Sanders Won't Commit to Supporting Nominee

[applegrove]

Sanders Won’t Commit to Supporting Nominee

June 26, 2019 at 6:26 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 178 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2019/06/26/sanders-wont-commit-to-supporting-nominee/

"SNIP....

When asked if he would commit to supporting the Democratic nominee if it’s clear it won’t be him, Sen. Bernie Sanders would not make any such commitment to NBC News.

Instead, he talked about his 2016 race: “Some people say that maybe if the system was not rigged against me, I would have won the nomination.”

Jonathan Chait: “While Sanders is coyly hiding behind the ‘some people say’ formulation, he is threatening to repeat the tactics he used in 2016, when he called the process ‘rigged’ and withheld his support long after the outcome was decided.”

.....SNIP"

[applegrove]

1. That won't help Sanders.

[Cha]

5. No it won't. Not a bit surprised.

[ValidateThis]

2. Absurd but predictable

Luckily fewer people care this time.

[Gothmog]

3. From my twitter feed

Link to tweet

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday did not commit to conceding the primary even if it became clear he would not be the nominee, a move that traces back to 2016 when the senator was facing down then-Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

In an afternoon interview, MSNBC's Kasie Hunt asked Sanders if he would leave the race before the national convention. His response? "I intend to be the Democratic nominee."

After a back-and-forth — "Are you asking that of every candidate?" — and further pressing, Sanders said he was proud of his grassroots campaigns, particularly in the key states of New Hampshire and Iowa, and his million volunteers. The Vermont senator is polling just behind frontrunner and former Vice President Joe Biden, with 19 percent of the expected vote as of June 23.

"Our goal right now is to win it. And by the way, as you you may know, poll after poll shows what against Trump? Shows me beating Trump by 8, 9 or 10 points. We're going to beat Trump, we're going to win the Democratic nomination."

[stopbush]

4. Ugh. Sanders.

[NurseJackie]

6. Oh good grief. Here we go again...

[unc70]

7. This has been posted a lot already

It seems about every second hour

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. I'd say he's lost our support with his tactics.

I mean, this sounds like something tRump would say.

Disgusting.

He is not entitled to the nomination (nobody is) but this statement by him makes it sound as if he thinks he is.

[sellitman]

9. Pretty sad when you think that

Pretty sad when you think that Sanders wouldn't even be allowed here on DU with that attitude.

How far has he fallen!

[C_U_L8R]

10. If he won't support our eventual choice

then he shouldn't expect our support either, right?

[Gothmog]

11. Sanders Claims 2016 Primary Was Rigged, Won't Commit to Supporting Winner

From Jonathon Chait http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/bernie-sanders-2016-rigged-wont-pledge-support-winner.html

While Sanders is coyly hiding behind the “some people say” formulation, he is threatening to repeat the tactics he used in 2016, when he called the process “rigged” and withheld his support long after the outcome was decided.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the nomination as the clear preference of the majority of her party’s electorate. She won 55 percent of the primary vote, as opposed to just 43 percent for Sanders, which is not an especially narrow margin.

It is true that, in a very broad sense, Democratic Party leaders decided early on to support Clinton’s candidacy, and she received major endorsements from elected officials and interest groups. That, however, is not what most people understand by the term “rigged.” What’s more, the process probably benefited Sanders. By clearing the field for Clinton, Sanders was able to position himself as the catch-all candidate for a broad coalition of voters who opposed Clinton for various reasons: Voters who considered her too moderate, or too liberal, or too corrupt all voted for Sanders, who had the anti-Clinton field to himself.

It is not true that the Democratic Party “rigged” the contest in any illegitimate or nefarious fashion. Russian hackers found some emails from staffers at the Democratic National Committee favoring Clinton, but the committee did not take important steps to materially impair Sanders. Throughout the primary, some real (or putative) supporters of Sanders often claimed improprieties at the polls, but those largely failed to pan out. Sanders supporters also reacted to the prospect that Democratic Party superdelegates would give Clinton the nomination even in the face of a popular-vote defeat, but that scenario turned out to be moot in the face of Clinton’s clear win.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

12. Why change this time around?

[namahage]

13. How far we've come from just two months ago.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders-first-to-sign-pledge-to-rally-behind-whoever-wins-democratic-primary

National progressive outfit Indivisible on Thursday launched a pledge compelling all 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to rally behind the eventual nominee. Bernie Sanders was the first to sign it, the group revealed.

The “We Are Indivisible” pledge asks for three commitments from him and any other prospective signers, as first reported by BuzzFeed News. First, Indivisible’s pledge requests that candidates “make the primary constructive” by outlining their visions while respecting their opponents.

“I’ll support the ultimate Democratic nominee, whoever it is—period," the pledge also reads. “No Monday morning quarterbacking. No third-party threats. Immediately after there’s a nominee, I’ll endorse.”

And the group also wants a commitment that every candidate will “do the work to beat Trump,” including a promise that “As soon as there is a nominee, I will put myself at the disposal of the campaign.”

[IndyOp]

14. Sanders signed the Indivisible pledge

Which says he will support whoever the Dem nominee is during the general election.

https://pledge.indivisible.org/

I am not a supporter of Bernie for this election but I think he’s already jumped this hurdle.

[bdamomma]

15. Crap

I like Bernie, but just stop the infighting. We need to be seen as a force to be reckoned with. We should be a TEAM now more than ever.

[Gothmog]

16. Sanders won't commit to leaving the race if he fails to secure the Democratic nomination

Link to tweet

Sanders faced widespread criticism from across the party after the 2016 race that his insistence on carrying out his campaign through the Democratic National Convention even after it became clear he had fallen short of the necessary delegates to win the nomination forced Hillary Clinton to continue battling an intraparty dispute and hurt her standing in the general contest against Donald Trump....

Sanders faced widespread criticism from across the party after the 2016 race that his insistence on carrying out his campaign through the Democratic National Convention even after it became clear he had fallen short of the necessary delegates to win the nomination forced Hillary Clinton to continue battling an intraparty dispute and hurt her standing in the general contest against Donald Trump.

[SouthernProgressive]

17. Hostage taker.

The term fits perfectly.