Why did Bernie leave the Democratic Party in 2016?

[Baltimike]

He is supposed to have returned to the party on March 5th of this year...so why did he leave in the first place?

After that, can anyone tell me about these supposed Russian ties? Is is just hyperbole?

Also, I feel that I have to preemptively say that I am NOT trying to stir shit....I *really* want to know more about this candidate and the people who are so passionate about him can tell the best truth.

[LakeArenal]

1. Come on. Google it.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/348051002

[Baltimike]

5. Where did the Senator honeymoon? He is only one of two to vote against sanctions...

There will *always* be a leftier answer to vote against any and everything...and Sen. Sanders has passed very little legislation...knowing what the Russians were up0 to, he voted against sanctions *AND* left the Dem p0arty in 2p016?

[LakeArenal]

15. Took less time to google it..

Than to type: “Also, I feel that I have to preemptively say that I am NOT trying to stir shit...”

[Baltimike]

22. While I appreciate your attempt to marginalize my post

The antecedent to that phrase because important:

I *really* want to know more about this candidate and the people who are so passionate about him can tell the best truth.

[LakeArenal]

25. Google them. Most likely get unbiased information.

Everyone should do their own research and form their own decisions.

Most of us don’t need other people’s speculation.

[Baltimike]

42. Like I said, I wanted to know what his supporters thought and I REFUSE

to genuflect to whatever you think I SHOULD be doing. My post was pretty clear about this, and yet, here you are ...

[LakeArenal]

44. Keep fighting. No one left on the post to care.

Don’t give a hoot what you think. I expect very little of you so we should be all good.

I also don’t care what you think I should post or not.

Discussion board. Open for discussion. It seems like you are the one who has the problem. Not me.

Have a nice day. See you again on DU.

[Baltimike]

45. "No one left on the post to care"...and yet HERE YOU ARE....

fighting. Maybe practice what you preach?

[LakeArenal]

46. You area riot. You send me a snarky response about posting on a discussion board.

Gosh you are just funny.

Discussion board. Don’t post if you don’t want to discuss. Practice what You preach.


You are fighting me. You just must be used to having the last word.
But I can do this all day if you like.
Or we can wait til you post another self-proclaimed non- stir it up thread that we aren’t allowed to post things you don’t like.

[Baltimike]

49. and here you are *yet* again...

lambasting ME on a discussion board for not discussing things the way YOU wanted. Then, you complain that I don't acquiesce to you.

[LakeArenal]

50. Lambasting. Ha don't flatter yourself

[Baltimike]

52. and **AGAIN**

LOLOLOL

[LakeArenal]

55. As I said, you are a riot.

AGAIN I can do this all day.

[Baltimike]

63. still not practicing what you preach I see..

maybe take your own advice.

Or not. >snort<

[Celerity]

60. +1

[empedocles]

17. Anyone know of his no sanctions vote on Russia rationale? Hmmm.

Another unvetted Sanders issue? Smells bad.

[pnwmom]

51. Why has he already left it for 2024? Registering as an independent for the Senate race that year? nt

[aikoaiko]

2. Its how he rolls as a Senator.

[Honeycombe8]

3. Bernie is an independent, a self-identified socialist. Has been for years. But for 2015-6....

he signed on to the Dem Party because he was required to support the Democratic Party's agenda or whatever, in order to run on the "D" ticket, naturally. So when that was over, he returned to being the independent he is.

This is my understand of the history of it all. If it's okay w/the Dem Party leadership, then.....

He caucuses with the Democrats, even tho he's not one in party name.

Angus King is also an independent, but am not sure who he caucuses with.

[Baltimike]

4. Your first paragraph includes a slight to the Democratic Party

the gist of it being that he "did what he had to do" to get access to the D ticket...and then returned to being "who he really is" after it was "over". <<<------- so he want/ed/s to run on the D ticket, but really, he is not a "D"?

My point here, other than it being kinda smarmy, is that we really don't know where he stands, because caucusing isn't the same as BEING.

I hope that makes sense.

[Honeycombe8]

29. I just stated facts. nt

[LakeArenal]

48. Facts. Poster responded to me that opinions is what they're after.

Not facts.

[TexasTowelie]

7. Angus King caucuses with the Democrats. nt

[stopbush]

13. King isn't running for the D nomination for POTUS. HUGE difference.

[helpisontheway]

10. What choice does Dem leadership really have? Say no you can't run as a Dem? Then

he would run as an independent and split the party. He is so selfish that he might just do that if he loses the nomination. He sure did not go out of his way to help Hillary. He got out of the race but that is about it. I’m beyond sick of him and wish he would go away.

[Honeycombe8]

30. Well, independents can do harm, but can't really win.

The choice of the leadership is their choice. I don't know what went into their decision. They didn't discuss it publicly.

[Lancero]

47. Despite all the FUD pushed around about how he'd run indy...

He didn't in 2016. No need to keep pushing that FUD around, doesn't serve to help anyone except Trump.

[BlueFlorida]

6. Bernie despises the Democratic party

and it is shown in all his attacks against the Democratic party.

In my opinion, it was a mistake to allow him to run as a Democrat.

[doc03]

9. Probably best if he ran as an independent it would

give the election to the Republicans.

[LakeArenal]

18. Fortunately, he has signed an agreement not to run as an independent.

[Honeycombe8]

31. I disagree that it would be more harmful.

Whether he siphons off votes as an independent or a temporary D, whom many tried and true Democrats won't vote for, doesn't really make much difference, seems to me.

There are always third parties. Schulz has entered, so he will siphon off votes. There will be others, I'm sure.

[doc03]

33. Hmm how about Nader in Florida?

[Honeycombe8]

36. You think it would have made a difference if Nader had made a bid for the D nomination?

Then changed to third party, when he didn't win the Democratic nomination? I don't. Nader had his own agenda. He was successful.

[doc03]

39. If not for Nader we would have had Al Gore not

Bush.

[Honeycombe8]

40. Nader was there, whether he had a D or an I by his name. That's my point.

A disrupter. He wouldn't have won. But he could disrupt, increase his ability to make money, and advance his agenda.

[doc03]

8. He only identifies himself as a Democrat

when he runs for president. Why I don't know?

[Honeycombe8]

32. Because Independents/third parties can't win. nt

[helpisontheway]

11. The main reason he has a hold on the young kids is free college

I hope the young people will be inspired by Beto, Yang and Buttegieg. The kids on my son’s campus are particularly excited about Yang.

[LakeArenal]

19. I saw Joe Biden speak on the UW campus.

His relationship with college students is just fine.

[Honeycombe8]

34. The biggest voting bloc that votes reliably is age 45-64, I think.

I hope the young ones turn out. But the largest reliable voting bloc is the middle-aged moderate, I think. And they don't make a lot of money. So whoever gets that group has a head start.

[eilen]

12. Thing is, he ran in the Democratic Primary in Vermont

for his senatorial re-election. He won it. Then he changed his party affiliation back to Independent. What if he did that again in a Presidential race? Technically, the Democrats could potentially be without a candidate in 2020.

[Blue_true]

37. That really is a concern of mine also.

I really think that Bernie could insult national democrats in such a way. I seriously hope that he doesn't if he wins the nomination, but who knows, he seem to only be comfortable marching to his own beat.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

57. So, say he did that, and say he won, then we'd still have our dems in congress, right?

and indy's that caucus with us??? What am I missing as the down side ?

[Eric J in MN]

14. Bernie Sanders has always served in Congress as I-VT.

That includes during his prior presidential campaign and during his current one.

This year, he signed an affirmation that he’s running for president as a Democrat.

[GemDigger]

16. Wham, Bam, thank you ma'am.

[Skya Rhen]

20. Bernie is welcomed, with open arms, into Dem Primaries (twice!) but Biden is bullied to stay out

as is evidenced by Flores and the other 6 political assassins.

Oh, the nerve of them - Biden, a life-long Democrat and loyal former Vice President is the one cast as an outsider, by those who are threatened by his potential political success.

As they say, "no good deed ever goes unpunished"...

[Baltimike]

23. welcome to DU. nt

[Honeycombe8]

35. Ironic. nt

[gopiscrap]

58. welcome to DU

[artislife]

59. Bullied?

Joe has been begged to run. I see none of this bullying.

[David__77]

21. Don't know- glad he's running!

...

[artislife]

24. It is hyperbole and there is a stirrer in your hand. nt

[sheshe2]

27. Long time no see.

Great to see you back posting.....



We sure missed ya!

[SidDithers]

38. LOL...

Sid

[Bleacher Creature]

26. He was done using the party after the election.

Apparently, being a Democrat suits him again.

[bottomofthehill]

41. Got to go with Because he is not a Democrat

He only crashes the party when it benefits him

[WeekiWater]

43. In a nutshell.

Sanders main support is not supportive of the Democratic Party. He greatly benefits electorally from staying outside of the party except in the instance of primaries, where he benefits from the parties name ID. He is a savvy career politician. And to his benefit, the party has always been more than happy to go along with it.

As for the Russian ties, I simply don't see any. Some of his votes on sanctions were highly questionable and his reasoning might make one think there is influence. There is not. Those votes were just Sanders being Sanders. The Russians used social media to get to his supporters, many of whom are very easy marks. They were targeting the segment of supporters he has that would truly promote HA Goodman and the Sane Progressive. They already have an anti-Democratic party bent so it's not that difficult to sway them. Sanders hands are clean in it.

[Clarity2]

53. Whether he has russian ties or not

Some of his beliefs and actions sure do look suspicious.

The most alarming to me is his anti-NATO stance, along with this (from 2016):

Bernie Sanders wants a new NATO -- and he wants Russia to be part of it.

In a lengthy speech to a jam-packed house at Georgetown University this afternoon, the senator and presidential candidate called for the creation of a new multi-nation organization to fight global extremism.

“We must create a new organization like NATO to confront the security threats of the 21st century -- an organization that emphasizes cooperation and collaboration to defeat the rise of violent extremism and, importantly, to address the root causes underlying these brutal acts,” he said in the speech. “We must work with our NATO partners, we must work to expand the coalition with Russia and we must work with members of the Arab League.”

The senator’s campaign press secretary, Symone Sanders, confirmed after the speech that the candidate wants Russia and Arab League member nations to be part of the group. She referred to it as “NATO 2.0.”

Link: https://www.thedailybeast.com/sanders-wants-new-nato-with-russia

Anyone feel free to dispel his motives. I’d much rather feel confident theres not another russian asset. I just see red flags all over him. Why on earth would you want to form an alliance with russia and Arab members? NATO is essential for our national security and the security of our allies. And where are his taxes...still?

[Baltimike]

54. Thank you for this post. nt

[Cha]

61. KICK!

[Snotcicles]

56. TTIM. nt

[RandySF]

62. Sanders April 2017: I don't consider myself a Democrat

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Tuesday night that he still does not consider himself a Democrat despite taking part in a Democratic National Committee (DNC) unity tour with the party's new chairman, Tom Perez.

"No, I'm an Independent," Sanders said when asked by MSNBC's Chris Hayes whether he now identifies as a Democrat.

"If the Democratic Party is going to succeed — and I want to see it succeed — it's gonna have to open its door to independents," he continued. "There are probably more independents in this country than Democrats or Republicans. It's got to open its doors to working people and to young people, create a grassroots party. That's what we need."

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/329418-sanders-i-do-not-consider-myself-a-democrat

[Baltimike]

64. Then why is he running this way? Seriously