote write-in/Green/etc.

[apcalc]

32. The DNC

Is extending olive branch to Sanders NOW re:the platform committees...let's see what he does with it.

[AgingAmerican]

16. Hysterical nonsense

[Waiting For Everyman]

18. It's only a problem for certain HRC hacks.

Such a sad, traumatic story. Here, let me get out my tiny violin and show how much I sympathize...




But wait, HARM. Did you actually have the nerve to say "harm" her?

No, you (article writer, and other HRC surrogates and pundits) don't get to use that word. IF Bernie wanted to harm her, he could simply talk about her FBI email scandal and/or be running Independent right now. She would not only not be President, she would be in a hole so deep, she would never climb out of it. But don't be in too much of a hurry, Trump will put her there as soon as Bernie ends his run, if not nominated.

STFU you clueless asshole surrogates and pundits. Every time I hear that word or read it in print, I will be one step more entrenched against her, and I will send one extra $27 donation.

Proceed.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. Is this another Poor Hillary thread?

[bvf]

20. Bernie. Do this.

There. Better now.

You're welcome.

[hellofromreddit]

21. Bernie is in this to give all states a competitive primary

It's great that he had a shot at winning, and it's a shame that the time has probably passed, but the primary is not over and some people still need to vote. Getting second place at 45% is not at all like getting second place at 2%, so those outstanding votes matter.

[Beacool]

24. I think that most establishment folks are not asking him to drop out.

What they are asking him to do is to stop attacking Hillary and the party with his constant complaints that the system was rigged against him. How is he going to urge his supporters to support the nominee in the GE when he has been telling them for months that the party acted against him? As someone said last week on CNN, Sanders is trying to delegitimize Hillary, as if her wins were not "real" wins. Not cool and not constructive.

[TheCowsCameHome]

22. Ow! Ow! Ow!

Butt hurt from the HRC right.

[Beacool]

23. Sanders is an ideologue. In some respects, he reminds me of the Tea Party folks.

They too thought that their cause was righteous and refused to compromise. Sanders thinks that he is right and that there's no room for compromise. He'd rather bring the Democratic party down, than accept with grace that he does not have a path to the nomination.

It reminds me of a story that was in the news a few years ago. A man had a roach infestation in his apt. He decided to get rid of them with roach bombs, but instead of one or two, he used many. The consequence? He not only caused an explosion that ruined his apt., the whole building went on fire.

[apcalc]

33. Spme people are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.

[frylock]

25. Scorched-earth is today's Brocking point, folks.

[Vattel]

28. Clinton was in a worse position in 2008 after the May 6 primaries, but she stayed in.

[portlander23]

31. Gasp

[The_Casual_Observer]

34. Basically a waste of campaign money. Bernie has

little to gain at this point.

[JPnoodleman]

35. Its what Hillary deserves....

If the Parties coalition is that weak, than maybe the Party needs to do something to shore up its voter base.

Clearly there is a problem. But you all are blaming Bernie for "rocking the apple cart," but the cart was already rocked. If the Democrats don't have the policy that pleases its voters, why should these voters vote for the Democrats? Your only main reason is "Oh well, OMFG TRUMP!!?!?!?!??!?!" but at a certain point picking the "lesser of two evils," becomes a pointless gesture.

[Peachhead22]

36. Who commissioned the story at Slate?

If it was a Clinton operative, then that person needs to be fired immediately. The article only serves to put Hillary in a bad light. Not Bernie.

Bernie and "scorched earth" in the same sentence? Are you bleeping kidding me? The guy who famously said he wasn't going to talk about her "damn emails"? That guy? "Scorched earth" would be mentioning them and every other scandal at every opportunity.

Because if Clinton or any of her operatives think Bernie is going "scorched earth" on then she's too weak to take on Trump. Or is being made to look "too weak"*. That tribble-headed oompa loompa is going to going scorched earth (truly scorched earth) on Clinton on a daily basis.

*Come to think of it. That could be a Trump operative who planted the story. It would be a twofer from their perspective. Make Clinton seem scared of a relatively benign and ethical challenger AND the story sows disunity amongst us Dems.

[Orsino]

37. Made-up story. n/t