Bill Maher asks "If Bernie doesn’t get the nomination, who will stay home and not vote for Hillary?"

[RandySF]

Bill Maher wants to make sure supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) vote for the eventual Democratic presidential nominee -- even if it turns out to be Hillary Clinton.

It’s as easy as eating an airplane meal with chicken when they are all out of fish, he said Friday on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Before sitting down to interview Sanders, Maher polled his studio audience to see how many of them supported Sanders and how many preferred Hillary Clinton.

Not surprisingly, Maher’s progressive audience members were feeling the Bern. Far more of them cheered when asked if they were backing Sanders than when asked if they were supporting Clinton.

“But if Bernie doesn’t get the nomination, who will stay home and not vote for [Hillary]?” Maher asked. Only one person clapped faintly to indicate she would not vote for the eventual Democratic nominee if it is Clinton.

Maher was pleased.

“See exactly,” he exclaimed. “We have two good candidates. It’s like on the airlines: Sometimes you don’t get the fish, you have the chicken. ‘I’ll eat the chicken if I have to!’”


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bill-maher-hillary-clinton-chicken-fish_56227173e4b08589ef47ac8e?utm_hp_ref=politics

[djean111]

1. Why is beating this drum so important at this time?

Has fuck all to do with the primary, really.

[onecaliberal]

2. He likes HRC

[99th_Monkey]

7. But he likes Bernie better, or that's what he said.

Chomping at bit to give Bernie more money than legally allowable, Mayer said.

[joshcryer]

26. He likes them both.

He prefers Sanders and wants him to win.

It's like you can't like them both and if you prefer one of them you have to throw the other under the bus.

[99th_Monkey]

28. Not really

Yes he "likes them both" but you can't fob that off to mean he "likes them
both equally", like some kind of toss-up. That's my point.

[joshcryer]

29. That's fair enough.

And not my intention. I said in another post I support them both but prefer Sanders. That means I give more support to Sanders.* (And if Clinton wins the nomination she won't get any material support from me, no volunteering, no donations. But that's quite short of refusing to vote for her.)


*I've donated to his campaign so far but not volunteered yet but will probably be doing volunteering before the caucuses.

[Le Taz Hot]

42. Yeah, there are at least 3 rabid Hillary supporters

swearing up and down they've not committed to a candidate, yet they spend their days putting up pro-Clinton, anti-Sanders posts. Apparently, they're unaware that we can see their posting history.

[99th_Monkey]

84. Divide & conquer from "within"

That's one of the things TPTB did too, to help undermine OWS. Tried & true subversive dirty tricks, but the opposite of true.

[One of the 99]

57. He explained it later in the show

when he brought the subject up again and said, 'I learned my lesson with Nader in 2000'.

[yallerdawg]

3. Bill Maher supports Senator Sanders (I-VT) nomination...

but gets very irate at the Hillary Bash.

It's a Democratic airplane, eat something!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. I'll vote. Not for Hillary.

[Yallow]

31. A Non Hillary Vote Same As A Trump Vote

I know you may be math challenged, but a person influenced by Wall Street is not the same as one bought and paid for by Wall Street.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

33. No it isn't.

Whoever the nutty Republcan is doesn't gain a non-vote or a vote for a 3rd party.

If i don't vote for either Hillary or Trump it isn't a + for either. 0 - 0 doesn't = 1.

As for your Wall St. equation, voting for someone who is only influenced by Wall St. vs someone who is Owned by Wall st is like saying 1/2 tbsp of arsenic is better than 1 tbsp of arsenic. I'll have neither.

[840high]

34. Love your answer. You speak for me.

[Yallow]

35. Then Say Goodbye To Your Obamacare.....

EOM

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

37. Really?

Is my single vote going to be responsible for ending Obamacare?

The candidate I will vote for in the GE wants single-payer universal health care.

[brush]

54. Writing in someone or going 3rd party is one less vote for the Dem nominee if Bernie . . .

doesn't win the primary, and we've seen that movie before in Flori-duh in 2000.

None of us liked the ending. Well, the repugs and 1% did.

There were a couple of thousand less votes for Gore that went to Nader that made it close enough for the repugs to steal the presidency.

I myself will be voting for the Democratic Party nominee, whether it's Bernie or Hillary — there's the SCOTUS appointees to think of too. No more Scalias or Thomases for the next 30 years for me.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

61. There were a couple of thousand less votes for Gore because Gore

didn't convince a couple of thousand voters to vote for him.

[brush]

62. Just great.

Here's a link that says it better than I can:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251700805

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

67. Gosh! I had no idea my vote was soooo powerful.

Apparently, according to the author, my vote will cause people to starve, become homeless, and be barred from hospitals.

Funny how that works. I voted for Gore in 2000 and Bush won.

I guess my vote wasn't as powerful then.

How about yours?

[brush]

69. As I stated, my vote will go for the Dem nominee whether it's Bernie or Hillary

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

70. And, my vote will go to the candidate that I consider best for the country.

I don't vote for labels.

[brush]

72. OK, but that link mentioned something about eg . . . oh, never mind. It's not worth it.

[TM99]

65. No, no, and NO!

This lie again.

Thousands less for Gore in Florida were not because of Nader, it was because Democrats there voted for Bush. Over 200,000 or about 12%. It was not Nader that made it possible for the SCOTUS to steal the election, it was the registered Democrats!!!

http://www.cagreens.org/alameda/city/0803myth/myth.html

[brush]

68. And blah, blah, blah.

How many Republicans voted for Gore? Got a number for that?

People crossing party lines happens in every election.

But people falling for a 3rd party nominee who got funding from the Republicans as Nader did is still, IMO, regrettable.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

71. I wonder how much money Hillary is getting from corporations run by Republicans.

[brush]

73. You again? I'm not biting. Been there, done that.

[TM99]

74. Blah blah blah is what children say

when they are wrong.

Facts were provided.

You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.

Less than 100,000 voters in FL went for Nader. Period! Almost 3 million a piece voted for either Bush or Gore. You do the math.

This myth has been dispelled.

[brush]

76. Why did you avoid the question of how many Republicans voted for Gore?

You also never touched that fact that Nader got repug funding.

You stated fact were provided. Guess that's an inconvenient fact.

[TM99]

77. Do you have the stats?

No, you don't. You have speculation.

It is not my responsibility to prove your counter argument. I have proven mine.

Inconvenient isn't it?

[brush]

78. Don't want to get into that, huh?

Don't blame you, might make your argument moot about Dems voting for Bush.

I gotcha.

[TM99]

83. More for you to chew on.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/06/1260721/-The-Nader-Myth

http://disinfo.com/2010/11/debunked-the-myth-that-ralph-nader-cost-al-gore-the-2000-election/

Your insistence on wondering how many GOP's went for Gore is irrelevant given the math.

Read it, think about it, and then let it go.

[One of the 99]

56. I hope you live in a solid blue state

where is doesn't matter if you vote or not.

[Adrahil]

58. You clearly do not understand how electoral politics work in this country. ;)

Look, either the Dem nominee wins or the R nominee does. It's that simple. You can justify it however you like. That's between you and your conscience. But that's the reality. If you are not helping the D nominee, you ARE helping the R nominee if you want to or not.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

63. I do understand how electoral politics work in this country.

I just don't cooperate with the corrupt system in the manner it desires.

[Nedsdag]

79. Me too! n/t

[cantbeserious]

5. I'll Vote Not Hillary With A Write-In Candidate As Is My Right To Do So

eom

[JaneyVee]

9. Must be nice to have the luxury and privilege of...

Not caring about a full frontal attack on your very being from a wingnut SCOTUS. Some of us don't have that luxury. And Black Lives won't matter to a Republican in control of all 3 branches. But like I said, some of us don't have that luxury.

[Art_from_Ark]

48. If we voted directly for President,

then you would have a point. However, most of us are voters in states that will go overwhelmingly for one party or the other. For example, the last time my vote in Arkansas would have had any chance to make a difference in a presidential election was 1968. And I could not even vote then.

[Jester Messiah]

52. Then why do you insist on such a divisive candidate?

If you're that worried about the SCOTUS, do what you've got to do to secure our votes. We're not going to be guilted into it, so you're going to have to give.

[INdemo]

6. Little early for that qestion

Don't cha think? If Bernie wins Iowa will Hillary turn up the heat with negative ads?

[Fearless]

40. Can't rely on racism this time. I wonder what she'll turn to.

[left on green only]

45. If I Were A Betting Voter.....

......I would bet that in that case she plays the socialist card.

[TM99]

8. I always vote.

Who I vote for is another thing.

I am not a Democrat. Well, technically now I am so I can vote in all primary elections in Arizona, but after the election I will return to my previous status as unaffiliated. I am too far left and progressive for the New Dem taken over Democratic Party.

I have never voted based on party loyalty.

[Smarmie Doofus]

30. The only realistic way to deal w. the "New Dem taken over" party is.....

.... to take it back.

And only registered DEMs can do that.

[TM99]

46. Around 30 percent of registered voters are Democrats.

Let that sink in.

[Smarmie Doofus]

49. 30% is actually A LOT.

More than I would have thought, actually.

I'll take a wild guess that... in the aggregate .... people registered as Greens, plus the various Socialist/Communist, Marxist and -quasi Marxist parties would top out nationally at less than 2%.

No?

[TM99]

50. 30% Dem party registration

is a historic low.

The extreme left, yes, is small, but the independent left is far more than that. Only New Dems see anyone who calls themselves progressive as being a commie hippie.

[Smarmie Doofus]

53. How do you identify "independent left"?

Sounds more like the "unorganized" or "unaffiliated" left.

Unaffiliated is fine. People are free to affiliate or not. But it's rather a useless and futile posture in terms of taking command of the Dem party... or having a measurable impact on any other aspect of American political life.

It seems to me the rational objective here is to combine the unaffiliated left w. the DEM Party left and take ( re-take) command of the DEM Party.

[TM99]

59. I will speak only for myself.

I would have no problem being a Democratic Party member once the Third Way is removed from the institutional power positions.

Call us what you will. But left leaning voters will vote for progressive policies and positions. The Democratic Party needs to start giving them congruently again for us to vote for.

Neoliberals are milquetoast on social progressive. They were late to the table on LGBT civil rights. Obama has done very little concrete in the way of addressing Black Lives Matter. Clinton talks social justice but then takes money from private prison industries, supported the war on drugs, and agreed with her husband on 'welfare reform'.

We are not stupid. We can see through that bullshit. Those lies are just not going to work any more. I want real hope and change. That's why I am excited about Sanders. Not only is he a man of integrity and strong character, he is consistent and congruent in his support of real progressive policies and positions. I think Sanders is the one who can do as you suggest and combine us such that the party is taken back from the New Dems.

It just remains to be seen if the revolution is as strong as the now entrenched establishment power.

[Smarmie Doofus]

80. No one can remove the Third Way from the DEM party....

... except the constituency of the DEM Party.

How else can it happen? You tell ME.

People like you... sitting on the sidelines.... makes NO SENSE AT ALL if that ( i.e. removing the Third Way) is in fact the goal here.

You will wait a long, *loooooong* time waiting for that to happen all by itself.

You wanna "remove" them? Hell... LET'S REMOVE EM' already. (So do I.)

How does staying unregistered, and therefore fudnamentally politically disengaged, further that objective?

The rest: Agree totally re. Obama, (He tried... and largely succeeded.... in busting my national teachers' union; after campaigning in 2008, in large part, on backing unions, public service unions in particular, and teachers from the coordinated onslaught of megabucks, anti-union privatizers. ), Clinton ( She's beneath contempt and beneath comment) and most of all re. Sanders.

Ideological purity is nice. It feels great. ( Been there, done that.)

But TM, the Sanders Movement's potential is COMPLETELY and inextricably bound with the DEM party at this time. I don't know where he, himself, is going.... if he doesn't win the nomination. But there is absolutely NO connection at all between affinity for "Third Way" and membership and activism within the DEM Party.

Believe me, if there were, I wouldn't be here.

[TM99]

82. You make a fatal assumptive flaw.

Just because someone is unregistered in the two party system does not at all mean they are politically disengaged.

I have been engaged with politics my entire life. Hell I even took a Pol Sci minor in college. I have been an activist, and I vote in every election local and national.

Question for you - if Clinton wins the nominee, do you intend to hold your nose and vote for her?

If yes, then, the party will never change.

The largest voting bloc today are the independents. The Democratic Party doesn't really have to convince you to vote for them. If you are registered, accept the lesser of two evils theory, and election after election vote for whoever they want you to, you will not change the system from within.

We won't. I won't. When they start losing, it will be us that they will need to court in order to win. The fabled 'moderate centrist' American is just that, a fable. Maybe it was once true with older generations, but with Gen X and Millennials, Americans are more and more progressive. We want social AND economic justice. We are not scared by the words 'socialism' or 'Scandinavia'. Black lives matter to us, truly, not just as a campaign slogan while we take big prison money from the side. LGBT civil rights matter, not just when the culture has changed, and now they have to 'evolve' as well.

There are two ways to change a system. One is within. The Tea Party did that to the GOP. The other is from without. The progressive generational independents are attempting to do that with the Democratic Party.

[Fawke Em]

55. Not true.

There are 16 states that have open primaries - I live in one of them.

I've never been a registered Democrat even though I declare, on voting day, that I'm voting in the Democratic primary and that's the ballot I'm given.

You don't have to be a registered Democrat to help take back the party from the DLC, but you DO have to be given a candidate to help you do that.

[virtualobserver]

10. I'll vote for Hillary in the General Election if she wins the nomination UNLESS......

one more Hillary supporter posts one of these loyalty posts.


Just kidding.

[bkkyosemite]

11. I will vote but will write in Bernie Sanders for President

[Fumesucker]

12. The new blood, the formerly disengaged voters who are flocking to Bernie

They really stand to upset the status quo and Camp Weathervane desperately wants them to go away.

[left-of-center2012]

13. I'm a long time Bernie supporter

But first I'm a long time Democrat.
Of course I'd vote for Hillary.

[reformist2]

14. Maher polled his audience, and they went for Bernie??? Oh noes, another "unscientific" poll!!!

Why doesn't everyone know by now, the only polls that mean anything are the landline-based polls conducted by CBSNBCABCGallup?

[B Calm]

15. I'll vote for the democratic nominee.

[Kalidurga]

16. I dunno

I will burn that bridge when I get to it. Let's wait for primary season to be over first, before speculating on what we will do next.

[Teamster Jeff]

17. But in this case there is no chicken. Second choice is a shit sandwich.

[Yallow]

32. And 3rd Choice is a Republican

I will eat the poop.

[840high]

36. I will not.

[Teamster Jeff]

85. No nutritional value

Dems need a better game plan. Eat shit or vote GOP is a loser.

[bigwillq]

18. I'll vote. But not for Hillary.

If Hillary wins the presidency, I'll be cool with it, but I will never vote for her.

Luckily, I live in CT, and it's highly likely the DEM nominee will win my state, so I am free to cast my ballot for someone other than Hillary. I think it's a win-win.

[TheFarseer]

23. same here

Only a dem would never win this state.

[edgineered]

19. A chair, a small table, and six dozen pencils.

I am not saying that I will not vote for our nominee in the general, however I will do my part on that day to ensure others can express their choice.

[restorefreedom]

20. sorry bill, nice try

no more war
no more hawks
no more wall street corruption
no more lies.

[Ed Suspicious]

21. Yup. My vote is my own, but lets just say without Bernie,

my level of enthusiasm for this election is significantly lowered.

[restorefreedom]

22. you and well, a lot of others. nt

[ThePhilosopher04]

24. My vote will go to one candidate ...

and that is Bernie Sanders, either as the nominee or as a write in. He is the only candidate who truly represents the interests of the poor and middle class and who will stand up to corporate America. I don't do Republicans or Republican lights.

[davidn3600]

25. This is like saying that since the steakhouse went out of business we need to go to McDonalds

Would you like fries with that?

[merrily]

27. Who knew Joe McCarthy = Hydra? Silly me, I thought he died years ago.

[sabrina 1]

38. Why are we being nagged to death about this every single day? THIS is PRIMARY season

Maher should mind his own business, he as zero influence over voters nor should he have.

I will do what I think is right and could not care less about anyone else's opinion. And the more people NAG voters this way, the more ANGRY people are getting and wondering WHY if Hillary is such a great candidate they feel they have PUSH people to vote for her???

Did he ask if everyone who had clapped for Hillary would vote for the 'white supremacist, commie, racist, dual loyalty suspect should he win the nomination??

You know, the smears coming from Hillary's campaign??? IF THAT'S how they feel about him, surely they are the ones he should be asking?

[Fawke Em]

75. You know why.

Most of the establishment considers that the fix is in: the DNC, the money and the media are paving the way for a Clinton nomination and they believe they're winning, based on national polling.

But, they are smart enough to read the writing on the wall: the progressive base doesn't really like her. Sure, she has some strong supporters, but the left-leaning base, who does most of the heavy lifting and work driving voter turnout, isn't too keen on her war hawkishness and her Wall Street connections. They've fallen in love with Bernie.

So, we're being nagged to death to say we'll vote for the Third Way, corporate, war hawk candidate because they fear we either won't vote for her or, more importantly, won't have the enthusiasm to work to GOTV.

It's another test to gauge where the activists are and, judging from these threads, we aren't where they want us to be, so they keep asking.

[YOHABLO]

39. Oh, out of fish? I'll take the chicken. No I think it's a little more than this comparison.

The reason an astute supporter of Bernie Sanders would vote for Hillary if she gets the nomination, is that there is always more a stake than just hunger pains.

[JDPriestly]

41. I have been a Democrat all my life. I will no vote for Hillary.

She has poor judgment.

That is proved by a number of things, most importantly her vote for the Iraq War. She of all members of Congress should have known better. She had just left the White Hour before entering the Senate.

Sher represented and represents Wall Street, and we need strong reform on Wall Street. She will not able to accomplish that.

Hillary favors H1-B visas which bring people into America to live here without a path to citizenship, only to be used and then told to go.

Hillary says she is against the TPP but then adds that if only the wage and work-related provisions are changed, she will support it. That's just weasel-talk. The copyright and patent law changes that we know something about are also a dealbreaker for me.

The TPP court is a corporate coup. In my view, we should never ever agree to it.

She is not a strong candidate. She is associated, fairly or unfairly with a number of scandals that have made the headlines.

Hillary is unelectable in my view.

I'm in a blue state, California. I will vote for all other Democrats on the ballot, but never for Hillary.

[Le Taz Hot]

43. I understand this is an exercise in futility

and I usually ignore your shit but here's the truth (remember that word?):

ACTIVISTS DON'T STAY HOME ON ELECTION DAY. But neither will they vote for a Republican even if the DO have a "D" next to their name. We don't do blind partisan.

[Electric Monk]

44. It’s like on the airlines

[YabaDabaNoDinoNo]

47. Stay home no, not vote for HRC yes!

If Bernie is NOT the Democratic Party Nominee on election day I will proudly go to the polls and vote AGAINST Hillary for POTUS!

I will vote for or write in the name of the most liberal/progressive person on the ballot and if there is not a worthy name I will write one in.

HRC does not even make my short list of those who I would vote for for POTUS, heck she does not even make the list at all.

[Jester Messiah]

51. More from the "loyalty oath" crowd. I'm not impressed.

It just shows how worried they are that Hil can't close the deal. If it's so worrisome, put up the stronger candidate!

[NCTraveler]

60. Some people view that one person as courageous.

They don't get that one person is the dim bulb. What they support is cowardice and an extremely high importance on self, not community. The republican mantra.

[closeupready]

64. Who cares what that bigot thinks or says.

[artislife]

66. Having read most of the replies to this OP

One thing that jumps out at me. We all would be better served to find supporters for our candidates, out there. 63%, I think I read, that doesn't vote...not sure if that is true but that is who Sanders, O'Malley and Hillary should focus on.

The people who have already chosen, I see very little movement to go to the another side. H supporters, don't tell us we are wrong and pout. Find your people. Attract your voters. Oh, you are leading and will win anyway. Then chill out and invite us to come over when our candidate fails to win.

Bernie and O'Malley supporters. Don't worry, the Hillary supporters are party first and they will vote for the candidate on the ballot representing the Democratic party. Lets just go out and find our new supporters.

[underpants]

81. I saw a live show of his in August. He made it clear that he thinks it will be Hillary.

I've seen this part of his stand up on the show since then.

Paraphrased "I just love her theme 'Ready for Hillary!' Yeah (shrugs) I'm ready not excited but ready"

There were many Bernie t-shirts in the crowd. Maher barely mentioned him. He just stated "look it's going to be Hilllary" or words to that effect.

Great stand up if you can see him live.