Not a Sanders fan per se, but he delivered a good speech at the NAN today

[stopbush]

At least the parts I was able to hear. Standard memes

[OKNancy]

1. It was pretty good, although one thing caught my attention

Didn't he suggest a primary of Obama in 2012? He said he supported him and campaigned for him. As I recall he was lukewarm about President Obama.

After I wrote the above I decided to look it up.

At an MSNBC town hall on Thursday, Chuck Todd asked Senator Bernie Sanders about a radio interview in 2011 in which he agreed that it might be a good idea to primary President Obama for the 2012 party nomination.

https://www.thenation.com/article/yes-bernie-sanders-wanted-obama-primaried-in-2012-heres-why/

[jrthin]

2. Yes, he wanted Obama primaried. Had he gotten his wish,

we would have had a President Romney.

[R B Garr]

3. This is exactly what came to my mind! I wonder if he

reminded them he wanted to primary Obama. He also implied some superficialities about Obama.

[Cha]

5. He has some nerve trying

to hitch onto President Obama Now.. at NAN.

I bet Al Sharpton and President Obama caught that, too.

As well as those on Twitter who are disgusted.

[Cha]

6. Mahalo, OKNancy!

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. Kind of all of the above

This is a fair reason for someone to be critical of Sanders if they want. Sanders did not actually work to have Obama primaried, he did not actively advocate for it on any ongoing basis. Of greater import, he never said that he wanted Obama defeated even when he said it might be a good idea if he were primaried. Some no doubt think that is splitting hairs and I get that. But Sanders gave an off the cuff reply to a question. I think he leaned in favor of a robust debate within the Democratic Party about issues, and thought a primary challenge is one way of ensuring that happened. He was an astute enough politician to realize that no primary challenger from the left was going to actually depose President Obama in a primary fight.

Sanders is also on the record quite a few times saying overall positive things about Obama, though he sometimes has been critical of this or that choice Obama made, especially in his first two years or so in office. It is also true that Sanders did in fact campaign for Obama in 2012. But yes, Sanders did make that comment and it is fair game for criticism.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. Why would you post this article criticizing President Obama?

Did you read the article you posted?

From your link:

He had a very specific reason for suggesting a Democratic primary in 2012: In debt-ceiling talks with Republicans, Obama proposed cutting Social Security benefits and raising the Medicare age to 67. After initially refusing to negotiate over the debt ceiling, the White House pivoted to a full-scale embrace of austerity in the hopes of taking away the Republican Party’s main talking point ahead of the 2012 election.

Sanders was one of many members of Congress standing athwart this rush to austerity, though he did go further than any of his colleagues by suggesting a primary. His remarks were only a minor news story at the time, but the basic dispute is now mapping onto the entire Democratic primary, which has become a battle between progressives who are preoccupied with immediate constraints and compromise and those who seek to change the terms of debate using grassroots pressure.

Obama actually proposed more deficit reduction in the summer of 2011 than Republicans were asking for—$4 trillion instead of the $2 trillion the GOP had been requesting—and at times the White House was reportedly willing to raise revenue only through closing tax loopholes. That meant in addition to the safety net cuts, the Bush-era tax cuts would either be locked in or even lowered in some cases.

This was a monumental diversion from Democratic Party principles. For years, Democrats ran for office on promises not to cut Social Security and Medicare. They railed against the Bush tax cuts in every election cycle since the tax package was enacted. Republicans already enjoyed bashing Democrats for supposed safety-net cuts; one of the most frequently run advertisements of the 2010 midterms noted the Affordable Care Act cut $700 million from Medicare. (These cuts were mainly on the provider side and did not affect benefits, which was never mentioned in the ads.)

We shouldn’t be bringing up old arguments and criticisms of our former President. Leave President Obama alone. He’s a private citizen!

[Cha]

4. Not so good trying to latch on

to President Obama now by saying he supported him in 2012 when he said he thought it was a good idea to primary him.

At an MSNBC town hall on Thursday, Chuck Todd asked Senator Bernie Sanders about a radio interview in 2011 in which he agreed that it might be a good idea to primary President Obama for the 2012 party nomination.

https://www.thenation.com/article/yes-bernie-sanders-wanted-obama-primaried-in-2012-heres-why/

Many on Twitter calling him out on it.. We have memories. Shame on him.

[UniteFightBack]

8. I think there will ALWAYS be things to like about Bernie Sanders. nt

[comradebillyboy]

9. I can't think of any right off the top of my head.

[Cha]

11. No so in my book. Just the opposite.