It makes no difference if Bernie suspends before the convention rather than at the convention.

[Ken Burch]

HRC is the nominee either way. He says he will vote for her either way.

Nothing important would come of Bernie getting out before Philly.

It's just as over without that as it would be with it.

[stopbush]

1. He will not have a speaking slot at the convention if he is still a candidate.

That's one thing he will lose that might be important to him.

[B Calm]

49. That would be a huge mistake if Hillary wants to win over Bernie supporters.

[stopbush]

50. She already has all of the Sanders supporters she needs.

Not to mention a growing number of Rs.

There is no reason on earth for Hillary to bow and scrape to corral the small % of Sanders voters who won't vote for her, especially those who will never vote for her. It's a waste of energy and resources for almost no return.

[B Calm]

52. More and more voters feel their political party no longer represents them. Your thinking

will only escalate this problem.

[AgingAmerican]

56. Yes, he will

He will have a very prominent speaking slot.

[stopbush]

61. No. The rules are that an active candidate is not allowed to speak

at the convention.

If he doesn't suspend his campaign, then no speaking slot at all.

[AgingAmerican]

65. He will be speaking prominently

[Lord Magus]

62. If he's not even admitting he lost, why should he? -nt-

[Bleacher Creature]

2. Who?

[arcane1]

51. Wow, that's original.

I'm glad I was here to observe such clever wit.

[NanceGreggs]

3. At this point ...

... nothing "important" will come out of Bernie doing anything.

It's too bad he didn't realize that weeks ago.

[MaggieD]

4. Exactly

[AgadorSparticus]

8. THAT'S the truth!

[KMOD]

13. truth

[Ken Burch]

16. There's no good reason for you to still be dissing Bernie's candidacy.

He had to run. There was no alternative.

It could not have led to anything positive for HRC to win the nom without serious opposition.

[NanceGreggs]

19. And there is no good reason ...

... for Bernie to still be dissing Democrats. And yet he's still doing so.

[Ken Burch]

20. He's doing nothing of the sort. He's simply fighting for progressive values

such as opposition to TPP(which would be the only progressive position the party can take on the issue).

Just accept that the conflict is over.

[NanceGreggs]

21. He's fighting to stay in the spotlight. n/t

[Ken Burch]

22. This isn't about his ego. It is about principle.

If HRC had let the anti-TPP language go into the platform, he probably would have suspended by now.

She could say "I accept that the president supports TPP, but it will be a dead letter the moment I'm sworn in".

[seabeyond]

24. Listen to you. No.

[NanceGreggs]

70. Very generous of you ...

... to suggest what HRC "could say" to assuage the guy who lost.

Here's what Bernie could have said long before now: "Congratulations, Madam Secretary. You won."

And then he could have said: "How can I help you in your fight against Trump?"

And then he could have said: "Can we meet and discuss what I believe should be included in the Democratic platform - the final decision, of course, being yours as to what is actually included?"

Instead he has acted the bully, holding back his endorsement until HRC - the VOTERS' CHOICE - said and did what HE wanted.

And now he's planning to deliver a "victory statement" in Philly at a time when Democrats are gathering to unite behind the nominee? The man's ego is such that he still hasn't even picked up a phone to congratulate the first woman to be chosen as the candidate of a major party in a presidential race.

You can tell yourself all you want that this (hopefully) final display of arrogance isn't about his need to cling to the spotlight. You can also buy a bridge in Brooklyn at a reasonable price.

He used the Dem Party's resources to further his own ambitions, sued the Party when HIS campaign stole HRC's data, cried "fraud" every time he lost a contest, told the "new voters" he was allegedly bringing into the Party that the Democrats were corrupt, stated that HRC was "unqualified" to be POTUS, and denigrated the Party at every opportunity.

I've learned many things about Bernie in the past year, and one of them is that when it comes to "principles", he has demonstrated time and again that he has none.

[larkrake]

33. he is dissing bad dems and bad republicans. That is his job

[obamanut2012]

26. This

[DemonGoddess]

42. ^^^This!!!

[seabeyond]

5. I do not want him allotted a speaking slot if he is not 100% cheering on Clinton and Democrats.

[Ken Burch]

18. He wouldn't use a speaking slot to do anything negative, no matter what.

n/t.

[seabeyond]

25. There is nothing to back that statement and every reason to believe it would be a long speech

calling out the Democratic party at our convention to celebrate the win of our candidate.

[SkeleTim1968]

53. I agree.

Railing against Democrats is also negative, staying in the race isn't unifying it's tearing people apart.
I don't believe Sanders staying in the race has anything to do with enlightening people or with any revolution principles. It seems more like he's staying in the race just because he knows it annoys the Democratic Party. It comes across as revenge and that is all.

[AgingAmerican]

57. Write to DWS then

And deny him a speaking spot. That would go a long way towards wooing his supporters into her fold.

[LongtimeAZDem]

59. His hardcore supporters will never vote for Clinton; the rest already are (nt)

[AgingAmerican]

60. Cuz you say so!`

Way to GOTV!

[AgingAmerican]

69. I am a "hardcore' Sanders supporter

And I will be voting for Hillary.

[seabeyond]

68. Over 80% of the voters are already there. I don't expect the one making the noise to ever move over

[seabeyond]

6. Why do you repeatedly make these threads?

[grossproffit]

10. To keep his name out there?

I've almost forgotten about him.

[seabeyond]

12. Ha, I didn't even think of that but ya... I guess. Ok, I get it. Thanks. Nt

[Ken Burch]

17. Because people keep demanding he suspend now when suspending wouldn't change anything.

He accepts that HRC is the nominee and vows to vote for her. Until Philly, that's enough.

[seabeyond]

23. You keep ignoring the fact he insults us all, and tell us that we need to be ok with it.

Except in Sanders world, life doesn't work that way.

Everyone pretty much ignores the man until Sanders stand up for a new batch of insults or dissing or owning the Democratic positions of the Dems, we call it out.

So no Ken, having once been drilled hard enough for him to state he would grudgingly vote for Clinton and a few hours later walk back from that, it is not good enough and does not warrant a place at the convention or the honor of a slot giving a speech.

[Ken Burch]

30. He hasn't insulted you.

He is simply fighting respectfully for justice for all.

It wouldn't change anything in the HRC-Trump race for Bernie to suspend for the convention.

[seabeyond]

31. He is not respectful, and yes he has insulted me and every Dem that did not vote for him, repeatedly

[Lord Magus]

63. Yes he has.

His refusal to concede the race is an insult to all 17 million people who voted for Hillary. By doing so he's not acknowledging our votes to have really counted.

[cosmicone]

7. In my opinion, Bernie would have had a bigger bang

if he had conceded after DC and a nationwide TV audience to articulate his visions.

Now, it is just sad ... a curmudgeonly guy who cannot see reality and is trying to grab an insignificant headline here and there and riling up people to vote against the democratic nominee.

[grossproffit]

11. I was disappointed that he didn't even comment about Trump's Star of David meme.

[larkrake]

34. he does not need a bang, he has the enthusiasm

[cosmicone]

36. hahahahaha n/t

[LuvLoogie]

9. Where IS Bernie? Vermont? DC? When can he return

to Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch with Bernie the Independent Senator from Vermont?

[pandr32]

14. Yes it does

$40 K of taxpayer dollars per day

[Croney]

28. This. n/t

.

[Exilednight]

29. is a drop in the bucket when compared to what we spend

Per hour in this country. How much did Hillary's private server investigation cost us?

[seabeyond]

32. It is a waste, not needed and appears to be all about ego and feeling important.

That is all. That is what people see and feel. There is no valid argument to keep SS. And I do not even care, but that is the point.

[Exilednight]

37. I noticed you didn't answer the question.

[randome]

38. It comes down to who started the investigation. It was the Benghazi committee.

So once more, the GOP is spending millions of dollars for bogus investigations. It seems to be all they know how to do anymore.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[seabeyond]

40. Seriously. Your argument is .... Blaming Clinton for the Repug game? LOl. Seriously?

See, so very beyond a valid argument, I did not even consider wasting time on the obvious answer.

Do you think that was like a brilliant, gotcha? Blaming Clinton for Repug bad behavior? I just do not step into that at all.

[Exilednight]

46. She gave them the ammunition to do it.

[seabeyond]

47. Not gonna happen Exiled....

[Exilednight]

55. The bad part is, it already happened.

[seabeyond]

67. There will always be those attacking Clinton for no reason.

[pandr32]

48. What does one have to do with the other?

[bettyellen]

15. After Nevada my worry is assholes yelling out b*tch

And I am disgusted That even has to cross my mind in this day and age.

[seabeyond]

27. "Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs was quoted...Sanders would deliver a "victory statement" "

Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs was quoted in June telling the website Philly.com that Sanders would deliver a "victory statement" at the proposed July 24 rally.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512239531

So please, quit insisting Sanders is not playing a game that can hurt our party and our party's nominees chance in the GE. We are not buying it. Rally up protests outside our convention and now being an active participant. Sanders actions has repercussions.

[randome]

35. You're looking at this at the microcosm level. Technically, you're correct.

But the goal is not just to nominate Clinton but to present the strongest united front we can muster against the GOP. Sanders' endorsement when it was clear he lost would have helped reaching that goal. As it is now, his endorsement will be a mere asterisk in the process.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[NCTraveler]

39. At this point, it doesn't matter if he endorses or not.

Elizabeth Warren easily slid into his shoes for us. Though his shoes are a little small for her politically. Books will be written about this. How to Squander Political Capital Overnight.

[onenote]

41. A joint appearance by Clinton and Sanders before the convention would be important

Just as the joint appearance by Clinton and Warren was important.

Waiting until the convention is not as helpful as moving forward now.

I know you must see that, even if you don't want to admit it.

[seabeyond]

44. With Sanders behaviour I disagree. I think it would make Clinton weak.

I think his lack of acknowledgment of get win and his disrespect would make any united tainted.

[DemonGoddess]

43. At this point, this is true

he has no relevance to where it could make any kind of a difference. Now, the longer it takes him to suspend, the more petty it makes him look.

[eastwestdem]

45. Don't suspend Bernie! Keep running!

It's the only way to get your message across.

[jcgoldie]

58. run forest run

The race has been over for 2 1/2 months.

[Blue_Tires]

54. I'd have thought an endorsement before the convention

would at least be customary...

[Lord Magus]

64. Nothing important would come of Bernie NOT getting out before Philly.

All staying in does is make him look like he's in denial.

[George Eliot]

66. You see things without emotion. Thanks.

Hillary won. Why can't they get over the Bernie thing? I don't understand it. He can do what he chooses. Instead of spending so much anger and bitterness on Bernie, why don't Clinton supporters let it go and rally in the win? It's usually the losers who get angry and bitter. At this site, it's the winners. Go figure.