2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumAfter House Democrats booed Bernie, it now looks like he's gonna endorse Hillary
I think he realized today that he can't keep prolonging this. It would hurt him if he did.
Shortly after he was booed, it looks like he's gonna endorse Hillary.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/bernie-sanders-booed-house-democrats-225161
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Campaigns in Talks of Possible Endorsement Next Week
The Sanders and Clinton campaigns are in talks about a possible event where Sanders would endorse the former Secretary of State, ABC News has confirmed according to sources close to the Sanders campaign.
Sanders’ endorsement of Clinton could come sometime next week, possibly at an event in New Hampshire.
The Vermont senator has withheld his endorsement of the presumptive Democratic nominee, however he has said he would vote for Clinton in November.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-campaigns-talks-endorsement-week/story?id=40389661
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bluedye33139
(1,474 posts)I am so tired of this charade that I'm throwing in the towel on this one.
If he endorses, great. If not, I will live my life, and the Democrats will survive.
giftedgirl77
(4,713 posts)bravenak
(34,648 posts)But- I guess booing feels a bit different than the adoration and chanting and shit. I get it. But I just cannot care.
aikoaiko
(34,183 posts)
They campaigns have been talking for a long time now.
Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)His peers finally drove that home I suppose.
His future Senatorial achievements are likely to be in the toilet after this debaucle.
MADem
(135,425 posts)Democratic House delegation, unless he's got four quarters for a dollar....
“The goal isn’t to win elections, the goal is to transform America,” Sanders said at one point, according to multiple lawmakers and aides in the room.
Some Democrats booed Sanders for that line, which plays better on the campaign trail than in front of a roomful of elected officials.
House Democrats overwhelmingly supported Hillary Clinton during the presidential primary fight, so it was not surprising that Sanders got a cool reception from them.
But frustration with Sanders was also evident. Rank-and-file House Democrats want the Vermont independent to officially drop out of the race and throw his support behind the presumptive nominee, and they can’t understand why he hasn’t.
“It was frustrating because he’s squandering the movement he built with a self-obsession that was totally on display,” said a senior Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/bernie-sanders-booed-house-democrats-225161#ixzz4DfYiWz7c
Ouch--that's some serious name-calling.
Eric J in MN
(35,619 posts)...criticized Sanders.
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi brought him to meet with the House Democrats, and Rep. Gerry Connelly tweeted afterwards, ".@politico story is false. Bernie was respectfully received by Caucus. Some disagreements, yes, but a friendly venue."
MADem
(135,425 posts)senior usually means someone with a title within the caucus--someone along the lines of a Steny Hoyer or John Lewis--not a freshman or a mid-ranked player. It might have even been Pelosi herself, but we won't know that because the person did not want to speak for attribution.
"Some disagreements, yes..." was the booing, no doubt. I'm sure the person giving the quote to the reporter didn't stand up and announce it to all assembled--that's why the quote is anonymous.
Pelosi brought him to meet with his former peers, quite obviously, to give him the "Come to Jesus" treatment (jury--that does not mean I expect him to be converted to Xtianity, it is a 'turn of phrase' designed to illustrate how extreme pressure is brought to bear in a church setting on one person by a congregation of "true believers" who want the person to behave in a certain way).
Instead of going along with the program, Sanders dug in. The comments he made were pretty odd--you don't "make change" if you don't "win elections." He's not going to get people out in the streets creating some kind of chaos and revolution--heck, he couldn't even get enough of them out to vote for him.
I don't know any more people, even those who were expressing resentment in the aftermath of the period between NY and DC primaries, who are still griping about Hillary being the presumptive nominee. Most people have moved on. If this final coffin nail that there will be no charges --the sorry hope that "Comey don't play that" -- isn't enough to convince them, nothing likely will. There comes a time when we have to stop worrying about placating those who just will not be mollified and move forward with the support we have, and try to grow our base from "the persuadables" .
Sanders is running out of room to maneuver. If he doesn't pivot soon, no one will care what he does. He'll make himself irrelevant.
On edit: According to CNN, at least THREE Democrats agree with the Politico "booing" bit: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/06/politics/democrats-boo-sanders/
Washington (CNN)House Democrats roughed up Sen. Bernie Sanders in a closed-door session Wednesday after he deflected questions about when he would formally back Hillary Clinton for president, with a group of members booing him at one point, according to three Democrats who attended the meeting.
Eric J in MN
(35,619 posts)...enhanced by the opportunity to hear the perspective of someone who recently toured the country and got 13 million votes. Nancy Pelosi, a fellow liberal, wanted him to share his perspective.
In the middle of the 40 minute meeting, Sanders said, "The goal isn't winning elections" (boos). "The goal is to transform America" (cheers).
The point of the meeting wasn't to boo or cheer him.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_577d2625e4b041646411587d
BobbyDrake
(2,542 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)stuff kind of disappears into the ether....or something:
http://theweek.com/speedreads/634328/bernie-sanders-shot-back-house-democrats-who-booed-meeting
Bernie Sanders shot back at the House Democrats who booed him at a meeting
3:33 p.m. ET
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the reason that House Democrats booed him at a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning boils down to the fact that they simply "look at the world a little bit differently." Though Sanders said that reports of the incident were somewhat exaggerated, he did acknowledge "differences of opinion." "What I'm trying to do and the reason I ran for president is to help transform this country. To deal with income and wealth inequality, a declining middle class, the fact that so many of the young people are leaving school deeply in debt," Sanders told CNN's Wolf Blitzer later Wednesday.
House Democrats allegedly booed Sanders for his longstanding refusal to endorse Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential race, despite the fact that she's won enough delegates to clinch the nomination. Democratic lawmakers reportedly shouted "Timeline! Timeline!" after they sat through Sanders' brief introductory speech about Wall Street reform, trade, and campaign finance. "He just went in there with his canned talking points from the stump," one source told the Los Angeles Times. "People just weren't having it."
Although Sanders said at the meeting that "the goal is not to win elections," but to "transform America," he clarified later Wednesday that he would fight for a Democrat to win the White House. "You bet your bottom dollar on that," Sanders said.
If he really just went in there and delivered his stump speech and expected busy legislators to sit through that, he deserved to be booed.
We have an election to win, and he can either lead, follow or get out of the way.
Cha
(297,660 posts)BobbyDrake
(2,542 posts)"Comey don't play that" was just awesome! Bravo!
MADem
(135,425 posts)Wish I could claim credit, but I picked it up somewhere in the webiverse....I'd give credit if I could, but I've seen variations of it in several places!!
tblue37
(65,488 posts)It was the catch phrase of Homey the Clown.
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BobbyDrake
(2,542 posts)Thanks, though.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)undecided voters would have no idea whether he did or didn't. But unity does matter, so good if it happens. His statement to the Democratic caucus suggesting he still believed his old nonsense about there being little difference between the parties, thus who actually won election was not the main problem, was shocking. Even for someone who believes a personality transplant would be required to change most of his opinions, I expect better awareness.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)Eric J in MN
(35,619 posts)...to have a broader policy towards access to college and health care for him to endorse.
Today, she released a more generous college tuition plan and Sanders praised it.
The meeting with House Democrats was cordial and Politco just likes to dramatize.
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)
frazzled
(18,402 posts)187 Democratic representatives elected by the citizenry of their districts (the same representatives who staged the brave sit in to demand a vote on gun control legislation) expressing their opinion. The movement is here right now, and it got him to move. Not that it's very relevant at this point, but the message was clear.
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)That's what democrats spitting in the eye of the people they need to be courting due to a desperate need to maintain the status quo looks like. But hey, nice job trying to make something that idiotic in the long run sound so poetic.
randome
(34,845 posts)[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]
BobbyDrake
(2,542 posts)
nolawarlock
(1,729 posts)far more of his supporters have moved on to Hillary than Hillary's did to Obama in 2008. He waited to long to endorse in order to actually move that many voters ince most have already moved. At this point, I'm not sure the worst of the hardliners in his camp are ever going to come around to Hillary even if Bernie himself suggests it. I wouldn't be shocked if they threw him under the bus for Stein. It will be welcome gesture though and I'm glad he's potentially coming around before the convention. At least it will shut up all those third party prayers to Bernie over at Jaded Pointless Rascals.
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)He built clout and dumped almost all of it at once. Really not the worst thing to do considering his options.
nolabear
(41,991 posts)His praise of Bernie is getting to me. In today's insane rant he said Don King published an ad calling for a Trump/Bernie ticket.
LoverOfLiberty
(1,438 posts)Maybe he's happy with Hillary's adoption of his college tuition plan?
DemonGoddess
(4,640 posts)She appears to have combined parts of it with hers.
Personally, I think she's bent over backwards for him. That he's just dug in his heels the way he has, makes not a damn bit of sense.
LoverOfLiberty
(1,438 posts)but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He had a very strong message today giving Hillary credit for this plan that he finds an acceptable compromise. It was the most conciliatory thing I've heard from him this election cycle.
It costs us Hillary supporters nothing to see what he has to say next week.
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)really matter at this point? I suppose it's like a cherry on top as it would be one less weapon the media could've used to paint her as "weak", but most of his former supporters already hopped aboard the HC train once it became clear she won. His endorsement would've been more meaningful had he done it weeks ago.
chillfactor
(7,584 posts)he has no one to blame but himself.
NanceGreggs
(27,818 posts)Instead of conceding and endorsing Hillary weeks ago - when doing so would have made you look like a graceful loser worthy of respect - you waited until the point where no one gives a shit anymore.
Just another indication - as though any more were needed - that you lack the grace, intelligence, and strength of character to have governed a nation.
rateyes
(17,438 posts)Not any more. Bernie has the greatest strength of character than ANY presidential candidate, bar none.
Just had to take a pot shot, didn't you?
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)The current Democratic party is slitting its own throat in the long run. They openly despise the young progressives they need to be courting.
Democrats don't seem to understand that nobody owes them their vote, those votes need to be earned. The same people that are arrogantly announcing how they don't need these young progressives cried about how Nader "cost them" the election.
Squinch
(51,010 posts)Some don't seem to understand that those votes have ALREADY been earned.
No one needs to be courting anyone. We have moved on from that phase. There is a general to win, and those on the Democratic side who still need to be courted were never going to vote for Hillary anyway and are not worth the effort.
nolawarlock
(1,729 posts)NanceGreggs
(27,818 posts)... has as little bearing on my life as Bernie's endorsement has on Hillary's campaign.
Strength of character requires admitting defeat when it's apparent you've lost, and supporting the winner when you've promised to do so. It requires an ability to put your own ego aside and acknowledge that despite your best efforts, the voters have chosen someone other than YOU as their nominee. It requires lending your support to ensure that the winner of the Party's nomination goes on to win the general election.
Pot shot? Ask Bernie about all of the pot shots he's taken at the Party he was allegedly running for throughout his campaign.
It's not like Bernie didn't have a role model in all of this. He might have taken a cue from HRC's behaviour after she lost to Obama. She campaigned vigorously for him, and encouraged her supporters to do likewise. Despite coming MUCH closer to the nomination than Bernie ever got, she didn't withhold her endorsement until her demands were met; she didn't pretend she'd won after it was clear she'd lost.
I just hope Bernie savours the moment as he delivers his "victory statement" in Philly later this month. It will be the last time he gets to pretend he won a race he lost months ago. And it will be the last time the adoring crowds he has become addicted to will be pretending along with him.
Cha
(297,660 posts)ad...
Hillary Clinton
✔ ?@HillaryClinton
In a new interview, @POTUS talks about why Hillary has everything it takes to be president.
7:21 AM - 5 Jul 2016
2,647 2,647 Retweets 5,385 5,385 likes
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/07/05/obama-clinton-secretary-of-state/86717070/
KMOD! http://hillaryclintonsupporters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=124&t=11358&p=92977#p92977
And, look at where Hillary is now~
Thank you, Nance~
rateyes
(17,438 posts)It requires fighting for justice, and standing up against those who oppress us. And it requires doing that regardless of the criticisms and pot shots people take at you.
If you want to get into which of the two Dem candidates has real strength of character based on honesty, integrity, resolve, etc. we will have to do that somewhere else because of the rules of this board.
You took a swipe at Bernie on a thread that suggested an endorsement. He has been working with Hillary, and yet you decided to kick him. You demeaned his character while supporting a candidate whose character isn't as strong. If Bernie doesn't have the strength of character to be POTUS, then quite frankly, neither does Hillary.
I respected you even when I disagreed with you. But I have been reading many angry posts from you about Bernie, but this one crossed the line that made me lose that respect. That saddens me.
g
NanceGreggs
(27,818 posts)... us both from having a fulsome debate on certain issues regarding both HRC and BS.
But I did restrict my comments to the discussion-at-hand, as raised by another poster - and I restricted those comments to Bernie's behaviour after the primaries, which I find to be sorely lacking in strength of character.
IMHO, Bernie would not have had to betray any "principles", nor tarnish his "message" by acknowledging the obvious - that HRC won the nomination - and congratulating her on that achievement. He could have conceded while vowing to continue his "fight" for what he believes in, instead of insisting that he was "still in the race" when everyone knew the race was over.
He could have acted the gentleman and asked to work with the presumptive nominee towards including what he felt should be in the platform, instead of acting the bully who withheld his endorsement and support until his demands were met.
In so doing, Bernie overplayed his hand. Had he become Hillary's ally the minute he knew he'd lost the nomination, he would have been welcomed with open arms and accommodated as far as possible by a campaign anxious to have his supporters brought into the HRC fold. By stubbornly refusing to even acknowledge that HRC had won, Bernie ran out the clock - and once the polls started showing that HRC could handily defeat Trump AND she was already getting support from former BS supporters without his endorsement, Bernie's bargaining chips lost whatever value they once had.
And now it appears that Bernie will be endorsing HRC after all - an endorsement that would have been a much-lauded demonstration of unity weeks ago that has now dissolved into a ho-hum "who cares" soundbyte that few will be impressed by, or even notice.
Did I take a swipe at Bernie? Yes, I certainly did. It's one I think he deserves. It's the same swipe that Bernie supporters would have taken had Bernie won the nomination while Hillary made demands and withheld her endorsement/support until HER demands were met. Let's not be coy, and pretend that had BS's and HRC's roles been reversed, BS supporters would not have been outraged at Hillary's refusal to acknowledge that he had WON the nomination, and lacked the common courtesy to congratulate his victory.
HRC did the right thing in 2008 when she lost to Obama. Sadly, Bernie passed up his chance to do the right thing in the face of HIS loss. That does not speak well of his ability to do the right thing in any number of circumstances that a POTUS might face, nor does it demonstrate the strength of character required by that position.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)He accepts that she's the nominee. He hasn't been attacking her. He has said he will support her...what difference does it make whether the endorsement is before the convention or at the convention.
Why is it so freaking important to get him to fly the white flag?
Why does this have to be about submission?
MADem
(135,425 posts)It's not about "submission" -- it's about winners and losers. She won, he lost. He needs to pull himself together, muster some intestinal fortitude, and deal with that--he got beat. He came in 2nd. That's how it works, sometimes.
And it's about UNITY. Until he stops with the "piqued' routine, he continues to give Trump an opening.
His former PEERS in the House booed him. He spent many years there, and they were yelling "TIMELINE" at him while he tried to repeat his same old stump speech at them. They were having none of it.
He needs to get with the program. He's losing the few friends he has on the Hill.
NanceGreggs
(27,818 posts)... the minute he knew he'd lost the nomination, the welcome mat - nay, the red carpet - would have been laid out by the HRC campaign, ever anxious to bring his supporters into the HRC fold.
By playing out the clock until the polls started demonstrating that his supporters were already on-board with HRC, Bernie's bargaining chips became worthless.
If you see the simple fact of acknowledging HRC's win as "submission" or "raising the white flag", you might want to examine your own skewed perception of what the primary process is all about, and what role the voice of the majority of Democratic voters plays in that process.
"He hasn't been attacking her."
What a perfectly pitiful comment.
Cha
(297,660 posts)OnDoutside
(19,970 posts)ushered by the Clinton campaign. He should be having a blast of a summer.
baldguy
(36,649 posts)And it may have already closed.
TheKentuckian
(25,029 posts)build a nationally funded war chest or a hundred.
